Real Life Radio

Narrator: Today, on Real Life Radio,

Jack Hibbs: Very simply put, the gift works by God prompting you to be aware and prompting you to act.

Narrator: This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs.

David J: I'm David J, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's Word, the Bible.

Narrator: Your week is packed. You are running on empty, and sometimes, Sunday already feels like a distant memory by Wednesday. That is exactly why Real Life Devotions exist. Each week, Pastor Jack Hibbs brings you a short but powerful moment in God's Word. Designed to encourage, equip, and refocus your heart.

It is not another podcast or a long sermon. It is a few meaningful minutes that meet you right where you are. Whether you are on a commute, going for a walk, or you just need to reset in the middle of your day. Real Life Devotions are ready when you are. Fresh encouragement straight from the Scripture. It is all just one click away.

Check out the newest devotion now at jackhibbs.com. That is jackhibbs.com. Your place for real faith, real encouragement, and real life. That is Real Life Devotions at jackhibbs.com.

Narrator: On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues with his series called First Samuel, and a message titled Church Growth 101 Part 3.

Now Samuel of the Old Testament was the last judge of Israel, and he was the first of its prophets. So here now in chapter 16, we will continue to focus on spiritual maturity and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and how they relate to each other when it comes to church growth.

You see, David was chosen by God to be the new king of Israel, not for his outward appearance, but for his heart. When leaders are chosen for their inner qualities like David's boldness and courage, the right kind of church growth will happen.

So today Pastor Jack teaches that each of us has different spiritual gifts that will edify the church body. But you know, we are never going to know if we have that gift of faith unless we step out of our comfort zone. Now with his message called Church Growth 101 Part 3, here's Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.

Jack Hibbs: Special boldness. Acts chapter 21, verse 10. Special boldness to trust God for impossible things. Acts 21:10.

And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And when he had come down to us, he took Paul's belt, this is the Apostle Paul, and bound himself in his hands and his feet and said, Thus says the Lord, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

Now when he had, now when we had heard this, this is Luke writing. Luke is the author of the book of Acts. Now when we had heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.

Then Paul answered. Now, this is special faith. What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but to also die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. So when we had not been able to persuade, we ceased from saying, the will of the Lord be done. So we packed up and went to Jerusalem, Luke says.

Paul, they are crying, "Oh, don't go." Agabus, he's a prophet of God. You are going to get bound up and beat up. Paul, don't go. And Paul says, "What's all this crying? Who cares? I'm ready to die for God. Come on, let's go." And Luke says, "Well, we couldn't persuade him. So we are, okay, we are not going to talk about it anymore. Let's go." It's after all, the prophecy is about him, not us. Let's go.

Special faith, to walk into a lion's den. Special faith, not normal. Amazing. Number two, we want to think, or we want to ask this, why is there a special gift of faith? Why? The special gift of faith given by the Holy Spirit. And allow me to put it this way, it's the way my mind thinks, but I think it's accurate.

Special faith is the delivery system for the gifts often of miracles and healings. The special faith is what puts you out there, and God will often couple, you will often see special faith working with miracles, such as healings and other things. That is exactly what we saw with Peter and John going to the temple.

The special faith got Peter over to the lame man, but what happened? There was a special again, by the special faith, there was the manifestation of what? Healing. Very important. Those of you who have the gift of healing, you probably have, and you probably have experienced the manifestation of the special faith. It's what gets you almost from where you are normally at, it's the delivery system, it's the little tram, so to speak, that gets you to the issue.

The special faith takes you to the need at hand or to the crisis. Now, when I meditate on that, I begin to realize, "Wait a minute. God." I'm getting ahead of myself, but we will just do it again when we get there, is, "Lord, what if I have this gift?" You will never know if you have that gift unless you step out, and that's the part that requires faith, any kind of faith.

It starts with our common faith, and we tonight will say, "Lord, maybe you've given me that gift." How are you going to know? You've got to step out. You say, "Jack, I don't like that part about the gifts. I don't want to step out and make a big boo-boo." You know what? I don't know what else to tell you. It's the way that it is because it has to be by faith. Do you understand? It's got to be.

Everything we have has got instructions labeled on it. It's got, you know, from the microwave oven to whatever. Everything is right there. And God will not do that. It says, "In three minutes, it's going to be all done." God's not like that. God will say, "Look, I'm not going to tell you if you have the gift or not. You have to find this part out." And this is the part we don't like. It's the, it's the part that he demands because whatsoever is not of faith, it doesn't please God.

This is a beautiful thing that brings all of us to the same starting point, every one of us. "Well, God, how do I know? You know, I think I might want to be a pastor." And we will talk about this in a few weeks. "You know, I want to be a pastor teacher. How do I know if I have that?" Oh, there's a way to know, but you still must step out. Or whatever that gift might be.

Why is there a special gift of faith? Again, Donald G says this, and I quote, "This gift of special faith apparently comes to a believer who is in a situation or crisis or an unusual ministry opportunity that is set before him. Those in their missionary call, for example, often experiences this gift of special faith, as well as Christians." Listen to what he says. "Who are urgent about advancing the kingdom of God."

I love that, because God's not going to send you out into the battlefield without any ammo. A divine certainty comes upon them. "It is put within their souls to believe that triumph and victory is impending." Close quote. I love that. Why would God answer your simple request, "God, give me all the gifts. Just give them to me." I will take them all. He's not going to do that unless you are willing to say the prayer and then get up and see if he's going to give them.

He doesn't load you up with them and said, "Okay, now go." He knows what those gifts are for your life and for my life, but he demands you, like Moses, to put your foot in the Red Sea first. Then it opens up. Remember when Joshua, this is the way God works, when Joshua and the children were crossing the Jordan? Remember they all waited. They pulled up with the ark and they're sitting there and the river's flowing big time, and they are all waiting.

And God tells Joshua, "Tell them, get in the water." And the priest started to, started to go into the raging Jordan River at flood season, and then it parted. It's the way it is as a Christian. You must step. I tell you, you have no idea how much you are prayed for. I pray probably this prayer for this church more than any other prayer, and it's this, "God, don't let any of us at Calvary Chapel be armchair Christians."

Spectator, I call them. Remember, remember when we were a Costa Mesa home Bible study, we would always pray, "Lord, keep this from being a spectator fellowship," where people just come, "Hmm, what's going on? What's happening?" No, no, no. We want people to come and get pulled into what God's doing. Your life will change that way.

Special faith not only accomplishes the task, it serves as an undeniable source of encouragement, and it self-promotes faith in others who are standing nearby, Donald G says. Don't you love that? I'm going to say that again. Special faith not only accomplishes the task, it serves as an undeniable source of encouragement, and it self-promotes faith in others that are standing nearby. "Did you see what happened Wednesday night? God healed someone!" And your faith goes. Right?

Narrator: You are 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 is jackhibbs.com. And now, let's get back to today's message. Once again, here's Pastor Jack.

Jack Hibbs: I got a note from somebody today. Little, little tiny note. Little sentence in the note. It was very cute. It says, "Pastor Jack, since I've been attending your church." It's not my church. Whoever you are that wrote the note, it's not my church. I didn't die for this. He died for it.

Since I started attending the church, his church, the Lord has confirmed to me by these Wednesday nights regarding the gifts that this is my home church now. "Oh, that's interesting. How did that happen?" I can only assume, as Donald G mentions, that when you see God moving, your faith is increased. It's a wonderful thing.

Get involved in ministry. Go on a one-day mission trip to Mexico. Watch what happens. "Are you kidding? Mexico?" Yeah, Mexico is the country just south of us here in San Diego. Mexico. It's really there. And, you know, I got to tell you, I was born and raised in San Diego and I would not go to Mexico because I just thought it was insane. My concept of Mexico was Tijuana. And that's tragic. That, that's a tragic perception.

Go down there for the day. You know we take one-day trips. Watch what happens. Your life will change. Take your teenagers. They will never complain about their bedroom again. But your faith will grow. Expose yourself and those you know to as much ministry opportunity as you can possibly find. And watch what happens.

I want to encourage you. Let me say this. If this is not your church, it's nice that you're here. But get instructed and go back to your church and get involved in that church. And watch God move in your life. Please don't be a little spiritual bumblebee and and and just go, you know, from church to church to church to church without digging your roots down deep in a church. Don't do that. Don't do the smorgasbord thing. You will never grow that way.

Just find, pray, find a church and then dig deep into it and get going in it. And watch what happens. And the gifts will then be manifested in your life. It's very cool. Very exciting. Why is there a special gift of faith? Acts 13:9. Acts 13:9 says, "Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at the man." Acts 13:9, down to verse 12. "And said, 'Oh,' listen. Paul is something. 'Oh, full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, you will not, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?'"

Man. "And now indeed the hand of the Lord is upon you. And you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.' And immediately a darkness fell upon the man, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had been done by Paul, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord." What a day.

The special faith will encourage the body in their common faith. Number three, how does the gift work? Very simply put, the gift works by God prompting you to be aware and prompting you to act. You become aware of something. You will be in the crisis, or at the opportunity. And God will move. The purpose is to bring glory to God and to unify the body.

Number one, jot this down, there are four things I want to just give you regarding this third point. Number one, it is a manifestation from God for the moment. We've said that earlier. It's a manifestation from God for the moment. Number two, you must be filled with the Holy Spirit. You must be filled with the Spirit of God to experience this gift as is with any gift. But you must be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Number three, it is not a gift to be used at your own will. Not like example, the teaching gift. It is a gift that is given by God for the moment. Number four, and this is great, "It is a firm confirmation of God's will in that thing for which the situation demands." Do you understand that? It's a very great statement that Donald G makes. "It is a firm confirmation of God's will in that thing for which the situation demands." Meaning this, you might be in a setting and you have this unction, this, this push to get involved, to pray or to act upon what's taking place before you.

That push of the Spirit of God confirms to you that God wants to move regarding that issue. In other words, let me put it very simply. God doesn't waste his energy. If he's not going to do anything, he's not going to push you or prompt you. Are you with me on that? It's very simple. God doesn't waste anything.

Number four, how can I know if I have the gift? Respond to the situation and act. Place yourself, this is so important, place yourself in the path of being used by God. How do I know if I have the gift? You won't know as we have been saying until you place yourself in the path of being used by God.

Number five, where do I get it? And we will end with this. Where do I get it? You get it like all the other gifts of the Spirit, you've got to ask him. Ask. You've got to be open. Now listen. In Luke 11, we've mentioned this before, but in Luke 11, beginning at verse 11, it's a great portion of Scripture to read, and you know it well.

Jesus cures once and for all this fear that some people have who say, "Well, if I really open myself up to the Lord, am I going to get possessed?" Well, I hope so. Possessed by the Lord. "No, no, no. Am I going to get like possessed by a demon?" No, you should be reading your Bible, and if you are, you will know that that's impossible. Christians cannot be possessed. That's impossible. Says the Scripture.

"Well, if I open myself up, is God going to, is God going to cause me to act like a lunatic?" No. He doesn't want to scare people away. He wants to draw people to himself. If you open yourself up to the Lord, this is what could happen. You could find yourself experiencing the most exciting, dynamic Christian life beyond what you could have ever imagined.

You will find that all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit is now operating in and through your life. And you begin to feel and sense that you are going along for the ride. That God is the pilot and you are the co-pilot. That he's in control. It is an amazing experience. It's something that is, I've never been hooked on drugs, so I don't exactly know how that works, but I understand that people who have been hooked, they, they develop as they get chemically dependent upon the drug that they've got to have it. They've got to have more. And what they, what they've had no longer satisfies them. They've got to go to the next level up or something like that, or a bigger dose.

I have to tell you, remember Huey Lewis about 20 years ago singing a song, "I want a new drug," one that won't make me sick. And poor Huey Lewis, I've listened to that song. And when I, I remember driving to Calvary Costa Mesa and hearing that song on the radio and saying, "Lord, save Huey Lewis. He's actually calling out for you and he doesn't even know it." He says, "I want a new drug that won't make me sick. I want a new drug," you know, "that doesn't leave my head hurting and me, me dazed in the morning. I want a drug that controls me to help me do what's right and not, and not the wrong." He's calling out to the Lord, he didn't even know it.

I love what Paul says, "Don't be drunk with wine." "What, is that a legalistic thing about drinking?" No, you crazy nut. Why be drunk with wine? What's, you've got to spend money. You drink it. Now, there are two things that you can't do. It didn't say you can't drink it. It says you can't get drunk and you can't stumble anybody. So you've got to make sure that when you're buying your wine, that nobody knows you're at the store.

And you've got to hide it enough that you get it into the house and you drink it with the curtains drawn so you don't stumble anybody because if you stumble somebody, you've caused them to sin, and God will not hold you guiltless on this. And then to drink it, you've got to make sure that you drink it slow enough that you don't get buzzed because you are not supposed to come under the influence of it.

"Oh, I believe I can drink." Of course you can drink. You just can't stumble anybody, you can't get drunk. So why, you know, save a dollar fifty or whatever it cost, and ask the Lord to fill you with the Holy Spirit. You want to, you want to experience what Huey Lewis was longing for? "Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit. Baptize me in your spirit." And you know what? You will be possessed with the Holy Spirit, and you will be energized to do what God wants to do. And it, it truly is intoxicating.

And here's the cool thing. When you get filled with the Spirit and you launch out and you go do something in the Lord's strength, the cool thing is when you come back, you will say, "Lord, hit me again. Lord, just crank up that dose just a little bit more." And the thing is, I don't think he kicks up the dose. I think he just opens new doors and more doors for you to walk through. And it is a rush beyond anything this world can ever produce. And in the morning, you can't wait, and you feel great. It's a great way to live.

Father, we thank you for your word. And Lord, tonight we pray. We pray, Father, that you would settle upon us. And Lord, that you would just still our hearts. Father, as we wait upon you right now. Lord, we would ask in Jesus' name that you would cause there to be a sweet and gentle moment. That we might just kind of shake off the hustle and bustle of this world. That we would just slow down right now. And Father, that we would experience your touch. Lord, I would imagine tonight that I join with my brothers and sisters this evening to ask, as your Scripture has told us, to desire the gifts. Lord, I pray that you would baptize me in the power of your Holy Spirit. And by the way, I would ask that you would pray that prayer.