WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.840 Real Life presents the Jack Hibbs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim 2 00:00:05.840 --> 00:00:11.000 truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. Christian, I speak to you today 3 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:16.440 to encourage you, you and I are to be watchful. How are we to be watchful? By 4 00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:21.000 having Bible open, Word of God in the heart, and by looking at what's going on in 5 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:24.600 the world around us. And there's a lot going on in the world around us right now 6 00:00:24.600 --> 00:00:29.120 that the Christian should be very, very familiar with even though some of these 7 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:33.920 things have never happened before. How is that possible? Because Jesus told us these 8 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:36.120 things in advance. 9 00:00:38.120 --> 00:00:44.720 You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com slash podcast. 10 00:00:44.720 --> 00:00:49.920 Today, if this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled 11 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:54.760 life in Christ, then make sure you leave us one of those five star ratings. To us, 12 00:00:54.760 --> 00:01:00.360 that's like saying, amen or yes, then that rating will encourage others to listen. 13 00:01:00.360 --> 00:01:06.760 Now, open your hearts to what God's Word has to say to you. Here is Jack Hibbs. 14 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:13.280 Today is, I'm hesitating because there's no way for me to communicate everything 15 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:23.400 that I need to communicate effectively, efficiently, for this reason. My 16 00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:31.920 humanity gets in the way. God's Word is holy, true, and perfect. And I'm not. But I 17 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:38.160 can only point you to his Word. The reason why I'm prefacing it like that today is 18 00:01:38.160 --> 00:01:43.840 because of what's going on in the world around us. And since you and I've been together 19 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:50.040 last, a lot of things have happened which must be addressed, must be looked at from a 20 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:58.440 biblical worldview lens, but also to be honest with you, you must know what the Bible 21 00:01:58.440 --> 00:02:08.560 says about what's going on in the world around us and not be told by those who would want 22 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:13.120 you to think a certain way that have no Bible in them, but they say, this is the wisdom 23 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:17.000 of the world. This is what you need to know. This is what is happening. You and I have 24 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:23.120 the Bible. And you've come to the house of God where the Word of God has understood this 25 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:29.920 book that I'm holding doesn't contain the Bible. This book is the Bible. And we are 26 00:02:29.920 --> 00:02:35.680 commanded in Scripture to teach it all the way through from Genesis to Revelation. And 27 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:40.640 I believe, as I've often said, and I say it affectionately, I believe that life has 28 00:02:40.640 --> 00:02:46.800 been rigged. What do I mean by that? I believe life has been rigged this way. Whatever 29 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:55.800 happens in our lives, personally, nationally, globally, the answer is in the Bible. Every 30 00:02:55.800 --> 00:03:05.760 answer for every question has been provided by God. It's up to us to search and to see 31 00:03:05.760 --> 00:03:11.400 the answers in the Bible. We do Bible. We do Bible. And so I want you to get excited about 32 00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:16.840 that. But I also want to encourage you to write really small with your note taking today. 33 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:20.120 So with that, we're going to do something a little bit different. We're going to read 34 00:03:20.120 --> 00:03:25.120 through several sections of Scripture together. But let's all stand. As today, we have a special 35 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:31.000 message. And it's really in light of the Middle East peace talks and agreements. And what 36 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:36.600 the Bible has to say regarding the world around us. Today's message is titled Vision in the 37 00:03:36.600 --> 00:03:43.760 Night, Vision in the Night. And so again, we're going to read several sections. I'll read the first 38 00:03:43.760 --> 00:03:48.040 section because it's only one verse. But when they put the second section up, will you pick it up 39 00:03:48.040 --> 00:03:54.440 on your own? Will you do that? Can you do that? So I'll read this. Isaiah 42 verse 9, behold. This is 40 00:03:54.440 --> 00:04:01.320 God speaking. Behold, the former things have come to pass. And new things I declare before they 41 00:04:01.320 --> 00:04:04.040 spring forth. I tell you of them. 42 00:04:04.040 --> 00:04:15.880 Let them take counsel together. We're told this on the go. We declared it on the distant past. 43 00:04:16.520 --> 00:04:25.640 What is my Lord? There is no God apart from me. Righteous God and Savior. There is none of me. 44 00:04:25.640 --> 00:04:33.640 Wow. Verse 22, turn to me and be saved. Oh, you ends of the earth for I am God. And there is no 45 00:04:33.640 --> 00:04:42.520 other. Next passage. I am God. There is no other. I am God. And there is none of me. That's, I'm 46 00:04:42.520 --> 00:04:47.160 sorry, folks, that's got to put a smile on your face. That is God. Have you ever seen God flex? 47 00:04:47.960 --> 00:04:53.080 That's how he does it right there. Verse 10, declaring the end from the beginning and from 48 00:04:53.080 --> 00:05:01.160 ancient times, things that are not yet done. Indeed, I will also bring it to pass. I have 49 00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:09.160 purposed it. I will also do it. John, John 13 verse 9, listen to this. Jesus is speaking. 50 00:05:09.160 --> 00:05:15.640 Now I tell you before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He. 51 00:05:16.440 --> 00:05:29.240 Next verse, you guys got it. Okay, I've got this next one. John 16 verse 4. But these things I have 52 00:05:29.240 --> 00:05:35.960 told you that when they come to pass, you may remember that I told you of them. Next one's yours. 53 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:47.800 That's me. You may have peace in this world. You will have trouble. But take heart. I have overcome the world. 54 00:05:47.800 --> 00:05:49.400 Wow. 55 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:57.320 For those of you who don't know, those were the words of Jesus. Father, God, we pray that you would 56 00:05:57.320 --> 00:06:03.240 speak to us out of your word in that today, though it would be very controversial. We are excited 57 00:06:03.240 --> 00:06:09.560 about it because truth is controversial and we are a people of truth and we live in a world of 58 00:06:09.560 --> 00:06:15.400 lies and the line has been drawn. And God, we just thank you that we can have boldness, we can 59 00:06:15.400 --> 00:06:22.840 have assurance because you are on your throne. Everything in the world is going to follow the path 60 00:06:22.840 --> 00:06:28.520 that you've said would happen. All these things are a warning to the world and an exhortation to 61 00:06:29.080 --> 00:06:34.360 us to be looking up, to be ready, to be watching and to be walking with you. We pray in Jesus' name 62 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:39.560 and all God's people said, Amen. You may be seated, church, and again, I'm going to go fast today. 63 00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:44.040 You'll see the reason why in a moment. I don't normally go fast, but I'm going to go fast today. 64 00:06:44.840 --> 00:06:51.480 And I want to give you the exhortation behind what you just read a moment ago. From Old Testament 65 00:06:51.480 --> 00:06:58.200 to New Testament, Yahweh God announces to Israel in the book of Isaiah. You read it a moment ago. 66 00:06:58.200 --> 00:07:04.440 I'm God. There is no other God. I'm God. I'm the Savior. There's no other. On top of that, 67 00:07:04.440 --> 00:07:11.880 I tell you about things before they happen. I speak to you about future events and when they take 68 00:07:11.880 --> 00:07:19.160 place, you will remember that I am the Lord your God. He said, there's none like me. And what sets me 69 00:07:19.160 --> 00:07:26.520 out from all of the gods of the pagan world is that I know the future in advance. Your Bible is 70 00:07:26.520 --> 00:07:34.920 a prophetic book. Your Bible is as clear or more so. You think about picking up binoculars and looking. 71 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:41.000 We have binoculars all over our house because even though we live in the residential area of 72 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:45.320 Chino Hills, we got wildlife all over our house. I don't know what it is. It's like a magnet. My 73 00:07:45.320 --> 00:07:50.840 neighbors, they live right next to me. No wildlife goes to their house. It all comes to our house. 74 00:07:50.840 --> 00:07:56.680 And I've got binoculars. So we can look at these birds and we can look at these animals. 75 00:07:56.680 --> 00:08:02.600 And it's crazy. But every time God blesses her, she's amazing. Lisa will pick up the binoculars to 76 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:09.800 look at that skunk or squirrel or hawk or bird and she goes, I don't see a thing. I don't understand. 77 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:14.760 How do you use these things? I don't get it. And Lisa and binoculars, they just don't get along. 78 00:08:15.400 --> 00:08:22.680 But thank God that when Lisa picks up the Bible, she can see perfectly clear. Thank God when I, 79 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:27.720 when you pick up the Bible, we can see perfectly clear. There's no adjusting that we have to make. 80 00:08:27.720 --> 00:08:33.400 There's no wiping of the lens. And so as we go through the study today, it's very important. 81 00:08:33.400 --> 00:08:37.720 You saw the QR code there a moment ago. You should have scanned it. I noticed many of you don't. 82 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:43.800 Can you put it back up? Guys, I look like Vanna White right now with this. Can you guys scan this? 83 00:08:43.800 --> 00:08:47.560 You're going to want to scan this because by the time we come to the end, you're going to say, 84 00:08:47.560 --> 00:08:53.320 man, I wish I would have scanned this. What does that do? When it pops up, go into your phone mode on your, 85 00:08:53.320 --> 00:09:00.440 I mean, camera mode on your phone, tap on the little yellow bar and you'll have all of the notes. 86 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:06.440 You'll have all my notes because the Lord knows I cannot keep to my notes and you'll have them. 87 00:09:06.440 --> 00:09:09.960 And it will make sense when you look at them later. But you're going to want all these verses 88 00:09:10.600 --> 00:09:17.160 that we've got today. So the point of exhortation is this. In light of the nature of the God that you 89 00:09:17.160 --> 00:09:20.680 and I worship in the world that's going on around us right now, what are we supposed to do? 90 00:09:21.400 --> 00:09:26.280 It's pretty exciting and thrilling, if you listen. The Bible tells us, Jesus speaking again in Luke 91 00:09:26.280 --> 00:09:33.480 chapter 21, verse 34, Jesus is be careful because your hearts could be weighed down with dissipation, 92 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:39.640 drunkenness and the anxieties of life. Wow. And that day we'll close in on you unexpectedly 93 00:09:39.640 --> 00:09:45.720 like a trap for it will come upon all those who live on the face of the earth. By the way, 94 00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:51.960 in the Greek study of this, that would exclude you. It means this in the laws of biblical 95 00:09:51.960 --> 00:09:57.240 interpretation, whoever Jesus is talking about, when he makes the statement right here for it, 96 00:09:57.240 --> 00:10:01.000 will come upon all those who dwell on the face of the earth. It excludes the believer. 97 00:10:03.320 --> 00:10:09.640 Did you hear that? All this stuff is coming upon who? Those who dwell on the face of the earth. 98 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:15.560 You and I do not dwell on the face of the earth. The Bible tells this. You and I dwell in heaven. 99 00:10:15.560 --> 00:10:20.840 We may be living here right now, but our citizenship is in heaven. It's a very, very technical talk. 100 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:26.520 You might want to research that later and study it well. And then he goes on in verse 36, 101 00:10:27.160 --> 00:10:33.160 be always on the watch and pray that you may escape. All that is about to happen. Wow. 102 00:10:34.680 --> 00:10:41.320 And that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man. That's a strong word of deliverance 103 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:47.560 from the wrath of God. Matthew chapter 24, verse 45, Jesus said, who then is a faithful and 104 00:10:47.560 --> 00:10:54.520 wise servant whom his master made him ruler over his household to give them food in due season. 105 00:10:54.520 --> 00:11:01.720 Blessed is that servant whom the master, when he comes, will find so doing that is watching. 106 00:11:02.280 --> 00:11:09.320 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant 107 00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:15.880 says in his heart, my master delays his coming. And then Jesus goes on to say the things that 108 00:11:15.880 --> 00:11:22.520 befall those who are not watchful. Christian, I speak to you today to encourage you. You and I 109 00:11:22.520 --> 00:11:29.000 are to be watchful. How are we to be watchful by having Bible open, word of God in the heart, 110 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:33.400 and by looking at what's going on in the world around us. And there's a lot going on in the world 111 00:11:33.400 --> 00:11:38.760 around us right now that the Christian should be very, very familiar with, even though some of these 112 00:11:38.760 --> 00:11:44.520 things have never happened before. How is that possible? Because Jesus told us these things in advance. 113 00:11:44.520 --> 00:11:51.080 Amen. It's kind of like sneaking in and spying on something, huh? He's given us foreknowledge 114 00:11:51.080 --> 00:11:56.040 in these things through the word of God. But I mentioned the title of vision in the night, 115 00:11:56.040 --> 00:12:03.400 or maybe you thought of night vision, which is fine. Listen, night vision allows you to literally 116 00:12:03.400 --> 00:12:10.120 see things that the naked eye cannot see. Night vision. I've seen night vision and operation in 117 00:12:10.120 --> 00:12:18.120 Israel in certain situations that I was allowed to be in on. And we saw this incredible night vision 118 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:24.120 that was deployed. I've had a chance to fly with law enforcement here in the States. And you can 119 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:30.760 do more at night with night vision as you'd look down at the crime scene from a helicopter and the 120 00:12:30.760 --> 00:12:37.640 night vision is employed. It's remarkable. Did you know that the United States, Britain, Israel, 121 00:12:37.640 --> 00:12:44.680 there are a handful of nations that really like to prosecute any mission or war daytime or night time. 122 00:12:45.880 --> 00:12:51.160 Night time. You want to know why? Because technology allows us to see better at nights. 123 00:12:53.640 --> 00:13:01.960 God's word allows us to see better at nights. The darker things get, the brighter it becomes for 124 00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:08.280 the believer. The darker it is, we say, oh, it's so dark. Yes, but listen, it is dark. And we're 125 00:13:08.280 --> 00:13:13.000 going to talk about that today. But the darker it gets, folks, listen, the Christian doesn't have 126 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:20.200 to be afraid of the dark. Listen, now that I'm old, we have a night light on so that we don't fall 127 00:13:20.200 --> 00:13:27.160 over something. Listen, I at our age, we're not afraid of the dark. Now we're afraid of a marble 128 00:13:27.240 --> 00:13:32.840 or something on the walk. That's the problem. We have a night light so we can see in the dark. 129 00:13:32.840 --> 00:13:37.960 But listen, spiritually, because we're Christians, there's a light that is the light of God's word, 130 00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:43.400 the Holy Spirit that is in us. And the world that is around us, we can see things people cannot see. 131 00:13:43.400 --> 00:13:49.400 And we've got night vision. God allows us to see through his spiritual technology, if I can 132 00:13:49.400 --> 00:13:55.800 put it that way. Very quickly, 1 John 1 verse 7 says, but if we walk in the light, 133 00:13:56.520 --> 00:14:01.880 as he is in the light, which is beautiful, it means even if it's absolute darkness around you, 134 00:14:01.880 --> 00:14:07.560 you're still walking in the light. Think of it. Physical darkness means nothing to God. 135 00:14:10.760 --> 00:14:13.720 It's spiritual darkness that which Christ came to the cross, 136 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:21.000 died there for us to set us free. Isn't it wonderful to think that as a believer, Jesus said that 137 00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:28.120 if you die believing in me, yet shall you live, that we'll never see darkness. 138 00:14:30.120 --> 00:14:35.640 Even when we're dying, and there's no darkness for the believer, but if we walk in the light as 139 00:14:35.640 --> 00:14:40.600 he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son 140 00:14:40.600 --> 00:14:47.320 cleanses us from all sin. Notice that where the sin is removed, there's light, where sin is present, 141 00:14:47.320 --> 00:14:54.680 there's darkness. In 1 Peter 2 verse 9, the Bible tells us that you are a chosen generation, 142 00:14:54.680 --> 00:15:00.920 a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the 143 00:15:00.920 --> 00:15:07.400 praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, and all God's people said, 144 00:15:07.400 --> 00:15:12.360 amen to that. Mark it down in your note, taking number one vision in the night means this, 145 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:17.800 it means that we see what others cannot. You are a Christian, you are a Christ follower, 146 00:15:17.800 --> 00:15:22.600 you are a believer, and you can see things that others cannot. The first thing that we want to 147 00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:29.240 say about this is to understand that the Bible itself, God's Word, is the ultimate authority, 148 00:15:29.240 --> 00:15:35.880 and this way we put it and explain it, and that is a self-qualifying nature of the Bible. 149 00:15:35.880 --> 00:15:40.920 The Bible itself, here's what's awesome, friends listen. A lot of people feel like, think like, 150 00:15:40.920 --> 00:15:46.040 they need to defend the Bible. I have never read anywhere in the Bible where you're supposed to defend 151 00:15:46.040 --> 00:15:53.320 the Bible. What you're supposed to do is unleash the Bible. Unleash it. You're to know it, 152 00:15:53.960 --> 00:15:59.560 but listen, think of the Bible. Remember, the Bible says of itself in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12, 153 00:15:59.560 --> 00:16:05.160 that is alive. The Bible is alive, and it's sharper than any two-it's sword. This book is alive. 154 00:16:05.160 --> 00:16:10.920 It's not a book like an other book. This book lives and breathes, and this book absolutely is 155 00:16:10.920 --> 00:16:15.960 the authority of God. The will of God has been revealed to man, and it's called the Bible. God 156 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:23.800 has given it to us. Understanding this, that this book lets us in on what God's plans are, 157 00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:30.600 and what God wants us to know about him. But when we talk about his book, being the authority, 158 00:16:31.320 --> 00:16:37.480 think of it this way, that it is self-qualifying nature, meaning the Bible almost 159 00:16:38.680 --> 00:16:46.040 eggs you on to challenge it. For example, in the area of giving, what does God say in the area of 160 00:16:46.040 --> 00:16:53.640 giving? God says, if you give to me, I will give back to you, press down, shaken together, 161 00:16:53.640 --> 00:16:58.840 overflowing out of abundance. What does that mean translation? It means whatever you give to God, 162 00:16:58.840 --> 00:17:05.000 God will never be indebted to you. Because he will turn around, and whatever that means to God, 163 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:08.680 he will bless you with health, or he will bless you with family. I don't know what it is, 164 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:15.240 it's up to him, but you can't out-give God. That is an authority of the scripture. But also this, 165 00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:22.280 the Bible says, the future in advance, and it's called Bible prophecy. And listen, it's best not to 166 00:17:22.280 --> 00:17:29.480 go against what God has said. You can get hurt. Don't try to take God's revealed future plan 167 00:17:29.480 --> 00:17:33.720 in the Bible and rewrite it. You're going to get in trouble. The Bible tells you over and over again, 168 00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:41.880 don't tamper with my word. Why? Because it's his authoritative word. And the Bible challenges you 169 00:17:42.760 --> 00:17:51.160 to study it and then to see if these things are true. It has a self-qualifying nature to itself. 170 00:17:51.160 --> 00:17:55.960 You may be a great doubter in the Bible today. And that's okay. But listen, don't stay there, 171 00:17:56.520 --> 00:18:04.200 find out. Get your doubts answered. And you will be impressed with the veracity of the Bible. 172 00:18:05.800 --> 00:18:13.560 In whatever area, science, archaeology, even technology. You'll be shocked to find out what the 173 00:18:13.560 --> 00:18:18.200 book of Daniel has to say, for example. Did you know it was the book of Daniel that said in the 174 00:18:18.280 --> 00:18:25.880 last days, men will travel to and fro across the earth? Think about that. 175 00:18:28.040 --> 00:18:32.840 Did you know the Bible speaks in technology? We'll talk on it if I get to it about. 176 00:18:34.280 --> 00:18:40.200 In the last days, there'll be no more currencies in the world. There'll be no more rubles, no more 177 00:18:40.280 --> 00:18:47.080 dollars, no more euros. There'll only be one currency and it will be numeric numbers. 178 00:18:48.760 --> 00:18:56.760 Bible said that. It self-qualifies and we are to bring ourselves to the understanding of this 179 00:18:56.760 --> 00:19:03.640 remarkable and I might say futuristic word. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14 says, 180 00:19:03.640 --> 00:19:09.160 but the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him. 181 00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:15.480 A lot of people think the Bible is a joke, nor can he know them because they were spiritually 182 00:19:15.480 --> 00:19:21.480 discerned. Interesting times folks we live in. You say, what are you saying? I'm just saying the 183 00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:26.200 Bible is true. The Bible is true and be careful who you pick sides because listen, you either 184 00:19:26.200 --> 00:19:32.040 pick the side of the Bible or you pick the side of man. And we have to coexist in this sense, 185 00:19:32.040 --> 00:19:35.400 we live in this world right now, but let's live vividly.