Pastor Doug: Hello friends, this is Doug Batchelor. How about an amazing fact? In 1997, a mystery was solved. For years, someone had been secretly giving away millions of dollars to universities, hospitals and charities around the globe. The recipients’ didn't know why the gifts came, how to thank the giver and how to ask for more. The funds were simply sent in a cashier’s check and accompanied by word that the giver wishes to remain anonymous. But when he sold his company in 1997, the truth leaked out and the generous benefactor couldn't hide it anymore.
Now, it turns out the giver was Charles Feeney, an 82 year old businessman from New Jersey who made his fortune building a network of duty-free shops around the world. After, amassing a fortune, Feeney realized that it was more fun to give it away while he was alive. So for years, Feeney quietly gave away 99% of all he had. And that happens to be over 6.2 billion dollars. Yet, this billionaire lives very modestly. Chuck Feeney flies economy, wears a $15 watch and doesn’t even own a house or a car. Did you know that Jesus said that the only way to secure your wealth is by storing it in heaven? But what does that mean? Stay with us friends. We are going to learn about it as Amazing Facts brings you this edition of Bible Answers Live.
[PROGRAM INTRODUCTION]
Pastor Doug: You know, I was just thinking that we have been doing this for over 17 years now. That's a lot of Bible answers and we still manage to get new questions every broadcast. Friends, you are listening to Bible Answers Live and if you have a Bible question, give us a call. The number is 800-GOD-SAYS (800-463-7297), will bring your question into the studio. And looks like we still have a couple of lines open. If you call and you don’t get through right away, give it another chance and the lines often open up. My name is Doug Batchelor.
Jëan Ross: My name is Jëan Ross. Good evening listening friends. Pastor Doug, let's begin the program with a word of prayer. Dear Father, once again we thank You that we have this time together to study Your Word. We ask Your special blessing for the program. Be with those who are listening wherever they might be. And Lord, guide us as we search the Scriptures for answers. For we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.
Pastor Doug: Amen.
Jëan Ross: Pastor Doug, you opened the program by talking about a very generous individual who realized that it's more blessed to give than to receive. And when you shared that fact, I was reminded of one of the beatitudes that Jesus spoke that is often overlooked or forgotten. You won't find this beatitude in Mathew, Mark or Luke or John but you do find it in Acts. Acts 20:35 where Paul says, "And remember the words of the Lord Jesus that it is more blessed to give than to receive."
Pastor Doug: That's right. Jesus evidently said that and the gospel writers somehow failed to mention it. And Jesus talks about that there is a way for us to secure our fortune in heaven while we are here on earth. And He said that we can store our treasures in heaven, do not lay up for yourself treasure on earth where thieves break through and steal and mold and rust and corrupt. But lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven where robbers can't steal it. And it doesn't corrode or oxidize. And the question is, how do you put your treasure in heaven? Well the only thing that lasts forever are souls whose lives are changed by the gospel. And so the more you share Jesus with others, those things will react and people be in the kingdom eternally.
If you are a carpenter, that's good, and I sure appreciate you but all the houses will burn when Jesus comes. And the only thing that is going to last forever are the lives that are transformed by the power of Christ. And so by giving to those things that will transform lives, you are storing treasures in heaven. And that's what Feeney was doing. He’s kind of amazing when you think about it. Man that gave away 99% of his wealth and he's trying to plan it out so that you know he left some money for his family - for his kid and his wife. And he's got some for himself to live on but he poured everything else into a foundation. He’s just having a blast, giving it away. And we need more people like that in the world. Well, friends, if you have Bible questions, we do have our lines open. And again, the number is 800-GOD-SAYS (800-463-7297).
Jëan Ross: We're streaming the program tonight. So if you are close to your computer, you can join us. We are streaming the video link here from the studio. It's live.amazingfacts.org. That's live.amazingfacts.org and you can join us live here in the studio. Pastor Doug, we do have a study guide that we’d like to make available at this time about dealing with finances. It's called In God We Trust. We'll send it to anyone who calls and asks for it. Our resource line is 800-835-6747. And again, the study guide is called In God We Trust. Well, are we ready to go to the phone lines?
Pastor Doug: Yep.
Jëan Ross: First caller this evening is Chantal. And Chantal is listening in Oregon. Chantal, welcome to the program.
Chantal: Hello. Thank you taking my call. As I study the Bible and think about different Bible topics, I sometimes imagine what I'd say to others during conversations. And so if I pray for guidance in witnessing, can I be sure I won't make any mistakes or offend people? And can I apply Mark 13:11 a little bit to this?
Pastor Doug: Well, remind me Mark 13:11. I'm going to go there real quick. The whole spiritual … what to say?
Chantal: Right.
Pastor Doug: Well, I do believe that. I think when you are witnessing... I've done that so many times where I'm not sure what to say and I pray and say, "Lord, help me know what to say." And you know, because God guides you in what to say doesn't mean people will always listen. God guided Jesus in what to say when He spoke to Pilate and you know Jesus spoke to the rich young ruler and many others that turned away. So if you don't always get a good response, it doesn't mean that God didn't guide you. You know what I’m saying?
Chantal: Yes. Okay. Because sometimes, you know the opportunity will come up completely unexpectedly. So it's hard to really always keep that, you know, in mind constantly to know what I would say or...
Pastor Doug: That's right. And I also pray... He'll show you and tell you what to say and God can guide how to phrase things. And sometimes you are visiting with a person on just trivial things and you want to have an opportunity to witness but you don’t want to be abrupt.
Chantal: Right.
Pastor Doug: And then you are talking about the weather and then you say, "Are you safe?" You kind of can throw people and so you pray to God to give you wisdom. How to tactfully weave into the conversations spiritual things. And that is what I'm often praying about is that how I do say, how do I segue, how do I transition from the typical trivial conversation those people have into the things that really last for eternity. And God will give you wisdom when you ask Him.
Chantal: Okay. Good. Okay. Thank you very much.
Pastor Doug: All right, Chantal. Thanks for your question.
Jëan Ross: We have Lyn who is listening from Riverside, California. Lyn, welcome to the program.
Lyn: Hi. Good evening.
Pastor Doug: You are on. Your question?
Lyn: I thank you Pastor Doug and Jëan for your ministry. I've learned so much from you guys. My question tonight is I just wanted to know if there was a certain way that you have to fast?
Pastor Doug: Well, first of all, fasting … of course you know denying yourself of food, there's extreme examples of fasting in the Bible where they didn't eat or drink but those were like life and death situations where they'd fast and pray. But typically, fasting means you don't eat for a period of time and that can vary from days to just skipping a meal. The reason we call "breakfast", it really means break fast - it's breaking the fast by not eating since your meal the previous day.
And this week, I’m not boasting but I just was praying about someone. So I said I'm just going to skip breakfast. And had off until about two o'clock and I thought I better get something. So you know you can do that for a day or a meal. Sometimes people because of low blood sugar, they might say you know I’m just going to eat some simple things. And they might say I'm just eating fruit today, I'm not going to eat anything sweet or rich. And some people will say I'm going to do a fast; I'm turning off the computer, cell phone or TV and just focus on spiritual things.
Lyn: Okay. Just like sometimes when I fast, I'll fast and I won't eat anything but I drink water but I was told I was doing it wrong. That when I fast, I'm not supposed to eat or drink.
Pastor Doug: No, that's not true. There’s only two examples of people not eating or drinking during the fast. Most of the time, when they fast in the Bible they do drink water. Even Jesus when He went to the wilderness for 40 days, He didn't go 40 days without water. It says He was hungry. It doesn’t say He was thirsty. And so when the children of Israel were going to be annihilated, Esther said she didn't eat or drink for 3 days. And that was the limit of that. And then when Paul found out He had been killing Christians and Jesus appeared. It says He didn't eat or drink for 3 days. But most of the fasting in the Bible included water. So I hope that helps a little bit, Lyn.
Lyn: It did. Thank you so much.
Pastor Doug: You're welcome.
Jëan Ross: You know Lyn; we do have a sermon actually that Pastor Doug preached. It's on the Amazing Facts website and it's entitled When You Fast. And you can go ahead and just go to the website amazingfacts.org and you can type in the search bar fast. And you'll find a series of presentations dealing with that subject.
Lyn: Okay. Thank you so much.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, absolutely. And you know I'm glad you asked that question because a lot of Christians these days, they don't even think about fasting. They think "Oh, that was just in the Old Testament" but Jesus said "When the bridegroom is taken away then will the followers fast." And so He said there will be a time for His believers to fast and pray.
Jëan Ross: The next caller is Aldo. And Aldo is listening in Dallas, Texas. Aldo, welcome to the program.
Aldo: Alright. Thank you.
Pastor Doug: Yes, how can we help you?
Aldo: Hi, Pastor Doug. I just have a question, I was reading in the Book of Revelation this morning in chapter 9. And I just have a question concerning the verse about the locust that is going to be stinging like scorpions. I was wondering is that like symbolic because I know Revelation is seen as symbolic but is that symbolic with something here to come in the last days?
Pastor Doug: Well, let's talk about it. That's a good question. Now, when you read in Revelation 4 and it says, "I looked in the middle of the throne, I saw a lamb that was slain with seven eyes." Do you think there's really a lamb with seven eyes in the last days? Or is that a symbol of Jesus, the Lamb of God?
Aldo: I think that's a symbol.
Pastor Doug: Okay. When you go to Revelation 12 and it said there was a dragon that was cast out of heaven in a war. Later in that same chapter, it says, "that dragon is the devil." So in the last days, we are probably not going to see a real seven headed dragon galloping across the planet. But the Revelation tells us that dragon represents the devil. And so when you see the locusts’ in chapter 9, if you read in Joel it talks about the "enemy army coming like locusts" because locusts use to just eat up the crops. I think that there's more than just Joel, a couple of prophets talk about the "enemy like locusts". Yeah, that happened in Gideon too. It says, "The Midianites covered the land like locusts." So this is a symbol of armies. And many believed these were the Islamic armies if I'm not mistaken. Pastor Ross has done more in Revelation that I have.
Jëan Ross: Well, you know it also talks about having the tails of the scorpions and in the Old Testament, false prophets - those who speak lies are sometimes referred to as being the "tail". So here you have deception. And that deception is combined with military might. And it spread over the land like a swarm of locusts. As you mentioned, it has been identified as the "rise of the Islamic invaders" that spreads through the Ottoman Empire.
Pastor Doug: Yeah. And one time, when Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, took the throne. They asked if he was going to lessen their loads of taxes and be a kinder king. He said, "my father chastened you with whips but I'm going to be chasing you with scorpions." And so scorpions were sometimes seen as a means of judgment. And when the armies of Islam kind of went galloping across Europe, they were something like a judgment against the church for all the compromise. So, I hope that helps a little bit. You know there's a good book I'm trying to think. Yeah, probably the book Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith… And I think you can read this for free online.
Jëan Ross: You know we also have a magazine.
Pastor Doug: Oh, the magazine. Yeah, that's right. Perfect.
Jëan Ross: Unfortunately we are not going to be able to give you that because it's a magazine but power packed, a lot of information.
Pastor Doug: Fully illustrated, about 80 pages.
Jëan Ross: Both in Daniel and Revelation, sort of a commentary on the book. So if you go to the Amazing Facts website and just type in Daniel and Revelation Magazine. You’ll get some more information about that and I know the cost is very reasonable but just a wealth of information.
Pastor Doug: Hope that helps, Aldo. Thanks for your question.
Jëan Ross: We have Fred who is listening from Connecticut. Fred, welcome to the program.
Fred: Yes, greetings.
Pastor Doug: Good evening.
Fred: Yes. Let me ask you, will the anti-Christ be coming out of Syria?
Pastor Doug: You know, I personally don’t think so. Now, there may be some apocalyptic battles that could… this is a very delicate situation in the Middle East right now. Because you’ve got just a tinder box of several Islamic nations that the government is very fragile right now. And there’s been a lot of turnover and turmoil. And here you’ve got Israel surrounded by Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon and these different countries. And there’s just a lot of hostility between them.
And then you’ve got the Russian fleet that is parked right between Syria and the American fleet and they are pretty significant, the end guard of ships that are in the Mediterranean right now. Boy, I tell you it wouldn’t take much to set off a scary series of dominoes right now. But as far as the anti-Christ coming out of Syria, I don’t believe so. I think that we’ve got a lesson on the anti-Christ. And you might be surprised to learn, the anti-Christ has already made his debut. And most people aren’t aware of that.
Jëan Ross: You know there is a study guide entitled Who Is The Anti-Christ. And Fred or anyone who is listening, if you would like to learn more about this important subject what does the Bible have to say, call our resource line and ask for the study guide entitled Who Is The Anti-Christ. The number is 800-835-6747. That is our resource line. And ask for the study guide Who Is The Anti-Christ.
Pastor Doug: Now, we’ll tell you this, Fred. I’m not going to give you the answer because you’ve got to read the lesson. The anti-Christ is bordering the Mediterranean. Now, there’s a power that borders the Mediterranean. You are going to have to read the lesson to find out which kingdom that is, which nation that is. So take a look at the study guide on the anti-Christ. We’ll send that to you for free or anybody that wants to know the truth on that subject.
Jëan Ross: Our next caller is Lena. And Lena is listening from Florida. Lena, welcome to the program.
Lena: Thank you for taking my call. I wanted to ask a question, how I can show from the Bible that saying “Oh, my God” as a response often in conversation… using the Bible… Oh, I’m sorry I’m twisted here. It’s a Christian friend that uses “Oh, my God” often. And I wanted to just make her aware that you are using God’s name in vain.
Pastor Doug: Well, I think you are on the right track. And it’s interesting you would say that. Just tonight, I was talking to my son about that because people; they do it on TV, in the news just all the time whenever they see something they think is interesting or amazing or beautiful. They use that phrase. And I don’t even want to use it because I think if there is a name that should be taken on our lips with reverence and carefully and not in a flippant way or not just to say, “Wow, what a nice hamburger.” Then it would not be the name of God.
And so, I do believe that it’s using God’s name in a reckless/careless way. And you know, the only time that a person should take His name is in prayer like that. Or recognizing how sacred it is and serious it is. So, you know it’s not just that. It, sometimes people say “Gosh” and they don’t realize that’s a derivative of it. Or they say “Gee Whiz.” You know what I’m saying?
Lena: Yes.
Pastor Doug: And just all of that, instead of Jesus name, they say that. And they say, “Oh, there’s nothing wrong with that.” But they are just corruptions of using God’s name in vain that kids invented so that it wouldn’t quite sound like it. So I think that there’s other ways of expressing “ohh” or “amazement” without taking the name of the Lord on your lips as just a by-word.
Lena: Is there no way you can read me a verse in the Bible to say you know…?
Pastor Doug: Sure, it’s the Ten Commandments. Thou shall not take the name of thy Lord in vain.
Lena: Yeah. Right.
Pastor Doug: Vain means uselessly. And so you’ve got that in Exodus 20. You’ve got it in Deuteronomy 5. It says, “the name of God is to be holy and reverend is His name.” I forgot what verse that is, that’s in Psalms. Holy and reverent is His Name. I think that would be the King James Version. Pastor Ross is looking that up. So if you have a Bible with cross-reference. If you look up that commandment that deals with the name of the Lord, you’ll see a lot of cross-references for other places in Scripture.
Lena: I was just having trouble sharing it with another Christian who doesn’t seem to be aware that, that is taking God’s name in vain to say it in a way that it’s not so judgmental.
Pastor Doug: Well, you know what? The Holy Spirit will convict them. If you mention that… if nothing else, they will be careful not do it around you.
Jëan Ross: There are references just on that subject of speaking of God’s name being holy. And as you mentioned Pastor Doug, it is in Psalms. And there are many references to that. But just one of the verses that we have here is Psalm 99:3 where it says, “let them praise Your great and awesome Name, He is holy.” And then you have Psalm 103:1 that talks about “Bless His holy Name.” So it’s repeated many times.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, you’ll find a lot of references like that. Thank you for your call Lena. I hope that helps a little bit. I do have a book. I’ll send you a free copy if you like. It’s called The Name of God and it talks about this subject and the references for the name of God. And I think it does talks about saying some of these phrases using God’s name disrespectfully. It’s called The Name of God.
Jëan Ross: The number to call is 800-835-6747 and the book is entitled The Name of God. We’ll send that to anyone who calls and asks for the book. Our next caller is Jerry. And Jerry is listening from Oregon. Jerry, welcome to the program.
Jerry: Yes. Good evening.
Pastor Doug: Good evening.
Jerry: Good evening. I have a question about Psalms 109 and how it relates still to the New Testament. Now, starting with the ninth verse. There’s a whole laundry lists of misfortunes. David is asking to fall on his enemies. And… do you want me to read a few?
Pastor Doug: Well, starting with what verse you said?
Jerry: 9.
Pastor Doug: Yep. “Let the children be fatherless and the widow or wife… wife a widow.” I’m sorry. “Let his children be continually vagabonds and beg.” This is a series of curses that David is pronouncing. You know you find similar curses coming from Moses in Deuteronomy 28. He said that if God’s people turn away from the Lord and serve other gods, all these curses will follow them.”
Jerry: How will you reconcile that with the New Testament to love your enemy and pray for them and forgive them and so on and so forth?
Pastor Doug: Well, you know, Jesus even said… speaking of when Judas betrayed Him. He said, “It would have been better for him not to be born.” And when Jesus pronounced all the woes upon the scribes and the Pharisees, He called them “hypocrites” and He denounced them for what they were doing. I think what David here … he’s talking about the curses of God.
They are going to fall upon the wicked because of their actions. You know, it’s not just here with David. You can find Nehemiah when they are trying to build up the Temple of God. Nehemiah prayed and said, “Lord, I pray that you’ll not blot out their sins and pay them back for what they are doing.” So I think they are really praying for justice here. God is still the God of forgiveness in the Old Testament as well as in the New.
Jëan Ross: You know we have the example of Jesus and He cursed certain cities because of their lack of willingness to respond to the gospel. And in that sense, you know God is wanting to say to everyone and He gives the gospel invitation to everyone but there are consequences to our actions.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, and so, you see in verse 6 of this passage, Jerry. It says, set a wicked man over him and let an accuser stand at His right hand.” And he’s talking about for the mouth of the wicked, mouth of the deceitful. And so, these are curses that fall on wicked and deceitful people, not just Old Testament but even New Testament. There’s blessings on… you know blessed is the man… Psalm 1 is talking about “blessing on a man who does not walk in the way of the wicked.” And this is a Psalm that talks about a curse that falls upon those that do. So good question, I appreciate that and I hope that helps a little bit.
Jëan Ross: We have Tim who is listening from Tennessee. Tim, welcome to the program.
Tim: Yes. How are you doing today?
Pastor Doug: Doing great.
Tim: All right. I’m going to talk fast because I got one question that I got several points to it. When does probation close for Sabbath-keepers? I heard a minister talking. And the next part is would there be another chance after probation closes because it will be closed at the Sunday law. My question is there would be another chance or is that it? You know for the Sabbath-keeper part.
Pastor Doug: Well, my understanding, and I’ve heard this before. Jesus says, “To whom much is given, much is required.” Meaning, that when people know the truth, they are more accountable and God expects more. But when probation closes in the world, what this means, think about it. Is when probation closes, it means nobody can be saved into the church and those who are in the church are sealed and they cannot be lost. And so to say probation closes for those in the church before those in the world, it doesn’t make sense. Because the whole idea of probation closing means people can’t be saved into the church either.
Tim: Okay.
Pastor Doug: For our friends who are listening… Now, Tim, you and I know what we are talking about but the idea of probation is a period of time just before the last plagues fall, when God is basically going to close the door of mercy. And those who are saved are saved and those who are lost are lost and there’s no changing teams anymore. And it’s going to be a time when God ceases He’s mediation. Kind of like in the days of Noah where Noah’s family were brought in the ark and the door was shut. And life went on outside but they were lost.
Jëan Ross: That was the point that I was going to mention. Also, we find in Mathew 25 where it speaks about the parable of the ten virgins and it says, “the five wise went in and the door was shut.” That will be the door of probation. And then you have the foolish coming and knocking on the door saying “let us in” but it’s too late.
Pastor Doug: Yeah. Actually they were alive for a while because they went to town to buy oil.
Jëan Ross: That’s right.
Pastor Doug: And so, there’s a period of time they are still alive but they are locked out. So, I’ve always seen that the probation really closes at one time. Now, you know when a person… there are individuals that commit the unpardonable sin. And for them probation closes anytime. And obviously when a person dies, their probation closes. So they are lost.
Jëan Ross: So people in other words, people are making decisions. Even now they are making decision today as to which side they are going to be on. Are they going to be serving God or are they going to be compromising following the way of the world.
Pastor Doug: Uhum. Absolutely. So I don’t know if we have time for one more call.
Jëan Ross: We are coming up for a break here in just a minute, Pastor Doug.
Pastor Doug: One minute.
Jëan Ross: Should we try? Let’s hold off. We’ll catch the next call after we take our break. We are not going away friends.
Pastor Doug: Well, let’s talk about… we’ll finish up a little more here with Tim on probation. In Revelation 22, Jesus ultimately stands up. By the way, you’ll find that in Daniel 12 that tells us “Michael will stand up and there’s a great time of trouble.” Now, when Michael stands up, that means intercession, judgment is over and cases are closed. When you are in a court and the judge is sitting there weighing evidence, there’s still hope for mercy. The judge can say anything. But when he stands up and he gets ready to leave, the bailiff says, “All rise.” That means case is closed. He’s not hearing evidence anymore.
When Michael stands up there’s a great time of trouble such as there never has been. And at that time, He declares, He that is just let him be just still. And he that is righteous let him be righteous still. And he that is filthy let him be filthy still. And the lost still lost. The saved are saved. And so, that’s why when someone asked a rabbi one time what’s the best day to repent. And the rabbi said, “the last day of your life.” And the question was said, “What if I don’t know what the last day of my life is? And the rabbi said, “Exactly.” Because we don’t know when the last day of our lives is friends we want to be ready every day. And now is a good time to give everything to Jesus. You are listening to Bible Answers Live.
Jëan Ross: You know Pastor Doug we’d also like to bring to the attention of our listeners a brand new website. We mentioned once or twice before on the program. The website that Amazing Facts launched maybe three or four weeks ago now. And it’s just a great resource for people wanting to study the Bible. It’s called Biblehistory.com.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, we are really excited about this. When you go right there to the opening page, you are going to see in one view. You might have to shrink your screen a little bit. You’ll see all the panorama of Bible history. And it’s got the history divided up between the first generation … Adam, garden of Eden and so forth. Then it’s got Noah and the flood. Then it’s got the patriarchs. And we have to divide these up because they lived hundreds of years back then.
They needed their own segments. Egypt to Canaan, the Judges, the United Kingdom, the divided kingdom, the exile, the life of Christ, the early church, middle ages, reformation, prophesies of Revelation, and that goes off into eternity. So we have the whole scope of Bible history: all the people, names, ages, and places. Biblehistory.com. You’ve got to check that out friends. You will enjoy it. We are going to take a break but don’t go very far. We are coming back with your questions.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Pastor Doug: We are back and we are live with Bible Answers Live. And if you have a question, just give us a call. This program is a live international interactive Bible study. We have calls literally from different parts of the world. And we are hundreds of stations across North America and satellite radio. So if you are near your phone, we do have some lines open. We try to give about three or four minutes per question. Not that all aren’t important questions but we try to get as many in as we can. The number again, you ready? 800-GOD-SAYS (800-463-7297). And if you missed it, my name is Doug Batchelor.
Jëan Ross: My name is Jëan Ross. Pastor Doug, we are going straight to the phone lines. We have Clark who is listening from Pennsylvania. Clark, welcome to the program.
Clark: Hey, Jëan and Doug. It’s always a pleasure being on the air with you gentlemen. And by the way, thank you for treating me so gentlemanly during my last call. You were kind enough to alert me as to when your engineer was going to pod me down. Even though as you guys in the “radio biz” say. Even though it would have been a better idea to leave me on so that I could go back and forth with you because again, as I said…
Pastor Doug: What you share, Clark is so good and we take it in little doses and then we soak it up. And so…
Clark: But you know something, you know it turns out I felt like Nikolai Yezhov. I presume you know who Yezhov was.
Pastor Doug: No, I don’t know.
Clark: You guys aren’t students of Soviet history? He was actually one of Vladimir Putin’s predecessors. He was the head of the predecessor to the KGB who fell out of favor with Stalin and all of a sudden found himself airbrushed out of a photograph with Stalin.
Pastor Doug: I know that now you are talking about… I don’t want to airbrush you out but you are talking about an atheist country. Give me a Bible question.
Clark: Well, but really, don’t you want to know why I felt like that? Really, I felt like that very simply was because in your archives, you guys erased my call from your archives.
Pastor Doug: No, I can promise you we didn’t do that. But you are on the air now. So what’s your question? Make your mark in history.
Clark: I’m going to make my mark. I’m going to hit it out of the park, in fact to rhyme. Hey, what’s the deal with prayer? It’s not a statute of limitations on prayer. In other words, if I’m praying… and I’m not talking about praying for something major like world peace or impeachment of Obama or anything like that. I’m talking about, just say my sister being able to survive cancer or pass the age of 65 which my father didn’t reach. At what point … I mean aside from the fact that maybe my sister might be dead. At what point do I finally give up and say it looks like God is not going to answer prayer, He’s not going to do what I want. I mean is there a statute of limitation? And one point … don’t just pod me down because I’m going back and forth with you guys.
Pastor Doug: Clark, does your sister have cancer?
Clark: I mean she might.
Pastor Doug: Alright, first all I think the Bible says, “Where there’s life, there’s hope” and that’s Solomon. Solomon actually says, “A living dog is better than a dead lion.” Where there’s life, there’s hope. For all the living there’s hope. And so I’d say, “as long as there’s life, there’s hope.” But keep in mind sometimes God answers that prayer. Let’s suppose you are asking for healing for your sister. And suppose that your sister is saved in the time you are asking for healing. If she goes to sleep… Let me finish… let me finish my thought, I’ll let you finish yours.
Clark: I’m not asking for healing. I wanted her to live longer than my father did.
Pastor Doug: All right. Well, let me finish my thought. You’ll see what I’m saying. So let’s suppose she’s saved and she should go to sleep and die from cancer. Her next conscious thought is waking up with a glorified immortal body and she’s going to live forever. So, isn’t that a good thing? I mean…
Clark: No, well you see, I don’t buy the “forever” thing. Everything we know about science says that nothing is forever. Even protons only last something like ten to the forty-eighth power of years before they decay.
Pastor Doug: How long does time last?
Clark: Stable thing on the universe that we know of. So I don’t buy….
Pastor Doug: How long does time last?
Clark: What’s that?
Pastor Doug: How long does time last?
Clark: Well, if you look at things from an Einstein point of view. And you don’t buy the notion that so-called dark energy will continue with shower rating and expanding the universe at finite time. If you actually take the opposite view as many cosmetologists do that we are going to have a big crunch to compliment the “big bang” then time does not last forever. Time is going to, grant you that thirty or forty billion years is a long time, but…
Pastor Doug: When that billion years come to an end, is there any time beyond it?
Clark: Not according to Einstein in physics. And Einstein in physics seems to be the way things are organized in this universe.
Pastor Doug: Einstein believed that time was eternal. Hey, listen. Getting to your question on prayer. I’m going to pod you down there. I’m going to answer your question a little bit. I believe that you should keep on praying and have faith. First of all, sounds like your faith is marginal right now. If you pray, Jesus said, If you pray believing, all things are possible to him that believes. But you might need to pray and say, “Lord, I’ve got little bit of faith but my faith is weak.” And a father brought a son to Jesus one time in that condition. And He said, “If you believe, all things are possible.” So, a matter of fact, we can pray for your sister right now.
Jëan Ross: We have a book Pastor Doug too called Teach Us to Pray. Dealing with prayer and how do we pray, what do we expect when we pray, when does God answer our prayer. And that of course is free. We’ll send that to anyone who calls and asks for it - Teach Us to Pray.
Pastor Doug: Now, let me just pray for your sister right now, Clark. Father in Heaven, we just pray You’ll be with Clark and strengthen his faith. Be with his sister. And whatever the prognosis is, we know that You can prolong life. You can heal. We know in this life, we are all terminal. And it’s only by Your grace we can have eternal life. And so we pray for her. We place this in Your hands. And pray it in Jesus name. Amen.
Jëan Ross: Amen.
Pastor Doug: All right. Thank you, Clark.
Jëan Ross: We have Mark who is listening in Connecticut. Mark, welcome to the program. Mark from Connecticut, you are on the air.
Pastor Doug: Hi, Mark.
Mark: How are you doing Pastor Doug?
Pastor Doug: Doing good. And your question tonight?
Mark: Yes. Can you please explain to me 1 Corinthians 14:34?
Pastor Doug: 1 Corinthians… Go ahead, do you want to read it?
Mark: You can read it for me please.
Pastor Doug: All right, I’m going there real quick.
Jëan Ross: I can read it for you.
Pastor Doug: Go ahead John.
Jëan Ross: Woman should keep silent in church but they are not permitted to speak but they are to be submissive as the law says.
Pastor Doug: But you wanted us to just take a crack at explaining that?
Mark: Yes. Can you please explain to me because I’m kind of confused about that verse?
Pastor Doug: Well, let me start by telling you what I don’t think it means. I don’t think it means a woman is not supposed to speak in church at all because obviously Paul says that when a woman … in chapter 11 he talks about when a woman prophesies or prays in public worship, her head should be covered. Well, praying and prophesying both involve speaking.
And so I think Paul is talking… keep in mind in the Corinthian church, there was a lot of confusion going on when it came to noise. Paul said, “Look, there are people standing up and speaking in tongues and no one knows what they are saying.” And you shouldn’t be doing that unless there’s a translator. And the Corinthian church was a melting pot of slaves from all around the Roman Empire that spoke many different languages. And it seems like women are interrupting their husbands and you know arguing among themselves.
And Paul said you know you need to respect the priesthood of your husbands or the spiritual leadership there. And ask your husband something when you get home if you are going to have a question. And that’s why he said in verse 35 that, “If they want to learn something, let them ask their husbands at home. For it’s shameful for women to speak in church.” The word “speak” there, I think they were interrupting. And it wasn’t an admonition not to speak.
Now let me give you one more example. When Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph brought Him as a Baby to the temple. They put Him in the arms of Simon or Simon took Him in his arms and said, “Now, let your servant depart in peace. I’ve seen the Lord’s Anointed.” And Ana, a prophet, she came in and she started speaking and she is in the temple. So here again, you have a woman speaking in church under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
So it can’t be universally wrong for a woman to speak in a church. I think Paul is talking about a specific problem. Then the third point on that is when there’s a Scripture that is difficult like this, don’t build a doctrine on one verse. You’ve got to find other verses. And you know, I don’t find another commandment anywhere that says, “A woman is not supposed to speak.” So are you still there, Mark? Mark, I can’t hear you.
Mark: Yes, I’m here. I’m here.
Pastor Doug: Okay. Well, did that help a little bit?
Mark: Yeah, a lot. Thank you very much. Really appreciate it.
Pastor Doug: All right. Now, I have a book that actually addresses this. And it’s called Women In Ministry. Women In Ministry. The book deals with the bigger question about what does the Bible say regarding women as pastors. But it talks about this verse as well. And we’ll send you a free copy of that if you just call the resource line.
Jëan Ross: The number to call is 800-835-6747. And again, the book is entitled Women In Ministry. We’ll send that to anyone who calls and asks for it. We have Joseph who is listening from the Bronx, New York. Joseph, you are on the air.
Joseph: Yes. Some short comment and a question.
Pastor Doug: Okay.
Joseph: On comment, the first one is you have to get people where they can read an Amazing Facts app on their cell phones. You have to do that. And also, if they want to witness, tell them to study the Amazing Facts Bible Study Guides. Now, my Bible question…
Pastor Doug: Well, I tell you what, Joseph. Before you get to your…
Joseph: A Baptist pastor told me, he says, “A Christian commits sin, he doesn’t lose his salvation, he loses his reward.” I want to know the truth in it.
Pastor Doug: Well a Christian can definitely lose their salvation because the Bible tells us that their crown can be taken. Or their name can be taken from the book of life. And you know there are several examples in the Bible of people who followed the Lord. They had the Holy Spirit and then they turned away. And you know, Judas was an apostle. And he was out doing miracles and preaching with the other apostles. But he was overcome with his secret sin of greed. And God withdrew the Spirit. He ultimately hung himself. Paul was a prophet… I’m sorry, not Paul. Saul, the king, was a prophet as a king. But he grieved away the Holy Spirit and fell on his own sword. And then you got Balaam the prophet. And so there are examples in the Bible of people who walked with the Lord but they hardened their hearts and they were lost.
So the idea of losing … being able to keep your salvation but losing your reward; that’s not accurate, it isn’t accurate. There are varying degrees of reward for the saved and for the lost. Those who have committed greater sins are beaten with many stripes, Jesus said. In other words, there is more severe punishment and there are varying degrees of reward. Christ talked about the twelve apostles sitting on twelve thrones with Him in the kingdom.
Now, one more thing Joseph, I want to thank you for the good plug talking about the Amazing Facts application for your phone. What’s that address again for us in the studio with us? How do you get the app?
Jëan Ross: You just go to your app store if you have.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, Apple Phone, you go to your app store.
Jëan Ross: Yeah, is it for android phone as well?
Pastor Doug: Amazing Facts mobile.
Jëan Ross: So it is available for both the Apple and the android.
Joseph: I got it on my phone, Amazing Facts on my phone. I want you to tell others too.
Pastor Doug: Yeah. Well, that’s why I wanted to do it. I’m telling others right now and get all the Amazing Facts Study Guides, they can get the Amazing Facts Video, they can look at all the different facets of the ministry right on their phone now. We should have mentioned that.
Jëan Ross: We even have archived programs of Bible Answers Live that folks can listen to right from their phone.
Pastor Doug: That’s right. Thank you, Joseph. I appreciate that.
Jëan Ross: Next caller is Mike and he is listening in Ohio. Mike, welcome to the program. Mike, you are on the air.
Mike: Yes, I’m here.
Pastor Doug: Get close to your phone and you might need to turn off the radio on the background or it will confuse you. You’ll think you’re in a time warp.
Mike: Yeah, my radio is on. Actually, I made it off. Can you hear me?
Pastor Doug: Yes, and your question?
Mike: Yeah, because I’m into art and drawing and everything. I write the great stories and all that stuff. I was wondering if we would be able to do that in heaven and the eternal world.
Pastor Doug: You know that I think the Lord loves art. God called craftsman who are gifted in artistry when they built the earthly sanctuary. And some of them were engraving and making pomegranates and figs and grapes and even angels. And some of them were doing in embroidery and some were doing it in gold. And so I believe the Lord loves beauty and art.
The Lord employed a lot of them in the construction of both David’s palace and Solomon’s palace and the sanctuary. And so in heaven… hey, boy if you have fascinating things to make art from in this world, just imagine what you’ll be working with in eternity. I think that you just can’t even comprehend it.
So you know, I think Adam and Eve, God gave them this beautiful Eden but it was a wild world. And I think they were supposed to train the garden. I think Adam and Eve were like building houses of vines and things where they weave them together. I’ve seen these living trees where people take patience and they weave them into shapes and they grow. And I think Adam and Eve were doing architecture with plants that were alive and all kinds of beautiful things we’ll be able to do in heaven. So yes, just get there and I promise you’ll be happy. Just to say “Lord, I just want to be there. I won’t want complain about the details, just get me there.”
Jëan Ross: Our next caller is Arika and she is listening from California. Arika, welcome to the program.
Arika: Hmm.
Pastor Doug: And your question?
Jëan Ross: Arika, you are on the air.
Arika: Hello.
Jëan Ross: You are on the air.
Pastor Doug: Yes.
Arika: Hi. Yes, I have a question regarding Dead Sea Scrolls. I want to know where I can get some information about that.
Pastor Doug: Well, you can find … the whole Dead Sea Scrolls actually can be viewed online and actually they’ve digitally reproduced them. And I can’t remember the website. I suppose you’ll find and search in Google or Yahoo but they’ve photographed I think virtually all of it. It took several years for them to do it in high-resolution photographs. I’ve been there, I’ve seen them, and I’ve actually been there to the museum where they are. It’s called the Shrine of the Book in Israel. And did you have a specific question we might be able to help you with on the Dead Sea Scrolls?
Arika: Not specifically, just about the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Pastor Doug: Yep, found in 1948. I’ve been to the caves where they were found in Israel and it’s an amazing story. It’s the best preserved Scriptures that date back you know the oldest Scriptures in existence. I guess they’ve got a little fragment that is older than the Dead Sea Scrolls. But yeah, they date back before the time of Christ written by the Essenes up above the Dead Sea and found by a shepherd boy in 1948. And they started to carve up these letter scrolls thinking they’ll get more money by selling them in pieces. And eventually someone tracked down where they were getting them and said, “Stop cutting them up.”
And they collected all the pieces they could find and found many more caves that have been undisturbed and they matched up. Just about every book in the Bible is there in part or whole, with the exception … there is no part of the Book of Esther. But they do have the entire scroll of Isaiah. So it varies from there on. Some are damaged and some are just parts but… and they have some other books that were not part of the Bible like the Books of the Son’s of Light and Sons of Darkness. And… anyway, if you go to do a search in Google on the Dead Sea Scroll Digital Project, I think you’ll find them.
Jëan Ross: Yeah, there’s a website I’m looking at now Pastor Doug. It’s deadseascroll.org where it’s the official website.
Pastor Doug: That’s it.
Jëan Ross: Where you can research and a lot of history and you can actually take a look at the scrolls. They have picture of them online.
Pastor Doug: I appreciate your question, Arika.
Jëan Ross: We have Phil who is listening from Michigan. Phil, welcome to the program.
Phil: Hi, thanks for taking my call. My question is this, what kind of role do you see Israel and the Jewish people having in the end-time events. And would you explain what replacement theology is?
Pastor Doug: Yeah, two questions. Let me start with the second one if that’s okay, Phil. Replacement theology is the teaching that once Jesus died on the cross or at least by AD 34 when Steven was stoned, that God withdrew His Spirit from the nation of Israel and now everything the Bible says about Israel and all the prophecies regarding Israel only apply to spiritual Israel or the church.
Now, there is some truth to that. But I don’t take it as far as people that embrace replacement theology. And I always like to say at this point that I’m Jewish. I’m a Jewish Christian. But I believe God still has a specific work for the Jewish nation. And I think there are verses in the Bible that say Jerusalem will be trodden down. I think this is Luke 21, “Jerusalem will be trodden down by the gentiles until the times of the gentiles will be fulfilled.”
And there is not a nation like Israel that’s been conquered, dispossessed for hundreds and thousands of years and come back into their property. They were dispossessed when they left for Egypt and they got their property back. They were dispossessed when they went to Babylon and they got their property back. And then they were dispossessed from 1900 years and in 1948, they got their property back. That’s obviously a miracle. There’s no other nation that has had any kind of history close to Israel. And it’s all tied to the Bible.
Most nations, they intermarry, they disappear. They just amalgamate with other nations. The Jews have remained a distinct people but its also true that everybody who is saved; every real Christian becomes at least a spiritual Jew because we are saved under the new covenant. And the new covenant says, “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.”
And so we, Paul says are grafted, all Christians are grafted into the stalk of Israel. Paul said he is not a Jew which is not one outwardly but he is a Jew which is one inwardly. And if you are Christ’s, then you become Abraham’s seed. And so it’s not that the Jews are cut off as much as the Christians are grafted in to the stalk. The Bible, we read, is a Jewish book. You know what I’m saying?
Phil: Yes, I do.
Pastor Doug: There’s two extremes when it comes to the role of Israel and I think the truth is somewhere in between the two. I’ve got a book on this. I can send you a book that I wrote with another Jewish friend, Steve Wohlberg and it’s called Spiritual Israel.
Phil: All right, thank you.
Pastor Doug: If you call the number, you can also read it online for free at the Amazing Facts website or we can send it to you.
Jëan Ross: The number to call is 800-835-6747. That is the resource line and you can ask for the book Spiritual Israel. And we’ll be happy to send that to you, Phil or anybody who calls and asks for it. We have Derek who is listening from Washington. Derek, welcome to the program.
Derek: Hello. My question is on Hebrews 4:8 and do you mind if I got to read it or…?
Pastor Doug: You go ahead if you’re turned to it we’ll go there right now.
Derek: All right. “For if Jesus have given them rest, the He would not afterward have spoken of another day.” I run into… actually a friend of mine has run into people who use this verse to say that the Sabbath day was changed.
Pastor Doug: Well, first of all, you read in verse 8 that says, “If Jesus have given them rest.”
Derek: Yeah.
Pastor Doug: What version are you reading? King James?
Derek: I’m reading King James.
Pastor Doug: You know, that word “Jesus” there…
Derek: That’s actually referring to Joshua, right?
Pastor Doug: It is, yeah, because in the previous verses he is talking about Old Testament characters. He talks about David. And saying, if Joshua, he led the children of Israel into the promised land. If that was the ultimate rest, he, David would not later have spoken of another day. David is talking about another day when they are to enter into his rest in the previous verses. So Paul is reasoning here that the rest David is speaking about was not the promised land that Joshua led them into. Quickly, Joshua and Jesus are the same name. And so…
Derek: If you take you a concordance to that word “Jesus” there; you can actually see what you are talking about. And at the center of my Bible has this marginal reading thing where it actually renders it as Joshua.
Pastor Doug: Yes, it is. It’s when Joshua, the general, led them into the promised land. If that was the final rest Paul is saying, why would David have said, “Today if you hear His voice, don’t harden your heart.” He was speaking of another day, not when they first entered Canaan. And so, the word “rest” there is actually Sabbath that you find.
Derek: Right, yeah it’s the same word that comes out as “Sabbatismos” which means as Sabbath.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, it says right here in Hebrews. There remains a Sabbath for the people of God. And it says there remains a rest. In the word there is “Sabbatismos” which means there is a rest for the people of God. There is still a Sabbath for the people of God.
Derek: Right. Well, logically it doesn’t make sense for one of the Ten Commandments to be done away with.
Pastor Doug: Yeah. Whenever a Pastor says this, I just think they don’t really believe that the Ten Commandments have been done away with because as soon as their members break the other nine, they have serious problems. And so the idea that we no longer need to remember that day of rest, the holy day. That is just inconsistent and I think we need to be truthful with the Bible. Okay Derek, I appreciate that. By the way, we do have a website and once again that’s one of the most popular websites on the subject of the Sabbath and it’s called sabbathtruth.com. By the way, it’s also in Spanish and Korean: sabbathtruth.com. And right there on the first page of Google or Yahoo, when you search on the word “Sabbath”
Jëan Ross: I think we have time for one more caller. We have Elizabeth calling from New Jersey. Elizabeth, welcome to the program. We have about a minute.
Pastor Doug: Elizabeth, are you there?
Elizabeth: Yes.
Pastor Doug: Yes, good evening. We’ve got time for half a question. Could you ask it quickly?
Elizabeth: Yes. I would like you to explain for me which law or laws or specific laws and is the Ten Commandments is a part of those laws. I know that the Bible preaches that after Christ died, some of those laws were nailed to the cross.
Pastor Doug: Alright. Let me talk about that real quick. It tells us in Colossians 2, it takes about laws that were nailed to the cross. Paul is referring there to the laws contained in ordinances. And those were the ceremonial laws; they were nailed to the cross. They were written on paper, Ten Commandments were written by God’s finger on stone. They’re eternally not nailed to the cross. And we have a lesson that talks about Does God’s Grace Blood Out His Law, we’ll send you for free. Friends, we’ve run out of time for Bible questions tonight. But you can go to the website, ask more questions. Tell us if you like the program and contact us. God Bless, until next week.
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