Stand Indebted To God

00:00 - Speaker 1 Real Life presents the Jack Hibbs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. 00:09 - Speaker 2 Listen, if you want religion, something bless you. I can't say God bless you. If you want religion, you're in the wrong place. Go to some other place. But if you want to take God up on this challenge, who says to us I want to know you personally, like I spoke with Moses, face to face. I want to have a relationship with you like that. And God does that in the Word of God, the Bible. That's where you'll see the face of God, the Bible. 00:38 - Speaker 1 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. 01:07 - Speaker 2 So when we talk about being indebted to God, the more that we are indebted to God, the more free we are in this world and more liberated we are from the things of this life. And in Romans, chapter 13, verse eight, the Bible says oh no man anything except to love one another. Now let me just say this when it says oh no one anything, it doesn't mean that you can't take out a loan on a house. It doesn't mean that you can't take out a loan on a car If you've got to do that and in this culture of ours you probably do have to do that. But when the scripture says, oh no one anything, it means that we are not to be indebted to someone. So, for example, if somebody says, here, I'll loan you a thousand bucks, but there's a hook to it, you know what I'm talking about everybody. Well, here I look. Didn't I loan you that money? They are playing upon something that you and I handed to them and that is the power to control us. 02:10 And the Bible says don't owe any man anything. We're talking about don't owe in regards to what is known as an unsecured loan. You get that, for example, if I play that verse to my life, I can't buy a house. That's not true. A home is a secured loan. That means, if you don't make your payments, what happens? The bank gets your house. They come out okay, but that's not what we're talking about. It doesn't mean that you don't bless your brothers and sisters when called upon. It means this, though that we live in absolute freedom, to the point that what I owe you is one thing, oh, and that one thing is everything. What I owe you is the love that Christ loves you with. It's the love that God loves me with. That's what I'm to love you with. So, oh, no man, anything except this, which is the greatest thing of all to love you like Jesus loves you. Can I tell you that's the challenge, isn't it? It's not easy to love everybody coming into the parking lot, leaving the parking lot. You know, that's true. You're going to be tested. You're going to be tested on all fronts, and you're going to love one another, and it's a fun experiment. 03:25 By the way, I saw it happen last Wednesday night as I was leaving driving. You know, there seems to be this international rule. It's not written down, but when you're leaving a congested area, people get into the rhythm of letting every other car go. And then there's that other person that refuses to do that and you've seen that and I'm sorry. I don't know if I'm having fun with it or if I'm carnal about it, or maybe God is using me as an instrument to help them grow, but it's every other, every other. And then I see this guy just going like this, and then so I just kind of want to get up there to just kind of see what's going to go on, and I don't need that spot, I'm just the next car up. But they won't give it up. What's going on? So I will pray, lord, speak to them about loving one another and we're to prefer the other above ourselves. Oh, what another. 04:33 The love of God, the debt that you and I are now living and we will live out for all eternity is owing God. All of our praise and worship and thanksgiving and adoration for who he is and the grandeur of who God is. He's absolutely amazing and he purchased heaven for you and I with his blood. He's invited you to come to heaven. He wants you to know his son Jesus personally. You can't buy that, you can't barter for that, you can't make any deals. God wants you to come. 05:06 The Bible tells us in Galatians, chapter 4, verse 19,. My little children, for whom I labor in birth again, until Christ is formed in you. Morphu is the Greek word to shape, sculpt, form, mold, chisel. God is chiseling you and I. He's sanding us until the desired image is achieved. That's what God does in the work that he's doing. It's called sanctification, and the book of Romans is written to the Christian Today. 05:35 Maybe you're not a Christian today and you're wondering what are you talking about? Well, there's no way for you to understand what I'm talking about without God giving you understanding. Paul is speaking to the Roman believers and he's saying to the Christians this is what God is doing. He's reminding you that you are to stand indebted to God in all things and in that comes true freedom. But this word formed is actually a biblical doctrine, as I mentioned a moment ago, that we experience every day as a believer, and that is sanctification. It's going to happen in your life every day Church, family. 06:11 Listen. Today there may be a bit of a reprieve from the dynamic of your life, the pressures All of us are under, and there's things coming. You're thinking, oh, wednesday's coming and I got this thing, or whatever it might be. Just know this. Don't answer out loud. Are you a committed believer to the Lord Jesus Christ? I'm not asking if you're sinless nobody's sinless but are you pursuing Christ? The great truth about that reality is going to be lived out. You can mark it, and that will be that there's going to be things that arise in your life that will demand or require chiseling by the master sculptor and that's God Almighty and he will chisel on you through the hardships of life sanding, shaping. What's he doing that for? He's making us like Jesus. 07:03 The Bible says in Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 10, for we are his workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus, for good works. Listen, god's got this. He made you to live a life in Christ. That's for good works, he said. Jack, I just thought you said religion. I'm not talking about religion. I'm talking about a true Christian life that is filled with good works. 07:27 Did you see some of the good works today in the announcements? You want to bring in stuff to help the kids back to school. You want to get involved to save babies' lives. You want to protect families. Oh, yes, yes, I do. I want to do good works, pastor. Well, you know what To do. 07:42 Good works is not just limited to one area of life. It's not only that you help your neighbor with their trash cans, it's also you got to sometimes call your state senator and say we don't want our kids taken from us. That's good works. Don't parse it out. You can't separate it. 07:59 But that verse in Ephesians 2, 10 goes on to say which God prepared before him that we should walk in them. Everybody, are you guys awake? Look at this. We are his. Poema is the word in the Greek. God has written a poem. Insert your name, created in Christ Jesus for good works. That's your mission. How do we do that? What do we do God? Which listen? God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Whoever you are today, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, god has engineered your footsteps to live a life of good works. That honors him because you are saved. If you don't do that to get saved, you are saved. Our community should know us by our good works. 08:55 Somebody said not too long ago that church, all that church does is stand up against stuff. All they are, they're against things. And I heard that and I told the person. I said listen, if you know that person, go back and tell them this the things that we're standing up against they should be standing up against with us, side by side. Think about that. When things are dangerous, we should stand up. Isn't it funny? When you walk around buildings or you're in an elevator, it says pull this alarm in case of fire. Can you imagine if there's a fire nobody pulls the alarm? Crazy, you're going to be like that. Real joy, real happiness, the real life that Jesus gives us. John, chapter 12, verse 25,. 09:47 Jesus said he who loves his life will lose it. Listen up everybody. Pastor, this is kind of spooky. What are you talking about? Jesus says whoever loves his life will lose it. In other words, if you live for your own pleasure, your own self-seeking ways, at the end you lose. Remember the sticker he who dies with the most toys wins, not true? And he who hates his life or sets his life back as priority in this world will keep it for eternal life. For anyone who serves me, let him follow me, and where I am there, my servant will be. Also, if anyone serves me, him my father will honor. That's a pretty beautiful statement, pretty crystal clear. 10:34 I'm indebted to God. Now you see this If I name the name of Jesus. I've got to come before him and I say Lord. I've got to come before him and I say Lord, I've just read in Romans, chapter 8, I'm indebted to you, live your life through me. I don't want to live my life anymore. I want to make sure that, as of this moment I'm dead and you live in me All of my interests, all of my demands and look, we all have them. 11:01 I'm concerned, like you are, I trust, in the age in which we live in, where people, I think, have emotionally based theology more than biblically based theology. Well, listen, it manifests like this and, by the way, it's extremely heretical. It's very demonic and part of its demonic trick is that you don't realize this. And it sounds like this. You know, I feel that the Lord would want me to be happy. That's demonic. It's not that God doesn't want you to be happy. God wants you to have joy. But see, when you break that down, see what do you mean? God wants you happy. Well, I think I'd be happier with that woman's husband. I think I would be happier if I just crushed that person at the company and had their job instead. Well, I know the Bible says this, but the Lord told me the moment you hear that you've got a wild one on your hands. 12:07 But listen, these people walk in and out of churches, not even saved. They look to themselves for guidance. They're indebted to their own desires. They don't have to be obviously evil and sensual passions and desires or outward displays of evil. They can be internal, very moral. So we want to be very careful. Jesus is announcing to us a remarkable transformation of debt. 12:40 I just want to read this to you. It's a lengthy read. It's important to me so I'll be mechanical about it. Regarding you and I in our lives at this moment, in this age, our human body, these bodies that you and I have, they are a vehicle by which you and I do. How about this? A will, someone's will, is done through my human body, your human body, in some way shape or form. 13:05 Think about a Jepedo. Do you remember Jepedo in Pinocchio? And didn't Jepedo make that guy? And he was supposed to be the little puppet Pinocchio. You move him. Can I submit to you and I know this is crude, but there's something manipulating you. There's something maybe that you're aware of, and it could be even be you, your will, my will, manipulating me, the decisions I make the things that I do, I'm the one doing it, or there's God that is moving you in life, and whichever reality is being lived out in your life is going to be known by others. It'll be seen. It becomes obvious. 13:55 Here's a huge scripture. Read and you can follow along with me on the screens, starting at Matthew 15, verse one. Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus saying why do your disciples transgress the traditions of the elders? You ought to mark that traditions of the elders. You can insert this. Why do your disciples transgress the denominational rules and regulations of our denomination? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread. Are these guys for real? These are the sin snifers and the fault finders of life. Hey, you didn't wash your hands. That's against our denominational rules. Watch this. He. 14:45 Jesus answered and said to them why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? Yeah, you gotta love how he comes back at stuff like this, for God commanded saying honor your father and your mother, and he who cursed his father or mother let him be put to death Hypocrites. Well, did Isaiah prophesy about you saying these people draw near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. When he had called the multitude to himself, he said to them hear and understand. It is not what goes in the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth that defiles a man. Then his disciples came to him and said do you know that? The Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying? But Jesus answered and said to them every plant which my heavenly father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. 15:57 Those three words out of the mouth of Jesus are terrifying. Friends, family, listen, do you know anyone possibly in your life that God is saying let them alone. They know it, they know it, they've heard it, they know it. They won't receive it. This is Jesus speaking, mild mannered Jesus. This is Jesus, the lover of souls. There comes a point when he says let them alone. They are blind, leaders of the blind, and if the blind leads the blind, they'll both fall into the ditch. 16:27 And then Peter answered instead of them, explain this parable to us. And Jesus said are you also without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth, goes out of the stomach and it is eliminated. But those things which proceed out of the mouth speak from the heart. They defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies verse 20. These are the things which defile a man. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man. 17:06 These guys who are saying oh no, how could your disciples do this? You're talking about a legalist, friends. You're talking about people who say this is the way to heaven. We'll tell you how. And this is what you'll do, reminding yourself that we are indebted to God and no man. I mean that humbly, but directly. 17:25 I'm trying to make it very, very clear. We are so indebted to God that we, so to speak, live on our knees and thanks and praise to him. But listen, paul the apostle taught us that no man on earth is worthy or able to judge us as we walk with Christ. Think about that for a moment. And I don't have the right to judge anybody else for that matter. But the point is this I'm to live after God, focused on God and totally indebted to God, and if that really happens in our lives, I can eat a hot dog or fish taco without washing my hands. I do not have to go through the five steps of ceremonial cleansings are you with me? And procedures to obtain a level of membership in my spiritual community whereby now I can be the one who gets the badge and walks around saying I am more spiritual than you are. Those are the traditions of men. Never become indebted to the religion of man. 18:50 - Speaker 1 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.