Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: 14HC
Program Code: 14HC000003
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00:48 Hello friends. Welcome to 3ABN's Fall Camp Meeting.
00:52 We have just received a wonderful blessing from 00:54 Pastor Doug Batchelor. And if you're just joining us, 00:57 you missed it. But if you're coming back, welcome back. 00:59 Let's welcome them back with a hearty amen. Can we do that? 01:02 Amen! This is the hour that many of you have been wondering about 01:07 because Pastor Batchelor has for a number of years 01:10 been hosting Bible Answers Live. 01:13 And I had the privilege when I was in northern California to 01:15 participate in a number of programs together on the radio 01:18 and I'll tell you a little bit more about that in just a moment 01:21 but this is the hour where he's going to be answering 01:24 Bible questions. Now earlier these questions 01:28 were sent. From Facebook we had put the announcements out 01:31 and quite a few questions came in. 01:33 Some people wrote questions earlier today that I was able 01:36 to get into the stack. But you want to stay by 01:40 because Pastor Batchelor enjoys answering Bible questions 01:44 and I'll have the joy of asking those questions. 01:47 I'll try my best not to answer them either 01:50 because I'll tell you what that's all about. 01:52 But before we go into the next hour 01:55 we're going to invite the Lord's presence, and then 01:58 I've been asked to sing a song that really simply says 02:02 turn our eyes upon Jesus. Trust His Word, as we're 02:04 going to see how important it is to trust God's Word. 02:07 And then the next voice that you will hear will be that of 02:10 Pastor Doug Batchelor. Father in heaven, thank you 02:13 for Your Word, which is always a lamp unto our feet 02:16 and a light unto our path. 02:17 May we have such a connection with You that Your Word 02:22 becomes our daily desire and our food. 02:26 Nourish us, Father, as we continue trusting You. 02:29 In Jesus' name, Amen. 02:53 O soul 02:56 are you weary and troubled? 03:02 No light 03:04 in the darkness 03:07 you see? 03:11 There's life 03:14 for a look at the Savior, 03:20 And there's life more abundant 03:24 and free! 03:29 Turn your eyes 03:33 upon Jesus, 03:37 Look full in 03:39 His wonderful face; 03:45 And the things of earth 03:49 will grow strangely dim 03:55 In the light 03:58 of His glory 04:01 and grace. 04:18 His word 04:21 will not fail you for He's promised; 04:27 Believe it 04:28 and all will be well: 04:34 Then go 04:36 to a world that is dying 04:42 with His perfect salvation 04:46 to tell! 04:52 Turn your eyes upon Jesus, 04:59 Look full in 05:02 His wonderful face; 05:08 And the things of earth 05:12 will grow strangely dim 05:19 In the light 05:22 of His glory and grace... 05:30 In the light 05:33 of His glory 05:36 and grace... 05:45 In the light of God's 05:49 glory 05:52 and grace. 06:03 Amen. 06:05 I'd like to invite Pastor Doug Batchelor to come and join us. 06:10 It seems so long since we've seen him. 06:13 Have you noticed that? You feel that? 06:16 It's been a long time. We have a rich history together, 06:21 which I'm not going to spend a lot of time because we have 06:23 quite a few questions. But I just want to say 06:25 for those of you that don't know: I received my beginning, 06:29 my start in ministry, in northern California 06:31 when Pastor Doug invited me 06:33 to come to the Northern California Conference 06:36 to begin my pastoral ministry with him in evangelism. 06:39 And that was back in 1987 06:41 when... when both of us had black hair. 06:52 If I were thinking earlier I would have shown that picture 06:56 that we took way back in 1987 06:58 when we began in Vallejo. He had a lot more hair... 07:01 we both were younger. But God has been gracious to us 07:05 because by God's grace we're still here today. Amen. 07:08 And I'm looking forward to this. 07:10 And we did Bible questions before a number of times - 07:13 oh yeah - so I'm going to rest tonight. I'm going to 07:15 try my best... but I'm not guaranteeing that I'm going to 07:18 resist unto death. 'Cause sometimes I would ask a question 07:24 to Doug, and he answers it really well, but there's always 07:29 an answer in my head too. 07:30 So these questions... we're not going to get through all of them 07:33 but let me go ahead and give you the 1st one. Are you ready? 07:35 All right. This is from Ohio. 07:37 In the Old Testament there was a great significance 07:40 placed on blessing the first-born son 07:43 as in the case of Isaac blessing Jacob and Esau. 07:48 Does that have any relevance to us today? 07:51 Well, I think... Yes it does, but I think 07:54 in particular it's important to bless your children. 07:58 And this was a very solemn time when parents would confer this 08:02 blessing. In particular with the patriarchs, 08:06 they knew that the Messiah was going to come through 08:08 their line. And so the blessing that Jacob basically stole 08:11 from Esau was not the blessing so much of the first-born 08:14 inheritance. The first-born used to get a double inheritance. 08:17 He wanted the spiritual blessing that the Messiah 08:20 would come through his line. 08:22 And so that's why it says that Jacob was interested 08:26 in the spiritual side. Esau... he was more interested 08:30 in the beans, you remember, when he sold his birthright. 08:33 When Jacob came back into the Promised Land 08:35 he gave his brother a lot of tangible gifts 08:38 to show I'm not after Dad's inheritance. 08:41 'Cause Isaac was still alive. He wanted the spiritual blessing. 08:46 OK. Why did the God of the Old Testament have whole tribes 08:51 put to death? I know God is a loving and caring God 08:54 but this puzzles me. 08:57 God in the New Testament does also. 08:59 What I mean by that is Jesus is the same God as the Old 09:02 Testament. Jesus said: "Then all of the tribes of 09:06 the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man 09:08 coming in the clouds of heaven. " 09:10 There's going to be a lot of tribes that die 09:12 in heaven. [sic] During the flood were there 09:16 a lot of people that died? 09:18 Now people especially think about when God told Saul 09:22 to go and to basically annihilate the Amalekites. 09:26 You just need to know that this was a people that had 09:28 vowed to the destruction of Israel. 09:31 They were full of disease, child sacrifice 09:34 and all kinds of abominations. You think of all the abominable 09:37 that God told them not to do - the Israelites - not to do... 09:40 the Amalekites did it all. 09:42 Plus they're the ones who attacked the children of Israel 09:45 when they came out of Egypt from behind. 09:47 The children and the elderly and the weak. 09:50 And they were at constant war. 09:52 And so also in order to prevent intermarriage 09:56 God said to Saul and some of the kings, He said: 09:59 "You're to attack and annihilate. " 10:01 He told Joshua for the people of Jericho - 10:03 the only ones who were spared were those in Rahab's house - 10:06 to attack and annihilate them. 10:08 It's because their offspring would vow to continue the battle 10:12 of their parents and there would have never been any peace. 10:15 I know it sounds brutal, 10:17 but that's just how it was when they were at war. 10:19 Could I add something? Nope! OK... Go ahead. 10:24 We had a Bible question/answer period in Sacramento Carmichael. 10:28 I never forgot that because I kept on butting in and 10:31 answering. Doug said: "John, you ask the questions; 10:34 I answer them. " He said: "Besides, you look like 10:37 a Volkswagen with its doors open. " 10:39 And I said: "And you look like a convertible with the top down. " 10:43 And there was no more sanity beyond that point. 10:47 But just to add this other point: what a lot of people 10:49 don't know is that more people are going to die in the... 10:52 in the destruction of the wicked in hell than died in the 10:56 Old Testament. Oh yeah. So the worst is yet to come 10:59 and it's the same God. Yep. All right. Could I go on? Yes. 11:02 Seven last plagues. 11:05 Is it a sin to eat unclean foods or simply a poor health choice 11:11 like eating sugar and drinking caffeine? 11:14 Well, it would be a sin for me 11:16 because sin is knowing to do good and not doing it. 11:19 There'll be people in heaven that had several wives 11:23 at one time. Is that right? 11:26 Jacob and David and Abraham. 11:28 Well... Abraham... he kind of meandered. 11:31 Well, yeah. He actually put away Hagar. But 11:35 Solomon. They lived in a time where God winked at their 11:39 ignorance 'cause they did not know. 11:41 But when a person knows what the Bible says on any particular 11:45 truth and you persist in high-handed rebellion... 11:49 If we continue to sin willfully after we've received 11:53 the knowledge of the truth - that's Hebrews 10:26- 11:56 there remains no more sacrifice for sin. 11:59 And so if a person persists willingly in any known sin - 12:03 and you know, we all struggle with sin and temptation 12:05 but I mean you just resign yourself to sin - 12:07 that's dangerous. Whether it's, you know, eating pork 12:10 or whatever it is. When you know what God says 12:11 about something and you persist in doing what you know is wrong. 12:16 Yeah, it could be... Yeah. You know, if you're... 12:20 It could be sugar. 12:25 I'm not going to scare you. Well, you know, some people 12:27 have diabetes. And the doctor says: "Don't do this, 12:30 it's going to kill you. " And you say: "I don't care 12:32 what the doctor says. " 12:34 The Bible says: "Thou shalt not kill. " 12:36 That would include yourself, right? 12:39 Some people are killing them- selves with all kinds of things. 12:41 This is a pretty long question so I'm going to try to get right 12:45 through this. I have been watching you 12:47 on and off for years now. Let's see, here's the other one. 12:52 I have a problem with your teaching that Jesus was 12:55 crucified on Friday. If so, it makes Jesus out to be a liar 12:59 because if He was raised on Sunday then from Friday night 13:02 to Saturday night would be one day 13:04 and Saturday night to Sunday night would be two days. 13:07 How can this fulfill the three days and three nights 13:10 in the grave as He predicted? 13:13 This causes me to believe that Jesus was crucified on 13:15 Wednesday fulfilling the three days and three nights. 13:18 This is a common question that we get. 13:20 There's only one statement in Matthew chapter 12 13:23 where He says in verse 40: 13:25 "As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly 13:28 of the great fish, the Son of Man will be three days 13:30 and three nights in the heart of the earth. " 13:31 The misunderstanding is what does it mean to be 13:34 in the heart of the earth. 13:37 The word there, heart, is cardia. The word earth 13:39 is talking about the world. 13:41 It's not talking about Jesus' time in the tomb. 13:44 It's talking about Jesus' time suffering for the 13:47 sins of the world... which began Thursday night. 13:51 Christ Himself said: "Now is the hour. " 13:53 And God withdrew Himself from Him. 13:56 Christ the third time in the garden said: "Not My will... 13:58 Thy will be done. " 14:00 The Father withdrew His protection. 14:01 The mob came. For the first time when they tried to attack 14:04 Christ the Lord and angels did not protect Him. 14:07 And He was suffering for the sins of the world 14:10 Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night 14:11 in the heart of the earth... in the clutches of the devil 14:13 and his demons paying the penalty for sin. 14:16 We all assume it means the tomb. 14:18 When you say the Lord's Prayer "Thy will be done 14:21 in earth as it is in heaven, " 14:23 does in earth mean the tomb? 14:25 It means in the world, right? 14:27 It's a common misunderstanding. 14:29 Don't try and change the date for the crucifixion 14:31 because of that verse. And folks get all upset about that. 14:35 And so that's the answer. And plus there's inclusive reckoning 14:39 that I think is very important because any part of the day 14:42 included the whole day. Is he helping answer questions again? 14:44 No, no. And that even though He was crucified, Jesus said, 14:49 He would rise the third day. 14:51 If he had to be there three days and three nights He would be 14:53 rising the fourth day. Think about that. Yep. 14:56 OK. I didn't answer that question. 14:59 This is just a suggestion. 15:02 OK... wasn't an answer. 15:06 Why did God put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil 15:09 in the Garden of Eden? 15:10 Why is our free-will thinking always evil? 15:13 Before I keep compounding the question... 15:16 Why is the strength of thinking spiritually weaker than 15:18 of thinking evil? If God has decided for me to choose, 15:24 then why is it that He will judge me when I don't choose 15:27 to do His deeds? Wow! 15:29 Well all of the creatures in God's creation 15:32 that have intelligence, creatures made with a free will, 15:36 are able to choose whether or not to trust the Lord. 15:38 The Lord spelled out something very simple. 15:41 He gave Adam and Eve everything that could delight 15:43 their senses for food. He just said... 15:46 And the Tree of Life was right there in the midst of the garden 15:47 also. So He said: "Eat from the Tree of Life 15:49 and do not eat from this tree of disobedience. " 15:51 God said: "If you eat of it, you'll die. " 15:54 And Adam and Eve began to die spiritually 15:56 that very day that they ate it. 15:58 The Bible says a day with the Lord is as a thousand years 16:01 and a thousand years as a day, and no man made it 16:03 to the millennium. They all died in that first millennial day 16:07 you might say. But, so why did God test them like that? 16:11 Because love must be freely given 16:14 and so He was demonstrating they had a free choice. 16:17 And if you choose to serve the Lord 16:20 you can't love Him through force. 16:22 We all must choose to love Him. 16:24 And so He allowed all His creatures to have a test. 16:27 The good news is He didn't tell the devil that 16:29 He could harass Adam and Eve all over the creation. 16:32 He said: "There's only one place 16:33 where he's going to meet with you... 16:35 and avoid this temptation. " 16:37 And when Eve was then lingering nearby the tree 16:41 that's when he launched his assault. 16:43 OK. Let's go to the next one. 16:46 After God created Adam and Eve 16:48 they had children. This always comes up. 16:51 Where did Seth's wife and Cain's wife come from? 16:54 Did God create another family for them 16:56 to procreate with? Or was there inbreeding? 17:01 Well I guess you'd say there's inbreeding 17:03 because the Bible says that Adam and Eve had sons and 17:06 daughters in chapter 5 of Genesis. 17:09 And like I mentioned, if they lived hundreds of years... 17:12 They probably were not in the Garden of Eden very long 17:15 before they fell with sin because they were perfectly 17:18 healthy and they hadn't had any children yet. 17:21 So it wasn't too long after they were created 17:24 when sin happened. 17:26 Adam and Eve were brother and sister... 17:28 you ever think about that? 17:29 Who were their parents? 17:33 Matter of fact it was really kind of weird because 17:35 Eve came out of Adam's rib. 17:38 And that's why it says that any man that loves his wife 17:40 loves his own flesh. 17:43 But it was not a sin at the beginning 17:46 to marry a sibling. It was as time went by 17:50 by the time of Moses with some of the genetic weaknesses 17:55 that you have when families just intermarry 17:57 but Jacob married his cousin. 18:00 Isaac married his cousin. 18:01 Abraham married his sister. 18:03 You start going back and the Bible's really clear. 18:04 They didn't have a problem with it back then 18:06 and there weren't the genetic problems that they have today. 18:11 So you're not suggesting that they marry their cousin? 18:13 No, there's too many genetic problems in the world for that 18:17 right now. This is a question I think I can answer: 18:21 Do dogs go to heaven? 18:24 If they've been really good... no. 18:29 No... I'm hoping "Dougs" go to heaven! 18:32 Dougs go to heaven. That's a question that often comes up. 18:36 Will there be animals in heaven? 18:37 There will be animals in heaven. 18:39 You know, the Bible doesn't say that Jesus died 18:42 to save our pets. I'm just going to be honest with you. 18:46 You know there's nothing... God did speak through a donkey 18:48 and the devil spoke through a snake. But it doesn't say that 18:51 Jesus died to redeem the animals. 18:53 But there will be animals in heaven. 18:55 And it's not beyond the Lord to surprise someone by 18:58 resurrecting a favorite pet and giving them a little 19:00 regenerated animal body. 19:02 And so I don't think you can rule that out 19:04 but you can really teach it dogmatically from the Bible. 19:07 No pun intended... dogmatically. 19:10 I'm glad you got that. 19:15 Does God love Lucifer just as He loves all of us sinners? 19:21 Well God is love. God knows what Lucifer used to be. 19:24 God made Lucifer; we all would have loved him 19:27 then... some still do. 19:30 But God is love. 19:33 Lucifer has no more redeemable qualities. 19:36 In other words, his probation is closed. 19:39 And people say: "If we all pray for the devil, 19:42 will all our problems go away if he repents? " 19:44 That's not going to happen. God is clear. 19:46 Satan knows he has a short time. Revelation 12. 19:49 So God hates sin. The devil is now the embodiment of evil 19:54 so I would think that God hates it. 19:57 Does that make sense? 19:59 Plus... He loves what he used to be but not now. 20:02 And I think: Does God love Lucifer? Yes. He doesn't like 20:04 Satan. OK? Lucifer was before the fall. 20:08 Can't help himself. Amen. 20:14 Right now I'm going through? I feel like I'm on... 20:16 Like gettin' it on in a recovery program. 20:19 Feel like we're in a half-way house right now. 20:25 'Cause we did Bible answers together and I do Bible 20:28 questions too... but I'm trying to be nice tonight. 20:30 Oh John can answer all these questions and we're having fun. 20:33 Not as well as I can, but he can answer them all. 20:35 Doug, this question's from an 8-year-old. 20:38 I think you can answer this one. 20:40 Are angels girls? 20:42 That is an amazing question. 20:44 All right... let's think about this. 20:47 One of the things that separates boys and girls 20:50 is the plumbing. 20:54 And all the times that angels appeared in the Bible 20:58 they always appeared as a man. 21:01 Now you know we did a cosmic conflict program 21:04 some of you saw, and we were short on subs 21:07 and I wasn't there that day and they brought in girls 21:09 and dressed them up as angels. 21:11 And I later reproved the director. 21:13 I mean it was a great program but I said... 21:16 How do you say this delicately? 21:19 Do angels procreate? 21:22 Is the Bible clear on that? 21:23 Angels don't have little baby angels. 21:25 What is the purpose for nursing children? 21:29 Would angels have that apparatus? 21:33 See what I'm saying? 21:36 So it seems strange to me to see girl angels. 21:42 Someone help me... does that make sense? 21:44 Amen. You should have answered that one. OK, OK. 21:48 I was waiting... I was waiting. 21:50 You need to read Ezekiel chapter 1 and 2 as it describes 21:54 angels - seraphim and cherubim. 21:56 Now maybe girls are angels because the description 22:00 of angels in Ezekiel is a creature with four heads. 22:04 Don't take that wrong. 22:08 Face of a man, the face of an ox, face of an eagle 22:10 if you read the description. But when they appear to humanity 22:13 God allows them to appear to us in a form that we can relate to. 22:17 But when we see angels, I'm sure they will appear quite different 22:21 than they look to us in the earth. Yeah, they don't have 22:24 the gender distinctions like we do. Yes. 22:28 Wow! A lot of kids sent some questions. 22:31 If God knew that Satan was going to be evil, 22:34 then why did He create him? 22:36 Why did He not leave him out and not make him? 22:40 Well, it's one of the greatest demonstrations that God is a God 22:43 of love is that He loves us so much 22:47 and He respects our freedom 22:48 that He will not arbitrarily only make those that love Him. 22:53 'Cause that would mean that we're automated robots 22:55 that just say: "I love You God. " 22:56 That would hint that He pre-programmed us where we 23:00 have to love Him or He won't make us. 23:03 And so to prove that He will even make a creature 23:05 that has the freedom to rebel... Just because God knows 23:09 the future does not mean He's always making the future happen. 23:12 There's a difference between knowing everything 23:14 and manipulating things. 23:16 Why would we pray "Thy will be done" if God's will 23:18 is always done? God's will is not always done. 23:21 God is not willing that any should perish, right? 23:24 But will some perish? 23:26 And so just because God knew that Lucifer would fall 23:29 doesn't mean that He made him that way. 23:31 I know that sometimes really makes you put your 23:34 processor in high speed 23:38 trying to grapple with these things. 23:41 Here's one that didn't come in through e-mail but 23:44 it came in earlier and made it in the pile. 23:47 Daniel 4:19. They want to ask the question 23:50 the part of the verse that says: "The dream be to them that 23:54 hate thee. " They said explain that. 23:56 Yeah, well, this is the dream of the tree, 23:58 and Daniel is telling Nebuchadnezzar that you're 24:01 going to be cut down and you're going to be crazy. 24:03 He meant this dream is going to be something 24:05 that will make your enemies happy. 24:07 That Nebuchadnezzar would be de-throned 24:10 and that he would lose his mind. 24:11 He'd be humiliated groveling like an animal. 24:14 That would be something that would please those that hate you 24:17 Daniel is saying to Nebuchadnezzar. 24:19 OK. How did Satan get in heaven before God tested Job? 24:25 I thought he was kicked out of heaven. 24:29 Well, up until the time when Christ died on the cross 24:33 Satan could still... You see, Satan claimed 24:36 this planet. Adam was the prince of this world. 24:39 Adam had dominion of the planet. 24:40 When Adam and Eve chose to listen to the devil 24:42 instead of God they surrendered the dominion. 24:45 Romans 6 says whoever you obey 24:48 that's whose servants you are. And when they chose 24:49 to obey Lucifer, the planet really became Lucifer's. 24:53 Even Jesus, up until His death, He refers to Lucifer as 24:56 the prince of this world. 24:58 So up until that time Satan would access 25:01 the courts of heaven. Or when they had these heavenly meetings 25:05 where the sons of God came to present themselves 25:07 before the Lord - these are the leaders of other worlds - 25:10 Satan came also among them saying: "I come to represent 25:12 earth. " But after Jesus died on the cross 25:15 Christ said: "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. " 25:19 Satan was defeated. He could no longer represent the world. 25:21 Jesus had redeemed it at that point. 25:24 OK. Wow, here's another... Wow! 25:28 Many teach that the law is not only the Ten Commandments 25:31 but it also is the Torah where it applies. 25:35 So why don't we observe the high Sabbaths 25:39 and the land Sabbaths? 25:40 Does it make sense to ignore these? 25:43 The Bible says that not one jot or tittle 25:45 shall pass from the law. 25:48 If we are spiritual Israel, then how does it not apply to us? 25:53 Well first of all, there is a difference between 25:55 the Ten Commandments and the Torah... the rest of the Torah. 25:58 Just God made a distinction in the way He gave the 26:00 Ten Commandments. Spoke it with His own voice. 26:03 Did it audibly. Wrote it with His own finger. 26:05 Wrote it on a different surface. 26:07 God made a difference so there is a difference. 26:09 The Ten Commandments are the perfect expression of God's will 26:12 in a very concise way. 26:14 There's also a difference between the 7th-day Sabbath 26:17 and these other ceremonial Sabbaths. 26:19 Now I would not lump the agricultural Sabbath 26:23 in the same way as you would some of the Sabbaths, 26:26 the annual Sabbaths, like the Feast of Trumpets 26:28 and the Passover. It's still a good idea 26:31 to fallow your land every few year. 26:34 George Washington Carver proved that 26:36 when the cotton farmers basically depleted the soil 26:39 by over-farming. Said: "You've got to plow it under. " 26:43 That's where they plant peanuts or something. 26:45 To put nitrogen back in the ground He said: "You've got to 26:47 let the land rest... you can't just keep sapping. " 26:50 So that's still a good law. That's not in the same category 26:52 as the ceremonial laws that were connected with the temple. 26:56 The Sabbath of the Ten Commandments was before 26:58 there was even sin. These Sabbath came after sin. 27:03 And so part of God's perfect world is remembering the 27:07 seventh-day Sabbath... even in heaven. Isaiah 66: 27:10 "From one Sabbath to another all flesh will come and worship 27:13 before the Lord. " And so when Jesus died on the cross 27:18 the veil and the curtain was torn. 27:20 We now have a new temple; Christ is the temple. 27:23 They took away Christ's robe; 27:26 we are now covered with the robe of Christ's righteousness. 27:29 The high priest tore his robes; 27:31 there is now a new priesthood. 27:33 "You are a nation of kings and priests. " 27:35 So the whole economy changed so that all the ceremonial laws: 27:39 that's what's nailed to the cross in Colossians chapter 2. 27:43 But the seventh-day Sabbath was not part of the ceremonial law. 27:46 It's part of the Ten Command- ments and it pre-dates sin. 27:49 That's a long answer. Sorry. 27:50 We needed that. I don't know how many more questions we have 27:53 but we're going to keep going. 27:55 Even if we don't have any more questions we're going to 27:56 make them up. We should have more. 28:00 Yeah, we have a lot more questions. OK? One of the issues 28:04 here is that in some places you go people are wanting to 28:08 keep the feast days, and that's been a big part of this issue 28:11 in Colossians 2. But as you mentioned 28:14 those other Sabbaths came after. The Bible says Christ is our 28:16 Passover - that's right - now. And so for us to say that 28:20 you know, the way that we remember Christ is by 28:23 sacrificing a Passover lamb... 28:24 First of all, you're supposed to bring it to the temple. 28:27 We can't do that any more. 28:28 And so it's almost a denial of the reality of Jesus to go back 28:33 and keep the ceremonial laws. 28:36 Good question. The Sabbath is causing great controversy in my 28:42 mind. I want to worship on the Sabbath... 28:45 That's not me, that's this person saying this... 28:48 I want to worship on the Sabbath but am presently a primitive 28:51 Baptist. My church worships on Sunday as you probably know. 28:56 But are we in direct conflict with the fourth commandment? 29:01 By the way, I've got some friends... If I'm not mistaken, 29:05 the primitive Baptists also... they like to go by the Bible. 29:08 They practice foot washing 29:10 'cause Jesus said: "If I wash your feet, you ought to wash 29:13 one another's feet. " But the Bible is very clear 29:16 in my mind that God didn't change the Ten Commandments. 29:21 And that would include He didn't change the one that says 29:24 "Remember THE seventh day. " Now if God had said: "Remember 29:27 A seventh day, " then it wouldn't matter if your church 29:30 chose to do it on Sunday or Monday or whatever. 29:33 But He says there is a particular day. 29:35 And you know, if I tell you: "Can you please bring me 29:38 the book? " you're not going to just grab a hymnal or any book 29:41 that's near you. You're going to say: "He said THE book. " 29:43 That means there's a definitive book I'm thinking of. 29:46 And when God says: "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord" 29:49 and there in Genesis 2 it says: "And on the seventh day 29:52 the Lord blessed the seventh day and He made the 7th day holy. " 29:54 God is very specific. As a matter of fact, I challenge 29:57 a person to find words that are more specific than the ones 30:01 that God used. What else are you going to say? 30:03 He was as specific as He could be. 30:05 There's a particular day He wants us to remember 30:08 and keep holy as the Sabbath. 30:09 Tells us how to do that in the Bible. 30:11 If we say: "No, we're going to go with another day that's 30:14 popular, " whether it's the first day or the third day 30:17 rather than the day God blesses 30:19 you have to ask this question: "When God told Naaman 30:22 "Wash seven times, " did it matter whether it was the 30:26 first time or the seventh time? 30:29 When God told Joshua: "March around the city seven times 30:33 on the seventh day... " Jericho, 30:35 did it matter whether he did it six times? 30:38 If they had said: "Well, you know, our feet are sore. 30:41 We're going to blow the trumpets after the first time. " 30:43 When God told Moses: "Strike the rock, or speak to the rock" 30:46 and he goes and he hits it twice 30:48 did that make a difference? Is God particular? Amen! 30:51 And so I think God means what He says. 30:54 And He promises that He blessed a certain time... 30:57 we want the time that He's blessed. 30:58 He made a certain time holy. 31:00 We cannot... we can't make it holy by picking our own time. 31:04 And so I think it's pretty arrogant for man to say 31:08 "We're going to declare our own day holy" 31:10 or for a church to do it. 31:11 We can't change the commandments of God. 31:15 And I think what's included in this question that is not 31:18 included in the question is, I want you to also clarify that, 31:21 we're not saying that people that go to church on Sunday 31:23 are lost. We're not saying that. But what we're saying is 31:26 when you love the Lord and you understand the truth 31:28 of God's Word, then you ask for the Lord 31:31 to give you the love to be obedient to it. 31:33 Right. I think you mentioned that earlier in your sermon. 31:35 Yeah, it's the same principle. There will be a whole lot of 31:37 people in heaven that went to church on the first day of the 31:39 week, and there'll be people in heaven that ate pork. 31:43 I mean, there's going to be people in heaven that maybe 31:45 didn't know a lot of things. But when we know what God's will is 31:49 on a certain subject, Jesus said: "If you know these things, 31:53 happy are you if you do them. " 31:56 Thank you, Doug. Um-hmm. 32:01 OK, this is one we can probably spend some time on. 32:05 The Bible clearly says the wicked will burn forever 32:09 and ever and that the worm dies not 32:13 and the smoke of their torment goes day and night... 32:17 clearly meaning at least a 24-hour time cycle. 32:21 SDA's don't believe that. 32:23 What explanation can you give for this conclusion? 32:26 I will chime in on this but you start. 32:29 That means I've just got to talk and not give him a break, right? 32:35 You know, understanding the subject of the punishment of the 32:38 wicked was some of the best news... I know that may sound 32:41 like a contradiction... that I ever heard because 32:44 one reason I turned away from God and Christianity 32:47 is I went to a religious school that taught ever-burning hell 32:51 and that if babies even weren't baptized... 32:54 And I just... You know, I thought: "Here I am 32:56 13 years old. I'm probably past the age of accountability. " 33:00 I figured Jesus was baptized at 12. "If I die, 33:05 I am now going to burn for billions of years 33:08 A million, zillion years go by and you've never even begun. " 33:11 Can you imagine that? Writhing in burning flames? 33:16 Blistering, screeching agony; billions of years. I thought: 33:20 "What kind of God would torture creatures 33:26 that He's made that are born with the propensity to sin 33:30 Why would He? " I said: "Where's the justice? 33:33 Where's the love? " I couldn't figure that out. 33:36 When I realized what the Bible really said about that subject: 33:39 John 3:16... you're got two choices. 33:42 Believe in Him... everlasting life. 33:45 Do not believe... perish. 33:47 "Behold a day comes... " Malachi chapter 4... 33:50 "that will burn as an oven. And all the proud and all that 33:52 do wickedly will be stubble. 33:54 The day that comes will burn them up. 33:56 Leave them neither root nor branch. " 33:58 Psalms says the wicked will consume away into smoke. 34:01 And Revelation 20 says fire comes down from God 34:04 out of heaven and devours them. 34:07 There's only two choices... there's life and death. 34:10 The Bible tells us that in the hell fire 34:12 Jesus said: "Do not fear him, " Matthew chapter 10, 34:15 "who destroys the body but cannot destroy the soul. 34:17 Rather fear Him who will destroy soul and body in hell. " 34:23 It's not just the body that's burned up. 34:25 Soul and body will be destroyed. 34:28 Now they talk about the verse that says 34:30 everlasting destruction because the penalty for sin 34:34 is... There is a lake of fire. We don't doubt that. 34:37 So you can call that hell fire. 34:39 And the wicked there are every man is punished according 34:42 to what he deserves. If everybody burns forever, 34:45 everyone gets the same punishment. 34:48 But it says... what about where it says forever? 34:53 Well, most of the time in the Bible when it says 34:57 forever it means forever... but there are exceptions. 34:59 And you have where Jonah - chapter 2- 35:02 it says: "The earth with her bars was around me forever. " 35:06 Now if you were in the great fish, it would have felt like 35:08 forever. When Hannah brought Samuel to the temple 35:13 she said: "I'm leaving him here so he can serve before the Lord 35:16 forever. " What did forever mean? Well, 35:19 till he died. When a servant loved his master 35:24 he would go through a ritual where he would show that 35:27 he wanted to serve his master forever, even if he was set free 35:30 after seven years. And they would basically drive a nail 35:34 through his earlobe to the door - the only 35:36 ear piercing permitted in the Bible - 35:38 and then it meant he will be his servant it says "forever. " 35:42 Forever? Even in eternity? 35:44 Or does that mean till he dies? 35:46 Means until he dies. 35:48 So it's simply saying when it says forever 35:51 it means until it's all gone. 35:53 And it comes from the word... In Greek the word is 35:56 eon - aion... where we get the word eon. 35:59 Have you ever said to somebody: "Why I haven't seen them 36:01 in eons? " Does that mean forever? 36:04 Or is it a figure of speech? 36:06 And so it's often used in a very vague way. 36:09 And this is a Greek word, so don't build... If you've got 36:12 a hundred scriptures here on this side 36:17 that make it clear the devil said: "You will not surely die" 36:22 you'll either live forever in heaven or live forever in hell. 36:24 The devil says you won't really die; God says you WILL die. 36:27 A lot of the world is believing what the devil said 36:30 instead of what God says. You've got 100 verses that say 36:32 they'll perish, they'll be consumed, they'll be devoured, 36:35 they'll die. In heaven: no more pain, right? 36:38 How can you have a torture cham- ber and there be no more pain? 36:41 "All things are made new. " How can all things be made new 36:44 and sinners immortalized? 36:45 No more suffering, right? No more death. 36:49 None of these things exist anymore. 36:50 You've got all these verses here, and if you've got a couple 36:53 of verses here that are difficult, don't throw away 36:56 the weight of evidence. Any court would say: 36:59 "Look at the preponderance of evidence. " 37:01 The weight of evidence is very clear that God is a just God. 37:04 Try and understand the anomalies... and there are some 37:07 verses that good Christians have misunderstood. 37:10 But I think the lion's share of evidence is very clear 37:13 that the wicked do not get everlasting life: in fire 37:16 or anywhere. You know, Doug, one of the reasons I said I was 37:20 going to chime in on this is because I love this topic. 37:22 Really quickly... we have some more questions here. 37:25 One page has like seven on, so we'll get to that. 37:27 But one of the biggest things that people leave out is the 37:29 fact that... and this is where the light came on for me... 37:33 I asked somebody when they said: "Will the wicked burn forever? " 37:36 I asked them: "Will Satan be destroyed? " 37:40 "Will Satan be around forever? " What's the answer? 37:43 In his own testimony, he knows that he has but a what? 37:47 short time. OK, Exodus... I mean Ezekiel. 37:51 Speaking of Satan, the Lord says: "Therefore I brought fire 37:56 from your midst and it devoured you. It turned you to ashes. " 37:59 Speaking to Lucifer. 38:00 Speaking to Satan: "It turned you to ashes 38:03 in the sight of all who saw you. 38:04 All who knew you are astonished at you. 38:09 You have become a horror and shall be no more forever. " 38:14 Now, if He's going to destroy the root 38:18 how is there going to be a branch? 38:20 "If the branch be destroyed... " Good point. 38:22 If the root is destroyed, you have no branch. 38:24 He's the root of evil. 38:26 Jesus is the vine; we are the branches. 38:28 The reason why we have eternal life: 38:29 we're connected to the vine who is eternal. 38:31 They're connected to Satan who is just temporary. 38:33 He said it himself. And finally, and this is the biggest part, 38:38 "the wages of sin is... 38:40 the gift of God is eternal life. " 38:42 Who receives eternal life? The righteous or the wicked? 38:45 How can you burn forever if you cannot live forever? 38:48 OK... good point. 38:51 Psalm 37:10: "You will look for their place 38:53 and it shall be no more. " 38:55 By the way, if I can throw in a commercial here... 38:59 Amazing Facts has a website called Hell Truth. Very good. 39:02 I recommend anybody that wants to know more about that subject 39:04 it's called helltruth. com 39:06 And I think it's probably the most popular website 39:09 on this subject. It's got videos, scriptures, 39:13 a galore of evidence from the Bible. 39:15 Wow, this person got happy! 39:17 He put seven questions on a page. 39:20 Well, didn't give them a limit! OK. 39:22 Bless their hearts. So far I have learned 39:25 everything that Jesus did during His life 39:28 here on earth was with purpose 39:33 and He never left a doubt for second guessing 39:37 except the story of the poor man - Lazarus - going to heaven 39:42 and being consoled by Abraham 39:44 and the rich man being burned in a flaming hell. 39:47 This fits perfect after the last question. 39:49 Why would our Lord use an example so prone to be 39:52 misunderstood? Why use an illustration 39:55 that gives a picture of an afterlife if it is not true? 40:00 OK... you go ahead and start. 40:02 Well, Jesus said: "Many things I have to say to you 40:06 but you're not able to bear them. " And there are some 40:09 things that it does take study and it does take maturity. 40:11 And I'm glad God challenges us to think. 40:14 Jesus didn't say everything in the simplest of terms 40:17 because He wants us to reason together. 40:20 And so, yeah, of course... The Lord says some things 40:22 that require thinking. Read things in their context. 40:25 When Jesus told the parable - and this is Luke 16:19 40:29 of the rich man and Lazarus - 40:30 He was giving a parable. 40:33 And you have to know that it's a parable because first of all 40:35 He's got the people in heaven and hell talking to each other. 40:38 Who takes that literally? 40:39 He says that one drop of water would cool the tongue 40:42 of a person in hell. That can't be literal. 40:45 It says that everybody that dies, all the saved, go to 40:49 Abraham's bosom. Well, he's either got a really big bosom 40:52 or there aren't too many people that are going to make it. 40:54 So, I mean, there's so many figures of speech. 40:57 But the important thing is this parable really had nothing 41:00 to do with the state of man in death. 41:03 Jesus is talking to the religious leaders. 41:06 He's talking to the Jewish nation... to the church today 41:09 and He's saying: "Do not think because you've got the truth 41:12 and that you're blessed and you're clothed in purple 41:15 and you're feasting that you're going to be favored by God 41:19 in the next life because you might find 41:22 that the Gentiles who are at your gate that are hungry for 41:25 the crumbs of truth that fall from your table 41:27 they are going to be in Abraham's bosom and 41:29 the children of the kingdom will be in outer darkness 41:32 where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. " 41:34 I'm mixing parables here, but many times Jesus said 41:36 "Many will come from the east and the west and sit down 41:39 in the kingdom with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob... " 41:42 meaning the Gentiles... "and the children of the kingdom... " 41:45 people that might be genetically or have the DNA of Israel... 41:48 they could be in outer darkness. 41:50 It had nothing to do with the state of man. 41:53 Christ then draws on a Greek parable that everybody knew. 41:59 They all had a god named Pluto in charge of place called Hades 42:02 which was a place of punishment. 42:04 They all spoke Greek. They all knew Greek mythology. 42:08 If I were to tell you today 42:10 I want to tell you a story, 42:11 OK... you with me? 42:13 one day Alice was in Wonderland. 42:15 Stop. That's all I've got to say. 42:18 You know right away that I'm using a very popular 42:22 fairy tale to illustrate a point. 42:25 You would not take the talking rabbits or the cats literally, 42:29 would you? Jesus is doing something very creative here. 42:33 He's putting the Jew - who is the rich man - 42:37 in the Greek place of torment 42:39 and He's putting the Greek - the Gentile - 42:42 in the Jewish place of salvation. 42:43 Abraham's bosom: what could be more Jewish than that? 42:46 The only place you find Abraham's bosom is in the Bible. 42:49 I guess some people have made a new kind of Protestant 42:51 purgatory out of this. It's some new waiting area or something. 42:55 And so it's just a parable. 42:57 The punch line is why He told it. 43:00 He said: "If they do not believe Moses and the prophets, 43:03 neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead. " 43:06 The rich man who's in torment says: "Oh but if you send 43:10 Lazarus to my father's house I've got five brothers... " 43:13 the Jews had all agreed on the five books of Moses... 43:15 the Pentateuch. "I've got five brothers in my father's house. 43:19 If he testifies to them, then they'll repent. " 43:22 And He says: "If they believed not Moses and the prophets, 43:25 neither will they be persuaded though one should rise 43:27 from the dead. " Did Jesus raise someone from the dead 43:30 by the name of Lazarus? 43:32 Did they believe or did they still try to crucify Christ? 43:35 They even tried to kill Lazarus. 43:37 So this is a very telling parable. No one back then 43:41 tried to apply it to the state of death... 43:43 state of man in death... 43:44 and I think it's kind of reckless to use it that way. 43:47 I'm not going to chime in on that; that was complete. Amen? 43:50 Amen! Very well said. 43:52 I Peter 3:19. Boy, this is really good. 43:55 I like... A lot of these questions are really trying to 43:58 hit the idea that people do exist after death. 44:02 But I Peter 3:19. Read that... 19 and 20... and 44:06 to what spirits is he referring? 44:08 Have to start with verse 18. 44:10 "For Christ also suffered once for sin - 44:13 the just for the unjust - that He might bring us to God 44:16 being put to death in the flesh 44:17 but made alive in the Spirit. " Capital S. 44:20 Spirit is the subject here. 44:22 "By whom... " This is a continuation of the sentence 44:25 That's why I had to read verse 18... 44:26 "By whom he went and preached to the spirits in prison. " 44:29 Through this Spirit God preached to the spirits 44:32 in prison "who formerly were disobedient when once the 44:36 longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah. " 44:38 Remember God said: "My Spirit will not always strive with 44:41 man? " Genesis chapter 6. 44:43 "His days will be 120 years. " The same Spirit that spoke 44:47 through Christ spoke in the days of Noah to the spirits 44:50 in prison... meaning those imprisoned by sin. 44:53 It's not saying that God's got some kind of torture chamber 44:56 down there in the darkness, and Jesus - when He died on the 44:58 cross - went down to preach to the people that lived before 45:00 the flood and give them a second chance... 45:03 which is what some churches believe. 45:05 The whole idea that after you die 45:07 Christ is going to come preach to you again 45:09 in some prison and give you a second chance 45:11 goes against everything else in the Bible. 45:13 "It's appointed unto man once to die; 45:15 after that the judgment. " 45:17 This life is our only time. 45:18 There's no prayers or preaching after death 45:20 that are going to make a difference. 45:22 So... that's what it's saying. 45:24 Amen. OK, I think we answered this but I think... Let me just 45:27 read it here. Where did Cain's wife come from? 45:30 We answered that. And why was he marked? 45:32 That part was before... Why was he marked 45:35 if there were no more people on the earth besides his parents 45:38 and brothers. Well, everybody was very intelligent then 45:42 and they all knew that God had commanded them to be fruitful, 45:44 multiply, and to fill the earth. 45:46 They were still living centuries back then. 45:49 Cain realized... it didn't take a lot of proactive thinking 45:52 that as people began to multiply and fill the earth... 45:55 if you just do the simple math and extrapolate... he knew 45:58 there'd be hundreds of thousands of people. He would be 46:01 singled out as the first murderer 46:05 and would have that... his life would be threatened. 46:09 He said: "What's going to happen to me... " 46:11 he says, "for all the generations to come? " 46:13 Therefore, God put a mark upon Cain 46:15 saying that if Cain is cursed for what he did, anyone that 46:17 hurts Cain is going to be cursed more. 46:20 Wow! In the Lord's Prayer what does it mean 46:25 "Lead us not into temptation? " 46:26 Does God lead us into temptation sometimes? 46:30 You know, it's interesting as I travel to all these different 46:33 countries and I hear the different languages... I'm very 46:35 interested in language... how funny things sometimes come out 46:39 when they're translated. Because not only are words different; 46:43 the way we structure our sentences is different. 46:46 Like in English here in southern Illinois 46:49 you'd say: "Can you go throw some hay over the fence 46:51 to the cow. " In German they'd say: "Go throw the cow 46:55 over the fence some hay. " 46:57 Well it sounds strange. You know, in English I'd say 47:00 white house. Spanish say casa blanca... house white. 47:04 And the way this really translates more accurately 47:07 in the Lord's Prayer is: "Lead us not... " 47:10 In other words, lead us away. The word not there means 47:13 do not lead us or lead us away from our natural tendency 47:18 for temptation. We're not begging God not to tempt us 47:22 because God tempts no man, neither can He be tempted 47:24 with evil. It's simply saying: "Lead us away from 47:28 our natural propensity to sin. " 47:32 Amen. In Psalm 35 David asks our Lord 47:37 to do a lot of bad things to his enemies. 47:41 Sounds like some of us today, don't you think? 47:44 I understand that that is not what God wants 47:47 us to request for our enemies. 47:50 Please explain. 47:52 In other words, what should we request for our enemies? 47:55 Well, I think there's a time to pray 48:00 that your enemy will fail. 48:03 I think there's a time to pray that the Lord will confound 48:07 the plans of the enemy. 48:09 And David was fighting for... he was fighting for God. 48:13 So you notice when David goes against Goliath 48:16 did David say: "Our nation's better than your nation? " 48:19 Or did he say: "You have blasphemed God? " 48:22 And David was very jealous for God. 48:24 So whenever David is praying for the destruction or bad 48:27 things to happen to the enemies he's really thinking about 48:29 those who are fighting against the truth. 48:31 And so I always think that David... and the reason 48:34 that's inspired and it's in the Psalms 48:36 it's looking at the bigger picture of the battle between 48:39 good and evil. And I think... I think there's a time to 48:42 pray that the plans of the enemy will fail. 48:46 If you've got an enemy, don't take David's Psalms 48:49 and say: "David says I'm praying that fire and brimstone 48:51 falls on their head" because you read where Paul says 48:54 "If you've got an enemy, feed him. 48:56 If he's thirsty, give him something to drink. " 48:58 We're supposed to overcome evil with good. 49:00 The Bible is very clear about that. 49:01 And even in the Old Testament when Elisha captured the whole 49:05 Syrian army the king said: "Shall I kill them now? 49:07 Shall I kill them? " And he said: "No. " 49:09 Give them something to eat and send them home. " 49:12 God's always been the same. You overcome evil with good. 49:15 But when you're engaged in battle, and other people's lives 49:18 are threatened, there might be a time to pray for bad things 49:22 to happen to the enemy. 49:23 But always remember that vengeance belongs to the Lord. 49:25 Right. Number six... oh... six of seven on this page. 49:29 Please explain John 10:34. Jesus answered... 49:32 Go there because they kind of left some of the verse out. 49:34 I want you to see the whole thing. 49:36 "Jesus answered them: 'Is it not written in your law 49:41 I said you are gods. ' " 49:45 Let's see if that's what it says. John 10:34. 49:47 He's quoting from Psalm 82 verse 6 49:51 where God is saying: "Did I not say ye are gods? " 49:53 Now the word god does not mean THE God of heaven necessarily 49:58 all the time. It's talking about we're made in the image of God. 50:03 God wanted man to be able to have dominion over the planet. 50:09 Compared to the other creatures 50:11 we're divine to them. I mean just look at the way that 50:14 your dogs and your pets will sometimes worship. 50:19 They just wait at the door all day for you to go home. 50:21 And so, man was made in the image of God. 50:24 We're not divine; we're not to be worshiped. 50:26 But man was made to be the ruler of this world so to speak. 50:29 And so in that lesser sense is what David is talking about. 50:34 It's not saying that we're divine. 50:37 That make sense? 50:40 Number seven on this page: 50:43 Did Jesus give His disciples the authority to forgive sin? 50:48 John 20 verses 22-23 50:51 says that He breathed on them and said: "Receive the Holy 50:55 Spirit. If you forgive their sins, 50:57 they are forgiven them. If you retain their sins, 51:00 the sins of any they are retained. " 51:02 How can this be if only God can forgive sins? 51:06 That's a good question. It's also... 51:08 It's a difficult question because can you pray that 51:12 God will forgive another person? 51:14 Does God hear those prayers? 51:16 When Stephen was being stoned did he say: "Father, lay not 51:19 this sin to their charge? " 51:21 When Jesus died on the cross did He say: "Father, 51:24 forgive them? " Do the prayers of people 51:26 make a difference in what God does? 51:29 It's not that we're forgiving anybody. 51:31 But we can pray for God to intervene in people's lives 51:36 and work for their forgiveness. 51:37 The most obvious way we do this is in spreading that forgiveness 51:41 through their knowing Christ. 51:43 Inasmuch as we do or do not share the gospel 51:47 we are sharing and disseminating God's forgiveness. 51:54 You know, this is again dealing with that whole thing 51:56 about the enemy like David's prayer before. 52:00 There are times where they... Paul, I've got to give you 52:05 a Bible example or you won't believe me, 52:07 Paul was preaching... Paul and Barnabas were preaching 52:11 and they were preaching to Sergius Paulus, 52:14 the leader of this area. 52:16 And there was a sorcerer that was trying to overthrow 52:19 and turn away everything that they were saying. 52:21 And you know what Paul did? Paul said: "Oh you child of the 52:23 devil, son of perdition. " He said: "How long will you seek 52:26 to pervert the truth and turn people away? May you be blind. " 52:30 And he was struck with blindness. 52:34 Do we have classes on how to do that in church? 52:40 But when a person is working proactively as an obstacle 52:45 you can pray for their conversion. 52:46 You can pray that God will confound what they're doing 52:48 if it's preventing others from coming to Jesus. 52:51 Paul did that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 52:54 And so if a person has sold out to the devil 52:56 and they're working to obstruct, you might pray that God will 52:59 do something to block them. 53:01 Does that make sense what I'm saying? 53:03 Also to add to that the Lord was establishing 53:06 the authority of the church. 53:08 If you read that the church is being established in the book of 53:10 Acts, the church actually came into fruition 53:12 being built up as the physical body in different locations 53:14 God was saying - and as we have in our church now, 53:17 I'll use the church board as an example - 53:19 if there is a transgression, if there is an issue among 53:21 members, to whom should we bring that matter? 53:24 If we go to Matthew 18, first to the individual. 53:27 Then we take a witness if they don't hear. 53:29 Then we take a third, and then we bring them 53:31 to a larger... the church body. 53:33 If they choose not to repent, 53:35 then we deal with them as a heathen. 53:37 God was establishing the authority that He has given 53:39 to the church. So if somebody sinned and they brought their 53:42 case to us and we said "That's equitable... 53:45 forgive that person. " 53:46 "But that's not so. " Retain him. 53:48 That's the authority that was being established 53:50 with the church... not taking the place of God. 53:52 And I think that's what they were inferring there. 53:54 We can't do what only God can do. 53:56 When it comes to worship in these last days 54:00 which is more important: the day you worship 54:04 or whom you worship? 54:06 Wow! Can you separate that? 54:08 Sure you can. I think one of the highest 54:11 forms of worship... The Bible says: "To obey is better 54:14 than sacrifice. " Amen! And so one of the ways that we show 54:18 we worship is by obeying God the way He said. 54:21 You know, sometimes we say: "Oh, well I know this is what 54:24 You asked for but... You know, Lord, because I 54:26 love You I kept the Amalekite sheep to offer to You. " 54:30 God says: "Look, if I told you to do something 54:33 the best way to obey if you love Me... " 54:36 The highest form of worship is love, right? 54:38 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. " 54:41 So it's a trick to try and separate the two. 54:44 And we should worship God seven days a week. 54:47 But Sabbath isn't just about worship. 54:50 The Sabbath is about obeying God. The Bible says 54:53 it's a holy convocation. We come together. 54:55 We not only worship Him, we study the Word. 54:57 We fellowship; we glorify Him. 55:00 There's a lot more to it than people say. 55:03 A lot of folks say: "Well, you worship God one day a week. 55:05 I worship God seven days a week. " 55:06 We all believe we should worship God with our lives. 55:09 But He set aside one day as the Sabbath. 55:11 And if someone says: "Well I keep the Sabbath 55:14 seven days a week, " they're not holy, they're lazy. 55:16 Right? 'Cause that day you don't do any work. 55:19 Wow! 55:24 How do I know God's plan for my life? 55:30 First and foremost, His plan is that you live forever 55:33 by surrendering that life to Him. 55:35 And when you commit your way unto the Lord 55:38 God will then shine light on what your path might be. 55:41 Of course, you... knowing the will of God 55:45 there's a number of criteria. 55:47 You know, if you have several good options... 55:49 Again, it's shameless promotion 55:51 but I wrote a little book you can read for free 55:53 called Determining The Will of God. 55:54 It's got twelve steps on what are the Biblical principles 55:57 for knowing what God's will is for my life. 55:59 We all know God wants us to serve Him 56:01 and to surrender our lives to Him. 56:03 But we often have to make decisions, and we sometimes 56:06 want to know: "How do I know what God's will is? " 56:09 Scripture, Christian counsel, 56:12 look for providential opening, 56:14 the impressions of the Spirit. 56:15 So there's a number of tips there that you can look at. 56:18 You know it's amazing. We got through all of our questions 56:20 with a minute left. Give them some closing thoughts 56:22 before we take the program out. 56:24 Oh, that's a tough one. 56:27 Well, let me just reiterate 56:31 the longer I live the more I know I don't know. 56:34 And so even when you stand up here and you share Bible 56:37 answers with people, you know you're doing some of it by 56:40 permission and not by command. 56:42 You're just doing the best you can to share what you understand 56:45 the truth to be. But I tell everybody: 56:47 "You need to read your Bibles for yourself 56:49 and don't be trusting any pastor 56:52 that like they have all the answers. It's ultimately 56:55 we've got to know by comparing scripture with scripture 56:58 and having a personal relationship with Jesus. 57:01 Our theology and our faith is going to be tested 57:03 in the near future like never before. 57:06 And as individuals, as churches, 57:08 as a people, we're going to be challenged about what we believe 57:12 and why we believe it. And we need to be able to say 57:15 "Thus saith the Lord" and stand upon 57:17 the promises in God's Word. 57:19 Well thank you, Doug. Can we say amen church? 57:21 Amen! Don't forget tomorrow morning we continue our 57:23 Camp Meeting beginning at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning. 57:26 So God bless you and we will see you then. |
Revised 2015-05-12