Hello friends, this is Doug Bachelor, how about an amazing fact? On July 9th, 1755, during the French and Indian war, a force of fifteen hundred British soldiers were ambushed in the open by a small force of French and Indian fighters shooting from the woods. The British soldiers, trained for European war, made easy targets, standing shoulder to shoulder in their bright red uniforms. And their officers were even more exposed on horseback, high above the men on the ground, making perfect targets. The slaughter continued for two hours as nearly seventy percent of the British soldiers were cut down. One by one the chief’s marksmen shot the British officers from their horses until only one remained. Amazingly, round after round was aimed at this one man. Twice, the young lieutenant’s horse was shot out from under him; twice he grabbed another horse. Ten, fifteen, twenty rounds were fired by the sharp shooters, still the officer remained unhurt.
The native warriors stated in disbelief that this was a miracle. Their rifles seldom missed. The chief realized that the mighty power must be shielding the man and commanded, “Stop firing, this one is under the special protection of the Great Spirit.” Eventually, the Lieutenant Colonel gathered the remaining British troops and led them to safety. That evening, as the last of the wounded were being cared for, the officer noted an odd tear in his coat, it was a bullet hole. He rolled up his sleeve, and looked at his arm directly under the hole; there was no mark on his skin. Amazed, he took off his coat and found three more holes where bullets had passed through his coat but stopped before they reached his body. Nine days after the battle, the young lieutenant colonel wrote his brother, “By the all powerful dispensations of providence, I’ve been protected beyond all human probability or expectation, for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side.”
The twenty-three-year-old officer went on to become the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and the first president of the United States. During the years that followed his long carrier, this man, George Washington, was never once wounded in battle. Washington also escaped flying bullets on four other occasions and he survived contracting diphtheria, malaria, small pox and tuberculosis. The Bible says a thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. 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: We are very thankful that you are listening friends, and we hope that you stay tuned for the next fifty-five minutes we are going to be taking Bible questions from all across the country. And if you’ve got a Bible question, you can call in now, we have line open. The number is toll free number, 1-800-GOD-SAYS, that’s the acronym that stands for 1-800-463-7297. And my name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Jëan Ross: And my name is Jëan Ross. Good evening, friends. And, Pastor Doug, it’s good to be back on another live Bible Answers. Let’s begin with prayer. Dear Father, we thank you again for the opportunity to study your word. We ask your special blessing upon this program. We ask for wisdom as we search the pages of Scripture. Be with those who are listening, in Jesus’ name, amen.
Pastor Doug: Amen.
Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s quite a story about George Washington. It seemed as though he had an invisible coat of armor that was protecting him from all of those bullets, not o once but several times in his life.
Pastor Doug: You know, there is certainly no explanation other than divine protection. What’s interesting is this story was in all the American text history books in the schools up until 1934, and then it started to disappear as, I guess, some of the revisionist history was written that wanted to exclude anything that might resemble a miracle. But it’s all very well chronicled that it was a remarkable example of providential intervention and protection that he recognized; as well as even the Native Americans later reported on it and they said, “We remember that battle, and we just know that, you know, the Great Spirit,” is what they called them, “was protecting this man.” And it made me think, of course, in the Bible that God provides this heavenly Kevlar to protect us.
And it’s spoken of in the Book of Ephesians chapter 10-- I’m sorry, Ephesians chapter 6; verse 10, Paul says, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Now for our listening friends, you might think, “Well, I don’t anticipate being in the line of fire.” At the time of this broadcast, four police officers died--I’ve traveled through Oakland today--in Oakland, because of a firefight with a criminal. And we have soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq that are in the line of fire. And we hope they were never in that situation but really, every human is in another kind of combat zone every day. There’s a war going on between good and evil, between those who follow God and the world, and the devil and his minions. And our only protection, the bulletproof armor that we need is provided in the Bible. The word of God is our protection.
I remember one time we did an Amazing Fact about Sam Houston, Jr. who was shot during the Civil War in the Battle of Shiloh and knocked from his horse, and it turned out that he was spared because the bullet hit the Bible in his backpack. And the word of God really is a shield, “Thy word I’ve hidden my heart that I might not sin.” It’s not only protection. It’s our offense of weapon. You can read in Ephesians chapter 6 that we’re to take up the word of God which is the sword of the spirit. And maybe our friends would like to know more how to have this kind of protection. You don’t have to afraid of the coming plagues. The Bible promises that He will watch over His people; the same way He protected the children of Israel during the plagues of Egypt, He will protect His people. As Washington quoted the Scripture, Psalm 91, “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, only with your eyes will you see and behold the destruction of the wicked. No evil will befall you or any plague come near your dwelling.” And we have a special offer that talks about this bulletproof armor that God provides and we’ll give it to anyone who calls right now.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number to call is 1-800-835-6747 and the book is entitled, “The Armor of God.” “The Armor of God.” It’s free. Again, the number is 1-800-835-6747 and we’ll be happy to send you that free offer this evening. Well, Pastor Doug, I think we’re ready to go to the phone lines. Jessie is listening on the internet from Sterling Heights, Michigan. Jessie, welcome to the program.
Jessie: Thank you. I had a question. Hello Pastor Doug.
Pastor Doug: Evening.
Jessie: Evening. Yeah, I know that people when they go to heaven and I just wanted to know that, are we going to have families-- if my family goes to heaven--and I know they will be building houses (Unintelligible) and…
Pastor Doug: Go ahead, I’m sorry.
Jessie: Yes. Are we going to build our own houses? Or when our family gets here, are we going to live in the same house? I just wanted to know…
Pastor Doug: Well, you know, in heaven…
Jessie: …about heaven.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, in heaven I think that if you’ve got a family here on earth and it has been uninterrupted by, you know, divorce and some of the confusing baggage that happens, I don’t see any reason why God wouldn’t allow us to be together in heaven. First of all, I think we’re going to have freedom to be with whoever we love. Now this may sound really bizarre, but it’ll hopefully make our friends think a little bit. On earth, there’s sort of a sad story of two dear friends that really loved each other--I’m not even talking about a physical love--it was the love of Jonathan, the son of King Sol and David.
And Sol and David were enemies, and so Jonathan and David really never were able to spend time together. Well, I think in heaven you’re going to see them walking and talking a lot together because they were friends that really loved each other; circumstances would not allow them to have time together. And so, in heaven, there may not be marriage and reproduction the way we have it here on earth, but people are going to be free to be with their friends as much as they want. If they want to stay in the same house, or if they want to go on a vacation for a million years together, they can do whatever they want. Why would God forbid them?
Jessie: What about our children?
Pastor Doug: Same thing. Now keep in mind, your children, even in heaven, will not stay children because it says in Malachi that they grow up--Malachi chapter 4, “They go forth and they grow up.” I mean, I always tell my kids every time they see a puppy or a kitty, they say, “Oh daddy, it’s so cute, can we take it home?” I said, “I love puppies and I love kitties too, but they only stay that way for a few weeks and then you’re stuck with a dog and a cat.” And so, you know, even in heaven, kids are going to grow up because God did not make us…
Jessie: What about the Bible when it says that they will be playing in the streets and all of that?
Pastor Doug: Yeah. Well, there will be children playing in the streets in the New Jerusalem. But they’re not going to stay children forever.
Jessie: Oh, okay.
Pastor Doug: You see what I mean? I mean…
Jessie: Yes.
Pastor Doug: …would you want to have a child that wouldn’t grow?
Jessie: No.
Pastor Doug: You know, most parents, if the child didn’t grow or mature they start getting worried, they’re not learning, they’re not advancing. I think that we’ll grow more slowly in heaven. And my reason for that is, if you look back in the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve and their descendants, as they got married and had children they were very old when they got married. At first, they were like a hundred years old when they got married. And then the age slowly started coming down. But of course, you can spend as much time as you want with your family in heaven. The main thing is just make sure, Jessie, that you all get to heaven, right?
Jessie: I’m praying that that’ll be the case.
Pastor Doug: That’s it. If you get to heaven-- I promise you, if you get there you will not be disappointed. Matter of fact, Pastor Ross, if Jessie would like, let’s send her a copy of that book “Heaven: Is it for Real?” It goes into more detail.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Absolutely. It’s a great book, very encouraging. That is the ultimate destiny of those who love God. The number to call for that is 1-800-835-6747 and asks for the book “Heaven: Is it for Real?” And we’ll be happy to send that to you. Our next caller is Mark and he is calling from Knoxville, Tennessee, listening on WITA. Mark, welcome to the program.
Mark: Hello. My question is regarding the lake of fire.
Pastor Doug: Yes?
Mark: I know on website Hell Truth it talks about it being on the earth. But I’ve seen passages and I can’t remember where they are, about the wicked going into the depths of the earth and into the pit, and that the earth is twelve thousand degrees in the middle, like--I don’t know if you’ve heard of the book “23 Minutes in Hell.”
Pastor Doug: Well, I have. And that’s based on a dream or a vision that a pastor had or--I’m not very sure if he’s a pastor or somebody had. And they then recorded their experience in hell. Is that what you’re talking about?
Mark: Yeah, and then he claims that hell is thirty-seven hundred miles below the surface of the earth. Now…
Mark: Well, let’s talk about that for just a second, okay, Mark? First of all, if we’re going to go by an experience that an individual has, we will have an array of very confusing doctrines because all kinds of people that I’ve read about and heard about have had all kinds of strange experiences, and they claim to be Christians, and they all conflict and contradict each other. Dreams and visions and--and I’m not condemning somebody’s personal experience--I mean, sometimes the Lord will give a person a dream that’s just between them and God and it doesn’t mean we define our theology by the dream an individual might have. I remember picking up a supermarket tabloid that said, “Well drillers in Siberia go too deep and they broke into the caverns of hell and demons were escaping.” And I suppose people read that and believed it. I have my doubts. But in the Bible, the word “hell” most of the time is simply referring to the grave. In the Old Testament, the word “hell” is “Sheol,” and the word “Sheol” means the grave.
Mark: What does “depths of the earth” mean? Or the…
Pastor Doug: Well, what verse are you talking about?
Mark: Like I said, I don’t remember where it’s at. But like, it talks about the wicked going to the depths of the earth and then Jesus went there and…
Pastor Doug: Well, there’s no place that says Jesus went to the depths of the earth. There is a verse in--is it 2nd Peter, Pastor Ross, where it talks about Jesus went and preached the spirits in prison? It doesn’t say Jesus went and preached them, it says, “By the spirit, Christ preached to those who were in prison back in the days of Noah.” And it’s simply saying that it’s reporting or Peter is referring back to Genesis chapter 6; verse 3 where it says, “My spirit will not always strive with men.” The verse…
Pastor Jëan Ross: Yes, 1st Peter, chapter 3; verse 19.
Pastor Doug: You want to read it?
Pastor Jëan Ross: It says, “By which also he”--that’s Christ--”went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared.” Let me read verse 18 for the context; verse 18 says that, “For Christ also has once suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit,” “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.”
Pastor Doug: Yes, so it’s saying that it was the same spirit that quickened Christ, that’s the spirit that Christ preached through in the days of Noah, that’s talking about when Moses wrote, “My spirit will not always strive with men.” Back in the days of Noah, it says men’s hearts or men’s thoughts were only evil.
Mark: Is the prison…
Pastor Doug: Excuse me?
Mark: Is the prison hell?
Pastor Doug: Is the prison hell?
Mark: Yeah, like…
Pastor Doug: No, it’s talking about people who were in prison by sin. You know, the Bible says whoever sins is holden by the chords of their sins. Sin, it imprisons people; the whole Exodus story is liberating people from prison.
Mark: Oh, okay.
Pastor Doug: Talking about prison from sin. So most of the time in the Bible when it talks about “down in hell,” it’s saying a person died and they went down into the grave. Well, if you’ve been to the website, the Hell Truth website?
Mark: Yeah.
Pastor Doug: There’s still a lot of material there I’m guessing you haven’t read yet. And there’s a lot of good information, and for our friends listening, that’s simply helltruth.com; helltruth.com. Now, I don’t know if Mark has looked at our lesson, Pastor Ross. “Is the Devil in Charge of Hell?” But we’ll be happy to send him our free copy of that.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number is 1-800-835-6747, and Mark, if you’d call that number ask for the book, “Is the Devil in Charge of Hell,” and we’ll be happy to send that out.
Pastor Doug: Excuse me. There is one other book and it’s talking about the rich man and Lazarus. And a lot of people have wondered about that parable, because that’s one of the most misunderstood parables in the New Testament about where is hell. Now, one more thought on this, Mark, if you want to know Is hell down in the earth, if you read in Revelation 20, it says, “God rains fire down out of heaven on the earth to burn up the wicked,” and says this is the second death. So a person dies, if they’re lost, they die their first death; they’re resurrected, judged, they’re cast into the lake of fire which is on the earth according to Revelation 20. It’s not the magna. You know, people have thought because of the volcanic lava that comes out that’s down yonder somewhere.
Pastor Jëan Ross: You know, one of the clearest verses, to me, is in Malachi chapter 4, where it talks about the wicked being turned to ashes under the soles of your feet. So ultimately the wicked receive their reward or their judgment here upon the earth.
Pastor Doug: That’s what it says. Anybody who’s interested, that lesson that Jëan mentioned is really dynamic, “Is the Devil in Charge of Hell,” answers a lot of questions on this misunderstood subject.
Pastor Jëan Ross: We’d be happy to send that out. Again, the number 1-800-835-6747, that’s our resource line. Max is listening on the internet from New York, New York. Max, welcome to the program.
Max: Hi, good evening, Pastors.
Pastor Doug: Evening. Thanks for your patience.
Max: My question is regarding Mathew chapter 10; verse 1 through 4.
Pastor Doug: Okay.
Max: I was wondering if Mark and Luke were part of the original twelve disciples because I don’t see their names listed in that list.
Pastor Doug: Luke was not a disciple--well no, no, Luke was a disciple, sorry, Mark were disciples. That’s different from an apostle, the apostle or the twelve that you’re talking about. And Luke was not an apostle. I don’t believe he’s called an apostle anywhere. He was a good companion of Paul who became an apostle. Paul refers to himself as an apostle. Mark was not an apostle. Mark was very close to Peter. And so when you’re reading the gospel of Mark, you’re very much reading the gospel of Peter as he probably dictated it to Mark. Mark was probably a little better scribe. Peter was a fisherman after all. And so Peter’s gospel was really the one that Mark wrote down. But no, they’re never called apostles, Luke or Peter.
Max: Oh, so they weren’t part of the original twelve at all?
Pastor Doug: No. Luke was converted. Matter of fact, you can find the conversion of Luke as near as we can tell in the Book of Acts. As you’re reading the Book of Acts, which Luke wrote, he says, “Paul went here and Paul went there,” and then, all of a sudden, in the middle of the Book of Acts, after Paul goes to Macedonia, Luke says, “We went here and we went there.” So evidently, Luke joined up with Paul in Macedonia when they met each other there and he joined him and became a companion of Paul’s till his death. Luke was not even a Jew; all of the apostles were Jews. Luke was a gentile, a physician.
Max: Okay.
Pastor Doug: Probably one more word on Mark, there is a story in the gospel of John about a young man who followed Jesus when he was arrested. That night, when Jesus was betrayed and arrested, he just was wrapped up in a bed sheet and the Roman soldiers or the temple guards tried to grab him and he wriggled free and ran away naked. And some have speculated this was Mark. Now, Mark is sometimes called John Mark. It’s probably the same person.
Max: Okay, so we can consider them to be apostles but not disciples, or disciples, not apostle?
Pastor Doug: No, they’re disciples. You’re a disciple of if you’re a believer. A disciple was a follower of a teaching. The apostles were the leaders. And so Mark was a disciple, Luke was a disciple, I am and so are you. But apostles were the twelve that Jesus specially chose and set aside.
Max: I got you. Okay.
Pastor Doug: Alright?
Max: Another question, Pastor Doug. Do you have like, an e-mail where I can shoot you a question over the week?
Pastor Doug: Yes. Yeah. And you and anybody listening, if you go to the Amazing Facts website, there’s a place where it says “Contact Us,” and you can send e-mail questions there and we answer them.
Max: Okay, because sometimes I never get an answer back, that’s why I have to wait like, you know, Sunday night.
Pastor Doug: Well, we’ll do our best. You’ve e-mailed us at the website?
Max: Yeah.
Pastor Doug: Oh well. Hey, we must be getting behind, but we do answer a lot of e-mails there. Try it again.
Max: Okay. Alright, thanks a lot.
Pastor Doug: Alright, thanks. Bye-bye.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Our next caller is Loretta listening on WDNX from Savannah, Tennessee. Loretta, welcome to the program.
Loretta: Yes, thank you so much for taking my call. I just started reading through the Bible again, and sometimes I come upon questions that sometimes I think maybe a little insignificant, so I’m almost hesitant to ask about them, but I still don’t know the answers to them. These are all from Genesis. First off, the raven that Noah sent out to check the land, does that raven come back?
Pastor Doug: No.
Loretta: Okay.
Pastor Doug: I don’t believe so because the raven, keep in mind, is a bird of carrion. Ravens are unclean birds. They will eat something dead. And after the flood there was no shortage of dead things. That’s why the second time Noah sent out a dove because a dove will not eat anything putrid or dead. It’ll only eat seeds, leaves. Doves are foraging birds. They’re clean. And so you notice the dove came back and then he sent it out again seven days later. When the dove came back the second time, I think it had an olive leaf, signifying that things were actually beginning to bud and sprout, that life was coming back. And that was the signal for Noah that it was probably safe to…
Loretta: Okay now…
Pastor Doug: …send forth the creatures.
Loretta: …in Genesis, when God is giving instruction, He tells them--I guess, Adam and Eve--that everything that moveth is meat for you?
Pastor Doug: Yeah, that’s in Genesis 9; verse 3, and of course, this is after God has specified the distinction between the clean and the unclean. In other words, if I were to tell you, you can eat everything that you find at the supermarket, Loretta.
Loretta: Yes.
Pastor Doug: And you take your shopping cart and you go to the supermarket, and you see other people pushing their shopping carts, you would never even think that you could take one of the other people pushing the shopping cart and drop them in your shopping cart and say, “Well, after all, Pastor Doug said that I can eat everything at the supermarket, I’m going to eat this other customer.”
Loretta: Oh, okay.
Pastor Doug: So when God says to Noah, “All these moving things are meat for you,” He’s saying since all the vegetation has been destroyed, and since you took the clean animals on the ark by sevens, you can eat all of these animals that I have specified clean. If Noah started eating the animals that were only taken two by two, they’d be extinct. The unclean animals were only taken two by two.
Loretta: Now, the next of these questions, at least it will be my last little bit, I know that the clean only are seven by seven, but did they enter two by two?
Pastor Doug: No. The unclean animals were taken on two by two; the clean animals were taken on by sevens.
Loretta: Okay, I understand that but my question goes, did they actually enter the ark? Because I was reading, and I get the impression they all entered two by two, though there were seven of the clean and two of the unclean.
Pastor Doug: Oh, I see what you’re saying. Well, I don’t know. Actually there’s a difference of belief, and I don’t know the answer. Some animals like cows, deer they don’t go two by two. In other words, you have one bull and seven cows.
Loretta: Yes.
Pastor Doug: You have one buck and seven doves. They have a harem. They breed very differently from some of the other animals. With the sheep, you’ve got one ram and all the ewes. So it maybe that when he says they’ll go by sevens, the clean animals, the domestic animals like that, they were going one male, six females. We don’t know. There’s some disagreement about that. And I really don’t know. It’s one of the things I plan on asking Noah when I see him next.
Loretta: Well, those were my questions so far as I journeyed through the Bible again.
Pastor Doug: Alright.
Loretta: And thank you so much.
Pastor Doug: Keep at it, Loretta. God bless. We have time for one more before the break.
Pastor Jëan Ross: I think so. We’ll give it a try. Gary is listening on WMCA from New Jersey. Gary, welcome to the program.
Gary: Thank you. Good evening, everyone.
Pastor Doug: Evening.
Gary: Yeah, hey. Listen, I’m reading in Mathew chapter 13, it says consening the wee and tears and also, 2nd Corinthians where it says that Satan transformed himself into an angel light, and that his ministers are angels are light. Can you give me a description, like, an example of how he does that? Like, does that mean like you could be in a church or in a ministry with somebody standing next to someone who he thinks a true believer but really is worshipping Satan or they just don’t believe in God. I really couldn’t understand…
Pastor Doug: Well, the devi--I’m sorry, I was going to say that the devil is the most effective when he can take the mind and heart of a minister who is incorporating elements of truth, but they’re really being manipulated by the devil to deceive people. An example of this would be, you know, a very blatant example, Jim Jones. Jim Jones actually started off as a Christian minister by denomination--I won’t mention because I don’t want to…
Gary: Right, right.
Pastor Doug: …even connect his name with any denomination. But gradually he took all these people away with him and, you know, he was probably demon possessed.
Gary: And it says, “And you’ll know by their works,” that’s what it says in the 2nd Corinthians…
Pastor Doug: Well, you know them by their fruits…
Gary: …you know, when I read further into it.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, you know them by their fruits, and by their works. So that’s what, you know, Paul was saying there in 2nd Corinthians.
Pastor Jëan Ross: And, you know, also if you look at the phrase there-, angel in the Greek, it’s got the original angulos, which means messenger, and of course, it also represents being with wings as we think about a messenger. But even a human being can be a messenger. And hopefully, if the pastor a messenger for the Lord, but the devil can appear as though he’s got a message from God. He can appear as an angel, as a messenger of light when, in reality, it’s the devil.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, Satan himself can--yeah, he can create a real apparition, allusion that is not real. Oh, I hope we’re able to cover your question, Gary. We’ve got a break coming up. And it’s what they call a heartbreak, it happens ready or not at the bottom of the hour. Friends, don’t go away, we’re going to be taking more of your Bible questions. Looks to me like we’ve got two or three lines open, so if you have a Bible question, second half of the program, you’ve got a good chance of getting it answer. We’ll do our best.
We don’t have all the answers. That number, toll free number, 800-GOD-SAYS, 800-463-7297. Keep a pencil handy because as we go through the program, we offer a number of free resources, and we just do this by faith hoping that people will read them and pass them around, and that you’ll be blessed by the ministry. You can go to the website, and there’s a free library there as well as the catalog of--oh, kaleidoscope of other things that you can take advantage of, it’s amazingfacts.com, amazingfacts.org. amazingfacts.tv, amazingfacts.net. You type in Amazing Facts at the Yahoo or Google and you’ll get there. We’ll be back in just a moment.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Pastor Doug: Welcome back, friends. This is Bible Answers Live and if you have picked up along the way somewhere and gotten on board, this is a live, international, interactive Bible study program. We’re just studying the word with all our friends that are listening. We’re doing our best to utilize the Bibles and the computer Bible programs we’ve got in front of us to quickly find your references, and do our best to find the answers. And it is possible for us to understand the word, and for there to be unity in our understanding. Christ said, “All men will know you’re my disciples by your love for one another, by our oneness.”
The devil has been seeking to divide and scatter and fraction the church for two thousand years. And I’m of the belief that before the Lord comes back, there’s going to be a unifying influence and that’ll have to be based on the Bible. So that’s our goal on this program to help people find the truth that’ll set them free. If you have your Bible question, it’s once again 800-GOD-SAYS. But with that, Pastor Ross, I think we’ll go back to the phones.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Phone lines.
Pastor Doug: By the way, my name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Jëan Ross: And I’m Jëan Ross, for those who might have just joined us. Our next caller is Nathan, and he is calling from Texas, McAllen. Welcome to the program, Nathan.
Nathan: Thank you. My question is, I’ve been studying Mathew chapter 16 for a while now and you know the part where-- well, I’ll just read Mathew chapter 16 so everyone else listening can understand.
Pastor Doug: What verse are you starting with?
Nathan: Well, I’ll start with verse 13, if you don’t mind.
Pastor Doug: Okay. We just don’t have time for you to read a long section. So go ahead.
Nathan: Okay. “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” “And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist, some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.” “And He said unto them, but whom do you say I am?” “And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” “And Jesus answered and said unto him, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” “And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.” I understand that Peter is petros, which means a small rolling stone.
Pastor Doug: Right, petros, correct.
Nathan: And rock is petra, and Jesus is talking about Himself, like saying that, “You’re right, I am the Son of God, and I am petra.”
Pastor Doug: He is a rock or foundation, yes.
Nathan: Yes.
Pastor Doug: And petros is like a pebble in Greek; petra is like a rock, mountain, like Yosemite or something.
Nathan: And petra is where Lord Jesus is upon whom we should build our church.
Pastor Doug: Correct.
Nathan: And the gates of hell should not prevail against it. And I understand that first of all, the gates of hell did prevail against Peter, because he denied Jesus three times. And so I know it’s not talking about Peter. But here’s where I got stuck, in verse 19 where it says, “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,” with your understanding, if you could explain to me what Jesus meant by that?
Pastor Doug: Well, keep in mind when you started in verse 13, it says he asked his disciples, plural, and, “they said,” so they’re in a conversation. It’s not just Jesus and Peter. It’s Jesus and the disciples. So when you get to verse 19, He says, “I’ll give unto thee.” He’s speaking to them plural. The apostles--to the apostles were given the keys of the kingdom, not to Peter. And that’s a common misunderstanding because matter of fact, the first chairman of the board for the church in Jerusalem was not Peter. It was James, the brother of Jesus. James was often chairing the meetings. I mean, that’s the term we’d use today. He was sort of the leader back then. And so He gave the disciples the keys. The truth is what sets us free.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Well, you know, there’s another cross-reference to this that helps me understand it a little. If you look at Luke chapter 11; verse 52, Jesus is speaking to the lawyers, the Jewish leaders at that time, and He said to them, “Woe to you, lawyers for you have taken away the key of knowledge: you entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering, ye hindered.” So here, Jesus is referring to this key as the key of knowledge, and it’s the knowledge of Him, it’s the knowledge of truth. And in that sense, God did give to Peter the keys of knowledge, which would open up the kingdom of heaven to those who believed.
Nathan: So the keys are like, the gospel, the message of the gospel?
Pastor Doug: Yeah, and Jesus says this again. Jesus is speaking in Revelation 3; verse 7 when He said, “These things says He that is holy, that is true, that has the key of David; that opens and no man, no man shuts what this key opens.” It’s not Peter, or even the apostles’ right to open and close the door of salvation; the only way we do that is by facilitating the use of the truth. But ultimately, Christ is the one that holds the key and you’ve got that again in Revelation 3:7. So by cross-referencing this, nothing else in the Bible implies that Christ handed some spiritual key to one very fumbling man.
Nathan: Well, what about the second part of verse 19 there, “Whatever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven?”
Pastor Doug: Well, yeah, that’s telling us that we, through prayer, and through our influence, make an eternal difference for the kingdom. What happens here on earth can be played out in heaven.
Nathan: Like when you…
Pastor Doug: You know, if a person’s a carpenter, they might build wonderful houses but when Jesus comes, that’s all burned up. When a person works to save souls, what they do here on earth will be seen in heaven. And the neglect of saving souls, what is loosed, is lost in heaven.
Nathan: Oh okay, I understand.
Pastor Doug: Hey, I appreciate your question and hopefully that helps a little bit. I’m just thinking in our library if we have a book on that.
Pastor Jëan Ross: You know, Pastor Doug, that would be a good book to write.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, we need to write something on that. I don’t know that we have a book that specifically addresses that verse but you know, there’s a free Bible software, Nathan, that’s called e-Sword.net, they’ve got some free commentaries by like, Adam Clark and Matthew Henry and John Gill. They all address that verse. If you go to those verses in Mathew 16, they give very good explanations as well and they even spurge in. Thank you very much. And who’s next?
Pastor Jëan Ross: Our next caller is Joshua and he is calling from Fontana, California, listening on KTIE. Joshua, welcome to the program.
Joshua: Hi, how are you guys?
Pastor Doug: Good, how can we help you?
Joshua: My question was regarding divorce, and if you can actually lose your soul or salvation because of divorce.
Pastor Doug: Alright, that’s a good question. Firstly, divorce is not the unpardonable sin because Jesus would have said it’s the unpardonable sin. And then, there’s examples in the Bible of people that got divorced that we know will be in the kingdom. Probably the most famous would be Abraham. Abraham took an extra wife he shouldn’t have taken, had a child with her--name was Hagar--yeah, I almost talked about his last wife, Keturah. But he divorced Hagar at God’s insistence. God said, “Put her away,” the same word is divorce. And when the elders of Israel had taken pagan wives--in the Book of Nehemiah--they were told to divorce those wives. And they could still be forgiven for that. God hates divorce as it says in Malachi. Can divorce be the unpardonable sin? It could for someone who’s being divorced without biblical grounds. And if they persist in rebellion without repentance, any sin can become the unpardonable sin. So if a person is divorcing without biblical grounds, it’s a sin. And that sin, unforgiven, and unrepented of, can be fatal. So does that answer your question, Joshua?
Joshua: Yeah, it actually does. We just have some friends that are going through some stuff, and I don’t really know how to approach the situation. But, you know, with the verses that you gave me, it’ll help us out a lot.
Pastor Doug: Do it with love and tenderness and we’ve got a study guide that we can send you that might offer some help. It’s called “Keys to a Happy Marriage.” You might just give that to them, and if your friends read this, it could really help them.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number is 1-800-835-6747 and that’s our resource line. Joshua, if you’d call that number and ask for the study guide, “Keys to a Happy Marriage,” we’ll be happy to send that out. It’s 1-800-835-6747. Our next caller is Jeff, listening on the internet from Edmonton, Alberta. Jeff, welcome to the program.
Jeff: Thank you. Hi, there Pastors.
Pastor Doug: Hi, sorry to keep you waiting.
Jeff: No, that’s okay. I had a question about the flood, and if there was any kind of rock solid evidence for the flood again--because my professor doesn’t believe in literal Genesis 1 through 11 and I’m just trying to figure out. He says that if the flood did indeed happen universally, like the Bible says, then you’d find fossil records of humans and animals, you know, side by side. But he says you don’t find that. And he kind of goes on like that but I was wondering, is there anything that I could really kind of show him and say, you know…
Pastor Doug: I think there is an abundance of evidence. Now I used to believe in evolution, growing up, I wanted to be a paleontologist. I was steeped in those beliefs. But as I looked at the evidence, I could not refute the evidence that there had been a global flood. And one of the things that got my attention is when I was in Nageezi, New Mexico, up at eight thousand feet in the middle of North America, and I was awash in mountains filled with sea shells. And you can go to the top of the Andes and find clams and oysters that are as big as--what should I say, I don’t want to exaggerate but oh, they’re probably three or four feet across, huge petrified oyster fossils.
All over the world, there’s evidence of a global flood. Matter of fact that is so irrefutable that the paleontologists have redefined their theory of how the dinosaurs died out. They used to attribute it to a bunch of other things. Finally they said, “You know, there’s evidence that they are all washed up in piles like they drowned, an asteroid must have hit the earth, created global tsunamis that wiped out all the dinosaurs. And then the age of mammals came. Few survived and kind of evolved into mammals. You’ve probably heard that yourself.
Jeff: Yeah, yeah.
Pastor Doug: But you can look at the text books and see where they eventually adjusted their theories because there was evidence of global catastrophe. And that’s why you’ve got these great piles. Now the question about why don’t you see human remains washed up in the same pile with the reptile remains or the mammal remains is just a fact of physics that the composition in the bone mass of mammals, reptiles is different. And that, after a global flood, the bloating and the sinking times of the carcasses of reptiles, fish, mammals, they vary greatly. Mammals are going to be some of the last to sink because they bloat and float. Sorry, that’s what happens. Where reptiles, it’s a different density, they all sink and you’re going to all find them in a strata together. And this is very simple physics and I think people that refuse to see that, there’s just a bias. But everywhere you look you can see evidence of a global flood, a great catastrophe.
Jeff: Okay.
Pastor Doug: You know there’s a book we can send you. It’s “When Evolution Flunked the Science Test.” We’ll send you a free copy of that if you would just call and ask for it. Thanks a lot for your question, Jeff.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number, Jeff, 1-800-835-6747, asks for the book “When Evolution Flunked the Science Test,” and that’ll give you additional information about how that the Bible is trustworthy. Our next caller is Bridgett listening on the internet from Virginia; Chesapeake, Virginia. Bridgett, welcome to the program.
Bridgett: Hi, how are you?
Pastor Doug: Good. How can we help you tonight?
Bridgett: Yes, I was asked a question today. It said, where can someone find in the Bible a story about angels coming to earth and the angels were so taken by the beauty of these women on earth that they slept with them?”
Pastor Doug: It’s Genesis…
Bridgett: Do you have anything like that?
Pastor Doug: Yeah, Genesis chapter 1--I’m sorry, Genesis chapter 6; verse 1. Let me read it for you, “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them; that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair”--fair meaning beautiful--“and they took them wives of all which they chose.” Now this is a misinterpretation for people who think that these sons of Gods were either aliens or angel or devils. If you read later in the Bible, for instance, First John chapter 3; verse 1, there the apostle says, “Behold with manner of love the father’s Bestowed on us, that we should be called Sons of God.” And if you read n Luke chapter 3, when it goes through the genealogies, it refers to Adam as the son of God. There were two groups of people in the world in Genesis 6: Cain, the wicked brother who killed Abel, he had taken one of his sisters as wife and he had left; he had left Adam and Eve and his other brothers and sisters, and he went off and basically turned his back on God.
Cain and all of his descendants were called the sons of men. They were earthly, they were not following God. Adam and Eve and Seth, their other son, and their descendants, they continued to sacrifice and trust in God, they were called the Sons of God. Those who believe in the Bible, through the Bible, are called the Sons of God. When the descendants of Seth, and Adam and Eve began to intermarry with the daughters--Cain had beautiful daughters, but they were wicked. When the descendants of Seth began to intermarry with the beautiful daughters of Cain, then it says the wickedness of the earth was great because they had lost their distinction. And after that, Noah’s flood comes. It was not aliens or devils or angels that were having intimate relations with humans. That is a very common misinterpretation of this verse.
Bridgett: Well, thank you so much.
Pastor Doug: Well, thank you. I appreciate your question. And we get that periodically, but I know a lot of people--they start reading through the Bible, they run into that and they hear some-- some even paraphrases do a really strange job with this verse. I appreciate your question, Bridgett.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Our next caller is Ezekiel listening on WGSE from Lake Placid, Florida. Ezekiel, welcome to the program.
Ezekiel: Thank you guys. God bless you guys.
Pastor Doug: Yes.
Ezekiel: I’ve been pastoring in a little church here in Lake Placid and I’ve been approached by these people about the feast days. And they use two Scriptures: 1st Corinthian chapter 5; verse 8 and Acts 18:21. And they say that Paul was keeping the feast days, this was long after Jesus went to heaven. So I need some help here, guys.
Pastor Doug: Alright. First of all, your friends that are quoting you 1st Corinthians 5:8, they need to go back one verse, and that really helps explain it all. Sometimes we read a verse without getting the verse before or after and you need to read things in their context. “Purge out,” Paul says--this is 1st Corinthians 5:7--“Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you might be a new lump; as you are unleavened. For even Christ, our Passover is sacrificed for us.” Now, in the Passover, the old Jewish feast, they used to offer a lamb; and they were worried about the physical leaven. But now, the leaven Jesus tells us is sin. We’re not to have sin. He talks about purging out the old leaven and we don’t sacrifice lambs any more. Christ is our sacrifice. And part of that old covenant was also physical circumcision. But in the New Testament--matter of fact, even Moses told us that was the symbol--says “Circumcise, therefore the foreskin of your heart; it’s to be a cutting away of the callous in the heart. And so there should be tenderness in the heart.
And all of these feasts met their reality in Christ. Now, the reason you see Paul keeping a feast in Acts is because first of all, Paul was a Jew, he’s trying to reach Jews. And Paul was the one--maybe Pastor Ross will help me find this--where he says, “I become all things to all men that I might reach some or save some for Christ.” When Paul was among the Greeks, he would use some of their poets and he quote from their resources to reach the Greeks. When he was working among the Jews, he would try to accommodate the Jews. Matter of fact, Paul even recommended, after all that Paul said about it not being necessary to be circumcised. Paul encouraged Timothy to be circumcised, so it would not be an obstacle to working with the Jews. And so Paul made all kinds of adjustments to reach people as long as it did not require adjusting or compromising the truth.
Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s 1st Corinthians chapter 9; verse 22, the verse you quoted.
Pastor Doug: Right, where Paul is saying, “I become all things that I might save some.” Yeah, and there are several verses there. Another…
Ezekiel: 1st Corinthians chapter 9--I’m sorry.
Pastor Doug: Go ahead, say that again, Pastor Ross.
Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s 1st Corinthians chapter 9; verse 22, and right around 23.
Ezekiel: Okay.
Pastor Doug: So that’s why Paul was keeping the Jewish feasts. He was doing that when he was trying to reach Jews. And for us to keep the feast days today is really absurd because part of that required going to Jerusalem and going to the temple and it involved animal sacrifice; and there is no temple in Jerusalem and we do not believe in the animal sacrifice. Jesus is our sacrifice. You know, we’ve got a book that we’ll send you on that, Ezekiel, and it’s called “Feast Days and Sabbaths.” You know, if a person wants to keep one of the feast days, great. That’s up to them. They can try and gather some of the spiritual benefit from that. But to go out and require other people to keep these ceremonial Sabbaths--well that’s why Paul says what he says in Romans 14 and in Colossians chapter 2. That’s where you apply those verses. Hey, I appreciate your question. We’ll send you that book “Feast Days and Sabbaths.”
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number is 1-800-835-6747, and ask for “Feast Days and Sabbaths, and we’ll be happy to send that out. Thanks for your call, Ezekiel. Our next caller is Monty listening in WDQN from Illinois. Monty, welcome to the program.
Monty: Hi.
Pastor Doug: Hi, how can we help you?
Monty: Well, I know I’m not associating about denominations, so I won’t. But I was fair to say I am a Sabbath day keeper.
Pastor Doug: Okay.
Monty: I agree with most of the viewpoints that I’ve heard expressed here on the radio today. In fact, all of them. But there is something, however, I’m wounded about. My church doesn’t observe dietary restrictions and as some observers do. You know, in Mathew 15, Jesus says, “It’s not what goes into the mouth but what comes out to defile a man.” You know, all through the Bible, Jesus fed people with fish, Isaac loved venison, (Unintelligible) son they killed the fat calf for--you know, and the children of Israel who ate quail, when they…
Pastor Doug: Alright, is your question is it wrong for Bible Christians to eat animals?
Monty: No. Well, you know, some denominations like half vegetarian and you know, in a lot of 1st Timothy chapter 4, I’m trying to figure it out how’s that biblical?
Pastor Doug: Alright, well, first of all, let’s take it right there and we’ll go to 1st Timothy 4 and that’ll be a good place to start. And let me just say on the record there is no command in the Bible that says that people in this world cannot eat the clean meats. There are a number of commands in the Bible that say that, “Bible believers, if you’re going to follow God, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, you’re not to eat what the Bible specifies as unclean food. And those are, you know, most of them are abominable things that nobody would ever think of eating like skunks and vultures and cockroaches rats and of course, there are some people in the world that eat some of those things. But the question really I think you’re asking is about eating meat in general. And that is true that Jesus ate fish, and God sent quail.
Keep in mind, God first gave the Israelites bread. They began to lust after the flush parts of Egypt and because they were lusting, He gave them quail, and the Bible says, “They ate so much that they got sick. And a great plague came upon them and it came out of their nose.” So it wasn’t His original plan. God, because of the hardness of our arteries, I’d like to say, allows us to eat meat but it’s not His plan. In heaven, we will not be killing animals and eating them. And it was not the plan in the Garden of Eden. The original diet that God had for man was a vegetarian diet. But once again, we’re going to--where is it, 1st Timothy chapter 4--yeah, 1st Timothy chapter 4; verse 1, “Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;” “Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;” “Forbidding to marry”--alright, let’s stop right there, it’s talking about a group in the last days that would forbid to marry.
Well, there are some churches that forbid their priests to marry even though the Bible says nothing about that. And commanding to abstain from meats which God has created to be received with thanksgiving, of them that no one believed the truth, right? So this church is commanding to abstain from meats which God created to be received, which means a specific variety to be received with thanksgiving. There are some churches that say, for instance, “You’re not supposed to eat certain things at certain days of the week.” Well, that’s kind of strange. And then He goes on and says, “For every creature of God is good.” Now, he specifies which creatures he’s talking about, the ones which are created to be received with thanksgiving. “For every creature of God is good and nothing is to be refused.” “Ah,” some are saying, “Well, there you’ve got it, Pastor Doug, God says it’s okay to eat anything.” No, that’s torturing the verse. If you take it at that value, that would mean that God doesn’t care what we put into our bodies and every parent cares what their kids put in their body.
No parent would ever say, “As long as my children pray, they can eat a banana split for breakfast. Just as long as they pray over it, it doesn’t matter what they eat.” The Bible says don’t be deceived, God has not marked. Whatever you sow, you’re going to reap. And there are some things that are unclean. Notice it says, 4 and verse 5, “It is sanctified by the word of God.” Now these are saying there are foods that are sanctified by the word of God and prayer; it’s not just prayer. We’re to thank God for the food but it is to be sanctified by the word, don’t be eating things the word calls unclean. When that sheet full of creepy crawly things came down out of the sky in Peter’s vision--Acts chapter 10--God said, “Arise and eat,” Peter said, “Lord, not so I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” Even after three repetitions of that vision, Peter never takes anything out of the sheet and eats it. And God told Peter that is his way of saying don’t call the Gentiles unclean because I want to reach them.
Anyway, I’ve given you a really quick answer, Monty, and I apologize. We would recommend that we’ve got a lesson that talks about God’s free health plan that covers some of these things. And we’re going to try and squeeze in one more question, Pastor Ross, before we hear the background music.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Alright, our next caller--our last caller then, for this evening Marsha, calling from Dearborn, Michigan. Marsha, welcome to the program.
Marsha: Oh yes, hi Pastors, Pastor Doug and Pastor Ross. How are you doing this evening?
Pastor Doug: Good. But we’ve just got a quick question.
Marsha: Yeah, okay, thanks for having me on the show. And how can a person witness for Christ without being taken advantage of? Is that possible or sometimes, should you just allow yourself to be taken advantage of?
Pastor Doug: Well, you know, even Jesus said, “Do not cast your pearls before swine; and don’t give that which is holy to the dogs.” You want to invest your time and your energy in trying to reach people that are going to be responsive. Some people are sort of a black hole that will just take advantage of you, their hearts are not soft, they’re not being open or receptive to the gospel, they’re just trying to use the kindness of Christians. And, you know, sometimes, you do allow yourself to be used because you don’t want to do it repetitively where a person’s manipulating you. But sometimes you trust a person once you’ll give but you know, you don’t want to become a captive to somebody that just takes advantage of you. And Jesus does talk about, you know, sometimes a person will “sue you for your coat; give them your shirt also.” “And they’ll slap you on one side, and you offer the other.” But you’re not supposed to go through your days letting one person keep slapping you over and over. You know, I’ve heard people misinterpret that.
Hey, listening friends, this is my favorite subject. I could go on and on. But we can’t afford all the air time unless you want to help us. You can do that by going to Amazing Facts and you could let us know you enjoy the program, click where it says “Contact Us.” You can also e-mail a Bible question there. And between now and the next broadcast, go to amazingfacts.com. There’s a hundred other links we can send you to where there’s lots of resources. And remember, that Jesus is the truth that’ll set you free.
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