Where Are You? - Part 1

Real Life presents the Jack Hibbs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. How does a sinner like me and a sinner like you become just one way when Christ rose again from the dead? The Bible tells us he rose through our justification. Is that amazing? You see what does that mean? Watch. He paid for your sin and mine at the cross. He paid a death that you and I couldn't pay. Christian, I'm speaking to you. You've been away from church for a long time and you've got your arguments. I understand that. Maybe you were angry at God or maybe some pastor priest or somebody hurt you years ago and you said that's it. Listen, that wasn't Jesus. 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. Just church was God's plan from the beginning. Now what should I write that down? The church was the plan of God. Not man. It was God's plan. Matthew chapter 16, verse 13. Matthew 16, 13, the Bible says when Jesus came into the region of Cessaria, Philippi, northern Israel, he asked his disciples saying, who do men say that I, the son of man am? So they said, some say you're John the Baptist, some Elijah and others Jeremiah are one of the prophets. And Jesus said, but who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter, you got to love Peter. Answered and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you Simon, Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father, which is in heaven. And I also say to you, you are Peter, that word means a pebble. And on this rock, Petra, the rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Peter, you may be Peter, but what you just said is what my church is going to be built on. Listen, the church is not built on Peter or Paul or Mary. The church is built on Jesus Christ. It's built on him. And if Jesus says that my church being built on the on the fact, the rock being, that he is the Christ, the son of the living God. Friends, listen, God did not make a mistake by you being born in an hour like this. You are in the church for such a time as this. And with all that's going on in the world around us, it's not a time to pull back. The church was God's great idea. And it's still God's great idea if it's in his hands. Jesus said, I will build my church and notice the gates of hell will not prevail against it. That means you and I should be galvanized at this hour. You think about you and I as believers, we should be galvanized full of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. What an amazing age we live in, even on our devices and we have the Bible. You can get the Bible for free anywhere in the world. What an amazing moment it is. Number two, everybody is this. Where are you? God might be asking you to night down deep inside. Well, just church is God's forever family. You're kind of feeling a little bit of that tonight. I know we're in this place right now and I don't know about you, but it's freezing or I'm at right now. I'm convinced heaven's going to be 75 degrees. But um, regarding his great church, it's a forever family built by Jesus Christ by the blood of Christ. What an amazing thing. Friend, listen, church family. Can I remind you that God's forever family is a group of people? Otherwise, we would have never come together. We have different skin color, different monetary status in life. We've come from different nations. But listen, God wipes all that's the way and God's forever family is happening because of the blood of Jesus Christ and that one name Jesus, it's the name of Jesus that every knee will bow, the Bible says, and every tongue will confess. It's all about Christ and what he's done. And tonight you might be thinking about, well, how do I get into this family? Well, I can tell you how you can't get in. You cannot get into God's family by being good. Read your Bible. Nobody good gets into heaven. Does that surprise you? The Bible says there's only one good and that's God. The Bible says all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. None of us get in on merits. Those of you who may be thinking, I think that my good might outweigh my bad and then I'll just slip right on into heaven. Oh, you'll slip all right, but not into heaven. Christ died there at that cross to purchase for himself a forever family. And he didn't do it because he had any need. He did it because you and I have need. God knew, all down to the ages of time, God knew that you and I would need forgiveness. And by the way, think of this, who in human history has that a book called the Bible from Genesis to Revelation written about one primary character, one primary person. And that is the Lord Jesus Christ. What an amazing thing. Buddha cannot say that. Confucius cannot say that. Joseph Smith cannot say that. Karl Marx can't say it. Nobody can say that, but Jesus. The Bible says that Christ in the book of Hebrews quoting Psalm 40 behold in the volume of the book. It is written of me. And that was attributed to Jesus Christ. Who in the world has a book written that says you'll find his birthplace in Bethlehem. Keep your eye on Bethlehem. You'll find Christ. Why? To bring us into a forever family. And what a family. You know, you might say, well, that's why I stopped going to church. The people at church drive me nuts. Listen, you probably drive people nuts. We're a family. But there's people at church I don't like. That's why they're there. That's why you're there. Seriously, to love them. He said, I can't do that. Listen, let's all be honest right now. None of us can love others the way that we're supposed to. Right? It's impossible. That's why we love people. We don't like a church by the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to be honest and say, God, I need help to love that brother or that sister of mine. You got to do it to me now, God, because I don't know how heaven's going to work out with them up there and me at the same time. Oh, listen, friend, give that up and give it to him and know that you are in a forever family. And we need to treat each other like it. We need to love each other like it. This stuff that the world is talking about, racism, status, our love for each other like in the first century Roman Empire can deal with that in a moment. If this group of people, you here tonight, this church goes outside and starts loving one another and on others as God would have us. You know what? It would change the narrative. It would change the direction of this nation. It would honor God and silence the critics. God has a forever family. And Matthew 18 verse 11, the Bible says, for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. Jesus left that 99 in that parable and goes after the one in John chapter 12 verse 26 and John 12 verse 26, the Bible says, Jesus said, if anyone serves me, let him follow me. That wherever I am there, my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, him, my father will honor. Verse 32 says, and I, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all peoples to myself. Jesus signified by what manner of death he would purchase his forever family by the cross, the cross all around the world. The cross is the symbol of what Christ did for us, the cross. But we are the church. Ephesians 4 verse 15 says, Paul is speaking, but speaking the truth in love so that we may grow in all things into him who is the head Christ, from whom the whole body joined together, knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. That's an extremely dynamic statement. Paul is saying this, the body of Christ is made up of all different kinds of working parts that comes together and were to be unified as a family. Number three is just churches exactly that, a church that is listen, a church that is just. What do you mean by that? Well, just church is a group of people who have been justified by Christ having been resurrected from the dead. That's how we're justified. Listen, if you don't believe in the resurrection from Jesus Christ from the dead, you're in deep trouble. You're in a dangerous place because if Christ died for that, listen, a lot of people have died in the name of religion. But Jesus said, if you kill me three days later, I'll be resurrected from the dead. Now friends, listen up, if this is new to you or if you have forgotten, that's pretty radical statement there. That's where J.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were debating there at the eagle and the child that pub in Oxford, England. We were just there recently where Tolkien would witness to C.S. Lewis and he's the one that mentions to him with all that Christ has said in the Bible. He's either, the Lord or he's a lunatic or he's a liar and C.S. Lewis was so troubled by that that eventually led him to Christ. The things that Jesus said, he's either extremely, extremely wicked in cruel or he's telling the truth. He says, if somebody dies, believe in me, they shall live forever. Who says that kind of stuff? Everything Jesus said. He said, I am the bread of life. If you eat the bread I give you, you'll never hunger again. And I am the living water. If you drink of the water I give you, you'll never thirst again. Listen, that's insane unless he was. Think about it. Who says that stuff? No one is ever in the audacity of mankind. No one has ever had the hoots fun to do such a thing. Jesus not only said it, it was recorded and then you can look throughout history. If you don't like the Bible read history and the Roman Empire had to cope with the resurrection of Jesus. How does a sinner like me and a sinner like you become just one way when Christ rose again from the dead. The Bible tells us he rose for our justification. Is that amazing? He said, what does that mean? Watch. He paid for your sin and mine at the cross. He paid a debt that you and I couldn't pay. Christian, I'm speaking to you, you've been away from church for a long time and you've got your arguments. I understand that. Maybe you were angry at God or maybe some pastor priest or somebody hurt you years ago and you said that's it. Listen, that wasn't Jesus. Listen, it may have been done in the name of the church. It may have been done in the name of God. But those were destroyers that were using their office to hurt you and to injure you. You cannot say anything tonight that Jesus has done to you that has hurt you. It's what man has done in the name of Jesus. In the name of Christ is what man has done. Listen, when Christ rose again from the dead, that justification means this. What he purchased for us, he hands or gives to us and that is the word simply put, theologically, just if I'd never sinned. He justified you by being resurrected from the dead. Listen, that's not by your works. The Bible says that by the works of the flesh, no flesh shall be justified before God. By the works of the law, no flesh can stand up in the presence of God and say, look what I've done. No, listen, the true believer knows exactly who he or she is. That, there we go, but for the grace of God. Is that not true? Think about that. Look at what God has done in your life. She has been a long time. Well, let me tell you, God wants to start working in your life again. He wants to go to work again. I want to encourage you about that. But according to the Bible, listen to what he says, Luke 15 verse 4, what man among you having a hundred sheep if he loses one of them does not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after the one which is lost until he finds it. I love that. That's what our passage says. Jesus is saying, God's love for you is this way. There are 99 sheep that the shepherd knows about that are safe, but one is missing. Maybe that one has been you and you've been saying, I'm just going to do church at home. I understand that. Listen, I'm with you on that. I'm just going to do church at home. You and I can listen to sermons on the radio. We can read books. We could, uh, you know, stream a sermon, but let's be honest. What we're doing is that we're learning. We're studying, but we're not doing the church to do the church. My friends listen, you got to do the uncomfortable thing and that means you got to rub shoulders with other people. You got to find a parking spot. Right? You say, I don't like that. It's hard. It's early. Church is early. Well, that depends on what time you go to bed. But, Son, you know, it's uncomfortable to go to church. Are you a Christian? Yes. The Bible says in Hebrews 10, 25, go to church. You say, well, church can't save me. You are correct. It has nothing to do about salvation. You say, Pastor, I'm a member of the first Baptist of the church of LA. That doesn't matter. Nothing. You can't take that card and say, God, look, I've got my church card that doesn't work. You listen, God would call you to go to church because He wants you to grow. You can learn, but that doesn't mean you're growing. We need to get back to being one again, but don't be alone. You have been justified by the blood of Christ. God has washed away your sins, Christian. The world should be knocking on your door saying, what's with you? What's with all your joy? How can you be happy at a time like this? Well, because we know the one who's holding these times. That's how this works. Romans 8. Don't you love Romans 8? Everybody? I mean, come on, Romans 8. Sometimes you got to go and check to see if it's still in the Bible. It's so amazing. Romans 8, 28 says, and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the call, according to his purposes, for whom he for new. Listen to this. I love it. For knowledge. God knows tonight the decision you're going to make about this challenge to the believer you to get plugged into a New Testament church tonight. But listen, maybe you're not a Christian tonight. Well, listen, this is a church service, but we're inviting you to know Jesus. But you, it's amazing about all that. God knows exactly what you're going to decide. And he's not going to make you decide, by the way. He'll cast all the truth out alongside you. What you do with it is your business. But it's serious business. For whom he for new, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. Then he might be the first born or the preeminent one among his brethren. Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called and whom he called. These he also, there's our word justified and whom he justified. These he glorified. This is great. Written down in God's book in the Bible is our glorification. Did you know that? Can you guys hear me? According to the Bible, the believer will one day experience that glorification. According to God's word, we have been glorified, but brother, I'm waiting for the ultimate fulfillment of that. I want a new body. I want to see Jesus. I want to get out of this place. Heaven is awesome. And that's where our home is going to be. But on the inside of the true believer, the kingdom lives inside of you, doesn't it? And you long to go home. How is that that you long to go home to heaven? And you've never been there before. You've never seen Jesus as face, but you miss Him. What an amazing thing. If that's not true in your life, and I encourage you to become a follower of Christ tonight. Very personal. But he goes on. These he also glorified, what shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? What an amazing thing. Didn't Jesus say to us to be salt and light? To go and be salt and light is, that means we've got to go to the places where there's plus, infection and sickness that's what salt's for. And light is only powerful where there's darkness. This Jack Kibs podcast, as well as all the broadcasts outreach opportunities, are listener supported. 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