Today on real life radio. That from where we're at, it's oh no, or wow. And God says things: hey, you know what, kiddo? Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, neither is it entered the mind of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him. 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. What do you do when heaven feels silent? When you've prayed, believed, even begged, and still nothing changes? When the person you love isn't healed?
When the worst actually happens? When it feels like evil is winning? Where is God in all of that? This May, Pastor Jack Hibbs' featured resource is Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayers by Erwin Lutzer. It's an honest biblical look at the questions most of us are afraid to say out loud.
Not shallow answers, but real hope, real truth. The kind that meets you right in the middle of disappointment and points you back to God's greater purpose, even when you can't see it. If you've ever wrestled with doubt, confusion, or silence from God, this book is for you. Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayers? It's available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio.
That's jackhibbs.com slash real radio. Get your own copy of the book of the month, Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayers by Dr. Erwin Lutzer at jackhibbs.com. dot com slash real radio. On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack now continues in his series called Disciplines of Life and a message titled Disciplines of Desire.
You know, when a person is filled with Christ, our Christianity is filled with enthusiasm, passion, and zeal that's divinely placed within us. You see, just as children love the brilliance of life, Christians would be colorless without the desires of the heart that are rooted and grounded in God's love.
Now, desire is that internal drive that influences our will and causes us to take action.
So today, Pastor Jack teaches that there is a myth about the Ten Commandments, that they don't let us do anything and are set up to quench our desires. But the truth is, the Ten Commandments are designed by God to drive us to an absolute freedom and liberty that only He can give.
Now, with His message called Disciplines of Desire. Here's Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs. As we look at our disciplines of life series tonight, the discipline of desire, what does that mean? What could that mean? And so we'll be looking at it and um I pray and I trust that The Lord will speak to us and I think this: I think that if we're faithful to present the word and we're faithful as students to listen to his word, God will speak to us.
He's faithful to do that. It's pretty awesome how that happens. Word is exalted, his people are. in the presence of His Word, and He answers the questions and the issues of our life. And as we go through the disciplines of life, as I said, we come now to desire.
The disciplines of desire, Matthew chapter 28, you know the theme verse. You can park right there, and then, when you get a chance, get on over to Psalm 27. Matthew 28 and Psalm 27. Jesus here in Matthew 28, 18 says, 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 unto the end of the world. Jesus' challenge to every believer is that we would make disciples.
Some of us make one disciple in life, some of us two, some of us more. But every Christian is to replicate themselves in the life of another person, another Christian. There's a great old book. If you can get your hands on it, get it. I think it's out of print.
You might be able to find it somewhere. But uh it's by Chuck Smith, little tiny book. And the book is entitled The Replicators or The Reproducers, The Reproducers. And it's a great little book about discipleship because it talks about how we as believers, just befriending one another, getting to know one another, we wind up without even knowing it, discipling one another in the things of God. That's the greatest form of discipleship, by the way.
Yes, it's great to go to a discipleship training course. Yes, of course, you should be attending the new believers study on Thursday nights. Absolutely. But what you want to make sure that you do is that you exercise a love and a relationship and an interaction. with someone else in the faith.
Why? Because that emboldens you and the other in the faith, and it causes. In fact, I like the way Chuck Smith says it: sheep, when they're healthy, reproduce sheep. And Christians, when they're healthy, reproduce Christians. That's an excellent statement.
That's an excellent verse. That's an excellent truth.
Now, Psalm 27. This is where we'll use this verse tonight to launch out into the discipline of desire. Psalm 27, verse 3. Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war may rise up against me, in this I will be confident.
One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I will seek after. that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. Noah Webster, in his 1828 dictionary, says regarding desire. He says, and I quote, desire is a wish to possess.
some form of gratification or source of happiness which is assumed to be obtainable. Desire is that internal drive which by influencing the will makes us proceed toward an action. He goes on. Desire is the emotion or the excitement of the mind, which is focussed on the attainment or the possession of an object which gives pleasure. Sensuality.
or intellectuality or spirituality. He goes on. He quotes now, listen, if you don't own an 1828 Noah Webster's dictionary, buy one. You can buy it. They're about I don't know.
They're a lot of money, but buy one. It's the real English language. It's awesome. Listen to what he says in his dictionary, Under Desire. This is what he says: quote: We endeavor to see your face with great desire.
1 Thessalonians chapter 2. Thou hast the desires of every living thing. Psalm 145, that's in that dictionary. Get it. Give it to your teacher.
at school and have them learn English. It's an awesome thing to realize when we talk about Christianity, Christianity is anything but Stoic. We've got this picture sometimes in our mind that as Christians we are to be holy, and that's a fact. The Bible tells us that without holiness, we're not going to see the Lord. That is, without your life being set aside to God, it ain't going to happen, my friend, in eternity for you.
As a Christian, it presupposes that we have a heart for God. And regarding Christianity, it's not stoic. Christianity is alive. In fact, the very word and the meaning of enthusiasm, you guys know. You guys know the meaning of this word maybe more than anybody.
But it's rooted and grounded in enthusiasm. In the Greek language, enthusiasm means that which dwells inside of you causes an action. En in Greek is internal dwelling. Theos is God. Azim is action.
When God dwells within you, it generates an action. That's only true for the Christian. And that's a powerful statement. As a Christian, when we talk about desire. It is natural for a Christian to be passionate about what they believe.
In fact, I don't even want to be around Christians that are not passionate about what they believe. The world has seen enough of that stuff. They're going to be zealous unto good works, says the Bible. All these things are divinely placed within the heart of a Christian. And I love, I don't know about you, you want to get excited?
So, for some of you old timers, you ought to show up on a Thursday night to the New Believers class and just listen to them. Their questions and their love and their excitement for God's word and God's people and for God is absolutely contagious. Hang around new believers. Watch what happens. It's very important.
Children are great examples of that because new believers are very colorful in their faith and children are very colorful in life. Everything that they see is somehow brilliant to them. If you have a little kid, man, I remember doing the five-year-olds at Cavary Costa Mesa Sunday School. Man, those kids are They're just on a whole nother wavelength the way that they think. It's amazing.
I think of one kid right now, my goodness, this is forever ago. This is 30 years ago. I'll never forget him. His name's Matthew. I can see him in my eyes right now.
I had a big zit on the end of my nose on a Sunday morning. And I'm that teacher. I'm his teacher. And that kid, I walked in, there's a. It's packed full to little five-year-olds.
And I don't know, man, I think. I mean, I I was okay, I was good to them, but I came in, I took control of that class, man. They ain't no five-year-old gonna run me over. Yeah. But he got me that day.
I'll never forget it. He goes, Excuse me, Mr. Jack, Mr. Jack, excuse me, Mr. Jack.
I said, What is it? He said, what's that thing on the end of your nose? That's how kids are, man. And listen, you hear things like this when kids, and the Bible tells us Jesus said, we've got to become like children to enter the kingdom of heaven. Right?
We don't need to grow up. We need to grow down. We need to grow back to where we began. But deep in the things of God, But a little kid will say things like this, and maybe it rings true in your heart or in your ears. But little kids will say things like this.
I jotted something down here. Daddy, the whale jumped so high that he almost touched the sky.
Well, that's not true. But when you're little The size of that whale jumping up into the air to that little kid from his vantage point, it looked like that whale had touched the sky. Didn't it? Mommy, that's the biggest dog in the whole world, the little girl said. That's not true.
But from her vantage point, that was the biggest dog in the whole world, right? As a believer, we look at life and As Christians, Life can be very, very exciting for us. And I wonder what it sounds like to God's ears. Oh God, it's never been like this before.
Well, I understand, Jack, from your perspective, right? It's never been like this. Or we might say, oh, Lord, isn't this the best ever?
Well, From your perspective, Susie, it is the best. But he's got a vantage point regarding everything that's going on in our lives. That from where we're at, it's oh no, or wow, and God says things: hey, you know what, kiddo? Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, neither is it into the mind of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him. And it's natural.
Listen, you're gonna hear some stuff tonight that's gonna challenge your normal way of thinking. And here comes one right now. It is normal to have desire.
Well, what kind of desire are you talking about? It's normal to have any kind of desire. As long as it's managed by God, desire must be managed by the Lord. And we'll talk about that tonight. Is there such thing as we'll talk about in a moment, aberrant desires?
Yes. That's fleshly demonic and devilish Yes. But listen. Even a person who is aberrant, who seeks through desire something in life You know why they're doing that?
Some of you, I know some of you are in law enforcement, some of you are in the FBI here tonight. You know, you've studied that even the most deviant person, the most grotesque human being, is pursuing something, listen, that they go about it wrong. They murder life or they do something to acquire a sensation or feeling that is abnormal. The way they go about it is wrong. It's called sin.
But what they're pursuing is not necessarily wrong. Example. A person, it is natural for a person to want love. To love and be loved. But if you're not operating properly, if you are aberrant, if you are debased in your thinking, you will go about trying to pursue love, which is a good thing.
In a very wrong way. Wasn't there an old song, Looking for Love in all the wrong places? Every human being desires, in their definition, to pursue some form of love. And therein we can get in trouble because God defines how we ought to live our lives. When we talk about desires, what are we talking about?
This is a scary time in American history, for that matter, in world history. If there was ever a time, now from my perspective, from, oh God, it's never been like this before. Where it seems that every man is doing that which is right in his own eyes. Right is wrong, wrong is right, good is evil, evil is good. Why?
Because desire, emotion, and feelings. have taken the lead above logic and reason. This is huge. Recently in California, a judge ruled against 7 million people. Because he said in his ruling, I feel, I felt, or someone could feel.
That is absolutely borderlines on insanity. But every one of us, as a human being, let alone as a Christian, have a. Either a great experience regarding desire, or it is a great struggle. And I'm going to argue tonight that it's both. 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 jackibs.com. That's jackibbs.com. And now, let's get back to today's message. Once again, here's Pastor Jack. One of the great examples as we get into the study tonight regarding desire.
is something that I want you to think about. Right now, all across America, There's a big struggle to tear down Ten Commandments in courtrooms and schools. and crosses. We talked about that a couple weeks ago. But I heard some news again the other day about the Ten Commandments.
Can't have the Ten Commandments. Can't they have the Ten Commandments while our nation's leaders are embracing the commandments of some other God? A Judeo-Christian nation turns around and says, We can't have the Ten Commandments. We'll have other commandments, but we won't have the ten. Why would someone not want to entertain the ten commandments?
I'll tell you right now. Because if you entertain the Ten Commandments, number one, It is God's ten rules. For you to live. If I obey the Ten Commandments... You are going to be better off if you and I know one another.
Look, if you and I don't know one another, directly it won't affect you and I. But if you and I know one another, listen, I'm going somewhere. This is how it starts. If you and I know one another, And I treat you under the t the the Commands of the Ten Commandments, the rules of the Ten Commandments, guess what I will not be doing? I will not be trying to murder you.
How's that sound? Anybody have a problem with that? If you do, you're a murderer and you will not like the Ten Commandments.
So take them down. If you and I live... Regarding the Ten Commandments, then I will not be stealing your wife, and you will not be stealing mine. Or else you could be. Murdered.
So that's kind of two commandments being broken at the same time. Do you understand where I'm going with this? It is all about life. God says these Ten Commandments. But if you don't want to hear that because you have other desires that fly in the face of God's command, you don't like that.
And so you got to peel those things off the wall because why it makes you feel bad? Do you understand who is really under attack in our world today? It is not you and it's not me. It's the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, it is illegal today for the Holy Spirit to convict someone.
Think about it. Progressives call that thought crime.
So I felt bad when I looked at that cross. I felt bad. Why? Why do you feel bad? Why do you feel bad?
What are you doing that makes you feel bad?
Well Um ACLU 1-800 ACLU 1-800. Desire is what I'm talking about. But there's great desire as well, there's good desire.
So, I want you to mark these verses down as we get into this. Keep this in mind: the Bible says in Romans 15, verse 3: for even Christ did not please himself. That's an awesome statement. Romans 15, 3. Even Christ did not.
Please himself. Do you know what the radical statement of that? It implies, listen, because Jesus, are you listening, everybody? Jesus was 100% God. 100% man.
He was the God-man, the one and only. It implies that Jesus Who was tempted in all points, the Bible says, like us, yet without sin. There were times in Jesus' life, I'll give you an example when he was hungry. Hadn't eaten for 40 days and 40 nights, and Satan came and said, By the way, Satan will always come in your moment of desperation. He'll wait.
He'll wait and wait and wait. He's got a lot of time. And he doesn't sleep, you know. Think of that when you go to bed tonight. You're out in la la land and Satan's fixing up some plan.
That's why we need the Lord all the time. And so he's thinking something up. And your life gets sideways, maybe you lost your job or whatever, signal wait. He'll wait, he'll wait until it comes to the faith hour. Whenever that is.
Could be a day, could be a month, could be a minute, could be a year. You're low on money, you're low on friends, you look around and you feel completely abandoned, and then here he comes. Come slithering on them there. Say. How's it going, Steve?
Turn these stones into bread. And everything would be fine. Satan wants to play off of desire, and yet God uses desire. Point number one, mark it down. Identifying what a a desire is.
Identify it. Here in Psalm 27, 3 and 4, it says, Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Why does David put that down? Why did God inspire David to say that? If an army is circle around me, my heart shall not fear.
Why? Because our desire is to normally fear. There's some sort of strange compensation to us if we fear. When we're surrounded by the enemy, the natural propensity is to fear. There's some sort of.
Emotional Delusion to that. In fact, listen, everybody, this is not going to be a popular thing to say, but People come here to hear unpopular things, I guess, anyway. To acquiesce or to surrender or to appease. Is exactly the opposite of what David is saying right here. Though an army may encamp against me, I'm not going to fear.
When an army begins to encompass around people, listen. Ask Europe. They fell once, maybe twice, to the doctrine of appeasement, and it leads to death in mayhem, and it led to. Adolf Hitler trying to take over the world with a doctrine of appeasement. Satan will never do a deal with you.
David says, no way, the enemy's circling around from his perspective. He was one man. Who led a nation? He was the greatest commando that the world has ever known. And King.
and leader and musician and songwriter. And lover of God. And Shepard, where do we stop? Where did this guy. And David says, I tell you what, when I'm surrounded.
I'm not going to fear. He went around like this, he saw everything. Oh, it looks like I'm surrounded. And knowing David a little bit, David probably said, hey, God. Look at these poor guys.
You've got them all surrounded. You can't stop somebody who thinks like that. Identifying what a desire is. There's an army of innumerable evils that come against the Christian life. And identifying what a desire is doesn't take brain surgery, but knowing what to do with that desire is another thing, Christian.
This is where most of us fall into trouble right now: not knowing what to do with the desire, either good desire or an aberrant or wrong desire. David says, I'm not going to fear. Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio, and his message called Disciplines of Desire. We appreciate you being here today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called The Disciplines of Life.
It's a series that highlights the disciplines of a Christian. and the high cost of sharing our faith with others. and will continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. I love the book of the month. Pastor Jack, it's Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayers written by your friend, Erwin Lutzer.
It's a great book, isn't it? It is a great book, and just the title alone is going to make it a bestseller. Because who cannot relate to this? Right, right, right. Powerful.
So, for someone who's been praying for a long time and hasn't really seen an answer, an answer that they want, for that matter, how does this book encourage them to keep going? You know, Davey, first of all, Just because we pray doesn't mean it's a prayer that should be answered. We don't always know how we ought to pray. Scripture makes that very clear. We do know that Jesus said in John 15, verse 7, that if we pray the scriptures, really, if his word abides in us, we can ask God.
So just because we pray doesn't mean we're asking the right thing. And Dr. Lutzer will point this out in the book. What we want to do is when we pray, is to have our will come under the Authority of God's will. That's what prayer does.
Prayer is not a Christmas list. It is the transformation of our will coming in alignment with God's will. And this is a great book for people to get that answered. Why isn't the prayer? I've been praying to win the lotto for 30 years.
In the lottery, I have not won it yet. Why isn't God answering my prayer? Because God loves you, my friend. That's right. That's right.
He's not answering your prayer.
So, if somebody's faith has taken a hit because they feel like God hasn't answered them, how could this book help rebuild their trust in God? Yeah, it's going to point them to the scriptures. That's where they need to realize: wait a minute. I've been blaming God for not performing for me. Wait, He loves me, Father knows best.
Uh In fact, over time, we can all agree, and friend, listen up if that's your question. Is over time, we often realize, I'm so glad God did not answer my prayer request. I was off on that. And so getting back into the Word of God. And this book will help you do that, will cause you to trust God again.
Because listen, God's trustworthy, period. It's our emotions that got us sideways in this area, not his theology. He's true. Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayers by Dr. Erwin Luther is available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com/slash real radio.
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.
