The Wonderous Work Of 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 This is a great challenge for the church in the 21st century. Know what you're called to do, believer, and then do it with all of your might, Do it with all of your heart and do all that you do to the glory of God and do all that you do to the glory of God. 00:28 - Speaker 1 You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbscom/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. 00:55 - Speaker 2 The book of Philippians, chapter 2, verse 13, says for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure. I love that. I expect that to happen in my life. By the way, God, you said that this is fun. I don't know about you guys, I don't know how you think, but if you want to try thinking like this, go ahead. If not, forget it. But this is God's Bible. This is God's word when he says something. Look, it's amazing to me. First of all, I didn't write it, he wrote it. I didn't make this up, he said it. If he said it, then he's God and he has to do it. So the bottom line is this so, God, do I understand that? Right? It's your desire to work in me, both to do and to will, your purpose in my life. That's your good pleasure, God. So do it. Can you imagine? Do you want to listen? Do you want to be thrilled? Look, I highly recommend obeying Jesus and live a thrilling life. You don't need to buy a bungee cord for this. You don't need to jump off a bridge. You know my life's so boring I think I'm going to jump out of a plane. You know there's people that live like that. They live from adrenaline rush to adrenaline rush. I do not want to even know people like this. Friends have asked us you guys want to go on vacation. You don't want us to go on vacation with you Because our lives are so constant, crazy. All the time when we go on vacation we're just like you need a spatula to turn us over. You guys want to go hike up a mountain? You go. You know what I'm saying. Following him is thrilling and it's a life of discovery in him Because of what he's given to us. 02:47 And so now we begin to look at this list. We start now with this list of the gifts of the Spirit of God, and all the while, church be asking yourself Lord, is this for me? The Bible says in 1 Peter 4, verse 10, as each one that's you has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Verse 11, if anyone speaks these are the verbal gifts of any type let him speak as the oracles of God. Wow, if anyone ministers or serves, that's the other capacity. If anyone ministers or serves, that's the other capacity. Let him do it as with the ability with which God supplies that in all things, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, amen. Awesome. So here's a preamble to the spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, verses 1 and 4 to 7. 03:44 Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant. The word ignorant is not an insult. The word means uninformed. Ladies and gentlemen, I love teaching, I love pastoring a church that is non-denominational. You don't need to raise your hands, but so many of you are Catholics, so many of you are Presbyterians, so many of you are Method, but so many of you are Catholics, so many of you are Presbyterians, so many of you are Methodists, so many of you are Pentecostal. Are you hearing me? There's just everybody. 04:11 And look, a lot of people. I know a lot of people go to their churches and then they come here for Bible study. Did you know that this is not their primary church? You're here right now and now, and you're the member of the First Baptocostal of Pomona or El Segundo or whatever, but you come here for Bible study. I don't care, as long as you're studying the Bible. 04:31 And what's fun about this is that when the scripture tells us don't be dumb about spiritual gifts, guess what Most of the church in the world is dumb about spiritual gifts. They never teach it, like Bible, prophecy is not taught in a church. Many times the gifts of the spirit are not talked about in a church. That's very sad and we have a lot of stunted believers. Charles Spurgeon said we have Christianettes that have to live off of sermonettes because they're not matured. The only way that you mature as a believer is you practice your gift given to you by the Holy Spirit. You want to grow, then get used by Almighty God. And so he says in verse 4 of 1 Corinthians 12, there are diversities of gifts, all kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit, the same Holy Spirit. There are diversities or differences of ministries serving, but the same Lord, and there are diversities of activities. That word activities in Greek is the word energies plural, but it is the same God who works all in all, but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one, that's each one of us, everybody, for the profit of all. 05:49 Did you know that this is a big church? Right here, right now, just this service alone is a big gathering of people. Did you know that according to that verse right here, you and I need one another? The tragedy is we don't even think we need one another. I'll give you an instruction at the end about how much we need one another. Nobody in this gathering should be sitting here saying well, not me, yeah, you. And the reason why you're saying not me or you doubt it is because you are not being used by God, because you are either terrified, timid or scared. 06:24 And he's saying to you today stop playing it safe. Somebody invites you to go to the movies. Do you ever pray about it? Somebody invites you to go watch the Rams play the goats. Do you pray about it? Somebody says you want to go to the beach or go snow skiing. Do you pray about it? No, you say what time are we leaving? When God speaks his truth to you, respond to him we're completely ready to go for anything of this world. And then God says I want you to do this. Well, I'll pray about it. Oh, all of a sudden you're spiritual, huh, when God taps your heart, as he will today for some of you, and he's going to invite you to put in, to practice what you think, what you think he's calling you to do. It's just a thought. Maybe it's him. Step out, watch what happens. You say what if I fail. So what? You can remove that, gift off your list. It's not failing and you'll find your place. It's God's will. It's awesome that you find your place. 07:27 We also know this. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4, verse 4, there is one body and one spirit. So there's one church and there's one Holy Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling. Verse 5, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. You see the word baptism, that doesn't mean water. You can read 1 Corinthians 12 for this one. 07:53 The moment you were born again, john, chapter 3. The moment you were born again, 1 Corinthians 12 happened. The Holy Spirit placed you inside the body of Christ. It's called the Holy Spirit baptizes you into the body of Christ. Don't confuse that with Jesus's baptism upon your life, with the Holy Spirit. You got that everybody. If you don't get that, you're going to have a hard time. 08:22 Verse 6, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gifts. Verse 11, and he himself gave some to be notice. Some watch, let me do it this way. He gave some to be apostles. Let me explain this. I believe, for the record, I believe in all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the reason why even though I've not seen them all happen the Bible gives them. They're a New Testament gifting and there's no area in scripture that says they'll come to an end until eternity comes for us. Okay, you got that. So what about whoa? You mean there's like apostles, not according to the 12 apostles that you and I know in scripture, but there's the ministry of apostleship, and I'm not talking about the guy that was on TV last night calling himself Apostle William. Okay, that's crazy. To be an apostle is not a title, but it's a use of God in your life, meaning are you a church planter? I met somebody last service who was in a ministry and in a family and in a life where her parents they plant churches throughout Ghana, africa. That's very much an apostle type of activity. Are you hearing me? Everybody, don't get all goofy and weird about it. There were the 12 apostles, there's not a 13th and there's not a 435. Those were those guys. This modern day gifting for the church are for church planters, those that forge out into unknown territories, some prophets I'm pointing to this area now just by example, prophets, those who herald forth the word of God. We'll talk more about this toward the end. 10:11 Some evangelists we're all to do the work of evangelists. But there are those who are evangelists. They have an amazing ability to communicate the gospel of salvation to people. Listen, they're not disciple makers, they're evangelists. Big difference their passion is to win people to Christ and listen in the way the church works. The evangelist leads somebody to Christ and then the person says well, what do I do now? And the evangelist says why don't you come right on over here? Here's my friend, a pastor, teacher. And then they are made into disciples for the rest of their lives. 10:54 And some pastors and teachers here's the point for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ Epic, Verse 13. Here's the point also, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a complete or perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the knowledge of the son of God, to a complete or perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, mature believers that we should no longer and here's the benefit, we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine. Have you ever seen people like that? Tragically, you and I know too many people like that. They're like all giddy about this, oh my goodness, and they're all up on this thing. And then they hear something else and they're pulled this way and they're like a feather in a hurricane. It's like good grief, what do you believe? I don't know, but it feels good. And then tomorrow they believe something else. 11:48 Don't be carried to and fro by every wind of doctrine and the cunning listen, there's a warning here that's so, so poignant by the trickery of men. They're out for your soul people. There are demon-possessed people who are out for your soul in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. That's scary. Can you imagine somebody who looks totally normal to you but they're actually like a lion, crouching and following you to pounce upon, to pounce upon, to pounce upon your soul? But speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head, even Christ. What a powerful truth and reality that is. So church, family, mark this down. 12:43 Number seven is that we are to be using what's been given to us. We are to be using what's been given. I'm so happy to say this using what's been given. Don't go invent something. God wants to give you, something to go use. And then we say, well, how do I do that? Let God do it. Now, these are big things. 13:02 This is Bible here, and our human temptation is well, how do I get this to work? You don't get it to work. You present yourself a living sacrifice. Here I am. Lord, show me my gift. Stir up within me what it is that you want me to do. 13:20 For what purpose was I born into this world? You think about that for a moment. Some of you are not Christians. What's your purpose in this world? Eat, drink and be merry man. No, come on seriously. Just wake up and knock it off. 13:32 Why are you alive? Make money, knock yourself out. Why are the people who are making money still searching for meaning in life? Come on, think about it. Why are you living? What's the purpose? This is not an accident. You can't point to any accident. You've been created for a purpose. Jesus Christ has that purpose. He's holding it and you know it's like he wants you to unwrap it. Will you just unwrap it? 14:03 I cannot think of a gift without just taking me back to my childhood of shaking when my parents had gone to bed. I'd sneak back out, I'd go down the hallway at Christmas time and I would find a box that has my name on it and I would shake it. Sometimes I don't know how this happens the paper would get ripped, and if it said Mattel or Hot Wheels, oh if this was going to be great. But you got to unwrap it and maybe in your life, your life's not been unwrapped yet and you don't know why you're living God knows why and you don't know why you're living. God knows why. And so we need to be using what's been given to us. And so he says in verse seven, regarding ministry. The word is in your Bible. Some of your translations say service. That's good Either way. Let us use it in our ministering he who teaches, and this is redundant. Let us use it in teaching ministering he who teaches, and this is redundant. Let us use it in teaching Knowing and using your spiritual gift. 15:16 Listen is how you learn more and more about Jesus, your Lord and Savior. There's no shortcut to this Family. Listen up. You want to know Jesus. How bad do you want to know Jesus. You want to know him really bad. You want to know him. Is your, do you want to know Jesus? You want to know him really bad, you want to know him. Is your heart just saying, whatever it takes, man, I want to know God. This is awesome and that's the work of God. But just know this you can know someone to a point and then you can find out more about what that person is involved in. And if you learn that you can learn more about that person, even more so Are you with me. The more you make overtures toward that person, you get to find out more about the color they like, the food they like. I think you get my point. The closer you get, the more you see them, until, at some point in time, you can't not get close enough to them. 16:09 God's relationship with us is exactly that. He wants you to press into him In a sense. Can you imagine this? He wants you to get so close that when you hug him, your impression is left on his robe. You know, some people do that when they might give. Might give me a hug, and it's okay when I'm wearing a shirt, but it's really not good when I'm at a conference or I have a suit on and if the person's wearing wearing makeup I've had makeup on my shoulder, you know just like it's like somebody. What happened, Pastor Jack? Somebody ran into me at a hundred miles an hour. That's the. Somebody ran into me at 100 miles an hour and that's what's left of their face. 16:48 Well, God wants us to be like that, pressing into him, and we press and we want more of him, and that's a work of God. If I have the time, I'll read something about that to you. But when the scripture says, let us use it. Let us use this gift that God has given you, you'll get to know Jesus in ways you never thought possible, because you know he's out and about touching people's lives and wherever he's doing that, I want to be there and you want to be there, I trust, and when you're like that with him, you wind up picking things up from him. He's amazing, but we are to use what's been given to us, because our God operates in an amazing economy. You waste nothing. You've heard of Doge. God's been operating Doge for a thousand million years, you know. So God says, hey, in the same way, in the same way, I gave you my life so that you can have life and you accepted me into your life as Lord and Savior, and so I've given you this gift, or these gifts, and I want you to use them under my power, and so I want to know how you're doing. 18:06 By the way, that's called the day of judgment for the believer. Did you know that? It's called the Bema seat? Don't listen. Every non-saved human being that has ever lived will stand before the great white throne judgment found in Revelation 20. Nobody in Revelation 20 goes to heaven, not a soul. They're all judged and then they're carted away into hell. Based upon the level of their wrong, they receive punishment. 18:36 Revelation chapter 20, the judgment seat of Almighty God, the great white throne judgment. If you're a born-again believer, the Bible says you'll have no business, you'll have no worry of that judgment, but the believer will appear before the bima seat of Jesus Christ, where Jesus judges his own children, his own family, the church. Based on what? Based on the faithfulness that you and I exercise to what we were supposed to do, and this is critical. You cannot be a Christian who doesn't know what they are supposed to do. If all else fails today, I pray and I'm not joking. I pray that you get no more sleep or no more rest until you hear from him as a believer. This is the reason why I placed you into this world, until you hear the reason why he gifted you with that spiritual gift. 19:40 - 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.