Living In The Great Divide

Real life presents the Jack Hibbs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. You are living right now at a time where God is dividing what is, watch my fingers, the church from what is his church. That divide is happening right now. And right now we are in a time when I believe God is shaking the church to see what fruit hangs in there. Are you with me? Do you understand them that? What stays on the tree versus what falls to the ground? 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. We begin now here. Verse 3 says for even Christ not please himself but as it is written the reproach of those who reproached you fell upon me. I need only to circle that in your Bible. You ought to highlight that because this is a glorious declaration it's extremely deep and it is this. According to Paul who's writing the book of Romans chapter 15 verse 3 he knows exactly what he's talking about and this speaks to us today 21 centuries later. When he says Christ did not please himself but as it is written and now he quotes the 69th Psalm write it down in your notes Psalm 69 and verse 9 says this because the zeal of your house has eaten me up. This is speaking of the Messiah. So the Messiah is speaking to the Father because the zeal of your house has eaten me up and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen upon me. Technically the letter or the M in me should be capitalized as it is in my Bible. Me is Messiah the anointed one. Jesus is saying it's referring to the Messiah that the the Lord's house they have abused it and they've abused me. That's what the Messiah is saying and this is very very powerful. Psalm 69 verse 9 if you want to write that right down in the margins next to verse 3 it's valuable if you do that but listen how do we know and this is a diagnostic question it's very good for all of us so I'm gonna ask you I'm gonna be sarcastic deliberately and you're gonna forgive me in advance we're just playing around right now if Psalm 69 says that and Paul the Apostle who was a Hebrew of the Hebrews quotes it then how do we know in the 21st century if Jesus is truly the Messiah and if our Bible is really real should we even invest in our Bible how do we know for sure listen this is critical you have no idea if the New Testament's true unless you've read and studied the Old Testament here's one of those dividing points in what is called Christianity we are now in the days where God has waited and waited and waited and he's given us time to study the full Council of God what does that mean to read Genesis to Revelation we're all supposed to know it so that when the Old Testament verse is quoted like it is right here right now it should jump off the page of your Bible look at your Bible it doesn't say in verse 3 and so I Paul quote Psalm 69 insane the reproach of those who reproached you fell on me you know what are you guys with me you know what he's assuming he's assuming the reader already knows that today you can stop by any church in America and ask or find out if they ever studied the Old Testament or do they reference the Old Testament and if that church is ignorant to the Old Testament they don't have any assurance that the New Testament is real you've made an assumption that you can't support the reason why we believe in the New Testament is because the Old Testament said oh by the way look for this when the Messiah comes and you'll be able to put one and one together and you'll be able to come up with two and this is critical because we have eyewitness accounts so if the Old Testament said it and the New Testament recorded it now we've got a case that we can enter into the hearing the courtroom John chapter 2 verse 13 watch this John chapter 2 verse 13 now the pastor of the Jews was at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem and he found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves and the money changers doing business and when he had made a whip of cords he drove them out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen and poured out the changers money and overturned the tables and he said to those his soul doves take these things away do not make my father's house a house of merchandise then his disciples remembered that it was written the zeal for your house as eating me up you guys the disciples by this at this time were mirror most of them mirror Galilean fishermen but they were Jews who had been brought up in the Old Testament scriptures and when they saw Jesus do that they all concluded oh my gosh this is exactly what we were brought up on in synagogue every week we recognize that we recognize Christ through the scriptures think of that this is very powerful listen to this there's more Isaiah 56 verse 7 even them I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful over my house of prayer their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations this is a huge statement by the way it's not only God's house of prayer this it's more than the temple in Jerusalem God is saying yeah sure go to the temple and pray just know this it's a place of prayer for how many nations wow think of it does that mean Gentile nations yeah Gentile nations and Israel wow Matthew 21 verse 3 this is why we love our Bibles Matthew 21 3 and if anyone says anything to you Jesus is saying you shall say the Lord has need of them and immediately he will send them what is this he is announcing the fact that the revelation of his Palm Sunday announcement was set up by the fact that God was at work putting these things together Mark 11 verse 17 then he taught saying to them is it not written my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations but you have made it into a den of thieves Jesus said that quoting you now know exactly the Old Testament wow so Christ is announcing and this is something that you have to if you say Jesus is not Messiah if that Jesus is not the anointed one you've got some explaining to do Lucy because Jesus Himself applies the Old Testament passage to Himself you got to get through that one and then Paul the Apostle the great student of the Word of God and the disciples and the Apostles also apply Jesus to that folks it's time to change your mind about who Jesus is look at John chapter 5 this is awesome John chapter 5 you guys do with me John chapter 5 verse 37 says and the Father Himself Jesus is speaking who sent me has testified of me you have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his form but you do not have his word of biting in you because whom he sent him you do not believe this is Jesus speaking of himself you search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life and these are they which testify of me but you are not willing to come to me that you may have life notice the connection here he's speaking to the scribes and Pharisees the professional religionist and he's saying to them God sent me to you as he foretold in the scriptures you search those Old Testament scriptures and you study them day and night but you are refusing to recognize what they say if you recognized what they said you would know that the Father sent me to you but you're not willing that's about as crystal clear apologetic as you can get Jesus is the same hey you know you guys been studying all your life yeah and you guys know about the anointed one right yeah that's the Messiah that's right you know all the miracles I've been doing opening the eyes of the blind raising the dead un loosening or untying people's tongues so they can speak cleansing people of leprosy yeah yeah we saw that they all said they saw it all the guys that said we don't believe you Jesus is why do you not believe me because of the miracles he drew it right out of them they said no we we see the miracles we recognize that man that's amazing the miracles that were awesome were the same miracles that condemned these guys to damnation because they wouldn't believe listen it's not that they wouldn't believe in the miracles they believed in the miracles they said no another miracles are great but we will not come to you because you have declared yourself to be God and that gets in our way and Jesus is announcing to them you're not willing to learn this out of his own mouth this is one of my favorites Luke chapter 24 this is awesome if I were to ever do a movie which I would never would I would love to have this done just because it's it's awesome holy it's pure it's very comical it's precious this is Sunday evening after the resurrection morning we we would call it on resurrection day or Easter day now on the first day of the week very early in the morning they insert another woman with them came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared this is the morning hours of it but they found the stone rolled away from the tomb and when they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus and it happened as they were greatly perplexed about this that behold two men stood by them in shining garments obviously they look like men but they're wearing shining garments I think they're angels then as they were afraid and about their faces to the earth they said to them that is the two shining garment men here angels why do you seek the living among the dead now this is I'm sorry this is funny the women went to the tomb in the morning to bring the embalming fluids remember because they didn't get a chance we know from another gospel where it says that at the resurrection Christ had been risen from the dead and then there's a great earthquake and it says that the stone was rolled away interesting if you do the chronology of it Jesus rose from the dead and then the stone was rolled away it's like Jesus didn't rise from the dead and like can somebody move the stone away so I can get out of here he rose from the dead and then at some point later an angel rolls the stone back the Bible says it was like an earthquake an angel rolls the stone back and then the angel sits on top of the stone and listen if you go to the garden tomb it is a big big opening so it had to be a big big stone and he's sitting there what was he doing he sitting there an angel is sitting there and he's like and and and they come running up and they see him and there's there's numerous visitations by different groups of people yeah on that morning and there's various encounters with angels here there's the two angels and but they say something awesome this is a tomb where you put dead people and the angel say why are you here why are you here looking for somebody who's alive is it come on church that's some great divine sarcasm angels can put it on when they want to they can lay it down the women are all there they go to all the spices what's where is he what do you mean where is he why are you here why are you looking for the living where the dead hang out he's not he's alive this is for dead people he's gone he's not here he's risen from the dead I just love this now watch what happens so it says he's not here he's risen remember how he spoke to you when he was in Galilee saying the son of man this is what Jesus said the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful man and he crucified and on the third day rise again okay so that plays out verse 13 fast forward same chapter now be hold two of them this these are two disciples now it's in the evening we're traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus which was about seven miles from Jerusalem and they talked together of how these things which had happened and so it was while they conversed and reasoned that Jesus himself drew near and went with them okay you got two guys walking along and then here comes Jesus whoop he just pulls alongside hey and they're walking you got it you got to put yourself in their sandals this is epic it's amazing so Jesus draws near to them he's and he's with them verse 16 but their eyes were restrained so that they did not know him and he said to them what kind of conversation is this that you have one with another as you walk in our sad this is Jesus asking them the question hey what are you guys bummed out about and then verse 18 the one whose name Cleopas answered and said to him are you the only stranger in Jerusalem and have you not known the things which happened there in these days like what's wrong with you I mean you've got to be some kind of stranger I mean everybody knows what happened this is beautiful I wonder if Jesus is like kind of like holding back a smile it's precious and so he says in verse 19 what things so they said to him the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth who was a prophet might indeed and word before God and all the people and how the chief priest and the rulers delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him but we were hoping listen they lost hope we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel indeed besides all this today's the third day since these things happened yes and certain women of our company remember their earlier verse who arrived at the tomb earlier astonished us when they did not find his body and they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said he was alive and a certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women it said that was James and John but I'm sorry Peter and John but him they did not see then Jesus said to them all foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all the prophets have spoken ought not the Christ who have suffered these things and enter into his glory and beginning at Moses that's Genesis and all the prophets Jesus expounded to them all the scriptures the things concerning himself then they drew near to the village where they were going and he indicated that he would have gone on further but they constrained him they begged him come inside it's the sun is setting we've got to come inside abide with us for this toward evening and the day is far spent and he that's Jesus went in to stay with them now it came to pass that as he sat at the table with them that he took bread he this is awesome okay pause right there this is not even his house notice he takes the bread do you love this he didn't say excuse me but you guys mine I know something else but can I take the bread he takes the bread it's his house and it's his bread if you're God it's everything's yours and so where was I he said a table verse 31 then no verse 30 now it came to pass that as you said at the table he took the bread blessed and broke it and watch and gave it to them right verse 31 then their eyes were opened and they knew him now stop right there at that semicolon many scholars believe that their eyes were veiled from recognizing him because it wasn't like it wasn't like who I'm gonna put smoke screen on you it's because we know and from other scriptures that when Jesus rose again from the dead he bore his scars remember what they had done to him that plucked out his beard they had disfigured him terribly in his resurrected body in the second coming the Bible tells us that Israel will question him as to the scars on his body isn't that wild by the way that's that's certainly in surely speaks of resurrection not reincarnation somebody has lovingly said the the only man made thing in heaven are scars upon the Lamb of God but notice that their eyes were opened those same scholars believe that when Jesus stretched out to hand them the bread that's when they saw the holes in his hands and that's what would have caused them to recognize him and then look he vanished from their sight okay that had to be awesome again they probably look they the hands and this and they look at each other and they look back and he's gone then they slapped each other in the face I'm making this up sorry they had to slap each other around to see if they were sleeping that that's not in the Bible I just made that part up verse 32 and they said to one another here it is did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us on the road and while he opened the scriptures to us the Jesus you and I worship those things written beforehand scream Jesus Christ we like Peter we join in and say we have not followed continually device fables we're not following stories here we're following the facts Christ is risen from the dead that's what the New Testament reports because the Old Testament made the promise that's how we know the Old Testament is true because the New Testament records what was written in advance that's how certain your faith can be folks that's amazing it's not an experiment it is absolute certainty that what you believe in can carry you all the way through through death's door and into the presence of Almighty God safe and sound this Jack Kibs podcast as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities are listeners supported will you consider partnering with us through a special gift go to jackhibs.com to learn more and stay connected