Join Dr. J. Vernon McGee as he delves into the profound truths about prayer, touching on whether there’s a right way to pray to Jesus, the Father, or the Holy Spirit. This episode sheds light on scriptural methods of prayer and the importance of having a mediator. With listener questions leading the way, Dr. McGee provides clarity on how believers can effectively communicate with the divine.
Most Christians, when they begin their prayer, do so by directing their comments to the Father, but some pray directly to Jesus Christ or even to the Holy Spirit. Is this right? Is it biblical? What is the right way to pray? Well, stay with us to find out the answers to these questions and many more.
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of foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word.
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What more can he say than to
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he hath said to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled.
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Fear not, I am with
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You’re listening to the Question and Answer program with our Bible teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee. And I’m Steve Schwetz, inviting you to join us for the next 30 minutes as we listen to the wit and wisdom Dr. McGee provided in answering the questions of his listeners. Our first question comes to us from a listener in Palmetto, Florida. He writes, In Nehemiah 8, verses 1 and 2, it mentions the water gate. What was the water gate?
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Well, let me say that the Watergate very obviously is the place where the water was brought into the city. And it’s where the people went out of the city to go down into the Kidron Valley where there were a couple of springs down there that I do not think were adequate for the city, but at least some of the water came from down there. And that’s where the gate got its name, because of that. Now, it has a spiritual application. You were reading in Nehemiah, referring to Nehemiah, And in that book, why we are told that the pulpit was set up and the word of God was read by the water gate. And I think that’s rather symbolic that the water gate speaks of the word of God as the word of God is the water. And so I assume that is it. Getting back to the first, there was a very practical reason for them having a water gate. The city of Jerusalem is elevated, as you know. The great part of it is high up on Mount Moriah, that ridge called Moriah. And Zion, that part of the city, is even up higher. That’s where David lived, and apparently he loved it up there. And it was difficult to get water up that far, so they had to go down, and a great deal of it was brought into the city, actually, by hand.
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Our next question comes from a listener in Dallas, Oregon. It says, I recently heard your study on Ephesians 4 verses 8 through 11. Why does Paul quote the Psalm in verse 8 in connection with spiritual gifts? I thought the church was not revealed in any way in the Old Testament. So how could the verse and gave gifts to men be fulfilled in the church age?
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Well, let me say to you that this is actually no reference to the church that we have back in the Psalms. It’s a prophecy that’s in the 68th chapter of the book of Psalms, and it is in reference to Christ that it would be fulfilled in him. And Psalm 68, 18 reads, “…thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou hast received gifts for man, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.” And it is a prophecy. concerning the Lord Jesus Christ that was fulfilled at the time he ascended into heaven, and he gave gifts to man. But to say that that’s a reference to the church, it’s not, because there was no church in the Old Testament, and the church is not in the Old Testament, except in figure and in prophecy. We have references, I think, that are actually rather veiled at times, so that there’s no conflict in the statement that we have of Paul quoting Psalm 68 at verse 18.
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The same listener has another question, actually several questions, all related to the same topic. He says, You said we are not to pray to Jesus but to the Father. If we are to love Christ, why can’t we pray to Him? If not, then what did Christ mean in John 14 verse 14? Is there any type of prayer that can be offered to Christ or to the Holy Spirit?
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Well, you can if you want to. I was just telling you what he said about prayer. He said, if you ask the Father anything in my name, I will do it. Now, you see, when you pray directly to him, you rob yourself of a mediator, of an intercessor. He’s there to intercede for us. And so you are to pray to God, the Father, in the name of Christ. Now, if you love Christ, you feel like you should pray to Him, you go right ahead. But I’m just telling you how to make your prayer effective. And then this party asks also the question, What did Christ mean in John 14, 14? It says, If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. And the important phrase, I think, in that is, and by the way, that’s an if sentence, if you ask anything in my name. And that means anything according to his will. And again, that’s the reason you and I should go through him to the Father in order that he might help us in our prayers. I’m of the opinion that he polishes up and changes many of our prayers so that it will be acceptable to God the Father. This party then goes on to say, is there any type of prayer that can be offered to Christ or the Holy Spirit? Well, I’m not trying to say it, nor did I try to say that you can’t pray that way. I just say that the scriptural method of prayer, and why do you want to break it? Why do you want to change it?
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A listener in San Jose, California would like some help in witnessing to people who don’t believe in God. She says these same people feel a need to make a moral change in their life before they can ever come to God. Could you please help me with how I can share with these people?
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May I say to you, if you’re dealing with an atheist, the only thing that you can do is to present the Lord Jesus Christ to him. That’s our responsibility is to get the gospel to them. It’s not give them a lecture on booze or on drugs or that sort of thing. Christianity is not a negative thing. Christianity is Christ and it’s what he’s done and it’s who he is and when we tell that story that is the story that is the gospel and that’s what men are to believe now when they believe that they’re going to give up their booze they’re going to give up drugs and also they’re not going to be a womanizer either this is something that a person will do after he’s saved. And to say they are doing these things, what do you expect the unsaved man to do?
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We come now to our final question. And due to the nature of the content of this letter and the method by which Dr. McGee answered the questions of this listener, we’ve left Dr. McGee’s response in its original format. So the listener begins by asking, can one be born again two times?
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Now, she’s going to explain why she asked that question, but I would like very much to stop at these different questions that come up and attempt to deal with them then. The expression born again has become very popular today. Several books are out now on the subject. It’s gotten into our vocabulary, whereas before the average person didn’t have the foggiest notion what you were talking about. The Lord Jesus Christ introduced this expression. Born again, he was talking to a religious man one night by the name of Nicodemus, and he told this man who apparently wanted to talk religion, especially about building the kingdom of heaven here on earth, and he interrupted him to say to him, except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” And this man was startled about that. He thought that he’s talking about a second physical birth. Well, you can’t have a second physical birth, which is quite obvious. and you cannot have a second spiritual birth. When you are born again, you are regenerated by the Spirit of God. You are given a new nature now that has a capacity for God. Though it may not have the power, it does have the capacity for God and longs for Him and will not be happy except to be in the Father’s house. And this new nature is a nature that never leaves you because you’re indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. And it becomes as vital a part of you as your old nature. The thing that happens at the new birth that you get a new nature and you do not lose your old nature. You have these two contending for priority in your life. And that was the struggle Paul went through and many do today. Now, this new birth also means the Holy Spirit baptizes you into the body of believers, that is, puts you into the church that is the body of believers and its organic union of all believers that are brought together into one body, and that one body is the church. And because of that, you cannot be born again two times. But if you’ve been born again one time, you are still a child of God, though you may be living in the old nature and you may be far from God, which this person was. I want to continue to read the letter now. I have to write a little something else so you’ll know what I mean. You see, I was truly born again at approximately 15 years old. I was happy and secure in Christ. I can’t say what really made me backslide. I can’t put my finger on any one thing. I guess it didn’t happen all at once. Sin, surely. crept in, and I went the downward path. Three marriages, adultery, lies, drinking, etc. So I want you to know I did indeed commit sin. I didn’t just wander off a little way from the foal. Now, it doesn’t make any difference how far you wandered. You can always come home. The illustration is the prodigal son. The Lord Jesus told about the prodigal son. You’re the prodigal daughter, but they are in the same position. Now, that boy in the far country was still the son of the father, and even when he got down in the pig pen, he couldn’t have gotten any lower than that. Why, he was still a son of the father, and because of that, he had the nature of the father, and he wanted to go back home. And he made a decision to go back. Now, the very fact that you were disturbed indicates to me that when you say you were born again at 15, that you’re sincere and that really happened. Or you wouldn’t want to go back today, I don’t think. The average sinner wants to keep on going in sin. He lives in it. He loves it. Pigs love pig pens. Sons are never satisfied to stay there. The day will come when they’re going to have to say, I’ll arise and go to my father. Now, this part has the second question. Did I commit the unpardonable sin? And the answer is, no, you did not. In fact, you cannot commit an unpardonable sin if you mean by that that it’s a sin that you commit today and tomorrow if you came to Christ, he wouldn’t forgive you of it. He died for all sin, not all sin but one, but all sin. And therefore, you can be assured that you have not committed the unpardonable sin. It means that you can always come to the Father. Now, this part, it goes on to explain that. Let me read. Now I shudder to tell you why I think I could have. The Bible says if you speak a word against the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost, it would not be forgiven now or ever. Well, I did say something bad about the Holy Ghost once to my second husband. I said that I thought that some people, when they speak in tongues, that they were being used by the devil. Not all, but some. Did I blaspheme? And the answer is, you did not blaspheme. Actually, that sin that the Lord Jesus spoke about could only be committed when he was here. You see, you had two witnesses then. He was here in person. And then the Holy Spirit bearing witness said, And at that time, you could blaspheme the Holy Spirit, but that would not be possible today at all. And to begin with, he died for all sin. Now, you did not blaspheme because there are many today that believe that the tongues movement is satanic. Now, I personally, from the very beginning, have taken the position that that it was psychological. But recently, in recent months, some of the things that I have seen manifested are obviously satanic. So I am guilty of blaspheming him if you are. And if you are, I am too. So I don’t think that we are, because it does look like that may be true. But I don’t think that’s your major problem at all. Apparently, you have always had a conscience that keeps reminding you that you are a child of God. Now, this part goes on. I lay awake nights hoping I don’t die in my sleep. I’m so concerned about my own soul I can’t pray for others. I’ve asked the Lord if I have sinned in this way to let me die and let eternity begin for me, and yet I’m afraid to die too. I’ve become depressed and have come close to suicide, trying to decide the best way to do it. If there’s even hope for me, why doesn’t God come close to me? Will God take me back again? I want to feel secure again. What is life without him? I’m waiting for your answer and yet afraid to hear it. I’ve torn up some letters I wrote to you, but I’m going to send this one regardless. I cannot wait longer. I’m so confused. Will you pray for me, please? And this party here now mentions suicide as the way out. And I told a story through the Bible program that I’ll repeat here. My first pastorate, I was sitting on the porch one summer day, I think it was the month of August. I was sitting out on the front porch in a rocking chair, rocking, which I like to do, and all of a sudden a man appeared at the end of the porch, the one toward the church. He’d come down the alleyway. He sat down on the edge of the porch and he took out a great big rusty revolver and put it down. And he said to me, if you can’t give me a good reason why I shouldn’t kill myself, I’m going to commit suicide. And I want to tell you, that took me aback. I didn’t know what to say at first. But I began to talk to the young man, and I said this to him. I said, I’ll tell you what. I’d be willing to get you a better gun than you’ve got there. So you could do a good job if you can show me that you would solve your problems by taking your life. I said, you don’t solve your problem by taking your life. You merely complicate it, multiply your problems. If that was the solution to your problem, I’d be for it. But that’s not a solution to whatever your problem might be. Now, There are so many today think that that’s the way out. Well, that’s not the way out. The Lord Jesus told a young man that asked him to tell his brother to divide his inheritance. He says, man who made me a judge over you, I’m not your judge here, but I want to tell you when you get over there, he’s going to be your judge. And it’d be well to get matters settled here before you go before the judgment bar of God, the great white throne, and even a Christian going before the judgment seat of Christ ought to get things squared away down here before he goes there. You will not solve your problems at all. And you come back in the end here by saying to me, for a while there was a little better feeling, but it has subsided. And I want to say to you, you’re looking for feeling. Now, it’s not feeling that you need, it’s facts. And the facts are that Christ died for your sins. If you’ve trusted him, you’ve been born again in a child of God. You have sinned by your own confession, and very grievous sin, I would say. But He says to you, not only come unto me all ye that labor and heavy laden, I’ll rest you. But he’s saying also to you, if we, that is Christians, if we Christians confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, let me put it like this. First of all, You say that, why doesn’t God come close to you? Had you ever noticed that the prodigal son in the pig pen, the father made no move to get to him? The prodigal son left home. He had to come home. You say, why doesn’t God move close to you? Who was it that moved away? God or you? You moved away. You have to come back. You have to come to him. And you have to believe him. He says he’ll forgive you. And that means that you will have to turn from your sin. I don’t think you can continue in your sin. And certainly you wouldn’t have any feeling of satisfaction that you say you once had when you trusted Christ. Now, I think that can be restored if you’ll confess your sin. And to confess your sin means that you agree with God about that sin, that it is sin, and that you are going to turn from it. If you’re not turning from your sin, you certainly don’t agree with God. That’s no real confession at all. But if you really mean business with God, He’s already forgiven you. I’d say if what you say in this letter is accurate, and I think it is, why you have already been forgiven, He’ll forgive you because He says He’ll forgive you. Now, believe Him, believe God, and trust Him, and turn from your sin. That’s the only way that you can have sweet peace in this world today. And Now, this final word to you. You must remember that you have engaged in sin, and as a result, there are certain fruits of sin. Sin pays wages. Sin pays the highest wages being paid today, and they don’t even belong to a union. And sin pays off, too. And so your body and your mind has been affected by the life that you’ve lived. You’re going to have to recognize that. I remember years ago when Mel Trotter held a meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. After the meeting one night, we all went to a place called Candyland. And we all ordered big ice cream, you know, drinks. And he ordered just a little carbonated water and Some of the men were kidding him about that. And he said, when God gave me a new heart, he did not give me a new stomach. He said, I wrecked my stomach with liquor. Now, God didn’t give him a new stomach. And today you are experiencing some of the fruits of sin. And I think that you’ll have to continue to experience those fruits of sin. But you can certainly have your sins forgiven, and you can come back and have sweet peace in your life if that really is your desire.
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If you’re struggling with living a life that is pleasing to God and you’d like to know how to submit to the Spirit of God to work through you, then we suggest that you order a copy of Dr. McGee’s booklet, Living the Christian Life God’s Way. For ordering information on this booklet or a copy of today’s program, You may contact one of our service operators Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pacific Time. As we wrap up the final moments of our broadcast, we’d like to remind you to write to us and let us know that you’re enjoying this program and how you’ve been blessed by it. The address to write is Questions and Answers. For those in the U.S., Box 7100. Pasadena, California, 91109. In Canada, Box 25325. London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. For our online bookstore, visit us anytime, day or night at ttb.org. or make your request when you write to Questions and Answers. For those in the U.S., Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. In Canada, Box 25325. London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. Now we pray that God will answer all your questions and solve all your problems.
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Jesus made it all. All to him I owe. Sin had left the crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.
