Master Moses, Meet Father Abraham - 1A

David Jay: Today, on Real Life Radio.
Jack Hibbs: God has kindness towards us, and he delights to give it to us. And so, when it comes to getting to heaven, grace is the ride that will get us there, and I mean that sincerely.
David Jay: This is real life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I am David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's word, the Bible. Everything Pastor Jack Hibbs is doing has a home, jackhibbs.com. It's the place to catch the latest message, revisit a series, listen to the podcast, stream Real Life Network, or find resources that will help you stay steady in God's word. Whether you've got 5 minutes or an hour, start right there. This site keeps it easy to watch, listen, learn, and grow. Visit jackhibbs.com today and stay connected to what God is doing through this ministry. Visit jackhibbs.com. On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues with his series now called The Book of Ephesians and a message titled Master Moses meet Father Abraham part one. Ephesians is, of course, a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, showing every believer who they really are in Christ. And here, Paul reminds us that we are saved by grace, and there's nothing we could ever do to earn it. You see, so many of us wear ourselves out trying to work our way to God, but grace is God's unearned favor, freely given. It's a gift we simply can't buy, and we never could repay. So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that we often fight against grace and try to earn our way to heaven. But the law was never meant to save us. It was meant to show us just how much we need a savior. Before we get into the message, I had a chance to sit down with Pastor Jack and talk about it with him. So let's get into that. Hey Pastor Jack, you ever have a a boss that you or or a coach or a teacher, some sort of leader whose approval you really wanted, you know, you really wanted to earn that approval? And if you did, did you ever get that approval?
Jack Hibbs: Wow. Uh first of all, what a great question because I think that just by nature, when you have somebody who's in authority over you, right? Be it a teacher, a coach,
David Jay: Good question, huh? Yeah. Yeah.
Jack Hibbs: some sort of mentor, right? Uh it's just human nature to want uh their approval. And I'm not saying that in a weak way. Of course, we trust Jesus in our lives. Yes, I I got that. But just the reality of the fact that just as humans, um we have been built in such a way that if if somebody that has that influence over us is what a great job you did.
David Jay: Yeah.
Jack Hibbs: Um and I can I can say that I I have shockingly uh have heard such things. When I I remember being uh young, working during the summer, and um hearing that from my boss. Uh and then working at a career which uh was amazing. God gave me promotion after promotion because frankly um I had a manager who who recognized you know what I was seeking out was excellence. And so yeah, he he commented on that. So it matters. So probably most important thing, Davey, is for us to be those kinds of people who encourage others. Now it's our turn to encourage them.
David Jay: So in light of that, Pastor Jack, uh the title of this uh of this series, Master Moses meet Father Abraham. Moses stands for keeping the rules, right? And and and Abraham stands for yep, simply trusting God. So why put these two in the same room? Why would you do that?
Jack Hibbs: They've got to be in the same room because it's amazing. That's such a great setup, Davey, because uh God obviously anointed and called Moses and Moses to be the lawgiver. The reason why Moses it was the lawgiver was to actually show man, as the Ten Commandments says, shows us our failure. The Ten Commandments was never given to save anybody.
David Jay: Yeah.
Jack Hibbs: A lot of my Jewish friends think that the Ten Commandments is to save them. The Ten Commandments never promised to save you. But let's remember this.
David Jay: Yeah.
Jack Hibbs: Before there was ever a Moses, before there was ever a law or the law, Abraham existed long before Moses ever did.
David Jay: Yeah.
Jack Hibbs: Abraham had no Ten Commandments. Abraham had a personal relationship with Almighty God. And the Bible tells us that he was justified by faith, not by works. So think about it this way. Abraham is our role model as to how to relate to God.
David Jay: Right.
Jack Hibbs: And Moses is the one that brings us the reason why. Moses tells us we've all sinned.
David Jay: Yeah.
Jack Hibbs: Right? We've all failed. Here's the law to prove it. And when we see the law and we're convicted sick to our stomach, we run to God just like Abraham. Abraham, the Bible tells us believed in God, and God accounted to him that for righteousness. Abraham was declared righteous.
David Jay: Here's the part that bugs a lot of folks. If God saves us by his grace, right? And not by how good we are, doesn't that give folks the idea that oh gee, I can live it any way that I want, you know? Do folks end up with that idea or how how's that work?
Jack Hibbs: Yeah. Yeah, of course. First of all, isn't it funny to think it's a really it's a really uh faulty premise to think that uh oh well, you mean God can forgive that guy that just did that terrible thing or whatever. And you know, it just seems so the grace of God. Hey, wait a minute. You're forgetting to see yourself in that equation.
David Jay: Yeah.
Jack Hibbs: We sit and point fingers at that guy that just did that terrible thing, but God sits and points at us saying you're guilty of things either thought life or deed that is still sin. You may not have you may not have done that thing that that guy did, but you did this instead.
David Jay: Yeah.
Jack Hibbs: It's it's very bizarre that we as humans get a lot of uh unrealistic comfort out of blaming other people for their faults, and we write ourselves an excuse when in reality uh no one gets a free pass. God's grace provides for us access to Jesus Christ because Jesus paid for all of our sin debt. He paid for all of the things that we did wrong and and will do wrong. That that said, nobody can earn salvation. If that were possible, then Jesus wasted his time at the cross. But glory be to God, he did not waste his time at the cross.
David Jay: So so given the fact that, you know, Jesus didn't waste his time on the cross, what do you say to the person that says well, I I hope that I'm going to go to heaven and then they're just not sure. What what should they listen for in this message?
Jack Hibbs: Yikes. Um are they hoping that they go to heaven? I mean you you probably have better chances than to go to Vegas
David Jay: Yeah, good point.
Jack Hibbs: and hope.
David Jay: Yeah.
Jack Hibbs: The Bible says these things have been written that you might know that you have eternal life. It's been my experience that all of God's kids know that they have eternal life. The Bible says in the Book of Romans that his Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
David Jay: Yeah.
Jack Hibbs: So if someone doesn't know, then it might be that they simply believe in Jesus, but they've never put their faith in Jesus. And believing in Jesus doesn't get you to heaven. People need to hear this.
David Jay: Right. Right.
Jack Hibbs: Believing in Jesus doesn't get you to heaven. Look, I believe in George Washington, but that doesn't make me an American, right? Think of this. You've got to put your faith
David Jay: Right.
Jack Hibbs: in the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's a there is a Grand Canyon between believing in him and putting your faith in him. Those who put their faith in him means they trust him, which means God keeps his word, which means they know that they're sinners. They know that if they could live a perfect day, they would do it. But they know in the moment that they trip up or have an anxious thought or worrisome thought or a bad thought, they take that to the Lord and ask for forgiveness instantly because they know what it's like to have fellowship with God and they know what it's like to not have fellowship with God. So they keep that channel open. It's truly a relationship.
David Jay: All right, thanks Pastor Jack. Master Moses meet Father Abraham part one.
Jack Hibbs: Misunderstood and ill-appropriated verses in the Bible concerning the life of the Christian. It's a tragedy when you see what verses we're studying tonight and that being true. It's a shame, and all of us need to be very much aware tonight and for the next following millennium concerning the truth that is in Ephesians chapter two as we have have advanced to this portion of the book in verses eight and nine in our study together, where Paul says here for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. So the title of the message tonight I hope grabs your attention and keeps your attention. And I was trying to put it together and what do we call this thing? And what kind of a what kind of a thing really describes uh not only this portion of the scripture, but really is something very personal to me? And the title may mean nothing to you. It means everything to me. And that is Master Moses meet Father Abraham. And that's what I need so often in my life because when I came to know the Lord Jesus, I saw God still on Mount Sinai, thundering and lightning from the top of that mountain and issuing commands in a fiery cloud and all of that earthquaking and stuff that took place in Sinai. And I carried that right into my Christian walk for so long. I was a real fan of Moses. You got to keep the law. And what Moses did, you do. And I I don't know how that happened. I grew up in a church that is famous in the world today in promoting the grace of God. Pastor Chuck just did a book a little while ago, Grace. Why grace changes everything. Great title of a book. It's true. But it wasn't true for me. I was living a pretty happy life before I met Jesus Christ. I was doing pretty good financially. I was doing pretty good emotionally. I was doing pretty good in the world. And then I met Jesus Christ. I lost my job. And I thought that my girlfriend would be very excited about this news. That didn't work. Lost my friends. And I remember sitting in the back row of Calvary Coast to Mesa for about 6 or 7 months not meeting one soul until this one guy, blessed guy, he's the Lord took him home. He was such a precious guy, the Lord took him home. Uh young guy. And that guy, I tell you, and he was so full of the grace of God, smiling all the time, just blessing me all the time. But I still struggled and fought against the grace of God. It was so strange. And you know what you do too? We fight and kick against God's grace. We barely understand it. And yet if we're going to make it through this Christian experience, and we will make it by the grace of God, we really need to grab onto this doctrine of the grace of God and the attributes of the grace of God. So we're going to talk about Moses tonight. We're going to talk about Abraham, and we're going to talk about how it all applies to our lives. In Ephesians two, beginning in the verse one down to verse 10, the entire uh text is in relation to grace. The grace in which we find our salvation, very important. The grace of God. And as I said, very much misunderstood. And if not misunderstood and uh most of the circles and so many circles abused the grace of God. When I was first exposed to spiritual things, I was exposed to Mormonism. And there was a great mockery and a laugh being made about born-again Christians because you all were called gracers. That's what you were nicknamed in the Mormon church when I was there is that you are a gracer. And a gracer is somebody who sins and they blow it and they go and ask God to forgive them and cleanse them from their sin, and they tap into the grace of God and they're forgiven and they go on their way happy and forgiven. And they can handle it. And I couldn't handle it, and I thought not me, but I'm going to work my way into that heaven if it kills me. And it almost killed me. Now don't tell anybody, but I was so committed. Even when I got into the my born-again experience with Jesus Christ, I still drugged that cargo in. And uh instead of believing what the Mormons understood instead of me being a born-again Christian and believing it, I would get up in the morning, 4:00 in the morning. I would pray. I would get in my bathtub with no water, just naked as a jaybird because it was cold in there. And I would bow my knees and get on my knees in the bathtub because the porcelain was cold and pray because wimps would fall asleep in prayer. And I was no spiritual wimp. And I'm going to pray. And somewhere I came across a book and it said if you don't pray 3 hours a day, you're not even saved. And I said well, that's it man. I'm going to show this author of this book how saved I am. And I tell you what man, I would by God's grace I was born again, but I was the most self-righteous nincompoop you'd ever want to be around. It was gross. And the sad thing is I perverted a couple of other brothers to go the same way. Sad thing is they both turned out to be Calvary Chapel pastors in other cities. That's a sad thought. So when visiting Calvary Chapel of Vista or Grass Valley, be careful. But God's grace invaded my life. And I'll never forget at least tonight we're coming home one morning from a special viewing of the movie Jesus. It was a special thing uh had not yet been released through the theaters, and God spoke to my heart and I was devastated that morning and received and understood the grace of God. Changed my life. And so as we go through this, it is my prayer that your experience with the Lord will be one that is rooted and grounded in grace. And what does it mean? And how does it apply to my life? The Lord wants us to know. We're going to be looking at at several things tonight, but few things I want you to be aware of right now. Look at verse four. Go way back to verse four and look what it says right there. We're going to name off four things. And the first one's found in verse four concerning the nature and attribute of God. And then we're going to crescendo with this thing called grace. In verse four, he told us before but God who is rich in mercy. You got to underline that. God is rich in mercy. He's got wealth as we've studied before. It's abounding with mercy. You cannot you cannot come to the end of God's mercy. He's so rich in it. And that's for you. It says in verse four again about love. This is another one of God's attributes, love. He's abounding in love toward us. Verse five says that it's grace. Verse five tells us even when we were dead in our trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. And then we're going to discover soon here as we go through this more about grace. But the other fourth thing that I want you to see is found in verse seven. We hit it last time, and that is God's kindness. God has kindness towards us, and he delights to give it to us. And so when it comes to getting to heaven, grace is the ride that will get us there, and I mean that sincerely. It is the ultimate insult though to those of us who are trying to work our way into the kingdom of God. Those of us who are workaholics concerning our relationship to God, it is an affront to our ego. Do you understand that? And in a crowd this size tonight, chances are there's somebody in here that has got a works-based relationship with God. And we hope to change that by the grace of God tonight.
Guest (Male): 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.
Jack Hibbs: Before we dive into this, consider this. Um a master, Master Moses. What kind of things are connected with a master? A master rules, a master strong, a master takes charge, a master demands. A master is not known to be lenient. And the Bible reveals to us concerning Moses that he's a master. He was a representative of the law that was given to the children of Israel. And you are either in a works relationship with God tonight or you are are you in a faith relationship with God tonight. And that's going to be based upon you being a child of Abraham or are you a child of Moses tonight. Very important. Very important. The position of a father, attributes of a father, loving, caring, gentle. A father gives direction. He gives stability. And besides this, the father is the progenitor of the family. He is the propagator, the one whom children come from. Moses produced a lot of children, all of them in the law. But by faith, remember Abraham and Sarah produced offspring, and it was by the promise of God. Both of them are exactly opposite. Listen. And I love to point this out. Who came first? Not the chicken or the egg or the egg or the chicken. I'm talking about who came first. Was it Abraham or was it Moses? We need to read our Bibles carefully. If you look at God's men of the Bible, they had a very New Testament relationship way back in the old. What kind of relationship did Abraham have with God? A New Testament relationship. Isn't that interesting? What kind of relationship did King David have with God? A very very New Testament relationship. Interesting. Abraham was called out of a land. And while he was dwelling in Haran, God called him out, the valley there of Haran. It's interesting. Haran means flabby or fatty, flabbiness. God called Abraham out of the valley of flubber, blubber, fat, laziness, idleness the word means. Out of the land of idleness and laziness and by promise makes him his child. You read in Genesis when God calls him out, it is a gentle calling. It is a beautiful revelation of God to Abraham. It's it's his friend. They're talking one to another, and the whole relationship is based upon following God. But with Moses, it's another story. God speaks to them from a fiery mountain and all of the giving of the law and all of the fear and all of the things that were connected with the law. Yet Abraham came much earlier. And is it interesting that Moses said that we would have to uh circumcise if we're going to be identified with God? We have to have our flesh circumcised. Well, listen. The father of Moses, so to speak, was a man by the name of Abraham. And Abraham was called by God, and God spoke to Abraham before circumcision was ever given. That's very significant. Why is it important? Because God dealt with Abraham with grace and in grace. And are you or are you not tonight a child of Abraham? Or are you a child of Moses? How are you going to get to heaven? What's your plan? Is your answer well, you know what? I'm going to follow the Lord the best I can and be the best I can. You're missing it. Well, you know what? I I'll I'll I'll attend church more often. You're missing it. If you are assigning anything to your salvation outside the grace of God that comes through Jesus Christ to save you, you're missing it. And what you and I might be stapling onto that grace is in the front and is an abomination to God's word. Very serious. It says right here in verse eight. It says that for by grace for by grace you have been saved. In your Bible, you should underline the words have been saved. It appears not only in the English, but in the Greek as a past tense. It's a done deal. Something that happened in the past. Isn't amazing? It's something that's done. And so what are we saved from? And I want to methodically go through this. So try to stay awake, but you'll be stronger for it. What are we saved from? Well, from hell for one thing. Well, that's true. From a life of uh aimlessness and and emptiness. That's true too. But what are we saved from? We're saved from ultimately and really originally from the demands and from the grip of sin. Listen to this. The purpose of the law, why did God give the law? The purpose of the law was twofold. Number one, to establish before mankind God's righteousness and holiness. This is God's perfect standard, the giving of the law. Moses knew all about that, and so did the children of Israel. But the other function was to announce what standard God would accept into his presence. The law revealed God's holiness, and also it declared what God would allow into his presence. You will not make it into the presence of God, listen carefully, unless you are absolutely perfect. You're not going to make it. None of us will stand before God unless we're perfect. And I don't know how many times you were reminded today, maybe as many as I was reminded today, that we're not perfect. We got a problem here. God gave the law to intensify sin, to expose sin.
David Jay: Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio and his message called Master Moses meet Father Abraham part one. Thanks for joining 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 triumph of every believer. And we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
Guest (Male): Do you need encouragement, clarity, and solid teaching for everyday life? At jackhibbs.com, you'll find sermons, podcasts, devotionals, and streaming content designed to help you grow in your faith. Visit jackhibbs.com today and stay connected to what matters most.
David Jay: One nation born in liberty, rooted in faith, sustained by providence. That's the American story, a new documentary film from Pastor Jack Hibbs and historian Tim Barton, filmed at the very places where it happened. Preorder today ahead of its Thanksgiving Day release and receive a free Thanksgiving kids guide with your gift to Real Life. Visit jackhibbs.com or call 877-777-2346 to preorder yours now. Once again, that website jackhibbs.com.
Jack Hibbs: 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 the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. See you on the next episode.
David Jay: 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.