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 --> 00:00:10.880 truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. The government of God is 3 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:17.280 someday coming, but it will not come. It will not come until Christ physically 4 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:23.760 returns. No political person is going to usher in the kingdom of God. We do our best, 5 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:27.920 we pray, we get involved, we engage, why? Because you and I are called by God to 6 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:31.840 represent the politics of heaven here and now knowing this. We ain't home yet. 7 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:41.440 You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com slash podcast. 8 00:00:42.080 --> 00:00:47.920 Today, if this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled life in Christ, 9 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:54.640 then make sure you leave us one of those five star ratings. To us, that's like saying amen or yes. 10 00:00:54.720 --> 00:01:00.160 Then that rating will encourage others to listen. Now, open your hearts to what God's word has 11 00:01:00.160 --> 00:01:08.000 to say to you. Here is Jack Hibbs. Revelation 19 verse 10. Mark it down in your note taking for this 12 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:13.360 chapter of Romans 8. John says, I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, see that you 13 00:01:13.360 --> 00:01:18.640 do not do that. I am your fellow servant and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. 14 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:24.080 This is a vision of heaven. John is seen heaven. He's talking to a brother. We don't know who it is 15 00:01:24.080 --> 00:01:30.960 in heaven. And the answer is worship God for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. 16 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:38.400 The utterance of God's word and it also means the future telling of God's word of what is to pass. 17 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:45.760 John 16 verse 33. Jesus said, and these things I have spoken unto you that in me, you may have peace. 18 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:51.200 In the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. That's 19 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:56.320 a prophetic statement, church family. You and I need to know this now because our need for this 20 00:01:56.320 --> 00:02:02.720 verse is going to increase. So what should you know and how does Bible prophecy apply to your life? 21 00:02:02.720 --> 00:02:11.680 It is equipping you to embrace the promises of God. Listen, promises are prophetic. When God says, 22 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:18.720 I promise that means he's going to fulfill something in your future. The prophetic nature of our 23 00:02:18.720 --> 00:02:26.160 God. Revelation chapter 3, verse 7, starting there into the angel of the church at Philadelphia. 24 00:02:27.600 --> 00:02:33.440 The church we all want to be like. Verse 8, I know your works. Look, I have set before you an 25 00:02:33.440 --> 00:02:39.840 open door and no one can shut it because you have a little strength and you've kept my word. 26 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:46.320 It's the first criteria. And number 2, you've not denied my name. Verse 10 says, because you have 27 00:02:46.320 --> 00:02:54.880 kept my command to persevere. Watch this. I also will keep you from the hour. That word implies that 28 00:02:54.880 --> 00:03:02.720 things are going to get rougher. But right when you think it can't get any more rougher, he says, 29 00:03:02.720 --> 00:03:09.760 I'm going to keep you from that hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world to test those 30 00:03:09.760 --> 00:03:16.880 you dwell on the earth. What a promise. Isaiah chapter 42, verse 9, behold, God says, the 31 00:03:16.880 --> 00:03:24.480 former things have come to pass. And new things I declare. Before they spring forth, I tell you of 32 00:03:24.480 --> 00:03:29.040 them. That's the God you work. You know, we were singing a moment ago. Who were you singing to? 33 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:36.000 Who were you worshiping? The God of the Bible, who says right here, things have come to pass that 34 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:40.160 I've spoken of and oh, by the way, things that have not yet happened, I'm telling you about them now. 35 00:03:41.440 --> 00:03:50.400 What a great and awesome God. The Bible tells us in Luke chapter 21, verse 34, Luke 21 34, Jesus says, 36 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:56.480 be careful for your hearts could be weighed down with dissipation. That is your faith and your 37 00:03:56.480 --> 00:04:04.800 commitment starts to leak out, starts to grow low, drunkenness and the anxieties of this life, 38 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:11.520 and that they come and will close in on you unexpectedly like a trap that is his return. 39 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:17.680 For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth, be always on the watch and 40 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:22.720 pray that you may escape all that is about to happen. Oh, that's good news. Can someone say 41 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:28.160 me into that? I'm all for that. Oh, you guys just want to escape all the bad stuff. Uh, yeah. 42 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:37.280 Why? Jesus said so, Luke 21 36, that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man. Get ready now, 43 00:04:37.280 --> 00:04:43.040 still foundational, Philippians chapter 3, verse 20, for our citizenship is in heaven. 44 00:04:44.080 --> 00:04:47.840 I should pause right here for a moment at that comma. See the word citizenship? 45 00:04:48.640 --> 00:04:59.840 It's the Greek word politics. Yep. Our politics is where? In heaven. If the politics of heaven 46 00:04:59.840 --> 00:05:05.120 will someday come in Christ Jesus to this world, that's going to be a good day. 47 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:14.640 The government of God is someday coming, but it will not come. It will not come until Christ 48 00:05:14.640 --> 00:05:19.680 physically returns to earth. You're not going to bring it in. We're not going to usher it in. 49 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:27.440 We don't know. We know this. No political person is going to usher in the kingdom of God. 50 00:05:28.960 --> 00:05:33.920 We do our best. We pray. We get involved. We engage. Why? Because you and I are called by God to 51 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:40.480 represent the politics of heaven here and now knowing this. We ain't home yet. We are not home yet. 52 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:46.560 Thank God because our citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior. 53 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:53.760 The Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our vile body that it may be conform to his glorious body. 54 00:05:53.760 --> 00:06:00.160 The power of the Word of God, Matthew chapter 16, verse 1, by introduction announces. 55 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:07.280 Then the Pharisees and Sadducey teamed up together in game. Testing Jesus asked that he would show 56 00:06:07.280 --> 00:06:14.240 them a sign from heaven. Here you go. And he answered and said to them, 57 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:23.600 when it is evening you say it will be fair weather for the skies red. Nice sunset. And the morning 58 00:06:24.400 --> 00:06:30.320 it will be foul weather today because or for the sky is red and threatening. Hippocrates, 59 00:06:30.320 --> 00:06:34.960 isn't it great how subtle Jesus is? The word Hippocrates means you have two faces. 60 00:06:35.840 --> 00:06:41.520 You ever heard somebody say you're two faced? That's called Hippocrate. That's why Hollywood 61 00:06:41.520 --> 00:06:45.120 and the screen actor's guild has the Hippocrate as a logo. Did you know that? 62 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:50.560 The one face smiling, the one face frowning and it's got the little strings that you tied on. 63 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:57.120 The actor wore or had the opportunity to wear one in the front, one in the back. Jesus called them, 64 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:04.640 you two faced people you. You know how to discern the face of the sky but you cannot discern the 65 00:07:04.640 --> 00:07:11.920 signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and no sign shall be given 66 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:17.360 to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. That's what Jesus said to their question. 67 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:26.000 You say did you believe in Jonah? Yes, I do. Never met him. I will someday. But you know 68 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:31.200 I believe in Jonah because not only is he in the Bible and he was a real guy but Jesus said he was 69 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:38.080 and that's enough for me. Jesus said this sign is going to be given to you as it was with Jonah. 70 00:07:38.080 --> 00:07:42.800 Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish. So the son of man, 71 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:46.800 Jesus must have pointed to himself, will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 72 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:52.640 So church here we go at your one and only argument today in our point. What are you going to do 73 00:07:52.640 --> 00:07:59.120 about Bible prophecy? Well listen the fact is your glorification is coming. It's coming. Have you ever 74 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:03.600 checked Amazon on your number to see what time the package is coming? It should have been here by now. 75 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:08.560 You're looking gold. Did you go check the door? We're so amazing. We have an app and it's like 76 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:15.040 ding, it dings. Oh it should be there. Check the front door and we're we trust them. Let's go see. 77 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:21.280 We're following this plastic piece of junk and we open the door. Oh it's not here. 78 00:08:22.080 --> 00:08:24.480 Call them. Call them. Find an app. What do we do? 79 00:08:26.320 --> 00:08:31.600 Listen. I wasn't going to say on scout's honor. 80 00:08:34.880 --> 00:08:40.800 On the basis of the word of God the Bible announces to all of God's children the ultimate act of 81 00:08:40.800 --> 00:08:47.680 his redemptive work in your life is your eternal glorification which happens at the moment of 82 00:08:47.680 --> 00:08:54.480 your death and or resurrection in the coming of Christ for the church. You will be transformed. 83 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:59.680 The Bible says and you will be glorified. You'll pass. I just want to be in heaven. I don't 84 00:08:59.680 --> 00:09:05.200 need all that fancy stuff. You have to have the fancy stuff. You wonder why you're robbing Christ 85 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:10.800 from what he purchased for you. He's going to clothe you in his own righteousness. The Bible says 86 00:09:10.800 --> 00:09:18.720 it looks like white, a white gown. Beautiful. Clean and bright the Bible says. He purchased for you 87 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:24.960 absolute. Listen, forgiveness of sins and the giving of a clear conscience and of a sound mind. 88 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:32.320 He's purchased for you absolute peace with God. No more warring. God's your friend and 89 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:38.720 your child of God and there's a love relationship. Jesus did that. Are any of you enjoying that today? 90 00:09:38.720 --> 00:09:43.600 Do you think about God? Do you love God? Do you wonder and imagine and you can't wait to get there 91 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:49.200 and truly we are admitting that our politic is in heaven? Why is that true? Jesus did that for you 92 00:09:50.800 --> 00:09:56.480 and we don't thank God enough for that. Your whole life is prophetic. We're not stuck here right now. 93 00:09:56.560 --> 00:10:02.640 It happens to be today. I can't wait for today to be over. Because listen, tomorrow is either a 94 00:10:02.640 --> 00:10:07.920 brand new day to live for him yet again or we're one day closer to meeting Christ. One thing is 95 00:10:07.920 --> 00:10:12.000 sure, even if Jesus doesn't come back for the next 50 years, I'm going to be meeting him. 96 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:23.280 So are you. But what a tremendous thing that it's God's desire that you and I experience 97 00:10:23.280 --> 00:10:33.280 his glorification. And we go around life, do we not? Look, honestly, I am new pants. 98 00:10:36.160 --> 00:10:44.640 Thank you. Costco dirt cheap. Sure it is old but I ironed it this morning. Why don't even iron it? 99 00:10:44.640 --> 00:10:50.400 Think about it. Why did I iron it? Because I didn't want to look like a bum in front of you. 100 00:10:50.640 --> 00:10:59.280 And then if Lisa, if she would have seen me, you are standing in front of those people with a shirt that's 101 00:10:59.280 --> 00:11:07.520 not ironed, it makes me look bad. Why? Both on Lisa's part and on my part, we do what we do because 102 00:11:07.520 --> 00:11:18.800 there's a sense of, you know, I'm clean, washed, night, I didn't say shit, didn't shave today, 103 00:11:19.520 --> 00:11:25.280 but you know what I mean? Everything else is in order. What's the deal? Imagine there's a sense where 104 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:32.960 can you hang my picture on the wall? Where's my trophy? Self glorification, it's in human nature. 105 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:39.600 We're trying to accomplish by you and effort. What God said can only be done through the work of Jesus Christ at the cross. 106 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:46.720 And his glorification is holy. Our deification of ourselves is a joke. 107 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:57.920 But God is holy and pure and remarkable. And so we look at it this way. Verse 31 is the fact that 108 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:03.120 regarding the future in Bible prophecy and you and I being glorified is the fact that we will learn 109 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:08.080 the truth on this. We're studying that now in our Bibles. We're Christians and until we meet Jesus, 110 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:13.200 we're learning the truth. And it's glorious. Is it not when you pick up your Bible and you read daily? 111 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:18.400 You just daily. I'm not saying you have to do it to go to heaven, but people who don't read their 112 00:12:18.400 --> 00:12:23.280 Bibles and they're going to be weak. You're not going to know what's going on. You're easily 113 00:12:23.280 --> 00:12:28.640 led astray. You're real. Honestly, we love you, but in church, you're a real pain. Because 114 00:12:28.640 --> 00:12:33.760 everybody else is 10 miles ahead of you and we're trying to teach you how to get the training wheels 115 00:12:33.760 --> 00:12:39.440 off still when you shouldn't be advancing with the rest of the team. So think about that for a 116 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:43.600 moment. You don't have to read the Bible exactly right to go to church, but you've got to know 117 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:49.760 what God's love letter says to you. But when you read it, it's amazing because the words jump off 118 00:12:49.760 --> 00:12:54.480 and speak to you. And we learn the truth every time we open up the Word of God. 119 00:12:56.160 --> 00:13:00.960 So know this when he says, what then shall we say to these things? You can almost hear the 120 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:06.400 Jewishness of Paul. He's answering a question with a question. What do we say to these things? 121 00:13:06.400 --> 00:13:09.200 He'd go like this. So what do we say to these things? 122 00:13:10.880 --> 00:13:14.560 It's, there's a beautiful sanctified sarcasm in the question. 123 00:13:15.520 --> 00:13:22.080 Everything we just read, we read not all things work together for good, to those who love God, 124 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:26.800 to those who are called the goodness purposes, to those he called, he justified, he just, 125 00:13:27.680 --> 00:13:32.400 all based on his foreign and he's gone. There's an incredible crescendo of last week's Bible 126 00:13:32.400 --> 00:13:36.240 study. And then Paul throws his arms up and he says, what do we say to these things? 127 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:40.960 What is the answer? And the answer is the question with questions. 128 00:13:41.680 --> 00:13:47.840 It's brilliant and you and I learn by them. These things scholars will tell you in their 129 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:55.920 rights. They'll say these things pertain to the first 30 verses of Romans 8. That is true. 130 00:13:56.720 --> 00:14:01.600 Then some scholars will tell you it pertains to the whole book of the book of Romans itself, 131 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:10.000 chapter 1 verse 1. That is true. Somebody might say it reveals the entire word of God being these 132 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:16.320 things. What shall we say to these things? All of the above, the greatness of God. And it's 133 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:22.240 absolutely spectacular. And that Bible tells us of us and then John chapter 10 tells us of us 134 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:26.080 that you and I are one with Christ. Did you know that? We don't understand it. We just know the 135 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:32.160 Bible teaches us that we're one with Christ. When the Bible tells us that he's called us out of 136 00:14:32.160 --> 00:14:37.280 this world and made us one with this Christ, with this son Christ Jesus, this is why somebody, 137 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:45.760 and many people have spoken, one with God is a majority. We get it as Christians but it sounds 138 00:14:45.760 --> 00:14:51.280 insane to the world. Don't say that to non-Christians. They'll think you're weird. But Christians, 139 00:14:51.280 --> 00:14:58.320 we get it. God is never in on the numbers. Have you noticed that by now in the Bible? God has never 140 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:04.000 said, okay, David, wait right here. I got to get more men so we can fight this battle again, 141 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:08.240 the hit tights or whatever it is. You think about the ratio of size between David and Goliath. 142 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:15.120 God's never in the big numbers. Listen, churches today, this is considered a mega church. I hate 143 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:20.320 that term. It's label, people put that label on this. And a mega church is supposed to be a church 144 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:26.080 that's over 2000 people. Okay, so we're, listen, there's over 2000 people just sitting here by far. 145 00:15:27.040 --> 00:15:31.040 There's people all over the campus sitting down. There's people in overflow rooms. This is second 146 00:15:31.040 --> 00:15:34.480 service. The exact same thing was going on at first service. And it's going to happen again at 147 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:41.760 third service. God's not impressed by that. God doesn't stand there in heaven and go, oh, 148 00:15:42.640 --> 00:15:47.440 go, wow, look at that's going on down there. Did you know, listen, 149 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:55.920 prophetically speaking, Jesus says that in the last days, the church, it's going to get pretty dicey. 150 00:15:56.240 --> 00:16:03.120 He said it's going to be like a mustard seed that's planted and it grows into a great tree. Now, 151 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:08.880 we don't know about mustard seeds, but there's, it's like, I mean, I'm talking like the mustard seed 152 00:16:08.880 --> 00:16:13.680 is like the size of a grain of pepper, the grain of pepper in your shaker, not the pepper, 153 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:19.520 not the pepper, like that's on the trees out there at the time. You know what I'm talking? Ground 154 00:16:20.160 --> 00:16:25.120 pepper. That's the word. Mustard seed is still tiny. But when Jesus said, it's going to grow in a 155 00:16:25.120 --> 00:16:34.160 big tree. Every Jew went like this. Say, what's he talking about? Mustard seed growing that it's 156 00:16:34.160 --> 00:16:40.640 the best miracle grow perfect fertilizer. Never gets that big. Isn't it like a bush? What's he 157 00:16:40.640 --> 00:16:45.440 talking about? Jesus was talking about a mustard seed grows into a nice, healthy bush and that's 158 00:16:45.520 --> 00:16:50.320 really great, but it doesn't stop there. It keeps growing to the point where it becomes odd. 159 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:59.040 And watch. He says the birds of the air come and lodge within its branches. That's not a good thing. 160 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:05.040 When God cares about something, He will always address it specifically. This is good stuff for 161 00:17:05.040 --> 00:17:08.640 you to know. You guys awake? You need to know this. You ought to write this down. It's going to take 162 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:17.600 a lot of money in Bible school to get to this. When God speaks generically of birds, birds of the air, 163 00:17:19.600 --> 00:17:28.320 it's not good. When He speaks specifically, it's okay. Your father, if one sparrow falls to the ground, 164 00:17:29.280 --> 00:17:37.840 He knows of it and He cares. But Jesus says, for example, in Armageddon, the birds of the air will 165 00:17:37.840 --> 00:17:44.400 come and devour the flesh of the dead. When Jesus says the birds of the air lodge in the branches of 166 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:49.840 what the church starts out to be and grows into this anomaly, mischief is in the ranks. 167 00:17:50.800 --> 00:17:55.120 You don't walk by a bush and care about covering your head, for example, if there's birds in the 168 00:17:55.120 --> 00:18:02.240 bush, but if you walk under a tree that's full of birds, you better have an umbrella. You get the 169 00:18:02.240 --> 00:18:09.760 drift. And listen, just this service could be like that. Not everybody here is a Christian right now. 170 00:18:09.760 --> 00:18:15.520 I'm not dumb. There's people that come here because they have a religious hankering and their heart 171 00:18:15.520 --> 00:18:19.280 to just go do some religious thing. There's some people here for mischief. There's some people here 172 00:18:19.280 --> 00:18:23.840 that follow you to your car and try to invite them to their church or their cult. We know this. We have 173 00:18:23.840 --> 00:18:27.600 people out here that are trying to find these people because it's happening. Did you know that? 174 00:18:27.600 --> 00:18:32.320 They're like wolves. You leave the sanctuary and there's people following you and they look normal. 175 00:18:33.040 --> 00:18:39.040 But they're from cults. Hey, what do you think about what he said about me? Can I interview you? 176 00:18:39.040 --> 00:18:46.160 You want to come to my Bible site? And it's a hook into an established cult. Things like that. 177 00:18:46.320 --> 00:18:50.320 You want to be careful. 178 00:18:52.080 --> 00:18:55.760 Jesus said, if you know the truth, the truth will set you free and you will be protected. 179 00:19:00.320 --> 00:19:06.240 This Jack Kibs podcast as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities are listener supported. 180 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:13.360 Will you consider partnering with us through a special gift? Go to jackhibs.com to learn more 181 00:19:13.360 --> 00:19:15.760 and stay connected.