Doug Batchelor: Hello friends. This is Doug Batchelor. How about an amazing fact? Did you know that the part of a dog's brain that’s devoted to analyzing smell is, proportionally speaking, 40 times greater than ours? That's why dogs are trained to search and rescue people after avalanches, earthquakes and even mudslides. The average dog's nose is tens of thousands of times as sensitive to odors as yours. For comparison, if we were to illustrate this by using the sense of vision what humans could see at one third of a mile away, a dog could see more clearly 3miles away. Dogs can detect some odors in parts per trillion. What does that mean in terms we might understand? While we might notice a teaspoon of sugar added to our lemonade, a dog could detect a teaspoon of sugar dropped in a million gallons of water the equivalent of two Olympic size pools. Experts have reported incredible true stories such as a dog sniffing for drugs that's on a plastic container with marijuana submerged in gasoline within a gas tank and then there's a cancer sniffing dog that can detect a microscopic spot of melanoma on a patient’s skin. Well, the dog may not always smell pretty but their sense of smell is pretty amazing. Did you know the Bible talks about a man who is deceived through his sense of smell? 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 we're here in case you have a Bible question. If you'd like to call in with your Bible question, it's a free phone call. We have our lines open right now. Let me give you the number. You ready? 800 GOD SAYS; that's (800) 463.7297. If you'd like to make your phone call and have a Bible question for us, we'll do our best to search for the answers together. That number one more time is (800) 463.7297. We'll bring you in to Bible Answers Live studio. My name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Ross: My name is Jëan Ross. Good evening listening friends. And, Pastor Doug, let's begin the program with a word of prayer.
Dear Father, once again, we thank You for this opportunity we have to study Your Word. And we want to ask the Holy Spirit to guide our hearts and minds. Lead us in to a deeper and fuller understanding of Your Word, for we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.
Pastor Doug: Amen.
Jëan Ross: Pastor Doug, you opened the program about talking about dogs and their incredible sense of smell. That’s really remarkable how they use dogs in so many different ways and utilize their noses to find criminals as you mentioned drugs, to find people who are lost.
Pastor Doug: Umm-hmm.
Jëan Ross: But I supposed, even a dog at times can be led astray by its nose. Now, you also mentioned that there was a Bible character that was led astray by his nose.
Pastor Doug: Yes and some people might be surprised that someone could be deceived through the sense of smell but this is a story that you find in Genesis 27:26 is where you begin, where Jacob wanted to try to steal the birth right that belonged to the first born of his twin brother. Esau was born slightly before Jacob. And Jacob really wanted the spiritual birth right when the time came for his father to bless him. Isaac was old and he was blind but he still had a good sense of smell. And so Rebecca conspiring with Jacob, they said, 'Let's get some of your brother's clothes. Let's put your brother’s clothes on you,' because even though they were twins, they smelled different. Jacob hangs around with sheep all day and Isaac was a hunter so he was out on the fields. And he smelled like the fields than the, I guess whatever hunter's smells. And the father, he could tell the difference and so they put Esau's clothes on Jacob so that he would come to his father and say you know, I'm ready for that blessing. And the father smelled them. And you can find this here, it says his fath-- He said to his father... I'm sorry. Then his father Isaac said to him, 'Come to me now and kiss me my son.' He came near and kissed him and he smelled the smell of his clothing and he blessed him and he said, 'Surely the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed. Therefore may God give you of the due of heaven, of the fatness of the Earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let people serve you and Nations bow down to you. Be master of your brother and let your mother's son bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you and blessed be those who bless you.' Many people have quoted that blessing 'Blessed be those that blessed you,' speaking of the Jews but they forget that Jacob sort of extracted that blessing through deceit.
Pastor Ross: Umm- hmm.
Pastor Doug: Because he was able to smell like his brother. And... There's a spiritual analogy there. You know as Jacob, he put lamb's skin on his wrist and back of his neck and he put on his brother's clothes. He ended up getting the blessing of the first born. We put on the robe of Christ righteousness and we get the blessing of Jesus before the father. And the Lord's sort of closes his eyes and … looks upon as though we are his son but it also reminds us how some people actually do deceive others and through counterfeits. And... We’ve got a free offer that deals with that subject for anybody who would like to know how do you... How can you sniff your way out of a counterfeit? No... You’ve heard the expression before; it doesn't pass the sniff check.
Jëan Ross: Umm- hmm.
Pastor Doug: [laughs] And so when you hear all these different preachers out there and they're saying opposite things, how can you tell who's telling the truth and who's being deceptive?
Pastor Ross: We have a book and the book is entitled Satan's Confusing Counterfeits. And it deals with, well, … how do we figure out what's truth and what's error cause Satan's out there and he's trying to deceive as many people as he can.
Pastor Doug: Umm- hmm.
Pastor Ross: We'll send this free for anyone who calls and asks for it. The number is (800) 835.6747 and the book again is entitled Satan's Confusing Counterfeits. Our resource line (800) 835.6747 and if you're close to your computer, you can join us live and we're at live.amazingfacts.org, that's live.amazingfacts.org. Well, were ready to go to the phone lines. Our first caller is David. And he is calling from Georgia. David, welcome to the program.
David: Yeah, hi. How you doing?
Pastor Doug: Hi, David. Thanks for calling.
David: I got two questions for you.
Pastor Doug: Okay.
David: What is it about Jesus and the sa-- and the Centurion? When Jesus said I have never seen such faith, was he talking about the... Times he has spent on Earth or that he meant... Talking all the way back to Adam and Eve?
Pastor Doug: You know, I think Jesus was referring to his earthly ministry when he talked about the Centurions. He was on his way to heal the Centurion's servant and it's found on several gospels.
Pastor Ross: Matthew 8:10 and Luke 7:9.
Pastor Doug: And thank you and... When his servants realized that Jesus is coming, the Centurions sends another messenger to Christ who is making slow progress up the street because so many people are coming to him for healing and comfort. And he said, "You don’t even need to come to my house." He said, you know, "I'm a... I'm a man that has soldiers under me and I say to one go and he goes. And another one come, he comes," and he said, "You're... You're the Lord. You just speak the word, my servant will be healed," and Jesus just stopped and was... You know, I don't wanna use the word dumbfounded but he was... Very pleased, astonished as much as he could humanly be that here this Gentile seemed to have more faith in Christ omnipotence than some of his own people.
Pastor Ross: Umm-hmm.
Pastor Doug: They always wanted signs and wonders and this man said, "You don't... You don't even need to come to my house because I believe you've got more power than the… The people assumed." So I think Christ was saying... I'm not seeing this kind of faith since... You know, his earthly ministry began.
Pastor Ross: Umm- hmm. Do you know the last part of... Of verse 10 in Matthew chapter 8, Jesus said that "Assuredly, I say to you, I've not found so much great faith, no, not in Israel." So Christ is contrasting the faith of the Centurion with the faith of the Jews who were looking for signs and wonders and here the man was willing to just take the word of Christ and believe. That because Jesus said it, it would happen.
Pastor Doug: Umm-hmm. Now you said you had a second part of that David.
David: Yeah, this is going to crucifixion.
Pastor Doug: Okay.
David: Throughout the four Gospel, I've mentioned that Jesus was not an only child. He did have siblings.
Pastor Doug: Right.
David: So... I was wondering--
Pastor Doug: Why did he commit his mother to John?
David: Yeah. My question how come Jesus wanted John to look after Mary but not one of his brothers.
Pastor Doug: Well, most scholars believed that Jesus's brothers and sisters that it refers to... And we know the names of the brothers. It never tells us the names of his sisters but they were probably his half-brothers. And there are several reasons for that. One is the one you cited. They believed that Joseph already had some children before he married Mary. One reason is because when Jesus begins his ministry, Joseph's never mentioned. He evidently died at that point. Somewhere between Jesus 12th birthday and his 30th birthday, Joseph passed away. He may have been somewhat older than Mary. The other reason is, well, there's two other reasons. It was very unusual if Jesus was the first born, for the oldest son to leave the family business and become an itinerant preacher, the younger sons had that privilege but the older son were sort of to take over the family responsibilities. And then the... The other reason would be that, you know, what you mentioned here at the cross that Jesus, he commits the care of his mother to John. Why would he do that? Wouldn’t her own children take care of her? So, yeah, many believed that... Joseph already had some children when he married Mary. His first wife may have died. And he seemed like he was a more mature man from the narrative that you read. And he died before Christ began His ministry. Jesus committed the care of His mother to His apostle John. So I appreciate your question, David. Thank you very much. I hope that helps a little bit.
Pastor Ross: You know Pastor Doug, we have a book that's new that's entitled Mary and we'll send that to you and anyone who calls us.
Pastor Doug: Ministry of Mary, The Mother of Jesus. It's talked about that in the book: The Ministry of Mary, The Mother of Jesus. Anyone who wants to know more about this enigmatic character Mary, worshipped around the world, what does the Bible say about her; We'll send you this free book.
Pastor Ross: The number to call is (800) 835.6747. You can ask for the book on Mary. And we'll send that out to you. We have Linda. She's listening from Michigan. Linda, welcome to the program.
Linda: Thank you. Thank you. This is my first time calling in. And it's interesting that the previous question, my question kind of follows from his. I'm... I'm kind of curious tonight in regards to the gospel covering the early life of Jesus that is, you know, from the time he was twelve... I guess my question is... You see is as you said previously that his... His earthly father Joseph when he passed away and he's being the oldest son, was he in fact the one who carried on the carpentry livelihood and supported the family, actually, working perhaps?
Pastor Doug: Well, he probably did wha-- There's an interesting note if you look in Luke 2:49, after Jesus was 12 and it says, you know, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" It says they didn't understand the statement He spoke to them but then you read the next verse, verse 51, that's Luke 2:51. It says, "Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth and He was subject to them but His mother kept all these things in her heart and Jesus increased in wisdom and statue." That means He became brighter, He grew up, He grew taller and in favor in God and man. So basically it tells us that He grew up under the care and the... Respecting the authority of His mother and father there in Nazareth, probably working in the family business. He didn't begin His public ministry 'til He was 30 and you read about that in Luke chapter 3.
Linda: Okay.
Pastor Doug: Pastor Jëan, you're gonna say something?
Pastor Ross: Nope.
Pastor Doug: So... Yeah, I... I, you know, there's all kinds of stories out there about Jesus. You know, He went off to Egypt and studied under the masters there. He went to India and He studied with you know Greek philosophers and there's all kinds of misinformation out there about what Jesus did, they call it the missing years. Well, they're not missing. It tells you right here in the Bible what He did. So they... They think that He went... How did He get all these wisdom without formal education? And I... I think Mary was extremely intelligent. She taught him. Jesus was very literate. They... Israel did have great libraries and the Hebrew boys were probably some of the most literate children in the world at this time because they were taught the scriptures and they were taught to read in the synagogues. Yeah, so Jesus was very well educated, very well read. And you know, even during Christ’s time, the apostle Paul is an example of that. I mean Paul spoke several languages. He can write in several languages. And he studied at the feet of Gamaliel and they just have a lot of learning because in Israel during the time of Jesus, they have what they call the Hellenists. These were... These were... From the Hellenistic Period from the Greek occupation of Israel. They had a lot of the Greek culture in writings and literature and I'm sure Jesus was very educated but mostly from the scriptures.
Linda: I see.
Pastor Doug: anyway... Well, I appreciate your question Linda and don't hesitate to call again. We thank you for your call.
Jëan Ross: Our next caller is Jose listening from Massachusetts. Jose, welcome to the program.
Jose: Hey, thank you guys for... you know, taking me in.
Pastor Doug: Yeah.
Jose: how you doing?
Pastor Doug: Doing great. How about you?
Jose: Very good. I have a question concerning the lunar Sabbath. I've been... you know, I've... I've accepted the Sabbath truth. I've learned a lot from you guys in the ministry. I'm not gonna say any names but... And then I came across with... With some say that you know that God has established this lunar Sabbath at creation and therefore we're following the Solar calendar which is false but they ???, which none of them are and it's like the day that God wants. But the lunar Sabbath is the actual date... I mean the actual, you know, day.
Pastor Doug: Right.
Jose: That we should be following so I'm just confused so...
Pastor Doug: Well, you know, to give you a thorough answer in the typical 3 minutes we use in our questions, it's gonna be difficult but I will share this with you. They cycle of the Sabbath has been based on a week of 7 days that started with creation. It was not governed by a solar or a lunar calendar. The Sabbath is not governed by a calendar. It's governed by a weekly, repetitive cycle. They did have a lunar Sabbath that they celebrated in accordance with the moon. They, you know, whenever they have a new moon, it meant a new month and they have a separate Sabbath. This is something that is not mentioned in the 10 commandments. The 10 commandments and the Sabbath that honors creation, it goes back to a weekly cycle. Nothing to do with the calendar. I've heard of these folks that are pushing a lunar Sabbath and quite frankly, it's a lot of double talk. I mean I'm sure they're sincere but it's not biblical at all. The cycle of the Sabbath can be tracked all the way back to the Jewish history to a weekly cycle. It's not tied to the calendar.
Pastor Ross: You know, I think we'll see if you just trace it to back 2000 years, you'll be able to see which Sabbath Jesus kept and He kept the Sabbath as the Jewish people as the nation kept. If there was some other Sabbath that was to be kept contrary to the 7th day, that would have been made very clear by the life of Christ and His disciples.
Pastor Doug: That's a good point because all through, there were several disputes with Jesus and His people regarding the Sabbath.
Pastor Ross: Umm- hmm.
Pastor Doug: But they never do dispute what day it was.
Pastor Ross: Correct.
Pastor Doug: Their disputes were to how to keep it and so they knew that Jesus and the Jews were calling the same day the Sabbath.
Pastor Ross: Umm- hmm.
Pastor Doug: From the time of Christ and (inaudible 17:28) records this. There's no change in the continuity of the 1234567, even the Romans who they kept a weekly cycle as well. Their first day corresponded with what we call Sunday. There's no question. Jesus rose the first day. It's a 7-day cycle. It has nothing to do with the calendar. It has nothing to do with the moon. And so I’d just be very careful, it seems like you're sincere in learning in a lot of things Jose and...
Jose: Yeah.
Pastor Doug: I'd stick with what you learn and don't get... Don't get derailed by that.
Jose: (inaudible 18:01).
Pastor Ross: You know, if you haven't seen our website Jose, it's sabbathtruth.com. It will be well worth taking to look or to anyone wanting to learn more about what the Bible has to say about the Sabbath.
Pastor Doug: Umm- hmm.
Pastor Ross: Take a look at Sabbathtruth.com. There are videos. There's Bible studies great resources, Sabbathtruth.com
Pastor Doug: The number one website on the Sabbath out there.
Pastor Ross: Our next caller is Jerry and he's listening from Virginia. Jerry, welcome to the program.
Jerry: Hi, nice to talk with you.
Pastor Doug: Likewise, and your question.
Jerry: My question is about divorce and remarriage. When a spouse has been unfaithful and... And decided to leave you what... What is the biblical concern of remarriage? I was told by someone that there was a onetime only opportunity that... Once you've got... Once you've been divorced, that... That's it.
Pastor Doug: Well, let me... Let me read you the words of Jesus because we can't improve on that. If you look in Matthew 19 and I'll start with verse 3, 'The Pharisees also came to Him, to Jesus, testing Him and saying, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?" And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He that made them in the beginning made them male and female." And He said, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two will become one flesh. So then they're no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together let not man separate." Then they said to him, "Why then did Moses give us a certificate of divorce to put her away?" In other words, Moses made a provision in the law that there... There could be a certificate of divorce. Jesus answers in verse 8; this is Matthew 19:8. He said 'Moses because of the hardness of your hearts permitted you to divorce your wives but from the beginning, it was not so.' So that's God's original plan but Jesus goes on to say whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another, commits adultery. So if... If a man or a woman is married and their spouse violates the vows by.., the Bible uses the word fornication or sexual immorality; they have biblical grounds for divorce. Now sometimes it's... It's appropriate for couples to separate, typically that's in a situation where there is some form of abuse but it doesn't even say that you're free to divorce at that point. You can take yourself out of the situation but marriage is a very solemn firm covenant biblically. And you know in our culture where our relationships are... Are not as firm as a handshake you know, people are coming and going pretty quickly, it's like revolving doors.
Pastor Ross: Umm- hmm.
Pastor Doug: That, you know, we kind of lost the concept of how important this is but... Do you go to a chuch somewhere Jerry?
Jerry: Yes, I have.
Pastor Doug: Have you counseled cause there's... there's a lot of circumstances sometimes, it's just not and it's not... this format is not a good format to delve in to what the insinuating circumstances might be. And it's... It's good to have a… A good biblical pastor where you can council with. But I’ve got a book that talks specifically. It's a new book that I'll send you a free copy. It's called Divorce
Pastor Ross: Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage.
Pastor Doug: Thanks. I wrote it but I forgot the title. [laughs] "Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage." And yeah, we'll send you a free copy. I went through all the scriptures we can find on the subject and just did our best to answer some of the difficult... New answers that come in to play.
Pastor Ross: The number to call (800) 835.6747. You can ask for the book: Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage. And we'll send that to anyone who will call us and ask for it. And if you have a Bible related question, the number here to the studio is (800) 463.7297, (800) 463.7297. We have lines that are now open. This would be a good time for you to pick up your phone and give us a call. We have Valerie who is listening from New York. Valerie, welcome to the program.
Valerie: Hi.
Pastor Doug: Hi, thanks for calling.
Valerie: Yes, my question is... In the book of Leviticus, I believe, it says that it's for-- Does it say that it's forbidden to eat shellfish?
Pastor Doug: Yeah, well, the Bible doesn't say it that way. What the Bible say is there are three principles for if you're gonna eat, you're not required to eat any animals. I'm a vegetarian but the Bible says that if you’re gonna eat animals, here's the criteria: one, if it's a land animal, it needed to have two things. It needed to have a clove and hoof and chew the cud like a cow or a goat or sheep. You couldn't eat a pig because even though it has a clove and hoof, it doesn't chew the cud and you couldn't eat a camel because even though camel chews the cud, it doesn't have a clove and hoof. It's got a big paw. In the... Among the birds, the criteria for a bird to be clean, they were the foraging birds and those like your pheasants, your... Your... Your dove, your quail, your chickens, your turkey, those are birds that go through the brush and they peck around. You couldn't eat a bird of carrion, like an eagle or a vulture or anything like that, those owls, they were all unclean. Among the fish or the sea creatures, it needed to have two things: fins and scales. And so shellfish, that doesn't have fins and scales, they're scavengers. They typically dwell in the bottom. Well, they will always dwell in the bottom except for shrimp that swim sometimes. And they're scavengers and God said it's not clean. Typically, shellfish is served with the intestinal tract too when you think about what that means.
Valerie: But I... Is it okay to eat shellfish because, I mean a lot of people eat things like calamari.
Pastor Doug: Right. No, a lot of people eat all kinds of interesting things. If you're asking biblically, if you wanna follow the Bible teachings, God says don't eat it.
Valerie: So...
Pastor Doug: And He says that like, for instance, it's an abomination. They're scavengers. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and you shouldn't eat it.
Valerie: So it's really not a good thing to do.
Pastor Doug: No, you know, I... I... When I learned this thing, I loved shrimp cocktail. and I especially like going out with my father because it was expensive and he'd pay for it but I used to eat a lot of shrimp cocktail growing up. And when I read these things in the Bible that was a struggle for me. I used to hunt my own lobster when I’d go out spear fishing. And with butter, it was scrumptious. Of course, lobster's almost pure cholesterol. [Laughs] But then I read these things and I also found out there's a lot of disease. Some people get really sick from eating shellfish. And I just said, 'you know, if God's Word says it, I just as soon follow it." And... Not missed it since. So appreciate it. Valerie, we do have a book that talks about God's health plan that describes the clean and the unclean.
Pastor Ross: That's right. We have a study guide entitled God's Free Health Plan and we'll send that to anyone who calls and asks. The number is (800) 835.6747. That is our resource line (800) 835.6747. You can ask for the study guide: God's Free Health Plan. And again the phone number here in the studio is (800) 463.7297. We have Andrew who is calling from California. Andrew, welcome to the program.
Andrew: Hello.
Pastor Doug: Hi, Andrew. You're on the air and we got about 2 minutes before the break. Your question.
Andrew: Well, yes, Pastor Doug. First of all, I wanna say I wanna thank you for your great work. I'm hearing live from you from Amazing Facts TV. [echo on the background].
Pastor Doug: Well, thank you.
Andrew: And a...
Pastor Doug: You need to probably turn your radio down on the back ground. It’s gonna confused you with the delay.
Andrew: And my... Sorry about that.
Pastor Doug: It's okay.
Andrew: And my question is about the near death experience.
Pastor Doug: Yeah.
Andrew: I know I've heard... I'm (hearing?) about your... service about people who are you know many thousand, different stories about people who died and went back.
Pastor Doug: Right.
Andrew: I was... I was... I was just thinking is it possible for ghost who didn't die all the way maybe just half way, it's just... The dark side evil spirit is... Is the one giving you false information (inaudible 26:30)-
Pastor Doug: Yeah. Yeah...
Andrew: -and they pretend they're God, will pretend the voice of God, just to show... Just to show the other people that... People resurrect when they... When they die.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, I think you’re on the right track. There's a lot of confusion out there. First of all, most people that have near death experience is they all say different things. There... It's not just Christians that have near death experiences. You'll have Hindus that have a near death experience and they'll try to use to promote reincarnation. And you'll have Buddhists that will have a near death experience and they'll promote their religion. And Christians will say we die on the operating table and have visions and I don't doubt that people have dreams. I don't doubt that the Lord can give a person a dream when they have a near death experience and try to speak to them individually. The bottom line is we don't use people's near death experiences on an operating table or a car accident or whatever it might be to determine truth biblically. We don't say, "Well, I read this book about someone who has a dream and that must mean this is what heaven is like and this is what hell is like. They saw angels. They saw this and that." Anybody can say that. Anybody can write a book. And... Basically if... If we're gonna figure out what's true, we need to be going by what the Bible says. It's gotta be based on what the Word of God is, not on what somebody's dream might be. And so the Bible is the final word. And you’re listening to Bible Answers Live.
Pastor Ross: You know, Pastor Doug, we're gonna be coming on our break in just a few moments but before we do that, we like to let our listeners know about a website that amazing facts has had for a while but it's an important website. It's called marytruth.com.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, we've got... there's a website, a lot of people have had questions about Mary Magdalene for instance and... And then we've just got this new book. We're gonna be posting information about that, Mary the mother of Jesus, the two prominent Mary's in the Bible.
Pastor Ross: Umm-hmm.
Pastor Doug: Some people think that Mary Magdalene married Jesus... And... You know, they had some secret mysterious children together or something. There’s nothing on the Bible about that but we have information there at that website marytruth.com. [Background music playing] And we're gonna be putting up the new book. It just came out this week: The Mystery of Mary, The Mother of Jesus. So you got these two prominent Mary's that you'll find in Scripture and you've got more information about that for you there. Also, I'd like to mention that we just had a phone call where someone was asking about death. We have a website called deathtruth.com. And we welcome you to go there and check it out. We'll be back in just a few minutes.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Pastor Doug: Welcome back friends to Bible Answers Live. And we're trusting some have joined us since we began about half an hour ago. We have a half hour to go. This is a live international interactive Bible study and we're doing it together. So you can listen for your Bible questions. You can call in a Bible question. Yes, we still have lines open and there's a free phone call if you'd like to call us with a Bible question, that's been plaguing you. We don’t have all the answers but we have some of 'em and we'll be happy to share. That number, you ready? (800) 463.7297; that's (800) 463.7297. And my name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Ross: My name is Jëan Ross. And we're gonna go straight to the phone lines. I believe we have Catherine who is listening from Ontario, Canada. And let's see, Catherine, welcome to the program.
Catherine: Hello.
Pastor Doug: Catherine, are you there?
Catherine: Yes, I'm here.
Pastor Doug: Hi. Welcome.
Catherine: Thank you very much. My question is I was wondering what can be done for other believers to get to know about the Sabbath because I realize back in many churches that it's... It's not being taught. And a lot of unbelievers, believe in Sunday is a Sabbath day. And... So I would really like to know, you know, what can be done for people to wake up.
Pastor Doug: Well, it is true that it's a... You know, there's a… A lot of people are learning the truth about this commandment that's been forgotten and neglected. As a matter of fact there's a book called the... What is it, the Almost Forgotten Day?
Pastor Ross: Umm- hmm.
Pastor Doug: And... A lot of people just aren't aware that Biblically that the day that many Christians gather for worship and they say honor the resurrection, there's not a single verse in scripture that commands us to remember Sunday as Sabbath or in honor of the resurrection. And if people are gonna go by the 10 commandments, now we’re not saved under the old covenant friends, we're saved under the new covenant. But the new covenant is the law of God written in our hearts. It's not different commandments God doesn’t say it's okay to kill or to lie or to commit adultery. Those commandments are still in place. And if we keep the Spirit of the law which is loving the Lord and loving your neighbor. We'll also wanna keep the fourth commandment that says to remember the Sabbath day. It's not for Jews. It goes all the way back to creation Genesis chapter 2. And, yeah, I'd say just get the word out. You know, the best thing you can do Catherine is a link to, go to the Sabbath truth website and friend it on facebook or link to it and spread it around. That website is doing a lot of good cause it just provides the biblical education in the history on this or for anybody out there listening and you've got questions on the subject and you know, we certainly do need in this fast paced world we're living in. We're a... I heard this week that... the top 5 or 6 causes of death: heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure are stress related and the top three medications are dealing with stress whether they're anti-acids or sleep aids. And stress is killing people and God say that if we would rest and remember His Sabbath day, come to Jesus for rest, restart finding that peace and probably live a little longer. So if you'd like to know more about the Sabbath truth, go to that website sabbathtruth.com and we do have a study guide.
Pastor Ross: The study guide is entitled The Lost day of History and we'll send that to anyone who calls and ask for it. The number is (800) 835.6747. Again the study guide: The Last Day of History, talking about the Sabbath what does the Bible have to say. (800) 835 6747. Our next caller is George. And he's listening from Pinedale, Wyoming. George, welcome to the program.
George: Hello, pastors? How are you doing?
Pastor Doug: doing great. Thanks for calling and your question.
George: Thanks. My question was about old time, Old Testament prophets they received, yes, but they weren't on a payroll. How does that apply to today’s time and age where pastors are on a payroll? And how high does it apply in any wealth from the people in the congregation, you know, mass amount of money? I'm kind of thinking of Judas and how he betrayed the trust and stole from the money bag. So how does this all apply today? I see so many pastors and million dollar jets and homes and so forth.
Pastor Doug: Yeah. Well, I know and it gives Christianity a bad name. Well, just so you know, Pastor Ross and I are on a basic salary. We... We are paid based on a scale. It doesn’t go up or down. It doesn't matter if we got a thousand members in our church or 50 members in our church but in the old testament, the Levites were paid from the (inaudible 35:48) but I think that they probably had a... a scale so they can have some consistency on what they could expect unless the store house was empty. If the store house was empty, they had to go back and take up other work and the temple will start to fall into disrepair; that happened a few times in the history. But when the people are faithful and there's plenty in the storehouse, the Levites were all paid on a fair provision that was based on their... Their economy. I think it was regular from month to month. I dont know what that figure was. So that's... I think that's the best pattern. One of the problems is if a local pastor is paid directly from his congregation and they determine his pay and his pay is scaled by both the wealth of the congregation and the number of people, pastors tend to give more attention to the wealthy people in their congregation because they're gonna pay his paycheck. They're less inclined to preach the sins and say the Bible it's hard for a rich man to get into the kingdom. Sometimes rich people have ???. And so it is a temptation to go easy preach smooth things to your congregation because you don't wanna hurt, you know, disrupt your paycheck. And it just creates say a bad... kind of creates a moral dilemma for a Pastor. He's striving instead of building up God's kingdom. He's trying to build up his congregation so that he has a better paycheck. It's better if a is Pastor on a set salary that does not go up and down based on membership. And that he's just faithful in his calling and... And responsibilities.
Pastor Ross: And also Pastor Doug to just add to that, it seems that in the New Testament times has a very similar model was used where offerings were gathered by the central council in Jerusalem and it was distributed according to the needs, not only of certain individuals in the church speaks about the widows, but also to those doing a lot work, the missionaries and those sent out.
Pastor Batchelor: Umm- hmm. And Paul said that you shouldn’t... Paul quoting Moses...
Pastor Ross: Umm-hmm.
Pastor Batchelor: -said you shouldn't muzzle the ox that treads out the grain. And that's because ox used to walk in a circle with a grind... grinding out grain. Some of them would spill off where they were walking and they... they were given permission to eat what happened to spill in their path. And in the same way ministers, if they're full time work is grinding up the grain then they should be fed off that grain. And... Anyway, we do have a lesson that deals with these principles, George. We'll send you a free copy. And Pastor Ross...
Pastor Ross: The study guide is entitled: In God We Trust, talking about money and the Christian. The number to call is (800) 835.6747. You can ask for the study guide: In God We Trust.
Pastor Batchelor: You know, I thought of one more book that we had would probably send to George because he was asking specifically also about some of the infidelity that you find in the Church when it comes to money. And I thought of that book by Joe Crews called Thieves in the Church.
Pastor Ross: Umm-hmm.
Pastor Doug: And if you'd like an interesting book on this subject, George, we'll send you a free copy of Thieves in the Church.
Pastor Ross: The number is (800) 835.6747 and again the book: Thieves in the Church; got an intriguing title. We have Gail who is listening from New York. Gail, welcome to the program.
Gail: Oh, praise the Lord. Just wanna share a couple of scriptures in light of my question. I wanna mention these two scriptures. One is I think it's in Romans (inaudible 39:06) where God demonstrates his own love towards us and that while we are still sinners, Christ died for us. And then the other one is Romans 6:23 where it says, 'For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Savior Jesus Christ.
Pastor Doug: Um-hmm.
Gail: In light of my question in reference to perishing and all of that stuff, I'm also blind. I've called your show before and... I have sometimes people in my own family that you know making sin and everything like that. And then you know, they'll ask me like, you know, some hard questions and I'm not able to answer about the Bible or salvation or whatever but then when you give them an answer, they say, "I don't wanna discuss religion anymore. You believe your way and I respect you and all that stuff but I don't wanna hear anymore." It's always like that you know people in the family.
Pastor Doug: Right.
Gail: You know. How do you handle that cause it can be very discouraging because I don’t want them to perish like John 3:16 talks about you know part of the verse?
Pastor Doug: Right, well, you know that is a good question. I think a lot of people can relate to that. And... There's three things we can do for those we love to reach them. You don't usually make progress arguing with people unless someone's heart is open. Sometimes you'll... You'll make a good point and it will cause them to pause and think but a lot of times, people are just you know if… If their hearts are proud or stubborn, we just take our position and then we set our feet and we fight no matter what kind of creative or influence or arguments a person has. So there's three things at that point you can do for those you love. One is if they're open, share information. I found that some of my friends will want to debate and argue and be combative with me, it's easier if I give them a book or DVD because they have to watch that without being able to argue with me. And they just have to watch it and take it in. And there's no one around so that makes them think. So you might share information if they’re willing to listen. The other thing is be a good example. You certainly don’t want to be un-Christ like and be angry and argue with people because that's not the way Jesus would do it. And the third thing is pray for them and prayer does make a difference. Pray for them consistently and patiently. The Lord doesn’t see things like we do and sometimes it takes months and years for Him to reach people we love. Be a good example. Share information. Pray for them. Those are the only three things you can do but very effective things if you do them all three. Okay, thank you, Gail. Appreciate your call and again, who's... Who's on the line Pastor Ross?
Pastor Ross: We've got Lisa who is listening from... Let’s see Lisa is in Brooklyn, New York. Lisa... Lisa, welcome to the program.
Lisa: Hi.
Pastor Doug: Evening.
Lisa: I was listening tonight and... Hello.
Pastor Doug: Yes, you're on.
Lisa: Okay. Right. I heard about Joseph and Mary and so on.
Pastor Doug: Umm- hmm.
Lisa: I was thinking... We don’t really know that Joseph had... A family before. Wasn't it... It's not like speculations.
Pastor Doug: It is. It is speculations. It's...
Lisa: Oh...
Pastor Doug: It's an educated guess. We don't know either way. In other words, we don't know if it is a fact that in Christ time, they would call a step brother a brother. And so when it says Jesus’ brother and His sisters, we believe that you know Jesus had at least brothers or step brothers. The reason that we think and, Lisa, I think that's many scholars over the last thousand years, think that the brethren that Jesus is... Are... Are listed there were half-brothers from Joseph. It's those three reasons: He went out and did itinerate preaching, the first born almost never did that; He gave his mother's care to John; and by the time He started preaching His father had already died meaning that H was probably older.
Lisa: Okay.
Pastor Doug: So those are the reasons but you're right, it is an educated guess.
Lisa: Right. I'm not... About the eating of shellfish...
Pastor Doug: Yeah.
Lisa: Didn't... Paul (inaudible 43:05) inspired by the Holy spirit that whether we eat or we don’t eat, we eat for the Lord and we drink to the Lord or we don’t drink and we should be guided by how our eating and drinking affects our weak brother if it cause them to sin, well then we don’t drink and if it will, if we don't eat, and then it cause them to sin so we should eat.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, you're talking about Romans 14 and that's Romans 14--
Lisa: Right. So it's not the principle now that the Church should be guided by because God created everything?
Pastor Doug: All right. It is true God created everything but, obviously, I'm sure you don't believe that God created animals for Adam and Eve originally to eat them.
Lisa: Oh.
Pastor Doug: The... When it talks in Romans 14 and it said you know, 'you don't wanna eat anything that will make your brother stumble,' Paul is talking about animals that were sacrificed to pagan idols. It has nothing to do with what in other words in Romans 14, when it says it never mentions shellfish. It never mentions pork. It never mentions chicken or any animal. It's just talking about... In the problem in Gentile and Roman Empire, all the animals had been sacrificed to pagan gods and people who were very sensitive said we can't eat anything. And we're talking chicken, goat, lamb. We can't eat anything because it's been offered to an idol. Paul said well if it bothers your conscience though, don’t eat it. And don't if it bothers your… Your neighbor, don’t eat things offered to idols in front of them. He makes that clear to another passages and I think it's 1 Corinthians, 'Eat the things that are sold in the shambles asking no question for conscience sake. Don’t ask if this was offered to an idol and if,' you're you know, 'he says it was you don’t wanna eat it and make your brother stumble.' So that really had nothing to do with eating clean or unclean food. The laws that God made for Adam and Eve and Noah, you know, made a distinction between clean and unclean, he wasn’t Jewish.
Pastor Ross: The verse you're referring to is 1 Corinthians 10:25 is the reference.
Pastor Doug: Right. So Lisa, can you still hear me?
Pastor Ross: Yes.
Pastor Doug: I'm sorry. Does that help at all or...?
Lisa: Yes, but... I mean people eat shellfish and get sick because of the allergies but... I mean...
Pastor Doug: Now, are you-
Lisa: That's for New Testament church, we should basically not try to offend our brother but be sensible, you know, if you’re allergic to whatever, you shouldn’t eat it.
Pastor Doug: No, if there are foods in the Bible that God says are an abomination and that we should not eat them... and the Bible also says New and Old Testament 'Do not eat blood.' That's in Act 15 and it was specifically written to the Gentile converts. He said command them to abstain from blood. And do you remember in the Old Testament King Saul, the army got ravenous, they killed some animals and ate them with the blood and they called it a sin.
Lisa: Yeah.
Pastor Doug: And these were God's people. So the Bible says whether you eat or drink do all to the glory of God in order for us to eat and drink to God's glory that means it's possible to not eat and drink to God's glory. And there's... There's a revival happening right now among many evangelical churches that were rediscovering the Health Laws in the Bible. I was reading where Pastor Rick Warren… they went on the Daniel 1 diet and the whole congregation collectively lost, I don't know, tons because it (inaudible 46:29) they were killing themselves with their eating habits.
Pastor Ross: Umm- hmm.
Pastor Doug: And so the Church is starting to rediscover some of the health principles in the Bible. That’s what we're talking about Lisa. We do have free lesson. We'll send you. I hope you'll ask for it. And it's called God's Health Plan.
Pastor Ross: The number to call is (800) 835.6747 and again the study guide is entitled: Gods Free Health Plan, talking about what the Bible has to say about food that is good to eat and food that we need to avoid.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, most people dont realize that we're vegetarians that I'm a hundred and 8 years old and you're a hundred and seven. [Ross laughs] And if they only knew how good this diet is for you.
Pastor Ross: That will get them to call, [Doug laughs] call for the resource. We have Jose who is listening from Orlando. Jose, welcome to the program.
Pastor Doug: Jose, you're on the air.
Jose: I am?
Pastor Doug: Hi, welcome. Your question tonight.
Jose: Thank you for taking my question. What does the Bible say about the ordination of women as elders, or pastors or overseers?
Pastor Doug: All right. In the Bible there's really no distinction made between elder and pastor. The word bishop is sometimes used but it's basically talking about the spiritual leaders of congregations in the New Testament Church. A pastor meant this person who is pastoring or shepherding that congregation; the elder, it was the same thing. And the Bible does talk about elders being ordained and so in Timothy was given instructions on how elder should be set aside or how deacons should be set aside. He's very clear. He said that it should... The elder should be the husband of one wife. So you know are you asking about the whether or not women should be ordained as pastors or elders?
Jose: Correct.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, there's no example. Now I always have to preface this because it's a... It's a very sensitive subject. There's no question in my mind that God has called every believer to ministry. Every man and woman and child that accepted Christ. God gives them spiritual gifts to use in Christ’s service in some capacity. But at the same time in the Church, God has an ordering organization for administrating the operation of the Church. And He has delegated that the spiritual leadership of the families in the Church should be done by the men. And that goes back to the Garden of Eden. It can be seen all through the books of the Old Testament and New Testament. There's no example in the Bible. And the Bible is a big book. There's no example in the Bible of a woman serving in the capacity of a pastor, apostle, king or (inaudible 49:07) of service kings or...
Pastor Ross: Priest.
Pastor Doug: Priest. Thank you. We have a book on that. I'd be happy to send you for free, Jose, if you like it.
Pastor Ross: Sure.
Pastor Doug: It's called Woman in Ministry and just goes through with the Bible verses -are on that subject.
Pastor Ross: The number to call (800) 835.6747. And the book Woman in Ministry. That's (800) 835.6747.
Pastor Doug: You know, I always like to point people back to Jochebed and Amram from the Tribe of Levi, had 3 children that were all three prophets: Aaron, Miriam, and Moses, all three were prophets. Of course, Miriam was a prophetess. So women many times had the gift of prophecy in the Bible but only the boys Aaron and Moses served in the capacity of a priest and offered sacrifice. So that was... That was something God had designated that the men should do as the type of Christ. Appreciate your question Jose. And please send for that free book or anyone.
Pastor Ross: We have Mark listening from Princeport, Connecticut. Mark, welcome to the program.
Mark: Hi. Good evening, Pastor Doug. How you doing?
Pastor Ross: Doing great. Thanks for calling.
Mark: Thank you for this wonderful program.
Pastor Ross: Well, we have fun doing it.
Mark: Thank you. And my question... Is found in 1 Timothy 2:9, I just want... I just wanted the information about a verse, question when Paul says (inaudible 50:33), does that mean that women should not be wearing a wig in the hair? I just want this information about…
Pastor Doug: Let me... Let me read this to our listeners Mark. We have a lot of people that are on the road listening and it says, 'In like ma--' this again is 1 Timothy 2:9, 'In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparal- apparel with sobriety and moderation, not with braided, braided or broidered hair or gold or pearls or costly array.' When he's talking about broidered or braided hair then in the Roman Empire, the prostitutes would often weave chains and articles of gold in their hair to advertise their trade or women who were trying to be ostentatious, they... they had this very elaborate hairdos and God does not saying that a woman should never to do anything with their hair, sometimes putting your hair back or braiding it is very practical to keep it out of the kitchen with your cooking. So there's no sin in that. I think Paul is talking about being ostentatious and flamboyant and Christians should be neat clean and practical and people should notice the inward adorning, not the outward adorning. So... a matter of fact, it's interesting. If you go back to some of the very conservative Puritan women, they all braided their hair and they put them up in buns.
Pastor Ross: Umm- hmm.
Pastor Doug: they cover their heads too because they thought a woman's hair is their glory. We wanted to be humble so we cover our hair but then there's no mandated against braiding their hair per say, it was the elaborate ornamentation. Appreciate your call, by the way, we do have some books that deal with these subjects of dress and one in particular is jewelry and it's called Jewelry, How Much is Too Much. And I'll send you a free copy.
Pastor Ross: the number to call is (800) 835.6747 and the book talking about Jewelry, How much is Too Much. (800) 835.6747. And Pastor Doug, we also have another book called Culture and the Christian-
Pastor Doug: Yeah, that's right.
Pastor Ross: -that folks would find interesting; that's Culture and The Christian. You call the same number and ask for it and we'd be happy to send it to anyone who calls and ask. We have Jessie who is listening from Kansas. Jessie, welcome to the program.
Jessie: Hi, how are you?
Pastor Doug: Doing great and your question today.
Jessie: Well, my question is... It might be kind of general but how do I distinguish the voice of God in reference to, like I always hear about people you know trying and they... they hear the direction God wants them to take and my struggle is I don't want to, you know...
Pastor Doug: Misinterpret it.
Jessie: (inaudible 53:16) I think I'm hearing the voice of God and really all I'm doing is doing what I want.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, that's... that's good that you're honest that way. First of all, you've already established the number one most important principle of willingness to do God's will -is the most important thing is recognizing the voice of God. Now most people when they say God told me this and God told me that and God impress me with this and that. The Lord impresses us with the Spirit very, very, very few people hear the audible voice of God. I once came close to thinking that I did and still to this day I'm not sure whether I did or it was such strong voice in my conscience that it almost felt audible. And then... But most of the time God speaks through His Word; God speaks through us through providence, things that happened; God speaks to us through Christian council. In fact, Jesse, we have a book. We'll send you a free copy and it's called How to Know the Will of God. And it talks in that book about how do you discern the voice of God which sounds like your question. Would you like a copy of that?
Jessie: Oh, absolutely.
Pastor Doug: Yeah, just call the number Pastor Ross will give you.
Pastor Ross: the number to call (800) 835.6747, ask for the book Determining the Will of God. We'll be happy to send that to you, Jesse, or anyone who calls and ask or if you have access to the internet, go to the amazingfacts.com and you can actually read the book for free online. That’s amazingfacts.com.
Pastor Doug: Oh, listening friends we just got the signal from our engineer that we probably don’t have enough time to be on air with anybody and take their question. We're gonna be winding off here in just a minute, if we did not get to your phone call this week, please give us another chance. And we'll be back again next week. In the meantime, before we sign off we hope that you'll notice this final announcement, we really mean it friends when we tell you we enjoy doing this and we want to keep doing it but the only way we can keep doing it is if you were listening, … I enjoy this program enough to let them know and if you can just drop us a line, it's really easy on the internet. If you go to our website, very simple, amazingfacts.com or amazingfacts.org and you can make a donation online and just say I enjoy Bible Answers Live. It will mean a lot to us. If you're thinking about it, do it while you're thinking about it or you'll forget. God bless. We'll be back together again next week.
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