In this episode of Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs, we delve into the powerful message on the ‘Disciplines of Defense’. Discover how the heart is not only the source of our thoughts and actions but also a battleground that requires vigilant protection. Pastor Jack teaches us the importance of guarding our hearts against negative influences, using prayer and the teachings of the Bible as our spiritual armor. Explore how biblical figures, such as David, relied on their faith to overcome adversity and how you can apply these lessons to build a resilient spiritual life.
We are sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. We must choose. But if we love him, we will walk in the path that he’s established for us to his purpose and for his glory. And so our great cause tonight is to say, Lord, lead me in your way everlasting. Lead me in the path of righteousness, O God. Be alive in my life.
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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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Are you trying to make sense of a world that feels like it’s spinning out of control? Do you see what’s happening, but wonder what it actually means? In Happening Now, Pastor Jack Hibbs takes today’s biggest headlines and brings them into focus through the truth of Scripture. From global conflict to cultural confusion, nothing is off limits, and nothing is without biblical clarity. This isn’t about fear. It’s about understanding. It’s about seeing the times we’re living in through God’s Word, Each episode equips you with truth, perspective, and confidence in what God has already declared. So instead of reacting to the world, you can respond with wisdom and faith. Watch the latest episode of Happening Now at jackhibbs.com. And don’t forget, there’s a whole library of previous episodes you can watch at any time. That’s all at jackhibbs.com. Because when you understand the times, you can stand firm in the truth.
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today’s edition of real life radio pastor jack continues his series called disciplines of life and a message titled disciplines of defense now what do we mean by defense well the heart is the source of our thoughts our attitudes and actions and we’ve got to protect our hearts from anything that pulls us away from the lord you see we have to guard our hearts from harmful influences What we let into our minds and hearts shapes who we become. Just like a soldier defending his territory, believers have got to defend their spiritual lives through prayer and by living according to God’s Word. So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that we need to remind ourselves of certain facts. That God, He is our refuge. He’s our strength. He’s here with us in times of trouble. And we are not to fear what this world can try to do to us. Now with his message called, Disciplines of Defense. Here’s pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.
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We are his children. We have his eternal word. And if we act worthy of his protection, we will never be abandoned. Do you believe that, church? You are invincible if you are engaged in the things of God. Stay that way. What’s the greatest defense against an evil age? Hey, you know what? For you and I, stay committed to what God’s called us to. Don’t move. Don’t waver. That’s why we need one another, to encourage each other along. I don’t want to sound cold. I’m not cold when I say this. I have to confess, it’s a discipline that I’ve learned. You’re looking at a guy who’s been mocked all his life. Because of that, I was a very violent man. Thank God he saved me. I tell you, thank God the Lord rescued me because I probably would have been in prison today or dead. I was mocked all my life for stuttering so bad I could hardly put a sentence together. Couldn’t even recite the wedding vows in my wedding because I stuttered so terribly. But all my life growing up, singled out, made fun of, I can tell you classrooms, I can see it in my mind’s eye where the teacher said, stand on top of the desk and read the book. Hey class, you wanna hear him read the book? To stand in front of people? No way. I used to fake getting sick so I would stay home from school because I couldn’t face the people. And I can’t tell you some of the other things that some gangs did. Oh, he stutters, let’s do this. And they held me down and they had fun. Why am I saying this? Because all my life I grew up with this. If I don’t defend myself, nobody will. And I began to hurt people. I’m not all that big. I’m 5’10”. Well, I am 2’10”, but I’m not 2’10”. I’m 5’10”, 2’10”, and this is the smallest I’ve ever been. And I learned how to hurt people in football because I was so angry. And I could defend myself. And then I come to Jesus at the age of 19, and I find out, wait a minute. Jack, don’t defend yourself any longer. Lord, are you what? Don’t defend yourself any longer. That’s what I do, Jack. I defend you now. And listen, even to this hour… I’ve learned this the hard way, but listen, I’m glad I learned it. When people attack you, when people write stuff in the newspaper about you, let it go, my friend. The truth’s gonna come out someday and it will be glorious. And you need to stand like that. You need to be fearless. Paul said, none of these things move me. Why? Because he said, I know the one in whom I’ve been persuaded. At the end of the day, and I mean at the end of the day of eternity, When we stand before God, maybe sooner, you know? Maybe in this life. You stand there, God is your defense. Let him defend you. The wicked shall perish. That’s God’s business. Stand in the power of his might. Paul said in 2 Timothy 4, 16, at my first defense, no one stood with me. All forsook me. May it not be charged against them. Verse 17, 2 Timothy 4, but the Lord stood with me and strengthened me. What a great word, huh? That’s an awesome statement. I suggest that you and I stay away from the power that you and I have. It’ll lead you to destruction. Let him be your defense. In Romans 12, 18, if it is possible, as much as it is possible, As much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men. That’s a great verse. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath. For it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. Some of you maybe, well, not some of you, maybe. Almost every human being has got justified hurts in their life. You’ve really been hurt and you’ve really been wronged and you were really maligned and you were innocent in that thing and you’re broken. Maybe you came home and… Found all of your furniture gone and your family gone. I don’t know. Or that boss turned to you and with all that’s going on in the company and all the, they fired you and you’re the only loyal guy they had. I don’t know, but their justified hurts. You hurt. It’s for real. And you’re right. What are you going to do about it? Go postal? Don’t do that. What are you going to do? You’re going to say, Lord, take care of it. May I tell you, David was very good at that. David prayed for his enemies. Did you know that? He prayed, dear Lord, break their teeth off in their mouth. He did. He did. Well, that’s why I only read the New Testament. Yeah, Paul said, Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May God repay him for all of his evil works done against me. Wow. Yes, we pray for enemies that God would save them. But let his power be your defense. Number four. Know what his word says. I’m going to give you a string of verses. Get ready. Here they go. Know what his word says. I’m just going to read it and we’ll move on. 2 Timothy 4.14. I just said it. Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. Let the Lord deal with the problem. Number two, this is what his word says. Ephesians 3.20. Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think according to the power that is at work within us. Some of you are not writing this down and then you’re going to come crying next week and I’m not going to listen to you because you should have wrote it down. You’re looking at me like I’m speaking some foreign language here. Proverbs 18.10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and they are safe. What a great verse to pray. Oh, Lord, your name is a strong tower. Come on. There’s nobody watching but us. This is what I do. Lord, your name is a strong tower. I didn’t say that to you. You said it to me. And so I want to see that tower. The Lord and I, we have a relationship. We have an understanding. I need to see your name as a strong tower. Lord, I’m going to run into it. You said I’ll be saved. Here I come. Ready or not, I’m coming. Because I have nowhere to go. I’m coming to you. And I’m going to run into that strong tower. And I’m running now. Here I come. And you go. And you run and you put your hand to the plow and you do not look back. And you run to him. Psalm 61.1, hear my cry, oh God, attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth, I will cry to you. When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in your tabernacle forever. I will trust in the shelter of your wings. Who said that? David. You and I, listen, it is safe to say in our life, We have never experienced the pain and the trauma that David experienced. Read his life, much of the Bible, the Old Testament’s about his life. And it’s a messed up life. Misunderstood, constantly attacked by everybody he knew. The Bible says in Proverbs 3, 5, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lay not on your own understanding. That word trust in Proverbs 3, 5, mark it. This is amazing. The word means to be careless. Carefree, safe, secure, bold, free. It means to be reckless. Look at that verse, look at those screen. Be reckless in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Isn’t that great? Be carefree in the Lord with all of your heart. Don’t worry. You cannot stop a life that lives that verse alone in this world. You can’t stop a person who will choose tonight to live that verse alone. Wherever you’re at in the world to say, you know what? I am going to trust in the Lord. And I’m not going to lean to my own understanding. With all of my heart, I’m coming to him. So here I come. It’s an amazing thing to realize. Number five, be confident that his will is at work. Church, he does not sleep. I was speaking to a lieutenant general or whatever his title is in Israel. And I was blessed in the communication that was going on back and forth. And in the dialogue, I, being a pastor, a Gentile Christian, gave him a little bit of his Old Testament. I never speak to a Jew with New Testament. Always Old Testament, because that’s what they believe. And so you talk to a Jewish person using the Old Testament only. And it kind of rattled him because I used this verse. I said, listen, with all that I’m hearing, just remember this. He who keeps Israel shall never slumber nor sleep. And I cited that verse. And it kind of shook him a little bit. How’d you know that verse? Because it’s in your book. How’d you know the book? I got a book. I got the book. Be confident that his will is at work. God does not sleep. There is no way that you and I can appreciate that fully without trials and difficulties.
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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.
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Our fathers in the faith before us suffered great persecution. but they were confident. Have you read Fox’s Book of Martyrs? By the way, you don’t have to read it now. You can even get it online, audible.com. Drive, commute, listen to Fox’s Book of Martyrs. It’ll change your life. Fox’s Book of Martyrs. F-O-X-E-S, Fox’s Book of Martyrs. The confidence and the grace of God of those who were persecuted to death Bitterly mistreated, slandered, gossiped, physically attacked, mocked, sometimes by their own family, hated. Do we believe this next verse, church? Listen, we’re going to have to wrap this up quickly. Do we believe this next verse? Don’t say yes too quickly. I have my doubts. Romans 8, 28. And we know… We know. And we know that word means… that Paul assumes that his listeners, his readers, they know this, know what? And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purposes, for whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. What in the world does that mean? This is it, watch this. Keep that on the screen, this is great. For we know that all things, what do you think all means, anybody? All. All things work together for good to those who love God. Don’t answer. Don’t answer. Do you? Don’t answer. To those who are called according to his purposes, for whom he foreknew. You know what’s great? Watch this. Watch me. Look at this. See this? Am I going to go left or right? I went right. He knew I would go right before he ever made Jupiter and Saturn and Mars. Yeah, but what if you would have went left? He knew that too. He foreordained. He foreknew. He knew. And he knows. He knows. How can you and I escape his protection from heaven when he knows everything? You say, well, Jacob, he knows everything. Why didn’t he keep me from getting into that mess? Because Adam and Eve, that’s in us. We are sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. We must choose. But if we love him, we will walk in the path that he’s established for us to his purpose and for his glory. And so our great cause tonight is to say, Lord, lead me in your way everlasting. Lead me in the path of righteousness, oh God. Be alive in my life. Psalm 46, one, God is my refuge and my strength, the very present help in trouble. Are you in trouble? Call on him. Therefore, we will not fear, even though the earth be removed and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. And in California, that could be literal. Number six, we’ll end with this. The disciplines of defense is remind yourself about the facts. This is what I love and this is why I’m a Christian. Our faith is founded upon fact. I love that. I spent my former career in a laboratory. Physicians would come to our laboratory from all over the world, very top secret location, it was amazing. Incredible security, clearance, awesome. He thought you’re going into NASA. And these doctors would come with these ideas and they had these incredible things. You’d put stuff together and see, now is this what you were thinking? Yeah, I think of that. And you put it together, okay, let’s see what happens. Pump some blood through that baby and see if it’s gonna work. And you know what? You put the thought to the… Test, because you took the concept and you made it something you could touch, and if you touch it, and if it was someday maybe going to wind up in somebody’s chest, then you better be able to see if you can break it now before you break it in somebody’s body. And so you put it through the trial run. You know what? See this? For thousands of years, this has gone through the trial run of humanity. It has never, once ever, failed humanity. We’ve failed, but it has not failed. And it shall never fail. So here is facts only, church, and we’ll end this. Facts only. Fact. Psalm 17, seven. Show your marvelous loving kindness by your right hand. Oh, you who save those who trust in you from those who rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of your eye, the cornea of your eye. Hide me under the shadow of your wings from the wicked who oppress me, from my deadly enemies who surround me. Make that your prayer. Fact, Isaiah 41.10. Fear not, I am with you. Be not dismayed, I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Guess what? Coming from my office to the sanctuary from the next building over, a little beautiful girl ran up to me in the courtyard. Pastor Jack, Pastor Jack, Pastor Jack. One of your kids. She said, I got something to tell you. I said, what is it? And she quoted Isaiah 41.10. And it was in my notes tonight. You know what that does to me? Yes. Out of the mouth of babes. 2 Timothy 1.7, we’re almost done. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Fact, Psalm 16.8. I have set the Lord always before my face because he has at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Fact, Psalm 62, 6. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not be moved. Fact, Nahum 1, 7. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. And he knows those who trust in him. And all God’s people said, amen. Father, we thank you for the God that you are. You are amazing. You are the God who never fails. And Lord, your Bible tells us that if we trust you, we will never be put to shame. Lord, there’s that thing in life, it’s almost built in. Maybe we set up camp at the beach, we got the umbrella, we got the chairs, we got the blankets, we got the ice chest laid out, and we look so happy, so secure, so relaxed, and a wave comes. And there’s chairs and blankets and hats and donuts everywhere. And we look like a fool. Pitched our tent a little too close. And Lord, tonight there are people who are pitching their tent and have pitched their tent too close to this world. For us in this room, Lord God, we thank you so much that you have moved our tents. You’ve moved us. You saved us. You said, hey, why don’t you come over here? This world is a storm. This world is a rage. We thank you that we have you as our rock. And we pray tonight for anyone who does not know the stability of having Jesus as their rock, that that would change tonight. Church, as heads are bowed right now and eyes are closed, maybe tonight’s the night where you want to trust in the God of the Bible that you’ve heard about tonight. No matter where you’re at right now, you can say, Lord Jesus, I want to know you as this Lord. the Lord of the Bible. I want to put my trust in you. I want to know your salvation. I want to know about you being the rock of my soul, to be my defender in a wicked age, in a dangerous world, to repair, Lord, my broken heart, my broken family, my broken life, to remove the sin of my soul from me forever. Friend, if that’s your desire tonight, right now, right where you’re at, you can say, dear Lord Jesus, forgive me now. I believe, according to the Bible, that says that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I choose tonight to believe that. And your Bible says that he rose from the grave on the third day for my eternal life. And I choose to believe that. And I thank you, God, that you’re inviting me to a faith that is founded upon fact. And so while heads are bowed and eyes are closed tonight, you’re saying, Pastor Jack, I’m receiving Jesus as my Lord and Savior. If that’s your heart’s desire right now, I’m going to ask you to put your hand up and I’ll see your hand and I’ll just pray for you. Put your hand up. Don’t be shy. God bless you to my right. You can put your hand down. Anyone else? God bless you in the middle. Anyone else? Over here to my left. God bless you. Over here too. God bless you. You’re making a decision right now for Jesus. God bless you. God bless you too. Father, for these who have raised their hands, Lord, we pray right now that as they have confessed that truth, Lord God, that you would fill them with your spirit and Lord God, that you’d give them the overwhelming reality of who you are because you’re a God who lives and you have chosen to live inside of us and that’s amazing. And so Father, right now, come upon these as they have raised their hand, not by some physical manifestation, but by an internal spiritual commitment. And Father, we pray that you would bless them in their journey with you. We ask it in Jesus’ name and all God’s people said, Amen.
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pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio and his message called Disciplines of Defense. Thanks for being a part of our study 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 Christ follower and the high cost of sharing our faith with others. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
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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 know 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.
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Hey everybody, listen, all of our Happening Now events are amazing, but this one’s special. On April 22nd, on a Wednesday night, starting at seven o’clock Pacific time, I’m gonna sit down with Chris McKenna. He is an expert on internet pornography and how it gets into your home, how it destroys your children, how it destroys your marriage, and you’re gonna wanna be brave enough. I stress brave enough. You know, you mentioned this topic and people don’t wanna show up. Show up and save someone’s life.
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That’s happening now with Chris McKenna and Pastor Jack Hibbs. Wednesday, April 22nd at 7 p.m. Learn more at jackhibbs.com.
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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.
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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.
