Pastor Doug: Hello friends. This is Doug Batchelor. How about an amazing fact? Flying squirrels can’t really fly but they're master gliders, easily covering 60 feet in one jump. When motivated, they can glide as much as 200 feet. Before launching itself, the little animal takes a visual measurement. You can see them leaning first one way and then the other, as if computing the distance to its landing target. They need to be extra careful when jumping a lake or a river since it's one of the few mammals who can’t swim. When the flying squirrel leaps into the air, it extends its legs, stretching out the wide flaps of stiffened skin between the front and the hind legs.
This produces the effects of something between a wing and a parachute. While gliding, the flying squirrel can adjust its flaps and move its tail to turn and avoid twigs or to veer around trees. They can even change direction turning 180 degrees in midair. Flying squirrels have a maximum glide ratio of about 3 to 1 meaning a flying squirrel jumping from a hundred foot high tree could fly a distance of a football field. It was the amazing gliding ability of the flying squirrel that inspired sky diving enthusiasts a few years ago, to design a special wing suit that enabled jumpers to glide long distances with some control. Before opening their parachutes, like the flying squirrel, these wing suits have long nylon membranes between the arms and the legs that catch the air when the jumpers’ limbs are out stretched. Terminal velocity of a typical sky diver ranges to 110 to 140 miles per hour.
With a wing suit, human gliders can reduce these speeds momentarily to a velocity of 25 miles per hour. Some suits make it even possible to briefly fly upwards. The suit also enables the wearer to travel long distances horizontally, with a glide ratio of two and a half feet forward for every one foot down. With today's technology, it's possible for a wing suit-flyer starting in 14,000 feet in the air to travel over 10 miles from the jumping position but they still have not developed the ability to turn around in midair or to land without a parachute like the flying squirrel. You know the Bible says making a complete turn is also crucial in becoming a Christian.
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: Hello friends. Even though we've been doing this for over 15 years or more, it's always exciting at the beginning of the program to meet new people and to find out what your Bible questions are. This is an international Bible study and you're invited to call the toll free number with your Bible questions, just dial 1-800-GOD-SAYS. If you'd like the numbers, that's 1-800-463-7297. Once again, the toll free number 1-800-463-7297. Good chance of getting your questions on tonight's broadcast if you pick up the phone right now and give us a call. My name is Doug Batchelor.
Jean Ross: My name is Jean Ross. Good evening listening friends. And, Pastor Doug, let's start with a prayer.
Dear Lord, we thank you again for this opportunity. We ask your blessing upon the program tonight and be with those who are listening. Father, we need wisdom as we open up Your Word. We ask for the Holy Spirit to guide us in Jesus name. Amen.
Pastor Doug: Amen.
Jean Ross: We were talking at the beginning of the program Pastor Doug about these new types of suits that sky divers used that travel these long distances. And currently they're always developing and trying to come up with some way extending the jump as long as they can and actually have more control in the air in directing where they are going.
Pastor Doug: It's fascinating. I've seen some of the videos they have online of these wing suits and some of the incredible jumps that they've made one jump in 30,000 ft. from a hot air balloon. And they can fly for about 7 minutes with these suits but they still need to have a parachute. Once they jump, they are committed. If they get too close to the ground and forget to open their chute, they're in big trouble. It's like a flying squirrel, if it jumps out over the water, if it doesn't turn back in time, they can't swim they’re done for. And you know in the Bible, it tells us that there's also this very important turning point for everyone if you're going to be a believer, if you're going to follow Jesus. Nobody is born a Christian. You might be born in a Christian home but at some point, everybody must repent of their sins and turn and accept Jesus. You can read about that in Ezekiel 33:11, here he says "'Say unto them, as I live,' says the Lord God, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways for why should you die?'" And you know that is an appeal I think, Jean, that the Lord is making to everybody. There might be someone driving in their car right now or you're just buzzing around the house and you're listening to the radio and God is inviting all of us to turn from the world and spend a life following Him. And then once we choose to follow him, don’t ever turn back again and that's the appeal. And that's our free offer for tonight.
Jean Ross: Our study guide tonight that we're offering is called "No Turning Back," talks about making a commitment to God and sticking to it. It's free. Call our resource line, 1-800-835-6747 and ask for the study guide "No Turning Back." The number again is 1-800-835-6747. And then we go to the phone lines, Rosemary is listening on KFHL from Bakersfield, California. Rosemary, welcome to the program.
Rosemary: Oh, thank you.
Pastor Doug: Evening.
Rosemary: Good evening.
Pastor Doug: And your question tonight.
Rosemary: I know they're really a hard one for you.
Pastor Doug: Okay.
Rosemary: But while I was waiting, I found some other verses that had the same thing. It's Ezekiel 44 and it's verses 2 and 3.
Pastor Doug: All right. Can I read that for everybody?
Rosemary: Yeah, you can.
Pastor Doug: Ezekiel 44:2 and 3, "Then said the Lord unto me this gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it because the Lord, the God of Israel, entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut." And verse 3, you said, "And it is for the prince he shall sit in it to eat bread before the Lord he shall enter by the way of the porch of the Gate and shall go out the way of the same."
Rosemary: Now the question is who is the prince. And also, he is mentioned in chapter 46 verses 2, 8, 10, 12, and 18.
Pastor Doug: Right, there's several references. You know right here, and without doing and exhaust a study in this, I think the Jews that read this verse believed this is something talking about the Messiah.
Rosemary: Oh, really. It isn't capitalize. That's what made me wonder.
Pastor Doug: Right.
Rosemary: What it was referring to.
Pastor Doug: There is a very interesting fact when Christ came the first time. He entered to what we call the golden gate which is the primary gate that led from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives. Keep in mind, of course, that the Messiah is prophesized to come back and his feet will someday touch the Mount of Olives. Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives. Christ entered in through the Golden Gate during the triumphal entry. He ate bread in the city when he had the Lord's Supper. In other words, he did a covenant with bread. He walked out of that gate to the garden of Gethsemane, the golden gate. Then, when the Muslims took Jerusalem, they sealed up that gate and put a cemetery in front of it so they thought they would prevent the Messiah from coming. So some have wondered if this was a fulfillment because it said you know, "No one else shall enter and no man shall enter by it because the Lord, God of Israel, has entered by it." So Christ was the Messiah that entered through that gate. It was sealed by the Muslims, too late.
Rosemary: Oh, yeah.
Pastor Doug: So some have wondered if this was applying to that part of history but I'm just giving you a very thin explanation here so I wouldn't build too much on this.
Rosemary: Yeah. Well because I noticed it was several places close around the 44th chapter.
Pastor Doug: Well you know as you get into the--
Rosemary: While I was waiting, I found it in 46.
Pastor Doug: Yeah.
Rosemary: Verse 2, 8, 10, 12, and 18.
Pastor Doug: One of the keys to the last few chapters of Ezekiel, because he is referring to the final fulfillment of God's plan for His people because later it talks about the tree of life. The leaves are for the healing of nations, a river that flows in to the garden of God so a lot of what you find in Revelation 21 and 22 is first read in the last chapters of Ezekiel. So there are spiritual analogies between you know Ezekiel--keep in mind, there were no chapters when they wrote it-- the last chapters of Ezekiel talks about the fulfillment of God's plan for Israel.
Rosemary: I found it very interesting.
Pastor Doug: It is.
Rosemary: The last chapters of Ezekiel and like a (inaudible 10:27) when they made sure the river that at first it was at the ankles and then the leaves and then the...
Pastor Doug: Exactly.
Rosemary: So, I mean...
Pastor Doug: I appreciate your call. We'd like to give you a copy of our study on the subject of heaven. If you'd like to have a free copy of that Rosemary, we'll send it to you. It’s our study on the...
Jean Ross: "The Colossal City in Space."
Pastor Doug: That's it.
Jean Ross: The number to call, Rosemary, 1-800-835-6747. Ask for the study guide on heaven. It's called "The Colossal City in Space." Michael is calling from Dallas, Texas. Michael, welcome to the program.
Pastor Doug: How are you this evening?
Michael: Doing well. How about you?
Pastor Doug: I'm doing really well.
Michael: I have a question if you don’t mind specifically about marriage and resurrection. And this is a (inaudible 11:19) I was talking to my mother about because we lost my father a couple of years ago and she is still in pain about that reasonably understandable but what we were trying to come up with was in the Bible in Matthew 23, they were talking about the woman who had married...
Pastor Doug: Seven men.
Michael: Seven men and it went on. And what her question was and what my question (inaudible 11:50) at was when we go to heaven, it says that there we would be made like the angels but will we not be paired with our mate that were here on earth.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, that's a good question. I think that when Jesus said that "They neither marry nor are given in marriage." And, Pastor Ross, you might find that verse, it's in, I think it's at least Matthew. It may be in two gospels.
Jean Ross: Matthew 22:25, 26.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, why don’t you go ahead and read Jesus conclusion there about...
Jean Ross: Verse 29 is what Jesus says, "Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God/ For in the resurrection, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage but are as the angels of God in heaven."
Pastor Doug: All right. Now that verb there 'marry or are given in marriage' is the act of marrying. So that doesn't mean that... Let's supposed Adam and Eve, when they go to heaven, I don’t think God hands them their divorce papers. In the case now you know I'm speaking now in permission and not from command, from what I see in the Bible. In the case where you've got husband and wife that have a long marriage, they've got this commitment. They love each other. When they get to heaven, their gonna be best friends. God's not gonna separate them. If you've got a situation where you've got King David and he's got multiple wives or Solomon, they're ultimately gonna be married to the Lord in heaven. They will not have their harem of wives. You see what I'm saying?
Michael: Okay.
Pastor Doug: But there are no new marriages in heaven.
Michael: Oh, okay. That's what was gray and fuzzy to us. We couldn't really come up because I'm telling you when I read that and I looked up at her, I saw the saddest eyes that I ever saw. I said "Look, there's only one person I know that I can call and ask this and clear it up."
Pastor Doug: Yeah, tell your mom not to worry about it. She'll still... [Michael laughs] She'll be able to walk hand in hand with her husband in the kingdom. You see, remember when God made Adam and Eve, he told them to go forth, be fruitful and fill the earth. Well, the earth is going to be filled with the redeemed. So in heaven, they will not continue to procreate or just think about it, after your first billion years of planthood, they'll be overpopulated.
Michael: [laughs] Okay.
Pastor Doug: So ultimately, we're all gonna be married to the Lord in heaven but God is not going to divorce marriages in this life in that life.
Michael: Well, that answers that.
Pastor Doug: All right. Hey, thanks a lot for your question, Michael.
Michael: Thank you so much. Keep up the good work.
Pastor Doug: All right.
Jean Ross: Robert is listening on WMCA from Bloomfield, New Jersey. Robert, welcome to the program.
Robert: Good evening pastors.
Pastor Doug: Evening.
Robert: And my question is concerning Moses--I understand Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, and at the end of like Deuteronomy where he had passed away, it doesn't say that he was resurrected. And supposed he was resurrected to right, he had to be resurrected in order to write those five books, (inaudible 14:52).
Pastor Doug: Well, he didn't write the five books after his death. Moses wrote Genesis through just about the end of Deuteronomy, probably Joshua or one of his scribes finished Deuteronomy where it talks about Moses burial.
Robert: Right.
Pastor Doug: Obviously Moses isn't writing that but Moses wrote those books. Genesis, he probably wrote before the Exodus while he was 40 years in the wilderness. He probably wrote the book of Job during that time. And then he also wrote the others during the experience.
Robert: Let me ask you one of the questions about this. According to Paul, first fruits of the primary (redeemed?) was Jesus. Now Moses would have to be... If he was resurrected at that time, he wouldn't... How would that fit in to him being redeemed permanently?
Pastor Doug: Okay. Well let me... First of all, I think everyone here knows I shouldn't say everyone--most people reading the Bible know about the story where both Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus during his earthly ministry and they're just not, they're not illusions or ghost. They're really Moses and Elijah because Jesus invited Peter, James and John to witness that experience so they were very real. Moses resurrected--of course, Jewish tradition says he was raised the third day. He was buried in Deuteronomy 34:6. Jude in the Bible, in the book of Jude verse 9, it says yet Michael, the arch angel, when contending with the devil, disputed about the body of Moses, evidently, Michael has come to raise Moses. The devil is saying "No, you can't have him because I made him sin." There's not bring against him (railing?) accusation but said the Lord rebuke thee. In other words, I'm coming for him and the Lord rebukes you Satan. So Satan was trying to claim Moses or say he couldn't do it. Now your question is a good one though. If Christ is the first fruits then how could Elijah, Enoch and Moses or at least Moses was resurrected, how could they be raised? Well, Moses isn't the first person resurrected, neither was Jesus. You read in the Old Testament, Elijah resurrected a boy who was dead and his apprentice Elisha also resurrected...
Robert: That wasn't permanent resurrection. I mean the boy later on like like...
Pastor Doug: Yeah, that's true. They both died later. And there's one more resurrection. Someone touch the bones, Elisha came back to life but they all got old and died again.
Robert: Right.
Pastor Doug: But Moses, you're correct, was raised and remained alive. So Enoch, Elijah, and Moses, they have eternal life now. They have...
Robert: But Enoch and Elijah never died. They went to heaven alive.
Pastor Doug: Right but you know the bigger question is not the order of resurrection. The bigger question is how does anybody get eternal life before Jesus has paid for their sins.
Robert: Right.
Pastor Doug: The three of them were already enjoying heaven before Jesus had finished his sacrifice. That to me is a better question. I think they obviously got an advance payment in faith that if Christ would be successful.
Jean Ross: Of course when it says Jesus is the first resurrection from the dead or the first fruit from the grave, it's not only numerical value but also position value. He is first. It's through his resurrection that all resurrections are given. So in the case of Moses, if Christ did not rise from the dead, all of them would have to come back down. [Laughs]
Pastor Doug: That’s right.
Jean Ross: So Moses was his resurrection was in anticipation of Christ resurrection.
Pastor Doug: Yes, Moses was raised and he's... Keep in mind, Moses is also a type of Jesus. Moses said in Deuteronomy, I believe it’s 28, he says "The Lord, your God is gonna raised up a prophet" and you know it's 18. That’s 18. "He's gonna raise up a prophet unto you liken to me." So in many ways, Moses, the great savior, the great deliverer, as a type of Christ. And even in a resurrection, he's a type of Christ. So you know I've got a book that says a little bit about this, Robert. I'll send you a free copy. And it's called "The Two Witnesses," or it's actually, the title, it's "The Glorious Mountain." It deals with the two witnesses in Revelation, Moses and Elijah. We'll send you a free copy.
Jean Ross: The number 1-800-835-6747, that's the resource line and if you'd like to get your call in the program this evening, call our toll free number 1-800 GODSAYS, 1-800-463-7297. We do have a few lines that are still open. The number again is 1-800-463-7297 and you have a good chance of getting your question on the air. Scott is calling from Sacramento, California. Scott, you're on the air.
Scott: Yes, sir.
Pastor Doug: And your question tonight.
Scott: My question is within the confines of Christian home, marriage. What does the Bible say about birth control?
Pastor Doug: Good question. First of all, Jesus does say "If any man is gonna build a tower, let him sit down first and count the cost unless he begin to build and he's able to finish and everyone mocks." With the family, God wants us to plan meaning, obviously, you shouldn't have more children than you can adequately support and train and mentor 'cause that's your responsibility. People are not, we're not rabbits to just to see you know if we can proliferate. Children are considered a blessing and I know that there are some churches that say that you should just have as many as you can have. But I don't believe that any birth control biblically should be used that terminates a conceived seed or conceived baby.
Scott: I agree with that.
Pastor Doug: If birth control is used to prevent the conception, that's different. I mean that could be anything from abstinence to or take your pick but, yeah, you know everybody see too many cases where folks have more children than they can take care but it's a tragedy. That's why I think the Lord wants us to plan.
Scott: Right. Okay.
Pastor Doug: Especially as we near the end of time.
Scott: Right. I feel that it would be detriment to the children that are already there if...
Pastor Doug: Yeah.
Scott: If nothing...
Pastor Doug: That’s right.
Scott: No responsible action is taken.
Pastor Doug: That's right. And then you know I believe every child, even if it's unplanned is a blessing and should be cherished and loved. But you know Christ did say to the women as he was on the way to the cross, "Don’t weep for me and weep yourself because the day is coming when they will say, Blessed is the womb that did not bear and the breast that did not nurse." That's a paraphrase but Jerusalem was about to go through a serious time of trouble and Christ said it's probably better to not have children before there's terrible seeds in enslavement that the Romans are gonna cause.
Scott: Right.
Pastor Doug: As we near the very end of time, there's also a great time of trouble coming. And you know people just wanna look at the world conditions as they plan their families and pray for God's wisdom.
Scott: Okay.
Pastor Doug: You see what I mean?
Scott: Sounds good.
Pastor Doug: All right. But I wanna reiterate that once an egg is brought to life, it's conception. Nothing should be done. That’s sacred. That’s human life.
Jean Ross: Our next caller is Max listening on the internet from New York. Max, welcome to the program.
Pastor Doug: Max, you're on the air.
Max: Oh, hi.
Pastor Doug: Hey, how you doing?
Max: All right. Yes, my question comes from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
Pastor Doug: Okay.
Max: And verse 16 but I also wanted to connect with the preachers at the (inaudible 22:21) and the general resurrection.
Pastor Doug: Okay.
Max: And I wanted to know where exactly does that boil in to now. What order comes first?
Pastor Doug: All right. Let me share this with our friends. "For the Lord himself will descend from the heaven with a shout, and with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ will rise first." When Jesus comes back, it seems that there's going to be a special resurrection that will take place just prior to this general resurrection. Now, that's referring to what Christ said to Caiaphas, the high priest, when he said--Pastor Ross is gonna look this up for me--"Here after you'll see the son of man on the right hand of power." And those also which pierced him will see him when he comes. And that's in Revelation I believe, in the first chapter. "The holy comes with the clouds. Every eyeball sees him. They also would pierce Him." In other words, those who are responsible for the crucifixion, they're gonna be raised. Some who have died in the faith of the third angels message, they'll be raised and see him coming. And then there's the general resurrection. Pastor Ross.
Jean Ross: That's Matthew chapter 26 verse 64 where Jesus is responding to the High Priest and he said, “Jesus said unto him, Thou had said,” the question was are you the son of God, Jesus said “Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, hereafter you shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven."
Pastor Doug: So does that answer what you're looking for Max?
Max: Yeah, so basically anyone from Adam's time to let's say 1844 would be resurrected first?
Pastor Doug: No. In the first resurrection will be just as Jesus the glimmers of his coming happens. Those who are responsible for crucifying appears that they're gonna be brought forth to see him coming in glory and as well as those who died in the faith of the third angel's message.
Jean Ross: Another verse for you is Revelation chapter 1 verse 7, "Behold, he comes with clouds and every eye will see him and those also which pierced Him." So there's that special group at resurrection resurrected in response to the question that the high priest asked if Jesus was the Christ. He's gonna be resurrected to see Jesus coming at the clouds of heaven.
Pastor Doug: Yup. So and then of course, the rest of the dead, the wicked normally do not rise until the end of the 1,000 years and that's in Revelation 20. You know what has a lot of this information is our lesson on the Millennium.
Jean Ross: And also the one on the Second Coming.
Pastor Doug: Now we have a book we don't often give away, Max. It's called "Satan in Chains." And we'll send you a copy of that if you'd like. It's called "Satan in Chains."
Jean Ross: The number is 1-800-835-6747 and the book, "Satan in Chains." It talks about that 1000 year period, sometimes referred to as the Millennium.
Race is calling from San Diego, California. Race, welcome to the program.
Race: Hello.
Pastor Doug: Hi. We got about 2 minutes before our break so how can we help you?
Race: Okay, well, I was calling asking about visa cards. Heard those of the 666, the mark of the beast so I went of Google and looked it up. And I think it is.
Pastor Doug: You think--
Race: It turns out VI is 6 in Roman numeral, is it?
Pastor Doug: Yeah, that's correct.
Race: S is at Greek, (stigmite?), it said that's 6, right? And A, our capital A is Babylonian for 6.
Pastor Doug: Well, you know what.
Race: (Inaudible 25:50) they sending us the mark of the beast in the mail?
Pastor Doug: No, I tell you what. They may use, credit cards may be used to control buying and selling. When the mark of the beast is imposed, you realized those that don’t use the mark of the beast can’t buy or sell. We’ve actually got a website that we've just put up, Race. And it's called 666 Truth. You obviously can get on the internet because you have found some of this. There's a lot of things that you're gonna find that add up to 666. As a matter of fact that this website Pastor Ross, I think we've got a calculator where people can type in their names or you can type in VISA and it will tell you what the numerical value of it is.
Race: No, (as a fan?) I know like (inaudible 26:30) or whatever...
Pastor Doug: Why would Visa be the mark of the beast? I'm just wondering why would Visa be the mark of the beast and not Master Card or American Express.
Race: I don't know. Good question. I don’t know our lesson about you know what I'm saying, Christianity I just... I was flipping through the stations and I heard about the Bible talks (sounds like?) why don't we ask my question cause I didn't ask anybody about that for a while and everybody just agrees with me.
Pastor Doug: Well, I'm glad you did call with your question. You're right that there is the mark of the beast is out there. If you go to that website, you'll find out what it is.
Jean Ross: Let me give you one more phone number. If you call this number Race, you could receive our study guide entitled "The mark of the Beast." And it goes into detail about what the mark of the beast is.
Pastor Doug: What the number means?
Jean Ross: What the number means. It gives you the references. The number is 1-800-835-6747, 1-800-835-6747 and ask for the study guide entitled "The Mark of the Beast." And they'll be happy to send that out to you.
Pastor Doug: Absolutely. What are we doing for time? We got oh just about a minute and a half. You know...
Jean Ross: Tell us a little more Pastor Doug about that 666 website that you just spoke about.
Pastor Doug: If you type in we have something that's become very popular on You Tube. And so for our friends, if you do a little search on you tube and just type in 666 revealed. 666 revealed. It will take you to about a 3 minute you tube video clip that has a lot of amazing facts about the number 666. And why there's a lot of confusion about it. And then it will direct you to the 666truth.com website. And boy, there's a lot of information there that it will reveal what the number means and who is the beast and much, much more. And I hope you pass this on to your friends as well. Get a pencil handy and we could give out not only phone number for free resources, the phone number for your Bible questions 1-800-GODSAYs, we give out a lot of websites. We see this radio program once a week as an opportunity to be a fountain of information where you will have things to watch and listen to and read all week long. And you can find most of that by going to the mother ship website amazingfacts.org. We’ll be right back.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Pastor Doug: Just a reminder, if you've joined us somewhere along the way, this is Bible Answers Live. It's a live international interactive Bible study and it's interactive because we want you to get involved calling with your Bible questions. Toll free number 1-800-463-7297. Keep a pencil handy. We give away some websites a minute ago. I was telling Race called in and asking about 666 and told him go to our website 666truth--it's a dot O R G--I think I said dot C O M. There's so many out there .net, .tv, .whatever. We are .org and that means for a religious organization, .org. 666truth.org is all that information that I was just telling you about. And then another popular website, we have amazingfacts.tv. And more and more people are telling us that they just keep this going in the background and they listen to the evangelistic sermons. A lot of what amazing facts does is visual not just radio. Amazing Facts was born in the radio industry but we're still doing radio but we do so much television now. Just go to amazingfacts.tv or go to amazingfacts.com or .org. You'll see our log of live programs around the country that we have. Let’s go back to the phones and see if we can answer as many questions as possible.
Jean Ross: Our next caller is Catrel and he is calling from Huntsville, Alabama. Catrel, you are on Bible Answers Live.
Catrel: Yes.
Pastor Doug: Hi. Thanks for waiting and your question.
Catrel: About my question is okay I know that you know for Christians that (inaudible 32:21) Jesus Christ as their personal savior, they go to heaven. And I know that those who don’t, go to hell. My question is for those that have before Jesus Christ came and after he died on the cross, those that have died were I understand that they have to go to heaven. but well I’m kind of confused that if when God comes back, when He comes back to take us back with Him, those that are still alive, they say people that are dead and Christ shall rise.
Pastor Doug: Right.
Catrel: And go to heaven. so my question is you know what are those souls though they say we also have new bodies, you know when we get to heaven but what happen with those souls who's gonna die.
Pastor Doug: Let me give you a quick overview and I'll do my best. There's a lot of confusion on this subject and don’t feel bad, Catrel, that you're asking this. You'd be surprise how many people are confused. All you gotta do is walk through a cemetery. We used to live in Texas and they've got a church every 10 miles out there and a lot of them are the old ones that have the cemetery in the churchyard. And we would sometimes visit these old churches. And sometimes the churches were close when we walk through the cemeteries and you read a tomb stone. This is a church cemetery and you think they'd know. One tombstone would say 'our dear mother is now singing with the angels.' and the next tombstone would say 'our mother is sweetly resting, waiting for the resurrection triumph'. Same churchyard. They didn't know where mom was. Was she up in the golden heaven on the golden street or were she sleeping and waiting for the resurrection trump. This is what confuses people. While we're in this life, we lived in the dimension of time. We feel the minutes and the hours. When someone dies, saved or lost, they are totally unconscious of time until the return of Christ in the Resurrection. The Bible tells us that when Christ comes, the dead in Christ rise first that means the saved. That doesn't matter if it's the saved from the Old Testament or the saved from the New Testament. If you read in the book of Job 17 verse 13, it says, "If I wait, the grave is my house. And I make my bed in the darkness." So when a person dies, they're reserved in the graved until the resurrection. The dead in Christ rise first. The rest of the dead, Revelation 20--is that verse 5--the rest of the dead live in and out again until after the thousand years. If the righteous rise when Jesus comes, it's the wicked who die, who have died that rise at the end of the 1000 years. But it doesn't seem like that for them. The wicked were raised for judgment and punishment. The righteous were raised to get their rewards but neither is raised before there's some judgment. It wouldn't make any sense to give a person eternal life and say, "Now it's time to be judge." That sort of would be backwards. So a lot of folks have gotten confused. And the saved people are not up in heaven looking down now on the lost. How could mom enjoy heaven? You know, mom dies and she goes to heaven. She's looking down dad remarries a wicked step mother who beaten the kids and she's not gonna be happy up there. So there's several verses also that say that the saved do not interfere or look upon what's happening in this world.
Jean Ross: You know, let me give you a few of those references. You wanna jot them down: Psalms 146 verse 4 says, "His breath goes forth. He returned to the earth in that very day, his thoughts perished." Psalms 115 verse 7 says, "The dead prays not the Lord when someone is in heaven who's died, they're not praising the Lord" according to Psalms 115 verse 17. Psalms 6 verse 5 says, "In death there is no remembrance of thee. Death is like in a deep sleep, time and time again."
Pastor Doug: They just have a dreamless sleep.
Jean Ross: Those who are sleep in the sleep of death. They don’t know what's going on around them.
Pastor Doug: You know what we like to do, Catrel.
Catrel: Okay.
Pastor Doug: We have a study guide that is designed exactly of what you're asking. It's simply called "Are the Dead Really Dead?" And it goes in to what does the Bible say happens when you die, saved or lost. And we'll send that to you for free or anybody out there, if you've got a question on this. Amazing Facts just does this by faith. We think we wanna get the truth out there. If you call the number, we'll send you a copy.
Jean Ross: 1-800-835-6747 and the study guide again is called "Are the Dead Really Dead?" We also have a website, Pastor Doug, dedicated to the subject called deathtruth--
Pastor Doug: Dot com.
Jean Ross: Is it dot com? [Laughs] All right. deathtruth.com. Our next caller this evening is gonna be Antonio calling from Bronx, New York. Antonio, welcome to the program.
Antonio: Yes, thank you. Thank you very much. Listen I have a quick question and it’s also biblical. It's in the Bible.
Pastor Doug: Okay.
Antonio: I just wanna make a say what the do I have you... Do I have to let you know?
Pastor Doug: Your what? Your question, yes, yeah.
Antonio: That Christ died before the foundations of the World and the same thing that goes is gonna be saved are (predestined?) before the foundations of the world? In other words, before God's Christ came to the earth one time. He (inaudible 37:34) the lamb slaved before you know before the foundations of the world Christ died.
Pastor Doug: Now, Pastor Ross, where's that verse in Revelation the lamb slaying from the foundation of the world?
Antonio: That's it. He's telling you this.
Pastor Doug: Now, which verse are you quoting?
Antonio: That's from the Bible. I (retracted?) from there.
Pastor Doug: I know but what verse? Do you have the reference?
Antonio: No. No. but this is where he says that Christ died before the foundations of the world and if God, it talks about ark. It means its pre-destinated before the foundations of the world otherwise, there won’t be no (inaudible 38:10).
Jean Ross: I think the verse that you’re talking about is Revelations 17:8.
Antonio: We would not be ever to be predestined before the foundations of the word as being saved. If Christ did not have died for us before the foundations of the word.
Pastor Doug: Let me get... While you catch your breath there, Let me get a wording here on that, Antonio. When it talks here in Revelations 17:8 about Jesus being slain from the foundation of the world. It’s talking about when the plan of salvation was established. And by the way that's in Revelations 17:8 and there's actually a few references that are related to that. Back in the garden of Eden Christ, committed himself at the foundations of the world to be our sacrifice. You can read about where God gave Adam and Eve skins and that’s in Genesis 3:21, it says "Also for Adam and his wife, the Lord God made tunics of skin." Remember they try to cover their nakedness with fig leaves and God said that won’t work. This is when the sacrificial system was established. Every time they sacrifice a lamb, it pointed to when the day the Lamb of God would come so Christ committed himself at the foundations of the world to be the substitute for man, all the way from Adam to the last man that’s saved.
Jean Ross: And if Jesus did not go through with this promise from the foundation of the world, all of those in the Old Testament times that you know trusted in this sacrifice that the lamb that would come. Of course this salvation, they wouldn’t have salvation so all of those before the cross trusted in a coming sacrifice and today we trust in a sacrifice that has already come.
Pastor Doug: That's right. Peter refers to this and uses this same language in 1 Peter 1:20. He indeed was for ordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in his last times. He didn't die before the foundation of the world. He was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world but it was manifested happened in the last times. And Peter says you know in recent days, this has happened now. So those Scriptures I think helped nailed that down. So Christ was not the sacrifice. He did not die back before creation. Yeah, I appreciate your patience and hope that helps a little. By the way, you would enjoy the book Antonio that we've got “The High Cost of the Cross” and we'll send you that just for asking.
Jean Ross: 1-800-835-6747 and that’s our free resource line and you can ask for the book "The High Cost of the Cross." We'll be happy to send that out to you. Our next caller is Claude listening from Miami, Florida. Claude, welcome to the program.
Claude: Yes. Yeah, my question I sometimes feel like well I'm trying to (inaudible 40:51) I feel some kind of that Adam and Eve did have a choice. And their choice is... we don’t we have a choice. If you live in a nice house and you've got everything you need, you say do not go outside the house. And if you go outside the house, you would be dead.
Pastor Doug: Right.
Claude: Therefore I am go to choose whether now I feel like Christian or not, whether you are for God or whether you've choose God, whether you choose God, anything bad can happen to you or not.
Pastor Doug: Well, you do have a choice. It's like the verse where you started with in Ezekiel 18, he says, "Turn ye. Turn ye." Now why would God plead with us to turn if we have no choice? It would be like talking to a lamp post. And when Joshua says, "Choose he today whom you will serve." When Christ still spreads out his arms and says, "who’s to whoever will." Will means you can choose to exercise your will. You know let them come and take the water of life freely. So yeah all of us have a choice. Sometimes there's certain things we know what're gonna happen whether we choose or not. We know Jesus is coming again whether we choose or not. We don't have choice in that. We know Satan's gonna be destroyed. We don’t have a choice in that. We may not be able to choose who's gonna be the next king is. You know even though we get to vote, we got a little piece of that choice. You know God ultimately raise his people up and puts people down. So there's some areas we don’t have a choice but on a daily basis, we have a choice: In the way we interact with people, in the way we demonstrate Christ, in how we use our time, and how we use our gifts. Does that help, Claude?
Claude: Well, if Adam and Eve didn’t make that choice, I think it would be different so much.
Pastor Doug: That’s right.
Claude: (And for?) us.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, that's right. In our choices affect our children. Right?
Claude: Uhum.
Pastor Doug: So it's still true today that not only our choices affect us, our choices affect others.
Jean Ross: You know we need to think of life, this life that God has given us as an opportunity to choose Him. That's really what it's about. I mean if you choose Jesus and you trust in him and you die, your life has been a success. No matter how much money you've made, doesn't matter how much influence or power you have but if you choose Jesus throughout the long ages of eternity, your life here on this earth in heaven's eyes has been a success.
Pastor Doug: I hope that helps a little bit, Claude. You know our offer that we're giving away for this program tonight about "No Turning Back," it'd be perfect. It talks about the choices that we can make.
Jean Ross: That's right. The number to receive that free resource, 1-800-835-6747 and ask for the study guide "No Turning Back." We would be happy to send that out to you. Next caller is Jamica calling from Chicago, Illinois. Jamica, welcome to the program.
Jamica: Thank you.
Pastor Doug: Hi and your question.
Jamica: Yes, my question is on remarriage. It's pretty straight forward from what I read but I just have a question from something that I read, I didn't consider before. It was saying on Mark 10 verses 11 through 12.
Pastor Doug: Right.
Jamica: Anyone who divorce this and marries another woman, any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman, commits adultery against her.
Pastor Doug: Now, there's more to it. You can actually read in Matthew, he adds something that is very important. that’s Matthew chapter 5:31, Christ says "whoever divorces his wife, let him give a certificate of divorce but I say whoever divorces his wife for any reason except" that's very important, Christ explains there's an obvious exception, "except sexual immorality." In other words if a man violates the marriage's vows with another woman, that woman has grounds for, biblical grounds for divorce. And if that wife does the same, that husband biblically has grounds to divorce and to get a new beginning but obviously you know if a man abandons his wife and kids and moves in with someone else and that wife has been a consistent Christian, she has no choice. And someone says, "You know I really don’t like your cooking or you snore at night or whatever" and decide that "I'm going to look for a woman." That man if he ever does divorces his wife, the law of the state might recognize it. Now they’ve got no fault divorce. You can get divorce for anything these days. And if he remarries, the Bible says he's committing adultery.
Jamica: How about those that the woman has, I don’t wanna call it a right but does a woman have that thing really to divorce because it always specifically says when a man...
Pastor Doug: Yes, let me give you another example. Jesus also says if a man looks on a woman with lust in his heart, he committed adultery in his heart. It stands to reason that woman are also capable of that and that would still be true, correct?
Jamica: Yeah.
Pastor Doug: So Christ always does things in the masculine, the Bible is written in a patriarchal perspective. So it always does everything from the perspective of the man except you know when you get the 10 Commandments, it says "Honor your father and your mother." But it always starts with the father generally. And it traces the genealogy from the father. So don’t read too much into that. It was also true that if a man was unfaithful that woman had biblical grounds for divorce and most Protestants Church had accepted that today. A pastor in the church will support that if a woman's husband has been philandering, he's got biblical grounds for divorce.
Jamica: Thank you for clearing that up.
Pastor Doug: All right. Thank you. And by the way, I like to always add that doesn't mean they have to get divorce. You know a lot of people have experience some unfaithfulness in their marriage and the husband and wife, usually with prayer and counseling and they can redeem those relationships. So don’t think automatically it means that you have to get divorce. So I just wanna make sure and clarify that. We do have our study, talking about "Keys to a Happy Marriage." We'll be happy to send you one.
Jean Ross: The number is 1-800-835-6747 and the study guide "Keys to a Happy Marriage." Kailey is listening from San Diego, California. Kailey, you're on Bible Answers Live.
Kailey: Hello, Pastor Doug.
Pastor Doug: Hi.
Kailey: My question is from Isaiah 45:7, it says, "I form the light and create darkness: I make peace and create evil, I the Lord do all things." Why does it say the Lord God create evil?
Pastor Doug: Well in Hebrew, they understood that God makes everything. And when it says that God create evil there, he's talking about judgments that come. It doesn't mean that God... Well, let me give you another verse that explains that. James tells us every good and perfect gift comes from God. If you look at the Genesis story, it says God is good. Everything he made, it says it was good. Even Jesus says only God is good. So when it talks about I make evil, he's talking about the judgments that came because of their sin.
Jean Ross: The word 'Evil' also in the original there can be referred to as bad experiences.
Pastor Doug: Calamities.
Jean Ross: Calamities that happen. It's not talking about your selfishness but rather it's talking about these judgments.
Pastor Doug: Yeah and God didn't even make a devil. God made a beautiful angel who chose to become a proud and rebellious and a devil ultimately.
Kailey: Right.
Pastor Doug: So God doesn’t make anything evil. It's talking about God will sometimes send4 a judgment because of evil. And in that sense you know and even (inaudible 48:49) company will call it sometimes an act of God, calamity from God.
Kailey: And is it bad to eat cheese?
Pastor Doug: Is it bad to eat cheese? Well, it's not a sin because they eat cheese in the Bible but I tell you, you're better off... You know if you eat a lot of cheese--A couple of principles. Now I’m getting out my realm of Scripture right here. A couple of principles. One principle is a fact of health that the fewer animal products you eat, the better off you will be. You don’t get cholesterol from a peanut. I remember seeing a bag of peanuts on the airplane. It says it's cholesterol free. They almost made it sound like other peanuts have cholesterol. You only get cholesterol from animal product. And the other point is I had, a second point, what was it about? Oh yeah, cheese isn't really good for you. It can clogged up your digestive system but, yeah, a little bit.
Jean Ross: You know, Pastor Doug, we have a health magazine called "Amazing Health" which Amazing Facts has just published that deals with principles of health.
Pastor Doug: And Bible principles. we have a lot of Scripture for Bible principles. People are shocked to learn how much the Bible says about the nutrition. As a matter of fact, most of these natural healing institutes based on their program on the 8 principles in that magazine when they’re trying to reverse diabetes, obesity or heart diseases or even cancer. The natural remedies always point back to the Bible principles of healing which pretty simply are nutrition, and exercise and water and sunshine and rest. What am I forgetting?
Jean Ross: Temperance.
Pastor Doug: Temperance.
Jean Ross: Trust in God.
Pastor Doug: Trust in God, yeah. We got to get that--
Jean Ross: All the way to get that, you can go to the Amazing Facts website.
Pastor Doug: to order--
Jean Ross: From the website. Our next caller is Tony and he is calling from Michigan. Tony, welcome to the program.
Tony: Okay.
Pastor Doug: You're on the air, Tony.
Tony: What I would like to know if you've been married say 4 to 5 times and you've had one or two child’s from each marriage, is God gonna honor the children from the second to the fifth marriage? Or is he gonna only honor the children from the first marriage?
Pastor Doug: All right. Good question. Let’s supposed that you've got to somebody and they get divorced and remarried and they don’t have biblical grounds and they have an (ogle?) of kids through each of these marriages, does God hold the children responsible? Well, the Bible says that "the son does not bear the sin of the father," that's in Ezekiel, is that 18 Pastor Ross? "Nor does the father bear the sin for the son." But there's an exception. In as much as the bad example of the father can in fact the children. That’s why God says sometimes the children suffer and to the third and fourth generation for the sins of the parents. It’s often true that the children of an alcoholic would be more prone to alcoholism. The children of an abusive father are more likely to be abusive of their children. And so by the bad example, if you're the child of a man that's been married five times, it could jeopardize your understanding of marriage. But other than that, God does not hold the children accountable for what the parents have done. You see what I'm saying?
Tony: Yeah but what about where it says that in the beginning before he honored Moses was divorce that it wasn’t meant to be.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, God's original plan was never for divorce. There's a lot of things that God winked at that weren't his plan. God never intended for man to have more than one wife and but yet God made laws about treating multiple wives fairly, not because he approve of it but because they were doing it. God ever intended for divorce because people's hearts were so hard, they have laws regarding it. But God never intended slavery but because everyone has slaves back then, God made laws about treating them fairly and kindness and letting them rest and so forth. So there's a lot of things that God made laws to protect people because of the hardness of people's hearts. You see what I’m saying?
Tony: Yeah.
Pastor Doug: So I hope that helps a little bit, Tony. I appreciate your question. See if we can get a couple more here before we ran out of time.
Jean Ross: Timothy is calling from Benton, Illinois. Timothy, welcome to the program.
Timothy: Hello.
Pastor Doug: Hi, Timothy and your question.
Timothy: Well, my question is about gambling.
Pastor Doug: Okay.
Timothy: There's some people say you know they tell me again that it's not right. And I try to tell them that you know "I don’t believe that because I've done my paperwork’s you know and prayed for to win money and I've been (winning?) more than my pay check you know.
Pastor Doug: So do you think that because you won then that means gambling's okay?
Timothy: Well...
Pastor Doug: What about the people who prayed and lost? Does that mean gambling is wrong for them but it's right for you?
Timothy: I've also prayed and lost for... I've prayed and lost many times. I've also prayed to win I tell you but I didn’t give up my faith and works just because I lost and got disappointed. I said "Oh well you know, you win some. You lose some." It's like well you know that old saying in the Bible. It says, "If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you can say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea and shall not doubt in your heart but only believe that those things that you ask for and praying, you shall receive them" you know.
Pastor Doug: Now, I don’t think when Jesus said that he was talking about gambling. I think he's talking about when you pray according to God's will. There are a lot of Bible principles that speaks against gambling. One of them is that if you make haste to get rich, you'll not be without sin in Proverbs. So when they get money quickly without working, when someone wins money in gambling, what they're doing is taking a small piece of that money. There’s a lot of poor souls who lost. And of course the house, the company that owns the Casino, they're the ones getting home the big money. And you just look at anything you get addicted to. There's a lot of people get addicted to gambling and God doesn’t support that. Keep in mind sometimes the devil can answer our prayer if... I remember one time praying for alcohol, I got it. Well I don’t think that God answered that prayer 'cause I get to all kinds of trouble because of that alcohol. But now, that gambling is not something I think the Lord supports. We've got time for one more.
Jean Ross: All right. Let’s go to Rose and she is calling from Missouri. Rose, welcome to the program.
Pastor Doug: Hi, Rose, you're on.
Rose: I have a question in the book of Genesis when God created a man and woman.
Pastor Doug: Yes.
Rose: And Adam and Eve. Okay. They fall, I mean they sinned. But then when Eve conceived and they have Cain and Abel. And then Cain killed Abel but then God... Cain when somewhere else cause he was punished. And then Cain knew his wife. And I was wondering if Adam and Eve were the first man and woman, where did the people come from?
Pastor Doug: That’s a good question. We get that question probably, well I don’t know once every couple of months but I like to always answer it because people read through the Bible and say "Wait a second here..."
Rose: Okay. Well, I'll hung up and--
Pastor Doug: No, I don’t mean to make you feel bad for asking it. The answer is in Genesis 5 verse 4 after Adam had Seth. The days of Adam were 800 years and he had sons and daughters. IT only mentions to begin with Cain, Abel, Seth, the oldest boys but Adam and Eve also have many daughters. I mean it says all the days of Adam were 930 years and if he was prolific or even fertile even during half of his life, he may have had hundreds of children. So Cain married one of his sisters. And Adam... I’m sorry not Adam. Adam has a sister. Eve and Adam had the same father. Abraham married his sister, half-sister. So it wasn't uncommon back then to do that. It wasn't until the time of Moses that it was forbidden. You can tell friends I'm raising to squeeze in the last part of that answer because we're out of time but we'd love to hear from you. Drop us a line at amazingfacts.org. Tell us if the program had been a blessing to you. And until next time, Jesus is the truth that will set you free.
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