Let's Go With God

Real life presents the Jack Hibbs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints, and impact our culture. Surrender. Give it up. Holy Spirit, do what you want to do in my life. I will read your word and I will step out and do your word, but I know I can't do your word in another of my own strength. It's impossible. So Lord, I'm going to step out. You do it through me. I will obey. 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. Matthew 9 verse 35, I love this. I just love this. This to me is so precious. And to me, this just displays the nature of our God. Then Jesus, that's God in skin visiting earth, went about all the cities and villages teaching in the synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Verse 36, but when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion. The word moved with compassion. It means that he felt so deeply for them that it made him, the word means to become sick. Frankly, the word look it up. You won't believe me, but it means to have your bowels on edge. Your bowels is the deep-seated gut of feeling. Have you ever seen something where it affected you so much that you couldn't even eat? You didn't want to eat? Your heart was broken. When we say, oh my heart just broke over that situation. We know what you mean, but what really happened to you was you were moved with compassion. Jesus saw the people. And when he saw the multitude, he was sick, he was stomach. Wow, what would trouble God so much? Well, he tells us because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest and send out laborers into the harvest. Number two, in our point, is verses 16 to 18, and that is the good, good sovereignty of God. Is this? Is that, is an anchor, a very anchor to his justice? God is just. And he operates his justice in his sovereignty. God alone is judge. Think about that. So the first thing we see in verse 16 is the fact that God is just in his plans. I want to make sure you heard that right. He's just in his plans. He's not adjusting his plans. His plans don't change. He doesn't have a plan B. So then it is not of him who wills or him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. What does that mean? Listen, it's not up to you and me to will what things will be and will not be. Boy, I'm going to step on some toes right now, but stick your feet out there because I'm going to be happy to do it. You know, there's people running around in their theology because of their denominational persuasion or emotion, and they believe that they can tell God what to do. This verse right here debunks that totally. It's not for you to will what will be and what will not be. I claim it. I'm just claiming it. What what do you claiming that God wants me rich? I don't think God wants I don't think you're claiming it to God's not claiming nothing. God's saying who is that? You do not say to the sovereign God because I will this. He must do this. He's not your servant. He's not your Santa. He's God. And he being God can never violate his will or his word. And then the Bible tells us, nor of him who runs, that is I'm going to do this. I'm going to do the other. Didn't James tell us don't talk like that? James says, use pray if the Lord wills. We will go and do business and such and such and come back. It's not up to do. And all of a sudden this is an amazing stringent or acetone as it were that strips away the veneer and reveals it all. Are you living for your will? Are you a fair weather follower of God? Are you going to go with God as long as God goes with you? What if the day is when God says I'm going this way and I'm inviting you to come with me and you don't want to go that way? Because you didn't expect bumps or drought or snow that deep or whatever it might be. God says we're at war. This is the end of the age. Souls. The men of souls is at stake. Come with me. And we say no, that's a little bit too much. I'm going to do it my way. God has nothing of it. And we're going to do it this way. How much in ministry today in this world is being done in the name of Jesus and He is a thousand miles from it. This won't be for long and it's probably a good thing but in America you can throw enough money at something and make it look anointed. Don't worry. When the money is gone the anointing will still be there. If this is exalted, Christ's name is praised and we look to Him to obey. You won't have to worry. Our kingdom is in heaven and God has His plans and it's quite awesome. Now here's a stiff cup of coffee coming up here. Romans chapter 3, verse 10. As it is written there is none righteous. No, not one. Right? There is none who understands. There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is none who does good. No, not one. Proverbs chapter 14 verse 12 says, there is a way that seems right. By the way, the word seems right. The word means there is a way that seems smooth and easy to a man, but that way ends in death. That's what it means. Doesn't that rhyme? Do you get that immediately with what Jesus said broad as the way that leads to destruction and many people around that path? You think about a broad path and there's a lot of people on it. There's a lot. Think about it. You're on a broad path. Obviously, it must be pretty easy and there's a lot of people with you so we're social creatures, so we're with a bunch of people and we're all just tooling along, assuming there were Christians, never digging in deep and going into the Romans chapter 9 to find out if we really are or not, to see if the fruit of the spirits coming out of our life and the trail left behind is righteousness. Is there mercy left behind? Wherever I go, is there compassion left behind? We are like God's priests, believers, carrying the presence of God. And wherever mercy goes, you have to go. Or I should flip that around. Wherever you go, mercy will go. Is it true? If I go somewhere, would there be compassion? If I go somewhere, would there be generosity? Are you hearing me? This is strong stuff. You do understand that it's so obvious that we live in a time and an age where we really get serious about the things we've got. And God is asking you. He's asking me today. Wherever you go, is there evidence? Is there without a word? Can I look and see that there's compassion that's following your life? Are people blessed by your mercy, blessed by your right deeds, righteousness doing the right thing? Are you a shady Christian? Or when somebody says, I don't know that guy was a Christian. Oh, that's the last thing everyone here. Can you imagine? Wait, you said that guy was a Christian. Okay. Oh my goodness. Could you imagine somebody saying that about you? Oh, no, listen. The Bible says in Lamentations chapter 3 verse 22, The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercy never comes to an end. And if that wasn't enough, they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. That's God. precious. Secondly, under this second point, is God is just in His actions. And all of His actions. God is just. Okay, you guys ready? Everything that we've come to has been set up for this moment. You guys awake? Look at verse 17, for the scripture, that is the Old Testament, says, to the Pharaoh, quote, for this very purpose, I have raised you up, that I may show my power in you. Don't answer. We're in a seminary class right now. There's a chalkboard, you're in class. Don't answer. Look at the verse. The scripture says that God announced to Pharaoh, for this purpose, I have raised you up, that I may show my power in you. Knowing the nature of God now, scratching the surface, don't answer. But what is God saying here? See, you and I lived three thousand, three and a half thousand years later in this time's on. We know how this ends. What if you didn't know how this ends? What if you were back then with Pharaoh, right then? God speaks to Pharaoh and says to Pharaoh, hey, Pharaoh, for this reason, for this purpose, I have raised you up, that I may show my power in you. How is this going to go? No. In Romans chapter 9. In Romans chapter 9, the communication regarding Pharaoh is this, Pharaoh had a choice on what he was going to do. Choose Pharaoh. Technically, I can look at this verse and say thousands of years ago, for this very purpose, I have raised you up, that I may show my power in you. Pharaoh, I'm going to use you. You are going to be a great example of what I want. I want my children of Israel out. It's time for them to come back home and you are going to be a tremendous tool in accomplishing that very thing. Is that how it ended? No. Could it have ended that way? Could have, who would have known? Who did know? Who knew how it was going to go? The entire time before Pharaoh was ever born. God did, based on his foreign knowledge. God knew how this was going to go. He didn't make it go. He knew how it was going to go. Verse 17 continues and says that my name may be declared in all the earth. Therefore, he has mercy on whom he wills and whom he wills, he hardens. So, what do we know about this? The word hardens, listen to this. The word hardens is to set in place by one than the other to set in place. The word in Greek means to be or to be coming hardened in case for encasement to become more and more hard or hardened. How many times did Moses say to Pharaoh that God told me to tell you, let my people go? How many times? Ten times. How many times did the Bible say that God hardened Pharaoh's heart? Ten times. How many times does it say that Pharaoh hardened his own heart? Ten times. Watch this. We can't do them all right now. That would be a lot of verses. Oh, give you enough. Exodus chapter 8 verse 15, check this out. Now remember, we're looking at the word hardened. But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them as the Lord had said. So, everybody wrapping this up, watch, I want your attention. Imagine what cement just came out of the cement truck right here right now up to my knees. It just got poured and I'm standing in it and I'm talking to you and I'm able to move in it because it's wet. Exodus chapter 8 verse 32. But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also. Neither would he let the people go. Exodus 9 verse 12. But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he did not heed them just as the Lord had spoken to Moses. You see that? You see what's going on here? Exodus 9 verse 34. And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more and he hardened his heart. He and his servants. Are you tracking with this everybody? We're almost done. I'm standing in cement right now and you tell me, get out of the cement and I say, well, don't tell me what to do. I'm in charge of my own ship. And somebody says, you better get out or let my people go and you just keep standing in the cement. Without you're so bent on resisting this command because of pride that you don't realize how it's getting harder to move. Listen, when you were young, maybe, or at some certain time of life, and I remember it like it was yesterday on Friday, all my life, I thought girls stunk. They had they had kudis and you stay away from them. And then Monday morning, what happened? They smell fantastic. There's skin. And how does that happen? It's just like, and I don't know what age that was. I tried to try to try to forget all that stuff, but it's like, oh, and then there goes Mary. And it's like, what happened? And then there's a situation that's forming and you can hear a voice in your head saying, don't do this. Now listen, don't do this. And you keep inching toward the don't do this. You guys look so pious right now at me. Every single one of you know exactly what I'm talking about. And you cross the line. You cross the line and the red lights are going off. Alarms are screaming and you can hear a horn. And your conscience is so convicted. Are you not? And you say, never do that again. Until next Tuesday. The alarms went off. The lights were red. And you heard his voice. Shouldn't have done that. Nine times. On the 10th time, there's no more lights. Have you noticed? No more hesitation. In fact, now you're planning on meeting up again for the 11th. Are you or what I'm saying? You know what's happened? Hardened your heart. You stood in the cement. And it got hard. Pharaoh said, nope, not gonna let him go. Nope. And God says, okay, then here's a little bit of hardening. Nope, not gonna let him go. Well, here's some more. He stood, Pharaoh stood until the cement was set. You and I may be guilty of the exact same thing. Is your heart soft and gentle? And are you calling out to God or make me like a child? Give me child like faith. In this world, make me strong against the evil, but make me soft toward you, God. Or are you saying, I don't need God. I got this. Stand on my face. God is saying, you need to come to me. You need to come to me. My son died on the cross for you. Leave me alone. Until you hear this. God says, I'm trying to reach you. I'm trying to reach you with my son. Your heart is so countless. You can't hear anywhere. Everybody points at Pharaoh. From hell, Pharaoh's pointing at us. Don't do what I did. I'm sure would be his cry. You see, friends, listen, this whole thing with God in his nature, it is a crime in my opinion. And I believe it's bivocally accurate to label God as some sort of capricious tyrant that condemns people to hell based on his own dislikes. God in his foreign knowledge knew exactly what you would do when the gospel would be presented to you. And probably for most of us in the West, the gospel has been presented to us a thousand times. But have you ever said yes? You should say yes. This Jack Kibs podcast as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities are listener supported. Will you consider partnering with us through a special gift? Go to jackhibs.com to learn more and stay connected.