Real Life Radio

David J: Today, on Real Life Radio.

Jack Hibbs: When you chose Christ, you can't say, hot dog, I did it. I chose Christ today. When I get to heaven, I'm so glad that I made the right decision. I'm so glad that I picked God. Jesus says, you didn't pick me, I picked you.

David J: This is real life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David J. Thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's word, the Bible.

Jack Hibbs: Hey, I'm very excited to promote this new book by Dr. Tim LaHaye, not only a mentor of mine, but a precious friend. He has written a book, How to Study Bible Prophecy for Yourself. Remember, Dr. Tim LaHaye is the one that brought you the remarkable Left Behind series. I bet with all of your knowledge of Bible prophecy, there's still a hole somewhere. And this book is going to help you as you walk you through how to study Bible prophecy for yourself.

Guest (Male): How to study Bible prophecy for yourself? Get it for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com.

David J: On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series called The Book of Ephesians and a message titled, Are You Sealed by the Holy Spirit? Part 1. Ephesians is a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, showing every believer who they really are in Christ. And here, Paul wants us to know for certain that we belong to him. You see, so many people hope they're saved and going to heaven, but they're not really sure. The truth is, God doesn't want us guessing about where we'll spend eternity. He wants us to know without a doubt that we really are his through the salvation of his son, Jesus Christ.

So today, Pastor Jack teaches that our salvation is entirely the work of God. And yet, the choice is ours to make. We can't take any credit at all for coming to Christ. But on the other hand, those who decide to reject him have no one to blame in the end but themselves. Now with his message called, Are You Sealed by the Holy Spirit? Part 1. Here's pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.

Jack Hibbs: The wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise and where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since the for since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached, that is the gospel, to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. To the Jews, it's a stumbling block and to the Greeks, it's stupid.

But to those who are called, that's us, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness foolishness of God is wiser than man and the weakness of God is stronger than man. Keep going to the right, second or first Corinthians chapter 2 verse 12. First Corinthians 2 12. Listen to this. Now we have received not the spirit of the world. What is the spirit of the world? The cross Christianity is stupid. Well, we haven't received the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that we have been freely given to us by God.

These things we also speak not in words which men's wisdom teaches, philosophy. But which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man, the man of this world, the guy who is not in Christ does not receive or understand the things of the spirit of God, for they are stupid to him. Nor can he know them. He can't even begin to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. No man comes to the Father or the Son, excuse me, unless the Father draws him. God turns on the light. Salvation is of God.

We who first trust in Christ, that is our response. That's true, but it's to God's overture to come to him. Jeremiah 31 3. Jeremiah 31 3 says, the Lord has appeared of old to me, saying, yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn you. Pulled you in pulled you in to his arms. The second thing that we want to look at tonight is found in verse 13 back to Ephesians. And it says here, in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also you have believed.

You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. It could take us a year to get through this verse alone. When it says in verse 13 right here, in him, it is saying volumes. In verse 13, we're saying right here that God has forever sealed us. You ought to jot that down. The second point is that God has forever sealed us. Who is us? Those who are in Christ. Now hang on to your seats. If you believe in Jesus Christ, it doesn't necessarily mean you're in Christ. That ought to keep you up all night. I said that in our Hebrew study and some people had heart attacks.

I believe in God. I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe in Abraham Lincoln. But I'm not leaning on Abraham Lincoln to do anything for me. You may believe in Jesus Christ that he existed and that he's even you may even ascent to what he says in the Bible. But if you are not leaning on Christ, then you're just like the one who would be trusting in Abraham Lincoln or not. We're not dependent upon Lincoln for anything. You can mouth the words, I believe in God. I believe in Christ. If you are not leaning on Christ, then you 're not in Christ.

If in your life you do not have a dependency upon God, you are not in Christ. It goes with the territory. One of the guys that we had in our meeting today was a a wealthy attorney, successful, powerful, articulate. I was thinking here in this guy talk, I was thinking if I had that guy's tongue for the gospel. And we've been praying for this guy's salvation. I don't know how long now, could be coming up on a year, I think almost. And someone asked tonight, how's he is he getting closer to the Lord? And my response is, he's too proud.

He's too he's got the world by the tail, man. Talk to a guy yesterday, I think it was yesterday, went out to the hospital, broke his back in an accident. I'm thinking this guy is going to be ready. Doesn't know the Lord. And walk in there and he 's doing great. How you doing? I'm doing great. What what's wrong? Broke my back. Wow, how's it going? I can do it. I can do this. There I I can I can I can do this. My heart broke. There's a weird thing, people, that when you're in Christ, there's a great dependency in your life for him.

And it's a beautiful thing to see and you don't have to advertise it. People will see it in you. There's something about you can be confident in Christ, but you are not arrogant. There's a great great difference. But those who don't know Christ, they're self-reliant, self-assured. It says verse 13 in him, that is being in the Lord to the point really that there's a radical change in your life. Second Corinthians 5 17 says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Literally in the Greek New Testament, it says therefore, if anyone if anyone is in Christ, the word is new creation.

It's like a declaration. It's more emphatic in the Greek. If you are in Christ, there's a gabble gabble that comes down on the wood and you hear it smack and it says new creation. It's almost like a conveyor belt. Anyone in Christ? New creation. Anyone in Christ? New creation. Anyone in Christ? He's a brand new creation. That's a fact, people. That is a truth of the scripture and of the Holy Spirit. It's a fact. If you are in Christ, you are a new creation. And that should be evident in our lives. Is there a change?

Since you quote accepted Christ, close quotes, have you experienced a change in your life? That causes you to be impressed with the work of God which brings you to the place of praise and worship to him. God, I just smashed my face into this block wall and I didn't even cuss. My nose is bleeding. My front tooth's loose. Usually I would have gone berserk. What is going on? God, you're working in my life. Contractors, framers know this before anybody. They they see God working quickly. They come to the Lord. They go back onto the job site and somebody, you know, dings their truck.

Hey, you stupid. I shouldn't talk like that anymore. I can't even believe I cut myself. Thank you, God. They rear up the hammer and let it go and they miss the nail and the thumb is like three times larger and oh oh oh oh oh and how come I'm not cussing, freaking out and going, oh Lord. Thank you. You ever had that happen in your life? Isn't that awesome? Isn't that great when that happens? God's at work. Can you take any credit? Not a bit. None of it. It's of God. He's doing a work. And that should bring you to the place of thank you, Lord.

New creation. It's God doing it, not we ourselves. A radical transformation will happen in our lives. Watch this. Verse 13, in whom or in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth. We're going to dissect this uh real quickly here. The word of truth, what does that mean? The message of the Bible. It is the word of truth. It doesn't contain the Bible does not contain the word of God. It is the word of God from cover to cover. It is pure truth. Pure. The word of truth is the message of the scripture.

What is the next line? The gospel. The word of truth. After you've heard the word of truth, the gospel. What is the gospel? What does that mean? The preaching of the good news. You know, the word gospel means good news. Isn't that funny? Would you like to hear the gospel? People go, no. Excuse me, would you like to hear some really good news? No. Isn't that weird? Excuse me, would you like to hear some good news? That's what the word means, gospel, good news. What is the good news? That Jesus Christ has come to save us from our sins and from death and from hell.

The word of truth, what the Bible declares. What does it declare? The gospel, the good news of Christ. The word of truth is the gospel and look what it says of your salvation, of whose salvation? Of my mom's salvation, of my grandpa's, of my no, it says your salvation. This is very strong here. It means yours, not mine, yours. Can you for a fact know that you're going to go to heaven when you die? Can you know for sure that if you die today you can you will go to heaven? Listen, the Bible not only says it, it commands you to know.

You should know now that you're going to go to heaven if you die today. And by the way, those who are in Christ and know his nature and are able to worship him because of who he is and what he is, they know if they die today, they're going to heaven. Isn't that great? Cuz you're in Christ. Oh no, Jack, I don't know if I 'm in Christ or not. You need to settle that. You need to settle that once and for all.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. To learn more about this ministry or to catch up on some previous episodes, go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. And now, let's get back to today's message. Once again, here's Pastor Jack.

Jack Hibbs: The saving work of God in your life personally, you're not going to get there because someone else is in your family who's good. You're not going to get there because your mother's there or your dad's there. You've got to get there personally with the Lord. By the way, in verse 12 it says that we who first trusted Christ, I'm going to upset some people here. I love you anyway. Verse 12, we that first trusted implies a decision made. It is a decision made by the we in verse 12. The word trusted here means to hope in advance, to put faith in the awaiting Messiah.

Verse 13 it says you also trusted. What's implied is a decision that was made. You decided to trust Christ. Verse 13 again, you believed. You see that there where it says you believed? What is implied is that a decision was made. If God has saved us before the world began, and that is true by the way, he did. He knows this. Then why is there a call to evangelism? If God knows those who are going to be saved and those who are not going to be saved, why is there a plea for us who are saved to go and evangelize the world?

If God knows those who are coming in and those who are not going to come in, isn't that a great question? That's a good question. If God knows, then why should we evangelize? We should just have potlucks and bingo all day long and let God do whatever he's going to do cuz it's all written out anyway. It doesn't work that way. Why is there a call to evangelism? Why is the invitation given to the world that they should come and receive Christ? That's a good question. If God has saved us before the foundations of the world and that's true, then why are those who have rejected Jesus Christ responsible for being in hell of their own choosing?

Why are they the ones who are blamed for being in hell are going to hell? God is never blamed and responsible for people who are in hell. Did you know that in your Bible? God never gets the rap for sending people to hell. But he knows those who are going to go to heaven and those who are not. How does this pan out? How does this work? We touched on this a couple weeks ago. But it's important because it should bring us praise, worship, and glory to the Lord. And I want you to think this thing through for a minute.

If God has saved us before the foundations of the world and that is true, then why are people responsible for entering to hell of their own accord? If they enter hell of their own choosing and are responsible for it, then we who enter heaven, are we responsible for entering into heaven by our choosing? No. Are we to choose? Yes. That's why there's the invitation given. That's why God says, come unto me. That's why God says, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked. You come. He says, I want you to come. Joshua says, choose today whom you will serve.

Does God know those who will come and choose and follow him? Yes. But we can't get any credit. You know what I sat down today and I went through this little logic train that made sense to me which could be dangerous to you. Listen to this. And we are not going to make it through this verse so you can I hear your watches beeping. And uh it's too bad. No, we will we'll go here and then we'll pick this up next next Wednesday. But this is good stuff if you just hang on. And if I if I upset you with this little illustration, uh then come back next week and I'll really really upset you more.

I hope this blesses your heart, though. Listen to this. On my desk is Apple Macintosh computer. And uh it was thought of by Apple computer. It was in their head first. Before it ever appeared anywhere, it was in the minds of at least a couple of guys. Got together, drew it up in their head, put it together on a napkin maybe, on a scratchpad. But it was their concept. Then it was developed by Apple computer. Okay, then it was marketed by Apple computer. Then it was sold and delivered to my desk by Apple computer. Okay?

In the engineering process of that computer, very powerful. In the design mode of that computer, Apple decided to build into every computer that they were going to roll up the assembly line, the ability that when it was challenged with a certain situation built into the computer, it can either go left or right to get to its destination. You with me? It's built into the computer. It would it was in the mind of the guy who thought it up. He took it out of his mind by virtue of a pencil and a piece of paper and it made it all the way down through hardware and software that this thing would do a certain thing if it was confronted with a with a particular situation.

The computer of its own accord could go left or right to reach its destination. Everybody with me? Okay. If the computer traveling down a path comes to a situation to decide and that computer goes to the right. We built in Apple. We are Apple. We built in the ability for this computer to choose to the right or to the left. If that computer chooses to go right and winds up in Mac heaven, okay? And it is enjoying all of its little pals up there. Can that computer give honor and glory and praise to itself for being in heaven?

No. Why? Because engineered into the computer was its ability to choose. Does it get the glory for choosing? No, because its creator gave it the ability to choose. You are you with me? If that computer decides now to go to the left instead of the right and winds up in Mac hell, does that computer blame its creator for sending it to hell? No, it can't. Why? Built into it, it had the ability to choose. It is solely responsible for its destination if it's in hell. If it's in Mac heaven, it is solely responsible to give him the praise and the glory because it's engineered within itself.

God did, Apple computer, for it to choose. When you chose Christ, you can't say, hot dog, I did it. I chose Christ today. When I get to heaven, I'm so glad that I made the right decision. I 'm so glad that I picked God. Jesus says, you didn't pick me. I picked you. Yes, we make the decision. But the decision process was engineered by our God so that he gets all the glory. There's no credit on our part. There's no way. God gets all the glory for your salvation. Man gets all the condemnation for his rejecting Christ.

Next week we'll get into this more and uh and more. Let's pray together. Father, what a hope we have in Jesus. All of our sin and grief he bears. Lord, how that hymn goes on to say how much needless worry, care and all that we that we carry simply because we failed to take it to the Lord in prayer. Father, we pray tonight. There may be souls tonight in this body that are not sure of their hope, of their position, of their place in Jesus Christ. They're not sure. Father, we pray that they would understand even now that they're very situation that they're feeling and sensing.

You are using to bring them closer to you. Lord, there may be those in this body who are not in Christ. They've trust is about as much in you as they do in George Washington. They would never deny that you or George ever existed. But they're not dependent upon you. Father, next week as we get into this verse and then into verse 14, as we will come to the incredible assurance of our salvation next week. In the meaning of having the Holy Spirit sealing us. Oh God, I pray that you would not only bless these to be here, but Lord, you'd fill this place up when we just simply cover the statement, the fact that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit.

And what fantastic meaning and truth there is to that. Father, in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

David J: Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio and his message called, Are You Sealed by the Holy Spirit? Part 1. Thanks for spending some time with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called The Book of Ephesians. It's a series through Paul's letter to the Ephesians, discovering the riches, the walk, and the warfare of every believer. And we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.

Guest (Male): So as you heard from our broadcast, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And if you'd like to know what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life personally, we would love to help you out with that. Go to jackhibbs.com/knowgod. That's k n o w god. And there you'll be guided through what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life and the freedom that you'll find in knowing God. Don't miss out. That's the know god tab at jackhibbs.com.

Jack Hibbs: Hey, thank you again so much for listening. And if you'd like to hear or see more of what we do here, you can always go to jackhibbs.com for all the latest on what's going on with this ministry. And please, if you're ever in the Southern California area, come see us at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. We'd love to see you there in person. It has been so good to be with you today and I pray you find yourself in the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. See you on the next episode.

David J: This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in his word. We'll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.