Real Life Radio

David J: Today, on Real Life Radio.

Jack Hibbs: Jesus collectively takes the human race, and he says they're all sinners. But the difference between those who are going to hell and those who are going to heaven is none of their goodness or the lack thereof. It's their belief in Jesus, their trust in him.

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. What do you say when a friend says their marriage might end? Or how do you help a co-worker dealing with depression? Do you have the right words when your child opens up about school stress or family issues or something else? The Biblical Counseling Reference Guide by June Hunt. It's your go-to resource when real life problems demand some real answers. Now, it's an easy to read book and it's simple to find answers that are from the Bible for every situation.

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On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack now continues his series called The Parables of Jesus and a message titled Parable of the Two Sons. Now, you see, of course, a parable is a picture story painted by Jesus that makes the truth of the Bible crystal clear. And in this parable, we'll look inside the heart of two sons and their obedience to their father. Now, in this parable, there's a deeper meaning. Two sons were asked by their father to work in the vineyard. One says no, but later he relents and goes, while one says yes, but doesn't go.

Their reaction reveals what's truly going on in their hearts. It's not, of course, what we say that ultimately matters. It's what we actually do. So, today Pastor Jack teaches that there's a blessing in ultimate obedience. God has given us the power to choose, and we may not choose wisely at first, but when we repent and come back into God's will, we are at peace with ourselves and with the Lord. Now, with his message called Parable of the Two Sons, here's pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.

Jack Hibbs: God says don't covet. Now, listen. I- If you know the Bible says thou shalt not By the way, this is what the law is all about. Thou shalt not covet. God's not a bummer. He's trying to keep you from getting killed. You say, man, I really I'd really like to have that person's house, that person's car, that person's shoes, that person's I don't know, nose. It doesn't matter. Whatever you want, God says don't do that. If you pursue it, you are not sinning. It's worse than that. You're transgressing. You didn't fall across the line because you're trying to catch the ball.

You went, yeah. I know you say thou shalt not covet, but man, this is cool. And boom, you're with me. This son has said he'll do something and he doesn't do it. And the important thing about this is our words matter. But listen, everybody. We all know words matter. The Bible tells us that out of our mouth should be things that come forth that lift people up. As a Christian, people should know that you and I have been in their presence, not because of our greatness. We don't have any, but because of his righteousness that comes out of our lives.

People's People should um People should actually in Because you're a Christian, people should um if they're prone to like cussing and stuff all the time and you walk into the room Have you ever seen relatives do this at Thanksgiving? It's awesome. You come in the room. Hey, how you guys doing? It's all You know. Oh man, blank beep and little beep and you walk in the room and they go um Anyway, have you ever seen that happen? That's salt and light. That's a good thing. That's a good thing. Words matter, but you know what matters more than words?

What you do with your life, your deeds, how you live. Christian, what we say Imagine this. I've told you this before. It applies tonight. Imagine if the world and other Christians Imagine if the whole universe was deaf and they couldn't hear. Imagine nobody had any ears. How would they ever know that I'm a Christian? Only one way, by my actions. This is an awesome parable announcing There are those who say they know God all the time. We know God. Father, I know you. Yes, sir. Yep, got it. And then get up and go and never do.

And as I thought about that, I found myself in studying for this going like this in my mind to all those losers. Shame, shame, shame. Whoo, boy, thank you God. I'm not like that. Thank you God. I am not like those losers. And I felt the Lord say, Jack, you know what? If you teach on a verse, let alone just know a verse, and you don't do it, great light has been given to you. Great opportunity, Jack's been given to you. And if you don't do it, you're just like that son who lied to his father in the parable.

You knew but you didn't do. And you imagine in your life and your life circle and influence where God is where God sends you every day. Do people know that we're Christians by our actions? Forget the words. Christian, listen. Stop listening to people. Watch them. Watch them. I want to In fact, I wrote this down. I don't even have to look at my notes because I remember it so clearly. It goes without saying, and especially in light of what I just shared with you a moment ago about that car. It was kind of a joking, funny thing, but you know what?

For all of us as believers, we should be able to invite the world and even other Christians to judge us. Did you hear what I just said? I don't know if you'll ever hear this again or if it's a very popular thing to say at all, but let's just Let's just shatter that ceiling right now and say as a Christian, you should be able to judge me at all times. So, I can't believe he said that. Thou shalt not judge. That's not what the Bible says. The Bible says thou shalt not condemn. But you should be able to look at everything of my life and same for those sitting around you and around me.

Why? I think if you live like that, it would be a healthy good thing because you know what? It will keep you from getting a little sloppy. If I was sloppy I mean, I'm not saying I'm not I mean, I'm not saying I'm totally not sloppy. If I was totally not sloppy, I wouldn't have stood next to that guy's car. But think about it. If I would have been sloppy, I would have gotten in his car and drove it around town. Right? And I could have said If somebody sees me and thinks it's my car, that's their problem.

Really? I could never do that. At least I say now I could I hope I never backslide. You'll know if I'm backslid and I'll drive around town in his car. But I I can't do that. Are you with me? Do you understand? When we name the name of the Lord, the Bible says then we should depart from sin. And why? Because he loves us and he wants us to live. And so as we look at this, and I'm I'm going to abbreviate this because of time tonight, but our actions definitely, you guys, speak. And when the when the young man says I'm going to do this thing Look with me.

Skip down to verse 32. He Jesus he asked the audience, which one did the will of the father? Which one did God's will? Is the point of the parable. Now, watch this. There's individuals listening and then there's the representatives of the nation. Are you with me? The religious leaders of Israel are there. And so Jesus asked them, which one did the will of the father? Watch. They all answered in unison. What did they say? The first one. Stop right there. They know what's true. Do you know what's true? Do you claim to know what's true?

If you know what 's true, Jesus Listen. Their attacks, their schemes that they were placing upon him Look what Jesus did. Jesus turns the whole thing around on them and introduces a parable. Remember how powerful a parable is? The parabolas to cast truth alongside their head. So, here it is. Jesus takes his rod and reel with a little bobber on it and a hook and he goes and it's right there. And they're they're standing there and all of their religious pomp. I mean, it's amazing. And they're They look awesome. They got these incredible outfits on.

They got their miters. You know, those incredible hats. And they're standing there. And Jesus goes And he Jesus is in his robe. And Jesus goes I tell you what. Hang on a second. I'm going to ask you a question. And they're probably like this. Sure, go ahead. We're geniuses. What's your question? And he said a man had a vineyard and he had two sons. And one said there's no way he's going to go work. And the other son, the older son, the highly esteemed son, he's the oldest son. He's the first boy. He says, yes, sir.

But the mouth One had a change of mind, the first guy, and he goes and does what the father asked him to do. The second guy who said he would and never did So, which one did the will of the father? And there's so This is what arrogance does. Arrogance puts your foot right in the trap or the foot in the mouth. And they go We know the answer. This is ridiculous. I can't believe he's even asking us this. This is easy. The first one. And Jesus got him. In fact, if you keep reading that chapter later, that's your homework tonight, it says at the end, and they perceived he was talking about them.

Can you imagine their pride and they're standing there and then They get hit by the Holy Spirit. And Jesus says to them, assuredly verse 30 31 and 32. He says, assuredly I say to you that tax collectors and harlots will enter the kingdom of God before you. And in that word before And I don't I don't want to push this because it 's not the point. The word before you is a remarkable declaration of mercy. Jesus is saying by that word before you that not all of you will be condemned, not all of you will be lost.

There'll be some of you out of your ranks that will be saved. I wonder if Nicodemus was in that group. What about Saul of Tarsus? He was a Pharisee. Was he in that group? I don't know. But Jesus says, I wonder what he saw. Listen. Are you with me? I wonder what he saw when he was telling them this. These notorious sinners, these drunks, these adulterers, these homosexuals, these muggers, these arrogant people, these Fill in the blank. These jacks will get into the kingdom before you. He didn't say they're going to go into the kingdom and you're not.

Isn't that amazing? He could have said it. He said before you, some of you in this ranks he's saying will make it into the kingdom. He knew that. And I just wonder who it was. It's kind of cool to think about that.

David J: You're listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. And for now, let's get back to our teaching. Once again, here's Pastor Jack.

Jack Hibbs: He says in verse 32, for John came to you, John the Baptist, in the way of righteousness. They couldn't find any fault with John. Remember that? Remember when he asked them, you guys, John the Baptist, his ministry, was it of God or was it of man? And they went like this cuz they were getting ready to kill Jesus. They're always getting ready to kill Jesus. It's an amazing moment and they're all upset and Jesus says, oh, well, you know, before you guys freak out, can you answer this question? By the way, there's a bunch of people standing around.

And he Jesus says, so John's John's ministry, was it of God or was it of man? Was it Was it a man-made thing or was it a God thing? And you could see these guys and they went like this. And they called a huddle. They did. They had gotten a They gotten a group and they started talking about it cuz it says they counsel each other corporately, privately. And they They said, listen, if we tell the people that it was of God, John's ministry, then they're going to ask us why we didn't believe in John's message.

Can't say that. If we say if if if it s of men, then the people will stone us to death because all these people believe John's a prophet of God. What are we going to do? Isn't that great? They're in this little huddle from hell. Satan's in the middle with a little whistle. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it. And they start talking and it's like So, then they walk out together in unity. They come out there and they go, Jesus, we not going to say. That was their answer. Did you know that?

We not going to say. And then Jesus said, then I'm not going to tell you by what authority I do all these miracles. Isn't that awesome? Isn't that awesome? So, God had given them the light. They just rejected the light. They rejected the opportunity. And he said to them, you did not believe him. You rejected him. But tax collectors Look at the end. Tax collectors and harlots believed him. Sweet word. People, listen. We're going to end right now. Tax collectors, do you work for the IRS? You can be forgiven. I know it's hard to believe.

And harlots, I'm not going to talk about the obvious. If you are not a worshiper of the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are a harlot. You are worshiping paganism of some sort. You say, I don't believe in any of that stuff. Well, then you worship yourself. You worship pleasure, which is hedonism, which is a religion. But they Listen. Look at what Jesus says here. And when you saw it, when you Pharisees, you number two son saw Watch. This is precious. When you religious nincompoops saw these notorious sinners, these common, hopeless, helpless sinners put their faith in God, you guys scorned them.

You look down upon them and you wouldn't believe. And here's where we're in tonight. This is precious because tonight in the context of the audience and 21 centuries ago, Jesus collectively takes the human race and he says they're all sinners. But the difference between those who are going to hell and those who are going to heaven is none of their goodness or the lack thereof. It's their belief in Jesus. They trust in him. And if you are here tonight and you're saying, well, I'm religious. I'm a really good person, then you're number two son. You're not desperate for Jesus.

The rest of us are. And maybe tonight you're the you're the one to that has said, I I don't I don't need God in my life. I'm pretty good. Um I don't need Jesus. Uh I'm all right. And you tell him no. And maybe you've told Listen. You may be telling him no tonight, but maybe you told him no last week. Maybe you told him no a year ago. Maybe you told him no 10 years Maybe you told him no 50 years ago. But tonight's your night. When you have said no to him to his face and you went away from him and now you've had a change of mind and you want to know him now.

You want to go into the vineyard of the master. I'm going to ask you to bow your heads in prayer right now. Christians, be praying. If tonight you sense the Holy Spirit speaking to your life and this is your night, I know you're nervous. I understand We all Look. We all know what that's like. Tonight you kind of feel like there's been a finger placed on you. And I want you to know nobody called me in advance to tell me you were going to be here. If If you feel kind of like you've been cornered, that's not me.

That's not the ushers. That's not the person next to you. That's God working in your life. And that's an awesome thing. But everyone that Jesus called they had to go through what you're going through right now. You feel like, my goodness, I don't think if I died today I'd go to heaven. I I'm being whittled down here. I I don't know where to go. I want to get out of this room. That's God speaking to you. Jesus died on the cross for me. He rose again from the grave for me. He's taking me to heaven.

He did it all. I'm a sinner saved by the grace of God. Yes, that truth has changed my life. But changing my life didn't save me. And changing your life's not going to save you. Jesus saves you. The moment you say, Lord, come into my life. Thank you for dying for my sins. Is that you tonight? Will you raise your hand wherever you're at? In fact, before you raise your hand, I'm going to be honest with you. I'm going to have you raise your hand and then when we have this worship song beginning, I'm going to ask you to come forward.

If you can raise your hand, you can come forward. And I'm not going to I'm not going to parade you in front of people. No one's going to see you like that. I'm When the song is over, I want to get your name. I want to pray with you. But Jesus hung on the cross for you. You can stand for him. Tonight's your night to accept Christ. Will you come forward right now? Raise your Well, you can raise your hand. Let's see. Hands down I mean, I mean, I'll see. You put your heads down. Raise your hand tonight if you're saying that's it.

I am fully crazy going for Jesus tonight. That's me. God bless you. Anyone else? Yep. God bless you and you. Awesome. You, you. Anyone else? You and you. Anyone else? Yes, in the very back, anyone else. I tell you what. As we seen this worship song, those of you who raised your hands, I know you're terrified. We've all been there. We We can relate. Will you just come forward and when this service is over, I'll just say hi to you up front here. So, let's play this song. You make your way forward. People, be praying.

Don't Don't Use this opportunity to get your car out of the parking lot. Pray, Christians, that these decisions would be made for Jesus. So, we ask in Jesus' name, oh God, in his name we pray and all God's people say

Guest (Male): Amen.

Jack Hibbs: Amen.

David J: Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio with his message called Parable of the Two Sons. Thanks for taking the time to be with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called The Parables of Jesus. It's a series that highlights the teachings of Jesus while he was ministering right here on this earth. And we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.

Guest (Female): 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/nogod. 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 no God tab at jackhibbs.com.

Jack Hibbs: Hey everybody, this is Pastor Jack here. First of all, I want to thank you for being part of the ministry. I know that you pray. Just that alone lifting up this ministry and asking God for his favor is incredible. Thank you so much. Listen, I want to encourage you right now in the Christian community, all around the world. There's the great debate all of a sudden uh is Israel for real? Uh should they really exist? Uh should a Jew be continued to be viewed as a Jew? Uh Has the Bible uh now replaced Israel with the church?

A lot of people are hurt. A lot of people are confused. And I want to encourage all of you. Listen very carefully. I'm not only not bothered by this time that you and I are going through. I embrace it for this reason. Those who know the word of God understand God's word. Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me. And so I want you to know don't get caught up in the podcast or in the the streaming program of this and that or that person's famous name or that other person's famous name.

Well, they said, she said, he said. Don't do it. Get into the Bible more and more as you see these days becoming more confusing. Friend, please listen. If you do not, you will be swept away by the opinions of men. And the Bible warns us that much of that will be none other than the doctrines of demons and the propagation of evil spirits. Whenever there's confusion, whenever there's fear, God is not in that. So, this is a word of encouragement to you. It's also a word of exhortation. Stick to the Bible, nothing but the Bible.

So, help us, God. In fact, in light of that, let's all pray together. Father God, we ask you for the gift of discernment. Lord, that we would be a people who know the truth and that truth sets us free. Father, that we would walk in the light as you are in the light and that we maintain our fellowship with you. Lord, help us. We are all being distracted by the rhetoric and things of this life. So, make us wise. Give us discernment. And Lord God, we pray right now that your body, your true believer, wherever we are in the world, would experience your tremendous favor and grace and your great encouragement in Jesus' name.

Amen.

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.