Real Life Radio

Jack Hibbs: The dangers in this day and age as a Christian—can we even handle stuff? Or do we think it’s mine, it’s mine? It’s God’s! Be blessed that he’s given you the opportunity to manage it for his glory.

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.

Guest (Male): Did you know there’s an easy way to stay informed on the latest biblical events shaping our world today? Check out the "Happening Now" section at jackhibbs.com. These live events feature Pastor Jack Hibbs alongside special guests diving into current events, cultural shifts, and how they align with biblical prophecy. It’s a unique blend of Bible teaching and real-time analysis that helps you make sense of today's headlines through the lens of Scripture.

"Happening Now" is not just about information. It's about equipping you with the truth and encouraging you to stand firm in your faith, no matter what's happening around you. These discussions are eye-opening, thought-provoking, and they are a great way to stay spiritually grounded in a rapidly changing world. Whether you watch live or catch up on past events, "Happening Now" will help keep you connected to God's word and what's going on in the world today. Visit jackhibbs.com and click on "Happening Now." Don't just watch the news. Understand it from a biblical perspective.

David J: On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues now in his new series called Disciplines of Life in 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. Today, Pastor Jack teaches that as Christ followers, it's good to be encouraged when we're dealing with spiritual threats, but there is a danger in needing constant approval from others. If we're putting God first, fear dissipates, and our focus on security of possessions vanishes. Now, with his message called "Disciplines of Danger," here is pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.

Jack Hibbs: The moment you're born again, the Holy Spirit attaches you to the things of God, and the brand-new believer has an instant wisdom from heaven. I’ve seen it a thousand times. It’s glorious. The work of God—he doesn't abort any of his kids, and he doesn't leave any of his kids off to the side of the road.

He’s there, and the Bible calls that an anointing. Stay focused on what your calling is. Christian, please, if you don't know what your ministry is to the body of Christ, you've got to find that out. Right now, you're shooting blanks, or you're wandering in the wilderness, or you're driving without a steering wheel. You're sailing without a rudder. Yes, you're a Christian, yes, you're going to heaven, but no one depends on your life spiritually, and you're not making a difference spiritually. And God is saying, "Come on."

Philippians Chapter 1, verse 27 says, "Let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit and in one mind, striving together"—that's church—"for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way are you terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you, it is the proof of your salvation."

Isn't that awesome? Wow. Man, when you stand up and you're the only one standing, and you say, "This is what the Bible says, and so that's what I'm going to say. This is it." And everybody comes against you, know this—your stance, though you may not know someone personally, they've listened to you, they've heard you make that comment, they know what you believe, and what you believe is biblical, so you don't have to defend it. The Holy Spirit will defend you if you're biblical. That's cool.

So you stand there and you say it. Proclaim it. He'll back you up. And guess what happens? People will either come against you and condemn you and contradict you, and by doing so, they are proving the fact that they don't know God. Or if they do agree with you, then it causes those covert, undercover believers to step up.

Think about that. I once had a high school kid tell me years ago, "Pastor Jack, I wish somebody on my high school campus would have announced that they were a Christian because I felt like I was the only Christian on campus. I didn't know any other believers." What if there's 20 believers in your high school class and you guys are all covert undercovers?

There's a real story—I don't want to go too far off of this thing, but it's the band Kansas. Remember the band Kansas? Carry on Wayward Son. Dust in the Wind—Are we all as dust in the wind? Kerry Livgren wrote that song after he got saved. And then he wound up leaving the band after a year and a half. After he got saved, he wound up leaving the band a year and a half later. When it was all done, the drummer said, "What are you leaving for?" He says, "I can't live this lifestyle anymore. It's been killing me. I'm a Christian." And the drummer goes, "Are you kidding me? I'm a Christian too. I've been a Christian. How come you didn't tell me you're a Christian?" Two guys in the same band, world-famous band Kansas, two Christians, and they never shared with each other. Isn't that funny? I thought it was funny—tragically funny, I guess.

Number two: the disciplines of danger, danger of perception. Nehemiah Chapter 6, verse 5: "Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand." And it was written, "It is reported among the people," and it goes on slandering Nehemiah. This knucklehead is walking around town with this letter for Nehemiah, and it's for his eyes only.

You say, "I don't understand an open letter." Blogs. That's the new open letters. Any form of public communication. You can say anything; it doesn't even have to be true. It was not true against Nehemiah. Sanballat made up this story and began to publish it all around the place, trying to stop the work of God. Nehemiah—oh, read the book of Nehemiah, it's awesome. There's a point where all the guys love it. There's a point where Nehemiah shows up, grabs the guy by his beard, throws him out in the street, takes his furniture, and throws it all over out in the street and on top of the guy and everything else.

Perception. The danger of perception is this—it tries to breed intimidation, and intimidation leads to control. And if you are under the control of somebody, it leads to falsehood. The Christian has been found delivered by God, but the world would try to have you have the wrong perceptions and sequester your heart, your mind, your faith, your voice. Nehemiah would not be silenced.

Nehemiah was attacked by his enemies with an open letter. That's the epitome in that day of gossip. Huge. There's a great danger in inciting emotions—the emotions of others. JC Ryle speaks of this in his book. There's a great danger to inciting the imagination of others. Think about that quote for a moment. Things like this: "Well, you know, I can't tell you everything about Susie right now, but I'll just say you really need to pray for her." Did you know that if that is done by someone, that that is a sin so huge, God will so judge that person? It is gigantic to say such a thing.

It's draped in religiosity as you begin to put into the mind of the innocent an insinuation or a picture to cause that person to be viewed in a bad light. God says, "I'm going after that person who does that." He hates that. Read the book of Proverbs. He says, "I hate that false witness." Wow.

Be careful. Why? Because perception is what we would call today also peer pressure. The danger of peer pressure is killing people. Throughout the ages, God's people have always been under attack. It’s always going to be. And listen, if you're doing a work for God, you're going to be attacked. But we're in good company. I'll just name a few people who were attacked by their peers: Joseph, Daniel, Jeremiah, Peter, Paul. On it goes.

Matthew 5, verse 10 says, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake." Well, it's like Jesus knew all about the web. "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

It's amazing to realize there are people deployed among God's people, says the Bible, so as to cause harm and destruction. Why? Jesus said in John Chapter 10, verse 10, "The thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy, but I have come to give you life and that more abundantly." John 8:44: "You are of your father the devil," Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees, "and the desires of your father you want to do." Listen to this: "He was"—that is Satan—"a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. And when he speaks, he speaks a lie from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of lies," says the Bible. Wow. Avoid the dangers of perception by identifying yourself with Jesus Christ.

Number three: the dangers of approval. Mark it down. The disciplines of danger would mark this one: the dangers of approval. Approval, I mean that by people. Jesus Christ himself never pursued the approval of people. Have you noticed that when you read the Bible? It's awesome. He never asked anybody, "What do you think? You think I'm doing okay? Was I a little harsh on that one thing to the Pharisees?" He knew his calling. You say, "Well, come on, he was God in flesh, of course he did." Well, the Bible also says he learned his obedience to the Father just like you and I do.

Look at the life of Peter. Look at the life of James. Look at the life of the believers throughout history. When they knew and had confidence in the Lord, they didn't look for the approval of others. I need to be careful about what I say here. Let me be clear on this. We have been designed by God to be encouraged. I’m not knocking that. Church, we need to be encouraged, and we need to encourage one another. It’s biblical. But there's a way to be encouraged.

There's no such thing, as you've heard me say before, spectator Christianity. But then why is there? Because beautiful, wonderful Christians are fearful and they recoil from going out to the edge and taking it on for Jesus. Why? Because somebody might criticize them.

For some of you in here tonight, maybe this matters to you. But it's only after I came to Jesus could I look back at my discombobulated past and say, "I thank God for the way I was brought up. I thank God about this area of neglect in my life. I thank God that this happened when I was young. I thank God." And only in Jesus can you look back at all of those things.

I’ve got to tell you something—not much of my life that was really pleasurable and easy has translated into spiritual character. It's those things that I thought would kill me before I became a Christian. It's those things that build spiritual character. When people mocked and made fun of me and had me stand up in front of class on the desk and read because I stuttered—the whole class busted up laughing. Now, I don't care who laughs. I don't care who's listening. I’ve already gone through all that stuff. It's as though I'm a dead man. You can't kill a dead man; he's already dead.

"Oh, I don't like what you said." I love you, but I don't care. As long as I'm getting my orders from God, that's the way it's got to be. And here's the cool thing about it: whatever hardship you've had in your life—were you abused? Were you beaten? Were you neglected? Were you ridiculed? Only in Jesus can those things become incredible badges of honor. I’m getting goosebumps talking about it. I wouldn't change a thing.

"Well, Jack, your mother tried to abort you on December 15th." Yes, I know that. And I survived to January 15th. I wanted to hear right then, I wanted to hear the theme to Rocky. I don't sit around and cry about that. I thank God. Oh my goodness, Lord, wow. Your Bible says that Paul and Jeremiah, they were ordained from their mother's womb. Me too.

"Well, my dad didn't talk to me much when I was little." Well, guess what? You've got a Heavenly Father now that won't be quiet. He's talking to you now. When we operate in fear, we deny the Lord Jesus Christ, his word, and his ability to provide for us. Why are we fearful? The danger of this will destroy us. We have his approval, church.

Andrew Bonar, a great Puritan preacher, was rejected from his pastorate position. Applied and rejected, applied, rejected, applied, rejected. And he wrote to his father and he said, "After all my learning, after all my study, after all my disciplines, after all my life lived to be ordained minister of Jesus Christ, I've been rejected." And his father wrote him back this short line: "Rejected on earth, but approved in heaven." Isn't that a great statement? I love that.

Proverbs 29:25 says, "The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe." Isn't that a great word? Proverbs 28:1 says, "The wicked flee when no one is pursuing them." I love that. They're always—boy, they're living in wickedness. They're always like, "Oh what? Somebody after me?" What, are you guilty about something? Yes! But the verse goes on to say, Proverbs 28:1, "But the righteous are as bold as a lion."

It’s wonderful. Very quickly, First Thessalonians 3, verse 2: Paul says he sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you and strengthen you concerning your faith. That, my friend, is an awesome thing regarding this issue of approval. We are to encourage one another in the Lord. There's a way to be encouraged and there's a way when you have your understanding that God approves of you.

He loves you. Listen, he died for your sins, not your personality. It's very important. You understand? "I want to be somebody else." Tough. God made you for a glorious reason. "I wish I was taller, I wish I was..." Listen, he died for your sins and mine. He loves your personality. To encourage one another, we are to encourage each other in the Lord.

Now here, I don't want to be—I don't want to upset you on this one. It doesn't necessarily mean that you, "Oh, that's a nice—that's a nice shirt, that's a nice dress. Oh, you look so nice today." Those are niceties. They may or may not be true. But when it comes to encouraging one another in the Lord, no one can take that away. Do you understand what I'm saying? This is important. Is there anybody in this church you don't know? Well, then you've got a lot of work to do because you need to encourage those that are around you. Encourage them.

Dealing with the fear of man, listen to this AW Tozer quote. In fact, I think we have it on the screen tonight. "One of the deepest testings of a true child of God is for him to stick to his divinely appointed duty when all the while there is a barrage of letters about him." Is that cool? Wow. I like that. Are you advancing in the cause of Christ? Then you're going to get attacked. Cheer up. It’s okay. Listen to this, another quote. Put it on the screen, you guys. "Danger feared is folly. Danger faced is victory." And you think about that. Okay, men, we're going to go into battle. Let's go! Can you imagine? "I can't go." Why, what do you mean you can't go? You've got bullets in your gun, you've got bombs, hand grenades. Let's go! You've been trained. Let's go! "I can't go." Oh no, but listen, danger faced is victory.

Number four, and I’ve got to hurry on this one: the dangers of possessions. Mark it down. The disciplines of danger would mark this one: the dangers of possessions. Materialism is always a difficult thing to manage, and not many people can be rich in this world. Very few, sad to say, Christians can handle money. Isn't that a sad thing? Look, you know me. I am not a blab-it-and-grab-it word faith preacher kind of guy—God wants you rich and—I don't believe in that stuff.

But let me tell you something. I bet you if Christians decided to really be a disciplined believer in this life and obey the word of God—think about it. For example, tithing. "I'm not going to tithe." Well, the Bible says in Malachi, if you don't tithe, God will curse you with a curse. "What's the curse? What's the curse? Will I get a wart on my forehead?" No, you'll never be able to financially get out of the hole. It will pull you down. The more money you make, the more you'll go down until you start giving to God and then he'll pick you up. It's a miracle. I don't know how it works. He just does it.

So check this out. God wants to bless. I think if Christians put God first, I wonder if a lot more Christians wouldn't be more blessed in this world to do the work of God and to help the work of God expand. But I don't think he can do that because Christians want to just sit on it and say, "It's mine! Don't touch it!" Give it up. Possessions.

I'm going to show you what happened today. This is a true story. I'm going to give you—put the first face on the screen and then listen to what I have to say. This really happened today. Now hang on, it's not what you think. That's my dog today. Watch this. I'm going to read a verse. Keep looking at the screen. "Do not love the world or the things in the world." Look what's at the bottom of her feet. "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world's passing away and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever."

Okay, listen to this. That's a real hard bone, and I gave it to her today—this morning—and she ran over with it, turned around, set it down, and looked right at me. Now, this is 5 pounds of white-hot canine terror. Look at the next picture. Notice the legs, the stance. She, if I walked forward today, she went, "Grrr!" She was completely normal until she got the biggest bone on the block. Next picture. Look, I tried to get closer. She moves over by the couch. She won't let me near her. Completely whacked out. Notice the right leg, even now, more! Next photo. Look at the teeth down at the bottom of the bone. All day long, this is what she did, all day. Why? Because she could not handle her possessions.

The danger of possessions causes you to act weird. It begins to be an idol in your life. It will control you. The very hand that feeds her, she was turning on. The very one who blesses you with stuff, you wind up turning on them. The dangers in this day and age as a Christian—can we even handle stuff? Or do we think, "It’s mine, it’s mine"? It’s God’s! Be blessed that he’s given you the opportunity to manage it for his glory. It’s my house, it’s my thing. It’s his. He can remind you of that in a second.

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 "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.

Guest (Male): Ever felt like something's missing in your life? Maybe you've been searching for answers, for peace, or a sense of purpose. You know, the truth is those longings are there because you were created to know God. At jackhibbs.com, there's a tab called "Know God." It's designed to help you discover what it truly means to have a relationship with God. This isn't about religion. It's about understanding who God is, why he loves you, and how you can find hope and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

The page breaks it down in a simple, clear way, answering common questions and guiding you through the steps of faith. It's a great place to explore and reflect, whether you're just curious or you're ready to make that next step. So don't miss out on the most important relationship you'll ever have. Visit that tab called "Know God" at jackhibbs.com and start your journey today. That's jackhibbs.com because knowing God changes everything in your life for the better. Take that next step. Explore and reflect at the "Know God" section at jackhibbs.com.

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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.