Who Are The Elect Of God

Real life presents the Jack Hibb's podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. We said, oh, I'm gonna follow Jesus Christ. Did you even think for a moment what you're saying? We're gonna follow him. Where is that? Where are we going? Wherever he leads. You want to go to heaven, right? He's taking you there, but he didn't ask us to pick the path. 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 Hibb's. When I do biblical guidance, you know, you listen, you listen. You have to learn how to listen, which is really hard for me, but I've learned how to listen, sit on my hands, listen, and when you listen, you start writing down verses that apply to their situation. And then at the end, you pray with them. You give them some spirit-led advice, and then you give them scriptures to go home with. And 30 years ago, just made a lot of sense to me. You know, if you're not feeling well, what do you do? You get a whole new doctor, and you get in to write you a prescription for something? And so this is what I do. This is one of the pads that I have. I put your name on there, I put the date in there, and the Rx is the verses. I just start writing verses down there. That's your prescription. And refills. I'll see you next time, or whatever it might be. Do not substitute. That's important. You never want to substitute a Bible verse. You don't want to have some sort of new age happy thought to replace a Bible verse. And then in the little print down there says, to ensure effectiveness, use only the word of God, all scriptures guaranteed it's your responsibility to take your medicine. And then it says Isaiah 55-11, which says, my word will not return unto me, void says, Lord, so you write a prescription. And I want you to know right now, Ephesians 1-3-6 should be something that you ought to write down, and you ought to wrestle with it for a while until you wind up giving up, and just letting God love you. Philippians chapter 2 verse 13 says, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Who's that work within you? God is. He's that work within you. And then listen to this. So much so that John chapter 6 verse 43, John 6, 43 says, Jesus therefore answered instead of them, no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up at the last day. What a statement. Jesus said, nobody can think of thought toward me. Right now, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, living save your son of God, Jesus Christ, you cannot think of favorable thought toward him and be moved toward him without the father drawing you to those thoughts. The old Puritans used to say, it is the wooing of the Holy Spirit. That the Spirit of God is flirting with you as it were to pull you to Christ. What a glorious thing that is. What a great, great blessing. Galatians chapter 5 verse 5 says, for we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. Christ is coming back and when he comes, this is what we're eagerly waiting for. I guess I should say this, follow along, watch, for we through the Spirit, in other words, whatever we're talking about, it's done by the Holy Spirit. You agreed everybody? Do you understand that? Eagerly wait. The words eagerly wait is where we get imminent. So some people want to argue about this. I don't believe Jesus could come back today. What's your problem? The Bible says we're to be eagerly waiting. The moment you tell me that you don't think he can come back at any time, then you are not eagerly waiting. I'll just submit this to you. God's kids eagerly wait and the Holy Spirit will see to it that he stirs you up. If you're not excited about Jesus coming back, then I want to ask you two things. Number one, who is Jesus or what are you doing that you don't want him to come back right now? Why wait? Well, because the hope of righteousness by faith, that's what's coming. God's final and ultimate act of your full redemption will take place. It will be transformed if he comes while we're alive. So listen, who's the elective God? Well, I don't know. I thought about that myself or wrote some things down. Who are the elective God? You can find them in a corner office of some high-rise building somewhere. Did you know that? Who are the elective God? You can find them in a classroom somewhere. Who are the elective God? You can find them on the battlefield. Who are the elective God? You can find them in some darkened haunt and some back alley somewhere. Who are the elective God? You can find them on the streets. Listen, friend, listen. Who are the elective God? You can find them in abject poverty. Who are the elective God? Well, someone like this last weekend here with our love life ministry came across the situation where a young girl is being trafficked. And she was rescued by the police, snatched from the hands of a career of prostitution and then certain death. That's how you find God's elect. Who are God's elect? Those that are filled with wealth and fame. I think you get the point I'm making. It's everybody. It's everybody. But see, you and I have the tendency in our humanity that, well, let's invite that person to church. Let's talk to them about God. If you and I were walking down right now, PCH, and we're, well, let's make it, let's make it graphic. What if you and I were walking down Venice Beach in LA? We should do this some Sunday as a field trip. That church will be held at Venice Beach on the walk, on the boardwalk. And we would walk along and I guarantee you, you would hear this voice in your head, not that person. Not that person. Oh, gosh, yikes, not that person. You're hearing me. But then there's somebody that might look just like you and you say, I'll talk to that person. Have you noticed that about us? Don't look at me so angelic. I know exactly. We're the same. It's, I'll share with those who are comfortable for me to share with. Little do we know that the guy in the corner office are the woman who's being pimped on the streets are just equally valuable to God. And we make our assessment and we often fail to be used by God in that most dear moment to rescue a soul for the kingdom of God. That's a remarkable. So much is God committed to this. I want you to listen to Luke chapter 14 verse 16. Luke 14, 16. Then he, Jesus said to him, a certain man, it's a parable church. We'll wrap this up here in a moment. A certain man gave a great supper and invited many and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, come, all things are now ready. Think of that for a moment. Lisa, poor thing, Lisa will do this. And then I will do the same thing. Lisa will work hard, prepare a meal. And I don't know what it is about me. It's genetic, I guess. Somehow I know that she's going to be all done with her meal in about five minutes and I decide to go mow the lawn. I got bad timing in that. She's got to, she's got to say, come on in here. Jesus says the meal was prepared, the table was laid out, everything was prepared and everybody was invited. And the announcement was made. Come for all things are ready, verse 18. But they all with one accord, with one mind began to make excuses. The first said to him, I've bought a piece of ground and I must go see it. I ask you to have me excused. Okay, any person buying land is really a dumb person. You know that? Well, I saw it on the internet. You don't buy land unless you go see it. These excuses that you're about to hear are so actually hilarious if they weren't so sad. Verse 19. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen. Can you imagine buying five trucks? And I'm going to test them. I ask that you have me excused. Oxen, just think about this. Five pickup trucks. Oxen, oxen, ox, I bought five ox. I've got to go test them. Can I be excused from your dinner? Can you imagine what, what are the, what condition are the five oxen in? Do they got legs? Are they this big? Are they, are they healthy? I don't know. I just bought them. I'm going to go find that out. Who does this? Nobody does this. Nobody does this. Still, another man says in verse 20, now this guy may have something here. I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come. We will have to think about that one a little longer. No, of course. I do need to say, though, at verse 20, men, don't wait around for your wife to come to Christ. Men, husbands, come to Christ. Well, oh, come to Christ when my wife comes to Christ. What if your wife is waiting for you to come to Christ? Verse 21, so that servant came and reported these things to the master, the master of the house being angry. The word angry here is the word that can also be translated that he's been provoked to disappointment. He laid out everything, prepared everything. Friends, listen, has Jesus prepared everything? Did he go to the cross? Did he die 2000 years ago in the Roman Empire in the city that was under Roman occupation called Jerusalem? And is it recorded not only in the Bible, but in Roman history as well? Yes. Is there a rumor that he rose again from the dead according to the Scriptures? Yes. Does he and his message continue to change the world so much so that his message is banned from many communist countries because it's so changes people's lives? My, my. Listen to what he does. This is a beautiful desperation if I can put it that way. He said to his servant, all right, go out quickly into the streets and into the lanes of the city and bring in here the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind. And the servant said, master, it is done as you commanded and still there's room. Then the master said to the servant, go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come. And hearing this, that my house may be filled for I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste of my supper. How long has God been inviting you? I haven't excuse. I just married a wife. I just bought five pickup trucks. I haven't test driven them yet, but I bought them. I got some land online. I got to go check it out. How about this? I'm not going to get my life to Jesus because my baby died at the age of four. I don't, I'm not going to give them my life or I lost my job last month. I'm not going to church anymore. You think that's a good practice? What are you thinking? When the world hits you in the face and you take it out on God, he's the very one who's delivered you from this kind of stuff. Well, where was God in this situation? Right in the middle of it. Listen, for all of us, things have happened in our lives and the temptation rose up with us and we said, God, why me? And there's no answer. But he walks you through. You're not even sure if he's with you. You get over here. You're maybe even in a clumsy way, clean onto a scripture or two. You get to the other side and he turns you around. And he says, you see this path you just went through? Yes, I felt every moment of it. Where were you? I was holding you through it. You know, Jack, everybody in life suffers. The best of them, the worst of them suffer the same. But all my kids have me to go through the suffering with them. You're not going to escape the pains of this world by following me. As I bring you through, did you know, Jack, you've been sharing with your family members for decades, but they wouldn't listen to a word you said? But they watched you in the suffering. And their hearts are going to be opened up now as I use you to my gospel finally. Did you know that as I walk you through the death of that child? Did you know, Jack, have you stopped for a moment to realize that that baby's in heaven and you're going to go there someday? You're going to see your child. But little did you know that those that the company were watching you because they weren't listening to a, they wouldn't believe a word you said about the gospel and the good news and God is love. So I used you in this horrible situation to communicate to them without you preaching to them. They were watching. Didn't you come to me in the beginning and say, here I am, Lord? I heard you and you're my child and you're going to go to heaven. And when you said to me, Lord, do whatever you want to do in my life, I yield to you. I took you seriously. He said, he's speaking to some of you right now and all the things I've brought you through. I've been with you the entire way all along the way so that you can communicate to others and all of this sorrow and all of this hurt and all of this pain or what about your successes? You can tell your friends and you can tell the world that you serve God. So church family, listen. When we said, and don't raise your hand, don't say anything about this, but when we said, I'm going to follow Jesus Christ. Did you even think for a moment what you were saying? We're going to follow him. Where is that? Where are we going? Wherever he leads. You want to go to heaven, right? He's taking you there. But he didn't ask us to pick the path. You all know the path. See, I have been in Texas. Did you hear that? You all know. You all know the path that we'd pick. Velvet, rose petals. No, see the reality is there's people in the world around you and I that are hurting really bad. They don't know God. So when we called him Lord, he said, this is awesome. You are going to be a servant of mine to reach the lost. And so here's what we're going to do. So God does what he does in your life and you throw your toys down as it were in your panicking and you're all upset. When he said, you said you wanted me to be Lord. I'm using you right now. I know it's not easy, but I'm using you. And there's going to be a tremendous outcome. I'll end with this. The people around you in your life, how much do you really love the people in your life? Do you love them enough to say, Lord, however you want to use me, use me, whatever that means? Because I've read in Romans chapter 8 that all things work together for good to those who are called to those who love God. What a God! This Jack Hibbs podcast as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities are listener supported. 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