Join Pastor Jack Hibbs as he takes you on a journey through scriptural narratives, illustrating the battles fought not with weapons, but with the heart’s struggles and the challenges of leadership through adversity. Explore the pressing issue of ‘leaven’ infiltrating the church and how, like Samson of old, tolerance of sin can lead to spiritual downfall. With heartfelt anecdotes, Pastor Jack provides an urgent call to uphold the teachings of the Bible in a world ever more susceptible to deception, urging listeners to maintain a life of sincerity and truth.
As a Christian that’s going to hold on to the Word of God, it’s going to cost you. To those who are going to look religious, but they are going to compromise, it’s not going to cost you anything. It’s going to be easy for you.
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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. What if the greatest battles in life aren’t fought with swords and armies but with the struggles of the heart? What if the most defining moments of leadership come not from triumph, but from pain, betrayal, and humility? How do we handle being misunderstood or wronged, and how do we navigate the deep waters of authority, submission, and forgiveness? In A Tale of Three Kings, Jean Edwards takes us inside the lives of King Saul, King David, and Absalom, illustrating the powerful lessons learned from their brokenness and their failures. Through these kings, we discover that true leadership often comes through humility, suffering, and trusting God’s sovereignty, even in the most difficult seasons. This book will challenge you to reflect on your own heart, leadership, and your walk with God. A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards. It’s available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash realradio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash realradio. On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series called The Parables of Jesus with a message titled Parable of the Leaven. You know, whenever Jesus spoke to the masses, he often spoke in parables, picture stories that are designed to shed light on God’s Word. But to those who refuse to listen, it’ll reveal the darkness of their hearts. You see, in this parable, Jesus is telling us that leaven that causes bread to rise is like the doctrine of the Pharisees, deception that expands as it rots. So today, Pastor Jack teaches that Jesus wants us to have an unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. It’s why we as Christians must not become tolerant of our sinful nature, but fight on towards holiness. now with his message called Parable of the Leaven. Here’s pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.
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We’re talking about a time, and we’re talking about a time now when Jesus says, from the birth of the church to the end of the church age where the church is raptured up into heaven. That’s what culminates. The church was born when the spirit came down and the church will graduate when it goes up in the rapture, whenever that comes. If it’s next week or 100 years from now, that’s when the church graduates. We don’t know when that’s gonna be. But all along the way, the Bible warns us, Jesus tells us, that one of the characteristics of the work of the church and the earth is that it’s going to be tainted by things from both outside and inside seeking to destroy the church. I got news for you. This is not very encouraging, what I’m gonna say. But church is going to suffer greater attacks. Church is going to be brought under tremendous persecution at some point in time, increasingly so. According to the Bible, there is gonna be a false church arise. It’s gonna look great, but it’s gonna be off on doctrine. It’s gonna be askew on doctrine. And the true church, according to the Bible, unless the Lord comes back, remember what Jesus said, unless I come back, will I find faith on the earth? Wouldn’t it be amazing if it all was reversed? Nah, it’s not gonna work that way. You and I do not, listen church, You and I do not want and nor do we believe that we can be such great Christians that we can take the place of this parable and we’re the leaven. And we are so good and we grow so much and the church gets so big that we wind up filling up the whole world and making it one big Christian happy world. But listen, there are some guys, I’m not gonna name their names, but they’re big time right now. They believe what I just said. They believe, they’re famous people, you know them, they’re household names. They believe that we’re gonna grow so big, the Christian church, which I think is absolutely insane to think. The church is gonna get bigger and things are gonna get better and we’re gonna create a kingdom on earth. We’re gonna make it all so good that Jesus has to come back because we make it so good. We are gonna permeate the earth and they use this parable for their actions. This very parable, they twist the very meaning of it No, no, my Bible tells me that we are going to decline. I don’t know how that makes you feel, but take your feelings and throw them out the window because the Bible says things are gonna get tough and the church is gonna be persecuted. When, Pastor, when? I don’t know. I think the church is already under persecution. It certainly is in the world. How bad will it get for us? I don’t know. What does it matter? Does it matter? Does it matter? doesn’t matter why should we escape when our brothers and sisters right now I just got an email where there’s brothers and sisters that are dying in North Africa on a daily basis there’s Christians dying right now because of their faith Leaven, dangers over the long haul. The church is going to experience difficult time. Why? Because leaven is infiltrating. And we’ll address the exactness of what leaven is in a moment. But 2 Timothy 3, verse 1, listen to this. This is all under the argument of dangers over time. Why? Because of leaven in and around the church. 2 Timothy 3, verse 1. But know this, that in the last days, perilous times. Church, circle that in your Bible. Perilous times. The word means to shave off, to scrape down, to… to whittle away strength and power. In the last days, last times, scraping of power and scraping of strength will happen. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanders without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Sounds like a lot of people working for us up in Sacramento right now. Having a form of godliness, but denying its power. And from such people turn away. What did the Bible just say? From such people turn away. Is that radical? Do you think that’s radical? Wow! Oh my goodness, church, are you guys with me? Are you listening? The Bible says in the last days, evil is gonna wear on you like a contractor or a carpenter planing a piece of wood until it goes from a four by four to a toothpick. Perilous times are gonna be coming. And here’s the deal. As a Christian that’s gonna hold onto the word of God, it’s gonna cost you. To those who are going to look religious, but they are going to compromise, it’s not gonna cost you anything. It’s gonna be easy for you. And you need to choose tonight, think about it, to obey God in his word, to follow him and to say, Lord, I want your word lived out in my life. Remember, Jesus told it to us this way. He said, watch out when all men speak well of you. For so they did, the false prophets who came before you. This is tough stuff, but it’s necessary stuff. This slow shaving off is like, in my mind, Samson getting a haircut. What a knucklehead that guy was. Flirting around, oh, you know, playing all these games. You know, she finally caught on eventually. Started cutting his hair, and there’s a covenant with him and God. And think about it, with every bit of cutting of his hair. Now look, it wasn’t that he had so much protein in his hair that he kept flexing his muscles and, oh my gosh. Like his hair’s like kryptonite or something. It was this outward symbol of an internal commitment he had with God. He started flirting with the power of God and this knucklehead girl and, you know, whatever. And he got sloppy. Samson, with his hair getting shaved off, lost his strength. God rescinded his anointing from his life. And you know the story. Got his eyes cut out, among other things. Wanted to cost him his life. But what was he doing? Samson, perhaps, like the church today, or the organized church today, tolerated things, became very tolerant. Our culture is so sad. In religiosity today, in Christianity today, the word tolerant has become some sort of a badge of honor. It’s almost like if you speak out against the word tolerant, you’re somehow from Mars or something. But let me remind you, I challenge all of you, especially educators, go look up what the word tolerant or tolerance means in the most ancient English dictionaries and you will be shocked. It’s completely not what it means today in our schools. Look up Noah Webster’s definition of tolerance. Say, what are you bringing this up for? Because listen, a godless form of tolerance Uses words like acceptance. Look, we all want to be accepted. But it prostitutes things. That’s part of the leaven. It creeps in. You guys, every one of us, all of us, I’m pointing at me first. The leaven has already crept into the way you and I think. It’s already in your life. And now things that are being spun and declared, made law, or it’s Vogue, or the Hollywood clan says it’s so, and the Bible stands there like this. It has said the same thing for thousands of years. And listen, I’m only asking us, when you see what the trend is proclaiming, and you see what the Bible says, are you ever tempted or thinking, yikes, I believe what the Bible says, but I better be quiet about that other thing and that other, oh boy, whoo! Leaven is advancing in our lives. It’s everywhere, but God doesn’t excuse it. In 1 Corinthians 5, this is a perfect example, 1 Corinthians 5, verse six, Paul says to the church at Corinth, your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven, whoop, leavens the whole lump? Therefore, purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. You guys are saved at Corinth. What are you doing tolerating stuff that’s ungodly? For indeed, Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Isn’t that awesome?
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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.
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Now look, hypothetically, before we move on, hypothetically, you go to class tomorrow and And there are certain things on your high school or college campus that it is expected of you to believe. Did you know that? It is expected of you to believe, it’s expected of you to think, and if you deviate from that, you will pay the price. I had a sweet brother here at this church, a wonderful man of God. he was telling me Sunday, I’m going to be going before this panel for my possible job, and it’s a big deal, a very big deal. And these guys, he’s going to do, I think it’ll be grilled on an oral exam, and he comes up before these officials, and they’re going to ask him stuff. He’s got to do it. And I’m listening to him, and we prayed, but I told him, he’s just seen his eyes. He didn’t know what to say. I said, whatever you do, if they say to you, are you a religious man? Say, yes. Don’t say anything more than that. If they come back to that and they say, do you believe in God? Say, yes. Yes. If they keep pressing it, listen, young people today, if you’re on the college campus, listen to what I’m saying. If they start pressuring you and prodding you, know this, nothing good’s gonna come out of it. Jesus already told us this. Jesus said, keep your mouth shut because you don’t throw the pearl before swine. And I said, whatever you do, buddy, don’t go up in front of that council and think you’re gonna preach the gospel to them. And even if they ask you, don’t answer. You could say, I’ll meet you later after, if you wanna talk, we can talk later. But don’t speak about that. Listen, some of you, you go to court, you put your hand on the Bible, you swear an oath, and that’s all fine and dandy. But don’t go up there in front of the court or the judge or the attorneys and start giving the four spiritual laws. You’re gone. I’m telling you, they’ll dust you. Why? Because they have already been completely consumed by leaven. And you might as well be speaking Martian to them. Be very careful. The next danger is this, danger from within. Danger from within. Jesus said, a woman came and hid the leaven from This is covert, it’s unknown, something’s wrong. Whoever and whatever she is, and I’ll give you my opinion, it’s only my opinion. In the context of leaven being sown, leaven being something that is bad and grows and affects the whole group, and Jesus is talking about the kingdom of heaven, we’re all on safe ground right now. If you apply that biblically, again, always let the Bible interpret the Bible, you will come up with thoughts like this. Jesus warned in the seven letters to the seven churches, there are those who have that evil doctrine of Jezebel, the woman who brought in spiritual adultery and fornication into the church. Interesting, huh? Think of that. Babylonianism. False worship. Whatever is going on, a woman sneaks it in. I believe, look, Jesus is not picking on women. I think he’s warning us that in the last days, to those of us who are reading this in the 21st century, there will be a false church who the book of Revelation says is a harlot with robes who rides upon the back of the beast, a false church in the last days. I think he’s warning us. And I think the more you get down the hallway and corridor of time and you approach the last days, it will be even more clear. And she’s hiding something. Listen, the gospel, the gospel is to be proclaimed, not hidden. It’s to be preached, not snuck. Snuck, that sounded funny. Sneaked. Snookered. Dangerous from within. Acts 20, verse 29, Paul the Apostle said, for I know this. This is one of the most sweetest, tender things you’ve ever read. He says, for I know this. that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. What are they gonna do? Are they gonna come riding in? Are these savage wolves gonna become, are they gonna ride in and they’re just gonna start like throwing up on all the little lambs and sheep and you know, what are they gonna do? Listen, are they just gonna, is there gonna be meat and ears and sheep nose flying and no, no, none of that. He’s talking spiritual. There’s gonna be wolves that come in, and what do they do? Bring leaven. They bring false doctrine, false teaching. A little bit will corrupt dangers from within. Look what he says. Verse 30, also, from among your own selves men will rise up. inside the church, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. That’s their goal, by the way. Therefore, watch and remember that for the space of three years, I did not cease to warn you night and day with tears. This is the apostle, isn’t it amazing? Wow, he cried about the coming wolves and false doctrine. Church, listen, can you hear me? Do we care about doctrine today? This is the thing that is going to be a hallmark of the apostate church in the last days. They won’t care about doctrine. Let’s play bingo. Let’s have church service and just do 12 steps to financial success. Let’s have a Sunday morning service on how to be happy. And you won’t hear the cross, you won’t hear the Christ, you won’t hear about sin, you won’t hear about heaven, and you won’t hear about hell. It’s all about now. This is it, grab it. Dangerous. Leaven at work. Galatians 5, verse 7. Chapter 5, verse 7. Paul says to the church at Galatia, you ran well. Man, you guys took off like a rocket. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion does not come from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. You hear that? Wow. Church, listen. I believe… that that can happen now, I believe it is happening now in the church, in the world, and certainly the church in America. As I said before, churches have never been bigger in America. Think about it, think, think, think, think. Churches have never been bigger. So why is this nation so messed up? Churches have never been bigger. So why are Christian marriages failing? Churches have never been bigger, so why are we losing 88% of our young people after they enter their fourth year of university time and they have no faith? You see what I’m saying? We’re in the time of leaven. I go to church. Look, if somebody comes to me and says, hey, I’m a full-blown atheist, I’m comfortable with the guy. I’m telling you right now, I am totally comfortable with him. You wanna know why? I know what to expect from him and I know what not to expect from him He’s an atheist. When somebody comes and I don’t know who they are and they say, I’m a Christian. Now it’s like, oh man. Do you know what I’m saying? Well, pastor, that’s fair. You should look for the best in all people. Not gonna do it. No, uh-uh. Jesus said examine their fruit. Watch their lives and then make a decision. That’s so unloving. No, you got your words all messed up. No, dangers from within. Galatians chapter six, okay look, Galatians 6.1, how do we respond to people? What if there’s somebody in the body that is messed up? Oh, well listen, that’s cool. In Galatians 6.1, the Bible says, brethren, if a man is overtaken in a trespass, You who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourselves, lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ, which is the law of love. Okay? That’s great. That’s in the midst of all of us. Watch, everybody. In the midst of us loving on each other, okay, there will always be wherever God’s at work. Look, I don’t want to freak you out, but I pray that God’s at work in this church. Do you want God to work in this church? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah! Are you sure? Just know this. Wherever God’s at work, Satan sends his goobers. It’s part of the deal. It’s part of the deal. You buy a burger. I’d like to have that burger, please, with no tomatoes. And then you pull up and you get it and you bite into it. It’s just tomatoes. And everybody, you know, I told you not to do tomatoes. Well, it comes with tomatoes. It comes with tomatoes. Listen, the church comes with weirdos. Wherever God is moving, if you don’t like what I’m saying, Jesus pastored a church of how many people? Jesus was a pastor of a church of 12. And one of them was possessed by Satan. Hello. Think of that. You didn’t think of that, did you? Some guy over here is going, I never thought of that. It’s true. Satan is always out to stop what God’s doing. So I hope there’s some weirdos here. We need some weirdos here to be biblical.
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pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called Parable of the Leaven. So glad you could take the time to be with us today. You know, this message, it’s part of Pastor Jack’s new series called The Parables of Jesus. It’s a series that highlights the teachings of Jesus while he was actually walking around here on this earth. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
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Everyone, it’s almost impossible to keep up with what’s going on in the world today. I think we’ve all come to that realization. My goodness, just the news regarding Israel and Israel’s neighborhood. We’re looking at what’s going on in North Korea. We’re seeing what’s happening in China and other parts of the world. It’s just overwhelming. But I want to encourage all of you. Be in the Word of God now and more systematically than ever before. In fact, as we are in this season of maybe the first quarter or second quarter of the year, I want to encourage you to join me actually at 5 a.m. Pacific Time, 5 a.m. Pacific Time, And whatever time zone you’re in, you can join me at my Facebook page live for five minutes as we are praying together with people all around the world. And you can leave your prayer request right there. You can leave it in the comment section and people will be praying for you. So listen, with all that’s taking place in the world, you don’t have to walk through this alone. There’ll be others with you to pray with you and love on you. But friends, more than ever, If you draw near to Jesus and practice the presence of God more and more, it means you’re gonna have to turn some things off and minimize the distractions. You will see some pretty miraculous things start to happen in your life. So I encourage you to do that very thing. So listen, 5 a.m., you can do it. West Coast time, 5 a.m. For those of you who are in Cape Town, South Africa, it’s 3 o’clock in the afternoon. And listen, we’d love to have you. And even if you can’t be with us live, you can always view it, pray with us, and leave your prayer request there at the comment section.
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The Lift Daily Prayer. That’s every day on Pastor Jack’s Facebook page. That’s at 5 a.m. Pacific time, so don’t miss it. Make it a habit if you would. Come get prayed for and join Pastor Jack in the Word. That’s the Lift Daily Prayer every day this year on Pastor Jack’s Facebook page. Be sure to join us. You’ll enjoy it.
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Today, more and more Christ followers are living out their faith no matter what. And one way we can help is through our website. At jackhibbs.com slash real radio, you’ll find access to Pastor Jack’s devotions, YouTube channel, podcasts, Facebook, live streamed events, and so much more. Again, our website is jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio. And don’t forget to download the Real Life mobile app for on-the-go access to all that Pastor Jack has to offer.
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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.
