Real Life Radio

Jack Hibbs: If you take a stand, you are going to upset some people. The Christian does not take a stand to upset people. The Christian takes the stand, number one, based upon the Bible, and number two, it needs to be rooted in love.

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

Guest (Male): US strikes. Israel on alert. Iran escalating. Does anyone else feel like today's headlines sound straight out of Bible prophecy? Jesus told us these days would come. Not so we'd panic, but so we'd be prepared.

That's why we created the Prophecy Pack, Understanding God's Plan for the Future. A practical guide to help you live ready. Don't just watch the news, understand it through God's word. Get your Prophecy Pack now for a gift of any amount at JackHibbs.com.

David J: On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series called Disciplines of Life with a message titled Disciplines of Darkness. When life feels dark, confusing, or hard, this is not evidence of God not being there. Instead, God uses it for a time of spiritual growth.

You see, we don't often understand what God is doing. Even Christians go through seasons of pain and uncertainty. But in those times, that's when God's power and direction is more meaningful than ever. So today, Pastor Jack teaches that we are all called out of spiritual darkness and into the light of Christ. Whatever God speaks to us in the light, we must not forget when the dark times come. Now, with his message called Disciplines of Darkness, here's pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.

Guest (Male): Most folks, Pastor Jack, think that walking with God means everything should feel clear and bright, right? But it ain't that way.

Jack Hibbs: I don't know. Let's answer that by saying that's an assumption that we make. Because nowhere did God say that. But the beautiful thing is, it's not a feeling. Thank God it's not a feeling to walk with God. I'm not saying we don't have feelings. God gave us feelings.

But we don't walk our walk by feelings. Because if we did that, we couldn't walk in the dark. We'd be afraid. We couldn't go into areas where the Gospel's never been because we'd be incredibly intimidated. We would actually just hide out if it was based on feelings.

The great thing is that faith will always trump feelings. And so we're not to be living our lives in a way that is led by feelings. I promise you this, that if you have been a person in your Christianity that has been feeling-led, that is that you make your decisions based on how you feel about a particular situation, you honestly don't really quite know exactly what's true and what's false. Because feelings will lie to us so often. Thank God for God's word, because it will adjust or bring rain in, if you would, like a wild horse, our feelings.

Guest (Male): So how can the discipline of darkness become a place of discipline instead of defeat?

Jack Hibbs: We find our greatest strengths when we're in the battle. We find out that, for example, if you are a soldier forward-deployed, you find out that this new weapon that you were just handed by the Department of War actually works fantastic. You never would have known that unless you were in the battle.

And so when we talk about the darkness, we don't fear the darkness because we have gone into the darkness for Jesus' sake and discovered that the light is brighter in the darkness because he engulfs us. He encompasses us.

So, Davey, if God was to call you to the jungles of New Guinea, he would give you a passion, a love, and a protection and a grace for that that wild horses couldn't keep you from going there. So with God, there is no real dark place. Everything is light around him. And so if he deploys me to South Central Los Angeles, as an example, then he's going to be with me. And he will illuminate spiritually. We're talking spiritual illumination here. He is going to be the light and the lamp of the path that I'm walking on because it's all bound to his word.

Guest (Male): Eliminating the darkness. Amen. Let's get into it.

Jack Hibbs: The disciplines of darkness. What about, and what causes so often our Christian experience to be hindered or in a sense retarded in its advancement? Rather than going forward, we begin to slip back. Or what about our walks and how they're challenged?

And listen, just because you may be going through a dark time as a Christian does not necessarily mean that you're in a bad place. We need to understand that tonight. Isaiah and Matthew, Matthew chapter 28, looking at verse 18 to verse 20. It is the very theme of this series. Jesus is going to speak to us in a moment.

And it says there, and Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, that is all of the disciples and the apostles. He said, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.

And that's what we're doing right now. In fact, every time we do come together in the Bible, that's exactly what we're doing. Now flip on over to Isaiah chapter 50, verse 10. Isaiah 50 verse 10 says, who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servants? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on him.

Tremendous word. Maybe you remember growing up as a kid. I know I do, of being afraid of the dark. Is it just flat-out normal, I think, for kids to be afraid of the dark? I thought I was the only weirdo in my house because I had an older brother and an older sister and they were not about to lead on that they were afraid of the dark.

I was always the one, I have now found out. I was always the baby saying, "Leave the light on." Any of you have young kids that do something like that? None of you. That's great. So I am the weirdo. That's just super. "Leave the light on." I wanted the hall light on or I wanted the bathroom light on or I wanted a nightlight on as a little tiny kid.

There's something about the comfort of a light on. There's something about darkness that is natural to the human nature that's not good. Man is naturally afraid of the dark. Mankind, that is. And so again, I just remember growing up thinking about that and being concerned about that.

But I wasn't too far off as a kid about being afraid of the dark. Look, in light of this week, and let me tell you, was not Sunday afternoon awesome? Oh, I'm not talking about the salvations and the souls and the worship. I'm talking about the earthquakes. Woo! Man! That was something. We prayed, sat down to eat, and about five minutes after that, everything starts moving.

The earth is shaking. And I remember way back in the Sylmar earthquake, if any of you were around on February 9, 6:02 a.m. What year was that? 1971. And my goodness, I lived in Orange County at the time, but everything shook. From that moment on, I remember finding my grandmother's Bible and I remember sleeping with the Bible.

And this was my logic. I remember this clearly. That if I have a Bible with me and an aftershock hits, God will not let me die because I'm holding the Bible. And that's what I honestly thought. And I slept with that Bible for a long, long, long, long time. Never read it, but I slept with it.

And things that we think of. Why? Because first of all, the Bible talks about darkness. So I wasn't too far off as a little kid, being afraid of the dark. The Bible speaks about darkness. The Bible says that there's a great difference between darkness and light.

And so tonight as we talk about these things, we need to remember that this is a broad brush approach to the fact that there are things that are dark and sinister. There are things that as a believer we can trip up and get into that is very dark and wrong. And then there's also the darkness, as it were, of the soul that comes against us.

And we may not have done anything wrong. But because in fact we are walking with Jesus and we're drawing close to Jesus, I hear it from many of you. You've come from a church before that didn't teach the Bible. And now you're coming here and you're getting the word of God.

And then six months into your time here, all these things happen in your life and you're wondering what's going on. The word of God is being made to be part and fiber of your life. Trials come. We can say that the dark night of the soul comes, meaning that God seemingly stops speaking to us.

We check all the bases. We take the pulse. We see that we're doing everything right, but all of a sudden the heavens are like brass. "God, where are you?" we cry out. And there's no answer, seemingly. He's there. In fact, we are actually growing more in those moments than at any other time. And we need to remember that.

Darkness by nature is a fearful thing. But the Bible makes it very clear that we can power through it. Acts chapter 26, verse 18 speaks regarding this in darkness. The Bible says concerning the going forth of the Gospel, that it's to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of sins.

The Bible speaks about light and darkness, the power of Satan and the power of God. And God's motive is all to bring you and I to a saving faith in Christ. And Satan's desire is to keep you blind to the love of God and alienated from God. Colossians chapter 1, verse 9 says that we ought to be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

That you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing. That's the word illumination. In the knowledge of God. Illuminating knowledge. We are to be as Christians increasing. That's why we're here tonight in the middle of the week.

We've come in the middle of the week, we've come from our jobs, we've come from our homes that we might continue to be enlightened. And that's what the Holy Spirit does. It's a supernatural thing. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 17 says, "Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is."

So these dark things that we talk about regarding Scripture are unavoidable things in life. There are people today who don't know God. They're walking in darkness as the Bible says. There are Christians who may have backslid away and they're walking in darkness.

And then there's again the attack against the believer whereby a sense of darkness has come upon us. And yet it's a good thing in the sense that we are advancing. A great quote I want to give you. I read it today. It says, "What God has spoken to us in the light, we must never forget in the dark." Is that a great word?

What God has spoken to us, what God is speaking to you right now about the relationships or the situations in your life, what's going on in your life, what God is speaking to you in this sense in the light, remember it. That's why the Bible says, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you, O Lord."

What God has spoken to you in the light, we'll find out what that means tonight. Remember in the darkness when those dark times come. So look with me number one. Jot it down in your note-taking if you would. It is this. That number one, the disciplines of darkness starts with this.

That we need to learn the difference between the two. That there is a light and that there is a dark. According to the Bible, there's a spiritual difference between light and dark. I'm going to give you a lot of verses tonight. Are you guys up to it? Are you guys up to it?

First John chapter 3, verse 8 says, "He who sins is of the devil." The word means he who sins is one who lives a life of sin, in other words, practices sin. This is what you live for. You live to rip people off or you live for this thing or you live for that thing and God's not ruling in your life.

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, or that he's come, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever's been born of God does not sin. Now look, that's that word again, practice sin. You say, "Well Jack, I've sinned from time to time." We've all sinned from time to time.

This word means to practice a life of sin. In other words, it's your lifestyle. So understand that well. Verse 9, excuse me, for whoever has been born of God does not sin, but his seed remains in him, that is, does not practice sin. And he cannot sin because he has been born of God.

In this, the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed or made manifest. Whoever does not practice righteousness—there's that word—is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you've heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

Not as Cain, who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. First John is speaking about a lifestyle practice. Are you one who dismisses sin easily?

Then you don't have an understanding of the two differences and where they come from regarding God's righteousness and what he wants you to live and act like versus Satan's plan to destroy and to deceive. Romans chapter 1, verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed. The word in Greek, by the way, is the present tense.

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of man, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Because what may be known of God is manifest in them. That's a great statement that means that God has revealed himself to all people internally, the conviction of God's existence.

For God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. In other words, people who claim to be atheists, down deep inside, they know they're lying against the truth. It's remarkable.

Isn't it remarkable? "Somehow I'm the atheist. I don't believe in God." And as soon as it comes out of their mouth, in their mind, they're wrestling with what they just said because they know, down deep inside, that they've just spoken an untruth. It's awesome. I love that. Anyway, I'll keep going though.

Verse 21. Because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were they thankful, but became futile in their thoughts and in their foolish hearts were darkened. Verse 22. Professing to be wise, they became fools. Wow. And then this verse. First Corinthians 4:5.

First Corinthians chapter 4, verse 5 says the Lord will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. God knows everything. And the difference between the two is monumental. And as Christians, we need to learn this.

And I've got to tell you right now, it's not going to be a popular thing to have yourself taught in the Bible these things. Because the moment, listen, the moment you begin to live out a true faith that is alive means that you are going to stand up against the tide of somebody. Hear me out. Are you guys awake tonight? I need you to be awake tonight.

If you take a stand, you are going to upset some people. The Christian does not take a stand to upset people. The Christian takes the stand, number one, based upon the Bible, and number two, it needs to be rooted in love. Because there are people who are going to fight against what you believe and they're going to kick against what you believe.

Just know this. If what you believe is biblical and you are conveying that in love, then eventually they will either say no for one last time, or they will say yes because they have found out that what you're saying is true. Pretty powerful stuff. The light and the dark will always coexist.

Understand this as well. You can't have darkness without the presence of light. You say, "Wait a minute. That's an oxymoron. If there's light, then there won't be any darkness." I understand what you're saying, but that's not the context in which I'm saying it. You cannot have light without the possibility of darkness existing in this realm, in this world.

Now we'll see by the time this message comes to an end that in eternity, there is a place where there's absolute darkness and there's a place where there's absolute light. And I don't know about you, but I'm afraid of the dark, so I know where I'm going.

The disciplines of darkness number two is this. Recognize what's in the dark. What's in the dark? Now the other night our little dogs went off barking. They don't bark much unless somebody's around or something. So they started barking. And I have one of those real powerful light beam things that shines out in my backyard.

A handheld thing, one million candlewatt flood lamp. Turn that thing on. You don't dare touch the end. It's hot. And I'm looking in the yard because we have raccoons that come in our yard and they can hurt little dogs and all that kind of thing, or me. And so I'm looking and I'm looking and I'm looking.

Why? Because I want to know what is in the dark. I don't go looking for what's out there, but when something approaches me or something's making a ruckus, I need to know and recognize what's in the dark. According to the Bible, what are those things that live out in the dark? And I'm going to go through this quickly, though I'm sure you can fill in the gap.

First of all, the Bible tells us that it's all manner of sin that lives in the dark and has a bead on us, as it were, that we are in its sights as Christians. Maybe you're a brand new Christian. You just came to the Lord this last resurrection Sunday and you're here tonight.

And you say, "Jack, you know, it's only been a few days, but I've seen this happen and it's like what you said, that I would begin to have a mind change. I'd be thinking different and I'm here tonight." And that's awesome. On the other hand, you recognize immediately also that there's now a battle with the things that you once did and there's a part of you that still wants to do them, but now there's a war going on on the inside.

First of all, I want to welcome you to the family of God, because where there once was never a war inside, now there's a big war inside. Isn't that beautiful? Cheer up. You've been blessed by God. What you once never struggled about. When your friend said, "Hey, let's go do this," you went, "All right! I'll drive!"

Now it's your friends are saying this week, "Hey, let's go do this," and you say, "I don't think so." And you've even thought about making up some story to not go with them. Because there's a war inside. That war inside is that spirit warring against the flesh. That's a good thing.

So that's in a nutshell things like pride or hatred, violence, immorality, lies, gossip, all the stuff that is native to the flesh. Now there's a war. We need to recognize what's of the dark. Christians, listen. I believe not you per se, the church in America by and large cannot even recognize those dangerous, sinful, dark things that go bump in the night because so many Christians this evening around the world, wherever, are not rooted in the Bible.

They can't even recognize any longer or discern what is right or wrong. And we see Christians in the name of Christianity endorsing things and embracing things that is clearly opposite to Christian doctrine. And yet they think they're doing the right thing. Be careful. Know your Bible.

Galatians chapter 5, verse 19 says, "Now the works of the flesh are evident," at least they should be, "which are these: Adultery. Now that means having sex with somebody else's husband or wife and you also are married, or one of them, one of the mix, is married. God says this is the works of the flesh. This is what people who don't know God do.

They commit adultery. Fornication. Fornication is sex or sexual immorality outside of marriage. Uncleanness. Ungodly conduct. Lewdness. Dirty things. You could easily put pornography in lewdness. Idolatry. Worshipping things. That word actually means finding your identity in things. Heresies. False doctrine. Envy. Murders. Drunkenness. Revelries. That's wild parties, the word revelries.

And the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice—those who do these things as a lifestyle will not inherit the kingdom of God. Why? How can the Bible say that? The Bible simply identifying the works of the flesh.

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

Did you know that along with the radio program, Pastor Jack also has a TV show with more of the Pastor Jack Hibbs content that you love? It's called Real Life TV. If you enjoy Pastor Jack on the radio, you're going to love him on TV. So check out your local listings or visit JackHibbs.com and catch the latest episodes. That's JackHibbs.com.

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.