Moments in History When God Intervened: Setbacks, Hardships and Your Faith

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Real Life presents the Jack Hibbs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints and impact our culture.

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Hey you guys, we're going to be talking something about pilgrims, but it may take a twist that you may not expect. What do you do when hardships and difficulty confront you? Stay tuned.

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You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com 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 Hibbs.

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Well, everybody, I am super excited to be back here behind this microphone, because I just got back from Europe the other day and, first of all, starting in Switzerland, had the opportunity to join up with John Cross, and what we did was we together did a mini tour, as it were, of the founding fathers in some respect, regarding the Reformation. Now, we went to the various locations where John Calvin had preached and had stood the ground and went to the wall, the memorial wall of the Reformers. If you're ever in Geneva, switzerland, you've got to see this location and read about how they took a stand against an evil church, an evil belief system that had strayed so far from the Word of God, and so great men of God like Zwingli and Luther and Knox and others were studied. We looked at that and I got to add, a chance to hold an original Geneva Bible, which is amazing, and that Bible maybe I'll post the picture of that that Bible has got to be about six inches wide, but it was the Geneva Bible and you say, well, who cares? You do, actually, because it was the Geneva Bible that the Pilgrim Fathers read. It's the Geneva Bible that the Pilgrims had both in England and in Holland and in the colonies, or I should say at Plymouth, and, by the way, let me say this at this moment. So we looked at this remarkable movement of God with Calvin and others in Switzerland, geneva, and then I had a chance to get on over.

I was speaking in England and so at Oxford, there, we had a chance to look at just remarkable testimony of those who had been influenced by Luther and Calvin and the others who took a stand against the Church of England. And if you've ever been to Oxford, england, if you've never been, you should go. You should make it a bucket list journey for you, especially if you put on a Christian lens, a Christian headset, so to speak, and walk it through a Christian perspective. Because it was amazing, I was taking photographs and videoing spots of, for example, where the martyrs who decided you know what? The people need the Word of God, the people need the Bible for themselves. We are not going to bow to a state church. We are going to follow the dictates of God from His Word and nothing else. Christ, that cost them their lives. I went, I stood, you can stand. I forget the name of the street, but you can stand there in Oxford, at the very street there's a black brick X where four of the church's great fathers of our modern day faith stood and were burned to death at the stake because they would not recant and bow their knee to organized religion. They had determined to follow God, no matter what the cost. And what gave them that boldness? The answer is the Geneva Bible. The Geneva Bible, very, very powerful. In fact. I came home with some pages, original pages that you're able to purchase.

Having said that, see what's the point to where we're going on this? I want to talk about the intervention of God in your life. I want to talk about the intervention of God regarding our pilgrim fathers, and I want to also say don't let this be to you a political comment or a political podcast. It's not Purely Christian. I want to talk about our pilgrim fathers that came, as it were, not so much on the Mayflower that was the vehicle that got them here but that they came spiritually, standing on the shoulders of the previous giants of the faith that had gone before them.

And what was remarkable to me on this trip was the unbelievable hardships that these Reformation fathers went through. They were beaten, they were imprisoned. At one point in England we were talking about John Bunyan, the great author of Pilgrim's Progress. Did you know that guy that guy was? He was ordered Stop writing, stop talking about God, and we can't on your belief that Jesus Christ is Lord. And you got to knock this stuff off and he wouldn't do it. They arrested him. I forget, but I'll be close. He wound up spending 11 or 12 years in jail and they said all you have to do is denounce Christ and pledge allegiance to the church and you can get out. He had his listen. His wife and his kids lived in the town that he was imprisoned and he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't denounce Christ.

Now let me ask you this If hardship hit you you're a Christian and tough times hit you, what do you do with that? Do you start wavering? Do you start panicking and doubting? If hardships and difficulties and setbacks smack you, do you start thinking, well, maybe God's not in this? Oh my gosh. I listened to the incredible hardships, setbacks and difficulties of these men of God and women of God that went on before us and it was incredible to me that they knew. In fact, william Bradford said we knew that we were pilgrims, and so when you study what Bradford was talking about. He made it very clear we're not of this world. We knew. We knew that we were pilgrims, and you can read that in his own writings. I highly recommend you get Bradford's writings on the Plymouth Plantation. Now I'm flubbing up on the title a little bit, but it's William Bradford's book, the Plymouth Plantation. You ought to read it. It's in his own writing and, by the way, I'd get a copy of it now, before Amazon buys it and removes it from the Plymouth Plantation, from the marketplace, because that's what they're doing they're buying up books that they don't agree with and taking them off the shelf.

Having said that, I want to just challenge you and you can insert any generation of believers, but I wrote in my notes here why the believing pilgrims matter. The believing pilgrims matter because when they received from God what they were supposed to do, they prayed. God spoke to them through the word the Bibles I mean through the word they account of how God spoke to them and they knew that they were to search out this new land of America. Now pause, right there, you've heard of the 1619 movement, right, and of course there's a 1619 movement, because there's always got to be weirdos that cannot cope with reality in every generation. What's very funny to me is so 1619, 1619, they came and they were brutal and they were just here to make money and they killed all the Indians and they were terrible and they you're correct. But why listen? Why 1619? Why don't you back up? How about 1611? What about 1610? What about 1608?

Because there were people coming from Europe trying to colonize what we would say today is the regions of Massachusetts, all the way down south to Virginia. That's true, they were secularists, they were not believers and they were doing terrible things. No doubt about it. I don't, I don't disagree with you, but when we talk about the Pilgrim Fathers, we're talking about a totally different group of people. All those others were not God-believing, bible-believing people. They came for the bucks, they came for the gold, they came in search of slaves. They came in search of opportunity. The Pilgrim Fathers that you and I celebrate at Thanksgiving, they're not the 1619 people. You guys really need to just wake up and figure out why you claim to believe what you believe in. Go ahead and believe in the 1619 people. Just don't confuse it with my bros, with my folk, with my peeps, with my people.

My people came in 1620. They came later and they started this little, little tiny, in the words of the secularist, this little, tiny, insignificant place called Plymouth. It was this country bumpkin bunch of clowns who believed in God. And you know, they've barely scraped out an existence, and all that's true. Half of them died after they landed in 1620. During that winter they landed in November. In November, I think it was November or September, I forget they left Europe in September. I think they got here in November or October. You and I always think about November because of Thanksgiving, but it was a year later that they celebrated, that they survived. So they landed in mid to late November and so the Thanksgiving celebration was a year after that.

But you guys, the hardship, listen. If you ever get a chance, here's another buck at list. Okay, I'm not trying to be a tour guide here, but if you ever get to Boston, you got to get on, you got to go get on the Mayflower II. It is an exact purse, I mean to the inch replica of the Mayflower I. They sailed it, by the way, from Holland to Boston, to Plymouth. They'll take it out to sea. Sometimes it makes a tour down the Eastern seaboard and I remember getting on it in Virginia.

The point is this it is so small. There was 102 people who left Europe regarding our pilgrim Mayflower ship and two dogs, so 104 living creatures on board, 102 of them human right and watch. This is kind of fun. One guy dies, which is quite amazing, by the way. One guy dies but they still arrive with 102 people. Say huh Jack, that's weird math. It's God's math. They leave with 102 people, but one guy dies. But they arrive with 102 people because during the trip Oceanus, a child was born on the ship. Can you imagine? On the Mayflower.

So, by the way, the man that died, he was the guy from the moment they left. He was mocking, cursing and provoking. The 50, 52 Christians that were on board Not everybody on board the Mayflower were believers. The rest of the guys were called strangers. That is that we called them strangers because they were strangers to God. They didn't know God. Listen, this one guy that was the one who said you're all gonna die, your God's gonna fail you. You are going to absolutely die. You don't know what you're doing. You guys have never even been on a boat before. We're sailors, we know what we're doing. And guess who got sick and died? Bradford writes in his own writings. That was the first guy to die and they even made comment this is the judgment of God against this man's mouth. And from that moment on it says the entire crew shut up about making fun of the Pilgrim Fathers, the Pilgrim sailors that were on that great vessel, the Mayflower.

And so when they made it over, you guys already know this right, that before stepping off the boat they crafted the Mayflower Compact. It was engineered by William Bradford and the signatures of those agreeing to the form of government you can read them Mayflower Compact. The two paragraph, roughly two paragraphs, are above and those that agreed to it signed below, like Miles Standish and others. Their names are there and they agreed that this is our governing body politic. We agree, this is our governing body politic, this document. So in some ways you could say that the Mayflower Compact was America's birth certificate. Some of you might say it's the Declaration of Independence. Well, there's no doubt about that. That's a strong case for that. Obviously that's the official document written to the King of England. That came, of course, a way later. There's the US Constitution, obviously extremely important, but you could say that the Mayflower Compact is our birth certificate and in that, if you read it, it says that we've come to propagate the gospel of Jesus Christ to this continent.

You say no, no, no, they came for money, they came for bucks, they came for slavery. You got the wrong people, friend, wrong group of people. Those were your folks, those were the 1619 people and those that came before and oh, by the way, glory seekers came after, the pilgrims as well. There wasn't one boat with one group of people that came over. There was this. What is quote? I'll quote the great migration as people began to leave Europe. But what happened was, when the pilgrims landed, more and more believers began to make their way here.

And this little, tiny, insignificant nothing. Now, for those of you who know your Old Testament, and New Testament for that matter, isn't that just like God To take the insignificant country bumpkin, so to speak, to take the foolish things of this world to confound the wise? They were so weak, but they had God. They were worshipers of God, but they weren't pushovers. They were hardworking men, hardworking women, and their entire effort laid the foundation for the freedoms that America once knew. That's right, you heard me right.

I'm pretty much done, especially coming back from Europe, where I saw more freedoms in Switzerland than I see in America today. I was blown away on Sunday in Switzerland. All the businesses are closed, church bells are ringing, I didn't see graffiti. I didn't see one homeless person. In Geneva and LaSanne, I think, is where we went, gullier I didn't see any homeless people, no graffiti. It was like we're on another planet. People were courteous and kind and I thought, man, you know, because previously America was the bastion of tenderness and sweetness, man, not anymore. Even throughout many parts of England where we were at it wasn't until we got downtown Heathrow, london area where you see some pretty tough stuff. But out in the outer areas of England it's just absolutely amazing and I see America today so fallen from its greatness.

Even last night I was watching news from India, live news from India on an app that I have before church Started. Last night I was at home watching it and the news commentator was talking about how China listen to this. A news reporter from India is telling the news report that China, russia and Iran have created a triad or a triunity of strength and economic and military power that has the United States in their target. This is Indian news broadcast from Mumbai. Check this out.

They said on the program that the once great America, the once benevolent America, the once America that nations called for help, is now the nation of selfishness, of corruption and of disorder and debt. And China, iran and Russia believe that now the future is their hour. And that news commentator even said that America listen, she said America in its own mind is a superpower, but she said, in reality, america is no longer a superpower. She is correct. Why is that true? Because we departed from God. There's no other explanation. Go ahead and cry, kick all you want. The reason why America is no longer the global superpowers because God has left the building. Why is that? Guns, bombs, airplanes, satellites, spaceships don't make you the super global power, because if that were true, we would still be the global superpower. But why is our economy collapsing? Why is the US dollar absolutely plummeting beyond repair? Because God has left the building. Why not See, jack?

I don't believe in what you're saying. Well, did we not tell God to get out of school? Well, yes, we did. Did we not, in the sixties, tell God we're not gonna pray anymore in the public square? Yeah, we actually did. Did we tell God to get out of our courts by removing the 10 commandments? Yeah, tell me this.

Why in the world would you think that God would bless America one more second? I don't expect him to. However, there's a caveat. I do expect him to bless his people who are following his word, the church. And this is where we end getting back to where we began. The only hope for you is to follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, to crack open the Bible and to dive into it head first. Oh no, no, my hope. I'm gonna move to Utah, I'm moving to Idaho, I'm moving to Nevada. I'm moving to move all you want. In fact, the latest news right now going on is the fact that you can go to 50 states if you want to, but it looks like Gavin Newsom just might be president pretty soon here. And what's that gonna do to you? The very California that has been the epicenter of evil, that has exported the most grotesque laws and practices? It's possible the United States is gonna be headed up by the very wicked evil man that he is over our entire nation. You see, that'll never happen.

I'm sure that the Jews said that very same thing when Jeremiah was saying you guys better get ready for captivity, because we've sinned against God. And here comes the invading forces of the foreign army, the forces of the foreign armies, to take us captive. Daniel, did you know? Daniel was taken from Judah, from Israel, when he was a teenager because of his nation's disobedience, and he was carted off to Babylon him, hananiah, meshall and Azariah. They were taken to Babylon. They never saw their homeland again. Why? Because God left the nation. God abandoned them as a nation.

Because, listen, instead of me shouting every man for himself because the ship is sinking, you know, women and children first into the life rafts, instead of me shouting that, I'll shout this get right with God, get right with Jesus quick. Because that's it, that's the hope, and that's the hope our pilgrim fathers had. It's the hope that our founding fathers in Philadelphia had. It's always been God, it's never been America. No nation on earth can save you from your sins. No nation on earth can save you from hell and from death. Only Jesus, from what he did for us at the cross and hallelujah by leaving us an empty tomb in Jerusalem. God is alive. God's real Christ is coming back.

Before he does, you need to get your life right with him by acknowledging this truth Jesus Christ died in the cross for you personally, because he's God. Only God would do that. No man would do that. No man would die for you, a sinner. God came and died for you, a sinner. God came and died for me, a sinner. Only God can do that. I submit to you today only God would do that. But if you put your trust in him, he'll forgive you of your sins. And when you do that, the spirit of God moves inside of your life and transforms you.

Christianity is done from the inside out. Religion is from the outside in. Who cares about that? So give your heart to Christ in repentance of your sins. Faith in him, because, listen, there's no reason to abandon hope. God's on his throne. As nations go, so go America. So goes America, but our God's eternal God bless you. Listen, as usual, we want you to hit the subscribe button. We want to make sure that you share this with other people, let people know, and it's like what we always say here. Our jingle is it's time to live out what you believe in, it's time for real life. We mean that with all of our hearts. God bless you until next time.