Hello, friends! How about an amazing fact! Icebergs generally range from about 3 to 250 feet above sea level. The largest icebergs come from the Antarctic, but the tallest icebergs come from the North Atlantic. The tallest iceberg ever recorded was 550 feet high, about the height of a 55-story building. The largest iceberg ever recorded broke off the Ross Ice Shelf in the Antarctic in March of 2000, called Iceberg B-15. It was almost half a mile thick and its area was about 4,500 square miles, roughly the size of the state of Connecticut. It was the largest iceberg ever found by the U.S. National Ice Center since the center began tracking them about 25 year ago. Icebergs this large are sometimes referred to as ‘ice islands’.
Arctic icebergs are generally smaller than Antarctic icebergs because the Arctic doesn’t have the vast, uninterrupted spans of Open Ocean, which allow for the formation of huge ice sheets, from which these massive icebergs brake off. Icebergs are virtually indestructible by man. In theory, it would take about 1,900 tons of TNT to destroy an average-sized North Atlantic iceberg. To melt such an iceberg it would require the combustion of nearly 2.4 million gallons of gasoline. Just think about how much it would take to melt the B-15 iceberg. Friends, did you know that the Bible speaks of a time when not only the icebergs will melt, but that the earth itself will be on fire? Stay tuned for more, as Amazing Facts brings you this edition of Bible Answers Live.
[PROGRAM INTRODUCTION]
Pastor Jean Ross: Hello, friends! Welcome back, this is Bible Answers Live, Pastor Doug Batchelor is out this evening. I am Jean Ross and friends, yes, this is Bible Answers Live, if you have a Bible-related question, we welcome you to give us a call this evening. The number to call is 1-800-GOD-SAYS, that’s 1-800-463-7297. The phone lines are now open, this would be a good time for you to call with your Bible question. Friends, before we open up the phone lines and begin taking some calls, let’s start the program with a word of prayer. Our Father in Heaven, once more we recognize that in order to study Your work correctly, we need the Holy Spirit’s guidance. So we ask You a blessing upon this program this evening, be with those who are listening, those who call in. We pray for wisdom, Lord, that we can give them answers that are in harmony with Your word. For this we ask in Jesus’ name, Amen! I opened the program this evening by talking about icebergs and I found it fascinating, some of the information here concerning the destruction of icebergs, what it takes. Now, of course, the sun can melt them or icebergs can be broken up by storms at sea, but for humans to try and destroy icebergs, it requires tremendous effort. The Bible speaks of a time when not only the icebergs will melt, but the earth itself will be on fire. Now, of course, that event, the Bible describes, is connected with the Second Coming of Jesus, and you can read about it in 2 Peter 3:9-11. And the Bible says this: ‘The Lord is not slack concerning his promise’ – the promise spoken there is the Second Coming – ‘The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance’. In other words, some people say: ‘Well, we’ve heard about the Second Coming of Jesus for a long time and he hasn’t come’.
Peter is warning us saying: ‘The Lord is not slack concerning his promise’, but is longsuffering, he doesn’t want anyone to perish, he wants to give everyone an opportunity to come to repentance. Then he goes on in verse 10 and he says: ‘But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night’ – it will come unexpectedly – ‘in the which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat, and both the earth and the works that are therein will be burned up. Therefore, since all of these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conduct and godliness’. So here Peter tells us that time is coming, that the earth will be on fire and the elements will melt of fervent heat, and that will take place when Jesus comes the second time. Perhaps you have questions dealing with the Second Coming of Jesus, when he comes, what manner is Christ’s coming going to be? Is He going to come visible or is it going to be a secret rapture when Jesus comes? We have a study guide that deals with the topic of the Second Coming of Christ, it’s called The Ultimate Deliverance, an Amazing Facts study guide. You will enjoy it. As a matter of fact, I believe the information contained in the study guide is very important for Christians. We know the devil is out to deceive, so we want to know what the Bible has to say concerning this very important subject, the Second Coming of Jesus. You can receive this study guide by calling our resource number, 1-800-835-6747, again that number is 1-800-835-6747 and you can ask for the study guide The Ultimate Deliverance, dealing with the Second Coming of Jesus.
We will be happy to send that out to you. Don’t get confused, if you would like to call in your question this evening, the number to call is 1-800-463-7297, it’s a little different from the number I just gave you. Again, the number here to the studio is 1-800-GOD-SAYS, that’s 463-7297. Now, I’d like to look at two commonly asked questions concerning the Second Coming of Jesus. The first question is this: what is the purpose of Jesus’ coming to the earth? Why the Second Coming? Well, Revelation 22:12 gives us the answer. Jesus says: ‘And, behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me, to give every man according to his work shall be’. The reason Jesus comes is to receive His faithful people, He’s coming to reward those who have stood true even in the time of great apostasy. Jesus comes back to this earth to reward His people and to take them to the place that He had promised to prepare for them. In John 14, Jesus said: ‘Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you’ – Jesus said – ‘And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again’ - there's the promise of the Second Coming – ‘I will come again, and receive you unto myself’. It’s comforting to know that Jesus is preparing a place for us and when He comes again, He’ll receive us and take us to that beautiful home, that heavenly mansion. The second question that’s often asked in connection with the Second Coming of Jesus: what will happen to the wicked people when Jesus comes again? Will they continue to live here on the earth, will there be a time of trouble after Jesus comes?
Well, the Bible’s pretty clear on what happens to the wicked. Isaiah 11:4 tells us: ‘with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked’, and in Jeremiah 25:33, the Bible says: ‘And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth’. So the wicked will be destroyed when Jesus comes. 2 Thessalonians says that the wicked are destroyed ‘with the brightness of His coming’. So Jesus comes, He receives the righteous, He takes them to heaven, the wicked are destroyed by the brightness of His coming. The earth then lies dormant for a thousand years, sometimes referred to as ‘the Millennium’. At the end of this thousand-year period, Jesus returns with the saints and the New Jerusalem and the wicked are then resurrected for the final judgment. At the conclusion of their final judgment, Revelation 20 tells us they mount an attack upon the city of God, fire comes down out of heaven and devours them. The fire that destroys the wicked will also purify and cleanse the earth, and then – Revelation 21 – God will create a new Heavens and a new Earth. Again, let me remind you of the free offer this evening, it’s The Ultimate Deliverance, and to receive it call our resource number, 1-800-835-6747. We’re going to go to the phone lines now. Richard is listening on WMCA from New York, New York. Richard, welcome to the program!
Richard: Yes, good evening. My question is very simple. When Jesus was on the cross and He was dying, he said: ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’. When He said ‘forgive them’, did he mean ‘them’ in the temporal sense or to forgive them and that they will be saved and he will be with them?
Pastor Jean Ross: Good question. Jesus on the cross when He prayed ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’, He provided what was necessary in order for them to be saved. But God will not force salvation on anyone, we must choose to be saved. It’s very possible because of Christ’s atoning sacrificesome of those who stood by and witnessed it later on repented for what they had done, and they were all saved. But there will also be those who played a very key role in the crucifixion of Jesus that never repented and they won’t be saved. So salvation is our choice, God will nor force someone to live forever in Heaven if that’s not really what they want.
Richard: Thank you very much.
Pastor Jean Ross: All right, thank you for your call. Appreciate it, Richard! Our next caller is Rebecca, listening on WMUZ from Michigan. Rebecca, welcome to the program!
Rebecca: Yes, hi. How are you?
Pastor Jean Ross: Good, thank you.
Rebecca: I have a question. I was brought up a certain way that we were Rare Stars in church, had a covering, and they took that from Corinthians 1:11, I believe. So my question is, there’s another part of the Bible where it says the woman has for head covering her hair. And so I guess my question is: if God is going by our hair as a covering or do you think that He would want us to have a scarf or a hat as a covering?
Pastor Jean Ross: Good question. Well, let me read the verse that I think you’re referring to, in 1 Corinthians 11:15, it talks about this, it says: ‘But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.’ So if someone goes to church, is that adequate? What Paul is addressing here to the church in Corinth, there were a number of issues as you look at the whole book as a whole. One of the issues that he was addressing was behavior in church. It seems at times things could get out of hand in the Corinthians’ church and for that reason he admonished womento learn in silenceand that all things be done in order. God is not a God of confusion. Part of that was giving council on what would be appropriate as far as respect towards God. Now, I think in certain ways this council also depended upon the culture of the day. For a woman to walk in society, back in Bible times, especially in the Greek culture where the head uncovered was a bad thing, those of bad reputation would walk openly in society with their heads uncovered. And it was true, even in the church or in worship it was a sign of respect for the woman to cover her head.
That is not necessarily the same today, at least not in Western culture, we’ve got other ways of showing respect. We know that in Bible times, when someone would read from the law or read from the Scriptures, he would cover his head. Now, of course, today when a man goes to church, it’s only appropriate for him to uncover his head, and that has to do with the culture in which we are living. In some places like in India, a sign of respect is to remove your shoes when you enter the church. So if you go to India and you have to go to church, you will notice out in front of the church there are all these shoes piled up, where people remove their shoes before they go into the church. It’s a sign of reverence, it’s a sign of respect. So that’s really what Paul is addressing here, that when we go to church, we want to have a spirit of respect and reverence.
Rebecca: Right, so it’s not literally meant that we have to wear that today, so…
Pastor Jean Ross: No, I don’t believe…especially in verse 15 that says the woman has hair, considered a covering. I think the point that he’s trying to make here is that we need to show respect when we enter the House of God.
Rebecca: Ok. That makes sense, thank you very much.
Pastor Jean Ross: All right, thanks for your call, good question. Again, friends, the number here to the studio is 1-800-GOD-SAYS, that’s 1-800-463-7297, we have a few lines that are still open, this would be a good time for you to call. Our next call is Ernestine, listening on WMCA from Bronx, New York. Ernestine, welcome to the program!
Ernestine: Good evening, Pastor Ross.
Pastor Jean Ross: Good evening.
Ernestine: I have a couple of questions.First, is it possible for a close friend to do evil to other person by witchcraft or necromancy?
Pastor Jean Ross: No. If a person love the Lord and is a true follower of Christ, the devil is powerless over their lives. Now, that doesn’t mean that the devil can’t in some way harass them, we know that the devil tempts, the devil can harass, but the devil will not be able to possess someone who is fully surrendered to Christ, someone who trusts in Him. So the spells of the wicked towards the righteous, if the righteous are faithful to God, they will be protected from the devil.
Ernestine: Right.
Pastor Jean Ross: Remember, Jesus said that He gave power over unclean spirits and the disciples went out and cast out demons. It’s clear from many examples from the Bible that followers of Christ have the power over the devil and the devil cannot possess or even harass, it’s not that the devil can’t try to cause our lives to be difficult and to tempt us, but he cannot possess a person in a way that he could if they wouldn’t surrender to Christ.
Ernestine: Yes, but Ephraim said…like if a person is a true Christian, well, nobody knows anybody had but… If theperson is a real Christian and the person is affected by witchcraft, is that to say that the person is not a true Christian if that person is affected by the curse?
Pastor Jean Ross: Well, you know, if that is happening, the person who has been affected by it, I would encourage them to get on their knees and pray earnestly and say ‘Lord, is everything right in my heart and in my life?’. Make sure your like is right with God and if your life is right, you have no need to fear the devil. Now, that doesn’t mean we open up the door for the devil, we don’t want to go to places where the devil can get a foothold. The Bible tells in Ephesians 5:11 that we ought to have ‘no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness’, in other words, we don’t want to be in that environment, we don’t want to allow certain things through the television or through videos, to come into our homes through books, literature, wherever it might be. But if we’re faithfully following God, the devil cannot come and harass us, the Angel of God will protect us.
Ernestine: But can the devil work a miracle as well?
Pastor Jean Ross: Yes he can. He has power, he doesn’t have as much power as God, he cannot resurrect or bring something to life, but he definitely can perform miracles. Revelation tells us that just before Jesus comes, the devil will perform all types of miracles. So he does have miracle-working capacity.
Ernestine: Proverbs 6:26, can you explain that to me, please?
Pastor Jean Ross: Proverbs 6:26. All right, let me just see if I can open this up here. Do you have it in front of you?
Ernestine: Yes.
Pastor Jean Ross: Why don’t you read it for us while I open this program!
Ernestine: Ok. ‘For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.’
Pastor Jean Ross: Ok. What the wise man is telling us in the whole account here in the chapter, he’s dealing with being aware of evil woman, he’s speaking to a man in this context but I think you can relate it to men as well. Through lust, many a man has been brought to poverty and that’s what it’s counseling against, it says ‘Beware! Beware of and evil woman and her influence for it will lead you to poverty’. Not only literal poverty, but of course spiritual poverty as well.
Ernestine: All right, thank you so much.
Pastor Jean Ross: Ok. Thanks for your call, appreciate it! Again, the number is 1-800-GOD-SAYS, 1-800-463-7297, that will get you right here to the studio, we have a few lines still open, Sambelle listening on the internet from Toronto, Canada. Welcome to the program!
Sambelle: Hi. Good evening, Pastor Jean. How are you?
Pastor Jean Ross: Good, thank you.
Sambelle: I have a question regarding the 2036 global disaster prediction. That a 390-meter wide asteroid will slam into the earth. Well, my question is: is it anything in the Bible?
Pastor Jean Ross: Well, that’s a good question, I hadn’t heard about this. Is this some recent prediction that is being made?
Sambelle: I’m not sure, because I was reading on unlocking the signs, Revelation Speaks Peace Shawn Boonstra says[INAUDIBLE 19:30].
Pastor Jean Ross: Yes. I have not heard about that. Now, does the Bible talk about something hitting the earth, like an asteroid? Well in Revelation, one of the Seven Trumpets describes a star falling from Heaven and it lands in the water, it turns the water wormwood. That would probably be the closest that one could come to an asteroid. But in Revelation, it’s highly symbolic, it’s not talking about a literal asteroid, but the star falling from Heaven symbolizes those who were opposed to the Truth of God and brought persecution during the Dark Ages. There’s no text in Scripture that predicts an asteroid hitting the earth.
Sambelle: Ok. I know that we don’t have much time, right, until Jesus’ Second Coming, but approximately in years, do you have any idea how much time actually we have?
Pastor Jean Ross: Well you know, the Bible doesn’t tell us exactly, no man knows the day or the hour when Jesus will come. But we can know when it’s near. Jesus said: ‘As it was in the days of Noah, so it shall be also when the Son of Man is revealed’. Of course, Matthew 25 gives us signs of the soon coming of Jesus. If we look at the world around us today and we look at the moral decay that is so prevalent, we ask ourselves: how much longer can the world go before it will get worse than the days of Noah. You know, in the days of Noah, God cleansed the earth with a flood and when Jesus comes the earth will be cleansed with fire. So based upon some of the signs of the Second Coming of Jesus, we can know that Christ’s coming is near. We don’t know the exact date, Christ can come sooner or later, He’s in charge, but we want to make sure that our hearts and lives are always in harmony with Him, that whenever Jesus comes, we’ll be ready. I believe Christ’s coming is soon. Now, how soon, how many years, I don’t know, but I believe it’s soon. I believe it’s in my generation for sure.
Sambelle: Thank you, Pastor.
Pastor Jean Ross: All right, thanks for you call. Our next call is Carolyn, listening on KFIA from Auburn, California. Carolyn, welcome to the program!
Carolyn: Good evening.
Pastor Jean Ross: Good evening.
Carolyn: Pastor, I have a question about 1 Corinthians 15: 50. ‘The flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God’, how can the redeemed be flesh and bone? You know, Christ, in his resurrected body declared he was truly flesh and bone and if we were to have a body like His. And yet is says: ‘The flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God’. Could you help me explain that?
Pastor Jean Ross: Sure. That’s a good question. First of all, we do recognize that when Jesus comes the dead in God will be resurrected and those who are alive will be changed in a moment, in the flinching of an eye, and we will be like Him, our mortal bodies will be changed into immortal bodies and we will be like Christ after the Resurrection. Now, at the Resurrection, Jesus had bones, He had flesh, but he was glorified in that He could appear to the disciples, He didn’t have to go through the door, He just appeared before the disciples. Jesus, of course, traveled to Heaven, came back down to the earth and spoke to disciples. There is this immortal state that we will have when Jesus comes that is different than what we have now.
These mortal bodies will not do, they won’t last throughout eternity, God’s going to give us brand new bodies. But there’s also a second dimension to this verse and that is in a symbolic sense, the flesh, and you read about it in the Scripture in many places. The flesh represents the sinful character, our sinful heart. One cannot truly be a member of the Kingdom of God and cling to that sinful, selfish nature. And we can’t truly inherit all of the blessings that God wants for us now, and in that sense flesh or the sinful nature cannot be a part of the Kingdom of Heaven. So it’s speaking both about when Jesus comes and when we receive our new bodies, but even in a symbolic sense we must be fully Christ in order to be part of His Kingdom.
Carolyn: Ok.So it’s not all totally literal, it’s symbolic of the fleshly…
Pastor Jean Ross: It can have symbolic acceptationas well.
Carolyn: I see. Well, that’ very helpful.
Pastor Jean Ross: All right, thank you for your call.
Carolyn: Thank you so much.
Pastor Jean Ross: All right. You’re welcome. The number is 1-800-GOD-SAYS, that’s 800-463-7297. Robert is listening on WMCA from Bloomfield, New Jersey. Robert, welcome to the program!
Robert: Good evening, Pastor. I just want to ask, is there a biblical command in the New Testament for us, Christians, to congregate, and where would it be, and is it a sin not to congregate?
Pastor Jean Ross: That’s a good question. Are you talking about, like, fellowshipping in church?
Robert: Precisely.
Pastor Jean Ross: Ok. Well, the Bible tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, especially as we see the soon coming of Christ. We need to encourage one another, we need to gather together for worship and for prayer. If you look at the example given to us in Acts of the Early Christian Church, they were of one accord and they worshiped regularly together, even on a daily basis, braking bread together. So there is something important about gathering together, worshiping together, encouraging one another. Now, that doesn’t mean to say that if a person, for some reason, can’t gather together, that they can’t truly have a relationship with Christ. I would also counsel someone not to gather together for worship just for the sake of gathering together for worship if what is being taught is not biblical. Do you understand what I’m saying? In other words, just going to a church for the sake of going to a church, if truth is not being taught in that church, it would be better not to fellowship in that case, and try to find a group that are in harmony, their teachings are in harmony with the Bible.
Robert: It’s just the biblical congregation.
Pastor Jean Ross: Yes, yes. Something that fits into the biblical congregation.
Robert: And how about some of these congregating via television?
Pastor Jean Ross: Well you know, you can go that around, I mean, you can learn a lot of wonderful truths via television. You can even send in your prayer request and so on, and even now, together, here we are studying the Word of God over the radio. And that is beneficial and it strengthens us spiritually, but there is still something that I believe is necessary, and that’s that human fellowship, interacting with people, coming to know each other, loving each other, working together to build up God’s Kingdom. So that element is still very important.
Robert: Is there any resource about this, Pastor?
Pastor Jean Ross: I’m just trying to think here if we have something at Amazing Facts dealing with this. You know, we do have some resources on the website and that deals with church. You could probably go to the website and in the area that deals with topics on different studies, if you were to type in there ‘church’, it would probably pull out some resources dealing with this, dealing with worship. The website is just simply www.AmazingFacts.org.
Robert: Ok, thank you, Pastor.
Pastor Jean Ross: That would probably be the best place that I can point you to at this point.
Robert: Thank you very much.
Pastor Jean Ross: All right, well, thanks for your call, Robert. We appreciate it. We’ll see if we can get one more question in, at least start it here before we go to the break. We’re going to go to Freddy, calling from Michigan. Freddy, welcome to the program!
Freddy: Hi, Pastor, how are you doing?
Pastor Jean Ross: Good, thank you.
Freddy: Good. I was actually wondering about the gift of tongues and the gift of healing, is that something that is used in this day andage? Can people heal other people or is that by faith healing, and where is the right place to use the gift of tongues, if it is right to use it or not.
Pastor Jean Ross: Ok. Good question. Well, there’s two things you’re asking. One deals with healing, the other one deals with the gift of tongues, both of which is a gift of spirit. We see that manifest in the Early Christian Church. Now, I believe in the gift of healing today, the Bible does tell us how to go about receiving healing and James tells us that if any be sick among you, that you need to call for the eldest and let them anoint you with oil, pray, and the prayer of faith will heal the sick or save the sick. So there is a biblical premise even now to exercise the gift of healing and God has given some the ability to really work miracles when it comes to healing in different situations. But I would counsel it needs to be done in harmony with the principles that you have in the Bible. Well you know, Freddy, I hear the music crying, we’re coming up on our mid-break and there’s two parts to your question. So I’m going to ask you if you wouldn’t mind just staying on the line, as we have some important announcements coming back. Then afterwards we can address that second part of the question, dealing with the gift of tongues. Is that all right, Freddy?
Freddy: All right.
Pastor Jean Ross: All right, we would appreciate it. Again, friends, we’re just coming up on our mid-time break, we still have another half an hour of Bible Answers Live, some important announcements coming up. So keep your radio tuned, you might want to get a pencil, you can write down some of the numbers, some of the resources that we have to offer. We’ll be right back.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Pastor Jean Ross: Good evening friends, this is Pastor Jean Ross. Pastor Doug Batchelor is out this evening. We are thrilled that you joined us for Bible Answers Live. It is a live, national and international Bible study. If you have a Bible-related question we’d like to hear from you. The number is 1-800-GOD-SAYS, it’s a free phone call. 1-800-463-7297. I’d like to remind you of the free offer that we have this evening, it’s entitled The Ultimate Deliverance. It’s talking about the Second Coming of Jesus and to receive that, it’s free, call our resource number 1-800-835-6747 and ask for the study guide The Ultimate Deliverance and we’ll be happy to send that out to you. We’re still on the line with Freddy from Michigan. We’re talking about the gift of tongues. Freddy, are you there?
Freddy: Yes, Sir!
Pastor Jean Ross: The second part of your question was dealing with the gift of tongues is it still prevalent today and used in the Church? Is that correct?
Freddy: Yes, and also, if so where to use it, where not to use it... something like that.
Pastor Jean Ross: If we look at the first gift where the gift of tongues was manifested, it took place and you read about this in Acts 2. When the disciples had gathered together, Jesus had just left and He’d given them the great commission to take the Gospel to all the world, make disciples every nation, and in every kind of people, that’s in Matthew 28. Here the disciples had gathered together with this huge task before them, and I can just imagine them saying ‘How in the world are we ever going to do this?’ and as they got together with fervent prayer, one accord, the Holly Spirit came upon them. They received power and they received the gift of being able to speak in tongues. As a result of receiving this gift, the Bible tells in Acts 2:6 that every person heard them speak in their own language. When the Holy Spirit came upon them and they had the gift of tongues, they spoke and the people that had gathered there from different parts of the country even from different regions that were there in Palestine, there in Jerusalem, they heard the Apostles preaching the Gospel of Jesus in their own language. The purpose of the gift of tongues is to build up God’s Church, and it’s used for proclaiming the Gospel so the people can understand it.
Now, we sort of twisted the gift as time has gone on and it’s turned out to be something that I don’t believe the Bible is really speaking of when is talking about the gift of tongues. The purpose of the gift of tongues is to build up God’s kingdom, is to communicate truth. Now of course, in a country where almost everyone understands English you probably won’t see that gift manifest as much as a country that has many different dialects of languages and the Gospel is being preached. I’ve heard stories of recent missionary occurrences in some of these third world countries where a minister was preaching in the language that he knew and there was a large group of people there, but there were one or two people in the congregation that didn’t know the language the preacher was preaching in, but at the conclusion of the sermon, as they came out of the church they shook the preacher’s hand and said ‘we are so glad that you’re able to speak our language. We understood everything you said!’ Of course, he wasn’t speaking their language. So, the Lord interposed, miraculously so that the Gospel could be preached. I believe that’s the manifestation of the gift of tongues. And yes, it is appropriate, if the Gospel is being preached and when it’s trying to educate people with truth. Does that make sense?
Freddy: Yes it does. Actually, sometimes when I go to church, I’d be sitting down and I hear someone two rows over from me speaking a language I’ve never heard and they’re going on and on and it’s almost a distraction when I’m in church like I more listening to the person two rows behind me than pay attention to the Pastor in front of me. It doesn’t seem like that person behind me should be speaking while the Pastor’s speaking at the same time. I also know Paul said it’s better to speak five words of a known language than 10,000 words of an unknown language.
Pastor Jean Ross: Correct. You know, that’s a typical case where the gift of tongues needs to be used not to distract, but to inform. If we can’t understand what a person is saying, how is that going to benefit us? You know, Pastor Doug wrote a little book that I think you’d really enjoy called Captured by Tongues which deals with this whole subject of the gift of tongues. We’ll be happy to send that to you free. All you need to do, Freddy, is call the resource number and just ask for the little book by Pastor Doug called Captured by Tongues, and we’ll be happy to send that to you.
Freddy: Thank you very much!
Pastor Jean Ross: The number you need to call is 1-800-835-6747 and just ask for the little book Captured by Tongues. I appreciate your call. Our next caller is Kennard and he’s listening on WMCA from Brooklyn, New York. Kennard, welcome to the program!
Kennard: Thank you, good evening! My question is on the falling away of the church, I just want to know if that is taking place now, or at a later date.
Pastor Jean Ross: Well, you know, the Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians says that there will be a falling away, even back in his time. As you trace the history of the Christian Church, you do realize that there was a falling away when a number of pagan rituals and practices came to the Christian Church that you won’t find anywhere in the Bible. It was a falling away from truth. And then you have the great Protestant Reformation and that’s part of the reason why the Protestant Reformation came it was because of the falling away of truth, but in many protestant Churches today we find the spirit of formalism where the faith and the commitment of early reformers is not present. Not only can a Church today fall away but I think even as individual Christians we can fall away. In Revelation Jesus says to those who have lost their first love that they need to repent for they have fallen. So individually, we can fall if we lose our first love, our commitment and devotion to Christ and the same is true with the Church. In Revelation 14 we have a message saying ‘Babylon is fallen’ that’s one of the three angels’ messages you can read about in Revelation 14. In Revelation 17, Babylon is described as a woman. In Bible symbols, a woman represents a Church. And so, here it is an announcement in Revelation 14 that a Church is fallen, it’s fallen from the truth of God’s word. So yes, the Church can fall even today.
Kennard: Ok.
Pastor Jean Ross: Does that help?
Kennard: Yes, that helped.
Pastor Jean Ross: You know, we have a ...
Kennard: One thing, is that going on, like taking place now?
Pastor Jean Ross: Yes, it is. Yes, it is. And again, it can happen to any Church that leaves her first love. Any Church that substitutes the traditions of man for the truth of God’s word it can be guilty of falling.
Kennard: I understand.
Pastor Jean Ross: That’s not one particular group, but any Church that, as I said, leaves the Bible can be guilty of fall.
Kennard: Or a person.
Pastor Jean Ross: Or a person, yes, absolutely. Thanks for your call, good question. Our next caller is Joe, listening on WLRD from Ohio. Joe, welcome to the program!
Joe: Good evening, thanks for taking my call. I’ve got a question on tithing. We believe that tithing is important and we’ve been told for a while now that, you know how it says in the Bible, you should bring your tithe to the store house. And generally, that storehouse is going to be your local church, right?
Pastor Jean Ross: Correct.
Joe: Now, if you were to use, say you know a family who is in dire straits, if you were to use the tithe to help them, is that cursing them?
Pastor Jean Ross: Well, I don’t think that’s cursing them, but you’re not really following the biblical counsel concerning tithe. You see, in the Bible we find not only tithe, tithe for those who are listening and might not know, tithe is 10% of our increase. So if I get $100 I’d set aside $10 for tithe. Now the tithe is, God has earmarked that to be used, back in the time of Israel, for the priests, those who ministered in the sanctuary. Today a tithe that is returned to the Church needs to be used for the support of the ministers, those who are preaching Gospel and the missionaries. In addition to tithe, there is also offerings. We find that also in the Old and the New Testament. Very often offerings were used for those who were in need. So if one were to chose, you know, you’re going to give to the Church and there is someone in need, I would suggest pay your tithe to your church and you can use your offerings perhaps to help that person that might be in need.
Joe: Right, and I agree with that. So this sort of tithing helping is not cursing them, you’re basically cursing yourself.
Pastor Jean Ross: Yes, you are.
Joe: In a sense. Well see, that’s what we’ve been always thinking, but we’ve been kind of taught lately that paying your tithe, you’re using your tithe for another purpose would be cursing the person that you were giving it to, to help out. We didn’t think that was the case, we just figured that, like you say, you’re pretty much cursing yourself because you’re not doing with it what the Bible says to do with it.
Pastor Jean Ross: Right. I don’t know if you’re cursing the person. The person is probably in need. If they know that this is tithe money that they’re receiving and they choose to keep it themselves well that’s a different story, but if they just receive a gift and they receive it gratefully as an answer to prayer... No, no, they won’t be cursed for that.
Joe: Thanks, you just confirmed what we thought, and I see that. Appreciate, thank you very much.
Pastor Jean Ross: Joe, I don’t know if you had the chance to read the study guide that Amazing Facts has on tithe and offering. It’s called In God We Trust. It’s a great study guide that deals with this whole principle of tithe and offerings and how we are to use it. We’ll give it to you free if you call the resource number.
Joe: Absolutely.
Pastor Jean Ross: That’s 1-800-835-6747. Just ask for the study guide In God We Trust.
Joe: Ok, beautiful. This is the first time I hear your program and I’ll be listening to it a lot more. I really enjoy it!
Pastor Jean Ross: Great. All right, thank you for calling!
Joe: Thank you so much! God bless!
Pastor Jean Ross: Bye-bye! Our next caller is Heidi listening on KFIA from North Highlands, California. Heidi, welcome to the program!
Heidi: Hello, I’m calling because I’d like to know, nobody ever said this but it came across me and I was wondering if you know how... with the dead, when Jesus rises the dead. Well, I’d like to know, are the dead people, are they going to look like zombies? I mean, really messed up bodies, dead like very shortly after that they’ll have a body like the way Jesus’ body looks?
Pastor Jean Ross: Ok...
Heidi: So not damaged or anything like that.
Pastor Jean Ross: Right. No, the answer is... When Jesus comes and the dead in Christ are raised, in 2 Thessalonians you can read about that, they are raise incorruptible. They are resurrected with their new bodies.
Heidi: Ok, so we won’t see any of the sinful bodies that would look like zombies.
Pastor Jean Ross: No. Absolutely not. Now, for the wicked, that’s a different story. You remember there’s a Resurrection not only for the righteous, but there’s also a Resurrection for the wicked. There’s two Resurrections. Revelation says ‘blessed is he who is part of the first Resurrection’ that’s the Resurrection for the righteous. Upon them the second death has no power. So if there’s a first resurrection, it would then mean that there must be at least a second Resurrection.
Heidi: Oh, wow, ok.
Pastor Jean Ross: The second Resurrection is for wicked and that happens at the end of the 1,000-year period sometimes referred to as the Millennium. Now, they will be resurrected probably with their mortal bodies because they are eventually destroyed. Revelation 20 says ‘the fire that comes down from Heaven devours them’ so they won’t have glorified bodies, but the righteous will.
Heidi: I hope we won’t have to see all that terrifying garbage when they come back.
Pastor Jean Ross: Well, you know, yes. We won’t have to see it, but I don’t think they’re going to come back as sort of really yucky looking, ghostly type people. They will probably be resurrected in a human form, very similar to what they had before they died. And then the devil goes out and tempts them and they actually try to take the City of God. You can read about this all in Revelation 22. But for the righteous we can take courage that, when Jesus comes, there’s no more pain and suffering for the righteous. They will have their new bodies.
Heidi: Thank you, have a blessed week!
Pastor Jean Ross: Ok, well, thank you for your call, appreciate it. Our next caller is Brenda? ... Brandon, listening on WMCA from New York, New York. Brandon, welcome to the program!
Brandon: Good evening Pastor Ross!
Pastor Jean Ross: Good evening!
Brandon: Pastor Ross, my question concerns Matthew 12 about verse 39 and that’s on page 817 of an English Standard Version, where’s the sign of Jonah. And I’m just reading a couple of verse here. It says: ‘Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, ‘Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you, But he answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’ when I skip ahead now, it’s slightly clearer in Mark as opposed to the end of Matthew. If you go to the end of Mark 15, it talks about when Jesus is buried, around chapter 15:42. And it says ‘when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath’ which I’d imagine would be Friday, ‘Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council’ requested Jesus’ body. I’m not reading the Scripture anymore. Now, how do we reconcile that if this happened on a Friday night, Friday being the day of preparation, nothing can be done on Saturday, how do we reconcile three days and three nights to Easter Sunday, the first day of the...
Pastor Jean Ross: All right, great question! A great question!
Brandon: Pastor, I’ll take my answer over the air, is that Ok?
Pastor Jean Ross: No problem, no problem. Good question! The first thing that we need to look at here in Matthew 12:39 where it talks about Jesus giving them the sign of Jonah, and it says that Jonah has been in the whale three days and three nights, so also shall the son of man be in the heart of the earth. Now the first thing we do is we come to the conclusion that the hearth of the earth means the tomb, but we need to stop and think. In the Bible, what does the heart of the earth mean? It represents the domain of Satan. It represents Satan’s power. If you look at the crucifixion of Jesus, when was He betrayed into the hands of his enemies? When did He begin to suffer for the sins of the world?
It began there in the Garden of Gethsemane, that’s where the weight of the sins were laid upon Him. And if you look at that as being the starting point, and you go all the way through to Sunday morning when Jesus was resurrected you have three days and three nights when Christ is in the grasp of the devil, when He’s bearing the sins of mankind. So it’s not a literal three 24-hours periods, but it is this time period where Jesus is under severe stress bearing the sins of the whole world. That’s one way that we can reconcile that text with the other that you looked up in Mark and some of the other verses dealing with the time that Christ was in the tomb. Well, I hope that helps, good question! Our next caller is Levon, listening WOCG from Alabama. Levon, welcome to the program!
Levon: Thank you, how are you doing, Sir!
Pastor Jean Ross: Good!
Levon: Good! Sir, first of all this is my first time calling in. I’d like to say you have been doing a wonderful job and thank you for the explanation you just gave concerning the three days and three nights.
Pastor Jean Ross: Well, Amen. It counts as a blessing.
Levon: Amen! The question comes from Hebrews 13:4. It says ‘Marriage is a honor among all, and bed is undefiled.’ the question being centered around the marriage being undefiled. I heard that go several different ways as to mean that there is nothing impure that a married couple can do as long as it goes to our consenting. Are the two consenting adults, male and female of course...
Pastor Jean Ross: Ok, all right, well let me see if I can address that question. The Bible does not just give us a blank check to do whatever now that we are married. There is still reason that... God is given us the ability to reason through things. What Paul is referring to here in Hebrews is that those who are married, there is nothing wrong, it is not defiling by any means to have sexual relations. But on the same line, it doesn’t then give license for people to behave in a manner that God never intended for male and female to behave. And I don’t know if I need to say any more than that. Do you get the picture? Levon are you there?
Levon: Yes, yes.
Pastor Jean Ross: Does that make sense?
Levon: Yes, Sir. I believe pretty much so.
Pastor Jean Ross: Yeah, you know, God’s given us reason, He’s given us principles in His word, and again, just because people are married it doesn’t give them license to do whatever. God is still give them reason.
Levon: Good.
Pastor Jean Ross: All right?
Levon: Ok, thank you very much, Sir!
Pastor Jean Ross: Thanks for your question. Our next caller is David, listening on KJSL from Southern Illinois. David, welcome to the program!
David: Good evening, Pastor. Thank you for taking my call.
Pastor Jean Ross: Good evening!
David: I have a question. Do you personally see in Scripture this Last Day great revival that we hear so much about from pulpits. Is there any... You know, do you see that specifically in Scripture?
Pastor Jean Ross: Yes, yes we do. Let me just give you one example. It’s highly symbolic but I think you can get the picture. In Revelation 18:1, it describes how John sees a might angel coming down from Heaven and the Earth is filled with his glory and he has a message he proclaims with loud voice. ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen come out of her my people’, that’s Revelation 18:1. Now, if you look at the symbolism we have in Revelation 18, an angel in Revelation not only represents a being with wings as we think of it today, but the word in the Greek is ‘angelos’, which literally means messenger. God’s people who are proclaiming His in time message, Revelation 14, are described as proclaiming three angels messages.
So an angel is not only a being with wings, but it can also represent a messenger, someone with a message given by God. Here is an angel representing God’s people at the end of time that is proclaiming with a loud voice and the Earth is lightened with their glory. That’s clearly an indication of a tremendous revival amongst God’s people what are empowered to do this work that God has called them to do. You know, the Christian era began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of the Pentecost, and that started with this great revival and that started the Church. I believe that just before Jesus comes the Church is again going to receive a powerful anointing of the Holy Spirit through it and finish the work that the early Apostles began in taking the Gospel to all the world just prior to the coming of Jesus.
David: So then, you personally see a mighty move going across America? I mean, just based on what I see our society has become, do you see a move of God is going to turn the people to God or has our society went past the point of no return?
Pastor Jean Ross: You know, I don’t believe... We know from Scripture, not everyone is going to respond. In the days of Noah there were only eight people that were saved and there must have been millions on the Earth at that time. Our prayer is that they be more than eight saved and we believe that they will be when Jesus comes, but it’s definitely not going to be the majority of persons having this. This type of revival that we’re talking to is the revival amongst God’s people, and it’s not something that can be decreed by a Church. Say ‘Now we’re going to start a revival’. It’s the movement of the Holy Spirit upon the hearts of individuals.
David: Ok, good. Because I hear so many preachers, even on television say ‘We’re going to experience a mighty move of God across America and everyone’s going to turn to God’ that’s like... I personally don’t see that, but maybe I’m wrong.
Pastor Jean Ross: Right, not everyone will turn to God. And you know, we need to be aware as well that the devil is going to try and counterfeit this great revival. I think in some places that the devil has already started this counterfeit revival for the purpose of deceiving people. The Bible tells us in Revelation 13 that the devil is going to perform signs and wonders. In Matthew 24 Jesus said the devil is going to try to deceive if possible even the very elect. So there is this counterfeit outpouring of the Holy Spirit that we need to be aware of.
David: Absolutely.
Pastor Jean Ross: The devil’s trying to deceive.
David: Thank you so much for the call!
Pastor Jean Ross: Ok, we appreciate you calling in. Our next caller is Margaret from Ohio. Margaret, welcome to the program!
Margaret: Thank you! I have a deep concern hearing the preachers and the pastors say that when a Christian person dies that they immediately go to be with the Lord, and the Bible teaches us that we are asleep so... Does the spirit sleep in the grave until the return of Jesus or does it go immediately to be with the Lord?
Pastor Jean Ross: Very good question! What we need to understand is, in order to understand what happens when a person dies we need to go back and find out what happened at the beginning, when God created life. We can read in Genesis that in the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth and on the sixth day He formed man. It was Adam, out of the clay, out of the dust of the earth and He breath into his nostrils the breath of life, then, the Bible says, Adam became a living soul. So, in order for Adam to be a living soul, it required the physical, which is the clay, and the spirit or the breath of God which brought about life. The spirit plus the body equals a living soul. When a person dies you have the exact opposite. The spirit of God, which is that spark of life, that breath of life, returns to God. The body returns to dust. The soul ceases to exist. You won’t find anywhere in the Bible where the word immortal soul is used. It’s just not there. As a matter of fact, the Bible tells us the soul that sins it shall die. Now, when Jesus comes the second time, He once again will unite His spirit, the breath of life, with the body, there’ll be a glorified body and we will be resurrected. The body remains in the grave until the Resurrection.
There’s a number of verses that I can point you to that deal with this. For examples Psalms 115:17 it says ‘the dead praise not the Lord’. Well if someone dies and goes straight to Heaven, surely they’d be praising God but Psalms says they don’t. Psalms 146:4 says ‘his breath goes forth’ that’s the spirit of life that God’s given him, his breath goes forth, he returns to the Earth. In that very day, his thoughts perish. So there you have exactly the opposite of what happened in Genesis. The breath goes forth, the spirit of God goes forth and the body returns to the dust. And there’s a number of Scriptures that deal with this topic. You know, we’ve got a study guide dealing with this subject of death and it’s called Are the Dead Really Dead? It covers a number of scriptures and it talks about the soul and the spirit, how does the Bible portray both. I’d like to send that to you for free if you call our resource number.
Margaret: Ok.
Pastor Jean Ross: The resource number is 1-800-835-6747, and just ask for the study guide Are the Dead Really Dead. You’re correct, when a person dies the Bible speaks of them as asleep until Jesus wakes them up which is the Resurrection.
Margaret: That’s what I know.
Pastor Jean Ross: Absolutely. All right?
Margaret: I appreciate that and I listen to you quite often, but this is the first time I called you. I’m giving up in years and I’m looking forward to my death in the Lord and when I heard that pastors say that we, our spirit immediately goes to be with the Lord I... in all my Bible study, I studied we’re asleep in the grave.
Pastor Jean Ross: You’re right. When a person is tired and has worked all day, they go to sleep, there’s nothing to fear. And when we trust in Jesus and we are finally laid to rest. We have nothing to fear. The next thing we know is Jesus is coming to take us home. We are resurrected with that new body and that’s a wonderful truth, it brings hope and encouragement to many. Margaret, thank you so much for your call. You can hear the music going on in the background, friends. We come to the end of another Bible Answers Live program. I want to thank you for listening I want to thank those of you who called in. Remember to join us again next week for another edition of Bible Answers Live. Until then, please visit the Amazing Facts website at www.AmazingFacts.org for more information. Until next week, God bless!
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