Have you ever questioned the authenticity of your faith? In this engaging session, Pastor Jack delves into the heart of Christian authenticity, exploring themes of perseverance, spiritual growth, and divine discipline. Drawing from personal experiences and biblical teachings, he sheds light on navigating life’s challenges while staying true to God’s calling. The message unfolds as an invitation to reject legalism and embrace a vibrant, active faith that reflects the teachings of Christ. Real-life applications of scripture illustrate how true understanding and practice of the Word can lead to profound personal transformation.
Are you talking about being a Christian or are you talking about being a pretender? What’s the deal? You can’t be a pretend Christian. You can say you’re a Christian, but in fact your life says you’re a pretender.
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This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I’m David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God’s Word, the Bible.
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You know, the Apostle Peter, in his letters to the church, urged his fellow Christians to keep on learning and growing in the faith, in spite of their suffering and pain. Unlike today, however, resources were scarce. Still, they persevered, and Christ followers were growing in both strength and numbers. Now there’s no limit of ways to access quality materials on Christian living, including Pastor Jack’s website. When you go to jackhibbs.com and click the media icon, you’ll find not only real-life radio episodes, but real-life podcasts, real-life TV, real-life basics for Christian growth, and even news updates. There’s also specific verse-by-verse studies from books of the Bible and so much more. So head on over to our website at jackhibbs.com and click on the media tab. That’s jackhibbs.com.
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On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series now called The Book of James with a message titled, Receiving the Word of Truth. Now, before it became one of the books of the New Testament, James was a letter that was sent to the Jews who chose to follow Christ. And as new believers, James asks them to examine themselves as to whether or not they’re true Christians. You see, Jesus warns us of spectator Christianity. We can say we’re believers in God and that we follow Christ, but until we take our belief, our faith, and put it into action in our day-to-day living, well, we really can’t call ourselves a Christian. So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that the Word of Truth directs us by showing us a more excellent way to live. A changed life towards Christ is a life that’s not ashamed to share the gospel and embrace holy living. Now, with his message called Receiving the Word of Truth, here’s pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.
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Concerning receiving the word of truth, well, the word of God now should direct our lives. The word of truth will direct us. Look what he says. For the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. The wrath of man will not produce the righteousness of God. Well, how do you obtain the righteousness of God? By having the word direct our lives. Are you upset with somebody? Take that seething position and put it into the word of God. Have the Bible overcome it. You will not, I will not be able to overcome it on our own. Somebody might say, well, you know what? Just when you see them or when you hear their name, you think about wonderful rivers flowing through a meadow. Have you ever been told that? I was at a brown bag seminar at a company I used to work for. That’s what they told us to do. If you’re upset with your coworker, you think of a nice, peaceful river flowing through a valley. And we’re grownups, we’re hearing this. And so I’m thinking, okay. So you get upset with somebody. Nice, peaceful river flowing through a valley. The funny thing was what became a joke was somebody would upset you and you’d say out loud, I’m thinking of a peaceful river flowing through a valley. So I’m thinking, I’m thinking of a peaceful river flowing through a valley. I’m thinking of a lot of rain up on top of the mountain. That peaceful river turns into a flood and washes that guy away. That’s where my mind went with this. What does that produce? Nothing good. Destruction. So he says in verse 20, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. You can’t do it on your own. God’s wrath, listen, produces righteousness. Man’s seething wrath produces unrighteousness. Well, how can wrath produce righteousness at all? Only God’s can. Only his can. When God has wrath, it produces righteous living in the lives of people. Well, how does that happen? Now, listen. Because God loves you, God cares. Because God cares, he instructs us, he directs us, he encourages us, he also rebukes us, he chastises us, he disciplines us. And that’s love. Did you know that? It’s love. Well, that’s not what I’m hearing in my child development course. Well, you’re hearing wrong. The Bible says if you leave a child to himself, it would be a reproach to his parents. That’s what, by the way, Dr. Spock is now admitting, isn’t he? You can read him now. He said, I made a big mistake. Interesting. Oh, don’t spank him. Oh, look, my little boy just took the head off of that little kitty. He’s such a boy. He’s such a boy. He needs a spanking. That’s what he needs. Oh, look, he just threw the brick through the window. He’s going to be a baseball player someday. Okay. I don’t know who needs the spanking. The kid or the parent more needs the spanking, you know. You say, well, I can’t believe you’re saying that publicly. Hey, listen. When you love somebody, you’ll say, don’t take your marbles and go play in the street again like that. You’re going to get hurt. Or should we be so tolerant that you say, don’t quench your child’s development. Let him play marbles in the street. He’ll find a new way to express himself. There’s got to be guidelines to life. And God says, I love you, and because I love you, I am not going to tolerate you doing this or doing that. So what does he do? There is the wrath of God that can be delivered against unrighteousness. Why? Because he wants everybody to fry in a pit of hell? No. He wants you to turn and go to heaven. The wrath of God produces righteousness. Now listen, you may be thinking, and you’re a Christian, but you’re kind of getting weak in your walk. You’ve backslidden a little bit. You’ve kind of cooled off. You’ve gotten away from the fire of God, and you’re kind of over there, and you’re starting to entertain some thoughts, and maybe I can hold this to my chest and not be burned. And you’re beginning to entertain, and God says, do it, and you’re going to hurt. Now why is God saying this? Because he loves you. The concept that God could deliver wrath upon us to keep us in the way of righteousness is normal to God, but it is against our thinking. What about the wrath of man? This is what the wrath of man is like. It produces unrighteousness. And what’s implied here is that man’s wrath is this. You will do this, this, or I’ll get you. If you do this one more time, I’m going to… But of course, the context is a religious or a relationship with God setting. So what’s he saying? The wrath of man says, I want you to… When you come to church, lady, you wear a dress. Don’t you dare come to this church wearing pants. Why? You’ll be righteous if you do. You wear dresses to church and you’ll be righteous. If you wear makeup, you’ll be ungodly. So don’t you dare wear makeup. You come here and you be holy. Don’t wear any makeup. Why? You’ll be holy that way. Well, where’s that in the book? It’s not in the book. It’s in the wrath of man trying to produce righteousness. Do you see that? If you just do this, do that, and do the other, and all the 975 other laws and rules we have at this church, which you’ll never find, not one of them, found in the Bible, then you’ll be accepted. That is legalism. which breeds self-righteousness, which is anti the righteousness of God. And you’ll get up and you’ll come to church without your makeup or without pants on or a tie. You got to wear a tie. So why aren’t you guys wearing ties anyway? Huh? I want to ask you. You got to wear a tie, got to wear a suit before God can accept you. That’s not in the book. You see, what that does is, if you step out of line in this area, you’re going to get it from us. And we are the representatives of God, you see. And the wrath of man cannot produce righteousness. It produces self-righteousness, which is in fact anathema to God. So it can’t work. It’s impossible. God’s wrath is holy. Man’s wrath is destructive. And so… He says, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Verse 21, he says, therefore, in light of all that, that’s very, very important. So he says, in light of it, this is what we are to do. Lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. Now listen to this. The word of God is to develop within us this new life. When he says, therefore lay aside all filthiness and wickedness, let’s look at it backwards. The word wickedness is that which is void of morality. It’s evil. It doesn’t take an Einstein to figure that one out. It’s wickedness. It’s not godly. The word filthiness is really gross. And the King James Bible uses the word filthiness, and it’s as kind of a word as you can use. Are you ready for this? This is a fun word. It’s one of those words, if you’re ever doing a men’s conference, you want to make sure you use it. In fact, a couple of these are great. Filthiness is dirt or grime of the extreme. You say, well, what can that be? I don’t know, just think for a minute. What is really gross dirt? I mean, when we were kids, we used to eat dirt, right? We all did that. It’s like, oh, some dirt. That’s not the kind of dirt. It’s gross dirt. So what’s gross dirt? The word is also translated in the original Greek language. Are you ready for this? Dirty earwax. Dirty earwax. That’s exactly the response it’s supposed to generate. Lay aside filthy earwax. And you say, well, I think I can do this. In fact, I’d like to do this. I don’t want to embrace filthy earwax. I don’t go down to the store and say, do you have a carton of filthy earwax? Do you have a bucket? I’d like to immerse my face and head in filthy earwax. You wouldn’t do this. That’s exactly the meaning of it all. Lay aside filthy earwax. So I can do this. I want to do this. Good. Then the things that are earwax in our lives, listen, we need to lay them aside. So what do you mean? Well, what are those things? Are you ready? God, I love the way he has written his book. The things that keep us from being swift to hear, we have to scrape out of our ear and throw it from us. That’s why he uses the word earwax, filthy earwax. so we can be swift to hear. Paul tells us in the book of Hebrews, I would like to tell you a lot of things, but you’re not able. You should be teachers and instructors concerning the word, but you are not able because you have become dull of hearing. The word in Hebrews is you’ve got fat stuffed in your ear. You have become fat in your ears. Can you imagine somebody coming up and saying, Can’t hear you. I’m sorry. Can you speak louder? I can’t hear you. And they’ve got like two rump roasts stuck in their ears. Move the roast out of your ear. Paul says, get the fat out of your ear. James says, listen, take the earwax out so you can be swift to hear. If you’re swift to hear the things of God, positioning your heart right, you can be one who is not wrathful You won’t be filled with wrath. You’ll be confessing that sin to God and you’ll fix it in a moment. You won’t be yapping about stuff you don’t know anything about. Because you’ll be humbled. Remove the wax from your ear. And then the word is lay aside. Doesn’t that sound nice? Just lay it aside. Wait a minute. You’re talking about ear wax here. You think I’m just going to lay it aside? What, are you going to put it on my dashboard in my car? What, are you going to keep it close to me? The Bible says here, lay aside. It’s actually, grab it and get it away from you completely. Now we’re talking. I want to get earwax away from me as fast as possible. You see? I want to get filthiness. I want to get wickedness. What, as close as possible? Think about how silly this is. Can I go to church on Sunday and sleep with bubbles on Monday? Well, I guess you could. I guess you could do anything like that. But are you talking about being a Christian or are you talking about being a pretender? What’s the deal? You see, some people, for some reason, they want to get right on the line. Can I be a Christian and continue to You know, do my cocaine and drop this drug or beat up these people or do this kind of business dealings. Can I be a Christian on Sunday and then do this on Monday through Friday? I guess you can. But Jesus is concerned and James is concerned and you’re concerned, aren’t you really, about being a real Christian?
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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.
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By the way, there are no fake Christians. You know what an oxymoron is? That’s an oxymoron. An oxymoron is something that cannot fit together. Like, that’s the shortest giraffe ever. You’re either a giraffe or you’re not. And if you’re not, you’re short. If you’re a giraffe, you’re tall. You can’t plug it together. You can’t be a pretend Christian. You can say you’re a Christian, but in fact your life says you’re a pretender. That’s what James is talking about. And so, get the wax, James says, out of your ears. Strong stuff, huh? Get it out of your ear. Lay it aside. Cast it far from you. In Hebrews chapter 12, verse two, the scripture says, look to Jesus, who is the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostilities from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your own souls, for you have not resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. See, we need to be hating sin, not playing with it. And it’s as gross as playing with earwax. And he says, throw it away from me. And we would naturally respond as many of you did. Yes, oh, gross, get it away. And that’s how the Lord wants us to view the old life in comparison to the new. And so he says, verse 21, Now the positive side, and receive with meekness the implanted word of your souls. Hey, listen, in closing, it’s the word of God that changes everything. It’s the Bible. It’ll change your heart supernaturally. Those of you who are here this morning and you’re doubting the word of God, you say, you know, I don’t think it really has the power that these Christians say it does. You know what? Will you receive this challenge this morning? Will you pick up your Bible? If you don’t have a Bible, we’ll give you a Bible and read it. Can you start in the Gospel of John, Mr. Nonbeliever or Mrs. Doubter, and read John’s Gospel all the way through and see if it begins to affect your life? It’s not a cookbook. It’s not a manual. It’s the Bible, God’s living word. It will actually affect your life. Try it and see. You’re not afraid of it, are you? I mean, you will pick it up and read it, won’t you? Pick it up and read it and watch what happens. If you’re listening with a heart that’s positioned to hear, and you remove the wax from your ears, that is, let the word go to your heart, and put the word to the test. Is this truth? Listen, you’re going to be hearing God speak to your heart and say, yes, now receive the word of truth. It’ll change your life. And that’s okay with you, isn’t it? Let your life be changed. When he says to receive the implanted word, the word also can be translated grafted. The grafted word. That’s how it changes us. We who were once wild and crazy and godless, He takes us and he plugs us into the root of the source of all strength and power, Jesus Christ. Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abides in me shall bring forth much fruit. And your fruit, by the way, he says, will remain. It will be good. And it’s able to save your souls. You say, well, I’m seeing verse 21 and it says that which is able to save our souls is Aren’t we saved already if we’ve come to faith in Jesus? I thought I was saved the day that I accepted Christ as my Savior. You were saved. But this word here is in the futurist tense. Yes, it’s true. You will be saved. Well, what are you saying? Am I saved or am I not saved? You were saved the moment you accepted Christ. You’re being saved right now. This is what the Bible teaches. And you’re going to be saved in the end. The scripture speaks to this. In fact, if you really want to get all messed up about it, the Bible says in the book of Ephesians, we were really saved before God ever created the heaven and the earth and the stars, moon, and all that stuff. Well, wait a minute. I thought I got saved last week when I raised my hand. You did. You walked into what God had provided for you. In God’s mind, you had been saved all along, but you came into your salvation last week. Listen. Well, If I was saved, then why is this struggle going on in my life with all the stuff James has been talking about? I still have a temper. I thought when I came to Christ that would be done. That’s because you’re being saved. You’re being sanctified in route. You were sanctified. You are being sanctified. You shall be sanctified. Because you’re a Christian now, you’ve given your heart to Christ, God is working in your life. You’re growing up. Are you frustrated with your Christian performance at times? Do you get upset? Listen, God’s not done working with you. He’s going to finish the work that he started. He will complete it. How long is it going to take? Your lifetime. Oh, great. You can close your Bibles and we’ll end with this, and maybe this will encourage some of you. When I gave my heart to Jesus Christ, I expected things to happen now. And prior to accepting Christ, I had a hideous temper. Dangerous temper. I was going to get a scholarship to Long Beach State to play football, but I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. And I ruined that. But I’m not all that big. And I played with big guys. So how did I survive? I had a really bad temper. And I used to look for something early on in the game to set my temper off. If I could get angry, then I could play ball real well. And I used to just relish the fact that maybe on this next play I could hurt someone. I didn’t know Jesus. I was godless and angry. And that anger, that seething anger that often resulted in explosive anger, was the way I lived my life. And then for the first time in my life, on the first day I’d ever heard about the gospel message, I responded immediately, and I gave my heart to Christ. And you know what? My temper didn’t go away. I remember a year later being in my car, and I’m a Christian. I was studying my Bible so much all the time. So many times, every night of the week at Bible study and learning and going to school and learning more and more scripture and all this stuff. And you know what I did? I got angry about a year after I was a Christian and I took my fist and I punched my car, the dashboard, and busted my car. Stupid. Ignorant. I had pictures strategically hung in my bedroom to cover the holes in the walls from my fist going through them. Out of control rage. Two years, now a Christian. It’s not going away much. Three years as a Christian, I hate myself. Why isn’t this going away? What I first noticed in my life after coming to Christ is that I began to hate my sin that I once enjoyed and prospered on. Then it came to the point where I used to sit down by myself and cry over my failure at being a good Christian. And then I remember coming to the end of my resources and saying, Jesus, you’ve got to give me power to overcome this. And I’ve got to tell you, to the glory of God, I have got to tell you, it takes a lot to get my temper aroused now. It is wonderful. And something will happen and I’ll think, I would have strangled that palm tree for that. And it’s great to be free. The power of the word of God in route to save your souls.
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Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called Receiving the Word of Truth. We’re glad you could spend some time with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack’s series called The Book of James. It’s a series on being doers of the Word of God and not just hearers only. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
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Hey everybody, this is Pastor Jack here and I want to encourage you to get a great book. Now listen up, I know there’s a lot of books out there and we certainly do push a lot of books on this program because we want you to grow and you should have a great library. Well listen, One Day Nearer is a book written by Steve Miller, a dear friend of mine and a great author and here’s the kick. It’s a 365-day devotion, one for every day, and all of it is themed around being prepared to meet the Lord Jesus Christ, how to be looking for him, how to be walking in light of his return. What are the scriptures that should encourage us? All of this in this fantastic book, One Day Near, by my good friend Steve Miller.
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Get a copy for yourselves, please, and grow. One Day Nearer by Steve Miller, available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio. Did you know that along with the radio program, Pastor Jack also has a TV show with more of the Pastor Jack Hibbs content that you like. It’s called Real Life TV. If you enjoy Pastor Jack on the radio, you’re going to love him on TV. So check out your local listings or visit jackhibbs.com and catch the latest episodes. That’s jackhibbs.com. 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.
