Today on Real Life Radio. Hey man, when I was born, my parents were stuck with me. They didn't go shopping. Isn't it wonderful that God says I've adopted you? Us, we're adopted kids.
This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibs. I'm David J. Thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's Word, the Bible. 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 he walks you through how to study Bible prophecy for yourself.
How to study Bible prophecy for yourself. Get it for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com. On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack now continues his series called "The Book of Ephesians," and a message titled "Making Known the Mystery." Ephesians is a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, showing every believer who they are in Christ. And in this passage, Paul reveals a mystery that was hidden for ages. But has now been made known to us.
You see, this mystery isn't something we could ever figure out on our own. It's God's secret plan, kept quiet for generations, and finally revealed in Christ. And believe it or not, that mystery is us.
So today, Pastor Jack teaches that God saves us according to His own good pleasure, and not because we've earned it by any means. Like a family who lovingly chooses a child to adopt, the Lord chose us because He wanted to. He truly loves us that much.
Now, with his message called "Making Known the Mystery," here's Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. Not only have He made known to us the mystery of His will, but here it is, according to His good pleasure. According to His good pleasure. Listen, according to His good pleasure means this: He did exactly what He wanted to do. He didn't ask you about it.
He didn't have you vote on it. He didn't even—he didn't even consult us. What this verse means is he did what he wanted to do, and all of us want to do what we want to do, but we don't want God to do what He wants to do because we're afraid He might do something that we don't want to do.
So God briefed me for a minute.
Okay, remember Job? You know Job. Job's doing all this stuff, and all of his buddies. Bill Ha and all whatever the names are, these guys, and they're like chewing them up, and and and Job starts to say these things, you know, and God finally steps in. Job, will you just shut up for a minute?
Who made you the big Kahuna around here? You know what? If you think you know so much, Job, stand up. I want to talk to you right now. Can you imagine?
Stand up. Can you imagine? And God begins to say, "You think you're so hot? Answer this one." And He begins to lay these things out, these these situations about nature to Job, and he can't handle it. And then at the end, Job goes, "I'm sorry," and he sits down.
You know, who's been my counselor? God says, "He does what he wants." You know what he wants to do? He wants to totally bless your life. He loves you. That's what he wants to do.
That to me is a mystery. He has chosen to love you. Today, sitting on the airplane, right, right in front of me, to my right, I'm on the window, and this young couple come in and they sit down, and they got a brand new baby. And she's sitting right on the aisle, and this baby's a little baby, and we got in there rather quickly, and we're sitting down, and the rest of the plane is being loaded up, and it was I had so much fun because I, I'm watching people come down the aisle going to their seats, and everyone would be looking at their boarding pass, and and then stop, oh. Oh, and it was so funny because I started to take a little poll in my mind.
Every woman that walked by, oh, oh, how much did she weigh when she was born? I heard that today, eight point three. That's how much that baby weighed, eight point three. How much? How long was she?
Sixteen. Oh, and that's so great. Oh gosh, that's really. And then walked by, next person. Oh, look.
Oh. And then a man would walk by. Where's seat nineteen? Where you know? Look down.
Not even a clue. And it was so funny. And I'm sitting there watching this go. Here comes watching this. He's going to keep walking.
He walks. Oh, she's going to stop. And then the stewardesses. Oh, come here. Oh, come here.
And they got all the stewardesses together, and they're all around this baby. And listen, this was great. They're so proud. The parents. They're just.
Just beaming. And she was six days old, and that was pretty funny because going up there, they announced on the speaker, "We got we got Buster. He's on the plane for the first time in his life. Never flown before, and he's a hundred years old today." And everybody went nuts, you know.
So then coming back, we got this six-day-old baby on the plane, and this this one stewardess goes, "You look great." This baby's six days old, and you're you look great. She goes, well, she goes. I didn't give birth to this baby. I picked this baby, handpicked. We adopted this baby.
We picked her. She's ours. And the the stewardess goes, yeah, but isn't there like you know usually entanglements and problems and and struggles? You know, are you sure? And she goes, the concerning the circumstances and how it all came about, she's one hundred percent ours.
We picked her. See, you just did it. Oh. And I thought about that. You know what?
You know why they picked her? Because they wanted to. They were from New York, by the way. They went, they flew from New York to Spokane to pick this kid and taking her home. Stewardess goes, "Did you prepare a room for her?" You bet.
Wow. Why would God do less? Jesus says, "I'm going to go build a house, place for you to hang." He's been doing it for two thousand years. Must be pretty slick. He picked us.
You know, I don't know if anybody in here has been adopted, but you ought to just click your heels with joy over being adopted.
Someone picked you, called mom and dad. That's awesome. Hey man, when I was born, my parents were stuck with me. They didn't go shopping. Isn't it wonderful that God says, "I've adopted you"?
Us, we're adopted kids. When you read the scriptures, you come to the book of Ephesians. You find out, and He'll tell us as we go through this book, all that the kids had by birthright. Those of you who are adopted, you get the same thing. I heard a cute little story.
I can't remember exactly how it goes, so I'll tell it the way I remember it. And it was this way: there was a mom, there was a family, and one child was adopted, and the other child was not adopted. They got once they adopted the baby, they wound up getting pregnant, and the and the little guy. They were just actually, like eleven months apart, and as they grew up, the one child, both both kids knew that one of them was adopted, and so one of the kids, about nine years old, came up and said, "Now, you know, Johnny says this, and the other, and the mother." Just gave the decree so clean, so cool, so well, and the kids went back and they did their thing. And the a neighbor lady leaned over and she says, "Wasn't that your adopted son?" And she goes, "You know, I don't remember." And that's how God is, you know.
I don't know. He's in the family. That's all God cares about, and I love that. According to His good pleasure, I'm so grateful tonight. We serve a God who is good, and His pleasure is to bless.
Ephesians, or excuse me, Isaiah 53, verse 10, concerning His pleasure. Listen to this: Isaiah 53:10. It pleased the Lord; it was His pleasure to bruise Jesus. He has put him to grief when you make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed, and he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand, holy hands.
He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. Isn't that amazing? The Father will see the travail of Jesus's soul, and He'll be satisfied. It will please Him. Why is that?
Well, by His knowledge, my righteous servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their sins. Listen. It pleased God the Father. To have his son sacrificed on the cross because of you, and they were in total agreement, father and son. Second Timothy one nine says, "It is God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace." By which he has given to us in Christ, before time began.
Titus three five, Titus three five says, "It's not by works of righteousness which any of us have done, but according to his mercy he saved us through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the holy spirit. Salvation." Is all of God, Jack? Are you saying that we have nothing to do with it? You know what? We have nothing to do with it, but simply to respond to it.
We do not save ourselves. We cannot do it. God has saved us. He is sovereign, and He is sovereignly chosen to just love you to death. What God wants to do, He does.
Finally, this, and we'll quickly wrap up. The mystery of his purpose is in the latter portion of verse nine. The first point is the mystery plan of God. The second point is the mystery pleasure that we just covered. The third point here is that there's a mystery purpose of God.
It says right here in the latter part of verse nine. It says. Which he purposed in himself. I like this. You ought to, you ought to mark in himself.
Mark that down. It's great. He didn't. He didn't take a boardroom vote. What do you think I ought to do?
Who do you think we ought to use? That means a lot to me concerning the cult that I was being indoctrinated into, because they tell you that there is this great council in the heavens. And they all got together, and they were going to vote on a plan of salvation. And Lucifer's plan didn't get approved, but Jesus's plan did. And that cult teaches that they're brothers, born from the same woman.
But when Lucifer's plan was rejected, he sprouted horns and became angry. And he was cast out, and he became not Lucifer, but he became Satan. And that's a very prevalent cult that's running around. They're not going to tell you that your door. They're embarrassed of it, but it's their doctrine.
And you can mention it to them when they ride their ten speeds up to your door, but they'll deny it. They'll deny that. 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. Listen, God does whatever He wants to do. He's purposed it within Himself. The eternal plan and purposes of God right now are in process.
There's nothing you can do to change them. You're not going to overthrow them. They're going to come to pass just as He's decreed. Listen. The mystery purpose it is in Him.
God's got His plan. And listen, I want to say this, and then we'll complete verse ten. Of His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself, it's of God. It's Him. He's going to pull it off.
He's going to complete it, no matter what man might be thinking. Remember that.
Next point, verse ten. It says here that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, times plural, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on the earth in Him. In the dispensation of the fullness of times, listen, God has chosen in His own mind to work in. Segments, but never are those segments bound by his attributes or his nature. Example: He worked in the Old Testament economy, but you can even zoom in with your microscope in the Old Testament economy, and there was a time when God spoke only through Moses.
Then there was a time when God decided to speak through the prophets or the priests. Then God spoke through the prophets. Then there is a time when God didn't speak. Then there was a time of silence, and then God begins to speak again. Hebrews chapter one, verse one: In these last days, He has spoken us by His Son.
Those are certainly dispensations of times. But what's also fantastic in this verse is the answer to a question that you get asked. When you're sharing the Lord with somebody, if God is God and if He is good, then why did He create Adam and Eve in the garden, knowing that they were going to sin? And you've heard the arguments: if God is good, then why is there war and death and mayhem in the earth? We've all heard that.
Right there is the answer, right here. In the dispensation of the fullness of times, He's going to bring everything together in Christ. It's all going to be to the glorification of Jesus Christ. And God, when He created Adam and Eve in the garden, remember Adam. The Bible says that Adam, being Adam, Jesus coming on the scene is the last Adam.
Adam was created perfect. Adam wasn't created a sinner. Think about that for a while. He was in the garden, perfect.
So was Eve. God didn't make him a sinner. He didn't make a goofball Adam. That's why Jesus is called the last Adam. There was never again a perfect man on earth until Jesus Christ was born into the world.
That's why he's called the last Adam. Adam was perfect. Unlike Jesus, Adam fell, and he became a sinner. God knew that before the whole thing was going to come about, and He went and did it anyway. He went through with it, even in the face of rejection.
And pain, and you and I right now. We look outside of our eyes, and we see all the junk that's on Earth right now. We say, "How could God be loving?" He is loving. Let's just be patient. He's going to bring it all together in time and wrap it all up.
And you're going to step back. We're all going to go, "Oh my gosh, that was absolutely perfect! What he did—it was just fantastic. It all makes sense now." And that day is coming. That in the dispensation of the fullness of times, Galatians chapter four verse four says, "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." The word right here in Galatians four four in the fullness of times means at the right moment of time God sent Jesus His Son.
At the right moment, to the cross for us, to gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth. And we'll we'll end with this thought here. The word heaven here in the Greek is auranos. It means the air that is around you. You're breathing it in right now.
It means that. It also means the atmosphere, or even the space that's above what we fly through, and then what we take our spacecraft through. The word can mean that, and then the word also means the heavens, where God lives. The whole thing. The word Earth here, heaven and earth.
The word Earth here means Earth, not Mars, not Pluto. It happened here. But aren't there other people living on other planets? I don't think so. I think demons are appearing as little space guys.
Earth is Earth. Heaven is the heavens. Not Mars. Not Pluto. Jesus died on Earth, and if there were people living on other places, Jesus's blood took care of them too.
He's made it all, but there's not. It's here. How do you know? Jesus died here. Jesus sent his word here.
Well, he could have sent it some other place. I don't think so. You're going to see a great increase in this space stuff. I'm sorry, I just. You may.
I don't want to offend you. It just cracks me up. It just absolutely cracks me up that um. These people won't believe the awesome authoritative word of God, and they'll they'll go after some torch that somebody burns in some hayfield somewhere. And say this is it.
It's just amazing to me. And so, it is in Christ. It's in Him. Let's all stand right now as we do this last scripture. Turn to Revelation five, and we'll be all done.
We'll stop here. Revelation five. It is so of God. In fact, the worship group can even come up right now, so we can. Get you out on time.
Back into the storm out there. God bless you for coming tonight. I saw people coming in that were just drenched. Revelation five, beginning at verse one. Follow along with me.
I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and loose its seals?" And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it. This is John speaking.
So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, "Don't weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, he has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals." And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb, as though it had been slain. Having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the world or all the earth. Then he came and he took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne.
It's the Father.
Now, when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Talking about Gentiles here, and have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth." Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and the living creatures, and the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, and in other words, innumerable numbers, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power, riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." Why? It's all in Him, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. Father, we thank you, God, for the incredible, awesome power of Your Word and the truth of it, Lord.
That we tonight made really a very, very, almost tragic attempt to to tackle such incredible truth, Lord. We could meditate on these two verses for the rest of our lives. God, we pray that you would baptize this church into the reality of your word. God, that we would go forth from this place, galvanized people, able to take on anything that the world would throw our way, because we are in Christ, in Him, redeemed by His blood, done, deal, saved. And that we would walk in a way that is worthy to give you all the honor and the praise and the glory.
And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibs here on Real Life Radio, and his message called "Making Known the Mystery." Thanks for being 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.
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. 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. In the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, see you on the next episode. 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.
