Disciplines of Durability - B

Jack Hibbs: The church has no problem getting involved in bingo, picnics, and backgammon. They don't have to pray about those things. But to be salt and light in the culture? Well, I have to pray about that. That's one of the biggest lies that a Christian puts forward is "I'm going to pray about it." We hide behind that rather than getting engaged.
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. The men and women who founded this nation weren't just bold, they were anchored—anchored in the conviction that our rights come from God, not from government, and that foundation is worth knowing. In *The American Story: The Beginnings*, Tim and David Barton take you back to the documents, the decisions, and the faith that shaped this country from its very first days. This isn't revisionist history; this is the real story. When you give a gift of any amount to support Real Life, we'll send you this powerful book and a free copy of *The Happy Birthday America Kids Guide* so your kids and grandkids can know it too. And don't forget, as we celebrate America's 250th birthday this summer, our Faith and Freedom clothing collection lets you wear your convictions openly—a simple way to spark a conversation and point someone to the truth. Make your request today. Visit jackhibbs.com or call 877-777-2346. On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series called *Disciplines of Life* and a message titled "The Discipline of Durability." The Christian walk is full of disciplines, trials, and setbacks, but God uses the hard seasons of life to shape our faith from the inside out. So when it comes to durability, it's realizing that we can't do life relying on our own strength. You see, durability isn't about being tough enough to handle life on our own. It's about staying connected with Christ no matter what. When times get hard, when people let us down, when circumstances don't go as planned, our natural response is often to pull back or simply give up. But the Lord calls us to endure until His return, and that's exactly what we've got to do. So today, Pastor Jack tells us that we need to resist false doctrine and fight against evil in our world. As believers, we can't just be spectators while darkness advances all around us. Instead, we're called to stand firm on God's word even when it's hard or unpopular. Now, with his message called "The Discipline of Durability," here's pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.
Jack Hibbs: Resisting false doctrine, knowing your Bible. Second John 9 says, "Whoever transgresses," listen, "does not abide in the doctrine of Christ, he does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son." This is a key verse. Mark it down. Second John 9. This is critical. You want to know why? Every person who knocks on your door denies that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and denies the Father and the Son as God. Every cult. This is huge. You already know this, but Islam denies that Jesus is the Son. Jehovah's Witnesses deny that Jesus is the Son. Mormonism denies Jesus is the Son, the unique, only-begotten Son of God. All the other world religions, Judaism denies that Jesus is the Son of God, though it says it in their scriptures, the Old Testament. Resisting false doctrine. I'm concerned. And when I meet people who are no longer attending church, or they do attend church and I ask them something and might say something to them about what the Bible says, they look at me like I'm speaking Chinese or something to them. And I go, "Don't you know this? How long you been coming to the church?" Six years, ten years. "Don't you know this?" I almost slapped myself in the face the other day. I was wondering, did I not teach them this? Are we listening? In these last days, are we listening? I'm concerned for the body of Christ. I would rather have you not come to church on Sunday or Wednesdays if you're not going to listen. Think about it. It's worse for you if you come and the word's going out and you're not listening. That means you had the opportunity. Resist false doctrine. I'm not trying to be cute with what I'm about to say. I'm not trying to be funny with what I'm about to say. The church—I'm talking about the church in the world—is so anemic, so sickly, so pale. Listen, so beheaded from Jesus, who is the head of the body. The church is the body of Christ, and it's as though she has no head, doing what she wants, thinking what she wants, making up scriptures, making up doctrines, making up things. And when someone says something who's cool, hip, or whatever, and does some cute video or some cute book or some whatever, the "church" goes after it like lemmings off a cliff. Young people today are being swept away with false doctrine because there's no head on the body of Christ. Jesus is that head, and there's a disconnect when we begin to quote, "Well, you know, Dr. Laura says," "Oprah says," "Dr. Phil says," and now there's Dr. Oz. Be careful. Is that where you get your theology? It's amazing. Watch out for false doctrine. Matthew 15:7 says, "Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" Making stuff up and saying these are the rules. Serious stuff, huh? This is a big deal. I was in a Christian bookstore—I'm not going to tell you what Christian bookstore—and they had a book there, they had several books there, and one of the books was entitled *God is Green* or *The Green God*. And the whole book is about how we are to save the planet. How can you even think that way after reading your Bible? Well, that's the problem. People are not reading the word of God. And somebody fun comes along and says, "We've got this—we're Christians, we have to save the planet." Have you not read the book? The planet's going down the toilet, a cosmic toilet flush. The Bible says in Peter, it's all going to burn up. Did you know that? It says the elements—the word is atom—the atoms will melt with fervent heat. Now, you guys have heard my heart before on this issue, but it's a big false doctrine today. There's a difference between creation management or care because our God made it, versus the worship of the planet. We cannot save the planet. This is a big deal. Watch out for false doctrines. They might sound good. As I said a moment ago, but I'll read more of it, First Timothy 4:1 and 2 says, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times," last days, "some will depart from the faith." How does that happen? He says, "Giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons." Do you guys all understand that when that happens, a demon is not going to grab the microphone and say, "Be deceived"? They're going to speak through people. Very persuasive, very exciting. Demons will be operating behind the mouth and the voices of men, the Bible warns. You think about that for a moment. The things that are going on in the world and what's happening. Doctrines to deceive. Amazing. Number three, the discipline of durability, to continue on as a Christian, to abide in Jesus Christ and not quit, don't give up. It means that we fight against the evils of this world. We fight against the evils of this world. The Bible says in Philippians 2:14, "Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation." If you have any doubt, look around. I mean, don't look around here. You're fine here. Okay? But look around the world you live in. "Among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ," says Paul. What an amazing—the Lord's coming back. So how should we be living? Resisting and fighting against evil. You say, "Well, why should we fight against evil when the Lord's coming back anyway, or evil's going to advance?" The Bible says. So why not just let it advance? Listen, many Christians believe what I just said. Many of them. I know, they email me. I'm not joking. "Pastor, you're wasting your time. Evil—the Bible says evil's going to get bigger and bigger, so you're standing in the way." I'm supposed to stand in the way. "Yeah, but it's going to get worse and worse." Uh-huh. Didn't Jesus say shine your light? That's the way. You say, "Wait, I don't understand. You're going to stand up and witness against the darkness, but the Bible says more darkness is going to come, it's going to get darker." That's right. Listen, first of all, I can stand on the word of God to defend my actions. Where can you find the word of God that defends you being a spectator to what God has called us to do? "I'm just not going to get involved." Think of this for a moment. You don't want to hear that, huh? It's pretty quiet in here right now. "Well, you know, we don't want to get involved." I know there's an 800-pound gorilla over there beating up a 30-pound little child in the corner. "But, you know, we don't want to get involved." Amazing. But the church has no problem getting involved in bingo, picnics, and backgammon. They don't have to pray about those things. But to be salt and light in the culture? "Well, you know, I have to pray about that." That's one of the biggest lies that a Christian puts forward is "I'm going to pray about it." We hide behind that rather than getting engaged. We fight against evil, says the Bible. First John 3:6, "Whoever abides in Him does not sin, and whoever sins has neither seen Him nor knows Him." That word means practices, lives in a life of sin. It doesn't mean you're sinless. We want to fight and resist evil. The Bible tells us to. First John 2:10, "Whoever loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him." We want to bless our brothers and sisters in Christ, encourage them, help them along, and fight against evil. The evidence of this reality is how you and I are affecting our community, our family, our neighbors, and the people around us. Are we really causing them to think about who Jesus might really be? In First John 2:14—by the way, do you see a pattern tonight? First John, First John, First John, or John's Gospel about abiding. It's the same guy wrote those two books. "I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one." You mean I can beat Satan up with the Bible? Yep, Bible. Just know it, hide it in your heart. Hide the Bible in your heart. Satan comes along, you follow the Lord's leading in faith according to the word of God, and Satan loses. You may not throw one physical punch, you don't have to. In obedience to the Lord, Satan walks away and he's got a broken nose and a bruised eye. His fang's chipped on one side. He's got a claw that's tore up. He's got a kink in his tail, one of his horns broken off. How cool is that?
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: Number four, it means that we draw closer to God in these days, not run away from Him. Stuff's going to happen. When it happens, not if, it's going to happen. I can't tell you about a report I heard, I could get in trouble. I'll just tell you this. Certain people told me that in the event of a natural disaster and/or civil unrest, the border regions of our California, Arizona, Texas deserts are very, very, very well stocked with weapons to use against us. Tunnels, rockets, grenade launchers, Stinger missiles, machine guns to use against us. "Don't tell me that!" When the stuff happens, what are you going to do? "I'm going to run from God as fast as I can." No, you better not do that because if you're a Christian, part of abiding in Christ is to be drawn near to Him. Run to Him. Proverbs 18:10 says, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower, and the righteous run into it and they are safe." I told you before not too long ago, but the picture comes to my mind again. A little kid, when they're scared, they go run to their daddy and they get right behind their daddy and they grab the daddy's thighs and they look out at that threatening world right between his legs. They got their little ears on the daddy's knee on each side and they're looking out. Isn't that the cutest thing in the world? Because Daddy can beat up people, man. Daddy can take care of them. That's cool. And we run to the Lord. He's a strong tower. We draw close to Him. Psalm 84:4—do you guys write these verses down? Psalm 84:4 says, "Blessed," happy, the word means, "are those who dwell in Your house." I like that. You know why I like that? I mean, I'll keep reading, but here's what I like about this. "Blessed are those who dwell in Your house." Happy. The word actually means well-off or welfare. They'll fare well who dwell in Your house. You know how fun it is to pray that? "Dear Lord, now I'm not doing too well, Lord. I'm nervous or I'm anxious or I'm worrying or I'm fearful, and Lord, Your Bible tells me in Psalm 84:4 that happy, well-off, are those who dwell in Your house. And Lord, I'm here to announce today that I choose to dwell in Your house. And so Lord, I'm calling upon You to bring calm and peace and cause me to be well-off with You in Jesus' name, Amen." It says, "They are ever praising You." Lord, in the midst of my hardship and difficulty, I'm going to choose to praise You right now. By the way, you see the word Selah? It means meditate on it, stop, pause, take it in, let it soak in. Verse five, Psalm 84: "Blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on a pilgrimage." Where? To draw close to God. "As they pass through the Valley of Baca." The Valley of Baca's pretty cool. It's not an exact valley like, "Oh, now we're pulling up to the Valley of Baca." The Valley of Baca is the Valley of Weeping. Were you in the valley today, weeping? You can be on a mountaintop and be in the Valley of Baca. You can be in a palace and be weeping. Isn't that awesome? The Lord, He says here, "Listen, I'm going to be with you when I pass through the valley, those times of great weeping." Look what it says: "They make it a place of springs." When you are living down in the southern regions as David in Israel, in the Negev, where it rains less than one inch a year, when the scripture says in the Valley of Weeping, as you focus on the Lord, the whole attitude of your life changes, that it's as though there are springs all around you. That is a powerful picture. The autumn rains also cover it with pools. "They go from strength to strength." This is a promise in verse seven. You pray that prayer. "Dear Lord God, I'm asking You to give us strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion." Lord, cause me to endure, to abide in You all the way through to the end until, Lord, someday I will stand. It's all going to be history. It's all going to be over, and I will live forever with You. Number five, boy are we in trouble. Number five means that we obey what His word says. We obey it. First John 2:6, "He who says that he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He," that is Jesus, "walked." Listen, mark that verse down. Listen carefully. Don't jump to any conclusions here now. People should mistake us for Jesus in this life. Let me explain. See, what, do you grow my hair out? I wish it was that easy. That's not what I'm talking about. Hear me out. We should talk like Jesus. We should act like Jesus. We should help people like Jesus. People should mistake us for Jesus. People should say, "What, are you a Christian?" How cool would that be? "Wait a minute, stop the car. What are you? Are you a Christian?" "Yeah, you got me." "Cuff that man! Arrest him! We have enough evidence on this man to charge him for being a Christian." The evidence is overwhelming. To obey Him, to obey Jesus. Imagine if the entire church in the world tonight decided, "I'm going to pick up my Bible, and I'm going to read it and do it." I think the world would change in a week, and I'm not joking. If every Christian said, "That's it, I'm reading the Bible and I'm going to do it," in one week the world would change. First John 4:15, "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love." Mark it, ladies and gentlemen, church family, you will find that nowhere else in any religious book of anybody in the planet. Your Bible says God is love. You will not find that in the Quran, you will not find that in the *Tibetan Book of the Dead*, you won't find it in the Hindu writings, the Buddhist writings, you won't find that anywhere. The Bible says God announces "I am love." God is love. He's holy, He's light, and He's love. Verse 17 says, "Love has been perfected," or complete, "among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has been made complete in love." Can someone say Amen? Wow. Obey Him. To obey Him is not "Thou shalt not, thou shalt." Love. Listen, receive His love for you and turn around and pour that love on other people. Watch what happens. Number six, it means that we prepare for perilous days. The discipline of durability or abiding in Christ is that we prepare for perilous days, the days that we're in. Second Timothy 3:1 says—and by the way, I'm reading from a Amplified version—"You should also know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents," this is 2,000 years old, "and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. Are we not living that time right now? They will be unloving and unforgiving. They will be slanderers of others, have no self-control. Oh my goodness. They will be cruel and have no interest in what's good. They will betray their friends, they'll be reckless, be puffed up with pride and love pleasure rather than God. They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. You must stay away from people like that."
David J: Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio and his message called "The Discipline of Durability." You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called *Disciplines of Life*, a series on the disciplines God builds into the Christian life—trials, setbacks, and the hard seasons of life that He uses to shape a believer's character and to deepen our faith. And we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. Truth doesn't need permission, and it doesn't need a filter. The Real Life Network delivers bold biblical content that addresses today's toughest issues with clarity and conviction. Watch teachings and interviews and the special programs that equip you with God's truth for the world that we live in today. Sign up for free at reallifenetwork.com. Stay grounded in Scripture, gain perspective, and remain confident in Christ no matter what's happening around you. Stream for free today at reallifenetwork.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. 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.