Hello friends. How about an amazing fact? On August 24
th 1875 Matthew Webb leapt into the water at Dover, England and 21 hours and 23 minutes later crash landed in France becoming the first person to conquer the English Channel. Swimming in this channel became the greatest swimming challenge of the day. Since Webb’s triumph, there have been over 6200 known attempts to swim the English Channel. More than 240 people have been successful including a twelve year old boy in 1979 and a twelve year old girl in 1983.
The first woman to swim the English Channel was nineteen year old Edna Gertner. On the 6th of August 1926, she crossed the English Channel in only 14 hours and 31 minutes. It was two hours faster than the men’s record, setting a world record that stood for 35 years. Then along came Alison Speaker known also as Queen of the Channel. She has swum the chilly channel more times than anyone else, 43 crossings to date.
She had first swam the Channel at 18 and was the first woman to swim the double from England to France and then back to England. And was the only woman ever to have completed the three way from England to France, back to England and then to France again. What an incredible feat of endurance, but did you know friends that the Bible teaches that at the end of time Christians will also need to have a high degree of endurance? Stay tuned for more you are listening to “Bible Answers Live”.
[PROGRAM INTRODUCTION]
Pastor Jean Ross: Welcome to the show if you have time to give us a call our number here at the studio is 1-800-463-7297. Alright we are going to do that again are you ready? 1-800-463-7297 that will bring you all the way here to our studio and feel free to ask your Bible related question. Working the phones for us is Doctor Alan Davis who is helping not only to take the calls, but also sharing some important Bible truths. He is not a Doctor in the idea of Medicine, but he is a specialist on church history. So if you have a question related to church history I am sure he’d be happy to share what he can on that subject. Well you know Alan it is interesting when you talk about swimming some people just seem to have the gift to do that. Not only to swim at great speeds, but also to others to have the ability to swim great distances with incredible endurance.
Now I mentioned before that at the end of time that God’s people will need to have a high degree of endurance. Now I am not talking about physical endurance although that will probably help, but here is the verse Matthew 24: 13 and Jesus is speaking about things at the very end of time. He says, “And he who endures until the end the same shall be saved.” So there is the idea of having an endurance and perseverance. And then in Revelation Chapter 12: 17 and reading it says, “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (KJV) The dragon is the devil and in Bible prophecy the woman often represents the church. This is the same group that it described in Revelation Chapter 14: 12 as having patience or endurance being able to be steadfast.
So there is much to say about having spiritual endurance especially at the end of time. And then Revelation also describes a group of people sometimes referred to as the 144,000. These people have a certain kind of endurance or perseverance and they are able to be steadfast even at a time of widespread apostasy. And our free offer this evening talks about the 144,000 and how we can be a part of the 144,000. Here’s a group of people who have the seal of God in their foreheads. To learn more about the 144,000 all you have to do is call our resource line at 1-800-835-6747 and ask for the Book written by Pastor Doug Batchelor on the 144,000 and you can get that.
Alan Davis: And you can get that by calling our toll free number 1-800-835-6747. Again that number is 1-800-835-6747. And Pastor Ross it looks like the phones are beginning to stack up are you ready to go?
Pastor Ross: We are.
Alan Davis: Okay our first caller is Carol calling from Palm Bay, Florida listening to us on the internet. Carol good evening and welcome to the show.
Carol: Oh thank you and thank you for taking my call.
Pastor Ross: You are welcome and your question this evening?
Carol: Yes well first I wanted to mention that I have been an agnostic for most of my life and I am about 60 years old and about five years ago I was channel surfing and I came across “Amazing Facts” and I began to watch it every week and when I couldn’t be home I would record the show. Like I said that was four to five years ago and subsequently after watching your shows for about a year I joined the church and became baptized and so--
Pastor Ross: Amen.
Alan Davis: Amen.
Carol: --so I thank God for “Amazing Facts”.
Pastor Ross: Well thank you for sharing that testimony that is what keeps us doing what we do.
Carol: Oh keep it up. My question is it comes from Romans and Chapter 11 and I am just a little bit troubled about when it says in verse 8, it says, “Just as it is written God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that should not se and ears that should not hear to this very day.” I am just a little trouble about our Jewish brothers and sisters because I am wondering since God blinded them what would be—I mean what would happen as a result of that? I guess I am wondering if it was God’s choice to blind them then they wouldn’t have been able to understand about Jesus being the Messiah. Could you shed some light on that for me?
Pastor Ross: Sure. Sure. You know it is interesting that this verse in Romans Chapter 11: 8 it is called of course from the Old Testament that Paul who wrote Romans is using this to describe the condition of the Jewish Nation as a whole. Now we now that individually there were many Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah and those who formed the foundation of the Christian church were all Jewish. You have the twelve disciples and eventually Judas is replaced probably by Paul who at some point is now an apostle to the Gentiles and another one is replaced in the first part of Acts. When it says that God closed their eyes it wasn’t an act on God’s part in saying well you know what I am tired of working with you I am just giving up and I am not going to let you respond any longer to the preaching of the truth. No if you look in the experience of Jesus He wept over Jerusalem the Bible says. And He said, “Oh Jerusalem. Jerusalem thou that killeth prophets and them that are sent unto thee. How I have longed to gather you together even unto a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not. So it broke the heart of god that Israel as a Nation rejected their only hope of safety and salvation that being Christ. It wasn’t an arbitrary act on God saying no I am not going to save you. No it was them rejecting God and God couldn’t protect them and God couldn’t save them. Now in the Old Testament and this is a quote from the Old Testament when an individual hardens his or her heart against God it is sometimes referred to in Scripture as God hardening their heart. For an example you a have a story of Pharaoh and the Bible speaks about that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. And in another place it says that Pharaoh hardened his heart. Well how did God harden Pharaoh’s heart? Well when God came and revealed His power through the various plagues and things that came upon Egypt Pharaoh just chose to reject that which was the manifestation of God’s power and he in doing so his heart was hardened. And so it was with Israel. God gave the greatest manifestation to Israel and in giving them Jesus and the miracles that Jesus performed the work that He did and that was His way of testifying of who He is and who he was. And yet Israel rejected that life and in that sense they hardened their hearts choosing not to accept the Messiah against God.
Carol: Oh I see that makes sense. That does make sense to me and I know throughout the Scripture it talks about how gracious and merciful and God is full of justice so I knew that the right thing would be done, but it just was a mystery to me how it happened.
Alan Davis: You know Carol one other thing to consider as well is that Jesus said specifically to the Jewish people that behold your house is left unto you desolate. Now what that really entailed was this group of people this ethnic group no longer had most favored Nation status.
Pastor Ross: Umm-hmm.
Alan Davis: It didn’t mean that they could not individually come unto the Lord and be saved, but He transferred the solemnity of the gift of Israel to those who believe and it was not based upon blood or ethnic concept. Nor was it really ever if you look at Isaiah 56 carefully. And so what we have here is that Israel is made up of God’s people who are His true worshipper’s as we talked about at the very beginning of the show and it is the remnant of the seed of woman they are Israel. And Israel in effect we are overcomers.
Pastor Ross: Umm-hmm.
Alan Davis: And you can read in Genesis 34 I believe that where you see Jacob wrestling with the angel who is the Lord and before he is Jacob the deceiver and after he submitted to God completely he became an over comer.
Pastor Ross: That is right so God promises that we can all be Abraham’s seed. And if we are Abraham’s see in receiving Christ then we are heirs in regard to the promises that God made to Abraham.
Carol: Praise God and thank you so much Pastor Ross so much I appreciate it.
Pastor Ross: You are welcome. Thank you carol for calling and you know we have a book called “Spiritual Israel” that explores this idea much further and with a lot of excellent passages of Scripture and some commentary on that and we will send that to you for free if you will just call our resource line and ask for the book “Spiritual Israel” and we will send it out to you.
Alan Davis: That line Carol is 1-800-835-6747 and again 1-800-835-6747 thank you for calling in.
Pastor Ross: Alright and who do we have next?
Alan Davis: We have Nicholas listening to us from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on the internet and Nicholas welcome to the program.
Nicholas: Hello nice listening to you.
Pastor Ross: Thanks for your call and your question this evening?
Nicholas: Yes my question is what are some steps to get to heaven?
Pastor Ross: Okay probably one of the most important questions anyone can ask is what must I do to be saved? Well the Bible gives us some clear steps that we can take to come into a saving relationship with Jesus. But, the first step is recognizing our need that is where it all begins. You know Jesus said those who are whole don’t nee a physician, but those who are sick. And we are all sick spiritually and we all need a doctor and that doctor is spiritual Jesus. He’s the one who can heal us. So the first thing is to recognize our need of Jesus and then we need to come to Him in faith. The Bible says that without fait it is impossible to please God. For he who cometh to God must believe that He is and the He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. So we recognize our need step one. Step two is to have faith when we come to Jesus. And we come to Him and confess our sins for we are told in 1 John 1: 9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” So we come to God with sincerity and we say Lord please forgive me and we need to realize that it is our sins that took the life of Jesus He paid the penalty that should have been ours He took our place and died because of our sins and when we understand His great love and the sacrifice that was made for our salvation we come to Him and say Lord please forgive me. Forgive me for the things that I have done to you. Within our power at the same time w would like to try and make things right with our fellow man because we want to realize that all people are loved by God. And if we have injured another person we have hurt the heart of God so as far as possible we want to make things right to our fellow man. And then we need to believe that if we confess our sins God has promised to forgive us and then after ask for the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “Abide in me and I in you as the vine cannot bear fruit of itself. Except it abide with the branch it cannot be a fruit that abide in the vine and no more can you.” So we need to recognize that every day we need to humbly surrender our hearts to Jesus, ask for the Holy Spirit, spend time reading His words, spend time in prayer ad as we take our eyes off our self and set them upon Jesus we will begin to experience a change of heart. Th theological term for that is sanctification. So we ask God for forgiveness we believe He has forgiven us and His justification and then day by day coming to fellowship with Christ we experience sanctification and that is a change from the inside out. Now all of these ideas and all of these Biblical principles have been put together in a book. We will be happy to send that out to you Nicholas if you will just call our resource line you can ask for the book “Three Steps to Heaven”. It will go through these steps once again and the resource line is 1-800-835-6747.
Alan Davis: That is 1-800-835-76747. And Nicholas just one other thing too is you might want to look into a book called “Steps to Christ”.
Pastor Ross: Amen that is a good book.
Alan Davis: Thirteen wonderful chapters on everything that Pastor Ross just described to you.
Pastor Ross: And you know you can go to the “Amazing Facts dot org” website and you can get the book I mentioned for free and you go to the free library and get “Three Steps to Heaven” and if you will just Google the book “Steps to Christ” I am sure you will be able to read that right online. I know it is out there just translated in numerous languages and it is a great encouraging powerful little book. Thanks for your call Nicholas. Who do we have next?
Alan Davis: Alright next we have Bradley listening to us from Grand Rapids, Michigan listening on the internet. Bradley you are on the air and welcome to the program.
Bradley: Well thank you and good evening. My question is about the Jewish holocaust. I was wondering if that was predicted by any Bible prophecy.
Pastor Ross: Well that is a good question. Nor specifically the Holocaust and when you say the Holocaust we are thinking about what happened during the Second World War. But, the bible does speak about trials or difficulties or persecution coming upon the Jewish Nation. Not that God wanted that to happen, but when the Jewish Nation rejected God and Christ they rejected His protection and God’s safety. And the devil came as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And you see that in 70 A.D. it began with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. And the Jewish people have faced persecution over the years and of course that culminated in what happened during the Second World War for the Jewish people.
There is a passage of Scripture that comes to mind. When Jesus was actually bearing His cross on His way to the place of crucifixion He fell down under the weight of the cross. And there were a group of women who were weeping when they saw what happened to Jesus. And then Jesus said something very interesting, He said, “Don’t weep for me, but weep for yourself and for your children for if they do these things…” and He was speaking about the Romans, “…if they do these things when the tree is green what will they do when the tree is dry?” Now when Jesus was talking about when the tree is green He was still talking about their probationary time that had been given to the Jewish Nation. Even though Christ was being crucified probation was still open to the Jewish Nation as a whole. But, in 34 A.D. and the stoning of Stephen that probationary time period came to an end. And Jesus said if they are going to do this if the Romans are going to do this during this time of probation then what are they going to do when probation closes for the Jewish Nation? Well we know what they did. In70 A.D. the Romans came and destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and there was a terrible slaughter of Jews that followed. So yes there is reference that there is going to be persecution and remember what the people said at the crucifixion of Jesus that the Jews called out and said let Hs blood be on us and our children? And you’ll find that. Did you lookup that verse?
Alan Davis: I did it is in Matthew 27: 25. You know there they had the opportunity and Pilot said do you want me to crucify your king? And they sad we have no king, but Caesar and then they answered a little further on let His blood be upon us and our children.
Pastor Ross: That is where they rejected God as being their king. And they chose an earthly king.
Alan Davis: And the Christians themselves in the process.
Pastor Ross: And it was the king who eventually destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. So those are some of the references that at least come into mind tight now Bradley.
Bradley: Okay and the reason I was asking is I was looking at the prophecies of the sun being turned to blood and I mean the moon being turned to blood and the sun being dark and I know those were some of the signs of times like in the eighteen hundreds. But, I was wondering if they could have a dual application to World War 11 or some other events?
Pastor Ross: Well we know that Jesus in speaking of end times events said in Matthew 24 there will be wars and rumors of wars. Nation will rise against Nation and Kindred against Kindred. So He did predict that the last few centuries would especially the last two or three hundred would be a very violent time period and a war. If you look at the past 100 years we had World War 1 and which was the worst the world had ever seen followed a few years later by World War 11 which was just devastating. And then since then there has been ongoing conflict or war just about every day somewhere on the globe. And even now today there is conflict in different places. So that is a sign of the soon coming of Christ.
Bradley: Okay thank you.
Pastor Ross: Thank you Bradley. If you have a Bible related question on our phone lines it looks like we have 4 lines that are still open and if you want to call this would be a good time to do that. Friends the phone number is 1-800-463-7297. That is 1-800-GOD-SAYS. Who do we have next?
Alan Davis: Alright and next on the line is George listening to us on the internet from Freeport, Louisiana welcome George you are on the air welcome to the program.
George: Good evening Pastor Ross.
Pastor Ross: Hi there.
George: Well I want to say thank you for all the missionary work that “Amazing Facts” is doing. My wife was baptized yesterday from taking online courses.
Pastor Ross: Amen.
George: That was so important. That was great.
Pastor Ross: Alright. Excellent.
George: My question goes to Job and Job’s children were adults, but Job offered a sacrifice I assume for their sins. How that did happen beings they were adults and had to make up their own minds for their own salvation?
Pastor Ross: Good question. You know the sacrifices that he offered for his sons and daughters were a special sacrifice of intersession and the Bible tells us that we need to pray for others. That is interceding on others behalf. However that doesn’t ultimately prove because the still need to choose to receive Christ as their personal savior and that was the case with Job’s children. But, his sacrifices were sacrifices of intercession. In other words he was praying saying Lord please do whatever you can to save my children. Now somebody might wonder now if God wants to save our children why do we have to pray and ask God to do that which He wants to do. Well as the way I understand it based upon the book of Job there is the forces of good and the forces of evil Satan and his angels and then of course Christ and the good angels. And there is this great controversy taking place now in this great controversy between the forces of good and the forces of evil there are certain rules of engagement. Now follow me closely, there are certain things that God will not allow Satan to do. We should be very grateful for that because if Satan had his way he would take the life of every Christian but God won’t allow him to do that. If Satan could he would possess every person with an evil spirit, but God will not allow him to do that now if the person opens up the door it is a different story. So God has limited Satan’s power. Do you remember the story of Job where Satan came to this meeting in heaven? And God said well have you considered my servant Job? And he said well the reason he worships you is because you have blessed him and you have built this hedge of protection. Os there are certain rules certain things that Satan cannot do. But, at the same time God being a God of justice, he also holds back what He does. He always tries to speak to us through His Spirit and influence an individual, but there are always certain things that He holds back otherwise Satan will say it is unfair you are doing something to influence a person that I can’t do. But, when we pray for somebody else when we intercede for a family member or a friend that gives God the legal right to do more to try and reach that person than He otherwise would do if we didn’t pray.
And when Satan says unfair, unfair, you are breaking the rules and you are not allowed to do that. God says I have a legal right to do that because someone is interceding on that person’s behalf. Does that make sense?
George: That is wonderful.
Pastor Ross: That is why intercessory prayer is so important. And that is what Job was doing for his children. He was interceding God on their behalf.
George: I understand now and thank you very much.
Pastor Ross: Alright and thank you for your call George which I think we have time for one more before the break.
Alan Davis: Alright next on the line is Russell from Louisiana who is listening to us on Sirius radio. Welcome to the program Russell you are on the air.
Russell: Good evening and wonderful to be a part of your show and be a part of it and I am a first time caller. I just have a quick question and I will wait for your response off the air. I was reading in I guess 11 Chronicles where God had sent a lying tongue or a spirit into the prophets to deceive a king so that he would go forth into battle thinking he was going to be glorious and I may be incorrect in what I am saying, but I was just trying to find out because that was the first I ever heard about anything like that and it really kind of took me by surprise.
Pastor Ross: Okay well that is a good question. I think you are referring to a passage that you will find in 11 Chronicles 18: 21 “And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do even so.” (KJV) And the story is also found in 1 Kings 22: 22 “And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, ‘Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so’.” (KJV) Where it is describing a stubborn king who is rejecting the counsel of a true prophet and he still wants to do his own thing. And so God says finally alright so I am going to allow a lying spirit. I will send a lying spirit to speak to this prophet to tell the king what he wants to hear. Now of course God does not lie. God does not break his own commandment, but when the king refused to receive the counsel that God wanted to give him God allowed or withdrew His protection and allowed this demon spirit to come and say the very thing the king wanted which really resulted in a terrible tragedy for the king because he was going to battle. And he and his army suffered a terrible defeat.
Russell: Well that is it exactly and a lying spirit I just didn’t read that close enough and I should have really realized that was sent by and to be allowed.
Pastor Ross: That’s right it was to be allowed.
Russell: He allowed a sprit to overcome. Thank you so much for that clarity. It just kind of puzzled me for a few days there.
Pastor Ross: It was a good question.
Alan Davis: Yes well you know Russell there is a parallel passage in the Scripture that I would like to share with you really quickly in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2: 8 through 11 and you can look this up imparticular. 8 “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:” (KJV) He is talking about the wicked being revealed and the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth. And it talks about in verse 10 about all the deceivableness of unrighteousness and that God will send unto them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie. So if we are not embracing truth the only alternative is a lie.
Pastor Ross: That’s right.
Alan Davis: The vacuum is filled with evil.
Pastor Ross: You know that reminds me Alan that Jesus told a parable about a man who has an evil spirit and the evil spirit is cast out and the house is swept and cleaned and the evil spirit goes and finds others worse than he and he comes back and finds this person made whole and then they come into him and the second situation of the man is worse than the first. In other words we need to fill the vacuum with Jesus.
Alan Davis: Amen.
Pastor Ross: If we refuse to receive what God wants us to know we are opening ourselves up to the implements of the enemy the influence of Satan. So you brought up a good question in reference to that passage of Scripture. You know there are many more things we would like to share with you about the Bible and take additional calls, but we are coming back from a break. You know Alan this is May 11th day and it is Sunday and that would mean it is Mother’s Day. We would just like to wish all the mother’s listening to the program a very happy Mother’s Day.
Alan Davis: You bet.
Pastor Ross: And children and husbands I hope you have taken time to take your wives or Mom out for something special. You’re listening to “Bible Answers Live”. You know sometimes Alan we have questions with reference to Mary the mother of Jesus. And her role and her work and we have a website dedicated to the subject of Mary and it is called “Mary Truth dot com” and anyone wanting to know what the Bible has to say in reference to this Godly woman and highly favored by God in order to give birth to the Christ to the Savior of the world, but was she divine and was she without sin and was she you can take a look at what the Scripture says. Go to the website and there is a book written by Pastor Doug Batchelor called “The Mystery of Mary” the mother of Jesus and you can watch our video dealing with the subject of Mary and also there is another Mary that you can read about in the gospels. Friends you are listening to “Bible Answers Live”. We’ll be right back.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Pastor Ross: Welcome to “Bible Answers Live”. The Bible study and if you have a Bible related question call us at 1-800-GOD-SAYS and we’d love to hear from you. My name is Jean Ross.
Alan Davis: And I am Alan Davis.
Pastor Ross: Pastor Doug Batchelor is out this evening, but we are live and we are on the air and if you have a Bible question give us a call. Our number here at the studio is 1-800-463-7297. Here it is again 1-800-463-7297. That is 1-800-GOD-SAYS give us a call we have two lines that are currently open. Alright let’s go to the phone lines.
Alan Davis: Alright. We have got Dean calling in from Kissimmee, Florida listening to us on XM satellite radio first time caller. Dean you are on the air and welcome to the program.
Dean: Well thank you. I enjoy your show.
Pastor Ross: Thanks for calling.
Dean: Yeah thanks for taking my call. I guess before I ask my question I need to make sure that I have my timeline correct.
Pastor Ross: Okay.
Dean: In other words now in Genesis when Eve encountered Satan in the Garden of Eden you were speaking about Lucifer earlier and how he challenged God and God threw him out of heaven and one third of the angels.
Pastor Ross: Yes.
Dean: So now this happened before he created Adam and Eve?
Pastor Ross: Correct, correct. Well let me give you a quick sequence here. You have Satan coveting the position of God in heaven and eventually he spreads his disloyalty to the other angels and one third of the angels join Satan in his rebellion against God. Now you might want to know how do you know it was a third of the angels? The answer to that is found in Revelation Chapter 12 where it speaks about the dragon, Satan, who was able to deceive a third of the stars in heaven. In Revelation stars represent angels. So Satan was able to get a third of the angels to join his rebellion. He was cast out of heaven and then God created the earth. And then Satan came in the form of a serpent to the Garden and that is of course where he deceived Eve.
Alan Davis: Now one other piece just to understand this as well Dean. You know Satan was expelled in heaven, but as we saw in Job Satan was still came up to the councils. But, it was after cross that we find in Revelation 12 that he was finally cast to the earth. And now the dragon is wroth with the woman and the remnant of her seed. And because he can’t do anything anymore in heaven his place is now gone and his fate was sealed at the cross.
Pastor Ross: So there is if you like a casting out of Satan and a casting down of Satan. And both of those ideas are found in Revelation Chapter 12: 7 and I am going to read it, 7 “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not neither was their place found any more in heaven.” “(KJV) so that is when Satan and his angels were cast out and then verse 9 says, “9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” But then at the cross it says he was cast unto the earth and his angels were cast out with him. And the reason we know that happened at the cross is because verse 10 says, “10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” (KJV) So Satan has been cast out before the creation of the earth, but he is cast down when Jesus died on the cross.
Dean: Right yes okay that makes perfect sense. So I guess what my question is could this happen again I mean would it be possible for angels to—in other words my concept of heaven is that Satan is not allowed in heaven. And basically Lucifer sinned in heaven and so --
Pastor Ross: Could it happen again? Well that is a good question, but the answer is no it can’t. It can’t happen again.
Alan Davis: And we will follow up where to find that in the Scripture. If you read the first two books of Nahum which is often very difficult to find called the Minor Prophets, but what he has to say is not minor. In verse 9 he says specifically, “What do you imagine against the LORD? He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.” (KJV)
Pastor Ross: So in other words what the Bible is telling us is once this whole experience with sin is over sin, Satan and sinners are gone at the end and there is the destruction of the wicked and no the angels have seen where sin leads. Those who are saved from the earth in heaven we will know the consequences of sin we have seen it firsthand. And throughout all eternity the Universe will be safe from that rebellion ever occurring again. So through Christ’s sacrifice not only has He saved those that have put their faith in Him, but He has also cured the Universe for all eternity that rebellion can never again occur.
Alan Davis: In Revelation 21: 4 also says, 4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (KJV) And this is after the thousand years and there shall be no more death. Amen.
Pastor Ross: That is the promise that the Bible gives us.
Alan Davis: Amen.
Pastor Ross: Does that help Dean?
Dean: Ah yes it helps a lot thank you so much. I just love you guys.
Pastor Ross: Alright and thank you so much for calling. Who do we have next?
Alan Davis: Alright next we have Andrew calling us from Dayton, Ohio who is listening to us on the internet. And Andrew you are on air welcome to the program.
Andrew: Hello and thanks for having me on.
Pastor Ross: Thanks for calling and your question this evening?
Andrew: Yes I have a question about if you guys can point me to any Scripture about the third angel’s message? Yes could you provide some clarity on that?
Pastor Ross: Yeah sure. We do have some resources at “Amazing Facts” dealing with this. We have actually a whole series of Bible studies. Called the “Amazing Facts” study guides.
Andrew: Umm-hmm.
Pastor Ross: They go through a number of Bible teachings, but all of these can be found in the Three Angel’s Messages. Now let me say something real briefly about the Three Angel’s Messages for those listening and might be wondering well what’s that? You’ll find the Three Angel’s Messages in Revelation Chapter 14. And it is God’s last warning message that goes to the entire world just before the second coming of Christ. How do we know that? Well immediately following the Three Angel’s Messages, in Revelation 14 the very next thing that John sees is a symbolic picture of second coming of Christ. Jesus describes he is coming to reap the harvest of the earth. According to Matthew 13 the harvest of the earth is the second coming of Christ. So there is a message that goes to all the world and to every Nation, kindred and tongue and people. It is the everlasting gospel and then this first angel’s message says, 7 “Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” (KJV) So the first angel’s message defines true worship. And brings people to realization of a judgment hour then you have the second angel’s message which says, 8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. “(KJV) And if you look in Revelation 17 Babylon is the name given to the woman and in Bible prophecy a woman is representing the church. So there is a falling away from truth of God’s word in the last days and it leads to believe in lies. And so this second angel message warns us about this falling away from truth. Then the third angel says, 9 “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:” (KJV) The third angel warns us against false worship.
So the first angel defines true worship the third angel warns us against false worship and the second angel tells us how a person can go away from true worship to false worship. It is through the false doctrines of Babylon that you read about in Revelation Chapter 17.
So the issue at the end of time is going to revolve around worship. Who are we going to worship? Are we going to worship God? And the way that we worship Him is by having faith in Him and being obedient to His commandments. Or do we worship the beast power of Revelation by obeying the commandments of the beast above the commandments of God. So the key issue at the end of time revolves around worship. Those who worship God they end up with the seal of God and those who worship the beast end up with the mark of the beast.
Alan Davis: And just to piggy back on that a little bit for you Andrew the really key ingredient to what Pastor Ross Is talking about lies in that first angel’s message. And I would encourage you to do a thorough study on what it means to fear God and to give glory to Him. That will reveal so much about what the third angel’s message is all about. And that is because it contrasts what the beast image really is and what the true message is.
Pastor Ross: Absolutely.
Alan Davis: We do have a recently posted video by Pastor Doug on our “Amazing Facts dot org” website called the “Mark of the Beast” it is a little under 5 minutes and you can kind of get a tasting about what that is all about.
Pastor Ross: Just go to “Amazing Facts dot org” Or “dot com” and type in the little search bar there “Mark of the Beats” and you’ll not only be able to see this short video, but there is a whole sermon series dealing with the subject and we also Andrew have a study guide we will be happy to send you called “Angels Messengers from Space” and it is all about the three angel’s messages.
Andrew: Actually I had one more thing to say about the—but yes you answered my question really good. But, thanks to Amazing Facts I have chosen to be with Christ. And I just wanted to thank you guys for your ministry.
Pastor Ross: Oh well thank you it is always encouraging when we hear those positive testimonies about what God is doing in the lives of people. That is what it is all about. Andrew You might want to give us a call on our resource line and ask for that study guide “Angels Messengers from Space” on the three angels messages.
Andrew: Absolutely.
Alan Davis: And that number to call is 1-800-835-6747 again 1-800-835-6747 and thank you Andrew for your call.
Pastor Ross: Who do we have next?
Alan Davis: Next we have Michael listening to us on the internet from Henderson, Kentucky he is a repeat caller. Michael welcome to the program. You are on the air.
Michael: Hey Pastor Ross how are you?
Pastor Ross: Hey doing well Michael and your question tonight?
Michael: My Bible question tonight is will this earth be the new heaven when Jesus comes back?
Pastor Ross: Oh good question. In Revelation Chapter 21 John describes a new heavens and a new earth and it talks about how all things will be made new. The new earth is the earth that we have now. This earth will be recreate dafter the fires of hell purify it. And you can read about it in Revelation Chapter 20 when it says the new heavens. Now there are three heavens that the bible speaks of. You have got the first heaven and that is the atmosphere where the birds fly. You have got the second heaven and that is where the stars are and there is a third heaven and that is the dwelling place of God. So in Revelation 21 when it is taking about a new heaven it is not talking about the second heaven or the third heaven, but the first heaven which is our atmosphere. We polluted our atmosphere so God gets to create a brand new atmosphere when He creates a new earth. A new atmosphere filled with the clean refreshing and glorious air. So that is the heaven that Revelation 21 talks about. Does that help Michael?
Michael: Yeah do you have a free offer concerning about that?
Pastor Ross: Oh good question.
Alan Davis: Yes we do. Actually we have a free offer called “Heaven is it For Real?”
Pastor Ross: That is a great one yeah. And you can get that by calling our resource number at 1-800-835-6747.
Michael: Alright thank you.
Pastor Ross: Who do we have next?
Alan Davis: Alright listening to us on WMCA in New York is Karen. Karen welcome to the program you are on the air.
Karen: Yes hello.
Pastor Ross: Hi.
Karen: Yes you mentioned that Judas rejection of Christ kept them from divine protection?
Pastor Ross: Karen you may have to turn down your radio in the background we are picking up an echo.
Karen: If it kept them from divine protection how do you contrast that the fact that these individuals that conducted the inquisition that executed about 72 million Jews and those individuals who conducted the Holocaust that executed 6 million Jews hold a theology contrary to their actions or is it that it does correlate with their actions because it was suffering that leads to Christian redemption?
Pastor Ross: Okay good question.
Karen: That is a good question.
Pastor Ross: You know we need to be very careful when we are trying to make a judgment on an individual because God knows their heart. You are right that throughout the Dark Ages the church at the time that united with the state that was the cruelest persecuting power. This is not just something that we say I mean the history is clear that during the dark Ages the Church of Rome persecuted millions. And it did so in the name of Christ. In the name of God so God is being used by all different entities to do things that is totally opposed to what the Bible teaches. And t what God stands for. Karen are you there?
Karen: Yes I am and I have a second question. It says in the Scriptures that God is not a man that he should lie.
Pastor Ross: Correct.
Karen: So now that God has become a man Jesus does that give Him a license to lie?
Pastor Ross: No God never lies. And there’s two ways to look at it because God is honest. And God never lies because whatever He says happens in other words in the beginning when God said let there be light there was light. Because when He said it, it happened and when God said let the dry land appear there was dry land. Because God won’t lie because He won’t because it is His moral, but secondly if God says something it always becomes so. And that is encouraging for us because God says though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow. We didn’t say that God said that so if God said that we can know He will make this happen. We can believe it and it becomes a reality in our life.
Alan Davis: And not to mention the fact that Jesus when H became the Lamb of God He had to be without sin and it is just that a lie is sin and no matter how small the lie it is still a sin.
Pastor Ross: Does that make sense Karen?
Karen: I am listening to you and I do disagree with you that the Jews rejection of Christ is preventing them from protection. Because you read the books it was also Christians that were executed.
Pastor Ross: Oh yeah.
Alan Davis: That is true.
Pastor Ross: Just because somebody suffers does not mean that they are going to be –
[Cross talk]
Karen: Of the blind objection really.
Pastor Ross: Well if you look at the Old Testament there were times when God intervened on behalf of His people in Israel in miraculous ways a when Israel rejected God’s commandments other countries came in and conquered the. For an example the Babylonians just 600 years before Christ and they realized it was because of their rejection of God and disobedience to His commandments that His protection was withdrawn and they suffered defeat. However, having said that or just because a person goes through trials or suffers doesn’t mean they have rejected God. Does that make sense?
Karen: I am listening t you alright thank you very much. Have a good night.
Pastor Ross: Alright thank you for your call.
Alan Davis: Thank you Karen.
Pastor Ross: Who do we have next?
Alan Davis: Next we have on the line is Gabriel listening to us Flint, Michigan on WMUZ. Gabriel you are on the air welcome to the program.
Gabriel: Hi how are you?
Pastor Ross: Good. And your question this evening?
Gabriel: Yes I have a question about the wedding. It was when Jesus acme the first time and performed a miracle.
Pastor Ross: Okay. The wedding of Canaan or Galilee?
Gabriel: Correct and when I became a Christian I gave up drinking any alcoholic beverages because basically I understood in the Bible that we must stay away from it because it will bring you trouble.
Pastor Ross: Sure.
Gabriel: Now most of my friends they drink alcohol and their main excuse is because Jesus made wine and of course the question is did Jesus make alcohol for the people at the wedding?
Pastor Ross: Okay well good question. And the answer is no and let me tell you why. The bible says that wine as a mocker and whoever drinks it is raging and deceived thereby is not wise. So that is the first point that we can note and the second one is if you read occasions in Scripture where it says people drank alcohol or wine fermented wine things did not turn out too good for them for example Noah and when Noah drank wine some bad things happened to him and one of his sons as well. And Lot who drank wine after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and then bad things happened to him and the list goes on and on. So it is not a good idea that anyone should let their minds be altered with any kind of chemical. But, what about the wedding at Canaan in Galilee? The word wine in the Bible means grape juice or just the juice of the vine. It’s not always alcoholic and if you read the story the water is turned into wine and the wine is then taken to the governor of the feast and he says well usually the best wine is served first and then the inferior wine. But, you saved the best wine for last. Well what’s the best? The best is the freshly squeezed grape juice. In Bible times they had a way of dehydrating grape juice and the forming t into a type of paste. And they could add water and mix it and it would be grape justice, but it wouldn’t be as good as the freshly squeezed grape juice. So in the story the governor says man you’ve got the freshly squeezed grape juice and usually you put that out first, but you have kept that until last. Something else interesting is that this feast took place just before the Passover and it was instructed of the Jews that they were to remove all leaven or yeast from their dwellings and yeast was used to ferment grape juice back in Bible times and it is still used today. And so also there are a number of object lesson in that first miracle that Jesus performed. It was really a manifestation of His sacrifice the water turning into wine and it was a symbol of Christ’s blood that would be shed on the cross to allow the wedding supper of the Lamb the bride being the church and the groom being Christ to take place. And the governor of the feast God the Father as these are tremendous symbolisms in this story. But, no Jesus didn’t make something that the Bible tells us is a mocker and deceives.
Gabriel: And that is exactly what I told them and they always come to that one excuse that Jesus made the wine and I pretty much try to tell them that there are two different alcohol wines in the Bible and you just have to not confuse which one is used.
Pastor Ross: Exactly and—
Gabriel: And they also will bring up saying well one of the disciples told them to drink a little wine for your stomach. But, now as I understand now a day some alcohol is used as medications. But, it is not to take it and enjoy t and that is even more risky.
Pastor Ross: No that is just an excuse.
Gabriel: they are not using it as a medication.
Pastor Ross: And sometimes that is used as an excuse to drink alcohol and that advice was given to use it f a stomach ailment.
Gabriel: Right.
Pastor Ross: But, I think that the short of it is that when you read the context of a passage of Scripture you can come to a clearer understanding just based on the weight of evidence and what is being presented. You won’t find the word grape juice anywhere in the Bible. The word is used for wine. So we need to look at the context and ask was this fermented wine? Now there is the word used strong drink. And there is no question as to that as being fermented, but wine you has to look at the context to see if it is fermented or pure grape juice. You know we have a book called “Alcohol and the Christian” that goes into this in much greater detail. If you will call our resource line just ask for the book “Alcohol and the Christian” that goes into much greater detail. We’d be happy to send that out to you.
Gabriel: Alright well thank you so much. You have been very helpful and you guys really bring out the words to everybody.
Pastor Ross: Well thank you for calling.
Alan Davis: You bet Gabriel and you can call our toll free number for that free resource 1-800-835-6747 and again 1-800-835-6747. God bless you Gabriel.
Pastor Ross: Alright I think we have time for one or two more calls. Who do we have next?
Alan Davis: Alright next we have listening to us on WMCA Alex from Brooklyn, New York. Alex you are on the air and welcome to the program.
Pastor Ross: Hi Alex. Thanks for your call.
Alex: Hi. Thanks for taking my call and my question is were Jewish people black?
Pastor Ross: Well you have the descendents of Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth and then after the tower of Babel it says God confused their languages. And so smaller groups began to migrate to different places and those who went down south into Africa because of small family units and small tribes moving across there some character traits became dominant and also because of environmental factors. It is a lot hotter in Africa than in Northern Europe. Ad so certain character traits grew to dominance in them and that is where the various races come from.
Alex: Okay.
Pastor Ross: So the Canaanites would be considered not necessarily from Africa, but darker skinned than maybe the Europeans.
Alex: They were the Canaanites?
Pastor Ross: But, not considered African, but Middle Eastern if we were to try and categorize it today. They had a Middle Eastern look like an Arab.
Alex: Like an Arab?
Pastor Ross: Correct.
Alex: Alright and thank you very much.
Pastor Ross: Alright and thank you for your call Alex. Do we have time for one more?
Alan Davis: Yeah I think we do and listening to us from the Bronx, New York on WMCA is Henry. Henry you are on the air welcome to the program.
Henry: Hi. How are you?
Pastor Ross: Henry good and we only have about a minute.
Henry: Yeah my question is in the book of Revelation before Christ comes back all the prophecies that He has spoken of are they going to be fulfilled before he comes back or wait until He is here the second time?
Pastor Ross: Alright good question and some of the prophecies will be fulfilled before Jesus comes. And if you want to sort of divide the book up the prophecies contained in Revelation from Chapter 1 to Chapter 20 or the end of Chapter 19 and the beginning of Chapter 20 for the most part and there are some exceptions. But, for the most part they refer to events before the second coming of Christ and then Chapter 20 talks about the 1000 year period. Sometimes it is called the millennium. And that happens after Jesus comes. And at the end of Chapter 20 it talks about events associated with the end of the millennium. And then Chp21 talks about the new heavens and the new earth and you have the final judgment and t is described at the end of Revelation Chapter 20 and then the rest of the book deals with issues after Jesus comes. So I hope this answers you. This will give you a little bit of a guide of how Revelation is divided up. Well friends you can hear the music playing there in the background. We have run out of time and thank you for your calls. It is always a great privilege to be able to study the bible with you. If you weren’t able to call give us a call next week. Until then may God bless.
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