Join Pastor Jack Hibbs as he navigates through the scriptures to highlight the roles of faith and works within the Christian life. In this episode, find insights into biblical leadership through Dr. Kevin Lehman’s ‘The Way of the Shepherd’ and understand the profound impact of genuine faith as demonstrated by biblical figures like Rahab. The discussion extends to the critical need for prayer surrounding the current challenges facing believers in Southern California.
Are you saying if inside your heart right now there’s a question mark, that is the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart and mind that you’re not ready? If you say, well, I sure hope so. No, you’re to know it.
SPEAKER 02 :
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. What does it take to be a great leader? Whether you’re managing a business or running a household or navigating relationships, leadership is about so much more than titles and tasks. In The Way of the Shepherd by Dr. Kevin Lehman, you’ll discover some timeless principles of biblical leadership that really apply to every area of your life. Through some compelling storytelling, Dr. Lehman shares seven powerful secrets that’ll help you lead like the Good Shepherd does. Those secrets include understanding the people you lead, assessing their strengths, building trust, ensuring safety, providing direction, implementing correction, leading with compassion, Personally recommended by Pastor Jack Hibbs. The Way of the Shepherd is available today for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio. Get your copy of The Way of the Shepherd by Dr. Kevin Lehman at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series called The Book of James. Today’s title, Salvation by Faith or Works, Part 2. 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 here in part two, James continues to encourage them to have true faith in Christ. You see, we need to make sure that we are truly following Jesus Christ. Indeed, we’re not saved by works, but faith without action is an empty faith. Now, with his message called Salvation by Faith or Works, part two, here’s pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.
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Know this, faith works together with works. And by works, faith is complete. You can talk about it all you want. James is saying, I’ll tell you after a month of observation if you’re a Christian or not. These are strong words. People don’t want to hear this. But it really is for our benefit because it leads us to a clearer reality of what we should be like in this world. And verse 23, under this same point, we come to the third really explanation under this, Saving faith of Abraham, and that’s found in verse 23, the authority of God’s prophetic word. He says, and the scripture was fulfilled, which says Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. That’s incredible. Just as the scriptures said. This morning, we all read Psalm 138, verse 8. And it says there that God’s going to finish the work that he started. You may not believe that. or you may, it doesn’t matter. He’s going to do it anyway. He’s going to complete that work. And the fact of the matter is, the prophetic word of God says that God will complete all that he has promised to do in your life. Now that ought to get us all pumped up. That ought to get us excited. He will complete it. Why the prophetic word? It says, and the scriptures were fulfilled, which says Abraham believed God. The Bible will come to a completion, did you know that? When the book of Revelation leads us to the last of its chapter, to the last of its few verses. This book will become a living reality in eternity, and the consummation of the ages will be, the revelation of man would have been complete. All of God’s works will be accomplished today. And what he’s begun in your life, he’s going to complete. The second point that we see this morning, very important that we look at this, is the illustration of what saving faith really is. And I need to hurry on this very quickly. Verse 24, you see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only. This is the second time he’s used this phrase. Statement justified by works. Second time, he’ll use it three times total in a moment here. But in verse 24, the illustration of saving faith. What is it really like? When he says, you see then, he’s saying to us, observe that a man is justified by his works and not by faith only. A few things I want to point out. First of all, when he says, see, you see that a man, first of all, ladies, he’s talking Mr. and Mrs. Man. He’s talking mankind. Those who claim to know God. He’s not being sexist here. He’s saying, those of you who are believers, he says, you see then, clearly observe, watch this, that a Christian is justified by works, watch with me, watch your Bible, and not by faith, thank God. There’s a word next to that. What is it? Only. Because if you would have moved that period right behind the H in front of the O, we would have had a major, serious problem in the Bible. You would have been able to find the first contradiction in Scripture, which is not at all. But thank God for that word only. You want to know why? Because faith cannot be separated from works, but works can be separated from faith. There are cults who believe they can work their way into heaven. There’s a certain cult that says, yeah, you’re saved by grace, only after that which you’ve done all that you can do has been accomplished. That’s not grace. Cults put human effort up front. James is saying, listen, because you have faith in God, you will have works as well. And that’s beautiful. I’ve mentioned this before. It just bears repeating. And because it’s an orange tree, it produces… Watch. It doesn’t produce orange trees. Not exactly. What does it produce? Oranges. Why? Because it’s an orange tree. We’re Christians, so we produce, or through us, the Holy Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit. Do we produce other Christians? Does the orange tree produce other orange trees? Not directly. Other Christians have the fruit of the Spirit flowing out from them, which leads others to Christ Jesus. You see how that works? there’s an effectiveness to our walk. It’s very, very obvious, very visible. But you never see an orange tree standing out there alongside the road going, oh, gosh, if I’ve got to produce 200 more oranges like this, that’s going to kill me. No, it just stands there in the sunlight, and it produces oranges. It doesn’t grunt. You don’t hear the tree going, no, it just happens. It’s fruit. It’s not works. Works simply confirmed.
SPEAKER 02 :
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.
SPEAKER 01 :
The third point is in verse 25, the illustration of Rahab’s saving faith. It says here, likewise was not Rahab, this is hilarious, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? What does that mean? This is kind of weird. First of all, let’s put ourselves in the sandals of the first original here. This is fun. James is a good Jewish man. He’s speaking predominantly to a church filled with Christians who have come out of Judaism, they’re completed Jews or born again Jews. By the way, you know what the word Jew means, right? J-E-W. In fact, if your name’s Judy or Jude, It means to praise, one who praises the Lord. Isn’t that a neat name? In fact, in Romans 2, verses 28 and 29, Paul says, “…he is not a Jew who is one outwardly with the circumcision of the flesh, but he is a Jew inwardly whose circumcision is of the heart, not done by men, but done by God, whose praise is of the Lord and not of man.” So do you love the Lord? Do you love to sing praises unto the Lord? According to the Bible, Romans 2, 28 and 29, you and I are Jews. We’re praisers. Isn’t that neat? In the spirit. That’s awesome. Well, the fact of the matter is, Abraham was the first Jew. And if you’re sitting in this audience and you’re listening to James’ message right now, 2,000 years ago, you’re saying, yeah, preach it, James. Let it rip. Oh yeah, tell us more about Abraham. Father Abraham. Yeah, we know that’s… They’re all excited. Yeah, they’re talking about our man. Abraham. He’s the greatest, most revered name in Judaism to this very moment today. And they’re going, yeah. And then James says here in verse 24 or verse 25, he says, likewise. Can you take that word likewise and mark it in your Bible? It is an awesome word. It means just like Abraham in every way, just like what I just told you about Abraham, everything that has to do with Abraham. And you go, yeah, uh-huh, yeah. Applies to, yes. And the crowd would have said, I know he’s going to mention Moses. Or he’s going to maybe, he’s going to mention Isaiah. Yeah. Or he might mention, you know, Habakkuk or somebody like that. James goes, in every way, just like Abraham was justified. Yes? So is likewise Rahab. And you could have heard a pin drop in the synagogue, in the church. Excuse me, who? James, did you? I could have… Could have swore you said Rahab. He did say Rahab. He took us from the patriarch to the prostitute. To the man. Listen, ladies, hear me out. Don’t head for the door. To the man, to the woman. Because you know about that culture, right? Men are something. Women were nothing. Even some of the Orthodox Jews today say, God, I thank you. I thank you I was not born a Gentile. I thank you, God, I was not born a dog. And I thank you, Lord, that there was not born a woman. That’s what they’ll say. They said it in Jesus’ day. A woman was down here. James is saying, just like Abraham, just like Rahab. Abraham was a pillar and a leader in the faith and of the nation. Rahab was from a foreign nation, an enemy. How can her faith be an example? Oh, listen to this. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers? and sent them out another way. She was justified before mankind because what did she do? She took in the two messengers and she protected them. Really, she could have sacrificed her own life by doing this. And then after the coast was clear, she sent them out another way. But don’t miss the point. Rahab is declared righteous in the hall of faith, Hebrews 11, because she believed in God by faith. How did she do that? She told the two men who witnessed… The two men who visited. And let’s say this in their defense. She was a prostitute. She was a very loose girl. But in the Old Testament, she was a manager. She hosted an inn. It was like the Holiday Inn. It didn’t say Rahab’s Mustang Ranch out there. The two Jewish soldiers didn’t say, hey, we’re a long way from home. Who’s going to know? They didn’t think that. They said, holiday inn. Let’s go see there. It’s an inn. Let’s go. She was doing a business on the side, a little prostitution thing going on. That’s why she’s found in two characters in the scripture. They go there, and she says, you guys are Israelis, aren’t you? Yes, we are. And she said, listen, read Joshua chapter 2 and Joshua chapter 6. It’s awesome. She says, I’ve heard about your God. He’s an awesome God. I have heard that he’s destroying the other nations that are coming against you guys. And I know that you’re heading this way. Obviously, we must be next on your list. And they said, well, quite frankly, you guys are. You’re a bunch of pagan worshiping bums. And God wants you out of here. He’s given us this land. And she says, I tell you what, I agree with you totally. Your God is incredibly awesome. When you come through here with your military machine, will you spare me and my family’s life? And they said, yeah, as long as you stay in your house and put this scarlet thread around the window, we’ll spare your home. Do you see how she was justified before God? By faith. She believed in the God of Israel. She trusted in this great, awesome God. How was she justified before men? By hiding these two soldiers, protecting their lives. Do you see that? Faith works together. And then finally this. The final point, the fourth point, is the illustration of dead faith. It says, for as the body without the spirit, lowercase s, by the way, look at your Bible. It can’t have a capital S. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. The lowercase s is our spirit, the spirit that every man and woman has in them, the life of who we are. This biological machine only functions because my spirit and soul are working within me. They’re alive. This is just a machine. When this body dies, my soul, my spirit departs from here and lives on. Now listen. Have you ever seen a dead person? Have you ever seen somebody who they just died? They’re dead, they’re freshly dead. They might be laying down, maybe they’re in bed, and they didn’t get up that morning. And you walk in the room and you say, hey, John, come on, you bum, get up. It’s time to go to work. John, they look alive. We assume they’re sleeping. Hey, get up. We find them to be dead. Why? The spirit has left the body. What remains is a carcass. We may identify with that carcass. We may say, I know who that is. It’s a carcass nonetheless. When your time is done in this life, this carcass will be left here in the earth. But you, who you are, The you that makes this biological machinery express its emotions and accomplish its feats is the spirit and the soul of a man. You think this is all there is to life. You’re greatly mistaken if you do. The Bible tells us in John chapter 5 verses 28 and 29 that we do in fact live on in an eternal hell that we live or in eternal heaven we live. But we live. And the question is, where are you going? James is saying people who mouth about their faith and yet have no works in their life to prove it is just like a person who’s dead. It’s a carcass and no spirit to it. This is a serious accusation or test, I should say, James puts before us. It’s very soul-searching. And so I want to ask you in closing, Are you saved? If inside your heart right now there’s a question mark, that is the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart and mind that you’re not ready. If you say, well, I sure hope so. No, you’re to know it. I’m not going to ask this, but it would be horribly unfair to be able to say to people here this morning, those of you who know you’re saved, will you raise your hand? And people would raise their hand. And you would go, well, how come they know it and I don’t? You should know it. Are you going to heaven? Just think if we couldn’t get out of the sanctuary in a moment and we would all be locked in here to cook. Would you go to heaven? I want to warn you about what is known as easy believism. I am not going to invite you in a moment to raise your hand if you want to accept Jesus Christ. I’m not going to invite you to do that. That would be wrong. It would be anti-scriptural even. I’m not going to ask you if you want to accept Jesus Christ that you should come forward. I’m not going to ask you that. That would be wrong. I’m not going to ask you, of course, not to be baptized. That would be wrong. The fact of the matter is, for me to even suggest those things, I have to first say this. It’s the first thing Jesus said. It’s the first thing John said. It’s the first thing Paul said. It’s the first thing Peter said. Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Repent. You see, if I mention an invitation without the word repentance, you think I’ve got a price club card. I’ve got a… A golf club membership card? I’m going to get a Jesus card, too. Yeah, sure, I’ll raise my hand. Oh, no. You’ve got to agree with God that you’re a sinner and that you need to be saved from your sin. There is no Savior without first being a sinner. There’s no salvation without first knowing that you’re lost. This is Bible. Can you admit this morning that you’re a sinner, you have failed, you’ve broken at least one of the Ten Commandments, and you need Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? If you can admit that, then you need to next repent, and that is to give Him all of your sin and your life and let Him wash you and let Him guide you. If you’re not willing to do that, then do not raise your hand in a moment. Let’s pray together right now and give opportunity for those to make decisions now. Lord, in Jesus’ name, we ask you right now that you would work upon the hearts of these people, that they would make a decision for you if that’s what needs to be settled in their life’s account. May they know it. May they be sincere and may they understand the cost that they’re coming and giving all of themselves to you. And in return, you will give your life unto them. And while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed, will you right now, are you willing to do that today, that you want to dedicate your life to Jesus Christ and trust Him completely for the salvation of your soul, not by any works of righteousness that you have done? Raise your hand wherever you’re at. High so I can see your hand. God bless you in the very back. I can see your hand and the four of you in the very back. I see your hand back there. Nobody looking around. This is their public. God bless you two in the middle there. You two on the aisle. By raising your hand, you’re saying, Jesus, I know that I’m a sinner and I want to be saved from my sins and I’m going to give you my life. God bless you, sir. On the back aisle in the blue shirt, I see your hand. And you, ma’am, in the very back in the white. God bless you. You’re saying, yes, Jesus. In fact, you would agree with this prayer. And by the way, this prayer doesn’t save you either. It’s the one you’re calling out to. Don’t be trusting on some event of the past. That can’t save you either. But a dynamic faith in him now. You would agree with this. You would agree with a prayer that would go like this, Lord Jesus, I want you to come into my heart and save me from my sins. And Lord, I confess that I’m a sinner. I give my life to you. I want to be born again by the Spirit of God. I want to know that my name is written down in heaven. Fix my life, fix my home, fix my world. I cannot do it myself. Lord, save me from my sins. And Lord, make me to walk in your way by the power of your spirit. Lord, I today profess you as the Lord and Savior of my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called Salvation by Faith or Works, Part 2. 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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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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Well, hey friends, this is a plea and it’s not gonna take much for me to convince you. The plea is this, will you pray? Will you pray for California? Will you pray for the devastation in Southern California? It is absolutely apocalyptic in scope. The devastation is pretty much beyond imagination. It’s as though a atomic bomb had gone off. and the loss of animal life, the loss of property, the loss of business, the loss of everything, of course, the loss of homes. For some people, maybe even the loss of their faith, because they may have built their life, as it were, on the sand. We pray not, but we need to pray for the salvation and for the church’s opportunity to love on Los Angeles like never before. Listen to this, my friends. I’m asking you to join me as we pray and intercede for not only those that are hurting, But even greater than that, let’s pray for the salvation of those in the Los Angeles, Southern California area in light of this horrific devastation. And let’s pray that God causes this to be an ash heap that causes beauty to rise out of it. And there’s no greater beauty than for a spiritual awakening to take place in the church and for many to come to christ let’s pray let’s pray now father in jesus name we heed your word we can watch the gates as it were we can watch out to be careful but unless you’re the one that protects the city we do it in vain Lord God, we pray for the salvation of millions of people in the Los Angeles area, tens of millions in the region. We pray, Father God, that your church would rise to this occasion to show the love of Jesus and give the gospel of God. And Father, we pray for those that are mourning the loss of their loved ones. So God, we give it to you now. We pray. We pray by leaving it at your feet. In Jesus’ name and all God’s people said, amen. God bless you and thank you. Keep praying.
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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 gonna 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.
