Real Life Radio

David Jay: Today, on Real Life Radio.

Jack Hibbs: Dangerous thing in our lives when the power has been pulled off, we're no longer drawing strength from the Lord. One of the things that we'll notice is that we don't have any more power anymore to fight the things of the flesh.

David Jay: This is real life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David Jay thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's word, the Bible. Have you ever ignored a warning only to regret it later? What if the warnings we so easily brush aside are exactly what we need to live a life full of purpose and protection? What if instead of seeing warnings as obstacles or interruptions, what if we embrace them as the love and wisdom of a God who wants to protect us from destruction? How often do we dismiss the warnings in our lives because they challenge our comfort, our convenience, or our pride?

In this month's featured resource called Words of Warning, Charles Spurgeon calls us to wake up to the seriousness of the spiritual battles we face every day.

Jack Hibbs: Words of Warning. Listen to the subtitle, everyone. For those wavering between belief and unbelief, you need this book. Everyone needs this book. If you're struggling with belief and unbelief, get it.

David Jay: Get Words of Warning by Charles Spurgeon for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com/realradio. That's jackhibbs.com/realradio. On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series now called First Samuel and a message titled When the Glory Has Departed, part three. Samuel, the last judge of Israel and the first prophet, was called by God to bring the nation back to true worship. Yet Israel refused to listen and went their own way. The result was disaster when they faced enemies without first seeking the Lord. So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that when we remove God from our lives, there is no spiritual awareness, no thought of his presence, and no spiritual dependence upon him.

Something that without human strength, we're weak. But trusting in the power of God is indeed what makes us strong. Now with his message called When the Glory Has Departed, part three, here's pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.

Jack Hibbs: Concerning the posterity and the lack thereof of spiritual growth in Eli's life, listen. Our kids need to know who we worship. We need to tell them who God is. We need to tell them he's the creator. Hey, when you get on nature TV or Discovery or whatever you're watching, the National Geographic, when they're talking about evolution and stuff, that's okay. Don't turn it off. Teach your kids. Tell them, listen junior, when that guy mentions evolution, that's just for people who don't believe in God. That's their excuse. But listen junior, you see that funky little lizard with the eyes that go all kind of an independent weird?

God did that. You see that neat platypus that looks all confusing and nobody can explain? God did that. You see the whale how he does it? God did that. Tell them the wonderful works of who God is. That's the great thing. Point them to God. Let's worship God. They might say, well God who? The God who's the creator, the God of our Bible, the God who came and died on the cross for us. The great creator. Psalm 34:11 says, my people or my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121 verse two.

Another great scripture that tells us how God is the creator. Psalm 124 verse eight. Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. Psalm 100 verse three. Know that the Lord, he is God. It is he who has made us and not we ourselves. We've gone through these verses. They're great to know. We want to pass them on to our kids. When the glory has departed from a believer's life, know this. Number four, there will be no spiritual awareness. You'll grow dull in your spiritual awareness. I made a jot down here in my notes and I don't mean it to offend anybody, but this is a Wednesday night.

I don't think it would offend anybody here on a Wednesday night. But in in the United States, and maybe it's true everywhere, I don't know. But in America, you know, there's this interesting species of Christian. They show up on Easter, Christmas. They do their little thing and the way they go. They're not aware. If you talk to them, they'll often say, well I used to go to church all the time. What happened? They will argue tooth and nail to convince you that they're going to heaven. And you know, maybe they are. Maybe they're in a backslidden state.

I don't know. I'm not going to judge that. It's not my place. But the thing is they're not hungry for God anymore. There's not an awareness. They're not wanting to be in tune with what God is saying and what God's doing. Is that happening in your life? Do you recognize that happening in you right now? That there's not an intense passion for God? Your spiritual awareness is dwindling. That's a scary place. Very quickly. How do we recognize if our spiritual awareness is going away? Number one, there'll be no interest in spiritual things. There's just no interest anymore.

You don't see behind the scenes anymore. You know what I'm saying? I'm assuming tonight that when you turn on the news or when you watch a program as I believe Christians would do is you see the truth behind what's being pushed. When you hear the news, listen. Don't believe what you hear. There's a spin on it. ABC, it's quite funny, you know. If you're a junkie like I am with news, you'll hear ABC News spin it their way. You hear NBC spin it their way. You'll hear Fox spin it their way. You'll hear NBC. They all spin it.

It's all spun up and confused and crazy. Well how are we going to know what's happening? I don't know if we can know. But I know the one who knows. How are you going to make it make any sense to you when the the media can't even make any sense of it? When somebody broadcasts something into my house from Beijing, I don't know what's going on in Beijing. But God does. But spiritually, we can look behind the scenes. There'll be a program on and spiritually we can see the message that they're trying to pump into our kids.

But when you've lost that awareness, you become lazy about things like that. You're not on the edge, so to speak. You're not watching. And so you'll say to your kids, well it's okay to watch that movie. It's got this or that and it's it's only got some nudity in it. You've lost the edge. You're allowing your kids to to fall and and to look to your example. And what about your falling? No spiritual awareness anymore. You'll really embrace anything and you just tolerate it. Not good. Not good at all. Another thing that we're warned about is that there'll be no thought of God's presence.

There'll be no thought of God presence when there's no spiritual awareness in our lives. God is someone we think about sometimes. And listen. If we're slip or backsliding or the glory's departing from our lives, there will be such a loss of thought regarding this presence that time will go on and you'll be reminded that you're a believer. You'll be reminded that God is there. He's not a constant thought. It's almost a a second thought or a third thought or a fourth thought. Oh yeah, God. I guess you know, if the if the weather's not all that hot this weekend, it's not all that good, we'll probably go to church.

But you know, if if the sun breaks, you know, we will blow off church. We'll we'll head down to the beach. Your kids know this. They They pick up on it. Not to mention that we hurt the heart of the Lord. Be careful when you lose the thought of his presence because in the book of Judges 17:6 the scripture says, in those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Does that not sound like where we live? When God is not in the thoughts of people, they'll do whatever is right in their own eyes.

That's called anarchy. And we are close. Are we not? Just wait till this summer, you know. They're telling us we have two years of these blackouts that are going to increase this summer. Can you imagine when it's going to be 107 in downtown LA or Cucamonga or Chino Hills or you name the place and there's no air conditioning and people are irritable and all the lights go out and it's dark and people don't have God on their mind. I think if God doesn't intervene, we're going to see looting and writing. It's going to be crazy if God doesn't hold it back.

Could happen. Why? Because no one in that arena is retaining God in their mind. You say, well hey, I may be backslidden, but I'm not going to go loot anybody. Oh, I believe you. You're probably not going to go loot anybody, but what in the world are you doing having a low thought life of God? You need to repent and come back to him. You need to break it off of what you're tampering with. You need to stop flirting with that guy and stop flirting with that woman who's married to somebody else. You need to stop playing with the money drawer or whatever it is in your life and get right with them.

There's no thought of God anymore. He's not hot on your heart, so you do anything almost, you know. We need to be careful. This is how Israel began to fall in little things. Nobody woke up and said, man, it's a great day to backslide. It slowly happens. No deep considerations that is they're not weighing themselves in the presence of God. It's a very dangerous thing. Number five, when the glory is departed, there'll be no spiritual dependence upon God. Remember the sons of Eli called for the ark to bring it in, not God. Those boys were priests.

They were to call upon God for help. When God had 4,000 men be slain, that was a warning. The nation should have fallen on their face and sought God. Listen, I don't want to be misunderstood with what I'm about to say. We are not those of the new age and we're into karma. Well you know, I need to do good things so good things will happen in me. If that's your motive for doing good things, maybe you are in Eastern mysticism. I don't know. You should be doing good things to people because God's good and he loves you and he's done great things in your life and my life to forgive us.

And so we want to bless people. That should be our motive that it blesses the heart of God. But there are people who think, well you know, I need to do good or I don't want to have anything bad come upon me. Man, you've been reading your horoscope instead of your Bible. That's a mess. What's very very terrible about this is that people will so often become dependent on the external things rather than God and they'll almost treat their Christian walk like a a superstitious thing. Call for the ark and we'll win the war. Call for the ark.

The ark was only a box. Yeah, but that's where we put God in a box. So bring the box. Oh, God doesn't live in a box. It's amazing to me that these men were falling on the left and on the right hand to death and they called for a box of wood covered with gold. And they said, if we get that in the midst of us, we'll win the battle. You see, well how does that tie into our lives? Self-dependence or no dependence upon God. Listen, in Christian homes, as long as the check is coming in, the money's flowing, they're fine.

The moment the money stops, husband and wife, they're at each other's throats. They're irritable toward the kids. The kids are now scared because they hear mom and dad arguing about money. Money's the topic. Money this, money that. And you know what? You find out real quick. And is it amazing how Jesus told us right from the get go, you can either serve God or money. He didn't say God or sports. He didn't say God or males or God or females or God or you fill in the blank. Isn't it interesting? He said God or money.

And apparently in every culture in the world, though it may not be coins or currency in some remote place or some jungle, it is something that equates to money. Maybe it's coconuts. We've got so many coconuts and we're happy that we've got 500 bushels of coconuts. But when you get down to three coconuts, how happy are you?

Guest (Female): 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: The Christian family's under attack. Not because Satan is out on a rampage, and I believe he is. Not because the world is going down the tube, and it is. Not because the the this or that. The Christian family's under great attack and a lot of them are going under because the Christian family has not invested itself in faith, to the word of God, and to trust the Lord. And when the money stops flowing or the job is cut off or whatever the situation is or a family is stretched in this financial way, we're seeing people fall apart.

You've had no spiritual dependence upon God. When the glory's departed from your life and you've backslid to a point that finances dictate your happiness, you're in a very serious place. That's a very serious thing. Why? Because as humans, we trust in human means. We trust in talent. It's our fallen nature to trust in money or beauty, power. They cry out in First Samuel chapter four verse three, hey, let us bring the ark of the Lord from Shilo to us. That when it comes among us, it may save us. Self-dependence. Trust in human means, also trust in external things.

They look to the ark. In Psalm 20 verse seven, the scripture says, some trust in chariots and some trust in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. And that that's in a great verse. We need to have I You know what? If I was dictator of this country, I would have this spray painted on every tank and every missile and airplane and ship of this United States. Some trust in missiles. Some trust in submarines. But we will trust in the Lord our God. That what needs to be flying over our ships and over our bases.

Hmm. We need to be careful too and trust in external things. We can As they did, they trusted in religious things. The ark was a representation of God. So they're trusting in something religious. Man, that could really We could spend a couple of years on this topic because we could trust in things. Well I don't really get much out of the church I go to, but man, they got the best thing glass I've ever seen. Well what's more important? What's going to last? Well I know the church I go to is really dead, but man, they got the best bingo thing going and it's so cool.

But I don't I don't learn a thing out of it, but man, that bingo is really great. And then it becomes even or can be more religious to where you know, I don't understand really what's going on, but it's just it's the tradition and everything about I just I like it. Is that your experience? Don't let the glory depart. And that's obvious here that these guys in the nation were trusting in what was what was what was of the nation at one time glorious. God is not honoring anymore. You ever seen a Of course not, but I'm making this up while I'm going along here.

You ever seen a a dead man try to play baseball? You can't. You're not going to. Even if somebody got behind him and propped them up. You know, throw the ball. You know, something looks wrong here. Trusting in what was. Come on, this worked last year. Let's do it again. Trusting in what was. Isn't that funny? We can slip into this easy. It worked last year. But wait. God was in it last year. Is that Is that what he wants to do this year? Be careful. Bring the ark. We'll win. Why did they say that?

Because from past experiences, they had heard and read about victories where the ark was brought into battle. They remembered Joshua. Remember those days? They brought the ark out there. They went around. They blew the trumpet. The walls came down. Get the ark. It happened back then. Number six. When the glory's departed, there'll be no spiritual power. Like a train that pulls its power off. See a big train going down the track, big diesel train with 100 cars. It's going down the track and that train, you know, listen, that train can pull its power off. And you'll never know it.

That train will continue on if the ground is flat for miles. That train will keep going. Why? Because of the inertia that's behind that weight. It will go and go and go and go and go. And here's the amazing thing. If you're on the train if you're on the train and the power's been pulled off, that train will slow down so slowly that you will not recognize that the train is slowing down. It's like a frog in the water. You know when you heat up the water? He'll never know it's heating up until he boils himself to death.

You put a frog in hot water and he jumps out. But if you put a frog in cold water and turn the flame up underneath, he'll sit in that thing until he cooks to death. He doesn't know. Seems fine to me. People sitting in the train. Slowing down. No more power, no more spiritual power or movement forward. But you're going off of what was and the power that what that was and and you and you're moving along and there's movement, so you think, well we're all right. We're all We're okay. I'm going to share something with you guys that's really personal.

And Jim, you'll remember this. I have had one vision in my life and I'm going to tell you what it was. It was about this church and it was kind of cool. It was in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Barren desert nothing. And out of the horizon came a cloud. And the cloud, as it approached, I could see that there was a train underneath the cloud, a little train. I mean it was a I mean a short train. It had the engine and it had a flat bed on the back with a big cup, big bucket, huge thing.

And as it got closer, I noticed there was no train track. It was coming right at me. There was no train track. As it got closer though, and as the cloud was over this train, I could see the rain falling into the bucket and the bucket would fill up and it would spill over and the water would flow out across the desert and a paradise would explode in the sand, beautiful oasis. Then it would go and go and go and go and up would fill the bucket and then it would flow over and boom, there would be this wonderful oasis again through the desert.

What was really amazing, what ministered to my heart the most, and I shared it with Jim, and Jim began God gave Jim the meaning of it. It was wonderful. As that train got closer to me, having no track in front of it, every time that train came to the edge of the track that was just underneath it, there was only enough track to accommodate the wheels. And until the front wheel went off that track and then another You know the little kitty tracks that you train set? Another one came in right underneath it. And then it got to the end of that one and this train was moving right underneath it, right underneath it, right underneath it.

Enough track just for the moment to keep going. Its mission, deliver fresh water to a dry and thirsty land. And the Lord had shown us that this that that's what this church is going to do. But you pull the power off that train and you know, it might continue for a while. And a dangerous thing in our lives when the power has been pulled off, we're no longer drawing strength from the Lord. One of the things that we'll notice is that we don't have any more power anymore to fight the things of the flesh. We will call upon the name of God, we'll claim to be Christians, and yet we're dabbling in pornography, something seriously wrong.

We name our We name the name of Christ. We call ourselves Christians, but we're still drawn that line of cocaine. Something is wrong. I am not going to sit in judgment on someone's soul. I can't. It's not my place. But the Bible says, come out from among the world and be separate. How do you do that? You can't do that unless you are seeking and holding fast to the power of the Holy Spirit. His power.

David Jay: Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called When the Glory Has Departed, part three. Thanks for being with us today. We're glad you're here. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called First Samuel, a series highlighting the prophet Samuel who was called by God during one of Israel's darkest ages to bring the people back to a heart of true worship. And we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. Pastor Jack, let me read you a letter from Casey. I listen to Jack's sermons and podcasts throughout my work day and sometimes in the evenings.

I'm so impressed with his absolute honesty and not holding back on speaking the gospel truth. I feel like a Bible student when I listen to him speak. And he says, I appreciate it immensely. I thank God for helping me find your channel. It makes you feel good when you hear stuff like that, doesn't it?

Jack Hibbs: You know, it makes all things worth it if you think about it. We've got a team. And by the way, thank you. But please understand, we have a great team that allows us, causes us to get the word of God out. And so all of us are working together to advance the name of Jesus, to get out the word of God. That's what we're living for and that's what we're working for. And so thank you. Thank you for your letter. Thank you for your encouragement. We're happy to have you be part of our class.

David Jay: Hey, you know, if you'd like to drop a note of encouragement to Pastor Jack, that'd be awesome. He'd really love to see what you have to say about him and how his ministry's affected your life. So please do that. Go to the connect tab at jackhibbs.com. That's the tab labeled connect at jackhibbs.com.

Jack Hibbs: 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.