Today on Real Life Radio.
Are you a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? I’m not talking about a title. Well, you know, I’m here for an hour, I’m a Christian.
No, you’re not. Are you a believer in Jesus? Are you following Him?
Jesus says, why do you say that I’m your Lord, but you do not do the things that I say?
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.
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On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack now continues his series called First Corinthians with a message titled On Your Mark, Get Set. First Corinthians, of course, was written by the Apostle Paul to the Church of God in Corinth. And he shares with us how we shall all not sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.
You see, Paul is speaking about the rapture. No one knows when it’s going to happen, but it could happen anytime, and our corruptible bodies will become incorruptible. So today, Pastor Jack teaches that as we are now, we cannot go to heaven, that’s the truth.
We are not suited for heaven, nor would we survive in this skin. We all need a new suit. And this change?
Well, it’s a change that we can believe in. Now, with his message called On Your Mark, Get Set, here’s Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.
Well, listen, grab your Bibles this morning and turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, verses 50 to 58. I have to tell you, it’s one of my most loved portions of scripture in all of the Bible.
And I know we’re under time constraints today because we got to get to the baptism, but I’d rather can’t, here’s what I’d rather do. I’d rather deliver this message down at the beach, take all the time I need, and then give an altar call, have you come forward, take you right into the water, plus all the believers are going to be baptized today. Baptize you in the water, then you come up out of the water and you get raptured right up into the…
Go to the beach, baptism, rapture. The message this morning is entitled On Your Mark, Get Set, and the answer will be those next three points. And I gotta tell you, as we get into this, look at verse 50.
It is awesome. It is wonderful. It’s exciting.
And is this your hope? He says, now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep or die, but we shall be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. Verse 53, for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the same that is written, death.
This is from Hosea. Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is your sting?
Oh, Hades, where is your victory? Look at verse 56 now. The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain. Church, listen, by way of introduction, according to the Bible, speaking about its self, the Bible says that all scripture is given by inspiration of God.
It’s God breathe, the Bible. Far too many people today are saying, well, I only read the New Testament. Some people say, well, I only read the red letters of Jesus.
I don’t read John. I don’t read Peter. I don’t read Paul.
Listen, that is an error on a grand scale. That could cost you your eternal life. The Bible says, the word of God, all scripture is given by inspiration of God.
Didn’t Jesus say in Matthew chapter five that he has come to fulfill all the law and the prophets? The Bible is God’s preserved word to us. And the original language is without error.
And you might say, well, I don’t believe that. Then listen, then launch a crusade, a campaign, to discredit the Bible, and then after you get converted in your research, come to us and we’ll take you down to the beach and baptize you like we will today. Why?
Because everyone who has honestly pursued the debunking of the Bible, most often comes to grips with the scripture. And that is just absolutely necessary when we talk about this issue of death and resurrection and the rapture. Yes, the rapture.
The rapture is a Biblical doctrine. Don’t think somebody made it up 100 years ago. Well, the word rapture is not even in the Bible.
It is if you’re reading a Latin Bible. Look, the word harpozo is not in the English Bible either. But if you’re reading Greek, it’s the word for rapture, harpozo.
I love how that sounds. I want to harpozo in a cauldron. Extrasauce.
We use the word caught up or rapture, the rapture. It’s a biblical doctrine. Don’t let somebody tell you that it’s not.
You’re going to hear Paul argue it. And listen, I don’t know about you, but there was a day when I didn’t believe in the pre-tribulation rapture view. I used to think all the wimpy Christians believed in that.
I really did. You know, when you start studying the Bible, you get all excited. And then very quickly, because you’re learning the Bible, you start knowing stuff, and then you start thinking, well, you know, I’m smarter than my teachers, which is your first warning.
And then you begin to do, well, this is how I interpret the Bible. Yeah, boy, you’re really spiring out of control now. And then I listened to people who, when I got saved at Calvary Coast of Mesa, it was all about the Lord coming back.
And then I got into some other teachings and I thought, well, those wimpy Christians, those pre-trib guys, they’re a bunch of escape artists. They want out of here. Not me.
I’m a real Christian. I’m going to lay my head down and get that thing cut off because I’m a real Christian. All these wimpy Christians wanting out here, this rapture, this getting delivered thing.
And I thought it was for a bunch of weak people. And then as you grow along in your Christianity for a little bit, God has a way of whittling away your arrogance. And he brought me from pre-tribulation view to post-tribulation view back to pre-tribulation view.
Why? Because I was butchering the scriptures to try to fulfill my view. And then I looked at what the Bible had to say, and then I joyfully, gladly returned back to the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
And so as we look at this study today, remember this, the rapture is under attack. Worldwide talk, oh, this guy said the rapture was going to happen and it didn’t happen. Well, listen, of course it didn’t happen.
If you think you know the day of the rapture, that’s the last day the Lord’s going to come. Because the Bible says no man knows the day of the hour. Jesus said in Matthew 24, 36, but of that day and of that hour, no man knows.
Regarding the coming of the Lord, Matthew 24, 42, Jesus says, watch therefore, for you do not know what hour the Lord is coming. So I want to ask you as we go through this study today, are you ready to meet the Lord? On Your Mark, Get Set, listen, before you start writing down point number one, you guys just wanted to throw it up on the screen.
I’ve never done this before. I’m embarrassed of this first point. The first point is bro.
I don’t like the word bro. I don’t use the word bro. I know some of you do, but he is saying, listen, mark this out, because by the time we come to the end of the message, you’ll see why Jack used the word bro.
What does bro mean? Brothers. So point number one is, On Your Mark, Get Set, bros, brothers, brethren, brothers and sisters in Christ.
Why? Because there’s a change coming. Look at verse 50.
Now this I say, what does he say? Bro, brethren, brethren. He’s talking to the believers.
That flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Listen, change is coming, verse 50. And he announces this.
He says that this corruption, it is absolutely impossible for corruption to inherit incorruption. He’s announcing it to the Christians. And I want to make something very clear right now.
I say Christian today, and people don’t even know what I’m talking about anymore. Everybody’s a Christian today. I’m convinced Satan’s a Christian today.
On Sunday, Satan’s a Christian. A lot of people today say they’re Christians, but they are not doing what Jesus says. They don’t care about doing what Jesus says.
They don’t care what the Bible says. I’d like to say this today during this study. Are you a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ?
I’m not talking about a title. Well, you know I’m here for an hour. I’m a Christian.
No, you’re not. Are you a believer in Jesus? Are you following him?
Jesus says, why do you say that I’m your Lord, but you do not do the things that I say? So when I speak about brethren, I’m talking about those who, there should be something in the nature of the brethren. And that is that we should be understanding this very thing.
And it’s good news, everybody, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. See this skin? It cannot go to heaven the way that it’s structured currently.
And I’m glad about that. I mentioned in the last few weeks as we’ve been looking at resurrection, how dreadfully necessary a change is needed in our lives. Say yes, I’m gonna quit smoking soon.
That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about these carcasses being resurrected or changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. More cologne, more perfume.
We need to get air purifiers. Lisa said to me last night, we need to get an air purifier. Why?
Because as we get older, there’s the smell of death in our home. Our dogs are old. We’re old.
Our furniture is old. Our house is old. Everything’s old, and it stinks as it gets older.
Everything that is of this corrupt universe is aging, wearing down, it’s starting to smell. Man, when I see that in my mind, I see Pigpen from Charlie Brown. Remember Pigpen?
He’s walking around, and there’s fumes rising, and he’s standing there talking to his friends, and the fumes are rising. And wherever he’s been, have you seen the residual stink from where Pigpen has passed by? That’s us!
We need to change. Oh, I want to go to heaven. Then you need to be changed.
And it’s not you taking this flesh and reforming your flesh. That’s not going to happen. You and I are looking forward to, as believers, and we’re all excited about it, that there’s going to be this tremendous change.
And yes, it’s true. But this corruption, this body’s dying, has got to put on in corruption. And it’s very powerful, because the Bible, here, the word uses in corruption.
The word means that which cannot be corrupted. You say, well, duh, what else could it mean? It means this, to be in the state of not being able to be corrupted, or to be truly genuine, or truly sincere.
And I don’t mean sincere like nice, but the Bible means, or that word means without wax, without falsehood, without any impurities, absolutely incorruptible. How many of you are Christians this morning? Raise your hand.
Say, Jack, you do this to me every week. I’m going to do it every week too until the Lord comes back. Why?
I think it’s great to be able to say that in a church. Yeah, I’m a Christian. And check this out.
I don’t know what you think about yourself, but right now, according to the Bible, if you are in Christ, that is, as a believer, you have been declared by God because of the righteousness of Christ that he purchased for you and I at the cross. You have been declared incorruptible by God. We could say that based on this verse, we are the incorruptibles.
We are the genuines. We are the sinseers. This is the work of God.
This is the power of Christ. Are you in Christ? That’s the word.
That’s the verbiage we ought to use these days. Were you a Christian or not? Hey, you know what?
Are you in Christ? Because a believer knows what that means. And I love that.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been to England. If you’ve ever been to England, you gotta go to Windsor Castle. You gotta go.
I had a big eight-hour layover and took a train, went to Windsor Castle before I had to go back to the airport. That was amazing. Best part about the whole thing was the kings of England, they have in a museum there, and they even have their horses.
They stuff their horses, and the horses are literally there like this. And then standing next to the horse or seated on the horse is the armor of the king of England. And there’s a bunch of these guys.
What cracked me up is like a few of them. I mean, they’re like four feet tall, five feet tall. I thought, King of England.
And his armor is like this. This is the guy. Of course, there’s nobody in there, but it’s representing him.
This is Henry the Eighth. Now, he was a big guy. He was a big guy.
His armor is ginormously huge. The thing is, you can’t tell, because all you see is armor. Listen, if you are after the life of Adam, then you’re listening to me right now.
You’ve been born into this world. This world is all that you know, and you’re a descendant of Adam, and the Bible has been making it very clear to us every week that as descendants of Adam, we will die. But if you are in Christ, that is spiritually, if you’ve been born from above, you are now in Christ.
And think about that armor for a moment. The king of England was behind that armor. He was in the armor.
And it didn’t matter how short or how tall, you had to, to get to him, you had to go through that armor. And believe me, they made it in such a way, ain’t nobody gonna get through that armor. And that’s how your life is in Jesus Christ.
Your life right now, Christian, believer, you are in Christ, you are surrounded by the armor of God. You are surrounded by the truth of God. You are surrounded, you are ensconced by the very provision of God’s salvation.
Someone Pentecostal say amen to that.
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.
Flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God. No earthly resourcing of our doing can make us fit for heaven. Some of you legalists need to hear this right now.
Well, I’m doing pretty good, am I? I mean, I’m religious and I’m doing… Listen, no, no part of the flesh and blood shall inherit the kingdom of God.
It’s gotta be changed. That’s a powerful thing. The next thing is this, is that verse 51, we learn this, that On Your Mark, Get Set, bro, because death doesn’t win.
Brethren, listen up, death doesn’t win. Many in this church need to be reminded of this. Behold, I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep.
Keywords, behold, open your eyes wide. It implies, understand this, know this, don’t be ignorant about it. I tell you a mystery, something that has been not created, but has always been God’s truth, but revealed to us in the last days.
Given to us, meaning that the time is now to know it. This is what God’s word says. Well, know what?
I love it. I have this marked in my Bible. I have the word we circled.
Why? Because 2,000 years ago, Paul the Apostle used the we statement. He is looking forward to the imminent return of Christ that Jesus could come at any moment.
Who says? Paul does. He says we.
Don’t you love that? He anticipated Christ’s return and his lifetime. You see, well, Jack, what a joke.
That was 2,000 years ago and Jesus didn’t come. Did you know every generation is to anticipate his coming? Do you?
Are you? When you understand what is in store, you’ll be very happy to. Technically, I want you to look very carefully carefully at this.
We shall not all sleep. The word here is speaking about the appearance of. A believer’s body.
It’s a very sweet way of saying dead. We shall not all die. OK, stop right there.
Those of you who are struggling with this doctrine, how do you deal with that? He says, I’m going to tell you guys something that previously, it’s always been God’s truth, but now it’s been revealed previously unknown, but now the time has been revealed that you ought to know this. What is it?
There’s going to be a generation that doesn’t die. Oh, I pray it’s today. I pray it’s right now.
The Bible says there’s a generation that will not die. I want to be that generation. I want to be in that group.
And when I read scriptures and when I read the saints that have gone before us, there’s a long line of those who wanted to be in that generation. I’m going to quote this verse many times today, so don’t think I’m having a seizure. I’m going to be repeating this over and over again.
It’s 1 Thessalonians 4. It’s the sister verse of 1 Corinthians 15, describing the same event. 1 Thessalonians 4.13.
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, I have that marked in my Bible because I don’t want an angel to pick me up. I want Jesus to pick me up.
The Lord himself. I love Moses. Moses says, we’re not, I mean, this whole escape thing is great, God, but I’m not going without you.
That’s us today. We’re not going without you, Lord. The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout.
What’s that gonna sound like? With the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first, and we who are alive and remain, notice where Paul is inserting himself, shall be rapture, harpozzo, cut up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.
How long? Always. Therefore, look at verse 18, worry yourself sick, panic, and freak out about this.
No, it should be great comfort. Listen, if I say to you, I pray that the Lord comes back in the next few moments, and you go, oh no, that wouldn’t be a good idea, then why not? What are you doing?
Very important. No, you see, death’s not gonna win. We’ll hear more about death in a moment, but look at verses 51 to 52.
On your mark, get set, bro, because what? It’s about time. That’s what it’s about.
It’s about time. But we shall be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. Those three words, you’re gonna want to know.
This is great stuff. Changed. The word means transformed, to take and to make something different.
It’s to take what you have and make something different. The word means to rearrange. I like that.
Change. We’ll be changed. The next thing is this.
Moment. Look at the word moment. It’s where we get the word atom.
Don’t you love how? Remember I said earlier, all scriptures are given by inspiration of God. The word here is where we get atom from.
Atom. You say, now wait a minute, yeah, but a moment’s not an atom. Ah, but watch and listen to the meaning.
It means the smallest of particles. It means something that is reduced down to the point of not being able to be reduced any further. It means something that is brought down so small it cannot be cut up any smaller.
I like this. Why? How can that possibly be?
Look at the word twinkling. Isn’t that a cute word? All this incredible catastrophic stuff taking place in this, wow.
And then there’s this word twinkle. And a twinkling. Well, that’s a powerful word.
It’s translated to jerk or to spasm, a quiver, to sparkle, the gleam of light in the eye. You ever seen that happen with somebody? You know, there’s a little shooting of a light ray that bounces back or it’s caught on film.
By the way, scientists now with modern technology, you can measure the twinkling of an eye. It’s 18,000th of a second. That’s fast.
How fast is that? Watch this, I’ll show you. You want me to do it again?
Watch, I’ll do it again. There you have it. That fast.
In one moment, we’re going to be doing whatever we’re doing, and then the Lord will be catching us up and out of here in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. Why is that important? Well, listen, the Bible says it’s going to happen when the Lord makes that grand entrance into the atmosphere.
There is that shout, there’s the angel, there’s the trumpet, all this taking place. Jesus said it this way in John 14, one. He says, Let not your heart be seismos, troubled, earthquakeed in your heart.
You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father’s house are many mansions, many places to dwell, glorious in dwelling. If it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again. What’s it going to be like? In a twinkling of an eye.
To receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. Do you see the continuity of this? John 14 verses 1 to 3, 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 to 18, and 1 Corinthians 15, 50 to 58.
What an exciting thing. Another verse I want you to hear, and it kind of goes back to what I was saying earlier, Luke 21, Luke 21, 34. Jesus said, be careful, because your hearts could be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness, and the anxieties of this life.
I’m glad that’s not our problem. And that day will close in upon you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth.
You don’t live on the face of the earth, you. Your citizenship is where? In heaven.
Verse 36, be always on the watch and pray. We want to say, how come, Jesus, that you may escape all that is about to happen and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man? Is that amazing?
Yeah, you Christians, you know, you want to escape things. Well, yeah, what is wrong with that? We’re in an air conditioned building right now, right?
Why? Because it’s hot outside. What’s wrong with that?
Makes sense. Makes absolute sense. The next great promise is my favorite life verse, Titus 2.13, looking, looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
I love it. Looking. And this is an act of looking.
The word looking here in the original Greek language means to to actually with understanding, open up. The word means to accommodate, to make wide. The word can also be translated to receive or enter or also intercourse the thoughts.
Open up and receive this, that. It is the blessed hope and the glorious appearance of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called On Your Mark, Get Set. Thanks for being with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack’s series called First Corinthians.
It’s a series on the Corinthian Church and the Apostle Paul’s bold call for purity. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
Hey, everybody. First of all, I want to thank you, all of our Real Life Radio listeners for being so faithful, so kind. Keep praying for us.
But listen, the reason why I’m talking to you right now is to let you know that we have an amazing, wonderful offer and it is the book titled What You Need to Know About the Rapture by Dr. Charles C. Rirey of Dallas Theological Seminary. Dr. Rirey was a profound theologian, highly respected even though he is now in heaven.
His work continues on. I was honored and blessed to write the forward to this book. This book will help clarify the confusion that surrounds the doctrine of the rapture.
You know, Jesus taught it. The Bible teaches it.
But do you know it?
Get a copy for yourself. What You Need to Know About the Rapture by Dr. Charles Rirey.
What you need to know about the rapture by Charles Rirey. It’s available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com/realradio. jackhibbs.com/realradio.
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.
