Hello friends, this is Doug Batchelor, how about an amazing fact? According to Guinness World Records, in 1978 in Scotland following weeks of record breaking snow storms, a sheep herder named Alex Maclennan found one of his lost ewes still alive after it has been buried in a snow drift for 50 days. Scientists say the surviving ewe chewed her own wool for protein. That dedicated shepherd kept looking and digging through the snow till he found his missing sheep. Did you know the Bible tells us there is another good shepherd that is looking for you? Stay with us friends. We’re going to learn more as Amazing Facts brings you this edition of, “Bible Answers Live.”
[PROGRAM INTRODUCTION]
Pastor Doug: Welcome listening friends to “Bible Answers Live” and if you’re tuning in for the first time this is a live international, interactive Bible study and we welcome you to call in with your Bible questions. It’s a free phone call; we do have some lines open right now and I want to send out a special shout to our friends that are listening on satellite radio, or truckers driving down the road. If you want us to help you stay awake, call in with your Bible question. That number again is 1-800- 463-7297, a free phone call 1-800- GOD-SAYS, that’s 800- 463-7297. My name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Jëan Ross: My name is Jëan Ross. Good evening friends. Pastor Doug; let’s begin the program with prayer. Father, once again we do ask that You be with us as we study Your Word this evening. We do recognize that the Bible is Your book and we need the Holy Spirit to inspire our minds and guide us into more truth. Be with those who are listening whatever they might be in Jesus name, Amen.
Pastor Doug: Amen.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Now Pastor Doug you opened the program by talking about a remarkable survival story, a sheep that was in a snow drift for 50 days but even more remarkable than the sheep surviving is that the shepherd didn’t stop looking.
Pastor Doug: That’s right. He must have had to do a lot of poking around and roaming the hills and if the sheep were in snow drift that deep, he was probably out in a snow himself. Of course it reminds us of that parable that Jesus tells us where He says that if a shepherd has a 100 sheep and he loses one, will he not leave the 99? They’re safe in the fold and go roaming the hills until he has found that one lost sheep and that’s in Luke 15. But furthermore the Bible tells Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray all of us; we’ve turned everyone to his own way.” We wonder away from shepherd and sometimes we get trapped. Like that sheep if we’re not discovered, that sheep was just beginning to eat itself, we self-destruct eventually. That’s why we need the shepherd to rescue us and give us the good food.
John 10:11 Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd and the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep”. Friends, He is the good shepherd that gave His life for you. You might think that Christian life is too hard but really Jesus said, “His yoke is easy and His burden is light.” It is harder to be lost than to be saved. We’ve got a free offer we’d like to give you tonight by that very title.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The book is entitled again, ‘Is It Easier to be Saved Or to be Lost’ and we’d like to send this book to you for free, if you call our resource line. The number is 1-800- 835-6747. The number again is 1-800- 835-6747 and you can ask for the book, ‘Is it Easier to be Saved Or to be Lost’ and we’ll send that right out. Well we’re ready for the phone lines our first caller this evening is Greg and he’s is listening from Iowa, Greg welcome to the program.
Greg: Yes, hello pastors. I’ve been calling you quite a bit; I hope you’re not tired of me.
Pastor Doug:: Well let’s give it another try, no we’re not tired of you.
Greg: Well I’m only seeking truth and seeking answers. So I’ve got a question on the apostles and the four different gospels. All of them lined up, 11 of them but the 12th one gives me a problem and I know you’ve probably heard this before. In Matthew and Mark it has the 12th one as Lebbaeus or Thaddeus and then in Mark its Thaddeus. But then in Luke and Acts, I can only find Judas brother of James, instead of Thaddeus. So I wonder why the discrepancy or whatever.
Pastor Doug: Well several of the disciples had more than one name. Even in our family, we’ve got a boy named as George Stephen Edward Batchelor. Sometimes we call him George just to annoy him because that was my dad’s name and sometimes usually we call him Stephen. Peter was called Peter, Jesus called him Simon but sometime you read in Acts, they called him Cephas. So it wasn’t unusual for some of the disciples to have more than one surname and I think that’s all you’re looking at there. They didn’t carry around driver’s license with registered ID or passports back then. Sometimes they had a couple of names they went by.
Greg: So Thaddeus could be Judas?
Pastor Jëan Ross: He’s the same as one of the others that you find in the other list. They just went by two names.
Greg: Okay. If I can ask you a real quick question about Ellen White, I noted several things from your website and I went to her website, but where can I find where the prophesies had been fulfill by her? What were her prophesies and where they were fulfilled.
Pastor Doug: Well there is a website. There’s several websites that would address this, but let me give you one real quick, and I believe it’s called, ‘ellengwhite.com’ if I’m not mistaken. And that has got a lot of examples in it of prophecies that were fulfilled, and yeah I’d just encourage you to take a look there.
Greg: Okay, I will.
Pastor Doug: No wait a second its ellengwhitetruth I left that out, ellengwhitetruth.com I knew I was forgetting something. That’s a great website it’s got a lot of information.
Greg: Okay, thank you.
Pastor Doug: Yes. This is an incredible lady that many believe was a prophet. I’m one of those people, and just had a lot of profound information. Pastor Ross who’s next.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Okay we’ve got Enoch who is listening in Florida. Enoch welcome to the program.
Enoch: Hey, thank you for taking my call again. I have to ask, is it real like in the Bible, like is it possible for me to have a relationship with God to where like--He’s like a relationship you have like with your mother, or your father or your friend where you can actually see Him and shake His hand and like talk to Him and He talks back to you. Do you think it’s possible to get that close to God to where is He’s like with you everywhere in that manner?
Pastor Doug: Well the Bible talks about individuals that walked with God, and that doesn’t mean that they ??? or shook His hand. You talk about, Enoch walked with God that means he had an ongoing relationship where he was in the Spirit, talking communing with God and God with him through the Spirit. Noah walked with God. And after the baptism of the Holy Spirit the apostles had a very close relationship where they sensed the presence of God. Whether or not God reveals himself to you physically-- there is just a few individuals that’s happened with. He did appear to Moses and Abraham, Jacob and a few others. Sometimes He speaks through angels, most of the time actually, through the Spirit or angels but that doesn’t prevent you from having an ongoing relationship with Him.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The Bible also defines that relationship as we walk by faith and not by sight. So it is a faith relationship. God is very real and He communicates to us through His Word and through the promptings of the Spirit. And yet there is that faith element.
Enoch: Okay.
Pastor Doug: Yes absolutely and right now we see through a glass darkly, but He wants us to see Him and someday we’ll see Him face to face as He promised. I appreciate your call Enoch. Who is lined up?
Pastor Doug: We’ve got Mary calling from--
Pastor Doug: Yucaipa.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Yucaipa California, Mary welcome to the program.
Mary: Hello.
Pastor Doug: Hi. I heard Pastor Ross hesitate when he saw Yucaipa. (Laughing) He’s from South Africa, so I was going to help him a little bit because I have been on to Yucaipa. I know where you’re at.
Mary: (Laughing) Nobody knows how to pronounce that correctly.
Pastor Doug: That’s alright, and your question.
Mary: Unless you’ve been there.
Pastor Doug: I’ve been there.
Mary: My question--my husband and I have been wondering, you know, everybody here is about Jesus genealogy through Joseph His father, and we all know that really God is His Father. But why is there no important genealogy listed for Mary His mother? She’s the one who bore Him and raised Him.
Pastor Doug: Actually I think there is, there are two genealogies…
Mary: Is there?
Pastor Doug: I think so. There are two genealogies; one is found in Luke Chapter 3 I believe Pastor Ross and there is one is Matthew chapter 1. In Luke you’ll notice that when you get to-- just before Jesus in the genealogy, it’s a different name for the father of Joseph than you find in Matthew’s genealogy. And that’s because they believe it is Joseph’s father in law meaning Mary’s father. And so the genealogy in Luke most scholars believe it’s traced through Mary’s side, the genealogy in Matthew goes through Joseph’s side. Both Joseph and Mary where from both the tribe of Judah and from the line of David so sometimes the family tree will intersect and go back out again, and with Joseph and Mary, they were both from the same tribe and so there are a couple of places where the relatives crossed. And that’s what I believe--is that it is traced by-- through Mary and Luke.
Mary: Okay.
Pastor Jëan Ross: And the verses there that I think you’re referring to, Pastor Doug begins in Luke 3:24, and then the genealogy is listed all the way down through till verse 28.
Mary: Well I had to pull my Bible out and check that out then again I guess I was confused.
Pastor Doug: No, it’s alright. It’s easy to understand it, like I said there’s just a little difference you’ll find at the tail end and just before you get to Jesus-- between the father of Mary and the father of Joseph, is because its talking about the really the father-in-law of Joseph in Luke.
Mary: Alright.
Pastor Doug: Alright, hey thank you for your question.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Next call is Loretta and she’s calling from Texas. Loretta welcome to the program.
Loretta: Yes good evening. I’d like to know in the first chapter-- no the last chapter of 1st Kings, there is a story about the prophet, I guess his name is Micaiah or something of that sort. And I guess they asked the king and he says, “Oh I don’t like him because he always tells me stuff that’s not good”
Pastor Jëan Ross: Prophesying bad concerning me.
Loretta: So they ended up calling him and he told the priest what the other prophets had told him. Why-- and then he told them something different, why did he tell them something different? And Paul in the Bible--did God change his name from Saul to Paul or did he change it?
Pastor Doug: Alright two questions, first the question about Micaiah and what-- are you asking why did the-- why was the prophecy of Micaiah different from the prophets of Baal that the king had, king Ahab had?
Loretta: I don’t know who it was. First time he told the king what the other prophets had told him and the king says, “Oh I don’t believe you.”
Pastor Doug: Oh yeah, I know what you’re saying now. Well when they first called Micaiah, Ahab didn’t want Micaiah to come because he was prophet to Jehovah, and he said to Jehoshaphat --he said, “Don’t call him he never says anything nice about me.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Don’t let the king say that, give him a chance.” So Micaiah comes, Micaiah then sarcastically basically says to Ahab, “Go to Ramoth Gilead and prosper” meaning, you’re going to go fight the Syrians and you will win, because all these other prophets we’re having basically a pep rally. And he said, “If you don’t want the truth I will join the pep rally.”And then Ahab said, “Look tell me the truth, I know you’re just teasing me.” He said, “Okay now I’m going to tell you the truth.” He said, “I saw Israel on the mountain scattered like sheep not having a shepherd.” So the first time was just really being sarcastic, even Elijah mocked Ahab at one point.
Loretta: So the king knew that?
Pastor Doug: I think so. Yeah, right away the king said, “How often shall I adjure thee to tell me the word, tell me the truth in the name of the Lord?” Don’t tease in other words. And then on your second question about Saul and Paul, and I forget what chapter it is Pastor Ross where Paul and Barnabas, it’s starts out--it’s always mentioned Barnabas and Saul, Barnabas and Saul and then after Paul begins preaching from that point on in Acts its says, “Paul and Barnabas” it’s like his name changed. But in a story where Paul is being called Paul, he’s preaching to someone named Sergius Paulus, and this is a noble man who ends up accepting Jesus and at the same time a sorcerer is smitten blind. And from that point on in the story instead of Barnabas being the principle speaker in their team, it seems like Paul took over. And the same time Paul takes over the preaching, he goes by the name Paul instead of Saul.
Loretta: Okay, but there is no-- because I know in the Old Testament, Israel--Jacob is changed to Israel and there is a proclamation about it, but there seems to be nothing in the New Testament for that.
Pastor Doug: It doesn’t tell us. Why Luke just suddenly switches and the only thing we can surmise is, in that story, there is a man that Paul is preaching too named Paulus I think, and Paul means diminutive or small.
Loretta: Okay.
Pastor Doug: And some people think he was a small man because of that.
Pastor Jëan Ross: And also I think Paul, in using the name Paul and of course he does use the name when he writes his epistles, I think he was emphasizing the fact that he was nothing and Christ was everything. It was quite a contrast to what he was before when he was a Pharisee and he claimed to be someone or something. Now after his conversion he looks at himself as very little in comparison to Christ.
Loretta: So they just kind of slip it in the name change?
Pastor Jëan Ross: Well the first reference that I find is in Acts chapter 13:9, and it’s says, “Then Saul who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit looked intensely at him” and then from then on, instead of Saul you have Paul.
Loretta: You have Paul; okay well that’s kind of what I wanted to know. Well, thank you
Pastor Jëan Ross: Yes and then pardon me—and in the verse just before that Acts 13:7 it says, “He was speaking to Sergius Paulus a prudent man”. And so this is a transitioning point in the book of Acts, it’s about halfway through Acts, where Paul now really becomes the principle preacher. We don’t know if he took a new name once he started preaching that meant I’m nothing. Anyway hey good question Loretta,we appreciate it.
Pastor Doug: The next call is Welynne and she’s calling from Palm Beach Florida. Welynne welcome to the program.
Welynne: Hi, thank you. How are you?
Pastor Jëan Ross: Evening, how are you?
Welynne: Good, thank you. My question for tonight was, I wanted to know how are we as Christians supposed to know the difference between-- let’s say we’re pursing something, we’re pursuing a career, we’re pursing someone, we’re pursing some things, and there are obstacles that are put in our way. How do we know that those obstacles are supposed to help us build our characters to persevere, to be patient, to push through, or they’re obstacles that God put in our way because He’s saying, no this is not where He wants you to go. How can we know that because I know--it’s confusing to me sometimes because I don’t know if I should continue pursuing something, even though those ones was you know the obstacles were there, or if I should stop pursuing it because those obstacles were there to keep me from, you know-- I want to know if there would be biblical reference, or it’s something like…
Pastor Doug: Well it’s true that-- first of all before I forget we have a book that we’ll send you for free Welynne, that’s called, “How Do we know the will of God” because really at the heart of your question is, how do we know the will of God?
Welynne: Pretty much yeah.
Pastor Doug: Sometimes if you’re doing something that is important, you may struggle, you know, it took Solomon seven years to build the temple but he kept after it. And if you’re going after a good goal, I mean when Paul was building up the church he met all kinds of opposition. So he might have thought, well I must not be doing the right thing but he knew the devil was resisting and so he kept after it. In Psalm 37, it tells us to commit our way unto the Lord. And he’ll give us the desires of our heart. And then also in proverbs it talks about committing your way unto the Lord, lay everything before Him and He will direct your paths. You know, there is a few verses for you if you like, if you give us the number we’ll be or some contact information, or call the resource number we’ll send you a free copy of the book, “How to know the Will of God”.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number to call is 1-800-835-6747, and the book again is entitled, “Determining the Will of God.” The number 1-800-835-6747 and ask for the book “Determining the will of God.” Our next call is Sail and he is calling from Brooklyn, New York. Sail welcome to the program.
Pastor Doug: You are on, hi?
Sail: Yes good evening Pastor Doug and Pastor Ross.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Good evening.
Sail: My question is, what did Moses do to anger God that didn’t allow him to go to the promise land?
Pastor Doug: Well the Bible tells that Moses was given instructions when they ran out of water to go stand before the Lord and to speak to the rock. And this was to be an illustration for the people. But he and Aaron became so exasperated by the stubbornness and the rebellion of the people that he lost this temper and he took stuff and he struck the rock twice. And he said, “You rebels, shall we bring you forth water out of this rock?” As thought there were taking credit.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The verse is Numbers 20:11.
Pastor Doug: And so it was a combination of things; one you know, losing his temper, two disobeying, three he made it sound like, we’re giving you the water instead of God doing it.
Pastor Jëan Ross: And I think it was a misrepresented, misrepresentation of the character of God as Moses the leader of the people, he didn’t accurately depict God’s character in that incidence.
Sail: Okay.
Pastor Doug: So the Lord said look-- Moses of course is in heaven because he appeared to Jesus or he saved, but Moses said, “I can’t use you to bring the people across the Jordan River because you dishonored me like this”. And that was his punishment for that and so—and the Lord ??? him, God buried.
Sail: Because of that one mistake.
Pastor Doug: Well it was a big mistake. Yeah, to whom you know—well Moses I’m sure he made other mistakes in his life, it wasn’t the only sin in his life, but it was a prominent one because-- and probably if you saw, when you get to heaven you can ask to call up the video of that event, and I think you’ll see that he just, he really became angry before the people. You’ll notice it says, he says, “You rebels must we fetch you water out of this rock.” Well it wasn’t Moses. And God had said to speak to the rock and it says, “He lifted up his hand, he smote the rock twice.” Well the rock had been struck once before and that was a type of Christ and you’re not supposed to strike it three times.
Sail: Okay.
Pastor Doug: So yes it was a scene that was very costly for him, but God buried Moses, He raised him up and he’s in heaven now, and he finished his race well.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Our next caller is Jeff and he’s listening from Albuquerque in New Mexico. Jeff welcome to the program.
Jeff: Hi, good evening pastors.
Pastor Doug: Evening
Jeff: I’ll be brief. I thank you so much for your ministry, Amazing Facts and I know God is using you. My questions are real quick, will there be mates in heaven and also will there be marriages in heaven? The reason why I’m asking is because when God created Adam, he wasn’t happy even though God created everything perfectly. God had to create a mate for him and instituted the first marriage in heaven. Now those people-- those single people who would be saved in heaven, are they going to be like really happy and not going to look for a mate there, or there will be marriages also there, therefore they can find a mate there? I’m going to hang up so…
Pastor Doug: Well first of all – okay that’s fine I’ll do my best.
Jeff: Thank you pastor.
Pastor Doug: I appreciate your question Jeff. If you read in Matthew 18:18, Jesus tells us that you know those things that are bound on earth are bound in heaven. Now if someone gets married here, and they have a normal marriage which is not interrupted by the baggage of multiple marriages or death whether it’s by divorce or by window, ultimately I think they can still be married to their spouse in heaven. I don’t think God is going to divorce Adam and Eve when they get to heaven. But Jesus seemed to tell us there will be no new marriages in the kingdom, and you find that in the same passage here in Matthew chapter 18. So--but at the heart of this question Jeff, I think you may be wondering, is there a chance that if I get to heaven, if I’ve not found a mate and been married in this life, does it mean that I will never be married, and I’ll never have a friend, or I will be unhappy? Heaven is so much better than anything you can imagine. If you get there everybody there ultimately is married to God and we’ll all be satisfied. We are the bride and Christ is the bridegroom, and we’ll have an abundance of friends and strong relationships. So I wouldn’t worry about there. If you get through this life and you don’t get married, don’t let that discourage you or frighten you at all. Everybody is going to be happy in heaven.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Absolutely, eye has not seen nor ear heard what God has prepared for those that love Him. The next call is Emmanuel calling from Oklahoma. Emmanuel welcome to the program.
Emmanuel: Hey good evening pastor Doug and Pastor Ross.
Pastor Doug: Hi.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Good Evening.
Emmanuel: Hey, how is it going? I’ve got a question. Instead of saying to ask for a prayer or to just-- I’m dealing with some stuff in my life and is it okay if you ask for my friends and my congregation to pray for me?
Pastor Jëan Ross: Sure. If you look in Ephesians chapter 6, Paul asks the people to pray for him there, where he talks about the armor God. He says in Ephesians 6:18, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints and for me.” In other words he’s saying, pray always for these things and for me. That utterance maybe be given onto me that I might open my mouth boldly and make known the ministry of the gospel. So Paul asked the church pray for him.
Emmanuel: Amen. Okay…
Pastor Doug: Jesus actually asked Peter, James and John to come pray with him before he went to the cross and they feel asleep.
Emmanuel: That’s right. Okay my final question; can you guys pray for me?
Pastor Jëan Ross: Sure. Now is there anything specific? You don’t have to go into detail but you’re talking about health, family, work what?
Emmanuel: Yes health and family, both. I just need prayer and I have been asking my friends and we prayed in-- you know carry each other’s burdens and I know the Lord hears us and it’s not lack of faith, I just—its good, right? To have other people pray?
Pastor Jëan Ross: Absolutely. Well why don’t you let us do that right now?
Emmanuel: Awesome.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Father in heaven we just want to come before you in Emmanuel’s behalf. You’ve told us where we join together in prayer that there is added attention that is given, and we just pray that you will be with him. You know the particulars of his needs but pray Your blessing on his health Lord, be with him in his relationship with You, bless his family, work, and just pray that You will work out whatever the problems and issues might be right now and just fill him with Your Spirit, we thank You because we ask and pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
Pastor Doug: Amen.
Emmanuel: Amen, thank you pastor Doug and Pastor Ross.
Pastor Doug: Alright.
Pastor Jëan Ross: You know we do have a book dealing with the subject of prayer and entitled “Teach Us to Pray” and if anybody who wanted to learn more about this important subject give us a call on our resource line, that’s 1-800-838-6747, and you can ask for the book, “Teach Us to Pray” and we’ll be happy to send that out to you.
Pastor Doug: Yes, we’ll send you a free copy man; you’ll just call that number.
Pastor Jëan Ross: We have Tyler who is listening from Buffalo New York. Tyler welcome to the program.
Tyler: Hi how are you?
Pastor Jëan Ross: Doing well, Tailor we’ve got about a minute and a half before the break can we do a quick question you think?
Tyler: Yeah. I just want to know, why did Judas betray God with a kiss?
Pastor Doug: You know that’s interesting. In the Bible that’s what makes the treachery of what Judas did especially severe, is because it was the symbol of love and affection. And you know, when the prodigal son came home, the father fell on his neck and kissed him, and when Jacob saw his son Joseph after being separated all those years, they embrace each other and they kissed. Now when men kiss back then they would kiss the cheek or the neck and it’s kind of like a… bear hug. But--so that’s why Jesus said, “Judas are you betraying actually says friend, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” There is a record of two people in the Bible that kissed Jesus. I’m sure His mother did, and others did but it only tells us about Mary kissing His feet, and she served Him, but Judas kissed His face, and then betrayed Him. And so it just doesn’t really makes--it’s kind of what the devil does. The devil is treacherous. He’ll act like he loves you and then he betrays you with a kiss. And so I think it’s sort of indicative of that. A good question Tyler I appreciate that. Friends we are very glad that you’ve been studying with us, we’re not done, we’ve got more to talk about and for those of you that are on the road, give us a call you’re listening to “Bible Answers Live”.
Pastor Jëan Ross: You know one of the subjects that we often get here on the program, has to do with well the subject of hell, what happens to the wicked? Do they burn without end? We have a website Pastor Doug dedicated to answering these important questions.
Pastor Doug: Yes, it’s called helltruth.com, hell truth. You can even just type in Hell Truth to Google and you’ll find this website. There are videos there. Understanding this subject is so important because what you believe about how God deals with the wicked is going to affect your concept of God. If you believe that God doesn’t have any punishment for the wicked, then you’re going to think that He’s indulgent. If you think that He’s going to burn people for billions and zillions of years for the sins of one lifetime, you may think that He enjoys suffering or He is a sadist. Understanding what the Bible really says, go there--go there hell truth, I don’t mean it that way. Be right back friends.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Pastor Doug: We’re back with your Bible questions friends and if you’ve joined us somewhere en route this is Bible answers live, we invite you to call in with your Bible questions, a free phone call that’s 800-463-7297 brings into the studio, and my name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Jëan Ross: My name in Jëan Ross and we’re going to go straight to the phone lines. We have Floyd listening from Minnesota. Floyd you’re on the air, Floyd from Minnesota
Pastor Doug: Floyd has been waiting patiently, is he still waiting? Floyd Bible Answers you’re on the air going once…
Pastor Jëan Ross: Alright we might come back to Floyd if we can get him. We have Jennet who is listening from Madera California.
Pastor Doug: Jennet are you on?
Jennet: Yes I am and I got bumped up a little bit down there on the line, that’s cool.
Pastor Doug: Okay and you’re question.
Jennet: I really want to be able to honor the Sabbath, and at the same time I want to be a loving family member. And I--you probably know where this question is going but I feel like I’m at a crossroad when on the Sabbath, I am invited to my niece’s baby shower, okay. It’s not something, you know an acquaintance or a friend or something that I can you know decline and I have done a lot of that because I really do want to focus on the Lord and His study and honoring Him and focusing on Him. And I just don’t see how I can do both on the same day, it’s like I want to be there for my niece or my family whatever if its picnic or whatever, but then I don’t feel like I’m focusing on the Lord when I’m doing that. So how do I be a loving family member and just say, “No, I’m not going to go.”
Pastor Doug: Yeah well first of all I would never say that, if there was a conflict and it varies. Sometimes there are family occasions and you can justify going to and you can keep your mind in the appropriate place, sometimes I’ve been invited to wedding receptions where there was just you know dancing and drinking, and I thought you know I just can’t do this on Sabbath and what I would do is I would write a nice letter and I just say you know, I so much want to be there but because of my personal convictions. I just can’t reconcile the drinking and the dancing with how I keep Sabbath but I hope you will forgive me and understand. So there is a conflict there and I can’t tell you how you’re going to have to make this decision but I try and apply those principles and say, “Lord, now what do you want me to do? How can I best glorify you and be a witness at the same time?” And sometimes--I don’t know where your niece lives or you might even sometimes be able to do both work where if it’s not in a different town, you can go to worship the Lord and go to church and then go over for part of this other get together, and just show your support. Sometimes you might go and leave a gift and-- I don’t know. You just really need to pray for wisdom but you’re sure you don’t want to be, you don’t want to be negative with those…
Jennet: Yeah, I know because I understand that Sabbath--that is the fourth commandment and things, and He also says it the same time, love is one of the greatest commandment. I mean I want to be loving and I want to you know—you know what I mean...
Pastor Doug: Yeah I understand. Well we will be praying for you to the Lord. It’s really a personal decision Jennet, and we’ll be praying that God gives you wisdom on that. You might find some tips and counsel at website that is one of the most popular websites in the world, on the subject of the Sabbath and its called Sabbathtruth.com. And it has tips on keeping the Sabbath and hopefully it’s even got some of these moral conundrums as they say that are in there.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Our next caller is Floyd. I think we’re going to try and get him back on the line, Floyd welcome to the program.
Floyd: Hello.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Hi we got you.
Floyd: In the beginning of Luke’s Gospel where Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth.
Pastor Doug: Yes, which chapter are you in now?
Floyd: I’m in chapter one, and number 42 its says-- I’m in the King James Version. It says, “And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb”. And if you jump up to verse 48, at the end it says-- Mary is now speaking. It says, “All generations shall call me blessed.” I guess my question is very seldom, rarely ever hear of anybody referred to Christ mother Mary as blessed, and then also there is an ‘r’ just before that part of the verse, “all generations shall call me blessed” there is a little are ‘r’. I wonder the ‘r’ meant.
Pastor Doug: Well I’m not sure what you-- oh you mean in your Bible you’ve got a little ‘r’? That usually mean there is a reference that would be somewhere in your--different translation sometimes have a reference column and you may have a special cross reference for that verse in your Bible. That’s what the little ‘r’ would be, and different translations-- that’s your Bible publisher who put that in but there are a number of individuals in the Bible that we called blessed. Typically they’re the ones who were in the line of Jesus, Abraham was blessed by God, Isaac was called Blessed, and Jacob was blessed. These were the patriarchs through which the Messiah came, and then ultimately after this line of blessed generations, Mary is the one through which the Messiah literally comes and she says, “All generations will call me blessed because I was the one that had the tremendous honor of--the care of the world’s Savior was placed in my hands.” And in that sense she was greatly blessed.
Floyd: Okay. Would it be wrong for me to say that we should reverently call her blessed Mary when we speak of her?
Pastor Doug: Well you know I don’t know if you’d want to say that anymore than you’d want to say Blessed Abraham, or Blessed Isaac or Blessed Jacob or-- there is a number of-- David was blessed. We don’t usually call him Blessed David. So if you go through all the Bible characters that God pronounced a blessing on, we’d be calling everybody blessed. You see what I’m saying? So there is no requirement to call Mary blessed, but Jesus didn’t refer to her that way and the Bible, other than this one verse the Bible writers when they talk to Mary they just say Mary the mother of Jesus to distinguish her from the Marys. Mary was a very common name in Christ’s time, because it was a Greek way of saying Miriam, and Miriam was one of the great heroes of the Old Testament. So a lot of them named their daughters Mary or Miriam, and-- but the other Bible writers didn’t call her blessed so I don’t know that – there’s no requirement to do that…
Pastor Jëan Ross: I think the context also in the verse, it’s not referring to her literally being called blessed, but rather with reference to the gifts that God gave her that she was…
Pastor Doug: She was honored.
Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s right she was honored and any person who is looking back from a Christian perspective would say, what a tremendous privilege she had to raise Jesus.
Pastor Doug: And here we’re generations later doing just what the Bible said. We are saying that she was blessed by God, but her name didn’t change where she received a new title.
Floyd: Okay.
Pastor Doug: That’s probably the best we can do on that, and I don’t know if we’ve got a book specifically. We got to get a book on that, Mary is such a hero in the Bible. We ought to get something on her.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The next caller is Jerry and he’s listening from Oregon. Jerry welcome to the program.
Jerry: Thank you pastors Ross and Batchelor. My question pertains to the famous account of the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8, and of course you know-- and everybody knows that when this woman was brought before Jesus He said to the Pharisees “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” But my question is, this particular punishment was mandated by God in the Old Testament and nobody is without sin other than Jesus. So how could God have mandated this punishment knowing that everybody who He’d be punishing would have sinned, if you get the grip to my question?
Pastor Doug: I think I do. I was looking into that verse last week, and evidently when Jesus said, “He who is without sin,” He was referring to that sin that they were accusing her off, because stoning was not for any sin. If you stole a loaf of bread in the Bible, you weren’t stoned to death, but there was a punishment for that but it wasn’t execution. But for the sin of adultery, it was pretty serious, and you know it was in order to protect the marriage vows. And so Jesus though-- He said, “He who is without sin is among you to her accusers,” because Christ knew their hearts and He knew that many of them were guilty of the very same thing you’re about to stone her for.
Jerry: You mean other than thinking a lustful thought, the actual act.
Pastor Doug: The actual act, yes.
Jerry: Okay.
Pastor Doug: The punishment according to Christ for thinking an impure thought is not the same as committing the act. There are a lot of people out there that have probably been angry enough and thought about murdering somebody, but they didn’t do it. No court in the country will execute you for thinking it. And so committing the scene is different than thinking it, and Jesus basically-- He forgive her. He said, “Basically I’m taking your sin.” That’s why He came into the world, but you know I’ll tell you what, you’re asking about Mary Magdalene. I wrote a book about Mary Magdalene, would you like a free copy of that?
Jeff: Yes.
Pastor Doug: If you go to the Amazing Facts’ website, just anyone who goes right to Amazingfacts.org--this is a full length hardcover book. It’s been very popular. You look there online, it says “Free gift at Jesus feet.” It’s the story of Mary Magdalene. You’d like free copy of that; it’s a very nice book. Then you just call that number Jerry or go to the website rather and we’ll send it to you, just log on there.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The website again is simply Amazingfacts.org. Our next caller is Mark and he’s listening from Knoxville Tennessee. Mark welcome to the program.
Mark: Thank you for taking my call. I’m asking about when God answered Elijah’s prayer to call down fire from heaven, why did this – I believe Jesus and Jehovah are the same person, why did the self same Jehovah rebuke the disciples in Luke 9 for wanting to do that?
Pastor Doug: Well for one thing, when Elijah did it I think that they were threatening his life. For our friends who are listening there are three times when Elijah prayed and fire came down. Once he prayed, it came down on a sacrifice on Mt. Camel. The other two times that Elijah prayed, fire come down and burned up 50 soldiers, two sets of 50 that were going to arrest him and probably kill him. He was being summoned by the king. When the disciples James and John wanted to call fire down on the Samaritans, they hadn’t done anything like that, all they did was tell Jesus, “Please don’t stop here, if you’re going to worship in Jerusalem,” because there was a big battle between the Samaritans and the Jews about where to worship. The Samaritans said Mount Gerizim; the Jews said it was on Mount Zion or Mount Moriah where the temple is. And even the Samaritan woman asked Jesus about what mountain should we worship on, so Jesus said, “Look I didn’t come to destroy men’s lives. Don’t call fire down on heaven because of something like that?” I’m not sure Jesus would want them to call fire down on heaven for anything because He said…
Mark: So why did God destroy men’s lives in Elijah’s time?
Pastor Doug: Well for one thing the offence was greater, and not only in Elijah’s time, Moses brought--not Moses but in the books of Moses you can see fire came down and burnt up the two sons of Aaron.
Mark: Yeah.
Pastor Doug: So it’s not the first time that happened, but the offense is what governed the punishment. And like--when the sons of Aaron went drunk into the temple of the Lord and they brought profane fire and they were specifically told not to do it and God said, “Look if you’re not going to reverence My very presence.” They were consumed. And by the way when Jesus comes even the New Testament, He says “The wicked are destroyed by the brightness of His coming, fire will come down.
Pastor Jëan Ross: You know it’s also interesting--is the Jewish leaders ended up rejecting Jesus but the Samaritans after they encounter with the woman at the well, the Bible tells us that many of the Samaritans in Sychar believed and received Jesus as the Messiah. And Jesus said to the disciples, “You don’t know what Spirit you’re speaking of or are from. So really Jesus had come to save and they were still probationary time for the Samaritans.
Mark: Now if someone had let’s say committed the same offense in the Old Testament and someone wanted to call down fire from heaven would God have rebuked them?
Pastor Doug: Well you know there is that one story in the Bible where David was leaving Jerusalem and one of his enemies started to curse him and David instead of saying, Father curse this person or bring fire down on him, he said, “Let him curse. I probably deserve it.” And so he was really portraying the meekness of Jesus there and I think that’s the best attitude. You might also enjoy that website we mentioned tonight Mark where we talk about hell truth, it talks about why God punishes and even talks about the fire coming down. And keep in mind friends, God is not the only one who brings fire down, in the book of job, fire came down from the Devil, and burn up Job’s flocks, and in the last says the beast power is going to duplicate miracles of God, going so far as bringing fire down from heaven on the sight of men to deceive them. So the study on when the fire comes down is probably a profitable study for us in the last days, take a look Helltruth.com. Thanks for your call Mark.
Pastor Jëan Ross: We have Dave who is listening in Las Vegas Nevada. Dave welcome to the program.
Dave: Hello, how are you doing?
Pastor Jëan Ross: Doing well, your question.
Dave: I’m going to try to make this as painless as possible. I’ve been in a separation situation for little over four and a half almost five years. The separation was not my choice, however with this deal, it has brought me to--I wish I could say a solid relationship with Christ but I will be honest enough to say it’s been a struggling relationship with Christ. My estranged wife is not a believer however. It is coming down to the fact that I’m having to file for divorce and now that I have done that, she is giving hints that she wants to reconcile and I have to admit I’m not really comfortable with that. So I guess I’m asking for some advice in Scripture somewhere where I can go get the information to study and figure out what I need to do.
Pastor Doug: Well we’ve got a book that we just wrote and it sounds like-- I’d love to take 20 minutes and talk to you about the particulars but this programs is probably not a good format, because of that I wrote a book recently that’s called, “Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage” and it’s a quick easy read with Scriptural advice and a summary on the importance of marriage, when you can reconcile, what the grounds are for the divorce and for remarriage. And we’ll be happy to send you a free copy of that Dave. Now you’re listening on XM which means you could be driving down the road, is that right?
Dave: Yeah I’m an over the road truck driver, I’m actually in Oregon right at the moment so…
Pastor Doug: Okay, well if you can just remember the Amazing Facts’ phone number that we’re going to give and if not go to the website.
Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s right. Just Amazingfacts.org and you can actually read the book online for free or call the phone number its 1-800-835-6747, that’s 800-835-6747, ask for the book, “Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage.”
Pastor Doug: We’ll send you a free copy Dave.
Pastor Jëan Ross: We’ll send that out.
Pastor Doug: Thank you for you call and probably a lot of other people out there struggling with the same issues.
Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s right. We have Anthony listening from Baltimore Maryland. Anthony welcome to the program.
Anthony: Hi Pastors, how are you?
Pastor Jëan Ross: Doing well.
Anthony: Well I just wanted to say, I want to thank you guys for Amazing Facts and all the help that you give people.
Pastor Doug: Well praise the Lord; he’s the one doing it and it’s a privilege for us. Your question?
Anthony: My question was, I know that the devil and his angels are down here and they are advisory, and I was just wondering, do you think that Satan or any of his angels actually has creative power to create other lives other than themselves who work against us, so that it’s not just them that’s against us but other created spirits or preachers that could be against us also, so that we’re dealing with actually more than just the devil and his angel but…
Pastor Doug: So you’re asking can devil create life?
Anthony: Can he create life?
Pastor Doug: Alright. The quick answer with that, to that I think would be no. God has the power to create life, life is such a mystery. I think if the devil could create life, he’d be showing scientists how to do it, and then he’d say everything evolved, but he can’t do that. The devil can create deceptions, he can create illusions because he is an angel of light and he can even transform himself so he appears as an angel of light. The devil can possess existing life like he did with the serpent and like his demons did with the herd of pigs. They all kind of took possession of this herd and they went bizarre and ran off a cliff, bizarre bacon is what that would be. So the devil can do that but he cannot make life. Life is just a miracle and the more that we’re diving into, you know just the complexity of a single cell with electron and even more powerful microscopes, we realize that it is phenomenally complex and organized and the devil can’t do that. I think that’s one reason that the devil hates Jesus—is he was the most powerful angel, but one place where his power stopped short is he could not create life. God is the Creator of life and I think he hates human because we’re able to procreate in our own image when we have children and so I think the devil has really upset with this planet where the creature can procreate. I appreciate your question Anthony. I hope that helped a little bit and we do have a lesson on the devil we can send you a free copy.
Pastor Jëan Ross: It’s entitled, “Did God Create the Devil” and for anyone wanting to learn more the number is 1-800-835-6747, 1-800-835-6747. You can ask for the study guide, “Did God Create the Devil.” Our next caller is Queen and she’s calling from Alabama. Queen, welcome to the program.
Queen: Thank you.
Pastor Ross: Hi.
Queen: My question is coming from the King James version, John the 20th chapter and the 17th verse and 27th verse. The 17th verse reads as follows, “Jesus said unto her, touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father: but go to My brethren, and say unto them, I have ascended unto My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God.” Now that question I want to know on that is when He rose from the grave and He met Mary, did He ascend to heaven and didn’t come back? Because eight days later in this 27th verse, He said to Thomas, He said…
Pastor Doug: Reach out and touch me.
Queen: Right so that’s my question.
Pastor Doug: Well now first of all when you look in John 20:17, this is one place where the King James Version probably doesn’t give the very best translation. In the original what it says and you’ll see this in the New King James, it’s says He said, “Do not cling to me.” When Mary saw that Jesus was alive she was so excited, she fell at His feet and grabbed His ankles and He said, “Do not detain Me, because I still need to ascend to My Father.” In other words if you are hanging on to Me, kind of like He said to Jacob, let me go, [laughing]. He said, “Don’t cling to me I have to ascend to My Father but go tell the brethren I am alive.” Then later after He ascends to the Father and Jesus sacrifice is declared accepted, when He appears to Thomas who did not believe, He said, “Now Thomas if you have any doubts, touch and see that I’m not a ghost, reach in your hand.” So it’s really two different things that are happening. It’s not that Jesus said, “Mary you’re dirty and I’m God don’t touch me.” He was saying don’t hang on to Me.
Pastor Jëan Ross: I think Jesus was emphasizing that it was important for Mary to understand that Christ had a work He had to do, He wanted to ascend to heaven, get the approval from His Father, that His sacrifice was sufficient and that’s why Hw said, “Well I need to go, don’t detain Me, don’t cling to Me.”
Pastor Doug: Yeah.By the way, Queen I just mentioned a minute ago that we’ve got a book on Mary Magdalene. If you go to the Amazing Facts’ website or even call our resource line we will be happy to send you a free copy of that book. It’s called “At Jesus Feet,” the gospel according to Mary Magdalene at Jesus feet and so it goes into great detail on that verse. It would be great study you will enjoy.
Pastor Jëan Ross: We have Mark who is listening from New Jersey. Mark welcome to the program?
Mark: How are you doing?
Pastor Doug: Doing well praise the Lord.
Mark: Alright. Bizarre bacon that was great, [laughing] I wanted to ask your opinion on who you think the two witnesses will be?
Pastor Doug: Well it’s both who they will be and who they were. Let me share what I mean by that. Some believe the two witnesses are Moses and Elijah and I will agree they’re symbolically Moses and Elijah. If you look in-- first of all the Bible tells us in two or three witnesses let everything be established. The Word of God is mentioned in a dual nature in the Bible, the Word of God is called the Law and the Prophets, it’s called the sword with two edges and then you’ve got these two witnesses. It says they have power to bring fire down from heaven, you find that in the Bible and you find that in the New and Old Testament. So you know, I’m running out of time. I probably should tell you quickly. The two witnesses I think represent the Word of God, the New and the Old Testament. Moses and Elijah are type of the law and prophets, they appeared on the right and left of Jesus in the mount of transfiguration experience and they declared really He is the Messiah. And these two witnesses would be under attack according to Revelation 11 in the future. I’ll send you a free book on that it’s called, “Who are the Two Witnesses on the Glorious Mount”
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number to call is 1-800-835-6747, and again Mark or anyone just call that number and ask for the book, “Who Are the Two Witnesses”
Pastor Doug: Glorious mount.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Glorious mount and we’ll send that out, its 1-800-835-6747.
Pastor Doug: Oh friends it happened again, we’re out of time. Check out amazingfacts.com, we’d love to hear from you, click the content button. God bless, till next week.
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