Participants:
Series Code: TDYQA
Program Code: TDYQA210010A
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00:01 As you're well aware,
00:02 we're living in unprecedented times. 00:05 Join us now for Today special program. 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Mending broken people 00:23 I want to spend my life 00:29 Removing pain 00:34 Lord, let my words 00:39 Heal a heart that hurts 00:44 I want to spend my life 00:50 Mending broken people 00:55 I want to spend my life 01:00 Mending broken people 01:14 Hello, family, and welcome to 01:16 another 3ABN Today Bible Q and A. 01:19 I'm Jason Bradley and I'm so glad that 01:21 you've decided to join us 01:23 as you do each and every Monday, 01:25 where we answer your Bible questions 01:28 that you submit. 01:29 Now if you haven't submitted any Bible questions 01:32 what are you waiting for, 01:34 you can send your questions 01:35 via text to 618-228-3975, 01:41 or you can email them 01:42 to BibleQA@3abn.org 01:47 We have panelists 01:49 that are ready to answer your Bible questions, 01:52 they are students of the Word. 01:54 We have Jill Morikone, vice president and COO of 3ABN. 01:59 Welcome, Jill. Thanks so much, Jason. 02:01 I love to learn from everyone on the panel 02:03 and just study the Bible, what a gift. 02:05 Amen, amen. We have Pastor Ryan Day, 02:09 he's a member of our pastoral department 02:11 and you answer questions all day long. 02:14 All the time, but it's a blessing 02:16 and I enjoy it. 02:17 Amen and we have Pastor John Lomacang, 02:20 pastor of this Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church. 02:23 Great to have you here. Don't forget your uncle. 02:26 That's right, uncle, mommy. I'll call you nephew. 02:29 Well, we have wonderful relationship. 02:31 Always good to be on the program with you, Jason, 02:33 and I call these not taken from anybody. 02:37 These are my fellow military partners. 02:40 We really approached the Word of God 02:42 as soldiers of the cross, and I appreciate all of you. 02:45 Amen. Praise God for that. 02:46 Appreciate you all too. Amen. 02:48 Well before we dive into the Word. 02:51 Let's have a word of prayer. 02:52 Pastor Lomacang, will you pray for us? 02:54 Sure, let's pray. 02:55 Gracious Father loving Lord, 02:57 Your Word is a lamp unto our feet 03:00 and a light unto our path. 03:02 And, Father, while we handle this sacred Word, 03:06 we pray that we could do so 03:07 recognizing that we are stepping into a place 03:11 that is far greater in scope 03:13 and understanding than our finite minds, 03:15 but give us what we need, Lord, to reach out 03:18 to the hearts and minds 03:19 of those who are asking for questions, 03:21 and may the light come on for them, 03:23 that they may not only get understanding, 03:26 or come to know You as their Savior, in Jesus name. 03:29 Amen. Amen. 03:31 Amen. Amen. 03:32 I want to share this Bible verse with you 03:33 before we get started, it's found in Romans 15:4, 03:38 and it says "For whatever things 03:40 were written 03:41 before were written for our learning, 03:43 that we through the patience 03:45 and comfort of the scriptures might have hope." 03:48 That's right. 03:50 So we're gonna go into the scriptures 03:52 and, Jill, we're gonna start with you. 03:54 The first question says, 03:55 "What can I do to feel the Lord close to me?" 04:00 I love that question. 04:02 I think that has been the cry of my heart ever since 04:03 I was a little girl, 04:05 wanting to experience the presence of God. 04:08 I want to flip the question on its head 04:10 instead of what can I do to feel the Lord close to me. 04:13 I'm going to ask it this way. 04:14 What can I do to experience Him by faith? 04:19 You see, if you can't feel God 04:21 with your feelings, you feel Him with your faith. 04:25 For so many years 04:26 I was a feeling based Christian, 04:29 meaning if I felt Him close, 04:30 then He must be close, 04:32 but if I thought He was far then 04:34 He was not close to me. 04:36 But the truth is our Christian walk 04:38 is not based on feelings. 04:41 It's based on the authority of the Word of God. 04:44 I want to give you three keys, number one, study His Word. 04:47 If you want to grow your faith, spend time in the Word of God. 04:51 Romans 10:17, "Faith comes by hearing 04:54 and hearing by the Word of God." 04:57 Number two, accept what His Word 04:59 says about you by faith. 05:01 What do I mean by that? 05:03 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, 05:05 He's faithful and just to forgive us, 05:07 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 05:10 Now we can say, I don't feel forgiven, 05:12 but that doesn't matter at all. 05:13 What does His Word say? You are forgiven. 05:16 What does His word say in Romans 8:15? 05:19 "You did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, 05:22 but you received the spirit of adoption 05:24 by which we cry out Abba, Father." 05:26 His Word says that you are His child. 05:29 His Word says, 1 John 4:18, "There is no fear in love, 05:33 for perfect love casts out fear." 05:36 His Word says you don't have to walk in fear. 05:39 His Word says in John 14:27, 05:41 that "He will give you His peace." 05:44 So all of these emotions 05:46 that we think we need to have as Christians, 05:49 they come on the authority of the Word of God, 05:52 you accept what His Word says about you, 05:55 and that is who you are in Christ. 05:57 Number three, 05:59 you claim these promises out loud. 06:01 There is death and life in the power of the tongue, 06:04 speak His word over your life 06:06 and watch as your feelings begin to change. 06:09 Wow. Well said, well said. 06:12 Don't operate off feelings, 06:13 operate off principles, I love it. 06:16 Pastor Day, who is her 06:20 in Ezekiel 22:26-27? 06:24 This comes from Phyllis. 06:25 Sure, now that's a great question. 06:27 Well, there's no doubt that the "Her" mentioned here 06:30 is most definitely the house of Israel, 06:33 or God's people, the church in this case. 06:36 How do we know that? 06:37 There's plenty of context 06:39 clues throughout this entire chapter. 06:41 I'm just gonna point to one right now 06:42 for the sake of time, 06:43 Ezekiel 22:18, so you, 06:46 Phyllis quoted verse 26-27. 06:50 And before I go to verse 18, 06:52 let's just read the first part of verse 26 there, 06:54 just to reference what it is you're asking. 06:55 It says "Her priest have violated My law 06:58 and profane My holy things. 07:00 They have not distinguished between the holy and unholy 07:03 nor have they made known the difference 07:04 between the unclean and the clean 07:06 and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbath, 07:08 so that I am profaned among them." 07:10 So the her here is no doubt God's people, 07:13 the church, the house of Israel. 07:15 You'll notice, again in verse 18 above that. 07:18 It says "Their son of man, 07:20 the house of Israel has become dross to me." 07:24 And so many times all throughout the Bible 07:26 God refers to His people the church, 07:29 in the form of a her because, 07:31 again, Jeremiah 6:2, I believe it is. 07:34 It says, "I have likened the daughter of Zion 07:37 to a comely and delicate woman," 07:39 just as Brother Paul over in 07:41 the New Testament also says, you know, 07:43 "Husbands love your wives 07:44 as Christ also loved the church." 07:45 So the church is often likened 07:47 unto a woman so her here is most definitely 07:50 the daughter of Zion, the house of Israel, 07:53 God's people, the church. 07:54 Amen. 07:55 Thank you for breaking that down. 07:57 Now Pastor Lomacang, 07:58 what does abomination of desolation mean? 08:02 This comes from Lucy out of Atlanta. 08:05 Thank you for 30 minute question. 08:08 Abomination of Desolation, 08:09 let me go ahead and lead into it 08:10 by saying the abomination of desolation 08:12 is often tried to merge, 08:14 but it actually has two applications in Scripture. 08:17 I'll give you an overview 08:19 quickly the abomination of desolation first describes 08:22 the destruction of Jerusalem on the heels 08:24 of the rejection of the Messiah. 08:26 And it also is an application 08:28 to the false substitution 08:30 of the heavenly ministry of Jesus 08:32 by an earthly priesthood. 08:35 Matthew 24:15-20, 08:37 let's go ahead and talk about the destruction of Jerusalem. 08:41 On the heels of the rejection of Messiah 08:43 because Jesus foretold, 08:45 "The day is coming that not one stone will be left 08:48 upon another that will not be thrown down," 08:50 and when they rejected Him, 08:51 He said, "Your house is left unto you desolate." 08:55 But he also talked about the day that 08:57 Jerusalem would come down. 08:59 Verse 15 of Matthew 24, therefore, warning of it, 09:03 "When you see the abomination of desolation, 09:05 spoken up by Daniel the prophet, 09:07 standing in the holy place, 09:09 whoever reads let him understand." 09:11 Now he's talking about 09:13 the circumstances in the location 09:15 where it's going to happen. 09:16 "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 09:19 Let him who is on the housetop not go down 09:22 to take anything out of his house. 09:24 Let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 09:28 But woe to those who are pregnant 09:30 and to those who are nursing babies 09:32 in those days! 09:33 And pray that your flight may not be 09:34 in winter or on the Sabbath." 09:37 He's saying if this comes and the Roman armies 09:39 were to find you, you're going to be in trouble. 09:41 That's why Luke 21:20 adds to that by saying, 09:44 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies 09:48 then know that its desolation is near." 09:52 That's the application of the destruction of Jerusalem 09:54 on the heels of the rejection of the Messiah. 09:57 But now the false substitution of the heavenly ministry 09:59 by an earthly ministry 10:01 established by the power of Rome, 10:02 the king of the north. 10:04 Daniel 11:31, he says, 10:06 "And forces shall be mustered by him 10:09 and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress, 10:12 then they shall take away the daily sacrifices 10:16 and placed there the abomination of desolation." 10:20 Daniel 12:11, "And from the time 10:23 that the daily sacrifice is taken away, 10:26 and the abomination of desolation is set up, 10:29 there shall be 1290 days." 10:32 I'm not even going to that right now. 10:34 But Daniel 8:12 foreshadows it, 10:37 "And the host was given him 10:39 against the daily sacrifice 10:41 by reason of transgression, 10:43 and he cast down the truth to the ground 10:46 and it practiced and prospered." 10:48 During the Dark Ages, 10:49 Rome established a false priestly system, 10:52 an earthly priestly system 10:54 that was a counterfeit 10:56 to the heavenly ministry of Christ, 10:57 which is a daily function of the Word of Christ 11:01 and Daniel 8:13 says this way. 11:03 "Then I heard a holy one speaking 11:05 and another holy one said to that certain one 11:07 who was speaking, how long will the vision be 11:09 concerning the daily sacrifices, 11:12 and the transgression of desolation. 11:14 The giving both of the sanctuary 11:16 and the host to be trampled underfoot." 11:18 Clearly said. Good job. 11:21 I don't know how you did that 11:22 in three minutes, but praise God. 11:24 Jill, which people did Cain marry? 11:27 This comes from Rachel out of Uganda. 11:30 Thank you, Rachel, for that question. 11:31 The Word of God actually doesn't tell us 11:33 but we can have a pretty good idea. 11:36 You think about 11:37 Adam and Eve in the Bible, in Genesis, 11:39 you only see three sons that were mentioned, 11:42 this is Cain and Abel and, of course, Seth. 11:45 Now we know that Cain murdered his brother Abel, 11:47 which then just leaves Cain and Seth, 11:50 but, you know, that Adam and Eve 11:52 had other children, they had daughters, 11:54 which aren't mentioned but they had daughters 11:56 and probably other sons. 11:58 So, we can deduce from that 12:01 that Cain would have either married his sister, 12:03 or possibly maybe he got married to niece 12:07 if maybe a brother and sister got married 12:09 and had a child, he might have married, 12:11 I don't know but he would have married 12:12 a very close family relation. 12:14 If you jump down to Genesis Chapter 6, 12:18 you see Genesis 6:1-2, "It came to pass, 12:22 when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, 12:24 and daughters were born to them 12:26 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, 12:28 that they were beautiful, and they took wives for them 12:32 of all whom they chose." 12:34 Now the sons of God, 12:35 this differentiates two different lineages. 12:40 We see the sons of God, 12:41 which is the descendants of Seth, 12:43 those who wanted to follow God 12:45 and keep His commandments, 12:47 then we see the daughters of men, 12:49 this would be the descendants of Cain, 12:51 those who spat, as it were in the face of God, 12:54 those who turned their back on God 12:56 and did only what was evil. 12:58 Now when intermarriage occurred 13:00 between those who sought to follow God 13:02 and those who followed wickedness, 13:04 the entire earth 13:06 became corrupt in a very short amount of time. 13:09 We see this in Genesis 6:5, 13:11 "Until every intent of man's heart 13:14 was only evil continually." 13:15 And, of course, 13:16 then we see the destruction by the flood. 13:18 But the short answer 13:20 is that Cain probably married his sister. 13:21 Wow. 13:23 Thank you for that explanation, Jill. 13:24 Ryan, we're gonna go to you, 13:26 and I am interested in becoming an Adventist, 13:30 but I believe in the rapture 13:32 and the second coming of Christ. 13:33 Do Adventists believe in the rapture? 13:36 This is from Latonya. Amen. 13:38 Thank you, Latonya, for that, 13:39 I appreciate the question and it's a great question. 13:42 To be very clear the Seventh-day Adventists 13:44 believe the biblical account 13:47 of what is known as the Second Coming of Jesus. 13:49 The word rapture 13:51 is not actually found in the Bible 13:52 so what you're referencing, 13:54 you want separation or differentiation 13:56 between the rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus. 13:58 This is a popular teaching 14:00 in the evangelical churches of today, 14:02 but we believe that 14:04 there's no biblical basis for that. 14:06 Now the concept of rapture, 14:07 in other words Christ returning and gathering 14:09 or collecting His saints to take them back to heaven, 14:12 absolutely that concept is there, 14:13 but to say that there is the rapture, again, 14:16 the pre-tribulation rapture theory in 14:18 which it begins with the rapture, 14:20 and then seven years of tribulation, 14:22 followed by the Second Coming of Jesus, 14:24 there's no biblical basis for that. 14:26 Where would they get confused, is trying to take Matthew 24, 14:30 where Jesus describes 14:31 His return as a thief in the night, 14:33 and also 1 Thessalonians 4-5 where Jesus or excuse me, 14:37 Paul references the Second Coming of Jesus, 14:39 they try to separate those two passages 14:41 and say that 14:43 they're describing two different events, 14:45 but Seventh-day Adventists believe 14:47 that those two passages 14:49 are talking about the exact same event, 14:51 and I don't necessarily want to just keep hounding 14:53 or saying Seventh-day Adventists believe 14:56 because I believe that Bible Christians believe 14:59 and we'll see very clearly no matter what denomination, 15:01 no matter where you're coming from, 15:03 if you're a Bible student of the Lord's Word, 15:06 then you will see very clearly as you go across 15:08 and look at the details where it talks about 15:10 Jesus coming in the clouds, 15:11 the sound of a trumpet, you know, 15:12 gathering together unto Him. 15:14 No man knows the day nor the hour, 15:15 the times and seasons, 15:17 a thief is over here, a thief is over there. 15:19 You know, Jesus says watch over here, 15:21 He says watch over there. 15:22 When you take Matthew 24 15:23 and compare it to 1 Thessalonians 4-5, 15:27 where Paul writes there. 15:28 I think you'll see very, very clearly, 15:30 there's no way of getting around 15:31 the fact that he's talking about the exact same event. 15:33 Jesus will return, 15:35 and He's going to return once in the sense that 15:37 there's only one second coming, there's not a rapture 15:40 and then a third coming in that case, 15:43 it's simply the Second Coming of Jesus. 15:45 Amen. Amen. 15:46 It's good, clarity. Clarity. 15:48 Yes, yes. 15:49 Pastor Lomacang, we're gonna go to you 15:50 on this one 15:52 and this is a rather long question 15:54 but a good one. 15:55 The three angels' messages tell us that 15:58 once the gospel goes out to all the world 16:00 and then Jesus will return. 16:03 But what confuses me 16:05 is since there is an endless renewing of lives 16:07 on the planet continuously being born 16:10 and coming to an age of being able to accept Christ, 16:13 at what point can it ever stop, 16:15 or turn off so that Jesus can return, 16:18 since it seems to be an never ending cycle. 16:22 There is a continuous number of babies born each day, 16:26 who in a few short years 16:28 will become old enough to accept Christ. 16:31 Can you shed some light on this? 16:32 This comes from Debbie. 16:33 Yes, thank you so much, Debbie, for that question. 16:37 We've often wondered that too 16:38 because when Matthew 24:14 says. 16:41 "And this gospel of the kingdom 16:42 shall be preached in all the world 16:44 as a witness to all nations, then the end will come." 16:48 We often think, but people are being born 16:51 and I have this atomic clock 16:52 that shows the population decreasing and increasing 16:55 exponentially every day. 16:57 But such was the case in the days of Noah. 16:59 That's right. Babies were being born. 17:01 People were dying every day, 17:03 the endless cycle of human population 17:05 and decrease and increase happened on a daily basis. 17:09 But the Bible says in Matthew 24:38. 17:12 "For as in the days before the flood 17:16 they were eating and drinking, 17:19 marrying and giving in marriage, 17:21 until the day that Noah entered the ark, 17:24 and did not know until the flood came 17:26 and took them all the way, 17:28 so also will the coming of the Son of man be." 17:30 So the human cycle will continue. 17:33 We find that some people might ask the question 17:35 and I'm just going to entertain this in my mind 17:36 without you actually asking this. 17:38 Well then how can people that are babies, 17:41 how can people that have not yet 17:43 come to the age of accountability, 17:45 be accountable for their destiny? 17:48 Well, similar to the husband that's not sanctified, 17:51 he's sanctified by the wife. 17:53 Yes. 17:54 Similar to the wife that's not sanctified, 17:56 she's sanctified by the husband. 17:57 There's this point of accountability 17:59 where the destiny of the child 18:00 will be determined by the life of the parent. 18:03 And I came to that conclusion because there were commands 18:05 that the Lord gave in the Old Testament 18:07 to slay utterly young and old, 18:09 children, little children, 18:11 because he saw that 18:12 the nation of the kind of people 18:14 that they were knowing the end from the beginning, 18:16 he saw in their character stamp, 18:19 no change from generation to generation. 18:21 That's why he said in Exodus, showing mercy to those, 18:25 but he's visiting the iniquity of the fathers 18:28 to the third and fourth generation 18:30 of those who hate me. 18:31 So the point of the matter is, 18:33 somebody is going to be young when Jesus comes. 18:34 That's why we are told to be ready at any moment. 18:38 Wow, that's deep. 18:40 If you haven't had the opportunity to do so, 18:42 I'd like to invite you to send your questions 18:45 via text 618-228-3975 18:50 or you can send an email to BibleQA@3abn.org 18:55 You know what's exciting is that people 18:57 are sending questions from around the world. 18:59 We literally just talked about a question from Uganda. 19:03 And that is, that's pretty far. 19:05 So, that is incredible and that shows that 19:07 people are hungry for the Word. 19:09 Amen. 19:10 Jill, does the Bible speak of everlasting burning 19:16 in Isaiah 66:24? 19:19 We're going to give you three minutes for this one. 19:22 That's a great question. 19:24 Let's actually read that reference, 19:25 Isaiah 66:24, 19:27 this is incidentally the very last verse 19:30 in the Book of Isaiah. 19:31 "And they shall go forth 19:33 and look upon the corpses of the men 19:35 who have transgressed against Me. 19:37 For their worm shall not die, and their fire is not quenched. 19:42 They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh." 19:45 So I think there are three considerations 19:47 that we need to look at, 19:49 when we're considering a difficult Bible verse, 19:52 first consideration is context. 19:53 What is the context of that verse? 19:56 In this context, if you read Isaiah 65-66, 20:00 clearly it's talking about the new heavens 20:02 and the new earth. 20:04 It's also talking about the destruction 20:07 that will take place upon the earth. 20:10 The second consideration 20:11 is we look at dual applications. 20:14 Many scriptures have a dual application, 20:17 they have a literal present day application 20:19 and they also have a symbolic application. 20:23 The literal application to this scripture 20:25 is literally the historical event 20:28 of the Assyrian army 20:29 during the reign of Hezekiah. 20:31 Remember Sennacherib came against the city of Jerusalem, 20:34 and there was this great seed, 20:36 and 185,000 of the Assyrians army 20:41 was annihilated, 20:43 they were killed by the angel of the Lord 20:44 in one night. 20:46 So literally, and this is talked about 20:49 in Isaiah 37, 20:50 they are looking out at the dead corpses 20:53 of the Assyrian army 20:55 who is laid out dead outside the city. 20:58 It says, "Their worm shall not die." 21:00 If you look in Hebrew, that word is similar to maggot, 21:04 meaning they're dead, they're lying outside the city. 21:06 They're starting to be eaten. 21:08 "And their fire is not quenched." 21:12 That is actually if you do some word study 21:14 in the simple imperfect tense, 21:16 meaning it's incomplete action at that time, 21:19 but it will be completed at some point in time. 21:22 And I like Jeremiah 17 talks about Jerusalem 21:25 will be burned with fire 21:26 when Jerusalem's currently not burning, 21:28 it means it will be burned, and then it will be burned up. 21:32 Now we look at the symbolic application, 21:34 the second application of this reference, 21:37 the destruction of Sennacherib's army 21:39 and those are 185,000 men. 21:42 It's symbolic of what will happen 21:44 to God's enemies at the end of time. 21:47 The righteous will see the event 21:48 and they will look out 21:50 over the dead corpses of the wicked, 21:53 who have turned their back on God. 21:56 Looking at the worms, and the fire not being quenched 21:59 just symbolizes the completeness 22:01 of the destruction 22:03 and the disgrace of no burial for the bodies there. 22:06 The final thing to look at 22:08 when looking at difficult verses 22:10 is to consider other verses from the Word of God. 22:13 Ecclesiastes 9 says, 22:15 "The living know that they shall die, 22:16 but the dead do not know anything." 22:19 John 5 talks about those coming forth 22:22 from the tombs to the resurrection of life, 22:24 or resurrection of judgment. 22:26 John 11 refers to death as a sleep. 22:28 So you look at this verse in context 22:31 with the rest of the verses in the Word of God. 22:33 Amen. 22:34 Wow, that was a power packed three minutes, Jill. 22:36 All right. 22:38 Ryan, this is going to be a longer question for you 22:42 in three minute deal here. 22:44 My brother's girlfriend whom they lived together 22:47 wants to get baptized. 22:48 Our pastor won't baptize her unless they get married. 22:51 I was under the impression 22:53 that you can come as you are to Jesus, 22:55 that baptism is accepting, 22:57 that baptism is accepting Christ 22:59 as your personal Savior. 23:01 Couldn't she get baptized and the Holy Spirit 23:03 will do the rest working in her heart to unite them 23:06 in marriage down the road? 23:08 She has stopped coming to church 23:10 but still studies the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. 23:13 And this comes from Barbara. 23:15 Thank you, Jason, 23:17 I appreciate that and thank you, Barbara, 23:19 for giving that question because that's a question that 23:21 it's a deep question, 23:22 but I believe the Bible has a very clear answer to it. 23:25 I'm gonna try to address a few points 23:27 that was in your information of your question one by one, 23:30 some of the information stuck out to me. 23:33 But just to get clear to the point. 23:35 A person who is in a relationship 23:37 with another person, 23:39 okay, a man and a woman in this case, 23:41 who is not in a marriage relationship 23:42 but yet is having an adult relationship, 23:45 a sexual relationship at all, of course, 23:48 in this case the Bible refers to this as fornication. 23:51 It says fornication in the eyes of God and, 23:53 of course, it is a sin. 23:54 Just a couple of scriptures that I want to share with you. 23:57 So 1 Corinthians 6:18, 23:59 the Bible says, "Flee fornication. 24:02 Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, 24:04 but he that committeth fornication sinneth 24:06 against his own body." 24:08 Okay, that's the first one. 24:09 Now we have Hebrews 13:4, again on that same point. 24:14 "Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: 24:18 but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." 24:21 And you could put fornication in there as well as that 24:23 as a sin of sexual immorality 24:26 and, of course, the last one I want to share 24:27 here pertaining to fornication. 24:29 1 Corinthians 7:2, 24:31 it says "Nevertheless to avoid fornication, 24:34 let every man hath his own wife, 24:36 and that every woman hath her own husband." 24:39 I'm not trying to be play the judgmental person 24:42 here in this situation, just simply relaying 24:44 what the Bible says, in this case, 24:46 you know, we're just reading 24:47 what you had wrote here, you know, 24:48 can people just come as they are to Jesus, right? 24:51 That baptism is accepting Christ as your personal Savior. 24:54 Yes, indeed we can and we should come to Jesus 24:56 just as we are, and He accepts us as we are. 24:59 But the wonderful thing about baptism 25:02 about coming into relationship with Christ 25:03 is He doesn't want to leave us, as we are, 25:06 but if we're going to come in relationship with Him, 25:08 we have to be committed to Him. 25:09 That's what baptism is all about. 25:12 Taking for consideration Romans 6:3-6, 25:16 Paul talking about the significance of baptism, 25:19 and according to your question, 25:20 that's what the question is about, right? 25:22 There in this relationship not married, 25:25 but yet and living together 25:26 but yet she wants to be baptized 25:28 and the pastor won't baptize her. 25:29 Well, let's read about what baptism is. 25:31 It says here verses 3-6 of Romans 6, 25:34 "Or do you not know that as many of us 25:36 were baptized into Christ, Jesus 25:38 were baptized into his death. 25:40 Therefore we are buried with Him 25:42 through baptism into death, 25:44 that just as Christ was raised from the dead 25:46 by the glory of the Father, 25:47 even so we also should walk in newness of life." 25:51 And let's go down to 6 six, here it says, "Knowing this, 25:53 that our old man was crucified with Him, 25:56 you crucify the old man, that the body of sin 25:58 might be done away with, 26:00 and that we should no longer be slaves of sin." 26:02 Baptism is a commitment, 26:04 it's just like a marriage commitment. 26:05 If I told my wife as I'm standing there 26:07 and about a vow myself to her that I want to marry you 26:09 and I want to be with you the rest of my life, 26:10 but I'm still going to have my side chick 26:12 that I'm going to have relationships with. 26:14 She's not, that's not a commitment, 26:15 I'm not committed, fully committed. 26:17 Same thing with God. 26:18 And in this case, you know, 26:20 another thing that sticks out to me, 26:21 she stopped going to church. 26:23 That's another indication that maybe 26:24 there's a heart issue 26:25 that needs to be dealt with there. 26:27 Come to Jesus, yes, just as you are. 26:29 But Jesus wants to cleanse you, 26:31 He wants you to be committed to Him, 26:32 and before you go 26:33 into that watery grave of baptism, 26:35 make sure that you have surrendered all to Him. 26:37 Amen. 26:39 Amen, I'll tell you what, 26:40 if you tell Stephanie that my door will be unlocked 26:44 'cause I'm sure you'll need a place to stay. 26:47 Oh, that's not gonna happen. 26:48 Pastor Lomacang, 26:50 what does it mean in Romans 8:30, 26:54 God predestined them? 26:55 This comes from Shaun out of Arizona. 26:58 It's good. I'm going to read Romans 8:30. 27:01 All right. 27:03 And we find in the Bible, 27:04 "More over whom He predestined, 27:08 these He also called whom he called, 27:12 these He also justified, 27:14 and whom He justified, these He also glorified." 27:18 What you're looking at is a cadence, 27:20 a step of the development of a Christian's life. 27:23 Let's start in the very beginning. 27:25 The word predestined doesn't mean pre programmed. 27:29 That's what people often think, 27:30 well, God has just programmed me, 27:32 He knows who's gonna be lost. 27:34 He knows who's gonna be saved. 27:36 Therefore, it doesn't really make sense to try 27:37 because we have been predestined. 27:39 Let me show you the difference 27:41 between predestination and foreknowledge. 27:43 If you were standing on the 15th floor on the corner 27:46 of a tall building, 27:48 and you saw someone removed the stop sign. 27:52 And you saw a car coming from one side 27:54 and a car coming from the other, 27:56 you know, before it happens, 27:57 they're gonna have a collision, 27:59 you have foreknowledge, 28:01 but you didn't predestined them to have that collision. 28:04 You see what's going to happen because you can understand 28:06 where they're coming from, where they are headed. 28:09 What God has done 28:10 is God has made provision for us 28:13 to be sons and daughters of God, 28:16 but we still have to choose. 28:18 You know what the Bible says 28:19 in Deuteronomy 30:19, 28:22 "This predestination is God has made every provision 28:25 for us to become sons and daughters of God, 28:27 every provision for us to be delivered from sin. 28:31 No temptation has overtaken you 28:32 but such as common to man, 28:34 but God is faithful, who will not allow you 28:36 to be tempted beyond what you are able, 28:38 but with the temptation make a way of escape." 28:39 Yeah. 28:41 1 Corinthians 10:13, "God has made the provision, 28:44 but you have to partake of that provision." 28:46 That's why Deuteronomy 13:19 says, 28:48 "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, 28:52 that I have set before you life and death, 28:54 blessing and cursing, therefore choose life 28:57 that both you and your descendants may live." 29:00 But you have to choose. 29:03 It's good. Amen. 29:05 And, Jill, Bridget wants to know 29:06 how does God... 29:08 How and when does God chastise us? 29:10 It's a great question. 29:12 Thank you so much, Bridget, for that. 29:13 I would say number one, God's discipline 29:15 is always from a place of love. 29:17 Hebrews 12:6, 29:20 "For whom the Lord loves He chastens," 29:22 or that word could be disciplined," 29:24 and scourges every son whom he receives." 29:27 He also says in Revelations 3:19, 29:30 "As many as I love, 29:31 I rebuke and chasten: 29:34 be zealous therefore, and repent." 29:36 So God's discipline, 29:37 it's hard to see sometimes but it is from a place of love. 29:41 Number two, God's discipline is for our holiness. 29:46 Hebrews 12:10, 29:48 "For they indeed for a few days," 29:50 this is talking about the fathers, 29:51 "chastened their sons as seemed best to them, 29:54 but He" that's talking about God the Father, 29:57 "He does it for our profit." 29:59 Why? 30:00 "That we may be partakers of His holiness." 30:04 God's discipline is for our holiness. 30:06 Number three, God's discipline is redemptive. 30:10 2 Corinthians 4:17, 30:12 "Our light affliction," or you could say, 30:14 our discipline, which is about for a moment, what is it doing? 30:18 "It's working for us a far more exceeding 30:20 and eternal weight of glory." 30:23 It's working redemption, 30:25 you can say for us that gift of eternal life. 30:28 Number four, I love this. 30:30 God's discipline brings healing. 30:33 Job. 30:34 Job 5:17-18, 30:37 Job experienced some discipline. 30:38 "Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects 30:41 or whom God disciplines, 30:43 therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. 30:47 For He bruises, but He binds up, 30:50 He wounds, but His hands make whole." 30:53 His discipline, it brings with it healing. 30:56 So how does He discipline us? 30:58 He disciplines us through other people. 31:00 He disciplines us through life's circumstances, 31:05 sometimes through the convicting power 31:07 of the Holy Spirit. 31:08 I'm so grateful that He does discipline us 31:10 because it's getting us ready for heaven. 31:13 Amen. Amen. 31:14 Amen. Discipline is a blessing. 31:17 Ryan, the first commandment says, 31:20 "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 31:22 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image 31:26 or any likeness of anything that is in heaven, etc." 31:29 Is it okay to look at, or display a picture of Jesus, 31:33 or is that violating the commandment? 31:37 That's a great question. 31:38 I've actually had this question posed to me many times 31:41 being that I used to travel full time in evangelism, 31:43 and I had slides that I put up, you know, with pictures 31:46 and you know text beside the pictures, 31:49 and I've had a few people who've said to me, you know, 31:51 you're violating the second commandment. 31:53 I think when we go back and we look and we study 31:55 what it is the actual commandment is saying, 31:57 you will recognize that 31:58 the heart of the second commandment 31:59 is addressing the issue of worship, idol worship. 32:03 And, of course, you know, 32:04 well, we know we live in a world 32:05 where people are drawing pictures 32:07 and paintings and whatnot, 32:08 that is an artist's portrayal of what they believe 32:10 Jesus might look like, 32:12 even though the Bible does not give us 32:13 any detailed description as to how Jesus look like, 32:16 to simply just paint a picture 32:18 or draw a picture of what you might believe 32:20 your Savior to look like. 32:22 That is not the issue of the second commandment. 32:25 As we're reading through here you'll see, 32:26 it says, this is Exodus 20:4-6, 32:29 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, 32:31 or any likeness of anything 32:33 that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth, 32:35 or that is of, 32:37 that is in the water under the earth, 32:38 you shall not," notice, 32:40 "bow down to them or serve them, 32:41 for I am the Lord your God. 32:43 I'm a jealous God, visiting the iniquity 32:44 of the fathers upon the children 32:46 to the third and fourth generations 32:47 of those who hate me, 32:49 but showing mercy to thousands 32:51 to those who love Me and keep My commandments." 32:53 So again, back to that bowing down 32:55 and not serving them. 32:56 Israel had this issue for a long time, 32:58 even in the world that we live in today 32:59 from since the beginning of time, 33:02 when Cain sinned 33:03 and when Adam and Eve sinned really 33:04 and brought sin into this world, 33:06 there has always been an idol issue, 33:08 even Satan himself before there ever was an 33:10 Adam and Eve or earth, Satan had made himself an idol, 33:14 he worshipped himself, and it didn't have to happen 33:16 because of some picture that was drawn or whatnot. 33:19 So the heart of this issue, 33:20 I believe is, you know, we can look at pictures 33:22 we can admire art, we can look at these things, 33:25 we just don't want to worship them 33:26 or be create an idol, in the sense that 33:29 you know we can't be a part or detached from those things, 33:32 in this case in the world that we live in today, 33:33 we need to make sure that 33:35 we only see them as just a picture, 33:37 an artist's portrayal of something 33:38 and not anything else. 33:40 Good. Very well said. Very well said. 33:42 Pastor Lomacang, this one comes from, 33:45 what would be considered as close to home for us. 33:48 This comes from Jacqueline out of New York 33:50 and she wants to know, 33:51 she said, "Would you please explain 33:53 Exodus 35:2-3?" 33:56 Okay, Exodus 35:2-3. 33:59 I'll go ahead and read it. 34:01 It says, "Work shall be done 34:03 for six days, 34:05 but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, 34:08 a Sabbath of rest to the Lord. 34:10 Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 34:15 You shall kindle no fire 34:17 throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day." 34:21 I read this passage 34:23 and read the surrounding verses. 34:24 Let me go ahead and give you my take on 34:27 what this is talking about. 34:29 God established a preparation day 34:31 to minimize the work 34:32 that was often done on the Sabbath. 34:35 Taking it back to how work was done 34:39 during Bible times, 34:41 and I won't even go that far back. 34:42 If you were living in the 1800s, 34:45 there were those who wouldn't shower 34:47 for three or four days, 34:48 because of all the work that it took to shower. 34:51 What do we have to do nowadays to shower? 34:54 That's it and, but what they had to do 34:56 back then is go out and cut the wood, 34:59 haul it in, go to the nearby river, 35:02 get a couple of buckets, build the fire. 35:05 Get that thing heated up, caught it, however they, 35:09 whatever apparatus, it'd be an hour, 35:10 maybe two before 35:12 they could even possibly take a bath. 35:14 And they said that this was undue work, 35:16 and it made the Sabbath a burden. 35:18 Today we don't say the same thing, 35:19 we say did you shower before you went to church? 35:22 The context here is undue labor on the Sabbath. 35:26 And the Bible calls this no survival work 35:29 should be done on the Sabbath. 35:30 That's the context of this, meaning something that 35:33 could be done other times of the week. 35:35 That's why the Preparation Day was given, 35:37 and this comes also a take away 35:39 from Exodus 16 where the Lord said, 35:41 "Don't go out on the Sabbath, looking for food. 35:43 I'm going to provide for you every day." 35:45 And some people still went out on the Sabbath and He said, 35:47 "How long do you refuse to keep My commandments, 35:52 My statutes and My laws." 35:53 Here's the thing that we have to keep in mind. 35:55 The Sabbath command is as sacred as the other nine. 35:58 That's right. 36:00 Don't think that by violating the Sabbath 36:02 that it's just another day. 36:04 It is a sign of loyalty to the eternal God. 36:07 Handle it with holiness and honor. 36:09 Amen. Amen. 36:11 Amen. Thank you Pastor. 36:12 Jill, have you studied Philippians 3? 36:15 Paul said, "He was blameless in his law keeping, 36:19 he gave it all up as a refusal 36:21 for that Excellency of Christ his Lord." 36:24 this comes from Margaret in Oregon. 36:26 Thank you, Margaret, for that question. 36:28 I think the passage 36:29 you're referring to is in Philippians 3:4-10. 36:32 We're going to read that quickly first, 36:34 so we know what we're talking about. 36:35 Paul speaking, he said, "If anyone thinks 36:37 he may have confidence in the flesh, 36:40 I more so," and then he goes 36:42 into this list of what he has done, 36:44 "circumcised the eighth day, 36:46 of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, 36:49 a Hebrew of the Hebrews, concerning the law, 36:51 a Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, 36:54 concerning the righteousness 36:56 which is in the law, blameless. 36:58 But what things were gain to me, 37:00 these I have counted loss for Christ. 37:02 Yet indeed I also count all things loss 37:06 for the excellence of the knowledge 37:07 of Christ Jesus my Lord, 37:09 for whom I suffered the loss of all things, 37:11 and count them as rubbish." 37:12 Why? 37:14 "That I may gain Christ and be found in Him, 37:17 not having my own righteousness, 37:19 which is from the law, 37:21 but that which is through faith in Christ, 37:23 the righteousness which is from God by faith 37:26 that I may know Him 37:27 and the power of His resurrection, 37:29 and the fellowship of His sufferings, 37:30 being conformed to His death." 37:33 What's the takeaway? 37:34 You can keep the law, you can know the law, 37:36 excuse me, you can know the law, 37:38 but not keep it. 37:39 You can keep the law, outwardly, 37:41 but still violate the spirit of the law. 37:44 Motive is more important than actions. 37:47 Paul thought he might have achieved perfection 37:49 because he did all these things properly 37:52 according to the law, but that properness 37:55 according to the law resulted 37:56 in the persecution of God's people. 38:00 What did Paul give up? 38:01 He didn't give up the law. 38:02 He gave up his legalistic approach to life. 38:06 He gave up his concern with the outward man 38:08 as opposed to the inward man. 38:10 What did he gain? 38:12 He gained Christ 38:13 and Christ is the fulfillment of the law. 38:16 He didn't push the law aside, 38:19 he gained Christ, 38:20 he gained Christ's righteousness. 38:22 He gained Christ's holiness. 38:25 That's what he's talking about here in this passage. 38:28 Okay. Thank you. 38:29 Amen. Amen. 38:30 Ryan, Jesus only left us two commandments, 38:34 love God and love your neighbor. 38:36 Did He not fulfill the old commandments and laws? 38:39 This comes from Ronald at Maryland. 38:40 All right. 38:42 Well, the simple answer to that, 38:44 Ronald, is absolutely he fulfilled it 38:46 but we have to understand what that means, right? 38:48 From many people's perspective fulfill means to do away with, 38:51 or to cancel. 38:52 But we know that Jesus did not come to cancel 38:55 or to do away with that law. 38:56 Before I get to that passages let's read 38:58 what it is you're addressing here 38:59 which is Matthew 22:37-40. 39:03 It says here, Jesus said to him, 39:04 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 39:06 and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 39:08 This is the first and great commandment. 39:10 And the second is like it, 39:12 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 39:15 "And then notice what verse 40 says in response to that? 39:17 It says, "On these two commandments 39:19 hang all the law and the prophets." 39:22 So again yes, the first commandment, 39:24 dealing with our relationship and our love for God. 39:26 Second commandment dealing with our relationship 39:28 and love for men. 39:29 The first it just happens to be as verse 40 says, 39:32 "On these two hang all the law," right? 39:34 The first four of the Ten Commandments 39:35 deal with our relationship with God. 39:37 If we love God, 39:38 we'll keep the first four commandments, 39:40 and of course the last six of the Ten Commandments 39:42 deal with our relationship with man. 39:44 If we love our fellowman, 39:45 we'll keep the last six commandments. 39:47 Now, did Christ fulfill the law 39:50 when He came and He died on the cross? 39:52 And the truth of matter is, 39:54 yes, He did but what does that mean? 39:55 It certainly does not mean that 39:57 He done away with or canceled the law. 39:59 Let's go to Matthew 5:17-18. 40:02 It says, "Do not think, 40:03 this is the words of Jesus Himself. 40:05 Do not think that I've come to destroy 40:07 the law of the prophets, 40:08 I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." 40:11 And so a lot of people take that word fulfilled and say, 40:13 "Oh, it means that 40:14 He came to fulfill it, to perfect it, 40:16 and then the law is done away with."' 40:18 But if we just inserted the word, 40:19 you know, done away with, 40:21 or cancel right there or abolished, it would read. 40:23 I did not come to destroy, but to destroy or to abolish, 40:27 and we know that that's simply not the case. 40:29 In fact verse 18 says, 40:30 "For verily I say to you to heaven 40:32 and earth pass away, 40:33 one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law 40:36 until all be fulfilled." 40:37 Are we still here on earth? 40:39 Is there still heavens? 40:40 You know, has all been fulfilled yet? 40:42 Absolutely not. 40:44 Christ did fulfill the law 40:45 in the sense that He gave the... 40:46 He basically gave 40:48 what the law required which was perfection. 40:51 He was the perfect sacrifice, 40:52 but He certainly never done away 40:55 with the Ten Commandments. 40:56 That's right. It's good. 40:58 Excellent. Excellent. 40:59 Pastor Lomacang, how will every eye see 41:02 and every ear hear the coming of the Lord 41:04 when the world is round 41:06 and Jesus was the size of a man? 41:08 I'm so glad they put that word in there was, 41:12 the size of a man. 41:14 Very much God, and very much 41:16 He was the Son of God and the Son of man 41:18 in His condescended form. 41:21 When He rose, He said, 41:22 "All power is given unto Me in heaven and earth." 41:24 Let's just look at some physics 41:26 for a brief moment before I read the text to you. 41:28 The total circumference of the earth... 41:30 If you took a rubber band or tape measurement 41:33 and went to the middle of the earth and worn around 41:35 it is 24,000 miles in circumference. 41:38 How fast does light travel? 41:40 A 186,200 miles a second. 41:44 The Bible says in Matthew 24:31, 41:46 "He will send His angels 41:48 with a great sound of a trumpet, 41:50 and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, 41:54 north, east, south and west, 41:56 from one end of heaven to the other, not earth. 42:01 The heavens are going to be filled with angels, not earth. 42:05 How big is the heavens? 42:07 Much larger than the earth. 42:09 If they were just traveling at the speed of light, 42:13 they would surround the earth seven times 42:15 in less than a second 42:17 Tell me every eye won't see Him. 42:18 That's right. 42:19 When the Bible says, "Behold, 42:21 He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him." 42:23 The Bible says, "The lame will walk, 42:25 the deaf will hear, the blind will see." 42:29 Nobody is going to miss it 42:31 because Paul says, 42:33 "At the name of Jesus every knee will bow 42:36 and every tongue will confess that 42:39 Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. 42:43 So, what am I saying? 42:46 Jeremiah 32:27, "Behold, I am the Lord, 42:49 the God of all flesh." 42:52 Is there anything too hard? 42:55 Praise God. Amen to that. 42:57 I just had to give Jesus that acknowledgement, 43:00 there's nothing that He can't do. 43:01 Thank you. That's right. 43:03 Amen. Praise God for that. 43:05 We are entering into our bonus question round, 43:09 so I will just throw out a bonus question 43:11 and anybody can answer it, or all of you can answer it. 43:15 When starting to say our prayer 43:17 should we always address the Father in Jesus' name, 43:20 or can we address our prayers directly to Jesus? 43:24 For example, dear Jesus. 43:25 This comes from Wendy. 43:27 If I just sense, why don't you guys talk first? 43:30 Well, I very much believe that 43:32 you call upon the name of the Lord. 43:34 Bible says call upon the name of the Lord 43:36 and you shall be saved, right? 43:37 I believe in a very prayerful, very serious sense Peter, 43:41 while he was far falling into that water 43:43 after he taken his eyes off Jesus, 43:44 what was his mini prayer at that moment? 43:47 Lord save me. 43:49 I think we have to use some wisdom here. 43:51 In this case you know when I pray, 43:53 I always pray, I always say, you know, 43:55 Father, you know, that, 43:57 that model prayer that Jesus gave us, you know, 43:59 "Our Father in heaven" I say, "Our Father in heaven," 44:01 but I always prayed in Jesus' name, 44:03 and there's often times that 44:05 I find myself saying, Dear Lord, 44:07 you know, or Jesus please help me, 44:08 you know, Jesus is God, 44:10 and just as much as the Father is God. 44:13 Now there's a hierarchy there I recognize from 44:15 within the respective sense of the Godhead 44:17 that even the Father and the Son 44:18 and the Holy Spirit recognize, 44:20 but nonetheless I believe that 44:22 whether you're praying to the Father 44:23 or you're praying to Jesus. 44:25 It's still the same thing, 44:26 it's still recognized, and the Bible says that 44:28 even the Holy Spirit hear sometimes, 44:30 we know not what are to pray 44:32 and He intercedes on our behalf, 44:33 I believe that's Romans Chapter 8. 44:35 And so, yeah, I would say in this case 44:37 whether you're praying to the Father 44:38 or praying to Jesus, you're praying to your God, 44:41 and He hears you 44:42 if you're genuinely asking for Him and asking for help. 44:45 Amen. Amen. 44:46 That's well said, yeah, I like that. 44:48 I don't have anything to share, that's really good, Ryan. 44:50 Let me piggyback on that 44:52 because I like that you introduce Romans 8:26, 44:55 and I wanna read it because it really helps 44:58 when you understand how prayer is done, 45:00 because you've heard children asked questions 45:03 and one of the questions that children ask is, why? 45:07 You answered. Why? 45:08 You answered. Why? 45:09 Sooner or later you don't have any more answers. 45:11 The Lord knows that. 45:13 I like what it said, 45:14 "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses, 45:19 for we do not know 45:20 what we should pray for as we ought." 45:21 That's right. 45:23 Even James says, "Sometimes we pray for things 45:24 that we just want to, we ask a miss 45:26 because we want to spend it on ourselves." 45:29 But here's where prayer gets divine assistance. 45:31 "But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us 45:36 with groanings which cannot be uttered. 45:38 We can't do it, so, so much 45:40 for the angelic prayer ideology. 45:43 And then it says in verse 27, 45:44 "Now he who searches the heart knows 45:47 what the mind of the Spirit is." 45:49 The Lord searches the heart, because He makes intercession, 45:52 Jesus, for the saints according to the will of God. 45:58 So you have the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit 46:00 really concerned about 46:01 what you're going to pray about it, 46:03 and when they understand 46:04 what your need is above just what you said, 46:07 like somebody might say, I know you asked for $5 46:08 but you need $1500, don't you, Ryan? 46:10 Yeah, but I don't want to ask. 46:12 You know the Lord looks beyond our infirmities 46:16 and sees deeper to the level of it. 46:18 And that's where Romans 8:28 comes out, 46:20 say it Jill, "And we know..." 46:22 "That all things work together for good to those who love Him, 46:25 to those who are the called according to His purpose." 46:28 Because our prayers are understood 46:30 and our God understands. 46:32 Amen. Amen. 46:33 Amen. It's powerful. 46:34 Yes. 46:36 If God alone is immortal then why is the devil 46:39 still alive 46:40 after all these thousands of years? 46:42 This comes from Steve out of Pennsylvania. 46:46 Well, I'll just jump in real quick 46:47 and let the rest of you theologians polish it up 46:49 and make it sound better, 46:50 but what I was 46:52 just thinking is that the wages of sin is death. 46:54 The Word of God is very clear on that. 46:56 From the moment Adam and Eve sinned, 46:58 death entered this world. 47:00 We know in 1 Corinthians that, 47:02 "By Adam sin entered this world, 47:04 but in Christ we should all be made alive." 47:07 But what's interesting to me is when they sinned, 47:09 there was not immediate flowers dying, 47:11 the trees didn't crack and fall, 47:13 winter didn't come instantly. 47:15 In fact Adam lived close to 1000 years 47:17 or 900 some years before he actually died. 47:20 So the wages of sin is death, 47:23 but there will come an end to Satan. 47:25 Yes, but that end is not yet, but it's coming soon. 47:29 That's right. Ryan? 47:30 Yeah, you know, I want to add here the fact 47:32 that what would have happened 47:33 if God would have crushed him 47:35 like a little mosquito the moment that he... 47:38 that he sinned 47:39 or that he rebelled against Him. 47:40 We have to recognize that that war in heaven 47:42 when it says that Michael and his angels 47:43 fought the dragon, you know, 47:45 and there was a war in heaven, that war was begun 47:47 because Satan had begun to spread lies 47:49 about who God was. 47:51 He was questioning the character of God. 47:52 So if God would have you know in that instance, 47:54 gave him the death that he deserves. 47:56 Okay, because of his sin, what would that have... 47:59 What type of witness would that have said about 48:00 God for those angels that were questioning the lie 48:04 that the devil had told. 48:05 And so in this case you know, Ezekiel Chapter 28 tells us, 48:09 and I'm going here to read down a little bit here. 48:12 It says that, 48:13 trying to find the particular verse, 48:15 but it's in Ezekiel Chapter 28 48:17 and it talks about how I laid you before kings. 48:20 Here it is, it's verse 17, "Your heart was lifted up 48:23 because of your beauty. 48:24 You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. 48:27 I cast you to the ground, 48:28 I laid you before kings that they might gaze at you." 48:32 In this case, 48:33 the great controversy must play out. 48:35 And so God has to allow not that 48:38 He necessarily because we know the Bible 48:40 makes it very clear that Satan will have his end, 48:42 he will have his judgment, he will have his punishment, 48:45 greater than any one before, 48:47 but God must allow that life to contain in him, 48:50 so that the great controversy battle can play out, 48:53 so that he can lay before these kings, 48:55 in this case, the world, the people of this world. 48:57 We must be able to make a decision 49:00 between what is right and what is wrong, 49:02 and in this case God's name must be, 49:04 His name and His character must be vindicated. 49:06 And the story must go on until the appointed time 49:10 in which God has been completely vindicated 49:13 that character has been reproduced 49:14 in His own people for all of the world, 49:16 and all of the angels in heaven to see that 49:18 God was indeed just. 49:20 It's good. 49:22 It reminds me of the man who shook his fist at God 49:24 and just cursed to the heavenly in the skies, 49:26 he said, "If God is really there, 49:28 why don't He strike me with lightning?" 49:30 And the Christian said, 49:31 "Because God is long suffering." 49:32 Yeah. That's right. 49:34 You know the long suffering of God 49:35 is something that we often, 49:37 is only a characteristic of perfect love. 49:39 God is long suffering because He wants as Ryan said 49:42 and Jill said so wonderfully. 49:43 He wants us to see that He is not an angry God. 49:47 He's not a God that 49:48 just can't wait to take it out on the person 49:51 who is just really trying to challenge His authority. 49:55 A lot of people with that kind of power 49:56 and authority would have bounced Satan off 49:59 of the nearest constellation in a matter of seconds. 50:01 But God is different. 50:04 He is long suffering and abundant in mercies, 50:06 He's compassionate and gracious. 50:09 Because the record of how God handled 50:12 the issue of sin is gonna last a lot longer 50:15 than sin itself. 50:16 Amen. 50:18 So for eons and eons in the unfallen worlds 50:20 and when we look back on how God, 50:23 and here's where I want to connect it 50:24 to humanity. 50:26 I'm glad that God is long suffering 50:27 'cause He could have wiped me out a long time ago too. 50:29 What about you, Ryan? 50:31 When Ryan was partying and disc jockeying 50:33 and I was on the same thing and we were living. 50:35 Come on, Jason, would you be here 50:36 if God wasn't long suffering? 50:37 No. I wouldn't be here. 50:39 You'd been in jail someplace. 50:40 You could have been had an arrest 50:41 record longer than your arm. 50:43 But God expunged that because God is long suffering. 50:44 Thank God that 50:46 He is a God of long suffering and mercy. 50:47 So when the controversy is ended. 50:49 I love the way you said that, Ryan, people will look back 50:52 and say He is just, He is long suffering, 50:55 and every decision He has made is been true. 51:00 So, the devil will have no excuse, 51:02 he'll never say, God rushed to judgment. 51:06 You know, I'll just go quickly, 51:07 can't you imagine when we get to heaven, 51:09 God's gonna show us things 51:10 that we never could even imagine or see now. 51:12 And so, this question the one we just ask it's great 51:14 because God's gonna say, let me really show you 51:16 what would have happened 51:17 if I would have snuffed Satan out 51:19 way back here. 51:20 Wow. 51:22 It must happen the way that God sees fit. 51:23 That's right. 51:24 Could you imagine what your guardian angel 51:27 is probably saying or will, 51:28 what they will say when we get there? 51:31 I know mine will be great. Yeah. 51:33 Yes. 51:35 If there were currency up there, 51:37 I'd have to write a big check. 51:38 Let's put it that way. Through the blood of Jesus. 51:41 Yes, amen, amen. 51:43 Well, we are getting ready to take a brief break, 51:46 show you how you can send in your questions 51:49 and we will be right back. 51:50 So don't go anywhere. 51:52 If you're enjoying our 3ABN Bible Q and A, 51:55 then tell your friends. 51:57 Each Monday 51:58 we'll bring you a fresh program, 51:59 answering the Bible questions you send us 52:02 and we'll use God's Holy Word 52:04 to shed light on those texts 52:05 that seem difficult to understand. 52:07 If you would like your questions answered 52:09 on an upcoming program, just email them to us. 52:12 Our email address is BibleQA@3abn.org 52:17 That's BibleQA@3abn.org 52:21 You can also text us your questions 52:23 by sending them to (618) 228-3975. 52:28 That number again is (618) 228-3975. 52:33 Be sure to include your name and where you live, 52:35 and then watch 3ABN Bible Q and A for the answers |
Revised 2024-02-26