In this episode of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack Hibbs delves into the depths of Jesus’ parables, particularly the Parable of the Mustard Seed. He explores themes of growth within the church and the potential pitfalls that accompany it. Listeners are invited to reflect on their personal faith journeys in light of biblical teachings and the necessity of constant spiritual vigilance.
So the kingdom of heaven in a nutshell is going to grow, grow, grow, grow, grow. That’s fantastic, but be careful because there’s going to be the infiltration of the enemy to try to lodge in its branches. The church is not a company. It’s not a club. It is a spiritual institution created by God, and it is altogether separate from the governments of this world.
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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 now called The Parables of Jesus with his message titled Parable of the Mustard Seed. Now, whenever Jesus spoke to the masses, he often spoke in parables. And this parable, it’s pretty well known comparing the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed. Now, parables create a word picture, if you will. And Jesus taught this one by the beautiful shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. to encourage, to challenge, and to expose the condition of our hearts. So today, Pastor Jack teaches that mustard seeds need constant care. We really must not become complacent and unprofitable, if you will. The church will grow in love and understanding when we take care of it. Now with his message called Parable of the Mustard Seed, here’s pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.
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People are coming to Christianity, coming to Christ, at breakneck speed and volume. It is awesome. It is absolutely awesome. It’s sad in the West, we’re seeing a decline, but hey, that’s okay. It’s okay with me. I happen to be an American, but not for long. I mean, I’m gonna get, you know, raptured or die, and no one up there in heaven, you know, Peter’s not gonna be at the gate saying, Jack, you know, got your passport? Is that your picture or what? Not gonna be an issue. You and I are of the political or politic of heaven. And I’m happy to hear that there’s some, as far as they know, a known amount of some 1,500 Muslims converting to Christianity in the world being disciples. I don’t know how they know that, I don’t know who’s doing that, but if that’s what they know of, imagine how many they don’t know of. Not to mention those that are coming to Christ in China, as I said. Now, that’s the encouragement. But here comes a word of warning. Verse 32, and becomes a tree, or like a tree, or takes on the appearance of a tree. This is huge. This is massive. Okay, so here’s the warning. Listen, church, there is ministry growth that is God-produced, watch, both in the positive, or it could be positive, yes, of course, if God’s doing it, But ministry growth doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a positive. If God’s doing it, praise the Lord. But look at my, look, ministry growth, quote, quote, right, doesn’t indicate that God’s in it. Oh, look how big it is. God must be in it. Watch out. Ministry growth by God could be big or small. But we’re so goofy people. Because in our psychology, a crowd draws a crowd. Oh, what’s going on over there? Come on, I don’t know, what is it? Let’s go see, come on. We’re like that. And how many people attend a church and they’re going, what’s going on? I don’t know. I don’t know, but what’s happening? And then they walk out of church. What went on in there? I don’t know. But it’s a crowd and it’s very electric. Yeah, but what’s happening? I don’t know. This is happening. I mean, you can go on, turn on Christian television on a Sunday afternoon. And if it wasn’t so sad, it’d be funny. But what’s being said? I mean, you want to test how your discernment is? How well do you know your Bible? We should do this sometime. We should have an afternoon service, turn on Christian TV on a Sunday afternoon on the screens, and when you hear false doctrine, raise your hand. We can have a game. Ning, ning, ning, ning, ning, ning, hey! Section three, what did you find over there? That guy just misquoted that verse and misapplied that verse. I’m not kidding. Last Sunday, I did that. Turned it on. One guy said, I’m not gonna say his name, one guy said, if you’re sick, if you’re sick, you do not have the power of God in your life if you’re sick. Think of that. That, imagine. Hey, excuse me, Paul the Apostle, you do not have the power of God in your life. Paul suffered throughout his life with various physical ailments. Well, if you’re not rich, God’s not in your life. There’s sin in your life if you’re not rich. First of all, all the guys saying that are rich, Because it’s the poor people giving their money to him. Right? So it’s easy to talk like that. Think of that. Am I offending you? Did you get offended by that? Listen, it’s a big deal. Growth can be dangerous. The great thing is if the word of God goes out, it scrubs everything. Anybody, if it’s 10 people or 10,000 people, if the word’s going out, it’s like a big SOS pad. Save our soul. It’s very powerful. So listen, in our lives regarding big endings, I mean, is this not your passion? I pray it is. In fact, turn to 2 Timothy 4.1. All of us need to be focusing on this. 2 Timothy 4.1. This is, who knows? Man, these are crazy days. The world’s coming unhinged. I want 2 Timothy 4 happening in my life. Well, I say, Pastor Jack, you’ve been talking about Jesus coming back for years. That’s right. But every year you’re closer to dropping dead, so pay attention. The Lord may not come back, but you will drop dead. So we’re one year closer. So here’s the deal. If Jesus doesn’t rapture us tonight… You could lay down tonight and rupture something. And so you want to be ready, right? 2 Timothy 4. Paul says, I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching. Why? Well, because, verse 3, the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, biblical teaching. But according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers. and they will turn their ears away from the truth. Notice that, church. They had their ears toward the truth, but something got them, and they’ll turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. But you, be watchful in all things, endure afflictions. That means when bad stuff happens to us, it doesn’t mean God doesn’t love you or he left you. You understand that? I’ve got cancer. I got hit by a truck. I’m losing my job. God loves you. That doesn’t change. It has nothing to do with his affection for you. Nothing. Do the work of an evangelist. Notice, you can’t tonight say, well, I can’t tell anybody about Jesus because I don’t have the gift of evangelism. Every Christian is to tell people about Jesus. There are people specially equipped by God that are ridiculously effective at it. I mean, you know, you’re not supposed to lust about stuff, right? But I, man, Greg Laurie stands up. Now, keep the verse on the screen because I’m going on a rabbit trail now. Greg Laurie stands up and reads a menu at a restaurant and people get saved. I can preach my heart out and nobody raises their hand. It’s like, man. You know, have you ever felt, have you ever, you know what I’m talking about, right? When you think, I should share with that person. And then the thought enters your mind, no, man, what if they don’t accept Jesus? I’ll just, I’ll play it safe and not say anything. Listen, we’re all supposed to tell people about Jesus. We’re supposed to tell. As God gives opportunity, we’re supposed to bear witness for Christ. Okay, and then when there’s like big heavy lifting to be done, God brings in the Greg Lorries and the Billy Grahams and people that just have the gift of a family. Many of you, I’ve seen you on these mission trips. You’re amazing. Share them with people. What are you laughing? You’re one of them. Robert, you, I just heard you make a noise. You’re one of them. There’s no, you can’t get on the airplane. We’ve been all over the world. You can’t get on the airplane with Robert. Without him, what’s he doing up there? What’s he doing up there? He’s got the pilot in a corner. He’s sharing Christ. I mean, it’s amazing. Now, we were somewhere. Do the work of evangelist, verse five, fulfill your ministry for I am all, listen to Paul, it’s so precious, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering. I’m dying. I’m dying. God told me I’m gonna die. And the time of my departure is at hand. Please underline that. Are you dying? Listen, the time of your departure is at hand. Did you hear me? The time of your departure is at hand. I don’t wanna go. Notice the verbiage. The time of your departure is at hand. What do you do before you go on a trip? What do you do before you go on a vacation? You pack. You get ready. Should I wear this? Right? I always wear black on a trip because I spill everything on me. So you ready? I say, I’m ready. And you’re excited. Let’s go, where are we going? Come on, let’s go. Notice Paul says, my departure’s at hand. It’s like, boop, boop. Getting ready. He’s not like, I don’t want to go. Christians. We read about heaven, we read about eternity, we read about Jesus, we talk to him all the time, and then the moment comes, our departure is at an, I don’t wanna go! Think about it. What are we afraid of? I don’t wanna go through the change part. The death part. I understand that. And that’s, by the way, a God-ordained witness. Humans create an image of God. Death is an abnormality. But thank God for the Christian. It’s a momentary event. Paul says, my departure is at hand. I got my ticket. I’m dressed. You know what I mean by dressed, right? I’ve got the righteousness of Christ around me. I have the helmet of salvation on. I’m ready to go. Are you ready to go? If you’re not ready to go, you can get ready to go right now as you listen.
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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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I love this. Verse seven, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I’ve kept the faith. This is what we are to end like, Christian. And I have no jurisdiction over you ending this way. You have no jurisdiction over me ending this way. You must choose to determine tonight, that’s how I’m gonna end. I’m gonna end like Paul. You have to decide that tonight. Some of you tonight are saying, I don’t really care. Okay, some of you are saying tonight, I want that. then listen, if you want that, God will never disappoint you. He will see to it. Yeah, well, what about me who I don’t want it? Then you won’t have it. Right? You don’t want? He’s not going to give you something you don’t want. Third and final thing. It’s a quick ending, though. We’re done. And that is the mustard seed. Notice this. Constant care. is required. Why? It says there, verse 32, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. The birds of the air, this is the interesting thing. Listen, the birds, as I said earlier, are not good, generically speaking. Well, so then why are they there? A lot of reasons, the Bible warns us. To infiltrate the body, to bring false doctrine, to disrupt people’s faith, to sow discord among the brethren, to mess people up, to put doubt in your minds. They’re everywhere. Listen, wherever God is working, birds will be flocking. And Jesus issues a warning. And he said that earlier in Matthew 13, four and Matthew 13, 19. In both cases, he said the birds are bad. Not good. They devour the word, they take it away. And so what I want you to focus on, constant care. Christian, in thinking about this, all of you, now I know many of you on these Wednesday nights, you attend other churches on Sunday, and that’s fine, that’s great. When you go back to your other churches and serve or minister or whatever you do, you need to go on to your church campus next Sunday with a different set of eyes. Yes, there’s a pastor in, staff, and there’s, I understand that, but you are a Christian and the church is a living, breathing organism. And when you go to your church next Sunday, you need, can I put it this way, please understand me, you need to own it. And what I mean by that is this. Don’t go to a church and be comfortable or settled as a spectator there. You need to go there and care for it. You need to go there and love it. You need to go there and ask Jesus, Lord, this is my church where you’ve called me for the season of my life. And Lord, use me to make a difference. And look, that doesn’t mean you have to sign up for some ministry. It could simply mean this, which I tell you what, I would appreciate this, is if you just walked around with a sweet spirit, don’t get me wrong, but you’re very conscious and very aware, you know what, I love my church and I want to protect my church and… You know, there’s a guy over there. What’s he doing over there? Scratching those cars with the car keys or something. I went to a church one time. That’s what happened to me. Parked my car. Some guy’s, what? And I thought, man, what is this? Satan must go to this church. But care for it. Walking down the hallway and, you know, there’s some trash on the hallway. And look, if you’re not committed, you’re gonna walk by and you’re gonna go, man, this church needs to hire people. But listen, God took your eyeballs and let you see the trash on the floor. And you know what? You were judging the church and God was judging you. Because you walk by and go, what a filthy place. And God was saying to you, why don’t you pick it up? Be a servant, will you? The church needs constant care, let alone doctrine, theology, the hurts and pains, the brokenness of families and lives, illnesses, sickness, death, babies being born. Constant stuff. Constant. It’s absolutely crazy amazing. We begin with a little bit of faith. God’s word, Romans 10, 17 says, faith comes by hearing. Hearing the word of God. And your faith goes like this. Your faith starts like this. I believe. And you eat some Bible. And you eat more Bible. And you get bigger. And your faith gets stronger. And it’s like, yes! Until faith, you know, listen, faith is just exploding out of you. And you’ve got now to respond to what God has done. It’s very exciting. And so we’re all to be on the same page. Jesus is warning us, watch out for those birds. Watch out for a bird attack because they’re everywhere where God is moving. So the kingdom of heaven in a nutshell is going to grow, grow, grow, grow, grow. That’s fantastic, but be careful because there’s going to be the infiltration of the enemy to try to lodge in its branches. The church is not a company. It’s not a club. It’s not an auxiliary. It’s not a rotary company. It is a spiritual institution created by God and it is altogether separate from the governments of this world and that drives the governments of this world crazy because God is our king and Jesus is our Christ. Father, we thank you for your word and for your truth, Lord. We pray. Father, we pray we lift up this church to you. Lord, the truth is All of us are just passing through. And even if you don’t come back for 100 years, everyone in this room will be with you before that ever happens. Who cares if it’s 100 years or 100 minutes? We’re gonna be with you. Lord, there’ll come a time that if you don’t come, this church will be pastored by another pastor and there’ll be different worship people here and there’ll be different people sitting in the congregation and the only thing standing around temporarily will be the walls. Challenge to us tonight is what condition will we leave this church in the hands of others? What will be handing the baton and what will it be like? So Father, we pray tonight as a body of believers to keep us on the straight and narrow. Lord, this church is certainly bigger than what we started with six people. Protect us from birds lodging in the branches. Help us to find them and flush them out and do whatever is necessary. But Father, we pray tonight that faith would be alive in us. And if there’s anyone here tonight that does not know that amazing nucleus within their soul, the Holy Spirit, then tonight, my friend, whoever you may be, if you’re not sure if you died today, then you’d go to heaven. If you still feel the anchor of your sin upon your ankles and Tonight, the Holy Spirit is speaking to you saying, be free now. Repent of those sins. That is, give them to Christ. Tell him about it. Don’t hide it. Bring it right up to the front. Bring it right up to the surface and say, Jesus, I need to be forgiven of these sins. I know it’s wrong. And I believe you died on the cross for my sins and that you rose again from the grave for my justification. And I am right now, tonight, today, wherever you are in the world watching this right now, you’re saying, I’m putting my faith in Jesus Christ. I’m going to follow him from this moment on. God will change your life. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs here on Real Life Radio with his message called Parable of the Mustard Seed. Thanks for joining us today. You know, this message is 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 here on this earth. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
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So as you heard from our broadcast, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And if you’d like to know what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life personally, we would love to help you out with that. Go to jackhibbs.com slash know God. That’s K-N-O-W God. And there you’ll be guided through what a commitment to Christ can mean in your life and the freedom that you’ll find in knowing God. Don’t miss out. That’s the know God tab at jackhibbs.com.
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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 going to 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 comments 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. 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.
