Join us as we delve into the profound lessons of temptation and endurance with Pastor Jack Hibbs. Drawing from the wisdom of Apostle Peter and James, Pastor Hibbs addresses the believers’ struggles with temptations and the importance of perseverance. With practical advice and encouraging biblical insights, he guides Christians on how to stand firm amidst spiritual battles, ensuring victory and receiving the crown of life promised through unwavering love for God. Discover the power within each trial to bring believers closer to Christ and the reward awaiting at the journey’s end.
Because the Holy Spirit lives in you, he’s going to see to it that you endure. You just hang out with Jesus. Have you noticed how much trouble we get in when we don’t hang out with Jesus? Man, that’s a problem. Things are going great. Take a rise off Jesus. Things aren’t going so great anymore. Happens all the time. It’s terrible.
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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.
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You know, the Apostle Peter in his letters to the church urged his fellow Christians to keep on learning and growing in the faith, in spite of their suffering and pain. Unlike today, however, resources were scarce. Still, they persevered, and Christ followers were growing in both strength and numbers. Now, there’s no limit of ways to access quality materials on Christian living, including Pastor Jack’s website. When you go to jackhibbs.com and click the media icon, you’ll find not only real-life radio episodes, but real-life podcasts, real-life TV, real-life basics for Christian growth, and even news updates. There’s also specific verse-by-verse studies from books of the Bible and so much more. So, head on over to our website at jackhibbs.com and click on the media tab. That’s jackhibbs.com.
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on today’s edition of real life radio pastor jack now continues his series called the book of james with a message titled why am i being tempted see before it became one of the books of the new testament james was simply a letter sent to those jews who chose to follow christ But as new believers, they really struggled with temptation. You see, the devil’s desire is to speak lies to us using temptation, but it’s the Lord’s desire to help us to overcome temptation and give to us the crown of life, which, by the way, he’s promised to those who love him. So today, Pastor Jack teaches that happiness comes to those who endure temptation by keeping their eyes on the Lord. A victorious condition of our hearts, well, that can happen when we remain faithful no matter what. Now with his message called, Why Am I Being Tempted? Here’s pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.
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Blessed is the man who endures temptation. For when he is approved or when he has been approved, he will receive a crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him. There is a happy condition. Jot these verses down if you would. Concerning verse 12, people, let’s rejoice. Let’s take the Bible and get our brains washed with its truth. Right now, 1 Corinthians 13 verse 7 says, Love bears all things, believe all things, hopes all things, and what? Endures all things. Does God love us? Okay, then because God loves us, will we be able to bear all things? Yes. Will we be able to endure all things? Yes. The Bible’s made us that promise. Will we be able to hope through all things? Yes. When a person gives up on hope, when a person gives up on love, even a Christian, what are they doing? They’re getting their eyes off of God. And they get swallowed up by the temptation that they have yielded to. And unfortunately, maybe even put a gun to their head and their depression. But that’s not necessary because God has given us the love. 1 Corinthians 13, 7, he’s given us the endurance. Jude 1, verse 21. The Bible says, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking forward or have an anticipation for the mercy of the Lord Jesus unto eternal life. We are to keep ourselves in the love of God. That means we have to work at it. We have to stand firm on this. Matthew 10, verse 22. By the way, when I give you these verses, do you jot them down like in your footnotes or anything like that? Do you? Good, because I’d hate to spend a couple of days putting these verses together and you not write them down there in your little footnote. That’s great that you write them down there in your footnote and in your notes. That’s good. Matthew 10, 22. And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. If that doesn’t happen to you, it will soon enough. But he who endures to the end, the same shall be saved. Jack, does that mean if I endure to the end, I shall be saved? Technically in the word, it’s because you’re saved, you will endure to the end. Doesn’t that make you feel better? Because I am saved, it’s the nature of the Holy Spirit working within me to make sure I endure to the end. You don’t have to leave here tonight saying, oh man, I’ve got to endure. I’m so stressed out, I’ve got to endure. No, you don’t. Because the Holy Spirit lives in you. He’s going to see to it that you endure. You just hang out with Jesus. Have you noticed how much trouble we get in when we don’t hang out with Jesus? Man, that’s a problem. Things are going great. Take a rise off Jesus. Things aren’t going so great anymore. Happens all the time. It’s terrible. 1 Peter 4, verse 12. Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trials which are to try you, as though some strange thing has happened to you, but rejoice. Hello, honey. I’m home. I’ve lost my job. Let’s put on a praise album and rejoice. Well, that’s what we ought to do. Thank you, Jesus. I don’t understand what we’re going to eat and how we’re going to make our house payment, but you told me to rejoice. So I’m going to sing you a happy song, Lord. But rejoice to the extent that you are partakers of Jesus’ sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. That’s powerful stuff. Temptation, the whole thought of temptation is one of the most confusing things for the Christian to come to grips with. A little technical note here. You want to jot this down if you would. In James 1, verse 2, we came across this word trials. Remember that? My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. The word trials there, and by the way, if you would just make note of it, it appears again… In your Bible, it may have a different English word, but it is the same word. It appears in this verse 12, blessed is the man who endures temptation. Interesting. Same word. But here’s what is very, very unique about those two words in verses 2 and verses 12. In the Greek, it’s a noun. You say, well, so what? Well, in verses 13 and 14, they’re no longer nouns. It appears again, let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God, but each one is tempted when he is drawn away with his own desires and enticed. The word tempted there is not the noun form, but it appears twice as the verb. It is the verb form, totally different. We’re all going to be tempted, right? And we all will be tempted by the verb form of temptation. But the interesting thing is the two that appear in verses 2 and 12 are for the refining of our faith, and these latter two in verses 13 and 14 are to draw us away from God. So jot this down if you would. Trials from God draw us closer to Him. Temptations from the world, Satan, or my flesh, What pulls us away from God? And here, if you have been a Christian longer than an hour and a half, you should be asking this question. Sometimes I can’t tell the difference between the two. You’re exactly right. And that’s a tough thing, isn’t it? That’s hard. Here’s the one way to cut to the chase and not worry about the definition or the source. This is so good. I love this. Is what I’m experiencing right now drawing me closer to Jesus Christ? Is it causing you to pick up your Bible? Listen, to pray, to seek counsel, to walk with him, to check your slate, so to speak. Lord, have I sinned against you? Have I done something wrong? Lord, speak to me. That is a trial sent by God to build faith and endurance. It’s a good thing. But if something’s going on in your life and it’s causing you to put your Bible away, are you ready for this? I don’t care what it is. But she’s so cute, Jack. I don’t care who she is. Oh, he’s so handsome. He loves the Lord. I don’t care what his name is. but I really need it so I can drive faster on the freeway. You don’t? No. Is it drawing you further away? Listen, a temptation pulls you from your fellowship with Christ. It’s like a leech. It pulls and pulls life out of you. And one of the great things is this. You experience a sense of condemnation. That’s not a trial. It’s a temptation. From Satan to give up. And we need to remember this because you know what happens to us the moment we get into one of these things. We don’t remember this Saturday night, do we? We don’t remember. And somebody’s got to call you and say, remember? We need to remember this. In Matthew’s gospel, chapter six, verses nine through 13, the Bible says, therefore, when you pray, Jesus says, pray this. Our Father in heaven, holy be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation. The word is keep us away from the wicked one. That’s what appears in verses 13 and 14. We’ll look at that later. The next thing I want you to see in verse 12 concerning this victorious condition we have is is that our faith is made genuine. It says here, for when he has been proved, that is us, when we have been proved. Now watch this. The word approved or proved tries the Christian. It tries us with the sense of exalting us. When we are proved, tried by God, we will come out on the other side exalted through the test. This word that appears here is to become more brilliant. The word becomes to shine more or to become more valuable. The word also means to be displayed in such a way that you’re very desired. It’s what God wants to do. This is powerful. Are you being tried? Are you being tempted? Are then listen, it’s God’s motive, it’s God’s will that when you come through the test, that you are approved. So he will test us people, God will, to approve us. He never will launch us out on a course that will destroy us. What will Satan do? He’s out there like the roadrunner trying to catch the… Or no, who is it? The coyote trying to catch the roadrunner. He’s painting fake signs. He’s painting fake landscapes. He’s painting fake dots on the road, lines on the road. He’s creating all of this havoc to try to catch this poor little roadrunner. Well, that’s what Satan does. He alters everything, the way you see things or the way it sounds, or he’ll play with the way you hear things. Well, I thought they said this. No, he or she didn’t say that. Oh, no, I’m sure they did. He twists things. That’s why the Bible says that he’s the prince of the power of the air. He loves to control this little domain. And he loves to get people what? Confused. The Bible says he’s the author of confusion. Whenever you hear somebody say, I’m so confused, I don’t know what to do. You’re under attack, friend. Because where God is, confusion is not. He brings clarity. He brings peace. He brings understanding that’s of a divine origin. To be approved, God will put us through a test for our betterment. Satan desires to put us through a temptation to destroy us, to have us disapproved. It’s important that we remember this. Why am I being tempted? Because it’s the only way I can become more like Jesus.
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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.
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The final thing that we need to see here in verse 12 is that our course will eventually be rewarded. Why am I being tempted? How can I endure victoriously in the spot that I’m in? Because the course that we’re on will eventually be rewarded. Have you ever ran in a long-distance race? I haven’t in about 30 years. But I used to really enjoy it. And I had some friends who were really great runners. And there were times when I would beat them, and most of the time they’d beat me, but there was times I’d beat them. And we could really run. And we were kind of insane. We’d run everywhere we’d go. We’d go to the beach, lay out our blanket, put up the radio, and run all day. We just loved to run. But you know what? If you’ve ever ran in a long-distance race or some sort of marathon of any sorts, one of the things after a while that you begin to long for, yea, even lust for, is the finish line. Your side begins to ache, your shoes are blown out, your feet feel like they’re about 150 degrees. And you’re beginning at the point where you start to reach this wall that they talk about. And you’re wondering, am I insane? Is this even me running? Who am I? You begin to kind of lose it. And it’s a strange thing. And you know, maybe you feel like that right now. You’re a Christian, you love God, but you don’t think you can go another day. Well, you know what? Not only can you go another day, you can go another month. No, I can’t. Yes, you can. Your problem, friend, is that you’re looking at the race in your own strength. I’m so tired. Yes, you may be tired. I don’t think I can go any further. You probably can’t. But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. Isaiah 40, 31. Great promise. We need to reach the wall. And right when we begin to think, am I me? Who am I anyway? That’s where we lose ourselves in Christ and we find out who we really are. He says, hey, the coach, Jesus, he’s got his hat on, run alongside, whistle, tons of water all around him. He’s got these squirt bottles, Gatorade, this and that. And he’s saying, you know what? When you’re weak, I’m strong. When you can’t run anymore, I’ll run for you. Just when you think you’re going to kill over, I’ll take it from here. It’s the way he works. He’ll never let you fall, ever. Welcome, I fell down. Because you yielded to the temptation, because I yielded to the temptation. That’s why I fell down. Here’s the wonderful thing. We have a victorious, joyous position in enduring because we will receive the end of our course. And look what he says. We will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. Man, that’s great. Listen, the crown of life. This appears several places in Scripture, but one of them is in Revelation 2, verse 8. You want to jot it down? It’s a great thing to realize. It’s a promise made by God. God says, you love me? You know when God says, do you love me? Do you ever feel like a real goober when you say, yes, I do? Don’t you feel so unworthy to say that you love him? Or is it just me? It’s just me? Let’s move on then. I always feel when I tell him I love him that I don’t even like to say the words to him because I feel like I’m doing an injustice when I mention the words. I don’t love him enough. I love him all I can, but I’m deeply convicted of how little I do love him. And I’ll say, Lord, I love you. And Lord, you know that I wish I could love you more. I think that’s one of the joys that heaven will bring is the desires of our heart he will completely fulfill. What is the desire of your heart? I know one of them for mine is that I could sing. And when I get to heaven, I’m going to sing. Everyone else is going to say, Lord, give me the desire of my heart. And they have earplugs walking around heaven. But I’m going to sing. And… One of the desires of my heart is I want to be able to fly without an airplane. Last night, we watched Peter Pan, the cartoon. And I just was drooling over Pan on how he could do the things that he could do. I want to do that. I want to be able to do that. The desires of our hearts. One of them will be, Lord, I love you. And it will be sufficient. Somehow it will be full. It will come out as it is in the heart, out of the mouth, and it will be true. I love you. And he’s going to go, yeah! Say it again. I love you, Lord! And he’s going, all right. It’s going to be incredible. Well, to those who desire such things, He’s made us a promise, and that is who give us the crown of life. And in Revelation 2, verse 8, it says, And to the angel of the church of Smyrna, and I wanted to say that word Smyrna, that name, because that church had to die for their faith. to the angel of the church of Smyrna write these things. And he goes on to say, do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested. And you will have tribulation 10 days, speaking of 10 specific trials that came to Smyrna. But be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And he who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. The second death is spiritual separation from God. It’s what every person who goes to hell experiences. Their first death is that their physical body stops functioning and they die. The second death is when God says, Your name is not written in the book. I’m sorry. And your spirit is now condemned to an eternal death. And it is literally a living death. It never stops. God is in this life. That people are able to die in this life. And you say, well, I’ve never heard that like that before. Oh yeah, it’s a mercy of God to be able to die. You know, the Bible tells us in the book of Revelation that there’s going to be a period of time when people will seek death and will not be able to find it because of the horrible events on the face of the earth. People will try to commit suicide in the tribulation period and they’re gonna like take a gun to their head or they’re gonna jump off a building or throw themselves into the sea and be dashed against the shore. And the Bible says they will not be able to die. Can you imagine putting a shotgun to your face and not be able to die? Death will be removed from the earth in an act of judgment upon those who have rejected Christ. Can you imagine? Right now, death is a merciful thing. But to those who have never accepted Christ, death is the first step of a horrible process that leads them eventually to the second death. And the Bible says, Jesus said to the church at Smyrna, be faithful unto death. And when you die, I’m going to give you the crown of life. Man, for the Christian, this is not home. Remember years ago when we were hippies? They had that… Just passing through our keep on trucking little logo. Remember the guy had bell bombs about as big as mine are right now, I guess. These big baggy pants. And the guy’s going, just like this. Keep on trucking. Just passing through. That’s only true for the Christian. We’re just passing through. We’ll keep on trucking for Jesus. See you later. You know, we’re going, we’re passing through. This earth is not our home. Now this is a very nice planet and I like it. And I think we should take care of nature, and I do. I mean it, I do. But I’m not in love with this world. You can go stand right down there in Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite, and you’re going to be thinking, I don’t want to die. I want to just live here forever. Hey, as nice as Tuolumne Meadows is, it’s a toilet compared to where we’re going. It is a dump. It’s a duck. Well, the water’s crystal clear. Well, just wait to see where we’re going. What will it be like? You know, I don’t know, but maybe it’ll be chocolate like Willy Wonka’s rivers. I don’t know, but it’s going to be great. It’s going to be great. It’s going to be incredible. The crown of life. Now, what is this crown of life all about? What is this crown of life? Well, first of all, it is promised only to those who put their faith in Christ. Do you want to live? Isn’t it amazing? There’s not one person on this globe that doesn’t want to live. Even if somebody’s trying to take their life at this moment, their hope is, I want to live for something. That’s why they’re trying to kill themselves. They don’t think there’s anything to live for. But they hoped and wished that something was worthy to live for. It’s within us to live. Yesterday I met at length with a woman who has faced… with death she loves the lord and she says you know i never quite walked with jesus all these years i’ve known him but now from the trial i’m in because of my situation i want to walk with him now and wouldn’t you know it now it’s kind of too late i wish i could live for him now i’ve squandered my time this is a wise statement from a person
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pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called, Why Am I Being Tempted? You know, this message, by the way, is part of Pastor Jack’s series called The Book of James. It’s a series on being doers of the Word of God and not just hearers only. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
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Hey everybody, this is Pastor Jack here, and I want to encourage you to get a great book. Now listen up, I know there’s a lot of books out there, and we certainly do push a lot of books on this program because we want you to grow, and you should have a great library. Well, listen, One Day Nearer is a book written by Steve Miller, a dear friend of mine, and a great author, and here’s the kick. It’s a 365-day book. devotion, one for every day, and all of it is themed around being prepared to meet the Lord Jesus Christ, how to be looking for him, how to be walking in light of his return. What are the scriptures that should encourage us? All of this in this fantastic book, One Day Nearer, by my good friend Steve Miller.
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Get a copy for yourselves, please, and grow. One Day Nearer by Steve Miller, available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash realradio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio. Did you know that along with the radio program, Pastor Jack also has a TV show with more of the Pastor Jack Hibbs content that you like. It’s called Real Life TV. If you enjoy Pastor Jack on the radio, you’re going to love him on TV. So check out your local listings or visit jackhibbs.com and catch the latest episodes. That’s jackhibbs.com. 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.
