ANNOUNCER: The following program is sponsored by
generous friends and partners of Real Life.
ANNOUNCER: Welcome to Real Life with Jack Hibbs.
JACK: 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
looking at them. I am my problem. Whenever I've made a
dumb decision, did a dumb thing it was me, it wasn't you, and
when you face that there's freedom.
ANNOUNCER: In Romans 7, the Bible talks about being sold
into sin. Today on Real Life, Jack Hibbs talks about how to be
free from the chains that have you bound, in the message
Breaking the Chains of Sin.
ANNOUNCER: 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)777-2346
to get your copy, order now.
♪
JACK: Well, did you know that as a follower of Jesus, and I want
to use that accurately 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 stellar and
spiritually 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
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's soul loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son that you are the 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.
♪
JACK: 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 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 them 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 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. 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 ambient or
atmospheric lighting. 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 just here and
it's very, very non-directed light, but I held that beam up
to you last week and shined it right in your face. What was
happening? A very, very powerful beam was being generated to be
delivered right at your pinpoint seat location, and 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
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
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 know that the law is spiritual,
but I'm carnal, sold under sin. You oughta mark those words,
those words, I am 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, oh, 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 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 is goofing around or something. It
means that you and I are sinners. Listen, we naturally
think thoughts that are not pleasing to God and you just
have to, you and I have to own that, it's real. 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'd eat every cookie there is. They'll lie to you. Thank
God they have horrible motor skills because they get so angry
instantly. Can you imagine if your baby had a gun in his
diaper? You know how they're like, they're half being 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 bad thing man. 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 received
that what I said last week was SIN 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
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 looking at 'em. I am my problem.
Whenever I've made a dumb decision, did a dumb thing it
was me, it wasn't 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 think about some black 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. 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
shooting their mouth off everywhere. They're all excited.
They're 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 silence 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 yourself, are you
a Christian? If you answer yes, and my next question is this, do
you tell people about Jesus? 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 a 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 'em 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? See, I'm going to tell that person, and then 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 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. 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 on the red jacket, that one. But He
goes like this, Jack, that person right there tell them
that I love them and now I'm going back and forth. Oh my
goodness, you hear I'm saying? This is that conflict, it's
remarkable. The realities 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, but I never had it before until I 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? Am I
going too personal here? 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 glory in the frustration. It's like, Lord, I
am not finished and you're not finished. 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 don't have anything. Imagine if
I had something to throw at you right now. Imagine if I had 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 may be aiming for you, but
you don't know, but it lands on you. And 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 a direct, God's
grace lands on each and every single one of you here, even if
today you're a nonbeliever, 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
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 of
that, it'd be awesome just wants to watch, hey God, can you just
cut a supply off 50% so somebody's cursing God and gets
a little.... you know like Darth Vader. I know it's carnal. You
just want to see it though for once. It'd be kind of awesome.
But no, God's grace is good. 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 that it 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? It means the law
illuminates to all of these realities, but the law cannot
save you. Only Jesus can save you the laws to drive
you to Christ, to drive you to Messiah The amazing grace
of God is remarkable.
JACK: 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. If you're
Jewish, by the way, you have about 613 rules, regulations,
commandments to abide by, but they're all summed up in the Big
10. The 10 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 that I break
the first commandments, that I do not love God with all of my
heart, soul, strength, and my mind, I lack in that. And then
when you go down the 10 commandments, you realize that
rather than them being ridden in stone, which they were, God was
only writing in stone what was the spirit of the matter.
Listen, it's not the 10 commandments that are written in
stone that can save you. That's impossible. It's the 10
commandments pointing out to you and I that we have been
captivated by sin and that we need God and that with, when,
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. You say, Jack, that's New Testament and I
only study the Old Testament. Oh, if you study the Old
Testament, you'd recognize that the New Testament records what
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 you can save. Jesus went to the cross exactly as the
scripture 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, 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.
ANNOUNCER: You are watching Real Life with Jack Hibbs.
ANNOUNCER: 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)777-2346
to get your copy, order now.
ANNOUNCER: Welcome to Real Life Radio with Jack Hibbs.
JACK: God's Word never will return void. God's Word is
spirit, it's power, and it has its effects.
JACK: 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
a 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 reasons.
JACK: 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.
JACK: You're going to get excited about what Jesus
Christ wants to do in, and through you.
ANNOUNCER: Jack Hibbs truly believes we are living in some
of the most exciting days in history, which brings some great
opportunities to share with the world a powerful no-nonsense
presentation of the gospel to this generation who are
searching for answers and truth. Will you stand with us in
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ANNOUNCER: The preceding program was sponsored by generous
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