Real Life Radio

Jack Hibbs: We knew Jesus in this world once when we met him face to face in Galilee. We knew him, but now we don't know him like that anymore. What does that mean? We know him enthroned in heaven above. And now that we are new creations in Christ, we're believers. How do we relate to one another now?

David J.: Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David J., thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's word, the Bible.

What do you do when heaven feels silent? When you've prayed, believed, even begged, and still nothing changes? When the person you love isn't healed, when the worst actually happens, when it feels like evil is winning? Where is God in all of that?

This May, Pastor Jack Hibbs' featured resource is *Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayers?* by Erwin Lutzer. It's an honest, biblical look at the questions most of us are afraid to say out loud. Not shallow answers, but real hope, real truth, the kind that meets you right in the middle of disappointment and points you back to God's greater purpose, even when you can't see it.

If you've ever wrestled with doubt, confusion, or silence from God, this book is for you. *Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayers?* is available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com/realradio. That's jackhibbs.com/realradio. Get your own copy of the book of the month, *Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayers?* by Dr. Erwin Lutzer, at jackhibbs.com/realradio.

On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues with his series now called Disciplines of Life and a message titled Disciplines of Determination. As the world is becoming more and more difficult, there will always be a reason to quit. But we've really got to stand firm in our faith and stay committed to God and his will for our lives.

You see, in life and in faith, there will always be troubles, always problems, discouragement, and people telling us to stop and walk away. But determination means choosing not to give up even when there are reasons that seem convincing enough to do just that: give up. So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that hard times are a part of the Christian life. We'll face criticism, struggles, even disappointment, but God can work through those hardships and we can trust him to see us through, especially when things seem hopeless. Now, with his message called Disciplines of Determination, here's pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.

Jack Hibbs: Exodus chapter 4, verse 10 says, "Then Moses said to the Lord, 'Oh my Lord, I am not eloquent.'" Listen, these are reasonable reasons to quit. "I am not eloquent, neither before nor since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech." Moses stuttered. "And slow of tongue." His tongue was tied.

So the Lord said to him, I love it, this is how God talks. "Who made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say." That's God. Don't you recognize that voice? Don't you recognize that kind of speech? That's how he speaks to us.

"Lord, I can't go." God says, "I want you to do this." "I can't do it!" Moses, can you imagine Moses? He's an old man. God says, "I want you to go now, I want you to do this." "I can't. I stutter, I stammer." And God says, "Who made the mouth?" "You did." "Then I'm going to take care, I'll control your mouth. You go."

Listen, what God calls you to do, tells you to do, number one, you will be able to have a bazillion reasonable reasons why you shouldn't do it. Listen, everybody will tell you also. We'll come to this in a moment some more, but people will tell you. Friends will tell you, maybe your husband or your wife will tell you, maybe I don't know, although you pray that the husband and the wife will be on the same page, walking together in unity on something. Whatever it is, there'll be a thousand million or more reasonable reasons why to quit.

In this Christian life and this Christian experience, the days, listen, I have this based on a biblical source, the days are going to get rougher. They're going to get harder. The Bible says it's going to be more difficult and harder. The Bible tells us in Jeremiah 1, verse 4, listen to this, a reasonable reason to quit. Jeremiah's a young man. Verse 4, chapter 1, "Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you.'"

Listen to this. God is saying, "Go, you go, Jeremiah. I ordained you a prophet to the nations. You go, Jeremiah." And then said I, Jeremiah speaks, "Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth. I'm just a young punk kid." And God says, "I'm with you, Jeremiah." Those are reasonable. "I stutter" or "I'm young." Those are good arguments.

Everybody in the neighborhood would remind these guys, Moses and Jeremiah, "You shouldn't do this. Don't you know how young you are? You look like a fool. And who's going to listen to a kid?" And Moses, "I can't understand three words coming out of your mouth." That's how God gets the glory. He loves it.

Listen, I don't know if you've come to figure this out, have seen this happen in your life. I hope so. But there will never be, in our Christian experience, there will never be enough time, there will never be enough help, there will never be enough people alongside you, there'll never be enough money, there'll never be enough energy, there'll never be enough of anything. You understand that? That's the way it is.

"Well, we can't, you know what, we can't do it until we have enough." You know, churches, a lot of churches get in trouble because they'll have this big thing, "We're going to have a drive, we're going to have a construction drive. We'll have a thermometer on the stage and we'll have all the numbers there, and we want you to pledge. Pledge." Well, everybody, people don't want to look like an idiot, so everybody pledges. It's just a pledge. "Yeah, I'll give a thousand bucks."

And here's what happens. With good intentions, they'll embark upon the promise of a human rather than the provision of God. And then they wonder, "Oh no." Be very, very careful. Listen, God will lead, God will guide, God will provide. And here's the thing. People will come and give reasonable reasons why you should quit what is going on in your life. Don't quit.

People will sit down, maybe it is a husband or a wife, and give reasonable reasons why the marriage should come to an end. There are no reasonable reasons why the marriage should come to an end. God wants it to be fixed, to be worked out, to be healed. "Yeah, but my husband or my wife committed adultery and I, now I, it sounds like this sometimes, I get to divorce them." That's the second option. The first option is for God to heal that relationship. Forgiveness, mercy, grace. That comes first.

Zechariah 4:10 says, "For who has despised the day of small things?" God always begins with small things. And maybe it's a little bit of forgiveness, or maybe it's a little bit of repentance or a little bit of mercy. But listen, there will always be reasonable reasons why you should quit your commitment to Jesus Christ. Don't do it. Count the cost, my friend, of what you're fighting for and then fight for it to the end.

Just listen. Count the cost of what you're fighting for. Is it of eternal value? People are so caught up in the temporalness of things that they'll die on an anthill for nothing that's going to last. You want to be fighting for something that is eternal. And in all of your life's experience, there'll be nothing more profound and more rewarding and more eternal than your Christian commitment. Don't quit.

I had someone come up to me this last Sunday and said, "You know what, the older I get, the less friends I have remaining with me in my Christianity." Can we all say, I know what that's like? Very few friends that were walking with Jesus with Lisa and I 33 years ago are walking with Jesus now. It's a heartbreak. There'll always be reasons to quit.

Secondly, there will always be emotional reasons to quit. This is a rip-off, big time, emotions. Listen to this. Numbers, in the book of Numbers, chapter 13, listen to this: "And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 'Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.'" This is the cream of the crop.

"Go up this way into the South and go to the mountains and see what the land is like. Whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many." Then when they came to the Valley of Eshcol, there they cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it between two of them on a pole. Those were big grapes.

They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. This is from the land of Israel. Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation, the children in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. And they brought back word to them to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.

Then they told them and said, "We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who dwell in the land are strong. The cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there." You know Goliath? Goliath was one of the sons of Anak. Giants are there.

Then Caleb quieted the people in front of Moses. How cool is that? Caleb just said, "Hey, quiet!" Listen to this. And he said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it." But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are." You don't say that before you go to battle. Can you imagine? "All right you guys, lock and load. We're probably going to get blown up, but let's go." Not the thing to say.

And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants. All the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants, the descendants of Anak." And he says, "We were like grasshoppers in their sight."

Well, how do they know that? "Oh my gosh, look! We must look like grasshoppers to them." Fear speaking. It's powerful, you guys. Everybody can be ready to go and somebody says, "I think we're going to die!" And then that gets in someone's head and it bounces around in there. Emotions will get you to quit. Emotions get you to think things you ought not to be thinking.

It goes on to say, "And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, 'If only we had died in the land of Egypt! If only we had died in the wilderness!'" "But my servant Caleb," God says, "because he has a different spirit inside of him, he has followed me fully and I will bring him into the land. But all for the rest of these people, they're going to die."

Wow. Where do you want to be in this? Are you guys with me? Where do you want to be in this battle? We are living it now. You want, "Oh, it's never going to work." Stay home.

I've given you this quote before. I love it. Samuel Adams said, "Let us awaken then and evince a different spirit." That's like Caleb. "A spirit that shall inspire the people with confidence in themselves and in us, a spirit that will encourage them to persevere in this glorious struggle until their rights and liberties shall be established on a rock."

That word 'evince' means to show a clear manner, to prove beyond any reasonable doubt, to manifest, to make evident, to be certain and to act on your certainties. Do you believe in the Bible? Yes! Then act on it. That's what the scripture says. Just do it.

David J.: Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio and his message called Disciplines of Determination. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called The Disciplines of Life. It's a great series highlighting the disciplines of a Christ-follower and the high cost of sharing our faith with others. And we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.

Jack Hibbs: If you're a brand new Christian, I highly recommend you do what I did when I got saved. First book I ever read in the Bible, I got saved, went home, read the book of Revelation. That's the way I am. I want to see how it ends first. Read the book of Revelation. After that, all the rest of the Bible was easy to read because why? I read the back of the book first. I know how it turns out. So I'm reading, reading, "Oh my goodness, these guys are attacking those guys and it looks bad," but I read the end of the book. We win. So I'm just going to keep reading because I know how it turns out.

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Jack Hibbs: I read this today. The certainty inspired Adams, who was religious in nature, that he believed that God had intervened on behalf of the United States and would do so as long as the citizens maintained civic virtue. "We shall never be abandoned by heaven while we act worthy of its aid and protection." What a great boldness that is.

Did you know the Bible, in the Old Testament, David came out to his troops and he said, "Now look, this is how they talked back then. All right you guys, we're going to go to war in three days. I don't want anybody messing around with any girls." That's what he told them. "Purify yourselves from any women, no messing around, focus on the fight." And then that day came and he said, "Let's go." And they went.

David's mighty men of valor. There's always reasons to quit when you think about it. There's always reasons, historical reasons to quit. Historical reasons, what I mean by that is this. If you're a Christian tonight, one of the things that you and I constantly deal with, which is a great thing, is suppressing the memory of your past. Your B.C. days, you know, "Before Christ" days, B.C.?

You suppress that every time that comes up in your mind. No. Maybe it's a person's name, maybe it's a place. I don't know what it is, but you fight it, you push that back. But listen, there's people in your history, oh, I'm going to say something that's probably going to upset some people, so I'll say it really loud.

Historical reasons to quit. If you're on the internet chatting with somebody that used to be somebody from your past, man, you are flirting with death. Are you a Christian and you're talking to somebody who was your old junior high boyfriend or girlfriend? You're flirting with death, man. Are you chatting with somebody who was your old lover in college? You're flirting with death.

And you look at the statistics that people who look at that or talk that or do that and where it goes off to. And if it never manifests physically, there's an emotional relationship going on. It'll kill you. It'll rip you off. There will always be historical reasons why you should quit Christianity. Satan will see to it.

In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 16, the Bible says, "Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh." That's powerful. "Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him thus no more or no longer." Listen. We knew Jesus in this world once when we met him face to face in Galilee. We knew him, but now we don't know him like that anymore. What does that mean? We know him enthroned in heaven above.

And now that we are new creations in Christ, verse 17, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." And I thought about that today. You know what, imagine if somebody turned right now. Imagine we don't know, listen, from now on, he's saying, we knew Jesus in this world once when we met him face to face in Galilee. We knew him, but now we don't know him like that anymore. What does that mean? We know him enthroned in heaven above.

And now that we are new creations in Christ, we're believers. How do we relate to one another now? Not according to our historical past. You and I know each other in this world, in this plane, of being redeemed, walking with Jesus. I would be crazy to say, "Hey, nice to meet you. Well, hey, you know what, I guess if we're going to be friends, you should know that I used to be and that I used to be and that I used to be." Christians don't do that.

We don't know anyone after the flesh any longer. We only know one another in Christ. So if you're a former axe murderer, don't tell me about it. I don't need to know that unless you plan on backsliding, then I'd like to know that. But you don't walk around. Sometimes I get a little nervous about testimonies. People parade somebody out in front of the church, "Tell them your story." "Oh, you know what, I used to be a this and a that."

And that's great, if true, that God delivered that guy from that thing or that place or that whatever. But I got news for you. Whoever heard him say it, "Hey, did you see that guy the other night? He was at the church, the guy he used to be an axe murderer. Hey, there he is! He's shopping over there at Walmart! That's the guy. Hey, see that guy? He used to be the axe murderer." Do you know what I'm saying? It's in the head. "Hey, what's your name? You go to Calvary, right? You're the guy that was the axe murderer, right?" Isn't that true? I don't want to know. I just want to know you in Jesus now.

The Bible says in Philippians 3:13, "Brethren, I do not count myself as apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Number two, there will always be days when we want to quit. There will always be days in Christianity when your mind, your emotions, your feelings just want to quit and you need to be determined to press on. The discipline of determination means this: because we think, we see something better, we've got to determine now to arrest that and put it out of our minds. There'll be days when I think I'm just going to quit, I'm going to take a break from my Christian commitment. You can't do that. Why would you do that? "Well, I think I see something better over there." That's called temptation. Satan will dangle it and, "Hey, look at that."

Determination anticipates. I love this. Determination right here anticipates a hostile attack. To be determined anticipates a hostile environment, a hostile attack. There's a danger of a lack of determination when tough times come, when difficult times come, sick times, perilous times, financial hardship, attack.

Jesus warned that there are a lot of people who profess to be believers and we don't know how long, but time goes on, he said, and then they will be ridiculed, mocked, and attacked for being a Christian. And they have a day in their mind where they say, "Man, I can't, I'm not taking this anymore. I can't take it anymore." Everything, everyone's coming down on them. Maybe it's the family. "Oh, you Christian. Oh boy, you know, there goes Holy Joe." And you start to cave. Listen, you need to run to Jesus. Are you there right now? Run to Jesus. Don't quit. Don't give up. Be determined. He'll see you through. Hang on to him.

In 1 Kings 21, the Bible says, "And it came to pass after these things that Naboth," remember this story? Naboth, he had a vineyard. Beautiful thing, beautiful vineyard, producing great crops. And Ahab saw it. And he wanted that vineyard. He wanted Naboth's vineyard. "Oh, I want it."

And he offers Naboth, "Hey, I'll give you, I'll trade you some land." "I don't want, I don't want to trade." "I'll give you some money." "I don't want any money. This, this land is an inheritance of mine, it's in my family." And listen to this. It says in verse 4 of 1 Kings 21, "So Ahab went into his house sullen." You know what 'sullen' means? He goes into his house and he's displeased because of the word of Naboth.

And he says, "I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers," that's what he told me. And he laid down on his bed, and he turned away his face, and he would eat no food. This is the king. "What's the matter?" "He won't give me his vineyard!" He winds up killing the guy to get it. Unbelievable. Giving up on following God because you think you see something better.

Doesn't God want me happy? No. Where'd you get that idea from? "Follow Jesus and he'll make you happy," someone had said. God wants you holy. Happy, blessed, it says "Blessed," that's the word 'happy.' Blessed are the, yeah, blessed are the what? "Blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are the..." Fill in the blank. In obedience to him, your life becomes happy. But you don't, you don't sign up for Jesus, "Okay, man, yeah, I want to be happy. Where do I sign? Just raise your right hand. Jesus, come into my heart." Why are you praying that? "I want to be happy."

Hey, that's a byproduct, man, of coming to Christ and having your sins forgiven, understanding he died on the cross for your sins. If you were the only human to have ever lived, theologically correct, absolutely. If you were the only one, imagine Adam and Eve got together and they never got together again after that and you're the only one walking around. He would have died for you if you were the only one ever born. That's how valuable you are, but you have to come to him.

David J.: Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio and his message called Disciplines of Determination. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called The Disciplines of Life. It's a great series highlighting the disciplines of a Christ-follower and the high cost of sharing our faith with others. And we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.

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.

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.