Today, in this special Christmas message, Pastor Jack teaches that Christmas gives us the hope and expectation for Christ’s return. Knowing this should help us rethink our priorities and cause us to live out our faith in Him.
00:00:00 Introduction and Warning About Persistence
For this reason, God gave them up. He washed his hands of them. He turned them over. He walked away from their vile passions. He let them have them. That’s a scary thing, everybody. If you keep hounding God for something, watch out, because he might give it to you or let you have it.
SPEAKER 03 :
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. Are you looking for some solid biblical teaching that speaks to the world today? At jackhibbs.com, you have access to Pastor Jack’s entire library of sermons on demand, anytime, anywhere. Whether you’re commuting, you’re at the gym, or you need a moment of encouragement, you can dive right into some powerful verse-by-verse teachings that make God’s Word really come alive. From deep dives into scripture to practical messages on everyday issues, Pastor Jack’s teachings help you understand the Bible in a way that’s clear, it’s relevant, and it’s easy to apply. You’re going to find sermons that address today’s toughest questions with biblical insight and hope in the midst of life’s challenges. Now, whether you’re new to the faith or you’ve been around for a long time, these messages are designed to meet you right where you’re at and inspire you to grow deeper in your walk with God. So don’t miss out. Visit jackhibbs.com. Why don’t you start exploring the sermon library today? You’re going to like it. That’s jackhibbs.com, where powerful teaching is always just a click away. on today’s edition of Real Life Radio. We’re taking a break from First Samuel to bring you a very special Christmas series called His Return. You know, the return of Jesus is a promise from God, and it goes back much further than we thought. Genesis 315 of the Old Testament is the very first Christmas verse. God’s redemption plan actually begins right here after Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and their relationship with God was broken. You see, the Christmas message is deeply prophetic and rooted in God’s great plan to redeem us. From the very beginning, like Adam and Eve, our guilt and need for redemption is very real. And Christ coming to Earth, an actual event, made the way for God to save us. So today, in this special Christmas message, Pastor Jack teaches us that Christmas gives us the hope and the expectation for the return of Christ. Knowing this should help us rethink our priorities and cause us to live out our faith in Him. Now, with his special Christmas series called His Return, Part 2, here’s pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.
SPEAKER 01 :
Everything is shifting. Everything is turning. I highly suggest you grab onto the Bible like never before. Turn off the TV, turn off stuff, and get into the Bible because listen, it’s gonna be a matter of life and death how much you know this Bible it is. Very, very important. So here we go, as we look at this, the environment of his return will be like this, preempted by the rise of evil. Can you write that down? This is what you can talk about over your Christmas turkey with your non-believing friends. Well, the environment of Christ’s return as it was back then, even back from the Garden of Eden is the same today. There’s gonna be a preemptive age whereby evil will be on the rise. Everybody knows this. Your aunt, she knows it. Your dad, your kids are gonna be at the table. They already know it. They may not wanna admit it, but there’s a rise of evil. And evil, by the way, is getting very swanky. It’s not for this time, but there’s an app that you parents need to know about that is the number one downloaded app now in the world. We’ll talk about it some other day, but… You need to make sure that you are monitoring your kid’s stuff or your wife’s stuff or your husband’s stuff. Why? Evil’s on the rise and it gets all dressed up and it looks really great on the surface. Oh, look at this, look at that, and it’s so cute. And it’s so cute for a little bit until the narrative, the real reason, draped, cloaked. As I said earlier, the devil is like a lion roaming about. I don’t think a lion announces his arrival. You know, a lion roars, even the book of Proverbs tells us that a lion roars after it catches its prey. The lion doesn’t go . Here I come. You can’t tell when he’s coming. Or worse yet, worse than a lion would be the lioness. She’s the killer. The guy just sits around, eats stuff, and makes baby lions. She’s the one, and she is just absolute. Well, the Bible says Satan is like a lion. That means he’s like a lion against your children, against your marriage, against your home, against your life, against this church. If there’s anything that’s challenging darkness, the rise of evil will come against it. Just know that. In First Timothy chapter four, verse one. Again, all of this, I’m gonna argue, is all related to Christmas. First Timothy four once says, now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times, that some will depart from the faith. Just make sure it’s not you. Giving heed, this is why they depart from the faith. Giving heed to deceiving spirits. In other words, translation, modern day vernacular, stop listening to stupid stuff. Well, I know this guy’s kind of weird, but he teaches the Bible. I just find him interesting. Turn him off! Judge this pulpit and every pulpit and every person by the Bible, friends. You do that, you’ll survive. If not, this is what’s gonna happen. You’ll give heat to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron. When your conscience is seared with a hot iron, you no longer have any feeling anymore. Cold-blooded killers of character, of soul, and of body. They can gut somebody as it were and walk away and feel nothing. And I ask you, in the rise of evil in the last days before Christ returns, are we not living in a time like this? 2 Timothy 3, verse 1. But know this. By the way, that’s a command. Know it. Paul told Timothy, know this, that in the last days, perilous times will come. I do believe they’re here. I’m not making it up. This is what I believe. This is one reporter’s opinion. I believe we’re in them. We’re in the opening days of these perilous times, that they will come, for men will be lovers of themselves. I’m glad that’s not happening. Lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving. Wow, an angry, bitter culture. Right? Slanders. That is the natural result, by the way, of being all of that ungroup. You start slandering people without self-control. Sin does not have self-control. It always goes overboard. Brutal. Despisers of good. Traitors. They never keep their word. Headstrong. Haughty. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness. Isn’t that something? Born a cross around their neck. A Christian sticker on their bumper. They deny its power from such people turn away. For of this sort are those who creep into households. Imagine, imagine. They get their foot in the door and they take captives, gullible women loaded down with sins. That is a scary word because it means, watch, led away by various lusts. It means that there’s going to be an age when women are going to be obsessed with passion, lust, and perversion. And the Bible says in the last days that there are going to be these women that are compromised by sin, that are gullible to being, what’s the word, flattered. Flattered. Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Janice and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these. Also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith. That’s serious stuff, everybody. The environment regarding Christ’s coming, it’s a predictive environment. Notice that God’s offer of salvation, class, are you listening? God’s offer of salvation came through During evil, Genesis 3, didn’t it? God promised salvation after the fall. God promises the Messiah to come, and he came 2,000 years ago, in the decadent world of the Roman Empire. And Jesus said when he returns, it’s gonna be like it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Remarkable, is it not? Listen, I hope I’m turning this boat around a little bit. I mean, for a moment there, you’re feeling like you’re gonna crash into some iceberg. Wait a minute. All the darkness we’re seeing is the darkness that is just before the light. The predictive nature of God is that he shows up when things are dark. So how dark are things? Oh, they’re dark. Then what can we expect? Maybe a revival of the church in the world? Maybe right here? Maybe in America? Maybe. Maybe. It’s not too late until the fat angel sings. But church, as long as we’re breathing, history can still be written. America’s a mess, but what if America’s pulpits started preaching truth? What if people didn’t care anymore about what people thought or said or posted and just preached the gospel? Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Don’t let the evil get you down. Oh, it’s so evil. Yes, it is. We should say, you know what? Boys are getting evil. Christ is coming. Every time an evil, there’s the opportunity to shine. Every time. Always evil is indicative of dark and night and heaviness. And yet, all of our biblical heroes that we love reading about in the Bible all came out during dark times. In Romans chapter eight, this’ll put some air in your lungs. Romans chapter eight verse 31. What then shall we say to these things? We could stop right there and spend the whole rest of the day right there. What shall we say to these things? All of these crazy demonic laws and actions and a nation adrift and a husband this way or a wife that way or children the other or parents what? What shall we say to these things? This is what we say to these things. We need to stand up and maybe verbally just speak this in our homes. Preach to your house. Go to each room and preach to your home. If God is for us, who can be against us? Oh, I can tell you who. The point is, everybody eventually is gonna be against you. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter. You wanna know why? Why? Because if God is for us, who can be against us? That’s a statement of fact. Translation, it doesn’t matter who’s against you. God’s for you. He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall we not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? For it is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It’s Christ who died and furthermore is risen. Who is even at the right hand of God? Who also makes intercession for us? Who shall separate us? Notice, not what, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, as it is written, for your sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Paul is talking about being a minister of the gospel to the church. Ministers of the gospel die daily. I don’t know if you know that or not. You want to sign up for ministry? Know this. Ministry 101, you’re going to die daily. You’re going to get your feelings dashed. You’re going to get disappointed. Someone’s going to stab you in the back. The next person that picks you up, the next guy that comes along is going to push you down. It’s okay because God is for us. Who can be against us? Amen. Right? You say, I don’t know if I like that analogy. It’s not an analogy. Read the life of Paul the Apostle. Verse 37, yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded, you gotta hang on to that word, for I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels, principalities or powers, demonic strongholds that are invisible even, nor things present nor things to come, that’s tomorrow’s headlines, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And you said amen to that. Amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
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.
SPEAKER 01 :
The second thing is this, is it’s preempted by the increase of sin. We don’t need to belabor this. The environment of his return will be preempted by the increasing of not only evil, but of sin. When Jesus was born into this world, the Roman Empire, like all empires without God, was violent. I don’t, I mean, you, there’s a movie with Russell Crowe, do you know what I’m saying? About the Roman Empire. I don’t wanna say it, because it’s not, it’s got some tough parts in it, and I don’t endorse the movie. I’m just telling you that it was obvious whoever made that movie was pretty accurate. about the disgusting hedonism of the Roman world. Violent, decadent, pleasure obsessed, sexually deviant culture given over to vile passions the Roman Empire was. But so was the Persian and the Medes, the Greeks, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Assyrians, it never stops, the Americans. We’ve perfected sin. Romans chapter one is an expose of a culture 2,000 years ago, one of the most accurate, shocking insights into the Roman world that has ever been written. Rome worshiped the human body. We go into museums and we see the art. Well, there’s a whole life behind that art. Rome worshiped its military prowess. Rome worshiped its materialism and idols. Rome worshiped nature and its environment. Rome worshiped the entertainment of death. They called it the Colosseum. You know what, they didn’t start out that way, by the way. Oh, and I’m curious, diversion. Are you familiar with why the killings stopped in the Colosseum? Do you know how that happened? A Christian rebuked the emperor. and said, this is wrong, immoral, and evil, and it’s debased, ignorant, and decadent that this arena, the sand, be turned into a killing place. And he said, you’re gonna answer to God someday for this. That emperor was so convicted, the death games at the coliseums throughout the empire were stopped immediately. One Christian stood up. Never underestimate your voice when you’re speaking for God in his word, ever, ever. God knows how to deal with the increase of sin. Here’s that world that Paul was talking about in Rome 2,000 years ago, because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God. Could that be said of America? Nor were they thankful, wow. But became futile in their thoughts, And their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be Ivy League professors and presidents of major universities, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image. Notice what, they give up on God, notice what they worship. Images made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. That’s evolution in reverse. Therefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lust of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves. Think about what that must mean. I’m talking about just 2,000 years ago. So man, that must have been rough back then. Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie. and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever, amen, the Bible says. For this reason, God gave them up. He washed his hands of them. He turned them over. He walked away from their vile passions. He let them have them. That’s a scary thing, everybody. If you keep hounding God for something, watch out because he might give it to you or let you have it. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise, also the men leaving the nature or natural, excuse me, use of a woman burned in their lust for one another. Men with men committing what is shameful and receiving in themselves internally the penalty of their error, which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. Are we not at an age that says, don’t talk to me about God. We’ll kill you if you talk about God. Get God out of our schools and out of our courts. For what? To worship nature. And who’s at the top of the nature scene? We are. So let’s worship us. This is why Christ came at Christmas to set us free from this, everybody. Does this offend you? Does this bother you? This is the truth of the word of God, the Bible. The Bible’s not condemning you. The Bible is saying to you, see what I know? God is saying, look what I know. Do you know what I? God says, I know. I see this. He’s asking you to turn from this. Please turn from this. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, he gave them over to a debased mind, perverted mind, debased mind, reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting. Strong words, right? That’s in the Bible. So what does this have to do with Christmas? Everything. That’s why he came. That’s why he came to set us free from this. Amen. You think Satan likes Christmas or he hates Christmas? He hates it. Why, because of stuff like this, he breaks. The third thing under this point is preempted by an age of deception. False religions are to be assumed. They’re recorded throughout history from the beginning. In fact, if you want to think about it, Eve was the mother of the first religion, false religion. She saw that that fruit would make her like God. And so she took of it. Paganism, ancient Babylonianism, has been the birthplace of cults and the occult, the rise. And is it interesting that all around the United States today there’s a rise of the Church of Satan being established and satanic groups hosting, on the National Day of Prayer, satanic prayers in civic centers in the United States. Well, you know what though? If the church doesn’t show up to the Civic Center and pray, they just fill the void. And when I say environment, I mean atmospherics, if you want to put it that way, has always been charged by deception and falsehood. Satan is the father of all lies. The atmospherics. Jesus came to take on the forces of darkness in human flesh. And if it wasn’t bad enough for Adam to have encountered Satan personally on a level of deception that frankly no other human being has ever experienced. But ever since that explosion of deception, he has continued on from that moment till now. Evil was increasingly present before God gave his promise of redemption. I said that earlier. Evil was increasingly present Increasingly present. Notice that. And how does evil manifest itself? Or why does it do it? Because of sin. There’s a lot in my notes. For time’s sake, I’m gonna have to skip some of these things. I’ll brush over this. Look at it later. Maybe we can write the reference down and I’ll just paraphrase it. Jesus said, you don’t have to be bummed out about this. In Luke chapter 17, Jesus said, “‘As it was in the days of Noah, “‘so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.'” People were drinking, they got married, they did their stuff, they lived their lives, they did whatever until the day that Noah entered in the ark. And then the flood came and they were all washed away. Jesus said that regarding the days of Noah, it’s gonna be like that at the end times.
SPEAKER 03 :
pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his special Christmas series called His Return. Thanks for listening today and Merry Christmas from Pastor Jack and all of us here at Real Life Radio. Our prayer for you this Christmas is that your 2026 is filled with contentment and joy that can only come from knowing Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Jesus came so that we can have life, and he died on the cross to free us from our guilt and shame. Christ is the reason we celebrate Christmas, and we look forward to his return. It’s given us a lot of joy sharing this Real Life Radio program with you. Thanks for welcoming us into your home for the past year and into your life as well. We’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. Hey, Pastor Jack, this is the time of year when we normally start talking about the one-year Bible because we like to get together as a church and as everybody who listens to our various broadcasts to do the one-year Bible together, right? This is the time of year we start talking about that. But we’ve got this special deal going on where you can get the one-year Bible and your new book, Watching Waiting, the devotional, the 40-day devotional.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
For a gift of any amount, we’re going to send you both of those books. Tell us about the one-year Bible. Tell us about watching, waiting.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, thank you. Wow, you’re making me go back now four decades, and I mean many decades. Could be three decades where we as a church, the entire church family, you know, how do you have a big church stay small, feel small? Well, here’s what we do. Every year, we all start out reading the one-year Bible, starting on January 1st. And so every November, every December, we make sure that those who don’t have the one-year Bible, that they make sure that they get it. And so on January 1st, all of us dive into the Word of God. And my goodness, I think we’re coming up on 30 years of going through the Bible. 30 times. Isn’t that amazing? And so it’s been amazing, and we’re just encouraging people. And then, of course, as you mentioned, getting a copy of the brand new devotional. It’s a 40-day devotional, watching, waiting. It’s a devotional written about really the expectancy of Christ’s coming. Are we ready? How do we get ready? What does it mean to be ready? And so it’s all Scripture-versed and Scripture-referenced, and we think that you’re going to love it. I think it’d be a good addition to your one-year Bible.
SPEAKER 03 :
the one-year Bible, and the 40-day devotion by Pastor Jack called Watching and Waiting. Get your copy for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio. 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.
