Just When You Thought It Was Over

Real Life presents the Jack Kibb's podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. You open up this book, ladies and gentlemen, you start reading this book and you'll find out something about this book and it will absolutely get inside of you. We've often said that you're not just reading the Bible, you think you are. The Bible actually got you. You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackkibb's.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 Kibb's. Just when you thought it was over, our first argument is found in verse 7 and it's this, is that truth shakes you at the core, truth, and you're not taking. Can you write down truth? I know that's a difficult word these days, truth. Who would have thought that the word truth now has so many meanings which are lies, by the way? I have to tell you this, I don't mean to upset anybody, but if I'm the first one to tell you, then let me be the first one to tell you. You ain't got no truth on your own. Well, that's your truth. No, it's not even my truth. There's only one truth the Bible says and truth comes from God. You say, oh yeah, but what about gravity? How does God get involved in that? Great question. The Bible says that God invented gravity. You say, what does it say that? God's the creator. He's the creator of the physical and the non-physical existence of things. Truth is something that God has given us and you don't mess with it. You either agree or you disagree, but listen, if you want to live agree with truth. If you want to die, disagree with truth. And the Bible says that God is the author of truth because God himself is true and God's truth shakes us to the core and we don't like it. We don't like it and Paul is going to be talking about the effect. In verse 7, we learn this that truth is factual. You just write that down. Somebody said, now it was just this week, there was a woman argue in your case on TV regarding she wants people to pay her for something and she was on the news and she was saying, I want this money and I want it now and she actually said this. She said, this is my truth and I want what I want and that's when I got involved in the conversation. She couldn't hear me but I was talking to my TV about, lady, you can't do that with truth. You can't do that. You can't have your truth and you over here have your truth. What happens if your truth bumps into this truth and if I won't mess? That's impossible unless you've lost sight of truth. There's one true and that is God and God says this in verse 7, what shall we say then? What a tremendous statement. Paul is throwing his arms up with passion. The whole structure of the Greek language is this, what shall we say? What can we say? What can be sad? Is the law sin? Certainly not. The word means perish the thought on the contrary. See, Paul was getting in trouble for this reason. People were saying the Judaizers, hey, this guy Paul is saying that if you become a Christian and follow Christ, you don't have to keep the law and Paul said, that's exactly what I'm saying because you guys don't understand what the law is all about. And he writes the book of Romans and the book of Galatians to tell you that the law is holy. The law is awesome. It's perfect. But you can't keep it because we're imperfect. So try all you want. The relationship that you need with God cannot be on that level of rulekeeping because you're constantly at a loss. Legalism, for example. What does it do to you? It absolutely sapped you from all strength. It bewilders you and it winds up making you, I think, a slave in the worst case and that is a religious slave. You can't think for yourself. You can't read for yourself. You can't have any questions. Don't ask any questions. And you're imprisoned. And so Paul as a faithful Jew, he meets Jesus Christ and I'm wondering, by the way, before that Acts chapter 9 experience and what was going on in his mind before Christ revealed himself. Think about the groundwork that God was doing in his heart. What about you? Listen, think about the groundwork that God has done in your life before he revealed himself to you. What was going on? Did you live a perfect life and have it easy and realized, wait, this is weird. Maybe you lived a horrible life. Were you abused as a child and you're wondering, what's wrong with this world? And God was saying to you at the same time, it's pretty sick, isn't it? But see, we have a fallen nature which is what causes you and I to turn to this God that we don't even yet claim to believe in and hold him accountable for the stuff that's wrong. We're angry at him and we're not even sure if we believe in him yet. And then God speaks to us in the word, what was going on in Paul's mind when Jesus revealed himself on that Damascus road must have been incredible. Was he coming to the point where he's thinking now how unfulfilled he is? He's reached the top of his game. He's got this status and look, we all know this one. He was empty. We know this about you. If you're not a follower of Jesus, we know something about you that you don't know until right now. We know that you're empty. I got money, Jack, I've got power, I got status, I got fame, I got recognition, I got the house, the boat, the plane, you're empty. You're searching because none of those things can satisfy your lonely soul. And what Paul is speaking is deep stuff. You want religion? You're not going to find it here. Paul is saying forget that. God has given us the law to show us we can't get from here to heaven on the law because nobody's perfect. There's only one. First Corinthians chapter 2, verse 6 says, however, we speak wisdom among those who are mature. That's what I praise happening here right now. By the way, Paul's speaking to a church in Greece, Corinth. So when we speak the word of God, we're talking about speaking right here right now to believers. Somebody told me sometime ago, I've heard it numerous times, but you know, Pastor Jack, the church would get bigger if you didn't teach the way you do on Sundays. What? No, I'm not going to listen. Change Sundays, make it more, do what you do on Sunday on Wednesday when there's a more committed group of people. Make it easier on Sunday and by the way, make it shorter and you'll have a lot of, you'll grow. How far did some of you have to walk to get here today from your parking spot? There's people in overflow right now. Are we here doing church to make a big church? Nope. We're doing this. We're here right now with a Bible open and listen, we together are coming to the Word of God to see the wisdom of the ages, which is not some performance, but this book. It's God's Word. And Jesus said, my sheep will hear my voice and they'll follow me. That's the Word of God. And so Paul is saying, when we speak the truth, there's going to be those who are of God who are going to say, wow, that's just right there, man. And there's going to be people who are going to say, when is this over? I got to get out of here. All of that is good news. It means the Holy Spirit is moving. So listen, nor of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, verse 8, which none of the rulers of this age knew had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But the natural man, this is the unsaved man, he may be religious, but he's natural, he's not supernatural, he's not born again, does not receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them. Why? Because they are spiritually discerned. There are those who gather together in church and they just do time and they think somehow it's marked down. They can't tell you what was said, what was taught and they don't even understand it. But they're religious. And Paul is saying it's time to stop that to get back to the truth because the truth is factual. You open up this book, ladies and gentlemen, you start reading this book and you'll find out something about this book and it will absolutely get inside of you. We've often said that you're not just reading the Bible, you think you are, the Bible actually got you. It's reading you. This book gets inside of you, it gets inside your thoughts and it goes to work. And it's awesome. Listen, the other thing is this in verse 7 is that the truth is surgical. Now that's a violet word, isn't it? It's surgical. I had to have that surgically removed. That's serious. Have you noticed that if somebody's got skin cancer, what do the doctors do? Listen, do they cut out the cancer? Yes and no. They cut out the cancer and what else? And a lot of good skin also. Why? Because they want to get it all. But they're very surgical about it. If you've got cancer on your shoulder, we're not cutting your ear off, but we're going to take enough to make sure that we got it all off your shoulder. Are you with me? Surgical. The truth is surgical. The truth of God. God's truth. And the Bible here says, I, Paul says, I would not have known sin except through the law. You see, it's the law of God. In this case, he's referring to not the 613 laws that were given in Judaism, but he's talking about the 10 commandments. 10. And Paul is saying, the 10 commandments announced to me, I'm a sinner, the 10 commandments. It says right here that I wouldn't have known sin, that weren't known in Greek as ganosco. Look at the meaning of it. I wouldn't have known sin without the law to come to the place of being able to recognize it. I wouldn't have been able to recognize it without the law. Regarding sin, I wouldn't have been able to perceive it. Regarding sin, I wouldn't have become aware of it. It's to understand what was previously not understood, ganosco. A very powerful reality that causes sin to become obviously wrong. You start to wake up to what's wrong. God is stirring your heart. You may not have any Bible knowledge. Watch this. You may not have any Bible knowledge, but the Bible says right now, you should not steal. God says, don't steal. And then you start thinking about stuff you've lifted from the office or you moved the decimal point over in that piece of paper or whatever it is. God says, don't steal. God says, don't lust after your neighbor's husband or wife. Don't look at them with desire. God says, don't do that. Think of it. And God goes down the line. But at the top, He says, love me with all of your heart. And that's where I failed, by the way. I don't have to worry about two through ten. When I became a Christian, I realized the reason why I came to Christ is because it was very clear to me that I had failed number one. God's word is very surgical. So much so, listen to this Hebrews chapter four, verse 12. Listen, oh my goodness, for the word of God is living and powerful. Think of that. Sharper than any two-edged sword. Think of a scalpel coming at you. And you're standing there and you're thinking, I'm okay. No, they're wrong. Feel anything. Sharper than any two-edged sword. Peer seen even to the division of the soul and spirit and the joints and the marrow and as a discernor of the thoughts and the intense of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him, to whom we must give an account. The Bible says this of its authority to dive inside of us. Absolutely incredible. Just when you thought it was over and you got religion, you might hear a message like this and God says, that's not it. You won't find me there. Well, I've been a member of the first Baptist of the past 50 years. God says, waste of time. Well, I serve and I give and I do this. God says, I don't want it. God wants your life. Not your wife. He wants your life. Your life, personally, to know you on a day-to-day basis. And when the reality of God's law hits you, you're no longer wanting religion. You're no longer wanting the rules because you realize, holy cow, do I need to get away from this? This is a silly analogy, but you know how we pretty much conduct ourselves as adults, but you might be standing around whatever. It doesn't matter where you're at. It wouldn't matter. The environment is completely irrelevant. You feel a little tickle in the back of your neck. You're not excited. That's funny. It must be a little hair or something. And you're talking to some friends and then you feel it more. And then you reach back there and you feel this huge spider jump onto your hand. What do you do? You just go, oh, wow. Oh, I know spider. Is that what you do? How is it? I'm 200 pounds. How is it? Kind of a little spider that weighs. Who knows what kind of a size can turn me into a screaming crying little wimp? Oh, get away, get away, get away, get away. Don't act like you don't do that. You're all like, you feel something. You see it's a spider and you flick it off and run around in your old hippie-gabie doubt about it. Think of that picture when you think of the law revealing sin to you. You've been thinking this about your husband, your wife, or your neighbor, or your kids, or your parents. And God says, I see that. And you like, you jump like a spider on your neck, spiritually speaking. Because God reveals Himself to you and He says, I know you. Here's what's amazing. God knows us and He loves us anyway. How's that? Acts chapter 2, verse 37. You guys okay? Acts 2, 37. Acts chapter 2, verse 37. Now when they had heard this, this is the preaching of the gospel. They were cut to the heart. Sounds like Hebrews 4-12, huh? And said to Peter into the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? So stop right there. Peter was preaching the gospel. They were convicted to the heart. Surgical strike by the word of God. You want to know if God's real? Do something wrong. If you don't feel anything about it, then you're dead. If you, in your heart and mine, it's, I should never have done that. Oh, in fact, Jack, just the thought, just what you said, go do something wrong. I can't. You want to know why you can't? Because the Holy Spirit inside of you has written God's law not on stone, but on your heart. God, the Holy Spirit comes inside of you and establishes the holiness of the law and you don't get proud about it. You get more humbled by it because you're the one who knows as a believer and a follower of Christ that what God is doing in your life, he's doing it and you're not. You don't walk around all pride, all proud. Can you imagine a Christian that is arrogant? Yes, hi. Aren't you blessed to have me in your presence? That is insane and impossible. The more God will use you, the more He'll take you out of the knees to make sure He gets the glory. And that's a beautiful way to live. What do we do? What shall we do? And Peter says something. Verse 38, listen to this. Peter says something that many churches will not mention. Peter said to them, repent. That's it. Repent. The word in Greek is meta-noia. Noia, mind, think, meta again, over. Think over. Think again. Change your thinking. The way you've been thinking, think different. That's why this word was used in the first century for saling ships. Hey, the navigator says to the Helmsman, repent. It means turn 180 degrees now. It's a nautical term. Turn your ship around. Biblically speaking, turn your mind around. Everybody gets offended with the word repent. I can't believe you said that word. Listen, there is no salvation. There's no heaven without that word. Zip, not a knit, none. No heaven without repentance. That word is the first word of the gospel. Did you know that? Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Peter says, repent and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Repent. Change your mind. That's surgical friends. Do you agree? That's to the point. This Jack Hibbs podcast as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities are listener supported. 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