Adversity - Will You Stand Or Fall?

Real Life presents the Jack Kibs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. You can take Ezekiel 33, 1 through 7 and take the word watchmen and put in pastor. If a pastor sees evil coming and if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, God says that's awesome. That pastor doesn't blow the trumpet of warning when evil and wickedness is coming. I will hold that pastor accountable and all the blood of the people who are shed because he didn't do it and say it, I'm going to require his hand. That's the age in which we live in. You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackkibs.com slash podcast. Today, if this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled life in Christ, then make sure you leave us one of those five star ratings. To us, that's like saying, amen or yes, then that rating will encourage others to listen. Now open your hearts to what God's word has to say to you, here is Jack Kibs. You're alive and you're living and you are Christian for such a time as this. Here you are, not by accident. For such a time as this, here they come. She want to mean here they come, evil, the purveyors of evil. Evil becomes personified here in Esther, in the name or in the life of this man, Heyman. Heyman is a agite. He's a descendant of King Aegig of the Amalakites. And isn't it amazing that when we don't obey God, we wind up having to deal with things later on. Listen, the Amalakites, King Saul, remember this King Saul was supposed to kill King Aegig and Amalakite because God said that culture is so corrupt. He's got to be destroyed and all of their culture because they're so polluted, they're so evil, they're so sick. And Saul says to himself, we will say the King and his stuff, the descendants of that sin of King Saul, the eventual birthing of a man named Heyman is the guy that wreaks havoc on the Jewish people. All because of disobedience and what's remarkable about this is the fact that in every culture of every age there's going to be a Heyman in your life, they're going to stand against you, they're going to fight you, they're going to resist you. And when I say you and us, I hope I'm talking more specifically about as you and I follow Jesus, they're going to be rejecting the Jesus and the Bible and the God that is at work through us. We need to remember that people can reject us all they want. We deserve as humans to be rejected, but when it comes to us saying something that is purely Christ centered, it's purely the gospel, for example. You can be getting along with everybody, but if you give the gospel, people will hate you in the moment. Why? Because it's spiritual issue. Men are telling you, some of you are doubters, go to some people group or go to a family or a gathering and give the gospel, and your doubt should be diminished in a moment. Because people who are once petting on the back in five minutes will start grinding their teeth at you, and all you gave them was a pure Bible verse, and that will convince you that this is a spiritual thing we're living in. Evil, evil is personified in our world today. People's finding a place in a home and people's lives and positions of power influence. Isaiah chapter 5, verse 20, in 21, whoa, the Bible says, be those who call evil good and good evil. By the way, I'm reading a 2,745 year old verse right now, and it can go on tomorrow's headlines. Well to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, woe to those who are experts in their own eyes, that's what the word means. By the way, say the word woe twice, verse 20, woe and look at verse 21, woe, God's not right in a horse, He's making a statement, and it's terrifying. Oh, wow, the word woe is ah in Hebrew, ah, so I don't know what that means. I understand, in Hebrew it means this, condemned or damned are you. Condemned are you, if you say good as evil and evil is good, God's serious. Condemned are you, if you put light for darkness and darkness for light, this is what God says. Isn't the Bible relevant? Man, just, you know what, open it up, let it go, it's alive for such a time as this. Here you stand, we're to stand at this hour. This is an awesome time to be alive, it's an awesome time to be following Jesus. Jesus said in John 16, 33, these things I've spoken to you that in me, you may have peace in the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I've overcome the world. Is that awesome? So what's he saying? Jesus said, you follow me, it's going to be a bumpy road, but cheer up, cheer up because I have overcome the world. He said, well, how does that equate to me? I'm glad he overcame the world. What about me? Well, listen, he overcame the world to let you know that the world has been overcome. That as you walk with him and you stand, it's going to be, you're going to have tribulations and difficulties and troubles, but God is saying, I'm working through this. In fact, you could just look into this way. Again, it's a continuous of the divine appointment. I can stand, you can stand in the time of trouble because you and I've been brought to the kingdom for such a time as this, because God's got our back for that matter, he's got the front, he's got the sides. Look to God's appointments, divine appointments, look to them, look for them. So listen, theoretically, hypothetically, you could leave here today, get a flat tire and you can panic and punch the dash and call up the triple A, chew them out, or you can pull over. And you can say, Lord, I'm going to take this from you. You may not have caused my flat, but I'm going to take it from you that you want to use my flat. So you dial the triple A and the truck comes and it's all, look, you're already, you're already 50% there. The guy gets out, he has no idea what's about to happen to him. To do it, I've got a flat tire, yeah, it happens all the time, you know what, it's funny because I was just praying that God would use this flat tire. Now look, the guy's down, he's down there, he has to fix your flat. You have to stand there to make sure you give him the gospel while he's fixing your flat. So yeah, listen, take your bifocals and go from the broad view down to the... The close view, the magnified view, the exact view. Why is the flat? Listen, give that over to the broad view, dial down, the guy's right there, get him. You ever use Uber when I travel and if it's for church or business work stuff, I'll use Uber and those guys, they're sitting ducks, that's how I view Uber. Uber is my... I feel like witnessing. Yeah, I need an Uber car right here. Those guys, I love those guys and I don't know what it is, but every time I pull up, it's either Khalid or Muhammad who picks me every time and I love it because they probably believe in God or God or something, so the moment I get in, hey, what's your name? Muhammad. Muhammad, nice to meet you, my name is Jack, do you believe in God? Look, they have to take you to the destination. He's stuck. He's stuck, by the way, listen, I got to tell you something, love on your local Muslim, they are ready to talk about God, you don't have to break the ice and they need to know about the real Jesus who loves them. And listen, we get into the most wonderful talks and I got to be honest, I follow up with because you don't have to tip, but I always follow up with a big tip because it is a good witness. I have a guy about Jesus and don't blow it by giving him an nickel, but it's a captive audience. Look for God's divine appointments regarding these captive audience and take a stand and watch what God does, Ephesians, chapter 6, verse 10, finally, my brother, be strong in the Lord, nut your own strength, don't do it, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wilds, the trickeries, the plots and plans of the devil, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and against powers and against the rulers of the darkness of this age and against spiritual host of wickedness, man, that's a lot of dark warfare in the heavenly places. That means we wore against dark things that are in the spirit realm, therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand, stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench, what, all some, what, all the fiery darts of the wicked one and taking the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God, in praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and being watchful to this end, be all suited up like this, say, Jack, where are you going, I'm going to the beach. Now seriously, Jack, where are you going, I'm going to church, I'm going to the supermarket, listen, I'm going to work, I'm going to the office, the world will say, what are you doing like that? What are you acting like that for? No matter where we go, listen, the moment we wake up, we're in a war, and we need to, we need to have that mind, always be looking for the divine appointment, always realize and understanding, you know what, for such a time as this, you're on guard, it's an awesome way to live, it's an awesome and joyful way to live. Isaiah 41 and 13 says, listen to this, for I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear, I will help you, that a great verse, that's awesome, and I love that. Number four, here they fall, church family listen up, evil will not always endure, evil will not always win, evil will not always last, there's a day of judgment coming. The Bible says in Psalm 37, 18, the Lord knows the days of the upright and their inheritance shall be forever, they shall not be ashamed in the evil time, that's you right now, you're not ashamed in the evil time. And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied, but the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord like the splendor of the meadows shall vanish into smoke, they shall vanish away, evil is going to end. When Christ comes, when judgment comes, the Bible tells us in Isaiah 3-11, but the wicked are doomed, man listen to this, but the wicked are doomed, for they will get exactly what they deserve. He said, man that's heavy, you're not kidding that's heavy, that's very heavy, Heyman, Heyman is going to experience his doom. Heyman says, I am going to have this, let's, I'm going to build gallows to hang these Jews on, and I forget the exact number, but one of the gallows he built for Mordecai was in his front yard, and Heyman's front yard, and I think it was either 66 or 75 feet high, and Heyman's like, I'm going to, that in Mordecai, I can just see this by tomorrow, he's going to be swinging in front of my yard, I can't wait. And the whole thing flipped, and the guy hanging from his own gallows turned out to be Heyman in the end. His plot was exposed. God intervened seemingly out of nowhere, did you know in the book of Esther, God's name on the surface doesn't appear once, but I like what Dr. Ironsite says, God's name doesn't appear in the book of Esther, but his hand does. That's so true in life, I love that. Evil's going to fall, God has promised, and number five, we end with this, number five, is here we go. See what he means. Look around this world, everything that's going on. Again, don't sit back and be overwhelmed by what's happening. No, the fact of the matter is, with all of these advancements of evil and things going bonk or crazy in the world, here we go. Here we go, meaning that God's word is going to be lived out in and through somebody, and I pray it's us right here. I pray, listen, I sure hope that you're not a spectator Christian. I don't see that in the Bible, but listen, Christianity is a non-spectator faith. And I'd love to be able to say, you know what, in a moment, here we go, and you all struck in, mouthpiece, getting ready, go out there, people, where are you going? You all dressed up for war. Where are you going? Listen, Jesus said in the scriptures, I send you out like sheep in the midst of wolves. Now, background to that, Jesus is there, and all the disciples, he's been trained, he's been pouring into them. They're his disciples soon to be apostles. All right, you guys ready? We're ready. I'm going to send you out there, send us. Okay, I'm going to have one cast out demons. Okay, I want you to preach. Yes, we've been watching. All right, so Jesus looks at them. Man, I'm going to send you out there like sheep. Yeah, sheep, awesome. You're the shepherd with a sheep. Whoo, I'm not done, Peter, wait a minute. I'm going to send you guys out like sheep among wolves. Among what? Can you imagine? Everybody's tracking until, send you out like sheep among wolves. Did he say wolves? Excuse me, Jesus, did you say wolves? Yes, I did. Well, I don't know if we like that part. No, no, I'm going to send you out like sheep among wolves. Yeah, we still don't like it. And that's exactly what Christianity is. See, you have it all like that, kind of vulnerable, isn't it? No, no, no, no, wait. Remember a few weeks ago we talked about how sheep have to have a shepherd. Sheep go nowhere without the shepherd. He goes ahead of us. So wherever there's sheep, there's a shepherd nearby and he has a rod and a staff. And he's got a couple of sheep dogs that will tear a wolf together apart. And what's awesome about this is we go out into this world in a moment. You're going to go out and you're all suited up, kind of weird picture. You're all suited up, but you are a lamb. You are a sheep. And he says, I'm going to send you out there in this world that's like a philip with a bunch of wolves, but you're going to be fantastic because I'm a shepherd. Keep a tender heart. You love on people who hate you. Remember, none of it's personal. When government rules and decides and does what they do and when your neighbor does and says what they do and when your friend or family member says and does what they do, it's not personal. We're warring the spiritual warfare. And it's the battle of kingdoms. And God is calling you to move into that kingdom of his and to take a stand. And I want to leave this picture with you. It's kind of goofy, but for me, it's just a great reminder. Going back to Franklin's glasses depends on how you use them. It matters. If you lean your head back with those bifocals and try to look ahead, it's like looking through the bottom of a cook bottle. It's not going to work. So, we go to Universal Studios when it was open and when it was universally a studio. And you know they have the rides there and stuff and they've got the tram ride that takes you through the sets and then they take you through that high-tech tunnel. Maybe that tunnel and the thing. Who's the big gorilla? King Kong. King Kong's in there. And Jurassic Park kind of dinosaurs are attacking the train you're on and stuff. And you know that, it's spitting that. You remember you get wet? The dinosaurs are spitting. You get wet. So, it was a sunny day. My sunglasses on and we get ready and they give us the glasses before we go on the train. But we run around. And we come into this thing. I have my glasses on. And my glasses are very comfortable as I and I wear them all the time so I never just just feels normal. So I go we go in there and everyone's going, why? And there's screaming and people are ducking up ahead. I can see people moving and they're flinching and everyone's laughing and my family's flinching and laughing and I'm thinking man this thing's cheap. This ride, this ride, this is one of my money back. And I thoroughly waste. We get out on the other end and we pull out and we're driving off to the next thing. I say that's stunk. I don't see what the big deal is. And I don't remember who it was in our group said, did you have glasses on? I said of course I had my glasses on. No, didn't you put their glasses on? They handed. When you got on the train, they handed you 3D glasses. Oh. I'm criticizing. I'm thinking this is a bunch of junk and all these people are like a bunch of lemons. They're all all gullible on this thing together. Oh yeah. It was like this is a joke. So I'm cursing the ride and it turns out that I'm the only one that's not looking to the lens ride. I got the wrong glasses on. And people are like that, oh that's Jesus Christian and you know that's a bunch of junk. I understand that but you got the wrong glasses on. You're not looking at it right. And I was not looking at it right. King Kong was attacking. I couldn't even see the guy. The dinosaur is spitting. We got wet but I didn't see the thing coming. And I'm like, this is so dumb. Now when we got outside, my glasses were great for the sunshine. The 3D ones were not. What are you looking through? What are you looking through? It matters. I hope you're looking through the lens that says, for such a time as this, you have been brought to this kingdom of God in this time to be used by God. Bible prophecy is wonderful and fantastic and so it should be. But application should announce to us we're living now. Such a time as this. This Jack Kemp's podcast as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities are listening and supporting. Will you consider partnering with us through a special gift? Go to jackhibs.com to learn more and stay connected.