What Do You Have To Say?

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 Do you understand? This is absolutely crazy. If this was Buddhism, hinduism, judaism, islam, you'd not hear any of this. This is the creator, god of the universe, saying come to me quick. I want you saved, I want you with me, I want you born again, I want you to have a new life. I want you saved, I want you with me. 00:30 - Speaker 1 I want you born again. I want you to have a new life. 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. 00:57 - Speaker 2 I love this statement by Dr Albert Barnes. He's now long dead and gone. He says the fact that the gospel has been extended to all nations is proof that it is from heaven, and I love that. You know you might say, well, that's not exactly a big deal, because Apple computers made it around the world. So did Google, and so did you fill in the blank. Yeah, you know what? There was no book ever written about Google before Google showed up. And what can Google do for you anyway? What about Apple? What about Microsoft? What about you? Filled in all these global entity things that have swallowed up the. Hey, listen, I got news for you. 01:38 2,000 years ago the gospel was being preached and without the internet, it made it around the world. Everybody thinks you know, especially young people. Wow, look at that, that's gone viral. You want to talk about viral Bible, viral Bible, viral, like that kind of has a little tune to that. The Bible powered by the Holy Spirit, the Word of God. The Bible powered by the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, because God is one who changes people's lives. And I'm going to tell you right now that when we think about these things, what do we say? We're talking about the unwavering witness of God in his faithfulness. That's what Paul is talking about. God says he'll save, but what about that? Pharaoh? God says he'll save, but what about that? Pharaoh, god says he'll save, but what about Ishmael? God says he'll save, but what about Esau? All of these things in scripture? We do well to understand that when God speaks, he speaks from the nature of absolute love and perfection. And so, as we look at this, mark it down, if you would. 02:50 Romans, chapter 2, going way back a few weeks ago, romans 2. As many as have sinned without the law will also perish without the law. This is talking about Gentiles. They don't have the law, they didn't have the law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law. That's speaking about the Jewish people. They have the law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law. That's speaking about the Jewish people. They have the law, moses, the Ten Commandments and more, for not the hearers of the law are justified in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified. Watch this, for when Gentiles who do not have the law think about, you're not going to see a Gentile holding two tablets labeled 1 to 10. But, by nature, do the things that are in the law. These, although not having the law, are a law unto themselves. I'll explain that in a moment. Verse 15, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts, accusing or else excusing them In the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel, says Paul, the gospel that he preached. So this is an amazing declaration. 04:03 How is it that we now are reading a portion of scripture that is parsing out now Israel, who had the law and the prophets and the commandments, and the Gentiles, who were pagan worshipers? I don't know about you. Maybe you can have a blood test, do your little ancestrycom thing and you might find out that you're actually Jewish. You could be. People find this out all the time. They're a percentage Jewish. I've never done that and so I'm just going to own up that I come from a long line of pagans. High probability you also. But as I say this today by design, because this is what this portion of Scripture is going to tell us is that you are in one of two camps today, you and I and you might be surprised as to how this unfolds, but if we're Gentiles today, according to the scriptures here, we do not have access to the law. We didn't have it. We didn't have the traditions, we didn't have Moses, we didn't have the revelations, we didn't have the prophets. We were pagans and so, as pagans, we worshiped all kinds of things. That's why, as Gentile pagans, we worship the gods of sex, we worship the gods of drugs, we worship the gods of Jim Beam and Jack Daniels, we worship the god of, fill in the blank, self-seeking pleasure. 05:23 And you look at all those gods, by the way, and they actually are manifested in and throughout human culture. Now they're kind of relegated to statues and museums, but there's Pan. You've seen images of Pan. By the way, when you worshiped Pan, do you know what it was called? When you worshiped Pan, it was called panic. Literally, worshiped Pan, it was called panic. Literally, they ran around, went crazy in all kinds of bizarre hedonistic acts and it looked like a mob. And that's where, from the worship of Pan, came the word panic. What about Janus? What about Zeus? What about Athena? All of these pagan gods, these were the ones that we went after. You say, jack, I'll have you know, I never bowed down to any of those gods. You don't have to bow down to those gods to worship the spirits that are behind those gods. 06:17 The Bible says we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. That means none of us are perfect. What do you have to say when he says? What shall we say? Well, the number one thing is absolute surrender. I come to this place and I say God, you need to take over in my life. I realize that, as a Gentile, I realize, I know that in my life I've sinned. And how do you know that? The Bible says God has written his law upon your heart. That's true, by the way, for Jew and Gentile alike. 06:49 Listen, this is important. God doesn't have a section over here for Jews and a section over here for Gentiles. Listen, did you know? And, by the way, I'm going to contradict some famous preachers that are out there today. Listen up carefully. There are some preachers out there that say things like this the Jew gets saved this way and Gentiles get saved another way. That's blasphemous. They think a Jew is saved by some other thing. Oh no, you Gentiles need to be. 07:18 What's the word Born again? Excuse me. Who did Jesus say he had to be? What's the word Born again? Excuse me. Who did Jesus say he had to be born again or else you will not see the kingdom of heaven? Was Nicodemus a Jew? He was the leader of the Jews, he was the chief teacher, he was the religious grand poobah of Israel of the day. And Jesus said you must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven. There's only one way, and that is Jesus Christ. And so the Bible teaches us also. This is so exhilarating. 07:52 Romans, chapter 10. You have to check sometimes to make sure it's still in the Bible. Romans, chapter 10, verse 8. But what does it say? Kind of starts out, the same right. What does it say? Kind of starts out the same right. What does it say? What's the scriptures teaching? He is announcing. What do you say about this? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith which we preach that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. That is epic, but some of you find this offensive. 08:36 It can't be that easy. That's ridiculous. I didn't say it was easy. It can't be that easy, that's ridiculous. I didn't say it was easy, but it's simple. 08:44 How is it I don't understand it that our God in the Bible speaks to us things that are simple but impossible? God says come to me. That's the greatest challenge I believe that is before all of mankind is when God says come to me and I'll save you. And at that invitation, man goes into a mental conundrum with himself what do I do about that? You just heard him say come go. I don't know if I should. It's God inviting you go. 09:18 And we wind up getting into the debate with ourselves. We wind up arguing with ourselves. Why do we do that? Because coming to God means this he is the one that died on the cross and rose again from the dead. He is the Savior, which means that we, by coming, must confess that we have sins and we own them. Stop hiding them. You know, there's some people. They're so deluded, some people have become so deluded and literally God gives them up that they're so deluded to their own sin that they think they're so superior to everybody else and everybody can see how wrong they are. But they can't see how wrong they are. They live in their own world. They're legends in their own mind. They only keep in touch with themselves. They live in a bubble and everything's wrong except them. And that is self-righteousness, and self-righteousness will kill you. Come to Christ. That's what we're to say. 10:20 Secondly, we look at verse 30, and right there in the middle it says the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained to righteousness. This is a remarkable statement. You should mark this down the pagan worshiping godless, who did not pursue righteousness have attained to righteousness. They got it. He's speaking about believers who are non-Jews, who didn't have Moses, they didn't have the prophets. When they heard the gospel, they said I'm such a rotten sinner. This is the best news ever. 10:54 You see, listen, you might say today, pastor, I was invited here by some friends. You have no idea how big of a horrible sinner I am. I'm the worst in the world. God would never have me. Excuse me, you're exactly the person God wants. The bigger the sinner, the bigger the display of grace. And listen, you might, don't count yourself out. Oh, I'm a murderer, I'm a mugger, I'm a this, I'm a that. Listen, jesus is saying to you today quickly come to me before you die, before you drop dead, before you get hit by a truck. Come, he wants you with him. Do you understand? This is absolutely crazy. 11:32 If this was Buddhism, hinduism, judaism, islam, you'd not hear any of this. This is the creator, god of the universe, saying come to me quick. I want you saved, I want you with me, I want you born again. I want you to have a new life. I want you to start all over. I can help you do that. You did it all your own first time around. Let me do it next time. He's awesome. 11:55 And so we ask the question what are we looking for? Gentiles who did not pursue? The word pursue is an amazingly powerful word. It means look at this. The word pursue means to strive for or to seek after Watch this, I love this. To act, or the act of hunting prey, to go after with all your being in desperate pursuit of a desired end conclusion. See all this in the positive Strive. Go after God, seek him, stalk him like you're stalking prey as a hunter. This is what I did not do. I didn't do this According to the Bible. You didn't do this According to the Bible. God interrupted your life. 12:47 I'm talking to the believers today. The contrast is you'll hear it in a moment are those who grow up in religion. They're schooled, they're disciplined, they're walked through the traditions. They do these things. They don't do the other things. They check the box. They've got the clothing. They do the traditions. They do these things. They don't do the other things. They check the box. They've got the clothing. They do the thing, and they're never satisfied. There's always a hole inside of them that's empty. Where, where? How will God love me? Why don't I feel close to God? There's an emptiness. 13:19 And then some bumbling pagan comes along, all joyful and happy that he's been forgiven of his sins and he's living for God. And the Jew looks at this and says what's going on? That can't be true. We've got the prophets, we've got the book, we've got Moses, yes, but we believe in the Messiah. That's all the difference in the world. The Bible says by the keeping of the law shall no man be justified before God. 13:52 How are you going to get there? What are you looking for is remarkable, because the fact of the matter is God has it for you All along the way. God has satisfaction for you in life. He has it. You say, well, I'd like to have some of that. Then give your life to him and he'll give it to you. You say, well, I don't know if I want to give my life to him. What if I miss out on something? What are you going to miss out on? Think about that. Isn't that one of the lies that's in our head? Well, if I make a decision for Jesus now, I might miss out on something. And what could that be? We are easily lied to when we speak to ourselves, when we counsel ourselves. 14:45 Now I'm going to show you a verse. Are you guys awake? I'm going to show you a verse. I'm going to confess right up front, so I'm not trying to bamboozle you. There is the traditional view of this verse. Traditional and I get it, and I agree with the traditional view of the verse. But because I'm not normal, I'm going to introduce to you another way of looking at it. I think both are true. How do I know for sure? I don't, when we're in heaven. I'll tell you which one. It was. Okay, it's Matthew 13,. The great parable, chapter, matthew 13. So keep in mind legalistic pursuit of God through the law versus the pursuit of God by faith and grace. Jesus is speaking again. 15:33 The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field which a man found and hid and, for joy over it, goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. And again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls who, when he had found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. Traditional interpretation Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a lost man, somebody who's lost, a sinner, finds it, he hides it and, for joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. In other words, the field is the treasure that he's pursuing. He's the sinner. He sees it, he sells sinner. He sees it, he sells everything, he buys it. 16:27 Verse 45. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant. So this is a sinner seeking beautiful pearls who, when he had found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. This verse is, and it's accurate. You can argue that this verse is a call to discipleship. Take up your cross and follow me. Jesus said Are you tracking with me that this is what you give up to get Christ. And I get it, and I agree with the traditional interpretation. Allow me to read it a different way Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. 17:13 Is it possible that the field is the world and that you and I, as broken and as weary and as worn as we are, are actually treasures to him For the joy that was set before him? The Bible says he endured the cross. Is it possible? Which a man could this man be? Christ found and hid and for joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Excuse me, but he's the one that was rich and became poor. The Bible says for our sake, he left heaven to come here. You understand, you don't do that. That's a downgrade. 18:01 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant. Maybe is jesus seeking beautiful pearls who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it? Did he not buy salvation for you? Did he ask you at any time, can you pay 10%? How about a down payment and then you can have it all? He bought it, he did it, he brought it, he presented it and he's doing it to some of you today. 18:31 You're the one that's of great value in price, and you and I have been listening to this world all of our lives about how, whatever issues we have we got issues, you've got issues, I've got him, you've got him, we've all got him. So no one's left out. You got him, I got troubles, you got trouble, all God's people got troubles. But God looks at you and he says you are such great value and wealth. I'm gonna come from heaven to earth and I'm gonna die on the cross for you and I'm gonna set your soul free and I'm gonna set your spirit alive and I'm gonna resurrect. Come from heaven to earth and I'm going to die on the cross for you and I'm going to set your soul free and I'm going to set your spirit alive and I'm going to resurrect your body someday in glory from the dead. This is the gospel. What an awesome God we have. 19:18 - 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.