Real Life Radio

Jack Hibbs: A disciplined life knows that that life has been given to us to live for God. His calling was for his life to be an honoring thing to God and that he had no doubts about what he was supposed to do. Imagine for a moment right now if every one of us tonight had no doubts about what God wants us to do. Guess what? That's the way it should be.

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 now in his new series called Disciplines of Life and a message titled "Disciplines of Danger." Spiritual discipline matters, but the danger comes when we are not disciplined and rooted in God's purposes.

You see, spiritual disciplines help us to find direction, purpose, and confidence in what Christ is doing, no matter what's going on around us. The biblical account of Nehemiah from the Old Testament is our example of one who was under attack but resisted intimidation and danger while rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem.

So today, Pastor Jack teaches that as we get stronger in the Lord and are advancing spiritually, we're going to face resistance. The enemy waits for opportunities to derail our faith, and the danger is not being ready for it. Now, with his message called "Disciplines of Danger," here's pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.

Jack Hibbs: Nehemiah chapter 6, verse 11. And there Nehemiah said, "And I said, should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life by hiding? I will not go in." The context is this: that Nehemiah was under attack.

He was commissioned by God—church, listen—he was commissioned by God, he was empowered by God, God provided for him all that was needed for a good work. Nehemiah was committed to that work, and as soon as Nehemiah embarked upon that work, he began to be attacked. And then as the work advanced, he was attacked more.

Listen, and as the walls of Jerusalem were being strengthened, and not yet though had Nehemiah hung the doors on the gates, but he was getting really close, it was evident that God was doing a work in the rebuilding of Jerusalem that the enemy launched the attack even more. Church, Christian, listen: whenever you as a Christian in the disciplines of life grow, you get stronger.

You can say right now tonight that you're one year stronger with Christ than you were this time last year. You are growing as the Bible says in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. You're advancing. That growth will be challenged by the enemy. And you just need to put on your big boy pants or your big girl skirt, and you need to understand that that's the way it is in Christianity.

It is absolutely awesome, and frankly, I wouldn't have it any other way. And I'll tell you why in this study tonight: the disciplines of danger. The Bible says we're living in the last days. How far along in the last days are we? I don't know, but the Bible says we're living in the last days. And so because of that, my Bible gives me all kinds of warnings about what to watch for regarding this faith of ours.

There are three practical aspects that I want you to consider in our study tonight as we go through this. And number one, by way of introduction, it is this: there is the Logos of God—L-O-G-O-S, Logos. You know what that word means? It's Greek for "the Word." The Word of God is called the Logos. Jesus was the Logos of God, and the Logos or the Word by which Christians live is the Bible.

Number two is the pathos. The pathos is the passion of our lives. The Logos—that's in us, the Word of God—creates a passion, a pathos. And pathos is the passion that the Christian life is lived in this world regarding. It would look to the world that it is our fuel, it's our cause. And every true Christian has the cause of Christ in their heart tonight. It's what concerns you. You have a pathos.

And as a Christian, Christ is first. And then thirdly, it is the ethos. Ethos is that word for "life" or "lifestyle." Ethos. Logos: the Word. Pathos: the passion, which all generates or creates within us an ethos. And that ethos is the new lifestyle as a Christian, and that lifestyle is a style of living that we are set upon. The Bible calls it a pilgrimage in this life.

Tonight, if you're a Christian, you have a lifestyle that you are now living to the glory of God. In fact, it's what the Bible means when it says that whether we eat or drink or all that we do, we do to the glory of God. What is that all about? That is the ethos of my life. We can also use the word "witness." It is my testimony.

If I'm a Christian, I have a testimony. That is, I can tell people how I was saved, how Christ delivered me from this world. That generates a witness. That is all about my ethos. My lifestyle is governed by what Christ has done in my life. Mark it down: 1 John 4:17. The Bible says, "Herein is our love made complete or perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment because as He is, so are we in this world."

What a tremendous statement. We are representatives of Jesus Christ in this world. And church, that being true tonight means that the disciplines of life for us will generate a danger. Matthew 16:24, Jesus said to the disciples—we looked at it last week, we'll probably look at it every week—"If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me."

So how do we fight the dangers that come against us as Christians? And what are they? That's the question we're asking tonight. We are all about on these Wednesday nights about discipleship, being disciplined regarding life. And this is a very practical study. Again, I'm inviting you to invite, encouraging you to encourage others to come with you on this discipleship Wednesday night.

Why? Because in discipleship, we will learn the disciplines of what it is to be a real Christian. I think we're going to have fun. So Nehemiah chapter 6, verse 9 says this: "For they all were trying to make us afraid," said Nehemiah. "Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done," they said. "Now therefore, oh God, strengthen my hands," was Nehemiah's prayer.

He goes on, and Nehemiah's friend Shemaiah, the men who are said to him, "The men who are trying to kill you are coming out after you. You must hide in the house of the Lord." Verse 11, then Nehemiah said, "Should such a man as I flee?" And I love that. That's the spirit that I want all of us to be baptized into tonight. Are you a Christian tonight? I'm going to ask you again.

Pretend you are and say yes. Are you a Christian tonight? Then listen, that is an awesome thing, and I'm very emboldened by your witness tonight and your testimony. Shall such a man as I or you flee when we're brought under attack? If people are going to come against us, as they came against Nehemiah, if the government or if the society is going to say "boo," I am not going to go into the temple of God and hide.

That is, I'm not going to run to the church and close the door and hide. Nehemiah says no way. Nehemiah says, "I'm called by God." Nehemiah says, "My God sits on the throne." Nehemiah says, "I am not going to turn and tuck tail and run. No way." The life of the believer should be a bold life because God has called you.

Listen, those of us who shouted a moment ago that we're Christians, understand this: until you get to heaven, God wants to use you and I to bring as many men and women, boys and girls with us as possible. It's not just to have a ski boat or to pay your bills or to climb Mount Everest or whatever you want to do. It's to take others with you. If you're going to climb Mount Everest, take a non-believer with you and pray with them.

Take the four spiritual laws, give them a Bible. If you're going to go do whatever you do, remember Jesus is with you. Take a non-believer with you. Somebody asked me today about a certain person, "Are they a Christian or not?" I said, "I don't know, but I'm treating them like he is one." I'll say, "Hey, let's pray." I'll say, "Praying for you." I'll say, "God bless you." I'll say this or that.

I don't know if the guy's a believer or not. It doesn't matter to me. I'm going to treat him like one, see what happens. Maybe he'll catch it. Because Christianity, I think in this day and age, Christianity needs to be caught rather than sometimes blabbed about. Let them catch it by our lifestyle. Nehemiah says, "I'm not going to hide." Nehemiah was a man just like you and I, the Bible teaches us.

But the difference was that he knew his purpose. A disciplined life knows that that life has been given to us to live for God. His calling was for his life to be an honoring thing to God and that he had no doubts about what he was supposed to do. Imagine for a moment right now if every one of us tonight had no doubts about what God wants us to do. Guess what? That's the way it should be.

God has given us enough for us to be busy about our Father's business without any doubt whatsoever. He's given us enough. Church, listen. Life is full of dangers. Can we just agree to that? Life's full of dangers, there's no doubt about this. Physical dangers, there's emotional dangers, there's dangers at home, there's dangers on the road. I don't need to remind you of that.

There's dangers at work, there's dangers at play. Life is full of dangers. The fear that creeps in because of the possibility of danger has wrapped people up and sequestered them. It's called "phobia" in Greek. You ever heard that word before? Phobia. It strangles people. Can we be Christians and be wrapped in phobias?

The Bible says no way. The Bible says perfect love cast out all fear. Do you have any phobias? Listen, understand that the love of God conquers all that stuff. Now I'm not talking about phobias like you don't want to get too close to the edge of the Grand Canyon or stuff like that. I love that feeling. You know that feeling where it's like, "Yeah!" Some of you go, "I can't do that."

That's not what I'm talking about. But there are some people who, they love Jesus, but the enemy has bound them. They don't want to go outside. They can't talk to anybody about God. They're terrified. They're timid. Did you know that when you study the word "timidity" in the Bible that it's a sin? It's not a virtue. "Look, he's so timid and shy." Yeah, he needs to repent.

We can be, listen, introverts, which I'm not, but you could be, where you just want to—okay, you're like this. But let me tell you something. That's a big difference than being timid. Timid is fearful of everything. "What are they going to think about me? What are they going to do if I say this or that?" We need to be bold in the Lord. Dangers, they cannot be avoided.

But here's the cool thing about dangers being a Christian: they can be prepared for. They can be prepared for. Are you prepared for the battles? Nehemiah and his struggles are a perfect example of the dangers that come against the people of God. And yet without the attacks, listen, without the attacks, our faith and our ministry would have no effect.

Think about it. The enemy will attack those who are advancing. Think about it. So here we go. Point number one: the disciplines of danger. Number one is this: the dangers of deception. Now, I'm only going to give you four of them, and there's an infinite number of them, but we'll go with four tonight. The disciplines of danger this way: dangers of deception.

They're huge, and they're in our culture today. Mark down this verse: Galatians chapter 6, verse 7. Paul the apostle told the church at Galatia, "Do not be deceived." You ought to circle that word in your Bible: "deceived." Don't be tricked. "Do not be" in Greek says, "Stop being deceived." The Bible says that we have a propensity to be tricked, to be fooled.

The Bible says, "Stop being deceived. God is not mocked." Even when somebody's making fun of God, that's one thing of mockery. But when someone who's living a life that is not right according to scripture, the Bible says God's not going to be mocked. That witness may be bad, but God will not be mocked. Follow along with me: "For whatever a man sows," throws out by seed, as it were, into the soil.

Think about it. That's a lot of seed going out. If you decide to recall those seeds, are you going to get them all? Nope, you'll miss one. "That he also will reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit," capital S, the things of God, "will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."

David J: 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: Man, let me tell you, this is cool stuff because if you obey this right here, God will bless your life. Man, if you're out goofing around and doing the things of the world, number one, and you call yourself a Christian, you've deceived yourself. You've tricked your mind into thinking you're okay with God when you're not.

God says, "No, listen. If you're sowing to the flesh and then show up on Sunday or Wednesday and say, 'I'm good, I'm good,' and you have no intention to change your life or to have God, I should say, change your life, then you've been deceived." Deception. It's coming against all of us all the time. Deceptions in thoughts, deceptions in what we see, feel, or hear.

Deceptions bombarding us. That's why we need the Bible. Romans 7, verse 11 says—Paul said it regarding sin, that sin is a deceiver. He says, "For sin, having taken occasion by the commandment, deceived me." Did you know that sin will deceive you? God commended Moses because Moses did not butter up to the pleasures of Egypt for a season, but forsook them and walked with God.

The Bible says sin is pleasurable for a season, but it's going to come home, it's going to sprout roots, it's going to sprout a stem, it's going to grow up, and then it's a weed that will strangle out the Word of God in your life. Paul says that sin deceived him. And we don't often think about the dangers of being a disciple of Jesus Christ regarding all manner of sin.

It's a dangerous move when we begin to see some sin as bad and some sin as not so bad. It's like you have a little cobra. My daughter was showing me pictures of snakes yesterday. I hate snakes. And she goes, "Look how beautiful they are." I said, "They're not beautiful. They all should just die and be dead. If they were real, I'd kill them right now."

And she says, "Well, look how pretty they are." Well, snakes are funny because when they're little, she'll, "Oh, look." You know how things, like when they're puppies, they're cute. Even like a pit bull is cute when it's a little puppy. Even a Shar Pei, you know those wrinkly dogs? They're cute when they're little. Everything's cute when it's a—a little duck, a little kitty, okay, a little puppy. And then it grows up.

A snake. You ever seen—"Look at the little snake. Isn't he cute?" Did you know if you had a little baby rattlesnake, it would kill you dead? It doesn't know how to regulate its venom, so it releases everything when it gets you, and it will kill you more than an adult. "Oh, but it's so cute, look how cute the little snake is." It'll kill you.

"Oh, it's just a little sin. Nobody knows. Just a little thing." It'll kill you. It'll come after you. The dangers of deception are very real. And behind every deception, there's a deceiver. Think of that. Revelation 12, verse 9. Listen to this: this is an amazing verse because it gives you four names, four titles for Satan.

"So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called the Devil and Satan, who" what? "Deceives the whole world." Wow. That's tremendous. 2 John chapter 7 says, "For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh." That's an awesome statement, by the way. Jesus the Christ, Messiah, according to scripture, has come in the flesh.

That means you've got to confess and believe that Jesus is the Jesus of the Bible as revealed in the Word, or you are a deceiver. It says, "This is a deceiver and an antichrist." Yikes. 2 Corinthians 11:13. You guys okay? You're all for quiet, you all right? 2 Corinthians 11:13 says, "For such are false apostles." This cracks me up. Apostles.

Where do you think you're going to find an apostle? In the church. In a religious setting. The Bible says, "Watch out, there'll be false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works."

Dangerous thing spiritual matters are. Exposing spiritual deception. I wrote down just a few things. Number one: deception knows how to talk. It can talk really nice. Deception knows how to flatter. Anybody flattering you? Get away from them. I'm serious. That's a scary moment. Deception knows how to entice. It can look really good to my senses.

Think about that. What are you attracted to? Every one of us are attracted to a flavor, either something that you want, it could be sexual, it could be power, it could be money. What is it? Whatever that thing is, you better mark it. Somebody might say, "Well, I'm attracted to short, bald men." Well, then stay away from those short, bald men.

You might say, "Well, I'm attracted to tall blonds." Then stay away from tall blonds. I'm serious. Be careful. Now, if you're attracted to tall blonds and you're married to one, then fantastic. But that's the only one you're allowed to be attracted to. Did you know that? What else? Deception knows how to be religious. That's the scariest type of deception, most dangerous.

It can seem spiritual. Deception knows how to create a false faith. It can make promises. Deception: "Trust in me. Follow me." Watch out. "Follow us. Where are we going? We don't know. We'll tell you when we get there." But watch out. Deception knows how to flatter. It can sound encouraging. Watch out. 2 Corinthians 10, verse 4 says, "For the weapons of our warfare are not meaty," or I should say they are meaty, carnal, they're "mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds, casting down arguments."

Listen to this: "And every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." That verse alone, back in my early Christian days, saved my life. I had this on my car, I had it in my bathroom, I had it in my living room of my apartment. That verse right there: "Bring every thought under the captivity of Christ."

Do you ever have weird thoughts? Four of you guys do. You and us four. We all have bizarre thoughts. What do you do with them? You arrest them and bring them under the captivity of Jesus. When that picture flies up in your head, "Lord, take it out now in Jesus' name! Lord God, take it out!" You fight it.

"How many times in a day do I do that?" How many times does that thing flash up in your mind? What do you do, give up after the third time? No, you fight, fight, fight! Listen, being a real Christian is really something. Man, if you're here tonight and Christianity's easy for me. It's no problem. I don't even think about it. Man, we need to get together.

Come with us when we go to a house and someone's head's spinning around and green soup's flying out of their face. Come on! Or somebody says, "I'm dying and I don't believe in God." What are you going to tell them? I tell you what, it's amazing. The dangers of deception are real. And deception has as its goal compromise.

Compromise is fine in politics and sales, but it can never be allowed in spiritual matters. Compromise is killing Christians today. And it constantly comes against all of us. I fight it all the time, I'll be honest with you. In the pulpit, counseling with people, in sermons and messages. It's easy to be bold when you're studying for a message and you write it down.

"Oh man," and then you read that or you pray, "God, what do you want me to say here?" And "Wow!" And you write that down, and then when I come up here, it's like, "What? I can't say that. Somebody might get offended. You can't do that."

David J: Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio and his message called "Disciplines of Danger." Thanks for being with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called "The Disciplines of Life."

It's a series that highlights the disciplines of those of us that follow Christ and the high cost of sharing our faith with others in a lost and broken world. And we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.

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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.