Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hello listening friends. Would you like to hear an amazing fact? Dermatologists tell us that bathing too often may not be good for your skin but obviously not bathing often enough can cause serious social problems. Take for example Amou Haji who apparently has earned the distinction of being the dirtiest man in the world. Believing that washing would make him sick, Hajji who lives outside a village in the Fars province of Iran has not had a shower or a bath in the last 60 years.
Mr. Haji, 80 now, says that he chose his way of life after going through some emotional setbacks in his youth and since then, not surprisingly, he's become a little bit isolated. His clothing appears to be a collection of dirty rags and when he needs a haircut he simply singes his hair with a burning stick. At night, he either sleeps in a hole in the ground which looks very much like a grave, or an open brick shack that some concerned neighbors built for him. He drinks his water from a rusty oil can and his favorite meal is a rotten porcupine. To relax, he sits down and he smokes a pipe packed with dung.
Once a group of young men tried to capture him and give him a shower, but luckily he says he managed to escape. When asked if there's anything he wanted he said, "I'd like to find a wife." Evidently he's not figured out why he's having a problem with that. The Bible tells us about a man who took seven baths in one day, 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: Welcome listening friends this is Bible Answers Live and it is a live international interactive Bible study program. It's interactive because we're encouraging you to call in with your Bible questions. Lines are open now. A lot of lines open. Good chance you'll get your Bible question on tonight's program. Let me give you the number again, it's 800-GOD-SAYS is the acronym because we use the Book of God for our answers. 800-463-7297. One more time, 800-463-7297.
I am Doug Batchelor and tonight Pastor Ross is overseas in Serbia but we've got our good friend Pastor Marshall McKinsey helping out. Yes and maybe you’ll open the program word of prayer for us.
Pastor Marshall Mckinsey: That would be great. Father in heaven, we thank you so much for this opportunity. We have to ask our Bible questions this evening and we just pray that you will guide our thoughts and may you be glorified at all that is said in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
Pastor Doug: Amen.
Pastor Marshall: You know, Pastor Doug, I was listening to that story that you were sharing and it just reminded me of even more so the story of Naaman that you had mentioned and how he needed to bathe.
Pastor Doug: Well you know where we were going being a pastor. The story about, and you find this, friends, in Second Kings Chapter five. The second book of Kings Chapter five talks about a famous general by the name of Naaman who has leprosy and which is a symbol for sin in the Bible and he's dying from it. It's a deadly disease and he has a servant girl in his house that says, "If you just go to the prophet in Israel, that's Elisha the Prophet, he could heal you." So Naaman brings an entourage with money and chariots and he comes into. Elisha says he sends the servant out, the servant tells Naaman, "Go wash in the Jordan River seven times."
Well that really makes Naaman mad and he storms away. He's basically saying you need seven baths and the Jordan River is not even a clean river so when you say you take seven baths in a muddy river, it implies you're even dirtier than the water. He goes away, his pride is wounded but he has to go by the Jordan River to get back to Syria and his servants persuade him, "Why don't you do what the prophet said? What have you got to lose? You're going to die." So he goes and he dips himself seven times in the river and his leprosy is cleansed and he's so thankful, he goes all the way back to Sumeria to thank Elisha. It made me think about, when I read this story about a man who was that dirty.
You’ve traveled in India and other parts of the world and sometimes there are people, who for religiously reasons, don't take baths. Our hearts break for people who do it for poverty and I once lived on the streets and I won't go into it, but I know. I've been there. Anyway, I remember reading about someone that was in a prison of war camp and they were among the ones who were liberated and they had not been able to take a bath in months. They said how long it took them to soak in the tub to get clean.
The Bible talks about that bath of Naaman in the Jordan River is a symbol of where John the Baptist baptized in the Jordan and people were washed symbolically from their sins. I don't know if you've ever thought about what's meant by the internal cleansing that God tells us of in His word. We can be clean. Of course anyone can hopefully get a bath or shower. There is truck stops where you can get a shower, but where do you get the internal cleaning?
We have a free offer that will talk about how can we be clean inside and out. The Bible says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, they will see God" and we have a free study guide. We’ll send anyone who asks and it’ll talk about that purity and it'll also talk to you about baptism and it’s called Power in Purity. The number, if you’d like a free copy, this a different number from the studio, so jot it down. 800-835-6747 and maybe you need prayer.
We have chaplains available to pray with you. 800-835-6747 for our resource and chaplain number. If you want to call in with a question, 800-463-7297 and of course we got gobs and oodles of material at the Amazing Facts website. It's very simply amazingfacts.org. All right. Pastor Marshall, who is our first call tonight?
Pastor Marshall: Our first caller is Warren from Huntsville, Alabama. Warren, you're on Bible Answers Live with Pastor Doug.
Warren: All right. Pastor Doug, Pastor Marshall, how you all doing tonight?
Pastor Doug: Good, how are you doing?
Pastor Marshall: Good.
Warren: All right, my question. Ecclesiastes 10:19.
Pastor Doug: Ecclesiastes 10:19. I'm going there now.
Warren: Right.
Pastor Doug: You want me to read that for everybody?
Warren: Yes, you can read.
Pastor Doug: A lot of our folks are driving down the road and they can't really get a Bible. It says a feast is made for laughter and wine makes merry but money answers everything.
Warren: That last part, "But money answers everything." Explain that.
Pastor Doug: Well, Solomon of course was very wealthy. He had observed that you could probably pay a person to tell jokes and make others laugh and you could buy wine and he saw money. A lot of people, they'll come to the king and they'll be complaining that someone didn't treat them right and the king will say, "Well, what kind of settlement would make you feel better?". "Well, you put it that way, you give me 10 pieces of gold and I'm okay." Solomon just observed that there is so much of the problems that people have with each other can be resolved. They're looking for some financial settlement.
People looking for happiness, they think power and influence can come from money. So, the Book of Ecclesiastes Solomon says everything is vanity, and he's talking about the low aspirations of man. People like to laugh and they like to have a drink and feel merry, but he said what really they're after in the long run is money and the power to buy those things. I guess he even sounds a little cynical there. Does that make sense?
Warren: Yes, it makes sense.
Pastor Doug: It's similar to what Paul said when Paul said, "Money can be the root of all evil." That's what I think Solomon is referring to. He said money answers everything.
Warren: Okay.
Pastor Doug: Hey, appreciate your question. Thank you very much, Warren and we look forward to hearing from you again, God bless.
Pastor Marshall: Our next question is from Chris in Florida. Chris in Florida, you’re on Bible Answers Live with Pastor Doug.
Chris: Hello.
Pastor Doug: Hi Chris, you're on the air.
Chris: Yes, thank you very much Pastor. How are you doing? Thank you very much. My question is simply about when Jesus was born of Virgin Mary, was he a human only or God and human at the same?
Pastor Doug: All right. You're asking a big question about what the Bible defines as a mystery. There are a couple of mysteries in the Bible. The Bible talks about the mystery of iniquity. You'll find also that in Revelation 17, that harlot's got a paragraph on her forehead that says, "Mystery, Babylon." Then you've got the mystery of godliness. Paul said that it is a mystery how God becomes a man. How Jesus could be 100% man? What I mean by that is, when Jesus was a baby, he needed to be fed like a baby. He needed his diaper change like a baby. He needed to learn to walk like a baby. Jesus was 100% human in those respects.
But probably around the time he was 12 years old and he went to the temple, he became aware through the Spirit of God of his divine mission. That's why he told his parents,"I must be about my father's business." There was an enlightenment that happened at some point in his life. There was something divine about him. Jesus was God in Man. The Bible says, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself."
It's difficult for us to comprehend the incarnation. Incarning means the flesh, how Jesus entered human flesh and became a human. How can a person be 100% human and 100% God? That ends up with 200%. It doesn't add up for us but the Bible teaches that somehow God did that in Jesus.
Chris: The reason I'm asking that question is that, someone on the radio said I was raised Catholic. There was a prayer that Catholics say to Mary mother of God that, "Mary mother of God pray for us." He said that there is nowhere in the Bible that says that Jesus, once he was born of virgin Mary was actually God, but only a human.
Pastor Doug: Yes, you don't find the phrase, and Pastor Marshall is here, but I don't think you find the phrase, "Mother of God" in the Bible. As she is always called Jesus' mother. Mary, when she gave birth to Jesus, it was a natural birth as far as we know. Supernatural, in that the angels came, shepherds came and later the wise men came. Jesus, in those respects, he acted like a normal baby. As he grew, he understood his divine mission and he was filled with the Spirit of God. He was anointed with the Spirit of God, that's what Christ means.
It can give people the wrong impression when we refer to Mary as the mother of God. With a Catholic background, you know this, and I used to go to Catholic school, that there's an effort to deify Mary. They pray to Mary, and they make Mary almost like a mini-god. There's a big emphasis on the Mother of God part.
Pastor Marshall: I was just thinking, Pastor Doug. We have two free offers actually that probably deal with this. One of those is, Down from His Glory. The second one is, Christ's Human Nature. You can get those at our resource line. 1-800-835-6747. They're just offers 154 and 703.
Pastor Doug: That'd be perfect. Read those and it goes into the divine and human nature of God. You'll enjoy that, Chris. Thank you for your call from Florida. Who do we have next?
Pastor Marshall: We have Gavino, if I'm saying that right. Gavino from San Antonio, Texas.
Pastor Doug: I bet you it's Gavino.
Pastor Marshall: Oh, Gavino?
Pastor Doug: That's my guess. How are you doing?
Pastor Marshall: [laughs]
Gavino: Just fine.
Pastor Doug: Your question.
Gavino: It's a privilege to speak to you, Doug Batchelor. You were here two years ago, too bad I couldn't meet you.
Pastor Doug: I was in Houston a few weeks ago, but I know that's a little way from San Antonio.
Gavino: No, you were here two years ago in San Antonio for a conference.
Pastor Doug: Right, I know, but I was in your state two weeks ago.
Gavino: Yes. Well, my question is; we know Eve was deceived and Adam chose Eve over God. If Adam would have chosen God over Eve, what would you have done to Eve?
Pastor Doug: Other people have asked that question before, and it's one of those hypothetical questions where I can't tell you biblically this is what he would have done. I know that God is just, and I doubt He would have made Adam experience all of the fallout of sin just for what Eve had done. But then you say, "What would have happened to Eve?" We've got two or three options. The Lord might have activated a plan of salvation for Eve. I don't know. It's a hypothetical question. All I can do is speculate which is worth about a nickle. Several people have asked that and it's a tough question.
Gavino: A lot of people said he would've destroyed her because she didn't carry against the population in her loins or wasn't able to. I'm just curious. You're right, he is a just God. That's a question that will have to be asked in heaven, I guess.
Pastor Doug: Yes, I'm reluctant to say He would have just snuffed her out because He loved Eve as much as He loved Adam.
Gavino: Right, because we were both created equal. Or they were.
Pastor Doug: Then God of course, He was patient with Lucifer when the angels rebelled. He didn't instantly kick them out of heaven. He bore with them and encouraged them to repent. I think He would have done something to try to redeem Eve. I don't know, again I'm speculating so it's hard to say.
Gavino: He would have to spill His blood for her, wouldn't he?
Pastor Doug: Well, if she's going to be saved, they had a penalty for sin. Like I said, we're speculating but it would be pretty rough to say, "Since man sinned, Jesus has to die, but if it's just a woman, they're expendable. We'll just make another one."
Gavino: I pondered on that one. Well, one quick one. We know we experience death as a human race. Do any of the demons experience death prior to Jesus Christ comes back?
Pastor Doug: Because the Bible says that they are spirits and it talks about them being reserved in everlasting chains. I don't think that the devil gets tired and sleeps. I don't think they die a physical death. They will be cast in the lake of fire and exterminated at the end of time, but in Jude and Peter, I think it's Second Peter, talk about them being kept in chains of darkness. But they are conscious. They're bound to this world right now.
Pastor Marshall: That's right. They're reserved all the time.
Pastor Doug: We have a lesson that you might enjoy on that, Gavino, that talks about A Thousand Years of Peace. We'll be happy to send you a free copy. The number if you want to call that is 800-835-6747 and ask for A Thousand Years of Peace. Okay, who do we got next?
Pastor Marshall: Our next question is from Rob in North Carolina. Rob, you're on Bible Answers Live with Pastor Doug.
Rob: Thanks a lot, pastors. I have a general observation in Genesis. After Adam and Eve sinned, an angel was immediately placed at the Tree of Life so they couldn't get to it and become immoral sinners. It seems like they have to eat one time and they're immortal sinners but yet, when you make it to heaven or the earth made new, you have to continually eat from the tree to be immortal. The second part of that is, will Christ himself have to eat from that tree and the earth made new?
Pastor Doug: All right, got some good questions there. First thing, I might respectfully disagree with you. I think even in the garden of Eden that Adam and Eve needed to continue to eat from the tree. I believe that Adam, and he probably ate from the Tree of Life before they ate from the forbidden tree. They may have lived in the garden for months or years. I don't think they were there very long because Eve had not had any children yet and they were told to be fruitful right away.
I think they may have eaten from the tree which could be why Adam and Eve lived hundreds of years and their posterity. Then the life span dropped after that. The vital force ran out. Scientists don't know why our cells degrade. There's something in the DNA of our cells that is missing something. Some essences prevents us from regenerating and we die. If we could continually eat from that tree, I think that we'd have that vitality. They don't necessarily need to eat from it every day, but I think both on Earth and in heaven they would have the privilege of continuing to eat from that tree.
Your next question was, would Jesus need to eat from that tree? I don't think so, because even though Jesus took on human form, if He's the one that makes whatever is in the tree of life, He could just make it into his own veins if He wants to. He is God. He's God as the glorified eternal body now and all things are possible with God. I can't even speculate him starting to atrophy because he didn't get to the tree in time. Anyway I appreciate that, Rob. I'm just hoping I'm there and I can taste the fruit.
Pastor Marshall: Amen to that.
Pastor Doug: Yes. Thank you very much.
Pastor Marshall: Our next caller is Phil in Old Bethpage, New York. Phil, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live and Pastor Doug.
Phil: Thank you very much. Thank you very much for taking my call. It's rather similar to the previous call. The question is, when Adam and Eve were living in the Garden of Eden before they ate the forbidden fruit, was Eden the entire Earth or was it simply another place on Earth like Boston?
Pastor Doug: Well I hope it will look better than Boston. Nothing personal but--
Phil: [unintelligible 00:20:14]
Pastor Doug: [laughs] I used to actually lived in Boston years ago. I believe it was a specific spot because it describes it as between a set of rivers and so it sort of designates a region. It says the Lord planted. After God makes the Earth, he then plants a garden and he gives a place where the garden was planted. He didn't say he made a garden on the Earth. Many people have supposedly gone on these epic quests looking for the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life and the Fountain of Youth. All of that was a race during the time of Noah's flood. It's very likely that the Garden of Eden, this beautiful garden planted by God may been a hundred times bigger than Central Park in New York City.
Was brought up to heaven somehow before the flood destroyed the world because the Tree of Life and the garden is in the New Jerusalem when it descends from heaven at the end of the one thousand years. That's Revelation 21. So you can hike in all over the world, you'll find some beautiful places but you won't find the Garden of Eden. You'll find places that are called the Garden of Eden that are beautiful but it's nothing like what God had planted and we will see it someday. We do have a lesson that talks about the city of God and the Garden of Eden in that city and it's called A City in Space.
Pastor Marshall: That's right.
Pastor Doug: We'll be happy to send that to you if you'd like a free copy, Phil. That number--
Phil: [unintelligible 00:21:44]
Pastor Doug: Yes, it's 800-835-6747. Ask for the study guide The City in Space.
Pastor Marshall: Perfect. Our next question is Shia. Shia's from the Virgin Island. Shia, you're on the air. Bible Answers Live and Pastor Doug.
Shia: Hi, thank you for taking my call.
Pastor Doug: Thank you for calling and your question?
Shia: I called a few last year and I asked a question on about Adam and Eve. About the Tree of Life and stuff.
Pastor Doug: Good. We just had a question on that. How old are you, Shia?
Shia: I'm 12.
Pastor Doug: Good. You called when you're 11, now you're calling when you're 12. And your question?
Shia: I was wondering if it's okay to stay around unsafe family members.
Pastor Doug: Well that's a good question. If you're a believer and you've got some family members that aren't believers, can you stay around them? Well you always want to be able to be a positive influence on your unsafe family because how else are you going to lead them to Christ and witness to them if you're never with them. Sometimes you've got family members that, their language is very bad and they got some bad habits that are pretty unhealthy, and being around them can sometimes be a dangerous experience.
Even though they're family and you love them the experience is so intense, so difficult that you can't take very much of it. You just need wisdom and your parents can give you guidance on that but you don't want to cut yourself off from your family because they don't believe like you. But at the same time, some family members can drag you down spiritually and you can only do it in little doses.
Pastor Marshall: That's right.
Shia: Yes.
Pastor Doug: That makes sense?
Shia: Yes.
Pastor Doug: I know we had that when we were growing up. I'm the only Christian in my side of the family and when we would take our kids, we go visit relatives, it was a challenge sometimes. Because the language and the drinking and [laughs] yes, you had to just have a try and control the environment for a little while and love them all you can and then you had to escape.
[laughter]
Pastor Marshall: That's right.
Pastor Doug: Anyway, thanks for calling Shila. No, Shia.
Speaker 3: Our next call, Pastor Doug, is Denis from Crosslake, Minnesota. Denis, you're on the air. Bible Answers Live and Pastor Doug. Denis?
Denis: Well, thank you. Thank you, Pastor Doug. I have a question about Romans 4:24 about imputed righteousness. Now, do we receive that at the water baptism or baptism of the Holy Spirit and once we have Jesus Christ in us, we are imputed I guess? Do we always have it or couldn't we reject it or he'd ever taken it away from us?
Pastor Doug: Yes, imputing--
Denis: I just wanted your thoughts on that.
Pastor Doug: Sure, let me read the verse for people that are maybe driving down the road. In Romans 4:24, I'm going to read verse 23 too. Paul says, "Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us that had might be imputed to us who believe in him raise Jesus from the dead." He's talking about Abraham and Sarah and Abraham believed God and God imputed.
That means he gave him credit. It's like justification for his faith because he believed God gave him credit for righteousness. Before the boy was even born, based on his faith, he was given credit. By our faith in Jesus and his sacrifice, he imputes or he gives us credit for his righteousness. Now, before we ever do our first good work, Christians who are saved will do good works not to be saved, but because they are saved.
But before we do any good works we receive righteousness as a gift that is imputed to us by faith. Can we lose that? Well if we stop believing, yes. The Bible talks about how we need to abide in our faith and sometimes our faith will be tested. It doesn't mean we've immediately lost our righteousness. Does that make sense, Denis?
Denis: Yes. I always believed that once you were imputed with the Holy Spirit that you are righteous in the eyes of God the Father and if you don't have that righteousness, you're not righteous with God the Father, I guess.
Pastor Doug: Yes, and you're right. That when we have been, we've accepted Christ by faith. He gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit and it doesn't mean that we can never lose faith or never grieve away the spirit because you do find the examples of people in the Bible. It says in Ephesians two, do not grieve the Holy Spirit and King David prays in Psalms 51, "Take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy spirit," because he had kind of grieved the spirit when he sinned with Bathsheba and killed Uriah and all of that business.
It's something that we need to nurture even though we receive it as a gift. Paul said, "I die daily" and Jesus said, "Give us this day our daily bread." Walking with Christ, it's like running the farm, someone said. You start again every day with a new beginning. You have assurance, you got faith but you need to continue to strive to walk with God. Hey Denis, appreciate your question and I have a book. I'll send you a free copy and it's called Assurance, Salvation Made Simple. We'll send you a free copy, just call 800-835-6747. Ask for Pastor Doug's book on assurance. We'll be glad to send that to you.
You hear the tinkling of the music behind us friends. The program is not over. We're going to take a break for some station identification. Probably get a drink of water and we've got Bible Answer lines open. Give us a call with your Bible questions.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Pastor Doug: You’re back, listening friends. Welcome to Bible Answers Live. If you've joined us on the way and you’re wondering what it is, it’s a live international interactive Bible study. You get to call in your Bible questions, and we do have lines open. And here’s the number again, 800-463-7297. 463-7297 dial an 800 first, and that’ll bring your call into the studio. We’ve got several lines open, good chance to get on tonight. My name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Marshall: And mine is Marshall McKenzie, and we’re going to take this call here. This is Cliff, Pastor Doug. Cliff is in Florida. Cliff, you’re on Bible Answers Live.
Cliff: Hi, hey, Pastor. My question is concerning, I’m a little confused on of when Satan is bound for a thousand years. I believe, you teach that he’s bound on the bottom of this pit, this Earth basically. He’s bound on Earth for the thousand years. Is that correct?
Pastor Doug: Yes. The word bottomless pit that you find there in Revelation has confused people. The Greek word there is abussos. It’s where we get the word abyss that we all recognize, same word. The word abyss, it just means in the void. Now, proof for that is there is a Greek version of the Old Testament. In the Genesis of the Septuagint, and it says, “The earth was without form and void.” It talks about the earth being the abussos. And so when it says in Revelation, “Satan is cast to the abussos,” and when the devil said to Satan in the Book of Job, “Where did you come from?” He said, “I came from the earth.” Jesus said, “I saw Satan cast down to the earth,” and you read in Revelation 12, Satan was cast down to the earth.
Where Satan is bound during that 1,000 years on the earth. The reason he’s bound in a special way is the sun goes dark at Christ’s coming, so he’s in darkness. The saints that are alive were caught up to meet the Lord in the air, but the saints that are dead are resurrected. The dead in Christ rise at Christ’s coming. So if all the good have left and gone with Christ, He says, “I go to prepare a place for you. I'll receive you under myself that where I am, you may be.”
He takes us up during that rapture. It says, “The wicked are destroyed by the brightness of His coming,” in second Thessalonians. So if everyone down here is dead and all the good people have been saved and taken out, Satan’s bound here with nobody to tempt. Let me give you one more verse about that. I think you look in Mark chapter -- no, it's actually Luke chapter eight. It’s also Mark chapter five.
These demons, when they were going to be cast out of the man, the demon said to Jesus, “Do not cast us out into the deep or the nothingness,” and the word there is abussos, the same word you find in Revelation 20 for bottomless pit. Why the King James translators got creative and used bottomless pit there is still a mystery. They always think of quarrels, bad caverns or something. Yes.
Cliff: Yes, okay. That makes sense. I guess one thing that’s confusing to me is when he’s loose, it says after a thousand years you could lose [inaudible 00:33:58]
Pastor Doug: Right.
Cliff: The nations are [unintelligible 00:34:00]
Pastor Doug: Yes.
Cliff: -actually tempting if no one’s here. The dead are dead, and we’re in heaven and you lose that there’s a thousand years. Who is he actually tempting or does he just -- that’s what’s I guess I’m confused on.
Pastor Doug: Well, good question. At the end of the 1,000 years, if you read in Revelation 20, it says, “The rest of the dead live not again till the thousand years are finished.” That’s an exact quote from the King James meaning at the end of the thousand years, the wicked are resurrected. The Bible says, “They cover the earth like a cloud.” They’re described as Gog and Magog. Those are the enemies of God’s people in the Old Testament, so the wicked. Gog and Magog are symbols for the wicked in the Old Testament.
Satan now has got this vast army to tempt and manipulate, and he leads them to attack the New Jerusalem. It says, “They launched this attack on the beloved city.” You can read about this also in Zechariah 14. "And then fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them after that wide thrown judgment." So you would really enjoy the lesson we’ve got on the subject of the thousand years, and it’s called A Thousand Years of Peace, Cliff. Let us send that to you. All you’ve got to do is call the number.
Pastor Marshall: And the number, Cliff, is 1-800-835-6747. That’s 1-800-835-6747. It’s a great lesson.
Pastor Doug: Yes. Thank you so much for your question, Cliff. We do have a couple lines still open. 800-463-7297 with your Bible questions.
Pastor Marshall: Our next caller is Rick. Rick, there we go. Rick is our next caller from North Dakota. I believe that is if I’m doing that right. Rick, you’re on Bible Answers Live.
Rick: Hi, Pastor Doug. My question is in First John chapter five, verse six and seven.
Pastor Doug: All right, let me give it a look real quick.
Rick: The question I have is, I don’t know if I can see the forest through the trees here. “This is the one who is came by water and blood in Jesus Christ, not with water only, but with the water and the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three are in agreement.” That’s my question to you. How is the water and the blood testifying?
Pastor Doug: All right. Well, knowing John, keep in mind when he writes about Jesus’ death in his gospel and he talks about the spear pierced in the side of Jesus, he said, “Two distinct streams came from the side,” ostensibly by the heart of Christ, “water and blood.” You read in the Gospel of John, he said, “Unless you are born of the water and the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Rick: Right.
Pastor Doug: When the children of Israel, and this is now First Corinthians Chapter 10, Paul compares the children of Israel being safe from Egypt. They needed to be born of the water, meaning they went through the Red Sea, and they were baptized, and they were born of the Spirit, and the Spirit and the blood are similar. It's talking about born of the fire. There's a pillar of fire, and they went through the water.
Jesus is telling Nicodemus, “You got to be born of both.” Water baptism, we choose. It’s our decision to come to Christ. Spirit and blood baptism, God chooses. It’s through his promise and through the anointing of the Spirit. John is using, when he talks about the water and the Spirit and the blood, he’s using some metaphors. When he says, “They witness on Earth,” he’s talking about the power of the Spirit to transform lives, the washing of how their lives are changed, and the blood.
You’ve heard about the power of the blood that gives new life. They’re at the Last Supper. Jesus gave them grape juice. He said, “This is my blood, and it’s through the blood we’re cleansed.” I’m sorry, go ahead.
Rick: Yes, I guess the other question was in verse six says, “This is the one who came by water and blood.” What does that mean?
Pastor Doug: Well, Jesus came into the world. He was baptized both ways. When Christ, when He began His ministry, He was baptized in water. At the end of His ministry, He was baptized. He went through the blood. You might say not only did He sweat blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, but He shed His blood at the end of those three and a half years.
Rick: I see. Okay. It makes sense.
Pastor Doug: Yes. I hope that helps a little and it is a difficult verse, so I don’t want to be trite with it. John is one of the deepest theological writers here, and he loves using these symbols. Of course, he wrote Revelation, full of symbols, but yes, I think that’s a basic explanation for that. I’m trying to think what we might offer, Rick, that would help a little bit with that question. You know, the study guide on baptism that we started in the beginning, Power and Purity. We’ll send you a free copy of that, Rick, if you’d like. The lesson, Power and Purity, just call the resource line.
Pastor Marshall: The resource number, Rick, is 1-800-835-6747. You just call that number, and you can ask for Purity and Power. They’ll send it to you.
Pastor Doug: Thank you.
Pastor Marshall: Our next call is Kelly. Kelly is calling from Orlando, Florida. Kelly, welcome. You’re on the air, Bible Answers Live.
Kelly: Hi.
Pastor Doug: Hi, thanks for waiting and your question.
Kelly: I have a really odd question. I hate to change the subject of your Bible study. I've been going through a lot of different changes here in my life. When I was a young boy I was taught to love God and I know a lot about Jesus and he died for us. These last few weeks I've been noticing that I'm getting bombarded by evil. I don't know how to handle this. Is there a place in the Bible that I can go to and protect myself, maybe a ward this away? This is to a point where everything around me is turning into, I can feel Satan just crying [inaudible 00:40:55]
Pastor Doug: Feel like you're under attack?
Kelly: Yes.
Pastor Doug: Well, let me tell you. If you look at some of the Psalms and I'll name two or three for you. King David who was chosen by God. God had a big plan for his life but before he became King, between the time he killed Goliath and then became King at 30 years of age, he was attacked on every side. He was forsaken by his friends. His own king and government had a price on his head. He had to hide in the hills and live in a cave and had to retreat to the enemy.
He had his family kidnapped. David really went through some terrible struggles and then yet he's the one who writes, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want," in Psalm 23. "He makes me lie down in green pastures though I go through the valley of the shadow of death." Now, you might be feeling like you're going through that right now Kelly.
Kelly: Yes. It's been kind of rough.
Pastor Doug: It's not death itself but it's got the shadow of death. In other words, it feels pretty bad. Let me tell you another Psalm that David wrote. If you look in Psalm 91, here's what he says, "He who abides in the secret place of the Most High," who he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, "will abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I'll say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress. My God, in Him, I'll trust. He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler," that's some of the captures birds, "and from the perilous pestilence. He'll cover you with his feathers and under his wings, you'll take refuge. His truth and his shield will be your buckler."
I can't read all of Psalm 91 right now. You read Psalm 91 and you'll find a few others in there that give great comfort. You read those and you claim the promises in there and that there's power in the word that even as you're reading it and say, "Lord I believe that, will you put a hedge around me." He gives his angels charge over you to protect you. He'll put a hedge about you but you got to ask him. I think you'll find some encouragement reading the Psalms.
Pastor Marshall: Kelly, just to let you know there's a book that we have it's called Tips for Resisting Temptation. It's a great little book that Pastor Doug did put together. If you just call our resource line it's 1-800-835-6747 and ask for that little book Tips for Resisting Temptation. I think you'll be greatly encouraged.
Pastor Doug: Absolutely. I just want to have a quick prayer for you, Kelly, before we move on to our next caller. Father in Heaven I just could hear in Kelly's heart that he's crying out. He's just under demonic attack right now and I just pray that you'll send angels to surround and protect him and send your good angels. I also pray that your spirit will be in his heart. Give him peace and comfort right now that you're on the throne and though he might feel fowls and they've fallen into the side and he's surrounded by evil, you will never leave him or forsake him because that's your promise. We thank you and pray this in Christ's name. Amen.
Pastor Marshall: Amen.
Pastor Doug: I know there's a lot of other people out there like Kelly. They're going through some trials and through valley of the shadow death.
Pastor Marshall: Lord will give us strength. Our next caller is Joe in Arkansas. Joe, you're on line here. Bible Answers Live.
Joe: Hi Pastor. How are you?
Pastor Doug: Doing good. Appreciate your call and your question?
Joe: Well, earlier in the program you said that God had tried to get Satan and the angels, the fallen angels, through a pit. I was just wondering that does that state that anywhere in the Bible? That was the first time I heard that. I just thought it was a fascinating little tidbit.
Pastor Doug: No, it does not say that. That is speculation on my part but it's based on scripture. The Bible says that God is long suffering. The Bible says he's not willing that any should perish and you look at the mercy in the patience that God exhibited with humans, and then the Bible says we are made lower than the angels. It would surprise me if the first day that Satan or Lucifer was a good angel, then he had his first evil thought that at that point God threw him out of heaven. I'm just using the character of God as my proof that he probably was patient with them before they reached the point of no return.
Joe: [unintelligible 00:45:19]
Pastor Doug: Yes. I'm just looking at the character of God. There's several verses in the Bible that say, "His long suffering, His mercy endures forever. God is patient." It just would be so out of nature for Him to tell Satan and 1/3 of the angels. The first day they do anything wrong says, "You're out of here and you're lost forever and you go into the lake of fire." I'm sure there was a period of probation for them as there is for humanity because God is loving like any parent.
Pastor Marshall: That's it. I was just going to say, God is love so what does that really mean? How far does that go?
Pastor Doug: But I'm glad you called me on that Joe. I got to be careful not to just make those statements. I'm just--
Joe: No, it's great. I really have been enjoying the program. Thank you for taking the time.
Pastor Doug: Thank you. Appreciate your call.
Pastor Marshall: Great. Our next caller is John from Detroit, Michigan. John, you're on the air with Bible Answers Live.
John: Yes sir. I'm a first-time caller. Thanks for having me.
Pastor Doug: Thank you for calling.
John: Pastor, I was going to talk about one thing. It was about having a sense of humor in the Bible and where is that located? I know God gives everything to us and where the sense of Hebrews comes from but something pressed my heart about Kelly from Orlando. Is it okay if I talk about that for a minute?
Pastor Doug: Well, as long as you can frame it in a question.
John: I can.
Pastor Doug: Okay.
John: Let's see if I can do this.
Pastor Doug: I still hope I get a chance to answer your question about laughter because I'd like to.
John: What's that?
Pastor Doug: I still hope I get a chance to answer your question about laughter.
John: You do? Okay. You know what? Because you asked me to form it into a question I can't really come up with a question. I was going to give an answer for Kelly but because you wanted to do the sense of humor thing I'll go back to that.
Pastor Doug: Well, that's okay. I'm hoping you'll keep Kelly in your prayers. We want to encourage him but you also asked a question I think a lot of people wonder about. The Bible talks about avoiding foolish jesting. Some have thought that means that Christians shouldn't laugh. There is a verse that talks about Jesus as a man and this is Isaiah 53, "I think a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," and they say he was a man of sorrows. That must mean he never laughed.
I don't think it's saying that. I think God does tell us to laugh. You can read in Psalm 126:2, it says, "Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with singing and the Lord has done great things for them." When God was doing great things for his people it says they were filled with laughter. You know laughter is not--
John: [unintelligible 00:48:08] might've laughed in the womb during that story.
Pastor Doug: Yes. There's the wrong kind of laughter. Bible talks about the wicked that are, "The laughter of a fool is vanity," Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 7:6 but you can find humor in the Bible. Let me give you a couple of ideas where you might see some samples. When Jesus said, "If you've got a speck in your eye and you say to your neighbor that's got a log in their eye." When I first read that I thought log must be a special spiritual meaning for something. No, it means log.
It means a two by four so here you picture a person that's got a little piece of dust in their eye and they say to their brother, "Look, you got a piece of dust in your eye," and you got a log in your eye and you're trying to help them. There's irony, there's humor there. When Isaiah was mocking the prophets of Baal and he said, "Well, you better cry a little louder. Maybe your God is sleeping. You need to wake him up."
You can see even a little sarcasm there. I do think that we get our emotions from God and they might be corrupted by evil, but I think God sings says in Zephaniah. I think that God laughs and matter of fact there's a Psalm that says God laugh but it's not a good example.
Pastor Marshall: I was just thinking of where a merry heart does good like a medicine.
Pastor Doug: There you go. Yes.
Pastor Marshall: There's healing in that laughter.
Pastor Doug: Yes. You know, sometimes life is so serious and no one's going to want a religion if we're not happy. You know what I mean?
John: Right. I exactly agree, yes.
Pastor Doug: When Jesus rose from the dead, you know what he said to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus? Luke 24, he said, "Why are you talking with each other and you're so sad?" The gospel is good news. Christians should be happy and if we're happy, people are going to want the joy that we have. Of course, we're not talking about frivolous happiness or people telling dirty jokes. We're talking about the pure happiness and the innocence. All right, thanks. Appreciate that John. Good question.
Pastor Marshall: Our next question is Jim. Jim in Yakima, Washington. You're on the air. Bible Answers Live.
Jim: Thank you. Longtime listener. First-time caller but--
Pastor Doug: Thank you.
Jim: Matthew 24, 48 and 41. Should I read them?
Pastor Doug: Sure.
Jim: Okay. "Then there shall be two in the field. The one shall be taken and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill. The one shall be taken and the other left." I always thought I really understood that. I know Tim LaHaye built his whole program I think on those two verses. I don't think I ever read the verse before that. We're talking about in the days of Noah and it says, "And knew not until the flood came and took them all away." So my question is--
Pastor Doug: You're on to something there. I think that these are some verses that have been terribly misunderstood by the Christian world. Everyone just reads these verses by themself and they think two women are in the field. One is raptured and one is left behind. Two men sleeping in a bed, one is raptured one's left behind. Two men working in the field, women grinding at the mill so forth. I think that the ones are taken away. Here you've got to be very careful because it says the flood came and took them all away.
Now in the Jewish mind when you're in the Promised Land and you were planting your fields and you're baking bread and you're resting in your bed, that was good. That was the sign of peace and happiness. When the enemy came, they took you away. The children of Israel were taken away to Assyria. The people of Judah were taken away to Babylon. That was a punishment when they were taken away. The flood came and took them away and then the disciples asked the Lord, "Where are they taken?" And Jesus said, "Wherever the bodies that's where the vultures are."
The ones taken away in judgment, he says that's where the vultures are. The idea this whole left behind scenario that's used for this verses is I think, a very gross misapplication of the verse. Very simply, the three examples Jesus gives, women sleeping in a bed, working in the field. Matthew, I think, only mentions two. Luke mentions the men sleeping in a bed too. They have symbols in the Bible. Sleep is a symbol for death. Jesus said our friend Lazarus is asleep.
When Christ comes, there's two kinds of people asleep. The dead in Christ and the ones who are not in Christ. You've got a woman represents a church. The bread they're working with is the word of God. You got true and false. There are two women in Revelation. One is saved, one is lost. You got men working in the field. Jesus tells the parable that the sower is sowing the field. He's doing mission work. The seed is the Word of God. He's got several parables on that theme. You get different kinds of mission work out there.
You get the true and the false. Jesus, I think, is just basically saying there's two kinds of people. One is going to be judged. You've got the wheat and the tares, one is lost one is saved but you don't get a secret rapture. I believe that we're going to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, but I don't think it's a secret. You don't get a secret rapture from these verses. Can I send you a free book on that subject, Jim?
Jim: Oh sure.
Pastor Doug: I've got a book that's called Anything But Secret. You just got to make a phone call. They'll take your address send it to you.
Pastor Marshall: And Jim, that number is 1-800-835-6747. 1-800-835-6747. You can just call and ask. We'll send you the book.
Jim: Anything?
Pastor Doug:: Anything But Secret, it's called. Yes, and it addresses these verses. I think you'll enjoy it. Thank you Jim. We're going to try and squeeze in one more caller before we run out the clock here.
Pastor Marshall: Carol from Sterling Heights, Michigan is our next caller. Carol, you're on the line with Bible Answers Live.
Carol: Thank you. First-time caller.
Pastor Doug: Thank you.
Carol: I want to know if Jeremiah 29:11 is taken out of context if we try to apply it to our lives today. Is it just meant for the people that he said it to? Which was, "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to give you hope and a future to prosper you." Can we say that applies to everyone out of context or is it just for those people that he was talking to in the Bible?
Pastor Doug: I believe that verse is for everyone. When God makes a promise to ancient Israel. We get to claim those promises because if you look at the next verse and God says, "You will search for me and you'll find me when you search for me with all your heart." That's not just Jews, that's everybody. Jesus said," Seek and you'll find." And so the verse before that is God says, "I've got good plans for you." He wants you to be in heaven, Carol.
That's not just the Jews right? He says, "I've gone to prepare a place for you." The promises that God made to Israel, Paul said those promises belong to us if we believe them by faith. Because Paul says, "If you are Christ's then you are Abraham's seed." So you get to claim these promises as a child of Abraham. See what I'm saying?
Carol: Yes.
Pastor Doug: The Bible says he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and the Gentiles are grafted into the promises of Israel through Christ. That doesn't mean the Jews are excluded. Anyone who believes is included. The promise that God made through Jeremiah to Israel, He said, "I've got good plans for you. I want to bring you back. I want to prosper you." God has good plans for us if we follow him. He promises to bless us. You'll also read that at the beginning of Deuteronomy chapter 28.
Carol, thank you very much for your question. Pastor Marshall, I don't think we'd be able to do anybody justice in the minute that we've got left for the live calls. Now we do still have some amazing facts to share with you through the rest of this program, friends. Don't change the dial just yet. I want to just appeal to you before we sign off here. What we do here during this one hour during the week is just a fragment of what Amazing Facts has available 24 hours a day around the world.
We have a television program, AFTV. You can watch anywhere you get the internet all the time. We've got a kaleidoscope in our Bible library. Just go to amazingfacts.org. Lots of materials, videos. YouTube us, Facebook us. A lot of material to grow you in your faith. God bless. Till next week we'll talk again.