Hello friends this is Doug Batchelor. How about an amazing fact? Among the ancient Aztecs red dye was considered more valuable than gold. That is because to acquire this bright red color it required the labor of hundreds of subjects to comb the desert in search of its’ source; the tiny female cochineal beetle. One pound of this red dye extract required about a million insects. Equally amazing back in the days of the Roman Empire a pound of royal purple dye required four million mollusks shells. After the arrival of Cortez in the 1500 the Spaniards traded the dried remains of this insect as a color that died items a bright crimson.
This red cochineal dye was stronger than any before known and crested a brilliant color that no one else could duplicate. So after its discovery Europeans used it everywhere from fabrics to illumination in addition to cooking and in the years that followed Michael Angelo used it in paintings. The British and the Navy used it for their red coats. It is even thought that the first flag made by Betsy Ross had cochineal red stripes. Today less expensive synthetic dyes have replaced it. But it is still used as a natural FDA coloring for food, drugs and cosmetics. In fact as strange as it sounds some brands of fruit juice uses red bug juice as a coloring. The story of cochineal red gets even more fascinating.
The Spanish traders never told the Europeans of its insect origin because the little beetles looked so much like seed it was traded as grain. For almost three hundred years the Spaniards perpetuated the notion that dye in the grain was their permanent process for this crimson dye that never faded and that’s where we get the English term ingrained. Did you know that the Bible teaches us we can wash red stains with red blood and get white robes? Stay with us friends we are going to learn more as “Amazing Facts” brings you this edition of “Bible Answers Live”.
[PROGRAM INTRODUCTION]
Pastor Doug: Welcome friends lines are open if you want to call in with a question do it now. 1-800-GOD-SAYS or 1-800-463-7297 and my name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Dick: And my name is Dick Debit. Good evening Pastor Doug.
Pastor Doug: Good to see you we missed you and hope you had a nice Thanskgiving.
Pastor Dick: I did and you?
Pastor Doug: Quiet and it was nice.
Pastor Dick: I haven’t seen you for at least a month Doug>.
Pastor Doug: I know I have been in Tennessee and been traveling a little and it is good to be back around the table and studying the Bible.
Pastor Dick: Let’s pray together as we usually do. Father in heaven “Thank you” and we praise you LORD because you are our God, our LORD and our Savior and our Redeemer, and because you have given us this opportunity to open God’s word and intently look and listen. And we pray that your Holy Spirit LORD will speak clearly to us tonight and speak to our listeners as well to Pastor Doug and to me that we may share your word LORD and that we may grow and that we may mature so that we may spend eternity with you when you come. We thank you and praise you for this opportunity. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Doug: Amen.
Pastor Dick: Well Pastor Doug this is a fascinating little amazing fact about these little strange bugs and their red juice. I don’t think I am ever going to drink anything red again.
[Laughter]
Pastor Dick: And I love that pink grapefruit juice. It is my favorite.
Pastor Doug: That is probably natural and some of these are kool-aid like.
Pastor Dick: Oh okay maybe.
Pastor Doug: The red dye that they use. I wonder if some of it isn’t made by the cochineal beetle. But, evidently by the time they pulverize it, it is natural. But, it was such a powerful dye that can you imagine more precious than gold? And they were taking a million of these tiny insects that they would get off from the prickly pear to produce one pound of the dye.
Pastor Dick: But, you’ve got a spiritual application here, don’t you?
Pastor Doug: Well there is a mystery in the Bible and it talks about the righteous around the throne of god. It says they washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and they make them white. And of course red is a color of crimson and is a symbol for sin in the Bible. We read in Isaiah Chapter 1: 16 that wash yourselves and make yourself clean. Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, defend the fatherless, plead for the widow and come now and let us reason together saith the LORD. Thou your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Thou they be red like crimson; they will be as wool. Sin is often symbolized as crimson.
Matter of fact in Revelation the two women one represents the true church and is clothed with white light. The other one is clothed in scarlet. And people know of course that he church that is clothed in the white is God’s church. Many have wondered then if that is true then who is one is this woman who is clothed in this scarlet crimson? She has evidently got her garments dyed with the cochineal dye.
Pastor Dick: Okay.
Pastor Doug: But, a lot of people have wondered about Revelation 17 sometimes forget about the term friends, but identified as the scarlet harlot that you find in Revelation 17 and that is exactly what she is called and you may wonder who is this persecuting power she is called mother of harlots, Babylon and who is that? Who does that represent? Something we have we haven’t offered and I don’t know if we have ever offered it.
Pastor Dick: You know I have been trying to rack my brain. I don’t think we have ever offered “The Scarlet Woman” before in ten years. We have a book folks it’s called “The Scarlet Woman”. And this is an in depth study of who this scarlet harlot is in Revelation Chapter 17. We will make it available to you if you will call our resource operators. “The Scarlet Woman” is our offer tonight; just call our resource operators at 1-800-835-6747 and ask for it. It is an in depth study of who she is.
Pastor Doug: Yes we need to know who she is because she is a very dangerous and persecuting power.
Pastor Dick: That is right. Pastor Doug we have a couple of email questions. As we usually do before we go to the phones. The first one is I don’t understand this person says the reasoning behind or the significance of why Nadab and Abihu’s offering was not acceptable to God and why they were killed. Could you expound on this?
Pastor Doug: Well I think so and you can read in Leviticus Chapter 10: 1 the altar boys of Aaron made out of the Bible; they took their censors and they put fire therein. And put incense thereon and made a strange fire before the Lord which He commanded them not to do. So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them and they died with the Lord. It was pretty severe and people said what did they do and people are wondering. Well evidently they were intoxicated and the priests were instructed to never to use what they called strange fire when they came before the Holy Place; they were to use holy fire. Now what the holy fire was God’s fire came down from heaven and ignited the altar when they first consecrated the temple. They kept that fire going and a matter of fact in many countries they have an eternal flame and I think we have one by JFK and the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and many places there is a flame that they don’t let go out.
Pastor Dick: Right that’s right.
Pastor Doug: This comes all the way back to the Bible time where they kept the fire that had been kindled by God going when they put incense on the coals in the holy place they were to get the coals from the altar in the courtyard. Well apparently they were drunk and they went out into the local campfire and they grabbed some coals and they didn’t want to have to get it from the altar and the first place they were intoxicated and one reason we know that is you can read in verse nine of Chapter 10: 9 “Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:” And that is what happened to them. So it was a combination of their drinking and that is one of the reason we don’t believe in Christians drinking is we are a royal priesthood.
Pastor Dick: Absolutely.
Pastor Doug: We are spiritual as priests and so that was the reason for that severe judgment. There was strange fire and intoxicated.
Pastor Dick: Okay and if you look at it from today’s perspective what would you say is the most dangerous thing here for us? Is it an issue of reverence do you think?
Pastor Doug: Well yes absolutely because sometimes we want to add common fire and common interpretations Peter calls them to what is sacredly revealed.
Pastor Dick: Yes.
Pastor Doug: And instead of letting the word of God interpret itself and going by the faith that was delivered to the saints we want something new and different and so we try to alter what God has established and that’s strange fire.
Pastor Dick: Okay very good and let’s go on to our second question. After researching why people keep vigils all night in church the person says I find no command from God for us to keep vigils. The only time God commanded to keep a visual was the night of the Passover. So what is the Bible stand on vigils? This is especially important during the Holiday season. Where churches will hold all night vigils and so what is it?
Pastor Doug: Well there is certainly nothing wrong with the churches participating in an all night prayer meeting. If there are people spending the night in prayer sometimes it is done in repentance. David when he sinned he laid before the Lord seven days. There are cases where when Ester went before the King Ahasuerus it was for repentance, but it was the humbling of themselves and fasting and praying to save the Nation. They prayed and fasted three days with no water or food. And so there are times because of urgency we may spend an entire night in prayer. Jesus prayed all night when He went into the mountain before He had ordained the disciples He prayed all night. So it does come up on occasion and there is no command to do it, but when there is s a need for an intensity of prayer that would be the time.
Pastor Dick: So content is an issue there?
Pastor Doug: Yes.
Pastor Dick: Okay very good and let’s go on to our telephone calls. We have quite a few lines that are filled up and we want to open them up and make it available to other people the opportunity to call. For our first caller we will go to Collegedale, Tennessee. Oops I am sorry to Portland, Oregon first and start with Patricia who is listening on the internet. Patricia welcome.
Patricia: Hi I just have two quick questions and then I am going to hang up and listen to your answers. I’m on the internet. Why did God create rubies, diamonds and pearls if He didn’t intend for Christians to wear them? In dealing with my earthly father I am extending my anger towards him because he doesn’t love me. Okay I am going to hang up and listen to your answers. Thank you.
Pastor Doug: Alright and thank you two big questions. I hope I can get them both right. First of all why would the Lord not want us to wear jewels if He made them? Well I believe that God did make them and they are beautiful. We aren’t supposed to assume that all the beautiful things that He made He made for us to put on our bodies to attract attention to our self. There are things that we can enjoy and admire that we don’t necessarily have to put on ourselves. And principally in the Bible jewels also have practical function. Gold is more valuable today than thirty years ago because of its purposes in the computer field and the space industry because it is very valuable. Diamonds because of their durability because they are not only pretty when they are cut they are also used for hard surfaces.
Pastor Dick: They are very strong and good conductors.
Pastor Doug: Yes and so there are practical purposes to a lot of these beautiful things that the Lord made. And usually what give them value are their beauty and their rarity. That is what money is and money is really not supposed to be paper. The paper used to be backed by gold and silver and other rare valuables and so you might ask this question then. Would a person wear money? And why would we wear money? Then this reminds me of something that I have heard before. I don’t know when I talked with some friends of mine that are hunters. They say well if God didn’t want us to eat it why did He make it?
[Laughter]
Pastor Doug: Well that is assuming that God made all the animals for us to kill and devour. He didn’t make any of them for us to kill and devour and I don’t think the Lord made any of these beautiful things other than for us to view and enjoy, but not necessarily to put on our self to wear and attract attention to our self. Now the High Priest of course he did wear these jewels over his heart and there is a practical function there. In that they represented the people of God on the heart of the High Priest. In heaven he will put crowns on our heads, but the difference is; are we doing it or is He doing it? As in I will adorn me. Now I am trying to remember what the second question was about loving our heavenly Father. And I apologize Ii knew I should have jotted that down and I knew that would happen.
[Laughter]
Pastor Doug: But, I forget the question and I am sorry. You’ll have to call back.
Pastor Dick: Alright let’s go on to our next caller and maybe she will call back in. Let’s go to College Hill, Tennessee we’ll talk to Anthony who is a first time caller. Welcome Anthony.
Anthony: Hi Pastor.
Pastor Doug: Hi thanks for your call.
Anthony: Yes. My question concerns Mark 8: 22 through 26 which is a two-fold healing of the blind man and I really don’t understand the reason and I can’t find any context for it so I wondered if you can comment? Can you tell me why Jesus chose to heal the man that way?
Pastor Doug: I will do my best Anthony. Let me read this for our friends in mark 8:22 And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him 23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. 24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.
This healing happened in degrees and you can’t help, but to wonder what is this and mean because usually Jesus can heal someone instantly. At first blush it might look like Jesus didn’t do a thorough job and had to go back and do a second round. People who have Lasik surgery these days and if it doesn’t take the first time then they go back and redo their eyes to get it even more focused. Jesus is perfect and He did not make a mistake there is a reason for this. This man’s eyes being opened is a symbol of the spiritual healing that Jesus does. It usually happens in degrees. When the Lord opens the eyes of someone who has been in blindness if you open them too quickly it can shock them so the Lord often reveals truth in degrees.
It is also significant when it says I see men as trees walking. You know Jesus died on a cross which is a tree. We all take up our cross when we follow Christ. It says in the Bible that we all are to be called trees of righteousness. And again in Psalms 1 those that follow the Lord are like a tree planted by the rivers of living water. And as our eyes are opened we become like walking tress of life. So there is a spiritual aspect to that, too. But, that is the way I have understood It Anthony. Does that help a little/
Anthony: That is great. Thank you very much.
Pastor Doug: Alright. Thank you.
Pastor Dick: Alright thanks for the call. Going to Brooklyn, New York where Daniel is listening on WMCA. Welcome Daniel.
Daniel: Hello Pastor Doug and Pastor Dick.
Pastor Doug: Hi and your question tonight?
Daniel: My question is regarding Revelation Chapter 2: 6 and 15 and I want to know about the Nicolaitans because it says here that Jesus hates their deeds and doctrines. And to me that seems scary that someone could have that. And I just wanted t know my understanding of this is that these are people that taught that the deeds of the flesh has no bearing upon salvation. I wondered whether I am correct in that thinking and where can I find that elsewhere in Scripture to prove that?
Pastor Doug: Well first of all let me tell our friends and read verse 6 of Chapter 2 Revelation. “But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” And be encourage He doesn’t hate the Nicolaitans He hates the deeds. The Lord loves the sinner and hates the sin. Now as near as the scholars can tell Daniel there was one of the Deacons that you find ordained in Acts Chapter 7 Nicholas of Antioch who apostatized also and Pastor Dick also has studied this and he can back me up on this.
He tore a group away from Christianity and by the time of John’s vision they had become a sect in the Christian church that basically was saying since the flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God it doesn’t matter what you do with your body as long as you worship God with your spirit. So this group of people who were calling themselves Christians was living very heathen’s lives. They were living very sinful lives and saying it doesn’t matter what we do in the flesh as long as we serve God with the Spirit and the Lord said twice in verse 6 and also again you find it in verses 14 & 15 that He hates this teaching.
God wants to save us from the sins of the flesh that affect the spirit. And to say that there is no cross over is a deadly mistake. I mean obviously if a person takes drugs that cloud their mind physically they cannot comprehend spiritual truth. And so the idea that there is no link between the spirit and the flesh is a big mistake.
Daniel: So a person could be lost basically if they …
Pastor Doug: Absolutely. Christians who—and there is a lot in the church who believe this today Daniel. They say well as long as I am saved and I have faith in the Lord; how I sin with the flesh is of no consequence. That is the doctrine of Nicolaitans and they are following the church today. And it is a very dangerous teaching and God calls us to the holiness in deed to our lives and our bodies. Present your bodies as a living sacrifice the Bible says in Romans 12. He wants holiness both in our spirits and in our bodies.
Daniel: We should be overcoming all evil that are in our lives.
Pastor Doug: That is right and the way we are living.
Daniel: Thank you very much.
Pastor Doug: Alright and God bless.
Pastor Dick: Thanks Daniel. Going to Huntington Station, New York and Rose is listening on WMCA hi Rose.
Rose: Hi. A couple of weeks ago a group of us had a very heated discussion about this topic and hopefully you can help me Brother Doug.
Pastor Doug: Okay we’ll try to have more light than heat.
Rose: Well what it is about is what the difference between righteousness and perfection is? Because Revelation says in part that those who are filthy let them be filthy still and those who are righteous let them be righteous still. And some believe that when we are made righteous in our selves we are perfected. But, others believe we will not reach complete perfection until Jesus returns and changes us. So are we confusing righteousness and perfection?
Pastor Doug: Well maybe so instead of answering the way you are posing it let me come at it from afresh approach. First of all righteousness is not a complicated word it just means right doing. A righteous person is one that does right. And no matter how you look at it that is the definition of the word. There are two ways that a Christian receives righteousness. First by justification and then by sanctification when we first accept Christ we are justified and declared righteous by Him giving us His righteousness as a gift and the as we walk with Him w are transformed and we learn to do right and that is where it says they learn to do good and cease to do evil in Isaiah 1. There is a story that Jesus shares to illustrate that. When the prodigal son comes home Rose he comes to his father just like he is. And the Father put s the best robe on him. His filth is covered by coming to his Father and he is declared adopted as a son based on the love and acceptance of the Father. But, as that boy prepares for the feast because I am sure he went home and took a bath and do you know what I am saying? Because he was accepted he went into the house and he cleaned up and a robe that is originally given as a covering then becomes your own. Let me give you another story.
When Elijah went to heaven in a fiery chariot when Elijah first called Elisha he placed his mantle on his shoulders and it was to signify his call. But, not until Elijah went to heaven did the mantle become Elisha’s. And it finally did become his and the power was there. So he was declare by faith that he was going to be the prophet and then he became the prophet of Israel. So when we first come to Christ we are saved by faith, but then that faith will produce good works. It is like inhaling and exhaling. You cannot live without inhaling that is the righteousness of God and exhaling is the good works. You have to do one before you can do the other. I don’t know if that made sense?
Rose: I think I understand. But, I am going to have to do some more reading on that.
Pastor Doug: Well to answer your question those who wait until Jesus comes before they seek Christian perfection I think that is a terrible mistake. He is offering the power now to perfect Christian character.
Rose: I understand that—they always say that after we do we have to be perfect before Jesus returns.
Pastor Doug: Well they don’t understand what perfection is. People always visualize some kind of stainless steel robot that is all sterilized when they think of Christian perfection. It just means having our hearts right with God and where we are completely submitted to His will.
Rose: Alright okay. Thank you.
Pastor Doug: Thank you.
Pastor Dick: Rose thanks for the call. A good question and let’s go to Newport, Washington where Nicky is listening on KEEH hello Nicky.
Nicky: Hi.
Pastor Dick: And your question please?
Nicky: Well my question is I have been studying about the tabernacle of old and there is a specific one that came up in today’s lesson that is out of Leviticus Chapter 16: 29 through 31 that talks about the seventh month on the tenth day it is supposed to be a permanent statute for you. And then it is again on 31 it is to be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you that you may humble yourselves and it is a permanent statute. So because it is God’s permanent statute should we still hold that day as a Sabbath day of rest for the Lord? And for the atonement of our sins is it still something that still goes on even though that Christ is now our perfect sacrifice? Does He atone for us on that day?
Pastor Doug: Well again I am not going to answer it exactly as the way you are asking it.
Nicky: Okay.
Pastor Doug: There are two Israel’s in the Bible. You have got the little Nation of Israel and you’ve spiritual Israel. The literal nation of Israel sacrificed physical lambs and they kept these feast days that were only given to them. The Sabbath of the Ten Commandments was given all the way back to Adam and Eve and all men. And Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man not the Jews.
Nicky: Right.
Pastor Doug: So the Nation of Israel existed as a Nation and they had the whole sacrificial system and this was to forever be a part of that. When Christ died on the cross and the veil was torn Christ is now our Passover sacrificed for us. So obviously we don’t keep the Passover the same way and sacrifice the lambs and put the blood above the door because it is entirely different. It is now called the Lord’s Supper. Now instead of going to a temple we have a high priest in heaven. The whole dichotomy has changed for the spiritual church and keeps in mind the literal Jews can be part of the spiritual Israel. I am so if you’re asking do we keep the day of atonement the way we kept it then no we can’t no more than we can keep the Passover because the church now keeps the Lord’s Supper differently.
Nicky: The question I guess is kind of-- see I was listening to a program about Christ’s birthday being December 25th. You know and they brought out that was actually brought forth out of Babylon but they figured that it possible maybe sometime in October from the Sheppard’s to be in the fields.
Pastor Doug: September or October probably.
Nicky: And so that is why I was looking in verse 29 on the seventh month on the tenth day of the month you shall humble yourself not to do any work and knowing that is a separate issue.
Pastor Doug: Well let me give you another Scripture to tie this off.
Nicky: Okay.
Pastor Doug: Yes this is how Paul dealt with it. If you look in Romans Chapter 14 some people apply this to the Sabbath and Paul is actually talking about the Jewish feast days. He says in verse 5 “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. 6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.”
Here he is talking about the Jewish feasts that revolved around eating certain things and keeping certain days, not Sabbath days. He is talking about the feast days and if someone wants to keep it unto the Lord well then let them and I would even say that about Christmas. If someone wants to remember the birth of Christ then fine there is no mandate to do that and we are certainly not told to do it on the 25th of December.
Nicky: Thank you for coming and giving that talk on 04 Revival. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Pastor Doug: Well thanks. We are glad you tuned in. Well friends you can tell we are about to take a break and we have some important announcements Pastor Dick will share in just a few moments and I want to remind you that you need to check our website. Not only for special events and special offers we have, but to reinforce you spiritually we have a whole arsenal of Bible materials that are free. Some you can download and some you can order and pay for. There are programs you can listen to and we want you to be thinking about an upcoming satellite event that we will be doing from Washington D.C. It is called the Prophecy Code. It will happen March 4th through the 26th. There will be more information and go to “Amazing Facts dot org” or “dot com” and check out all the resources we have there and we will be right back.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Pastor Doug: Welcome back for the second half of our program. “Bible Answers Live” and if you want to call in your question call 1-800-GOD-SAYS or 1-800-463-7297. My name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Dick: My name is Dick Debit. And we have a host full of folks standing buy so let’s go right to the phones for this portion of the program and we want to talk with Christella in Tampa, Florida who is a first time caller welcome.
Christella: Hi how are you?
Pastor Dick: Very good thanks and your question please.
Pastor Doug: I’ll be preaching in Daytona Beach next week. Just thought I’d tell you I know it is a long way though isn’t it?
Christella: Oh. Yes it is I’m on the Gulf side.
Pastor Doug: I know it and your question?
Christella: Okay my question is in 1 Corinthians 14 it talks about women being quiet in the church and if they want to know anything they have to go home and ask their husband and if this isn’t binding then how do I explain it as a way for the whole Chapter speaking about speaking in tongues?
Pastor Doug: Well I think first of all that all of 1 Corinthians 14 is sometimes misunderstood. And matter of fact a lot of what Paul is dealing with in his first letter to Corinthians is he addressing bad behavior in church. They were battling in their services in different languages and nobody understood and he had to tell them keep quiet. They were yelling across the church because the men and women did not sit together and women were asking their husbands questions from the balcony while they were down on the floor and that is often how they did it in the Middle East and I know Pastor Dick has been to Africa and I have been to India where sometimes they still separate the men and women.
They were saying rather than cause confusion to ask your husband at home. This was not a mandate that women cannot speak in church. Because you have Anna who is a prophetess speaking in the temple when Christ was born and obviously God inspired what she was saying. You have Deborah who is a prophetess. You have Anna praying and speaking to Eli in the temple of the Lord in 1 Samuel and then they are never chastised for doing that.
So this is not a mandate against women speaking it was counsel against a specific problem that they had there in the Corinthian church.
Christella: And speaking n tongues also?
Pastor Doug: Well speaking in tongues was going on all the time because speaking in tongues were one of the gifts. Tell you what call our resource line and ask for a free booklet on tongues called “Captured by Tongues”. I wrote this book on that and it is a deep study I can’t go over it quickly. You read that and we will send it to you for free.
Pastor Dick: Call our resource operator at 1-800-835-6747 and ask for Christella “Capture by Tongues” and we will send it out to you tonight. Pastor Doug let’s go onto Huntsville, Alabama with Zachary who is listening on WOCG hello Zachary.
Zachary: Hello and my question is it possible for the gospel to be spread through gospel music? Like gospel rap or gospel rock or not?
Pastor Doug: Well let me say this and ask you a question before I answer that. Do you believe there are some types of music and I am not even talking about Christian, but do you believe that there are some types of music that are diabolical and devilish?
Zachary: Well yes.
Pastor Doug: So can the gospel be spread through those types of music?
Zachary: Well no.
Pastor Doug: Obviously the Lord if He wants to and there is a story in the Bible that I think of Zachary where the high priest that condemned Jesus to death the Lord even let a prophecy come through him and he didn’t even know it. So if God wants to He can speak through a donkey. I mean God can speak through rocks if He wants to. I think that is a pun about rock music. God can speak through the stones though if He wants right?
Zachary: Umm-hmm.
Pastor Doug: So I think there is diabolical music and it is very unlikely that God will use a diabolical medium to present a pure message. It doesn’t mean that God isn’t all powerful, but that typically is not what He is going to use.
And so now you are asking me about Christian Rap music and I am of the opinion that a lot of the music that you hear in the church today is over the line between what you would call Godly and what you would call diabolical. There is a line somewhere and you and I just agreed there are two kinds. We all put the line in different places, but in my opinion Rap music is on the wrong side of that line because to me it is very paganistic and it is sync with the heavy accent on the rhythm rather than the words. And can God work through that? Well I am not going to limit the Lord’s ability, but I am not going to look for the gospel there.
Let me ask you another question. Does the apple peel have vitamins in it?
Zachary: Yes.
Pastor Doug: Well if you put the apple peel in the garbage can are the vitamins still in the peel?
Zachary: Yes.
Pastor Doug: Do you want to get your vitamins out of the garbage can?
Zachary: No.
Pastor Doug: Okay sometimes you can surround something good with something bad and yes it might still be good and you might have a few true words that are mixed up with diabolical music, but you can actually dig in a garbage can and get a few vitamins. But, that is not the best place to get your vitamins and do you see what I am saying? And that is my opinion.
Zachary: Yes.
Pastor Doug: Now when you talk about music a lot of it is just opinion, but you asked me. There is no scripture on rap music I am sorry. Alright thank you and by the way we do have a book we cannot give it away, but it does talk about Christian music that is at our website that you can look at and maybe that will give you more Scriptures.
Zachary: Okay.
Pastor Dick: Thanks for the call Zachary. Let’s go next to Orlando, Florida and Calvin is listening on WTLN hello Calvin.
Calvin: My question is kids within a union of marriage. Like me and a friend were having a discussion the other day and I was telling him I have no desire to have any kids. And he was saying that God says we are supposed to be fruitful and multiply. But, I feel I will find me a young lady who feels the same way and maybe she might already have kids and doesn’t want anymore and if we agree as a couple not to have kids.
Pastor Doug: If you agree as a couple not to have kids is there anything wrong with that Biblically? Forgive me for summarizing it.
Calvin: Yes. Thank you.
Pastor Doug: I think that it is a good question. First of all if you feel inclined not to have children it might be good to bring that up to any girl you might date right up front so that you have that understanding because that is an important factor in a marriage. The commandment in the Bible doesn’t say go have children. The commandment in the Bible says be fruitful and fill the earth. Well the earth is pretty full and so I think people as Christians the only purpose for marriage is not procreation. Men and women complement each other. God made woman for Adam not to help him procreate. It is to be a help mate and complete his character. You know men and women think different and together they complement each other and make one flesh an entire whole. It is not a mandate in the Bible that everyone who gets married I believe has to have children because I think that you need to be responsible and in the Bible it says if a man is going to build a tower let him sit down and count the cost.
Calvin: He was saying if I decided not to that I was kind of like blocking what God could possibly do you know. It was kind of like stopping God.
Pastor Doug: Well when you follow through with the natural physical laws that is going to happen with marital intimacy if you don’t do anything to prevent it and you are both healthy there ultimately is going to be children. So to say if the Lord wills that is the reason there is 6 billion people in the world today. It is because it is a natural process. And if you are going to plan your family having children is a tremendous responsibility. You know I got a bill from the county the other day. We got a dog a year ago Christmas and now we are paying for it; they want to renew our license. You mean they don’t even charge me for having human children, but I have to pay every year for my dog. Having human beings is a very big responsibility. And we need to take it seriously.
Calvin: Well is it oaky to take the necessary precautions so that it doesn’t happen?
Pastor Doug: Yes, but I don’ believe in abortion though. So any precautions you take should be simply preventing conception.
Calvin: Okay. Thank you.
Pastor Dick: Thanks for the call.
Pastor Doug: And I say this now by permission and not by commandment and by the way Paul says the same thing and says you might even be better off not to marry when you are being persecuted.
Pastor Dick: That’s right. Let’s go to Tampa, Florida and Willie is a first time caller with a question and good evening Willie welcome to the program.
Willie: Hello
Pastor Dick: Hello. You are on the air.
Willie: Is this—okay yes I used to belong to a church that believes that Jesus Christ is only a man and they use the following verses in John Chapter 8: 40 it says you are a man that told me the truth I heard from God. And in 1 Timothy 2: 5 for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; and then in Chapter 17 of John it says that they may know thee the only true God. Referring to the Father and that was Jesus Christ praying. Yes the question is how can you answer those verses like that when you talk to the members of this church?
Pastor Doug: Well I have no problem with that because when Christ came to earth the Bible says that He laid aside His divinity and he became a man. That is the mystery of God that God among us and at the same time Christ humbling Himself in laying aside His divinity and taking on the form of a man to save men. So when it refers to Him as a man or He prays to the Father as a man He is doing this as our example. It doesn’t make Him less God. Christ is the bridge between man and God because He is 100 percent God and 100 percent man. And you and I can’t figure that out.
Willie: But, in 1 Timothy He was already in heaven and the writer of Timothy said he should have been as one God and one man, but not between one man and Jesus Christ.
Pastor Doug: Do you believe? What do you believe? Do you believe that Jesus is God?
Willie: Well I believe now that I am out of that church, but I still can’t reconcile it.
Pastor Doug: Well let me help you a little bit. First of all I will send you a book I wrote on the Trinity and the book also talks about the Divinity of Christ for free. Would you like that?
Willie: Yes.
Pastor Doug: It is called the “Trinity is it Biblical” you can just ask for it when we get off. And secondarily when you look at the characteristics of God in the Bible Jesus fulfills all of those characteristics. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Well the Bible tells us all things were made by Christ and the Bible tells us God that is going to be our judge and then it is Christ that is going to be our judge. It says worship God only and then we are told to worship Jesus. I mean you go through the definitions of God and it says we have one Savior God. Well Jesus is the Savior.
Willie: Well the other verses they use are well if Jesus Christ is God how comes He doesn’t know the time of His coming?
Pastor Doug: Well because when He was on earth He humbled Himself and became like a man. He was on earth when He said that and I can guarantee you He knows the time of His coming now. But, when He was on earth do you think that He was walking around with all of the knowledge of the Cosmos swirling around in His head? When He was a baby in the manger did He have to learn English or Aramaic like everyone else? In other words He had to learn to walk just like other humans.
Willie: Where did He actually come from?
Pastor Doug: Yes it is Aryan let us give you the phone number to call and we will send you that free book Willie. It is on the Trinity because there is a lot in there on the Divinity of Christ.
Pastor Dick: Call 1-800-835-6747 that is a toll free number call that and ask for the book on the Trinity we will send that to you tonight. After you have had a chance to go through it give us a call back and we will be glad to talk to you some more about it. Let’s go back to Spokane, Washington and talk with Dan who is listening on KTGS. Welcome Dan.
Dan: Thanks for taking my call and I have a question here in 1 John 5: 7 & 8 it talks about the three who bear witness of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and these three are one and inverse 8 it says that they bear witness on earth the spirit, the water and the blood and these three agree as one. I wasn’t real clear on verse 8 where it says on earth it is the spirit, the water and the blood. Can you explain what exactly it is saying in the Bible?
Pastor Doug: Well okay I’ve got it 1 John 5: 8 “There are three that bear witness on the earth, the spirit, the water and the blood. First of all bear I mind that John is doing a play on the Scripture. It says in the mouth of two or three witnesses let everything be established. And so John is saying we have the testimony of three witnesses in heaven and three witnesses on earth. He may be referring to what happened at the cross because John is the only gospel writer who tells us when they pierced the side of Jesus a distinct flow of water and blood came from the side of the heart where Jesus was. About the three witnesses on earth and in heaven he may be referring to what happened at the cross because John is the one who tells us and is the only gospel writer that tells us about being born of the water and the spirit and washed in the blood. And so it is speaking of the spiritual birth and the birth of baptism and the cleansing of blood of Christ. These are the three on earth that change lives. In other words when a person is converted the spirit and baptism and the blood of Christ brings about that conversion. You can look on a person on earth of a person converted and those three things show as a testimony of the power of God. Does that make sense/
Dan: Yes and I sure appreciate that.
Pastor Doug: Alright.
Pastor Dick: Alright Dan thanks for the call. Let’s go next to San Luis Obispo, California and Trudy is listening on the internet. Hello Trudy.
Trudy: Hello it is good to talk to you. My question is about the second commandment where it says you shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heaven above or earth below or the waters beneath. You shall not bow down to them or worship them. What does that mean that you can’t wear a crucifix necklace or have a picture of Jesus in your house or what?
Pastor Doug: Well let me answer starting out by saying what it doesn’t mean. Some people wonder if this means is it wrong to have any kind of a likeness in your home or to own any kind of reproduction. We are surrounded by that typically if you think about it. Any photograph on your wall is a likeness. You know like if you a have a wax flower or a picture or a silk flower that is an image based on this definition. But, if you look in the Bible you can see that it must not mean that beaus God commanded the children of Israel to make recreations of things. In the temple they had carvings of angels on the walls and Moses was commanded to make the likeness of a serpent that people looked at and Solomon put oxen under the laver in the temple of the Lord.
I mean there are many times they did these things and the command never did stop after saying don’t make these things it goes on to say you shall not bow down yourself to them to serve them. All the pagans they not only made all the creations and characters, but they prayed to them all the icons and the paintings and the statues. They made gods out of them and the Lord said don’t make these things and bow to them. Now some religions take a tough stance on this and say to avoid the temptation of praying to an icon or a painting or a statue; don’t even make them and that is a pretty austere way to live and I think it is interesting that when I was with my Russian orthodox friend that they make fun of the Roman Catholics because they pray to statues. Catholics make fun of the Russian Orthodox because they pray to paintings. The Russian Orthodox will carry a painting up and down the street because of the icons. Somehow they don’t see a problem with that. But they will ridicule the Catholics who will kiss the feet of St. Peter’s statue. So you shouldn’t worship either, but if you have a picture up on your wall and even a picture of Jesus I mean you aren’t praying to it.
Trudy: Well I do have this wonderful picture and I actually almost did it with my eyes closed because I felt this overwhelming thing to do and then I painted it and found myself kind of praying and looking at it and kind of thinking and the more I studied the Ten Commandments I thought oh my goodness.
Pastor Doug: No don’t pray in front of the painting.
Trudy: No I took it down.
Pastor Doug: The church I inherited here in Sacramento the architects put a mosaic of Jesus in the front. We have been ridiculed a lot.
Trudy: Well I noticed that even on some shows I watch on Sunday morning and then I also notice that you have a picture of Jesus on the wall behind you.
Pastor Doug: Well I wish we didn’t, but I don’t think anyone is praying to that. But, I am not going to do anything because I haven’t ever caught anyone looking up there and praying to it.
Trudy: Well I wonder. So you can have one but don’t pray to it because that can allow the negative energy through.
Pastor Doug: Yes you know like some people have the stained glass and in every window they pray to the saints in the stained glass. Well that is obviously not right.
Trudy: Right I have one more question and then I will hang up and let you answer and I was wondering what were your feelings or your opinions are about the movie the Passion of the Christ?
Pastor Doug: Oh okay I appreciate that.
Pastor Dick: Thanks for your call Trudy.
Pastor Doug: What are my feelings about the movie “Passion of the Christ”? Well that came in a long time ago because I was at the place of the religious broadcasters and they were in a convention where they played it before it was released and we were with a group of religious leaders so saw the film. And I think that when Hollywood gets a hold of a film and don’t misunderstand; there were parts of it that were extremely moving when you consider the sufferings of Christ. I think it was unfortunate it was in the original language because most people unless they read the subtitles could not appreciate the words that Jesus was saying. And Hollywood always over does anything that they do. Mel Gibson while I commend him for trying to share his love for Jesus with others. He did come from a very Mary-ess perspective because Mary is somewhat deified in the film. Because he is coming from a Catholic’s perspective that is kind of based on a Catholic seer. So it does have a slant to it and that is unfortunate and I don’t recommend it. You know whenever you see something like that there can be some good from it, but it can also distort forever your concepts. But, anyway that is my opinion.
Pastor Dick: Let’s go next to Astoria, New York where Frank is listening on WMCA. Hello Frank.
Frank: Yes I have a question regarding when it says in the book of Revelation and I want to know what the revived Roman Empire is about because—when you were speaking in the early part of the program about the scarlet harlot and I want to know if this has to do with a form of Romanism from the first, second, third or fourth century. And is the Romanism going to overtake the world and end to a Roman system?
Pastor Doug: Let’s let me give you an answer because I think I hear what you’re asking. Let me give you a quick answer on this. First of all you are asking a very big question and Rome who ruled the earth when Christ was born went from being ruled by Caesars to being ruled by the church. It went through a transition and became a State Government religion. During that time there were a lot of compromises that were made in the church in order to reach the pagans. The pagans came into the church and were in doing so brought their teachings with them. And the best thing I can offer is to read the free book we are giving away tonight rather than me trying to tell you everything. The book deals with all those issues you are asking and so Frank I encourage you to get the book “The Scarlet Woman” and anyone who wants to know about the history of Rome both pagan and papal can read for their selves and it will fill you n on those details.
Pastor Dick: 1-800-835-6747 Frank. 1-800-835-6747 is the number to call to get “The Scarlet Woman”. Let’s go next to Linden, New Jersey and Alberto is listening on WMCA. Hello Alberto.
Alberto: Hello. God bless you. My question is about Ephesians Chapter 4: 8 & 9. 8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? My question is where did he descended when he went to the lower parts of the earth because some say he went to hell to preach three fold, but that doesn’t go with Ephesians.
Pastor Doug: Well Jesus said that the same way Jonah was I the belly of the whale he would be three days and nights in the heart of the earth. And of course Jonah went to the bottom of the mountains. Christ drank from the very bottoms of the depths of sin. When it talks about the very depths of the earth it is not talking about Him diving in and going down into an oil well or somewhere down in a dark cavern in the mantle of the earth. It is talking about He came all the way down to become a man that He might bring us all the way up. That is the reason it says he ascended because before he can ascend he had to descend to the very bottom to reach us that is all that is saying.
Alberto: Okay great. Thank you. God bless.
Pastor Doug: Thank you. Are we out of time?
Pastor Dick: We are and I think if we take another call we will cut them off before they can have their answer. We only have about a minute and a half and I think we better not.
Pastor Doug: It is your call Pastor Dick if you feel it is better we don’t a take another call then it is it. Because if we take one and then say we’re sorry we can’t take our question.
Pastor Dick: Yes.
Pastor Doug: We do apologize friends and if we didn’t get to your call we hope you will give us another chance next week.
Pastor Dick: Tell us about your satellite thing in March a little bit.
Pastor Doug: Yes. Friends we have been planning this for a long time and w are going to go to Washington D.C. and do a satellite show. It is specifically focused o helping us to unlock the secret code of Bible Prophecy. And we are going to be talking about the last day Prophecies found in Daniel and Revelations. It is called the Prophecy Code and Unlocking the Mysteries of the Prophecies in the Bible. If you want more information go to the “Net 05 dot org” alright? And then actually you can go and get a link at “Amazing Facts dot org” and register your church for bringing people, to your home to participate in this satellite uplink that will be happening. Just log on to the Amazing Facts” website and keep us in your prayers and remember we are completely faith based. If you send a donation of any size we will send a best of the “Amazing Facts” we have been sharing the last ten years or so. It is great for Bible teachers, pastors and illustrators, but most of all we want you to know that it is all about Jesus who is the truth that will set you free. Be sure to tune in again next week and be sure to go to “Bible Universe dot com”.
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