I Belong To Jesus

Real Life presents the Jack Hibbs Podcast, with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints, and impact our culture. If you're an atheist, this is a great day. You can stop that right now. You want to know why? How many of you are Jewish? You have Jewish blood in you. Raise your hands. Come on. Several. Awesome. Put your hands down. How many of us are Gentiles with no Jewish blood in us? That means the rest of you raise your hands. All of us are proof of a nearly 3,000-year-old prophecy. God's word is true. Boom. Here we are, just exactly as the Bible said, that Gentiles would believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Go figure that out. See? You don't need to be an atheist anymore. That alone proves God's existence. You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com slash podcast. Today, if this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled life in Christ, then make sure you leave us one of those five-star ratings. To us, that's like saying amen or yes. Then that rating will encourage others to listen. Now open your hearts to what God's Word has to say to you. Here is Jack Hibbs. Paul is not going to be some pie-in-the-sky orator who, not to offend anybody, but would never take a course of philosophy without inserting the gospel. Paul would never host a rally to talk about something and never bring up the gospel. Are you hearing me? The gospel is the answer. The word of God is the answer. And Paul is saying, I have learned from God to not speak about anything that he first has not worked out in my life. I love that. The Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 4. God also bearing witness, that is preaching the gospel. Both with signs and wonders, with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will. Amen. If you want to see God work, make yourself be global. And here's the beautiful age in which we live in. You and I live in an age that we can go global on our device. You can transform your social media into a witnessing tool for Jesus. Mark chapter 16, verse 16. What about this? He who believes and is baptized will be saved. By the way, let me explain that. He who believes, that's how salvation happens. And then baptism is the outward announcement that you've been internally saved. Nowhere does the gospel say that you have to believe and be baptized, then you're saved. But the Bible does teach that if you believe, you're saved. And then your first step of obedience should be the display or the acknowledgement that you've accepted Christ buried in the waters of baptism. It's a symbol or a type of your dead life now coming up in newness of life. He who believes and is baptized will be saved. But he who does not believe, notice this, notice, see, it answers it. But he who does not believe... will be condemned. It doesn't say he who does not believe and is not baptized. And these signs will follow those who believe. In my name, they will cast out demons. You say, really? Yeah, really. Should we not be wearing pastor cams? I don't know if you can handle it or not. You ever been dealing with somebody and it's not normal what's going on? You ever seen their eyes turned as black as the eight ball on a pool table? How did that happen? You ever heard somebody change their voice and they sound like their voice is 30, 40, 50 feet away? How did that happen? I don't believe in that stuff. I just believe in the Bible. No, you don't believe in the Bible. Jesus told us this stuff is real. No. which I think explains a lot about America these days. And these signs, cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. First of all, you're not supposed to tempt God and drink poison. That's not what it's talking about. But if you take all this right here and you study the book of Acts, all those things happen in the book of Acts to those who went out to the world to serve Christ. Do you know that? I had a group in Russia. I forget what year it was from this church. Somebody got saved. It was awesome. The guy got saved. His name was Kaha. He was from Kazakhstan. We were in Moscow. We were preaching the gospel on the streets And Caja accepted Christ. Then he came back a little later and he said, I want you, Pastor Jack, to come to my home. I told my dad that I'm going to bring you home to preach the gospel to my family. How do you say no to that? So Lisa was with me and some others, our translators, and some of you. And I don't know if there was about maybe 10 of us or so. We went to their flat. It's beautiful. Spare the length of it. It was, oh, my goodness, five to six hours. But the father, the son announces, these are Americans, and they're all freaking out because they'd never seen an American before. They're touching us. No, really, they were touching our skin. Like we were from Mars. And they were so happy to have an American in their home, and the father, he's an old man. He's like 68. He's an old guy, old wrinkled dude. He's speaking in Russian and he's so proud. And he calls it toast. It's culture, toast. And he's pouring this stuff. And to me, it looks like 98. Yeah, it's like high octane. And I told Larissa, I said, we don't drink. And she goes, you do tonight. And I said, no, no, no, we don't. She said, listen, you need to stop that right now. Here's what's going on. Number one, it's our culture. This is a big deal. That is cognac and vodka. She said, if you don't drink, toast with this family. Because you have to, I'm sorry, I keep going like this, don't I? That's because we had to join arms like this. He gives it to you, you give it to him. It's like... And she goes, if you don't do this, he will be so offended, he will be crushed, you won't be able to say anything to him. And I remember saying this to myself. Oh, God in heaven, you said in Mark's gospel that we can drink poison. I'm serious. I cannot tell you. You'll have to ask Lisa. She's got a great memory. I don't know how many toasts we did. But me and our team and all of them at the table, nobody got a buzz. We shared the gospel. There was silence. And then Caja stood up and said, did you hear what he said? You can be forgiven. I was forgiven today. You can come to Christ. Now, right now. We'll never have this chance again. He told me, what's the, oh, wait. He said, Dad, mom, you, sister, friends, all of you, right now, except Jesus. Right now. It was so funny. And you know what? I mean, that's a weird form of evangelism. But he looks at me. This guy's been saved for hours. This guy, he turns to me and he says, say it again to them. I said it, and they all stood up to accept Christ. And that's not in my notes. But that verse, I want to see God move. You want to see God move? Then get out there where he's moving. Okay? And clue. It's not on your couch. Jesus is in the world. He's out there. And then very, very quickly, we need to wrap this up and we will and it ends with this. Verses 20 to 21. And that is the church is here and it's there and it's... Everywhere, God's church. Which, by the way, we need to be praying for the believers in Iran and Persia today. We don't know how many are dead, but there's a lot of dead people. But Christianity is exploding in Persia. God's church is everywhere. And you want to look for God's church on the move. In verse 20, and so I have made it my aim. This is my target. to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named. If people have already heard about Jesus, Paul said, I'm moving on. Notice the intensity of this man. And may it be ours. Wait, was Jesus preached in where? In Southern California, Jesus has been preached? Oh, yes, Paul. Okay, then I'm not going there. Isn't that amazing? Well, where are you going to go? Tell me where Jesus Christ has not been preached, and that's where I'm going to go. Now, we used to think we've got to get in an airplane and fly to Bangladesh or something to do that. Now, all we have to do is open our eyes in our own community. The world is now here. Last week in New York City, Over the city of New York City, now the Islamic call to prayer is now being broadcast over New York City for the first time in American history. And I made a post about that, and I said, this is what you get when Christians don't vote. I want that to settle in. How do you commit that? Give them Jesus Christ. That's the only way. What are you going to do? Preach the gospel. And by the way, after you preach the gospel, go vote right next time. And so, listen, he says, I've made it my aim to preach Christ, the gospel, that is. not where he's been named. See the word aim? The word aim is awesome. I make it my aim. Look at it. It is my love. The word means to aim is to love. It's to joy. It's to aspiration. It's to ambition. It's to target. I've made this my target. Love is my target. How do you live that out, Paul? By telling others about Jesus. Matthew 28, verse 18, And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. By the way, in that declaration, the word evangelism is never mentioned because it's implied. Every Christian will tell somebody about Jesus. When they become a believer, go and make disciples. That is, make them students of the word. All the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them. To observe all things that I have commanded you and lo or behold I am with you always even to the end of the age or the end of the world. Amen. Acts chapter 1 verse 7. And he said to them, Jesus said to them, It is not for you to know the times and the seasons which the Father has placed in his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is. comes upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and all of Judea and Samaria, here it is, and to the end of the earth. Does any of this excite you? When I read that, I say, pick me, pick me. Don't you want to get freaked out? Listen, some people have to go to an amusement park to get their rush. I'm not big on amusement parks. I don't need them. Some people are, what's the word? Adrenaline junkies. Man, tie a rubber band to your leg and jump off a bridge. I don't need to do that. Jump out of an airplane. I don't need to do that. I'm trying to be as radical for Jesus as I can. I'm trying to obey him as much as I can. And let me tell you something. That will stoke your life. That will get you going. Because if you have got your antenna up and you're listening, you might just hear him say something. And then your heart rate is going. And you can't sleep. You can't rest until he says to you, you go do this thing. And you go do it. And you're not strong enough. And you don't have the ability. And who are you anyway? Who are we anyway? But we stand for what he wants us to stand for. And then God opens up the sea. All because you obeyed and brought him glory. And he says in verse 21, but as it is written, to whom he was not announced, they shall see. And those who have not heard shall understand. This is the Apostle Paul quoting out of the book of Isaiah. Notice this. As it is written. Paul the Apostle is leaning upon the Old Testament to do New Testament evangelism. That's why the book of Isaiah has more quotations of it in the New Testament than any other book of the Bible. Here, Paul is referring to Isaiah 52, verse 15. It's about the Messiah. So shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at him. And what had not been told them, they shall see. And what they had not heard, they shall consider. Folks, listen. Paul the Apostle, by the Holy Spirit, is using Isaiah chapter 52 to announce to us... that God's plan is for those who have never heard the gospel or never understood to become believers also. It's not just the Jews, it's Gentiles also. And listen, he's also quoting Isaiah 65 verse 1. I was sought by those Gentiles who did not ask for me. I was found by those, who are those? Gentiles, who did not seek me. I said, here I am, here I am. Isn't that cute? This is God saying, here I am over here. You guys are looking for me? I'm right here. Isn't that cute? God speaks through the Hebrew prophet announcing to the Jewish people that he's also going to save Gentiles. Look around you. In fact, if you're an atheist, this is a great day. You can stop that right now. You want to know why? How many of us, let's do it this way. How many of you are Jewish? You have Jewish blood in you. Raise your hands. Come on. Several. Awesome. Put your hands down. How many of us are Gentiles with no Jewish blood in us? That means the rest of you raise your hand. All of us are proof of a nearly 3,000 year old prophecy. God's word is true. Boom, here we are, just exactly as the Bible said. That Gentiles would believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Go figure that out. See, you don't need to be an atheist anymore. That alone proves God's existence. And so I want to leave this with you. They shall understand. Do you understand? Do you know that? That Christ Jesus is not a fairy tale, it's not a story, and he is not the founder of a religion. I'm always offended, not really, when people say, you know the three great faiths and the great three religions in the world, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Islam's always at the end because it came last. Just know that. Judaism, Christianity, Christianity comes out of the Old Testament scriptures. That said... I don't like being called a religionist. I'm not a religionist. Oh, what is your religion? Ain't got one. Listen, if you love Jesus, you don't have a religion either. If you love Jesus, you have a relationship with him. Friends, listen. If you know the Lord, you know this. You know that you're going to heaven. The Bible says, listen, these things are written that you might know that you have eternal life. You're going to have to, listen, don't anybody move. This is a holy moment. Many of you are going to be nervous in a second. Because I'm going to challenge, well, I'm going to invite you, but you're going to be challenged by the Holy Spirit. In a moment, I'm going to ask you to make a decision regarding Jesus Christ. Right now, today's the day, now is the time for you to finally stop goofing off. It's time for you to stop trying to run your life. It's time for you to stop justifying yourself. You know you're guilty. We know you're guilty. And we don't even know you. But we're all guilty. Lust, anger, fear, hatred, envy. In fact, listen to this. I want to read this to you. The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. Look to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. There's no other God because there's no other way of salvation. Listen, I'm going to ask you right now, Father God, in Jesus' name, I pray that they would say, that's it, that's it. I'm done with this. I'm done playing games. I'm going to get real with God. I'm going to give my life to Christ. I'm going to confess that he died on the cross for my sins and rose again from the grave. As the Bible says, I'm going to receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior because I need him to wash me of my guilt, shame, and sin. And I'm going to receive the new life that he has for me. This Jack Hibbs podcast, as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities, are listener supported. Will you consider partnering with us through a special gift? Go to jackhibbs.com to learn more and stay connected.