Renewing Our Mind

Why are these cells together? Neurons each act like a relay station for electrical signals. The heart of each neuron is called a soma. A single, thin cable-like fiber known as the axon that sticks out of the soma carries the nerve cells away from the neuron. While many shorter branches called dendrites project from the end of the soma carry the nerve signals to the neuron.

Now catch this, according to scientists at the University of North Carolina, it appears the super microscopic dendrites are more than just passive wiring, but each fiber is a computer in itself, processing information. This means that the human brain is much more powerful than first believed. In fact, if the human brain was a computer, it could perform 38 thousand trillion operations per second.

The world’s most powerful man-made computer, the IBM Blue Gene which is a whole room full of super processors can manage only 0.2 percent of what one human brain can do in a second, making it about half as complex as the brain of a mouse.

Did you know the Bible says that God created man a little lower than the angels? Stay with us friends, we are going to learn more as Amazing Facts brings you this edition of Bible Answers Live.

[PROGRAM INTRODUCTION]

Pastor Doug: Hello listening friends, welcome to Bible Answers Live. If you have a Bible question, that’s what this program is all about, just give us a call. The number is 800-GOD-SAYS. We’ve got lines open right now, just pick up the phone, call in with your Bible question, or if you have a question about the Christian life, we don’t have all the answers but we’ll search together. That number one more time, 800-463-7297. Call now, good chance you’ll get your question on tonight’s program. 800-463-7297.

My Name is Pastor Doug Batchelor and Pastor Jean Ross is out of the night. He’s just heading back from a training program up in Canada. We’re going to begin as we always do with a word of prayer. Father in heaven, we thank you so much for the technology and the ability to just visit with friends around the country in the world to study the word and seek to better understand the truth. Pray Lord that you will bless every aspect of this program and help us to learn more about Jesus who is the truth. We pray in his name. Amen.

Well, listening friends, I am always fascinated with the incredible power of the human brain. It’s even amazing what’s being done with computers now. We can’t even, pardon the pun, but process all the processing that can happen in some of the modern computers. I understand that a simple Texas Instrument calculator had more processing power than all of the Apollo mission computers had when they launched and went to the moon. It seems like it keeps growing exponentially every year.

Then you think about how in the world could the human brain evolve to be able to comprehend and learn and store so much more than one person can even use in a lifetime. Nothing in evolution can ever explain that. It only goes to prove what the Bible says that all of us are fearfully and wonderfully made. By the way, that is Psalms 139:14. God when he made man made him in his own image, and the human mind and what it’s capable of doing and learning is just absolutely fantastic.

God wants us to use our minds for his service, to worship him. It says in Romans that as we follow him, in Chapter 12, that we turn away from the things of the world by the renewing of our minds. This is what it means to be born again. It’s really something that happens not so much from the neck down as the neck up. It’s a new way of thinking, and the Lord can give you that new mind and that new spirit when you come to him. You can be a new creature and think differently. Instead of being controlled all the time by love for self and sin, you can be controlled by love for God.

If you have any questions about that or any other Bible related subjects, you can give us a call. Lines are open, 800-GOD-SAYS, 800-463-7297. We have a free offer tonight that talks about God’s incredible creative power, and it’s called Amazing Wonders of Creation. If you’d like a free copy of that, you can call our resource number. That’s a different number. That is 800-835-6747 or just go to amazingfacts.org and ask for the study guide or for the free book Amazing Wonders of Creation.

With that, we’re going to go to the phones and start now talking with Jerry who’s calling from Medford, Oregon. Jerry, welcome to Bible Answers Live.

Jerry: Thank you, Pastor Doug. I have a question for you. I am looking at John 5:28 and 29 and if I just could quickly read it.

Pastor Doug: Sure.

Jerry: “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs shall hear his voice and shall come forth. Those who did good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed evil deeds to the resurrection of judgment.” As we know, this is corroborated in Revelations meaning the first bunch is to life and the second bunch is to judgment.

Pastor Doug: Right.

Jerry: Now, my question pertains when I look back at Matthew -- let’s see here -- 12:41, Jesus is talking to evidently a wicked bunch of people and it says that the people of Nineveh will rise in judgment and condemn you because they responded to someone considerably less than I, meaning of course--

Pastor Doug: They repented at the preaching of Jonah as opposed to the preaching of Jesus.

Jerry: Right. My question is these people of Nineveh are the only people to my knowledge that repented when they heard a prophet. Again, they were spared because they repented, why are they in the resurrection of judgment and not in the first resurrection?

Pastor Doug: Well, I think Jesus is just saying there is a great white throne judgment when all -- Paul talks about all will appear before the judgment seat of Christ. At the end of the 1000 years, there is this great white throne of judgment where Jesus said he’ll separate the sheep from the goats. There is a part of the judgment when everybody who’s ever lived will sort of meet. We'll all be on the scene anyway.

Jesus says, in this great judgment, Matthew chapter -- what is it? 25 verse 31, where he says he will separate the sheep from the goats. He’ll say to one group on the right hand. So you’ve got the saved and the lost right there in the same judgment. Jesus is just saying those who repented and were converted by the preaching of Jonah, they’ll be in that same judgment and they’ll say, “How come you didn’t believe the son of God? We believed his messenger. We repented and we were pagans all our lives and we believed the word of God. How come you didn’t believe when God sent his own son?”

That’s why Jesus is saying the people of Nineveh that repented at the preaching of Jonah in that judgment where everybody is present. Yes, there are two different resurrections but after the second resurrection, the resurrection of all the wicked, the just are already alive, right?

Jerry: Yes.

Pastor Doug: There is a resurrection of the just. “The dead and Christ rise first,” Paul says. In this second resurrection, everybody is there before sentence is pronounced on the loss. That’s the time I think Jesus is referring to.

Jerry: The first scripture I read where it differentiated between the resurrection to life and the resurrection to judgment.

Pastor Doug: Yes, there are two different resurrections.

Jerry: Yes, but other places in the Bible, it sounds to me you’re saying that they referred to both resurrections as judgment.

Pastor Doug: Well, follow me. The word judgment, when we think of it, is not just a court scene. The fact when Jesus comes and the dead in Christ rise first.

Jerry: Yes.

Pastor Doug: That’s a judgment. I mean the very fact that you are being raised means you are saved based on the merits of Christ. If you go up when Jesus comes, you are home free. You don’t have to worry about the white throne judgment because Christ is your representative there. If you're in the second resurrection, it's hopeless. That's called the resurrection of damnation and that's why the Bible says in Revelation 20,"Blessed and Holy are those that are part in the first resurrection."

There’s a study guide that deals with this and it's talking about a thousand years a piece. It deals with the judgment and I'd like to send you a free copy of that, Jerry. If you would just call the resource number which is 800-8356-747 and ask for the study guide on Facing the Judge, we'll send that to you.

And we've got a study guide also on the Millennium. By the way you can get this right now if you want it go to Amazingfacts.org. There is a study guide on the judgment that just covers the whole thing there and you'll enjoy that. Thanks for your call. We're going to keep moving here. I need to talk with next, Allan is calling from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Allan, welcome to the program.

Allan: Thanks for having me. I have two questions. The first one is, if Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes in Ezra 6:14 the same person? That's my first question.

Pastor Doug: No. Well, some of these kings -- You're very perceptive because if you're reading history, some of the kings had more than one name that they went by and they're recorded by a couple of names. But Artaxerxes is mentioned in the -- He's in the decree in Ezra Chapter 7. Ahasuerus is a different king. He's the one in the Book of Esther.

Allan: Because I've been reading Esther [inaudible 00:11:46] and then in [inaudible 00:11:45] Chapter 9:1, it says Ahasuerus is David's father. So I look up that name to see what Ahasuerus means. It means Xerxes in Persian. If you go back to Esther Chapter 1, it says that the man that Esther married was King Xerxes so that’s why I asked.

Pastor Doug: Yes, Xerxes.

Allan: Xerxes.

Pastor Doug: That's one of the names Ahasuerus, same person.

Allan: Exactly.

Pastor Doug: Yes you're right there.

Allan: My question is, so we know that Xerxes is the father of Darius. And my second question is, if we know that that's his father, is Queen Esther the mother of David?

Pastor Doug: No, because we believe that Ahasuerus had several children from his concubines. There's no record in history or the Bible he had any children with Esther. If you read the Book of Nehemiah for instance, Allan, in the Book of Nehemiah it talks about when Nehemiah was the cupbearer before the king, and I'm sure you're reading that also, it says the Queen was sitting by him. That Queen was Esther. So she was the Queen and how old she was at that point, we don't know.

But that's part of the reason I think that he was favorable about sending Nehemiah with funds and an army to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. It's because Esther was there in the palace still at that point. Anyway you're asking some great but deep questions dealing with the names of these Persian Kings.

By the way, there were several kings by the name of Darius, just like we've had several kings with the name George. I mean presidents, with the name George here in America so don't be thrown by that.

Thanks for your question, Allan. We're going to keep going here. We're going to talk with Scott. Scott, you probably don't know you're on line number five, but calling from Irvine, California. Welcome to the program.

Scott: Hello. How are you, Pastor Doug?

Pastor Doug: Doing good. How can we help you tonight?

Scott: I have two questions. One, how do you get completely filled up with the Holy Spirit? Is it by your diet, not being defiled? And two, how do you know if Lucifer or a demon is the angelic being that's messing with you? How do you know who it is?

Pastor Doug: All right. First of all, being filled with the Holy Spirit, taking care of your health does certainly help you have a clear mind makes it easier for you to comprehend Spiritual things. It says in Daniel Chapter 1, that Daniel did not want to defile himself with the king's food. And a number of things in the Bible talk about fasting and praying, part of the reason for fasting and praying was to sort of clear your mind. If a person is living like a glutton, the devil keeps you in a food-induced stupor, so you got to keep that in mind.

Health is something but ultimately you're not filled with the Holy Spirit by what you eat, because the Kingdom of Heaven is more than eating and drinking. It's emptying yourself before God and saying you're willing to do His will and listen to His voice. By the way, before I forget, I do have a book I'd be happy to send you and it's called The Holy Spirit the Need. We'll send you a free copy of that, if you'd like one. It's called-- and I wrote it, called The Holy Spirit the Need.

In other words, it's the need for the Holy Spirit, how do we receive the Holy Spirit, how are we filled. For one thing, surrendering. When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit came into His life. Peter said, "Repent and be baptized and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." As you walk in the will of the Lord, as it's revealed to you, you make it easier for the Holy Spirit to fill you. "God gives us Spirit," it says in Acts Chapter 5, "to those that obey Him," because it's a power.

So there's a number of things you'll find in this book, tips on how do you receive the Holy Spirit. What are the Bible verses that tell us in practical terms what can we do to really avail ourselves of having God inside?

Your next question was-- part of your question was also very important, Scott. How do we know when we're getting impressions that it's coming from God and not from the devil? We need to measure that by the Word. If you're getting impressions and you think this angel is impressing you to do something and it's telling you to go against the Word of God, well that would not be the Holy Spirit.

Because the Holy Spirit will never impress you to do something contrary to the Holy Bible. So it's got to go with the Word and you'll also have a Christian counsel that will support it as well. So hope that helps little and send for that book. If you want to read the book, you can do that even online and just go to Amazingfacts.org. Click where it says Bible resources or study resources.

It's our free library. We got this gobs of great Bible study material there. It's The Holy Spirit the Need, hope you enjoy that. If you want us to send you a copy, call the number 800-835-6747. Now, to call in with your Bible question tonight, we do still have a few lines open. That's a different number, you're ready? 800-GOD-SAYS, 800-463-7297 brings your Bible question into the program.

Thanks for your call, Scott. We're going to talk next with Emma who is calling from Quincy, Illinois. Emma, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.

Emma: Good evening and God bless you. I have two questions. The first one is I was reading [unintelligible 00:17:35] about Zaccheaus and said he was a publican. Is that was he a Jew? Was he a gentile? What is his --?

Pastor Doug: A publican was a job. It had nothing to do with your religion. It was a job that made you an outcast because the word 'public' meant you're supposed to collect taxes from the public. That's a kind of an old English word for a tax collector. What happened is when the Romans conquered a country, they would farm out contracts to some of the people from their own -- the country they conquered, to collect taxes from their own people and they were obviously hated.

So Zaccheaus, when he would control the roads going in and out of Jericho, and anybody that was bringing merchandise in to sell or taking crops out, he'd say, "Based on the size of these crops and these merchandise, you owe this much in taxes." They always were arguing with the tax collectors and the tax collectors got very rich. So Zacheaus was rich.

They were the equivalent, not much different from the mafia that was controlling the tracking industry a number of years ago. The shipyards, they controlled people and said, "lucky you if you'd pay up." And they gave a percentage of it to the Romans and so they were hated. These publicans, they hang out with the [unintelligible 00:19:01] and prostitutes and harlots. So just the scoundrels and the [unintelligible 00:19:07] of society all hung out with the publicans. Publicans had the money.

Emma: Okay, thank you.

Pastor Doug: Matthew Levi was a publican.

Emma: The other question is the next big event I know people are looking for signs of the --

Pastor Doug: Jesus returning.

Emma: [inaudible 00:19:25] and all these. It is a next big event we should be looking for as the coming of Christ. In Matthew 24, Christ's coming in Revelation, there's an earthquake. Will that happen before the second coming of Christ?

Pastor Doug: Of course, Jesus said there'll be earthquakes and there'll be wars all along the way. There have been wars and earthquakes all through history. But what happens is as you near the End of Time, like a woman's labor pains, the intensity goes up and they get closer together. What's happening is we're seeing more earthquakes it seems, and volcanoes and these things, tsunamis. We just, in the last 10 years, had several major tsunamis that were of apocalyptic proportions between what happened in Indonesia, and Japan rather.

The problems are compounding as we near the end of time. There's also good things happening. Jesus said before he comes back, the gospel will go into all the world. Now, because of programs like this, and the internet, and missionaries going everywhere, and DVDs, and satellite television -- I was in Australia just the other side of the world about a month ago. Out the middle of the outback, I was ministering with Aborigines out there and they were running into our programs on the internet. They had the Internet from satellites.

There's almost nowhere in the world -- Jesus said the gospel will be preached in all the world. This is Matthew 24:14, then the end will come. He didn’t say it might come, he says it shall come. The Gospel is going, he didn't say everyone would believe but then the end would come. Yes, we're going to see an increase and there will be more political pressure to control what people believe. We're seeing that happen in the world today, and that's why we want to get ready and stay ready.

Thank you, Emma, for your question. By the way, we do have a study guide that talks about the second coming of Jesus and we'll be happy to send that to you. It's called Anything but Secret. You can either call, get a free copy and that's 800-835-6747 and that's the resource line or you can go to amazingfacts.org.

That does free up another line. I appreciate your call, Emma. That number, if you like to call in with your bible question, I have some lines open now, 800-GOD-SAYS. Are you ready? 800-463-7297. With that, we're going to jump over and talk to Patrick who's calling from Queens, New York. Welcome to the program, Patrick. You're on the air.

Patrick: Yes, sir. Good evening. This pastor Ross and pastor Doug?

Pastor Doug: Well, Pastor Ross is out for the night. This is Pastor Dough. So I've only got 50% of the brains here right now.

Patrick: Okay, sir. All right. my question, I’m going to make it quick. About the Sabbath day in the Old Testament where the bible speaks of, it will be a sign between God and the Israelites. We also know that the fourth commandment there, Sabbath day commandment, it never refers much in the New Testament. All the other commandments are referring to the New Testament. God said to the Israelites, “This is between me and you.” Why is it we’re working so hard to keep the Sabbath when we are risen in Christ?

Pastor Doug: Well, the spirit of the law -- you asked a common question, that's okay. The spirit of the law is we rest in Christ and the Sabbath is a sign of that. When you keep the spirit of the law, you don't eliminate the letter of the law. The spirit of the law says that you should not be angry with your brother but of course you don't break the 10 commandments and murder him either.

The spirit of the, law says you that don't think about adultery in your heart, but the letter of the law says you don't commit it either physically. If on the second chapter of the bible and the seventh day of the week, the first seventh day, God establishes the Sabbath, that's why Jesus says the Sabbath is made for man. He doesn't say the Sabbath is made for Jews.

You do find the Sabbath, it's a common mistake. People say, "Well, the Sabbath is not repeated in the New Testament." It was probably one of the most controversial things Jesus dealt with. Jesus was always trying to explain how to keep the Sabbath. He never said don't keep it. He never said it'll be done away with.

In fact, when the disciples put his body in the tomb, the sun was going down. They couldn't finish embalming his body before sundown and they didn't want to break the Sabbath. It says they just closed the tomb and they left. They said, “We'll come back Sunday morning after the Sabbath to finish caring for his body.”

Obviously, Jesus taught the disciples that the Sabbath was still important, then it's mentioned again in Acts 13 and Acts 16, in Hebrews 4, this is all through the New Testament, and it's never do they say it's done away with, and never do they say there's a new Sabbath day on a different day of the week. More and more Christians from all different denominations are learning that the 10 Commandments, while they do not save us, are still in effect. Does that make sense Patrick?

Patrick: Yes, it makes sense. Also, what I want to find out from you, [unintelligible 00:25:03] Do you believe that -- let’s say the Pentecostal people, and may be of the church, maybe the Lutherans, would they be saved even if they didn't worship on a particular day like the present --?

Pastor Doug: Let me set your heart at ease. There are going to be people in my church that will not be in Kingdom and they know about the Sabbath. There are going to be people in many other denominations that may not know the Sabbath truth that will be in heaven. Nobody is saved by keeping the Sabbath any more than anyone is saved by not stealing.

We’re not saved by keeping any law. Is that right? We’re saved by grace. But the question is when we are saved, do we want to obey? There are going to be people in heaven, keep this in mind, Patrick, King David had several wives. He'll be in heaven, right?

Patrick: Yes.

Pastor Doug: All right. Well, now if I get extra wives, do you think I'm going?

Patrick: No.

Pastor Doug: Probably not because I know better. You know what I'm saying?

Patrick: Yes.

Pastor Doug: Abraham had slaves. He'll be in heaven. He lived in a time where God winked at their ignorance, that's what it says in Acts 17, "At the times of ignorance, God winked at." But now, he commands men everywhere to repent. Sin is knowing to do good and not doing it. So when we know the truth, whether that truth is about marriage, or the Sabbath, or slavery, or any of these things, he wants us to follow the truth.

If we know that God does not change the 10 commandments, he didn't give us 10% discount. It's still all 10. He has them as a complete whole, the Sabbath, yes, it was for Israel but the bible also says the Messiah was for Israel, that’s Jesus. Are we going to get rid of everything that God had for Israel?

Patrick: No.

Pastor Doug: I think that it's really clear that the 10 Commandments are a complete package and people hear us talking about the Sabbath on this program, not because we believe that we're saved more by the Sabbath than any other commandment, we just believe we need to be consistent as Christians and not call them the nine commandments from now on.

They never stopped being the 10, nothing in the bible tells us that God has done away with the fourth Commandment or replaced it with another day. There is no commandment to keep holy Wednesday, or Sunday, or any other day. So it's only the seventh day. I don't like harping on any one part of the bible. I just think that if we're going to be bible Christians, the bible is the bottom line. It's the final Word, then we need to go by what the Word says.

By the way, we do have an offer on that or better yet go to the website, Patrick, sabbathtruth.com, lots of information there. You're listening to Bible Answers Live. With that friends, in a moment we're going to take a break. We do still have lines open. Call 800-463-7297. We'll get to your phone calls in just a moment.

I want to remind everybody that if you enjoy this program, we principally do this live on Sunday night. We know there's a number of stations that rebroadcast the program. I had someone in France that told us they were listening to the program in France and others in Switzerland. So the program is all around the world.

But if you want to see amazing facts program in TV and the audio, you can simply go to AFTV. We are on television 24 hours a day. It's on G19 and some other downlink stations AFTV and it's real easy, AFTV dot -- No. amazingfacts.tv. I got it wrong. Amazingfacts.tv will take you to our TV channel and you can watch the programming 24 hours a day.

You can also pick your favorite programs and bring them up and watch it. And everyone knows about YouTube, lots of Amazing Facts programs there. Don't let the music fool you, the program's not over yet. I'm going to get a drink of water. We'll be back with your Bible questions in just a moment.

[COMMERCIAL BREAK]

Pastor Doug: We're back, listening friends. This is Bible Answers Live and if you have a Bible question, you can call in with your question. It's a free phone call, 800-GOD-SAYS, 800-463-7297. My name is Doug Batchelor. Pastor John Ross is coming back this weekend from a training program up north. If you have a Bible question, you give us a call. We're going to go back right back to the lines and let me think, we're talking next to John who's calling from New Jersey. John, welcome to the program.

John: Doug, Pastor Doug.

Pastor Doug: Yes.

John: How are you doing? Love your program. I have a question, this is definitely, Bible-related to me. How could we prove Jesus Christ never copied from people before him, because people claim that other people rose from the dead in three days and get miracles, and you must have heard them claims.

Pastor Doug: Yes, so some people were saying -- they're saying that Jesus was somehow copying others who had lived before Him. Well, you know, for one thing, because the devil knows that the Messiah was coming. He didn't know exactly how or when, but the devil knew that God would come into the world, that prophecy was way back there in Genesis Chapter 3. And so, Satan has a counterfeit for every Truth of God.

There were many false messiahs before Jesus. Jesus said, "In the last days, there are going to be other false Christ," and that's in Mathew 24, Mark 13 and there were false christs before Jesus. You can read in the book of Acts when the religious leaders got together, they said, "Well, there have been a number of false teachers who came. And when they died, their followers dispersed."

So, just because someone says there's false Christ out there doesn't mean that you question the Bible. The teachings and what Jesus said is so profound, He's the most quoted author in history. And you think about it, He only had three and half years when anything He said, was recorded. He didn't even write anything. I think the only time He wrote was on the dust of the Temple floor when Mary Magdalene was caught in adultery but other than that Jesus didn't write.

It was His witnesses that chronicled, the gospel writers. Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John are the ones who chronicled what He did in His life, and it's supported by history. You can even read the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus. He said, "Jesus really lived and He did many wonderful works and that He performed miracles." If we're going to believe anything about history, we need to believe that Jesus and Bible are real because of all the testimony of so many writers.

There's more written about the Bible than there is about Jesus, than there is about Alexander the Great, and no one ever questions that he actually lived. So I don't think we should question the reality of Christ. By the way, John, we don have a study book that talks about the Bible and it's called the Ultimate Resource. We'll send you a free copy.

Also, if you go to the Amazing Facts website, the first of our study guides that deals with the subject of the Bible you'd really be blessed by that. All you have to do is go to AmazingFacts.org and download that Study Guide, Is there anything left you can trust? It'll tell you all the reasons you know you can trust the Bible.

Thanks for your call. With that, we're going to move on, talk with Derrick calling from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Derrick, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.

Derrick: Hi, Pastor Doug, thanks for taking my call. My question is, I've read how Adam and Eve never experienced death and then they made a robe or the aprons out of the plant material and it died. They were saddened by that. But I'm perplexed because I made garden this summer with my kids and we -- or the Spring, and we made pumpkins. I was looking at the flowers and they pop out beautifully and then they wilt and then fruit comes. How was there fruit in the Garden of Eden with flowers there [crosstalk]?

Pastor Doug: Unless the flowers died.

Derrick: Yes, they need to die to make fruit. That's how it works.

Pastor Doug: Well, first of all, know that the Bible tells us that something radical changed with the environment. Because for one thing, it says, after sin, not only did things begin to die, but you ended up with thorns and thistles, and weeds, some kind of amalgamation and changes came across the creation.

I think there's things that happened in the process of food and the fruit and trees and vegetation that we just don't understand now, because the whole environment was damaged really, in some way by sin. For instance, do you know why the thorns on a rose or a cactus hurt? Because the end of it dies. In other words, if a cactus, if the spines on a cactus never die, they would feel like fur. They'd be soft. But because they die, they hurt.

Derrick: Was it like bark?

Pastor Doug: Well, I don't know. This is just a theory. I'm just saying that I think death change things. Flowers may have opened up, produced fruits, closed again and re-opened. They may have folded back and come back again. I don't know what God would have done it. But something changed.

Now, even before sin, we know that there's a natural cycle that God created that is marvelous, how humans and mammals and creatures, we inhale oxygen and we exhale carbon. The plants inhale the carbon and exhale oxygen. And what drops from the trees, we eat. The waste from humans and animals becomes fertilizer for the trees. There's this incredible symbiotic relationship between the animals and the plants. Somehow, that still existed before sin but it happened in a way where there was no death or pain. You can still see --

Derrick: It's a kind of mystery.

Pastor Doug: It is. Well, there are plants and flowers in South America where the flowers, they continue to bloom for long -- they'll bloom for months and because the climate is always temperate. So, things change and I don't know, it'll be interesting to get there. Just know, Paul said, "The eye hasn't seen, the ear hasn't heard, neither has it entered into the heart of men, the things that God has prepared for those that love Him."

So, when we think we can understand heaven, just know it's better than we can comprehend because it's so different from our world. I promise, get there you won't be disappointed, I promise. All right. Hey, thank you for your call, Derrick. We do have a Study Guide that talks about, well, our offer tonight, Amazing Wonders of Creation. We'll send you a free copy of that.

That number is 800-835-6747. Anybody that wants a copy of that, call the resource line. For your question, call the question line, 800-463-7297. All right, thank you, Derrick. Going to talk with Gill who's calling from Medford, Oregon. Jill, welcome to the program. You're on the air.

Jill: Hello, Pastor.

Pastor Doug: Hi.

Jill: Hi, I have a question. In the Bible, where it says the Church should take care of widows, do you think that that was also of perhaps, women who were unable to marry?

Pastor Doug: Well, in Bible times, your only source of income was your children when you got older. Your children would take care of you, that was part of honoring your father and mother, is you showed respect as they got old, as they get feeble. You cared for them. You took care of them. You loved them. You help them until they passed on. They had no social security. Your family was your social security.

If a woman and a lot of the work that was done in farming and producing was just back-breaking work and women couldn't do it all. It was a very rough life. If a woman lost her husband and she had no children, there's a couple of stories where women came to Solomon and David for judgment because they said, they're going to lose their children and they would have nothing.

The Church would especially help them. You'll notice in the book of Acts when they finally ordained the Deacons. You know why they ordained the Deacons is because some of the widows felt like they weren't being taken care of in the distribution of funds to help support them. Now, if a woman today, never marries, in America anyway, she's not going to be quite as destitute as when I'd been to India and other parts of the world where they don't have these social programs.

Some of that's different but I do think that, in our Church, we've programs where men will sometimes come by or the teenagers will come by and try to help the families, seniors and so forth with yard work or mechanic work. That's part of being in a church, is helping people who need help. Are you wondering if someone unmarried would fit in the same category as a widow?

Jill: Yes, that was my question. I also have another question on the Sabbath if I can.

Pastor Doug: Let's see if it's a quick one.

Jill: Prayer is so important to greet the Sabbath with prayers. At the end of this month, we are being particularly attacked, I guess you could say. Is there any way of organizing, is it too late organize a kind of worldwide hour of prayer at that [unintelligible 00:40:53]?

Pastor Doug: Well, I think that doing just exactly what you're saying is, for one thing, getting on the internet is an amazing way to communicate a call to prayer and some people do it with their Facebook page and develop a network of friends and just call them all to prayer. Then don't underestimate the power of the prayers of one person.

The Bible says the fervent effectual prayer of a righteous men and it would also be a righteous woman, Jill, avails much. I've got a book. I'll send you a free copy or you can read it online, it's your choice, anybody out there, it's called Teach Us to Pray. That call in number for the resource 800-835-6747 and again for your questions it's 800-463-7297. Appreciate your call, Jill. Talking next with, is it Tray? Who's calling from Huntsville, Alabama. Tray, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.

Tray: Hey, Doug, how are you?

Pastor Doug: Doing well.

Tray: All right. I got a question on Moses, how he struck the rock twice [unintelligible 00:42:03] you speak to the rock. And well he wasn't allowed in the promised land. Was it talking about the promised land like the heaven or just the promised land that Jesus provided?

Pastor Doug: Well, Moses, he was not allowed to physically lead the children of Israel. Joshua ended up doing it. Moses was hoping to be the one who would lead them over into the promised land and get them settled. In other words, he wanted to finish them on this long 40-year journey into the promised land. But because he basically lost his temper, he did not honor God. He and Aaron were feeling some pride and they said, "You rebels how long do we have to listen to you? Must we bring you water out of the rock."

Instead of speaking to the rock as he had done before, he got mad and he struck it twice in anger and he had a tantrum really before the people and God said, "Moses, you knew better. You've had a relationship with me where I expected more." He says, "Because of that, you're not the one that's going to lead them into the promised land."

But Moses did get to -- God took him up on Mountain Ebo and before he died, well actually Moses climbed up to Mountain Ebo, and before he died God opened his eyes and he could see. God showed him a vision, a panorama of the promised land, how beautiful it was and reassured him that the people would get there. Now, we know Moses is in heaven because when you go to the New Testament in Mark chapter 9, Moses appears to Jesus. So he's there now, no question about it.

Tray: I heard a pastor on the radio and he was in there talking about the darkness or whatever, that was like a layer of heaven or something?

Pastor Doug: Well, it talks about the angels that are kept in everlasting chains of darkness, and the fallen angels its talking about. Moses is not in that darkness, now he's in heaven.

Tray: Okay.

Pastor Doug: Hey, you know, I have a book I can send you on that subject. That's called the Two Witnesses. It talks about Moses and Elijah and they're appearing to Jesus. If you just call the resource line 800-835-6747, tell them you're listening to Bible Answers Live and that we just offered you that book called the Two Witnesses. We'll send it to you.

Friends, you notice we're pretty generous with our material. We want to get the Bible answers in people's hands. Thank you for your call, Tray. With that, we're going to go move along and talk with Mark who's calling from Silver Spring, Maryland. Mark, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.

Mark: Hi, pastor.

Pastor Doug: Evening.

Mark: I have a quick question regarding one of the 10 commandments that says we should honor our parents, our mother and father. Also, when I'm reading the Bible, I see that Jesus honor women, because in Jesus time women didn't have any value. Jesus valued women. I heard some people saying that we should not value anybody including women. We should not honor anybody. We should not honor women. We should only honor God. What do you think about this?

Pastor Doug: Well, I think that we should show respect as Christians for everybody. Now, honoring your parents, obviously, it says honor not just your father, it says honor your mother, right? So there you got a man and a woman right in the commandment. Honor your father and your mother. So that's showing respect for your father and your mother, treating them with honor.. God says that your days will be long upon the land.

There's actually a promise that goes with that command. It's interesting, Mark, I've been to a lot of countries in the world and it seems like in some of the countries where they show the greatest respect for the elders, they live the longest. At some of the places like Japan has one of the longest life expectancies in the world, I think Okinawa is up there among one of the longest and they also have great respect for their elders.

God said, "Long will your days be on the land." So I don't know if I'm answering your specific question, but yes, I think we should honor father and mother. Nothing wrong with showing respect to others. Bible talks about showing honor, honor to whom honor is due. We should respect those who have authority over us, the bible tells us. And so, certainly including father and mother, whether they're men or women. We should show honor to whoever honor is due.

Thank you for your question, Mark. We do have a study guide called Written in Stone that talks about the 10 commandments of those principals. We'll send you a free copy, that's 800-835-6747. That does open up another line. If you want to call in with your Bible question, we still have a few minutes left. Here's the call in number, you ready? 800-463-7297. With that, we're going to talk to Jane, who's calling in from San Diego. Jane, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.

Jane: Hi, thank you. I have a question about the two angels in Revelation 14, like where are we now. Would you be able to talk more about that?

Pastor Doug: You want me to explain? All three of the angels? What that means?

Jane: Yes.

Pastor Doug: In Revelations 14, this is a great question, Jane. The reason this is so important, it tells us in Revelation 14 these messages from these three angels, "Go to the world," and then it says in chapter 14, "Then I saw on a white cloud and one sat like the Son of Man," meaning after these messages go to the world, Jesus comes.

By the way, that's verse 14, it says, "Look and behold, the white cloud and on the cloud sat one like the Son of Man." Jesus comes after these message go. What are the three messages? First message, then you can start with verse 6, it says, "I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell in the earth," so where to go and preach the gospel to the whole world.

It says, "Fear God and give glory to him for the hour of His judgement has come." Meaning we're living in the last age of the world. This is a time of judgment. "Judgment must begin at the house of God," Peter says. There's a judgment that happens before Jesus even comes. I think everyone knows that, because if the Lord has already determined who's saved and lost when he comes, and of the dead in Christ rise are caught up, the save go up. The wicked or destroyed some judgment happens before he comes.

That's happening now, the world needs to know we're living in that hour. Second angel is Babylon's fallen. Come out of Babylon. It's talking about the false religious systems of the world. The third angel warns about do not receive the beast, don't worship the beast or receive the mark of the beast. Now, these messages are actually going to the world right now.

I've got good news for you, Jane. We have a study guide that has -- it's completely dedicated to just the three angels message and it's called Angel Messages from Outer Space and we'll send you a free copy of that. Would you like that?

Jane: Yes, thank you.

Pastor Doug: Angel Messages from Space. I know it sounds kind of like NASA, but it's really talking about these Bible messages. It's specifically on the three angels messages that go the world before Jesus returns. If you just call the resource number, 800-835-6747, we'll send that to you. Anyone who wants to know about those three angels messages, that's 800-835-6747. We'll send it to you, beautiful, illustrated bible study. Appreciate your call.

Talking next with Marie calling from Bismark, North Dakota. Marie, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.

Marie: Good evening, Pastor Doug.

Pastor Doug: Evening.

Marie: I really appreciate your program. It has helped me a lot.

Pastor Doug: Thank you.

Marie: The question I have tonight is, I'm going to different churches. I go to one on Saturday and one on Sunday. I know I have to obey the 10 Commandments by keeping the Sabbath. The other church that I go to on Sunday, when I go there, I really feel comfortable. I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. My question is, that church I go to on Sunday believe in the oneness of God, that Jesus is the only God.

Pastor Doug: They don't believe in the Trinity. They believe in --

Marie: They don't believe in Trinity, exactly. The church I go to on Saturday believe in Trinity. I'm kind of confused because --

Pastor Doug: You want to know if the Trinity is true?

Marie: Yes. There's a passage in the Bible that prove that Jesus is the only God. There's also a passage in the Bible that talks about God the Father and Jesus Christ as the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Pastor Doug: Now, look at the baptism of Jesus, Marie. When Jesus gets baptized in Matthew Chapter 3, it says, "The heavens are open and the Holy Spirit descends like a dove." Jesus comes up out of the water. He's on earth in the water and a voice comes from heaven saying, "This is my beloved son." Unless Jesus is talking to himself, who is the voice coming from heaven? That's got to be God the Father and He's speaking to Jesus, God the son. He's saying, "This is my son."

Not only that. You'll also see that happening in Mark chapter 9, when Jesus goes up the mountain, we referred to this earlier, and Moses and Elijah appear and God -- Jesus says, "They're glorified." God says, "This is my son. Hear him." Peter refers to this in -- I think it's 2nd Peter, where he said, "We were with him on the holy mountain when we heard this voice from the Father."

Unless Jesus is playing games like a ventriloquist, like he's projecting his voice from other places, the Father and the Son are two different people. You see what I'm saying?

Marie: Yes.

Pastor Doug: You've also got of course in Genesis when God says, "Let us make man in our image." Now, when Jesus says, "My Father and I are one," and I know that they use this verse, make sure and use the verse the way Jesus uses the verse. Jesus said to the disciples, "I pray that you may be one even as my Father and I are one." When Jesus prayed the 12 apostles could be one, did he mean that he wanted them to all squash together like a lump of clay and turn into 1 apostle? Or did he mean he wanted them to be united?

Marie: United.

Pastor Doug: When Jesus says to the apostles in John 17, "I'm praying that you might be one as my Father and I are one." The Father and the Son are united. That's why Jesus said they're one. Husband and wife get married, they become what? One flesh. It doesn't mean they merge into one physical being. They're united now.

The Bible uses the word one to talk about the unity of God but it doesn't mean that the Father and the Son lose their distinct personalities. They're unique persons. They're separate beings. Can I please send you my book? I've got a book called The Trinity, Marie. I'll send you a free copy.

Matter of fact, I always like to tell people, with the blessing of the internet now, you can just go read it right now for free. We'll either send you a copy. Call that number, 800-835-67 and ask for the book on The Trinity, or again you can go to amazingfacts.org and you'll have a book right there. Just go to the tab for the free library resources. You can print it off. You can download it as a PDF. I think I probably even have an audio sermon on the subject that you can listen to at the Amazing Facts website.

There's also gobs of amazing facts programming even just on YouTube now. You can just type in Amazing Facts on YouTube and you'll find a lot of new material.

I'm sorry friends. I'm looking at the clock and I probably wouldn't do any other question just as tonight. We appreciate that you did call in and I see a few are still lined up. If we didn't get your question tonight, God-willing, we're going to be back on the air again next week.

In the meantime, please remember the station is entirely self-supporting. Amazing Facts ministry, we don't receive underwriting or subsidies from organization, corporation, denomination. It's you listening that keep us on the air. Could you be one of our amazing friends? Just go to amazingfacts.org. You can donate there online.

God bless. Keep us in your prayers till we talk again together next week.

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