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Series Code: AFBA
Program Code: AFBA202503S
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00:03 male announcer: It is the bestselling book in history.
00:05 No volume ever written has been more loved and quoted, and it's 00:10 words, sometimes simple and sometimes mysterious, should 00:14 always be studied carefully. 00:16 It is the Bible, the Word of God. 00:19 Welcome to "Bible Answers Live," providing accurate and practical 00:24 answers to all your Bible questions. 00:28 This broadcast is a previously-recorded episode. 00:31 To receive any of the Bible resources mentioned in this 00:34 broadcast, call 800-835-6747. 00:39 Once again, that's 800-835-6747. 00:44 Now, here's your host from Amazing Facts International, 00:48 Pastor Doug Batchelor. 00:50 Doug Batchelor: Hello, listening friends. 00:51 Welcome to "Bible Answers Live." 00:53 Would you like to hear an amazing fact? 00:56 On January 15, 1919, the North End neighborhood of Boston, 01:01 Massachusetts experienced a tsunami. 01:04 Not a flood of water but of molasses. 01:08 The great molasses flood disaster occurred in the middle 01:11 of the day when a large storage tank, 50 feet tall and 90 feet 01:15 wide, filled with 2.3 million gallons of molasses burst. 01:21 The sudden eruption of 13,000 tons of molasses created a 01:25 deadly wave of sticky, brown syrup 25 feet high that rushed 01:30 through the streets at an estimated 35 miles an hour. 01:34 The nearby firehouse was swept off its foundation and the 01:37 sugary syrup created a swath of destruction half a mile long. 01:42 As the rushing molasses met with the cold Boston air, it 01:45 solidified and many people and animals were trapped in the 01:49 thick ooze like insects on flypaper. 01:52 The bizarre disaster killed 21 people, injured 150, not 01:57 to mention killing multiple horses and dogs. 02:00 The molasses were being fermented to produce ethanol, 02:03 the active ingredient in alcoholic beverages. 02:06 Because prohibition was about to start, the owners of the 02:09 distilling business wanted to top off the poorly-built tank to 02:13 ensure maximum profits from the alcohol sales. 02:17 Millions of people today are still stuck in the deadly 02:20 addiction of alcoholism. 02:24 Boy, that's a really bizarre disaster, Pastor Ross, a wave of 02:29 molasses going through a city. 02:31 Jëan Ross: I know. 02:32 Well, it's kind of sad 21 people died, but you can imagine the 02:35 cleanup after that. 02:36 How did they get all that gooey stuff swept up? 02:39 I guess you wouldn't sweep it up. 02:40 You'd have to use a shovel and kind of scrape it off 02:42 the ground. 02:44 And yeah, it must have taken a long time. 02:45 Doug: You know, I read about it and--at first, of course, it was 02:49 warm 'cause they had loaded as much as they could the 02:52 day before. 02:53 So when it burst it flowed, but then it met the January air 02:56 in Boston. 02:58 And molasses is slow in good weather. 02:59 It turned into like--it almost hardened. 03:02 And I think they were able to chip a lot of it and shovel it, 03:04 but it took a year to clean it up. 03:07 And they said for the next, oh, 20, 30 years, every summer you 03:11 could smell molasses in the neighborhood. 03:14 It just lingered for a long time. 03:16 But, you know, sad thing was they were really using the 03:20 molasses ultimately to make alcohol. 03:23 You think of all those people that were stuck and trapped and 03:27 caught in this sticky ooze, and you and I have met people 03:31 through the years that they are trapped in alcoholism. 03:36 And I'm surprised that sometimes I meet Christians that think, 03:39 "Well, it's okay for a Christian to drink a little alcohol." 03:43 And I don't know if they realize that one out of seven people 03:46 that drinks becomes an alcoholic. 03:49 So how much should a Christian support something that destroys 03:52 one out of seven people that touches it? 03:55 Jëan: Well, you know, we do have a book that addresses that. 03:58 Sometimes there's some confusion. 03:59 For example, the New Testament read--we read about Jesus 04:02 turning the water into wine, and people are wondering, "Well, was 04:05 that an alcoholic beverage?" 04:06 Well, the answer is no. 04:08 And, you know, you can read the context and it explains 04:10 a lot more. 04:11 Of course, the word wine in the Bible doesn't always rem--refer 04:14 to an alcoholic drink. 04:15 It just could be fresh grape juice. 04:17 We do have a book that's called "Alcohol and the Christian." 04:20 We'll be happy to send it to anyone who calls and ask. 04:22 The number is 800-835-6747. 04:25 Ask for the book. 04:26 It's called "Alcohol and the Christian." 04:28 Or you can dial #250 on your smartphone and say, "Bible 04:32 Answers Live," and you can ask for that book and we can send 04:35 you a digital copy. 04:37 Well, Pastor Doug, before we go to the phone lines, let's start 04:40 with a word of prayer. 04:41 Dear Lord, we are so grateful that we do have this time where 04:43 we can open up Your Word and study. 04:46 Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and truth will set 04:48 you free." 04:49 And, Lord, that's our desire, to learn truth from Your Word. 04:52 So bless this program tonight. 04:53 Be with those who are listening wherever they are. 04:55 In Jesus's name, amen. 04:57 Doug: Amen. 04:58 Jëan: You know, Pastor Doug, we didn't mention it, but let me 05:00 mention it again. 05:02 If you have a Bible-related question, here is the 05:04 phone line. 05:05 It's 800-463-7297. 05:09 That's 800-GOD-SAYS, 800-463-7297. 05:14 If you don't get in right away, just stay on the phone. 05:17 Somebody will answer your call, and we'll get you lined up. 05:21 All right, first caller that we have then is Anthony in 05:23 New York. 05:25 Yeah, you're on the air. 05:26 Anthony: Yeah. 05:27 Well, let me get right into it. 05:29 My question is from 1 Timothy chapter 2, verses 14 and 15. 05:34 Well, it kind of starts before that, but I'll just read 14. 05:37 It says, "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being 05:40 deceived was in the transgression. 05:43 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they 05:48 continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety." 05:51 So my question is very simple. 05:53 What does it mean that she will be saved in childbearing? 05:58 I heard someone intimate that--you know, that this just 06:02 shows that the wife is supposed to stay home with the children 06:05 and things of that nature. 06:07 I wasn't too sure about that, but I just kind of want to know 06:09 what that means, this verse. 06:11 Doug: Yeah, well, I think in part. 06:13 You remember one of the curses that God pronounced. 06:17 He had a curse for Adam and He had a curse for Eve, and He 06:19 said, "In pain you will conceive and bring forth children." 06:21 It's interesting the word conceive there is not just 06:24 giving birth. 06:26 Conception happens 9 months before birth. 06:27 And some have thought, was that morning sickness? 06:30 And so--and then, of course, there's pain in 06:32 childbirth itself. 06:34 But Paul is saying here, "You'll be saved in childbearing." 06:38 It's not just in the--you know, God will, I think, add a 06:41 blessing in the actual delivery process, but I think that 06:46 through the process of mothering that there's something 06:50 redemptive that they experience and, you know, God's presence is 06:55 there to help them and guide them and sanctify them, so-- 06:59 Jëan: Yeah, and if you look--if you go back in Genesis 07:03 and you read the account, it says God cursed the ground for 07:05 man's sake. 07:07 So beginning there, you know, it produced thorns and thistles, 07:11 and it says you're going to have to work the soil in order for it 07:14 to produce in the sweat of your brow. 07:16 So there was a benefit. 07:18 There was a blessing, and there is a blessing in work. 07:21 And God designed that Adam was to work, and that's still 07:25 true today. 07:26 Just like there was a blessing in work, there is a blessing 07:30 in--for the mother to give birth and raise children. 07:34 There is character development in both cases, both working as 07:39 well as raising your children. 07:40 It doesn't mean that the dad does not have a part to play, he 07:43 very much does, but the prime responsibility of raising the 07:48 children falls on the shoulders of the mother. 07:50 She's the one that creates the atmosphere, provides the 07:53 guidance for children being raised. 07:56 Doug: Yeah, some of the commentators I was looking at 07:58 while you were sharing there, they're saying that, you know, 08:01 the love of a mother for a child teaches them something also of 08:04 the love of God for His children and having children they 08:08 see that. 08:10 Jëan: Okay, very good. 08:11 All right. 08:12 Well, thank you, Anthony. 08:14 Good question. 08:15 We're going to go--let's try Glenn and Linda, if they 08:16 are ready, in Ohio. 08:18 Glenn, Linda, welcome to the program. 08:19 Are you there? 08:20 Glenn: Yes, we are, and thank you very much for taking 08:22 our call. 08:23 Good evening to you. 08:25 It's zero where I live right now, so I hope that my question 08:29 will be above zero. 08:32 It concerns Enoch. 08:34 In the Bible it says that Enoch walks with God and that led to 08:40 him being translated and he didn't see death. 08:43 I think there might be a mix-up in the translation of that part 08:47 of the Bible because elsewhere in the Bible it says that 08:50 Enoch died. 08:52 In the 13th--the 11th chapter of Hebrews, verse 13 it says, "All 08:58 these died," and his name is included in that all these. 09:02 Can you help me? 09:04 Doug: Yeah, I appreciate that. 09:05 In Hebrews he's going through and he's talking about people, 09:09 the faithful fathers and mothers that had died in faith. 09:15 They're examples of faith. 09:17 Paul, I think, identifies that Enoch is an exception 'cause 09:20 even in his talking about Enoch it says that he was not for God 09:25 took him. 09:26 So--and then you also read that in the Old Testament where it 09:31 says, you know, he walked with God and he was not for God 09:33 took him. 09:35 So I think Enoch is the exception that Paul is making in 09:37 Hebrews 13--11:13. 09:39 Jëan: And I think the emphasis there is that those who died 09:42 died in faith. 09:43 Not necessarily meaning that all died because obviously Enoch 09:46 wasn't, but those who died died in faith; and that's the 09:50 emphasis in the passage. 09:51 Not necessarily that every single person listed died but 09:55 rather those who died died in faith, which would be true of 09:59 everyone except Enoch and Elijah. 10:03 All right, thank you. 10:04 Doug: By the way, yeah-- 10:06 Jëan: Go ahead. You're going to add something. 10:07 Doug: Well, I was going to say Moses and Elijah appeared to 10:10 Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, but that 10:13 doesn't help my argument. 10:14 So I'm going to drop it. 10:16 Jëan: Yeah, Moses did die and was resurrected. 10:17 All right, let's see. 10:19 Yulani is in Washington. 10:23 Yuliana. 10:25 Yuliana, welcome. 10:26 Yuliana: Hi. 10:27 Doug: Hello. 10:29 Thanks for calling. 10:30 Yuliana: My question is God says to rest on Saturdays, but why do 10:37 we go to church? 10:40 Doug: So God says rest. 10:42 Well, actually God doesn't say rest on Saturdays. 10:44 He says rest on the seventh day, and we know that Jesus rose on 10:48 the first day, which is--you look at any calendar and 10:51 that's Sunday. 10:52 The seventh day would be the day before that, which is Saturday. 10:56 And so biblically the seventh day of the week is the Sabbath. 11:01 Jëan: So she's wondering probably, Pastor Doug, if we 11:03 need to rest on Sabbath, why do we have to get up and put on our 11:08 nice clothes and go to church? 11:09 Why not stay home? 11:10 Doug: Yeah. 11:12 Well, in the commandment--this is one of the Ten Commandments. 11:13 It says you shall not do your--it's talking about 11:15 your labor, meaning your la--regular labor, but it calls 11:20 the Sabbath a holy convocation. 11:22 And then you look at the example of Jesus, it says as his 11:24 custom was. 11:26 Is that Mark chapter 2? It's also in Luke--is it Luke 4? 11:29 As his custom was, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day 11:33 and stood up to read the Scriptures. 11:34 So gathering together for worship. 11:37 And it even says in heaven. 11:39 In Isaiah 66 it says that, "From one Sabbath to another, all 11:42 flesh will come together to worship before Me." 11:46 So gathering together to worship is part of Sabbath-keeping, but 11:50 that doesn't mean the whole day you're in church. 11:52 There's also time for rest, good time also to visit maybe people 11:56 who are shut in or need encouragement or give Bible 11:58 studies as Jesus said the Sabbath is a day for doing good, 12:02 and probably a good day to weather permitting. 12:04 Get out in nature, but--hopefully that helps 12:08 a little bit, Yuliana. 12:10 Jëan: The verse you're referring to, Luke chapter 4, verse 16. 12:13 Says that, "As--" Speaking of Jesus, "As his custom was, he 12:16 went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up 12:18 to read." 12:20 Doug: Very good. 12:21 Thank you. 12:22 And we do have a--both a magazine and 12:24 a study guide on that. 12:25 Jëan: That's right. 12:26 It's called--the study guide is called "Forgotten Day 12:28 of History." 12:29 And we'll be happy to send that to anyone who calls and asks. 12:32 And the other magazine is entitled--I'm trying to think of 12:35 the name there, Pastor Doug. 12:36 Doug: "The Day of the Lord." 12:38 Jëan: "Day of the Lord." 12:39 That's right. 12:40 Excellent magazine. 12:42 Next caller that we have is Elizabeth in Colorado. 12:43 Elizabeth, welcome to "Bible Answers Live." 12:45 Elizabeth: Hi. Yes. 12:48 My question is, what is the song for the 144,000? 12:58 Doug: Well, you know, it--it's a song of redemption. 13:00 It doesn't give the words to the song. 13:02 But after the children of Israel--let me back up. 13:06 Everything you find in Revelation--virtually everything 13:08 you find in Revelation you'll find the genesis of it in the 13:10 Old Testament, and there's so many things in Revelation that 13:15 are referring to something else in the Old Testament. 13:17 Of course, there were 12 tribes in Israel and they had 12 13:21 judges, and so you end up with 12 times 12,000 in Revelation. 13:25 Talks about when the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea and 13:28 when they were delivered they sang the song of Moses, and 13:32 Moses taught them a song too in Deuteronomy at the end. 13:35 And so it's a song of deliverance and--that they sing 13:39 because they've experienced this great liberation, 13:42 this deliverance. 13:43 You know, when we're happy, we sing a song. 13:45 So the 144,000 have come through great tribulation and they have 13:48 this song of deliverance they sing. 13:50 Doesn't give us the exact words, but we do have a book that talks 13:53 more about the 144,000. 13:56 And I think one of the keys to their song is in their names. 13:59 When you look at the names of the 144,000 it's the names of 14:03 the 12 tribes, but they're given in an order that is unique to 14:07 only Revelation and each name--like the word Judah means 14:11 "I will praise the Lord," and then it says, "He--for He has 14:15 looked on me." 14:16 When you put their names and their definitions together, it 14:19 tells a story. 14:20 It's probably similar to the song of the 144,000. 14:24 Jëan: All right, we do have that book. 14:26 It's called "Who Shall Sing the Song?" 14:27 And it's about the 144,000. 14:29 The number to call is 800-835-6747. 14:32 You can just ask for that book by name. 14:35 You can also dial #250 on your smartphone and ask for the song 14:39 about--the book about the 144,000. 14:42 Thank you, Elizabeth. 14:43 Next caller that we have is Sabin Adele listening in Canada. 14:48 Sabin, welcome to the program. 14:50 Savin: Hello, pastors. 14:52 Doug: Evening. 14:54 Savin: I have a question. 14:55 Why was Jesus angry at the people in the temple? 15:02 Doug: Yeah. 15:03 When Jesus went into the temple--and this happened on two 15:06 occasions, once at the beginning of his ministry and once in the 15:09 week before he was crucified. 15:11 He went into the temple, and people would come for the feast. 15:14 They'd come sometimes from hundreds of miles away. 15:18 Many of the Jews would come from around the Roman Empire. 15:21 They were to bring their sacrifices. 15:23 But they couldn't bring their sacrifice lamb with them 15:26 hundreds of miles, so they'd get to Jerusalem and they'd 15:27 buy them. 15:29 And some of the priests had kind of created a monopoly where you 15:33 had to use temple money to buy your sacrifice. 15:36 You had to exchange the money there in the temple. 15:38 You couldn't use Roman money because it had Caesar's head on 15:41 it and that was idolatry. 15:42 And you had to buy their perfectly-inspected sacrifices, 15:46 and there was greatly marked up and there was haggling over 15:49 prices and they smelled the animals and they heard the birds 15:53 cooing and the cattle lowing. 15:55 And Jesus walked into the temple courtyard, which was supposed to 15:58 be a sacred place of prayer and they turned it into a flea 16:03 market and a bazaar. 16:04 Lots of noise and smells. 16:07 And Jesus said, "Take these things hence. 16:08 Take them out of here. 16:10 For you--my Father's house is to be a house of prayer," that's 16:13 from Isaiah 58, "and you have made it a den of thieves." 16:17 So it says he made a whip of cords. 16:19 It doesn't say he whipped anybody. 16:21 I think all he had to do was say it and hold it. 16:24 They got the idea and everyone--all the money changers 16:27 ran out. 16:28 Jesus could not have been very frightening 'cause it says the 16:31 children gathered around him immediately after that. 16:35 So the wicked ran, and the children came. 16:39 Jëan: Was as if the divinity of Christ sort of flashed through 16:41 his humanity. 16:42 And those wicked leaders, those people that were making money 16:46 and buying and selling, they saw that divinity and they were just 16:49 filled with fear and almost stumbled over themselves to get 16:52 out of the way. 16:53 Doug: He did actually throw over their tables. 16:55 The Bible says he flipped over the tables of the money changers 16:57 and told them, "Take these things out." 17:00 Jëan: All right, thank you. 17:02 Good question. 17:03 Next caller that we have is Dwensky in Florida. 17:05 Dwensky, welcome to the program. 17:08 Dwensky: Yeah, thank you for having me. 17:10 My question is in Genesis 6, verse 4 when it talked about 17:16 there was giants on the earth in those days and also afterwards. 17:21 When they say that, how tall do you think Adam and Eve were when 17:25 it comes to those back in the days? 17:27 Doug: Yeah, well, all I could give you is an estimate. 17:31 I've read one commentary where it says that Eve may have been 17:35 18 feet tall and Adam 20. 17:38 And I know we think, "Wow, where do you get that?" 17:40 Well, for one thing, we look at the fossil record of ancient 17:46 mammals and they were huge. 17:48 I think I did one last week on armadillos, and they had 17:51 armadillos--a typical one now weighs, you know, 20 pounds, but 17:55 they had armadillos that weighed as much as a car. 17:58 There were sloths that were 13 feet tall on these big 18:02 mastodons, saber-toothed tigers twice as big as a tiger now. 18:05 And so you look at the massive size of the mammals before the 18:09 flood and the vegetation that produced those coal beds and how 18:14 the atmosphere must have been different, and the age of man 18:18 was so much bigger or longer then that it makes sense that he 18:22 was bigger too. 18:23 And so the exact size is not given in the Bible, but I think 18:27 by today's standards Adam would have been a giant. 18:29 I think the tallest man in modern times was 8 feet tall. 18:35 Waldsworth or Waldo, I forget. 18:37 Anyway--but yeah, there's no real Scripture that says how 18:41 tall he was. 18:42 Tells us Goliath was roughly 9 1/2 feet. 18:46 And there was a king of the Amalekites--no, not 18:51 the Amalekites. 18:52 The king of the Anakim who was--he had a bed 13 18:56 feet tall--long. 18:58 So if he fit his bed, he was pretty tall. 19:02 Jëan: All right, next caller that we have is Josh in Iowa. 19:05 Josh, welcome to "Bible Answers Live." 19:08 Josh: Hi. Thank you for having me. 19:10 Doug, I am an annihilationist just like you, but I--my 19:15 question pertains to the lake of fire because I--I've done some 19:20 research on the term lake of fire and apparently it's a 19:23 nickname the Jews had for the Dead Sea. 19:27 And so if that's the case, that means that God is going to 19:29 destroy sinners in the end by drowning them as opposed to 19:33 burning them. 19:34 So I guess my question for you is, is in fact the lake of fire 19:38 a reference to the Dead Sea? 19:39 And if that's the case, then is God going to drown believers as 19:43 opposed to destroying them with actual fire? 19:46 Doug: Yeah, the reason that the Dead Sea was sometimes nicknamed 19:50 lake of fire is because it was on the borders of Sodom and 19:53 Gomorrah that were destroyed with fire--literal fire 19:56 and brimstone. 19:57 So it does talk about fire. 19:59 God will rain fire and brimstone out of heaven, is that 20:01 Revelation 20, on them. 20:03 So I think the lake of fire is spoken of. 20:06 And for our friends listening, my friend Josh when he says he's 20:09 an annihilationist, what that means is he believes in hell, 20:12 but he believes that the wicked, like I do and Pastor Ross, will 20:15 ultimately be annihilated. 20:16 It says that they are burnt up, second death. 20:18 They are no more, no more pain, and God makes all things new. 20:23 The idea of the wicked being tormented through endless ages, 20:27 suffering with no end we do not think is biblical. 20:30 By the way, we have a lesson on that as well. 20:33 So I think the lake of fire is a literal lake, to answer 20:35 Josh's question. 20:36 Jëan: The study guide is called "Is the Devil in Charge 20:39 of Hell?" 20:40 Actually a very interesting study. 20:41 We'll be happy to send this to anyone who calls and asks. 20:43 The number is 800-835-6747. 20:47 And you can ask for that study guide "Is the Devil in Charge 20:49 of Hell?" 20:51 You can dial #250 on your smartphone. 20:53 You'll be able to order the lesson that way as well, 20:55 actually get a digital download of that study guide. 21:00 Our next caller that we have is Robert in Washington. 21:03 Robert, welcome to "Bible Answers Live." 21:05 Robert: Yes, I was just wondering--I just was reading 21:08 tonight in Matthew 3:15. 21:11 We know that Jesus was sinless, but then he says to John for him 21:16 to baptize him because it would fulfill all righteousness. 21:19 So what does that mean? 21:21 Doug: Yeah, well, when John saw Jesus coming to him for baptism, 21:25 he's mystified 'cause he knews-- knows that Jesus is the sinless 21:28 Son of God that will take away the sin of the world. 21:30 That's how John introduced him. 21:32 He's wondering, "Why are you ba--wanting me to baptize you? 21:36 You're sinless. 21:38 You should baptize me." 21:39 Jesus said, "Permit it," or suffer it, "to be so now, for 21:41 thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." 21:44 So Jesus sets an example for us of being baptized; and I think 21:49 Christ was not baptized for his sin, but in the same way that 21:52 Jesus died for our sins not because he sinned but he died in 21:57 place of us. 21:58 There are some people who cannot be baptized like the thief on 22:01 the cross. 22:02 I think Jesus was dying--was being baptized and basically not 22:06 only as our example but--that he could give us credit or give 22:11 someone credit for his baptism. 22:14 And also Christ began his ministry at his baptism. 22:18 When he came out of the water he was not only washed in the water 22:21 then the Holy Spirit came down, he was baptized in the water in 22:24 the Spirit. 22:26 He said to us, "Unless you're born of the water and Spirit, 22:28 you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." 22:30 So he gave us an example of what to expect through baptism. 22:34 The heavens are open, the voice of the Father says, 22:36 "You're My son." 22:38 We are adopted. 22:39 There's a lot of parallels there. 22:40 Jëan: And we do have a book. 22:42 It's called "Baptism: Is It Really Necessary?" 22:44 It'll give you a lot more of the Bible verses there. 22:46 The number to call is 800-835-6747 and ask for the 22:50 book "Baptism: Is It Really Necessary?" 22:52 You can also dial #250 and you'll be able to get it that 22:56 way as well. 22:57 We got Marc in Oregon. 22:59 Marc, welcome to "Bible Answers Live." 23:02 Marc: Well, hello there. 23:03 This is my first time. 23:04 Doug: Well, thank you for calling. 23:06 Welcome. 23:08 Marc: Yes, I'll make it simple. I had a question. 23:12 I've been doing some re-evaluing of my life and doing some 23:15 studying and I come across, King James Version, St. John 14, 23:22 verse 20. 23:25 And if you could explain that a little bit because I read it and 23:31 it sounds a little different to me, but I was wondering what 23:35 you thought. 23:37 Doug: Yeah, well, let me read it for our friends, and right now 23:39 I'm looking at the New King James. 23:41 They're very similar. 23:42 "At that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in 23:45 me, and I in you." 23:47 And what is Jesus saying? 23:49 Well, all through the New Testament you'll notice that 23:52 Paul frequently says that we are in Christ. 23:55 That means that our lives are resting in faith in Christ, that 23:59 we are abiding in Christ. 24:01 I think Paul uses the phrase in Christ more than anyone else. 24:05 And so when it says that Christ is in the Father, it means that 24:08 they're one, they're united, they're together. 24:11 And he wants us to be one in him; that we're melded together, 24:16 that we are united. 24:17 And it's like an intimate term. 24:20 And so Jesus said, "If you've seen me, you've seen my Father. 24:25 The Father is in me, and I'm in Him." 24:27 It's hard for us to kind of comprehend that; but he 24:31 represents the Father, and Father represents him, and when 24:34 we become Christians we represent Christ. 24:37 Jëan: All right, maybe time for one more caller before 24:39 the break. 24:41 We got Susie in California. 24:42 Hi, Susie. 24:43 We got just a few more seconds. 24:45 And your question. 24:46 Susie: Yeah, yeah. 24:47 Good evening, pastor. 24:49 Yeah, my question is, is it sin to cook on Sabbath day? 24:52 Does it consider labor? 24:54 Doug: Is it a sin to cook on Sabbath? 24:55 Well, you should probably get all of your baking and boiling 24:59 done, according to what the Bible says in Moses' writings. 25:03 Get as much done as you reasonably can. 25:05 You got to make a salad or something. 25:06 It's more practical to do that day to keep things fresh. 25:09 But get as much out of the way as you can. 25:11 Hey, we've got to take a break. 25:12 We'll be right back. 25:17 announcer: Stay tuned. 25:18 "Bible Answers Live" will return shortly. 25:28 announcer: Amazing Facts: Changed Lives. 25:36 Darrell: I grew up in a neighborhood in Northwest, D.C., 25:38 a neighborhood called Petworth. 25:39 I went to a private school, and I didn't fit in well at school 25:42 because I was from an inner city neighborhood. 25:44 I didn't feel well at home because I went to 25:45 a private school. 25:47 I've always been a people-pleaser, so I would do 25:49 what they did. 25:50 And if they started drinking, I started drinking. 25:52 They started smoking marijuana, I smoked marijuana. 25:55 Once I became aware of girls and what male-female relationships 26:00 were all about, I was off to the races with these guys. 26:03 So we started partying every weekend, and we stay out till 26:06 all hours of the evening. 26:07 My homework didn't get done. 26:09 My grades suffered because of it. 26:10 And as soon as I went to college at Ca--at a Catholic university 26:14 here I started smoking hashish, and back in those days you could 26:18 smoke in class. 26:20 I loved the way it made me feel. 26:22 I didn't have to worry about--I fit in. 26:24 I was fun. 26:26 People liked being with me. 26:28 I was--kind of the life of the party. 26:30 I came out of my shell. 26:31 And shortly thereafter in my mid-20s, I was working at one of 26:34 the biggest computer companies--after graduating 26:37 college, one of the biggest computer companies on the planet 26:39 at the time. 26:40 And I had money, I had women, I had, you know, a car every 26:45 2 years. 26:46 My job performance started to suffer. 26:49 Nothing else was the same in my life. 26:52 I started missing work. 26:53 I would get hired, maybe even be promoted. 26:56 I did really well 3, 4 months in, 5 months in. 27:00 You know, say 4 to 6 months I would lose the job. 27:03 I've for--gotten more jobs than I can remember. 27:06 I needed to smoke on a daily basis all day every day and that 27:11 cost money. 27:12 So then I started getting into stealing. 27:16 I'm stealing from family and friends. 27:17 And when that ran out and people would stop--were not trusting me 27:21 anymore, I started to rob people. 27:25 My family didn't want anything to do with me. 27:27 My friends didn't want anything to do with me. 27:28 People--when I called people, they didn't answer the phone. 27:30 When I knocked on the door, they didn't answer the door. 27:32 I was purcha--I purchased a house and--a young lady and I 27:35 purchased it together and we were going to move in together 27:37 and that fell by the wayside because I started smoking and I 27:41 started just taking things from the house and selling them. 27:44 I started taking her personal items and selling them. 27:46 I started stealing from her purse. 27:49 I started stealing from stores. 27:53 I mean, pizza delivery guys were like an ATM. 27:55 Nothing mattered. 27:57 I've been homeless about four or five times in my life and each 28:01 time was drug-related. 28:03 Each time I chose to do drugs rather than to live with this 28:08 person that--whoever it was I was dating. 28:10 During all this time, my sister and her family, they would 28:14 engage me, they would take me to church. 28:16 I met this woman who happened to be going to my church and I 28:19 didn't even know, and she was taking Bible studies from her 28:22 brother-in-law and her sister who were church leaders. 28:25 They heard about a seminar by Doug Batchelor in Amazing Facts 28:29 called "The Prophecy Code." 28:30 I learned about this--the true meaning of the Sabbath. 28:33 I learned about my health issues and the die--and what--how diet 28:36 and exercise can positively affect my health and my 28:41 li--my well-being. 28:42 I learned about forgiveness from God. 28:46 For me, I took to Pastor Doug right away because of the way he 28:50 spoke, his cadence, his--the way he talked was so--it was 28:55 just like he was talking to me. 28:56 He gave out the--his book "The Richest Caveman." 29:00 And when I read that book, I was astonished at all the things he 29:04 had been through. 29:06 His story was not exactly like mine, but it was a lot 29:09 like mine. 29:11 So I just identified with him right from the start. 29:12 I thank God that I went to that "Prophecy Code" seminar because 29:17 it was my introduction to the truth. 29:20 And I even go to YouTube and catch the--some of the 29:24 seminars--other seminars that they've had, you know, over the 29:27 years, and I do it because I still feel a connection. 29:30 It's like my roots, it's like my foundation was built on 29:33 Amazing Facts. 29:34 And I like the free offers they give. 29:35 I can imagine the call taker on 29:37 the other end when I call the 29:39 800 number, "Hi, girl. 29:41 How are you?" 29:42 "What--which free gift would you like today?" 29:44 I can't imagine life without getting those free offers 29:46 because those books are just so well-written. 29:48 It's like they're written for me. 29:50 I do really appreciate Amazing Facts and Pastor Doug Batchelor 29:52 because they brought--they helped bring me to where 29:55 I am today. 29:56 My name is Darrell. 29:57 You and Amazing Facts have changed my life. 30:13 announcer: You're listening to "Bible Answers Live," where 30:16 every question answered provides a clearer picture of God and His 30:20 plan to save you. 30:22 So what are you waiting for? 30:23 Get practical answers about the good book for a better 30:26 life today. 30:30 announcer: This broadcast is a previously-recorded episode. 30:33 If you'd like answers to your Bible-related questions on the 30:36 air, please call us next Sunday between 7 p.m. 30:40 and 8 p.m. Pacific Time. 30:42 To receive any of the Bible resources mentioned in this 30:45 evening's program, call 800-835-6747. 30:50 Once again, that's 800-835-6747. 30:56 Now, let's rejoin our hosts for more "Bible Answers Live." 31:01 Doug: Welcome back, listening friends, to "Bible 31:03 Answers Live." 31:05 We are back and ready for your questions. 31:06 If you have a question, give us a call. 31:08 We have lines open right now. 31:10 800-GOD-SAYS. 31:11 That's 800-463-7297 with your Bible questions. 31:16 And our screeners will get you in line, and we'll do our best 31:19 to answer your program in the last half of the show tonight. 31:24 My name is Doug Batchelor. 31:25 Jëan: My name is Jëan Ross, and we have Deeann listening 31:28 in Washington. 31:29 Deeann, welcome to "Bible Answers Live." 31:31 Deeann: Thank you. 31:32 Can you hear me? 31:34 Doug: Yeah. 31:35 Deeann: Okay, thank you so much for taking my call. 31:38 So I was recently made aware in the past couple of days that 31:41 there was one of the states here in the United States--I don't 31:44 know if I'm supposed to mention it, but-- 31:46 Doug: Oh, that's fine. Yeah, North Dakota. 31:49 There's nothing wrong with--we tell people to avoid mentioning 31:51 denominations, but yeah, we--but yeah, we like to keep the 31:56 questions focused on the Bible. 31:57 You can mention a state. That's fine. 32:00 Deeann: Okay, anyway, so I heard that it just barely failed, that 32:04 they were trying to push through a Sunday law. 32:07 And so that got me thinking, why are they doing that? 32:11 Because everything that I've ever read in the Bible--I mean, 32:14 I got out my concordance and I was looking up, you know, trying 32:18 to find support for Sunday and, I mean, everything I find is 32:23 that--it says that Saturday or, you know, that the Sabbath, 32:27 Saturday, is the Lord's Day, not Sunday. 32:30 So I guess my question is, am I missing something, or why would 32:33 they be pushing through a Sunday law when it's not biblical? 32:37 Doug: Yeah, well, the--you know, the founding fathers of our 32:41 country, going all the way back to Plymouth and Jamestown, they 32:45 had laws about--they believed that Sunday was the Sabbath so 32:48 they said, you know, "We're going to enforce keeping of the 32:51 fourth commandment." 32:52 They had the day wrong, but they had the concept right. 32:54 But you're not supposed to force it. 32:55 Roger Williams was the one who said, you know, you shouldn't be 32:59 putting people in the stocks, in the street or punishing people 33:03 because they do not keep one of the first four commandments. 33:06 We should have freedom of religion. 33:08 If a person is being forced to keep the Sabbath--Sabbath is 33:11 a spiritual thing. 33:13 You can't force a person to love God. 33:15 You can't force worship. 33:16 And so the first four commandments are really between 33:18 each individual. 33:20 The last six commandments the civil government should enforce: 33:24 respect for marriage, property, life, so forth. 33:26 Yeah, so in the early days of the country, in order to give 33:30 people time off, a number of governments they had all 33:34 these blue laws. 33:35 I guess they were originally written on blue paper so they 33:37 called them blue laws, and they were laws about what you could 33:40 and couldn't do on Sunday so that people would not be 33:42 distracted from worship. 33:45 And most of the states had blue laws. 33:48 A number of states have repealed them. 33:50 Some states still have them. 33:51 Some things are open and aren't open on Sunday. 33:55 So I heard North Dakota their arguments for why to do it was 33:58 they said, "Well, we need to make sure there's a day when 34:00 people aren't forced to work 7 days a week, fam--for family 34:03 time, and, you know, we shouldn't be focusing on 34:07 merchandizing all week long." 34:09 And so they were trying to bring about some of the moral 34:13 arguments for why it would be good to have a Sunday law. 34:17 And I heard during COVID a lot of people were saying the 34:21 environment's recovering. 34:22 There's environmental reasons for taking one day off. 34:25 And don't drive your car and let--you know, let the 34:27 environment rest. 34:29 So that's the logic behind it. 34:30 Of course, I don't agree with it, but--anyway, anything to add 34:34 to that? 34:35 Jëan: Well, you know, we do have a book, one of our study guides. 34:37 It's called "Written in Stone," and it's all about the Ten 34:40 Commandments and kind of highlights, as you mentioned, 34:42 the first four versus the last six and what responsibility the 34:46 government has in enforcing the Ten Commandments or what portion 34:50 of the Ten Commandments. 34:52 So a great study. 34:54 We'll be happy to send it to anyone who calls and asks. 34:56 The number is 800-835-6747. 34:59 You can ask for the study guide. 35:00 It's called "Written in Stone." 35:02 And dial #250 on your smartphone. 35:05 You can just ask for it by name. 35:07 We'll be happy to send it to you. 35:08 Kayla in Texas. 35:10 Kayla, welcome to "Bible Answers Live." 35:12 Kayla: Good evening to you both. 35:14 I appreciate your program, and I actually have my children 35:16 watching the program right now. 35:17 So praise God. 35:20 Yeah, it's--for a Christian who rededicates their life to the 35:23 Lord, what promises from the Word can assure us that we are 35:28 accepted back into the fold, that it's not too late for us? 35:32 Doug: Well, you have some stories for one thing. 35:33 You've got the parable of the prodigal son; that, you know, he 35:37 spent evidently years squandering his father's 35:40 inheritance but he finally came to his senses, came home, and he 35:44 was warmly welcomed back. 35:46 You've got Peter who denied the Lord, and first thing Jesus said 35:51 when he rose from the dead he told Mary, "Go tell the 35:53 disciples and Peter." 35:56 And Peter, you know, he went out and wept bitterly. 35:57 He repented of denying the Lord. 36:00 And then you got the story of David who wandered from the Lord 36:04 in a big way, drifting into not only conspiring, really 36:08 murdering a friend through enemy soldiers but then stealing his 36:12 wife and trying to do a cover up; and he repents, and you read 36:16 that in Psalm 32 and 51. 36:18 You've got a lot of examples, and I'm sure there are also 36:21 verses that talk about--yeah, you got in Eze--where is it in 36:24 Ezekiel, Pastor Ross? 36:25 If a wicked man turns from his sins and does what the righteous 36:28 man does, all his wickedness will be forgiven; and if 36:31 a righteous man turns from his good works and does what the 36:34 wicked man does, his righteousness is forgiven. 36:37 So the Lord is pretty clear that He welcomes us back. 36:40 Jëan: You know, I was also thinking Exodu--Ezekiel chapter 36:43 18, verse 21. 36:45 Twenty-one to twenty-three is the verse you were referring to. 36:47 But another Bible story, you got the story of Mary Magdalene. 36:49 The Bible says Jesus cast seven devils out of her, and it's 36:54 possible that that didn't all happen at the same time. 36:56 In other words, she might have slipped back. 36:59 So there is redemption and people can be converted and come 37:03 back to the Lord absolutely. 37:04 Doug: Yeah, and like the Pharisee said, "Lord, have mercy 37:08 on me a sinner." 37:09 The thief on the cross when Jesus died. 37:11 The Bible is full of stories of God's patience 37:13 and redempten--redemption. 37:15 Jëan: All right, next caller that we have is Ely in Kansas. 37:18 Ely, welcome to the program. 37:20 Ely: Hey, good evening, guys. God bless you all. 37:25 My question for tonight is, is the Holy Spirit God? 37:30 Because I don't really understand that. 37:32 Can you be, like, very specific? 37:35 Doug: Yeah, we'll do our best. 37:37 You know, you could probably launch into a 30-minute study 37:41 right now on that, and we don't--won't have time for that. 37:43 But what are the characteristics of God? 37:48 Well, we know the Holy Spirit is omnipresent, which God is. 37:51 He's all-knowing, and He's omniscient. 37:55 He's omnipotent. 37:58 And Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit not as an it 38:01 but as a He. 38:02 "When he, the Spirit of truth, has come--" It says that the 38:05 Holy Spirit anointed Jesus, and you read that you can grieve the 38:12 Holy Spirit. 38:14 You don't grieve an it or a power source. 38:16 And so you look at what the characteristics of personality 38:20 are and the Holy Spirit has those characteristics. 38:23 He leads us. 38:24 He's a comforter. 38:25 He comforts us. 38:27 He can be grieved. 38:28 And indeed Jesus said all manner of sin and blasphemy will 38:32 be forgiven. 38:33 We can sin against God the Father and the Son. 38:36 But said don't blaspheme the Holy Spirit. 38:39 Christ identified the Spirit as separate. 38:41 And then Jesus when he--the Great Commission, he says 38:43 baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, 38:47 the Holy Spirit. 38:49 You see the Spirit there in creation in Genesis, the Spirit 38:52 moved upon the face of the waters; and the last verses in 38:55 the Bible, the Spirit and the bride say come. 38:58 So from cover to cover in the Bible you've got God the Spirit 39:01 is evident. 39:03 Jëan: We do have a book. 39:04 It's called "The Trinity," and it explains the subject, 39:07 give some-- 39:08 Doug: "One God or Three." Yeah. 39:10 Jëan: Yap. Some great Bible facts there. 39:12 So call and ask for it. 39:14 It's called "One God or Three: The Trinity." 39:15 The number to call is 800-835-6747 or you can dial 39:19 #250 on your smartphone. 39:21 Thank you for your call, Ely. 39:23 Next caller that we have is Felix in Florida. 39:25 Felix, welcome to "Bible Answers Live." 39:27 Felix: Thank you. Thank you. 39:30 It's an honor, a great honor. 39:32 The question is, is the--what's the dynamic between the soul and 39:39 the spirit? 39:41 Are they one and the same or are they two distinct entities? 39:46 Because I understand that even the animals have the same breath 39:50 and the same soul. 39:52 So I suppose the question is the difference between the soul and 39:56 the spirit. 39:58 So are they interchangeable? 40:01 Doug: Yeah. 40:02 Well, a good question. 40:03 It is a--it's a deep question. 40:05 You know, sometimes one word can be used a couple of different 40:08 ways in the Bible. 40:10 Sometimes in the Bible when it says sons of God, talking 40:13 about angels. 40:14 Sometimes it says sons of God and it's talking about 40:17 believers, and you have to look at the context. 40:21 Sometimes in the Bible an angel means an angel, a cherub 40:23 or a seraphim. 40:25 But then somebody called King David an angel. 40:27 Well, he's not a seraphim or a cherubim. 40:30 The word spirit in the Bible in Greek it's the word pneuma, 40:35 which means wind; and that's often talking about the breath 40:38 or the wind of God, the breath of life, which that breath of 40:42 life is in an animal and in humans. 40:45 Doesn't mean it's conscious, it's just the power of life. 40:48 And it says God breathed into Adam, he became a living soul 40:52 there in Genesis. 40:54 So when God's breath of life entered into Adam, he became 40:58 a living soul. 41:00 When you take the breath away and the ashes to ashes, the body 41:04 turns back to dust, you don't have a living soul. 41:08 You know, it's kind of like a person said if you get some 41:11 nails and you get some boards and you put them together you 41:13 can make a box. 41:15 It doesn't become a box until you assemble it a certain way. 41:18 Then if you disassemble, you pull out the nails and you set 41:21 the boards in one pile and the nails in another and you say, 41:24 "Okay, where's the box?" 41:25 Well, it stops being a box when you have the two together. 41:29 So the combination of the breath of life and the body makes 41:34 a soul. 41:36 So animals have that. 41:37 The spirit, meaning the consciousness, the 41:40 self-awareness of man, the word is sometimes used that way when 41:43 Paul talks about body, soul, and spirit. 41:46 And he's really using it the way the Greeks might sometimes use 41:49 the word spirit. 41:50 But I don't know if that helps or confuses things. 41:53 Animals do have the breath of life, of course. 41:55 Jëan: We do have a study guide. 41:57 It's called "Are the Dead Really Dead?" 41:58 And it talks about the spirit and the soul and gives you a lot 42:01 more Bible verses. 42:02 We'll be happy to send it to anyone who calls and ask. 42:05 The number, again, is 800-835-6747. 42:08 And dial #250 on your smartphone and ask for the study guide "Are 42:13 the Dead Really Dead?" 42:14 Thank you, Felix. 42:16 We've got Melinda in California. 42:17 Melinda, welcome to "Bible Answers Live." 42:19 Melinda: Hi. Good evening. 42:21 This is Melinda from Southern California. 42:24 I have a question, Pastor Doug. 42:26 Does it says in the Bible that we can't sue a person? 42:30 Doug: No, it doesn't say you're not allowed to sue. 42:35 Paul in 1 Corinthians, I think, is it, Pastor Ross, at chapter 7 42:39 where he said believers go to court with believers and that 42:43 before the unbelievers, and this is to your shame. 42:47 Christians should, as far as possible, not sue. 42:50 In fact, you know, Christ said if someone sues you to take your 42:53 shirt, give them your cloak. 42:55 That doesn't mean there aren't times when--you know, you've got 42:58 a house and you've got it insured and fire burns up the 43:00 house and the insurance company doesn't want to pay, there's 43:03 nothing immoral with your going into court and saying, "Look, 43:06 you need to fulfill the contract and replace our house." 43:09 So if it comes to that, you need to do something like that. 43:12 If you take my shirt, I'm probably not going to sue you to 43:16 get my shirt back. 43:18 Jesus says just let them have your shirt, you know. 43:21 So it--it's--they're different circumstances. 43:23 Jëan: And the verse you're referring to is 1 Corinthians 43:25 chapter 6. 43:26 It's actually from verse 1 through to verse 7. 43:29 And, again, as you mentioned, it's really the context. 43:30 He's talking about believers. 43:32 These are supposed to be brothers and sisters in Christ 43:34 in a church and yet they taking each other to court, and Paul 43:37 says, "Well, if there's a disagreement, you know, speak to 43:40 the pastor, speak to the elder. 43:41 Can't you resolve it without having to go to court?" 43:44 So that counsel is, of course, very valid, and that's different 43:47 in what you said, Pastor Doug, when it comes to business or it 43:50 comes to somebody not fulfilling their contract. 43:53 Yeah, there's nothing wrong in going to court in that case. 43:57 However, you have--we live in a sort of sue-hungry society today 44:01 where it seems like everyone's trying to make money and there 44:04 is a lot of fraud and a lot of greed and a lot of suing 44:08 happening, and I think as Christians we need to, you know, 44:12 be faithful. 44:13 Doug: Yeah, you know, a lot of lawyers--don't want to disparage 44:17 all the lawyers, but a lot of lawyers they get these 44:19 deep-pocket settlements and they--people are inspired 44:23 to sue. 44:24 They say, "Well, you know, that person got $3 million for," 44:26 whatever it was. 44:28 And usually it's something incidental, and a third of that 44:31 goes to their lawyers and so it's created this cycle of 44:34 people becoming very litigious in our society looking for 44:37 deep-pocket lawsuits. 44:39 Jëan: All right, next caller that we have is Ron in 44:41 New Mexico. 44:42 Ron, welcome to "Bible Answers Live." 44:44 Ron: Well, thank you. Thank you, pastors. 44:47 I'm a Bible-believing Christian. 44:49 The Bible is God's owner's manual. 44:51 It's the only true and trustworthy standard for living. 44:55 It is not infallible, and I often run into others that say, 45:00 "Oh, the Bible is infallible." 45:01 Well, was there one demoniac or was there two? 45:05 Did Paul see something but he didn't hear anything, or did he 45:08 hear something but he didn't see something? 45:09 It depends on which chapter of Acts you're reading. 45:14 So how do we respond to people who say the Bible is infallible 45:17 when there are human errors that God permitted to be in it? 45:21 Doug: Well, I believe the Bible is God's perfect Word of God. 45:24 The two examples that you gave there when it says in Mark and 45:30 Luke that there was one demoniac and then you read in Matthew and 45:35 he says there were two, I don't think that's a contradiction. 45:38 I think what's happening there is you're actually--you're 45:40 getting the truth in that there was probably one that was more 45:44 notable and outspoken, the other one was lingering more in 45:47 the background. 45:48 Matthew included him, but Luke and Mark really focused on the 45:52 one man that the devil was speaking through. 45:54 So I think you can reconcile stories like that. 45:56 And even the story where Paul talks about his conversion, he 46:00 said the people there they heard a voice and other place it says 46:03 they saw a light. 46:05 And I think as he's telling that story, he's talking about, well, 46:09 you know, maybe they heard a noise but some didn't know what 46:11 the voice said and they knew that Paul had this 46:15 dramatic vision. 46:17 I don't see those as conflicts. 46:19 Now, having said that, there are places, there are difficult 46:22 spots, and I'll admit that, in the Bible where, you know, 46:25 there'll be one place where it says that a king was 4 years old 46:27 when something happened and then later it says he was 40. 46:31 You will have in translations where people found a manuscript 46:35 and they couldn't read what the old manuscript said and they 46:38 didn't know was that a zero or was it a one, and the--just 46:42 there's little things like that. 46:43 But in my experience, rather than highlight those things you 46:48 are far better off believing too much of the Bible than 46:52 questioning the Bible and starting to say, "I'm going to 46:54 pick and choose what parts I believe are accurate." 46:57 And so in that sense I think the Bible must be looked upon as the 47:00 unfailing Word of God. 47:03 Jëan: You know, we do have a book, Pastor Doug. 47:04 It's called "The Ultimate Resource" and it's about 47:06 the Bible. 47:08 Talks about where the Bible came from and translations 47:11 and manuscripts. 47:12 Just a lot of good information. 47:13 We'll be happy to send it to anyone who calls and asks. 47:15 The number is 800-835-6747. 47:19 You can dial #250. 47:20 It's called "The Ultimate Resource" and it's all about 47:23 the Bible. 47:24 All right, thank you, Ron. 47:26 We've got Mark in Kentucky. 47:27 Mark, welcome to "Bible Answers Live." 47:29 Mark: Yes. 47:31 Can you hear me? 47:32 Doug: We can. 47:33 Mark: Yeah, I was wondering, is it wrong to go to church 47:37 on Sunday? 47:38 Because the late great Billy Graham always said--after his 47:44 preaching he'd say, "Get into a good church on Sunday." 47:47 And I was wondering a lot of Adventists I've--I have on my 47:52 town they look down upon me because I go to church 47:55 on Sunday. 47:56 Could you help me with that, please? 47:58 Doug: Yeah. 47:59 Well, first of all, let me say for the record there are going 48:02 to be millions of people in heaven that went to church 48:03 on Sunday. 48:05 Billy Graham also said there are a number of Adventists that did 48:10 meetings with him, meaning that they would cooperate with some 48:14 of the area churches in inviting people to a Billy Graham crusade 48:19 in the community. 48:20 Now, I can see where there could be some dilemmas with that, but 48:22 I just know there were. 48:24 And Billy Graham knowing that, he would say in those events, 48:27 "See to it that you go to church this weekend." 48:31 And I heard him say that with my own ears in Sacramento. 48:34 So he would sometimes know that there were Sabbath-keeping 48:37 Christians in the crowd and he would be sensitive to that. 48:39 Billy Graham often said, you know, "I've got to work with 48:42 a lot of churches in a lot of different backgrounds. 48:44 Try not to highlight things that are going to separate." 48:47 And so he was sensitive to that. 48:49 But sin is knowing to do good and not doing it. 48:52 Now, while I said there are going to be a lot of Christians 48:54 in heaven that went to church on Sunday, there's not going to be 48:58 anyone in heaven that knew God's will and deliberately did 49:01 something other than His Word. 49:04 Sin is knowing to do good and not doing it. 49:06 And if we know what God's Word clearly says and it's been made 49:09 plain to us and the Holy Spirit's convicted us 49:12 and we go against what we know to be true, that's sin. 49:16 So--I mean, you know, King David I expect to see in heaven. 49:21 He had way too many wives. 49:24 Evidently that wasn't something he was convicted about because 49:27 everybody was doing it back then. 49:28 It just--I don't know if it ever dawned on him or 49:30 his son Solomon. 49:32 Now, if I get too many wives, I'm not going to make it. 49:35 I know better. 49:36 So Abraham had slaves. 49:40 Well, it was ubiquitous back in his time. 49:42 Everybody had slaves. 49:44 We know better now. 49:46 And so when we know what the truth is--it says sin is knowing 49:51 to do good and not doing it, Hebrews 10:26. 49:54 So hopefully that makes sense. 49:56 Yeah, whatever it is, when God reveals truth to you, you should 49:59 walk in the light. 50:01 Jesus said if you know these things, happy are you if you 50:04 do them. 50:05 All right, thanks. 50:07 Jëan: We've got Viemma listening from Washington. 50:10 Viemma, welcome to the program. 50:11 Viemma: Hi. I have a quick question. 50:15 We've been considering having a garage sale, and I would like to 50:21 know if we should be paying tithe on that. 50:26 Because we normally pay tithe, but I didn't know on something 50:30 that you already owned and had paid for if that would be 50:36 the same. 50:37 Doug: Yeah, well, a tithe would be on your increase. 50:40 A garage sale, you're selling something that has value. 50:43 You've invested in and it would be increase, but--keep in mind 50:47 increases in everything. 50:49 What I mean is let's suppose you spend $10 advertising your 50:53 garage sale in the local paper and you make $50 in selling your 50:58 items, your profit has been $40. 51:01 So you pay tithe on your income. 51:03 That's $4. 51:05 We can handle that, and then God will bless you. 51:08 He says, "I'll open the windows of heaven." 51:09 So it doesn't make sense, friends, but take my word 51:12 for it. 51:13 Nine-tenths will go farther than ten-tenths. 51:16 Ninety percent blessed will go farther than one hundred 51:19 percent cursed, so-- 51:20 Jëan: We have a study guide. 51:22 It's called "In God We Trust," and it talks about biblical 51:24 principles of giving. 51:26 Just call and ask for it. 51:27 It's 800-835-6747. 51:29 You can dial #250 on your smartphone. 51:32 Take advantage of these free offers, friends. 51:34 There's just a lot of great Bible material in each of them, 51:38 and we'll send it to you for free. 51:40 We've got Ray in Arizona. 51:41 Ray, welcome to "Bible Answers Live." 51:44 Ray: Good evening. 51:45 Thanks for taking my call. 51:47 My question is, when Adam and Eve sinned against God, were 51:52 they cursed to hell or did they repent and get forgiven? 51:57 Doug: Yeah, good question. 51:59 Well, from what we see in the Bible, we believe that Adam 52:02 did repent. 52:03 God established the sacrificial system way back in the beginning 52:07 with Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel. 52:09 It talks about Abel brought a lamb as God had instructed. 52:12 Adam and Eve tried to cover their sin with fig leaves. 52:16 God said, "That will not do." 52:18 And it says He gave them coats of skin. 52:20 Now, this is where we understand that God established the 52:23 sacrificial system. 52:25 And is it Revelation? 52:27 Talks about the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 52:30 I forget the verse. Is that chapter 4? 52:32 And so there at the foundation of the world 52:34 God established the sacrificial system. 52:37 Adam and Eve, I believe, embraced that. 52:40 They will be forgiven. 52:41 I expect we will see them in the Resurrection of the just. 52:45 So there's no explicit word in the Bible that says Adam and Eve 52:49 will be saved and go to heaven, but the evidence is that they 52:52 repented of their sin and that they'll be saved. 52:55 Jëan: Revelation chapter 13, verse 8 is where it refers to 52:58 the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 53:01 Thank you, Ray. 53:02 We've got Carla in Texas. 53:04 Carla, welcome to "Bible Answers Live." 53:07 Kara: Hello. 53:09 My question is, how will we know the signs of the end? 53:12 Doug: Oh, good question. 53:14 Big question. 53:15 How do we know the signs of the end? 53:18 Well, Jesus tells us there's--well, several places. 53:22 Matthew chapter 24, Luke chapter 17, Luke chapter 21, Mark 53:28 chapter 13, and the apostle Paul 1 Timothy and 1 Thessalonians, 53:33 they give you several signs. 53:34 Even in Revelation you'll find some signs. 53:37 Some of these things our Christ said. 53:39 Of course, there'll be wars and rumors of wars, but the end is 53:42 not yet. 53:43 We've had wars and rumors of war since the time of Jesus, but the 53:47 way they accelerate. 53:48 The natural disasters--Christ talks about earthquakes. 53:51 He talks about plagues. 53:53 That's--that would be a pandemic, a plague. 53:56 And so the--you know, before a baby is born, the mother will 54:02 feel some contractions. 54:03 She feels some discomfort, and there are some pains. 54:06 That's sort of normal with pregnancy. 54:09 But then just before delivery there's an increase--a sudden 54:13 intense increase in the pain and the frequency and the intensity, 54:19 and the doctor knows that as the contractions get closer and get 54:23 more severe you're going to have a baby. 54:26 Paul says the whole creation groans and labors, it travails, 54:31 waiting to be delivered. 54:33 And so we see as we near the end of time the natural disasters 54:37 seem to be increasing in frequency and intensity. 54:41 The wars are getting bigger and more devastating like World War 54:44 I and World War II. 54:46 So that's one sign. 54:47 Now, one of the big signs for me--you read in Daniel 12, it 54:51 said, "Many will run to and fro, and knowledge will increase." 54:54 Look at how knowledge is exploded with AI and TVs and 54:58 radios and how different it is from people 100 years ago. 55:02 The way we live and we fly around the world in a couple of 55:05 days, that's one thing. 55:07 And then another thing, Jesus said the gospel of this kingdom 55:10 will be preached in all the world then the end will come. 55:14 Well, now through radio, TV, internet, and, you know, tapes 55:19 and so forth, books, the gospel is going into every corner of 55:22 the world, then the end will come. 55:25 Thank you, Carla. 55:26 We have a book that talks about some of the signs of Christ 55:28 coming, and it's in our study guide rather. 55:30 Jëan: All right, it's called "Ultimate Deliverance," which is 55:33 talking about the Second Coming of Christ. 55:34 The number to call is 800-835-6747 or dial #250. 55:41 Next caller that we have is Denise in Rhode Island. 55:44 Denise, we got about a minute. 55:46 Your question. 55:47 Denise: My question is I was reading Genesis today 55:49 and--Genesis 4. 55:50 Seems like lots of people today are asking about Genesis. 55:54 Why do people believe that they have eternal life when it says 55:58 plainly that God sent them out of the Garden of Eden with 56:03 a angel protecting the entrance of the tree of life? 56:08 It seems like we don't have it, but so many people believe that 56:11 we have eternal life even though it says here plainly that God is 56:15 protecting us from getting access--having access to it. 56:20 Doug: Yeah, you're on the right track because God said that we 56:24 don't have eternal life. 56:25 He said, "In the day that you sin thereof, you will 56:27 surely die." 56:28 And He set up a cherubim to guard the way with a flaming 56:30 sword to the tree of life and He said, "Lest the man eat from the 56:34 tree and live forever." 56:37 Jëan: All right. 56:38 Well, Pastor Doug, we have a few email questions. 56:39 So we want to try and get that in before we run out of time. 56:41 Question one it says, "Can you please explain the special 56:45 resurrection and the general resurrection?" 56:49 Doug: Yeah, though--Jesus indicated that--when he was 56:52 being tried, he told the high priest, I think this is Matthew 56:55 27, he said, "Hereafter you will see the Son of Man coming in the 57:00 clouds with great glory." 57:02 So there was a special resurrection. 57:05 Those involved in the persecution of Christ in the 57:08 trial condemning him are going to be brought forth to see 57:10 him come. 57:12 Jëan: All right, another question. 57:13 Roni is asking, "Is it wrong for a Christian to 57:14 learn self-defense?" 57:16 He's not talking about wanting to be involved in competitive 57:18 sports but just worst-case scenario if you need to 57:21 defend yourself. 57:23 Doug: You know, I think that it's almost natural for young 57:26 men to wrestle. 57:27 We've got boys. 57:29 You've got boys. 57:30 And so, you know, wrestling, fighting, some of that--I think, 57:36 you know, you sure don't want to ever have to use that, but it's 57:38 probably not a bad thing to go through the exercise that's 57:41 involved in it. 57:42 If a person's taking a course where they're learning jujitsu 57:45 and they're learning to wrestle and grapple, don't want to do 57:48 anything that's going to hurt somebody deliberately. 57:50 As far as possible, I think a Christian ought to try to turn 57:53 the other cheek and practice what Jesus said and be 57:56 a peacemaker. 57:58 Anyway, friends, you can hear the music. 57:59 God bless. 58:01 Go to AmazingFacts.org. 58:02 There's more there. 58:03 We'll be back next week. 58:07 announcer: Thank you for listening to today's broadcast. 58:09 We hope you understand your Bible even better than before. 58:13 "Bible Answers Live" is produced by Amazing Facts International, 58:17 a faith-based ministry located in Granite Bay, California. 58:21 ♪♪♪ |
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