What Are You Going To Do About Bible Prophecy?

Real life presents the Jack Hibbs podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, equip the saints and impact our culture. The government of God is someday coming, but it will not come. It will not come until Christ physically returns. No political person is going to usher in the kingdom of God. We do our best, we pray, we get involved, we engage, why? Because you and I are called by God to represent the politics of heaven here and now knowing this. We ain't home yet. You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.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 Hibbs. Revelation 19 verse 10. Mark it down in your note taking for this chapter of Romans 8. John says, I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, see that you do not do that. I am your fellow servant and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. This is a vision of heaven. John is seen heaven. He's talking to a brother. We don't know who it is in heaven. And the answer is worship God for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. The utterance of God's word and it also means the future telling of God's word of what is to pass. John 16 verse 33. Jesus said, and these things I have spoken unto you that in me, you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. That's a prophetic statement, church family. You and I need to know this now because our need for this verse is going to increase. So what should you know and how does Bible prophecy apply to your life? It is equipping you to embrace the promises of God. Listen, promises are prophetic. When God says, I promise that means he's going to fulfill something in your future. The prophetic nature of our God. Revelation chapter 3, verse 7, starting there into the angel of the church at Philadelphia. The church we all want to be like. Verse 8, I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door and no one can shut it because you have a little strength and you've kept my word. It's the first criteria. And number 2, you've not denied my name. Verse 10 says, because you have kept my command to persevere. Watch this. I also will keep you from the hour. That word implies that things are going to get rougher. But right when you think it can't get any more rougher, he says, I'm going to keep you from that hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world to test those you dwell on the earth. What a promise. Isaiah chapter 42, verse 9, behold, God says, the former things have come to pass. And new things I declare. Before they spring forth, I tell you of them. That's the God you work. You know, we were singing a moment ago. Who were you singing to? Who were you worshiping? The God of the Bible, who says right here, things have come to pass that I've spoken of and oh, by the way, things that have not yet happened, I'm telling you about them now. What a great and awesome God. The Bible tells us in Luke chapter 21, verse 34, Luke 21 34, Jesus says, be careful for your hearts could be weighed down with dissipation. That is your faith and your commitment starts to leak out, starts to grow low, drunkenness and the anxieties of this life, and that they come and will close in on you unexpectedly like a trap that is his return. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth, be always on the watch and pray that you may escape all that is about to happen. Oh, that's good news. Can someone say me into that? I'm all for that. Oh, you guys just want to escape all the bad stuff. Uh, yeah. Why? Jesus said so, Luke 21 36, that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man. Get ready now, still foundational, Philippians chapter 3, verse 20, for our citizenship is in heaven. I should pause right here for a moment at that comma. See the word citizenship? It's the Greek word politics. Yep. Our politics is where? In heaven. If the politics of heaven will someday come in Christ Jesus to this world, that's going to be a good day. The government of God is someday coming, but it will not come. It will not come until Christ physically returns to earth. You're not going to bring it in. We're not going to usher it in. We don't know. We know this. No political person is going to usher in the kingdom of God. We do our best. We pray. We get involved. We engage. Why? Because you and I are called by God to represent the politics of heaven here and now knowing this. We ain't home yet. We are not home yet. Thank God because our citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our vile body that it may be conform to his glorious body. The power of the Word of God, Matthew chapter 16, verse 1, by introduction announces. Then the Pharisees and Sadducey teamed up together in game. Testing Jesus asked that he would show them a sign from heaven. Here you go. And he answered and said to them, when it is evening you say it will be fair weather for the skies red. Nice sunset. And the morning it will be foul weather today because or for the sky is red and threatening. Hippocrates, isn't it great how subtle Jesus is? The word Hippocrates means you have two faces. You ever heard somebody say you're two faced? That's called Hippocrate. That's why Hollywood and the screen actor's guild has the Hippocrate as a logo. Did you know that? The one face smiling, the one face frowning and it's got the little strings that you tied on. The actor wore or had the opportunity to wear one in the front, one in the back. Jesus called them, you two faced people you. You know how to discern the face of the sky but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. That's what Jesus said to their question. You say did you believe in Jonah? Yes, I do. Never met him. I will someday. But you know I believe in Jonah because not only is he in the Bible and he was a real guy but Jesus said he was and that's enough for me. Jesus said this sign is going to be given to you as it was with Jonah. Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish. So the son of man, Jesus must have pointed to himself, will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. So church here we go at your one and only argument today in our point. What are you going to do about Bible prophecy? Well listen the fact is your glorification is coming. It's coming. Have you ever checked Amazon on your number to see what time the package is coming? It should have been here by now. You're looking gold. Did you go check the door? We're so amazing. We have an app and it's like ding, it dings. Oh it should be there. Check the front door and we're we trust them. Let's go see. We're following this plastic piece of junk and we open the door. Oh it's not here. Call them. Call them. Find an app. What do we do? Listen. I wasn't going to say on scout's honor. On the basis of the word of God the Bible announces to all of God's children the ultimate act of his redemptive work in your life is your eternal glorification which happens at the moment of your death and or resurrection in the coming of Christ for the church. You will be transformed. The Bible says and you will be glorified. You'll pass. I just want to be in heaven. I don't need all that fancy stuff. You have to have the fancy stuff. You wonder why you're robbing Christ from what he purchased for you. He's going to clothe you in his own righteousness. The Bible says it looks like white, a white gown. Beautiful. Clean and bright the Bible says. He purchased for you absolute. Listen, forgiveness of sins and the giving of a clear conscience and of a sound mind. He's purchased for you absolute peace with God. No more warring. God's your friend and your child of God and there's a love relationship. Jesus did that. Are any of you enjoying that today? Do you think about God? Do you love God? Do you wonder and imagine and you can't wait to get there and truly we are admitting that our politic is in heaven? Why is that true? Jesus did that for you and we don't thank God enough for that. Your whole life is prophetic. We're not stuck here right now. It happens to be today. I can't wait for today to be over. Because listen, tomorrow is either a brand new day to live for him yet again or we're one day closer to meeting Christ. One thing is sure, even if Jesus doesn't come back for the next 50 years, I'm going to be meeting him. So are you. But what a tremendous thing that it's God's desire that you and I experience his glorification. And we go around life, do we not? Look, honestly, I am new pants. Thank you. Costco dirt cheap. Sure it is old but I ironed it this morning. Why don't even iron it? Think about it. Why did I iron it? Because I didn't want to look like a bum in front of you. And then if Lisa, if she would have seen me, you are standing in front of those people with a shirt that's not ironed, it makes me look bad. Why? Both on Lisa's part and on my part, we do what we do because there's a sense of, you know, I'm clean, washed, night, I didn't say shit, didn't shave today, but you know what I mean? Everything else is in order. What's the deal? Imagine there's a sense where can you hang my picture on the wall? Where's my trophy? Self glorification, it's in human nature. 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. And his glorification is holy. Our deification of ourselves is a joke. But God is holy and pure and remarkable. And so we look at it this way. Verse 31 is the fact that regarding the future in Bible prophecy and you and I being glorified is the fact that we will learn the truth on this. We're studying that now in our Bibles. We're Christians and until we meet Jesus, we're learning the truth. And it's glorious. Is it not when you pick up your Bible and you read daily? You just daily. I'm not saying you have to do it to go to heaven, but people who don't read their Bibles and they're going to be weak. You're not going to know what's going on. You're easily led astray. You're real. Honestly, we love you, but in church, you're a real pain. Because everybody else is 10 miles ahead of you and we're trying to teach you how to get the training wheels off still when you shouldn't be advancing with the rest of the team. So think about that for a moment. You don't have to read the Bible exactly right to go to church, but you've got to know what God's love letter says to you. But when you read it, it's amazing because the words jump off and speak to you. And we learn the truth every time we open up the Word of God. So know this when he says, what then shall we say to these things? You can almost hear the Jewishness of Paul. He's answering a question with a question. What do we say to these things? He'd go like this. So what do we say to these things? It's, there's a beautiful sanctified sarcasm in the question. Everything we just read, we read not all things work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are called the goodness purposes, to those he called, he justified, he just, all based on his foreign and he's gone. There's an incredible crescendo of last week's Bible study. And then Paul throws his arms up and he says, what do we say to these things? What is the answer? And the answer is the question with questions. It's brilliant and you and I learn by them. These things scholars will tell you in their rights. They'll say these things pertain to the first 30 verses of Romans 8. That is true. Then some scholars will tell you it pertains to the whole book of the book of Romans itself, chapter 1 verse 1. That is true. Somebody might say it reveals the entire word of God being these things. What shall we say to these things? All of the above, the greatness of God. And it's absolutely spectacular. And that Bible tells us of us and then John chapter 10 tells us of us that you and I are one with Christ. Did you know that? We don't understand it. We just know the Bible teaches us that we're one with Christ. When the Bible tells us that he's called us out of this world and made us one with this Christ, with this son Christ Jesus, this is why somebody, and many people have spoken, one with God is a majority. We get it as Christians but it sounds insane to the world. Don't say that to non-Christians. They'll think you're weird. But Christians, we get it. God is never in on the numbers. Have you noticed that by now in the Bible? God has never said, okay, David, wait right here. I got to get more men so we can fight this battle again, the hit tights or whatever it is. You think about the ratio of size between David and Goliath. God's never in the big numbers. Listen, churches today, this is considered a mega church. I hate that term. It's label, people put that label on this. And a mega church is supposed to be a church that's over 2000 people. Okay, so we're, listen, there's over 2000 people just sitting here by far. There's people all over the campus sitting down. There's people in overflow rooms. This is second service. The exact same thing was going on at first service. And it's going to happen again at third service. God's not impressed by that. God doesn't stand there in heaven and go, oh, go, wow, look at that's going on down there. Did you know, listen, prophetically speaking, Jesus says that in the last days, the church, it's going to get pretty dicey. He said it's going to be like a mustard seed that's planted and it grows into a great tree. Now, we don't know about mustard seeds, but there's, it's like, I mean, I'm talking like the mustard seed is like the size of a grain of pepper, the grain of pepper in your shaker, not the pepper, not the pepper, like that's on the trees out there at the time. You know what I'm talking? Ground pepper. That's the word. Mustard seed is still tiny. But when Jesus said, it's going to grow in a big tree. Every Jew went like this. Say, what's he talking about? Mustard seed growing that it's the best miracle grow perfect fertilizer. Never gets that big. Isn't it like a bush? What's he talking about? Jesus was talking about a mustard seed grows into a nice, healthy bush and that's really great, but it doesn't stop there. It keeps growing to the point where it becomes odd. And watch. He says the birds of the air come and lodge within its branches. That's not a good thing. When God cares about something, He will always address it specifically. This is good stuff for you to know. You guys awake? You need to know this. You ought to write this down. It's going to take a lot of money in Bible school to get to this. When God speaks generically of birds, birds of the air, it's not good. When He speaks specifically, it's okay. Your father, if one sparrow falls to the ground, He knows of it and He cares. But Jesus says, for example, in Armageddon, the birds of the air will come and devour the flesh of the dead. When Jesus says the birds of the air lodge in the branches of what the church starts out to be and grows into this anomaly, mischief is in the ranks. You don't walk by a bush and care about covering your head, for example, if there's birds in the bush, but if you walk under a tree that's full of birds, you better have an umbrella. You get the drift. And listen, just this service could be like that. Not everybody here is a Christian right now. I'm not dumb. There's people that come here because they have a religious hankering and their heart to just go do some religious thing. There's some people here for mischief. There's some people here that follow you to your car and try to invite them to their church or their cult. We know this. We have people out here that are trying to find these people because it's happening. Did you know that? They're like wolves. You leave the sanctuary and there's people following you and they look normal. But they're from cults. Hey, what do you think about what he said about me? Can I interview you? You want to come to my Bible site? And it's a hook into an established cult. Things like that. You want to be careful. Jesus said, if you know the truth, the truth will set you free and you will be protected. This Jack Kibs podcast as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities are listener supported. Will you consider partnering with us through a special gift? Go to jackhibs.com to learn more and stay connected.