Hello friends, this is Doug Batchelor. How about an amazing fact? This week will mark the 100
th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, one of the worst peacetime sea disasters in history. The tragedy was compounded by the facts. The Titanic was the largest ship in its day. A behemoth brimming with all the most modern technology, leaving passengers with the expression, it was virtually unsinkable. No one then ever dreamed something so big, new, and sophisticated, would flounder in calm seas on its maiden voyage.
Now by today’s standards the Titanic was small and primitive. For example, “The Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas” launched in 2010, now holds the record as the largest passenger ship ever constructed. This computer controlled modern marvel is almost 5 times bigger than the Titanic based on gross tonnage and internal volume, and it carries 2 and a half times more passengers and crew. But we need to remember that even space age design is subject to human error and the forces of nature. Did you know the Bible speaks of 2 ships that were truly unsinkable? Stay with us friends, we’re going to learn more as Amazing Facts brings you this edition of Bible Answers Live.
[PROGRAM INTRODUCTION]
Pastor Doug: Welcome listening friends to another edition of Bible Answers Live and we’re very thankful that you are tuning in and for the next hour, we’re going to be taking your Bible questions and talking about the Word of God. If you have any questions about the Bible or the Christian life, we’ll do our best to search the resource of God’s Book together and find the answers.
If you’d like to call in with your Bible questions, it’s a free phone call. That number is 1-800-GOD SAYS. If you want to look for the letters on that dial, that’s 1-800-GOD SAYS. If you’re going with the numbers, that’s 1-800-463-7297, and my name is Doug Batchelor and Pastor Jëan Ross is out for the night, and we invite you to call in with your Bible questions. But before we get launched, we’re going to begin with a word of prayer.
Dear loving Lord, we thank You for this opportunity we have to come together on this special day, and to search Your Word and better understand, “what is truth”. I pray Lord, You’ll take charge of every aspect of this program. Bless those who are listening and speaking, and we pray that the truth will be glorified, and we know Jesus is that truth, and it’s in His name we pray, Amen.
Well listening friends, I am glad to be back with you and I have been, some may have noticed, there have been a few guest speakers and maybe some reruns. I have been in Europe for 3 weeks and had just some thrilling experiences there visiting Austria, Germany, several cities in Germany, Switzerland, spoke in Vern, spoke in Geneva, and in France briefly. I’d like to greet our friends listening on Radio 74 broadcasting from France, right on the border of France and Switzerland, and it was good to visit their stations there and see the wonderful work they’re doing. Had some meetings in Geneva, and it seems like about 50% of the people that showed up out of the 500 there, had been listening to Radio 74. So I want to greet our friends and listeners on the other side of the globe.
And, but I am glad to be back and maybe I should say a word about the Amazing Fact I opened with. I think most of us know, that in about a week, it’s going to be the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic and there is a lot going on. The producer of the movie made a recent visit to the lowest point in the oceans, and there is going to be a new re-release in 3D of the movie, books, specials by National Geographic and others are all focusing on the history of this pivotal point in history, when the Titanic sank and it really did represent, sort of the pinnacle of this industrial era, where there was so much change, and it was kind of a glory of the age of the millionaires back then, and people had so much confidence in the ship they thought was unsinkable but it sank.
And when you think about it, it was a gargantuan ship for its day, but now, there are several ships that were much bigger, and are much bigger than the Titanic. And we know, that even with the computer controls and GPS, and sophistication of the modern technology, even today, those beautiful, splendid, elegant ocean liners are not unsinkable. We remember, just in January, on the 13th of January this year 2012, the Costa Concordia struck a rock there off the shore of western Italy and floundered. Just about sank, tipped over in shallow water and 30 people, so far, we know have drowned. I think there are 2 still missing and that of course, it appears, was human error.
So we know that things can happen in the ocean and with people, and what ship is truly unsinkable? Well I teased you a little bit by saying, there are 2 in the Bible I can think of, one in the biggest flood of all, in Genesis 7:17 it talks about a boat that was designed by God. The plans were given to a man named Noah.
It’s interesting that the account of the flood is found in legends all over the world, and that boat was unsinkable in the worst storm that the world has ever seen, and I believe, God had assigned angels, mighty angels, to protect that massive vessel. You can read there that the waters increased and lifted up the ark and it rose high above the earth, and it was preserved through that terrific storm. It was unsinkable because God was watching over that boat.
And then I can think of a little boat in the New Testament, that was likewise unsinkable, and the Devil, I think, tried to sink this boat, you read about that in Matthew 8:23. Now when He, Jesus, got into a boat, His disciples followed Him and suddenly, a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves but He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and woke Him up saying, “Lord, save us, we’re perishing,” but He said to them, “Why are you fearful oh you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm.
That little fishing vessel in the Sea of Galilee was unsinkable, because Jesus was in the boat. The only way to have an unsinkable ship in these turbulent times, in which we are living, is if you have Jesus in your boat. If He is your ark of safety, you don’t have to be afraid of whatever storms might come. Christ promises, If you’re building on the rock of His word, you’re the wise man, and when the storm comes, and the wind blows, and the rain falls, your house will stand, it will be unsinkable because Jesus is in your boat.
Friends, maybe you have some Bible questions and once again, the number is 1-800-463-7297. If you don’t get through on the first try, don’t give up so quickly but with all that, I’m going to go to the phones, and one more thing, our website is, very simply, Amazing Facts. Not fax, it’s facts, like facts, AmazingFacts.org, and we invite you to check out all the resources we have on there.
Alright, we’re going to go to the phones, and be patient with me because Pastor Ross is not here, so I have to do a little bit of octopus work with my laptop and the phones.
Pastor Doug: Enoch, are you on? Calling on the internet from Orlando Florida, welcome Enoch.
Enoch: Hey, thank you for welcoming me. Yeah. I just became recently because of a large inheritance, a billionaire and I was wondering, would it be sinful for me to buy, like a, 2 million dollar car that I really desire, would God consider that sinful?
Pastor Doug: Well, that’s an interesting question. Let me frame that differently. A person should not live outside of their means, and I’m assuming you’re a Christian?
Enoch: Yes.
Pastor Doug: A Christian should not be ostentatious, in other words, you know, you want to do all things to the glory of God. If you can buy a practical, comfortable car, people end up living a lot in their car and so there is some value to having a car that is functional, comfortable, and dependable, but when you start getting into the place where you’re buying a car that will go 300 miles an hour, and the speed limit is only 65 or 70, it’s sort of for show, and then you have to ask, “am I doing this to the glory of God or for, you know, just the attention that I might get?”
And so, you have to ask yourself what’s the principle you’re following and, you know, I’m not condemning somebody who is successful, work hard, they’re wealthy and they buy a little higher quality car. But if you’re getting into the category where the car is mostly show, and its way beyond functionality, then might not be the best investment of means for a Christian.
Enoch: Okay.
Pastor Doug: Does that make sense?
Enoch: Yeah. That makes sense.
Pastor Doug: Yeah. You want to do everything for the glory of God. Well, I pray God gives you wisdom in how you apply what He’s blessed you with.
Enoch: Okay, thank you.
Pastor Doug: Alright, God bless Enoch.
Enoch: Bye.
Pastor Doug: Thank you. And next, we’re going to be talking to, I believe its Germaine, calling from Toronto Canada and did I get your name right?
Germaine: Yes sir.
Pastor Doug: Hey. Welcome to the program.
Germaine: Pastor Doug, I have 3 questions but it’ll be quick. What is the difference between the law of God, the Precepts of God, and statutes of God, I don’t know.
Pastor Doug: Now that is a good question. You know, I can think of the verse that you find in Genesis 26:5, in Genesis 26:5, God says, “Because Abraham obeyed My voice and he kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws”. Now a statute and, sometimes they’re called The testimonies, there is obviously a difference. Of course the Word of God, some of these words, like the Law of God and the statutes of God, you’ll find it’s interchangeable. And I might also recommend Germaine, if you read Psalm 1:19, there is no chapter in the Bible that has more reference to the glory of God, and it calls the law of God by testimony, commandments, statutes, laws, ordinances, it uses, I think every word in the book you can think of, for the various laws of God.
You’ve got the moral law of the 10 commandments, which is written in stone by God’s Finger, and so that is, you know, the bottom line law, that’s the bedrock of God’s Law, and sometimes there were civil laws that could be statutes. They may not apply if you are living by yourself but in neighborhoods and with neighbors in a civil circumstances you'd have those statutes. And then there were testimonies, they might not be as succinct as a law where God says, you know, “Thou shall not commit adultery.”
Sometimes they would elaborate in the testimonies about how to apply a law, like the difference between 1st degree and 2nd degree murder is really given in the Bible. You know, you can have a premeditated murder, and you can have manslaughter, where there is an accidental murder and it tells about the different ways to deal with that. Those would be the testimonies of God, where it’s going into more detail on that so the statutes could be more civil in nature. You had the health laws and there were just, you know a lot of laws that dealt with relationships between people; that went into more detail than just the moral law of the 10 commandments. So I don’t know if I helped make things clear or if I muddied the water but you know, we have a lesson we can send you on the law of God for free Germaine, if you’d like a copy of that.
Germaine: The law of God along with the precepts of the (inaudible)
Pastor Doug: Yeah, well. The law of God can, that word, sometimes can encompass everything
Germaine: Okay.
Pastor Doug: The word law can mean … anything that God commands can be encompassed in that. But the 10 commandment law, when He says it that way, or it talks about the testament, you know, the Old Testament was the 10 commandments written on stone, that’s in Deuteronomy4:9–13. Then of course, the New Testament is the Law of God written on the heart, but it’s still talking about the law of God.
So, tell you what, how about you let me send you that lesson? It’s called Written in Stone and it talks about the Law of God, and I think it goes into more detail. Written in Stone, we’ll send you a free copy, just please call. We just ask that you call the resource number which is different from the studio, that’s 1-800-463-7297 Germaine and ask for the Study Guide, Written in Stone. And we appreciate your call from Canada. Talking next to Roberta, calling from Columbus South Carolina. Welcome Roberta, you’re on the air.
Roberta: Hi Pastor Doug, we are so looking forward to you coming to Lake Junaluska next month.
Pastor Doug: Yes, that’s North Carolina so I’m tickled that you’re going to drive up there.
Roberta: Oh yes, yes, definitely. My question is this, did Jesus ever baptize anyone, and if not, why not?
Pastor Doug: That’s a good question; there is no record that I can think of in the Bible, were Jesus personally baptized, it does actually say that Christ was baptizing more disciples then John, but Jesus himself was not baptizing. His disciples, the apostles were. So, you know, I don’t know why Jesus wouldn’t have baptized anybody but it seems like, once they were baptized by John and called by Jesus, He delegated that to the apostles. So all I can really do is tell you what the Bible says here, there’s no record of Jesus baptizing someone, you do have record of the apostles baptizing. And that’s an interesting question, of course, you know, I’ll tell you why I think Jesus may not have baptized, you still with me?
Roberta: Yes, yes.
Pastor Doug: And I hope I don’t, I hope I don’t say this where people are misunderstanding me. You know, I’m an Evangelist, we do international television radio, I write books and so I’m a little more visible than, maybe a local pastor. Sometimes I go to an area and people who are going to this pastor’s church say “Pastor Doug, I want to accept Jesus but I want you to baptize me” as though there is some value, some additional benefit in having the visible evangelist do the baptizing and it’s almost, it almost takes away from the local pastor, and people think that who baptizes you, matters more than being baptized to the Lord. In other words, if you’re getting married, does it matter who you’re marrying or who conducts the service?
Roberta: Right, right.
Pastor Doug: The conducting of the service, you know, it can be any justice of the peace or pastor, you’d like it to be someone special or a friend, but the big issue is, “who are you marrying?” That’s the big decision. And so sometimes, I think Jesus may have withdrawn from the baptism process because people will think, “Oh, I want the miracle worker Jesus to baptize me,” and they’d be missing the point that, you know, He’d be baptizing then everybody would get in line and say, “I don’t want Peter to do it, I want Jesus to do it.” And so, He may have just delegated that whole business to His disciples to avoid that misunderstanding.
Roberta: I was thinking, that maybe folks that might have been baptized by Jesus would think that, they were better maybe?
Pastor Doug: Yeah, exactly, Paul addressed that, you know, Paul talked about someone who said, “Well, I was baptized by Paul,” “I was baptized by Peter,” “Well I was baptized by Apollos” and Paul said, “That doesn’t really matter, you’re baptized into Christ.” So my thinking is from what I read, Jesus may have delegated all the baptizing to the apostles and certain disciples. You do have an example of at least a deacon baptizing in the book of Acts chapter 8, with Philip the Evangelist. Alright, hey I appreciate that question Roberta. By the way, we do have a lesson that talks about baptism and I don’t know if it addresses that particular issue but it’s called Is Baptism Really Necessary? Anyone that wants to know more about the subject of baptism, we’ll send that to you if you just call the number, 1- 800-463-7297 and we’ll be happy to send that to you.
Alright, thank you Roberta for your call, and that then frees up another line and we’re going to talk now to Loretta who is calling from Savannah Tennessee. Loretta, you are on the air with Amazing Facts.
Loretta: Yes, thank you Pastor Doug, welcome back from Europe.
Pastor Doug: Thanks, good to be home.
Loretta: Well, since Pastor Jëan Ross isn’t there, I’m going to give you an easy question.
Pastor Doug: Okay (Laughing), I appreciate it.
Loretta: My question is regarding the requirements for meat eating with the clean meats. Now I’m vegetarian so it’s not so much an issue for me. My understanding is that, you’re not supposed to eat the blood or the fat and I heard someone talking and they were saying, that based on Leviticus 19, they’re supposed to eat it within 3 days. Now I read that in Leviticus 19:5 and it seemed to be referring more to, just I guess a peace offering And not the eating of meat in general?
Pastor Doug: Yeah. I don’t believe the Lord ever wanted them to eat the fat.
Loretta: Yes. I understand that, and the blood.
Pastor Doug: Yeah. And it says here “It shall be eaten the same day you offer it and on the next day, and if there’s any remains until the 3rd day, it shall be burned in the fire.” So it sound like the first couple of days, they didn’t have refrigeration back then and even the clean food could putrefy if they weren’t careful.
Loretta: Well was that just for the peace offering or is that in general?
Pastor Doug: I think it was a general rule that, of course, the priest could eat some of an offering.
Loretta: Okay.
Pastor Doug: And I think it was a general rule that they were not to keep anything beyond the 2nd day, once it got to the 3rd day, He said you better burn it because …
Loretta: So it was mainly because, and that’s what I was thinking because back then, they did not have refrigeration like they have now.
Pastor Doug: Right.
Loretta: Because you can put it in the freezer and the duplication of bacteria will stop.
Pastor Doug: That’s right, and you know, there is even ways to salt and dry meat both, they did it to fish back then, there’s not really evidence that they were doing that to beef and to goat. But, you know, with the flies laying eggs on the meat, even what we call “Jerky” it was the high risk food, fish not so much.
Loretta: Yes, well I understand that, I guess my question was mainly, basically, is that still a requirement now or was it mainly because of the issue of back then, there wasn’t the refrigeration they have now.
Pastor Doug: No. I would think that a person that’s eating clean food, that if they keep it refrigerated, it can go beyond 2 days.This is dealing specifically with sacrifices and the priest and no refrigeration.
Loretta: Yeah, that’s what I thought; I thought that they were taking it out of context a little bit, they were
Pastor Doug: That would be, yeah, that would be my understanding, if a person said from the time an animal’s butchered, you’ve got to eat it by the end of the second day or throw it away, well a lot of meat in the market doesn’t reach people that quick. So you know, when in the slaughter houses and I don’t want to belabor this but they actually butcher them in refrigerated rooms to keep it, you know, keep the temperature down and try and preserve it because it will go bad pretty quickly if it’s not wrapped up and everything. I’m a vegetarian too but I just want to be honest about that. Hey I appreciate that Loretta, good question and appreciate your calling in.
For our friends, if you have a Bible question, we do have another line opened then and that is call in 1-800-463-7297 with your Bible question. And by the way, you know, I just realized, a moment ago, we mentioned an offer of the free study on baptism and I gave out the wrong number. The number for the study guides is 1-800-835-6747, 1- 800-835-6747. Alright, who’s in line next? I think we’re going to talk to Phil who’s calling from Brooklyn New York listening on WMCA. Welcome Phil, you’re on Bible Answers Live.
Phil: Yes, good evening Pastor Doug.
Pastor Doug: Evening.
Phil: My question basically deals with Job.
Pastor Doug: Okay.
Phil: Its chapter 1, verse 7 – 8, God asked Satan, “Where you coming from Satan?” says “I go back and forth through the earth” right? So I wanted to know, God cannot stand sin so how can God have sin in His presence and not only that, wouldn’t God be suspicious of having Satan in heaven again, maybe to tempt the angels again and have another rebellion in heaven?
Pastor Doug: Well that’s a good question, you know, Job is one of the most fascinating books in the Bible. It doesn’t actually say “Heaven is where they met”, it says, “There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came”. Now it could be that, you know, the Lord migrates though heaven and He meets with the representatives of different worlds or angels and when we talk about sin in God’s presence, if you read in Psalm 1:39 it says “Where can I flee from Your presence?
Wherever I go basically, You’re there. You know Jonah tried to flee from the presence of God, and he basically prayed from a fish’s belly at the bottom of the mountains and God heard his prayer. So God even sees the devil all the time, you know, by the devil going 10 miles closer to heaven, it doesn’t really make a difference, I think that there was probably a time when Satan was evicted from heaven, you read that in Revelation 12. Where this meeting was in Job, we don’t know for sure, and if this meeting is with God the Father or with God the Son, the pre-incarnate Jesus, it most likely, I think was with Christ, before He came to earth. Of course, you know, book of Job is one of the oldest books in the Bible.
Phil: Right.
Pastor Doug: So it’s a good question, sin cannot exist in His presence but we’re physical, you know, we’re consumed by sin, the devil is a spirit, Paul says, “We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers, rulers of wickedness in heavenly places” and you know, you can also read in the book Zechariah where the devil stands before Joshua the high priest and he accuses the high priest to the Lord, and the Lord says, “The Lord rebuke you Satan”.
And then you look in the Book of Jude, I think its verse 9, where, when Michael the Archangel comes to resurrect Moses and the devil wants to stop him or something, he somehow contests that and Michael says, “The Lord rebuke thee”. So, you know, even when God’s in the presence of the Devil or when they have face offs, you know, he’s rebuked.
So, it’s a good question, He’s a Holy God, and someday, Lucifer will be destroyed by the brightness of His coming, all wickedness will be consumed before the Lord. So, let me see, I don’t know if we’ve got, yeah, we can maybe take one more quick question before we go to our break. Talking to John calling from New York, New York listening on WMCA. John, we got just a minute, you there?
John: Yes Pastor Doug, thank you very much for your program, very special insights. I wanted to have a word with you, in connection with the severity of eternal punishment. You know, Jesus said to Pilate at His trial, “That they that delivered Me up to you have the greater sin.”
Pastor Doug: Right.
John: I was hearing you saying that regard to eternal punishment, everyone is gradually burned up and that’s the end of it. But if that is so, where then is the greater punishment? Is there someone like Hitler who killed millions of people and had them suffer is in …
Pastor Doug: Won’t they get a worse punishment?
John: Yes, where is the severity of punishment in the natural life? In this natural life, if I snatched a pocket book, and a man embezzled 10 million dollars, the punishment is different.
Pastor Doug: You know what brother? I agree with you completely, matter a fact, you can also read in Luke 12:48, “he who did not know things worthy of stripes, he’ll be beaten with few” I’m sorry, “he that did not know his masters will but committed things worthy of stripes, he’ll be beaten with few, whoever knew his masters will and didn’t do it, he is beaten with many,” and that’s Luke 12:47, 48. So yeah, there are varying degrees of punishment, and even according to the understanding that I have and many others, the wicked are cast into the lake of fire and they are punished according to what they deserve.
Every man receives punishment according to his works, ultimately, they are burned up. Jesus said, “Fear Him who destroys soul and body in hell.” And I believe that is exactly the way it’s going to happen, everyone is going to get according to what they deserve, and the soul and the body will be consumed in the lake of fire. You’re listening to Bible Answers Live.
Hey John, I’m sorry if I didn’t get to anymore of your questions, we’re going to be taking a break in just a moment. For our friends that are listening, I’d like to also mention, that there is so much more that you can do and look at and participate in at the Amazing Facts website.
If you go to AmazingFacts.org, if you happened to type in Amazingfacts.org, it’ll take you there, we’ve got Bible study lessons, we’ve got videos that you can watch, matter of fact, you might even, sometimes, just go to YouTube and type in “Amazing Facts” and you’ll see that there’s just tons of studies, I think one of our most popular videos is “America in Prophecy”.
And so, just check out Amazing Facts and all the resources we’ve got for your personal study. Now, you hear the music behind me and that doesn’t mean we’re going away; we’re just going to take a break for a few moments and we’ll be back to study with you again, stay on the phone.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Pastor Doug: We are back listening friends and if you’ve tuned in, this is Bible Answers Live and we invite you to call in with your Bible questions, that number, 1-800-GOD SAYS, 1-800-463-7297. If you’re interested in signing up for the Amazing Facts Bible study course it’ll change your life friends, if you, you really want to figure out what’s going on in the world, then you would really appreciate this, I promise you, it’ll change your life, and it’s free, 1-800-835-6747 for the Bible school, 1-800-835-6747, you can even do it online at Bibleuniverse.com it’s in several languages, Bibleuniverse.com. And my name is Doug Batchelor, Pastor Ross is out of town speaking on the other side of the planet and we are going to take some more Bible questions.
Let’s see, I think that Herald, are you ready? We’re going to go to Herald, line 10, calling from Santa Rosa California, Herald? Welcome to Bible Answers Live.
Herald: Hello Pastor Doug, how are you?
Pastor Doug: Doing well, Praise God. And your Bible question tonight?
Herald: My question has to do with our Lord and Saviour being the same in the Old Testament and in the New, and reading to the Old Testament; I actually closed the Bible awhile back, and kind of left for a while because of (inaudible) ordering his fighters to kill men, women, and children. I still have an issue with that, can you help me with that?
Pastor Doug: Well first of all, you are right. Our Lord Jesus is the same and you read that in the New Testament, Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today, and forever” and the God in the Old Testament is the same God you find in the new Testament. Now just to reiterate that, some of the greatest statements of grace are in the Old Testament, and some of the most severe judgements are in the New Testament.
When you get to Revelation, and the 7 last plagues are being poured out, it talks about, you know, men, women, children, everybody who has the mark of the beast or suffering, agonizing judgements from (inaudible) there’s burning heat and all kinds of problems. And so, you know, you can say, “Why would God do that?” Whether the Lord is using an army or He’s using nature.
If God is allowing judgements to fall on people automatically, we need to know, why is that happening? And this is a, you know, it’s a very important question, I don’t want to trivialize it but in the beginning, our planet was kidnapped by an enemy, “the devil”, he is a terrorist. He basically enticed our first parents, namely Adam and Eve to reject God’s Word, and to follow him. And the Bible says, “Whoever you obey, that’s whose servants you are.” When Adam and Eve chose to listen to the devil instead of God, the planet sort of, was enslaved by the enemy. And so this war that’s been going on between those that choose to be redeemed by God, and escape the bondage of circumstances.And the devil and his followers, and God’s people Israel are sort of, they were His camp on the planet, they were to be a nation of priests to reach and to save others. But those that fought and tried to destroy them it was, you know, kill or be killed, and when you think of the Amalekites or the Canaanites, the different nations that fought against Israel, I know God said some pretty severe things. He said, I want you to go and attack this nation and to basically annihilate them.
And you know, you think of a couple of cases, He never really said that with the Philistines. He did say it with the Amalekites, and the Amalekites were avowed enemies of the Lord. God was very patient with them but they, they attacked the Israelites when they came out of Egypt, and they attacked the women and the children and the weak from behind.
Herald: Yeah, yeah.
Pastor Doug: And the Lord said, you know, I’m not going to forget this and the day will come when our nation is strong enough to attack you. And so, it was really national preservation, and I know we would think but, you know, why the women and children, even the animals?
Herald: Right, yeah. That was why I was like wow, it was everything.
Pastor Doug: It is difficult, you know, I just think that, you know, I’ve read some things that seem to imply that the Amalekites were also diseased. That they’d practiced all kinds of unmentionable things, and that they are just racked with disease, and to eliminate that as well as, you know, the evil of their behavior. God just said, “Wipe them out.” I mean when you think about it, when God told Noah and his family to get on the boat and He said, I’m going to save those that are on the boat and God said, everyone who’s not on the boat, I’m sending a flood. Men, women, and children died isn’t that right, and the animals?
Herald: Yeah, that’s true. I guess it’s happening all throughout, you know, like you said in the book of Revelation, it’s going to happen then.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, it’s, you know, there’s a war and God is offering salvation to everybody. By the way, even the Amalekites could come to Israel and be saved and you know, there’s a lot of stories I could point to in the Bible in the Old Testament, where the Amalekites actually were absorbed by the Israelites, they moved in and became one of them. Any stranger could join Israel and believe in their God, but as long as they aligned with the enemies that were sworn to destroy Israel, it was kind of kill or be killed.
So I know it’s a difficult subject, it’s such a brutal thing but it’s the same Jesus in the Old Testament as the New Testament. And I appreciate your question Herald, I hope it, hope the answer helped a little bit.
Let’s see who’s lined up next, I think we’re going to talk to Jack in Chicago. Hang on here, let me, alright, you there Jack? Jack in Chicago, you are on Bible Answers Live
Jack: Hello Doug.
Pastor Doug: Yes, thanks for your patience, and your question?
Jack: Well thanks for, thanks for your show, I was so thrilled to make air on Bible Answers Live again and first I got to say, “R.I.P. to Miron Wales better known as Mike” we’re going to miss him, of course.
Hey, you know, I want to talk about this story, it was all over the Drudge Report and Janet (inaudible) they used to say on her show, on Good Friday over the Philippines crucifixions. She just couldn’t understand why so many people, she’s a Catholic but hey, they got faith and they want to be crucified, and it’s a terrible thing to do but they were doing it willingly, and she just couldn’t understand why.
It’s seems to me, and I’m interested in your take on this Doug because you’re a soft guy, seems to me that if you (inaudible) this absolutely barbaric means of execution, never mind that fact that there were at least a hundred thousand people executed by the Roman Empire, by crucifixion and nobody seems to care about them. I care about them even more than Christ for the simple reason, they didn’t even have God on their side. They didn’t even have an inside track to God unlike like Christ did. But that said, is it going to (inaudible) this means of execution endlessly? Seems to me, it’s expected that people are going to want to do it every once in a while and therefore, you know (inaudible) was just a (inaudible) thing, I hope you got a better analysis.
Pastor Doug: Well let me take a stab at that and you know, it not only happens in the Philippines, you know, it’s been practiced in Africa where people have asked others. It’s hard to crucify yourself so you’ve got to get someone to be an accomplice. And they ask others to crucify them so that they can show their love and devotion, and somehow share in the sufferings of Christ, and I suppose, some may take that scripture in Galatians 2:20 where Paul says, “I am crucified with Christ”.
Obviously, Paul was not advocating that we deliberately have ourselves crucified. There are plenty of enemies of Christians out there that will be happy to punish, and torture, and imprison Christians. We don’t need to do it to each other. You know, Jesus doesn’t want to us to hurt our bodies.
There was one man named Patrick, I can’t remember the whole name, years ago in the Philippines, where he wanted to be crucified and show his devotion and he got an infection and ultimately died from it. Well suicide is not God’s plan, and our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was not advocating, when He invited us to take up our cross and follow Him, to literally ask someone to crucify us, that was the furthest thing from His mind anymore then when Jesus said, you know “If your right hand offends you, cut if off or if your right eye offends you, pluck it out”.
He doesn’t want us to pop out our eyes or cut off our hands. That was symbolizing if there was a sin that is so close and attached to you, like your hand or your eye or your foot, it’s better off to make that sacrifice and enter heaven missing a hand or foot or an eye. Of course, no one’s going to be in heaven missing a hand a foot or an eye, He was just making a point using an illustration. So when people take the illustration that Jesus made, “Whoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me”, He wasn’t advocating that we should literally crucify ourselves. No New Testament Apostle advocated that. And so it’s unfortunate that people, it basically kind of falls into the category of, you know, righteousness by works. That we’re going to get some credit by whipping ourselves, or climbing up some stairs until our knees are calloused or hurting ourselves. We’re not saved by our works, we’re saved by faith.
Hey Jack, I always appreciate your questions and the passion behind them, but we’re going to go the Amicah, I’m hoping I’m saying her name right, listening on line 6, Amicah, you’re on the air with Bible Answers Live.
Amicah: Hey, how’s it going? Good evening.
Pastor Doug: Good, and your question tonight?
Amicah: Alright, my question is well, the Bible, when it says “The dead will rise first”, those in Christ will rise first to meet Christ in the air”, when Christ comes to judge the living and the dead. Is that the time where we’re going to be sentenced to either heaven or hell or are people in heaven or in hell right now?
Pastor Doug: Alright, good question. When you read in 1 Thessalonians 4 that the dead in Christ will rise first, Jesus said there’s two resurrections. Christ said in John 5, “The hour is coming in which all that are in the graves will hear His voice, they that have done good to the resurrection of life, they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation.”
Now, if you’ve got a Bible handy Amicah, if you look in Revelation 20 and you can read there, there’s two separate resurrections. It talks about the dead in Christ who rise first when the Lord comes but in verse 5, Revelation 20:5, “The rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years are finished”. So those in the first resurrection is when Jesus comes, then you’ve got the second resurrection, the lost are raised and judged at the end of the millennium.
And so the Lord separates these two resurrections by a thousand years. Of course the dead don’t know it because there’s no consciousness of time for them, but it’s the dead in Christ that are raised first when Jesus comes. We who are alive, we are transformed, we are given glorified bodies, we’re caught up to meet the Lord in the air and we go on forever with the Lord. The judgement in the lake of fire happens at the end of the 1000 years. You can read in Revelation 20:10 where it says that, “They are judged and cast into the lake of fire” and that this is the second death, and that’s in Revelation 20:14. So, now, does that make sense?
Amicah: Yeah, it makes sense, it makes sense.
Pastor Doug: I have a Study Guide, I’d be happy to send you for free, and it deals with this sequence specifically, and it’s really interesting. It’s about the subject of The Millennium and it’s called The Thousand Years of Peace. If you just call this number Amicah, we’ll be happy to send that to you. It’s 1-800, free phone call, 835-6747. Tell them you’re listening to Bible Answers Live and you’d like to get our lesson on the 1000 years of peace, better known as, The Millennium of Peace and they’ll know what that means. Alright, hey we appreciate that question, and we’re going to be talking now to Ricky who is listening from Minnesota on line 7, but you don’t know you’re on line 7, welcome Ricky to Bible Answer Live.
Ricky: I have a short question and a longer one, the first one is John 19:42, I was wondering why John says that it’s the Jews preparation day?
Pastor Doug: Well because John knows that some of his readers are not all Jews. You know John wrote in Asia when he wrote his books, you know he, of course in Revelation, he’s a captive of the Roman Empire on Patmos, it wasn’t a Jewish community, it was a prison. And so, he knows that many who are reading his books are not Jews, and they may not understand why Friday, or the sixth day of the week was important.
It was the day to prepare for the Sabbath and they called it the preparation day. The Romans had names for the days of the week, but the Jews really had numbers for the week, they had, 1st day, 2nd day, 3rd day, 4th day, 5th day, preparation day, Sabbath day, and then it would go through the cycle of numbers again. And so, he’s just explaining for his listeners, what the practice was.
Ricky: Okay. Now, the other question I have is Mark 16:17 and I’ve been grappling with this issue for a while. I wanted to get your thoughts on. It says, “In My name shall they cast out devils”. I’m just wondering how this is to be done. Are we to speak directly to evil angels or are we to pray about it and how does a deliverance ministry fit into this?
Pastor Doug: Well, if you read in Mark9, the disciples tried to cast out a devil once and they were unsuccessful, and they asked Jesus, “Why couldn’t we cast him out?” and He said in verse 9, Mark 9:29 when they were alone, the disciples said, “how come we couldn’t cast out this devil?” and Jesus said, “This kind does not come forth except by prayer and fasting”.
Meaning, well obviously to fast. You don’t fast in 30 seconds, a fast takes time and it means praying over a period of time. Some people are just harassed by all kinds of devils, sometimes, you know, we might diagnose those things as mental disturbances of different sorts, and it requires an investment of prayer and maybe even fasting and prayer. So, of course Jesus had all the fullness of God within Him, He could snap His fingers, speak the word and they always came out. The devils knew who He was but we’re not Jesus. We go in His name, we can pray in His power but sometime it requires patience, persistence, prayer, time, and to ask that people might be delivered from evil spirits.
Ricky: Is there ever a time to speak directly to devils or.
Pastor Doug: There’s only one time in the Bible Jesus does this. Well, I take that back. There’s several times when devils identify Him and He just tells them to hold their peace. So I guess you could say He spoke to them. There is only one time He actually engages a demon. It’s when that man, and this is in Mark 5, he’s filled with a legion of demons, it’s also in Luke8.
And Jesus says “What is your name?” that’s the only question He asks and, so I don’t think we should engage demons in a conversation, I think we ought to just say, “In the name of Jesus, be gone” and pray. But you know, when we come to the point where we’re going to say, you know, “be gone in the name of Christ”, we better make sure that we’ve prayed ourselves up to that point and that we’re doing that in faith, just like, you know, any kind of miracle where Jesus spoke and people were healed. We usually approach those things with a little more time and prayer. But I think before the Lord comes Ricky, God is going to pour out the Holy Spirit on His church, in the same power that they had during Pentecost and we’re going to see genuine miracles again, and I’m not talking about the doubtful miracles you see with televangelists on TV where, you know, someone says one leg was a little longer than another and it’s been healed or they can see a little clearer, they breathe a little better, and their back pain is gone. I mean the kind of miracle where, you know, a missing eye ball pops into place, or someone who had something that was terminal on the x-ray is really healed, and I believe in that power. I believe it can happen, but I also believe there is counterfeit out there.
Hey thank you very much for your question and I have a lesson, a study, a message that deals with casting out spirits, that you’ll find at the Amazing Facts website, and it’s in the archives of our sermons and we’d invite you to go there to AmazingFacts.org Ricky. You’ll find more information. Okay, Ben has been very patient and so, we’re going to talk to Ben on line number 8. Ben, you’re on the air with Bible Answers Live, Fairfax Virginia.
Ben: Hey. How are you doing? Thank you first of all for the show. I’ve learned an awful lot.
Pastor Doug: Thank you. Are you driving down the road?
Ben: It’s possible.
Pastor Doug: I’m glad you didn’t lose our signal so thanks for you waiting.
Ben: (Laughing) I will. My question just dealt with sin after salvation. I’m just curious how that works because once you are saved, you know, we are only human. So I would think that, you know, we are going to sin at least at, you know, at some point in our lives. I feel like, all the people, it’s just going to happen, you know, whether it’s an impure thought, or action, or whatever, and does the blood of Jesus wash away sin, as in future sin or just curious how that works.
Pastor Doug: When you accept Jesus, the blood of Christ is available to wash away all sin. Of course, He was sacrificed to cover everything that we have done, will do or are doing. We should never sin intentionally, and if we sin, if we want to capitalize on that, it’s like, the Lord has an account but we’ve got to make a withdrawal of His forgiveness for future sins when we sin, and that’s through genuine repentance and confession and prayer.
In other words, the idea of that, well, I accepted Jesus, you know, when I was 15 years old and so, yes I’m going to sin in the future and I don’t need to worry about it because that was all covered. I think we need to address it biblically. It says, “If any man sins” John tells us in 1 John, “We have an advocate with the Father” and he also says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” So a Christian should be growing in sanctification and seeking to live a Christ like life. You know, Jesus was perfect so our example is a perfect one. So we should seek to be like Christ. Will we sin? Well, we all do, but there is never an excuse for it. As soon as you start making an excuse for sin, then it gets real easy to take it for granted, you know what I’m saying?
Ben: Yes, I do, I mean
Pastor Doug: And that’s everything. That means, you know, I pray that I’ve grown in my thoughts. The things I used to think about before, well now that I’m a Christian, I try and fill my mind with spiritual things. My thinking changes, you know, it’s the pure in heart that will see God so we need to even have purity on the inside.
Ben: So what, so you’re saying, yeah, it also needs a little bit of effort in our part as well?
Pastor Doug: Yeah. There’s growth.
Ben: There’s a relationship, it’s not a (inaudible).
Pastor Doug: Bible says exactly.
Ben: You can’t sit back and just enjoy the freedom.
Pastor Doug: Well, you know, I think that we can praise Him. Yeah, we can praise Him but Paul is really clear, and Jesus, we wrestle, there’s wrestling against the flesh, there’s a battle between the Spirit and the flesh and that we should strive. We’re running the race, we’re fighting the fight of faith, there is certainly effort in the Christian life and if any pastor is telling people, “There is no effort”, then he is not being biblically honest, there is plenty of effort.
Peter says we need to sometimes strive against sin unto blood and you know, Jesus - He prayed and He was perspiring blood in the garden, “not My will, Thy will be done”. So sure there’s effort involved in it. But God does deliver and He gives us victory and He gives us joy and peace, it’s not all a battle but yeah, we need to die daily, like Paul did.
Hey I appreciate your very good question, very relevant Ben and, you know, we have a Study Guide, you really should read this, it’s free, anybody out there, it’s called, Is it Possible to Live without Sinning? It’s a very provoking title but it’s a really good study and it’s free, we’ll send it to you, call 1-800-835-6747. Is it Possible to Live without Sinning? 1-800-835-6747, everybody should be armed with the answers to those questions.
Alright, I think we’ve got time for somebody else, let’s see. Going to talk to Maria on line 4, forgive the delay on the radio Maria, I’m without Pastor Ross here. I’ve got to look at the computer, then look at the phone, then look back at the computer. So, you’re on from Chicago.
Maria: Thank you very much Pastor Doug. My question is this. I am a recent born again Christian, and I’m a little confused as to, even when I’m learning, when I’m reading in the Bible and one of the things that I’m a little confused about because I do have Bible studies, different Bible studies with different people from different denominations. So instead of being helped, I’m being more confused, but one of the things that I’ve recently learned is that we will, some of my friends believe that we are not under the law anymore and so, that we should be able to eat whatever we want, and that, you know, all of that was abolished when Jesus died on the cross.
Pastor Doug: Alright Maria, let me help you with this, we’ve got about a minute left. I’m afraid we’re going to run out of time. So you’re wondering if we’re still required to keep, you know, some of the health laws for instance?
Maria: Yes. I mean is it just doctrine? Because, you know, I’m being told that what I’m learning is just doctrine and then, that we should not, you know, be basing, you know, we’re based on doctrine but instead I always go to the Bible and that the Bible states, we shouldn’t be eating unclean food.
Pastor Doug: Alright. Well, really quickly, the laws that were nailed to the cross were the ceremonial laws that had to do with circumcision, the sacrifice of lambs, and the rituals around the temple. The distinction between clean and unclean food was not a Jewish law. It goes all the way back to the flood and to Noah, by the way, we’re all related to Noah. And these were health laws that were for the human body, which is God’s temple and yeah, absolutely, I know it’s not a popular teaching but the health laws are supported also by science, not to mention, the Word of God and yes, they are doctrines but the whole teaching of Jesus is doctrine.
Please send for that Study Guide we’ve got on God’s Free Health Plan Maria. God’s Free Health Plan, all of our friends, you’ve got a question? It’s 1-800-835-6747 and it’s free, God’s Free Health Plan, the lesson is free. And I’ve been practicing these things for 30 years and I feel pretty good. Hey listening friends, I’d like to hear from you. Please go to Amazingfacts.org, click contact us and just say hello. God bless, until we study again.
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