Returning

Real life presents the Jack Kibs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. The fact is, he conquer the grave meaning that the grave cannot hold you dead. Jesus said of a man dies believing in me, he shall live, he broke the grave. You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackkibs.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 Kibs. You and I are living in the day when truth is under attack, but truth cannot lose. It's a divine attribute and we'll need to wake up to that because the things I'm going to be giving you are truth. And that's where we begin. Jesus Christ came proclaiming truth. In John chapter 8, verse 32, Jesus said, you shall know the truth and the truth will make you free. Free, liberated, set free. When you're, listen, when you have the truth that sets you free, you are no longer bound by the opinions of people. When somebody says something about you, it no longer matters because you know what Christ says about you. And when God looks at you, you turn to Him and you say, Jesus, I love you, Jesus, I want to know you. Maybe today you're saying, Jesus, I'm just now meeting you. According to the Bible, the scripture says that he will not refuse you, but he will take you in. And God does the most amazing thing and I encourage you to do that today. When you open up his Bible, he's going to give you truth and that truth is going to be speaking to you about what God thinks about you and the plans that God has for your life. More than ever today, we need to get away from the, watch my fingers, the truth of this world and get to the truth of God. People today are becoming disillusioned because they don't know what's real. And that's actually good. You do not know what's real. That's why I'll stick with the Bible. I'll stick with the book of God that's thousands and thousands of years old. People have come and gone trying to disprove it every time they attack it. It just stands shinier, brighter and bigger. God's truth is not going anywhere. Number two, Jesus Christ came shining light, shining light, illumination, understanding. And first John, chapter 1, verse 7, first John 1, 7, the Bible says if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, you know, God dwells in the light. He is light. But the Bible says if we walk in the light, that is we walk in the presence of God. You can do that today. You never have to be alone again. We have fellowship one with another that says brothers and sisters and listen to the act of. This is in the act of tense. This is amazing. You walk with God. This is what happens. Louis blood of Jesus Christ, his son cleanses us from all sin. Watch how this happens. Jesus died in the cross for our sins. The Bible says he washed away our sins at the cross. All of mankind's sins. Watch this. We're done away in Christ. You said, well wait a minute. Then why do I need to accept Christ? Because he paid for those sins at the cross, but his account, there's no transfer of funds, so to speak, into your account, unless you accept him. Do you understand that? He paid for it all. But you don't get the benefit from that unless you ask him to transfer from his account, his righteousness, into your account. And that comes by asking him to save you. That you believe you are a sinner and that Christ died for you personally and that he wants to save you. And you acknowledge that and he transfers his righteousness over to your account. If we walk in the light, God takes care of the rest. Jesus Christ came to shine the light of his life into us. That's why being a Christian is not something that we do. Being a Christian is what he does in us. It's a big difference. Number three, returning means that Jesus Christ came confronting sin. That's what this morning's all about. The cross. Jesus died on the cross to confront sin. Number four, Jesus Christ came, hallelujah listen, conquering death, conquering death, death, death, death, dead, the numbers of dead, the numbers who have died. Guess what? I'll probably get censored for this. I've had physicians tell me we don't know now who and how many have died of what? All of the records now have been skewed. And for decades ahead it's going to ruin science. Did you know that? Because people are registered as having died from COVID. But what happened was they died by a heart attack, but they might have tested positive. And so it went down as a COVID death, not a heart attack. And that drives the cardiologist crazy for future research. Multiply that a hundred times in all these various things. What am I saying? All of a sudden that this thing that came upon our land and upon the world has made this announcement. I wonder if you caught it. All of a sudden the world has declared death is unacceptable. Right, think about it. You can't take off your mask or go outside until no one dies. That was one of the comments of Gavin Newsom. We're not going to lift these restrictions until people stop dying. Jesus, Gavin, only Jesus can do that. The answer is Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Are we all of a sudden so concerned about death that will go to great lengths to prevent it from happening? You bet. It's the new rule that accept Christ. Listen, because we're all going to die in this world. You got to die. You got to die. You got to pay taxes. And you got to die. And after you die, you're still paying taxes. Those two things will happen. 100% chance. But Jesus, listen, Jesus came to break the grave. It's not the point that we would live again in the flesh. That's one thing. The fact is he conquer the grave meaning that the grave cannot hold you dead. Jesus said, if a man dies believing in me, he shall live. He broke the grave. Number five, Jesus came defeating hell. Everybody say amen. He robbed Satan of hell itself. Hell. The Bible says that hell was created by God for Satan and the fallen angels. God never said, I'm going to create hell and throw humans in there. It was all about Satan going to his place. And those angels, the Bible says, fell with him by pride. But Jesus came defeating hell. Revelation chapter two verse eight says these things is the first and the last who was dead and came to life. Number six, Jesus Christ came preaching love. This is obvious. I wondered if I should include this, but maybe for some of you you need to hear this. Jesus Christ came preaching love. In John 316 and 17, the Bible says, for God so loved the world, you should put your name in there. That he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. And it's all about love. Did you know that God loves you? Here's a big one. Jesus Christ came answering fear. And Luke 12 32, Jesus said, do not fear. Little flock, where is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom? That is the kingdom of heaven. Don't be afraid. Don't fear. People need to hear this now more than ever. Don't fear. Don't fear. Number eight is mercy. Jesus Christ came extending mercy. And first Peter, chapter one, verse three, the Bible tells us, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has been gotten us again to a living hope. What a great power that is. God's mercy. You have mercy is. Mercy is when you and I deserve to be disciplined or spanked for some transgression. And God doesn't do that. Mercy is justly bringing it, but chooses not to. You do know that, right? Mercy. You know, isn't that grace? No, no, no, that's mercy. That's mercy. Number nine, Jesus Christ came inviting. Listen, inviting repentance. Repentance. Repentance means to change the course. It's a nautical term for saling. If you don't know, then meaning of the word metanoia. In the English, the old English is repent. It means change the course you're on. It's all it means. People get all offended. I can't believe you said that. I come to the church once a year and I'm only there once and you offends me. Listen, repentance simply means turn your ship in the opposite direction. It's what it means. Have you ever heard of the word 180? It's a 180-degree turn. In the old days, they would say to the ship whether they see rocks ahead and the navigator would yield back to the helmsman. Repent and the guy would just wheel that wheel around and turn the ship 180 degrees to save it from crashing to the rocks. In 2 Peter 3 and 9, the Bible says the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness. Meaning, well, what does the God just judge everything? What does he just fry at all? Oh, he will, he is. But he's waiting because you might be the only one that's still not right with God, right? But he's long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And in Proverbs 28, 13, the Bible says he who covers his sins will not prosper. Listen, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. He calls us to repentance. Number 10, Jesus Christ came showing grace. The Bible tells us to listen up, everybody, because this is human nature. If I just become good enough, then God will let me into heaven. Not true, impossible. Why? Ephesians 2.5, 8 and 9 says, When we were dead and trespasses, he that is Christ made us alive together with Christ for by grace you have been saved, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, unless anyone should boast. What does that mean? That means you cannot be good and make it to heaven. In fact, let's be specific. You gotta be bad to make it to heaven, because the person who's good will defend their goodness, even against what Jesus did at the cross. A person that's bad knows they're bad, so that when the gospel message comes to them, they say, yeah, good news, wonderful. God's grace. Number 11, hope, Jesus came announcing hope. And John chapter 4 verse 13, you know the story, Jesus came to the woman at the well who, according to the rulebook, had no access to the kingdom of God. You can read it later, there's a little bit of amazing dialogue that takes place there, but to the point verse 13, Jesus said to her, whoever drinks of the water, this water will thirst again, the water from the well, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. Jesus is talking about spiritual quenching of the soul, but the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. That woman said, Lord, give me the water that you have. And Jesus made it a pointer, the water that I'm gonna give you, once you have it, you'll never thirst again, not like earthly water. Listen, if you're not a Christian, listen up. To the real, real believer in Jesus Christ that you might know. Notice how they've stopped searching. They've stopped trying things. Before you come and meet Jesus, you'll try this. You'll read the Tibetan book of the dead to see if there's enlightenment there. You'll read the various writings of religious leaders to see if there's an answer there. And we've all done that to some degree. We'll try this, we'll try that. Maybe we can get meaning and sex, maybe it can be drugs, I'll have some hallucinogenic journey, and maybe I'll be enlightened. People try stuff all the time, and then someone comes to Christ and you're satisfied. And your search is over. Number 12, Jesus came granting righteousness. There's only one form of righteousness that God will accept into heaven, and that's the righteousness He gives because Jesus paid for it at the cross. And Romans 10 verse 4, the Bible says, for Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. The Ten Commandments. As a result, all who believe in Him are made right with God. Jesus on the cross on Good Friday was answering the demands of the law. The soul that sins it shall surely die. You say, well, but Jesus didn't sin, that is correct. But I did. And Jesus died in my place. The moment that that happened, Christ purchased for me righteousness, for you righteousness. And the Holy Spirit that goes to work in your life, goes to work, calling you, causing you to do righteousness, which is the right thing. God will do that in your life. Number 13, Jesus Christ came offering forgiveness. Seems obvious, right? I'll paraphrase this quickly. It's John chapter 8. You can read it later. I'll just skim over for the details. But there's a woman. The Bible tells us Jesus has come to Jerusalem. He's ministering. He's preaching. He's teaching. And the Bible tells us that the Pharisees, the religious leaders, they find a woman. It's very creepy. It's very creepy because it says that they find a woman who they catch in the very act of adultery, which is creepy. These are religious leaders. And they're spying on this lady who's peaking in the window. And they burst in and they grab her. And they said, we caught her in the very act. They grab her. Think of her shame. They drag her into the streets. And they throw her down at the feet of Jesus. And they said, Moses says in the law that she should be stoned to death. What do you say? And the Bible says that Jesus stooped down and began to write in the dirt. And the Bible tells us that they, being convicted, turned and walked away one at a time each. And it says in scripture that they departed the oldest man departed first and the youngest man departed last. There's a lot of seriousness going on in that. He probably stooped down and began to write. He knew their names because he was God. He probably said, Bob, Bob is an embezzler, Fred. He's a adulterer, Jim out behind 7-11 with bubbles last week. They were convicted. And Jesus told them, whoever is without sin casts the first on. Yeah, guys, go ahead and stoner. Whoever's sinless, let's see it. Let's do it. In the Bible says, the oldest guy left first. Of course, the oldest guy left for you. Longer you live, the more you know how much wrong you've done. The younger, you know you're done when you're young. You think you're fantastic when you're young. When you're young, you think, I'm never dying. I never sinned. And I can do anything. I'm wonderful. You know when you're young, but when you're old, it's like yikes. Amazing. Jesus Christ offers forgiveness. Let me tell you, I'm going to try to wrap this up quick. I've got a minute left. Here's the thing. You can travel the world, my friend. You're not going to find a better deal than this. And I'm not selling pillows or anything else. Although, that is a great pillow. I have a bunch of them. There's no, listen. What Jesus extends to you, there's not a money back guarantee because it doesn't need to be one. What he grants to you, what he gives to you? Well, that's just simply the best. And there's never a recall on it. There's never a need for an upgraded version. Number 14, Jesus Christ came opening heaven. Oh, my goodness. Heaven's open. Hello. Everything's closed. Heaven's not. Heaven's been closed. It's all been open the whole time. Heaven's been open. Heaven's essential. And they're great. Everybody doing on earth, what they do. God looks over a cloud. Heaven's open. Just want to let you know. Heaven's open. Jesus Christ opened heaven. The Bible says announcing to us that those who trust Christ is a great, broad, huge, wide opening to heaven. If you trust Christ, the answer to that is yes. And then 15, Jesus Christ came loving you. True biblical theology tells us that God loved me, you personally. Only God can do that. There's not wishful thinking. Only God could love each and every one of us individually because that task is only doable by God. 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.