Real Life Radio

Jack Hibbs: The Bible says this world is under a low-level cloud of demonic influence and persuasion, and it’s a sway. It causes the world to think a different or strange way than the way God thinks and what God would have you think.

David J: This is Real Life. 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.

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On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series called *The Disciplines of Life* and a message titled “The Discipline of Doubt.” Now, the Christian walk is full of disciplines, trials, and setbacks, but it's those hard seasons of life that God uses to shape our faith from the inside out.

So when we doubt, we’re open to one of the most dangerous enemies we face as a believer. You see, every single one of us has wrestled with doubt at some point in life. Maybe it was before we became a believer, or maybe it crept in after we'd been following Jesus for years.

Those nagging questions, the moments that we wonder if God really cares about us and if he's really there when we're in pain. Today, Pastor Jack teaches that doubt must be defeated at all costs. Doubt robs our spirit, destroys our hope, and kills our future by blinding us to what God is doing in our lives.

Like a spiritual infection, if you will, one small bit of doubt can poison our entire walk with Christ. Now with his message called “The Discipline of Doubt,” here's pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.

Jack Hibbs: Mark 9:16. And he, Jesus, asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?” Then one from the multitude, verse 17, answered and said, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever he seizes him, this demonic attack comes upon him, he throws him down; he foams at the mouth, he gnashes his teeth, he becomes rigid. So I spoke to your disciples, that they should cast him out, but they could not.”

And Jesus answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to me.” And then they brought him to Jesus. And when he saw him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.

And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Do you think God is going to walk away from that cry?

And Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” And immediately, verse 24 says, the father of the child cried out—circle this verse 24—and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Can you not relate to that? “Oh God, I believe in you, but help my unbelief.”

You cannot deny God. You know he exists. But the situation in your life is seemingly out of your control. And yes, it is out of your control. And what does God require of you and I to do? “Oh God, oh Lord, if you'll do anything, help me.” And tonight, doubt answers back to me and says, “Oh Jack, I've already asked God two times, three times, a thousand times.”

Keep asking. Keep asking until God says, “All right,” “Wait,” or “Don't talk to me about this anymore.” You know he told the Apostle Paul, “Don't talk to me about this anymore.” Paul said he prayed three times for the Lord to heal him, and after the third prayer, God says, “Don't talk to me about this anymore. My grace is going to be perfected in your life. This is for a purpose.”

Can you handle that, Christian? Think about it. I'm going to confess right now. First of all, I want to ask you a question: why are you so quiet tonight? I need some amens and all that kind of stuff. I think I'm going to go pastor a Pentecostal church someplace. But I've got to tell you. All right, I'm going to bring it down. Come on now!

During worship, I was praying. I literally just said, “Lord, draw me closer to you, but with mercy because, Lord, you know I'm a weak man.” When I say weak, this is exactly what I meant. God, I want to get as close to you as you want me to get to you, which I'm sure is like glued to you. Can we just do it without pain?

I'm praying for the guys here because I don't care what a man acts or looks like; we are absolute wimps when it comes to pain. We watch our wives give birth, we faint and fall over. God, draw me closer but in mercy. Lord, be gentle. I want to be glued to you, but can you just do it nicely?

And in that sincere prayer is doubt, because the Bible tells me that God knows exactly what I can handle and not handle. It's just that his observation and mine are totally different because, “Lord, I stubbed my toe! Come on, how bad can this get?”

John chapter 20, the chapter that holds our theme verse for tonight. I am so grateful for Thomas. John 20, verse 19, says, “Then the same day at evening, this is Resurrection Sunday, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews.”

I was going to say this sounds fantastic. “The disciples, where are they? I want to meet the disciples. Where are these tremendous men of God?” Well, they're hiding out in a house because the Jews are upset. And Jesus came and stood in the midst of them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Holes in his hands, a hole in his side. This is the resurrected Jesus. Interesting, he's scarred. Scars of love. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Interesting, they recognized him because of his wounds.

So Jesus said to them, verse 21, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” And when he had said this—mark it everybody—he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” That’s the born-again experience. Who were the first born-again people on the planet? Right there, John 20:22. They got born again in that moment. Spirit of God moved inside of them. They got saved in that second.

The Holy Spirit, Jesus said, came upon them, or they received the Holy Spirit. The word means he indwelt them, imagine, never to leave them. Verse 23: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; and if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve—everybody read it with me, look—was not with them.

He wasn't with them. “Well, I don't need to go to church.” Thomas said that. “Where's everybody gathering? Oh, I don't need to go.” Thomas, why is Thomas not with them? Did he have a meeting? A conference? A doubters’ convention? Where was he? Why was he not there? Could it be that his propensity to doubt was that he had a tendency to not be there where he ought to be, either in attitude or in mind?

You know, like ADD Thomas, maybe. Jesus had to go, “Thomas, are you listening to me?” Why wasn't he there? I want to know why he wasn't there. What's the deal? He's missing. You say, “I don't need to go to church to be a Christian.” Of course not. But God blesses those people who gather together; it's a fact. And the Bible warns not to break off the gathering together.

You say, “Well, okay, but you know, it's getting kind of scary.” Like in this situation, Thomas is being wise; the Jewish leadership was out to arrest the disciples, so he stayed home. What’s going to happen in America when that time comes? My calling in life is quickly becoming one of the most dangerous callings you can have.

I've got the Supreme Court against me. I've got lunatics. Islam's against me. Trying to shut pastors down. A lot of pastors are just going to be very happy to just shut it on down. I think some need to be shut down with the banana stuff they're teaching. But we're Christians, and Thomas isn't there.

You say, “Man, I kind of feel like Thomas.” Well, cheer up, there's some good news coming. By the way, we've all been a Thomas from time to time. It's fun to beat up on him, but we're also taking a couple of jabs at ourselves. And so he wasn't there; Thomas was not with them when Jesus came.

Verse 25: “The other disciples therefore said to him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ And he said to them, ‘Unless I see in his hands the print,’ that is the hole of the nails, ‘and put my finger into the hole of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’” And after eight days, look at verse 26.

Can I add this? After eight days of sheer misery and torture because doubt will do that to you, my friend. His disciples were gathered again inside. Look! And Thomas was with them. And Jesus came, the doors being shut, stood in the midst of them. How cool is that? Lock the doors, we're hiding out. All of a sudden, there's Jesus!

And you could see like Peter and Andrew, “Told you! Cool, huh? Boom! Knuckles! Yes, awesome! Remember last week? This is great!” Thomas is like this. Don't you love him? Think about it. The door being shut, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said, “Peace to you.” I bet he was looking at Thomas when he said it.

And then he said to Thomas, “Reach out your finger here and look at my hands. And reach your hand here and put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Translation: don't be full of doubt. And Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

And Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” And I'm looking at a whole lot of people that fit that verse right here right now. God says blessed are you.

But that doesn't mean that we have to not contend against doubt. Our human nature's prone to doubt, but we must confront it head-on. Also because mankind is under a demonic curse. All of mankind is under a demonic curse. This world, this world system, and this unbelieving world is against having faith in God.

Have you marked that in your head? This worldly system is against having faith in God. Now watch this. This world is under a demonic influence. If I were to say to you, “Have faith in gods,” all kinds, pick one, you know the world would go, “Right on.” Do you know if I were to announce, “The earth is our god,” do you know the world would say, “That is so cool”? Right?

Look, you guys, we all know enough about the Bible and spirituality, which could be dangerous, that we could go to Malibu right now. And we could start a thing. We could get tambourines, and we could sing on PCH. And Tom Cruise would pull over and say, “What's up, man? What are you doing? What's going on?”

Shirley MacLaine would go, “Stop the car, stop the car! What are you guys—where—” “We are worshipping the moon, and the sea, and the trees,” and they would say, “Oh my gosh, where do I sign up?” Is this not true?

The moment you say, “I believe in the one true living God, the God who's created all things and him alone is salvation, hope, and eternal life, and he so loved us that he sent his only begotten Son Jesus to communicate his love to us by dying on the cross and having been resurrected from the dead, we have the assurance of eternal life for all those who put their trust in him.” And people would go, “Arrest this man!” Right?

Why is that the case? Everybody talks about tolerance, but they will not tolerate the person who says Jesus is Lord. That just drives Caesar nuts. It always has, it always will. Why? Because it's spiritual and this world is under demonic power.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “For without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is,” that's faith, opposite doubt, “and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Diligently. Do you want to get close to God? Do you really want God in control of your life? Then listen, it ain't going to happen.

It will not happen unless you, my friend, determine tonight to diligently seek him. It's not that he can't do anything; he could sprinkle pixie dust over your life and you would automatically follow God. He's not interested in that. That's like telling someone to tell you—you tell someone, “Tell me you love me.” Oh, that's a joy, isn't it? “Every night you come home, I want you to tell me you love me.” All right. Who can't do that?

But when somebody comes home and says, “Man, I couldn't wait to get home to tell you that I love you.” Hot dog, that's awesome! You know what I'm talking about? That's our God. If you love him, pursue him. But we're under a demonic sway in this world. It shouldn't be a surprise to us.

The Bible says in 1 John 5:18, “We know that whoever is born of God, born again, does not sin.” The word means does not practice sin. Doesn't mean you're sinless. “But he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one,” Satan, “does not touch him.” Isn't that good news?

Some of you have been having bad dreams, freaking out, thinking Satan's living in your house. Are you a Christian? The devil cannot touch you. “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway.” The word in Greek means cloud cover, fog, a low-level ceiling. The whole world is under a cloud of the wicked one.

Think about that for a moment. Any intellectuals in here right now? Think about how true that statement is. The Bible says this world is under a low-level cloud of demonic influence and persuasion, and it's a sway. It causes the world to think a different or strange way than the way God thinks and what God would have you think.

Does that not define this world? That's exactly what we see in life. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 says—look at verses three and four—Paul says, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.” Wow, listen to this: “whose minds the god of this age,” little G, Satan, he’s the one presiding over what's going on around here. I mean, not here right now, not here. The world.

“The god of this age has blinded who do not believe, lest,” or unless, “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine upon them.” Satan is that low-level cloud blanketing the world, trying to keep back the light of God. Think about that. Very graphic picture.

1 John 2:18. You guys okay? “Little children, it is the last hour.” I love John. He doesn't say it's the last days; he gave up on that. He's saying it's the last hour. How close are we? It's the last hour. “And as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us.”

Charles Spurgeon said, “When a lunatic leaves your church, don't ask him to come back. Let him go.” He said that's a blessed subtraction when a goofball goes. Isn't that great? I love that. But that's not what we're here to talk about right now. It's this verse: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be revealed or manifested, that none of them were of us.”

Verse 20: “But you have an anointing from the Holy One,” that’s a reference to the Holy Spirit, mind you, “and you know all things.” The word means you discern things. Isn't that beautiful? God has delivered you and I from this demonic curse.

Point number two: the discipline of doubt is this: doubt must be defeated at all costs. Doubt. Again, Charles Spurgeon says doubt is having faith in the devil. Doubt must be defeated at all costs. A question was asked: why not doubt your doubts?

Think about that. That same quote went on to say: believe your beliefs and hope in God. Think about that. What do you believe? Is it biblical? Are your beliefs founded upon the Bible? Then believe in them. If you've got strange beliefs, don't believe in them. If your belief is biblically rooted, believe in them.

Listen to this in the reverse: why not doubt your doubts? If you doubt your faith, then why not doubt your doubts? Because they play so strong on your emotions. Doubts do. They must be defeated at all costs. Doubt destroys. It terrifies a little child, doubt.

When little children think their mom and dad are breaking up, that doubt causes them to have stomach problems. They get sick, they vomit, they have diarrhea, they can't focus at school. They're terrified because two people who name the name of Jesus can't get along.

And listen, they think they're going to get away out of it okay. “Oh, we'll split the house. Oh, we'll divide the cars. We'll cut the boat in half.” Listen, that's all trash. It's the little one who pays the price. It ruins that kid for life because two people won't be Christians.

Doubt destroys, and it's got to be defeated at all costs because, listen, because doubt robs us of our spiritual reality. Doubt will rob us of our spiritual reality. Mark these verses down. You know this one very well: John 10:10. “The thief,” reference to Satan, “does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it more abundantly.”

Our spiritual reality. Doubt will rob us of it. Spiritual reality. Matthew chapter 8, verse 23: “Now when he, Jesus, got into a boat, his disciples followed him.” I love this. “And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. And Jesus was asleep.

Then his disciples came to him and woke him up, and they said, ‘Save us, we're perishing!’” Another gospel says, “Save us, don't you care?” Have you ever thought or said things like this? Why? Doubt. Every one of those human-based, carnal responses that come from us are literally challenging the very authority and the ability of God.

Guest (Male): Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio and his message called “The Discipline of Doubt.” Thanks for spending some time with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called *Disciplines of Life*.

It's a series on the disciplines that God builds into the Christian life: the trials, the setbacks, and the hard seasons that he uses to shape us as believers and deepen our faith. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.

America's founding wasn't just political; it was biblical. In *The American Story: The Beginnings*, Tim and David Barton uncover the scripture-anchored principles that shaped this nation from day one. It's the history they don't teach anymore, and the history every American needs.

Give a gift to Real Life and receive the book, plus a free kids' guide for America's 250th birthday. And check out our Faith and Freedom collection—bold apparel to wear in celebration of America. Visit jackhibbs.com or call 877-777-2346.

David J: 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.