Hello friends, this is Doug Batchelor. How about an amazing fact?
Phoebe Anne Oakley was born on August 13th, 1860 in a log cabin on the Ohio Frontier. Because of poverty and hardship, Annie—as she was called—could not attend a regular school. But she did have some unique skills that shaped her life, eagle-like vision and steady nerves. This was discovered when she began shooting wild game at the age of 9 to help feed her widowed mother and siblings. She quickly proved to be an expert shot, even earning as much as $100 to pay off the mortgage on their land. Word of her phenomenal accuracy spread so widely that by age 16, Annie was invited to Cincinnati to enter a shooting contest with Frank E. Butler, a master marksman.
Annie won the match by one point. She also won Frank Butler’s heart. After courting for about a year, they were married. For the next few years, they traveled together doing shooting exhibitions. Then, in 1885, they joined the legendary Buffalo Bill in his popular Wild West show. For 17 years, Annie Oakley was the show’s star attraction with her marvelous shooting feats, whether it be a pistol, rifle, or a shotgun. The celebrated sharpshooter was a master with them all. Barely 5 feet tall, Chief Sitting Bull called her “Little Sure Shot.” At 90 feet, Annie could shoot a dime tossed in mid-air. And one day, with a 22-caliber rifle, she shot 4,472 out of 5,000 glass balls tossed in mid-air. With the razor thin edge of playing cards facing her at 90 feet, Annie could cut the card with one bullet and then puncture it with 5 or 6 more shots before it hit the ground.
Her sharpshooting won her many awards and medals, and captivated audiences far and wide. It can truly be said, Annie was the first American female superstar! Evidently, her uncanny gifts stayed with her through her life. In 1922, 62-year old Annie Oakley hit 100 clay targets in a row flying through the air from 50 feet away. Her name remains anonymous with precision and marksmanship.
Friends, you know, the Bible also teaches that a true prophet of God will have consistent accuracy in their predictions. Stay with us, friends. We’re going to learn more as Amazing Facts brings you this edition of Bible Answers Live.
[PROGRAM INTRODUCTION]
Pastor Jëan Ross: Welcome to Bible Answers Live brought to you by Amazing Facts Ministries. Are you looking for a clear, concise answer to your most challenging Bible questions? Maybe you’re struggling to understand difficult passages of Scripture. If so, you’ve come to the right place. Join us now as we open God’s Word to discover His will and find honest, practical answers to your Bible-related questions. This broadcast is pre-recorded. If you have a Bible question, call us Sundays from 7 to 8 P.M. Pacific Standard Time at 800-GOD-SAYS; that’s 800-463-7297. Now, let’s join our host, author, speaker, and evangelist, Pastor Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Doug: Welcome once again, listening friends, to Bible Answers Live. This is, of course, a live, international, and we want it to be interactive Bible study. One way you can participate is by calling in with your Bible question. We still have a few lines open and that number to the studio is 800-GOD-SAYS, 800-463-7297. Right now is a good time to pick up your phone and get your question in on this evening’s broadcast. Keep a pencil handy because we give out another phone number which is our resource center to accommodate the many things that we give away for free. And we also want you to jot down the Amazing Facts website, which is just like it sounds, amazingfacts.org.
We’re going to start tonight’s program with a word of prayer. Father in Heaven, we thank You for this opportunity and incredible, miraculous technology that enables us to communicate all over the world, either radio waves and the Internet. And I pray right now, Lord, that this program will be taken by Your Spirit as Your possession. And that You will use it as You see fit to communicate truth to people that are searching. Bless, Lord, be with those who are listening and the one who is speaking. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.
Well, listening friends, once again, this is Doug Batchelor. You’ve tuned in to Bible Answers Live and we’re going to go to your phones in just a moment. Pastor Jëan Ross is on vacation right now as you may never have guessed in his home, South Africa. And he’ll be back with us in a couple of weeks but with the Lord’s help, I’m going to try to both watch the computer for the calls coming in and man the phones with the help of our studio engineers and staff. And… but I want to—before we get to the phones—go back to our opening amazing fact where we talked about Annie Oakley and her uncanny accuracy. As I was thinking about that, the consistency—if you will frequently shoot a cigarette out of a person’s mouth, and you wouldn’t want to be right about that 9 times out of 10 and miss that 10th shot. That could put someone’s life at risk.
You know, in the same way, a biblical prophet is not right some of the time. Biblical prophets are consistently right. They’re telling the truth from the Lord. Sometimes you hear about these prophets you can read about in the tabloids at this checkout stand in the market, and they make all kinds of bizarre predictions. Someone did a survey one time and found out that 97% of their predictions could be marked as “unfulfilled,” 3% they got—it’s just like someone shooting into the clouds and occasionally, they might hit a duck. But they were wildly wrong.
In the Bible, in order to be a prophet of God, one of the criteria is accuracy in the predictions. Deuteronomy 18:21, and Moses said, “And if thou say in thy heart, ‘How shall we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing follows not nor comes to pass, that is the thing the Lord has not spoken. But the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Thou shalt not be afraid of him.” Prophets of God, when they make a prediction—that’s why Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass but My words will not pass away.”
You know, there are a lot of people out there, they’re claiming to be prophets. And prophecy is one of the gifts of the Spirit. We’re not denying that. But there are many false prophets. Jesus said we need to be wary of in the last days. We have a free offer tonight if you have never read this before or seen it, you need to send for it. It’s free. It’s called, “Does God Inspire Astrologists and Psychics?” And not only does it address people who are doing astrology or professed physics but it talks about how to discern between a true or false prophet who even claims to be a biblical prophet. What are the criteria from the Bible you can use to evaluate if someone is a true prophet?
If you like this free, color study material, it’s got beautifully illustrated all the way through, then simply call and ask for it. That toll-free number is 800-835-6747. Once again, 800-835-6747. If you want to call in with your Bible question, that is 800-GOD-SAYS or 463-7297.
I did not sort through the Internet questions tonight. I’m going to go right to the telephones if you’ll indulge me and let me do that. We’re going to start out talking to Antoinette in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Welcome to the program, Antoinette!
Antoinette: Thank you, Doug… Pastor Doug, I’m sorry. My question is tonight, Romans 7:14 through 20. Is Paul speaking of a pre-conversion or post-conversion there?
Pastor Doug: That’s a good question and many people have asked it before.
Antoinette: Oh, really?
Pastor Doug: Yeah. This is, of course, where Paul is describing this internal battle between the spirit and the flesh that he discussed the spiritual side of his nature that once they do God’s will, and you can read that in verse 22 of Romans 7, “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man,” meaning, you know, the inner soul—the spiritual side of me—I want to do the law of God. But verse 23, “I see another law in my members,”—‘members’ means in your body, “warring against the law of my mind and bringing me in captivity to the law of sin that is in my flesh.” And, you know, this is describing what Paul describes, what Peter describes, James talks about it—that there’s a war between the flesh and the spirit—I think everybody listening can relate to that. We’ve got our carnal nature, and the word ‘carnal’ means the fleshly nature, and then the spiritual nature.
So, to answer your question, I want to go on and read the first few verses of chapter 8. But let me finish up with chapter 7, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, so then with my mind, I serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin,” meaning that he’s going to feel this tug-of-war in the body. But it doesn’t stop there. And a lot of people forget that chapters and verses were added in the Bible hundreds of years after the Bible was complete simply to help locate passages. It should continue going to the next verse which is Romans 8:1 where it says, “There is, therefore, now, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who walked not after the flesh but after the Spirit.”
So a person who ultimately gets his victory, they no longer walk after the flesh. I think Paul is describing—he puts himself in the shoes of the person who is struggling to do the will of God but they’ve got temptation in their body. And he says ultimately, you find freedom by… through Christ Jesus so you do not need to walk after the flesh anymore. Now, every believer has a battle between the flesh and the spirit. But a Christian who is totally converted, they get the victory over those things. Now, what does that mean? Does that mean that they never fall or sin? Not necessarily. Paul describes it this way, he says, “Sin no longer has dominion over you.”
See, when a person in their unconverted state, sin is on the throne. It has dominion, it controls their life. It’s like an addiction. And again, it says, “Sin shall not rule over us.” So I think Paul is describing the unconverted condition in chapter 7 then when he gets to the first few verses of chapter 8 in Romans, he’s describing, “Praise the Lord! We can have the victory of the Spirit over the flesh.”
Antoinette: Okay. So it is, you believe, the unconverted…
Pastor Doug: Yes.
Antoinette: …in chapter 7.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, I think he’s describing the battle that a person feels when they’re striving to be freed from sin until they get that victory. And everybody listening, I think, can relate to that. Let me… let’s just put it in another context to make it easier. I struggle with smoking. For me, I knew it was a sin. I’m not saying everyone who smokes is going to be lost because I think the man who wrote Amazing Grace, John Newton, smoked until he died. But they just didn’t know back then. So… but I knew. And so, I was convicted and I struggled with it. And you know, with my spirit, I wanted to serve God but with my flesh, I wanted to smoke. And I prayed and I struggled and agonized with the Lord and He gave me the victory. I no longer smoke! I haven’t smoked for pushing 30 years now.
That same principle He can give you with everything.
Antoinette: Okay, I got it.
Pastor Doug: Okay, so unless someone can name for me a sin that God can’t give us the victory over, I believe that Christ—“Greater is He,” the Bible says, “that is in you than he that is in the world.” Now, if a Christian stumbles and falls, it doesn’t mean they’re no longer Christians. They should repent and get back up and keep going. But sin doesn’t have dominion over their lives anymore. See what I’m saying?
Antoinette: Yes sir, I do. Thank you.
Pastor Doug: Alright, I appreciate that, Antoinette. Good question.
Antoinette: Okay, thank you.
Pastor Doug: God bless. Going next to talk with Darrel. He’s been waiting patiently. Darrel, you’re on the air now with Bible Answers Live from Toronto, Canada. Darrel, you got a question?
Darrel: Hi, Pastor Doug.
Pastor Doug: Hi, how are you?
Darrel: I’m good, Pastor. Pastor Doug, you remember, I’ve visit you at Weimar? Do you remember?
Pastor Doug: I remember when I saw you there with your parents.
Darrel: Yup. And my other question is how many hours Jesus stayed on the cross?
Pastor Doug: How many hours was Jesus on the cross? Well, that’s a good question to ask right now, Darrel, because this is the time of year—it was during the spring that Jesus was on the cross about 2,000 years ago. The Bible tells us that about the third hour, Christ was crucified and there was a darkness on the earth from the sixth hour to the ninth hour. He was on the cross probably 7 hours, 6 hours alive. From the third hour to the ninth hour, which is close to like our 12 o’clock to our 6 o’clock. Then He died. He spent the seventh hour on the cross dead—resting, you can say. And then they took His body and they put in a tomb. So Jesus’ body was on the cross 6 hours alive, one hour dead. And they put Him in the tomb, and the good news is, Darrel, He rose from the dead, right?
Darrel: Yup.
Pastor Doug: Alright. Hey, God bless you and thank you for calling in with your question, Darrel. And you keep serving Jesus. It’s good to have the young people call in with their Bible questions.
Next, we’re going to talk with… I hope I’m saying this right, is it Garci?—from Lynn, Massachusetts. Are you there, is it Garci?
Garci: Yes, it is.
Pastor Doug: Okay. And your question.
Garci: I just want to know, who was the 12th apostle after Judas died?
Pastor Doug: Well, there’s some disagreement among the scholars. I’ll tell you what the Bible says and then I’ll give you my opinion, and I’ll tell you what’s my opinion. I don’t want to confuse my opinion with the word of God.
After Judas killed himself in Acts chapter 1, we read where Peter, recognizing that they now have 11 apostles instead of 12, he said, “Judas lost his place.” He quoted the verse that talked about that and he said, “We need to replace him.” They picked two. They cast lots and Matthias was chosen. So he was numbered among the apostles. But you never hear from Matthias again. What is interesting is Jesus then handpicked someone by the name of Paul when you go to Acts chapter 9. And later, it says in 1 Corinthians 1:1 for instance, “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ.” So there’s no question that Paul was not just a disciple. He was called to be an apostle. He also said he was called to be an apostle by Jesus.
So many have wondered if maybe the disciples in their anxiety to quickly replace Judas, they jumped the gun and, you know, the Lord let them pick Matthias then God poured out the Holy Spirit but the Lord really had His eye on somebody else to fill that role—and that was Paul. So there’s…
Garci: What do you think about Acts 14:14 where he calls Paul and Barnabas an apostle? There’s now kind of like, you know, just I don’t know how to…
Pastor Doug: Well, that’s a good… now, which verse are you referring to? Acts 14…
Garci: Acts 14:14.
Pastor Doug: Acts 14:14. Let me go there real quick, “Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes…” Yeah, that’s right. Well, keep in mind, by the time this happens in Acts 14, some of the apostles have already been killed. James in Acts chapter 12 is killed by King Herod, right?
Garci: Yeah.
Pastor Doug: And so, let’s suppose it may be Barnabas filled in for James and Paul filled in for Judas, we don’t know. The Bible doesn’t comment on that. But there were, obviously, other apostles after Judas.
Garci: Yeah. The reason why I’m asking this is because in Revelation 21, it says that the 12… or I think the foundations are the 12 apostles…
Pastor Doug: The names of the 12 apostles are in the gates of the New Jerusalem.
Garci: Right. So I’m like, I don’t know. It tries and make me think and all that. But doing the math…
Pastor Doug: Which apostles…
Garci: …the math that we are on earth, you know, some already happened. You don’t… you know, we don’t’ see the way God sees it, so…
Pastor Doug: That’s a good point.
Garci: That’s what I get.
Pastor Doug: So, you raised a good question when we see the 12 gates surround the New City, we know what names are in the 12 foundations, the 12 tribes are in the 12 foundations. But the 12 gates have the 12… or maybe it’s the apostles in that foundations—yeah, the tribes are in the gates, the apostles are in the foundations. Which apostle is going to be there instead of Judas? I doubt they’re going to have Judas’ name. That’s a good question. Yeah, I appreciate…
Garci: I can search the web, right?
Pastor Doug: What’s that?
Garci: I guess we could search for this one, right?
Pastor Doug: Yeah. Well, we’ll have the answers soon enough as Jesus is coming and we get to see it with our own eyes.
Garci: That’s right. Thank you, Pastor Doug.
Pastor Doug: Alright, Garci, God bless you. Appreciate your question. That opens up another line and we’re going to then go to line 5 and talk to Bob from Armstrong, Canada. Welcome to the program, Bob!
Bob: Yeah, good evening, Pastor. The question I have for you, sir, is why did the modern Christian church differentiate themselves from the Judeans and tradition of having the Sabbaths on the seventh day and they changed it to Sunday, the first day?
Pastor Doug: Well, that is a good question. I was actually reading about that today. I was reading in some scholarly material on the history of where along the way did Christians abandon the seventh day Sabbath and embraced the first day Sabbath. And about 3 or 400 years after Jesus, there was a great deal of anti-Semitism in the Roman church, and even some of the early bishops of Rome, they pronounced real anathema against the Jews. And so, in order to separate themselves from all things Jewish, they, you know, believed that the seventh day Sabbath was a Jewish institution even though the Bible says there’s no other day that it says, “It is the Sabbath day of the Lord.”
And they began to keep the first day that was very popular among the Romans, even Constantine established or he recognized the first day of the week as the day of the sun. It was a day of rest and a holiday for the Roman citizens around the empire and gradually, they abandoned the seventh day Sabbath and embraced the first day. They said, “This is how we’re going to reach the pagans—by having more things in common.” And the argument was it doesn’t matter if it’s the seventh day of the week as long as it’s an seventh day, as long as it’s a seventh day.
Bob: Right.
Pastor Doug: So, they say, “Well, as long as Sunday comes every seventh day, it doesn’t matter if it’s the seventh day that God picked and blessed.” But you know, in the Ten Commandments, God doesn’t say, “A seventh day is a Sabbath day of the Lord,” He says, “The seventh day.”
Bob: It’s the seventh day, the exact…
Pastor Doug: It is a definite article. It’s like me going to a library and saying “I want a book.” They could toss me any book. But if I go to the library and I say, “I want the book,” well, that means there’s a specific book that I have chosen. And if God has blessed the seventh day as the Sabbath of the Lord, that’s definite as you can be with the language that there’s a specific day He’s blessed and we don’t get to pick it—He’s picked it. So yeah, it changed gradually and there’s quite a revival among Christians around the world to return to the seventh day Sabbath of the Bible.
Bob: Well, I confer with you. Yes, absolutely.
Pastor Doug: Well, hope that helps a little bit and by the way, we do have a website on that subject, Bob, and anyone listening. It’s become one of the most popular websites that is on the Internet on the subject of the Sabbath. It’s simply called sabbathtruth.com, “sabbathtruth”—one word—(dot) com. And just the history of it, how to keep it holy—a lot of resources on the day that God has blessed and one of the Ten Commandments. I think we’ve got time. Let’s talk next with Steve from Urbana, Illinois. Welcome to the program, Steve!
Steve: Thank you, Pastor Doug. Good evening.
Pastor Doug: Evening!
Steve: I had a question regarding Ezekiel 28. I was wondering if Lucifer was in the Garden of Eden before he fell.
Pastor Doug: I don’t…
Steve: It almost suggested in verse 13 that he was. It sets up kind of contrast between, you know, the good things about Lucifer before he fell and then after he fell about the next 5 verses.
Pastor Doug: And that’s the one where it says, “Thou was in Eden?”
Steve: Yeah, yeah.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, in verse 13, “Thou has been in Eden, the Garden of God. Every precious stone was thy covering.” I don’t believe that Lucifer was accessing the Garden before his fall because the way that it seems to be stated in Isaiah and in Revelation, and comments that Jesus made. Lucifer rebelled and then he came to this world to tempt Adam and Eve after he transitioned from Lucifer to Satan.
Steve: Okay. Yeah, that’s what I had always thought. But I was just reading this and it just seem like, you know, there was a contrast that appear about, you know, the things about Lucifer before the fall and then from about verse 15 to about 19, after the fall. So it just kind of struck me that well.
Pastor Doug: You know, in reading this again, I can see where a person could get that. So that’s understandable. But, you know, God—when you get to verse 16—He says, “I will destroy thee, O covering cherub.” Well, when God says this to Lucifer, he’s no longer a covering cherub.
Steve: Yeah.
Pastor Doug: A covering cherub was one of the angels by the throne of God, like the two angels by the ark.
Steve: Okay.
Pastor Doug: And so, He’s referring back to his position. He’s saying, you know, “You were a covering cherub and now, I must destroy thee.”
Steve: Oh, okay.
Pastor Doug: So, you know, I think you’re seeing God flashing back over what he’s lost.
Steve: Right, right.
Pastor Doug: And Lucifer saw the world in its perfection in Eden and he brought the imperfection. He brought his rebellion and his selfishness and infected the whole planet.
Steve: Right. Well, I thought maybe, you know, that kind of inspired some jealousy on his part or something that, you know, against man or, you know… well, when I read it in this context that’s one describing it but I think you’re right. You know, it sounds like he was fallen before so…
Pastor Doug: Now, my guess is you’ve seen our study guide that’s called, “Did God Create the Devil?”
Steve: Yes, yes.
Pastor Doug: If you haven’t, or if anyone out there, I should say, hasn’t then you should read it. Would you recommend it, Steve?
Steve: Oh, absolutely. I’ve read it on amazingfacts.com, I believe.
Pastor Doug: Alright. Not only can you read it on the website, friends, but we’ll send you a copy if you like a copy of the booklet. The study guide called, “Did God Create the Devil?” And just call the resource number, 800-835-6747. We’ll send it to you or as Steve said, go to amazingfacts.org and you can find that study guide there on the Internet. A matter of fact, you can watch my whole presentation on that message on video. “Did God Create the Devil?” from the Prophecy Code website. You can go to prophecycode.com and you can watch it and hear it and read it. And it’s an important subject, “Where did sin come from? Why is there sin in the world? If God is Love, why would He make a devil?” Big question and I can answer it for you. You got to go to the lesson and read it.
Oh, let’s see now. I think Carrie, we have time for one more probably before our break. Carrie is calling from Jamestown, Tennessee, listening on WSAB. Welcome, Carrie! You’re on the air.
Carrie: Hello, Pastor Doug. How are you?
Pastor Doug: Very well.
Carrie: Good. I’m an animal lover and I know God blessed the animal kingdom. But I can’t seem to find where… does He say anything more about being mean to the animals and not taking care of them?
Pastor Doug: Yeah. There is a verse where… it’s in Proverbs and I’m kind of looking it up right now. It’s, “A righteous man regards the life of his beast. But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.” I’m going by memory now. Let me see if I can find that for you. Usually, at this point, Pastor Ross is saying something profound. And he’s not here right not to help me. Here it is, it’s Proverbs 12:10.
Carrie: 12:10.
Pastor Doug: “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.” And you know, someone just called in and asked about the Sabbath day. Many people forget, the Sabbath is not just made for man. The Sabbath, in a sense, is made for animals. God said not only should you rest, but He says your oxen, your donkey. So God said even the animals—you know, they had farm animals and beast and bird—and the Lord said they need rest. So you know, God loves the creatures and the whole sacrificial system was to be abhorring to people. In other words, the idea that something had to die for a sin should have made sin abhorring to people.
God did not want His people to become callous or indifferent to suffering of animals because it’s indicating every time a lamb died in the sacrificial system, it indicated God’s own Son dying. So you think about how much God must love the animals and that He allowed animals to figure or be types of His Son. And He allowed their blood to be a type of or a symbol of His blood. So you know, the Lord…
Carrie: Thank you for clarifying that because I couldn’t understand how God could let the animals be sacrificed.
Pastor Doug: Oh, it was a very painful thing for, you know… that’s why in heaven, God says there’s no more death, not only of people but even creatures.
Carrie: Right.
Pastor Doug: No more death, no more pain. Not only humans but creatures.
Carrie: It’s His name, huh? [Laughing]
Pastor Doug: Yeah.
Carrie: Well, thank you. I appreciate that.
Pastor Doug: Alright. Thank you.
Carrie: God bless you and good job.
Pastor Doug: God bless you, Carrie. You know, there’s a book that you might find at our website and it’s called, “Will My Pets Be at Heaven?” “Will My Pets Be in Heaven?” A lot of people have enjoyed that book by Steve Wholberg, especially our animal lovers. How much time do we have, John, before the break? 2 minutes—about one and a half minutes. I’m not going to do that to a caller and cut them off through a question.
But I’ll tell you what, what I’ll do is something I normally reserved for the other side of our break and I just want to remind you that Amazing Facts has a kaleidoscope of different websites that will help you study different topics. We mentioned already there’s a website people ask a lot of questions on the subject of the Sabbath. And let me state for the record, I believe that there are spirit-filled, heaven bound Christians that are in many different churches, and go to church on Sabbath, they go to church on Sunday. But there’s only one church and that people want to better understand the Bible teaching. Go to sabbathtruth.com.
A lot of folks are asking questions about hell. Will it burn forever and ever? Is it burning now? Where is it burning? What is this? You know, a lot of people fear this eternal destiny and don’t understand it. There’s a website simply called helltruth.com. And we’ve also got a website called truthaboutdeath.com, Truth about Death. People think you die and you come back and you reincarnated or you turn into another creature—come back as an angel—what a confusion! What does the Bible teach happens when you die? And everybody has been touched by this. So we recommend you go to those websites and check them out. And of course, the flagship of all the websites is amazingfacts.org, not only do we have a number of free materials here that we talk about. We got DVDs and study materials and archives of these radio programs all found there at amazingfacts.org. We’ll be right back after the break.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Pastor Jëan Ross: Welcome back to Bible Answers Live with Pastor Doug Batchelor. This broadcast is pre-recorded. If you have a Bible-related question, you can call us from 7 to 8 P.M. Pacific Standard Time on Sundays and receive clear, honest answers directly from Scripture. Call 800-GOD-SAYS; that’s 800-463-7297. Now, please join us as we look to God’s Word for more Bible answers live with author and evangelist, Pastor Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Doug: We are back and if you joined us along the way and you’re not sure what you’re listening to, this is called Bible Answers Live. It is a live international, interactive Bible study where we make new friends every week talking about the best think you can talk about—the Word of God. And when you talk about the Word, you’re really talking about Jesus because the Bible tells us that Jesus is the Word. The Word was made flesh. And Pastor Ross is on vacation in South Africa. He’ll be back with us after about a week and a half. And we’re going to go right back to the phones talking next to Robert whose calling from Bloomfield, New Jersey, listening on WMCA. Welcome, Robert! You’re on the air.
Robert: Good evening, Pastor Doug.
Pastor Doug: Evening!
Robert: My question is about the millennium. My point is that I’ve read the Great Conflict. It’s was very good; great book. And some other similar books that stated that the millennium is a thousand years we stay with Christ is in heaven. But other stories just say that it’s on earth and all the nations of the earth are there and Christ is on earth as one of the thousand years. What proof do we have from the Bible that it will take place in heaven?
Pastor Doug: That is a good question. For one thing, we do have a study guide on the subject of the 1,000 years and if anybody listening wants to get the study guide, call Amazing Facts. Ask for the study guide on “The Millennium,” and they’ll send that to you. But since you asked, let me give you some quick answers. The Left Behind, and I’m not trying to ridicule people who believe this but it’s just become sort of a benchmark that people use. The “Left Behind Theology” that people are raptured, the 7-year tribulation happens, then Jesus comes back, the righteous reign on earth over the wicked.
The earth is never de-populated. In other words, there’s always somebody living here on earth, correct?
Robert: Right.
Pastor Doug: According to that scenario. When you read in Jeremiah chapter 4 speaking of the Second Coming of the Lord, and if a person goes to Jeremiah chapter 4, more specifically verse 23. I’m going to read this for you real quick, and there are a number of other verses that are in the lesson I could quote from, “I beheld the earth and lo, it was without form and void.” It sounds almost like creation but if you keep reading, “And the heavens and they had no light. I beheld the mountains and lo, they trembled and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld and there was no man and all the birds of heaven were fled. I beheld and lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness and all the cities thereof were broken down.” So there are cities now, they’re broken down.
Robert: Okay.
Pastor Doug: This is not talking about before creation. This is after creation. And it says…
Robert: This is talking about all the earth..?
Pastor Doug: It says, “All the earth, there’s no man left,” let me finish this verse here in verse 26…
Robert: Okay.
Pastor Doug: “All the cities are broken down at the presence of the Lord and by His fierce anger,” meaning the coming of the Lord…
Robert: Oh.
Pastor Doug: And so, when the Lord comes, it says in 1 Thessalonians, “The wicked are destroyed by the brightness of His coming.” Now, let’s use a little bit of… just let’s add some verses together and we’ll get the whole picture.
Robert: Okay.
Pastor Doug: Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you,” right?
Robert: Right.
Pastor Doug: “I will come again, receive you unto Myself that where I am,”—in heaven—“you shall be also.” So we are caught up to meet Him, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, when He comes back.
Robert: Right.
Pastor Doug: He’s coming to get us, we’re all caught up. What happens to the wicked? It says they’re destroyed by the brightness of His coming—the wicked who are alive, they’re destroyed.
Robert: That’s right.
Pastor Doug: If you read in Revelation 20, it says the rest of the dead do not live again until the thousand years are finished…
Robert: Okay.
Pastor Doug: But the Christians who are alive—the believers who are alive—and the dead in Christ will rise when Jesus comes. That’s, again, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. So all of the saved are going up…
Robert: Okay.
Pastor Doug: All the lost are either dead already or they’re destroyed by the brightness of His coming. Right? You still with me?
Robert: Yes, yes.
Pastor Doug: I’m just getting verse… these are just all the verses. And so…
Robert: I could see it clearly now from what you just said. And it’s…
Pastor Doug: If the earth is vacated… and by the way, you know, with this “Left Behind” interpretation, how can the righteous who have eternal life be reigning in a world over the wicked who don’t have eternal life? And what righteous person would want to reign over the wicked?
Robert: Well, according to them, they’re saying that the just and unjust are raised up from the dead now in resurrection. But I guess that has a different meaning.
Pastor Doug: Well, it tells us those resurrections are two different times.
Robert: Oh, okay.
Pastor Doug: If the dead in Christ rise first—again, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4—then somewhere, there must be a second resurrection. And if it says in Revelation 20, “Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection on such the second death has no power.” There are two separate resurrections. The dead in Christ did not come forth at the same time as the lost.
Robert: Okay.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, go ahead and ask for our study guide on the millennium. And we’ll send you that. It’s got a lot of references on this subject and I think it will make it very clear to you. It’s called, “The Name of…” If you want it, anybody listening…
Robert: Okay.
Pastor Doug: It’s not called “The Millennium,” it’s called, “A Thousand Years of Peace.” That what the word…
Robert: Okay.
Pastor Doug: …millennium means, it’s milli—1,000 annum years. Alright, Robert?
Robert: Thank you very much, Pastor.
Pastor Doug: Appreciate it. God bless you. Have a good evening! Talking next to Ron. He’s been waiting patiently. He doesn’t know he’s waiting on line 10, but I do, calling on the Internet from… is that Concrete, Washington?
Ron: It is, Pastor Doug.
Pastor Doug: I didn’t know there was such a place. Welcome to the program!
Ron: We’re about 60 miles north of Seattle.
Pastor Doug: Is that near Portland Cement?
Ron: No, but east of Portland Cement [inaudible 00:36:20].
Pastor Doug: I just wondered if that’s where they got their name. [Laughing]
Ron: That’s exactly where they got their names, yeah.
Pastor Doug: And your question tonight.
Ron: Well, the gentleman you’re talking to answered my question a bit, Doug. But it is on the last great day. My question about it is, you’ve answered a lot of it now, I already know. But… I already heard, but like you said, the rest of the dead lived again until a thousand years were finished.
Pastor Doug: Yes.
Ron: Now, my question is there’s a second resurrection there, will we come back the second time but most are behind, will we come back in the flesh?
Pastor Doug: You know, evidently, they’re not given glorified bodies. We know that. So using the rule of deduction, if they’re not getting glorified bodies and if they are being raised and if they’re going to be bodily cast into the Lake of Fire and feel it—you know, you don’t know how much would you feel of punishment if you don’t have a body to feel with—I think the Lord is somehow resurrecting them in real bodies.
Ron: Well, that’s my question, you know. Revelation is talking about it as well and I’ve been studying that. And I just don’t quite understand that but you answered another question and just some part of this. When it goes back the first time, all of us saved by Christ, dead or alive, will meet Him in the air? Now, just a 144,000?
Pastor Doug: That’s right. Everybody who is saved is going to meet Him in the air because it says, “The dead in Christ rise and the ones who are alive were caught up to meet Him.” There are more than just a 144,000. The 144,000 in the last days are what the apostles were at the first coming. Jesus did not just save 12 apostles. And at Pentecost, He did not just fill 12 apostles with the Spirit, there are a 120 in the Upper Room…
Ron: Right.
Pastor Doug: …along with the 12.
Ron: Very well done…
Pastor Doug: So they were the leadership. And the 144,000 are the last day apostles. They’re the leadership that bring a great revival to the world.
Ron: Awesome.
Pastor Doug: If you think about it, if only a 144,000 are being saved out of, you know, 6—there might be 7 billion when Jesus comes back—boy, our odds are pretty slim!
Ron: Yeah, no. I thought the 144,000’s the first spirits and…
Pastor Doug: Well, they are the first spirits, yeah. But they’re not the only ones who are…
Ron: Right. Awesome, awesome. Okay, hey Doug, I sure thank you very much. I’d like you to know how much I appreciate your program and just really… it’s really brought lots of joy and insight to my life.
Pastor Doug: No problem. Hey Ron, you know what I’d like you to do is call for our… call our resource number and if you haven’t read it yet, I’ve got a book called, “The 144,000.” “Who Are The 144,000?” and we’ll send you a free copy and sounds like you’d really enjoy that. Appreciate your call. Talking next with Gladson who is calling from Redlands, California, listening on the Internet. Welcome, Gladson, to the program!
Gladson: Hi, how are you doing?
Pastor Doug: Very well. How are you tonight?
Gladson: Just fine. Okay, my question is, what is the relationship of the church as far as politics? My church… my Pastor in my church, as well as I’ve heard other churches, is he preached that the church has an obligation to be kind of like an activist and do no work within politics, change systemic laws or people, and I’m just not seeing that obligation of the church in the Bible to seek individual Christians to do that individually. But it being a church obligation that we are in it together and do this, I just don’t see it. And I just wonder what your opinion was.
Pastor Doug: That’s a very good question and of course, it’s a very hotly debated subject not only among Christians but even among the secular community—you know, how much should the church be involved in using their influence in politics? And once they do that, let’s face it! Not all Christians in churches agree on what position to take in politics. Some are diametrically opposed. First, I think every believer in the Bible needs to recognize we are ultimately citizens of another kingdom. In other words, we are first and foremost, ambassadors of Jesus. We are citizens of heaven and we’re to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.
So, keeping that context while we are here in this world, I think we ought to do everything we can to better the lot of humanity and to improve freedoms for people to choose God. So, I think every individual needs to pray about to what extent can they and should they be involved in the political process. Praise God, in America, we’ve got freedom where any citizen has a right to have their input through votes and through voice. You know, there are more laws now—churches and Pastors have to be on their guard because if they start endorsing a certain position or a political candidate, and there are non-profit organization, they can lose their status…
Gladson: Right.
Pastor Doug: …which is going to be catastrophic for ministry. It didn’t use to be that way but they’ve been cracking down more and more on ministries that are non-profit, you know, find the ones into these ministries, if they start endorsing political candidates, then they can lose their non-profit status. So, several Pastors have been hammered on that by the government. But, you know, I believe that—my wife and I, we vote. And if someone wants to talk to me about my politics, I’d be happy to share with them what my positions are. And especially in the election here, everybody’s starting to get caught up in what’s happening. But I need to make sure and remember that first of all, I’m a citizen of another kingdom. And that my interest in political things here is only because I want people to have the freedom to serve God and to worship Him…
Gladson: Right.
Pastor Doug: And if we… if Christians say nothing, then, you know, the devil’s the only one speaking.
Gladson: Right.
Pastor Doug: Or I shouldn’t…
Gladson: And that’s been my view. I think we do… we have some ways of influencing as far as legislatively. I do believe that. But when it comes to social policy in your community and what-not, I always thought that the church obligation was to save people from who are suffering from the system. But not to go within the system and be a force within that system’s change. And I think that occasion ‘s very big because you get in big enough body in America, you think you have political influence and that’s what organizations does. They get that kind of influence and they’ve been paid to use it. And I’ve never thought I had a Bible…
Pastor Doug: Well…
Gladson: …and I’d be there but I just didn’t see it.
Pastor Doug: Well, there are a few places where God has taken people and it seems that the Lord places them in these positions of political influence—like Daniel, he didn’t ask for it. But he was carried away and the next thing he knows, he’s in the government of Babylon.
Gladson: Right.
Pastor Doug: Joseph did not ask for it. But the next thing he knows, he is in the government of Egypt. Mordecai, same thing. I mean, just through God’s providence, he was put in the government of Persia. But in all those cases when God places people in those positions of political influence, He does it for the purpose of preserving the freedoms of His people to worship God.
Gladson: Right.
Pastor Doug: And the book of Esther ends by talking about Mordecai who is now high up in the Persian Empire. It says, “He sought the welfare of his people.” So, you know, I want to be careful that I don’t lead anyone to think that, you know, God cannot use or does not call people to that.
Gladson: Right.
Pastor Doug: I think He does. Anyway, I appreciate your question, Gladson, and I was very aerobic intellectually to think about politics and religion in one phone call. And I appreciate that. Going to talk next with… now, let’s see here. I think Cathy has been waiting the longest. Bless her heart! Cathy, thank you for your patience. Your question?
Cathy: Hi Doug. I’ve been going through a lot of things lately and it has affected my prayer. And sometimes I pray the same prayer, sometimes I don’t know how to pray, and I felt like I have to say certain things before I start praying. And I tried to do it right but I don’t know what to do. And it’s affected my mind and…
Pastor Doug: Well, first and foremost, just remember you can talk to the Lord the way that a person talks to a dear friend. You simply do it with honesty and with respect.
Cathy: Yes.
Pastor Doug: You really don’t want to be so casual with God that were irreverent. But He is your Friend, He loves you and He wants you to approach Him. You know, I wrote a book in… it’s hard for me to resist the temptation to tell you this, but I’ve got a book and it’s called, “Teach Us To Pray.” The title’s actually based upon what the apostles said to Jesus. Jesus came from prayer one day and His face was glowing and the disciples came to Him and said, “Teach us to pray the way John taught,”—John the Baptist—“taught his disciples to pray.” And then of course, the Lord goes through the Lord’s Prayer and I’ve expounded that in the principles of prayer in the book. I’d be happy to send you a free copy of that.
Cathy: Yeah, I think I read that before. I think I got it.
Pastor Doug: But you’re still struggling. Oh, that’s an…
Cathy: Well, see, I know how to pray and I know how to talk to Him. But I went through some things that Satan tried to pin me with and hit my family with and it’s just not like me. And it’s like it has affected my mind now and it’s like sometimes I can’t even feel like He can hear me or like I have to say… I can’t just pray here with my food. When I pray with my food, I pray over everybody being saved and being kept saved and everything every time.
Pastor Doug: Well, let me ask you. When you get up in the morning, do you reserve private quiet time just for prayer?
Cathy: Yeah. Yeah, I do, quite a bit throughout the day.
Pastor Doug: And so, if in the morning, if you pour out your heart to the Lord about all those other things that come to your mind when you’re going to have your blessing over your food, I would think that you would feel some relief so that when you get to the food prayer, you can just say, “Thank You for the food and bless it.”
Cathy: Yeah.
Pastor Doug: And be more focused.
Cathy: Yeah.
Pastor Doug: And so, what I’m getting at is maybe more time in the morning for… and do you have a prayer list?
Cathy: No, I don’t have a prayer list.
Pastor Doug: Okay. That will also help.
Cathy: Okay.
Pastor Doug: Write down the things that are coming to your mind that you should pray for.
Cathy: Okay.
Pastor Doug: And you know, obviously, you don’t need to name every person in the world.
Cathy: Yeah.
Pastor Doug: But there are people God has laid on your heart—your family, your children—no doubt, there may be issues at work or whatever. But write those things down and the other neat thing about a prayer list is pick it up and add to it. And then when God answers a prayer on that list, mark down, “Praise God! Answered.”
Cathy: [Laughing]
Pastor Doug: And you’ll begin to see all the times that God answers prayer.
Cathy: Oh yeah.
Pastor Doug: Just today, my wife is sort of panicking because her cellphone had been lost a couple days and I know she was praying we’d find it. And when she found it, I don’t know if it was on her prayer list, but hey, it was an answered prayer!
Cathy: Yeah.
Pastor Doug: So, you know, God will keep doing little things for you. And having a list like that will also help you be more focused.
Cathy: Okay.
Pastor Doug: And what am I… what specifically am I praying for? And it will also help you more specifically identify the answers when they come.
Cathy: Okay.
Pastor Doug: Alright?
Cathy: Thank you very much, Pastor Doug>
Pastor Doug: Alright, thank you, Cathy. Appreciate your call. Alright, we’re going to talk next with Carmelo listening on the Internet from Leavenworth, Kansas. Welcome, Carmelo!
Carmelo: Hi, how are you doing?
Pastor Doug: Very well. How are you?
Carmelo: Oh, fine. Thanks.
Pastor Doug: And your question.
Carmelo: Yeah, I’ve been doing a lot of study of prophecy on Daniel and Revelation. And thank you for all the information you have. But I have Ezekiel chapter 10, and I’m not understanding what the cherubim and the 4 faces mean.
Pastor Doug: Okay, yeah. You’ll not only find this in Ezekiel 10. When you get into Revelation, you’ll find these creatures that are around the throne of God that have different faces. And you’ve got one that is like an eagle, one that is like a man, one that is like a lion, and one that is like a calf. So this prophecy is very much a parallel of what John sees in Revelation, I believe it’s chapter 4. But that is a symbol of different aspects of God’s character. Let me explain.
You have God identified as the one who soars that is all-seeing—that’s an eagle. God is all-seeing. Then you have God as the Sacrifice and the Servant—that is what the calf was. It was a beast of burden, it was domestic, it gave its food, it gave its milk, it pulled the plow, and this is God as the Servant. You have God as the King and this is the lion. The majesty—Jesus is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. And then you have God as the Man. Luke often talks about God as the Man because he was the physician gospel writer. And it shows the human side of the divinity of God. Man was made in God’s image.
So, these are different dimensions of the personality of God that are around the throne of God. It’s like showing us different aspects. And that’s why they’re placed in those positions. Well, am I answering what you’re asking?
Carmelo: Yeah. It’s… I guess it’s pretty much, it parallels what the symbols—the other symbols—that are…
Pastor Doug: That you find in Revelation.
Carmelo: Yeah, in Revelation and then in Daniel.
Pastor Doug: Well, you know, in… I was going to say, in Revelation, you have 404 verses. Out of the 404 verses in Revelation, 278 can be found almost word for word somewhere else in the Bible. And you find, for instance, it talks about the Tree of Life and the River of Life in Revelation, you know, it talks about that in Ezekiel. It talks in Revelation about the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Well, in Ezekiel, it says, “And the leaves are for medicine for the people.” There’s just a lot of parallels especially between Revelation, Daniel, Zechariah, and Ezekiel. And so, when…
Carmelo: But what about the wheels?
Pastor Doug: Well, I’ll tell you, that is one of the great mysteries but I’ll tell you what I’m thinking. When I read about the wheel within the wheel—I’ll just think out loud for you, something that has given me some satisfaction. When you look through a telescope at space, what we once thought were stars, we now know are actually galaxies. And what galaxies are is they are spirals or wheels of stars that are moving in a circular pattern. And within those solar… those galaxies are many suns that have other planets revolving around them. And then, just like our solar system, not only does our solar system revolve around the sun, then you got moons that revolve around the planets. Now that you see in a telescope.
If you use a microscope, every cell of life is a wheel within a wheel. You got… and even all the way down to the atom. Something about this, when I read about the wheels within the wheels, I don’t think about a Swiss watch. What I think about is God’s creative power. Right now, in your Europe, they’re building an enormous machine. I just read about it this weekend—National Geographic—that is 17 miles circle underground that’s trying to collide atoms to create new particles and find out what they call as “The God” particle, which I think is kind of abhorring and blasphemy but that’s what they call it—“the God” particle.
Carmelo: Yeah.
Pastor Doug: And they’re saying that creation—the mystery of creation is somehow contained in this matter that they’re spinning. What keeps it from flying apart? What holds these atoms together? What are the electrons and the protons? So, there’s something about the mystery of life that is wrapped up in Ezekiel’s wheel within the wheel. I think some people said, “Oh, they’re flying the UFOs. That’s what they are.”
Carmelo: Yeah.
Pastor Doug: And I don’t believe that.
Carmelo: No.
Pastor Doug: Now, I don’t know if I give you any more information or if I just confused you.
Carmelo: Yeah… no, that helps out. Thanks for all that you’re doing right now. There’s a lot of weird stuff going out there nowadays and it’s good to have some clues out there. And so, thanks a lot.
Pastor Doug: No problem. Hey, I appreciate your call, Carmelo. God bless. Talking next with Michael who’s calling from New York on WMCA. Let me get your phone turned on. I keep forgetting Pastor Ross is gone. Michael, welcome to the program!
Michael: Hello.
Pastor Doug: Hi, how are you doing?
Michael: I’m fine.
Pastor Doug: And your question.
Michael: My teacher, she has said that she had the unedited version of the Bible and the story about Adam and Eve. She said it was another person and the person’s name was Lilith.
Pastor Doug: [Laughing]
Michael: He was there before…
Pastor Doug: I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh but keep going. That’s not… yeah, there’s—they don’t have an unedited version of the Bible. What they do is they’ve got a Bible that has some of the Jewish legends in it.
Michael: Yeah.
Pastor Doug: I have an unedited version of the Bible here, right now, at my fingertips. It’s got the original Hebrew and there’s nothing in the original Hebrew—Torah—both either the Jewish Bible… now, well, there is no Christian Old Testament. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and they’ve got the Greek version called the Septuagint. In the original languages, there is nobody called Lilith. That comes from a Jewish legend—I’m half Jewish—and it’s so… if someone’s telling me they’ve got an unedited Bible, they don’t… they got commentaries with legends about it that they’re using.
Michael: Yeah. Everybody in my class thought she was crazy and that’s a lie.
Pastor Doug: Yeah. Well, this is not crazy but I just… she’s misinformed…
Michael: No, no, no. What I meant…
Pastor Doug: Yeah, I know what you mean. Yeah, I would… you can go get a computer program for free that will give you the original Hebrew that you can look at for yourself on your computer. And you can download it for free from the website and it will show you the original Hebrew. The word “Lilith” isn’t anywhere in there…
Michael: Okay.
Pastor Doug: …in the Adam and Eve story. Alright?
Michael: Yeah, I just want to know.
Pastor Doug: Well, that’s a good question. I’m glad you’re asking. And do you own a Bible, Michael?
Michael: Yes, I do.
Pastor Doug: Alright. Well, you go ahead, you read through Genesis. You can find your translations probably accurate and you won’t see it’s in there anywhere.
Michael: Okay. Thank you very much.
Pastor Doug: Alright. Hey, I appreciate your call. God bless. Oh, how much time we got? Two minutes! Alright, let’s see what I can do here. Talking real quick with Carla from Madera, California. We’ve got 2 minutes for your question, Carla. Can we do it?
Carla: Yeah. I was raised in a Sabbath keeping vegetarian home. I’m 50 years old. 30 of those years I spent as an adult straying and sinning. And so, well, I’m going to be re-baptized. The problem I’m having is restitution. I know God will forgive all of my sins once I’m baptized but Satan keeps harassing me with, “You’ve done 32 years’ worth of, you know, stealing and so forth. And you’re never going to be able to make up all… to all those people that you’ve wronged so you’ll never make it to heaven.”
Pastor Doug: And so, you wondered, how do you deal with that?
Carla: Yes.
Pastor Doug: Well, you and I have similar history. When I came to the Lord, I’ve been a thief.
Carla: Right.
Pastor Doug: And the Holy Spirit will impress you if there are specific people or instances where He brings to your mind, you know, “I should try and right this wrong.” In some cases, it might just mean a confession or a letter that you can write.
Carla: Right.
Pastor Doug: And you don’t necessarily need to be forgiven by all the people that you’ve wronged. You just need to make sure that you trust in God’s forgiveness. So you don’t come to Jesus and earn your forgiveness by all these restitutions. He forgives us first.
Carla: Okay.
Pastor Doug: And when the forgiveness of God is in your heart, you embrace that. It says, “Know that when you come up out of the water, all your sins are forgiven.” The Holy Spirit is then going to impress you at different points to right certain wrongs, to write some letters and to say, “You know, God changed my heart and I hope you’ll forgive me.” And you know, it will give you great peace and relief when you do that. Okay?
Carla: Thank you.
Pastor Doug: Alright. But praise the Lord! You know, if we had to specifically answer them all, we couldn’t. If we had to specifically repent of every sin we’ve ever committed, we can’t remember them all. Anyway, I appreciate your question, Carla.
Listening friends, you can tell from the music, we’re running out of time. But Amazing Facts and Bible Answers Live can continue. If you can go to the website, you’ll listen to more broadcasts, you can contact us. We need Internet questions so send them to us. It’s amazingfacts.org. God bless!
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