ANNOUNCER: The following program is sponsored by generous friends
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ANNOUNCER: Welcome to Real Life with Jack Hibbs.
JACK: The decree of God means that He knows all things that
actually happen, and all things that would've happened, He
knows. Isn't that kind of cool? So if you're going down a road
and there's a Y in the road, if you go right and you're talk-
you're thinking about God, and you say, wait, wait, wait. Did
God know I was going to go right? I'm going to... oh, I'm
going to back up and I'm going to go left. You're not teaching
Him anything. He already knows. In fact, you can go right and
stay right for the rest of your life. He knows what would've
happened if you would've gone left.
ANNOUNCER: Where are you on the issue of heaven and hell? In
today's message, understand that God, through His mercy, offers
forgiveness and sacrifice for your decisions. Get out your
Bibles. Let's dive in.
ANNOUNCER: How many times have you pledged to read through the
entire Bible? How did that go for you? Jack Hibbs has a tried
and true solution to help you feed your hunger for God's Word.
The New King James one year Bible is the bestselling Bible
that allows you to feast on scripture for an entire year in
easily digestible bites. This plan makes reading through the
Bible achievable with daily 15 minute readings from the Old
Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs.
JACK: Hey, everybody. For over 30 years, my family, our church,
everybody together, we go through the Word of God In the
one year Bible. Get a copy for yourselves and you'll enjoy it
immensely. One year through the Bible with your family and
friends. There's nothing like it.
ANNOUNCER: Order your copy now for a gift of any amount, go to
jackhibbs.com or call 877-777-2346. Start your new
year off right. Read God's Word daily.
(Music)
JACK: Well, here we are. Yikes, right? We're at the end of the
year. We look back, what did we accomplish? What did we fail at?
What did we succeed at? What about the grades? What about the
kids? What about the house? What about life? And then, if that
wasn't enough, we look ahead and we wonder with all that's going
on. I mean, look what's transpired in America in these
last few weeks. Oh my goodness. Bottom line is this. Listen,
everybody, it's kind of a shocker-oo, but it is the truth.
I would hate to see you go into the new year not being ready for
eternity. I mean, think about it. People are right now saying
goodbye to this year past and they're looking ahead with hope
to the year that's ahead. But Jesus said it this way, what
shall it profit a man if He gains the whole world and loses
his own soul? I want you to make sure today that your destination
is in fact heaven and not hell. By default, because of sin,
we're all on our way to hell. We need to turn around and seek
Christ. You probably know that on the inside, but God wants you
to act upon it now. So listen, let's grab our Bibles and let's
dive into this message and let us consider heaven or hell,
what's ahead of us? We can make a choice that God's provided for
us. Choose wisely. Let's get into the Word together.
(Music)
JACK: Where are you on this issue of heaven and hell? Christ
Jesus as Lord and Savior are not, because God in His mercy
and gifting, provides eternal life and forgiveness through His
sacrifice. We give Him all the thanks. But if you say no to
God's offer and refuse it, then by default there's a hell that
quite frankly, you have demanded that you go there. Just know
this, the Bible says, God is not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to eternal life. The book of
Ephesians chapter 1, verse 4 says, just as He chose us...
This is awesome. Just as He chose us in Him, that's Christ,
before the foundation of the world. That's a long time ago,
people. That we should be holy and without blame before Him in
love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ
to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.
This... Two verses here, it's pregnant with theology. Just as
He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. That's
foreknowledge. Did you know that? God knew you before the
universe was ever created? He can't learn anything. We'll find
out more this in the sermon today. But that he should be
holy and without blame before Him in love. Listen, you and I
came to Christ on such and such a day and time. Remember? You
marked your Bible or you marked your calendar. Did you know that
you arrived at some moment of conversion that God knew before
the world was ever created? That you would arrive at that moment?
Did you know that? He was just waiting for you to show up. Of
course, I'm joking. God doesn't wait. He lives in the eternal
now. That's the best way we can describe it. He's eternal.
There's no past to Him. There's no present, there's no future.
There's the now. And He sees everything at one moment of
time. It's impossible for us to fathom. You and I live on a...
line, a timeline. But notice that He does everything that He
does do according to His good pleasure. That's God's nature.
In this, by the way, is describing the omniscience of
God. Omni- omniscience... The all knowingness of God. In that,
by the way, in that doctrine of the omniscience of God, it means
that God cannot learn anything. Isn't that amazing? It's funny
when we pray sometimes. And, you know, you pray with people
sometimes and they're informing God of their situation. And it's
like, you know what? Cut to the chase, get to it. He already
knows. Speak to Him about it, but He knows all things. And in
theology, what is known as decree, the decree of God. Not
degree. Decree. The decree of God means that He knows all
things that actually happen and all things that would've
happened. He knows. Isn't that kind of cool? So if you're going
down a road and there's a Y in the road, if you go right and
you're thinking about God, and you say, wait, wait, wait. Did
God know I was going to go right? I'm going to... oh, I'm
going to back up and I'm going to go left. You're not teaching
Him anything, He already knows. In fact, you can go right and
stay right for the rest of your life, He knows what would've
happened if you would've gone left. Isn't that awesome? I love
how big our God is. He's so big it's going to take eternity for
us to get to know Him, and even then it'd be scratchin,g I
think, the surface. But He's the all-knowing God. That's His
attribute, all knowing. In Jeremiah chapter 1, verse 5, the
Bible says, therefore... this is God speaking to Jeremiah, he's
only a teenager. Hey, listen, remind your teenager that
Jeremiah was a teenager. God spoke to him, He said, before I
formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I
sanctified you, I ordained you a prophet to the nations. Did you
know? Isn't that great? Listen, before... before I was... God
knew Jack in the womb. You say, you don't know Jack. God...
It's, it's actually true. I don't know me. The Bible says
our hearts are desperately wicked, who can know them? But
God knew me in my mother's womb. He didn't learn about me. He
didn't get the... there was no reveal of gender. He already
knew. He's God. And that's true for all of you, by the way. In
all of the eternity past, if we can put it that way, God knew
you. The Bible also says in Joshua chapter 24, verse 15...
we'll talk more on this later. Joshua 24, verse 15, Joshua
says, and if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose
for yourself this day whom you will serve. Well, wait a minute,
Joshua, you're acting like people have a choice. Of course,
they have a choic. Whether the gods, which are your father's
served, which are on the other side of the river or the gods of
the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me in my
house, we will serve the Lord. That implies choice. But the
question is, will you and I make a decision in the moment that
you and I are living in, and in our lifetime? But God knows
those before you and I ever arrive on the world scene. Are
you guys okay with this so far? It's kind of like, really? What?
Yes. Think bigger regarding your God. Ephesians chapter 1, verse
11 tells us, in Him also, we have obtained an inheritance,
here it comes, being predestined according to the purpose of Him
who works all things according to the counsel of His will. The
counsel of His will, speaks about His foreknowledge. Watch.
He knows everything in advance, and so based on that, He
executes His sovereign will. Vitally important. And then
finally, always this, by talking about this issue of God's
foreknowledge, the sovereignty of God in predestination. Romans
chapter 8, verse 29, for whom He foreknew... This would be a good
tattoo. He also predestined. Excuse me, everybody. Verse 29,
what comes first? Foreknowledge. Number two, predestination. To
be conformed to the image of His son, that's number three, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren, moreover, whom He
predestined, these He also called. Whom He called, these He
also justified. Whom He justified, these He also
glorified. Notice, you can't have three of these or one or
four. It's a package deal. If based on God's foreknowledge,
you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, everything else is
true about your life or none of it's true. Are you getting this?
This is amazing stuff. This should cause you to get excited.
And rather than be insecure about Romans chapters 9, 10, 11,
to make you be settled and secured. This is not God being
limited, this is God being expansive. That's why you've
heard God say, come unto me. Jesus said, whoever believes in
me. God is inviting. The question is, how are you
responding? When God says, I do not want to see the wicked
parish, what do you think that means? It means He doesn't want
to see the wicked parish. When the Bible says that God weeps
over the death of the wicked, what do you think that means? It
means He weeps over the death of the wicked. Nowhere in the
scriptures does God say, eeny, meeny, miny, moe, you get to go
to heaven and you below. Very good, thank you. That's not how
it is. And then this is where we left off last time. It's this,
the security of God's sovereignty, the sovereignty of
God. We see it this way, the security of His sovereign Word.
God's Word is not of this world. The creator, God, has given us
His Word, the Word of God. Church family, God's Word is
intact and God's Word is true, and it will never change. The
promises that God gives to us, you can bank on them, literally.
You can hang on to them. You can trust Him. You and I may not be
able to figure things out, but God's Word is sovereign, God's
word will not bend or change or sway. The Bible there tells us
in Romans 9, verse 6 and 7, but it is not that the Word of God
has taken no effect. God's Word is not weak. For they are not
all Israel who are of Israel. What does that mean? Not all
those who are Israel or Israeli are actually Israeli according
to God's math. Well, I'll make it simple. Not everybody who
says they're Christians are Christians. That makes sense
now, right? That brings it closer to home. When somebody
says, and as Paul's argument is, my brothers and sisters were
saying to me, Paul would say, I'm going to go to heaven, Paul,
no matter what you say, and no matter what you say about this,
Jesus. Here's the issue. I'm an Israeli, I'm a Jew, and I'm
going to heaven, period. And Paul is saying, that's not how
it works. He's been making His argument that the first Jew that
ever was became a Jew because He worshiped the God of heaven. And
that first Jew to become a Jew was a gentile by the name of
Abraham. What made Abraham a Jew? What made Him a Hebrew? The
fact that He was a worshiper of God. Listen, but if you focus on
the DNA, the bloodline of it in this world, you're missing it
completely. Nobody gets to heaven by bloodline. Nobody gets
to heaven by being some sort of a noble, thank God. Somebody say
amen to that. Unless you're the king of England. I'm not. You're
not. Who'd want to be? Thank God He didn't establish His
salvation for blue bloods only, but for all who would trust Him,
Jew and gentile alike. And the Bible here tells us about the
security of His sovereignty. That in this... Also in verse 8,
we learned that... It says in verse 8, that this... those who
the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but
the children of the promise are counted as the seed. You and
I... if you today believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah,
savior of the world, that He died on the cross for your sins
and rose again from the dead, that He is the one who the Bible
speaks of, if you put your trust in Him as Lord and Savior,
meaning that you know that you're a sinner, you repent, you
say, Lord, I've sinned against you. Forgive me of my sins. I
come to you and I make you the Lord of my life. I bow, I
submit, I give you my life. In that very instant, you become a
child of Abraham. Like that, a child of God. You're in the
spiritual DNA. Think of it. And this is true for all people, Jew
or Gentile. That is Jew or non-Jew. The entrance, the way
is still the same, but not of works, not of your own effort
with the best intentions. Has God made you a promise? Listen,
when you read this book, when you read the Bible... And
listen, I encourage you to always read it, I always do
that. But when you read it, you should expect God to speak to
you out of this. If you're not... Listen, if you're not
reading the Bible on a regular basis, then you're not expecting
any promises to be fulfilled in your life. I'm telling you that
right now. Your walk is pretty boring. Your Christianity is
kind of haphazard. You're kind of hit and miss. But lemme tell
you, if you are opening up this book because you're going to
seek Him for this day to see what He has to say to you, He
will speak out of the pages of this book and you're going to
know it. His word will... it will lift up and it will pop
out, and you'll say, that's what I need. I need that. And then
the next thing is, if you're anything like me is, how'd you
know that? And then of course, I know that you knew that. Thank
you, God. The book of Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 35
says, for their foot shall slip in due time, for the day of
their calamity is at hand and the things to come hasten upon
them. You have to apply that to verse eight, the children of the
flesh. This relationship of promise and who's born first and
who's preeminent and who is promise and who is of the works.
The Bible tells us that the work of the flesh, these children of
this world, of the flesh, are not the children of God. But
look, you and I used to be children of the flesh. We used
to... Didn't we used to do our own thing? Weren't we proud
about it? Weren't we arrogant about it? In fact, I wrote down
a few things. If you're a child of the flesh, you're earthly
minded. Everything about this world, you're in hot pursuit of
it. You think you've got the world by the tail, you got to
get more of the world, you want to live it up. Oh, I like this,
it's thrilling, oh, the world. You're a child of the flesh.
Also what? They are recognizable over time. A child living for
this world is recognizable because they become exactly like
the world it is that they live in. Just know this. Next,
they're proud of themselves. Very proud, self-reliant, proud.
Self-made woman, self-made man, I don't need God. That's sad. If
they're religious, they're proud of it. Have you ever seen this
before? A child of this world, a child of the flesh can have
religion but be so proud of their religion. They're proud,
listen, of their lifestyle, whatever it is, whatever it is.
If they're living for... fill in the blank. The Bible says that
you and I were just like that when we were children or sons
and daughters of disobedience to God. The Bible is building its
case. It's like a legal case right here before us. In fact,
I'm going to show you something. You know this well, but watch
this. John chapter 3, verse 1. You know this very well, John
chapter 3, verse 1, it's our friend in Nicodemus. You know
Him encountering Jesus. So for those of you who don't know, let
me elaborate. There was a man of the Pharisees, that means this
guy has got his name with alphabets behind it,
descriptions. This dude is the guy. If anybody's going to
heaven based on human terms, it's this guy. If anybody keeps
the law, it's this guy. If there's anybody who's in
authority, it's this guy. Anybody talks to God, it's this
guy. He's it. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a
ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to
Him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no
one can do the signs or the miracles that you do unless God
is with him. Verse 3, and Jesus answered and said to him, most
assuredly I say to you... Jesus just cuts, I mean, right for the
throat. Not like, thank you. I'm glad you noticed. Which miracle
do you like specifically? No, I mean, wham. Unless one is born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Ladies and gentlemen,
this is the most important statement in all of information.
Unless you're born a second time, you will not enter heaven.
Who said that? Jesus said that. He says, most assuredly I say to
you, unless one is born again, He cannot see the kingdom of
God. Nicodemus said to Him, how can a man be born when he's old?
Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?
Jesus answered, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born
of water, that is of earthly birth, and the spirit, that is
heavenly birth, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh. That answers to the water, flesh
life, your life, my life, this life. And that which is born of
the Spirit is spirit. The born again life, the new life. Do not
marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. Listen, I
think it's Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse, said, that regarding
being born again, if you read the Bible carefully, here's what
you want to do in life, you want to be born twice so you only
have to die once. Listen, if you are born once, you'll have to
die twice. What does he mean? If you have this life, if you can
hear me right now, you've been born once. And when you die, the
Bible says, you die physical death and then you die a
spiritual death. It's a weird statement, spiritual death. It's
a forever living spiritual death. It's creepy. But if
you're born twice, you only die once. The deal is this, be born
twice. Be born into this world. If you have, you can hear me.
Being born again, if you're born a second time, you can hear from
heaven. And when that time comes, you go straight to
heaven. But listen, don't be the person that lives for all the
glamor and the gusto of this world and you wind up dying
twice, physically and spiritually. Don't do that.
JACK: So listen, a big question. Where are you on these things?
Because, you know, we've just
come through a season of making all kinds of decisions. A bunch
of gift buying not too long ago, now the year is before us. But
where are you in the biggest issue of all regarding where
were you spend eternity? Where are you going to actually live
for- You say, Jack, I don't believe in living forever. Well,
let me just kind of challenge you this way. Your body, when
you go to sleep at night, you look dead. Are you dead? You're
not dead. You look dead, but you're dreaming, you're there,
you're breathing. You are very much alive, but your body is
motionless because you are sleeping. Listen, that's never
been said of the human soul. God says, to be absent from the
bodies, to be present with Christ, or to be absent from
this body is to inherit hell. Which will it be for you? Are
you ready to meet the Lord? So, as I was saying, let me just
elaborate before we wrap this up. Is this important truth?
Yes, it's true. It's been said. If you've been born once, that
is physically born, you're going to have to die twice, because
there's physical death, and then after that there's spiritual
death, the Bible says. That's called hell, and God doesn't
want you to go there. Or you can be born twice and only die once.
Being born twice means you were born into this world, obviously,
but you were born again, like John chapter 3 born twice. If
that's the case, you'll only die physically once. Friends,
listen, choose the Lord Jesus Christ. Follow Him now and into
this new year, and your life will never be the same. So
listen, God bless you. May the Lord keep you in all of your
ways as you seek Him. If you want to know more about the Word
of God and about the Bible, go to jackhibbs.com. We would love
to walk you through the Word of God in our studies. So listen,
until next time, God bless you as we live for His glory. Amen.
ANNOUNCER: You are watching Real Life with Jack Hibbs.
ANNOUNCER: How many times have you pledged to read through the
entire Bible? How did that go for you? Jack Hibbs has a tried
and true solution to help you feed your hunger for God's Word.
The New King James one year Bible is the bestselling Bible
that allows you to feast on scripture for an entire year in
easily digestible bites. This plan makes reading through the
Bible achievable with daily 15 minute readings from the Old
Testament, New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. Anna M.
said, the one year Bible is laid out in such a way that it makes
it easy and enjoyable. I look forward to my time in God's Word
every day. Jordan W. says, my wife and I read together. We
love the way it is broken up with short readings from both
the old and New Testament. To obtain your book, options are
available. One, use the QR code or go to jackhibbs.com and we
will ship it to you. Two, pick up your book today at one of the
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(Music)
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.
God did not give us Bible prophecy to scare us, but
to prepare us.
You are the light of the world, Jesus said. You are the salt of
the earth. How does that happen?
ANNOUNCER: Jack Hibbs truly believes we are living in some
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