Today on Real Life Radio. And the amazing thing, God died for your sins and mine. The very things that we did against Him, He's the one that pays the price. There's nothing fair about Christianity. Nothing.
Thank God it's not fair. 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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So if you haven't checked it out already, that's the Real Life Network streaming the best in Christian and conservative content. Sign up and start streaming today for free at RealLifeNetwork.com. That's RealLifeNetwork.com. On today's edition of Real Life Radio. Pastor Jack now continues his series called The Parables of Jesus with the message titled Parable of the Two Gates and Two Ways, Part 1.
Now see, whenever Jesus spoke to crowds, he often spoke using relatable stories with common everyday themes called parables.
Now in this parable, Jesus is teaching us about a remarkable truth. It's a parable that's often missed, but it sums up the Sermon on the Mount by helping the listener to discover its deeper meaning, that Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and we can only find Him through the narrow path of repentance.
So today, Pastor Jack teaches that the Lord is near to those who hunger for righteousness. And when we stay the course, we enter into heaven by way of our faith in Christ, our trust in Him, and by turning away from sin and living a holy life.
Now, with his message called Parable of the Two Gates and Two Ways, Part 1, here's Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. The parable of the two gates and the two ways. Verse 13 is this. Number one is make sure you're on the right path. I mean, this kind of sounds redundant, but let's not race across this and make a mistake tonight.
God help us if we get through with this message, and you have not been brought to that place of decision. You need to be brought to the place of decision, and even us who are Christians tonight need to be reminded of the decision that we've made. And we need to ask the question: would we make it again? Think of that. Have you ever heard married couples after they've been married for a while?
Um would you marry me again? I mean, that's a low. What are you asking that question for? Don't ask that question. Because even if you say yes, I mean, the risk factor is huge on that one.
Because even if you mean it, It could come across with a different tone. You could burp halfway through it. It's like, yes, of course I. What is that? You hesitated.
Yeah. Would you just would you Listen. Tonight Isn't it true for all of us as Christians that we would? We would choose Jesus again. Again and again and again.
No, we don't need to do that. Regarding salvation. But do we not get up every morning and choose Jesus again in obedience?
So make sure you're on the right path. Verse 13: this way. Number one, keep your eyes on heaven. Oh, church, listen. Keep your eyes on heaven, not on the earth and not on the things of the earth.
Keep your eyes on heaven. Matthew 7:13, enter by the narrow gate. Mark it. Mark that down. This is absolutely an awesome mandate, a command of Jesus.
Jesus says, listen, enter by the narrow gate. It's a command. Christians, listen. Because there's, as we mentioned on Sunday, we need to say it again. There's a Jesus being painted out there by the.
by a religious community. Their Jesus doesn't say this kind of stuff. This Jesus of the Bible says, enter by the narrow gates. Narrow gate, enter. First of all, enter.
He's telling us, enter. See, we want him to get us through the gates. And look, he will do that if we keep our eyes fixed on him. He does it. Watch this.
Listen. Are you listening? He does all the work, but then he turns to us and says, Because I've done it all, you walk now in my footsteps, so to speak, right? You walk. I'm going ahead of you.
But you walk in my steps. If we wander outside of his steps, You're in uncharted waters. Do you understand that? You are going to get hurt. If I had an umbrella, And you know, we had a big rainstorm today, right?
It rained 100 thousandths of an inch, I think, in Chino Hills today. Good thing winter's over. Um But if you would have had an umbrella, you would not have gotten wet. If you would have moved out from the covering of the umbrella, what's going to happen? You're going to get not you won't get wet here.
You'll get damp You'll get damp hair. But right? You move out from his Covering. Jesus says, enter by the narrow gate. The cool thing is, we'll see in our following studies that He is the way.
He is the gate. He is the door. He is the entire journey. Stay focused on heaven. We just saw a ridiculous, embarrassing debacle by a so-called Christian organization who decided that the voice of a community.
Was louder and more authoritative than the revealed word of God. They made a decision. And they took their eyes off of heaven. And you say, well, that's terrible for that organization. Wait a minute.
Husbands and fathers do this and families. Wives and moms do this in homes. If we get our eyes off of Jesus, Jesus says, listen to the Christian, he says, I'm summing up the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest sermon ever delivered. Everybody loves the Sermon on the Mount. Even non-believers love the Sermon on the Mount.
Seriously, Hallmark loves the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the pure in heart. That's in the sermon on the mm. the mount a city that is set on a hill that's on the sermon on the mount Be salt and light sermon on the mount. The golden rule.
Have you ever heard of that? Sermon on the Mount. And Jesus says, I'll sum it up. Everything I just got done talking about in three chapters. Here it is.
Enter in by the narrow gate. Wow And so listen, the Holy Spirit says to me, Jack. Enter in by the narrow gate. And you think of that for him. Think about that for you.
There are only two paths according to Jesus. Oh, this is listen. This is soap. politically incorrect. Jesus says there's only two.
Roads. There's only two paths. Only two. As we shall see in a second, there's the way of the righteous and the way of the unrighteous. Psalm 1.
Grab that in your Bibles or mark it down in your margins. Psalm chapter 1, verse 1. Blessed or happy is the man who walks not in the counsel of the unbeliever or the ungodly. Nor stands in the path of sinners. Nor sit notice, he walks with the ungodly, then he stands with the sinners, and then he sits with the scornful.
Verse 2: But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper. Wow. That's awesome. I mean, if you have a business, that'd be awesome on your wall in your business statement.
Wouldn't that be cool? Wow. But look at verse 4 of Psalm 1. The ungodly are not so. but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous. But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
So there's two paths. Jesus says there's two paths, and the Holy Spirit, speaking through King David, says there's two paths. You know, it's been said that all roads lead to heaven. Have you heard that? All roads lead to God.
Have you ever heard that statement? I know as Christians, we go, that is so wrong. But you know what? Technically, it's true. Read the fine print.
No. All roads do lead to God. See? I knew it. No, wait.
All roads lead to God. But only one road lets you stay in heaven with him. Oh! roads lead there. But only one road lets you stay.
Everyone has to appear before God in the end. Everybody, Hitler, Bin Laden. You, me, all of us. We all stand there. But only some get to stay.
Why? It's the road they took to get there. And the question is, are you on that road? God asked me tonight, today. Yesterday, are you on the road?
And you know, when that's impressed upon my heart, I just go right back: this has been my prayer to God. Lord. I am on that road. I don't even like when you ask me like that. It scares me to death, Lord.
And then I hear this in my heart. Finish. on this course. Don't get off the course. Stay the course, stay on this path.
And the scripture comes to my mind even now as I speak. The book of Ezekiel talks about. God says, I will, if a man has lived an unrighteous life all of his life, but turns his heart toward me and I declare righteous, that man will enter into his righteousness. But if a man who has lived all of his life righteous and at the end turns and becomes unrighteous, that man shall be judged in his unrighteousness. What's the translation?
Finish well. It doesn't matter how any of us start. It's how we finish. There's only two paths. See, the world wants us to see, well, that's so narrow-minded.
Of course it is. Hello? Of course, it's narrow. God says there's only two. See, the world wants three.
The world wants light or dark. Or gray. The world loves gray. God has no gray. Jesus, listen, he even raises the whole issue.
Jesus says, you either for me Or you're against me. How do you hide from that statement? Imagine if this roof blew open tonight and a voice came from heaven and said, You're either for me or against me. What would you do? For you, for you.
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.
John 14:6, very familiar, beautiful verse. Jesus said, I am the way. Listen, the way, definite article, the way. There's only one way. I'm going to get emails.
Whenever you speak like this, whenever you speak publicly, Singular. One way. I I get mail. You've got mail. Jesus says, I am the way, and the word, the definite article is meaning there's no other way.
No other way. Who said that? Jesus. Oh.
Okay. See, if he just says it... and then dies on a cross. And it is put into a tomb, and we could go get on an airplane, and there's a little window. in the tomb with a little plexiglass and you sell tickets.
And you can walk by and look and see his bones. Then who cares what he says? I mean, think about it. You gotta admit, Jesus said the most radical things that have ever been said, period. I mean, absolutely, period.
Crazy things! If they're not true. People would be lining up to look through the plexiglass window to see his bones. But I've been in that tomb. Many of you have.
And there's no bones. It's. empty in fact the tomb that was being hewn out for some strange reason after that weekend. In Jerusalem was never worked on again for in Joseph of Arimathea's family. Empty tomb.
Empty. And because Jesus is risen from the dead, He doesn't ask you to like what he says or vote on it. Let's take a poll. No, Jesus is. I'm the way.
I am the truth. I am the life. And he says, no one can come to the Father. Except through me. Wow.
What do you think about that verse?
Well, it's very it's very intolerant. I mean, if anybody, yeah, I guess so, you know, if anybody, if anybody could die for anybody. Ben, it's kinda narrow. But Only God can die for our sins. Because he was the one sinned against.
Think of it. If you sin against me, I would say, oh, I forgive you. But I'm not going to die for your sins. Why would I die for your sins? They're your sins.
Think of it. Pastor, I'm so sorry, Jack, I'm so sorry, I hurt you all. Oh, whatever, okay. Forgiven. It's okay.
Well, you die for my sins. Uh Let me think, no. Can't do that. Wouldn't do it. Couldn't do it.
Wouldn't even if I could do it and would do it, ain't gonna help you one minute. Unless God dies for your sins. And the amazing thing, God died for your sins and mine. The very things that we did against Him, He's the one that pays the price. There's nothing fair about Christianity.
Nothing. Thank God it's not fair. Yeah. Fair is God judging me for my life. That's fair.
God says, no, I'm not fair. I'm loving, merciful, and forgiving. Wow. So, this word enter, mark it down if you care to. It's not brain surgery here.
The word. Enter in the original language of the Greek scriptures say it means to come into or to walk in through a door or a gate or an opening. That's. That's easy. But the word narrow, this is an interesting word, stenos.
It's where we get the word Um stenosis, if you were in medicine. It's pretty cool. Enter in by the narrow. The narrow is the slip or the slipped. It's through a very tight pass or to squeeze past.
Or through a restriction, to pass through an opening or to go around ever so slightly an obstacle. The whole meaning of the word means to just squeeze. Through. Think of it now. Jesus is saying, God in flesh is saying, this is what you need to do.
You need to be on the right path, which is, there's one path, and that path is so tight. But Listen, Christian. Young Christian, old Christian, all of us alike. Jesus is saying the Christian walk daily is like squeezing through a gauntlet. Every day.
And when I read that and studied that, I praised the Lord. Because is that not our lives? Is not the world on one side so broad, so big, so loud, so many options? On both sides, these things are. And the Lord says, Walk with me, Jack, walk with me, one foot in front of the other.
Do you remember last summer when that guy, was it Nick Walinda? Walked across the Grand Canyon, remember that guy? Can you imagine can you imagine if he said, Yeah, you know what? I want to go out here a little bit. No, man, that guy, he stayed right on that wire.
Going across that thing. Quoting scripture the whole way. Remember that? Uh Think of that. That's a good picture to keep in your mind.
Jesus is saying It's going to be really tight. You're going to squeeze, and you're going to feel not only that you're squeezed, you're going to feel like you're getting crushed at times from both ends. Crushed. Christian, listen, this is intended tonight to encourage you. I mean it.
If you've given your heart to Christ, And you're walking with him, and it's hard. I want to name names here tonight. I see people in here that God is working and they're coming through. And you know what? They're going through thick and thin, man.
They're getting squeezed like. Pays through a tube. But they're keeping their eyes on Jesus. They've gone through stuff and they're going through stuff.
Some of them come out of radical lifestyles and they're just hanging on to Jesus. And I love it. You know what?
So am I.
So are you who have heard his voice and are following him? There's a crushing, there's a squeezing, it feels like we're not going to make it at times. And Jesus says, just keep your eyes on heaven. Don't look down. The squeezing is proof that you're on the right path.
The Bible. The Bible. Is God's map for us?
Okay, I'm going to ask you to get out your pen and write down some verses. These are very, very important. It's very, very important. We need this right now. Here we go.
Regarding this narrowness, What is it? What is required of me to walk the narrow? Number one, repentance. Enter by coming on the way of repentance. That's the first thing that God lays down for us, to change your mind.
The word repent means change your mind. Acts 17:30. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to what? Repent. Change your mind.
Number two, this is what Jesus requires of us: enter in by coming on the way of brokenness. A broken heart. See, what do you mean broken heart? In Psalm 34, 18, the Bible says, The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart. And save such as have a contrite spirit.
What do I mean by broken heart? It doesn't mean that your love left you. That's not a broken heart. That's not the broken heart God's talking about. He's talking about exactly what Jesus said Uh Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for example.
Where your heart, look, you look inside you. Listen, everybody, you look inside you. And you look inside and you go, what? What is that? Tonight, before again, before service started.
Pastors, we get together, we're praying, but before we pray, we're talking, and we talked about. the love of God and eternity. And I wish we would have had a camera going because it was just so cool how all the guys were chiming in. But you think of eternity, God is light, God is holy, God is love. Those three things are stated that God is.
Forever, what's that going to be like? And light, the Bible says there's light there forever. In heaven? And that God Himself, His nature, is holy. That's his nature.
No sin. He's holy. But the love part, love, love. You have to have an object. Look, God is light with or without any objects.
or subjects. God is holy, it's His nature. But you gotta have somebody around. To love. Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio with his message called Parable of the Two Gates and Two Ways, Part 1.
Thanks for joining us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called The Parables of Jesus. It's a series highlighting the teachings of Jesus while he was ministering here on this earth. and will continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
So Pastor Jack, this month's featured resources, they're both aimed at kids, right?
So put down the device, pick up the book. One of the books is focused on American history. The other is on spiritual growth.
So what made you want to spotlight these two books, you know, together?
Well, first of all, obviously being summertime, we're trying to get people in our lives away from the devices and to actually create, even if it's for a few moments, maybe 30 minutes, where parents can sit down with their kids or grandkids. And so we've got these two resources. They're fantastic. Prayers and Promises for Kids. It's a book that walks kids through how to take the promises of God and pray them into their lives.
And I got to tell you, you might read this to your little one or read it together with them. But listen, it doesn't matter what age you are, you're going to get a lot out of these two featured items. And then, of course, the second one, Davey, you well know, is that the red coats are coming. This is written for kids. It's set back in 1770.
And it's a thrilling, wonderful read for children regarding our nation's founding.
So you're a grandfather. I'm a grandfather. You've got my grandson standing right there in the studio if he wanted to come see what we do. As a pastor, though, what are some practical ways that parents and grandparents can use these two books to disciple the next generation? Yeah, great question.
To bring the Word of God alive.
Now, don't get me wrong. The Word of God is alive. It stands alone. It's living. But for us to bring it to our children, this is a great, great set of resources that can help your child cause their prayer life and their understanding of God to really become very, very clear, very simple.
And I think that's the way the Lord wants it. And so it helps us be very intentional about teaching our kids not only these historical truths, but these biblical truths.
So when a family picks up the resource of the month, two books this month, of course. What is your hope for what happens around the dinner table, the bedtime routine, you know, family devotion time? Do you have any hopes for that? Yeah, isn't this something you might say, well, Jack, you need to raise your level of hope. My hope is this, just to get moms and dads, grandpas and grandpas to sit down with their young one in their life.
Can you imagine just to sit down with no T V on, with nothing streaming, no devices, and just like the old school, They open up a book, and they read it together. That is my hope. If that began to happen, you know what? It could be a great, great awakening to the discovery of books. I mean, that could really be something.
That's The Red Coats Are Coming and Prayers and Promises for Kids, a couple of great books. Available as a bundle for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com. 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.
