Doug: Hello friends, how about an amazing fact. Don't let their saggy skin fool you. Iguanas are remarkable reptiles found mostly in the Caribbean islands as well as Central and South America. These big lizards look like mini dinosaurs and they seem to be at home up in trees, in the water or on land. Iguanas also come in a rainbow of colors like blue, green, orange, brown purple or speckled skin, works like camouflage allowing them to blend in with the local landscape. The flap of skin iguanas have below their neck is called the dewlap that helps them regulate their body temperature and also to display aggression presumably to other iguanas.
On the top of their heads these alien looking lizards even have a type of third eye, is actually a retina photoreceptor that helps to maintain the circadian rhythms. Iguanas generally live around water and are excellent swimmers, which of course is a way for them to escape predators. Amazingly, they have the ability to survive underwater for nearly half an hour without breathing. If they're caught in a flood or washed out to sea during a hurricane, some species of iguana can inflate themselves and float along in the ocean until they find land.
When attacked, iguanas user tail to slap their enemy and as a last resort they can even detach a part of their tail and make a fast escape. Like other lizards, they'll eventually grow a new one. Even though iguanas may look fierce, they are mostly vegetarians eating plants, fruits leaves and occasional bug. But because they are so docile they’re often kept as pets and they've been known to live over 20 years.
Iguanas love the climate, are generally very stable in the trees. On the rare occasion when they lose their grip and they slip, it's incredible how tough they are, they can survive falls from 40 or 50 feet without injury. The Bible says, God can help us survive falls as well. Stay with us friends, we're going to learn more as amazing facts brings you this edition of Bible Answers Live.
[PROGRAM INTRODUCTION]
Doug: Welcome listening friends to Bible Answers Live, my name is Doug Batchelor and our regular co-host pastor John Ross well, he's in the air somewhere between here and India where amazing facts operates an evangelism training school. By the grace of God and with our crew here in the studio we're going to do our best to answer your Bible questions, that's what the program is all about. If you have a Bible question, pick up your phone, we've got about half of our lines open. Great opportunity to get your question on tonight's program.
Let me give you the number again, 800 God says, and that's an acronym for 800-463-7297, 463-7297 starting with an 800. My name is Doug Batchelor, we're going to start our program as we always do with a word of prayer. Dear father we thank you for this new day, this new year of life that we have. We invite your presence to be here with us on this radio program and that you'll give us guidance as we search your word to better understand the truth and your will, we pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
Friends, it was just a few weeks ago that Karen and I were in Puerto Rico doing some speaking and the at one point we found ourselves surrounded by iguanas. They were amazing creatures. They were even climbing up to three storeys in the concrete above and around the hotel. And we saw them munching on the grass outside. Very interesting creatures, I remember when I was a kid they'd take iguanas and put them in a studio and they glue some other appendages to them and pretend that they were aliens, they'd videotape them and make horror films out of these magnified iguanas, but they're actually pretty docile creatures.
I did a little research and was amazed to find out all the interesting things I could learn about iguanas, especially amazed me that how tough they are. They seem to have survive storms and floods and Great Falls. Sometimes we fall too, and the Bible tells us in the book of Jude that, "If we slip and if we fall, God is able to keep us from falling and to present faultless," by the way that's in Jude verse 24 - 25. "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and forever, Amen."
He can keep you from falling but when you do fall what you do? The Bible tells us that if we sin, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. No matter how many times you fallen in the past, friends God can pick you up and help you get a new beginning. The Bible tells us that he's there to hold our hand and to give us that fresh start. We have a free offer tonight would like to make available and it's a lesson on how you can get that new beginning, it's called A Rescue from Above, Rescue from Above will send it to you for free, all you have to do is call and ask for it.
Now, the resource number is a little different than the studio question line, the resource phone is 800-835-6747, one more time if you'd like to get a copy A Rescue from Above or maybe you'd like to just have prayer with one of our chaplains. Again that number, 800-835-6747. With that organist are going to the phones and talk now with our first caller who is Archie calling from Lodi California listening on KFIA. Welcome Archie, you're on the air.
Archie: Thank you Doug. I have two questions about the tabernacle of the land of Israel. It says in Hebrew and also in Leviticus, it's about blood being sprinkled in the holy place and most holy place-
Doug: Part of the daily sacrifice.
Archie: And even on the scroll they were reading from and on the people and on the tabernacle itself, how did they [inaudible 00:07:25] this. The blood is the stain, it stains things especially canvas and paper.
Doug: That's a good question. First of all the reference you're talking about when they sprinkled the blood, they only did that one time when they activated the sanctuary in the wilderness. In other words when they first build it and they were cruise in a ship, when they first inaugurated the sanctuary for use they sprinkled all the vessels in the holy of holy place including, there was a vessel that held the writings of Moses, those writings were lost for a while and rediscovered during the time of King Josiah. It was in a container and they sprinkled it, I'm sure they didn't sprinkle right on the sheepskin or parchment that they had written on.
It is true that on a yearly basis the high priest would go into the holy of holies and sprinkle blood and then on a daily basis, there were daily sacrifices where the priests would go into the holy place and they'd sprinkled blood principally on the horns of the altar, on incense. Now, I've always wondered that myself and I've looked in the Scripture for when did they come in with a mop and bucket and clean that.
Evidently when the Levites were given the job of maintaining the sanctuary, the sons of Aaron were the priests, the Levites were the extended family of the children of Levi and they would do the maintenance. I'm guessing that the some of them went in on a regular basis and they would just do basic cleaning. As a sprinkling of the blood they knew it was a symbol and you couldn't let that build up over hundreds of years or you'd have a mess.
Archie: Or even the 40 years that they were in the wilderness.
Doug: I'm guessing that if they didn't do it on a weekly basis they must've done it during the feast or at least Yom Kippur which was called the cleansing of the sanctuary . Now, you said you had two questions, did I answer both or what was the second question?
Archie: No, the other one was, during the sacrifices were required and call for reinforce under the theocracy they were under. These days we have a foot washing service and Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me," are we not required to do that as much as the sacrifice are required for them?
Doug: All right, another good question. It tells us in the Bible that for a Christian now, obviously, we don't need to sacrifice lambs, because Jesus says, "I am the lamb." And Paul says, "Christ is our pass over." The institutions that Jesus gave the church are of course, baptism. He tells us, "Go teach baptized." It's very clear. And then what we call the Lord Supper and that included the bread and the grape juice, symbols of his body and blood. In John 13, he washed their feet and he said that, "If I've washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet."
In our church, and I know, and a number of churches, they still practice on either orally, annual, or bi-annual basis, where members get together and they'll wash each other's feet. A number of a churches do this. Some don't do that, some just do the bread and the wine. Jesus was pretty explicit there in John 13, he said, "If I have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. Because I've given you an example that you should do as I've done." Great questions Archie, and I hope that helps a little bit, and I appreciate your call.
We're going to talk next to Erma, who's calling from Louisiana, listening on WNXB. Erma, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Erma: And how are you Doug?
Doug: I'm doing well, appreciate your call.
Erma: I'm calling, I'm concerned, I did hear where you said earlier that babies will be resurrected in the resurrection and placed in heaven with their parents. I was concerned about the aborted babies. How would that work for them?
Doug: Well, now, you're asking me something that I'll do my best to answer, but I need to tell you and everyone listening right now, I'm doing this by permission, not by commandment. In other words, there are some things that it's difficult to answer, and you just need to admit it. It's my understanding, that of course, the children of saved parents will be raised. Whether if any child died in infancy, and that may also be a premature pregnancy will be in the resurrection.
Maybe there's a woman that made a mistake of having an abortion, and she turned to Christ. She might find that the angels will carry that baby to her in the resurrection, and she'll get that baby. I don't know. There is a statement in Job, and the exact verse escapes me, but I think it's in the first four chapters, where Job said when he's crying about his suffering he said, "I wish that I could have been like a stillborn child that went from the womb to the grave, and be as though I had not been."
Now, it almost sounds like there are some stillborn children, perhaps stillborn children of the lost that will be as though they had not been. they're obviously not guilty, so they're not going to suffer for anything, but I think we've got to be careful about saying that every conceived baby of everybody saved or lost, is they're all going to be in heaven. Again, I'm being careful, because I don't know, all things are possible with God, but it would almost seem like Heaven is where you're going to be swimming in babies.
We know there's children in heaven, because it says, "The child will play on the den of the venomous serpent, and they won't be hurt." In the resurrection, some children who died as children will be raised as children, or if they're children when Jesus comes, they're caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Malachi says, "They'll go forth and they will grow up." In the book of Zach 8 it says, "Children will be playing and seen in the streets."
There are children in heaven. I think we've got to be careful about making a broad sweeping statement. One other reason I say that, is because you find that in I think its 1 Corinthians 7. It talks about how the children of believing parents, there's a sanctifying influence. It's like when all the lost died in the days of Noah that were outside the ark are we assuming that every child of all the lost, will all be saved? I don't know if you can say that.
I don't think they're going to be punished, because before the age of accountability, they're not accountable. Anyway, I hope that helps a little bit Erma, it is a tough question and I hope I didn't offend anybody with my answer, but I'm just being honest. Thank you very much for your call, and we're going to talk next, by the way, that does open up a line. If you want to call with a Bible question, number once again, 800-463-7297, brings your question to me in the studio. We're going to next to Christopher, listening in Carmichael, California, on KFIA. Christopher, welcome, you're on the air.
Christopher: Good evening, thank you Pastor Doug. My question for you is, what does the Bible say about attending a funeral on Sabbath?
Doug: Well, the Bible doesn't really address it specifically. I get this question, people say, "What about a wedding? Isn't marriage sacred?" Well, some are and the same thing with some funerals. I think that a funeral can be a sacred occasion that would be in harmony with things happening on the Sabbath day where God could be glorified. You get as much of the work done ahead of time, so it can still be a day of rest.
Typically, I discourage people from planning their funerals or their weddings on the Sabbath day, because it often does involve a lot of work and preparation. It can distract from your worship experience. I've been at weddings, I know one couple that they were going to get baptized, and then they wanted to get married. They got baptized, and married on the Sabbath. It was a very short service, but it was very sacred. It was wonderful.
And then I've been to weddings where there's just drinking and dancing, and carrying on, just inappropriate with worshiping God. You know what I'm saying? I think that it varies. I've been to some memorials servants of saints, and just the only day the family could come together, was the Sabbath. They do in the afternoon. It was a sacred occasion. I don't know if that makes sense. It's the principle of are you keeping the principle of the Sabbath being holy?
Christopher: Right, and that's what I was-
Doug: And also a day of rest. Anything that's going to involve a lot of work and preparation can be distracting.
Christopher: Yes, but it's the only day a lot of the family can be together.
Doug: Yes, and sometimes, you want to show your love and support for that family, and by all means, go.
Christopher: Okay. Thank you very much pastor.
Doug: All right, thank you Christopher. Appreciate your question, moving on, now talking with Marvin calling from Ontario, Canada. Marvin, you're on air with Bible Answers Live.
Marvin Hello, Pastor Doug.
Doug: Hi.
Marvin Yes, there's two scriptures that I'll just give them to you, and then I'll let you explain them. And one is Colossians 2:16, and the other one is Galatians 3:28.
Doug: All right. Let's start with Colossians 2:16 if that's okay. What I'm going to do, is I'm going to start by going back to 13, because I think that just gives you a better context. It says, "And being dead in your sins, and then the un circumcision of your flesh, he is quickened together with him. Having forgiven all your trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us."
The first thing is talking about blotting out handwriting. This is not the some people think this is the 10 Commandments being blotted out. “The ordinances were written by Moses, and it says against us.” Paul here is referring to specific language that is in Deuteronomy where Moses said, "Take the book of the Law, place it in a pocket." It was in a compartment outside of the ark, that it may bare witness against you. It wasn't the 10 Commandments. These were the ordinances. And it was written by the hand of Moses. It specifically says in the Bible, "These were written by the hands of Moses."
And then it says, "And there was the 10 Commandments." They were two separate things. Within the ceremonial laws, and the ordinances, were a number of Sabbaths. They were not the weekly Sabbath of the 10 Commandments, because that goes back to creation and the perfect world. Right there in Genesis 2, you've got the first Sabbath. It says, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, in contrary to us. He took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." He can't nail stone to anything. "Having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it."
Here's the verse that people wonder about. "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holiday, or new moon, or sabbath days." You'll notice it's small "s", and it's plural. These are the annual sabbaths, like [unintelligible 00:19:30] Day of Atonement, Feast of Trumpet. They were part of a law written by Moses on paper. The 10 Commandments were written by God on stone, the ceremonial laws, spoken by Moses, 10 Commandments, spoken by God.
The Sabbath day being blotted out here, or sabbath days, is the annual feasts. That's why Paul says in Romans 14, "One man regards day of another. Another man regards everyday alike." Is they're talking about the annual feasts. No pastor tells his members you don't need to come to church weekly anymore. They don't uses first to say it's been nailed to the cross and you don't need to worship God on a weekly basis with a collective worship, I'm taking about. We should worship God all the time but we can't go to church all the time.
They only uses one people to learn the Sabbath truth, it's on the Sabbath been nailed to the cross. No it's the annual Sabbath. And your next verse I think you said it's was Galatians 3:28. So we'll going to there real quick and want to read that for our listeners, a lot of our folks there driving down the road. It said there is neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither bond or free, there's neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Back in the days of Paul, many of the Jews felt like they’re in some way superior to the Gentiles and that's why Jesus and John the Baptist has said do not think to say we are the children of Abraham, God is able to raise up children of Abraham from the stones and that gospel was to go to all the world not just to the Jews. And Peter said there is no what call it? Preferential treatment of persons with God, for his made up one blood all nations.
So a very important lessons was that in the days of the disciples the Jews, God them the oracles of truth but he doesn't love Jesus more than other people. He loves everybody. And the idea that perhaps you were not as valid for salvation because you were a woman or maybe you were cursed because you are a slave. Paul is saying, “Everybody regardless of their gender, regardless of their race as equal access to eternity because of Jesus.”
Marvin: Through the blood of Jesus.
Doug: Right, and so God is not going to discriminate based on what are person is rich or poor, slave of free, and Jew or Gentile, male or female. So, that's I think the essence of what's happening there in Galatians chapter 3. I appreciate your question Marvin. I hope we got a happy customer that help a little bit. And I do have a book I'll be happy to send your free copy and it's called Spiritual is real, Spiritual Israel.
If you call the resource line Marvin and it's 800-835-6747 and tell them that Pastor Doug say he's going to send you a free copy of that book. And you're listening to Bible Answers Live. With that opens up another line, if you have a question that's 800 Gods says 800-463-7297. Then I talk next to Mel. Who is calling from New Jersey listening to the mission? Mel welcome to the program.
Mel: Good evening Pastor Doug.
Doug: Evening.
Mel: I send you my pleasure on calling and listening.
Doug: Likewise, and you question tonight?
Mel: I'm in Kings, I’m in 2 Kings 2:23 and this is showing me Elisha when he was passing through and the children were mocking him.
Doug: Okay, talked about Elisha the prophet when the children were mocking and the bears came out of the woods and tore 42 of them.
Mel: Right, so what is that meaning tore, they killed them?
Doug: No, what the word tore there is actually particular word we would use in modern English we'd say mold, that means bit and scratched and they may have been severely injured but yet it didn't kill them it is a bear tore them.
Mel: They attack them?
Doug: Yes, these youth came out and because Elijah had disappeared and evidently Elisha who was a servant there name confused people cause one Elijah and one is Elisha. Elijah went to heaven in a fiery chariot. Elisha was his apprentice and they were saying you bald head. He must have need bald and they're making fun of him and here he is the principal prophet of Israel and these kids are being disrespectful.
And Elisha knew if he did not do something at the beginning of his ministry that no one would ever respect him. And he pronounced this curse and God heard his prayer. These Bears came out and they run through these kids, there must been quite a few of them there because they were 42 they got mold. And they went reaps snort and through will kids scratching and biting. And they never ever disrespected Elisha for the, he minister for another 40-50 years. And no one ever tease him again. You can be sure of that. So it was something that was a necessary lesson.
Mel: Right. I appreciate that and it's beautiful. The second thing in Matthew 4:11. When Timothy toward the country or the world he predict the three wise men come into the manger were in Matthew 4 says, ‘they came to a house.’ So most in Hollywood nor have been did nor the camels and bring them myrrh, gold, frankincense to disable.
Doug: You're very perceptive, because your correct most not all, but most manger scenes and Christmas cards they show baby Jesus with the shepherds in the manger and the wise men all kneeling their together. Biblically the wise men never saw the shepherds after Joseph and Mary had the baby they stayed in Bethlehem. They had family there. They wanted her to gain some strength before she begin that journey home. They also probably read the prophecies that the Messiah came out of Bethlehem. They weren't sure if they're supposed to leave. They're waiting for message from God.
It was months later if not over a year later that the wise men finally showed up. Because the wise men may have begun their journey when they say they saw the star that could have been the angels announcing to the shepherds. So they begin their journey from the east we don't know how far to the east they were but probably took a while for them to find out what does the star mean. They read them in the book of Balaam about a star rising up out of Jacob. They said oh this is a sign of the coming King, they got their gifts and they made the journey. The shepherds had been gone for maybe a year.
Now, the reason I say that is when King Herod asked about when the star appeared. He got the impression he should kill all the baby boy two years old and younger. So Jesus was not an infant of a few days or weeks old. So you're right, the wise men and the shepherd they never saw each other but it makes for a good manger scene and a good Christmas card.
Mel: Doug you've been beautiful and you've been most helpful and God bless you and your ministry.
Doug: Thank you Mel. I appreciate very much your call. And again, I want to remind our friends we do still have ooh three and a half lines open. And I say half a line cause we going to take a call here in just a minute. If you want to call in with your bible question once again the number 800-GOD-SAYS, that is 800-463-7297, 800-463-7297 we are live if you got a bible question. Also don't forget we're going to take a quick break here.
You can check out a lot more about Amazing Facts by going to the website amazingfacts.org. We got gabs and tons of plethora of information there bible studies and videos and archives of these programs and free bible study resources and videos and man it does make my head swim to think about it. Don't go away, coming back.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Doug: We're back for Bible Answers Live and if you're tuning in along the way, this is a live international interactive Bible study and we invite you to participate. You can listen, if you have a Bible question, give us a call. If we don't get you right away, hang in there. We'll do our best to get your call. The number 800-463-7297, my name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Jean Ross is on his way to India right now doing some ministry there and I'm going to go talk to Joan who is listening from Detroit Michigan. Joan, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Joan: Hi.
Doug: Hi. Thank you for calling.
Joan: My question is a two-part question. Excuse me, I'm hoarse right now.
Doug: All right.
Joan: John, the Gospel of John, "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God, and by him, all things were created. Without him was not anything made." Does that mean he created demons too?
Doug: No. Let me see if I can explain it this way. We've got bananas in the world, but you know God doesn't make bananas. God made two Asian fruits, then people, by cross-pollinating those two Asian fruits, you get bananas. That's why you don't find any seeds in your bananas. You've never planted the banana seed, have you?
Joan: No.
Doug: Right. What happened is, it's a hybrid of something. God made beautiful angels, then one of those angels, named Lucifer, rebelled against God. He was a beautiful good angel. He ended up rebelling and he morphed. He transformed into-- it was an amalgamation and he turned into Satan, the devil. He did it by his own choice.
Then he begun to campaign among some of the other angels of God and many of them joined Lucifer. If you look in the book of Revelation, I don't know if you've got a Bible at your fingertips here Joan.
Joan: No, I don't.
Doug: I'll read you the verse. If you look in Revelation chapter 12, it talks about a war in heaven, "And Michael and his-" that's verse seven. Revelation 12:7, "Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon fought and his angels," he didn't prevail, but they were cast out, "And the dragon was cast out, that old serpent, he was cast to the earth, his angels were cast out with him. These fallen angels are better known now as demons. That's all that means. They're spirits that rebelled. Angels are spiritual creatures.
I will send you a free lesson on this if you like. It's really great because it goes right along with your question. Your question was, "Did God make a devil?" and the name of this lesson is, "Did God make a devil?" If you call Joan, our free resource number, it's 800-835-6747. Ask for the study guide, Did God Make a Devil? It's got beautiful illustrations, it's got all the Bible scriptures in there that makes it really clear where the devil ad where demons came from.
Matter of fact, if you can get online, you don't even need to send for the hard copy while you're welcomed to do that. You can just go to amazingfacts.org. That's Amazing Facts website. If you just Google Amazing Facts or type it into Yahoo, I think it's the first site that pops up. Do a little search on "Did God create a devil", it will take you to a sermon, a study guide. It's a common question and I think it's very important.
Thank you for your call Joan. We're going to talk next with Sheila, who's calling from- is it Dimple Texas, Sheila? Sheila, are you there?
Sheila: Yes.
Doug: Hi. We've got to disembark the background noise.
Sheila: Yes, I'm here.
Doug: Your question?
Sheila: I never got an answer. In the beginning, there was Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. When Abel was sent away, he got sent to the land of Nod, if there was just Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, who were these people in the Nod?
Doug: When he went to the land of Nod what it's telling us is he went to the land that was now known, at least at the time Moses wrote that, as Nod, but Cain took one of his sisters because if you read in Genesis chapter five, it says, "Not only did Adam and Eve have Cain, Abel, Seth, they also had many other sons and daughters" and only names the oldest ones that carried on the family name.
They had a lot of children. Adam and Eve lived over 900 years and they probably had 700 years of fertility back then. I know it's inconceivable to us today, but the earth was empty. God told them, "Be fruitful, fill the earth." They had big families. There was nothing wrong with marrying your sister in the beginning. In deed, Adam married a girl that came from a rib [laughs]
There was nothing wrong with marrying your sisters in the early days. Abraham married Sarah who was his half-sister. Abraham and Sarah had the same father, so Jacob married his first cousin. It wasn't until genetic problems developed hundreds of years later, even thousands of years later. It was said in the time of Moses, "You weren't supposed to be marrying your close kin.
Cain married his sister and they went and populated that area. That later was known as Nod. He built the city and as hundreds of years went by and thousands of people came. You look at America, we're just in 200 years, not counting the native Americans that were here, you just look now, we've got 300 million people here where you could have walked for days and not found anybody on the East Coast back in the early days.
I hope that helps a little bit Sheila and we appreciate your call. That does free another line. Number again, 800-GOD-SAYS with your Bible question. Okay, who's been waiting patiently here? We're going to talk next to Larry. Larry calling from somewhere, I don't have the state. Listening on XM radio. Okay, satellite radio, your question Larry?
Larry: I was wondering about when people get prayed for and sometimes they would fall over. Another question also is when people dance in the church, they try and use that for biblical reference for when David dance unto to the Lord while he was bringing in the Ark into-
Doug: Right. He was bringing it into Jerusalem from the house of Obed-edom. Let's talk about that. Two things, one is, and you've probably seen it on TV or our friends listening have probably seen on TV where in certain churches, they'll have people come forward during a prayer session and the Pastor may lay hands on them. Sometimes he pokes them, sometimes he blow on them and they do all kinds of things and the people fall over.
I don't question their sincerity, but I just don't see that happening in the Bible anywhere. I don't see where Jesus slaps people on the head and they fell over or where the disciples pushed them or blew on them and they fell over. For prayer, the only ones I saw falling over were the enemies of Jesus when they came to arrest Jesus and they asked who he was, he said, "I'm Jesus. When he said, "I am" they fell backward. That was the enemies.
The idea that when God gives the holy spirit we all start falling down, I don't see that happening in the Bible. I think there was one time when King Saul and this is in the first book of Samuel, he was rebelling against the Lord and the Holy Spirit came on him and he fell down on the ground naked, but he was fighting God at that time. That's the only other case that you can even come close to that.
These services where people are coming forward, you find that in a lot of Pagan religions where they're so overwhelmed with the spirit, they thrush and wallow around. It doesn't show that happening in the book of Acts when the Holy Spirit was poured out. I do have personal issues with that.
The other question you were asking about dancing. There is a kind of dance that is appropriate. It tells you about Miriam, and she led the women. Notice it wasn't a sexual dance. It isn't Miriam dancing with another man. Miriam and the women went out after the exodus and the sea opened up to save them. They sang songs of victory. She praised the Lord with tambourine. It was more like a folk dance of celebration. It wasn't the gyrating sexually suggestive frenzies that people get into.
Again, when David and Saul came back from a battle victorious, the women came out to sing and to dance and to praise God for their safe return. This was a celebration parade. That's appropriate in the culture. We do that in America. Someone comes back from the moon and we have a ticker tape parade and everyone's clapping.
When David danced before the Lord as they were transporting the Ark, again, it was a celebration parade. It doesn't say that David was dancing in church. It's a whole different thing.
I do have problems, and I've got friends that respectfully disagree with me, and I've been to churches where I'm in the service and people seem overwhelmed with enthusiasm and they start to kick up their heels and dance. I guess I come from the belief that when you're in the presence of God, the angels cover their faces, they cover their feet, and they pray and cry, "Holy, holy, holy." The Bible says, the Lord is in his holy temple, let all the earth be silent. I see a lot of scriptures and Psalms that talk about reverence.
Now, it's okay to praise the Lord and sing, but I see it being done reverently. Larry, if you look in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul said, "Let all things be done decently and in order." If you read 1 Corinthians, it sounds like the Corinthian church, things were getting out of hand, and he had to tell them how to worship and how to translate their sermons in an orderly fashion. Yes, this is what I see when I read the Bible. It's a little different than some of the popular services you see.
Larry: Yes.
Doug: Did that make sense?
Larry: Yes, that makes sense. Yes.
Doug: All right. We really appreciate your call, hope that helps a little bit. With that, we're going to try and squeeze in a few more callers, talking next with Anthony who's calling from Watertown, New York listening on the internet. Anthony, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Anthony: Hi, Pastor Doug, a pleasure speaking with you.
Doug: Likewise.
Anthony: I've grown up always believing that on the second coming, or after the second coming, we will all go up to heaven, and then we'll be there for the millennium, and then the holy city will come back down and then the earth is cleansed and so forth. However, I don't know what to say to someone who is searching a questioning, whether we truly do go up to heaven.
All the scriptures I see, even 1 Thessalonians 4:17, it says we'll be caught up in the air to meet the Lord in the air, and then we'll be with him forever. I can't really find any scripture that explicitly say we all go to heaven.
Doug: Well, let me try and help a little bit. There may not be a scripture that explicitly says it, but there are some pretty good implications. If you look, for instance, in John 14, the verse where Jesus said, "In my Father's house were many mansions, if it were not so I would've told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am," it's understood where was he is, in the father's house.
The Bible says the Father is in paradise. When we pray, we say our Father were in heaven. It says that where I am you might be also. He says, "I'm going to come again and take you to my Father's house," right? John 14. That's one verse there. The Bible tells us in Matthew, he'll send us angels to gather together his elect. He's coming in the clouds of heaven. He's coming in the glory of the father. Well, where is he taking us?
You're probably not going on the Star trek journey, he's taking us back to heaven. That mean, when you read in John 21, the New Jerusalem comes down from God out of heaven, and the Saints were in the city, how could we come out of heaven if we haven't first gone into heaven? You're correct if you're saying there's no verse that explicitly says that, but there's a lot of pretty basic references that leave you no other conclusion.
We've got two destinies. We've got God is going to create a new earth, and that's obviously after the planet has been purified by the fire. He talks about the wicked will be destroyed by the brightness of his coming. The elements will melt with fervent heat. The earth and the things in it will be burned up. That's 2 Peter 3. Then, we're caught up, we're not being burned up, we're caught up before that happens. He says, "I take you back to the place I prepared."
Then at the end of the 1,000 years, a New Jerusalem comes down from God out of heaven. That's actually one place in Revelation where things are written chronologically. You've got the 1,000 years in Revelation 20. You've got the New Jerusalem coming down in Revelation 21. Then you got the destruction of the wicked in Revelation 22. Does that help a little?
Anthony: Yes, that does, especially Revelation 21 where you said if we're coming back, the Holy City is coming out of heaven and we're in the Holy City. How can we be coming with, but that makes sense, I understand.
Doug: Then of course in Revelation 20, it says that after the Lord comes, it says, "We live in reign with him for 1,000 years." Now, if the condition of the earth and this is another example, the Bible says the earth is desolate after the second coming. Jeremiah 4 says, "The earth is desolate, the cities are broken down. There is no man." Isaiah says, "I will make the earth utterly empty." Jeremiah says, "The slain of the Lord will be from one end of the earth to the other with no one to lament, mourn, or bury them."
It describes a condition of the world where there's nobody alive on the planet. We're definitely not here. What I'd like to do is I've got a lesson I'll send you a free copy that has all these references in it. It's talking about 1,000 Years of Peace. 1,000 Years of Peace. If you call 800-835-6747 we'll send you a free copy of 1,000 Years of Peace. You could even just type in, Anthony. Go to the Amazing Facts website, type in Doug Batchelor Millenium.
You can probably type that into YouTube and you'll see my messages on this where I give all the references. Appreciate your call. With that, we're going to talk next to Robert listening on line five. But you didn't know you're on line five. College Place, Washington. Robert, you're on the air.
Robert: Yes. Thank you for taking my call.
Doug: Thank you for calling.
Robert: No problem. I was calling because I've heard, or I've experienced a contradiction with Galatians 5:18. "If you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law." But in Romans 8:7-8 seems to say that we, as a person is led by the Holy Spirit, they supposed to keep the law.
Doug: Well, that is a good question. A lot of people have wondered about that. One of the keys is what does it mean to be under the law? Some people have thought under the law means are we under an obligation to obey the law? Well, let's talk about that for just a second. If under the law means you're under an obligation to obey the law and not under the law means you don't have to obey the law, what would it mean if Christians were being told you don't have to obey the law.
It's okay to lie, it's okay to steal. It's okay to commit adultery, kill, use God's name in vain. Of course, everyone knows that's absurd. But if under the law means under the penalty of the law, see when you disobey, you are under the judgment or penalty of the law. When we are forgiven, we are no longer under the penalty of the law. We are now under grace. We've been forgiven. That doesn't mean we stop obeying, that means now we don't have the condemnation, we don't have the guilt, we don't have the shame.
If we're spirit-led, we know that we've been saved from the penalty of the law. If we're being led by the spirit and not the flesh, if you're led by the flesh you're committing adultery and doing those other things. If you're led by the spirit, you're not. Because the spirit, Paul says the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, and if you love your neighbor, you're not going to kill him. Love is a fulfillment of the law. If you love God, you're not going to use his name in vain. You see what I'm saying?
Robert: Yes.
Doug: When you love God, and when you love your neighbor, you will keep the 10 Commandments because love is the fulfilling of the law. All the law the prophets has summarized in love.
Robert: But basically saying the same thing Paul is in Romans 8 where it says, "Therefore, no more condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus."
Doug: Who walked not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit? Not walking according to the flesh means you're not living that lawless life of the laws. You're now being led by the spirit, and that means you're walking in the will of God.
Robert: As I'm saying in verse seven, “Carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”
Doug: Right, when we're controlled by the flesh, the carnal mind is totally opposed to the law of the God. But when we're filled with the spirit and love, we delight to do the things of God. There's a lesson, I'll send you a free copy that specifically talks about your question and it's called Does God's Grace Blot out the Law? Does God's Grace Blot Out His Law?
If you call the resource line 800-835-6747. Now, the line to the studio is 800-GODSAYS. It's different, but out resource line and we have chaplain standing by at that line if you have a prayer request also 800-835-6747. Ask for that book, Does God's Grace Blot out the Law? Just ask for the book on one reason. I'll know what that is. Thank you, Robert. Appreciate your call and we’re talking next with Bill who's calling from Champaign, Illinois. Bill, you're on the air with Bible answers live.
Bill: Hi, thank you for taking my call. My question is this. It's a pretty fundamental question. Once a person has accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and savior, can they lose their salvation? I guess that comes on the rubric of "once saved, always saved.”
Doug: Okay, good question. You ready for me to try and answer that?
Bill: Yes.
Doug: It's a too fault question. In order for a person to be lost, salvation is a covenant. There's two parties in the covenant. There's you and God. God has done his part to say we must accept by faith his part. God will never go back on his part, but the question is: Do we lose the freedom to forfeit or go back on our part?
I see in the Bible that there are examples of people who said, "Yes, I'll follow Jesus." but then they turned away. You've got the children of Israel who followed him out of Egypt, but then they died in the wilderness because they lost faith, not all of them, but many did. You've got Judas who Jesus sent out along with the 12, casting out devils and working miracles, but he wouldn't give up his covetousness and he lost that.
Peter talks about the person who is like the dog that returns to his vomit or the pig that is washed who returns to fallow mire. Paul says over and over, if you continue in these things, there's a continuing that goes on, his salvation, Paul said, "I die daily." daily we've got to say, notice all. Jesus said, "Except you take up your cross daily and follow me."
Being a Christian, the idea that once you say that you're going follow the Lord that there's no longer effort involved in nurturing that relationship, you can just throw your desires to the wind and say, "Well, I accepted Jesus, I was saved. I can do whatever I want. I can't be lost now." that's reckless.
It is something that needs to be nurtured, it needs to be maintained. I've got a book I'll send you for free, it specifically Bill, answers your questions. It's called Can A Saved Man Be Lost. Isn't that pretty much what you're asking?
Bill: Yes. In Judas' case, though Jesus had known He had died for his sins, I have a little trouble, theoretically of course, the person could just say, "Oh, I'm not interested anymore." But I don't have any specific examples myself in scripture of that happening to anyone.
Doug: Well, you do have examples where Paul said, there was a follower named Demas. He was a follower of God and he was an associate of Paul's and then later in one of Paul's letters he says, "Demas has forsaken me, having loved the present world." It looks like Demas threw in the towel and gave up his faith. You got to be very careful. Does that mean that once you've given your heart to the Lord, you slip and you fall and you sin? That God has cast you off and you've lost your relationship.
Now, I think that being a Christian's like a marriage. It doesn't mean you'll have no disagreements in marriage. But you've made a covenant, you'll love each other and as long as you stick together, you're going to maintain that covenant. In a relationship in the Lord, we may fail him sometimes, but he will never fail us, and we don't need to worry about that. You can have assurance as a Christian, but also think it's dangerous to be reckless and to say, "Oh, well, I've been saved and so, I don't have to resist temptation. I don't have to try to follow the Lord and obey him and strive and struggle and war against the flesh." If you're a Christian, there are battles involved.
Now, I'll send you that book. Bill, it's called Can A Saved Man Be Lost. Please call, 800-835-67-47 and just tell them you're listening to Bible answers live and they'll send that to you. By the way, you can listen to that book or read that book right now for free. You don't have to wait for us to mail it. If you want to read it online, you go to the Amazing Facts free book library, and that is one of the books there, because we get that question quite a bit. Is once a person saved, can they be lost? Do they lose their freedom of choice? Can A Saved Man Be Lost, we'll be happy to send that to you. We appreciate your question on that, Bill.
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