Real Life presents the Jack Hibbs Podcast, with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints, and impact our culture. Push the envelope. What do you mean by that? If you're not sure if you should glorify Jesus in that moment, do it anyway. I'd rather get an applause from God in heaven for goofing it up rather than sitting it out. There is no such thing as spectator Christianity. It doesn't exist. You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com slash podcast. Today, if this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled life in Christ, then make sure you leave us one of those five-star ratings. To us, that's like saying amen or yes. Then that rating will encourage others to listen. Now open your hearts to what God's Word has to say to you. Here is Jack Hibbs. I need all of your attention because I'm going to, it's not in my notes, but I'm going to run through this quickly. Technically, there are two judgments. Watch my hands because I'm Portuguese and I cannot speak with my word, with my mouth properly. It's the hands. Watch the hands. There's the judgment seat of Christ. It's in the Bible. It's known as the Bema, B-E-M-A, the Bema seat of Christ. Christ is the judge. Watch. And who he judges are his people. This is the judgment he's speaking about right here that Paul is speaking of. The judgment seat of Jesus Christ. I'm going to be sarcastic now. You've got to know Jesus Christ and he's got to know you to appear at that judgment. You say, wait a minute. I thought he died for my sins at the cross. I thought I passed from judgment to life. You did. Well, then what are you talking about judgment? I thought I escaped all that. We're talking about the judgment seat of Christ where you and I will appear and we will be before him and we will answer to him regarding our faithfulness to what he has asked us to do. He's the master, we are the slave, right? And he, in this life, in the here and now, he has given us and he has opened up doors of opportunity for us to advance Christ. And God has his people, as I said, everywhere. You and I are going to be standing before Jesus Christ and we're not going to be judged on our sins. Isn't this good news? You should like, okay, now you're talking. You and I are going to be judged for our faithfulness. have we been faithful now this is going to sting though as a believer I should ask you what is it that you're being faithful to do that he's asked you to do it implies you know what you're supposed to be doing for him don't be a Christian and if I or someone were to ask you so if we're all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and be faithful to what he's called us to do do, what did he call you to do? You see, you're not saved by what you do, but because you are saved, God says, I can use you. I use all my kids. I meet with people who are being faithful in their cancer treatment. I'm convinced now by the way that this is a huge area of missionary work I talk to people all the time pastor pray for me I got cancer I've been going through treatment at UCLA and I came to the realization I got to get right with God I mean I love God but I wasn't walking with God and now I'm just telling everybody you know why they're doing this they'll tell you why you might be here today they got a death sentence they could be dying the doctors are telling them it's stage four it doesn't look good what do they do they realize they have a come to jesus moment and they realize wow well here we go the oncologist is getting witness to the nurses are getting witness to the technicians are getting witness to they're singing songs they put on praise albums in their hospital bed? And what are they going to do? Well, I don't want to, you know, it's loud. Turn it up. What are they going to do? What are they going to do? You're, for crying out loud according to them you dying Maybe you are dying But the thing is this you woken up to the realization eternity is real This life is fleeting Jesus is alive He on the throne He forgives sins I going to let it rip I going to announce to the world. In your moment, when God gives you the opportunity to share Christ, be faithful to that call. And by the way, push it. Push the envelope. What do you mean by that? If you're not sure if you should glorify Jesus in that moment, do it anyway. I'd rather get an applause from God in heaven for goofing it up rather than sitting it out. There is no such thing as spectator Christianity. It doesn't exist. So ask yourself over and over again, what am I being faithful to? And you and I will give an answer to Christ on the day of judgment. That's for the believers. And then there's the great white throne judgment found in Revelation chapter 20, verse 11. You do not want to be there. That's for unbelievers. And they're judged for all the evil that they've done in their lives. They're judged for their sins. The Bible tells us that they are then cast into hell and hell they will suffer equal to the magnitude of their sins. So imagine, for example, Adolf Hitler. think about the sins of whatever. That's why Jesus said, you must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven. But I just, this is not, you know, look at the verse 10. It says, for we shall all stand. Stand. What's that word stand? It means this, to be placed. Look, to be placed beside. I like that, beside. I like to look at it this way, to be placed beside Jesus. to present or to present yourself, to make a presentation, to stand in the presence of God, to come before. Imagine walking into the court, as it were, and standing. We will stand before Jesus. The world, when it's judged for its sins, they won't have a leg to stand on. They won't be able to stand. The Bible tells us Christ is able to make us stand. And on top of it, the Bible says that Christ is our advocate. You need an attorney? Boy, do I ever. Jesus, on that day, when you and I are judged for our faithfulness, Christ will be our attorney. He's going to represent our case before God the Father. Our Christ will do that. The Messiah will do that. The world, on the other hand, has no hope. There's no advocate. You stand naked and alone before Almighty God. There's no mediator for you, and you face the judgment. And here's the tragedy of it all. God came and revealed himself in the world, to the world, as his word proclaimed he would, and as his word proclaimed he did, so that you wouldn't have to go to that great white throne judgment referred to in scripture. Why would you go there? it's just amazing to me no no he's not only going to stand for us as believers he's going to make us available or I should say enable us to stand verse 11 says for it is written as I live says the Lord every knee should bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God that's just an absolute blanket fact he is sovereign we're not all believers and all non-believers are going to bow their knee to him. Here's the key to all of this. Bow your knee while you're alive here on earth to him. Because you will bow your knee. Who's the famous atheist, the brilliant man, a neurologist, he's a physicist, neurologist. I think it's Sam Harris. An unbelieving Jew, Sam Harris. He says he's a Jew, but God does not exist. That's the first indicator of idiocy, is you're Jewish, but God doesn't exist. He's brilliant, and he's like one of the great leaders of the new atheist movement. And the new atheist movement, they just retitle it. It's the same argument of the old atheists. They don't prove anything. They just get all mad and they argue about God the way that, I don't approve the way God's running the country or God's running the world. I thought you didn't believe in God. Richard Dawkins at Oxford University said that he is a megalomaniac God is a megalomaniac a maniacal paranoid and he going off describing his view of the God of the Bible And then Dr. John Lennox, the professor of mathematics at Oxford University, said to him, he looks at him and says, what are you doing? Why are you upset with somebody who doesn't exist? isn't that great what are you getting all uptight about his veins start popping out he's a maniacal he's cruel and he's like what a thing how can you be upset when you don't believe in him isn't that a great argument ask your friends who don't believe in God why not well because this in the universe and that and babies born sick and all this stuff that's not refuting the existence of God. That's you saying, I don't like the way things are going. Technically, I'd like to play with them this way. You're an atheist, but you're upset the way things are going. We agree on this. This world stinks, man. There's a lot of pain and sorrow, and it's grievous, and it's ugly. We agree. But the funny thing is, I'm at peace with God on this because I've read his Bible. He said he didn't want this to happen, but this is what we've done to ourselves by disobedience. You, on the other hand, you're about ready to have a heart attack about somebody you don't even believe exists. Your whole logic is short circuiting. You're not even thinking straight. Just because you don't believe in God doesn't mean this stuff in the Bible is not going to happen. I have to tell you this. I taught this yesterday in Arizona. at a conference, and I was talking about deception, and this one word that Jesus used for deception is a word that is the root to some words that you and I know. The word ignoramus is from the Greek. Ignoramus. You know what what ignoramus is? Have you ever heard the word? Nobody even uses the word anymore. You're not supposed to say that word, I guess. ignoramus is the same meaning to the word agnostic, agnos. An agnostic, what is an agnostic? An agnostic says, well, there may possibly be a God out there, but I don't want to find out. That's the word to be an agnostic. The word ignoramus means, I believe there's things to know, but I refuse not to know them. That's why the Bible, Jesus said, they were willfully ignorant. They chose not to know. And you and I experience this in life. You have family and friends, they know you're a Christian and they don't want you to say a word about it. Come to Thanksgiving, but don't talk about God. We're going to invite you guys over for Christmas. Don't bring a Bible. Why are you ignoramus? Right? Why? What's the matter? What's happening here? And it's strange because listen, if they only knew the love of God, I'm convinced of this. The church has done a lot of damage to the unbelievers because we've put a bad witness out there, but it's our, listen, it's our calling to love on them in such a way to speak to them and say, listen, this is the God of the Bible. This is what Christmas is about. This is what Thanksgiving is about. This is what life is about. and let them see the alternative to the world in which they live in, that they can live in a world of meaning. The Bible tells us, Isaiah 45, verse 23, Old Testament, I have sworn by myself the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness and shall not return, that to me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall take an oath or make confession. What an incredible, awesome statement. In Philippians, we read this last week, Philippians 2, verses 10 and 11, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those in heaven and those of earth and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. See the consistency here? You bow your knee and confess to God. In the God of the Old Testament, the book of Isaiah, Paul the Apostle knew that, the Holy Spirit knew that, and so in Philippians, the answer is it's Jesus Christ that you're going to be bowing to. He's God revealed to us. If you want to know what God is like take a look at Jesus in the Bible Acts chapter 4 verse 11 This is the stone which the builders rejected which has become the chief cornerstone Nor is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Jesus, Jesus. Verse 12, and we'll end with this. So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God. and that word account means it's that Greek word logos the word the reason the answer each of us will give the answer the word the reason to the question asked it means to the question asked it means very specific and we'll end with this that doesn't mean you leave yet people love when I say that they start leaving I'm not going to say this is the end anymore I'm just going to keep going if we're to give an account and we shall give an account that confession the Bible is very clear about and we have a precursor to what is to be the future when it happened with Peter and I can tell you again another plug for Israel there's some sites in Israel that we think this was the area archaeologists will tell us there's some places that the archaeologists will tell us this is what it was in the area like this area wasn't here but it was like this and then there's the area where we get so excited because the archaeologists will tell us this is the exact spot and in Matthew chapter 16 we go to the exact spot it's still there today it's still standing after 2,600 years here it is Jesus has taken the disciples up to Caesarea Philippi to take a break. They've been ministering very hard, 24-7, nonstop ministry, and Jesus announces to them, let's come away. It's time to shut down, catch our breath. So he takes them to Caesarea Philippi, which you would want to live there. It's absolutely stunningly gorgeous. It's the headwaters, by the way, of the Jordan River. comes out of the ground at that point right there. But there's a lot of ancient temples that are there. And so he takes them to a place. I don't know if you'd want to take a vacation like he took them on, but he took them to this place that the Jews would avoid that region. It was totally pagan. And Jesus takes them on a field trip to this spot, Caesarea Philippi. And they got the temple of Diana there, the temple of Zeus is there. They got the temple of the nymphs that are there. They got all these Bacchuses there. So when you're worshiping God in this section, you're Bacchus, you're drinking all the intoxicating drink. And then you have sex with their prostitutes, male or female, didn't matter. It's what you picked. And then you went over here to Athena. They were all there. And then you went to the nymphs, and you can figure out what that was all about. And this was all there. And when you appear before that temple, you say, great is Diana. or great as Athena. And Jesus takes his disciples on a field trip to that. You see the background in your head? Look at verse 15. And Jesus said to them, but who do you say that I am? Do you like that? Do you see that? All these gods' names are being shouted out. Jesus turns to them and says, well, who do you say I am? Wow. Simon Peter, God bless Peter, he's always great to step up. He said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. When Peter said, you are the Christ, you are the Son of God, Jesus said, Peter, that fact, that truth that you just proclaimed is what my church will be built on. And the gates of hell will not prevail against it. This Jack Hibbs podcast, as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities, are listener supported. Will you consider partnering with us through a special gift? Go to jackhibbs.com to learn more and stay connected.
