Real Life Radio

Jack Hibbs: A lot of people bicker about losing your salvation. Can you lose it? Let me tell you something. When God gives something, He never takes it back. Can you lose it? You don't lose it if you have it. If you have it, you got it. The question is, do you have it?

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.

Jack Hibbs: Hey, my friends. Come with me on our Bold Faith Hawaii Cruise, June 12th to the 19th, 2027. Listen, we're going to set sail for seven unforgettable days with myself, Dr. Frank Turek, and special worship with Gia Lucidi. It's going to be a breathtaking trip. This is more than a vacation. It's a time of rest, renewal, fellowship, and spiritual strength in the word of God, all centered around the Bible. You can reserve your spot by going to jackhibbs.com.

David J: On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series now called The Life and Times of Jesus Christ and his message titled Christ and the Church. Now, this is a series 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 here, Jesus shows us what His church really is and why it's so much more than we think. You see, most of us picture the church as a building, a structure, or an institution. But church is a living, breathing organism, a body of people called out of this world and joined together by Christ. It's supernatural in power, really, and it's dearly loved by Jesus Himself.

So today, Pastor Jack teaches that Jesus made the ultimate commitment for His church, paying a debt on the cross that we could never pay. He alone comforts us, He guides us, and He's with us not only as we fellowship together, but every single step of the way. Now, with his message called Christ and the Church, here's pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.

Jack Hibbs: Acts 2: the birth of the church, day of Pentecost. Acts 2 is this: when the church was born, the world knew about it. Those born-again ones, those sinners converted to Christ and made holy by the decree of God and by the sacrifice of Christ, they received the power of the Spirit. The person of the Holy Spirit had already come inside them.

But on that wonderful day in the book of Acts, Jesus, in fact, told them, "You go and wait in Jerusalem." Why? "You wait." In John chapter 20, He said, "I'm going to send you out." But He didn't say, "I send you out. I'm breathing on you. Now go." He said, "I'm going to send you out. I'm breathing on you, receive the Holy Spirit." Then He turns around and says, "Wait. Wait. Go to Jerusalem and wait." Why? "Wait for the day of Pentecost, the birthday of the church." Not the birthday of the believer.

The birthday of the church. When it says there, He said, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit..." What? "Comes inside you?" No. He's talking to born-again ones, called-out ones, the church. He says, "When the Holy Spirit..." does what? "Comes upon you." E-P-I in Greek, to come upon you to propel you. Isn't that neat?

When Jesus says, "Receive the Holy Spirit," the word in the Greek is E-N, inside you. The Holy Spirit dwells inside you, but He's also come—or also comes upon you for service. That's why you see in the book of Acts that the apostles laid hands on many of those that were to be sent out and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to preach the word of God with boldness, or they had gifts imparted to them, or whatever the case may be.

Acts chapter 2, verse 1, concerning this birthing of the church, He says, "Now when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were about 120 of them gathered together in one place, in one accord. And suddenly, there came the sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house." That had to be wild, don't you think?

It filled the house where they were sitting, and there appeared unto them divided tongues as of fire. One sat upon each of them and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. The church was born on the day of Pentecost. And the church has a lifespan. Did you know that? It has a birth on earth, and it has a day of its removal on earth.

The birthday of the church is Pentecost, and the graduation day of the church—meaning it goes into heaven, it leaves this earth—is the day of the Rapture. It was born on Pentecost. It has its end on earth, that is, at the time of the Rapture.

But we see here this morning is that Christ, the church in history, is that He made—that is Jesus—the ultimate commitment. Simply this: we've covered this in previous studies. Jesus came draped in humanity to forever be a man. Wait a minute, Jack. I thought He was a God. He's not a God. He's the God.

Jesus is God come out of heaven, draped in human flesh of His own will. Lived among us, died on the cross for our sins, rose again from the dead, and by doing so—now, don't think for a moment He thought, "Well, you know, comparing 33 and a quarter years to eternity, what's the big deal? I'll go down there, do my deal, put my time in." Oh, no.

When Jesus came as a man, it was for time and eternity. Did you know that? The Bible tells us that there's a man seated at the right hand of God the Father right now. The man Christ Jesus. That's awesome. That is incredibly awesome to me. He made the ultimate commitment by taking upon Him humanity. He became both a lamb—the lamb of God—and the son of man forever and for eternity.

What did we read a moment ago in Revelation 5? John saw a man in heaven as though he were a lamb who had been slain. And that is an eternal view. It bothers a lot of people. It shouldn't, but it does. That according to the book of Zechariah, the Bible teaches us that Jesus will bear the scars of His crucifixion and of His beating forever.

That's amazing. The lamb, as though He had been slain. He made the ultimate commitment. Secondly, we see that He paid an impossible debt. Jesus paid for our sins' debt. Did you know this? That in Titus chapter 2, verse 14, the Bible says, "And He, that is Jesus, He gave Himself for us." That means He gave Himself in our place. Well, so what's that all about? I wasn't going anywhere. Oh, yeah, you were. Yes, I was.

You and I were headed to hell in a handbasket. It was a greased pole. We were walking on thin ice. We had a hole in our glove. I mean, put it any way you like it. We were going to hell. The Bible says Jesus gave Himself for us. Why did He have to give Himself for us? Because we were going to Hades, buddy. We were on our way to the pit.

Jesus steps in. He pays the debt that you and I couldn't pay. Isn't that funny? So why'd He do that? Because you and I are such sinners. He paid the debt so you and I could be such saints. He paid the debt that you and I couldn't pay. He paid for our sins. Prior to you and I coming to Christ, there was like our own personal sin-o-meter in heaven. Man, He was just keeping a record. You know this from the Bible in the book of Revelation. To those who do not come to Christ, they will be judged according to their sins, according to what's going on in their life.

But there's a way to stop it. Come to Christ. Listen, step into the church. Not this church. Step into that supernatural body that Jesus holds dear and true to His heart, the church. Why? He paid an impossible debt for her. There's no other way to heaven. It's through Him alone. He gave a sure guarantee.

What do we mean by that? Well, He gave a sure guarantee, meaning this: the Bible says, "Now he who establishes us with you is Christ, and He has anointed us in God. And also, He has sealed us by giving us His Holy Spirit in our hearts." We are sealed. A lot of people bicker about losing your salvation. Can you lose it? Let me tell you something. When God gives something, He never takes it back.

Can you lose it? You don't lose it if you have it. If you have it, you got it. The question is, do you have it? Well, you know, I knew somebody who believed for a while, or they were born again, they were Christians for a while. That's impossible. They might have believed for a while but gave up on their belief, but they never had the faith in Christ and became born again.

I don't know why there's confusion about this. If you are born again, you are not aborted. The question is, we need to start asking the right questions. Are you born again? "Well, I believe." I don't care if you believe. Are you born again? "Well, I go to church." I don't care if you go to church. Are you born again? "Well, I'm in the choir." Well, so was Satan. He was in the choir. That's not the answer.

The sure guarantee is that the Holy Spirit has been sealed in our hearts. Our salvation is secure in Him. The church. Secondly, let's look to this. The second point is this: Christ and the church presently, right now. We're going to run through these quickly because of time. First thing that we see right here is that Jesus comforts the church.

Well, you might say, "Well, I wish He'd comfort me." Yeah, He is comforting you. You're maybe just not listening. "I wish He'd comfort me," you might be asking. Are you clinging to His promises? I don't understand it, people. Don't ask me to explain it. I can't. But how can the written word of God, how can this Bible, how can this book of black and white pages here bring peace into your life?

I don't understand it. I just enjoy it. "Well, I want more than that." Well, you know, enter into the church and have it all. But that's the best I can do by way of explanation. Christ and the church presently. He not only comforts us, He directs the church. He directs the church. John 16, verse 3. I love this. He says, "However, when He, the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify me, for He will take what is mine and declare it unto you."

You want to have direction as a church and as an individual within the church? Read your Bible. It's God-ordained, it's holy-anointed. You have a decision coming up about a job? You have a decision coming up about a move? You have a decision coming up about a ministry? You have a decision coming up? The answer's in the Bible. It's in the book.

Did you know that until recently, there was no physical documented fact that King David existed? Did you know that? None until now. They have found inscriptions regarding King David. Not only the King of Israel but being a great warrior dating back to his time. Do we believe in that because the science now has confirmed it, or did we always believe it and science finally caught up to us?

Huh? Isn't that fun? Well, you might say, "Well, that's one instance." I'll give you another one. Did you know that there was literally no record that Pontius Pilate was the governor of or in the region of Judea? Pontius Pilate, a Roman official. But did you know that in Caesarea, there was unearthed there a tablet? We've got to see this with our own eyes and hands and everything on one of our tours.

There's a tablet there that has his name and his position. Did you know Caiaphas—you've read about Caiaphas—remember, he was the clown that had the kangaroo court that had Jesus tried illegally? Caiaphas. No evidence of him ever existing, physical evidence. Guess what? Until they dug a little deeper and found documentation and artifacts of his writing about him being real.

Do you believe that now because science has revealed it, or did the book tell you in advance before the spade, the shovel, caught up in the scientific community? Isn't that neat? If that's true, what about the claims when Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and nobody comes to the Father but through me"?

Did you know that there was no evidence, physical evidence, found of actual—though they have depictions—actual crucified bodies until in the last couple of years they found in Israel excavations of preserved human bone with stakes pierced through them? And yet, we've always believed in crucifixion and we heard about it in not only Christian writing but in non-Christian writing. But now the science has revealed it.

It's exciting. Jesus directs the church. He's in absolute control. You don't have to worry about anything. He's in control.

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: Thirdly, on this area, Jesus promotes the church. He's for you. I'm just going to say this and we're going to go to the third point. He's for you. He's rooting for you. He wants you in heaven. He's done everything He can to get you there. The vehicle that takes you there, so to speak, is the church. It's where you learn about Him. It's where you come to fellowship with His people and share with one another.

But not only that, it's where you and I go out from this place and change the world. He promotes you. Listen, those of you who are involved in Christian service, you know what I'm talking about. He pushes you. So many people, man, I wish I could do something. I'm trying to think of something right now to get your attention on this. Billy Sunday, the great evangelist, used to throw stuff at his congregation to get their attention.

Listen, those of you, you've been sitting for so long. You know, I'm a Christian, and you are Christian. You believe, you trust, you have faith. You're looking to Him to get you to heaven. You're not working it out on your own. But you just need a—is this it? Are you in your mind asking, is this all there is? You know, it's all there is if that's all you're going to allow it to be.

Well, that sounds like a New Age statement. No, it's not. Listen carefully. Will you step out and let God push you along, promote you? I don't mean promote you like make you something. I mean propel you. Well, I don't know, this Christian thing, I don't know. In the moment you say that, I know that you're just kind of hanging out. You're not really expressing your love toward Him by serving Him. Makes all the difference in the world, you know.

Keep going. This is convicting. We'll move on. We look to the third, and again, we've got to run through this very, very quickly. Christ, the church, and forever. Christ, the church, and forever. The Bible shows that in heaven, you and I are going to be the bride of Christ, the church, forever. And by the way, are you ready for this? I found this on my own. I hope I'm not wrong about this. I've been researching this for a long time.

But did you know the Old Testament saints, as we referred to earlier, did you know that in heaven they wear white robes? White robes. And did you know that the tribulation saints in heaven, do you know what they wear? White robes. Do you know what the bride of Christ wears? She doesn't wear any robes. She wears fine white linen.

I did a wedding yesterday. What do you think the bride had on? A robe? Did she come out of the hotel with a robe on? "Hey, I'm ready." Hair's up in curlers with a robe. No. She came with fine white linen. Why? Because quite frankly, she was the wedding.

The Bible says, "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." Are you ready for this? Are you sitting down? Hang on to your seat. The bride of Christ is not invited to her wedding. She is the wedding. Who's invited? Tribulation saints, Old Testament saints. I mean, you name it. Those who have died in Christ, both believing in Him futuristically or looking back to Him.

The marriage is between Christ and the bride, the church. A bride is never invited to a wedding, her wedding. It's hers. There is no wedding without her. Isn't that fun? We are going to be the church forever in heaven. We'll have a special place, and that very place should cause us to realize that we've been designed to serve and worship and in adoration and in giving our hearts to Him, whatever the case may be.

We've been designed to serve. Secondly, we've been ordained with power, the person of the Holy Spirit. The church exclusively has the Holy Spirit dwelling within her right now. Oh, it's so wonderful, it's so romantic to think. Jesus has left her a deposit, a promise, and that is the Holy Spirit in your heart. What a wonderful thing.

Thirdly, we've been destined for glory. We've been destined for glory. We are actually going to enjoy the fact, eternity with Him, and we'll see the holy angels and we'll see the activity of God and the saints and all that there is. We're destined for glory. Fourthly, we run through this very fast, I mean it.

There's only one, only one real true church. Did you know that? Oh, I knew, I knew the weird thing was coming. There's only one true church. This week, I had to be in two cities, not for—well, one, one for definitely a visit. The other one was just for—to get on a different plane, though I'd been to that city too many times before. All over the place.

And regarding the one true church, let me say this: note this first, that its founder is Jesus Christ, okay? Its founder is Jesus. It's not some man. There's only one true church and it's the one that He died for. Would you like to become a member? Then bow your heart to Him. Ask Him to come into your life and save you from your sin and write your name down in His Lamb's Book of Life.

But look, the founder is Jesus. Secondly, its home office is not of this world. Now why did I put that down? Because in two cities I was at this week, one is Salt Lake City. And I don't need to say any more. Salt Lake City is not the home office of God's work in the universe. I know that might come as a shock to some of you. But Salt Lake City is not the headquarters of God's eternal work.

Okay, I also spent some time this week in Brooklyn. And for some of you, you know what I'm talking about. When you're going over the Manhattan Bridge onto the Brooklyn, there's off the right-hand side a massive building with the big red letters shining to the world. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. Did you know, if they'll tell you the truth, they believe that Jesus is living today in Brooklyn?

This is the message of the Watchtower Society, the Jehovah's Witnesses. Now they're not going to tell you that at your door. An insider might tell you that. Listen, I got news for you. The home office of God's eternal work for all the ages is not in Brooklyn. I mean, you wouldn't pick Brooklyn anyway.

Its mission, the church's, is for you. Simply put, we're all done here now. We're really done. The church exists for you to meet God. That you might get equipped to serve Him. To learn how to pray, how to read, how to serve, how to love, how to enjoy community or fellowship one with another. The mission of the church in our lives, then, is to send people out into the world.

The mission during all of that is that the church would love and worship Jesus first. That's what's so great about a brand-new believer and an old seasoned saint. There's one thing that they can do simultaneously: they can praise the Lord. Isn't that great? I hope this message has made sense to you this morning.

We simplify this thing about the church. It's so wonderful that Jesus gave all that He had for her. Aren't you blessed? You are so blessed, you are so rich, you are so spoiled by the loving hand of God. Father, we thank you for your word. We pray, Lord, that this morning, perhaps someone in this place has heard from you. Not from man, not from us, not from me, but from you.

That maybe for years they've used a bad experience with someone or some sign, some place, some thing, some address as an excuse to not come to you. And Father, we pray, Lord Jesus, that you would right now touch their heart and cause them to repent of all of their excuses that they've been mustering up on why they won't come and just sit down at your feet. In Jesus' name, amen.

David J: Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio and his message called Christ and the Church. Thanks for being with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called The Life and Times of Jesus Christ. It's a 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.

Well, Father, as we come to the end of this week, we thank you for your faithfulness and all that you provided for us this last week now. And Father, as we look to the weekend that's ahead, we pray that we would give our time to you, dedicating our time to you in our leisure, in our fun. Maybe some of us have got to work this weekend. Well, Lord, whatever we do, we pray that we would do it all to your glory. And Father, just strengthen our families and bless us in whatever we endeavor. May we put you first in Jesus' name. And all of God's people said, amen.

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 on with 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 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.