Get UP – C

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Today on Real Life Radio.

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Do you know what it’s like to be possessed by the Holy Spirit of God who governed your life on a moment-by-moment basis? Do you know that no matter what you do in your life, if you ran to the ends of the earth, the North Pole or the Antarctic, you know there’s not even a reason to do it because when you got there, he’d be there.

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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. Easter week, always a special time of the year on the program with Pastor Jack going through this season, asking him some questions about Easter that might not come to the top of your head right off the bat. So, Pastor Jack, in your opinion, what was going through the minds of Jesus’ followers between Good Friday and Easter Sunday? That had to be a real confusing time for them, a torrential time for them, if you will.

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I think you hit the nail on the head confusing. You’ve got to remember what the four Gospels tell us. they believed that he was not only… basically pronounced dead on the cross, right, by the Roman Empire. He was buried. We know this. We know that they came on Resurrection Sunday morning, the women did, to bring embalming fluid because they didn’t have a chance to do that. They came on a Sunday morning thinking that they were going to have the chance to pay their final respects to the one that they love. We know that the disciples, it says that they were hiding for fear because apparently there was a death notice warrant out for all of these disciples. And of course, on that resurrection morning, the first thing that happens is that the angel begins to, in fact, there’s a series of appearances on that early Sunday morning. There’s an angel, then there’s two angels, and then ultimately there’s Christ himself in the garden. And it’s beautiful because he makes the announcement when Mary says, I think it’s Mary Magdalene when she says, supposing that he is the gardener of the garden, says to him, where have you taken the body of my Lord? I want to pay my respects. And Jesus says, Mary, Mary, says it twice. And that’s when she exclaims, Rabboni, which is to say my teacher. And she obviously worships and praises his name. his life they didn’t expect him to be alive even after all that he says in fact it tells us that on sunday morning it says and then they remembered that he had said which tells you how much grief they must have been in that’s such an awesome uh pre-announcement hey guys i’m gonna come back the third day their grief was so intense that it must have blinded them to that great hope And then the Bible does tell us that when they remembered that, they had joy. And then for me, the ultimate is Luke 24 when on the Sunday afternoon, the sun is setting and two of the disciples are heading back to Emmaus. They’re walking together on the road and the Bible tells us that Jesus suddenly appeared to them. But his identity was hidden from their eyes. And it wasn’t until he broke bread with them in their house that they knew it was him. They thought that he had come from God. They knew that he had done the miracles. But when Jesus said, why are you guys so sad? And they said, are you a stranger here? Don’t you know what’s happened? And he says, what’s happened? And they began to speak. They were all sad about it. And the Bible then says, beginning at Moses, Jesus expounded unto them, who he was from Moses through the prophets until he reveals himself to them. And then they were filled with joy. They ran back, by the way, back to Jerusalem to make the announcement, we’ve just seen the Lord. So confusion, fear, overwhelmed, grief. Isn’t that how life is? Until we see Jesus for who he is, we are going to be blinded by grief and pain because it’s so intense. But that hope that he brings and that resurrection hope that he is conquers all fear, all doubt.

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on today’s very special Easter Passion Week edition of Real Life Radio. Pastor Jack continues now with his message titled, Get Up. You know, the Passion Week of Easter, it has so many emotions tied to it, doesn’t it? The death and resurrection of Jesus takes us from the grief of what Jesus chose to suffer for our salvation to the joy of the fact that he rose again from the grave so that we can forever be with him. Think about that. So today, Pastor Jack teaches that we need to get up. We’re no longer bound by sin, death, or fear. Our debt’s been paid by Jesus Christ, so how can we not get up and rejoice for all that He’s done to save us? Now, with his Passion Week message called, Get Up, here’s pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.

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Verse 11, these things he said that after that he had said them, our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up. I love this, watch what happens. Then the disciples said, Lord. You can almost hear them. Lord, if he sleeps, he gets well. Isn’t that cute? They’re thinking like you and I think. Well, Jesus, why would you go to wake him up? He’s sleeping. When you sleep, you get better. Leave him alone. I mean, you’re God, but we’re just telling you what to do. However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that he was speaking about taking rest and sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, this is great, Lazarus is dead. Sometimes you just gotta say it. And I’m glad for your sakes that I was not there that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go to him. Notice how Jesus is speaking. Lazarus is dead, but Jesus says, let’s go to him. Verse 20, then Martha, as soon as she had heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him. But Mary was sitting in the house. Now Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now, I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. And Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. And Jesus said to her, I am. Oh, isn’t that awesome? Oh my gosh. Yeah, Martha, a little detail here coming up on you. All what you said’s true. But the thing is, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Oh my goodness. But do you believe this? She said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who has come into the world. I’m gonna ask you at the end of this service if you will believe the same. Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled, and he said, where have you laid him? And they said to him, Lord, come and see. Verse 35, shortest verse in the Bible, maybe the most powerful verse in the Bible. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, see how he loved him. And some of them said, could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept this man from dying? You know, there’s always somebody like that in the group. We get like that sometimes. Something happens, a catastrophe, the child dies. God, where are you? You could have done something about this. Oh, he’s doing stuff about this. Listen, in this day and age, when a child dies, the Bible says in Isaiah 57 that when someone dies like this and leaves this world, the Bible says that people rarely realize that God has removed them from evil and from danger. Man, that should be on the city sign driving into LA. Watch out. Better to die and go to heaven than to drive into danger. Wow. And so, verse 38 says, then Jesus, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, Lord, by this time there is a stench. Lord, by this time my brother stinks. For he has been dead four days. I mean, this is a bad saying, Jesus, but have some mercy. This is gonna get pretty bad if they roll away that stone. They’re still thinking dead. Four days, you stink. Jesus said to her, did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was laying, and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me, and I know that you always hear me, but because of the people who are standing by, I said this, that they may believe that you sent me. Verse 43, now when he had said these things, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he who had died came out bound, hand and foot with grave cloths, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, I love this. Loose him. Let him go. I just see somebody going up there, grabbing and spinning those things And he’s just like. But he comes out. He comes out. And he could have been like. And Jesus says, unwrap him. Let him go. Isn’t that awesome? The power of God. Listen, is not your soul on the inside, without Christ, wrapped in previous pain or hurt? Are you not perhaps being tempted to be unforgiving or bitter towards somebody who wronged you? We all understand that. But many of us who’ve come to know Christ know this. He breaks that chain so that they no longer have any power over us. He gives us the power, listen, to forgive, to set us free. Have you ever thought about that? You’re just grinding over that person’s name. Every time you just think of it, it makes you sick and it’s like, oh man. And God is saying to you, you need to pray for them. I’m not gonna pray for them. And you need to forgive them. I’m not gonna, why would I do that? And you should look in the mirror. Why would I do that? Because you’re ugly. It’s making you ugly and it’s killing you. Did you not know? You must have read this wrong. To forgive somebody who wronged you is almost having nothing to do about them themselves. God gave you the power to forgive those who hurt you so you can be free from them. If you’re gonna harbor that hurt in your life, they will forever have control over you. But sometimes things have control over us. Pain has control of us. Injustice. This didn’t go the way that I thought. Or this happened in court and the guy, it was all wrong what happened how this came down. Listen, it’ll eat you alive unless you give it to God. He’ll set you free. Unwrap yourself. Go.

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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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And number five is this, verses nine to 10, get up because of what we must do. It’s time to get up. Verses nine and 10 says, and as they went to tell the disciples, behold, Jesus met them saying, rejoice. So they came and they held them. I love this. Oh my goodness. You think all of a sudden they became polite? These ladies running like this? I think they tackled them. But I love what he says. His last words, by the way, was it’s finished on the cross, it’s finished. That’s when all the work was done by God. And it was finished. Sunday morning was not work. Jesus’ resurrection is the cherry on top of the whipped cream. All the work was done up until Friday and then Jesus said, it’s finished. Mankind, their debt’s been paid for. I just bought them eternal life. I bought a ticket for eternal life. If anybody wants it, come and get it. Get up. And then his first recorded words after the resurrection, rejoice. He didn’t say, go to church and don’t miss one moment. You better have perfect attendance. You better give a lot of money and you better work in the children’s ministry or I’ll let you have it. People have got their resurrected Jesus like this. You really think he’s risen from the dead and he’s like, oh, he’s got a bad attitude about it? Who are you? I’m Jesus, I’m risen from the dead. I’ve conquered the grave. Follow me. Not a chance. His first time, he could have said to them, excuse me, girls, why didn’t you believe? What’s going on? He says, rejoice! Rejoice! One of the gospels, remember Peter, remember how bad Peter had betrayed him during his darkest hours? And Peter said, Peter began to cuss and swear and say, I don’t even know him. Isn’t it awesome that Jesus rose from the dead and said to the disciples, or to the women, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you put those together and you read it. On one of the encounters, Jesus said, ladies, go back and tell the disciples, and ladies, tell Peter. Don’t you love that? Because that’s my name and your name. For this illustration, your name’s Peter. My name’s Peter. Because don’t you feel and think like a Peter? Have you, listen, have you ever denied him in that moment when Jesus said to you as a believer, I’m talking just to the believer, the non-believer, he would never say this to you. To the believer, he’ll tug on your heart at Home Depot, of all places, Home Depot. It’s perfect. He’s a carpenter, Home Depot. No. He pulls on your heart and says, tell that guy over there that you want to pray for him. And then make sure you slip my name in there on that one. Really, God? It’s Monday, it’s my day off. Listen, he’s speaking, there’s things that he, listen, there’s things that we must do, but it better be, we better check our motives, it better be just like the ladies who are preparing all of the spices and the fragrant oils. I guarantee you this, I wasn’t there, and it’s not written down, but I know one thing for sure. They’re not preparing the spices to go visit the tomb to pay their last respects to Jesus and they’re saying, man, isn’t this a little, a lot of oil here? Mary, you got a little too much spices. This is a big deal. How much did that cost anyway? This has been a long night preparing all these. You think they thought like that? No way. Can you imagine people calling themselves a Christian but going, oh man, when’s this music gonna stop? When’s the service gonna end? Christians don’t think like that. Listen, when the Holy Spirit lives in you, you have to worship. You know you’re worshiping, you worshiped in song, and now you’re worshiping teaching. You know this is worship, did you know that? But when you leave today, you’re still worshiping. Every moment you move, wherever you go, you’re a worship person. Sorry, forgive me again for my cartoon head. But Pixar did that guy, that music man thing where he’s got a big drum in the front and he’s got cymbals and he’s got a trumpet and he’s got a horn and he’s got all these things going around with piano key. He’s just one guy. But in that Pixar, he’s moving and he’s got all the sounds going. And it’s cute because when he moves, every move he makes, there’s a sound. And there’s music. The Christian’s life is like that. Every move you make, every step you take. That was bad. That was not from the Lord. You and I are making worship sounds. You and I are making worship sounds. And when the Bible says, So they came and they held him by the feet and they worshiped him and then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they will see me. Listen, it’s time for you and I today, friends, to finally get up. It’s time for us today to finally actually once and for all get up because maybe for some, you’ve never heard that Jesus, this Jesus of the Bible, loved you to the point that he went to the cross to die for your lying, your cheating, your stealing, your bad thoughts, your fill in the blank. You’ve never stopped to think. Maybe you’re here today and you would say you’re a Christian and I would ask you right now, prove it. You could give me all of the theological answers and it does not mean you’re a Christian. Do you know what it’s like to be possessed by the Holy Spirit of God who governed your life on a moment by moment basis. Do you know that no matter what you do in your life, if you ran to the ends of the earth, the North Pole or the Antarctic, you know there’s not even a reason to do it because when you got there, he’d be there. Some of you, listen, you’ve named the name of Jesus but nobody knows and you’re not even sure. I’m gonna ask you right now, we’re gonna pray. Nobody gets up and leaves. The ushers have set their guns to tase. This is a holy moment. Seriously, you could say, well, you know, let’s get going. And somebody might be thinking about, God, do you really love me? Let me know, show me a sign, and you step on their foot. Don’t interrupt anybody right now. We’re almost done, you’ll make it. Let’s all pray, let’s pray right now. Father, we come to you right now, and God, we pray right now that you would interrupt this service and every heart and mind right now that today would be the day that someone who’s here, someone who’s watching right now, maybe the broadcast right now, they may be in their living room, they might be somewhere, maybe they’re in a small group or a home away group in some part of the world, maybe they’re all alone. And you’re speaking to them. Maybe you’re here right now and God is speaking to you. And listen, this is what you’re hearing. You’re hearing something like this. You’re hearing something like, do I really believe? Do I truly have faith in God? Can I tell someone that Jesus died on the cross for their sins and rose again from the dead? Has my mouth been bound? Am I a modern day Lazarus who’s still wrapped up Maybe you’re here today and you’re thinking, God could never forgive me. Jack, you have no idea how bad I’ve sinned. You are exactly why this service is happening. And then finally this, maybe you’re somebody, you’re so content. You’re so proud of the fact that you’re a Christian and you said it to somebody back in 67 or 83 or whatever. 2007, yeah, I’m a Christian. But nobody else can figure that out in your life. Be careful, friend, that you’ve not deceived yourself. So today you have an opportunity, as we remain in an attitude of prayer, I’m gonna ask you right now, as we begin to worship this song, if God is speaking to you, and let me tell you how you can know that, if God is speaking to you, I’m gonna ask you to get up. and come forward and stand at the base of this platform, you’re hearing something like this. In fact, as soon as I said that a moment ago, you heard this, uh-oh. If you heard an uh-oh in your head, that was God speaking to you. He’s loving on you right now. But you know what? Your pride is fighting him right now. And you’re thinking thoughts like, well, I don’t want people to know about this. Oh, just know this. Jesus said, if you’re ashamed of me, then I’ll be ashamed of you. If you acknowledge me, I will acknowledge you. If all of a sudden something else has become more important than this moment, your heart’s in a dangerous place. Maybe you thought you were a Christian and the reality is that this morning you have found out you’re almost a Christian. There’s no almost Christians in heaven. Will you believe him? Will you get up and instead of going to Galilee, will you come forward and stand at the base of this altar and we’ll pray in a moment. But you’re gonna stand before people, the holy angels, God himself, because you’re not ashamed to identify with Jesus Christ who loved you so much he died for you, but he will not bend your arm into heaven. It’s your choice to love. If you’re uncomfortable right now, well, that’s God just giving you the, the pounding. He’s pointing you out and he’s calling you now. Father, bless them now, we pray. And all God’s people said, amen.

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pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his very special Easter Passion Week message called, Get Up. Happy Easter to you and thank you for stopping by today and listening to the radio program. Our prayer is that in celebrating Passion Week, you’ll come to realize the urgency to come to Christ, knowing that He is the only way to eternal life. You’ve got to get there. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.

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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 slash know God. 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 Know God tab at jackhibbs.com.

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What if the greatest battles in life aren’t fought with swords and armies, but with the struggles of the heart? What if the most defining moments of leadership come not from triumph, but from pain, betrayal, and humility? How do we handle being misunderstood or wronged? And how do we navigate the deep waters of authority, submission, and forgiveness? In A Tale of Three Kings, Jean Edwards takes us inside the lives of King Saul, King David, and Absalom, illustrating the powerful lessons learned from their brokenness and their failures. Through these kings, we discover that true leadership often comes through humility, suffering, and trusting God’s sovereignty, even in the most difficult seasons. This book will challenge you to reflect on your own heart, leadership, and your walk with God. A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards. It’s available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio. 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.