Jack Hibbs - For a Limited Time Only (01/23/2026)
For a Limited Time Only
And so, I’m going to ask you first of all to grab your Bibles and turn, if you would, to Luke chapter 12. If I had to give a title to today’s message, it would simply be this: «For a Limited Time Only.»
You ever hear that phrase? «For a limited time only, you can get this and that.» They try to sell you something—for a limited time only. Well, we’re looking today at how biblical eschatology—Bible prophecy—sets the stage, or sets the church apart from all other religions. And simply this: our Bible tells us the future in advance.
The Uniqueness of the Bible
You guys all know that if you attend here. You know that the Bible is unique from all other books in all the world. I don’t care who you are—I don’t say this to upset you—it’s just a fact. It is an absolute fact that no book comes close to the Bible. Not even close. No book. The Book of Mormon can’t do it. The Quran can’t do it. The Tibetan books of their enlightened ones cannot do it. Nothing. No one has the chutzpah to say that their book knows the future. They fail. Only the Bible.
So when I say «for a limited time only,» I come to you guys today with a lot of things on my mind. I mean, I told the first service that I didn’t know how it was going to go, and I just said I might just keep going into the second and third service. I don’t know how this is going to go.
This has been an amazing weekend for me, by how God has opened up a door this last weekend to get some pretty amazing time with some pretty amazing people. And as we look at these things, I kept being drawn right back to Luke chapter 12.
Overview of Luke Chapter 12
And as you look at it, I’m going to ask you to just mark your Bible there in Luke 12:35 and 36. Can you turn there if you would? Luke 12:35 and 36.
But let me give you an overview. Jesus had been ministering, teaching, preaching, giving out doctrine to the disciples, to the audience, those following—and as always, those in the crowd who didn’t believe in Him, those that were jealous of Him, the professional religionists of the day, the scribes and Pharisees.
Jesus is laying down truth—as of course He is truth—and that’s what He gives. He begins chapter 12 in Luke’s gospel by warning everybody about hypocrisy. He warned people—and of course hypocrisy carries with it that you claim to know something or do something or be something, but in fact you’re not, but you would try to convince people that you are. And Jesus exposes that.
And He says His people cannot be hypocrites like that. You can’t fool people by telling them. And so He warns, because religion—organized religion of His day—was the great danger to the very ministry of God, because man had commandeered that.
Then He moved on in the chapter, and Jesus taught them about the fear of God—that it’s the fear of God, and that is in a healthy way, the fear of God. It’s the awe, the reverential awe of God. He taught them in Luke 12 that we should be in awe of God, and that’s a great place to be.
Listen, if you have a husband or a wife that you’re concerned about—well, is my husband faithful, or is my wife faithful? What about my kids now being off to college—are they going to maintain their faith? Are they going to do the right thing?
Listen, there comes a point in time regarding our fear of God that we need to understand something. The greatest thing that could happen in your life as an individual—and certainly for those that are near you in your relationships—is that we would fear the Lord.
A wife never has to worry about a husband cheating on her if he fears the Lord—and vice versa. Kids sent off to school—well, will my kids survive college? Well, statistically, no, they will not. Over 80% of your kids going to college come out of college faithless, anti-Christian, anti-God.
Will they survive? I don’t know. Does your student at UCLA fear the Lord? It’s the internal rudder and anchor of the believer’s life. Jesus taught about that.
Key Teachings in the Chapter
And then He went on to talk about those who would confess Him as Lord and Savior—that they would be the followers of Christ. He talked about the significance of us walking with Him that way.
He went on and taught and warned about the parable of the rich fool—the man who looked around and saw his great success and his great achievements, much like America—our great success, our great achievements. But the man had forgotten God, and he began to amass things to himself.
There’s, by the way, nothing wrong with you having stuff. Hey, let me be biblically accurate—there’s nothing in the Bible that condemns you being even rich. It’s how you use it. This man said, «Look what I’ve done. Look what I’ve achieved.» He forgot God and spent it on his own lust, and Jesus said it led to his ruin.
That’s an easy thing to do in an affluent culture.
Then Jesus moved on in verse 22 of that chapter and warned us about worry—worrying about this, worrying about that. Worry comes from having to be in control. We all worry. Every one of us. I wish we could say we don’t. Some people worry out loud; some people worry internally. Don’t tell me you don’t worry—you worry. We have to fight that. We’ve got to stay fighting it. And we fight it with the Word of God and the promises of God.
But America is a worrying culture, and Jesus said don’t worry. I can say to you, and you can say to me, we are a family here—we shouldn’t worry. We should trust the Lord. And we need to remember who we are—that we are Christians.
What does that mean when we say we’re Christians? It means that we belong to a politic—the word is a citizenship—in heaven. And very soon, as you’re going to hear about today, that’s going to be challenged in your life. What politic do you really belong to? Is it the politic of this world? Is your citizenship, is your happiness, is your existence rooted, is your life meaning rooted in this world? Or as a Christian, if this world was to be dissolved, would you be registered in heaven? Would you be certain that you’re going to be with Him in heaven?
Jesus said don’t worry.
Faithful vs. Evil Servant and Discerning the Times
And then He went on to say in the teaching that there’s a faithful servant and there’s an evil servant. And He talked about that—how dangerous it is about practicing the presence of God in our lives. Is God really real? Do we know Him, or know of Him but fail to practice His presence in our daily living?
And then Jesus warned about how if you’re going to accept Christ and walk with Christ, not everybody in your world will walk with Christ, and that truth will cause division. Family will mock you or reject you—or Jesus said that’s part of it.
And then He warns also that for every one of His kids, we need to be discerning the times in which we live. Jesus says that in the morning a sailor will look at the sky, and he’ll see that the sky is red, and the old jingle is: red sky in the morning, sailor take warning; red sky at night, a sailor’s delight. A red sky in the morning means that a storm is coming, and you better get prepared.
And Jesus said a storm is coming, and you need to be prepared in life. And so He issued that warning to us.
And then He finally, in that chapter, gave us the characteristics of a child of God—that we’d be people of peace, of truth, of love—and that peace and that truth and that love comes from the inside first.
But today, «for a limited time only,» what are we to say about what’s happening right now in the world around us?
Be Ready: Luke 12:35–36
Because I want you to look carefully as we build upon it. Look at verse 35 and 36 of Luke chapter 12. Jesus said, «Let your waist be girded and, number two, your lamps burning. And you yourselves be like men who wait for their Master.»
Church, listen—great word. Jesus is saying, «Hey, those who know Me, I’m going to give you marching orders until you see Me again face to face. Number one, get your robe ready.»
Now go back 2000 years—men wore robes. If you wanted to run, by the way, you would pull up your robe between below your knee—about halfway up your calf—and you would tuck it in your belt or a rope belt, and you would tie a knot in it and then pull on it. Because the last thing you want to do is be running and your robe comes out, you step on your robe, and you break your face.
So you pull it up and you tighten a knot, and it won’t go anywhere. So everybody understood when Jesus said that: oh, He’s telling us to be ready to run.
Then He said something very odd: have your waist girded about and have your lamp burning. Interesting thing—nobody runs with a lamp burning, because if you run effectively, your lamp’s going to go out.
So Jesus introduces to the hearers an impossible situation. He wants us to be ready and ready to run with lamps burning. But if you’re Jewish in the audience 2000 years ago, it makes perfect sense. He is saying to have your lamp burning is your witness. The Holy Spirit is the oil; our life is like the wick that is burning. The Holy Spirit consumes our life. We are to be alert and ready to move.
And that truth of 2000 years ago—although truth doesn’t get truer with God—we wake up to the magnitude of it. So for us to say this: what Jesus said, as we are late in the hour of human history, that this truth is more applicable for us now than it even was for them then.
A Disastrous Week in History
Why? This last week has been an absolute disaster in American history. I can even broaden it—to this point yet to be seen—it’s not only an absolute disastrous week in American history.
I had somebody tell me yesterday in Minneapolis, Minnesota—from their place of expertise, of what they’re involved in—they believe that what happened this last week could prove to be the most devastating time in American history. And I said, «Wait—do you mean greater than 9/11?» And this person said, «Absolutely greater than 9/11. It will prove to be greater than 9/11.»
And I’m wondering if anybody knows what I’m even talking about or beginning to hint to you about. Absolutely catastrophic. We’ll talk about that this morning.
Why are we even talking about it at all? Because you know what—the whole motive of today is «for a limited time only.» You and I have freedom to gather together like we do right now—for a limited time only. We’ve got the freedom of speech—although a friend of mine was just arrested this week, an ordained pastor. We’ve had his book here featured as one of the books of the month.
He was going down to Australia to a pro-life conference, and he was pulled out of line by customs agents and banned from entering into the nation of Australia. They forbade him to enter in, and they put him into jail. He’s asked, «What for?» And they said, «Because you holding pro-life views could possibly be a terrorist threat to our country.» And I don’t know if he’s out of jail yet. Anybody know who I’m talking about? Is Troy out of jail? Does anybody know? He’s out.
For a limited time only—our economy, the ability to use your dollars. What’s going on with that? For a limited time only.
Why Was America Created?
And as we look at this today, I want you to think about something for a moment. You guys all know this, but I want to remind you: why was America—if you believe in God—ask this question: why was America ever created? By the way, it’s a very, very valid question, because there are very few countries on the planet in human history that can even ask that question. I can only think of two: Israel and the United States.
Ask yourself: why did God create America? Because if you know American history—which apparently a lot of people do not know anymore—they’ve been told the opposite—that God created the United States of America. They don’t know. They can’t tell you—people graduating from university that are going to be running our nation cannot tell you how this nation came into existence and why. Because it’s not politically correct to say the truth.
When the Puritans or Separatists saw England and its state-mandated church—by the king, you must go to church, you must tithe, and you will go to the Church of England. You could lose your head if you didn’t go.
So our founding fathers built what many people will say is a secular nation. They don’t even know what they’re talking about. We built a secular nation because all men are able to worship or not. In Europe, you had to worship—if you were a believer or not. You either went to the Anglican or the Church of England in pre-colonial America, or you went to the Catholic church in France.
And our founders came here because of the persecution of those who wouldn’t do either.
By the way, one of the great holidays that you’re going to pork yourself out on and turkey yourself out on and watch every game under the sun and miss the whole meaning of it—is about those people. They said, «Listen, we’re not going to worship any king but Jesus, and we are not going to read any junk but the Bible.»
Those people were called Pilgrims, and they left England, and they got as far as Holland. Did you know that? They were there for 12 years, getting money together, having Bible studies. The little flock was growing.
And then they were reminded—and you can read about it. By the way, please get this—please get this and just wade through the old English. You can now buy, because it was recently discovered and brought back into print, William Bradford’s Journal. Get it. Get it.
You want to shut up every liberal-speaking professor in America today that says that this nation had no Christian founding. Listen, I don’t care—with all due respect—I don’t care what Bill O’Reilly says. I don’t care what David McCullough—I love David McCullough—I don’t care what he has to say. I don’t care what my friend Ted Cruz has to say. I don’t care.
Why don’t you go to the source? Go to the people who wrote about it. Go to William Bradford and read his writings. Read how they fasted and prayed. He said—and went through the Bible, and he pulls out Scripture. He tells you about how their prayer meetings went. He tells you about how their Bible studies went.
I know some of you don’t want to hear this—it’s just too bad. This is a fact. That’s what’s wrong with us in America—we don’t deal with facts anymore. John Adams said facts are stubborn things. Why? Because they don’t go away.
The fact is they prayed, they fasted. Pastor John Robinson led them in Bible studies.
And in our national rotunda of the Capitol of America—in a great—I believe it’s John Trumbull who painted, I’m not sure about that part—but there’s a great painting, and it shows the embarkation of the Pilgrims leaving, and Pastor John Robinson’s got the Bible open. If you look real close—if you go to the Capitol Building—he’s holding the Bible open. It’s the Geneva Bible, and it’s turned to John 3:16.
And Bradford and 102 people on board that ship—basically half of them Christians, half of them full-blown pagans, and two dogs. So 104 set sail, leaving Europe.
The Mayflower Compact and America’s Christian Roots
And lest you’ve forgotten—or if you’ve never been told—when they arrived in Plymouth, you know what happened? Everybody got excited. You would too, after living with—I mean, you read the book by Nathaniel Philbrick called Mayflower, and when you read about the conditions of that ship and how many people were dying in that, it is sickening.
When they pull up—wouldn’t you? You know, you ever been on an airplane too long where your rear end is sore? Like me last night—I couldn’t wait to get out of that plane, and that was only a three-and-a-half-hour flight.
These guys were at sea in dank, dark, rotten conditions with death all around. And it was bad—read about it.
And they pull up, and you could just go, «Whoa, let’s go!» And Bradford said, «Stop. Nobody moves. Nobody gets off this boat—believer and nonbeliever alike.»
You know what they did? They sat down and they crafted—I may be a little bit off, but I’m not too far off—they crafted about a two-paragraph document.
By the way, Thomas Jefferson said watch out when a nation has to write a bunch of laws and the laws get bigger—the less freedoms you have.
Our Pilgrims sat down and said, «Wait, wait, wait—before we step onto this new world, we’re going to have some laws that govern us. We’ve got to have some common understanding here.»
Now students, take this back to your college professor tomorrow and try to record it for me, because I’d love to see their face.
They wrote down what is called the Mayflower Compact. Guess what it says? It says we, for the glory of God, have come here to spread the Christian faith across this nation.
That’s American history. That is America’s document, ladies and gentlemen. The Constitution was built on that. Your Declaration of Independence was built on that. Your freedom was built on that.
The first Supreme Court of the United States of America had a Supreme Court Justice—he’s a founding father. I don’t know if you know his name. His name is John Jay. Listen—the Chief Supreme Court Justice of the United States Supreme Court said, «Because this is a Christian nation, we should elect Christians.»
Amen. Can you imagine that being said today in our godless Supreme Court in Washington, DC?
Well, on what authority do you say? On the authority of the first Supreme Court Justice of the United States.
God’s Purpose for America
What is happening? I believe this—I believe America was created for several things. It’s not a long list. You may find it surprising.
It was not to invent the iPad. It wasn’t even to go to the moon. It wasn’t to create the greatest military on Earth. It wasn’t to become the richest nation that’s ever been on the planet. It’s not to be even the greatest experiment in freedom ever crafted. And it’s not even to have the longest document that’s governed a people in human history—the Constitution.
No, I believe this: I believe that God created the United States to preach the gospel to the world and to be a covering for the birth and rebirth—I should say rebirth—of the nation Israel. And I believe I can prove that easily.
But what has happened of late—this last week? I had lunch with a person that sat on the House Intelligence Committee—a believer in Washington, DC. And I said, «In your words, what happened?»
And the Reader’s Digest answer was this. This person said: in antiquity, for example, as Christianity spread out of the Middle East, out of Israel, into across Turkey—remember the Book of Revelation, the letters to the seven churches? Those are all churches in Turkey—used to be Christian. Lebanon used to be Christian. Syria—Christian. Paul the Apostle met Jesus on his way to Damascus.
Europe Christianized by the preaching of the gospel. Paganism pushed out. The light of the gospel came in.
We’re reading on Sundays—we’re going through Philippians—Rome received the gospel. And tyrannical rulers and despots were being replaced by freedom and liberty in the hearts of people who received the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the Western world was born on Judeo-Christian values. That’s a fact.
And England, for example, went from paganism to Christianity. And in no particular order, but at one point in time England ruled the world. France ruled the world. Spain ruled the world.
There was this passing of the baton of power—ruling or influencing the world. Most recently for us, outside of our own nation, would have been England—Britannia, as McCullough points out in his book 1776. Britannia ruled the waves, ruled the seas—England. And she did—the crown of England: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Bay of Bengal, India, Europe—British Empire.
Not perfect—mind you, no human government is. But behind it all, God was at work.
And with each passing of power, there was a baton handed—either by defeat in war (you give the baton) or by military or—I should say—economic reasons. The baton, the status, is handed over. It’s happened throughout human history.
As it were, for example, the Babylonians had to hand the baton to the Medo-Persians—are you with me? The Medo-Persians to the Grecian Empire by war. The Grecian Empire to the Roman Empire.
It’s the way it is. It’s the way it’s going to be until Christ comes back. It’s human history.
And in certain periods of time, there was a dominant influence—and that is either for good or for bad.
The Passing of the Baton
Fast forward to the mid-1930s. You’ve got two megalomaniac, despotic—I believe demon-possessed—individuals on the planet. One is the Emperor-God of Japan; the other one is the Emperor-God Herr Hitler—Lord Hitler, Adolf Hitler.
They have an agenda, do they not? Their agenda is to rule the world—at the same time, mind you. And they’re taking over the world. They’re on the march.
America—we’re not involved. I hope you’re not offended by this, but whenever I think about stuff like this, my flight instructor back in 1982—my flight instructor told me, he said, «Never trust the control tower.» Because he said that guy’s in the control tower with his coffee and his donut and his little microphone—at the end of the shift he goes home. And he said, my instructor said, «Because he’s fat, dumb, and happy.» He said, «You’re dangling up here at 5000 feet—don’t trust anybody. Question everything, because you could die at any second.» That’s good counsel.
America was sheltered by two massive seas—two massive oceans: the Atlantic and the Pacific. And we didn’t need to get involved. We didn’t have to get involved. We were very much self-contained. We were very much a nation exploding with ingenuity and technology. And we were blessed from sea to shining sea—all across the fruited plain. America—a geological, economic, environmental miracle on Earth. Paradise, as it were.
No wonder why California, just by itself, was called «Califia» with the ancient groups that—like Balboa and Cortez—when they came to the shores of America. To be for us—they saw California and they said, «This is the Greeks' mythological Califia. We have found paradise on Earth.»
We could afford to stay out of the fight—until a Sunday morning on December 7th, 1941: the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Fast forwarding—catapulted America into the war. The United States, mind you, took on two theaters at the exact same time: the United States took on the Pacific and took on Europe—the Pacific Theater and the European Theater.
And the Americans rolled up their sleeves and went to war. And fast forward again—by God’s grace, the United States maintained—hello, listen in, listen—college students, listen up—shocker, spoiler warning alert here—America won both of these wars.
And maintained those nations. If we were an occupying nation, then why aren’t we right now in Tokyo having a Bible study? If we’re an occupying nation, then how come you and I don’t go to the 52nd state called Germany or the 51st state called Italy? How come France doesn’t belong to us?
We gave our blood to keep them free. Why? What made us like this? Something had been put into our fiber. And when you take the time to read what it was, it was the love of liberty—and the general population admitted that liberty was a gift given to us by God. And they found that out from our founding fathers, who our founding fathers found it out from their founding fathers—our founding fathers that you associate with in history. They said they had founding fathers—who were they? William Bradford, John Robinson, Mather—those that were of the Mayflower.
And what was that? To be a nation honoring God.
This last week, we have not only ceased to honor God in recent history in our country—I believe the final chapter, I believe the door was closed this last week.
This last week, the United States stood down from Russia invading the Middle East. It is worse than you can possibly imagine on what has happened.
America’s Retreat and Biblical Prophecy
The Bible says in the last days of human history, every nation will turn its back on Israel—Zechariah 12 to chapter 14.
All of my lifetime, America has stood—since its inception—for the nation of Israel and the Jewish people, understanding that it was God in the Bible.
You think God cares about political correctness? You think God cares about what our opinions are? He could care less. God says, «This is My Word, and I’m going to fulfill it.»
I’m not saying Israel’s spotless, but God says, «I’ll bless every nation that blesses her, and I’ll curse any nation that curses her.» And we cursed her.
But you knew it was coming, didn’t you? For decades we’ve been telling God, «Get out of school. You get out of our courts. Get those Ten Commandments down. And we don’t want that cross—it’s an offense. Oh, bring on the crescent moon of Islam. Oh, let’s teach it in social studies. Let’s invite them to tell us how to reinterpret American history. Let’s bring in a foreign explanation of our existence.»
This is textbook Book of Judges. We’re living it right now. We’ve ejected God like Israel did in the Old Testament, and Baal came in. And one of the practices of Baal was offering up their children—their newborn babies—on the burning fiery idol of Baal and Moloch. Moloch was that idol. And they erected these tall things out of trees, carved in the shape of a man’s anatomy, and they worshiped at the base of it. It was called porneia. You ever heard that word before? And now you just click on it—it’s the same god, the same demonic power behind that stuff, destroying a nation from within.
And when you remove the pillars of a nation—the Bible says when you remove those ancient strongholds—what is a nation to do?
We told God to get out. And I believe this week—this is my opinion, I’m not asking you to believe it, I just have to vent—I think God has gotten out. I think He left. I think He’s done.
We have not only told Him to get out, but did you know this week—and I was told by a great source in Washington, DC—Obama picked up the phone and told Samantha Power and John Kerry, «Do not attend Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech. Stiff him.»
In fact, did you see this picture? Can you guys play the little short clip of it? This happened this last week.
Does anyone seriously believe that flooding a radical theocracy with weapons and cash will curb its appetite for aggression? Do any of you really believe that a theocratic Iran with sharper claws and sharper fangs will be more likely to change its stripes?
So here’s a general rule that I’ve learned—and you must have learned in your lifetime—when bad behavior is rewarded, it only gets worse.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve long said that the greatest danger facing our world is the coupling of militant Islam with nuclear weapons. And I’m gravely concerned that the nuclear deal with Iran will prove to be the marriage certificate of that unholy union.
I know that some well-intentioned people sincerely believe that this deal is the best way to block Iran’s path to the bomb. But one of history’s most important yet least learned lessons is this: the best intentions don’t prevent the worst outcomes.
The vast majority of Israelis believe that this nuclear deal with Iran is a very bad deal. And what makes matters even worse is that we see a world celebrating this bad deal, rushing to embrace and do business with a regime openly committed to our destruction.
Last week, Major General Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s army, proclaimed this, quote: «We will annihilate Israel for sure. We are glad that we are in the forefront of executing the supreme leader’s order to destroy Israel.» End quote.
And as for the supreme leader himself, a few days after the nuclear deal was announced, he released his latest book—here it is. It’s a 400-page screed detailing his plan to destroy the state of Israel.
Last month, before the Assembly of Experts, he spoke about Israel—home to over six million Jews. He pledged, quote: «There will be no Israel in 25 years.» End quote.
Seventy years after the murder of six million Jews, Iran’s rulers promise to destroy my country, murder my people—and the response from this body, the response from nearly every one of the governments represented here has been absolutely nothing. Utter silence. Deafening silence.
Perhaps you cannot understand why Israel is not joining you in celebrating this deal. If Iran’s rulers were working to destroy your countries, perhaps you’d be less enthusiastic about the deal. If Iran’s terror proxies were firing thousands of rockets at your cities, perhaps you’d be more measured in your praise. And if this deal were unleashing a nuclear arms race in your neighborhood, perhaps you’d be more reluctant to celebrate.
But don’t think that Iran is only a danger to Israel. Besides Iran’s aggression in the Middle East and its terror around the world, Iran is also building intercontinental ballistic missiles whose sole purpose is to carry nuclear warheads.
Now remember this: Iran already has missiles that can reach Israel. So those intercontinental ballistic missiles that Iran is building—they’re not meant for us. They’re meant for you—for Europe, for America—for raining down mass destruction anytime, anywhere.
So here’s a general rule that I’ve learned—and you must have learned in your lifetime—when bad behavior is rewarded, it only gets worse.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve long said that the greatest danger facing our world is the coupling of militant Islam with nuclear weapons. And I’m gravely concerned that the nuclear deal with Iran will prove to be the marriage certificate of that unholy union.
I know that some well-intentioned people sincerely believe that this deal is the best way to block Iran’s path to the bomb. But one of history’s most important yet least learned lessons is this: the best intentions don’t prevent the worst outcomes.
The vast majority of Israelis believe that this nuclear deal with Iran is a very bad deal. And what makes matters even worse is that we see a world celebrating this bad deal, rushing to embrace and do business with a regime openly committed to our destruction.
Last week, Major General Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s army, proclaimed this, quote: «We will annihilate Israel for sure. We are glad that we are in the forefront of executing the supreme leader’s order to destroy Israel.» End quote.
And as for the supreme leader himself, a few days after the nuclear deal was announced, he released his latest book—here it is. It’s a 400-page screed detailing his plan to destroy the state of Israel.
Last month, before the Assembly of Experts, he spoke about Israel—home to over six million Jews. He pledged, quote: «There will be no Israel in 25 years.» End quote.
Seventy years after the murder of six million Jews, Iran’s rulers promise to destroy my country, murder my people—and the response from this body, the response from nearly every one of the governments represented here has been absolutely nothing. Utter silence. Deafening silence.
Perhaps you cannot understand why Israel is not joining you in celebrating this deal. If Iran’s rulers were working to destroy your countries, perhaps you’d be less enthusiastic about the deal. If Iran’s terror proxies were firing thousands of rockets at your cities, perhaps you’d be more measured in your praise. And if this deal were unleashing a nuclear arms race in your neighborhood, perhaps you’d be more reluctant to celebrate.
But don’t think that Iran is only a danger to Israel. Besides Iran’s aggression in the Middle East and its terror around the world, Iran is also building intercontinental ballistic missiles whose sole purpose is to carry nuclear warheads.
Now remember this: Iran already has missiles that can reach Israel. So those intercontinental ballistic missiles that Iran is building—they’re not meant for us. They’re meant for you—for Europe, for America—for raining down mass destruction anytime, anywhere.
You guys, the treaty that Iran has received from us—basically, as America spearheaded that deal—we’re being told in the press, for example, that they’re going to be given back their $150 billion access to $150 billion. That’s not true. I found out this weekend—over 10 years it totals $1 trillion. It starts with the first release of $150 billion—that the number one financier of terrorism around the world, Iran—the United States is allowing the infusion of money to go into its coffers.
Why? For a limited time only.
The Dropped Baton
What has happened is this baton that we were talking about earlier—from age to age—that is passed, either by being conquered or by other means or by treaties or by other means. The baton wasn’t passed this week. The baton was held out by Barack Obama and dropped on the floor.
And I had a congressman tell me this weekend—and a band of gypsies, tramps, and thieves, and jihadists scrambled to the floor like maniacs to grab the power vacuum that was created by the policies of this nation: lack of involvement, lack of getting the job done, lack of supporting our allies—left a void that brought on a traditional, predictable Moscow move.
Go into Georgia, poke around, cause some stuff—see what the world does. Shoot down a Malaysian airliner flying near the Ukraine—see what the world does. Claim another terrorist uprising in Chechnya—go in there with overwhelming force and see what the world does. Take Crimea from the Ukraine—see what the world does.
The United States did nothing.
Girls—ladies—I don’t know if you know this or not, but every man in this room knows this: weakness breeds violence. This is a man’s talk for a second. Weakness breeds violence. It’s in human nature to conquer and control the weak. That’s why you’ve seen in the little cartoons—the big boy goes and beats up the little kid and takes his lunch money. Have you ever heard that story before?
It’s no different with governments. If you’re weak, you’re going to get beat up. If you’re weak, you’re going to get your land taken from you. If you’re weak, you lose territory.
The United States lost this week: Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia—in the last 72 hours, last 96 hours, Saudi Arabia has been freaking out. Saudi Arabia has basically no army. They have a pathetic air force that’s not even worthy to call an air force. Saudi Arabia has always depended upon us to prop them up and to protect them. We’ve abandoned them.
Japan—we signed a treaty with Japan that we would defend Japan after World War II. Japan is shaking right now because—listen—the toothpaste is out of the tube with what Russia did this last week.
The world knows now: Russia, for the next 16 months, can do anything it wants. We will not take on Russia. Who’s got the better military? We do. But who’s got the will to win? They do.
Russia has always wanted a warm-water port. They’ve always wanted the Middle East. They’ve always wanted the oil. Who are they in bed with? Just turn—just look at CNN, turn on NBC, BBC, Fox News—who are they in bed with? They’re in bed with the Iranians.
I’m just going to put this out there—don’t believe it, just file it in the category «let’s wait and see,» okay? I have to be careful with this.
Iran will see to it—shortly you’ll start seeing them tamper with the Strait of Hormuz. You’re going to see gas prices go to astronomical levels. Keep your eye on China. China is in bed with Russia and Iran. Can you imagine China and Russia bedfellows?
Keep your eye in the Pacific. China is going to start flexing its muscle to challenge our military that keeps the shipping lanes free of piracy and molestation.
Right now, at this moment, if you choke the shipping lanes of the Pacific and the oil route in the Middle East, you strangle the United States and most of the world.
I’m just saying—write that down. What’s going on? What’s going to happen?
A lot of people believe Saudi Arabia could possibly be next. I don’t know. God knows. Thank God He knows.
Did you know that just the other day—Russia, in fact the day that we lost it all—do you know how it happened? It was awesome, world-class Cold War activity. And I want you to think this through.
Does anybody know where our largest US embassy is in the world? Anybody? The largest US—anybody? Yeah, who said that? It’s Iraq.
Do you know what happened there? Door opens up—a three-star Russian general—I can’t say his name, I have his name, I can’t say his name, I don’t know how to say his name—he walks up and he says simply this: «Make sure that your seniors receive this.»
And the note said that 60 minutes from the prescribed hour—60 minutes—and it was like within minutes of the prescribed hour—60 minutes—a Russian general walks into the US Embassy in Baghdad and says this is for your seniors. Baghdad, Iraq—not Washington, DC. A Russian in Iraq—three-star general.
In 60 minutes we take Syria. Your planes are not allowed to take off. You are to have no involvement in this. Stand down.
The United States—stand down.
In 60 minutes, Russia took Syria.
Since then, Russia has declared a no-fly zone over the nation of Syria. Americans are not allowed in or out right now.
I was told yesterday afternoon—right now we are bringing out our special ops and our military operatives that are in Syria. That’s called a surrender, ladies and gentlemen.
You can spin it any old Hollywood way you want to. You can doctor it up, and you can stand behind the White House platform and just say that that’s wrong for the world to think.
This is a chess game. You don’t play chess with Russians if you haven’t figured that one out. They learned chess at the age of three. Maybe Obama—you could beat them at golf, but you can’t beat them at chess.
And that’s what he said—that’s not a chess game. Well, yeah, it is a chess game if you know anything about the Russian mentality.
This is a very serious moment. We have just lost the projection of American influence in the Middle East.
Israel has never been alone as it is at this moment.
Prophetic Implications
And what does your Bible say, ladies and gentlemen? If you doubt this, then it’s fine—go ahead and doubt it all you want. Go read Ezekiel chapter 38.
But before Ezekiel 38 happens—it could happen any moment because the nations are now there—keep your eye on Damascus.
The refugee crisis has not only been a Trojan horse type of move—because we’ve already arrested ISIS inside the refugee movement—they’re invading Europe, you know, in the refugees. But it’s brilliant—it’s left all the bad guys in Damascus. All the good people fled—they’re either dead or they fled. But most of the bad guys now control Damascus.
Read Isaiah 17:1 and 2. I think personally that’s next. I’m expecting to read that on the news any day now.
There is going to be some sort of mishap in Damascus, and the Bible says that when that happens, it will go up in flames. The Bible says it will never again have humans living in it.
Ladies and gentlemen, that prophecy is nearly 3000 years old. Damascus is one of the oldest—one of the longest—inhabited places on Earth to this moment. And God says keep your eye on it—something’s going to happen. And when it goes, no one will ever be able to live there again.
Isn’t it interesting that all the bad guys are there right now?
Isn’t it interesting that when Saddam Hussein was fearing an attack by the United States, that the Valley Squadron of the Israeli Air Force—IAF Squadron 109—was hired by the United States State Department to run reconnaissance missions, photographing the transportation of weapons of mass destruction out of Baghdad northwest prior to the invasion? Because Saddam Hussein figured out if they find that stuff, I’m really in trouble.
Colin Powell took those photos—by the way, ladies and gentlemen, listen carefully—he took those photos to the United Nations, and he presented them to the United Nations.
Guess what the United Nations said? «This is bad news. We need to—yeah, we agree with this coalition. Let’s get in there.»
Did you know that Hillary Clinton voted for the war? Did you know that she wants you to forget that? But she and Kerry voted for the war. Why? They were overwhelmingly impressed with Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction.
We’re now told there are none—there were none. Isn’t that funny? Colin Powell said there was in the UN, and then he said later there’s not.
You ask an Israeli—that’s one great thing about Israel. You bump an Israeli on the street eating a falafel, and you wind up talking to a Mossad agent or a colonel of the IDF tank brigade. I mean, everybody’s a warrior there.
And those weapons of mass destruction—to this day—are still parked where Israel took photographs and gave it to George Bush. They’re still parked.
You wonder where Muslim nations park their weapons? I’ll give you one guess if you can’t figure this one out—you’ve never seen a news service ever. Where do they park their bombs and nasty stuff? Schools, hospitals, mosques—yes, all of the above. They put them where the civilians—where the culture, where the citizens are.
Keep your eye on Damascus. Something’s going to trigger something which is going to trigger something.
See—why are you telling us this? Gird up your waist. Have your lamp burning. Be ready—for what?
Number one—let’s hope the Rapture happens before the service is over. Yeah, that’d be great. Be ready.
Number two—what if it doesn’t? Tell your neighbors. Start telling people Jesus. Jesus.
The Bible says all this stuff in advance. And the same Bible that says all of that in advance is the same Bible that says, «For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that if you would trust in Him, you not perish but have everlasting life.»
It’s the same God. Listen—it’s the same God.
Listen—Israel is alone. Not really. You Christian—at the same time Israel is being ostracized from the world scene, do you not see it? People are walking into schools and singling out Christians and killing them. Do you not see it?
For a limited time only—when we’re not to be afraid. There’s nothing for us to be fearful of. This is literally epic.
At the same time Israel is under attack, the church in the world is under attack. This is not a coincidence.
The challenge—the question is: where’s your identity? Is it in the stuff you do or the things you own? Is it in your passport? You can forget it.
The greatest thing you can do right now is make sure that your kids and your grandkids know Jesus, 'cause things are going to change.
You can’t be king of the hill and then be discovered that the king’s got no clothes on without being invaded. Something’s going to happen. I don’t know what it is.
Ladies and gentlemen, we need not fear. I need you to be strong, because you know what—our community is going to need us. We’ve got the answer. I mean, we have the answer—because it was given to us. We don’t have the answer like that—it was given to us.
«I am the way, the truth, and the life,» Jesus said. «And no man comes to the Father but through Me.»
Listen—make sure your citizenship is in heaven, because things are heating up.
There’s a lot of concern right now. I’m not quite sure about—I just got a thing recently about this today—about Guam. Guam is somehow—it’s been detected that somehow Guam is a possible target for some sort of terrorist attack. I guess Guam holds some significance in some way, shape, or form. Maybe some of you in the know know something about that.
I was very impressed with how Russia got its fighter jets—its top-of-the-line fighter jets—into Syria this last week and a half. Did you guys see how it was done? Brilliant. Brilliant.
You know why? Well, when I explain to you, you’re going to say, «Well, it’s not so brilliant.» It’s brilliant because if you have people watching the monitors to prevent such a thing happening, but they’re spending more time at the control panels on Twitter and Facebook than watching the issues while they’re working—they’re Instagramming their latte while an invasion’s taking place.
Russia flew cargo planes over with shipments—maybe it’s rice—into the war-torn area of Syria. Did you see that? Underneath the cargo planes had two Russian fighter jets per cargo plane—just 100 feet below its wings—all the way there.
We didn’t know it until the Israelis called us up and said, «Oh, by the way, there’s some fighter jets now parked in Syria from Russia.» We’re embarrassed.
Russia has projected this dome of influence into the Mediterranean right now.
But according to the Bible, doesn’t Israel have to be alone for God—it says—to start working? How close are we, man?
I got to tell you—I’m absolutely, absolutely pumped up. How close are we?
This is the first time in history—in modern history—since the creation of the nation of Israel on May 14th, 1948—Israel’s alone. And the players of the next prophetic war are now in place as of this week.
And America has retreated and surrendered—and yet again we have lost another war. We haven’t won a war since 1945.
This is an amazing time. It’s time to trust the Lord.
Listen—if you’re playing games in your Christianity—if it’s tit for tat, well he said, she said—wake up. You better make sure that your kids know the Lord. I mean, you can’t make them know the Lord, but you’ve got to give them the gospel—the real one.
Don’t ask your kids or your grandkids, «Do you believe in God?» «Yep.» «Oh great.» That’s not the gospel.
Do they know who Jesus is, and can they tell you who Jesus is and what He’s done for them?
What about you?
I didn’t ask for this jurisdiction right here—this is just one service. It’s 3000 people sitting in here right now. You’re going to leave, and another one’s going to come in.
I didn’t ask for this jurisdiction, but I’m not going to step back from the responsibility that God’s given me.
You must know Him. You’ve got to know Him. I don’t care how bad you’ve ever sinned—both non-Christian right now or a Christian—know Him.
Everything that we look to as our identity is going away. What we have is a perception now—our wealth, it’s a perception. Our military—which I love, its strength and its power—is now a perception. Our liberty is now a perception.
They’re not realities if the will is too weak to use it or to give glory to God for it—it loses its value and its meaning.
And so I know these are hard things to say.
Benjamin Netanyahu said something that was haunting—and I know you may not have gotten it with the first listen. There’s enough power right now in that part of the world to make Israel very, very concerned—that’s obvious. But when the types of weaponry that have been brought into the region are long-term intercontinental ballistic types, then that tells you that their goal is to not walk across the border of Israel and take a Jew or two—you can do that with guns. It’s to launch from that location of the world a strike of thousands of miles away.
And no wonder the Saudis and the Saudi family are absolutely in a panic today—they have nobody to watch over them.
The Good News
So Jack, give us some good news.
This is the good news right here: get your robe tucked up in your waist—no, truth—put a knot in it, 'cause get ready to run—not away. We’re not running away. We’re going to run to the explosion. We’re going to run to the battle—not with guns, bombs, and whistles and bean peashooters—with truth.
Because your neighbors are about ready to have a heart attack, and you need to tell them, «Hey, listen—Jesus said there’d be days like this. And here is the answer: put your trust in God.»
Amen. Trust in no nation. Trust in no leader but Jesus Christ.
I hope that’s your decision today—that He died on the cross for your sins and my sins, and He rose again from the dead.
The very same Bible that predicted these events is the very same Bible that said Christ would come and die for you and be resurrected from the dead for your justification—that He will take you to heaven when you die or when He comes.
He never fails.
For a limited time only, you have the opportunity to accept that truth. And I pray that you do that today.
Prayer
Father, we thank You for this freedom that we have right now to get together—this family talk today. Sobering stuff. It’s a sobering world, but it’s a joyful gospel.
Thank You, Lord, for all that You’ve promised us. You’ve never failed. You never will.
May each of us search our hearts to make sure that we love and know You.
Thank You, Lord.
And today, if you’re here—I’m just not in the mood to have you come forward. I’m not even in the mood to ask you to raise your hand. I’m just not in the mood for that.
I am not in the mood to try to make you—entice you—to say yes to Jesus. If I can talk you into it, somebody can talk you out.
But if the Holy Spirit—if you feel somehow urgent about these things—and by the way, that goes for the believer too—if you’ve been goofing off and the Spirit of God is saying you need to get right real quick—you obey Him now.
And if you’re here today and you sense God saying you need to hear this, you need to do this—then you call upon Jesus right now.
If you do that, I’d love to hear from you this week—email the church, call me, stop me in the community—tell me I accepted Jesus.
But my dear friends—for a limited time only—we’ve got this opportunity. And I pray you seize that.
In Jesus' name.
Thank You, Lord, for all that You’ve promised us. You’ve never failed. You never will.
May each of us search our hearts to make sure that we love and know You.
Thank You, Lord.
And today, if you’re here—I’m just not in the mood to have you come forward. I’m not even in the mood to ask you to raise your hand. I’m just not in the mood for that.
I am not in the mood to try to make you—entice you—to say yes to Jesus. If I can talk you into it, somebody can talk you out.
But if the Holy Spirit—if you feel somehow urgent about these things—and by the way, that goes for the believer too—if you’ve been goofing off and the Spirit of God is saying you need to get right real quick—you obey Him now.
And if you’re here today and you sense God saying you need to hear this, you need to do this—then you call upon Jesus right now.
If you do that, I’d love to hear from you this week—email the church, call me, stop me in the community—tell me I accepted Jesus.
But my dear friends—for a limited time only—we’ve got this opportunity. And I pray you seize that.
In Jesus' name.
Let’s stand as we close in the song of worship right now.