Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hello friends. This is Doug Batchelor. How about an amazing fact. Back in the 1980s, Herman and Donna O’steen bought a farm about a half a mile outside of Reno Nebraska. But because the barn was near a creek, the floor was always muddy and wet. One year, when the creek flooded, leaving 29 inches of water in the barn, Herman decided to do something. Using a building moving company was too expensive. At supper time, Herman joked to his family, "I'll bet if we had enough people, we could just pick up that barn and carry it to higher ground."
Herman’s son, Mike, however took the idea seriously. He welded a grid of steel lifting handles all around the barn inside and out, enough for 344 people. He counted the boards, timber, plus the steel handles and estimated the barn's weight at about 10 tons. That meant each person would have to lift about 55 pounds. The little town of Bruno, Nebraska was already planning its centennial this summer, so they decided to make the moving of O’steen’s barn part of the official celebration. On July 30th 1988, local TV cameramen were on hand along with 4,000 spectators.
With some directions from a bullhorn, the 344 volunteers lifted the barn in unison. The crowd then applauded, as they moved the barn 115 feet to higher ground in three minutes. It's amazing what people can all accomplish when they work together. Stay with us friends, we’re going to learn more as Amazing Facts brings you this edition of Bible Answers Live.
[PROGRAM INTRODUCTION]
Pastor Doug: Welcome listening friends to Bible Answers Live, and if you’re tuning in for the first time, this is a live program where you get to call in a Bible question. If you have a question about the Word of God, about the Christian life, or things related, then we invite you to call. It's a free phone call. We've got lines open. It's a live program. Here's the number, 800-God-Says. That's 800-463-7297. I know we have a lot of listeners that are on the road listening through satellite radio, and I'll give you that number again. It's 800-God-Says. That's 800-463-7297 with your Bible questions.
My name is Doug Batchelor and Pastor Jean Ross, who is actually in Indonesia right now at our Evangelism Training College there. We'll be praying for him and hope you'll all be praying for me as we begin the program with the word of prayer.
Father in heaven, we want to just thank you for this privilege opportunity to come together and talk about the word of God. I just pray Lord you'll bless that the Holy Spirit will be present, both with those here in the studio, people listening around the country and other parts of the world. Bless in the calls that come in, pray that the answers are in accordance with your word which is truth, and in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Well, friends, I thought that was pretty amazing. You can actually see a YouTube online they recorded back in 1988 when it looked like the whole town got together and they picked up this full size barn, 344 people, and like a bunch of ants working together, they carried it, they stopped and took a rest once or twice to make sure nobody was going to hurt their back, carried it 115 feet or so to its higher ground, 115 feet higher ground new resting sight. It made me think about in the Bible when the walls of Jerusalem had been destroyed for 70 years. It was a discipline totally cast down by the Babylonians that when Nehemiah came back with Ezra in the days of the Persian Empire, they decided to just all work together and see if they could rebuild the walls completely surrounding the city of Jerusalem. They had every enemy telling them it couldn't be done, trying to oppose them, and I'll read the verses to you in Nehemiah 4:6 and 6:15. “So we built the wall for the people had a mind to work and the wall was finished in 52 days. They built a wall around Jerusalem because everybody worked together."
In the last days, the Bible tells us the Lord is going to have a special team of commandos that are going to work together to spread the gospel, something like the 12 apostles did at the time of Jesus’ first coming. The Lord's going to have 12 times 12,000 apostles. It's called the 144,000, and you find this in Revelation 14:1, “Then I looked and behold, the lamb standing on Mount Zion and with him, 144,000 having his father's name written in their foreheads.”
We have a book we’ll send you for free, if you'd like to better understand this subject. Who are the 144,000? It says in Revelation chapter seven that there are winds of tribulation are going to blow on the world, but the angels cannot release these winds of strife and trouble until the servants of God are sealed with the father's name in their forehead, with the seal of God and that's 144,000. Who is that very important group? Are they living in the world today? It's a free answer. All you have to do, call. We’ll send you the book. That phone number for the book is 800-835-6747. You can actually read that book online free by going to the Amazing Facts website. You can click, copy paste and put the book on your computer, share it with others and it to a friend. The book is called Who Will Sing the Song? Understanding the 144,000.
If you just call the number and say, "I’d like a copy of your book about the 144,000", great study for your church group. One more time, that phone number, 800-835-6747. Now it's time to take your phone calls and we're going to start talking with Mark who's calling from Knoxville, Tennessee. Mark, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Mark: All right. Thank you for taking my call. I have an issue that comes up once in a while that I need to grapple with. It's the idea that because God is infinitely holy and because he lives eternally, that standing against him requires eternal punishing.
Pastor Doug: The problem with that is that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, right?
Mark: Yes.
Pastor Doug: The wages for sin is death, right?
Mark: I’m talking about those who don't repent of their sins.
Pastor Doug: Well, yes. But the penalty for sin, Paul says in Romans, for everybody, God told Adam and Eve, “If you eat the forbidden tree, you’ll die.” The penalty for sin is death. If the penalty for sin is burning forever, then Jesus did not pay our penalty. Jesus died on the cross and he suffered for the sins of the whole world, but he didn't burn forever for everybody, and so everyone is going to be rewarded according to their works. There is a lake of fire of what we call hell. The wicked are cast into the lake of fire and the Bible says this is the second death. Bible says they're consumed, Malachi chapter four, root and branch, never will they be any more, and they perish. It's like John 3:16.
We have a free study we’ll be happy to send you on that Mark, and it's called Is The Devil in Charge of Hell? We'll send it to you, anybody that would like this, the study. If you want to a copy, you just call 800-83567, ask for the study on the lake of fire or hell. There's a website I recommend.
More and more Christian groups, a number of denominations now are coming to biblical truth on this subject that the Dark Ages teaching of hell just could not be supported by the Bible. There is a hell, the punishment is eternal, meaning that people are destroyed forever, it's everlasting destruction. The same way Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, Jesus said they will be destroyed. Well, they're not still burning today. If you'd like to understand this, go to the website helltruth.com, really easy, helltruth.com, videos, all kinds of Bible study, scriptures, it's just really well established. If you're a Bible Christian, you shouldn't have a problem with that. Take a look Mark, let us know what you think and I appreciate your call. We're going to talk next to John. I'm I saying that right? From Columbus, Ohio listening on the Web. You're on the air.
John: Hi Pastor. My question spans on, here in Ohio, we're noticing that in the sky, the moon, and you can actually see the planet Venus, and as soon as I saw that today when I was -- it's sunset here [unintelligible 00:09:56] 10:00 PM at night.
As soon as I saw that, I started researching on the Internet and everyone is saying that the mark is for seven years … time of tribulation. I want to know, is this Bible based or this people just making stuff up? Is there anywhere in the Bible that says that?
Pastor Doug: Well, there’s nothing in the Bible that says that Venus in the sky is the beginning of the seven year tribulation. It’s probably preachers out there that say that. Let me show you the one verse in the Bible, and this is when Jesus is speaking in the second coming. He says in Matthew 24:25, and there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars. He doesn't in particular mention Venus. Matthew 24:25, in the book of -- I said Matthew. I apologize. It's Luke 21:25. It's also in -- You'll find a similar verses in Matthew 24.
But Luke specifically says there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars and on the earth, distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring. Some people looked at the tsunami in Japan, and in Indonesia, with the waves roaring as one of the signs, and then some of these galactic signs people are wondering. You're going to see all these things happening in concert near the end. So nothing particularly about Venus though.
John: There’s nothing that has really done and [unintelligible 00:11:29] okay, the seven years time, we're just going to know the time basically, right?
Pastor Doug: Well, I’ll tell you a tip and this is a good benchmark. The Bible is pretty clear that the time of trouble begins after the plagues begin and the plagues you find in Revelation 15 and 16, "When the seven last plagues began, the time of trouble has begun." Those seven last plagues haven't begun yet. I don't think that any celestial signs right now are telling us that. There may be signs telling us we're nearing the end, but I don't believe we've entered the time of tribulation. I appreciate your call. We do have a book that talks about the tribulation, we'll send you a free copy. It's called Anything but Secret, and you can either read that online at amazingfacts.org, or we'll send you a copy if you want one for your hands. 800, call the number 800-835-6747 so you like the amazing facts book on Anything but Secret.
It talks about second coming and the tribulation. I appreciate your call. That frees up another line if you want to call in with your Bible question. That number one more time, this is to call with your questions, 800-463-7297. That brings you to our studio here. The other number is our resource operators' that will get your address to send you the free offers we make. I'm going to talk next with Jerry, calling from Medford, Oregon. Jerry, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Jerry: Yes, good evening Pastor Doug.
Pastor Doug: Good evening.
Jerry: I have a question about when does the Lord forgiving us. Now, we read over and over again, for example, 1st Corinthians 6:10-11 how the sexually immoral, the adulterous, slanders, the drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God and it says, "But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God." Then in Psalms 103:12, which says, "Your sins will be removed as far as east is from the west or he will remove them" I should. Then I read in Matthew 12:36-37, where Jesus says, "But I tell you that men will have to give an account on the Day of Judgment -
Pastor Doug: Every other word.
Jerry: - for every careless word they have spoken, for by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you'll be condemned." It doesn't give an exception there and that's what puzzles me.
Pastor Doug: Well, Jesus saying, and this is true with Christ not only says it about our words, he says that every men will be rewarded according to His works. Those are the things we've not repented of and forsaken. I've had to repent many times for and in judicious words and things I’ve said that I regret and the Lord forgives you the same way all manner of sin and idolatry will be forgiven, it says in the same chapter. Speaking poorly, the Lord can forgive that and it's not that Jesus is saying you can't be forgiven, he's saying that if you're not forgiven, you will keep an account for every idle word that you’ve spoken. That's why it's so important for us to repent, confess our sins, repent of our sins and ask God to change our hearts, be born again because he goes on he says in the same passage Chapter 12, pardon me, he says, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks", right?
Jerry: Yes.
Pastor Doug: Jesus changes our hearts and when your hearts are changed, your words change, and he obviously forgives you for the old words. Will peter be forgiven for denying Christ? Those are bad words.
Jerry: Well, I would certainly hope so, yes.
Pastor Doug: Well, He said, "Peter do you love me? Peter do you love me? Peter do you love me?" Then he forgave him, he filled him with the Spirit, he became a great proclaimer of Pentecost.
Jerry: I assume, yes.
Pastor Doug: Paul the same thing. So obviously God forgives the bad words, but Jesus is saying that if it's not for your forgiveness, you'll give an account for every word, it's also a warning for Christians. Once you're saved, it doesn't mean you can be reckless with your speech. In other words, for me that's my biggest problem is being careful with what I say, it goes way beyond worrying about cursing, I don't do that. But just making sure that you speak words of grace, the Bible says let your speech be seasoned, with grace that you're encouraging, that you're always representing Christ, always truthful and I figure a Christian needs to just always be examining what are they talking about. Bible talks about frivolous suggesting and of course jesting is the way Paul says it. So yes, Jesus is just the extenuating, recording angels they've got a video of everything we've done and said and it will give an account. That's why we’ve got to repent over those things and pray God helps us be more careful with what we say. That makes sense?
Jerry: Well yes, I presume you're saying Christians to be careful once you become a believer but maybe you're saying also there is an implied exception and statement such as this to the believers?
Pastor Doug: No, what Jesus says in Matthew 12 is that people are going to answer for their words in the judgment, we're all going to answer for our behavior that is not forgiven or under the blood. Jesus makes similar statements, he healed, forgave people of their sins and said go and sin no more, well that means everything, the words, the actions, it was all forgiven. He says now go and live a life where you're careful and a part of being careful, is careful in our speech. We do have a book you'll enjoy this. For one thing, I have a sermon that is the dealing with the importance of choosing our words carefully you can listen to on the Amazing Facts website. We have a book called Tiny Troublemakers that talks about speech and the importance of making sure our speech is seasoned with Grace, send you a free copy. You just call that resource number 800-835-6747, Jerry, we'll be happy to send that to you. Thank you for your call. I'm going to talk to Jose calling from New York. Welcome to the program, Jose. You're on the air.
Jose: Hi, How you doing. I'm calling about John 7:52 where the Pharisees are saying are you from Galilee to search the Scriptures and see for yourself no prophet ever comes from Galilee. But if you see such an odd thing for them to say, if they were really [unintelligible 00:18:30] because in Isaiah 9, it talks about -
Pastor Doug: As in nine, one and two, yes.
Jose: Yes, I don't understand -
Pastor Doug: All that's telling us is that the scribes and Pharisees didn't know the Scriptures very well, and Jesus told them more than once he said you do error not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God, now they were correct when Jesus was born here and asked the scribes where is the Messiah going to be born and they said, Bethlehem and they were quoting Micah chapter five. They didn't know some of it but the prophecy in Isaiah that the Messiah would be working up enough in Naphtali and Galilee, they didn't know that. They said, there's no prophet coming from Galilee. Well actually, Isaiah said there was, they just didn’t know their Bibles very well.
Jose: Okay, then I don't know. I guess because I thought that they were Pharisees, they should have known better I don't know [laughs].
Pastor Doug: Well, some of them yes. In this passage, they're making fun of Nicodemus who was a Pharisee who believed Jesus was the Messiah. Some of them said no prophet comes out of Galilee. Galilee, for the people in Israel, was considered the boondocks. It was redneck country. That's why they used to scoff and they spoke differently. You remember when the girl at the trial of Christ, she said to Peter, "Your speech betrays you. Aren't you from Galilee?"
They had a heavy accent. It's kind of like the English from Liverpool, they used to make fun of them. They talk like the Beatles. When there's a prophet from Galilee, well that's where the hips live. But they just didn't know their Bibles. There was a prophecy about a prophet coming from Galilee. Like you said, you are right. Isaiah 9:1-2. Thank you for your call very much Jose, I appreciate that. And we'll be happy to send you our study guide, dealing with the subject of Bible prophecy. That would be called Is There Anything Left You Can Trust? We'll send you a free copy if you call the resource number. That's 800-835-6747, that opens up line for the studio number if you want to call in with your Bible question. We've got a line open. It's 800-463-7297. One more time, 800-God-Says, 463-7297. Talking next with Michael calling from upper Michigan. Is it still cold up there Michael?
Michael: Yes, sure is. It is below 25 degrees.
Pastor Doug: Yes, that's cold for us.
Michael: It's time where rain between 25 degrees it was with us two days ago. A little while back and then it will go up 50, then get up to 50 degrees.
Pastor Doug: Well that's a heat wave up there.
Michael: [laughs] Yes, sure is.
Pastor Doug: So what's your question tonight?
Michael: I always wonder what your counsel is on--, because I kind of ran into this myself in my own personal life with Christ and I was wondering what the Bible, I know what the Bible, I know the scriptures. I know we had to be watching Jesus when he was on earth. To report all of what he said and to pay close attention to him. What does the Bible say about spying or stalking on another person? When does it become sinful and when does it become just someone following after and just trying to be friends with somebody? I mean where do you draw the line as far as you know-
Pastor Doug: Following someone around? Spying on them?
Michael: Yes. Remember that I told-- God did told them to go look, spy the city. Well when was it-
Pastor Doug: We're talking two different things. One is, there are laws in the Bible that talk about governments. And Jesus said in your personal relationships, turn the other cheek. For a government, it's an eye for an eye, in other words, there is a reward for every crime. In personal relationships, there is no reason you'd want to follow someone around. That's a lack of trust. It's kind of deceitful to pretend you're not watching when you are.
For a military, when Joshua sent the spies out, or when Moses sent the spies out, that's a military operation. It's a government thing that when you are at war, it's gathering intelligence. It's very common to want to get information. So the Lord of course would not forbid that. But if you got a friend stalking around your house, [laughs] or if you're stalking around someone else's house, that's not appropriate for a Christian. Those are, they are really two different principles. One is government rule, the other is our individual relationships. I'll tell you how to answer that Christ said, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'.
If you wouldn't want anybody stalking your house, nobody should be stalking yours. And there is one other verse, Solomon says and this is for if you spend too much time with your neighbor, Solomon says in proverbs, withdraw your foot from your neighbor's house lest he weary of thee and hate thee. You don't want to be stalking around your neighbor's house or going even inside your neighbor's house so much. They just get tired of seeing you coming. Anyway, Michael I appreciate that question and I think that's probably a first for that one, very creative. We're going to talk next with Ken, who's calling from Seattle, Washington. Ken, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Ken: Hello. I have gone to my friend's church over there and in standard Washington the seventh Adventist church there. But I had a discussion with my friend, there's a question I have the same as you is--. I feel like getting married and I don't see anywhere where it says I should get a marriage license from politicians to become married.
Pastor Doug: All right, so now are you a Christian?
Ken: Yes, I'm a follower of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Doug: All right. If someone is going to get married, you would want marriage to be recognized by the society because marriage is-
Ken: I mean a marriage ceremony and everything and the other--. I'm going to go to staples and get a certificate. Then it's going to be between me and my wife and God and there will be witnesses.
Pastor Doug: Why would you not want to make it legal?
Ken: Well, is every sin legal and lawful? I have a Blackwell’s dictionary and older law dictionary. It's the fifth edition and it says marriage is originally are for to be-- if you look it up in a law dictionary, it says marriage is originally for marrying a different person of a different race. It's not required for--. And it's one of the things that politicians made up. That here you go. But it's not required at all. There's no law, there's no-
Pastor Doug: Well, I respectfully disagree. I'm not sure what dictionary you're looking at, but the laws-
Ken: Blackwell's dictionary typically.
Pastor Doug: Blackwell's, yes. I don't think you've read the whole thing. It's an enormous book and most-
Ken: I read, I read the dictionary. I read the definition of marriage and license in Blackwell dictionary, fifth edition. It's really constant thing with that.
Pastor Doug: Most of the countries in the world for centuries, if not for millennia, have had marriages that are registered with the-
Ken: Yes, a lot of pagans do that. A lot of pagans do that, and I understand.
Pastor Doug: Well no. Even in the Bible, when Joseph and Mary got married, they had an agreement between them before they came together, it was publicly known. The reason for that was for the disbursement of property to the offspring. It was also to protect the wife if there was a challenge against that. And the children if the parents should die, showing that they were legally married, they would know how do they place the children in the families of the father or the mother. Genealogies, the Bible, New Testament and a lot of the Old Testament deals a lot with genealogies because these marriages were registered. And if you're not legally married, I don't know why you'd resist. Not only being married for the endorsement of the church. By the way, the Bible says follow the laws of the land.
I always wonder why, what would be wrong with it. And you're either really married or you're not. Sorry Ken, I know I don't want to come down on you too hard. I know there are states where people live together and they didn't know better. And then they're declared married by common law marriage. But most Christians want to obey the laws of the land and have a legal registered marriage. You'll find more information on that in Matthew chapter five and you probably know these verses, verse 27 on through 30. Where they're asking about marriage and divorce. In order to be legally divorced, you had to first be legally married. You had to have a real marriage in order to apply for a divorce way back in the time of Jesus that was still true.
Friends, you're listening to Bible Answers Live. Before we go to our break, I just thought I'd remind our listeners, we have more questions coming and by the way, we do have a line open. If you want to call in with a question, it's 800-463-7297. We actually have two lines open. 800-463-7297 with your Bible questions. A lot of people are wondering about the number 666. It's funny, you see it on a license plate, it comes up at the cash register, folks are wondering what's up with this mystical number. It's also a very interesting mathematical number, 666.
Do you know 666 is the sum of the first 36 whole numbers if you add one plus two, plus three, plus four, get to 36, that's 666. Which also happens to be the number of sloths on a roulette wheel and degrees in a circle. Go to 666 truth, 666 truth. We've got a website, videos, you'll find them very interesting, they're probably even entertaining. We're going to take a brief break, get a drink and more Bible questions coming. Give us a call.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Pastor Doug: With that, we are back. You are listening to Bible Answers Live. We're glad you're listening, hope it's deliberate. But if you found us by accident, this is a live international interactive Bible study and my name is Doug Batchelor, my normal partner Pastor Jean Ross is in Indonesia at our Bible College there. We're going to do our best to go to the phones and using the computer, and our years of Bible study to try to answer your questions as accurately as we can. Going to the next question, we're going to talk to Daniel. Daniel from Casper, Wyoming, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Daniel: How are you doing sir?
Pastor Doug: Doing great, thanks for calling and your question?
Daniel: Yes, I was wondering about the 144,000 in Revelation. As I was reading Revelation, I was reading the whole Bible, I came to a conclusion, I was wondering is the 144,000 a special troops that’s going to learn how to fully operate out of love because I was learning when you mix emotions with love, you compromise what love is, and without love, you can’t truly fight the last battle.
Pastor Doug: Well, you're not far off track, the 144,000 says they have their father's name in their foreheads, you find most of the verses about the 144,000 there all of them they’re in Revelation, most of them are in Revelation seven and Revelation 14. It tells us that they have their father's name, they follow the lamb wherever he goes and that's like the disciples, the disciples followed Jesus more closely than any other group when he was on earth. There was 12 of them. The 144,000 are 12 times 12,000 because it's the whole world now, not just Israel. Remember what Jesus said to Peter before Jesus ascended to heaven, three times he asked Peter, “Peter do you love me, do you love me, do you love me? If you love me, feed my lambs, feed my sheep.” You're right. The 144,000, they know what it means to be purely and fully motivated by love.
Daniel: By love, and that’s what I was thinking because the spirit put in my heart affection and you can’t fight something you don't know what you're fighting for, I was thinking and this spirit would show me, we’re going to share in Christ’s affection, we're going to understand his affections towards the sheep, it’s just you can’t fight for your country if you don't know what you're fighting and I was thinking about what Paul said, he said, you can't pause your air without having control and having control is not what you're fighting for.
Pastor Doug: Well, you know exactly the 144,000 they love the Lord, the Bible says, “Why do we love him?” We love Him because he first loved us, when we look at the cross and see how much Jesus loved us, we see how much he gave for us, it moves our hearts to love him, and to want to serve him and reflect him to do whatever he wants because we just love him that much. Don't ever want to disobey him because we know sin hurts him but that's the key. Thank you for your question, make sure and send for a free book Daniel, the 144,000. That number, 800-835-6747, ask for the free book on the 144,000 or you can read it online by going to amazingfacts.org. All right, we're going to talk to Laura calling from Kennewick Washington. Welcome to the program Laura, you're on the air.
Laura: Hi, I want a question I want put it out first for your ministry, you’ve been a blessing to our family.
Pastor Doug: Thank you.
Laura: Yes, I want to say my daughter, she is five and she is asking me who made God and I kind of [unintelligible 00:34:48] that one. I don’t know exactly what to tell her. [laughs]
Pastor Doug: Well, there are some things that we don't know and it even says in the Bible, "As the heavens are high above the earth, so are his ways above our ways.” Job says God has passed the finding out, we know, everybody in the world knows, whether you're an evolutionist or an atheist or a believer, everybody comes to the conclusion there is something about the origins we don't know. You either believe that there was a big bang and he said, “Well, where did the essence for the big bang come from? Ultimately science will say, “We don't know.” Or you say there was a God that was always there and they say where did he come from, we say we don't know. The Bible does say God says from everlasting to everlasting thou our God, you know what I might tell your girl Laura, is when you look at a ring or a circle, it doesn't have an end, it goes around and around.
God lives in all time, he lives in the future, he lives in the past, we can understand that he has no beginning, he always will be, he always has been and where he came from? It is a mystery. We'll see him someday face to face and if we dare, we could try and ask him to better understand how he could be ever existing. But that's what the Bible says, it's a mystery for us but there's a lot of things I just think about, think about. If you had shown a mobile smart phone to Davy Crocket, he would have thought you were a witch, much less if you had taken it back in time and showed it to one of the Apostles. But we know so much more about how video and sound travels through the air, there’s so much we don't know. But in time, God willing, we’ll understand more about how God is ever existing. Hey thank you very much for your question Laura and bless your heart for calling in. With that, we're going to talk to Carson who's calling from Detroit Michigan listening on WMUZ. Welcome Carson, you're on the air.
Carson: Good evening Pastor Batchelor, how are you?
Pastor Doug: Doing well, how are you?
Carson: That’s good. Pretty well. My question deal with Sabbath keeping and as a Sabbath keeper, I was just wondering about a church that is a Sabbath keeping church that would start having Sunday services. Does the word speak on anything of that or is there anything in prophecy that might allude to Sabbath keeping church doing Sunday services. I'm vague on the reason for the Sunday services.
Pastor Doug: I understand. Well, first of all, knowing that what day of the week is the seventh day of the 10 Commandments is easy to show, it's easy to demonstrate that it's the seventh day what we call Saturday, everyone agrees, at least most Christians agree. Jesus rose Sunday, they call that Easter Sunday and the day before that was the Sabbath in the Bible, it says so. There's nothing wrong morally with gathering as Christians for a Bible study any day. If you start promoting a service in your church and making it look like you're gathering and it is the day of rest, it could send mixed messages. You know what I'm saying?
Carson: Right
Pastor Doug: Especially if you're Sabbath keeping church, you don't want to be telling people it doesn't really matter what day you come for worship, which is different from getting together for Bible study, I mean I read my Bible every day. But what I do on the Sabbath is different. You see what I'm saying?
Carson: Yes.
Pastor Doug: Church would have to be guarded about that. Now, in our church, we do evangelistic meetings periodically, where we invite the whole community to come and we might meet seven days a week in the evening, but we usually don't have a Sunday morning worship service. We have a Saturday morning worship service. You know what I'm saying?
Carson: Yes, I guess that's my confusion. Because if you're having Sunday and it's not an evangelistic outreach, it's like an actual Sunday morning worship service.
Pastor Doug: Yes, it'll start mirroring that you're having your weekly worship service, and it's as if to say it doesn't really matter that the first day is more important than the seventh or seventh and the first. But God says Remember the seventh day. I think we have to hold that out as unique and distinct. Hey, I appreciate your call Carson. We're going to give another caller a chance here. We're going to talk to Ray who's calling from Frankfurt, Kentucky. Ray, welcome to the program. You're on the air.
Ray: Thank you very much. Actually, I want to ask you a question, it has to do more with [unintelligible 00:39:28] is actually to live in a holy life within a marriage, having a great family, a Christian family. My question really has to do with in a sexless marriage. I guess the definition there is if someone actually had sex four times or less a year, that's considered a sexless marriage. If that happens and a Christian, whether male or female, has trouble, I guess they never lived in that situation, would it be right to divorce or not to divorce based on that alone?
Pastor Doug: Well, Jesus gives us a criteria for a biblical divorce and there's really only -- well, there's a couple of -- one is, he says saving for the cause of fornication, Matthew chapter 5. In 1st Corinthians, it says that abandonment. If you're a Pagan and you're married to a pagan and then you become a Christian and your pagan spouse says. ‘’Look, I didn't sign up for this, I'm leaving.’’ You're not under bondage in those cases. Paul is talking about a unique situation there. Back to your other question about -- This is a good question. I'm sure there are some husbands and wives out there perking up their ears. Paul actually told us about this. Let me just cover this verse real quick.
1st Corinthians 7, speaking of marital intimacy. Well, I'll read verse 4. It says, "Let the husband render to his wife the affection do her, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does and likewise the husband doesn't have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another’’. Part of the human need is for affection and touch. It says, "Don't deprive one another except for consent for a time that you might give yourselves to fasting and prayer and then come together again that Satan does not tempt you.’’ Now, you notice he compares it to fasting and prayer. Well, how long would you fast? If people are really having intimacy in a marriage four times a year, that's not right because you won’t need four times a year.
Ray: Yes I’m sure that verse nine says I believe in that verse. I believe that is actually the way that it should be. In typical a lot of times in the Bible a lot if times is typical about three days was usually. I totally believe in that. Even in a marriage, a husband and a wife or are simply that should be what they should be doing. But in a situation where it's not that way. I mean that's what the Bible says. That's not marriage. Let's say sex should occur in the confines of marriage really no other place but it does not and what's the options?
Pastor Doug: Well, what's the option if a person is not married and they're living the single life? They need to live a chase life like Jesus did and like Paul did and like many others have done. If a person is in a marriage where for whatever reason someone is using that, maybe it is a health problem. Sometimes they can't be involved in intimacy because of health problems or there could be other factors that still lack grounds for divorce, Biblically. It's difficult. It makes it difficult and people can start feeling lonely, but the Bible doesn't say that's grounds for divorce.
We have a new book, Ray, I'd be happy to send you a free copy. It's a really good book. It's called Marriage Divorce and Remarriage and it addresses some of these things. And if you call the resource number, 800-835-6747, we'll send you free copy written by yours truly. 800-835-6747. The book is Marriage Divorce and Remarriage what the Bible says. With that, we still have a line or two open, 800-463-7297. Thank you for your call Ray. We're going to talk to Lizette calling from New Jersey about the unforgivable sin. Welcome to the program Lizette.
Lizette: Welcome pastor. How are you?
Pastor Doug: Doing good.
Lizette: That's good. This is my first time calling the program and I’m always listening to [unintelligible 00:43:38] here in New Jersey.
Pastor Doug: Thank you.
Lizette: I was wondering, what is the unforgivable sin?
Pastor Doug: All right, good question. First of all, when people think about the sin that cannot be forgiven, Jesus says, "All manner of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven the children of men, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either in this life or the world to come.’’ People get really nervous and think wow, maybe I've already done it and they conjure up in their minds the worst possible sin that they can imagine. They think about what would that be killing your parents or your child or what's the worst thing you can think of. Is it shaking your fist against the heavens and cursing God's name, and all those things would be sin.
The Lord doesn't say that -- There's people that you can find in the Bible that verbally blasphemed, that murdered, that even murder their children, that were then forgiven. It's hard to believe, but all manner of sin and blasphemy God forgave when people genuinely repented, and there are sins that are worse than others. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, God cannot forgive because it's when you get to the point where you don't feel any repentance or remorse for your sin and you slowly have grieved away the Holy Spirit and you've justified your sin. It's basically like living by the railroad track where you just don't hear the train anymore.
If we continue to resist the convicting influence of God's Spirit over the course of years, usually it doesn't happen in a day, that voice gets a little quieter, every time a little quieter. We can just keep pushing God away so we lose the capacity to repent and God can't forgive us. You reach the point of no return and that's the unpardonable sin. Reaching that point of no return, you're just going too far. I have a book I can send you Lizette on that, and it's called Beyond Mercy, What Is The Unpardonable Sin? if you call the resource night number, and it is 800-835-6747. I'll give you that one more time. 800-835-6747. Ask for a copy of the book Beyond Mercy, What Is the Unpardonable Sin? and we'll send you a copy. We get this question a lot and we don't want people to be discouraged and think, "I'm just going to give up. I've gone too far and committed the unpardonable sin.’’ Because the devil tells a lot of people they've gone too far when they haven't and that just discourages them. Appreciate your call.
Let me see. We're going to talk to David calling from Midland Oregon. David, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
David: Good evening.
Pastor Doug: Evening.
David: Thanks for taking my call.
Pastor Doug: Absolutely, thanks for calling.
David: My question is regarding dinosaurs in the Bible. What's the role and how do you prove that dinosaurs existed, like in Genesis?
Pastor Doug: Prior to the flood?
David: Yes.
Pastor Doug: Yes. Well, keep in mind not only are there many extinct giant reptiles, we call them dinosaurs. They were thunder lizards. They're equally many extinct giant mammals. It's amazing that a lot of the animals, even the plants, the ferns and things and they had dragonflies with a two foot wingspan. And so you look at the fossil record and before the flood, the creatures were ginormous as they say, many of them. During the flood, no one took two of every creature and it doesn't say he had to take a full grown tyrannosaurus rex. He could have taken an agar small one.
The average size of the creatures on the ark were as big as a sheep. They weren't that big. He took two of every creature. And after the flood, some of these large animals that threatened people, they were probably hunted down or hunted to extinction before they got to multiply very, very much. Most of what we're looking at are the fossils of what existed before the flood. In fact, the Bible talks, and I think it's Genesis 11, about Nimrod, the mighty hunter. The reason they call them a mighty hunter is he may have been dispatching some of these big reptiles and mammals.
Now, there is reference in the Bible to this creature called a behemoth and it's not clear what it was. It says it's got a tail like a cedar tree. It's not an elephant. Elephants got a little tail like a rope. Some have speculated that the few surviving dinosaurs were referred to by Job. Yes, I believe that the problem with evolution is their dating methods are extremely flawed and that man and these giant mammals and reptiles lived contemporaneously. Amazing facts, David, we carry a book. It's actually it was made for kids, but it's got good data and it's called Dinosaurs in the Bible.
If you go to the Amazing Facts website, it's got pictures and illustrations that dinosaurs in the Bible I think goes right up the alley with your question. Just go to amazingfacts.org and you can check that out in the book department. Thank you for calling, and anyone else with a question, you can still call 800-God-Says. 800-463-7297. Next, I think we're going to be talking to Caleb, who is calling from Riverside California. Caleb, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live. Welcome to the program, Caleb.
Caleb: Hi. Thank you.
Pastor Doug: How are you doing?
Caleb: Good.
Pastor Doug: How old are you?
Caleb: Four.
Pastor Doug: You're four?
Caleb: Yes.
Pastor Doug: Wow. I think you could be one of our youngest callers. What's your question?
Caleb: How are we going to stop doing bad things in heaven?
Pastor Doug: How are we going to stop doing bad things in heaven? Well, that’s a good question. Very good. The Bible tells us the reason we do bad things now is because our hearts are selfish, but through the power of Jesus, he gives us new hearts in this life. When we go to heaven with our new hearts, we won't want to do things that are going to hurt Jesus. The desire to do bad things will be gone, and we'll only want to do good things. Does that make sense?
Caleb: Yes.
Pastor Doug: You're pretty smart. Well, I hope you keep calling the program.
Caleb: Thank you.
Pastor Doug: I bet you can teach me something in a little while. I appreciate that. Tanks so much Caleb. Okay, we’ve got another caller. Four years old, how do you like that? Another caller. Talking to Nathan calling from Sacramento California. Nathan, you are on the air.
Nathan: How are you doing pastor?
Pastor Doug: Good, and your question?
Nathan: My question was, I was doing a study on feast days and I came across one of the feast days that Christ the Messiah had observed in John, I think it’s 10:22. Where else can I read more about that feast day, I think its Hanukkah?Where else more can I study upon that? Where else can I find it Biblically?
Pastor Doug: For one thing, let me just tell you, we have a book we'll send you. It sounds like you might be on the road, so if you can just remember feast days and Sabbath, we'll send you a free copy feast days and Sabbath. You can read it at the Amazing Facts website, because you may not be able to write that down right now, for free. Just go to the Amazing Facts website. But to answer your question, the feasts are mentioned in Leviticus 23. You also find the feasts -- There is a feast of Purim that happens in the book of Esther because of the great deliverance that they had there, and the lights of Hanukkah largely have to do with something that happened during the time of the Maccabees, which is the inter-testamental period when they chased Antiochus Epiphanes out of the temple lamp, the oil continued to burn an extraordinary number of days even though they had run out, sacred oil kept burning. But most of the time you find Jesus keeping the feasts in the book of John. It does talk about, in Luke, how he kept the Passover when he ate the last supper with the disciples. Go look up that book, feast days and Sabbaths. Pastor Doug, I've got a series that I do on YouTube talking about Jesus in the feast days. Of course you can watch that free on YouTube. We are going to try and take another call or two before we run off the air. I’m going to talk with Ellie. He wants to know something about God. Ellie, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live from Ontario. Ellie.
Ellie: Hello.
Pastor Doug: Hi, real quick. We've got about a minute.
Ellie: I have question. Why we can't see God, can you explain that, why we can't see God?
Pastor Doug: Yes, I'll do my best, of course it's difficult when you're talking about things that are invisible. When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden before they sinned, they were evidently robbed with garments of light, it says they were naked meaning they had no artificial clothing. But the same way that when Moses talked to God, his face glowed. Adam and Eve glowed, they had these robes of light. When they sinned, the light went out and something else happened, they could no longer see the spiritual dimension. Around you right now, wherever you are Ellie, there are angels, God, Jesus and I'm with you wherever you go there's a spiritual world we cannot see. After man sinned, we were restricted to the three dimensions that we can see right now. There's another dimension, a spirit world. It’s around us, and God is a Spirit, the Bible says. We really need our spiritual eyes opened to be able to see him.
Some creatures go around in the dark and right now we can't see radio waves but we believe in them because you watch the radio and we can't see wind, but we see the leaves move. There's a lot of things we don't see that we know are very real and God is very real. But for us right now, he's invisible. But trust me, he's there Ellie.
Hey listening friends, I'm afraid we're going to run out of time before I can do another caller justice, and if we didn't get your question tonight, God willing, I'll be back with Pastor Ross next week. I just want to remind you in some of our closing live moments on the air, if you enjoy the program if you're encouraged, edified, blessed, instructed or anything good comes from it, it's your program. We hope you'll help us keep it on the station and all you get to do is go to the Amazing Facts website and it's simply amazingfacts.org .com. Anything, and that'll will take you to our site. You can donate online so we could stay together and keep studying, and God willing, we'll do it again next week. Thanks for calling.
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