Real Life Radio

Jack Hibbs: Listen, this message can change your life this morning. If you listen carefully, this message can absolutely do you good because it does have to deal with the baby Jesus. It has to deal with baby Jesus having come to deliver you from what the Bible calls the wrath that is to come. That is the tribulation period.

David J: Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David J, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's Word, the Bible.

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On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues with his series called "The Life and Times of Jesus Christ" and a message called "Christ and the Tribulation." This is a series now about who Jesus really is, not the Jesus of popular opinion, but the Jesus of the Bible—God himself who stepped into our world.

And this very same Jesus came to deliver us from what the Bible calls the wrath that is to come. You see, the tribulation is a topic that scares a lot of folks. But for the believer, it's not bad news at all. The same baby Jesus who came to save us from hell has promised to rescue us from the days of judgment ahead. That's a promise that we can hold on to.

So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that the tribulation is still future and the signs pointing toward it are all around us. But for the Christian, these events are not cause for fear. They're a reminder that God is in control and His word is coming true. Before we get into the message, I had a chance to sit down with Pastor Jack and talk about it with him. So let's get into that.

Pastor Jack, in this series, you talk about, well, you've got this paradox, right? People hiding in caves from the wrath of the lamb. And you ask, have you ever seen a lamb go nuts on somebody? And what are we supposed to make of a lamb whose wrath terrifies the whole earth? I mean, I've never seen a lamb go crazy on somebody.

Jack Hibbs: Yeah, and you're not going to. But Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. But the book of Revelation does tell us that there will be those during the tribulation period who have rejected Christ. They hate God.

And in the second coming—not the rapture now, but the second coming when Christ comes to establish his kingdom upon Mount Zion in Jerusalem, the Bible says—that those who see him coming will yell, they'll scream, they'll cry out, and they will say, "Hide us from the wrath of the lamb."

And that's Christ coming in his holy, pure, reverence of wrath, his indignation, his punishment of those who have rejected the offer of God's salvation. And they will be justly rewarded for their own life's conduct. They have no atonement, they have no sacrifice, they have no Messiah, and the Bible talks about the second coming as being a very terrible day for them.

Grab your Bibles this morning and turn, if you would, to Matthew's Gospel, chapter 24. Matthew chapter 24, we're going to be looking at verse 21 this morning. And if you're joining us for the very first time, maybe you're visiting church for the first time, we are in part 14 of a series that we're calling "The Life and Times of Jesus Christ."

And this morning, we come to a very, very unpopular, never talked about, rarely ever seen on Christian TV or heard on Christian radio, a topic concerning Christ and the tribulation period. And of course, as you can see, Colossians chapter 2 verse 9 is the theme verse for our series: "For in Christ"—this is baby Jesus—"all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form."

And so this morning, we approach this topic, Christ and the tribulation period. We saw last time, last week together, about the rapture of the church and how in chronological order we now step through the end-time events. The church will be removed from the earth, the Bible talks about, in a very, very mysterious and secretive way.

The Bible says, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," the rapture will take place and those who are real Christians—I'm not talking about pretend Christians, I'm talking about real believers, true Christians, those who have the Holy Spirit that is dwelling within them. They love God. You.

The Bible says, "We who are alive and remain at the coming of the Lord will be caught up into the air," and it'll be a mysterious event, and we will be transformed. We will go from somewhat of this physical state that we're in to an incredible, fantastic—in fact, 1 Corinthians 15, beginning at verse 50, describes this amazing transformation that will take place in our bodies. And it's going to be something that is spectacular, to say the least.

After that great and imminent event—by the way, it could happen today, according to Bible prophecy—there's no warning needed for the rapture of the church. But right after that, some point in time after, will begin what is called the Day of the Lord. Those of you who are note-takers, you can put on your left side of your page, "The Day of the Lord" begins when the church is raptured.

From that time on, the Day of the Lord will continue all the way out until the end of the millennial age, the millennium reign of Christ. And we'll talk about that in following studies. But very, very importantly, this morning we look at Christ and the tribulation period. What is it all about? And I have to tell you this morning, it is impossible to cover all that the Bible says about it.

In fact, keep this in mind: Out of the 66 books of the Bible, 17 books of the Bible give incredible amounts of its attention and time to the events of the tribulation period. Specifically, Revelation chapter 6 through 19 deals with it in great detail. The tribulation period: Will you go through it? Will you see it? That all depends if you're a Christian or not.

Concerning the end of the world, that's not going to happen for at least seven years, and that is the world as we know it. And then Christ will come back and establish his thousand-year reign from Jerusalem anyway. But the world out there, when you talk about Christ coming back, they panic. When you talk about the tribulation period, they get scared and nervous because they think the world's going to come to this almost nuclear end.

Well, in Matthew chapter 24 verse 21, Jesus says, "For then there will be great tribulation, such as not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be." The tribulation period will be something that will be absolutely devastating to this entire globe—not only the globe, but the atmosphere and the celestial heavens, the stars that we see.

Can you imagine? I don't know about you, but I love stargazing. I'm not very good at naming everything, but I love getting out there with my little chart and my map and I look and I enjoy and I love it. Can you imagine, during the tribulation period, the Bible says those stars are going to move? Some of them are going to fall. Some, as it says at the end, will almost act as though they're being rolled up like a scroll at the great and notable Day of the Lord.

Now, I am fully aware that this morning you may be visiting church for the first time and you're thinking, "My gosh, I thought I was going to hear a little baby Jesus make me comfortable, send me home happy, happy message." Listen, this message can change your life this morning. If you listen carefully, this message can absolutely do you good because it does have to deal with the baby Jesus.

It has to deal—listen, are you listening? It has to deal with baby Jesus having come to deliver you from what the Bible calls the wrath that is to come. That is the tribulation period. Of course, he died to save us from hell. But he also came—and it's very clear throughout each of the five chapters of 1 Thessalonians—that Jesus Christ has come to deliver us from the tribulation period.

And that's a promise that he has made. So if you're a note-taker this morning, I want you to jot down a few things. And number one, we'll begin right here this morning, and that is the tribulation is future. It is still future. The tribulation period is future. It's ahead of us. "Oh boy, Jack, that's encouraging. That's all I needed to hear."

Well, it's only bad news to you again if you're not a Christian. If you're a Christian, not only is it still futuristic and it's exciting, but just the very hints of things that speak of the tribulation period get us who know the Bible get you, right, who know the Bible excited. What do you mean? What I mean, things like this—and I don't want to get too sidetracked—but maybe you have your little mobile Speedpass.

Do you have that? I've got that. And I've got the one that goes on my keychain. And a friend of mine was with me a couple of months ago and I took it off and I put it in the palm of my hand and I swiped it in front of the little mobile pony. You know, the little mobile horse. You know what I'm talking about? Okay.

And I just put my hand in front of the horse and the whole pump, you know, lights up and says, you know, "I'm ready to pump." And I go, "Hey, watch this. [Whoosh]" and pumped. And the guy goes... He was from some other country. And "How'd you do that?" I said, "It's all right here, man, it's in my hand."

Well, you know, those of you who know the Bible, you know what I'm talking about. The Bible says during the tribulation period, everybody will buy and sell and pump their own gas with a mark that's going to be on their right hand or on their forehead. Now, I don't know if you're going to, you know, drag your head on that thing or not. But your right hand.

And by the way, it's interesting: the right hand. Did you know biologically, for some reason, the right hand, they have been able to measure that the right hand is warmer than your left hand? Futuristic things. We see things that speak about the Bible saying no man will buy or sell without such advanced technology. We see it visiting us now. How close are we?

Well, we know, though, that it is futuristic. It is still coming. Do I believe personally that it's far away? No, not at all. The Bible says in the book of Daniel, in the last days right before the end as we know it, that knowledge shall increase exponentially. And what have we seen? In less than a hundred years, man's fastest mode of transportation less than a hundred years ago was horseback.

In fact, if you wanted to mail something, what was the fastest way to mail? Horseback. Now you get on the computer and you talk to the world in seconds. Amazing! Knowledge shall increase. And Daniel also said that in the last times as a warning to those who are living—that's us—that men will travel to and fro. We have global travel. Isn't it amazing?

I've told you this once before: One of the most amazing days I've ever had in my life is that I woke up and I had breakfast in Moscow. I had an early lunch in London. I came home and I had an early dinner and spoke here the same night. All in one day as I chased the sun home. What a day! Men will travel to and fro.

The Bible tells us that it's futuristic. The Bible tells us that when the tribulation period is unfolding upon the earth, obviously to us who are believers, Jesus is enthroned in heaven. In fact, the Bible says that he is the Lamb of God. In Revelation chapter 6, the Bible tells us that the people of the earth during the tribulation period will weep and mourn.

By the way, it says all those who dwell on the earth will weep and mourn and say to themselves some sort of prayer: "Hide us from the wrath of the lamb." And it says that they will actually try to seek shelter in mountains and in caves within the mountains to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb of God who's in heaven.

Now, that to me seems a little bit paradoxical. The wrath of a lamb? Have you ever seen a lamb go nuts on somebody? "My gosh, look, there's a lamb!" No. This is a warning. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. But if that lamb, if Mary's little lamb whose fleece was white as snow, be rejected and said, "We will not have this Christ to rule over us," or "I will not have this Jesus be the reason for my season," then this wrath will come pouring out of this lamb. Very interesting.

David J: You're listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. To learn more about this ministry or to catch up on some previous episodes, go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. And now, let's get back to today's message. Once again, here's Pastor Jack.

Jack Hibbs: Couple of prophetic things to keep in view, and we need to run through these things. I say that every week, don't I? And I lie to you every week. But I tell you, I'm sincere about trying to get through these things quickly. It's myself I have a hard time with. The tribulation is yet future. Note this: Prophetically, Israel is God's appointed timepiece.

According to Bible prophecy, you cannot have anything to do with the tribulation period until Israel is a nation again. And the prophet Isaiah said, "In one day shall God bring forth a nation?" And he says, "Yes." He says, "Israel will be brought forth in one day." And on May 14th, 1948, God brought forth Israel as a nation in one day.

God has put Israel as the timepiece for prophecy. We need to be alert. You know, we have become so jaded to the fact that Israel exists. Do you guys realize that Israel was a nation, then it was obliterated, and then it became a nation again? No other country, no other people, no other nation in the world can claim such a thing.

And yet, not only did it happen—hey, are there any skeptics out here? Any doubters? Well, you better listen up, buddy... or girly. The Bible said in history past—it's called prophecy, God's power to tell the future in advance—He says, "Hey, Israel's going to cease to be a nation. It will go into all of the nations of the world as an outcast, it'd be dispersed."

But in the latter days, Isaiah chapter 43, He says just before I come back to earth, I'm going to bring my people back from all nations of the world, and I will assemble them together in their own land again and make them a nation. He said that thousands of years ago. Man, if you're a skeptic, you better stand up or sit up or listen up and face the music. God's in control.

And Israel's the timepiece. Isn't it funny that a little tiny—what is Israel, about the size of New Jersey? A country so seemingly insignificant has got the attention of the world. By the way, you want to hear some prophecy? It's only going to increase. The demand for your attention upon Israel is only going to increase. That's the way God has put it forth in His word.

The tribulation is future still. Israel is God's appointed timepiece. But there must also be, according to the Bible, a unification of the Roman Empire. Daniel chapter 2, you can read it later. The Bible says that as Daniel the prophet looked, he saw these four great ruling empires of antiquity. Antiquity to us, future for Daniel.

And as God showed Daniel what was to come, God told Daniel, "Daniel, listen up concerning your people Israel and concerning the nation, concerning the world." Daniel chapter 9 verses 24 through 27, he says, "Listen." He says, "First of all, this great Babylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar the king is going to be overcome by the Medo-Persian Empire.

The Medo-Persian Empire, Daniel, is going to be overcome by Alexander the Great and the Grecian Empire. And Daniel, after Alexander the Great, there's going to be a fourth empire that is going to be the most ferocious of them all. In fact, I'm going to show you, Daniel, what it's going to be like. It's going to be this grotesque beast. It's going to have ten heads, and it's going to rise out of the sea."

And Daniel watched this vision, and God began to explain to him in great detail. He says, "These ten heads are ten kings that represent all the peoples of the world that rise up symbolically out of the sea." And that kingdom shall crush into pieces all other kingdoms. And that kingdom, it says, would reign over the earth. But that kingdom, it said, would not be destroyed.

What would happen first is that the Messiah would be born into that kingdom period of time. Let me ask you historians, what kingdom was ruling and reigning at the birth of Christ? The Roman Empire. When Christ came the first time, the Roman Empire was in power. And I got news for you: the Bible says again, when Christ comes the second time, a revised or reunified Roman Empire will be in power again.

You might say that's ridiculous. Oh, you want to bet? The USE: The United States of Europe. Some of you have been asking me, where have I heard this term? On European news, they're calling themselves the USE. In fact, the Europeans that are in it, the nations that are in it, they affectionately call it "The Union," which grabbed my attention.

What was this nation once called when it was coming together? The Union. The United States of Europe. And that United States of Europe, the Bible tells us—Book of Daniel again—that out of this United States of Europe, out of the ancient Roman Empire, it will not be destroyed until God comes the second time to earth.

That will be revised. It will be resuscitated, or let me say resurrected, so to speak. And there'll be a unification of the ancient Roman Empire. The book of Revelation chapter 17 tells us that it will have at least its religious headquarters—anybody know?—in a certain city that was in power then. And that city then still ruled over at that time the religious nations that it controlled.

Do you know the name of that city is? Rome. The book of Revelation chapter 17 says that the religious seat of this revised Roman Empire will be in the city that sits upon seven hills. There's one city in the world that boasts that it sits upon seven hills, and that's Rome. The revised Roman Empire must come to pass.

The next thing that we see is that there will be a global cry for peace and safety. Now listen carefully. Look to the screen. Israel is God's appointed timepiece. Israel is a nation today. Number two, there's going to be a reunification of Europe. Not only has that happened, but their electronic currency is already in effect.

The third thing: the cry for global peace and safety. Everybody in the world right now is crying for peace and safety. That's the big agenda. In fact, listen, the United States armed forces have become the chief orchestrator of the peacekeeping forces of the world. Did you know that much of your tax dollars goes to the safety of other nations?

We police other countries. That can't happen for long, by the way, nor will it continue. The United States is on the verge of decline, and I don't mean in the next 10 years. I mean soon. America, something will go awry. America and the dollar must come down, and you'll see the Euro and you'll see the revised Roman Empire ascend.

But you'll hear throughout it all a cry for peace and safety. And let me suggest to you, the Bible makes it clear there will be no peace and safety until the Prince of Peace comes. The world, the western world, is spreading itself so thin because there's so many firespots or hotspots that demand peacekeeping forces.

The world is looking for an excuse to go off, isn't it? Have you noticed? And yet the Bible said in the last days, the world would cry out, "We need peace, we need safety!" And the Bible says that there'll be a man called the Antichrist, the great political ruler that comes out of the European Union, who will promise the world peace and prosperity.

And Daniel says through these two tools, the two of them—peace and prosperity—he will deceive the world. Interesting, isn't it? Secondly, we see this this morning: The tribulation is owed. It's owed to the earth. What do you mean, owed? It's owed to the earth in that the Bible says in Galatians chapter 6 verse 7, "Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap."

Graphically and simply put, if you go over here and lick this wall socket, you're not going to be a happy camper. Your tongue is in your mouth and it works just fine. That light socket is on the wall, or that wall socket is on the wall, and it's got power to it and it works just fine. But when you connect the two, you have a negative reaction.

And it could hurt you. Whatsoever a man sows, that's what's going to pop up out of the ground. If you lick a wall socket, you're going to get electrocuted. If the world says, "I don't want God. Get God out of the Supreme Court," I tell you, America is so ripe for judgment and she deserves everything she gets.

David J: Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio with his message called "Christ and the Tribulation." Thanks for joining us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called "The Life and Times of Jesus Christ." It's the series about the real Jesus of the Bible—God in the flesh—and why knowing him more deeply changes everything. And we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.

Daniel Cohen: Daniel Cohen here from Israel. If you love Pastor Jack Hibbs' fearless approach to teaching God's word, you'll love the Real Life Network. It's built for warriors who want the truth—God's truth. On *The Daniel Cohen Show*, we bring you stories the mainstream media downplays. It's time to start getting your news from people you trust, and it's totally free. Sign up now at reallifenetwork.com.

David J: Hey, thanks again so much for listening. And if you'd like to hear or see more of what we do here, you can always go to jackhibbs.com for all the latest on what's going into this ministry. And please, if you're ever in the Southern California area, come see us at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. We'd love to see you there in person.

It has been so good to be with you today, and I pray you find yourself in the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. See you on the next episode. 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 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.