Transcription
Well, did you know that as a follower of Jesus, and I, I want to use that accurately and and with affection, mind you. A lot of people today will claim that they're Christians, but the real proof is, are they a follower of Jesus? Now, that doesn't mean we're going to be perfect. You and I cannot be perfect. We cannot live a life that is perfect and morally, uh, stellar and spiritually, um, so constantly miraculous. No, no, no, no.
Listen, you and I wake up to the realization that as a follower of Jesus, one of the great struggles is that we now realize there's two people living inside of us. There's the old Jack, or the old you, who used to be, but still makes visits in our minds or in our fleshly appetites. But thank God, there's the new you. There's the new Jack that wants to live for God, that wants to do what God wants to have done in our lives. That's a very brief description of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. There's two of you living inside of this life of yours now that you're a believer. See, listen, when you're not a follower of Christ, there's only you.
But when you realize the gospel, that for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever would believe in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. God is announcing to you this good news that he wants to give you a new life. When you wake up to that realization, something happens to you. You actually take God at his word and you want to follow him. You realize that he is waiting right now to forgive you of your sins and to love you into the kingdom of God. And so when that happens, there is now the existence of your past that still talks to you, and now there's the presence of the future that beckons you forward, and there's this wonderful struggle that takes place. So in our study today, we are going to be looking at what really should result in you discovering, are you truly a follower of Jesus?
And so waking up to the realization that we've been sold into sin is quite a shock, but it's true. We have been sold into sin. In fact, when we wake up to God's salvation, we realize that our whole life has been spent on trying to fill the gap and the void of things missing in our lives. So listen, grab your Bibles, get a notebook out, piece of paper, take some notes. Let's dive in to see what God has to say to us about really being free.
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Keep this in mind. Three things. I'll enumerate them in a second. Everybody get this down. Remember, some scholars say Paul is talking about the man who's not born again yet. This is a carnal individual, not a Christian. I disagree. Some, some will say, no, he's actually talking about somebody who is a Christian but living a carnal life. I disagree. I actually believe that Paul the Apostle is talking about a Christian, revealing to us the great struggle, listen, of a mature believer's life. This is the word of a man of God who is honest enough and transparent enough to tell you, this is what it's like to live a life that is torn between two wills. And it's the born-again you. It's the new you fighting with the old you. There's the new Jack that's pull, that's pulling and being pulled by the Holy Spirit, and sometimes I agree with them. And then there's the old Jack that is being pulled by the flesh and the world of Satan, and sometimes I agree with him. And I'm torn between two. I submit to you today that only a mature believer can acknowledge that discovery. Think about it. It's brilliant.
Three things. Let God's law be your judge. We learned that in verse 13. Let God's law judge you. Stop listening to people, people, and don't let someone or something judge you. Nothing but God's word. Let God's word be your judge. By the way, if you let God's word be your judge, you'll never be condemned. Think of that. Man will condemn you. Satan will condemn you. Your psychology will condemn you. God's word will never do that. God's law will always point you to the cross, always.
Secondly, we saw that God's love will be your assurance. I like this. God's love will be your assurance. You don't need the approval of anybody, so long as you have the approval of God. Do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God loves you? And do you know that he has forgiven you of your sins? That gives you an assurance that cannot be in any way separated from you. Listen, there's nothing in this world economy that can separate you from the love of God. The Bible tells us, not even a balloon, not even a bomb, no terrorist, no imprisonment, nothing. Because our God is everywhere. And remember, he's promised to dwell in you, which we looked at.
The third thing, let God's light be your guide. Remember, did I do it in this service? Did I shine that high beam light? Right now, in this room, we have ambient lighting that is, um, ambient or atmospheric lighting. It's, it's disorganized light. You're not thinking about that, but it's very disorganized, which serves the purpose. It's just filling the room. It's, it's just here, and it's very, very, uh, non-directed light. But I held that beam up to you last week and shined it right on your face. What was happening? A very, very powerful beam was being generated to be delivered right at your, uh, pinpoint seat location. And, um, what, what that means is it was no longer ambient lighting, it was direct lighting. It would be like if I held a laser out to you, where that could have done damage. That light was bright that I had, but just super defined lighting and frequency and directional power. Would be like a laser, and you could put it right on your chest or right on your forehead. What's going on? All of that light has been controlled and brought down to a, a point. And you can be in a church service just like this right now, and the truth is going out, and you're here. But then God moves sovereignly. We don't know how and when it happens in your life, and all of a sudden you sense as though God is pointing you out and calling you right out of the audience. It's, it's as though God is pointing to you. There can be a room of thousands of people, and all of a sudden you feel like you're the only one in the room. That's God shining that light, and he's taking what is common and bringing it into your life to make it relatable to you. And that's when he begins to stoke life.
Romans 7:14 says, "For we, we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin." You've got to mark those words. Those words, "I'm bound to sin." You and I, I don't mean bound like I have to. I mean, I'm tied to it. I was born this way. If anybody ever has an excuse, sorry, I was born this way. It's you and I being sinners, isn't it funny? People always say, "I was born this way," or "You were born that way." And then you really tell the truth about it. The truth is, we're all born sinners. And people will get all upset at you for telling the truth. The Bible says, David said, "I was conceived in sin." That doesn't mean David's mom was goofing around or something. It means that the, you and I are sinners. We, listen, we naturally think thoughts that are not pleasing to God. And you just have to, you just, you and I have to own that. It's real. Um, babies lie, they steal. They're cute as a button, but they'll rob you blind. They'll eat every cookie if they could reach the drawer. They, they'd eat every cookie there is. They lie to you. Thank God they have horrible motor skills, because they get so angry instantly. Can you imagine if there was a, can you imagine if your baby had a gun in his diaper? You know how they're like, they're happy crazy, and the next moment they're grinding their gums and they're about ready to attack you. Can you imagine if they had a 45 in their underwear? That'd be a, that'd be a bad day, man. They put, they'd shoot you, and then they'd cry about, "Oh, Mommy." They're emotionally crazy. Why? Because we're sold into sin. We're humans, but we've received that, what I said last week was sin, an positive condition from Adam and Eve. And then you guys all got real quiet when I said, "And also STD." And people went, "What?" Spiritually transmitted disease. It's called sin. And the Bible says that God's law points that out like a beam of light and begins to speak to us.
Galatians 5:24 said, "And those who are Christ's," notice possessive, "those who Christ owns, have crucified the flesh with its passions and its desires." What does that mean, by the way? It's in the continuous. It's very interesting. We're owned by Christ, past tense. I belong to him. But I currently have to crucify my flesh because it keeps popping its head up. I want to live for God, and the moment I embark upon that, my mind goes off into the weeds somewhere, or my flesh has some dumb idea, and I've got a war going on inside of me. And if, again, if you're not a real Christian, you don't even know what I'm talking about. You may be very religious, but you don't know what I'm talking about. I can honestly tell you that I don't hate anybody, but if there's somebody I dislike the most on this planet, you're, you're looking at him. I am. My problem. Whenever I've made a dumb decision, did a dumb thing, it was me, wasn't it? You. And when you face that, there's freedom, because that truth shines in you, and it drives you to Jesus, and you say, "Lord, forgive me. I ask you to forgive me."
We've been deceived by sin. Listen, Satan's smart. Number one, as a Christian, listen, Christian, your name is written down in heaven. You're going to heaven. Christian, Satan lost you. Isn't that a beautiful thought? He lost you. You've been plucked, as it were, a black, some black, you, you think about some black, uh, pebble, as it were, some little black rock in Satan's crown. Christ plucks you from Satan's crown, and he washes you in his blood, and you turn out to be an incredible gem. You've been, listen, the salvation of Christ has captured you and delivered you out of Satan's realm of glory. But just because he lost you doesn't mean he gives up and quits. Because listen, everybody, if you're a Christian, the number one thing that Satan has against you now is to silence you. He lost you. So what does he do now? Does he pack up and go home, cry all the way, stuff his little tail between his leg, cry all the way home? No. He does everything to get you to be quiet. Now, the worst thing he can do, by the way, that's why new believers are such a threat to Satan. You can't shut a new believer up. They get saved, and they're just like shooting their mouth off everywhere. They're all excited. I'm sure that demons are like freaking out because that teenager is so excited about Jesus. Why? When we share Christ with somebody, that's a threat to the kingdom of hell. Satan's kingdom. Listen, Satan wants to sign you. He wants to keep you quiet. He doesn't want you to speak up. If, listen, I'll prove it to you. Don't raise your hand. Ask, ask yourself, are you a Christian? If you answer yes, then my next question is this: Do you tell people about Jesus? Uh, do you know why there's a pause? Because Satan has you wrapped. You may be Lazarus with new life, but you're still wrapped in your grave clothes. The reason why you don't tell people about Jesus is because you're embarrassed. You don't want people to think you're crazy. It's very funny thing, because Satan will lie to us to keep us quiet. "Don't tell anybody. They think you're nuts. You don't even listen. They already think you're nuts. Most people think we're crazy." Ask your friends, "What do you think of me?" Listen, it's not important what they think. Tell them about the love of God. Tell them about the cross. Tell them about the empty tomb. Tell them that God loves them. Tell them that there's a day of judgment that God wants you to escape through the blood of Christ. Tell them that they need to know. They should know. But Satan will say, "Don't say that." Have you noticed? He says that. "Say, I'm going to tell that person." And then you hear this thought in your head, "Don't do that. You look like a crazy Jesus freak. Don't do that." And then your flesh, watch your flesh goes, "Yeah, let's not do that. We don't want to go overboard on this." You know what I'm saying? Versus the Spirit. The spirit side of you, when, when God is speaking to you, he'll say, "Why don't you go tell that person?" And you still get nervous. Your throat gets dry. You get, I don't, listen, I don't care who you are, you get nervous. But God says, and here Satan talks so slick, and then God talks so soft. I wish God would yell sometimes. "Jack, the person in the red jacket, that one." But he goes like this, "Jack, that person right there, tell them that I love them." And now going back and forth. Oh my goodness. You hear what I'm saying? This is that conflict. It's remarkable.
The realities of of salvation are also these, found in verse 15. And that's frustration. "For what I am doing," he says, "I do not understand. I don't get it." Paul is telling to us, this is incredibly deep. "For what I will to do, that I do not practice, but what I hate, that I do." He is not talking to us about a life where Paul never did what God wanted him to do. He's talking about the honesty of a life where you and I, no matter how close we walk with God, we still trip up. Listen, friends, he's not using this as an excuse to harbor your sins. He's telling us the reality of the warfare that we're in. The frustration. But for us as believers, it's a beautiful frustration because I never had it for until he became a Christian. Frustrated because I love God, and as soon as I say I love God, I feel like a fool for saying it. Are you with me? I am. Am I going too personal here? No. I love him, but when I say it, I feel like a fool because he deserves so much more love from me. When I think about the hell that I will never see, the loneliness I will never know, when I think about the isolation from all that is human in hell forever, I'm never thankful enough. I'm like a spoiled little kid running around, and my love for him is so weak. There's a frustration in that. But then there's a, a glory in the frustration. It's like, "Lord, I, I'm not finished, and you're not finished. We're, we're, we're on the move. We're growing."
Which leads us to this. Look at verse 16. Is God's amazing grace? The reality of salvation is his amazing grace. You guys all remember, grace means that it's God's favor that he places upon you. Imagine, I, I don't have anything. Imagine if I had something to throw at you right now. Imagine like if I had like a hula hoop or something, and I'm throwing it like that, and it goes around your head and shoulders, and I got your head and shoulders, and I just fling it out like that, and it lands like that. And you don't know, but I, I may be aiming for you, but you don't know, but it lands on you. And if it goes, if it lands on you, you get all of these things. It's a good thing you don't have it land on you. And say, "Oh, I don't want this." Or, "It's nice that it landed on me, but why didn't it land on him?" What do you care? God's grace landed upon you. Now, let me make it direct. God's grace lands on each and every single one of you here. Even if today you're a non-believer, you have no idea the amount of amazing grace that gets you through one day as you curse his name, cuss his name, and raise your fist, as it were, and he's still in his patience because judgment time has not yet come. He's blessing you. That's why he says the rain falls on the just and the unjust at the same time. God says, "Look, the just and the unjust, they have a harvest. They live, they breathe. The atheist is breathing God's air right now." Every time I think that, it'd be awesome just once to watch, "Hey, God, can you just cut a supply off 50% so somebody's cursing gun gets a little, you know, like Darth Vader, you just, I know it's carnal, you just want to see it though for once. It'd be kind of awesome." Uh, but no, God's grace is good. You, God's grace overrides all of that, blesses the person that's cursing them, not for long, but he does.
"If then I do what I will not to do, I agree that the law is good." Oh, yes, yes. My Jewish friends, listen, the law of God is perfect and beautiful, spectacular, and I revere it. And Paul the Apostle, the great Jew, said the law is awesome and excellent, so long as it's used lawfully, didn't he? You know what that means? Means the law illuminates all of these realities, but the law cannot save you. Only Jesus can save you. The law is to drive you to Christ, to drive you to Messiah. The amazing grace of God is remarkable.
So here is a powerful thought for all of us. Listen, please grab this. God's law is perfect, pure, and holy, and it was absolutely summed up in the 10 commandments. You know, if you're Jewish, by the way, you have about 613 rules, regulations, commandments, uh, to abide by, but they're all summed up in the big 10. The Ten Commandments are perfect. I'm not perfect. When I wake up to the realization, "Wow, those are awesome commandments." The moment I say that is the moment I realize it, that I, I break the first commandment, that I do not love God with all of my, with all of my heart, soul, strength, and my mind. I, I, I lack in that. And then when you go down the Ten Commandments, you realize that rather than them being written in stone, which they were, God was only writing in stone, what was the spirit of the matter? Listen, it's not the Ten Commandments that are written in stone that can save you. That's impossible. It's the Ten Commandments pointing out to you and I that we have been captivated by sin and that we need God, and that with, with, and if God lives through our lives, we live a life that is honoring to him. But by all means, my friend, Jesus came, and it's Jesus who kept the law. He did that for us because we couldn't. And so by you accepting Christ, becoming a follower of Christ, the law is fulfilled in your life by the Spirit of God, not you.
He said, "Jack, that's New Testament." And I only studied the Old Testament. Oh, if you studied the Old Testament, you'd recognize that the New Testament records with the Old Testament promises. God told the children of Israel, "I'm going to write my law not on stone anymore, but on the tablets of your heart." He would put that there. Jesus is the only one who can save. Jesus went to the cross exactly as the scriptures said he would. It's him. He's the one. It's not religion. It's not some address or some structure or some cathedral or some mosque or some synagogue or some church. It's Jesus. He's the one that invites you to come into him. Let him be the temple, as it were, and when he moves into your life, ah, then you become the dwelling place of God. He begins to live his life through you. Let God do it.
Well, listen, if you want more information on how to study the Bible, more messages, and opportunities to find out what's happening next here at Real Life, you can go to JackHibbs.com. You can connect with us there. JackHibbs.com. It's that simple. You can follow us on Facebook or Instagram or many other platforms. But I hope you know by now that we're all about you knowing Jesus Christ. So please visit us there. JackHibbs.com. Until next time, God bless you. Keep looking up.
You are watching Real Life with Jack Hibbs. Young people today are facing giants that previous generations could never have imagined. A wicked and secular culture stands like Goliath, taunting them with hate and intolerance for their Christian beliefs. Will our children and grandchildren have the courage to face the hostility that bombards them, or can we empower them to stand against their giants? In a powerful book by Ken Ham, "Will They Stand?", you can learn to give your children what they need to face cultural adversity and become tomorrow's Christian leaders. Let's equip and embolden the young ones in our lives to overcome a world that seeks to challenge, disparage, and eliminate their faith. This must-read for today's Christian parents is our gift to you when you give any amount to the ministry of Real Life. Visit JackHibbs.com or call 877-723-4646 to get your copy. Order now.
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Welcome to Real Life Radio with Jack Hibbs. God's word never will return void. God's word is spirit, it's power, and it has its [Music] effect. So I want to encourage you to grab your Bibles, open them up, and get ready to learn from God's word. God did not give us Bible prophecy to scare us, but to prepare us. But I think you're going to get a lot out of it. And one of the great re- You are the light of the world. Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth." How does that happen? By the power of the Holy Spirit. You're going to get excited about what Jesus Christ wants to do in and through you.
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