Today on real life radio. This is not being said these days. Your child will grow up. And here's the tragic thing. Would to God that our kids who love the Lord would grow up and run for political office.
But now that realm... You don't want to send your kids to the lions. They can almost walk on water, but somebo will somebody will concoct something to destroy them. 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. The culture is shifting. Pressure is rising. Faith is being tested.
Now is the moment to take a stand. Pastor Jack Hibbs brand new book Called to take a bold stand, resilient and effective faith for a godless age, is not just another Christian read, it's a call to action. a roadmap for every believer who longs to live with courage when the world demands compromise. With biblical truth, real-life conviction, and a forward from Franklin Graham, Jack equips you to face fear without flinching, stand strong when others fall away. live with purpose, clarity, and holy sacrifice in a chaotic world.
This is the moment to rise above intimidation. to hold fast to truth. and to let your faith influence a culture desperate for life. Don't wait. Order called to take a bold stand by Pastor Jack Gibbs.
For a gift of any amount at jackibs.com slash real radio. That's jackhibbs.com slash real radio. On today's edition of Real Life Radio. Pastor Jack continues his series now called First Samuel and a message titled Living Life the Hard Way, Part 1. Samuel of the Old Testament was the last judge of Israel and the first of its prophets.
So here in chapter 8, Samuel warns the Israelites about wanting a king instead of allowing God to lead them. You see, Samuel couldn't convince the people to not demand a king. As God's prophet, he tells them in advance of all the trouble they're going to have. Still driven by their impatience and pride, they chose to have a king rule over them.
So today, Pastor Jack teaches that Samuel's son chose not to follow God, and that affected the community and the nation. living life the hard way separates us from God. And when trouble comes in our weakness, we want a quick remedy, compromising our future and the future of our children.
Now with his message called Living Life the Hard Way, Part 1. Here's Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. Jesus said that the way into the kingdom is very narrow and very straight, and few people find it. But broad is the way, right? And many people be on the path of destruction.
It's the easy path. Here's what concerns. Me regarding our culture. Most of our children have not been prepared to fight for that which is right. To fight for that which is good.
Most of our children have not been trained how to contend. For life. let alone the faith. We're a culture that gives up so easy.
Now I have to warn you, and we'll obviously make this a two part message, but I tell you, in preparing for this today, I read the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights, And the Declaration of Independence today. And the reason why is because as we go through this, we're talking about a man and his boys. But it's going to affect the leadership of the community. The rulers are going to come. And that's going to go to affect the nation.
And what they decide affects the world here in this chapter. And as I looked at this, it became so clear to me. That if we fail to instruct our children in what God has done. That today, as I read. When they left.
Off in the preparing of the Constitution. The note The historian's note was it was an extremely hot and sweltering summer. And Those men that gathered, they prayed. Every day. For God's hand.
The Constitution. It took them four and a half months to write it in sequestered. Settings. Nobody knew. It was secret.
for fear of infiltration or attack. They considered it a divine work, they said.
Well you don't get this in modern school today, do you? And when it was done, The authors were asked. What do you think? And I don't remember who it was, Hamilton or one of the others had stated, this is a miracle. This is a divine Documents from From God, it is a miracle.
And they all agreed, yes, it's a miracle. But you don't read that, you don't hear that. These boys turned aside. And so will the rulers. And so will the nation As history goes on from this chapter.
It's tragic. It's tremendous. I'm afraid that when they turned aside, they threw the thought of God far from them. In Romans chapter 1, verse 28, the Bible says, For they did not like to retain God in their thinking or knowledge. And so, then, God gave them over to a debased or reprobate mind.
Romans 1:28. Hey, that happens today. People, I don't want to think about God. I don't want God in my life. I don't want God.
And you just stay that way. I don't want God. And God says, okay, you don't have to have me. And He shuts the door. Isn't that radical to think?
He just shuts the door on them. And in Romans chapter 1, 28, he says, Listen. Because they didn't want to retain God in their thinking. The Bible says he gives them up to a reprobate mind. Boy, how tragic.
Number three, boo-boo, is this: they went after dishonest game. They went after dishonest gain. That word here in the Hebrew means to take what is desirable to the eyes without permission. It's a form of stealing. They went after dishonest gain in the area of money or that which is considered income back then.
Could have been cattle, could have been food, could have been things. They saw something and they went, whoa, I like that. Woo! Won it. And they went after it.
Dishonest gain. They acquired to themselves, listen.
something that they did not earn. It's a form of stealing. You know what? It was then, and it is now. God's mind never changes.
But you see, if we mention these things today because we're such a politically correct society. Oh, my son's not a thief. He's just You know, Possessioned challenged. Um Desirably friendly toward other people's items. You know, I don't know what we always have this excuse.
And this is terrible. We are the.
society now, you know, of the Um victim. Every man is doing what's right in their own eyes. This is what Samuel's boys will grow up. To be like. They went after Dishonest gain.
They didn't walk in his ways, number one. Number two, they turned aside. Number three, they went after dishonest gain. Selfish things. I want it, so I took it.
Wow. Self-centeredness. Number four, look as we go through here, they went after taking bribes. The word in Hebrew here is to receive or to give, either way, to receive or to give a gift with demands or requests attached to it. Favors Well, you give me this money and I'll vote on this deal.
Yeah. If you give me $100,000, I'll go up to the Congress and I'll see to it that this guy votes for your state. Brabes! It's illegal.
Well, it used to be legal. It's it's not right with God, I'll tell you that. Isn't that amazing? They began to take bribes these quote men of God close quote You say, yeah, but they were pastor's kids. I don't buy that.
I don't buy that. I refuse to buy that. They took bribes. The fifth boo-boo that they did is that they went after the perverting of justice. Listen to this.
In the Hebrew it is a systematic undermining. or redefining of what is right. A systematic, that means a very careful Execution. to undermine What is Right. What is proper.
to pervert justice. It's to look at justice in the face. And it's to redefine. This is what Samuel's sons did, and God says they're in trouble for it. Doesn't this sound like our culture?
To redefine words and redefine law To wiggle. Your way out? Of what? You're guilty of? Living life the hard way.
Verses 4 through 5, we see our second point, that is, it spreads among the community. When someone decides to live life without God, It really affects the community that's around us. How so?
Well, listen. The leaders become corrupt for one thing. He wanted away. because people grow up. and they become leaders.
It says, Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. The elders began to seek. And you might say, well, that's a good thing, Jack. They're going to seek a change because they don't trust. Samuel Boyce, that's not exactly the whole truth.
The first thing I want you to note in verse 4 is that the leaders became corrupt. People grow up. People begin to be an influence in the community, living life the hard way without God. People automatically grow up. They begin just by age to be able to assume the mantle of being a responsible person.
person in the community. And if they turn aside to their own ways, and if bribery is no big deal. You know, if he just bribes people in private, that's his business. It doesn't affect me. If we get this isolationist thinking, you have to understand something.
Israel Like the United States, it's not a vacuum. What you do, what I do, affects one another. And this is not being said these days. Your child will grow up. And here's the tragic thing.
Would to God that our kids who love the Lord would grow up and run for political office. But now that realm You don't want to send your kids to the lions. They can almost walk on water, but somebody will concoct something to destroy them. But you don't want to have that keep your kid out of running for office. But early America was filled with people who loved the Lord.
George Washington loved God. Read his writings. He's born again. He's in heaven. We're going to go see him.
George and Martha, they'll be up there together. Abraham Lincoln, what a born-again man he was Man. Oh, I tell you. Thomas Jefferson? Love Jesus Christ.
Thomas Jefferson in the museum there in Washington, D.C., his Bible is so marked up with footnotes. In personal entries in his margins of his Bible about his own life. Thomas Jefferson, when you go to the Jefferson Memorial, anybody been there? You see the Ford Granite. Uh sheets hanging.
Two in front of him, two behind him. All about And consulting and inquiring about God and to God for the nation. One night in the middle of the summer, it was very late, probably 12 or 1 o'clock at night, because the heat wave was so great they delayed everything in DC. Everybody came out at night. People were dying from the heat.
We were taking a tour there and My precious Uh uncle who lives back there. We were touring DC late at night, and we're all together. We get to the Jefferson Memorial and this. National Park Service Ranger starts telling us that. Thomas Jefferson was a new age crystal ball.
Wacko. And between my uncle and I, we almost beat that guy up. It was That he didn't know anything. I can't believe that my tax dollars were paying his salary. He didn't know anything about Thomas Jefferson.
hadn't even read his own stuff. Broke my heart. Living life the hard way is a life, is a family, is a nation without God. 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. Proverbs 29, verse 18 says, That where there is no vision, God's people perish. And I believe these leaders, as you'll see in a moment, had lost the vision of God, failing to include God in our daily lives, very dangerous.
In verse number five, or the fifth verse, we see this that spreads among the community and that the nation becomes corrupt. They said to Samuel, Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways.
Now make us a king to judge us. Look, like all the nations. Or some of your Bibles say more accurately, like all the other nations. Samuel, come on, you're an old guy. Your sons are nincum poops.
We don't want them. And you're an old guy. We don't need to listen to you anymore. Make us a king. Like all the other nations have.
Do you hear that? We want to be like all the other nations. Listen. Israel is not going to be like all the other nations of the earth. They cannot.
They're God's chosen people to this hour. It's true. He will fulfill his promises. He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. And in the midst of the news, even tonight, he is still keeping Israel.
He will Preserve her. Even with what's going on. There now, he is in control. I don't understand it. But he's in control.
And outside of Israel, there is no other nation on the face of the earth that had a biblical beginning but the United States of America. Know your history. Even at the testimony, I'm sorry, I'm full of this stuff tonight. Even the testimony of a great Indian chief. Who was hired by The French To kill George Washington in battle.
And so this chief Told the French army, here's the deal. He always comes through here. You can get a good line of shot here. You can shoot 'em. And sure enough, Washington comes by.
And George Washington receives Five shots to his up to his torso. Upper Torso, five shots. While all this stuff was going on, Washington's ordering people this way and that. There's a lot of noise going on, the cattle. And the cavalry are moving about and getting ready to depart and go.
And this guy, this sharpshooter with this Indian chief, Nothing happens to Washington. Years later, Washington, who was a mathematical genius. George Washington was given the task. to survey the Ohio River Valley. He was good at math.
He knew how to use. The surveyor's tools. And so he went out. And in his Journeys through the Ohio River Valley. The land was going to be divided and given to veterans of war.
He met up with that Indian chief. He didn't know it, but the chief came up to me and he said, I know who you are. You are the General George Washington. And I want to tell you something. Years ago at this certain battle, I was hired by the French to kill you.
That sharp shooter shot you five times. And Yet God's hand was on you. God protected you and spared you. For a great purpose. This Indian told George Washington that.
And it was true. Washington makes mention that in his own Clothing that he was wearing that day received five shots down to the last thread of clothing against his body, never piercing his skin. He didn't know it until he got back to his quarters. The testimony of an Indian general. God was founding this nation.
But the people here, the leadership says, now make us a king, Samuel. like all the other nations. We'll end right here tonight, and I just want to Say that this is the saddest chapter. And there's only one verse I think that rivals this is John 1:10. In John chapter 1, verse 10, it's so sad.
It says that Jesus Christ, he came unto his own. He hath made the worlds. But his own did not receive him. Wow. God says, Israel, I'm going to lead you out of Egypt.
I'm going to make you a great nation. I'm going to feed you with manna and give you everything you need. I'm going to shelter you with myself throughout the wilderness. And they blow off and they say, you know what, we don't want God to be our king. We want a king like all the other nations.
That's a sad thing. There's going to come a day in the millennium when Jesus reigns. That the leaders of the nations then. It's going to be amazing. You ever read about that throughout Isaiah and Jeremiah, where Jesus is going to sit on the throne in Jerusalem.
You know, by the way, he has to, or else he's not Jesus. And for a millennium. For a thousand years, He's going to rule and reign over the governments of the earth. And the governments are going to have kings and presidents and All that. But their leadership, they are going to be called upon to willfully subject their leadership to Christ in Jerusalem.
Did you know that? And it says there in the scripture that if a people Refused to come up to Jerusalem and worship Christ. Really, what is a A time of Passover celebration, a lamb will be sacrificed once a year in the millennium to point back to what Jesus had done for us. And it says: if they fail to come and worship the Lord, the scripture says, God will withhold rain from their country. A little bit of an incentive to come and worship, huh?
Yeah. Hey, how it goes in your house is how it goes in the city. It's how it goes in the church. It's how it goes in the world around us. It's how it goes in our state.
It's how it goes in our country. And I look around and I I shudder. when I see the things that are taking place. But then there's great hope. I look around and I see your kids.
You say, not my kids. Yeah, your kids. You've given them Jesus. They're going to have their bumps. But the Bible promises us that if we train up a child in the way that he should go when he's old, He will return.
And that passage means that he, all the days of his life, will have to struggle and argue and kick with the scriptures. During his time of rebellion, but the hope and prayer is he'll humble his heart and come to him. and bow his heart to Jesus. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father.
Boy, I don't know if tonight was more of a Bible study or a history lesson, but actually, when we look at the word history, it's. It's really his story. Your story We can learn a lot. We thank you, Lord, that this Bible is not only history, it's prophetic. and not only in the life of Samuel but his two boys, Is there a A strike against our heart, a pain.
But Father. Maybe for some tonight. They would say I want my son or my daughter to come back to Jesus. Father, we pray tonight for our children. Father, we pray that you would...
Never let them rest day or night until they yield their hearts to you. Lord protect them. I I'm reminded even this week has it as a High school kid came so close to the end of this year, but swallowed up in depression. Just here locally in our own town. Mm-hmm.
He took his own life. when hope is gone, Life comes to an end. Oh God, that didn't need to be. We pray tonight, Father, in Jesus' name for our children. Father, I pray, Lord God, that perhaps, Lord, we might dedicate our lives to you tonight as parents.
To pray for our kids. To come at prayer time or to create a family altar where we go before you, Lord, in prayer. though maybe no one else gathers about it. May we pray, may we seek you. Father, in Jesus' name, I pray that tonight, Father, would be a turning point for our lives regarding our children that we would be Priests and Intercessors for them.
Well, heads are bowed and eyes are closed tonight. I'm going to ask if you're a parent tonight and you would like to just rededicate your life. to pointing your child to Jesus. Will you just stand to your feet? Just let this be an example, a witness.
Between you and the Lord. That you're gonna Point your kids to Jesus. Father, for these that are standing, I pray, Lord Jesus, that you'd baptize them in the power of your Holy Spirit. Father, that you would fill them down to overflowing. God, that they would not push, sweat, or panic about this, that they wouldn't go running out tonight and wake them up and say, Hey, we got to pray.
No, Lord, that they all here tonight would just go home. and begin to pray. For Junior or for Miss and just lift them up in prayer. For we ask these things, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. Here on Real Life Radio. with his message called Living Life the Hard Way, Part 1. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called 1 Samuel. It's a series that highlights 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 will continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
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 slash no God. 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. Everybody, I want to stop right now and just pray. A very important prayer. the most important topic.
and that is God's creation of the family. God loves the family. In fact, he's invited himself into His family, hasn't he? The Bible says he's adopted us into his family. And so I pray for your family.
Listen. Make your marriage work. Do everything you can to make sure that you're parenting. Skills are educated, and you get help from the Word of God. There's a lot of great resources out there, but don't give up on your family.
Don't give up on your parents. Don't give up on your kids. Listen, don't give up on your wife. And don't give up on your husband. Make it work.
It's God's will that As much as possible, make it work.
So, Lord, we pray right now that you'd heal our homes by healing our relationships with one another. In Jesus' name, Amen. 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.
