Hello friends, this is Doug Batchelor! How about an amazing fact! Hidden 2,000 feet beneath Cheyenne Mountain Colorado is the world’s most sophisticated military headquarters. NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, was a joint US and Canadian command center set up in the 1960s. Their task was to coordinate military efforts in the event of a nuclear attack and to monitor the sky and space for possible threats. To accomplish this, it had to build and to survive a direct hit from conventional nuclear weapons. So 4 1/2 acres were excavated from solid granite to form a city of chambers deep beneath the mountain. Twelve of these inner buildings are 3-stories tall.
To enter the complex you must drive down a tunnel one third of a mile long and through a pair of 25 ton steel blast doors. To resist a shock from a nuclear attack, all of the buildings in the complex are free standing and they don’t touch the granite walls. The rooms are mounted on 1,300 steel springs that are about a thousand pounds each. This allows the whole complex to shift 12 inches in any direction. To make the compound self-sufficient, it contains a dining facility, medical facility with dental office, pharmacy and a small clinic, two physical fitness centers with exercise equipment and a sauna, a small base store, a chapel and a barber shop. Water comes from a spring within the mountain and it’s stored in four reservoirs that hold one and a half million gallons each. Incoming air can be filtered to remove any harmful germs, chemicals or radioactive particles.
For backup power, they have six huge 2,800 HP diesel generators. This self-sufficient design allows NORAD to provide its own power, water, air and food for up to 800 people for 30 days. But even though it’s buried within a rock mountain, it’s still not tough enough to survive the Second Coming of Christ. Stay with us, friends, we’re going to learn more as Amazing Facts brings you this edition of Bible Answers Live.
[PROGRAM INTRODUCTION]
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hello, listening friends, welcome to another fresh installment of Bible Answers Live. We’re so thankful that you’ve tuned in and we invite you to call in with your Bible questions. Right now is a good time, if you’ve got something from the Bible, a question, something about the Lord and His word that you’d like to ask about, lines are open. The number is 800-GOD-SAYS, 800-463-7297. It’s a free phone call and you can participate in this international interactive Bible study. My name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Jean Ross: My name is Jean Ross. Good evening, listening friends. Pastor Doug, before we go to the phone lines, let’s start with prayer. Dear Father, once more we thank you for this opportunity where we can study Your word, we ask your blessing upon today’s program. Be with those listening and be with us here in the studio as we search Your word to find answers. For this we ask in Jesus’ name, Amen!”
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Amen!
Pastor Jean Ross: I wasparticularly interested in that fact, Pastor Doug, about this little city way down underground that can apparently withstand even a nuclear attack, this isolated little community.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: It’s amazing. Well, they say that the more modern nuclear weapons that can actually direct the impact better, they’re not sure it would survive that. But when it was built, it was made to survive a direct hit from the conventional nuclear weapons and I believe everything that’s in the engineering of NORAD is very, very incredible. They’ve been monitoring 2,000 flights a day, a million flights a day from around the country for years and they’ve started to slow it down now and to shift some of the operations to Colorado, Springs. But it’s an incredible feed of engineering considering the design I think began about when I was born. So it’s phenomenal that they basically built down in the granite core of this mountain a control center that can communicate with Air Force 1 and the Pentagon and the military around the world, this phenomenal engineering to survive, you know, just about the end of the world. But even though it’s buried deep within the mountain, based on what the Bible says, NORAD still would not survive the Second Coming. So if our friends think ‘If I can just find a deep enough fallout shelter, I can survive the Coming of Jesus’.
Not according to the Bible. You can read in Revelation 6:15 speaking of the Second Coming. It says: ‘And the kings of the earth, and the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the generals, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and the rocks of the mountains And said to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand?’. So there will be nowhere in the world a person can run and hide, they can’t get inside some bank safe to survive the Second Coming. There’s only one place, one way a person can survive. That answer comes to us through another verse, it’s in Isaiah 26:20. Here the prophet says: ‘Come, my people’, speaking of the Second Coming, ‘Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut the doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation’ – that’s the wrath – ‘is overpast. For, behold, the Lord comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain’. So the only place to hide is in the Lord, the Lord is our hiding place during that time. That’s what we read about in Psalms 91, ‘A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand but it will not come nigh thee. Only with your eyes will you see and behold the punishment of the wicked’. So friends, if you’d like to know how you can be in that fallout shelter for the last day on earth, for the Day of the Lord, that’s to be in Christ, there’s only one way to prepare for eternity and just commit your life to Jesus, your creator. And we’ve got a special offer that talks about that, we do!
Pastor Jean Ross: It’s entitled Last Day on Earth, it’s a little booklet by Pastor Joe Crews talking about the Second Coming of Jesus, more importantly how can we face bad time with confidence, trusting in Jesus. To receive it, call our resource number, 1-800-835-6747, ask for the little booklet Last Night on Earth, and we’ll be happy to send that out to you. Pastor Doug, we do have our questions that come in. The first one is this: “How can Satan be in the presence of God, as recorded in the Book of Job, after being cast out of Heaven and having sin in him?”
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, that is a good question. We were talking about that before the program. Satan was cast out of Heaven when he rebelled with his angels, and you find that in Revelation 12. Satan was cast out, he came to the earth. But when Adam and Eve sinned, basically Adam, who was the representative of this world, he surrendered the dominion of this world to the devil. So when the sons of God, the leaders of other unfallen worlds, came to present themselves before the Lord, as you read in Book of Job, Satan comes in and says: ‘Look, I’m the one now who has dominion of the world, I’m coming to represent this planet’. So even after Satan was evicted from Heaven, it seems he has some limited access to at least the gates of Heaven. By the time of Christ, Jesus said: ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning’. With the successful sacrifice of Christ, when Jesus said it is finished and He had His victory over the sin problem, we believe that Satan is permanently denied access now. But how could he survive, a simple angel in the presence of the Holy God? Well, we know as humans we can’t do that, but the devil is not a human. It says: ‘We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood’. That’s why at the end of the world and angel must physically somehow cast him into this lake of fire, another spiritual being must cast Lucifer, a spiritual being, into the lake of fire. Some of these things are mysteries and we’ll know more when we get there, but that’s probably the best answer we can find from the word, based on the evidence that we have.
Pastor Jean Ross: All right. Well, we do have another question that’s probably something that a lot of our visitors or listeners have wondered about. Can a person that commits suicide be saved?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Thatis a question we want to answer with a little grace, knowing that virtually everybody here has heard or knows somebody who has taken their own life. I think we need to be careful not to automatically consign these people to the lost. God looks on the heart and it is true, I need to be very clear, for most people suicide is the result of someone who has lost hope, they’ve lost faith. The Bible says without faith, it’s not possible to please God. But I don’t believe the Lord judges an entire life based on maybe a terribly depressing experience or some terminal illness in the final moments of their life. God looks on the heart, he looks on the life. So, you know, there may be cases where God looks on extenuating circumstances we can’t see or someone who’s technically a suicide may be in the Kingdom. You might argue in Samson, the Bible says that basically he pushed aside the pillars that resulted in his death. He knew it would kill him, he said: ‘Lord, let me die with the Philistines’. But he lay down his life really…For one thing, they were probably getting ready to execute him, and secondly, he knew that if he did that he would do something he had failed to do with his life, God had raised him up to deliver his people from their enemies. So he laid down his life to save God’s people from their enemies. Some people have laid down their lives to save others, and some might argue: ‘Well, that’s technically a suicide’. So are all suicides lost? I think it would be reckless to say that. All you can do, friends, if you’ve lost a loved one due to suicide, I’d say just know that God loves that person infinitely more than you do, trust it to the Lord, and secondarily, if there are any who are listening and you’re contemplating suicide: big mistake, because in most cases, that’s evidence of hopelessness, you’re not going to be in better circumstances, you’ll wake up in worse circumstances. Right now, where there’s life, there’s hope.
Pastor Jean Ross: That’s right, and with God, whatever the circumstance we face, it’s always good at the end if you trust Him.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: You were telling me something just before we were on the air about these people that jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge that survived.
Pastor Jean Ross: Yes.Justa handful of survivors that jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge. Someone did and interview with them and asked them: were they unhappy that they didn’t succeed, and all of them said they were grateful that they didn’t succeed in taking their life. And then the question was asked: when did you regret the decision that you made? Many said: the minute our feet left the bridge we regretted our decision and wish we hadn’t jumped.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: All of them said that, that’s right. So friends, remember that, if you’re ever contemplating that big mistake. All right, telephone calls?
Pastor Jean Ross: Yes. Ed is listening on Radio 74 from Cedar Springs, Michigan. Ed, welcome to the program!
Ed: Hello!
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hi, Ed! Thanks for calling in. Your question.
Ed: Yes, I have two questions and I’ll make them real quick because I know people are calling, but in Revelation 1, pardon me, chapter 8 verse 1: ‘When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about a half hour’. And then, I want to ask one more, in Revelation 5:11, about the living creatures. What I did was I went over 1 Chronicles 16:36 and it talks about people. I think, I hope I’m right, but I want you to answer for me if you could, please.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: All right, you’ve got two questions there. The first one is dealing with the silence in heaven for the space of about half an hour. In Prophecy, a day equals a year and one day is 24 hours. Half an hour of course is half of 1/24. In Prophecy, that would add up to about 7 days, so about one week. It doesn’t say the space of half an hour, it says about the space of half an hour. Many believe that from the time that Jesus ceases His intercession in Heaven until he comes to the earth, the reason of silence in Heaven is because Christ, when He comes, He has all the holy angels with Him. If Jesus has left Heaven with all the holy angels, then there’s silence in Heaven. Angels are not up there saying ‘Holy, holy, holy’, singing or…
Ed: That makes sense, yes.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: And then the other question was about the beast surrounding the throne of God?
Ed: Yes. Revelation 5:11. ‘Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures and the elders’, you know all that. But I moved over to 2 Chronicles, you know, because I go by my Bible, and it says, verse 36: ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting’, and all the people said ‘Amen!’ and praised the Lord.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: The reason it’s saying that is in the next verse, in verse 12 of Revelation 5. All these creatures around the throne of God say ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain’, there’s this declaration of praise that they recite in this heavenly place of worship. And the Bible commentators are pointing you back to Chronicles, where on the earthly temple they had the people who were praising God, so it’s just making a parallel there.
Ed: Ok. Well, that’s what I wanted to know, Pastor.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: All right, I appreciate that. Thanks for your question. You have a good evening, I appreciate it.
Ed: You too.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Bye bye.
Pastor Jean Ross: Our next call is Robert, listening on the internet from Frankfort, Indiana. Robert, welcome to the program.
Robert: Thank you, God bless you both.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: God bless!
Robert: My question has to do with Revelations 17:4 and the attire that this woman is wearing, she’s trying to represent herself as holy to the world, to attain the worship of the world that should be given to God, the Father and Jesus. Is there a connection with Arron’spriestly attire? I’ve noticed there’s a very close connection with what she wears and what Moses was commanded by God for Aaron to wear.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, Aaron was wearing a white linen ephod, he was wearing blue and this woman in wearing scarlet. Nothing in Aaron’s clothing was scarlet. In the Bible, scarlet’s all been a symbol for sin, that’s why the Lord says in Isaiah 1, I believe: ‘Though thy sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow’. And so there are similarities, and the reason for it is that this woman was obviously not a good woman, because he calls her ‘Babylon the great, the mother of harlots’. So there are areas where she is counterfeiting the regal attire of the high priest. But the colors are different, because there’s different symbols here.
Robert: Different symbols. Well, one color that is missing is the color blue, and that has a spiritual meaning, Numbers 15:30 and 15:39. That color is representative for the children of Israel to keep the commandments of the Lord.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: That’s right, blue is the symbol of loyalty to the law.
Robert: To the law. And who does this woman hate?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Those who keep the law.
Robert: Keep the law.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yes, you’re on the right track here, Robert.
Robert: Well, there is a connection that she…It tells more about her, that she is falling, she doesn’t keep the commandments of the Lord.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yes, and we have a booklet if you’d like, that is called The Beast, the Dragon and the Woman. So we’ll send you a free copy of that.
Pastor Jean Ross: Yes, all you need to do, Robert, is call the resource number 1-800-837-6747 and ask for the book The Beast, the Dragon and the Woman, we would be happy to send that out to you. Our next caller is Wesley and he is calling from Clinton Township, Michigan. Wesley, welcome to the program. Wesley, are you there?
Wesley: Pastor Doug!
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Evening! How can we help you, brother?
Wesley: I have a question about creation, I ask for that two or three question in one.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: All right.
Wesley: Ok. Adam and Eve, they were the foreparents of the human race, right? Adam and Eve and there was nobody else.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Correct.
Wesley: There are some people that teach that God created other people on other areas of the globe besides Adam and Eve. Ok, that’s one question, are they the only two? Another thing is, when Adam was created of the dust, he was created an adult, right? He wasn’t a baby, he didn’t have to go through any stages, he was created with a mature intellect and the ability to do things.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Correct.
Wesley: Ok. And how was he when the children came along, when Cain and Abel came along? And just one more question, where did Cain gethis wife in the land of Nob?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: All right, very good. First of all, Adam and Eve were the only ones created. As a matter of fact, I wish I clicked this article, I have to research it and find it again. Newsweek printed an article on the cover, it said ‘Eve’ and then inside it was a report, through DNA tracking, they said that all humans on the planet can be tracked to a single parent. I thought that’s very interesting, because that’s what the Bible teaches. And then you asked about how long Adam and Eve lived before they had children. Well, it wasn’t too long after they left the garden. Adam was made, of course, full grown, because we find that the day that God made Adam, he’s looking around, he’s naming the animals and he notices that there is no woman for him. So then God puts him to sleep and makes the wife. So he’s intelligent enough to be naming animals and he’s fully grown when he’s made. And where does Cain get his wife? Well, it doesn’t say Cain went to Nod and got his wife, it says he took his wife to the land of Nod, East of Eden. Adam and Eve, that you read in Genesis 5, Wesley, they also had other sons and daughters. Adam and Eve had sons and daughters. Cain took one of his sisters, back in the very beginning, when man was perfect and his genes were perfect, there was no sin in a man marrying a sibling. Of course, that’s all you had to choose from. So Adam married his half-sister, it wasn’t that unusual in the beginning, and so that’s where he got his wife. But you don’t find that Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters until you get to Genesis 5, they had a whole gaggle of children. Keep in mind the Bible says Adam lived over 930 years and you can have a lot of kids during 200 years of fertility. It scares me to think about it. All right, who do we have next, Pastor Ross? Thanks for your question, Leslie.
Pastor Jean Ross: Barbara is listening on the radio from New Orleans, Louisiana. Barbara, welcome to the program!
Barbara: Hi, thank you!
Pastor Doug Batchelor: And your question!
Barbara: My question is... Well, first of all, I believe there’s one, true Church. I believe that Saturday is the Sabbath. I listen to different radio stations and TV stations, listen to the different preachings, you know, and Pastor Doug you say that they all have elements of truth. I find that it frustrates me. Should I be listening to things that I don’t believe?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, you need to be careful. Sometimes I’ve used the expression, you know, you eat the melon and you spit out the seeds.
Barbara: Right, I know.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: There are some godly people in many different Christian Churches that have a lot of truth that might be confused on various doctrines. I want to say that because of that, you can’t listen to what they say. I’m very cautious about any religion that tells their members they must go through life with blinders and only read material produced by their Church. You know, that I think it’s dangerous, but at the same time you want to make sure you’re rooted in the faith before you expose yourself to things that people teach that may not be biblical. Because, you know, if a person isn’t firmly grounded on what the truth is, they get shaken up, so you want to be cautious. The other thing is, if you’re going to be listening to ministries from a variety of denominations you want to make sure you’re listening more to the truth.
Barbara: Right, and all of them have elements of truth.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yes.
Barbara: I’m not judging, I just... I definitely... You know? You know, and I haven’t cornered the market on knowing that I’ve read my Bible and I’ve been in and out of my faith several times. I know.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: You know what the truth is.
Barbara: Yes, it is just difficult listening to, you know, different preachers if you would tempt Godand do all this other stuff and I don’t understand why we can’t see it.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, a lot of people do see it, but it is sad that so many folks have been duped by some of the bamboozling that’s done in the name of the Lord. Well, I appreciate that Barbara and, you know, we have a study guide that talks about identifying the true Church and some of these principles that we’ll be happy to send you.
Barbara: Ok, I have that and I’ve listen to every sermon you. 3ABN. I listen to all of that.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Oh, bless your heart!
Barbara: Yes.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, it doesn’t sound like there’s anything we can send that you don’t have already.
Barbara: I’ll just continue to listen but I thank you. That was on my heart and I just wanted to know, you know, if it was ok.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: All right, well anything that’s not of faith is sin, so make sure the Holy Spirit gives you peace about it. But if not... You follow the Spirit’s leading on that, All right?
Barbara: Ok, then I thank you.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: God bless, Barbara!
Pastor Jean Ross: You know Pastor Doug, it might be someone else listening who is curious about the true Church, what does the Bible say, speaking of the Remnant...
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yes, this is The Bride of Christ lesson.
Pastor Jean Ross: The Bride of Christ lesson, it’s free. All you need to do is call the resource number 1-800-835-6747 and ask for the study guide, “The Bride of Christ”, we’ll be happy to send that to you. Larry is listening on WTLN from Orlando, Florida. Larry, welcome to the program.
Larry: Hey, good evening!
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Evening!
Larry: How are you, Sir!
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Very well, how can we help you tonight?
Larry: I have a question for you, but I want, I also needed some information. Where can I find you... What website are you on that I can go to the Sabbath school lesson?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yes, well the ... First of all the Church website is Saccentral.org. We usually don’t give that out. Pastor Ross has a church also. If you go to saccentral.org you can find a link to the Sabbath School study guide. I think it’s actually even on Amazing Facts. Yes it is, I’m getting a nod. Just go to the Amazing Facts website, you can find it there.
Larry: Ok, and my question is the latter rain. I’ve heard a lot about the latter rain, and I was wondering how would one know when the latter rain is falling andis there any sign of the latter rains falling right now?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, of course Peter says and Peter is quoting Joel 2, one of the signs of the latter rain will be similar to the former rain. God poured out His spirit on all flesh, your sons and your daughters will prophecy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. And so, this manifestation of God’s spirit will be seen, I think, in the revival of godliness, a revival of evangelism, of witnessing. There’ll be some signs and wonders, I think, that will accompany. They said it would be genuine, you know, there are counterfeit signs of wonders out there. But the moving of the spirit... You know, the greatest evidence to the moving of the spirit if you see the fruits of the sprit in the Church. When you see more love, joy, peace, along suffering, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. When you see more of these things in the Church you know that Holly Spirit is falling out literally, right?
Larry: Ok. All right.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hey, you know we have a study guide that one of our sermon books deals specifically with the gifts of the Spirit. If you’d like a copy of that we’ll send it to you.
Larry: Oh yes, definitely!
Pastor Jean Ross: All you need to do, Larry, is call our resource number. Again, it’s 1-800-835-6747.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Life in the Spirit.
Pastor Jean Ross: And ask for the booklet “Life in the Spirit” dealing with the latter rain and the Holly Spirit. We’d be happy to send that to you. Pastor Doug, I think we’re coming up on our mid-program break in just a few moments, and those listening they might want to grab something that they’d need for the next part of the program, a pencil to write down resources and so on.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: We might not have enough time to take another question, but we do have some lines open for the second part of the program. So once again that phone number, pick up your phone now, it’s 800-GOD-SAYS, 800-463-7297. Just be patient while we take the other calls and typically do them in line as the calls come in. Also remember Amazing Facts website, so many of our Bible questions can be seen there, at the... I should say heard, it’s better than seen, at the Amazing Facts website. We’ve got archives of many of the more popular questions that come in. We also, of course, have a lot of video. You can see things there, archives of the sermons from the Amazing Facts Presents program, the Millennium of Prophecy, the New Revelation and someone referred to our weekly Sabbath School studies. You’ve got all of these things and much more that you can watch and listen to, and read and study at the AmazingFacts.org website. If you want to go through personal Bible studies, the website is called BibleUniverse.com. We’ll be back in just a moment.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Pastor Doug Batchelor: We are back, listening friends, and we are so thankful that you are tuned in. If you joined us along the way this is Bible Answers Live. Just as the title suggests, it’s a live, international, interactive Bible study. You can participate by calling in your Bible questions. You can listen as we give the answers, just enjoy our study together and I hope you’ll participate by praying for those who are here doing our best to answer your Bible questions. Our phone number, once again is 800-GOD-SAYS, that’s because we want the Bible to be the source of our answers and not personal opinion. My name is Pastor Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Jean Ross: My name is Jean Ross. Pastor Doug we need to remind all of our listening friends about a program that we have on a daily basis, Monday through Thursday, called “Windows in the Word”.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yes, this is a new daily radio program. We’ve had a lot of growth at Bible Answers Live now for 11 years, 350 stations, and so we’ve been going daily now with another program. It’s a little different format, where I take one subject and we expound this subject... It’s sermons of dealing with relevant issues for the Christian walk. If they want to know about stations where that can be heard, go to the Amazing Facts website, click on the Media link and it will talk about “Windows to the Word” and invites you to study with us. Tune in!
Pastor Jean Ross: All right! Ready for the phone lines?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Phone time!
Pastor Jean Ross: Lisa is listening on WMCA from Brooklyn, New York. Lisa, welcome to the program!
Lisa: Thank you so much. Good morning, oh good evening.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Evening!
Lisa: I have your CD, Pastor, it’s on humility and embracing humility. I have been listening to it every night. How does one embrace humility?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, one of the principles in that message is that we must invite God to give us the gift of humility. God cannot make us humble, because if you’re forced to be humble, well you react the way Pharaoh did. We only humble ourselves until the judgment goes away and then we rebel again. In the Bible, God says “humble yourself” over and over again it says “humble yourself” and so, we basically embrace the concept of humility, and say “you know, Lord, I’m going to wrap my arms around this and I am asking You to give me a humble heart that I might humble myself.” He doesn’t force us to be humble. It is the mind of Christ, you know the Bible says “Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” this is in Philippians. Let it be in you. You know, God’s spirit wants it to be in you but we often resist because of our pride. So embracing humility means not letting your pride control your actions.
Lisa: I’ve been looking for a job and I’m not getting a job. I’m hoping to meet a nice mate but that’s not happening and I’ve been praying and praying and praying. How do you embrace that?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, of course, this is a different issue than embracing humility. That’s more like embracing the will of God and that can be always a struggle. I think that comes with saying ‘I trust my life to God, and Lord, I’m sundered to You.” Now, keep in mind Lisa, that there’s sometimes criteria. In other words, when we pray for a job or a mate or whatever it might be, a new house or some new mission in life, we always need to lay before the Lord our plans and say ‘Lord, what is Your will, what is Your plan’, then we can also say ‘Lord, is this some area in my life where I’m out of harmony with Your will, and is that an obstacle to Your fulfilling Your will for me? Help me to be fully in harmony with You.’ You know, there’s another book that we’ve got that deals with keys to answered prayer. It’s called “Teach Us to Pray”. In the book “Teach Us to Pray” we talk about keys to answered prayer and it deals with what do we do when God apparently tells us ‘No’ to something we’re praying for. What does that mean, or what can be the reasons?
Pastor Jean Ross: Lisa, to receive that little booklet written by Pastor Doug, “Teach Us to Pray”, call the resource number 1-800-835-6747 and ask for the booklet “Teach Us to Pray” and we’ll be happy to send that after you or to anyone else that is listening. Our next caller is Daniel, he’s listening on the internet from Idaho. Daniel, welcome to the program!
Daniel: Hello.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Evening, you’re on, Daniel!
Daniel: Yes, I’d like to know if... Say like you go to a Bible believing in church and you bring some people to the church. If they decide to lie as, you know, say like they continue to go over years, if they decide to lie and you find out that they’re lying, are you held accountable for bringing that man to the church?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: If the people you bring in are now bringing sin into the church, somehow...
Daniel: Yes. I just found out, that I’ve been lied through all these, I guess it’s like eight years... now she’s only been... Probably about two and a half years...
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, if you lead someone to church, if you’re trying to bring someone to the Lord and they’re being disingenuous, I would ask this question: When Jesus allowed Judas to be one of the 12 Apostles, was Judas stealing?
Daniel: Yes.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Was Jesus responsible for his stealing?
Daniel: Oh... No.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: See what I’m saying?
Daniel: Yeah.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: So, you know, I don’t think... When you make an effort to bring someone or lead someone in the right direction and you invite them to be part of the body of Christ, somebody baptized in ice and fire, they obviously brought the wrong attitude into the church and God took care of it. You know, we can only do what we can only do because we cannot look in the heart. We look from the outside. God looks in the heart.
Daniel: Right. Obviously I just now found out over these years what’s been going on.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, if you didn’t know and you’re sincere... I’ve got an article that it’s at our website and it’s talking about honesty. It’s called “Honest to God”, and if you type that title into our website, I think there’s both a sermon you can listen to and an article. “Honest to God”. I’d go into these principles of honesty, but you’re really talking about culpability when you bring someone into the Church and they’re bringing bad behavior with them, are you responsible? Now, there’s one more aspect to that, Daniel, I want to make sure everyone’s clear. When we tolerate a bad behavior in the Church, you can bring sin on the group corporately. You’ve got the story of Achan in the Bible and when Achan was in the camp of Israel and he was part of the army of Israel and he stole, the whole army suffered. That was teaching a lesson that when we’re part of God’s Church that our behavior affects others. If we know there’s sin in the Church, Paul said if you don’t put that out and you embrace it and look the other way... You know, I’m not talking about small things, what I’m talking about is if there is open sin in the Church, the Church needs to deal with it. So, otherwise they are accountable.
Daniel: It has to be brought into light.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, the best thing is first go to your brother alone, Jesus said in Matthew 18, and try to get them to humble themselves, and I believe in James it says also, go to them in a spirit of meekness, alone, in privacy, making easier for them to confess and repent, and hopefully be restored. You do reach a place where the church and all are accountable for bad behavior they don’t deal with. I appreciate your question, Daniel and hope that helps a little bit!
Pastor Jean Ross: Paula is listening from Miami, Florida. Paula, welcome to the program.
Paula: Gentlemen...
Pastor Doug Batchelor: You’re on, Paula. Thanks for calling in, your question?
Paula: My question is about Revelation 22:18 & 19 where it says that if anyone shall add to the Prophecy of this book they will get the plague and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of Prophecy God will take away their name from the book of life and out of the Holy Scripture...
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yes.
Paula: I want to ask if we... Is adding Bible name tags like, you know, helping me find the Bible... Like the name tags, like this stuff help you find out where the books are... Is that part of that?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: No, because you’re not changing the books of the Bible. Any kind of circumference writing in a Bible, study notes, concordance, Bible nametags, things that may be in the Bible to help you find the books of the Bible, that’s not adding or taking away from the Book. The books are the complete writings in the Scripture. Surrounding study notes or Bible tags, you’re not changing the word of God. That’s just helping you zero-in on the word of God and magnify the word of God, but the books and the words in the books are not changed. So there’s no problem with that. I wouldn’t worry about it. I remember the first couple of Bibles I had. I had a Bible that had those tabs in and when someone told me to turn to the Book of Zephaniah, I had no idea where that was. First my problems was they couldn’t have fit Zephaniah on that little tab so I had to know what the abbreviations were. Well, I appreciate your question Paula. We actually have a book we can offer you, that talks about the Bible and it’s called The Ultimate Resource and it talks about the inspiration of the Bible and how to treat the Bible. I think it will deal with some of those issues.
Pastor Jean Ross: The Ultimate Resource, call 1-800-835-6747 and ask for the book by that name and we will be happy to send it out to you.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Free copy!
Pastor Jean Ross: Free copy! Our next caller is Juanita listening on WMCA from Jersey, New Jersey. Juanita, welcome to the program!
Juanita: Thank you! Do you want to hear my question?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yes!
Juanita: I have tried to study the Bible. Often I’m saying to someone else what I see there. So I’ve been seeing this one: “There is a spirit in man and the spirit of God yields it at him understanding”. Now, recently when I stepped up my Bible study, and you know, teaching, I cannot find that Scripture through the Concordia. Have I just believed in that? Or is it there?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, you know, to my knowledge, the exact wording of what you said, there is I think a verse that says “spirit in man”. Hang on a second we’re looking this up.
Juanita: Thank you.
Pastor Jean Ross: You know, in the meantime, while we look that up, Juanita let me give you another verse dealing with the same subject. It’s basically the same idea. It’s James 1:5 where we read: “if any one lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men” so, if we want wisdom in understanding God’s word we have the promise that we can ask Him and He will give it.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: I think I found the verse Juanita’s looking for, because, you know, when you said this, it’s not a commonly quoted verse but I remember reading something similar and it’s in Job 32:8.
Juanita: Job 32:8?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yes, it’s not worded exactly the same. It says: “But there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding” so it doesn’t say wisdom, it says understanding. It’s saying that God does give people wisdom, that’s the principle, understanding. That’s probably the verse you were thinking of and you may have combined the verse Pastor Ross quoted “If any man lacks wisdom let him ask God”, you probably in your mind combined these two, but you’re on the right track.
Juanita: The second one was in James.
Pastor Jean Ross: James 1:5.
Juanita: I see. I think that satisfies me.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Praise the Lord!
Juanita: Yes, and I thank you so much.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: All right, well God bless and just remember Job 32:8, Juanita. That’s the verse I think you were referring to.
Pastor Jean Ross: Our next caller is Bruce, listening on Live Talk Radio from Washington. Bruce, welcome to the program!
Bruce: Hi!
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hi, Bruce, welcome!
Bruce: I read your book, the caveman book... That was great.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Praise the Lord, glad you enjoyed it.
Bruce: My question is, the Old Testament prophecies talk about the restoration of Israel in real lavish terms and I was going to ask you your take on: is the 144,000 going to be the fulfillment of that?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, when you talk about the restoration of Israel it does say in Revelation 7 that 144,000 are 12,000 from, and then it names 12 of the tribes of Israel. The list of tribes given in Revelation 7 is different than any other list in the Bible. One notable thing is that it leaves out the tribe of Dan and Ephraim, and in it’s place it includes Levi and Joseph whose are not in some other lists. That’s just one unique thing. Most of the prophecies that talk about the ultimate fulfillment of God’s plan for Israel are talking about complete Israel, meaning not just literal Jews but literal and spiritual Jews. That’s why Paul says if any man is in Christ he is Abraham’s seed and heirs, that means they will inherit the promise. So the inheritance of all the Old Testament promises are not just for literal Jews but all those who accept the Messiah. As a matter of fact I’ve got a booklet that I’ll send you that goes into more detail. I wrote with Steve Wohlberg, another Jew, and it’s called Spiritual Israel. Talks specifically about...
Bruce: Yes, I’ve read that one.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Oh, ok.
Bruce: I’m of the perspective, you know, if you’re in Christ you’re the seed of Abraham, but what I noticed, that there’s even incrementsof the 12 tribes. In Ezekiel there seems to be this temple they were going to build with land allotments that were equal for the tribes and I don’t think, to my knowledge of history, that was ever done and I’m wondering if God is going to fulfill a lot of the promises that were made in a spiritual way like a power ministry like Christ and the Apostles had...
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Actually there is...
Bruce: ... that there is a people for the Second Coming.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: You’re not far from the truth in my opinion because Christ said when He rose from the dead, or actually Christ said speaking of His body “Destroy this temple made with hands and in three days I will make one without hands.” They said then “All this temple was 42 years in building” but He’s speaking of His body. So the Church is the body of Christ and some of those prophecies in Ezekiel, very deep, spiritual things, but I think they’re talking about the Church of God and what’s going to happen to the Church of God and how it’s going to be restored and be blessed and embellished with His spirit.
Bruce: Well see, the reason I asked is most people don’t seem to agree with the perspective I seem to get from the spirit of God when I read the words. I’m expecting at some point there’s going to be the empowerment of... that’s a lot of people, I mean that’s 120 in the upper room when Pentecost happened. 144,000 people with the power of ministry similar to Christ or Paul the Apostle, or Peter to prepare... because we have a lot of people alive and there’s a lot of diversity in religion and God would really need a powerful...
Pastor Doug Batchelor: He needs an army. The simple answer, and I know you read the book now, I can tell, but the simple answer is for Christ’s first coming when He sent the 12 apostles to the last sheep of the house of Israel, He prepared and trained 12 people, filled them with spirit and they got the Church ready. For the Second Coming it’s 12 times 12,000 that He is going to fill with his spirit and empower. I think you’re on the right track. I’d send you a free book, but it sounds you already read the book on that, 144,000 and Spiritual Israel.
Pastor Jean Ross: Maybe there’s somebody else out there that has questions on this. 1-800-835-6747 You can ask for Pastor Doug’s book on the 144,000.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Or Spiritual Israel.
Pastor Jean Ross: Joe is listening on WMCA from Connecticut. Joe, welcome to the program.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Thank you and I do have a question about iniquity. I was taught that iniquity was the tendency to sin versus the sin itself. Then I was talking to someone and they said ‘well we don’t suffer iniquity anymore’ and I didn’t think that that was possible and brought up the pointof Isaiah 53:6 which said “And the Lord lay on him the iniquity of us all”. I was arguing that that was only temporary, that was the iniquity of that time and they said ‘No, it’s also in the past, present and the future’. Then I was having problems because in Romans 6:19 it basically talks about yielding your members to iniquity and uncleanness to iniquity onto iniquity, and then it also implies there could be an implication there that those who are righteous do not have it. But then in 2 Timothy 2:19 it says everyone who... “Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ...”
Pastor Doug Batchelor: ... “Depart from iniquity.” Yes.
Joe: I guess I’m confused in that area.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: I’m not sure who... Iniquity still certainly exists in the world today. The Bible even speaks of the devil and his rebellion as the mystery of iniquity. It is very much real. If you look in Hebrew at the word iniquity, it’s the word ‘ah-von’ which means perversity. As a fault, it’s almost mischief, where it is premeditated evil. In the New Testament, in Greek, it often uses a different word for iniquity.
Pastor Jean Ross: It can also be translated in some places as lawlessness.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Right.
Pastor Jean Ross: Same idea for iniquity. It’s deviating away from God’s law.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: It’s interesting, it’s the Greek word is paranomia, like we say paranormal. It means something that is perverse or a transgression. That’s interesting. I didn’t really realize what the Greek word was there. Paranomia.
Joe: So the implication that you’re telling me that if those people have claimed....they wouldn’t make any differentiation between those who accepted Christ and now have His blood of rightfulness on them but they can do iniquity, but that’s not true.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: No. I think we all know that even after people accept the Lord, the devil tempts Christians and they can fall into temptation, they can fall with sin with transgression and with iniquity.
Joe: Right, they agreed to sin but they didn’t agree on iniquity, so I just needed to know the definition between the two. Thank you so much.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: All right, thank you!
Pastor Jean Ross: Our next caller is Carlos, listening on the internet from Leavenworth, Kansas. Carlos, welcome to the program!
Carlos: Hi, how are you!
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Good, how can we help you tonight?
Carlos: I was just wondering, is it ok if the Remnant Church intermingled with other Churches, such as Pastors preaching out other churches?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, I’ll tell you, I’ll preach at any church, well, I shouldn’t say that. I preach just about at any church, if someone gives me a platform to preach the gospel to others, I’ll be happy to go on preach to them. Here they are so wouldn’t you?
Pastor Jean Ross: I would, but would we be comfortable in having others coming and preach...
Pastor Doug Batchelor: That’s a different question. So I think we’re all willing to share as pastor you need to guard carefully your pulpit. You would want to make sure that people coming into your pulpit are consistent in their faith. It is one thing if we were invited to go somewhere and share, sure, but I think any pastor when he invites a minister from a denomination that disagrees with their teachings, you open yourself up to misunderstandings being perpetrated... perpetuated is the word that I was looking for. Does that answer what you’re asking, Carlos? I’m not sure that we hit the bull’s-eye.
Carlos: It’s perfect, thanks!
Pastor Doug Batchelor: All right, I appreciate your question.
Pastor Jean Ross: Marsha is listening on WMUZ in Dearborn, Michigan. Marsha, welcome!
Marsha: Yes, good evening Pastor Batchelor and Pastor Ross. Thank you for having me on your show again. My question is, I watched this before but I wanted to get on the air for somebody else is having the same challenge I am, How do you love Jesus, how do you fall in love with Jesus?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: That is the big question. Obviously, you can’t really obey Jesus if you don’t love Him. Jesus said ‘if you love me, keep my commandments’.
Marsha: That was a stupid question.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: No, it’s not. It’s a good question I was going to say. I’m backing up to help everyone realize that some people struggle being Christians and the biggest struggle is really loving the Lord. The better we love Him, the better we obey Him, the better we serve Him, the better we reflect him, and it all springs from better love. So, how do we love Him more? Well, if you know Him, you love Him. So get to know him through His word. How do any two people fall in love? Well, very rarely they just have a dream about someone and fall in love, or sometimes a person would say it’s love at first sight, but not really, it might be an attraction at first sight. Real love it’s something that’s through communication. God speaks to us through His word, primarily, sometimes He speaks to others to us through others who are expounding His word, and we speak to God when we pray. Through this two-way communication of a devotional life we get to know the Lord better and we fall in love with Him more deeply, then we serve Him better. So, your question is a good question. This also goes along with the study guide that we have about, “Is It’s Still There?”, I’m talking about the love of God”. We’d be happy to send that to you or someone else it might be asking the same question.
Pastor Jean Ross: To receive that, call 1-800-835-6747 and ask for the study guide “Is It Still There?” and I guess in a nutshell the more we feast on the love of God, the more we know Him. The more we know Him, the more we love Him. Our next caller is Sean, listening on 90.1 from Huntsville, Alabama. Sean, welcome to the program!
Sean: Thank you, Sir. How are you today!
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Good Sean, now we just have a couple of minutes before we’re out of time, so how can we help you quickly?
Sean: Well, I want to know how was in the Bible Sabbath changed to Sunday.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Oh, that’s a good question. Let me give you the quick version of that. Most people know, if you read the Ten Commandments, it says that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God. The seventh day, if you look at any normal calendar, what we call Saturday, the last day of the week. Sunday, the first day of the week, the day Jesus rose is the first day on the calendar. So how did Christians, since the New Testament, the Old Testament Christians were worshiping on the seventh day, how did it start becoming Sunday, the first day? About 300 years after Christ when Christianity was legalized by Constantine the Great he is the one who really legitimized the keeping of the first day. About the same time he was doing that the Jews were very unpopular, so some Christians wanting to distance themselves from the Jews, said ‘Look, let’s start keeping the same day the pagans keep’ which was the day of the sun, that’s where we get the name Sunday. As long as it’s a seventh day, it doesn’t matter if it’s the Seventh day, that’s what they were arguing, gradually, and it didn’t happen overnight. It was a creeping compromise that took place over a period of about 150 years. For a while they kept two days. As a matter of fact in many Western cultures they still have two-day weekend, of Saturday and Sunday. Gradually the churches began to abandon the keeping of the Sabbath Saturday in preference for Sunday because that was much more popular among the pagans in Rome until it was totally lost sight of. They’ve always been Sabbath keepers from the time of Adam and Eve to the present, but there’s been a revival of people coming back to the truth. We’re not saved by keeping any of the Ten Commandments, but if we love the Lord we’ll want to keep the Sabbath commandment just like any other nine commandments. Just like, we love our spouse, we don’t commit adultery. We love our fellow man we don’t lie to him, or kill him.
Pastor Jean Ross: You know, there’s that website dedicated to the Sabbath...
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Oh, absolutely.
Pastor Jean Ross: Dealing with this topic, SabbathTruth.com.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Get the pencil, write that down friends, it’s easy: SabbathTruth.com and if you forget and type SabbathTruth.org, you’ll still get there. It’s got... I think is probably one of the most popular websites out there dealing with the subject of the Sabbath truth. Well friends, I think we reached about the end of the broadcast and it sounds like the end of my voice. We’re really thankful that you’ve joined us this week for Bible Answers Live. Keep in mind we are a faith-based ministry and we do appreciate hearing from you. If nothing else, drop us a line, we love to hear your suggestions. You can do that also by going to the website, click where it says ‘Contact Us’ and let us know what your observations are. Until the next week, remember Jesus is the truth that sets you free!
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