Today on Real Life Radio, we're talking about the ability to rightly steward or to govern or to manage yourself. When it comes to what God wants to do in your life, this is critical tonight. This is a very, very powerful. Discipline. Yeah.
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. Three years ago, the Real Life Network launched with a clear purpose to bring truth to people wherever they are. Since then, we've seen God do so much through this growing platform.
Viewers around the world are watching news, sermons, interviews, documentaries, conferences, cartoons, and other biblical worldview programming designed to help believers fast forward their faith. And RLN continues to grow. With the addition of our new articles page, viewers can now find timely, biblically grounded insight on today's most important issues. There is so much to thank God for. But we believe there is still much more ahead.
He's used us in amazing ways. He's used you in amazing ways. I believe that the Lord is continuing to open doors and we're gonna continue to move forward.
So my prayer is that RLN will keep reaching more people with truth and equipping them as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and pointing them to this generation for His glory. Yeah. On today's edition of Real Life Radio. Pastor Jack continues with his series now called Disciplines of Life and a message titled The Discipline of Distinction. The Christian walk is full of disciplines, the trials, the setbacks, the hard seasons that God uses to shape our faith from the inside out.
And today we learn how to handle the blessings, the success, and the recognition that God may bring without letting it go to our heads. You see, when life is going well, it's easy to start believing in our own headlines. But everything we have, our money, our influence, our energy, that all belongs to the Lord. The discipline of distinction is learning to manage his blessings without forgetting who gave them.
So today, Pastor Jack teaches that whatever we hold in our hands belongs to God, whether it's a dollar or a fortune. True distinction isn't gathering blessings for ourself, but becoming a conduit that God can use to reach others for Christ.
So before we jump into the message, I had a chance to sit down with Pastor Jack and talk with him about it. Let's get into that. Pastor Jack, we're talking about the disciplines of distinction, right? And you make the point that distinction is really about stewarding what God puts in our hands, you know, things like wealth and recognition, influence, right?
So why do you think that so few of us have any idea how to handle that sort of thing very well at all? I think for one thing it's It's a discipline. I mean, when you think of making a distinction uh to what is before us that is Frankly, making a judgment, making a call, right? Making a decision. There's some people who just.
In the moment of decision, they can't do it. They can't pull the trigger. They can't pick, you know, are they going to go to the Antarctic or to the Arctic for a vacation? They just can't pull.
So that's one thing, but moving on to the reality of it is: if I happen to have recognition or influence or wealth or time or whatever you and I might have in our custody to be good stewards over. Um We need to make sure that it's devoted to what God wants us to do.
So, example: how do I spend my time in on whats? I need to make the distinction between Um Am I going to be using my money? for things that are good. Versus, are they going to wind up into the hands of helping those that do bad? And that's true in all kinds of areas.
So it really comes down to distinction, meaning judgment, discipline in the area of discernment. I am making this distinction. I'm going to choose to do the right thing. I'm going to choose to redeem the time. I am going to choose to invest in the kingdom of God.
And these are things that we don't often make the right decision about. Because Our desires get all tied up in the mess. We get it all jumbled up. Because we think things like This is what I want instead of what does God want The discipline of distinction. Excellent.
Pastor Jack, I appreciate you being here today. Let's jump into the message. Tonight, grab your Bibles, of course, like normal in the series, Matthew chapter 28. Put your finger in Matthew chapter 28 and then go way to the left. Way to the left, Old Testament, 2 Chronicles 26.
2 Chronicles 26, Matthew chapter 28. And now Part 26 of a thirty-one part series Regarding the disciplines of life, tonight we're looking at the discipline of distinction. The discipline of distinction Part 26 of our 31-part series tonight, The Disciplines of Life, Matthew chapter 28. We know it well by now on these Wednesday nights. Jesus had come to speak to his disciples and he said to them, all authority.
has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, that is his command, and make disciples, that's our job, of all nations, that's our limit. The world. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. How do we do that?
Verse 20, teaching them to observe all things. That implies, by the way, obedience to what Christ has done. Declared that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always, Jesus said, even into the end of the world. The amazing, awesome ministry of the Holy Spirit that is bringing Jesus to us constantly, even into the end of the world. The ministry of Christ continues tonight by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Preaching the everlasting word of God all around the world through you and I. It's amazing, isn't it? that God would choose us to be part of his co-laborers. And then 2 Chronicles 26. Verse 16.
We'll read just the front end of it for it it is The very nature of the discipline of distinction, and we want to learn from King Uzziah's mistake. It says in chapter 26, verse 16, 2 Chronicles, it says, But when King Uzziah was strong, His heart was lifted up to his destruction. Two things I want to point out before we dive into this. One is the definition of the word distinction. What does it mean to have the discipline of distinction?
Distinction means this: it is a result of having achieved a place or the advancement and acknowledgement of an individual or a group for some excellence or worthy act. Distinction, having achieved something. Distinction for having accomplished some worthy act. It is a It's fame and notoriety. for you or a group, a team.
for having achieved something. A status. They have achieved a place. And then The second thing is the background to this verse tonight, 2 Chronicles 26. Let me give you a little bit of background as the chapter.
King Uzziah. First of all, King Uzziah was one of Israel's youngest kings. He was brought to the throne. at the age of 16. In fact, it says in 2 Chronicles 26, it's now all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king.
Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king, and he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.
So God helped him against the Philistines. And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem and The corner gate and at the valley gate. And moreover, Uzziah had an army of fighting men who went out to war by companies. That means he had a big, successful army.
Now, listen to this: verse 16 says, But when he was strong, His heart was lifted up. to his own destruction. King Uzziah died later on. As he was lifted up, he was judged by God. He was a godly king, but he was judged by God for disobedience, and he died.
in the judgment of God of leprosy. And in the day that God judged him, it was because he exalted himself. He was very successful. He was a very anointed king. He did tremendous things, but that verse 16 is haunting.
It says, But that in the Hebrew word, it is a declaration of an impending contradiction in the pattern of his life. He had started out humbly as a young boy. He was brought up, reigning all those years as king, and God blessed. Listen, church, everything he put his hand to do, God blessed him, and he was a man of great success. He was a man of distinction.
But it says there, and that's the telling sign, but when he was strong. It wasn't that he was strong in God. God had already established that. The word implies that he was strong in himself. He began to be.
One who believed, as it were, his own propaganda. He began to look at the success of his achievements and he became strong. What does that mean? He began to think of himself as strong.
Well, look at me. Look what I have. Look what I've done. And the Bible says, and his heart was lifted up to his own destruction.
So tonight when we look at the discipline of distinction, We're talking about the ability to rightly steward or to govern or to manage yourself. When it comes to what God wants to do in your life, this is critical tonight. This is a very, very powerful... Discipline. Because It causes, listen, church, it causes me to speak about things that either A, I don't normally speak about, or B, it could easily be misunderstood.
So I need all of you to pay close attention. And I'm prayed up. I'm ready to go. I just pray that my body, my mouth, and brain doesn't get in the way. Because we're going to be treading into some pretty touchy territory.
Keep this in mind. The discipline of distinction Is The discipline of you governing yourself when it comes to what God wants to do in your life, what He wants to achieve in and through your life. Note this. Small opportunities and small responsibilities. If handled rightly in your life, in my life, as a church.
will lead to what? Exactly. Larger. Opportunities. It's God's way.
If you are faithful in what? Little. God says, I will make you faithful in more. And I want you to let your imagination run wild a little bit as to what that might mean because you literally cannot. Limit What God wants to do in your life.
In what area, Pastor Jack, are you talking about?
Well, you name it. If you're going to be faithful in serving, God is going to reward your Christian service, guess what? With more service. How does God reward a faithful ministry with more ministry? If you love five people in ministry, God's going to give you 15 to love.
If he gives you 15 to love, he's going to give you 50 to love. And on and on it goes. We cannot limit what God wants to do. But on this topic of Being a A disciplined Person regarding distinction. When we talk about distinction, we're talking about God choosing to elevate your witness in various areas.
And therein comes the danger.
So as we talk about this study tonight, imagine me coming to your heart and mind through the back door. The Bible says in Galatians chapter 6. Verse 7 to 10, it says, do not be deceived. The word actually in the Greek means stop being fooled. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap.
For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption. Very common, very plain. We all know that. But he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. It matters.
To what or to whom you pay allegiance? And let us not grow weary. At doing well, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity. Let us do good to all, especially to those who are the household of faith.
We are to be faithful to one another, faithful to the Lord, faithful to the church, faithful to. You name it. As a Christian, we are to be faithful in all of those things that God brings as an opportunity to us.
So, church, mark it down. Number one, it's this: the discipline of distinction is this: it is the godly stewardship of wealth. It is the godly stewardship of wealth. By wealth, I'm talking about our assets, our possessions, our material goods. You say, Jack, have you read the papers lately?
There is no more wealth. Yeah, there is. It may not be the way that you and I are thinking. And by the way, a little side note, don't let today's news on Wall Street fool you. Oh, look, the market's recovered.
Everything's going to be fine. Don't let that fool you. Church, you be anchored to Jesus. You'd be hanging on to Christ like never before. You need to strengthen and nurture your faith because that is just a momentary blip.
on the spastic horizon. of the world economy. You say, well, you're contradicting yourself. You talk about wealth and then you say that it's all going to be imploding. Yes, listen.
When I talk about wealth, I'm talking about our assets, what you and I have, talking about our possessions, talking about our material goods. The poorest person in the world has some form of assets. The poorest person in the world has some form of material good. And listen to this carefully. Far too many Christians are either still impressed and in love with the world's toys.
Or they're biblically weak regarding the handling of success, and power, and influence, and wealth. Don't misunderstand me tonight. When we talk about the discipline of distinction, I am not talking about a sermon tonight or a message tonight about God wanting you healthy, wealthy, and wise. This is not a, what's the thing, a prosperity, name it and claim it, blab it and grab it message. I don't believe in that.
I believe that's heresy, and that's not what I'm talking about. But I'm talking about the fact that far too many Christians are in love with this world's trinkets and toys. It takes more of our income to keep our fund going than we would ever tithe the church or invest toward the homeless or whatever. And now we have the government competing against us in the way of taxes. We will either be tithing to the government or tithing to God.
As for me and my house, I'd rather serve the Lord. Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, yes, but never forget unto God the things that are God's. 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. The Bible says in Luke chapter 18, verse 18, Regarding stewardship of wealth. By the way, Jesus talked about our faithfulness and stewardship more than any other topic. It's interesting, isn't it?
He says, now a certain ruler asked him, saying, good teacher, What shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good but one, and that is God. You know the commandments. Do not commit adultery.
Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother. And the man said to Jesus, All these things I've kept from my youth.
So when Jesus heard these things, he said to him, you still lack one thing.
Now, listen, everybody, think and listen carefully. Sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me. First of all, what's interesting about this is that's not how a man gets saved. Why is Jesus doing this? Keep the verse up on the screen.
Why is Jesus saying this? Because Jesus knew. The hindrance that was in the man's heart to bring him to salvation. There was a block wall between him and eternal life, and that block wall. He'll explain.
But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful. For he was rich. And when Jesus saw that, he became very sorrowful, he said, how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God. For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Just because a person is poor or rich doesn't help them or hinder them.
Regarding heaven, But what does happen is when someone is pursuing riches, you could be a rich man, a middle-class man, or a poor man. If you are pursuing riches other than God, then in your dwelling, riches is your pursuit, and you have a big block wall between you and God. That's the issue that Jesus is pointing out. The danger is that we need to be stewards regarding our wealth. This morning or this evening, you might have $1 in your pocket.
Somebody might have $100 in their pocket. God causes us, whatever we have in our pocket, to be stewards regarding those things. You can't get away from it. For those of you who have $100 in your pocket, you might be saying, Hey, hey, hey, I got $100 in my pocket. Hey, you watch out.
That's God's money in your pocket. Then the person who says, Well, this message doesn't apply to me, I only have a dollar in my pocket. Hey, listen, that's God's dollar in your pocket. It's of the Lord. But the keys to not becoming Rich is this.
You say, why would you say not to become? Oh, no, no, listen, listen, listen. You could be Bill Gates tonight and have a right relationship with Jesus. And as the world goes, people would say, Well, isn't he rich? But as Bill Gates would say, no, I'm not.
It's all the Lord's. And he would be rich toward God, and the world would think that he's got all the money in the world. But he would say privately, I'm making this up, as far as I know, Bill Gates is not a believer. Bill Gates would be able to say, it's not mine, it's the Lord's. And in that sense, who is the rich man or the poor man?
It all depends on your stewardship of what God has given you. We're to study, yes. We're to pray, we're to preach, yes. But ultimately, we can't advance the kingdom of God practically in this world without some form of wealth. Think about that.
The Bible is full of examples from the building of the temple. My goodness, you ever read that? You ever read the building of the temple and the Old Testament? Did you know that Solomon had to tell the people, okay, that's enough. No more giving, too much.
Isn't that amazing? It's over and over in the Word of God regarding our stewardship. How do we govern what we have? The apostles? Think about that.
They started out with nothing. They went preaching the gospel. And eventually the gospel was heard around the world. What you want to be careful about is that they took whatever they had to further the gospel. They didn't have a 10-step or 12-step program on how to become rich.
Just sign up or join and do this and do that and the other thing. If we tonight as a people Exercise the discipline of distinction. It means this: that if God blesses us with whatever we might have. In our control. We run a fine line from worshiping it versus making it an act of worship.
We walk a fine line where we would begin to have our minds changed. Maybe someone is humble and. Able to get along with, and they're kind, and they're generous, and then they come into money, and it changes the way they think. That is a dangerous thing. And that is the discipline of distinction.
Distinction is that notoriety. It is that fame. It is that thing whereby God might bless you in life. And if it changes you. And it saddens me to say this actually: that it's too bad, I think, that far too many Christians cannot handle what God may want to give them.
See, you hear one thing and think another perhaps. I say this. I would bet that if we were able to truly be people that would say, Lord, all that I have is yours. And I'll use it to the furtherance of your kingdom. I'm wondering if God, in fact, would not give us more opportunity.
And responsibility to advance the kingdom of God, and on and on it goes. For what purpose? What is the end of it all? That you might have a gigantic bank book? Nope, then forget it.
You're not hearing me right. To have some big house on the hill? Nope, that's not it. You're not hearing me at all. To be a literal conduit of what God brings into your life to send out and to use as an opportunity for others to experience Christ.
That's what I'm talking about. You can either be distinguished By amassing it to yourself or by being a conduit? And there's a big difference. The Bible says in Romans 10:13, for whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Listen, how then shall they call upon him whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? Watch. And how shall they preach unless they are Sent. There is the sender, and there is the goer, and getting the word of God.
God out to the world, and it takes all of our wealth, a dollar or a hundred dollars, it causes us to say, God, this is to your glory. In First John chapter three, listen to this. In First John 3:17. It says, for whoever has this world's goods. You possess things, you have wealth.
and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him. How does the love of God abide or live in Him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue. But indeed and in truth, that's sad and funny at the same time. Let's say You and I have the money to buy somebody lunch, and we see a brother or sister hungry, and we go, Hey, what's the matter?
Man, I'm hungry.
Well, go get some food. I don't have any money. Dude, that's a bummer. that you don't have any money. That's a real drag.
Anyway, we're going to go get something to eat. They'll pray for you. Bye-bye. The Bible says the love of God does not dwell in that person or all those people. That we would see somebody in need and turn away from them?
You say, well, yeah, that's terrible. You're right, man. Boy, that verse is powerful. Listen, here's my point: it takes some degree of wealth. To get out from behind that area of protection and say, listen, brother, come with us, we'll buy you lunch.
That's what I'm talking about tonight. Uh Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio, and his message called The Discipline of Distinction. Thanks for joining us here today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called Disciplines of Life. It's a series on the disciplines that God builds into the Christian life, the trials, the setbacks, the hard seasons 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. This Independence Day don't just celebrate, stand for what this nation was built on. Our Faith and Freedom Collection is bold, patriotic apparel that declares your convictions and starts conversations, perfect for July 4th and all summer long. Order now and will include a free Happy Birthday America Kids Guide, a faith-centered resource for the children and grandchildren in your life. Visit jackhibbs.com or call 877-777-2346.
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.
