Hello friends, this is Doug Batchelor, how about an amazing fact? 3 year old AJ Hayes from Kaiser Oregon has set the world record, being the youngest person to make a 911 call. AJ’s dad Aaron, was doing work around the house when he accidentally severed a main artery in his arm with a wood chisel and was bleeding profusely. Little AJ grabbed the phone and dialed 911, the numbers his dad had taught him. AJ told the emergency operator that his father was hurt and ‘you have to come, he really needs help’.
Aaron was taken to an area hospital, treated for the wound, and released. Paramedics said the three-year old boy’s quick thinking probably saved his father’s life. Did you know the Bible teaches that God has the best emergency call system in the world? 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 Batchelor: Welcome listening friends to Bible Answers Live. This is a live, international, interactive calling program. We invite you to call in with your Bible questions, we have some lines open right know and so if you pick up the phone, you make that toll free phone call. Let me give you the number one more time. First the acronym 800-GodSays will bring you into the studio with your Bible question and my name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Jëan Ross: My name is Jëan Ross, good evening listening friends and Pastor Doug as usual, let’s begin the program with prayer. Dear Father in heaven, once again we thank You that we can study Your Word together and we would like to invite Your Holy Spirit to come and fill our hearts and our minds. Be with those who are listening, wherever they might be and Lord guide us into a clearer and fuller understanding of Your Word, for we ask this in Jesus name, amen.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Amen.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Pastor Doug, you opened the program by talking about life-saving call to 911 from a three year old. I guess the father was grateful that he had taught his son to call 911 in case of emergency.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, it’s amazing that he had the presence of mind to do that because sometimes a little kid like that, they see someone injured and the blood and you know, just kind of go into shock and not know what to do. But he thought and knew what to do and that is remarkable.
But you know we’re all thankful that we’ve got this system around North America where people can dial 911. I heard somewhere that there are about a hundred and ninety million calls that are emergency calls that are made in North America every year.
During hurricane Sandy about a year ago in the northeast, the New York city 911 phone system was completely overwhelmed getting ten thousand calls per half hour or twenty thousand calls an hour. Some people were dialing with emergencies and it was either a busy signal or dead air but the good news is the Bible tells us that God’s got an emergency phone system that you can call and always get an answer.
The Lord tells us in Isaiah 65:24, “It will come to pass, that before they call, I will answer and while they’re speaking, I will hear”. And then many of us know that famous verse in Psalm 91:15-16, “He will call upon me and I will answer him, I will be with him in trouble, I’ll deliver him and honour him. With long life I’ll satisfy him and show him my salvation”.
You know we can call out to the Lord friends. You may or may not have an emergency but all of us need salvation. So that’s an emergency if we’re not saved that means we’re lost. If we don’t have eternal life that means we’re facing eternal death and there’s a call you need to make. You need to call that special line of prayer that the Lord has established so you can have that gift of everlasting life and get a new beginning. Have God deal with the emergencies in your life.
We have a special book. Maybe you’re a believer and you’ve got some other emergency. You might have a crisis with your health, or finances, or family, and prayer is the answer. We’d like to offer you a free book that talks about power and the secret of prayer and all you’ve got to do is ask for it.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The book is in titled Teach Us to Pray and we’ll send this to anyone that calls and asks, the number to our resource line 800-835-6747 and the book Teach Us to Pray. We’ll be happy to send that to you. That is a call that you can make. I’m talking about prayer where you won’t get a busy signal.
God is always willing to hear and answer those prayers that are offered in sincerity. Friends if you’d like to join us via the web tonight, we do have this program streaming from the studio, you can find us on live.amazingfacts.org that again is live.amazingfacts.org.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: And that’s actually the web, the video.
Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s the video.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yup.
Pastor Jëan Ross: We’re going to go to the phone lines, our first caller this evening is Sandy and she’s listening in Illinois. Sandy welcome to the program.
Sandy: Hi Pastors, I have a question, what Bible verses teach the length of Jesus’ public ministry? I’ve always believed that, I don’t know the exact verses, that Christ ministered 3 ½ years but someone today was rather emphatic that it was only 3 years and I’m trying to give Bible truth to give to them. Is there any concern or would there be any reason that it would be 3 years, instead of 3 ½?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well it does take a little bit of homework to, to show that but, first of all, some of the best evidence is the prophecy that is given in Daniel. In Daniel 9 there’s a prophecy that talks about, that in the middle of the last week of Jesus’ ministry, the Messiah’s ministry, He would be cut off and half of 7 is 3 ½.
You also have this time period of 1,260 days given several times in the Bible, that’s 3 ½ years but historically, if you go to Luke 3 it tells us when Jesus was baptized and this is one of the dates, you know, some of the dates in ancient history are fuzzy but this date, because Luke was a, good scholar and historian, it says in chapter 3 verse 1, “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee and his Brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and the region around Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the Word of God came to John the son of Zacharias.
In the wilderness John the Baptist begins preaching. Now the reason I read that cadre of different leaders, there was only one month in history and you know, we can line up … all these people are historical characters. There’s only one month when their time overlapped and we know that Jesus was baptized in 27 AD because of this verse and we also know then, that Jesus died on Passover. In order for Him to die on the Passover, He would have been baptized on this date here. The baptism is going to be sometime probably in the fall? He had to go for 3 ½ years. Did that make sense? Are you still there?
Pastor Jëan Ross: I think we might have lost Sandy.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hopefully she’s still listening. She heard that answer anyway so we know the starting point was in the fall of 27 AD. We know what time of year He died. He died 3 ½ years later during the Passover and it was 3 ½ years after that in 34 AD, Stephen is stoned and that’s the end of the 490 year prophecy in Daniel chapter 9. So we have a lesson I think that is God Sets a Date for the Judgment. Does it talk about that time period?
Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s right. It talks about ... Daniel chapter 9 ... If you’d like to receive that study guide, call our resource line. The number is 800-835-6747 and you can ask for the study guide, God Set the Plans for the Judgment.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Set the date for the judgement, yup.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Set the date and that’ll explain more about Daniel chapter 9 and this important time prophecy. Our next caller is Michael and Michael is listening in New Jersey, Michael welcome to the program.
Michael: Pastor Doug, Pastor Ross, I want to thank you for your service. Thank you very much.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: It’s a pleasure, thank you.
Michael: And alright now. I thought I had a hand on the heavens. The 3 heavens or the 2 heavens, I think it’s 3 but I got stuck so I need you to give me chapter and verse. First heaven chapter and verse, second heaven and, if it’s a third heaven, chapter and verse. Thank you.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Okay, well, what Michael is talking about friends is Paul refers to, he says, I know someone who was caught up to the third heaven and … you have that verse?
Pastor Jëan Ross: Yeah, that 2 Corinthians 12:22.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: And so some people have wondered, what does this mean? You know, we’ve heard the expression “seventh heaven”. It sounds poetic because it rhymes a little bit but nothing in the Bible talks about the seventh heaven.
Folks are wondering, is there a … you know … like the old ships when they had the storage, the second class and the first class passengers? Des God have different classes of heaven? Or if you got enough frequent flyer miles you get the first class heaven? This is not what it’s talking about.
The Hebrews understood that there were 3 ways they used the word heaven. They called one the first heaven, and know there’s no verse that says this Michael but I just thought I’ll explain it and then you can find this in what, you know, extra-Biblical writings about how the Hebrews understood the word.
The first heaven was a place where the clouds float and the suns, you know, the solar system rest and the birds fly. The atmosphere in other words around the earth. Some verses that talk about that when it says, the heavens and earth pass away with a great noise. Well is God going to destroy heaven when He comes?
No it’s talking about the atmosphere around the earth. It says the heavens will dissolve with fervent heat and so. That’s taking about the atmosphere burning at the 2nd coming. The second heaven is dealing with the stars in heaven that you might find for instance in Genesis where it says “God set the stars in heaven. “When I consider the heavens and the work of Your hands and the stars, what is man that You’re mindful of him?” And so that’s the second heaven. The third heaven is when it’s talking about the dwelling place of God such as in Revelation, I think its chapter 4. Pastor Ross, where John says “I heard a voice that was calling up to heaven”? And he’s taken into the dwelling place of God and he sees these things in vision, where God’s on His throne and that would be the third heaven.
So you really see, there’s three separate places. You’ve got the heavens of the atmosphere, clouds and birds fly. You’ve got the solar system and space and then you’ve got the dwelling place of God or paradise and that’s the third heaven. That’s where Paul was.
Michael: So Enoch is in the first heaven?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: No, Enoch’s in the third heaven. He’s up where …
Michael: I mean when he first went up.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well he went through the atmosphere but God took him. So he’s with God.
Michael: Okay.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: In what we would call, he went where Paul went, the third heaven.
Michael: Okay, alright. But why does Christ say, “no one went to heaven and returned”? Okay, I got it.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, He says “no man from earth has gone to heaven and brought back the information.
Michael: Amen.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: You know, Jesus is the only one. When Elijah went up and when Enoch went up, they didn’t come back.
Michael: Okay.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: I guess Elijah did come back in vision and appeared to the disciples, I hope that makes sense. Now we do have a lesson on heaven Michael and we’ll be happy to send you a free copy of that. We’ve got also a book.
Pastor Jëan Ross: We have a study guide called A Colossal City in Space. Talks about heaven, talks about the New Jerusalem. We’ll send that to anyone who calls and asks. The number for our resource line again is 800-835-6747, 800-835-6747, and if you have a Bible question and would like to call the studio, the number here is 800-463-7297. One more time, 800-463-7297. We have Fred who is listening from Connecticut, Fred welcome to the program.
Fred: Yes, thank you, there is a lot of prosperity preaching out there but is any of it really Biblical?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, for our friends listening, Fred’s asking a great question. Prosperity preaching, what does that mean? Well you know, first of all, there are a number of verses in the Bible that talk about how God will bless His people but those blessings are not always monetary blessings.
Yet there are certain brands of Christians and pastors and some dubious evangelists that make it sound like, that if you have enough faith, you’ll always be healthy, wealthy and wise, and the Bible doesn’t teach that. I mean many of those who followed Jesus suffered real poverty and struggled. The apostles for one.
God does promise that, you know, if we’re faithful in our tithes and offerings, He’ll open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing so we don’t have room enough to receive it. He often does bless financially but does not always have those blessings come, those blessings might be just health and family, and Christ said that if we seek first His kingdom, He’ll make sure that we’ve got clothes to wear and food to eat. Paul said if you’ve got food to eat and clothes to wear, learn in whatever state you are to be content.
So the idea that you’re going to have a gold Rolex because you serve the Lord or that you’re going to drive a Bentley, that’s really an abuse of the message of the gospel and I don’t know if you want to add to that Pastor Ross or …
Pastor Jëan Ross: You know, it’s true Pastor Doug its, God does promise to meet our needs and (inaudible 14:44) since His promise to those who trust in Him are full and overflowing but it doesn’t offer us riches and fame on earth.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah and, you know, Christ tells us that whoever will follow Me, let him deny himself daily, take up his cross and follow Me, blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, the poor in spirit, and you know there’s a lot of believers, the majority, are poor.
And you know Fred one more thing I need to say. Jesus was very clear, He said it’s harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom, then a camel to go through the eye of a needle and so. When believers are striving to be rich Solomon says, those who do so will not be innocent and the love of money is the root of all evil.
So when people make the gospel the means to an end of having a lot of monetary prosperity, that’s an abuse of what the whole gospel is about and that’s what the prosperity gospel does and it’s unfortunate. People are often turned off from Christianity because of that. Good question Fred, we appreciate that. We do have a book. We don’t often give this away but since you asked, it’s called Thieves in the Church. We’ll send you a free copy.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number to call is 800-835-6747 and the book Thieves in the Church. Just call and ask for that and we’ll be happy to send it Fred, to you or anyone who calls and asks. We have Phil who is listening from Michigan. Phil you’re on the air.
Phil: Hello, thanks for taking my call.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Absolutely.
Phil: My question is this, assuming the rapture is going to be a close tribulation rapture, do you believe that Christians should prepare to some degree to live in the tribulation period and do you believe that guns and ammunition should be a part of this preparation in the event we need to protect our families, during that time.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well that’s a good question, you know, it’s a relevant question because there’s 2 or 3 stations now that show specials that have to do with end of the world or apocalyptic or doomsday preppers. People getting ready for the end of the world and they’re digging bunkers in the ground and they’re teaching their families how to ward off an attack of roving mobs and, and its entertainment, but I think it just scares people …
Jesus does tell us there are going to be trials in the last days. Not just, you know everyone goes through personal trials but there is going to be war. There is going to be famines. He said there’s going to be pestilence. There would be earth quakes. You know if the world has a plague like, we had the flu outbreak in 1918 kill more than World War I and World War II combined and so, yeah there’s, you know, those things can happen.
They’ve called it the bird flu or something like that but I don’t think Christians are to spend their time trying to save themselves. I think God gives us the gospel so that we can spend our time trying to save others. If we become preoccupied with this castle mentality, that we’re supposed to just create a fortress and dig a bunker and hide so that we somehow survive a little longer than others, what good is our life?
Our lives need to really be invested in trying to help others find Jesus and, you know, I think it’s good to have common sense. In the Batchelor home, we’ve got a few extra batteries for flash lights. We’ve got a little bit of water tucked away in case the pipe stopped working and, you know, we’ve probably got a few weeks’ worth of food squirreled away somewhere and that’s just, I think, prudent. But the idea of, you know, and then you asked about guns and ammunition.
You know, heaven forbid that Christians in the last days all have to, you know, pile up sand bags and be shooting at those that are trying to arrest us. I’m hoping that the power of God will give us a better defense than that. So, now that’s not saying that no one should own a gun. You know that guns are tools and can have a practical purpose but the idea of buying guns to fight off mobs in the last days, that doesn’t seem like what the apostles would be doing. You know what I mean?
Phil: I do know what you mean. I guess it makes me think back to what I heard somebody say on the radio is, how many people would be willing to put a sign in front their house saying that this is a gun free zone?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah (Laughing), yup, I’m not recommending that either. (Laughing)But yeah, that would be the other extreme of looking for trouble.
Phil: I do really appreciate your answer.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Like putting a, putting a sign in front of your house that says “This house is not protected by any alarm”
Everyone: (Laughing)
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Thank you Phil.
Phil: Thank you.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: We appreciate your call, hope that helped a little.
Pastor Jëan Ross: We have Joseph who is listening from New York. Joseph welcome to the program.
Joseph: Hello.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hi Joseph you’re on the air, and your question?
Joseph: Okay, thank you very much. This question I’m going to ask you, you know, my niece’s life depends on it, so I would like you to give me enough time to ex, ex, express myself to narrate with the …
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well I, we don’t want a narration, do you have a question? If you have a question, that’s what were here for.
Joseph: That’s what I’m saying, and …
Pastor Doug Batchelor: What is your question?
Joseph: It’s about the seeing eye, the all seeing eye.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: The one that appears on the dollar?
Joseph: No, the one, somebody saying on the computer. I would, I’d click on the amazing facts and I went to your site and they said images, I’d click images and then there’s, something pop-up and this, this, their talking about our leaders being Freemasons and the, and the all seeing eye ...
Pastor Doug Batchelor: You know what Joseph? Let me interrupt you just to help you real quick. You’re confusing us with another ministry and I know what ministry you’re talking about. That’s not Amazing Facts. I think it’s another ministry, it starts with the word Amazing and I apologize but yeah, that’s not what this program is for. Anyway, yeah we don’t, we don’t post that, we don’t have a lot of information about the Freemasons and, anyway, thank you Joseph. Appreciate your calling.
Pastor Jëan Ross: We have Linda who is listening from Idaho. Linda welcome to the program.
Linda: Thank you very much Pastor Doug. I wanted to just quickly tell you, that about 8 months ago when I surrendered my life to the Lord, I asked Him to please let me know the truth and don’t let me get into something that is not real and the first thing He brought to me was the seventh day Sabbath and I was really amazed.
It was through your program and since then, searching the Scriptures from front to back, I have seen without a doubt that the seventh day is God’s holy day of worship. And then I’ve also wanted to, there’s a real significance to the seventh day I found because all through the Bible, the 7 .. 7 … 7 multiples of 7 and, if you could like …
Pastor Doug Batchelor: It’s a pretty common number in the Bible.
Linda: Talk about, how you see this significance of the number seven in the Bible if you could please.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, I appreciate your call Linda. The number 7 is probably, I don’t know if there is a number mentioned more frequently in the Bible unless it’s the number 1 but especially when you get to Revelation. It’s got, you know, the 7 trumpets and the 7 voices, and the 7 eyes, and the 7 spirits, and the 7 plagues, and the 7 thunders and that’s just in Revelation. But you know of course you got the seven days of the week that start in Genesis.
7 represents a perfect cycle and, you know, our time is designated in 7, and it is clear and I appreciate your mentioning it, the, the Sabbath truth is sort of being rediscovered by Christians and, it’s not that we want to harp on one thing it, but it’s one of the 10 commandments that’s often being neglected by Christians.
And if we’re Christians and we love the Lord we don’t … it’s not that we’re saved by keeping any of the 10 Commandments, it’s not like, we don’t murder so that we can be saved or don’t worship idols so we can be saved. We keep the Commandments because we do love the Lord and we surrender our lives to Him.
But it is one of the Commandments and He commands it for our good and we have a website called Prophecy Code Linda. And at the website called Prophecy Code we’ve posted a study on numbers in the Bible. Now anyone out there listening, especially you accountants, when you read through the Bible and you say, “Why does the number 40, 12, 7, 3 ½, certain numbers appear a disproportionate number of times?
Go to Prophecy Code and you can see it in the notes there and I think you can also find this on our website called Bible Prophecy Truth. Bible Prophecy Truth also has this study on Bible numerology and you can download it, read it, copy it, share with your friends, it’s a pretty good study and I think you’ll see a lot there on the number 7. Yeah thank you Linda. Hope that helps a little.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The next caller in Josephine, listening from California.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Josephine welcome to the program.
Josephine: Thank you.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hi.
Josephine: Hi, my question is about speaking in tongues and from what I’ve heard there’s one tongue that’s actual language and there’s another tongue that’s only understood by God and so the Scriptures that I’m curious about are 1 Corinthians 13:1 and then 1 Corinthians 14:1-2 where it’s talking about the tongues of angels and then also in the Spirit you’re speaking mysteries. Like what is that talking about?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Alright, very good, I’m going to try and go quickly because we got a break coming up on us. Chapter 13:1 “though I speak with the tongues of men and angels and have not love I’m become as sounding brass” some think that because Paul says “though I speak with the tongues of men and angels” he’s claiming that he speaks with the tongues of angels, but keep reading.
He says “though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries” well nobody argues if Paul understands all mysteries. Keep reading he says “and though I have all faith so I can move mountains” Paul didn’t claim to have all faith, “and though I give my body to be burned it profits me nothing”.
The word “though” means “even if”. “Even if” I spoke with the tongues of men and angels, “even if” I know all mysteries, if I don’t have love it’s nothing. Now, in chapter 14 it says “follow after charity, love and desire spiritual gifts but rather that you may prophesy, for he that speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not unto man but unto God for no man understands him”. Paul is talking about a problem and he only mentions this in 1st Corinthians.
The Corinthian church had a lot of slaves and people from all over the Roman Empire speaking different languages. It was a seaport. Their services were becoming confusing, people were getting up and preaching and teaching in unknown languages, a language unknown to the others there and Paul said without a translator he should pray silently or pray to God. But the purpose of tongues is to communicate truth.
That’s why he says later in verse 5 “I’d rather you spoke in tongues but rather that you prophesy”. It’s wonderful you can speak different languages but what profit is it if you speak ten thousand words in an unknown tongue if no one understands?” He says in verse 9 “Likewise, except you utter by the tongue, words easy to be understood how shall it be known what is spoken”? You’re speaking into the air.
Josephine: I understand, one more question along with that. Is there, when it says, he’d rather speak with a tongue of angels, is there a language special in heaven that we’ll speak?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, I think before the Tower of Babel there was a language that was spoken by the patriarchs. It may have been the same language. I’m sure angels could talk to them and they understood each other. They call it sometimes the language of Canaan and that’s probably what we’ll speak in heaven.
You know my Spanish friends tell us we’ll speak Spanish in heaven and the Germans tell us it will be German. I vote for Spanish personally but in any event I think it’s going to be none of those. I think we’re going to speak whatever the language was that God designed. It’s probably very foreign to us right now and by the way we have a gift, we’ll send you Josephine for free, it’s called Understanding Tongues. Call the resource number 835-6747 and we’ll send that to you. You’re listening to Bible Answers Live.
Pastor Jëan Ross: We’re coming up on a break in just a few moments but before we do, Pastor Doug we would like to mention a brand new exciting resource that Amazing Facts has just released, I believe this past week, we received the copies in the office.
It’s called Revelation: The Bride, The Beast and Babylon and it is a full length documentary, talking about this important theme in Revelation. In Bible prophecy who is the bride? Who is the beast and what is Babylon?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Friends, I tell you, we have been working on this for probably three and a half years. 1,260 days …
Pastor Jëan Ross: (Laughing)
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Just about, and this is one of the biggest projects Amazing Facts has ever attempted in our nearly fifty year history. It is a 90-minute DVD documentary. We went around the world, we got our own footage from Europe, and from Rome, and England, and here in North America. Animation … we actually have the woman sitting on a dragon with seven heads and seven horns and the bride coming down from heaven and you’re just going to love this. Take a look, Revelation Mystery is a website .com, RevelationMystery.com. It’ll change your life.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Pastor Doug Batchelor: We are back and you’re listening to Bible Answers Live and if you have a Bible question, you have a question about the Bible, we invite you to call, we don’t have all the answers but we’ll search the Bible together. That’s why the phone number is 800-God Says, that’s 800-463-7297 and one more time, lines are open 800-463-7297 with your Bible question, and my name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Jëan Ross: My name is Jëan Ross and Pastor Doug, where going to go to the phone lines, one quick announcement if you just joined us, we are streaming the program live from the studio this evening and the address for that is live.amazingfacts.org, live.amazingfacts.org. Our next caller is Michael and he is listening in Boston, Michael you’re on the air.
Michael: Hi Pastor Doug, thank you for taking my call.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yes.
Michael: My question is regarding the surety of salvation and I guess the best way to put this question would be to go to a hypothetical and the hypothetical would be, one isn’t baptized, one has a daily walk with Christ, doing their devotionals so on, and their projected path is upward. But just like, you know, say the stock market, there’s dips and, you know, one messes up and is just, one is in a funk for, you know, multiple days.
And say during that funk, you know, one … he crosses the street and dies so with that death, does one lose salvation because one has just abandoned such a rut or because of the projected path being more or less upward is one saved?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, the problem with your hypothetical question is that it’s assuming that the Lord will allow you to be ushered into eternity at the moment of the dip and I think that, you know, I think God is trying to do everything He can to save us. He’s not waiting for us to be at our low point and then say, “alright the curtain’s dropping on you now”.
I think that there’s, you know, there’s a quote actually, this is from a book called Step’s to Christ it’s a classic and it says, “It is not the occasional good deed or the occasional bad deed that determines who’s side we’re on but it’s the habitual words and acts”, and I believe that.
I think that God looks at the panorama of your heart and that your direction is serving Him and, you know, and then we like to say, what if it’s during the day when you’ve just, you know, hit your thumb with a hammer and you, you utter a profanity and then you have a heart attack and die. Now, for that one momentary lapse, is your life lost?
I’ll tell you, I don’t think so. I don’t think God judges that way and I’ll give you a Bible example. There was a king named Aza…, of course you can also use the example of David but there’s a king named Azariah and it says he was a good king, he walked in all the commandment of the Lord and God was with him and God blessed him. But there was a period where he did something dumb. His heart was lifted up and he went into the temple to burn incense.
It was this really bad judgment, he lost his temper and argued with a priest and he got Leprosy. So the question is now, he reigned 52 years, everything else in his life, it said, he followed the Lord as his father David. Will we see Azariah in heaven? Or because of his, that episode of pride … I think he repented and we’re going to see him in the kingdom.
I mean, you can look at even, Samson. Of course Samson, his life was kind of a sore behaviour until the end there. He repented and God forgave him so he may not be the best example but I don’t know if I’m answering your question but I do think that God looks at the panorama of what you’re doing with your life and if you’re serving him, it’s not about, you know, just an instant of bad behaviour or disappointing behaviour and then suddenly you die at that moment, I wouldn’t want to tempt the Lord and do that because you don’t want to gamble with eternity, you know what I’m saying Michael?
Michael: I did know what you’re saying and I think you made a valid point and you used a particular key word that’s sticking to me anyways and then that, it’s the general direction, and if the general direction is upward and, you know you, like I said, you, you’re just stuck in a rut for, you know, not necessarily an instant but days. You know, you have a family situation, you have work situations, you have financial situations and it’s just got to the point where, you know, you’re just in darkness and you died in that darkness for whatever reason, at least from what I understand, God looks at the panorama if you stayed at it and looks at the general direction and, and would …
Pastor Doug Batchelor: I, yeah, I don’t think the Lord is going to judge a person lost because they happen to die during a time of depression. I think if you denied the Lord, that would be serious. Now, you know, there’s a lot of people we go visit. Pastor Ross is a pastor as I am. We still go see people in the hospital, some of them for instance may be dying from some terminal disease and I’ve seen, just Godly saints, that when they’re in the final throws of their illness, they’re in great pain, they’re you know, under medication, maybe blurt out things and react as, in a depressed way, I don’t think God’s going to judge them for that. I think that He’s going to look at the tone of their life and, you know, what their commitment was.
So, God is good and I think that, again, I think we’ve got to be careful about saying the hypothetical things because, you know, God is looking to try and save us. He’s desperate to save us but at the same time, I think we should be careful not to say, “Well, because God is merciful and most of my life I’ve served Him but, you know, I’m going to goof off now and take risks” because that can be dangerous. Anyways, Ezekiel 18 answers that. If you have time to, read that Michael. I appreciate your call.
Pastor Jëan Ross: We’ve got Chris listening from New York, Chris welcome to the program.
Chris: Hi, good evening pastor, thanks for taking my call.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yes
Chris: My question is based on Genesis 3:22 and a portion of Revelation but I’ll start with Genesis 3:22 and it has to do with the fall of Adam, when he ate from the forbidden tree.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah.
Chris: Then good and evil and then in that very same verse, which is telling you that, okay the Lord said that He has to put them out or He has to put Adam out unless they take from the tree of life and eat and live forever. So what it’s telling me that, if they had eaten from that tree, that we would be living forever. However because they did not eat from that tree, they ate from the tree of good and evil I would want to think that good and evil couldn’t continue forever because in Revelation 22:24-27 and also Revelation 22:15, when he tells us what’s happening on the outside of the new Jerusalem where it says without are dogs, sorcerers, whoremongers, murderers, idolaters, etc, isn’t it not right to say that good and evil will continue all along even if Christ is on (inaudible 38:14) it’s just that He will bring it down, He will deal with it (inaudible 38:17) all lifetime in the governments that we have now that are corrupt and whatever ...
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well let me jump in here and see if I can answer. Adam and Eve would not be allowed to continue eating from the tree of life. If I were Adam and Eve and they were in the Garden of Eden, there is a tree of life, they may have lived in the garden for months before sin, first thing I would have eaten is the tree of life and so I’m pretty sure that they ate from the tree, which is part of the reason that Adam and his protégé lived, you know, hundreds of years for those first few generations.
So when God said, “less the man, eat of the tree” and that word in Hebrew means “continue to eat from the tree and continue to live forever”. Know, when it tells us in Revelation for outside the New Jerusalem are the dogs and the sinful and the fearful and the whoremongers, he’s talking about before the fire comes down from heaven because you can read where David says and maybe Pastor Ross will help me find this, that you’ll diligently look for the wicked and his place will not be found and you can also read where it says in Malachi chapter 4, “that all that do wickedly will be stubble, the day that comes, will burn them up, leaving them neither root or branch”.
And so it says, you know, the meek will inherit the earth, the wicked are not going to inherit the earth and they’re not going to dwell or co-habit with the saved so yeah, there’s evil will be forever done away with. God says, there is no more sin, there is no more death, there is no more pain, there is no more sorrow, so if all those things are forever gone, the wicked are not going to be immortalized with that and, you know, we do have our, that lesson that we offered earlier about God sitting in space that talks about heaven and things being perfect, and the tree of life.
Pastor Jëan Ross: If you’d like to receive that study guide, it’s called Colossal City in Space. Call our resource line and we’ll send that to you, number is 800-835-6747 and ask for the study guide entitled Colossal City in Space. We have Mike who is listening in Ohio. Mike welcome to the program.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah
Pastor Jëan Ross: Mike from Ohio, you’re on the air.
Mike: Okay good, yeah, my question is about (inaudible 40:31-40:33) second coming, is there any prophecies that has to take place between now and the second coming of Jesus?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Good question, well one thing, Jesus says in Matthew 24, “the gospel of this kingdom will be preached in all the world for witness to all nations and then the end will come”. Because He says, “then the end will come” and the end has not come yet, we’re probably safe in assuming the gospel has not been preached in all the world.
You know, we’re making, this generation I think has the technology to do it between the internet and television and radio and print and the gospel is going, matter of fact, this week I’m going to China and has to do with sharing the gospel in that country. So the gospel is going everywhere and then the end will come.
Some other things that need to happen, well you’ve got the mark of the beast scenario, that’s not been implemented yet and, those things aren’t far away from what we see happening in the world and matter of fact, we have a lesson that talks about some of the signs that precede Jesus’ coming. That’s the ultimate, is that the ultimate deliverance?
Pastor Jëan Ross: The one on the 2nd coming is entitled The Ultimate Deliverance, correct.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: And so we’ll send you a free copy of that Mike, it’s got some of the signs, talks about what happens before Jesus comes and it’s free.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number to call is 800-835-6747, you can ask for the study guide The Ultimate Deliverance and we’ll be happy to send that to you Mike or anyone who calls and asks for it. We have Sandra who is listening from Georgia. Sandra welcome to the program.
Sandra: Hi, how are ya’ll?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Doing good, thanks for calling.
Sandra: Thank you for answering my question, well my question is, right now, I’m trying to, you know, do my best to live righteous and serve God but I struggle on a day by day almost minute by minute basis with sin, trying to fight sin and overcome it. My question is, am I going to have this struggle in heaven? I really worry about that, so I think, am I going to spend eternity trying to fight and overcome my sins and is there any Scripture reference about that?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yes, well first of all, bless your heart Sandra. I’m so glad you’re struggling.
Sandra: (Laughs)
Pastor Doug Batchelor: I don’t mean I’m glad that you’re struggling but so many people don’t care about sin, they take it very lightly, they say, Jesus died for my sin so I’m just going to keep on and keep asking Him to forgive me and a Christian should know that sin hurts Jesus, it hurts God and it should be the thing we hate the most. Good news …
Sandra: And I do, that’s the problem.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well and that good and, you know, because sin causes the problems in our life, it robs our happiness, you know, a simple example would be, when I drank and when I used drugs, I had all kinds of problems. And when I smoked it cost me all kinds of money and health and, and so all the sins end up hurting us.
On a very basic level, all sin, whether it’s anything, from impure thoughts to dishonesty, all sin will end up hurting you. It hurts God, it hurts others, so sin hurts. Look at the Cross and you can see what sin does but the good news is, there’ll be no devil in heaven and we know that the devil is the one who sinned from the beginning.
Jesus said and I can’t remember that verse Pastor Ross, the devil sinneth from the beginning and he is called the tempter. He is the one who tempted Christ, there’ll be no one to temp us to sin and so when we have the born again experience, the reason that were sinning, is the old devil, is taking advantage of our old natures.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The verse you’re referring to Pastor Doug, 1 John 3:8 “he who sins is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning”.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: And then Sandra, you can read in Revelation, I think its chapter 20 Pastor Ross, where Satan is cast into the lake of fire and so the devil will not be there to tempt anymore. And so, you know, without those old natures and without the devil to tempt, the righteous are just going to have eternal peace and you won’t have that torment and that struggle that we feel inside right know, is there any chance that sin can come up again, like with what happened with Lucifer, is there a chance that, that can go on again?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: That’s a great question; I think there an answer for us in the book of Nahum, I think Pastor Ross, I didn’t say anything, I bet he’s looking that up right now, “so sin will not rise up again the second time” and so because, when Jesus rose from the dead, you remember, He still had the scars in His hands?
Sandra: Yes.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: All through eternity all the redeemed are going to know why those scars are there. Now the painful memories will not come into mind but we’re going to remember that He died for our sins and that when we chose to be selfish, like the devil, like Lucifer and live for ourselves, that it just brought untold misery into the universe and through eternity, those scars in the Saviour’s hands are going to be a reminder of how much sin hurts us, and hurts God, and hurts each other.
That will be the guarantee , the badge that nobody will ever want to tamper with that again and so, I think we do have a promise, where it says in Revelation, “there is no more sin” did you find that verse in Nahum, Pastor Ross?
Pastor Jëan Ross: Nahum 1:9 talks about iniquity not rising up again the second time.
Sandy: Okay.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: So, you know, we’ve mentioned it twice before but this lesson that we’ve been offering tonight on heaven, talks about there being no more sin, and no more pain, and eternal peace, and peace that passes understanding. He will even give you that peace now.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number to call for our free resource is 800-835-6747 and our study guide this evening that we are offering is called Colossal City in Space, talks about heaven and what God is preparing for those that love Him. We have Glen who is listening from New York. Glen welcome to the program.
Glen: Hi, in my work with the Lord, I have found the spiritual gift including speaking in tongues essential to my edification and ability to walk with the Lord and to walk in the Spirit, and to put in the Spirit and I do believe it’s a disservice to the body of Christ to imply or to indicate that the spiritual gifts are no longer operating today, I think it’s like doing a disservice and sometimes, you know, throwing the baby out with the bath water, even because they’re sometimes misused, I think …
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, well, so what’s the question?
Glen: Okay, I will receive from your teaching that you teach that the spiritual gift is not for today.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: No, you might be confusing me with someone else, I believe that all of the spiritual gifts that you find written in the New Testament are for today, I believe that all of them …
Glen: Including tongues?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: I include the gift of tongues …
Glen: Okay.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: I believe in the gift of prophecy, I believe in the gift of healing, I believe in miracles, I believe in tongues, I believe in all the gifts, what you probably heard me say Glen, is I disagree with the way that some people interpret and use the gift of tongues. I’m of the belief that when the apostles received the gift of tongues, that they were known languages, the Bible tells us that there were 16 different language groups there, from Jews around the Roman Empire and it lists where they’re from in Acts chapter 2, and it says they said …
Glen: But the Bible, but the Bible does speak of an unknown tongue ...
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, let me finish my thought.
Glen: Where we speak unto God. We don’t understand what we’re saying but we’re edified in this, and we’re praying in the Bible. In 1st Corinthians 14 it says “for if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the Spirit and I will pray with the understanding also.”
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, well, when Paul says this in 1st Corinthians 14, he says “if I pray in an unknown tongue, I pray in the Spirit but it’s, my understanding is unfruitful” and he’s saying to the others there, in other words, and this is just a function of Greek, Paul is saying, if I’m in a group there, in the Corinthian church and I stand up, and I say, (inaudible 48:53-48:56), most people listening to me right know have no idea what I just said.
I might know what I said, it was the Hebrew prayer of the bread but the understanding is unfruitful to the others and by the way, that’s 1 Corinthians 14:14. “For if I pray in an unknown tongue”, and you know the word unknown is not in the original. That’s why it’s italicized, it says “if I pray in a language, my spirit prays but my understanding is unfruitful to the people there”.
Glen: Is there a prayer language that we pray unto God, it says here, “for if I speak in an unknown tongue, speaketh not unto man but unto God, for no man understandeth him”.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Where in the Bible do you see …
Glen: In the Spirit he speaketh mysteries.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Where do you see an example of someone praying in an unknown tongue that they don’t understand?
Glen: Where do I see that?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yes, is there an example you can point to in the Bible, of somebody praying in a language that they don’t know what they’re praying?
Glen: Well, except for the Day of Pentecost.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Now, you and I disagree. That was different, that was them speaking real tongues, real languages.
Glen: Right, we understand that, people understand but that’s not the unknown tongue.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: So is there an example you can point to in the Bible of someone praying a prayer and they don’t know what they’re praying because it’s a language they don’t understand?
Glen: Well, Paul says it right here, he says what he says …
Pastor Doug Batchelor: but do you, I …
Glen: He says, “if I speak in an unknown tongue, I’m not speaking unto man but unto God, for no man understandeth him, howbeit in the Spirit he speak in mysteries”.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: The people present that don’t speak the language, don’t understand him is what he’s saying. You know, I used to …
Glen: He’s not speaking unto man, he’s speak, and this is because you’re depriving people of something that thy need, people need to be, have the ability to pray in tongues, if God gives them that gift and it’s well, unto edification and it says most of it.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Where do you see an example, where do you see an example in the Bible of someone praying in tongues?
Glen: Where do I see in the Bible of someone praying in tongues?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, do you see the apostles, it says that they got together and they prayed and they didn’t know what they’re saying? Every time it records them speaking in tongues … there’s three, I wrote a book on it so I kind of know the subject, but there’s three places in the Bible where the disciples pray where it talks about them speaking tongues.
Acts 2, Acts chapter 10 with Cornelius and Acts chapter 19, and all three examples where it says that the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues, the people present understood what they were saying and it was a known language. Jesus said in Mark chapter 16 to the apostles, “You will speak with other tongues”.
At Pentecost He supernaturally gave the apostles the ability to speak and preach in languages they had not formally studied, they did not know. It was a miraculous gift. I believe in the gifts of the Spirit. I believe in the gift of tongues, the idea that we are to pray in a language we don’t understand, I don’t see an example of that in the Bible and I don’t see Jesus doing it and He is my ultimate example.
So, you know, I’d love to talk to you more about this Glen you sound like you’ve got a good spirit, you’re sincere, please ask for the book that I wrote on this, I’ll give it to you free, it’s called Understanding Tongues and we do believe in all the gifts of the Spirit, Understanding Tongues. We’ll send it to you.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number to call is 800-835-6747. That is our resource line and the book Glen is called Understanding Tongues. If anyone calls and asks for it, we’ll be happy to send it to you. We have Michael who is calling from Kentucky. Michael welcome to the program.
Michael: Hello.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Evening.
Michael: I just wanted to say, I had a break up a couple of days ago, her name was Amy and she was from India and I haven’t worked since she broke up with me.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Do you have a Bible question?
Michael: Actually yes.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Okay.
Michael: Is there one about relationships?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, well, there’s quite a few Scriptures that deal with the subject of relationships and, you know, Paul talks about, he said, “Husbands love your wives” and it says “if any man doesn’t love his wife, it’s like not loving his own flesh” and there’s quite a few verses you can read in Ephesians and Galatians that talks about the fruits of the Spirit and how we should treat each other.
And of course, the Bible says, you should love your neighbour and your wife or the person you’re courting to be your wife, that would be your closest, your nearest brethren and they should be the one you love the most dearly and so yeah! The Bible says quite a bit about love, you want to make sure you’re matched up with the right person; Paul says that you should not be unequally yoked with someone that doesn’t have the same faith as you and there’s more. We’ve got time for just maybe one more question real quick.
Pastor Jëan Ross: We have Joyce that’s listening from New York. Joyce you’re on the air.
Joyce: Pastor Doug, Good evening.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Evening.
Joyce: I would like to know Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before sin occurred, did they eat from the tree of life?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: You know, I think that they did Joyce and that’s part of the reason they lived so long. I believe that God told them, first thing He said after He made them, He says “you are free to eat from all the trees in the garden” and it says, in the middle of the garden was the tree of life, and I expect Adam and Eve at some point ate from that tree.
We’re going to have that tree in heaven, the Bible tells us in the New Jerusalem, the tree of life is going to be in the midst of the city on either side of the river of life. Makes it sound like the branches fork and the river runs through it because it’s one tree on either side of the river but the reason it’s there is so we can eat from it and I don’t think we can eat from it once and don’t need to eat from it again for a zillion years.
I think we will continue to eat from the tree of life and our lives and bodies will be perpetuated. Unlike the poor Ponce de Leon was also looking for the fountain of youth, everyone was looking for something that would sustain these bodies but there we’ll have glorified bodies but we will still eat, and drink, and plant, and build, and do real things. Hey Joyce, we appreciate your call and your question; I hope it helps a little bit, we do have that lesson.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The lesson is called Colossal City in Space and it’s all about heaven, just some wonderful information and also if you want to read more about what the Bible has to say about the tree of life, Revelation 22:2, talks about the tree of life in the New Jerusalem.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Absolutely and remind your friends, you can take a look at our new DVD on Revelation. Go to RevelationMystery.com. It is an amazing program there about Babylon and the beast. Look at the trailer. God willing, we’ll talk next week.
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