Real Life Radio

David Jay: Today, on Real Life Radio.

Jack Hibbs: In your life, if the glorious departed, you may be sitting right in church, very faithful, every week, but you're lonely in the church.

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. 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. Now, 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, it's 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. Now, these discussions are eye opening, they're thought provoking, and they're 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. 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 3.

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 put God first in our lives, spiritual victories will come. Our carnal flesh will not defeat us and we will have a positive impact for Christ. But when we put our trust in ourselves or in the external world, the opposite will happen. Like a slow backward slide, our embittered heart will have no spiritual future.

Now, with his message called When the Glory Has Departed, Part 3, here's pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.

Jack Hibbs: 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's 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. It's 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. In a dangerous thing in our lives when the power's 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. And there are families falling apart today in Christianity. No more power. The husband, the father, the mother, the wife, no power anymore.

It's tragic. There'll be a continual defeat by the flesh. The second thing, there'll be an inability to finish the work that you'll sign up to do or you'll raise your hand. Yeah, I'll do that. I'll I'll take care of it. And there's no power to complete. There's this gross inability to complete a work that God wants to do in your life because as Christians, he's called all of us all of us to serve and it's gone. We become spectator Christians, which is an oxymoron. You know that? How can you be a spectator Christian? And you stand on the sidelines and these are hard things, these are convicting things.

We have to look at them. We don't want to go this way. In verse 11 of this chapter, it says there and also the ark was captured and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died. We see here that there was a negative impact for Christ. The the the sons of the priest, they died. They're captured and they were killed. How tragic. The Bible warns us in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 1. It's an amazing thing. 1 Corinthians 5 1, Paul warns us there that in the church at Corinth, there was actually sexual immorality going on within the church and the church allowed it, they tolerated it.

And Paul says, man, you guys are allowing stuff that not even the Gentiles do, the nonbelievers don't even do this stuff. And what happened to these two men happened to a lot of people today and that is that they give the world a reason to slam the church and to put down Christ. Oh, look at you Christians are no different than anybody else. You rip people off, you cheat on your income tax, you're this and that. And just absolutely no impact for Christ, powerless. It's it's very very sad and very convicting. Number 7, we're going to finish these tonight as you can tell.

We're going to get these done. Number 7, there'll be no spiritual victories. The Bible says in 1 Samuel 4 verse 6, it says now when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, what does the sound of this great noise in the camp of the Hebrews mean? Well, if you read on, they got whipped again. It me didn't mean anything. They lined up there, we're going to whip you Philistines. You know, they look like guys on NFL, they got their faces all black and then stuff. And they run out there and they get mauled over.

No spiritual victories. Why? How does it apply to our lives? Very quickly. They had no spiritual victories because they were no threat to the satanic realm. They didn't mean anything to Satan. They already whipped. Listen, as Christians, we want to make sure that we are a threat to Satan. They didn't they weren't out a threat When the glory is departed from your life, you're no threat to Satan. Don't you want Satan to tremble when when your name is brought up? Oh, man. You say, well, Jack, we're we're nothing, you know, to meet Satan. That's right.

But listen, I love the fact that when we pray, we plug in to the greatest source of power that the satanic world trembles. What's the old thing the Puritans used to say it? Uh, Satan trembles when he sees the weakest Christian upon his knees. Isn't that great? I love it. No, a Christian where the glory is departed from their lives, no more spiritual victories. They're like a reed blown in the wind, no threat to Satan. They just sit there and they're defeated and they're weary. They don't even know why. Also, the next thing that happens in their lives is that they become very liberal in their thinking.

Uh, their liberal thinking will prevail over the scriptures. They'll Uh, I have to be careful on this. They'll they'll name the name of Christ and they Okay, I love God, you know, and yeah, I remember things used to be better for me in the Lord, but and they they have no problem condoning and even endorsing and even voting for abortion or whatever. And yet God says he's against that. God says he's for the life of the unborn. God says in Micah, don't take the fruit of your womb and sacrifice it for your sin. And yet people vote for people and for a party that says let's let's kill the kids.

They're not viable things anyway. Just so right. We can use part of them for research. That's a good thing, right? I Yeah, I know God and you embrace things that God is dead set against. How do you reconcile that? Say, man, you're getting really legalistic. I am not having even started yet. And this has nothing to do with legalism. This is holiness. Holiness. You think we're going to get to heaven and murder 4,000 What are we 4,000 babies a day, is that what we're doing? Something like that? And then you call you know a person would call themselves a Christian.

I I don't I don't understand that. Liberal in thinking, you'll hear people say, well, you know, there's a lot of ways to God and you know don't And I hear this all the time from people visiting here. I hope they're just visiting here. They'll say, you know, this group and that cult and this person that, you know, burns the Bible and stuff, you shouldn't say anything about them because you know, every person just to find their own way and then why did Jesus die on the cross? If it's so open, then why did he die on the cross?

Why did he say he was the way, the truth, and the life? Nobody comes to the Father, he said, but through me. If you can make up your own way, then what in the world was Jesus doing? Quickly, another consideration under spiritual or the lack of spiritual victories here is that there'll be no personal investment in the things of God, in the things of the church. No they're no they're not investing in the church. Um, they're goers, but they're not builders. Um, and this is really sad and this is very convicting, but nobody in the church regarding a person who's the glory is departed from their life, nobody in the church is depend is depending upon them.

Um, that's sad. Let me put it this way. Is Is or are there people in the church depending upon you? That's where you want to be people. That's where we all want to be, that someone in the church depends upon you. Maybe it's putting the cones out there or putting the labels on the cassettes or having the rows straight or the carpet cleaned. But is the church depending upon you for something? I don't mean the church as the name, but the the the all of us Are we depending upon you and upon you and upon me and vice versa?

That's the way it's got to be. That's the way God wants it to be.

David Jay: You're listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. And for now, let's get back to our teaching. Once again, here's Pastor Jack.

Jack Hibbs: Number 8, there'll be no spiritual witness because the word, remember number one, the Bible is not a priority in your life. You'll have no true worship going on in your life. That leads to a failure or to pass on the baton to your kids. And like ourselves or like anyone who's slipping away this way, there's no spiritual awareness in their lives and that leads to an independence from God which results in a powerless life. And a powerless life results in no spiritual victories which generates a very very poor witness. And well, how is that? There'll be no spiritual witness in that.

No one around us knows that we follow Jesus. They can't tell you and I apart if the glory's departed from our lives from anyone else in this world. And that's a very terrible thing. A second thing is is that no one asks us to pray. I thought about this one today and putting this together, how how tragic it is. If you if you name the name of Jesus and yet no one looks to you and and and says, will you pray for me? Do your kids come to you and say, Mom, Dad, my throat hurts or I'm sick, pray for And I thought about this how convicting it is and the reason why no one asks you to pray perhaps if the glory is departed from your life is that you know, you never offered to pray for anyone.

They don't know to come to you and pray. Wouldn't it be a great thing if we just just started to kind of pray for you? Listen, I've got two people in my life every week and I'm so blessed. Every week, one's a woman and one's a man and God's put it on their hearts to come up to me and say, what can I pray for you for this week? They've been asking me this for years. Isn't it wonderful? They approached me. That's how I met them. They came to me here and said, can I pray for you?

Give me something to pray for. They stepped out. I guarantee you when I want someone to pray for me, you know who I call. I look for them. Is anyone in this church dependent upon you or would look to you or would consult you for prayer? Man, this is convicting. I don't want the glory to depart from my life. Thirdly, quickly, we'll have no desire to tell other people. If the glory's departed, we'll have no desire to tell other people. Number 9, there'll be no spiritual influence in our lives. Like Lazarus in John 11, he's given life, but he's got to hobble out of the tomb.

Someone's got to have him unwrap him. He's got life, but he's bound up. No spiritual influence. You may be born again, but you've slipped away and there's no influence. Number 9. Number 10, there'll be no spiritual future. There'll be no vision about the future. How so? Well, first of all, there's a slow backward slide. As we said earlier, just happens. It doesn't explode on you. Begin to slip. A second thing is there'll be a growing Listen, a growing embittered heart. And we've all met these people. They criticize and chew on everything. Look at this stupid parking lot.

Where are we supposed to put This is ridiculous. How come the hallways are so narrow? You know, the ceiling, it's black. What's that all about? I mean, on and on and on and they don't They don't Listen, I know this this is hard stuff and I feel sorry for those of you who are visiting tonight, but think about how convicting this is to the believer in that if you're in that place of and you're bitter, your heart's bitter. Amazing. Whenever you and I are bitter and we begin to criticize, do you know who we're actually criticizing?

Is the Lord. Is the Lord. Uh, yesterday heard somebody whining on TV about President Bush's approval rate is skyrocketing. And uh, some person was whining and up so upset and uh, was just going for it. And um, it was wonderful to be sitting and and and hear that and know that my God, for his purposes, put George Bush in office. I don't have to complain. If the other guy would have gotten in there, I would have had to have remembered God put him in office. Do you understand that? The Listen, the current the current president of Russia, who put him there?

The Russian people didn't put him there. God put him there. The queen of England is the queen of England because God put her there. Well, you know, go ahead and complain. God put them there. And you can get bitter about anything. How come he How come you're the pastor? Let me Let me tell you something right now. I did not ask for this job. Let the record show. See me tomorrow, you can have it. God does these things. Well, how come she's on the worship group? Be careful. Watch your heart. Watch your heart. And then finally, in your life, if the glory's departed, you may be sitting right in church, very faithful, every week, but you're lonely in the church.

You're lonely in the church. You come in and you go out and there's no change. We have to be so very careful. We as a body do not allow these things to encroach upon our lives that the glory will depart from our lives. As a church, let's be humble. Let's be little in our own mind. Let's be careful and prayerful. Let's be keen on worship and the word. Let's tell our kids about the great things that God has done. Let's be dependent upon the Lord. That's a great thing to teach our kids, to be dependent upon God.

Teach them to be sensitive or aware of the things of the Lord. Mm. Father, we come to you tonight and Lord, it seems as though these last 3 weeks in this chapter and these 10 considerations have pierced our hearts through. Father, we pray right now that if there's anything in our lives that keep us from drawing back to you, Lord, remove them. May we take a hard line against the things that would separate us from you, Lord. Father, we pray tonight that you renew our lives with you. And Father, if we've strayed, God, that you would just draw us tightly back.

And Father, also very very quickly and carefully, we pray that there would be no condemnation that seeps in to someone's heart to say to them right now, well, you can't come back to God. You've you've blown it too big. Lord, may that not happen. Father, may we all realize tonight that if the glory's departed, all we have to do is turn around and come back and draw close to you. And your Bible says you'll draw close to us. So Father, we pray that that would happen tonight. In fact, tonight I'm going to ask if uh, we'd maybe just We prepare to close in a song.

I'm going to ask if the pastors would come forward and line up to pray with you. Maybe you need prayer tonight. Maybe you want prayer tonight. Maybe you want to rededicate your life tonight. Maybe you're struggling with something and you want victory. You want to be filled with the Holy Spirit tonight. We want you to come forward tonight. We'll pray with you. And Jesus, we thank you now in advance. And we praise you and we love you in Jesus' name. Amen.

David Jay: Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio with his message called When the Glory Has Departed, Part 3. 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.

Guest (Female): So as you heard from our broadcast, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And if you'd like to know what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life personally, we would love to help you out with that. Go to jackhibbs.com/knowgod. That's k n o w God. And there you'll be guided through what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life and the freedom that you'll find in knowing God. Don't miss out. That's the know God tab at jackhibbs.com.

David Jay: 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 embraced 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.

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.

Guest (Male): Get Words of Warning by Charles Spurgeon for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com/realradio. That's jackhibbs.com/realradio.

Jack Hibbs: Hey friend, let me pray for you. First of all, understand this before I do, that God sees you, he knows you. You may feel forgotten, but you're not forgotten. He knows your name and he knows your need. So Father God, in Jesus' name, I pray that you'd bless right now my brother, my sister in Christ. And Lord, that you'd strengthen them, that you'd lift up their head unto the Lord. Father, that you would bless their life and frankly make them an object of your affection in Jesus' name. Amen.

David Jay: 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.