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 --> 00:00:10.680 truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. What is truth? It's almost a 3 00:00:10.680 --> 00:00:16.540 mockery. Yeah, what is truth? Sure, go ahead and tell me. Don't you and I live in a 4 00:00:16.540 --> 00:00:20.520 world like that right now? You can tell somebody to the truth and it could be a 5 00:00:20.520 --> 00:00:24.480 matter of life and death and they'll still now in this day and age because of 6 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:31.200 hardness and a shattered dream or life, they'll say, what is truth? And we're in 7 00:00:31.200 --> 00:00:33.880 that time again. 8 00:00:35.400 --> 00:00:41.800 You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to Jackhibbs.com slash podcast. 9 00:00:41.800 --> 00:00:47.120 Today, if this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled 10 00:00:47.120 --> 00:00:52.040 life in Christ, then make sure you leave us one of those five star ratings. To us, 11 00:00:52.040 --> 00:00:57.560 that's like saying, amen or yes, then that rating will encourage others to listen. 12 00:00:57.560 --> 00:01:04.200 Now, open your hearts to what God's Word has to say to you. Here is Jack Hibbs. 13 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:10.040 First Thessalonians 5 verse 21, test all things, hold fast, what is good. The word 14 00:01:10.040 --> 00:01:13.920 test means this. We'll march through this together and I'm gonna go quick so you 15 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:17.800 might want to use your phone to take notes or you can download the notes, all of 16 00:01:17.880 --> 00:01:25.880 the notes online at the app. So, test all things. The Greek word means to approve of by 17 00:01:25.880 --> 00:01:31.440 holding up to the light. Have you ever seen somebody, they'll take like, I think it's 18 00:01:31.440 --> 00:01:36.240 like a hundred dollar bill. I don't usually have a hundred dollar bill, but have you ever 19 00:01:36.240 --> 00:01:39.600 seen a merchant, they'll, somebody hands them a hundred dollar bill and what do they do 20 00:01:39.600 --> 00:01:44.240 with it? Exactly. They look at it, they hold it up to the light, what are they looking 21 00:01:44.240 --> 00:01:49.360 for? They're looking for a counterfeit. They're putting it to the light to see if those 22 00:01:49.360 --> 00:01:55.520 cryptic things inside the paper show up under the exposure of light. Notice this with the 23 00:01:55.520 --> 00:02:01.440 Bible is saying, test all things, hold everything that happens in your life up against the 24 00:02:01.440 --> 00:02:08.080 light. Examine it by the light to confirm the authenticity of something by exposure to 25 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:14.200 scrutiny. God's Word says, starting right here. First Thessalonians 5, 21, scrutinize 26 00:02:14.200 --> 00:02:22.160 what? All things. Now, the Greek word is short and one. That's one word, P-A-S. That's 27 00:02:22.160 --> 00:02:31.720 all things in Greek. P-A-S. And this is what that word means as in all kinds, all kinds, 28 00:02:31.720 --> 00:02:38.920 all men that would be all people. All respects, all angles. I like that, all angles. A friend 29 00:02:39.080 --> 00:02:45.480 in Israel, he's not a follower of Jesus, not yet, working on him. But he grew up, of course, 30 00:02:45.480 --> 00:02:51.880 as a Jew and he grew up in Yemen, a Yemenite Jew. And he said that growing up, his father 31 00:02:51.880 --> 00:02:57.360 would read the scriptures, but the kids would have to sit in the table in the round. But the 32 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:01.480 father would read the scriptures. But you had to read the scriptures with the father, 33 00:03:01.480 --> 00:03:07.080 he said. And he never moved the Bible. You had to read it from where you were sitting. So for 34 00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:14.920 some of the kids, the Bible was upside down. And you would have to bend your eyeballs so to speak 35 00:03:14.920 --> 00:03:20.600 and get it in your head when that verse fell upon you to read. And I said, what did that? What did 36 00:03:20.600 --> 00:03:25.800 your dad do that? He said, oh, because from our earliest ages, listen, our dad taught us that the 37 00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:36.200 truth of God you can get from every angle. This word means all angles, all possibilities, 38 00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:44.120 all situations. As an example, this is cool, the etymology of the word sincere means without wax, 39 00:03:45.400 --> 00:03:51.080 meaning that what we're speaking about on all things is that they are true things. Take the light 40 00:03:51.160 --> 00:03:59.640 shine it upon it to reveal its truth. When somebody writes sincerely, John, I'm not sure if you know 41 00:03:59.640 --> 00:04:03.960 what that means, we write sincerely and we think, oh, that's what the word means. If you looked 42 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:12.120 up in the American dictionary, what does the word sincere mean? It means, oh, no, it doesn't. The 43 00:04:12.120 --> 00:04:20.040 word means without wax. If something is insincere, it means with wax. You say, what does that 44 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:28.200 matter? Because in the first century world, as an example, if you were selling gods and idols, 45 00:04:28.200 --> 00:04:33.720 let's say you're in Corinth and you have your cart and you're selling Diana, you're selling zoos, 46 00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:39.640 you got some Jupiter in there, you got some Titan, you got some, are you with me? 47 00:04:40.520 --> 00:04:46.600 Your God, right there, handcrafted, if your God fell off the cart and his head fell off, 48 00:04:47.400 --> 00:04:51.880 but you still wanted to sell them, you would heat up some wax and you'd put his head back on 49 00:04:51.880 --> 00:04:56.120 and then you would clean it up and then paint it and then put him back up for sale and 50 00:04:57.880 --> 00:05:05.480 some unsuspecting idol worshiping income poop would grab it and pay you and then as they're 51 00:05:05.560 --> 00:05:12.280 going home, if the sun is hitting that idol, the head will fall off. Why? Because they're exposed 52 00:05:12.280 --> 00:05:18.520 to the light and the light has properties that expose things and you take that idol and you go 53 00:05:18.520 --> 00:05:26.680 back and you shout, insincere. In this case, you would say sincere. God's word to us is sincere 54 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:34.840 without wax. If it's insincere, this is wax. It can't take the heat. I love that. Also, the word 55 00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:39.640 hold fast, again, is one word in the Greek language and it's this. It means to hold firm, watch 56 00:05:39.640 --> 00:05:45.720 everybody. It should come to light in the second. To hold firm, to grip or to bind yourself too, 57 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:53.640 watch this. To possess, to restrain, by never letting go. This is the Bible speaking to you. 58 00:05:53.640 --> 00:05:59.640 Get a hold of the Bible. Don't let go. The word also means what we use today in our 59 00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:04.120 vernacular is death grip. Oh, man, he had a death grip on me. Have you ever heard that before? Do 60 00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:08.280 you know why people say that? When I was in high school, I had a girlfriend whose father 61 00:06:09.960 --> 00:06:14.920 had a massive heart attack and he grabbed her by the arm. She was all along with her dead. Her whole 62 00:06:14.920 --> 00:06:24.600 family, they were gone in vacation and he grabbed her arm and he squeezed her arm so bad as he died. 63 00:06:25.400 --> 00:06:31.640 Her arm was terribly bruised for a couple of weeks. What happened? The death grip. 64 00:06:32.520 --> 00:06:36.680 It's for real. But the Bible says, take that grip that you would hang on, 65 00:06:37.960 --> 00:06:42.520 apply it to holding on to the Word of God, vitally important, and then for what reason? 66 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:49.080 For the Greek word, calo, good, hang on to what's beautiful, the better thing. Listen up, 67 00:06:50.040 --> 00:06:56.280 the better thing. Grab onto it. Don't let go. The beautiful thing. The best thing. What is 68 00:06:56.280 --> 00:07:02.360 excellent? The word means that which is of the highest value or character, the wise choice. 69 00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:06.600 Make the wise choice. Young people make the wise choice this year. 70 00:07:08.040 --> 00:07:13.320 Nowadays, it's always been risky, but like never before, a young person today, I guess anybody 71 00:07:13.880 --> 00:07:21.720 could make a decision now that will cost them their lives in seconds. My goodness. What's this funny 72 00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:26.520 powder? Nowadays, we need to teach our kids when they open up mail or when they go somewhere. What is 73 00:07:26.520 --> 00:07:31.960 this funny? What's this residue on this thing? Now it can kill them. With destiny, a fentanyl, 74 00:07:31.960 --> 00:07:39.320 all around the nation, a kid, police officers, social workers, you name it, child protection, 75 00:07:39.320 --> 00:07:44.200 they're getting fentanyl on their fingers and not even realizing it. It's on the countertop. 76 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:50.440 And they'll wipe their nose and they're in 15 to 20 minutes. They're either severely, severely 77 00:07:50.440 --> 00:07:54.760 injured or dead. All the more reason why to grab onto the truth. So let's do it right now. Number 78 00:07:54.760 --> 00:07:59.640 one, will be against the truth. That's kind of like a no-brainer, but that's going to increase. 79 00:07:59.640 --> 00:08:06.200 Market down, take a picture. The war will be against the truth. Number one, by me saying that, 80 00:08:06.200 --> 00:08:11.640 it implies that the truth can be known. You agree with that? Follow this. If there's a war 81 00:08:11.640 --> 00:08:15.800 against the truth, that implies that you can know the truth and that the truth is available. 82 00:08:15.800 --> 00:08:20.680 That's why there's a war against it. So we're waking up to the warfare. We're waking up to the 83 00:08:20.680 --> 00:08:26.600 battle. Earlier, Sun Su, his big tactic was, get your opponent to realize that you're 84 00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:34.040 worrying against them, but they don't know it. That's how you win. Get your opponent to know that you 85 00:08:34.040 --> 00:08:42.840 are waging a war against them, but they don't even recognize you are. The world is doing that to us 86 00:08:42.840 --> 00:08:50.200 in a way. Satan, certainly, but the war against the truth. Listen, in John chapter 18, verse 37 and 87 00:08:50.200 --> 00:08:55.640 38. Pilate, therefore, Jesus is standing before Pilate. Pilate, therefore, says to Jesus, 88 00:08:55.640 --> 00:09:02.680 are you a king then? Because they had the scribes and Pharisees that accused Jesus of being king of 89 00:09:02.680 --> 00:09:09.240 the Jews, which of course he was. Jesus answered and said, you say rightly that I am a king for this 90 00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:14.600 cause. I was born and for this cause. I have come into the world that you or that I should bear witness 91 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:22.360 to the truth. And everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. That's key, but Pilate didn't respond 92 00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:31.880 to that key part. Pilate said, what is truth? What is truth? He missed it. The poor man, what he 93 00:09:31.880 --> 00:09:40.280 should have said was, are you implying Jesus that I can't hear your voice? What are you saying, 94 00:09:40.280 --> 00:09:46.360 Jesus? I don't understand what you're saying. What about what are you saying? His heart is not 95 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:52.120 even sensitive enough to think that thought. Jesus said, people who want the truth, they hear my voice. 96 00:09:53.240 --> 00:09:58.840 And Pilate says, what's truth? Do you know where that comes from? A broken, cynical, 97 00:09:59.560 --> 00:10:10.840 guarded, wounded, heart? What is truth? It's a word that means I give up. It cannot be known. 98 00:10:12.280 --> 00:10:17.240 What is truth? It's almost a mockery. Yeah, what is truth? Sure. Go ahead and tell me. 99 00:10:18.280 --> 00:10:22.760 Don't you and I live in a world like that right now? You can tell somebody to the truth, 100 00:10:22.760 --> 00:10:26.920 and it could be a matter of life and death, and they'll still now, in this day and age, 101 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:35.160 because of hardness and a shattered dream or life, they'll say, what is truth? And we're in that time 102 00:10:35.160 --> 00:10:42.200 again. People will tell you today, especially the younger they are. We can't know truth. It's 103 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:50.360 funny to me. They'll say, we can't know truth, and that's a truth statement. Did you get that? 104 00:10:50.360 --> 00:11:01.000 We can't know truth. Well, that's a statement that you're making. The fact of the matter is 105 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:08.120 it's premised upon being able to know the truth. Now, the truth is going to be under attack 106 00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:13.160 like never before in this year to come. And I'm going to give you ways to fight. This is not just 107 00:11:13.880 --> 00:11:18.360 the revelation of the issue. I'm going to give you so what stuff? So what do we do? And I'm going 108 00:11:18.360 --> 00:11:22.520 to give you that for every one of these things. I want to read this to you. Quote up here on the 109 00:11:22.520 --> 00:11:29.640 screen. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of the truth, and all that is true. All truth belongs to God, 110 00:11:29.640 --> 00:11:37.240 and there is no other truth on the market. Should anyone say, this is my truth, or well, that's just 111 00:11:37.240 --> 00:11:44.440 your truth. They have denied the fundamental reality of what the truth is. It is an absolute 112 00:11:44.440 --> 00:11:55.160 attribute of God. See, we don't have any, we have no creative activity or input regarding truth. 113 00:11:55.160 --> 00:12:02.360 It's an attribute of God, and without God, it is a falsehood, a counterfeit reality. It's 114 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:07.560 to pretend. When somebody says, well, that's your truth. Listen, friends, are we not hearing a lot 115 00:12:07.560 --> 00:12:13.640 about this in our age today? Well, that's your truth. This is my truth. Live and let live. 116 00:12:15.160 --> 00:12:23.320 We live in that age, and it's going to get worse in 2024. So the number one thing for you and 117 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:31.000 I is to absolutely have the truth embedded in our lives. And the truth is not what's happening 118 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:37.000 over there, or here, or around there, or up there, or down there. The truth is God's word, the 119 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:42.200 Bible. As I said, people have been taking shots at this for thousands of years. It's proven, 120 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:48.440 attack it, try to destroy it. It's amazing. The more people attack it, in fact, those who attack it 121 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:55.400 wind up becoming believers in it. Go talk to people like Josh McDowell, or at least Strobel, or 122 00:12:55.480 --> 00:13:01.480 some of the others. See us Lewis. They attack the Bible. They wind up becoming the believers in 123 00:13:01.480 --> 00:13:07.880 the Bible. Why? Because it's a supernatural book, but just know this. That you cannot have your 124 00:13:07.880 --> 00:13:12.120 truth, and I can have my truth, and everybody does as the Bible says what's right in their own eyes. 125 00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:16.200 That's a dangerous world to live in. And I submit to you, we live in a dangerous world. 126 00:13:16.760 --> 00:13:24.360 And so, Jack, what do I do about it? I'm going to give you just two verses, two verses, 127 00:13:25.560 --> 00:13:31.240 and I'm going to give you two versions. How's that? The first is awesome. It's the Old King James. 128 00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:38.440 Listen, I'll tell you why in a moment. Oh Timothy, keep what that which is committed to thy trust. 129 00:13:39.560 --> 00:13:44.680 Avoid profane and vain babelines. Would you say today there's profane and vain babelines 130 00:13:45.320 --> 00:13:54.280 taking place in our world? And oppositions of science, falsely so-called, which some professing have 131 00:13:54.280 --> 00:13:59.640 aired concern in the faith. Is that awesome? Say it's awesome. Say something. Are you guys okay? 132 00:14:00.680 --> 00:14:07.640 I need you. I just, I really need you today. That's the Old King James extremely accurate, 133 00:14:07.640 --> 00:14:13.560 by the way. You'll get a the pendulum swing over to a translation of that verse, and that's the 134 00:14:13.560 --> 00:14:19.800 NLT, the new living translation. It's not a Bible, it's a translation, but it's good when you want 135 00:14:19.800 --> 00:14:28.920 to understand something, that's more readable to our era. Watch this, 1 Timothy 6 verses 20 and 21, 136 00:14:28.920 --> 00:14:37.000 same verse, verses, different rendering. Oh Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you. 137 00:14:37.720 --> 00:14:43.880 Avoid godless foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge. 138 00:14:44.840 --> 00:14:50.840 Wow. Can you use that? Oh, I can use that this year. I could have used it last year. 139 00:14:52.920 --> 00:14:59.720 Verse 21, some people have wandered from the faith by following such foolishness, and you and I 140 00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:06.360 know some of them. Number two is this, the War of 2024 is against the facts. You say isn't that 141 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:12.520 the same thing? Truth and facts? No, not at all. Truth is God's immutable, eternal, unwavering 142 00:15:12.520 --> 00:15:20.440 truth. All truth belongs to God. Period. But when it comes to facts, facts is simply the reporting 143 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:25.480 of that which has been observed or experienced. Facts. What are the facts? Listen, I could give you 144 00:15:25.480 --> 00:15:30.840 the facts of a crime that I witnessed, and it was a very godless crime, right? Has nothing to do 145 00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:36.360 a truth? Well, yeah, but you're going to tell the truth when you give the facts. Yes, but listen, 146 00:15:36.360 --> 00:15:44.680 the facts are the recording of. The facts are what's observed. It is what is the fact. Just give me the 147 00:15:44.680 --> 00:15:53.800 facts. And so in this day and age in which you and I live in, facts are falling victim. By the way, 148 00:15:53.800 --> 00:16:01.480 I'm going to warn you right now. I love you guys. I just want you to know. You just remember that, 149 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:09.880 and you just remember that. We go through here. I love you. But I'm going to bring it. I just want 150 00:16:09.880 --> 00:16:19.320 to make sure that you know that I love you before it's brought. So just listen, words like facts. 151 00:16:20.040 --> 00:16:28.040 What does that mean? How about data? Well, you know, the data says, you know, there's a little 152 00:16:28.040 --> 00:16:32.760 worldly proverb that says if you torture the numbers long enough, they'll confess whatever you want. 153 00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:41.960 Information. What does that mean anymore? Misinformation. It seems like the more misinformation 154 00:16:42.920 --> 00:16:51.240 that I was told a year ago turns out to be the truth. What's going on here? Research. 155 00:16:54.680 --> 00:16:59.400 This is getting hard now. It's making me think. Pastor, I just want to come to church and be left 156 00:16:59.400 --> 00:17:09.960 alone. How about this one? What does this word do to you? Expert. Exactly. I assume there's experts 157 00:17:09.960 --> 00:17:13.800 somewhere in the world. I just wouldn't want to be them anymore. Because poor thing, 158 00:17:13.800 --> 00:17:20.680 the less thing you want to say is, I'm an expert. Oh, sit down. You're right. How did that happen? 159 00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:29.000 Because there's a war on the facts. So I'm going to say something just because of time's sake, 160 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:33.240 and I figured I just asked you a moment ago, all right, I told you, I love you. And you said, 161 00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:36.600 you love me back. So let's just see how deep is your love. 162 00:17:40.280 --> 00:17:43.960 So listen, I'm going to put you through a little test, and you're going to judge yourself 163 00:17:44.520 --> 00:17:50.760 on your response meter, and it's going to be in correlation with if you know the truth or not. 164 00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:56.920 Maybe you do? Maybe you're not sure? Maybe you don't? Okay, are you ready? Don't answer. 165 00:17:57.880 --> 00:18:08.520 Who is God? Think. What is gender? Think. What is your worldview? That's what guides your life. You 166 00:18:08.520 --> 00:18:14.120 make decisions. All of us, each of us, based on a worldview. Do you know your worldview? 167 00:18:15.640 --> 00:18:21.480 What does the word truth mean to you? Who you'll be voting for? What is your opinion on war? 168 00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:26.920 What is your opinion on religion? What is your opinion on politics? 169 00:18:28.360 --> 00:18:34.840 And guess what? The most emotionally reactive words, plural, and all of the American culture, 170 00:18:34.840 --> 00:18:45.080 as of today, is two words. It's two words. And I'm sad to say, it's not Jesus Christ. 171 00:18:45.080 --> 00:18:51.720 I wish it was Jesus Christ. That means people would be listening and caring. It's not Jesus Christ. 172 00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:59.080 The two most volatile words in the American culture today is Donald Trump. Isn't that weird? 173 00:18:59.080 --> 00:19:03.080 No, think about that. I don't know what you think about Donald Trump or how to listen. The thing is this. 174 00:19:03.080 --> 00:19:10.040 Instantly, there's heart rate. People's heart rates go up for real. People can't talk. 175 00:19:10.120 --> 00:19:15.080 They freak. That's how they're supposed to react about Jesus. 176 00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:24.680 Are you hearing me? It should be that when a pastor shows up in a room that he so represents 177 00:19:24.680 --> 00:19:33.240 God, that people get nervous. That doesn't happen anymore. And the name Jesus Christ is a cuss word. 178 00:19:33.880 --> 00:19:40.600 So what's the fix? The fix is this. The fix is found in 1 John 4 verse 1. 179 00:19:40.600 --> 00:19:45.160 1 John 4 verse 1. If your heart rates elevated right now, it means this sermon is having its effect. 180 00:19:46.120 --> 00:19:48.920 Right? It's like I don't like that. Good. Listen. 181 00:19:50.680 --> 00:19:55.080 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because 182 00:19:55.080 --> 00:20:00.760 many false prophets, how about this? Can I change the word a little bit? Many propagating and 183 00:20:00.760 --> 00:20:06.920 peddling false information have gone out into the world. By this, you know, the spirit of God. 184 00:20:06.920 --> 00:20:12.280 Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that 185 00:20:12.280 --> 00:20:18.040 does not confess Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the 186 00:20:18.040 --> 00:20:23.400 Antichrist, which you have heard is coming and is now already in the world.