Today on Real Life Radio. He's coming. He's coming. He's Christians are. Oh, you Christians, you talk about Jesus is coming.
It's because He's landing. He's coming. The configuration are the events of the world. The Bible, if you don't know your Bible, you don't know what I'm talking about. The Bible says, this is how you're going to know he's soon landing.
This is real life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's Word, the Bible. You ever felt like something's missing in your life? Maybe you've been searching for answers for peace or a sense of purpose?
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On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series now called The Parables of Jesus. and a message titled Parable of the Fig Tree, Part 2. A parable is a sort of picture story painted by Jesus that makes the truth absolutely crystal clear. And in this parable, we're taking a unique approach to its message by taking the time to lay its foundation.
Now, as we learned in part one, this parable is a comparison of the natural sequence of a tree blooming in the summer to the surety of the prophetic event of Jesus when he returns.
So today Pastor Jack teaches that just like summer is near when the fig tree is in bloom, There are indicators of the time that Jesus will return. It's why we've got to be ready for his arrival not to simply watch, but by doing everything we can to share our faith with others.
Now with his message called Parable of the Fig Tree Part 2. Here's Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. My grandmother said Jesus was going to come back. Oh, yeah, that's nothing. Your grandmother's grandmother said Jesus was going to come back.
That doesn't make, listen, just because a generation of grandmothers have told you that he's coming back doesn't mean that he's not coming back. Wake up, knucklehead. Knucklehead's a Hebrew word. For get smart, will you now? It means this.
It means if your great, great, great, great grandmother said Jesus was coming back, you, my dear friend, are closer than your great-granny was ever. To Jesus coming back. It doesn't mean he's not coming back. It means it's very near. And you need to be ready.
But if, listen, if you are not studying this stuff, if you're not looking at it, you are going to miss. The joy of being ready, which by the way, the Bible says God commands us to be ready. And not to miss him. Very serious stuff.
So, Regarding the parable of the fig tree, I had you turn last time to Matthew 23. You remember that? Matthew 23 at verse 37, we began reading, and we went into chapter 24, and the plan was to get all the way down to verse. 34, and we made it really good. We came to Matthew twenty-four, thirty-two, which is, of course.
The actual announcement of this parable, Jesus says, now learn this parable. It's the only parable that Jesus says, know this. I'm holding you people accountable to know this. And he doesn't say this about any other parable. This is mandatory.
This is not an option to the Christian. Jesus says, know it. What is it? Which one? The parable of the fig tree.
When its branch is already become tender and puts forth its leaves, remember we said that means it's springtime. You know that summer's near, it's coming. This is very interesting. It's awesome.
So, you also, when you see all these things, know that it, circle of the word it, is near. Even at the doors. And I want you to mark this down in your margins next to your Bible. Just write this down. That this is a parable about timing.
It's a parable about global events. It's a parable about the second coming of Christ. And it's a parable about recognizing the signs of the last days. Jesus said 2,000 years ago that when you, whoever that generation is, in the end, You'll be able to recognize the time by all these things coming to pass. That means the disciples saw some things, but not all the things.
That in the last two thousand years, people saw some things, but not all the things. And the generation that is yet ahead of us Think of it, there's going to be a time. We know this. You know what? We know that it's.
Safe to say it's more than seven years away from now. They are going to see all these things come to pass, and that includes. The physical return of the second coming, not the rapture of Jesus Christ. to Jerusalem. And don't you, isn't it amazing that tonight Jerusalem is in the news again tonight about dividing it up?
Oh man, listen, are you a skeptic in the house? This is not in my notes. I'm sorry, but listen, you got it. Are you not a believer? Can I just kind of introduce you to something right now?
Jerusalem's in the news tonight. For that matter, This is hard for an American to swallow. But What city is in the news more than any other city around the world in other national publications? What city appears more in news broadcast and printed news than any other city in all of the globe? Let me give you a clue.
It doesn't have any oil, it doesn't have an airport, it doesn't have a river. It doesn't have gold. Uh it doesn't have uh freeway. It doesn't have It doesn't have a capital. Building It doesn't have w the Washington Monument.
It's Jerusalem. You think that's a coincidence? That's a coincidence.
Okay, how about this? that tonight is uh Hmm. May 14th. Tan tonight is Israel's birthday.
So what? You say so what?
Well What is it? 60, how many years? 66? 66 years old today, Israel? Isn't it funny?
You say, Jack, it's only 66 years old. Seems like it's been around a lot longer than that. Yeah. Ah, like thousands of years. But it's having its second Birthday Run.
Why? Because no other nation in the history of the world, according to the Bible and world history, was a nation. And then God said, if you turn your back on me, I'm going to stop blessing you. And when I stop blessing you, you're going to be driven out to all the nations to the ends of the earth, and I won't talk to you. Until The end days come.
And when that time comes, you'll know that I'm setting up the last days because I will call you from all corners of the globe back into your own land, and I will cause Israel to become a nation again in one day. Day. I'm talking from the book of Isaiah. And listen, no nation has ever had that happen in the history of mankind, but one, here's the fun part: but one, and it's the nation Israel. And here's the cool thing.
God wrote it down before it ever happens. That is science, my friend. That's pure Absolute science. You cannot refute it. You can run out of the building tonight with your hair on fire.
You can be grinding your teeth. You can be furious. Listen, listen. One word proves the existence of God. One word: Israel.
Good night and God bless. Think of it. Absolutely awesome.
So this parable comes about as the disciples ask Jesus. Regarding the destruction of the temple, Matthew chapter 24, verses 1 and 2. When Jesus went out and departed from the temple, his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, Do you not see all these things? Assuredly I say to you, not one stone shall be left upon another.
That shall not be thrown down. And now, as he sat, on the Mount of Olives. The disciples came to him privately, and they must have been freaking out. Saying tell us. First question, when will these things be?
Second question. What will be the sign of your coming? That's a pretty insightful question. And third, and of the end of the age. And Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no one deceives you.
What a funny answer. When, Jesus, is all this going to happen? His answer is. Watch out that you don't get deceived. Did you guys all hear that?
There's this This should cause you to sit up and take notice. This causes me to ask the question regarding last days things and end time things and parable of the fig tree thing, am I being deceived? Am I deceived? Are you being deceived? Who tells you what?
It better be the Bible instructing you. Because listen, that's the only way that we're going to be able to discern the days. Matthew, excuse me, Luke chapter 21. Jesus put it this way. Luke recorded it this way.
Luke 21:29 says, Then he spoke to them a parable, and he says, Look at the fig tree and all the trees. In other words, seasons, springtime, when they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is near.
So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. And that word near is an awesome word. Watch, everybody, because. Look, I need you to look at me. See this?
See my hands? Every day We're moving closer to what God calls the ends.
Now the cool thing is The end for the believer is just the beginning. It's cool. Events will happen on a greater scale. Increasing, it's listed in scripture. And as this snowball rolls, Jesus says, there's going to come a time.
When as you discern these things, these indicators Like a checkup, there's indicators: your tongue, stick out your tongue. The doctor takes your temperature. He takes that little rubber mallet and whacks your knee with it. He's taking signs to see how you're operating. There are signs that are going to be telling us now it's getting closer and closer and closer still.
Are you with me, everybody? This is very, very fundamentally basic. And Jesus says, when all these things are happening, the kingdom is near. And this is amazing. Listen to what the word near means right here in Luke 21:31.
The word near here means to make near. Upon at? or to approach or to be approaching the the the Kingdom is near approaching. It is coming. Listen, it's coming, and the word implies this.
This is amazing. It's coming in a fashion that can be. Seen.
Now listen, Jesus earlier 2,000 years ago told the disciples: remember, the kingdom of God is not seen like this. It's not like this. It starts within. Remember that? And that is 100% true.
True. But then there's the fulfillment of the kingdom when it physically comes. Did you know that? Do you ever think about that? The manifestation of the physical kingdom is when Christ returns.
The second coming, Jesus brings or ushers in his millennial, it's called, kingdom. The Bible says that Jesus Will have to rule in reign from Jerusalem. For one millennia, that's 1,000 years. Listen, upon the throne of his father. David, the bl the bloodline.
The bloodline through Mary. Isn't that interesting? Jesus tonight is seated upon The throne, but not David's throne. The Jesus Christ of the Bible has to sit upon the throne of David. Where's the throne of David?
In the city, the most hotly contended city on planet Earth. Why do you think that's the case? Why do you think nations Whatever decisions they make, they have to take into consideration how this is going to affect relationships with the Middle East. You want to start a riot? Start talking about.
uh Israel's right to the land and the Palestinian effort. Want to start a riot? That'll start a riot. And listen, you researched those things, by the way. You really want to start a riot?
Tell the truth about it. That'll start a fight. You want to create a riot? Go to the United Nations and say, I've been doing some research. And there's always been in Israel But for the life of me For the last 5,000 years of human history, I can't find one Palestinian piece of pottery, one Palestinian flag, one Palestinian king, one Palestinian border, one Palestinian.
Do you hear what I'm saying? Go figure that one out. You said, What did you just say? Go. Search and see.
Are you being deceived? Because that's a hot topic item, isn't it? You're listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com.
And for now, let's get back to our teaching. Once again, here's Pastor Jack. Jesus Christ has to return not to Capitolina. You see, that's what Hadrian in 135. Emperor Hadrian, Roman Empire, in 135.
He hated the Jews so much. He said that's it. That's it. I'm at it with these people. We're going to wipe them off the face of the earth.
They drive me nuts, and we're going to stop all acknowledgments of them. Where do I begin? I know. We're going to call Jerusalem Capitalina And we're going to call Israel I'm talking 135 AD. A.
D. We're going to call Israel After its ancient most Wicked enemy. Philistines. Who said this? An Italian.
In Rome. by the name of Hadrian, I've been to his house. Seriously. It's totally there still. And he said, that's it.
No more Israel. We're going to call it Palestine. After the ancient enemies of Israel, that'll really freak them out when I rename it Palestine because they know that it's. A derivative from Philistia, the Philistines. That'll freak them out.
And we'll just cleanse the word Jerusalem and put the word Capitolina in there. Did you know that? Why? Because Satan Hates. Israel.
Why? Because he hates Jerusalem. Yeah. Because he hates the temple mount. Why?
Because Jesus is going to return there someday. And Satan knows the Bible. And Satan's committed to destroying that city and that nation. That's why in the book of Joel and the book of Amos, God says, get out of my way. I'm going to enter into judgment with the nations of the world.
And I'm going to destroy them. Why? Because they have taken my city and my land, and they've divided it. And for that, God says, that's it. Listen.
This is what John Kerry is. is pushing He's been pushing it. But then so did Hillary Clinton.
So did Henry Kissinger.
So did Bush.
So did Bush.
So the only guy that didn't was Reagan. He knew his Bible. Nixon didn't either. He knew his Bible. Truman would have flipped because he knew his Bible.
Think of it. I'm not sure if Kennedy even got involved in it. Clinton, some of the most famous pictures in the world is Clinton standing with the Osser Arafat, and I think. Shimon Perez at the time, I forget who it was, or the other guy, doesn't matter. But they're standing on the White House lawn talking about dividing up the land.
And this is the President of the United States. Look at me, I'm throwing my country under the bus. We're going to divide Jerusalem. Ladies and gentlemen, Bible prophecy is serious stuff. And I need to stick to my notes.
Listen to this. I mentioned to you that the word near is coming. As it's a scene coming, you can see it coming, it escalates. And it's like a plane. This is kind of fun.
For those of you who I just, it just dawns on me, no one's going to care about this. This is an analogy that I made up and no one's gonna care maybe. I like it, so I'm going to give it anyway. When a plane, when it's approaching, listen. It's in a landing configuration.
You know this if you've ever flown an airplane. The plane starts to get ready to land. long before you touch the ground. You seen those you hear those funny noises? In the flame?
And it starts to act a little funny. And the wings turn into something else. Have you ever seen what those wings do when you get ready to land? The leading edge goes out, the trailing edge goes out, the whole wing changes. What's going on?
It's getting into its landing configuration. Listen, as it's on final approach, it's in its landing configuration. When it's touching down, it's in its landing configuration. When it does its rollout to the end of the runway, it's in its landing configuration. Listen, it's in its landing configuration, and the Bible tells us that when Jesus Christ, listen, his coming, the kingdom coming.
There is a configuration The plane gets into a shape, into a condition, and sets a speed, and it comes in until the tires meet the earth. And if you're standing there right now, you can say, oh, look, look, there's an Airbus 380. It's coming in, it's landing. Look, it's still at 3,000 feet, and you're saying it's landing. Do you hear what I'm saying?
It's landing and now it's at 1500 feet. It's landing. And then it's right over the numbers. It's landing, you say, and then it touches down. You go, it's landing, it's landing.
There it is. You said one thing and events unfolded. The same is true. Awesome. Jesus said, I'm going to come back like lightning that flashes out of the east unto the west, so shall my coming be.
He's landing. He's coming. He's coming. Christians are. Oh, you Christians, you talk about Jesus is coming.
It's because he's landing. He's coming. The configuration are the events of the world. The Bible, if you don't know your Bible, you don't even know what I'm talking about. The Bible says, this is how you're going to know, he's soon landing.
You'll watch for this, you'll watch for that. And oh, by the way, Jerusalem, Israel is going to be a big deal.
So here we are tonight on Israel's birthday, May 14, 1948. Israel was born as a nation, and one day, just as God said would happen. And It's pure Bible prophecy. You're living in an amazing time zone right now. And it's just going to get even better.
prophetically. This parable is important because I want to give you six things why it's important. Because, listen, it's an issue regarding preparedness. The parable is so unique, and Jesus says you better know it. Because, why this parable challenges you and I as a Christian?
It tells us we must be prepared. There's no excuse for not being prepared. Do you have a earthquake? Secure Water heater at home, do you? If you don't, why not?
Have you not been prepared enough? Think about it, right?
Now, I need to go home and see if I do. I don't even remember if I do. But have we not been warned? If you choose not to do anything about it, it's your choice. You can't blame anybody.
You can't go slap your neighbor and say, Why didn't you secure my water heater? It wasn't his water heater. Is Your heart secured. Secondly, it's an issue of vigilance. You don't hear that word anymore, huh?
Vigilance? What's the last time you heard that word? Vigilance. It's a big word, it's a serious word. Vigilance.
Being in a state of Watchfulness. It's an issue of doctrine. Bible doctrine. I challenge you from this moment forward, my dear friends, no matter, you know. What you're reading.
In your Bible, start looking for the word doctrine. You ought to circle it every time you see it. You're going to find out that this word doctrine, which is the word of God, the teachings of the Bible, the Bible says regarding doctrine that it's preeminent above everything. Did you know, listen, did you know that doctrine is preeminent above? things like unity.
Don't you think unity is an important thing? It's second at best to doctrine. Isn't that interesting? Besides, what are you going to be unified on if you don't have doctrine? Let's unite.
Okay, what are we uniting for? I don't know. What do you want to unite for? Are you with me? You have to be united.
For a cause. And the Bible says you. Are only to be united when your doctrine is in agreement with the Word of God doctrine. That always gets people going to. I can't believe you said that.
Well, I didn't make that up. I'd love to take credit for it, but the Bible. announces that. It's an issue of deception. We're living in a time of Deception.
And we're being warned every day, I believe. It's an issue of biblical authority. Does the Bible mean what it says? It says what it means? It's an issue of biblical authority.
I say biblical authority. Because we're living at a time right now regarding deception, that biblical authority is second in a lot of people's minds to my human feelings. Biblical authority. versus human feelings. Emotions.
Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio with his message called Parable of the Fig Tree Part 2. We're so glad you took the time to be with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called The Parables of Jesus. It's a series that highlights the teachings of Jesus while he was ministering right here on this earth and will continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. What do you say when a friend says their marriage might end?
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Now this isn't a book that you're going to pick up and read cover to cover, but it is one that you'll reach for in a moment of need. And it's our thank you gift for your donation of any size to Real Life this month. And if you'd like to order your copy, and we hope you will, just visit jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That's jackhibbs.com/slash real radio. Order your copy right away.
This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We'll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.
