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Join us on today's episode of The Narrow Path with Steve Gregg as we delve into the biblical practice of anointing with oil and its implications for modern Christians. With insights from historical traditions and scripture, we discuss the nuances of this ritual and how it applies to the faithful today. Additionally, we explore the phenomenon of apostolic martyrdom, unraveling the truths and myths surrounding the early disciples' commitment and courage.
SPEAKER 1 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 08 :
Good afternoon and welcome to the Narrow Path radio broadcast. My name is Steve Gregg and we're live for an hour, as we usually are on weekdays, taking your calls. If you have questions about the Bible or the Christian faith, we'd love to talk to you. You can call me at this number, 844-484-5737. That's 844-484-5737. And, boy, I don't think I have anything to announce today, so we can just go directly to our callers. Oh, I should mention, yeah, there is something that should be mentioned. A major part of our ministry is our website. It's been up for many years, and it has lots and lots of resources. I give the website out every day on the air so you can go and get those resources, or you can even donate from there. But the website's been down. We don't understand the technology, but we think somebody does. We have a webmaster in Connecticut who I think he feels everything's under control. Something is being copied or something is being done. Whenever something goes wrong with the web, I'm totally at a loss. I have no idea how technology works. But I will say this, that there's a lot of people who kind of are used to going to the website all the time. And it's been down for several days. We're not sure exactly when it'll be back up, hopefully very soon. But in the meantime, although you can't donate from this site, there is a backup site that has all of our stuff on it, or not all of it, but all the audio, all the lectures, the shows, archives, and so forth. And it's working well. That's called Theos, that's T-H-E-O-S, theos.org slash media. So if you go to theos.org. slash media. You can't donate from there, but you can certainly access the resources. So if you become kind of addicted to listening to those and they're not now at the moment available, I don't even think they're on our app because I think our app depends on the website. So this is a kind of a crippling thing, but we have backup. There's another website that has at least the things you can listen to that you want to, the radio shows and the Bible studies and so forth are all at www.theos.org slash media. So you can go there for the time being. Hopefully I will announce when the website's back up. Okay. Having said that, we're going to talk to Benjamin from Greenville, Ohio. Benjamin, welcome to The Narrow Path. Thanks for calling.
SPEAKER 03 :
Good afternoon, brother. Thank you. I have a question on trying to get your insight on Anointing with oil, for instance, our homes or a sick person. And I guess my questions would be the actual procedure of doing it and the frequency that we should be doing something like that. And I can take the answer offline.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right. All right. Thank you for your call, Benjamin. Well, the Bible doesn't actually advocate the anointing of oil except in the case of a sick person. calling on the elders of the church. In James chapter five, it says, is any of you sick or is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. In the prayer of faith, she'll save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up. And if he's committed sins, they'll be forgiven him. Now, many people think that this is simply what the Roman Catholics call the extreme unction, that when somebody's dying, they're sick and dying, that they should call for the the priests or the leaders of the church, and have them, as it were, kind of baptize them, although it says oil, not water. So it's questionable whether that's what it means. But that's, for example, how Catholics understand it. Most evangelicals, especially charismatic people, believe that anointing with oil is simply a procedure to accompany the prayer for healing. Now, because there's so little said about it, and there's little or no explanation about it, you know, there's some questions as to what its effectiveness is. Some people think it's merely a point of contact for faith. That is that, you know, a person, if you just say, well, just believe, well, that's kind of, for some people, it's a little nebulous. Okay, I kind of believe. Do I believe now? Do I believe enough? You know, when am I supposed to believe? When is something supposed to happen? And there are people who say that, excuse me, sorry, that such procedures as laying on of hands for healing or anointing with oil, that these really only function as a point of contact for faith. So that if a person kind of has a vague idea that God's going to heal them at some point that you, you can, their expectations will be raised that that point will be when hands are laid on them or when oil is put on them. And it becomes sort of a symbolic gesture, uh, Usually the oil is thought to represent the Holy Spirit, but I'm not sure that that's even an essential part of the whole thing. The point is that we're not told why anointing of oil is of use. Now, there are some teachers who have simply said anointing with oil is what is done to a wounded person. You know, in the Good Samaritan parable, the man who fell among thieves, when he was found by the Good Samaritan and ministered to, the man poured wine and oil into his wounds, wine probably to disinfect them and oil to promote healing. And use of oil medicinally, topically, was an ancient medical procedure for certain conditions. And so some say, well, James is envisaging a situation where somebody who's sick has got wounds or festering sores or whatever, and that the elders should come and administer medical procedures with oil. Now, I don't personally think that's what it's saying, but I've heard it said. I'm just trying to tell you there's a lot of different opinions about that. And the reason there's so many opinions is the Bible says nothing to explain it. It just says do this. And so many people will just do it out of obedience to the scriptures without having any particular or precise understanding of what it's supposed to accomplish. But apart from that one passage in James 5, we are not really told to anoint anything with oil. Now in the Old Testament, the priests and the kings, when they were installed into office, had oil poured over their heads, and even a prophet might in some cases. But the point there is simply it's an installation service, probably represented the Holy Spirit coming on them, the oil representing that. But this was not a situational thing where someone's sick or you're trying to accomplish something in particular through it. It's just part of the ceremony of installment. And that's just an Old Testament thing with kings and priests and others who were installed into divine office. But in the New Testament, we only have that one usage of it mentioned. Now, I'm aware of people anointing their houses, their cars, the windows of their houses. And I think the implication they have in mind is they're kind of putting protection upon their house or their car against, I'm not sure what, maybe demons coming in or something. This... I mean, I don't mean to be critical of people who do it. There's simply no biblical grounds for it. It strikes me as superstitious. But on the other hand, one might say, well, it's no more superstitious than anointing a sick person to get well. Well, the one exception to that is that anointing a sick person to get well is a scriptural, you know, a scriptural suggestion where to start anointing all kinds of things for oil for nebulous reasons, you know, seeking undefined results, it just begins to be sort of a, it can be superstitious. Now, I'm not saying God can't honor it if your faith is in him. And somehow, you know, you're just thinking, hey, God, this place I'm putting the oil, I want you to please, you know, protect it there. I don't do that kind of thing. I've been with people who did that kind of thing. I even at the time, I thought it was a little superstitious, but I didn't want to be critical. I mean. It's just not a biblical practice, okay? And I, generally speaking, do not like to include in my Christian practice anything that the Bible does not command and which I cannot see having any obvious value, you know? And therefore, I don't practice it. If you're wondering how often should this be done and so forth, yeah, there's nothing in the Bible that says it should be done at all. So, you know, I personally don't do those kinds of things. And, you know, if someone could come up with a biblical rationale for it, I would certainly relook at my thoughts about that. But I don't know of any. All right. Let's talk to Ryan from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Hi, Ryan. Welcome.
SPEAKER 06 :
Casey, thank you. I had heard it said that all of the disciples of Christ had died as martyrs because they refused to basically admit, or I'm sorry, they refused to affirm that they did not actually see Jesus risen from the dead, and as such, because of their conviction, they were martyred, except for John, I believe. And it was always used as a very powerful argument rationale for the fact that Jesus actually did resurrect from the dead, because the disciples had nothing to gain by lying in that sense and dying for something that they didn't actually believe to be true. And I always thought that that was a very powerful argument, and so then I went in to check what kind of external sources we have if someone was to say to me, well, what evidence is there that they were all martyred in the various ways? And as far as I could find, there was only James, the son of Zebedee, James, the son of Joseph, Peter, and Paul, who we have external sources for that they were martyred. I think the rest, as far as I know, is only church history or church tradition that teaches that they were martyred.
SPEAKER 08 :
Is that correct? Well, all of them are church tradition, with the exception of James, the son of Zebedee. We have the record of his death given to us in Acts chapter 12. We don't actually have the record of the death of any of the other apostles in the Bible, but what we do have is early traditions that And since these early traditions, you know, are, you know, they're not all alike for each apostle, even John. I mean, the tradition is that John wasn't killed as a martyr. So we can figure out that, you know, the church didn't decide to make up martyr stories for all the apostles or else they would have done so for John too. I mean, my impression is the church fathers were interested in preserving accurate memories of what happened to these founders of the church as apostles. I know if I were them, I'd want to. I think some people think the church was led by con artists, and therefore they made up stories promiscuously that they thought would be edifying or convincing to people. But I think these men are themselves, many of them, martyrs. I mean, the sources, Christians were being martyred, and especially the leaders of the churches were hunted down and martyred for the first three centuries. And it's from men living at that time that we have the stories about the martyrdom of the apostles and of other Christians like Polycarp and such and James, the brother of Jesus. There's really no reason I can think of why these stories would be fake. Now, uh, you've heard this, the martyrdom of the apostles used as a, uh, an apologetic for the truthfulness of their testimony that they'd seen Jesus after he rose from the dead. Um, And I use it that way, too. I mean, I'll just say I do use it that way. But sometimes the way it's presented is just simply, well, these people could have not been martyred if they'd simply admitted that Jesus was not risen from the dead. And you might get the impression that every one of them stood with, as it were, a gun to his head saying, confess that Jesus didn't rise from the dead or I'll kill you. And each one of them stood with that testimony. that's not exactly how it happened. Many of them were martyred because simply they were church leaders. Some of them were martyred because they wouldn't burn incense to the Caesar. Some of them were martyred just for going against paganism. And so it's not really the case that each one of them was put on a trial where they had a specific question asked to them. And the wrong answer they die for and the right answer they would, you know, be granted freedom for. And that question is, did Jesus really rise from the dead? OK, that's not how it happened. What is true, though, is that they they went into situations facing deliberate danger and martyrdom. because they believe that Jesus rose from the dead. The point is, if they were not persuaded that Jesus rose from the dead, they wouldn't be risking their lives. Paul himself said that in 1 Corinthians 15. He says, if Jesus isn't risen from the dead, why am I facing these wild beasts and risking my life every hour? So it's not so much that they literally died on the spot for saying Jesus is risen from the dead on an occasion when someone would have said, we'll spare you if you say he didn't. But the point is that their whole careers faced death, faced danger, faced hardship, faced imprisonment and beatings. I mean, the apostles had all that. And the only reason they were motivated to do it is because they believed Jesus was risen from the dead. If they hadn't believed it, they would have gone somewhere else and done something else with their lives and avoided all that danger. So when someone says, well, they all died confessing that Jesus is risen from the dead, And therefore he did. Well, that's true. I mean, that was their confession. That is what they believed. But it's not always the case that somebody would have let them off the hook if they had said, OK, he didn't. I mean, because sometimes people just want to kill their mobs. You know, Nero didn't like Christians in general and killed Paul and Peter and others. So, you know, if what you heard, and you could easily have heard it because I've said things very similar myself, is that, you know, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, these guys wouldn't have risked their lives like this. They all died confessing that Jesus had risen from the dead. And that was, they did. They believed that and they said that right up until the time they died. But it wasn't always that one statement of theirs that was, you know, what got their heads cut off or got them fed to the lions. Sometimes it was more of a the general embrace of Christianity in a hostile world that got them killed.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. The place that I read that James, the son of Zebedee, the son of Joseph, Peter, and Paul were martyred, or at least the external evidence was in Clement, I believe, 1 Clement 5. I'm not too familiar, however, with that book. Is that a church father?
SPEAKER 08 :
Clement of Rome was a bishop in Rome in the generation after the apostles, but not long after the apostles. He was like before the end of the first century. I'm not sure. I think the Catholic Church places him as like the third bishop of Rome or something like that. But Paul, in writing to Rome... mentions Clement, and many people think that's the same Clement that wrote the book Clement of Rome. It's an epistle to the Corinthians that Clement wrote, or that somebody wrote. So we don't know if he's the same Clement that Paul mentioned, but he was certainly a man of the first century church who would be in a prime position to know how Peter and Paul had died and so forth. Now, we don't have any one church father telling us everything about it, but there is, like in Fox's Book of Martyrs, I'm pretty sure he's got most of the apostles named in there, right in the opening chapters of Fox's Book of Martyrs. Sometimes it's not very much detail, but... I don't think there's very many of the apostles that aren't mentioned there. And I don't know what all of his sources were, but, you know, Fox was a historian and would have looked at all the sources available.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you so much. You've all checked that out. Thank you for your time.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay, Ryan. Good talking to you, brother. Thanks for your call. Bye now. All right. See, Jacob in Orange County, California. Welcome.
SPEAKER 05 :
Good afternoon, Steve. Thank you for this ministry. My question is, would you be willing to give a brief hypothetical defense of dispensational eschatology? I'm familiar with some of their teaching points, but I'm curious to hear someone with a gift for teaching as yourself describe their position, and I'll listen to your answer up there. Thank you, Steve.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, sure. Thank you. Well, dispensational theology basically was introduced by a very intelligent man. John Nelson Darby, he's sometimes seen as kind of a villain in the minds of anti-dispensationalists. And there were things about him that were not very savory. He could be very divisive in his personality. In fact, he actually excommunicated one of my favorite people, George Mueller. George Mueller and he were acquainted, and both of them were in the Plymouth Brethren movement. And Darby excommunicated Mueller because he didn't agree with Darby about everything. And so, I mean, the guy was a little divisive. Let's just say quite divisive. And so I don't like Darby much, but there's still... The truth, he's a very brilliant man, and he made a complete translation of the Bible, the Darby Translation, which is still available, usually online. And he wrote lots of books. I think he wrote like over 50 books of theology. And they're not lightweight stuff. So, I mean, he was very persuasive in his own generation in certain evangelical circles. He He was Anglican, and he came out of that and became part of the Plymouth Brethren movement. But his theory was that Christians had been inconsistent throughout history in spiritualizing many Old Testament prophecies. The prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the minor prophets often are spiritualized by all the church fathers, all the medieval church, all the reformers, and in modern times by people like myself, who see many of the prophecies that mention Israel in the Old Testament are in some cases spiritualized, that is interpreted to refer to the spiritual Israel. And that's called spiritualizing. At least that's what people who don't like the practice call it. And so he said, that's not right. If it says Israel, it should be natural Israel. I mean, why do we take Genesis literally and the Gospels literally, but we don't take these prophecies literally when they say Israel and Jerusalem? And so he felt... the church was inconsistent and needed to consistently take things literally, including these Old Testament prophets. And in doing so, of course, he came up with an entirely different theology about Israel than the church had ever held before. And of course, he's living around 1830-ish when this was done. So for the first 1800 years, the church taught a certain theology about Israel and the church And Darby challenged it and said he actually felt he was rediscovering truths that only the apostles had taught. He knew he was going against the whole church for 1,800 years before him. And his view was that there are promises that God made to Israel and Jerusalem that simply have not occurred. That the Messiah was supposed to come and sit on David's throne in Jerusalem and restore Jerusalem to its former glory and glory. And Jesus didn't do that, so that still has to happen. He thought when Jesus comes back, that's got to happen. And so his argument was you find all these prophecies about the Messiah reigning over a restored Israel and Jerusalem and all the nations bringing gifts to him and him ruling the world with a rod of iron and so forth. And since Jesus didn't do that, now Darby's idea was Jesus would have done that. Jesus actually came intending to do that, but couldn't because the Jews rejected him as the Messiah. Now, I'm not sure why God would come and make his program so vulnerable to the Jews' disapproval. I mean, the Jews had rejected all the prophets before. Why would anyone think they'd accept Jesus? You know, I mean, so it's like Jesus comes and says, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is drawn near. And yet it's not going to come because God knows very well that the Jews are going to respond to him exactly as they responded to the prophets before him. So in other words, it wasn't near. It was a mistake or it was, you know, I don't know, conditional or something. But Jesus didn't say the coming of the kingdom was conditional. He didn't say it depended on the Jews accepting him. But Darby said, well, because the Jews didn't accept him, Jesus did not bring the kingdom that he said he was going to bring. It was postponed. Jesus went back to heaven, took with him the kingdom that he had in mind. And he'll bring it back when he comes back. And he'll set up the millennial kingdom and set up the temple in Jerusalem. And he'll reign from Jerusalem, from David's throne, for a thousand years. That's the dispensational idea. And Darby also believed that the church and Israel should never be confused with each other. He felt like that was a big problem the church had done for 1800 years is take these prophecies about Israel and apply them to the church. He said, no, no, no, no, no. The church in Israel, different things. He said the church was an institution that was not even anticipated in the Old Testament. It was a mystery that only was revealed to Paul and the apostles, and therefore it didn't even exist in the Old Testament. It wasn't even anticipated. The church is, he said, a parenthesis because the Jews who God came to bring the kingdom to had rejected christ and caused the kingdom to be postponed there was now this parenthetical phenomenon of god going to the gentiles and creating the body of christ and you know doing what he's doing now until he's done doing that and when he's done doing that he'll rapture the church out of the world But then he'll keep working in the world on the Jews, and the tribulation will be his way of disciplining and bringing the Jews to himself. And then they will come to him, and then Jesus will come and set up the millennium. That's Darby's ideas. Now, there are, I guess you wanted me to give an exegetical polemic in favor of dispensationalism. I used to think I could do that, but it really wasn't exegetical. It was more or less just assumption. It was the assumption that my teachers had told the truth about these things and that interpreting the Bible the way my teachers did is the only honest and faithful way of handling Scripture. And it took me years of my own study of Scripture to realize that that's not the best way to interpret Scripture. I didn't know what dispensationalism was. I was dispensational. I never heard the term before. I just thought dispensationalism, or I should say, I thought what they were teaching me was what the Bible teaches. They didn't tell me. My teachers never told me. This is a view called dispensationalism. I had to discover that the hard way over years after teaching dispensationalism without knowing that it was that. But I found out that the early church actually had been more accurate in the way that they handled scriptures. That the apostles in the New Testament, when they quoted Old Testament scriptures, the very ones that Darby said should be taken literally about the literal Israel and Jerusalem, whenever the apostles quoted those scriptures, they didn't take them literally. They applied them to the church. And that's why the whole church understood them that way. They thought the apostles were right. And that Jesus was right because he did the same thing. When they quoted... Old Testament passages, which Darby thinks we should apply to Israel and Jerusalem, and which dispensationalists say we should, the apostles and Jesus didn't take them that way. They took them in a spiritual sense and thought that Jesus actually came to fulfill the prophets and that he did not fail to do so. At the end of his life, Jesus prayed and he said, Father, I have finished the work you gave me to do. He didn't say, hey, I tried, but the Jews wouldn't let it happen, so sorry, God, I couldn't do it. No, he said, I finished it. And this is what the church has always believed, that Jesus did not fail. He succeeded. And I don't think there's a good exegetical case for dispensationalism, but there's just a grid you can read the Bible through in order to think about it that way. Hey, I'm out of time for this segment. I'll be back in about 30 seconds or so. Please stay tuned.
SPEAKER 09 :
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SPEAKER 08 :
Welcome back to the Narrow Path radio broadcast. My name is Steve Gregg, and we're live for another half hour, taking your calls. If you have questions about the Bible or about the Christian faith, feel free to give me a call. The number is 844-825-8000. 484-5737. And you're always welcome to call if you disagree with me about something too. Again, our website has been down for a few days. Hopefully it'll be up. I don't know. It could be up today, tomorrow. I'm not sure. It might be down for a while. If you're used to, you know, listening to things from our website, we've got thousands of things there to listen to on a regular basis. And you're kind of going through withdrawal because the site's down. Go to this alternative website, It's called theos, T-H-E-O-S, theos.org slash media. It at least has all, I think, has the archives of the radio show and it's got the lectures there. And that's mostly what people want when they go to our website. Our website has some other things, too, that aren't there. But essentially, you know, if you're listening to the lectures or the archives, you can get them there, too. All right, at least last I checked. I haven't been there for a long time myself, but I hope it's up and running too. Technology is not always our friend, but it certainly has been convenient sometimes. Okay, let's talk next to Roberto from Kansas City, Missouri. Hi, Roberto.
SPEAKER 07 :
Hi, Steve, Greg. Thank you for taking my call. I would like to ask you, Well, I watch you on YouTube. That's mainly where I get your program and everything. How can we pray in a godly manner for our president not to be set up the way he was today? All we can pray is that, you know, God's will be done. That's all I've been praying for lately is God's will be done. We learned the hard way over the last, like, you know, to elections. And, um, he was set up today to go to this, uh, church service where the, uh, pastor, if you will, uh, was begging him for mercy on, um, on the homosexual community, gay rights and, uh, migrants. Um, how can we pray, uh, for his spiritual direction and leadership? Because he has apparently surrounded himself with the same crowd like, um, Paula White was a prosperity gospel person.
SPEAKER 08 :
Is she still in the picture there? I didn't know she was still in the picture. I thought he'd moved on to someone like Jack Hibbs.
SPEAKER 07 :
I thought she was out of the picture, but I pulled up a video that was just done two months ago. by Forbes, which is, you know, a liberal source. But two months ago, she was praying over him with that type of crowd. So I didn't know that either.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay, let me jump in. Let me jump in here. I hadn't heard about what happened today. So I don't know anything about that. But as far as being set up, I'm not sure how you mean that. I mean, the president is going to be challenged about lots of things throughout his term and should be. Presidents always should be. And I didn't obviously hear how he responded. So I can't tell. But all I can say, if your question is how shall we pray for him? I mean, if that's not just a way of you making some statements, but you're really wondering how should we pray for him, I think we should pray for him to be wise and for him to be committed to justice. And, of course, we should pray for him and everybody that they be converted to Christ. Now, I don't know. I'm not going to say he's not a Christian. He doesn't. If he's a Christian, I don't think he's a very mature Christian, and I don't think he's been discipled very thoroughly, obviously. So we could pray either that he'll get converted, or if he has been converted, that he'll be properly discipled, that he'll have better Christian influences around him, hopefully, than Paula White, and that he'll be a wise ruler. Yeah. I also pray for his protection since there's, I don't think we've had a more hated president. Although, I mean, some people obviously almost idolize him, which is bad too. We don't want to idolize him, but he's a very polarizing figure. In my opinion, I don't think he did anything to encourage that polarization, but it's just the fact. I think he's following his conscience, if I'm not mistaken. I don't know him, so he might be worse than I think. I've heard him give speeches. I've watched how he governed before. He was a president before, after all. and you know i've actually seen how he conducted himself in the years he was not president since then so my impression is that he's he's got some convictions and he's he's trying to put them forward and fortunately they are agreeable with the constitution and you know if he had constant if he had convictions that were unconstitutional i'd be very concerned because he kind of moves moves like a bulldozer uh you know forward with his programs um But it seems to me, as far as I can tell, the main controversial features of his plans are quite in keeping with the Constitution, which is what the president's supposed to be. Now, some people, but he doesn't follow the Bible. Well, I don't know what he does in terms of following the Bible, but the job description of the president is not about following the Bible. I think everybody should follow the Bible, including the president. I don't know if we have any national leaders around the world who do follow the Bible, and I don't know that Trump does either. But the special job description of the president is to uphold the Constitution. which is something our previous president had no interest in doing. In fact, he allegedly added an amendment to the Constitution just as he was walking out the door, which, of course, a president can't do. That's unconstitutional itself. So, I mean, we've had a president for four years who had no interest in the Constitution, just his own agendas. Now, Trump has agendas, too. No question about that. But as near as I can tell, his main agenda is to restore Congress. a constitutional integrity to the government. He might have other agendas too, but as long as he does restore constitutional integrity, that's a positive. It'll be a net positive that he became president in that case. But we should pray that he will be able to do what's good and that he will fail if he has any plans that are evil, and that he'll be converted, and that he'll be kept safe from assassins, I would say. You know, I didn't specifically pray that for many presidents before, but But this one's had a couple of attempts on his life, and I don't think his assassins or would-be assassins have gone anywhere. I don't think they've gone away. So those are the ways I would pray for him. And, you know, inherent in the prayer that he would have wisdom is that he would know how to address situations like the one you described today. And, of course, presidents have to face those all the time. They face challenges, and they should be able to. I think he's up to it. But on the other hand... He doesn't always know the truth. He's not omniscient. So we should pray that God will give him wisdom in those situations. Thank you for your call. All right, we're going to talk next to Oscar in Napa, California. Oscar, welcome.
SPEAKER 02 :
Hey, Steve. Enjoy your ministry. I learned a lot from it. A lot of Hebrews. about Melchizedek. I heard some people say, I don't know if it's true or not, but some say he wasn't a human being. Was he a real man? Because they say he had no descendants, no mother or father. And I was just curious. Can you answer that for me?
SPEAKER 08 :
I think I can, but not everyone would agree with me. Melchizedek, appeared very briefly at the end of Genesis 14 and met with Abraham. And there's a very brief description of the transaction between them. And it's mysterious because he kind of appears out of nowhere. He's described as a priest of the Most High God and the King of Salem, which most scholars think refers to Jerusalem at the time. Now, remember, Jerusalem in Abraham's day, it was not a Jewish city. There were no Jews. Jerusalem was a pagan city, a Canaanite city in those days. So If he was the king of Jerusalem, he was ruling a pagan Canaanite people. Now, Jewish tradition holds that he was Shem, the last surviving son of Noah. And it is true that Shem, if you follow the chronology, Shem would still be alive at that time. So that would explain why Abraham died. would show such deference to Melchizedek if he was Shem, because Abram was descended from Shem. He is a Shemite or a Semite himself, as Jewish people today understand themselves to be also. So, you know, the Jews think he was Shem. Now, the author of Hebrews did not think that was a satisfying answer. He thought there were things about Melchizedek that would not apply to Shem. And I have to agree. I mean, it does say in Hebrews, he had no father, no mother, no beginning of days, nor end of life. Now, this would suggest he wasn't an ordinary man, that he was a divine being, almost like when an angel comes to earth, although I think it was more a theophany. You remember when Jacob wrestled with a man all night? The man just kind of showed up, wrestled all night, and then went away. The man presumably was God, at least that's how Jacob understood it, God in a human-type appearance to interact with Jacob. And I kind of think Melchizedek is like that, that he just kind of showed up that he is God. We might even say Christ, the Word, in his pre-incarnate state, coming in a human form to meet with Abraham and to bless him and to allow Abraham to interact with him face-to-face as if he was a human. Now, when God does that, and he does it several times in the Old Testament, although the Bible doesn't tell us in the Old Testament that Melchizedek is an example of this phenomenon, but there are other examples of that phenomenon in the Old Testament. I think Melchizedek probably is. because that would be the only case in which he's without father and without mother. and no beginning of days or end of life. Now, those who don't take this view, who think he's maybe Shem, or maybe that he's just some other guy who was a king of Salem at the time, and many commentators don't believe he's Christ, or don't believe he's God, they would say, well, when it says he had no father or mother, it just means his father and mother were not recorded. And when it says he had no beginning of days or end of life, it means his birth and death were not recorded. Well, that's hardly worth mentioning. Most of the people in the Bible who are named, their births and deaths are not recorded. In many cases, their parents are not recorded. But if it was Shem, his parentage is known. He's the son of Noah and Noah's wife. So we don't know the exact birthday to celebrate of his birth, but we do have record of his birth. Noah had three sons, it says. That means they were born. Shem, Ham, and Japheth. So If he was actually Shem, as the Jews believe, the writer of Hebrews wasn't buying it. Because even if he was saying he has no recorded parentage, well, that wouldn't be true of Shem. I don't believe he's saying there's no recorded parentage. He could have said that if he wanted to. And by the way, if it was Shem, I'm not sure why Moses, when he was writing Genesis, wouldn't just mention it was Shem. After all, Moses had recorded that Shem had been one of the sons of Noah who came out of the ark and that Shem was an ancestor of Abraham. That's all recorded in the Genesis. Why would he not refer to him as Shem? Why would he refer to him by a term that means king of righteousness? So I don't think we can easily get away from the fact that the writer of Hebrews was identifying Melchizedek as Christ himself. And I have a whole discussion about that. If you go to my lectures on Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 7, I go into this in great detail. And normally I could say you'd find that at our website, thenarrowpath.com. But as I said earlier, our website's kind of down for the moment, but you can go to theos.org. dot org slash medium and find those lectures and i do go in depth both in my lecture on genesis 14 and in my lecture on hebrews 7. i go into that in much more detail i appreciate your call brother all right thanks thanks for joining us all right we're going to talk next to james from fresno california james welcome
SPEAKER 04 :
Hey, Steve, thanks for taking my call. Just real quick, in regards to the website, I was just on there. I'm on an iPhone. Is it working? It was working, but I had to bypass the warning that Safari gave me saying that somebody was trying to impersonate the website. So I just click on Go Ahead and View Anyway and take the risk. And that way I was able to finish your book today, which was phenomenal, by the way.
SPEAKER 08 :
Which one is that, The Empire of the Rising Sun?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I just finished both books, and I've got to say, I've been waiting to read that for years. I just didn't know it was out there. I came across it recently, and man, I'm so impressed. I feel so blessed that I was able to read that. You explain things in a way that, like I said, I've just been waiting to hear for a long time. You did it in a way that you just take out all all the biased theology, all the denominationalism, and I really appreciate your honesty and your integrity in writing that. Thank you. In fact, I just finished it a couple hours ago, like I said, and I really just wanted to call and thank you. But I did have one question that's been bugging me for a long time, and I was hoping you could elaborate a little more. In the book, you said that the disciples prayed to the Father, and that we as disciples... should pray to the Father also. And I was just wondering if you could maybe get a little more in-depth on what's the difference in our prayer life when we pray to the Father, pray to Jesus, and how we include the Holy Spirit in that. And one more thing I just want to know, do you have any kind of curriculum about discipleship that I can share with my church, and maybe I might be able to lead, I might be able to borrow from you?
SPEAKER 08 :
I haven't prepared any curriculum, but the second book of the Empire of the Risen Sun, you know, book two?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 08 :
I intended that to be, you know, at least functional as a curriculum for discipleship. It definitely is. It's all about discipleship, and I think it's quite practical and goes into the weeds, even about, you know, application and so forth. So I I don't have it laid out as sort of a curriculum with lead questions and workbooks or anything like that. But I could see, and I'd certainly welcome anybody taking that material and developing it into a curriculum. You know, I would think that, you know, if someone wanted to, or I mean, they could, like I said, they could make a curriculum out of it. But if they didn't want to go to that trouble, they could just have a study group where they'd each read it. You know, they'd read a chapter of it each week and get together and discuss it and look up the scriptures in it and talk about it. You know, there's 40 chapters in those two books. So it'd make almost close to a year's curriculum. But I don't have anything prepared in the form of a curriculum. No, I'm sorry to say.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. Well, I'm so thankful that you have the book, at least. And I'll definitely use that.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, brother.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right. Thank you, brother.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 08 :
I'll talk about the prayer. Thank you. Yeah. Jesus said that we should pray to the Father in his name. That is in Jesus' name. Now, the Bible also talks about us praying in the Holy Spirit. And praying in the Holy Spirit, I believe, means directed by the Holy Spirit and, you know, through empowered by the Holy Spirit. So, I mean, the Holy Spirit is living inside of us, so he's active in our prayers, at least he should be. We need to count on that to be so, that the Holy Spirit will be guiding us and directing us in our prayers, energizing our prayers, convicting us about what we need to pray about, and so forth. But our prayers, of course, are the actual utterances, the actual petitions we present. to God, external to us. The Holy Spirit is in us, but we're addressing God who's out there, just like Jesus did. Obviously the Father was in Christ, but Jesus spoke to the Father as someone external also. So praying to the Father is simply what Jesus taught us to do. He said, when you pray, say, Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Or Paul said, I bow my knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. in, I guess it's Ephesians chapter 3, you know, the apostles, when they prayed in Acts... chapter 4, when they addressed their prayer, they said, Lord, which could be Jesus or could be the Father, but as you read on what they said, they go on and speak to the Lord and say, for truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. So they refer to Jesus as the holy servant of the one they're speaking to, which of course would be the Father. So we find, you know, prayers to the Father just as Jesus instructed us to pray to the Father. Now, prayer in Jesus' name, many people don't understand what that means, but that simply means praying to the Father with the authorization and access that Christ's name grants us. You know, it's like if there's a, you know, a card slot to enter into the throne room, and you've got Christ's access card, you know, you're authorized, as long as you got it legitimately. You know, you've got authorization to come in. And that's what the name of Jesus is. Jesus is our authorization to come before the Father as if we were him. And, of course, with that authorization comes the obligation to pray in his interest for In other words, Jesus doesn't just give us an Aladdin's lamp and says, listen, say Jesus, and that's like rubbing the lamp, and then whatever comes out, your wish is our command, God's command. No, when you act in someone else's name, you're acting on their behalf. You're acting as their agent. You're doing what they would do. And with their authorization to do it. So praying is that way, too. When you pray in Jesus' name, you're going to the Father, authorized by Christ, to go as if you were him. And to pray such prayers as he would be inclined to pray, according to his will. And that's what prayer in Jesus' name means. But it's the Father we're praying to. Now, some people say, well, is it okay if I pray to Jesus or pray to the Holy Spirit? Well, I'll just tell you. Prayer, technically, is presenting petitions to God. And Jesus said, present your petitions to the Father. That doesn't mean you can't speak to Jesus or even to the Holy Spirit. But I think we've tended to use the word prayer to be kind of an umbrella term for every time we say anything to God, that's part of our prayer life. Well, prayer is part of our relationship with God. But there are other parts of our relationship with God, too. are thanksgiving, worship, praise. Those aren't exactly the same thing as prayer, but they are presented to God just as petitions are. So prayer and praise and thanksgiving are all parts of our relationship with God. Now, Jesus made it very clear when we present our petitions, we should present them to the Father. And that's what the apostles did when they prayed. They put presented petitions to the Father. That doesn't mean you can't praise Jesus or that you can't even just, as far as I'm concerned, converse with him. I find it very natural to converse both with Jesus and with God and, you know, in my life. So there's nothing wrong, I think, at least the Bible doesn't say there's anything wrong with speaking to Jesus or even to the Holy Spirit, though I don't know of any case of that being done. The thing is, It's not wrong. I mean, we have a relationship with God. We have with the Father and with the Son and with the Holy Spirit. It's just that the Father is the one that Jesus tells us to bring our requests to. Because it's the Father who will grant them. And he'll grant them because we're praying as agents of Christ, authorized by Christ, presenting the prayers that Christ himself would approve of being prayed and that he himself would pray. So that's what it means to pray to the Father in Jesus' name. I appreciate you asking. Let's talk to Tim from Marietta, Georgia. Tim, welcome.
SPEAKER 01 :
Hi. Good afternoon, Steve Gregg. I hope you're doing well. So I had a quick question. I have a grandfather who's about in his late 80s and his son or my uncle who is in his late 50s. you could say converted maybe a decade ago to Islam, even though my grandfather raised all of his kids in a Christian upbringing, but maybe he was not faithfully secure. But recently, my uncle, when he visits my grandfather, he would bring his mat and demand to pray, or choose to pray in my grandfather's house, and in one of the rooms, not like within the presence of my grandfather, but in a room within his house. And I was just wondering if, you know, what steps, whether that's, whether my grandfather has the ability to communicate to him that he's not able to pray in the house, or what steps he should take as a Christian man. Because I know in Deuteronomy 7, they talk about not worshiping or not encouraging the worship of idols, but I'm wondering if that's a plus to that situation.
SPEAKER 08 :
Right. Well, first of all, your grandfather has every right to forbid any activity in his house that he doesn't want happening there. It is his domain. It's just like he could forbid someone from bringing their girlfriend over and sleeping with them when they're a guest in his house. It's his home. He can maintain it and its sanctity however he sees fit. Different people have had different opinions. Different Christians have had different opinions exactly about the identity of Allah. I personally would not feel comfortable having anyone praying to Allah in my house because I don't believe that that's necessarily acceptable to God. Some people have seen things a bit differently than that. But I think that if your grandfather has objection to it as a Christian, He should just tell, is it your cousin I think you're talking about? You should tell him that he, you know, he can't do that there. I mean, if he wants to pray outside on the lawn, you know, or out in the car or whatever, he could do that. But he doesn't want that happening under his roof. Now, some might feel it's unkind or unfair, but once again, A person has to go by their own convictions. You know, I mean, some people would not allow statues in their home, even if they're not in any sense being worshipped. But they might say, well, this is this, you know, we got this from, you know, some African tribe or something. We don't know. They might have worshipped it. So I don't want it in my home. I mean, a person would have every right to do that. Although, I mean, I also think that'd be up to them because I'm not so sure that a statue, you know, is itself an idol unless someone's worshipping it. So anyway, that'd be simply a matter of conviction. I think your grandfather's convictions about that should be honored by anyone who comes into his home. I'm not saying what his conviction should necessarily be about it, simply because I'm aware of more than one Christian way to look at this whole issue of Allah. You know, the Athenians were worshipping a god they didn't know. They had an altar to the unknown god. And when Paul saw it, he said, I saw a lot of false gods, a lot of idols in your city, but there was also an idol to one you call the unknown God. And I'm here to tell you about him, this one that you worship ignorantly. I'm here to tell you who he is. In other words, he considered that the Athenians may well have been worshiping the true God, but didn't know him and needed to know him. And so it's possible that some Muslims are worshiping the true God, but they don't know him properly. They don't have accurate knowledge of him. So, I mean, that's one way that some have understood it. I'm not pushing one way or the other of seeing this. But, yeah, I'd just say your grandfather should make his own decision according to his conscience about that. Oh, I'm sorry, we're out of time. I'd like to tell you, you can donate at the website, but I'm not sure you can get there. So if you wish to donate to help us stay on the air, you can write to The Narrow Path, P.O. Box 1730, Temecula, California, 92593. And our website is thenarrowpath.com. Thanks for joining us. Let's talk tomorrow.
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Join us on today's episode of The Narrow Path with Steve Gregg as we delve into the biblical practice of anointing with oil and its implications for modern Christians. With insights from historical traditions and scripture, we discuss the nuances of this ritual and how it applies to the faithful today. Additionally, we explore the phenomenon of apostolic martyrdom, unraveling the truths and myths surrounding the early disciples' commitment and courage.
SPEAKER 1 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 08 :
Good afternoon and welcome to the Narrow Path radio broadcast. My name is Steve Gregg and we're live for an hour, as we usually are on weekdays, taking your calls. If you have questions about the Bible or the Christian faith, we'd love to talk to you. You can call me at this number, 844-484-5737. That's 844-484-5737. And, boy, I don't think I have anything to announce today, so we can just go directly to our callers. Oh, I should mention, yeah, there is something that should be mentioned. A major part of our ministry is our website. It's been up for many years, and it has lots and lots of resources. I give the website out every day on the air so you can go and get those resources, or you can even donate from there. But the website's been down. We don't understand the technology, but we think somebody does. We have a webmaster in Connecticut who I think he feels everything's under control. Something is being copied or something is being done. Whenever something goes wrong with the web, I'm totally at a loss. I have no idea how technology works. But I will say this, that there's a lot of people who kind of are used to going to the website all the time. And it's been down for several days. We're not sure exactly when it'll be back up, hopefully very soon. But in the meantime, although you can't donate from this site, there is a backup site that has all of our stuff on it, or not all of it, but all the audio, all the lectures, the shows, archives, and so forth. And it's working well. That's called Theos, that's T-H-E-O-S, theos.org slash media. So if you go to theos.org. slash media. You can't donate from there, but you can certainly access the resources. So if you become kind of addicted to listening to those and they're not now at the moment available, I don't even think they're on our app because I think our app depends on the website. So this is a kind of a crippling thing, but we have backup. There's another website that has at least the things you can listen to that you want to, the radio shows and the Bible studies and so forth are all at www.theos.org slash media. So you can go there for the time being. Hopefully I will announce when the website's back up. Okay. Having said that, we're going to talk to Benjamin from Greenville, Ohio. Benjamin, welcome to The Narrow Path. Thanks for calling.
SPEAKER 03 :
Good afternoon, brother. Thank you. I have a question on trying to get your insight on Anointing with oil, for instance, our homes or a sick person. And I guess my questions would be the actual procedure of doing it and the frequency that we should be doing something like that. And I can take the answer offline.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right. All right. Thank you for your call, Benjamin. Well, the Bible doesn't actually advocate the anointing of oil except in the case of a sick person. calling on the elders of the church. In James chapter five, it says, is any of you sick or is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. In the prayer of faith, she'll save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up. And if he's committed sins, they'll be forgiven him. Now, many people think that this is simply what the Roman Catholics call the extreme unction, that when somebody's dying, they're sick and dying, that they should call for the the priests or the leaders of the church, and have them, as it were, kind of baptize them, although it says oil, not water. So it's questionable whether that's what it means. But that's, for example, how Catholics understand it. Most evangelicals, especially charismatic people, believe that anointing with oil is simply a procedure to accompany the prayer for healing. Now, because there's so little said about it, and there's little or no explanation about it, you know, there's some questions as to what its effectiveness is. Some people think it's merely a point of contact for faith. That is that, you know, a person, if you just say, well, just believe, well, that's kind of, for some people, it's a little nebulous. Okay, I kind of believe. Do I believe now? Do I believe enough? You know, when am I supposed to believe? When is something supposed to happen? And there are people who say that, excuse me, sorry, that such procedures as laying on of hands for healing or anointing with oil, that these really only function as a point of contact for faith. So that if a person kind of has a vague idea that God's going to heal them at some point that you, you can, their expectations will be raised that that point will be when hands are laid on them or when oil is put on them. And it becomes sort of a symbolic gesture, uh, Usually the oil is thought to represent the Holy Spirit, but I'm not sure that that's even an essential part of the whole thing. The point is that we're not told why anointing of oil is of use. Now, there are some teachers who have simply said anointing with oil is what is done to a wounded person. You know, in the Good Samaritan parable, the man who fell among thieves, when he was found by the Good Samaritan and ministered to, the man poured wine and oil into his wounds, wine probably to disinfect them and oil to promote healing. And use of oil medicinally, topically, was an ancient medical procedure for certain conditions. And so some say, well, James is envisaging a situation where somebody who's sick has got wounds or festering sores or whatever, and that the elders should come and administer medical procedures with oil. Now, I don't personally think that's what it's saying, but I've heard it said. I'm just trying to tell you there's a lot of different opinions about that. And the reason there's so many opinions is the Bible says nothing to explain it. It just says do this. And so many people will just do it out of obedience to the scriptures without having any particular or precise understanding of what it's supposed to accomplish. But apart from that one passage in James 5, we are not really told to anoint anything with oil. Now in the Old Testament, the priests and the kings, when they were installed into office, had oil poured over their heads, and even a prophet might in some cases. But the point there is simply it's an installation service, probably represented the Holy Spirit coming on them, the oil representing that. But this was not a situational thing where someone's sick or you're trying to accomplish something in particular through it. It's just part of the ceremony of installment. And that's just an Old Testament thing with kings and priests and others who were installed into divine office. But in the New Testament, we only have that one usage of it mentioned. Now, I'm aware of people anointing their houses, their cars, the windows of their houses. And I think the implication they have in mind is they're kind of putting protection upon their house or their car against, I'm not sure what, maybe demons coming in or something. This... I mean, I don't mean to be critical of people who do it. There's simply no biblical grounds for it. It strikes me as superstitious. But on the other hand, one might say, well, it's no more superstitious than anointing a sick person to get well. Well, the one exception to that is that anointing a sick person to get well is a scriptural, you know, a scriptural suggestion where to start anointing all kinds of things for oil for nebulous reasons, you know, seeking undefined results, it just begins to be sort of a, it can be superstitious. Now, I'm not saying God can't honor it if your faith is in him. And somehow, you know, you're just thinking, hey, God, this place I'm putting the oil, I want you to please, you know, protect it there. I don't do that kind of thing. I've been with people who did that kind of thing. I even at the time, I thought it was a little superstitious, but I didn't want to be critical. I mean. It's just not a biblical practice, okay? And I, generally speaking, do not like to include in my Christian practice anything that the Bible does not command and which I cannot see having any obvious value, you know? And therefore, I don't practice it. If you're wondering how often should this be done and so forth, yeah, there's nothing in the Bible that says it should be done at all. So, you know, I personally don't do those kinds of things. And, you know, if someone could come up with a biblical rationale for it, I would certainly relook at my thoughts about that. But I don't know of any. All right. Let's talk to Ryan from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Hi, Ryan. Welcome.
SPEAKER 06 :
Casey, thank you. I had heard it said that all of the disciples of Christ had died as martyrs because they refused to basically admit, or I'm sorry, they refused to affirm that they did not actually see Jesus risen from the dead, and as such, because of their conviction, they were martyred, except for John, I believe. And it was always used as a very powerful argument rationale for the fact that Jesus actually did resurrect from the dead, because the disciples had nothing to gain by lying in that sense and dying for something that they didn't actually believe to be true. And I always thought that that was a very powerful argument, and so then I went in to check what kind of external sources we have if someone was to say to me, well, what evidence is there that they were all martyred in the various ways? And as far as I could find, there was only James, the son of Zebedee, James, the son of Joseph, Peter, and Paul, who we have external sources for that they were martyred. I think the rest, as far as I know, is only church history or church tradition that teaches that they were martyred.
SPEAKER 08 :
Is that correct? Well, all of them are church tradition, with the exception of James, the son of Zebedee. We have the record of his death given to us in Acts chapter 12. We don't actually have the record of the death of any of the other apostles in the Bible, but what we do have is early traditions that And since these early traditions, you know, are, you know, they're not all alike for each apostle, even John. I mean, the tradition is that John wasn't killed as a martyr. So we can figure out that, you know, the church didn't decide to make up martyr stories for all the apostles or else they would have done so for John too. I mean, my impression is the church fathers were interested in preserving accurate memories of what happened to these founders of the church as apostles. I know if I were them, I'd want to. I think some people think the church was led by con artists, and therefore they made up stories promiscuously that they thought would be edifying or convincing to people. But I think these men are themselves, many of them, martyrs. I mean, the sources, Christians were being martyred, and especially the leaders of the churches were hunted down and martyred for the first three centuries. And it's from men living at that time that we have the stories about the martyrdom of the apostles and of other Christians like Polycarp and such and James, the brother of Jesus. There's really no reason I can think of why these stories would be fake. Now, uh, you've heard this, the martyrdom of the apostles used as a, uh, an apologetic for the truthfulness of their testimony that they'd seen Jesus after he rose from the dead. Um, And I use it that way, too. I mean, I'll just say I do use it that way. But sometimes the way it's presented is just simply, well, these people could have not been martyred if they'd simply admitted that Jesus was not risen from the dead. And you might get the impression that every one of them stood with, as it were, a gun to his head saying, confess that Jesus didn't rise from the dead or I'll kill you. And each one of them stood with that testimony. that's not exactly how it happened. Many of them were martyred because simply they were church leaders. Some of them were martyred because they wouldn't burn incense to the Caesar. Some of them were martyred just for going against paganism. And so it's not really the case that each one of them was put on a trial where they had a specific question asked to them. And the wrong answer they die for and the right answer they would, you know, be granted freedom for. And that question is, did Jesus really rise from the dead? OK, that's not how it happened. What is true, though, is that they they went into situations facing deliberate danger and martyrdom. because they believe that Jesus rose from the dead. The point is, if they were not persuaded that Jesus rose from the dead, they wouldn't be risking their lives. Paul himself said that in 1 Corinthians 15. He says, if Jesus isn't risen from the dead, why am I facing these wild beasts and risking my life every hour? So it's not so much that they literally died on the spot for saying Jesus is risen from the dead on an occasion when someone would have said, we'll spare you if you say he didn't. But the point is that their whole careers faced death, faced danger, faced hardship, faced imprisonment and beatings. I mean, the apostles had all that. And the only reason they were motivated to do it is because they believed Jesus was risen from the dead. If they hadn't believed it, they would have gone somewhere else and done something else with their lives and avoided all that danger. So when someone says, well, they all died confessing that Jesus is risen from the dead, And therefore he did. Well, that's true. I mean, that was their confession. That is what they believed. But it's not always the case that somebody would have let them off the hook if they had said, OK, he didn't. I mean, because sometimes people just want to kill their mobs. You know, Nero didn't like Christians in general and killed Paul and Peter and others. So, you know, if what you heard, and you could easily have heard it because I've said things very similar myself, is that, you know, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, these guys wouldn't have risked their lives like this. They all died confessing that Jesus had risen from the dead. And that was, they did. They believed that and they said that right up until the time they died. But it wasn't always that one statement of theirs that was, you know, what got their heads cut off or got them fed to the lions. Sometimes it was more of a the general embrace of Christianity in a hostile world that got them killed.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. The place that I read that James, the son of Zebedee, the son of Joseph, Peter, and Paul were martyred, or at least the external evidence was in Clement, I believe, 1 Clement 5. I'm not too familiar, however, with that book. Is that a church father?
SPEAKER 08 :
Clement of Rome was a bishop in Rome in the generation after the apostles, but not long after the apostles. He was like before the end of the first century. I'm not sure. I think the Catholic Church places him as like the third bishop of Rome or something like that. But Paul, in writing to Rome... mentions Clement, and many people think that's the same Clement that wrote the book Clement of Rome. It's an epistle to the Corinthians that Clement wrote, or that somebody wrote. So we don't know if he's the same Clement that Paul mentioned, but he was certainly a man of the first century church who would be in a prime position to know how Peter and Paul had died and so forth. Now, we don't have any one church father telling us everything about it, but there is, like in Fox's Book of Martyrs, I'm pretty sure he's got most of the apostles named in there, right in the opening chapters of Fox's Book of Martyrs. Sometimes it's not very much detail, but... I don't think there's very many of the apostles that aren't mentioned there. And I don't know what all of his sources were, but, you know, Fox was a historian and would have looked at all the sources available.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you so much. You've all checked that out. Thank you for your time.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay, Ryan. Good talking to you, brother. Thanks for your call. Bye now. All right. See, Jacob in Orange County, California. Welcome.
SPEAKER 05 :
Good afternoon, Steve. Thank you for this ministry. My question is, would you be willing to give a brief hypothetical defense of dispensational eschatology? I'm familiar with some of their teaching points, but I'm curious to hear someone with a gift for teaching as yourself describe their position, and I'll listen to your answer up there. Thank you, Steve.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, sure. Thank you. Well, dispensational theology basically was introduced by a very intelligent man. John Nelson Darby, he's sometimes seen as kind of a villain in the minds of anti-dispensationalists. And there were things about him that were not very savory. He could be very divisive in his personality. In fact, he actually excommunicated one of my favorite people, George Mueller. George Mueller and he were acquainted, and both of them were in the Plymouth Brethren movement. And Darby excommunicated Mueller because he didn't agree with Darby about everything. And so, I mean, the guy was a little divisive. Let's just say quite divisive. And so I don't like Darby much, but there's still... The truth, he's a very brilliant man, and he made a complete translation of the Bible, the Darby Translation, which is still available, usually online. And he wrote lots of books. I think he wrote like over 50 books of theology. And they're not lightweight stuff. So, I mean, he was very persuasive in his own generation in certain evangelical circles. He He was Anglican, and he came out of that and became part of the Plymouth Brethren movement. But his theory was that Christians had been inconsistent throughout history in spiritualizing many Old Testament prophecies. The prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the minor prophets often are spiritualized by all the church fathers, all the medieval church, all the reformers, and in modern times by people like myself, who see many of the prophecies that mention Israel in the Old Testament are in some cases spiritualized, that is interpreted to refer to the spiritual Israel. And that's called spiritualizing. At least that's what people who don't like the practice call it. And so he said, that's not right. If it says Israel, it should be natural Israel. I mean, why do we take Genesis literally and the Gospels literally, but we don't take these prophecies literally when they say Israel and Jerusalem? And so he felt... the church was inconsistent and needed to consistently take things literally, including these Old Testament prophets. And in doing so, of course, he came up with an entirely different theology about Israel than the church had ever held before. And of course, he's living around 1830-ish when this was done. So for the first 1800 years, the church taught a certain theology about Israel and the church And Darby challenged it and said he actually felt he was rediscovering truths that only the apostles had taught. He knew he was going against the whole church for 1,800 years before him. And his view was that there are promises that God made to Israel and Jerusalem that simply have not occurred. That the Messiah was supposed to come and sit on David's throne in Jerusalem and restore Jerusalem to its former glory and glory. And Jesus didn't do that, so that still has to happen. He thought when Jesus comes back, that's got to happen. And so his argument was you find all these prophecies about the Messiah reigning over a restored Israel and Jerusalem and all the nations bringing gifts to him and him ruling the world with a rod of iron and so forth. And since Jesus didn't do that, now Darby's idea was Jesus would have done that. Jesus actually came intending to do that, but couldn't because the Jews rejected him as the Messiah. Now, I'm not sure why God would come and make his program so vulnerable to the Jews' disapproval. I mean, the Jews had rejected all the prophets before. Why would anyone think they'd accept Jesus? You know, I mean, so it's like Jesus comes and says, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is drawn near. And yet it's not going to come because God knows very well that the Jews are going to respond to him exactly as they responded to the prophets before him. So in other words, it wasn't near. It was a mistake or it was, you know, I don't know, conditional or something. But Jesus didn't say the coming of the kingdom was conditional. He didn't say it depended on the Jews accepting him. But Darby said, well, because the Jews didn't accept him, Jesus did not bring the kingdom that he said he was going to bring. It was postponed. Jesus went back to heaven, took with him the kingdom that he had in mind. And he'll bring it back when he comes back. And he'll set up the millennial kingdom and set up the temple in Jerusalem. And he'll reign from Jerusalem, from David's throne, for a thousand years. That's the dispensational idea. And Darby also believed that the church and Israel should never be confused with each other. He felt like that was a big problem the church had done for 1800 years is take these prophecies about Israel and apply them to the church. He said, no, no, no, no, no. The church in Israel, different things. He said the church was an institution that was not even anticipated in the Old Testament. It was a mystery that only was revealed to Paul and the apostles, and therefore it didn't even exist in the Old Testament. It wasn't even anticipated. The church is, he said, a parenthesis because the Jews who God came to bring the kingdom to had rejected christ and caused the kingdom to be postponed there was now this parenthetical phenomenon of god going to the gentiles and creating the body of christ and you know doing what he's doing now until he's done doing that and when he's done doing that he'll rapture the church out of the world But then he'll keep working in the world on the Jews, and the tribulation will be his way of disciplining and bringing the Jews to himself. And then they will come to him, and then Jesus will come and set up the millennium. That's Darby's ideas. Now, there are, I guess you wanted me to give an exegetical polemic in favor of dispensationalism. I used to think I could do that, but it really wasn't exegetical. It was more or less just assumption. It was the assumption that my teachers had told the truth about these things and that interpreting the Bible the way my teachers did is the only honest and faithful way of handling Scripture. And it took me years of my own study of Scripture to realize that that's not the best way to interpret Scripture. I didn't know what dispensationalism was. I was dispensational. I never heard the term before. I just thought dispensationalism, or I should say, I thought what they were teaching me was what the Bible teaches. They didn't tell me. My teachers never told me. This is a view called dispensationalism. I had to discover that the hard way over years after teaching dispensationalism without knowing that it was that. But I found out that the early church actually had been more accurate in the way that they handled scriptures. That the apostles in the New Testament, when they quoted Old Testament scriptures, the very ones that Darby said should be taken literally about the literal Israel and Jerusalem, whenever the apostles quoted those scriptures, they didn't take them literally. They applied them to the church. And that's why the whole church understood them that way. They thought the apostles were right. And that Jesus was right because he did the same thing. When they quoted... Old Testament passages, which Darby thinks we should apply to Israel and Jerusalem, and which dispensationalists say we should, the apostles and Jesus didn't take them that way. They took them in a spiritual sense and thought that Jesus actually came to fulfill the prophets and that he did not fail to do so. At the end of his life, Jesus prayed and he said, Father, I have finished the work you gave me to do. He didn't say, hey, I tried, but the Jews wouldn't let it happen, so sorry, God, I couldn't do it. No, he said, I finished it. And this is what the church has always believed, that Jesus did not fail. He succeeded. And I don't think there's a good exegetical case for dispensationalism, but there's just a grid you can read the Bible through in order to think about it that way. Hey, I'm out of time for this segment. I'll be back in about 30 seconds or so. Please stay tuned.
SPEAKER 09 :
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SPEAKER 08 :
Welcome back to the Narrow Path radio broadcast. My name is Steve Gregg, and we're live for another half hour, taking your calls. If you have questions about the Bible or about the Christian faith, feel free to give me a call. The number is 844-825-8000. 484-5737. And you're always welcome to call if you disagree with me about something too. Again, our website has been down for a few days. Hopefully it'll be up. I don't know. It could be up today, tomorrow. I'm not sure. It might be down for a while. If you're used to, you know, listening to things from our website, we've got thousands of things there to listen to on a regular basis. And you're kind of going through withdrawal because the site's down. Go to this alternative website, It's called theos, T-H-E-O-S, theos.org slash media. It at least has all, I think, has the archives of the radio show and it's got the lectures there. And that's mostly what people want when they go to our website. Our website has some other things, too, that aren't there. But essentially, you know, if you're listening to the lectures or the archives, you can get them there, too. All right, at least last I checked. I haven't been there for a long time myself, but I hope it's up and running too. Technology is not always our friend, but it certainly has been convenient sometimes. Okay, let's talk next to Roberto from Kansas City, Missouri. Hi, Roberto.
SPEAKER 07 :
Hi, Steve, Greg. Thank you for taking my call. I would like to ask you, Well, I watch you on YouTube. That's mainly where I get your program and everything. How can we pray in a godly manner for our president not to be set up the way he was today? All we can pray is that, you know, God's will be done. That's all I've been praying for lately is God's will be done. We learned the hard way over the last, like, you know, to elections. And, um, he was set up today to go to this, uh, church service where the, uh, pastor, if you will, uh, was begging him for mercy on, um, on the homosexual community, gay rights and, uh, migrants. Um, how can we pray, uh, for his spiritual direction and leadership? Because he has apparently surrounded himself with the same crowd like, um, Paula White was a prosperity gospel person.
SPEAKER 08 :
Is she still in the picture there? I didn't know she was still in the picture. I thought he'd moved on to someone like Jack Hibbs.
SPEAKER 07 :
I thought she was out of the picture, but I pulled up a video that was just done two months ago. by Forbes, which is, you know, a liberal source. But two months ago, she was praying over him with that type of crowd. So I didn't know that either.
SPEAKER 08 :
Okay, let me jump in. Let me jump in here. I hadn't heard about what happened today. So I don't know anything about that. But as far as being set up, I'm not sure how you mean that. I mean, the president is going to be challenged about lots of things throughout his term and should be. Presidents always should be. And I didn't obviously hear how he responded. So I can't tell. But all I can say, if your question is how shall we pray for him? I mean, if that's not just a way of you making some statements, but you're really wondering how should we pray for him, I think we should pray for him to be wise and for him to be committed to justice. And, of course, we should pray for him and everybody that they be converted to Christ. Now, I don't know. I'm not going to say he's not a Christian. He doesn't. If he's a Christian, I don't think he's a very mature Christian, and I don't think he's been discipled very thoroughly, obviously. So we could pray either that he'll get converted, or if he has been converted, that he'll be properly discipled, that he'll have better Christian influences around him, hopefully, than Paula White, and that he'll be a wise ruler. Yeah. I also pray for his protection since there's, I don't think we've had a more hated president. Although, I mean, some people obviously almost idolize him, which is bad too. We don't want to idolize him, but he's a very polarizing figure. In my opinion, I don't think he did anything to encourage that polarization, but it's just the fact. I think he's following his conscience, if I'm not mistaken. I don't know him, so he might be worse than I think. I've heard him give speeches. I've watched how he governed before. He was a president before, after all. and you know i've actually seen how he conducted himself in the years he was not president since then so my impression is that he's he's got some convictions and he's he's trying to put them forward and fortunately they are agreeable with the constitution and you know if he had constant if he had convictions that were unconstitutional i'd be very concerned because he kind of moves moves like a bulldozer uh you know forward with his programs um But it seems to me, as far as I can tell, the main controversial features of his plans are quite in keeping with the Constitution, which is what the president's supposed to be. Now, some people, but he doesn't follow the Bible. Well, I don't know what he does in terms of following the Bible, but the job description of the president is not about following the Bible. I think everybody should follow the Bible, including the president. I don't know if we have any national leaders around the world who do follow the Bible, and I don't know that Trump does either. But the special job description of the president is to uphold the Constitution. which is something our previous president had no interest in doing. In fact, he allegedly added an amendment to the Constitution just as he was walking out the door, which, of course, a president can't do. That's unconstitutional itself. So, I mean, we've had a president for four years who had no interest in the Constitution, just his own agendas. Now, Trump has agendas, too. No question about that. But as near as I can tell, his main agenda is to restore Congress. a constitutional integrity to the government. He might have other agendas too, but as long as he does restore constitutional integrity, that's a positive. It'll be a net positive that he became president in that case. But we should pray that he will be able to do what's good and that he will fail if he has any plans that are evil, and that he'll be converted, and that he'll be kept safe from assassins, I would say. You know, I didn't specifically pray that for many presidents before, but But this one's had a couple of attempts on his life, and I don't think his assassins or would-be assassins have gone anywhere. I don't think they've gone away. So those are the ways I would pray for him. And, you know, inherent in the prayer that he would have wisdom is that he would know how to address situations like the one you described today. And, of course, presidents have to face those all the time. They face challenges, and they should be able to. I think he's up to it. But on the other hand... He doesn't always know the truth. He's not omniscient. So we should pray that God will give him wisdom in those situations. Thank you for your call. All right, we're going to talk next to Oscar in Napa, California. Oscar, welcome.
SPEAKER 02 :
Hey, Steve. Enjoy your ministry. I learned a lot from it. A lot of Hebrews. about Melchizedek. I heard some people say, I don't know if it's true or not, but some say he wasn't a human being. Was he a real man? Because they say he had no descendants, no mother or father. And I was just curious. Can you answer that for me?
SPEAKER 08 :
I think I can, but not everyone would agree with me. Melchizedek, appeared very briefly at the end of Genesis 14 and met with Abraham. And there's a very brief description of the transaction between them. And it's mysterious because he kind of appears out of nowhere. He's described as a priest of the Most High God and the King of Salem, which most scholars think refers to Jerusalem at the time. Now, remember, Jerusalem in Abraham's day, it was not a Jewish city. There were no Jews. Jerusalem was a pagan city, a Canaanite city in those days. So If he was the king of Jerusalem, he was ruling a pagan Canaanite people. Now, Jewish tradition holds that he was Shem, the last surviving son of Noah. And it is true that Shem, if you follow the chronology, Shem would still be alive at that time. So that would explain why Abraham died. would show such deference to Melchizedek if he was Shem, because Abram was descended from Shem. He is a Shemite or a Semite himself, as Jewish people today understand themselves to be also. So, you know, the Jews think he was Shem. Now, the author of Hebrews did not think that was a satisfying answer. He thought there were things about Melchizedek that would not apply to Shem. And I have to agree. I mean, it does say in Hebrews, he had no father, no mother, no beginning of days, nor end of life. Now, this would suggest he wasn't an ordinary man, that he was a divine being, almost like when an angel comes to earth, although I think it was more a theophany. You remember when Jacob wrestled with a man all night? The man just kind of showed up, wrestled all night, and then went away. The man presumably was God, at least that's how Jacob understood it, God in a human-type appearance to interact with Jacob. And I kind of think Melchizedek is like that, that he just kind of showed up that he is God. We might even say Christ, the Word, in his pre-incarnate state, coming in a human form to meet with Abraham and to bless him and to allow Abraham to interact with him face-to-face as if he was a human. Now, when God does that, and he does it several times in the Old Testament, although the Bible doesn't tell us in the Old Testament that Melchizedek is an example of this phenomenon, but there are other examples of that phenomenon in the Old Testament. I think Melchizedek probably is. because that would be the only case in which he's without father and without mother. and no beginning of days or end of life. Now, those who don't take this view, who think he's maybe Shem, or maybe that he's just some other guy who was a king of Salem at the time, and many commentators don't believe he's Christ, or don't believe he's God, they would say, well, when it says he had no father or mother, it just means his father and mother were not recorded. And when it says he had no beginning of days or end of life, it means his birth and death were not recorded. Well, that's hardly worth mentioning. Most of the people in the Bible who are named, their births and deaths are not recorded. In many cases, their parents are not recorded. But if it was Shem, his parentage is known. He's the son of Noah and Noah's wife. So we don't know the exact birthday to celebrate of his birth, but we do have record of his birth. Noah had three sons, it says. That means they were born. Shem, Ham, and Japheth. So If he was actually Shem, as the Jews believe, the writer of Hebrews wasn't buying it. Because even if he was saying he has no recorded parentage, well, that wouldn't be true of Shem. I don't believe he's saying there's no recorded parentage. He could have said that if he wanted to. And by the way, if it was Shem, I'm not sure why Moses, when he was writing Genesis, wouldn't just mention it was Shem. After all, Moses had recorded that Shem had been one of the sons of Noah who came out of the ark and that Shem was an ancestor of Abraham. That's all recorded in the Genesis. Why would he not refer to him as Shem? Why would he refer to him by a term that means king of righteousness? So I don't think we can easily get away from the fact that the writer of Hebrews was identifying Melchizedek as Christ himself. And I have a whole discussion about that. If you go to my lectures on Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 7, I go into this in great detail. And normally I could say you'd find that at our website, thenarrowpath.com. But as I said earlier, our website's kind of down for the moment, but you can go to theos.org. dot org slash medium and find those lectures and i do go in depth both in my lecture on genesis 14 and in my lecture on hebrews 7. i go into that in much more detail i appreciate your call brother all right thanks thanks for joining us all right we're going to talk next to james from fresno california james welcome
SPEAKER 04 :
Hey, Steve, thanks for taking my call. Just real quick, in regards to the website, I was just on there. I'm on an iPhone. Is it working? It was working, but I had to bypass the warning that Safari gave me saying that somebody was trying to impersonate the website. So I just click on Go Ahead and View Anyway and take the risk. And that way I was able to finish your book today, which was phenomenal, by the way.
SPEAKER 08 :
Which one is that, The Empire of the Rising Sun?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I just finished both books, and I've got to say, I've been waiting to read that for years. I just didn't know it was out there. I came across it recently, and man, I'm so impressed. I feel so blessed that I was able to read that. You explain things in a way that, like I said, I've just been waiting to hear for a long time. You did it in a way that you just take out all all the biased theology, all the denominationalism, and I really appreciate your honesty and your integrity in writing that. Thank you. In fact, I just finished it a couple hours ago, like I said, and I really just wanted to call and thank you. But I did have one question that's been bugging me for a long time, and I was hoping you could elaborate a little more. In the book, you said that the disciples prayed to the Father, and that we as disciples... should pray to the Father also. And I was just wondering if you could maybe get a little more in-depth on what's the difference in our prayer life when we pray to the Father, pray to Jesus, and how we include the Holy Spirit in that. And one more thing I just want to know, do you have any kind of curriculum about discipleship that I can share with my church, and maybe I might be able to lead, I might be able to borrow from you?
SPEAKER 08 :
I haven't prepared any curriculum, but the second book of the Empire of the Risen Sun, you know, book two?
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 08 :
I intended that to be, you know, at least functional as a curriculum for discipleship. It definitely is. It's all about discipleship, and I think it's quite practical and goes into the weeds, even about, you know, application and so forth. So I I don't have it laid out as sort of a curriculum with lead questions and workbooks or anything like that. But I could see, and I'd certainly welcome anybody taking that material and developing it into a curriculum. You know, I would think that, you know, if someone wanted to, or I mean, they could, like I said, they could make a curriculum out of it. But if they didn't want to go to that trouble, they could just have a study group where they'd each read it. You know, they'd read a chapter of it each week and get together and discuss it and look up the scriptures in it and talk about it. You know, there's 40 chapters in those two books. So it'd make almost close to a year's curriculum. But I don't have anything prepared in the form of a curriculum. No, I'm sorry to say.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay. Well, I'm so thankful that you have the book, at least. And I'll definitely use that.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, brother.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right. Thank you, brother.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 08 :
I'll talk about the prayer. Thank you. Yeah. Jesus said that we should pray to the Father in his name. That is in Jesus' name. Now, the Bible also talks about us praying in the Holy Spirit. And praying in the Holy Spirit, I believe, means directed by the Holy Spirit and, you know, through empowered by the Holy Spirit. So, I mean, the Holy Spirit is living inside of us, so he's active in our prayers, at least he should be. We need to count on that to be so, that the Holy Spirit will be guiding us and directing us in our prayers, energizing our prayers, convicting us about what we need to pray about, and so forth. But our prayers, of course, are the actual utterances, the actual petitions we present. to God, external to us. The Holy Spirit is in us, but we're addressing God who's out there, just like Jesus did. Obviously the Father was in Christ, but Jesus spoke to the Father as someone external also. So praying to the Father is simply what Jesus taught us to do. He said, when you pray, say, Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Or Paul said, I bow my knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. in, I guess it's Ephesians chapter 3, you know, the apostles, when they prayed in Acts... chapter 4, when they addressed their prayer, they said, Lord, which could be Jesus or could be the Father, but as you read on what they said, they go on and speak to the Lord and say, for truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. So they refer to Jesus as the holy servant of the one they're speaking to, which of course would be the Father. So we find, you know, prayers to the Father just as Jesus instructed us to pray to the Father. Now, prayer in Jesus' name, many people don't understand what that means, but that simply means praying to the Father with the authorization and access that Christ's name grants us. You know, it's like if there's a, you know, a card slot to enter into the throne room, and you've got Christ's access card, you know, you're authorized, as long as you got it legitimately. You know, you've got authorization to come in. And that's what the name of Jesus is. Jesus is our authorization to come before the Father as if we were him. And, of course, with that authorization comes the obligation to pray in his interest for In other words, Jesus doesn't just give us an Aladdin's lamp and says, listen, say Jesus, and that's like rubbing the lamp, and then whatever comes out, your wish is our command, God's command. No, when you act in someone else's name, you're acting on their behalf. You're acting as their agent. You're doing what they would do. And with their authorization to do it. So praying is that way, too. When you pray in Jesus' name, you're going to the Father, authorized by Christ, to go as if you were him. And to pray such prayers as he would be inclined to pray, according to his will. And that's what prayer in Jesus' name means. But it's the Father we're praying to. Now, some people say, well, is it okay if I pray to Jesus or pray to the Holy Spirit? Well, I'll just tell you. Prayer, technically, is presenting petitions to God. And Jesus said, present your petitions to the Father. That doesn't mean you can't speak to Jesus or even to the Holy Spirit. But I think we've tended to use the word prayer to be kind of an umbrella term for every time we say anything to God, that's part of our prayer life. Well, prayer is part of our relationship with God. But there are other parts of our relationship with God, too. are thanksgiving, worship, praise. Those aren't exactly the same thing as prayer, but they are presented to God just as petitions are. So prayer and praise and thanksgiving are all parts of our relationship with God. Now, Jesus made it very clear when we present our petitions, we should present them to the Father. And that's what the apostles did when they prayed. They put presented petitions to the Father. That doesn't mean you can't praise Jesus or that you can't even just, as far as I'm concerned, converse with him. I find it very natural to converse both with Jesus and with God and, you know, in my life. So there's nothing wrong, I think, at least the Bible doesn't say there's anything wrong with speaking to Jesus or even to the Holy Spirit, though I don't know of any case of that being done. The thing is, It's not wrong. I mean, we have a relationship with God. We have with the Father and with the Son and with the Holy Spirit. It's just that the Father is the one that Jesus tells us to bring our requests to. Because it's the Father who will grant them. And he'll grant them because we're praying as agents of Christ, authorized by Christ, presenting the prayers that Christ himself would approve of being prayed and that he himself would pray. So that's what it means to pray to the Father in Jesus' name. I appreciate you asking. Let's talk to Tim from Marietta, Georgia. Tim, welcome.
SPEAKER 01 :
Hi. Good afternoon, Steve Gregg. I hope you're doing well. So I had a quick question. I have a grandfather who's about in his late 80s and his son or my uncle who is in his late 50s. you could say converted maybe a decade ago to Islam, even though my grandfather raised all of his kids in a Christian upbringing, but maybe he was not faithfully secure. But recently, my uncle, when he visits my grandfather, he would bring his mat and demand to pray, or choose to pray in my grandfather's house, and in one of the rooms, not like within the presence of my grandfather, but in a room within his house. And I was just wondering if, you know, what steps, whether that's, whether my grandfather has the ability to communicate to him that he's not able to pray in the house, or what steps he should take as a Christian man. Because I know in Deuteronomy 7, they talk about not worshiping or not encouraging the worship of idols, but I'm wondering if that's a plus to that situation.
SPEAKER 08 :
Right. Well, first of all, your grandfather has every right to forbid any activity in his house that he doesn't want happening there. It is his domain. It's just like he could forbid someone from bringing their girlfriend over and sleeping with them when they're a guest in his house. It's his home. He can maintain it and its sanctity however he sees fit. Different people have had different opinions. Different Christians have had different opinions exactly about the identity of Allah. I personally would not feel comfortable having anyone praying to Allah in my house because I don't believe that that's necessarily acceptable to God. Some people have seen things a bit differently than that. But I think that if your grandfather has objection to it as a Christian, He should just tell, is it your cousin I think you're talking about? You should tell him that he, you know, he can't do that there. I mean, if he wants to pray outside on the lawn, you know, or out in the car or whatever, he could do that. But he doesn't want that happening under his roof. Now, some might feel it's unkind or unfair, but once again, A person has to go by their own convictions. You know, I mean, some people would not allow statues in their home, even if they're not in any sense being worshipped. But they might say, well, this is this, you know, we got this from, you know, some African tribe or something. We don't know. They might have worshipped it. So I don't want it in my home. I mean, a person would have every right to do that. Although, I mean, I also think that'd be up to them because I'm not so sure that a statue, you know, is itself an idol unless someone's worshipping it. So anyway, that'd be simply a matter of conviction. I think your grandfather's convictions about that should be honored by anyone who comes into his home. I'm not saying what his conviction should necessarily be about it, simply because I'm aware of more than one Christian way to look at this whole issue of Allah. You know, the Athenians were worshipping a god they didn't know. They had an altar to the unknown god. And when Paul saw it, he said, I saw a lot of false gods, a lot of idols in your city, but there was also an idol to one you call the unknown God. And I'm here to tell you about him, this one that you worship ignorantly. I'm here to tell you who he is. In other words, he considered that the Athenians may well have been worshiping the true God, but didn't know him and needed to know him. And so it's possible that some Muslims are worshiping the true God, but they don't know him properly. They don't have accurate knowledge of him. So, I mean, that's one way that some have understood it. I'm not pushing one way or the other of seeing this. But, yeah, I'd just say your grandfather should make his own decision according to his conscience about that. Oh, I'm sorry, we're out of time. I'd like to tell you, you can donate at the website, but I'm not sure you can get there. So if you wish to donate to help us stay on the air, you can write to The Narrow Path, P.O. Box 1730, Temecula, California, 92593. And our website is thenarrowpath.com. Thanks for joining us. Let's talk tomorrow.
Join us on a reflective journey through Job chapters 25 and 26 where Bildad questions the righteousness of man before the divine presence of God. Witness Job's magnificent recognition of God's unsearchable majesty. Delve into personal insights from years of Bible reading, exploring the timeless questions of purity and the humility in understanding God's omnipotence.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Alan J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
Today we come upon Job chapter 25 and 26. We haven't heard from Bildad in a while, so he has something to say about Job concerning righteousness. Then Job gives us his reply that God's majesty is unsearchable. So let's listen to Bildad in chapter 25 and Job in chapter 26. Job 25
Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, "'Dominion and fear are with God.
He makes peace in His high heaven. Is there any number to His armies? Upon whom does His light not arise? How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who was born of woman be pure?' Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes. How much less man who is a maggot, and the son of man who is a worm!
Job 26 Then Job answered and said, How you have helped him who has no power!
How you have saved the arm that has no strength! How you have counseled him who has no wisdom, and plentifully declared sound knowledge! With whose help have you uttered words, and with whose breath has come out from you? The dead tremble under the waters and their inhabitants. Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering. He stretches out the north over the void, and hangs the earth on nothing. He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not split open under them. He covers the face of the full moon and spreads over it his cloud. He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness. The pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke. By his power he stilled the sea. By his understanding he shattered Rahab. By his wind the heavens were made fair. His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him. But the thunder of his power, who can understand?
In 1984, I read Job chapters 24 through 28 on the same day. And concerning chapter 25, I wrote, How can a man be right before God? In 1997, I read Job 22 through 28 on the same day, and part of my journal entry is, Man cannot figure out God or His ways, yet we try in our limited wisdom to do so. And in 2015, I read Job 24 and 25 on one day, and 26 and 27 on the next day. Concerning chapter 25, I wrote, Bildad reminds us that none are pure before God. True. True. None righteous. No, not one. Concerning chapter 26, I wrote, Though his friends speak, Job is unsure they are hearing from God. And I was referencing verse 4 of chapter 26. Job offers some amazing science as he credits God with hanging the earth on nothing. 26, verse 7. He credits God with so much that his majesty is not understandable by men.
26, 14.
Let's take a look at Job 25 and 26. In chapter 25, Bildad speaks. Verse 4 is the key to this short chapter. He says, "...how then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure?" I'd like to refer to my English Standard Version Study Bible footnote concerning this question. My footnote says this question is repeated several times throughout the dialogue between Job and his friends in slightly different forms. It is asked originally by Eliphaz, recast and used by Job in his second speech, repeated and reinforced by Eliphaz, and returned to again here by Bildad in the final speech of the friends. So let's go back and see where this question has already appeared in our study of the book of Job. It was first raised in chapter 4, verse 17 by Eliphaz. That time it was phrased this way. Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his maker? Next, Job refers to this thought in chapter 9, verse 2. He says it this way, Truly I know that it is so, but how can a man be in the right before God? Eliphaz again repeats this thought in chapter 15, verse 14. He says it this way, What is man that he can be pure, or he who is born of a woman that he can be righteous? And that brings us here to chapter 25, where Bildad states it this way, How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of a woman be pure? However the question is cast, the answer is the same. Man cannot be righteous before God. We have a sinful nature. God is holy. That is the great divide bridged by the cross of Jesus. If you expect to stand before God in your purity or your righteousness, you will fail. Good is not good enough before a holy God. These questions in their various forms remind us of this. But praise God, there is an answer. It's in the New Testament. Jesus bridges the gap between sinful people and a holy God. My prayer as we go through Ad Bible is that you understand this concept. It is vital to your eternity. Jesus says in John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. That's not religion. That's not theology. That's the words of Jesus himself. I pray you've made such a decision to accept Jesus as your Savior, allowing him to bridge the gap between your sinful nature and the holiness of our Almighty God. Now let's look at chapter 26, where Job declares the majesty of this Almighty God. let's begin with verse seven he stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing he binds up the waters in his thick clouds and the cloud is not split open under them he covers the face of the full moon and spreads over it his cloud he has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness The pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke. By his power he stilled the sea, by his understanding he shattered Rahab. By his wind the heavens were made fair, his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him, but the thunder of his power, who can understand? Yes, God's majesty is unsearchable. That's why man cannot stand before a God like this. Father, we thank you that in our humanity, we try to understand you, but we cannot. Your majesty is unsearchable. It is unfathomable to the human mind. So often we are guilty of putting you in a small box. It's our attempt to somehow grasp who you are, to understand your attributes. Forgive us, Lord. Thanks for reminding us in Job chapter 26. that you are majestic, you are glorious, you are holy. Thank you for reaching down from your heavenly throne and providing Jesus, your Son, to bridge the gap between sinful humanity and you, a holy, majestic God. What a gift. We accept it. In Jesus' name, amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. You know, sometimes we need a plumb line, a true north, a solid basis of truth to live life. We're not going to find it in the media or in social media or Google or your friends, but it is available right at your fingertips. Pilate asked Jesus in John 18, 38, what is truth? The chapter before, Jesus had answered the question in his prayer to God for his disciples. In the 17th verse, Jesus pleads with the Father, Sanctify them in the truth. Thy word is truth. So what would it be like if everyone, everywhere, read the Bible every day? Wow, it might be heaven on earth. What would it be like if every Christian read the Bible every day? Would we be better ambassadors for Christ? What would it be like if everyone in your community read the Bible every day? Would we have greater impact in our communities? And what would it be like if you personally read the Bible every day? Could you use a closer walk with Jesus? Could you use a light unto your path and a lamp unto your feet to walk through this life? Could you use a spiritual power surge in your life? Matthew 22, 29, Jesus speaking to the Sadducees said, You are mistaken not understanding the scriptures or the power of God. Yes, the scriptures can give us power to live this life. So I'm going to give you three easy action steps to make the Bible worth your time each and every day. Number one, commit to daily Bible reading. Commit to seek God and His Word daily, every day. And if you miss a day, start again the next day. Change your belief about God's Word to behavior in God's Word. Use any of our Ezra Project resources to help you. Visit EzraProject.net to get an Ezra Project Bible reading journal or one of our day-by-day through the Bible books. Commit today and visit EzraProject.net for easy-to-use resources for your daily time in God's Word. Number two, be intentional. Decide what you want out of your Bible reading. I got to visit the headquarters of Back to the Bible once in Lincoln, Nebraska, and in one hallway down one side, they had scribbled all the reasons people say they don't read the Bible. On the other side were all the reasons people do read the Bible. And I want to give you some of those to encourage you. On that wall, it said, God wants me to. Yes, God wants you to read the Bible. Do you want to meet with Him daily? Because He'll meet with you every day through His Word. Number two, it changes me. Where could you be in one year with more Bible reading in your life? Number three, it improves my outlook on life. Yeah, turn out the bad news and saturate yourself with good news from the Word of God. Number four, it keeps me grounded. Yes, when the storms of life come, and they will, can you stand? Yes, you'll stand better and more solid because you're in the Word of God. Next, it keeps my heart soft. Yeah, Nehemiah 8, when people heard the Word, they wept and they worshipped. You will do the same as the Word softens your heart. Lastly, on the wall, it said, it keeps my daily focus on God. Yeah, that's a great reason to read the Bible. You'll gain the spiritual power to live life in our secular world. And then thirdly and lastly, feed your soul. Let God minister to your soul. Hebrews 4.12 says the Word of God pierces between your soul and your spirit, between joints and marrow, and is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of your heart. Nothing else goes that deep. I don't know where the place is between my soul and my spirit, but I want to put the Word of God there each and every day of my life. I hope you do too. God bless you as you spend time in God's Word.
Join us as we dissect Ezekiel's message, learning how the enduring truths from the scripture can inform our daily walk with God. Through passionate teaching, Jeff Archie reminds listeners of God's desire for repentance and the abundant life He offers to those who turn from wicked ways. We also explore how these teachings apply to raising our children, sharing our faith, and living a life fully dedicated to God's purpose. It is a call to action, a call to live as God intended, and an invitation to engage more deeply with His Word.
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How can we then live? You know, that was asked in the long ago, and the answer was given then, and it is given now. We're going to search the Scriptures for how can we then live? That's today from the International Gospel Hour. Stay right here.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hi, this is Jay Webb for International Gospel Hour. For 90 years, churches of Christ have proclaimed God's Word through International Gospel Hour. You are about to listen to another Bible-based lesson with Jeff Archie of International Gospel Hour, starting now.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, thank you to our J-Web, and greetings and hello everyone. It's always great having you with us for our studies here from the International Gospel Hour broadcast. We're grateful that we can study today a question asked in the long ago. You know, Hebrews 11, 6 says, "...but without faith it is impossible to please Him, that being God." For he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. May we seek God through our study today as we go to the Old Testament in the book of Ezekiel to consider the question beforehand. I'm going to read Ezekiel 33 verses 1 through 10. Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, When he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people that whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning. His blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but the blood I will require at the watchman's hand. Now verse 7, So you, son of man, that is Ezekiel, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Therefore you shall hear a word from my mouth and warn them for me. When I say to the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul. Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus you say, if our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, How can we then live? Friends, that is our question for our study. How can we then live? Now, before we study this section of text, we have a free magazine for our teens in the audience. Well, maybe it could be a gift for your children or grandchildren. Here is our J-Web with the details.
SPEAKER 03 :
Courtesy of our friends at apologeticspress.org, we at International Gospel Hour have a limited supply of Valor and Virtue, a Christian apologetics magazine for teens. It is a great resource for any age, but especially for the challenging teen years. Get your free copy today by calling toll-free at 855-444-6988. Leave your name and address and just say, Valor. That's it. Again, that's 855-444-6988. Leave your name and address and just say, Valor. You can also request it through our website at internationalgospelhour.com. Click on the contact tab and leave us your name and address and put Valor in the message box. We will send you a copy while supplies last. So get yours quickly.
SPEAKER 01 :
In Ezekiel 33, friends, our chapter in consideration, this chapter is called a chapter of charge or a challenge from God with warnings and the plea and command of obedience in light of the warnings that God brings forth, especially through this son of man, Ezekiel. Now in the verses we've read we see the charge of a watchman in warning the people for the people to listen and to obey and to respect the warnings that would come. Now this language is similar to that of Ezekiel 3 verses 17 through 21 with verse 7 here in Ezekiel 33 clearly showing Ezekiel as the watchman God has brought forth. So this great question, how can we then live, in verse 10, and in the verse it says, if we pine away in them, or pine away is a phrase that means to become hardened. It's like death, if you will. And one pines away in sin, then where is life to come? Or what kind of life do you really have, Israel? So when the question is asked, how can we then live, may I go to verse 11 now of Ezekiel 33 for the answer. Say to them, as I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways, for why should you die, O house of Israel? Then with specific warnings God brings forth in verse 12, the conclusion is simple. In verse 13, to those that turn from God, well, you will die. But to those that turn to God, you will live. That's verses 14 through 16. So friends, the question, how can we then live? The answer is the same. One must turn to God in order to live. Now, we are reminded of Peter's words in 2 Peter 3 and verse 9, how the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men would count slackness, but how the Lord is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. You see, he's not willing that any should perish, and as noted from Ezekiel 33, 11, he has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. But he wants all to come to repentance, a continual, beautiful plea from God to this very day. So friends, let's bring forth some lessons here. Let's live for God the way he wants us to live. A lot of us will create our own religion, our own ideas. Oh, I've had individuals look at scriptures concerning salvation, and they'll say, I know that's what it says, but here's what I think. Friends, that's dangerous. When we see what God says through His Word, we need to think upon that and apply that, not begin to determine our own things. You see, let's live the way God wants us to live. In Psalm 56 and verse 9, the psalmist said, When I cry unto thee, then shall my enemies turn back. This I know, for God is for me. You see, God is for all of us. Why would one want to die spiritually when he sent his Son to die for us? He so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. That beautiful passage of John 3.16. In 1 John 4 and verse 8, God is defined as love. God is love. And how He expressed that love to us in sending His Son. You see, God is for us. God wants no one to be lost. He has done everything possible for you and I to obey Him. Now the charge is upon us. just like it was in the days of Israel. May I submit to you, secondly, let us live for God and tell others, like we're striving to do here at International Gospel Hour. We bring forth this broadcast, and we bring it forth so we can reach the masses with the gospel message, the best message, the only message that will change our lives for good. We have a life to live by telling others with the charge of the Great Commission that Jesus gave in Matthew 28, 18-20. In Mark 16, beginning with verse 15, Luke 24, beginning with verse 47, and John 20, beginning with verse 21. We need to tell others about the Christ. That's one purpose that we bring forth here. A study of the Word of God that when we take the Word of God to study, to show ourselves approved unto God, to be workmen that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing or cutting aright the Word of Truth, 2 Timothy 2.15. We are able to give an answer of the hope that is within us with meekness and fear, 1 Peter 3.15. We need to live for God and let others know, and we need to live for God as our children need to live for God. To those arrows in the hand of a mighty man to be aimed and guided, Psalm 127, verses 3 and 4. Proverbs 22, 16 says, Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Children need training, or this training a child in the original Hebrew language means to place a bit in the horse's mouth, to guide, to break, to lead in the right way. Earlier in our broadcast, our J-Web shared with you a free publication of Valor and Virtue for Teens. Well, friends, we want everyone to live for God. How can we then live? We can live by turning to God. With that being said, friends, we'd like to once again mention a new Bible study available by mail. We've talked about this in several broadcasts. It is titled, God and Man, How to be Saved from Sin. This study booklet addresses a number of questions about the salvation from God to man, and friends, like all of our materials, it's absolutely free. Do you want to know how you then can live? Turn to God and we think this book will help you. Now here's what you do. Call us toll free at 855-444-6988. Leave your name and address and just say God and man. That's all you have to do. Again, that's 855-444-6988. Leave your name and address and just say God and man. Or you can go to our website at internationalgospelhour.com, click on the contact tab and leave the same information, name, address, and type God and man in the message box. This is another new Bible study that is free from the International Gospel Hour. Friends, what we also want to do is continue these thoughts in our next broadcast from Ezekiel 33. And with that being said, thank you for joining me today on the International Gospel Hour. I'm Jeff Archie, and friends, keep listening.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you for listening to our broadcast today. To God goes all the glory, and we hope that our study today will draw you closer to His Word to walk in His way. To listen to it again or our other broadcasts, please visit our website at internationalgospelhour.com.
This episode provides a meaningful exploration of how God's blessings are more than mere words—they're powerful, transformative, and multi-generational. Pastor Rick explains the biblical concept of makarios, a state where all needs are met and fulfilled, and shares inspiring stories of faith and trust in God. Discover how living a blessable life can impact your family and community, creating a legacy that endures for generations.
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Pastor Rick's Daily Hope Pastor Rick's going to kick off a powerful new series called Discover Your Destiny. And in this life-changing journey, you'll uncover how to grow in every area of your life, spiritually, emotionally, financially, physically, mentally, vocationally, and relationally. So let's dive right into God's Word and discover how to make the next 10 years the best years of your life. And now here's Rick with part one of a message called Your Choice, Blessed or Stressed.
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One of the most common phrases I'm sure you've heard on a daily basis is the phrase, God bless you. God bless you. What in the world does that mean? What is a blessing? Can anybody define it? I mean, most people wouldn't know a blessing if it hit them flat in the face. When you pray God bless my family, God bless my work, God bless my church, God bless America, what are you praying? What is a blessing? I spent the last two weeks studying this subject and I studied every single verse in the Bible and every promise of blessing for God on your life. Because that's what we're talking about when we go into the decade of destiny. You know, as your pastor, the Bible holds me accountable for your spiritual growth. I don't take that lightly. In fact, it keeps me up at night. And if you choose to put yourself in this family, in this flock, under my spiritual care, the Bible says I am accountable to God to help you grow. I want the next 10 years of your life to be the best 10 years of your life. I want you to be more blessed and less stressed. in the next 10 years. I want God's blessing on your finances. I want God's blessing on your health, your relationship, your family, if you're married, your children. I want God's blessing in every area of your life and on your life. Now what is a blessing? The word actually means good word. It means to speak a good word. But a blessing is a powerful word because when God blesses someone or something, he takes what they naturally have and he multiplies it And he makes it sufficient to meet all of your needs. That's what a blessing is. Do you remember the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, that miracle where they were out in the middle of the desert and nobody brought any food. One little kid had a lunch and he gave it to Jesus. Jesus took that little lunch of that little boy, five little rolls and a couple of fish, and he raised it up to heaven and he blessed it. And then he broke it and it multiplied and it met everybody's needs. Now, that's what happens when you are blessed. All your needs are met. Now, the common word for blessing in the Bible, in the Greek, which the Bible was originally in the New Testament was written in Greek, is the word makarios. And makarios, interesting, was the same word that they used for the island of Cyprus in ancient times, because Cyprus was famous for being an island that was self-contained in that everything you needed to sustain life was already on the island. It was famous for that. So the people didn't have to go off the island for anything they didn't need. The island was self-sustaining. It had all of the needs met there. And to be blessed, makarios, means that all of your needs are met and they're all sustained. Now God's blessing on your life is not limited to how big your needs are. God's blessing on your life is not limited to how you got those needs. It may be your own stupidity, your own fault that you got into that need. God's blessing is not based on the resources available. It's based on his power and your trust and obedience to what he tells you to do. You know, I read a story recently about a man who was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for seven years in the famous Hanoi Hilton. And he said, you know, for seven years, my daily meal was a bowl of broth. Really, it was just colored water. There was never any meat in it, seldom any vegetables. It was just pretty watered down broth. And he said, but you know, every day I would take that meal and I would pray and I would ask God to bless it. And he said, somehow God used that to be like meat and potatoes and it kept me alive for seven years. When I wouldn't have had it, stayed alive on my own. God says, I want to bless your life. And what I wanna do before we get into the second half of the message today is in the first half, give you a summary of all that the Bible says about his blessings on your life. Now this isn't on your outline, so don't even try to take notes. The Bible tells us seven very important facts about God's blessing on our lives. The first fact it tells us is that we don't deserve it. Now that's an obvious one. I don't deserve God's blessing. I can't earn God's blessing. I can't work for God's blessing. I can't figure out a way to pay for God's blessing. It is totally a gift. In fact, the Bible says, all these verses are here on the screen, from the fullness of his grace, we've all received one blessing after another. God's blessing, everything God does in and for and to your life, he does because he's a good God. Not because you're good, but because he's good. It's all because of his grace. And the Bible says everything in our lives is a gift of God. Everything is because of his grace. Now the reason, number two, the reason God blesses you is because he enjoys doing it. God enjoys blessing his children. Now any father can understand this. I really get a kick out of buying my kids things. And I especially get a kick out of buying my grandkids things. And it's like, it's always burning a hole in my pocket. It's like when I first fell in love with Kay, man, I could not keep money in my pocket. I was always buying her stuff. I'd see all this stuff on TV, you know, Fish and Magician. Oh, she'd like one of those, I'm sure. The Oriental Walk Steamer. But wait, we'll throw in the Ginzu knives. And I'd buy that. And I was always buying her stuff just because you cannot love without giving. God enjoys blessing his children and one of the big things I want you to learn in Decade of Destiny is that God wants to bless you. He's not holding back, he's waiting on you. The Bible says this, I will enjoy blessing them. This is God talking. With all my heart and soul, I will faithfully plant them in this land. Now he's talking here about Israel moving into the promised land and he says, I'm gonna enjoy blessing them. He said, well, great Rick, but that's, he's talking to the Israelites. He's talking to Jews. I'm not Jewish. Well, let me show you another verse. Look at this verse on the screen. My blessings are for Gentiles too. Who's a Gentile? Anybody who's not a Jew. That's me, that's you. My blessings are for Gentiles too. When they accept the Lord, don't let them think that I will make them second class citizens. They can be as much as mine as anyone. God wants to bless your life. Now the third thing the Bible teaches is that God promises and actually even guarantees that he will bless your life if, and here's the big condition, if you do what he says. The promises of God and the blessings of God in your life are not automatic. They are conditional. Would you write this down? Every promise has a premise. Every promise has a premise. There are over 7,000 promises in the Bible where God says, if you do this, I will do this. If you confess your sins, I will forgive you. If you call upon me, I will save you. If you obey me, I will bless you. There are over 7,000 promises and every promise has a condition. Now, God isn't waiting, you're not waiting on God, God's waiting on you to fulfill the conditions so he can bless your life in ways you've never imagined. Let me give you one example. Here in your outline, Deuteronomy chapter 28, verses two to eight, this is a longer passage, it says, and notice all the different blessings in here, but notice the condition. You will experience all these blessings If, circle that, if, here's the condition. If you obey the Lord your God, another is you follow the instructions, you will be blessed in your towns and in the country. You'll be blessed with many children and productive fields. You'll be blessed with fertile herds and flocks. He's talking about blessing your business. You'll be blessed with baskets overflowing with fruit and kneading bowls filled with bread. You'll have all the food you need. You'll be blessed wherever you go, both in coming and in going. The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. That's a blessing. And the Lord will bless, circle this, everything you do. and will fill your storehouses with grain. That's called prosperity. Bless everything you do. As your pastor who loves you, I want this verse true in your life. In the next 10 years, I want you to be in such a position so that God can bless you. You gotta get blessable so God can bless you. When you are blessable, God says, I will bless everything you do. Now, not only does God want to bless you, this is a cool thing. God wants to bless you visibly, publicly in front of other people. In any ways, God wants to show off his blessing. He wants to show what a good and loving God he is. And when God blesses you, it is a witness to other people. Notice this verse here on the screen. Lord, you have stored up Great blessings for those who honor you. Now let me stop right there before we look at the whole verse. The Bible says that right now, God has already stored up the blessings he has for you in the next 10 years. He already wants to give them to you. They're already stored up. He's already planned what he wants to give, but they're not automatic. And you can go the whole next 10 years and not get a one of them. Because there's a condition, there's a premise for every promise. They're not automatic. God has stored up blessings, but you can go through life and miss all the blessings of God that he intended for your life. You can miss them. Relationships, successes, goals that are reached, you can miss them all, they're stored up. But he says they're blessings for those who honor you. You do much, Lord, for those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world. I want God to bless your life in such a way in the next 10 years as your pastor and as a part of our church family that when people look at you, they go, good night. That woman is blessed. That man is blessed. That family is blessed. What's going on over there at that Saddleback Church? The people who go there, man, they're all blessed over there. What are they smoking? What's in the water? How do all those people over there in that church, how do they get so blessed? God says he wants to bless you in front of a watching world. It's a testimony. Now, why does God bless you? Well, there are three reasons. Not because you deserve it, but first because he's a blessing God. He loves to bless. He enjoys blessing. Second, he wants it to be a witness to other people. And third, God blesses you so you can be a blessing to others. That's the third reason. He blesses you not so you can be just some fat cat and be self-centered, but he blesses you so you can help people less fortunate. The Bible says this on the screen. I will cause my people and their homes, God wants to bless your home, around my holy hill to be a blessing. Not notice, not receive, but be a blessing. And I will send showers, God says. Showers of blessings. In other words, that's a ton. Which will come just when they are needed. I can't think of a better time than right now. We need the blessings and showers of blessings of God in our lives. Now it all depends on what you're looking at because your focus determines your feeling. If you're looking at the problems, you're gonna be down. If you're looking at the provision, you're gonna be up. It's all what you focus on. Your obsession with the recession will cloud your vision of God's provision. And you'll miss it. You'll miss it and you'll miss what God wants to do in your life. God wants to bless you so you can be a blessing to others. And here's another thing that I learned in studying all these verses is that blessings can be multi-generational. Did you know that? Yeah, you can actually pass on the blessing of God to the next generation. They are multi-generational. There are many, many examples of this. If you live a blessable life, it can actually benefit those who come after you. Here's one example, I could have given you hundreds of verses for each of these points. Genesis 25, 11, after Abraham's death, God poured out rich blessings on Isaac. Now who's Isaac? Abraham's son. Decade of destiny is a program and an attitude and an idea of obedience to God so that you are so blessed, it blesses those after you too. You know, I'm exhibit A of this. The reason God has blessed me so much is not because I deserve it, I don't. But the reason why God blesses me is because I had four generations in front of me who were all godly. I had parents who were godly followers of Jesus Christ. I had grandparents and I had great grandparents. So I'm getting fourth generation blessing down. I just got lucky. I got in this family. I had a grandmother who told me when I was a little boy, she said, I pray for two people every day, Billy Graham and Ricky. I think I'm still floating on some of those prayers. Now, I want you to start that in the next generations. And one of the things we're going to look at, you may be 15 years old, or you may be 50. One of the things we're going to look at in Decade of Destiny is how to create a legacy. I want your children and their children and their children blessed because you lived a blessable life. I want that to happen. And I'm going to show you how that happens in Decade of Destiny. Now, some of you say, Rick, this is all good, but it's a little too late for me because I'm on the backside of the mountain. I've already passed middle age or I'm no spring chicken. I'm out of college. I'm married. My kids are growing up. I'm on the backside of this and I've already had a number of years. Well, here's the good news. It's never too late to get in the blessing of God. You may have five years left or 15 years left or 50 years left. I don't know, but I'm praying that God will give you in this next 10 years will be the best 10 years of your life. That it will make all the previous years of your life look like a Sunday school picnic in terms of blessing. That all of the blessing of God, people are going to look at you and go, what is going on in that guy's life, in that woman's life? They are so blessed. Everything they touch, God blesses. That's what Decade of Destiny is all about. Notice this verse there on your outline, Job 42 verse 12. The Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life, even more than in the first half. I want that to be true of you. I want God's blessing in the next 10 years of your life to be so great, the first all just looks like prologue. I want the second half, the next phase, the next stage of your life to be far more blessed. God says, it can be. You must just meet the conditions. God says, if you do this, I will do this. If you do this, I will do this.
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Wow, some powerful words from Pastor Rick today. And now this is really one of my favorite parts of the broadcast. This is letters from our listeners. And now here's Rick.
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Today I want to share a note from Dion with you, who listens to Daily Hope, and she came to faith in Jesus along with her husband. Isn't that wonderful? Here's what Dion wrote. Pastor Rick. A couple of years ago, I would describe myself as a person who believed in God but definitely was not a Christian. My husband started listening to pastors on YouTube, and he started sending me your different videos, and you spoke my language. Your explanation about Jesus Christ described the person I was striving to be more like. I then found your podcast at Daily Hope and A Purpose Driven Life and even The Daniel Plan. Basically, I became a super fan. Ha, ha, ha. You always emphasize the need for a church home in small groups, and I began asking God to lead my husband and I to find the right church home. Well, the third church that we tried just happened to be a church where we attended a weekly AA meeting for over three years, and we loved the Sunday messages from the very first service. It felt like home. They have small groups like you talk about, and we jumped into attending the small group meetings weekly. Within two months, we both got baptized and are now official members of our church. I truly believe God allowed you to plant this seed in our souls. That led me to want a deeper relationship with God through Jesus. Jesus. I'm now a Christian that's working to spread the love of Jesus to others. Thank you so much. I pray that you can continue being a vessel for others who seek Jesus. May God bless you, Dion. Well, wow. Dion, I am so encouraged to know that you and your husband became followers of Jesus. And it's always so exciting to hear how God uses our simple small steps of faith to make a lasting difference in our lives. You know, those of you who are listening right now, did you notice that Dionne and her husband also got baptized and they joined a local church and they're part of a small group? Have you done that yet? If you haven't, I want to encourage you to do that. I hope everybody listening here will get baptized, will join a church family and get involved there. This is how we grow in the body of Christ. We need each other. We're better together.
SPEAKER 01 :
Hey, if you'd like to let Rick know how this broadcast has blessed you, he would love it. Please feel free to send him an email at rick at pastorrick.com. That's rick at pastorrick.com. Be sure to join us next time as we look into God's Word for our Daily Hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.
Have you ever questioned the authenticity of your faith? In this engaging session, Pastor Jack delves into the heart of Christian authenticity, exploring themes of perseverance, spiritual growth, and divine discipline. Drawing from personal experiences and biblical teachings, he sheds light on navigating life's challenges while staying true to God's calling. The message unfolds as an invitation to reject legalism and embrace a vibrant, active faith that reflects the teachings of Christ. Real-life applications of scripture illustrate how true understanding and practice of the Word can lead to profound personal transformation.
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Today on Real Life Radio.
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Are you talking about being a Christian or are you talking about being a pretender? What's the deal? You can't be a pretend Christian. You can say you're a Christian, but in fact your life says you're a pretender.
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This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I'm David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's Word, the Bible.
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You know, the Apostle Peter, in his letters to the church, urged his fellow Christians to keep on learning and growing in the faith, in spite of their suffering and pain. Unlike today, however, resources were scarce. Still, they persevered, and Christ followers were growing in both strength and numbers. Now there's no limit of ways to access quality materials on Christian living, including Pastor Jack's website. When you go to jackhibbs.com and click the media icon, you'll find not only real-life radio episodes, but real-life podcasts, real-life TV, real-life basics for Christian growth, and even news updates. There's also specific verse-by-verse studies from books of the Bible and so much more. So head on over to our website at jackhibbs.com and click on the media tab. That's jackhibbs.com.
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On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series now called The Book of James with a message titled, Receiving the Word of Truth. Now, before it became one of the books of the New Testament, James was a letter that was sent to the Jews who chose to follow Christ. And as new believers, James asks them to examine themselves as to whether or not they're true Christians. You see, Jesus warns us of spectator Christianity. We can say we're believers in God and that we follow Christ, but until we take our belief, our faith, and put it into action in our day-to-day living, well, we really can't call ourselves a Christian. So today, Pastor Jack teaches us that the Word of Truth directs us by showing us a more excellent way to live. A changed life towards Christ is a life that's not ashamed to share the gospel and embrace holy living. Now, with his message called Receiving the Word of Truth, here's pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.
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Concerning receiving the word of truth, well, the word of God now should direct our lives. The word of truth will direct us. Look what he says. For the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. The wrath of man will not produce the righteousness of God. Well, how do you obtain the righteousness of God? By having the word direct our lives. Are you upset with somebody? Take that seething position and put it into the word of God. Have the Bible overcome it. You will not, I will not be able to overcome it on our own. Somebody might say, well, you know what? Just when you see them or when you hear their name, you think about wonderful rivers flowing through a meadow. Have you ever been told that? I was at a brown bag seminar at a company I used to work for. That's what they told us to do. If you're upset with your coworker, you think of a nice, peaceful river flowing through a valley. And we're grownups, we're hearing this. And so I'm thinking, okay. So you get upset with somebody. Nice, peaceful river flowing through a valley. The funny thing was what became a joke was somebody would upset you and you'd say out loud, I'm thinking of a peaceful river flowing through a valley. So I'm thinking, I'm thinking of a peaceful river flowing through a valley. I'm thinking of a lot of rain up on top of the mountain. That peaceful river turns into a flood and washes that guy away. That's where my mind went with this. What does that produce? Nothing good. Destruction. So he says in verse 20, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. You can't do it on your own. God's wrath, listen, produces righteousness. Man's seething wrath produces unrighteousness. Well, how can wrath produce righteousness at all? Only God's can. Only his can. When God has wrath, it produces righteous living in the lives of people. Well, how does that happen? Now, listen. Because God loves you, God cares. Because God cares, he instructs us, he directs us, he encourages us, he also rebukes us, he chastises us, he disciplines us. And that's love. Did you know that? It's love. Well, that's not what I'm hearing in my child development course. Well, you're hearing wrong. The Bible says if you leave a child to himself, it would be a reproach to his parents. That's what, by the way, Dr. Spock is now admitting, isn't he? You can read him now. He said, I made a big mistake. Interesting. Oh, don't spank him. Oh, look, my little boy just took the head off of that little kitty. He's such a boy. He's such a boy. He needs a spanking. That's what he needs. Oh, look, he just threw the brick through the window. He's going to be a baseball player someday. Okay. I don't know who needs the spanking. The kid or the parent more needs the spanking, you know. You say, well, I can't believe you're saying that publicly. Hey, listen. When you love somebody, you'll say, don't take your marbles and go play in the street again like that. You're going to get hurt. Or should we be so tolerant that you say, don't quench your child's development. Let him play marbles in the street. He'll find a new way to express himself. There's got to be guidelines to life. And God says, I love you, and because I love you, I am not going to tolerate you doing this or doing that. So what does he do? There is the wrath of God that can be delivered against unrighteousness. Why? Because he wants everybody to fry in a pit of hell? No. He wants you to turn and go to heaven. The wrath of God produces righteousness. Now listen, you may be thinking, and you're a Christian, but you're kind of getting weak in your walk. You've backslidden a little bit. You've kind of cooled off. You've gotten away from the fire of God, and you're kind of over there, and you're starting to entertain some thoughts, and maybe I can hold this to my chest and not be burned. And you're beginning to entertain, and God says, do it, and you're going to hurt. Now why is God saying this? Because he loves you. The concept that God could deliver wrath upon us to keep us in the way of righteousness is normal to God, but it is against our thinking. What about the wrath of man? This is what the wrath of man is like. It produces unrighteousness. And what's implied here is that man's wrath is this. You will do this, this, or I'll get you. If you do this one more time, I'm going to... But of course, the context is a religious or a relationship with God setting. So what's he saying? The wrath of man says, I want you to... When you come to church, lady, you wear a dress. Don't you dare come to this church wearing pants. Why? You'll be righteous if you do. You wear dresses to church and you'll be righteous. If you wear makeup, you'll be ungodly. So don't you dare wear makeup. You come here and you be holy. Don't wear any makeup. Why? You'll be holy that way. Well, where's that in the book? It's not in the book. It's in the wrath of man trying to produce righteousness. Do you see that? If you just do this, do that, and do the other, and all the 975 other laws and rules we have at this church, which you'll never find, not one of them, found in the Bible, then you'll be accepted. That is legalism. which breeds self-righteousness, which is anti the righteousness of God. And you'll get up and you'll come to church without your makeup or without pants on or a tie. You got to wear a tie. So why aren't you guys wearing ties anyway? Huh? I want to ask you. You got to wear a tie, got to wear a suit before God can accept you. That's not in the book. You see, what that does is, if you step out of line in this area, you're going to get it from us. And we are the representatives of God, you see. And the wrath of man cannot produce righteousness. It produces self-righteousness, which is in fact anathema to God. So it can't work. It's impossible. God's wrath is holy. Man's wrath is destructive. And so... He says, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Verse 21, he says, therefore, in light of all that, that's very, very important. So he says, in light of it, this is what we are to do. Lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls. Now listen to this. The word of God is to develop within us this new life. When he says, therefore lay aside all filthiness and wickedness, let's look at it backwards. The word wickedness is that which is void of morality. It's evil. It doesn't take an Einstein to figure that one out. It's wickedness. It's not godly. The word filthiness is really gross. And the King James Bible uses the word filthiness, and it's as kind of a word as you can use. Are you ready for this? This is a fun word. It's one of those words, if you're ever doing a men's conference, you want to make sure you use it. In fact, a couple of these are great. Filthiness is dirt or grime of the extreme. You say, well, what can that be? I don't know, just think for a minute. What is really gross dirt? I mean, when we were kids, we used to eat dirt, right? We all did that. It's like, oh, some dirt. That's not the kind of dirt. It's gross dirt. So what's gross dirt? The word is also translated in the original Greek language. Are you ready for this? Dirty earwax. Dirty earwax. That's exactly the response it's supposed to generate. Lay aside filthy earwax. And you say, well, I think I can do this. In fact, I'd like to do this. I don't want to embrace filthy earwax. I don't go down to the store and say, do you have a carton of filthy earwax? Do you have a bucket? I'd like to immerse my face and head in filthy earwax. You wouldn't do this. That's exactly the meaning of it all. Lay aside filthy earwax. So I can do this. I want to do this. Good. Then the things that are earwax in our lives, listen, we need to lay them aside. So what do you mean? Well, what are those things? Are you ready? God, I love the way he has written his book. The things that keep us from being swift to hear, we have to scrape out of our ear and throw it from us. That's why he uses the word earwax, filthy earwax. so we can be swift to hear. Paul tells us in the book of Hebrews, I would like to tell you a lot of things, but you're not able. You should be teachers and instructors concerning the word, but you are not able because you have become dull of hearing. The word in Hebrews is you've got fat stuffed in your ear. You have become fat in your ears. Can you imagine somebody coming up and saying, Can't hear you. I'm sorry. Can you speak louder? I can't hear you. And they've got like two rump roasts stuck in their ears. Move the roast out of your ear. Paul says, get the fat out of your ear. James says, listen, take the earwax out so you can be swift to hear. If you're swift to hear the things of God, positioning your heart right, you can be one who is not wrathful You won't be filled with wrath. You'll be confessing that sin to God and you'll fix it in a moment. You won't be yapping about stuff you don't know anything about. Because you'll be humbled. Remove the wax from your ear. And then the word is lay aside. Doesn't that sound nice? Just lay it aside. Wait a minute. You're talking about ear wax here. You think I'm just going to lay it aside? What, are you going to put it on my dashboard in my car? What, are you going to keep it close to me? The Bible says here, lay aside. It's actually, grab it and get it away from you completely. Now we're talking. I want to get earwax away from me as fast as possible. You see? I want to get filthiness. I want to get wickedness. What, as close as possible? Think about how silly this is. Can I go to church on Sunday and sleep with bubbles on Monday? Well, I guess you could. I guess you could do anything like that. But are you talking about being a Christian or are you talking about being a pretender? What's the deal? You see, some people, for some reason, they want to get right on the line. Can I be a Christian and continue to You know, do my cocaine and drop this drug or beat up these people or do this kind of business dealings. Can I be a Christian on Sunday and then do this on Monday through Friday? I guess you can. But Jesus is concerned and James is concerned and you're concerned, aren't you really, about being a real Christian?
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You're listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. And for now, let's get back to our teaching. Once again, here's Pastor Jack.
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By the way, there are no fake Christians. You know what an oxymoron is? That's an oxymoron. An oxymoron is something that cannot fit together. Like, that's the shortest giraffe ever. You're either a giraffe or you're not. And if you're not, you're short. If you're a giraffe, you're tall. You can't plug it together. You can't be a pretend Christian. You can say you're a Christian, but in fact your life says you're a pretender. That's what James is talking about. And so, get the wax, James says, out of your ears. Strong stuff, huh? Get it out of your ear. Lay it aside. Cast it far from you. In Hebrews chapter 12, verse two, the scripture says, look to Jesus, who is the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostilities from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your own souls, for you have not resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. See, we need to be hating sin, not playing with it. And it's as gross as playing with earwax. And he says, throw it away from me. And we would naturally respond as many of you did. Yes, oh, gross, get it away. And that's how the Lord wants us to view the old life in comparison to the new. And so he says, verse 21, Now the positive side, and receive with meekness the implanted word of your souls. Hey, listen, in closing, it's the word of God that changes everything. It's the Bible. It'll change your heart supernaturally. Those of you who are here this morning and you're doubting the word of God, you say, you know, I don't think it really has the power that these Christians say it does. You know what? Will you receive this challenge this morning? Will you pick up your Bible? If you don't have a Bible, we'll give you a Bible and read it. Can you start in the Gospel of John, Mr. Nonbeliever or Mrs. Doubter, and read John's Gospel all the way through and see if it begins to affect your life? It's not a cookbook. It's not a manual. It's the Bible, God's living word. It will actually affect your life. Try it and see. You're not afraid of it, are you? I mean, you will pick it up and read it, won't you? Pick it up and read it and watch what happens. If you're listening with a heart that's positioned to hear, and you remove the wax from your ears, that is, let the word go to your heart, and put the word to the test. Is this truth? Listen, you're going to be hearing God speak to your heart and say, yes, now receive the word of truth. It'll change your life. And that's okay with you, isn't it? Let your life be changed. When he says to receive the implanted word, the word also can be translated grafted. The grafted word. That's how it changes us. We who were once wild and crazy and godless, He takes us and he plugs us into the root of the source of all strength and power, Jesus Christ. Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abides in me shall bring forth much fruit. And your fruit, by the way, he says, will remain. It will be good. And it's able to save your souls. You say, well, I'm seeing verse 21 and it says that which is able to save our souls is Aren't we saved already if we've come to faith in Jesus? I thought I was saved the day that I accepted Christ as my Savior. You were saved. But this word here is in the futurist tense. Yes, it's true. You will be saved. Well, what are you saying? Am I saved or am I not saved? You were saved the moment you accepted Christ. You're being saved right now. This is what the Bible teaches. And you're going to be saved in the end. The scripture speaks to this. In fact, if you really want to get all messed up about it, the Bible says in the book of Ephesians, we were really saved before God ever created the heaven and the earth and the stars, moon, and all that stuff. Well, wait a minute. I thought I got saved last week when I raised my hand. You did. You walked into what God had provided for you. In God's mind, you had been saved all along, but you came into your salvation last week. Listen. Well, If I was saved, then why is this struggle going on in my life with all the stuff James has been talking about? I still have a temper. I thought when I came to Christ that would be done. That's because you're being saved. You're being sanctified in route. You were sanctified. You are being sanctified. You shall be sanctified. Because you're a Christian now, you've given your heart to Christ, God is working in your life. You're growing up. Are you frustrated with your Christian performance at times? Do you get upset? Listen, God's not done working with you. He's going to finish the work that he started. He will complete it. How long is it going to take? Your lifetime. Oh, great. You can close your Bibles and we'll end with this, and maybe this will encourage some of you. When I gave my heart to Jesus Christ, I expected things to happen now. And prior to accepting Christ, I had a hideous temper. Dangerous temper. I was going to get a scholarship to Long Beach State to play football, but I couldn't keep my mouth shut. And I ruined that. But I'm not all that big. And I played with big guys. So how did I survive? I had a really bad temper. And I used to look for something early on in the game to set my temper off. If I could get angry, then I could play ball real well. And I used to just relish the fact that maybe on this next play I could hurt someone. I didn't know Jesus. I was godless and angry. And that anger, that seething anger that often resulted in explosive anger, was the way I lived my life. And then for the first time in my life, on the first day I'd ever heard about the gospel message, I responded immediately, and I gave my heart to Christ. And you know what? My temper didn't go away. I remember a year later being in my car, and I'm a Christian. I was studying my Bible so much all the time. So many times, every night of the week at Bible study and learning and going to school and learning more and more scripture and all this stuff. And you know what I did? I got angry about a year after I was a Christian and I took my fist and I punched my car, the dashboard, and busted my car. Stupid. Ignorant. I had pictures strategically hung in my bedroom to cover the holes in the walls from my fist going through them. Out of control rage. Two years, now a Christian. It's not going away much. Three years as a Christian, I hate myself. Why isn't this going away? What I first noticed in my life after coming to Christ is that I began to hate my sin that I once enjoyed and prospered on. Then it came to the point where I used to sit down by myself and cry over my failure at being a good Christian. And then I remember coming to the end of my resources and saying, Jesus, you've got to give me power to overcome this. And I've got to tell you, to the glory of God, I have got to tell you, it takes a lot to get my temper aroused now. It is wonderful. And something will happen and I'll think, I would have strangled that palm tree for that. And it's great to be free. The power of the word of God in route to save your souls.
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Pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called Receiving the Word of Truth. We're glad you could spend some time with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called The Book of James. It's a series on being doers of the Word of God and not just hearers only. And we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio.
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Hey everybody, this is Pastor Jack here and I want to encourage you to get a great book. Now listen up, I know there's a lot of books out there and we certainly do push a lot of books on this program because we want you to grow and you should have a great library. Well listen, One Day Nearer is a book written by Steve Miller, a dear friend of mine and a great author and here's the kick. It's a 365-day devotion, one for every day, and all of it is themed around being prepared to meet the Lord Jesus Christ, how to be looking for him, how to be walking in light of his return. What are the scriptures that should encourage us? All of this in this fantastic book, One Day Near, by my good friend Steve Miller.
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Get a copy for yourselves, please, and grow. One Day Nearer by Steve Miller, available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That's jackhibbs.com slash real radio. Did you know that along with the radio program, Pastor Jack also has a TV show with more of the Pastor Jack Hibbs content that you like. It's called Real Life TV. If you enjoy Pastor Jack on the radio, you're going to love him on TV. So check out your local listings or visit jackhibbs.com and catch the latest episodes. That's jackhibbs.com. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We'll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.
Discover the timeless nature of Jesus Christ as Dr. J. Vernon McGee guides us through Hebrews, illustrating how His unchanging character spans yesterday, today, and forever. As we reflect on personal stories and scriptural truths, this episode stands as a reminder of the real-life applications of faith, love, and the importance of spiritual leadership. Conclude with us in understanding the power of praise, doing good, and sharing in faith as we learn more about life-transforming truths.
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How firm a foundation, ye saints, of the Lord is laid for your faithful.
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Hebrews 13.8 says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Such a great verse, isn't it? But as we'll find out, it's not only one of the most popular verses in Scripture, but it's also one of the most misapplied. Welcome to Through the Bible. I'm Steve Schwetz, inviting you aboard the Bible bus for another great adventure in God's Word. So grab your seat, get comfortable, because today our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, is going to examine the meaning and proper application of Hebrews 13.8. and will put to rest some of the misconceptions that we so commonly hear. It's a great message, and it's a full one, so I don't got a lot of time, but we recently received this letter from a listener that I'd like to quickly share. "'Greetings from Boston. I first heard about your program from a website that presented the salvation message, but at the time I was part of a cult and did not have ears to hear it. A while later, when I was broken in spirit, I welcomed Christ into my heart.' I'm so grateful that I have found grace in the Lord's eyes, and I listen to you every day on my iPhone. I also enrolled in your world prayer team and feel especially edified while hearing from listeners who once hated Christ but now love him. It helps remind me that anybody can become a new creature in due time. May your ministry abound until our Lord returns. Well, if any of you would like to join this listener and me and thousands of other Through the Bible listeners in praying for God's work around the world, stay with us because I'm going to share more about the World Prayer Team after Dr. McGee's message. Now for a sneak peek, you can also check out ttb.org forward slash pray. Now let's prepare our hearts to receive God's word. Heavenly Father, may your word speak to our hearts. Help us to change our attitudes and actions in response to what we hear. In Jesus' name, amen. Here's Dr. J. Vernon McGee with our study of Hebrews 13 on Through the Bible.
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Now, last time I got rather hurriedly into the 13th chapter, and this 13th chapter is the great love chapter. We think of 1 Corinthians 13, but here's another love chapter. Chapter 11, faith chapter. Chapter 12, here the hope chapter. Chapter 13, the love chapter. This brings us to the secret life of the believers here in this first section. Then we have the social life of the believers, and then the spiritual life of the believers given to us here. He has made it now abundantly clear. That you and I, and he's writing primarily to the Hebrews, but it has application to us. Both Jew and Gentile today have been brought into one body, the body of believers. And the cement, the Elmer's glue that holds us together is brother love. Not brotherly love, but brother love. We are brothers. And we're not to love like brothers, but because we are brothers. We emphasized that last time. Then he said we are to extend this love to strangers, and that can be shown in our hospitality toward them, our attitude toward them. Then he mentions the fact that some have entertained angels unawares. Abraham did, we know, and Joshua did, and there were others. Then here in the third verse, and I think probably I should turn to this third verse again and read it. He asks that they remember them that are in bonds, is bound with them, and them which suffer adversity, being yourself also in the body. That is something that's neglected today. We talk a great deal about Christian fellowship around a banquet table or that we meet in a group. But what about that poor saint today that's off yonder lying in a bed somewhere and no one's been visiting them and Many of you could have a wonderful ministry along that line. And that's what he's talking about. This is brother love, not something that you talk about in the church or in some little group you get in. I'm getting a little weary of that today. All of this business of, well, they've coined a phrase, which is actually not a new phrase. They call it body truth. Well, gracious, my friend, that's been in the Scripture all these years. But you exercise that body truth going out there to that individual out there. We hear very little about that today. Then he talks about marriage. That is the very anchor of the social structure. And this, of course, is very personal. Marriage is honorable in all. He's condemning asceticism here. If you can find a girl that'll have you, young fella, get married. And young lady, if you can find a fella that'll have you, get married. That is, if he's the right one, of course. I believe, frankly, that God will lead you to the right one if you're willing to be led that way. And he says in the bed, undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. And that's very severe after quite a few years in the ministry. I've seen even Christians that have tried to get by with this. I don't know any of them that have been able to get by with it. Maybe they haven't been detected, but they sure didn't get by with it. God will judge them. And so it actually condemns that which is laxity and lust. Now, he says, let your conversation, your manner of life be without covetousness. Don't be known as a money grabber, as one who puts the almighty dollar above almighty God. And be content with such things as you have, for he hath said, I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee. He may not make you a millionaire. but he'll never leave you nor forsake you. And we can say today, the Lord's my helper, and I'll not fear what man shall do unto me. And then remember them which have the rule over you, who've spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. I know that there's some ministers that use this, that say that the members of the church should obey them. I rather think that the fault here is that of leading. They are spiritual leaders, and spiritual leaders are to lead folk to Christ. And if a man is presenting Christ... and attempting to bring people into the presence of Christ, then that's the man I would say you should be loyal to. But to say you're just to be loyal to a man because he happens to be the pastor of a church, that just doesn't happen to be true. And that's not what Paul is talking about here at all. Now, I come back to the verse where I left off last time. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday to today, and forever. And I want to say to you, I feel inadequate to deal with this very marvelous verse. The first thing I want to say is this. that this verse has probably been as misapplied as much as any verse that's in the Word of God. There are those that use it today. They say, well, Jesus was here 1,900 years ago, and he performed miracles. We ought to perform them today. He healed 1,900 years ago, and so we ought to be healing today, and that he's still in that same business. Now, let's understand how he is the same. He's the same in his character and in his person and in his attributes. But he's not the same in the place that he was and performance. Now, I just came back from Israel recently. I didn't see him over there. And by the way, I saw very little evidence of him in that land. But 1900 years ago, he walked through that land over there and he did heal. 1900 years ago, he was in Bethlehem. A little baby, but he's no longer a baby and he's not in Bethlehem. 1900 years ago, he was a little boy playing around the streets of Nazareth. I walked down the streets of Nazareth. I didn't see him. I saw a lot of little boys, but he's not there. I was in Jerusalem and I saw Golgotha. And there's not even a cross there today. And he's not on a cross. The whole thought of this epistle is that he is at the right hand of God, seeing that we have a high priest. yonder at the right hand of God and looking under Jesus. He's the author and finisher of our faith. He did that 1900 years ago and he sat down at the right hand of God. Now right now he's up yonder and someday he's going to come as the king, but he hasn't come yet as the king to the earth to establish his kingdom here. And he hasn't called his church out of the world yet, but he's going to do that. But he is the same in his attributes. Now, in that light, let's look at him. We mentioned last time that these two names are given here, Jesus, Christ, the same. Well, Jesus is that human name that was given to him. Christ is a title, speaks of his messianic mission to this earth, that he is God manifest in the flesh. And it's marvelous how these two are brought together here, Jesus Christ. How wonderful these two are meshed together here. He is Jesus Christ and he's the same. Now, when he was here 1900 years ago, it was God who came down to our level. When I'm in that land, I marvel at that. He came to a place where actually there was not great wealth and pomp and ceremonies. He didn't come to Rome, the center of power and government. He didn't come to Athens, the great cultural center. He did go to Jerusalem, the great religious center of that day. But he came down to our level. He was a human being. And I want to say this concerning his humanity, because many of us today are so afraid of that we will not be understood, that we don't emphasize the humanity of Christ, we emphasize the deity of Christ. Well, that needs emphasizing today because the liberal talks nothing but the humanity of Christ, and I think he misses that. And this is what I mean. I think that Jesus was the most attractive person that ever walked this earth. And I'm now talking about, not because he's God, because he's a man. I think he was a real man. Have you ever noticed that the crowds were attracted to him? The crowds followed him. He was strong but gentle. Little children came to him, but he could drive the money changers out of the temple, and they ran for cover because he was man enough to do it. He was a real man, and he was attractive. He had what we call today charisma. People followed him because they loved him. They were in the presence of a man that was a man in Capernaum. You remember he healed a leper and then had to leave because the crowds came around him and they crowded him so he couldn't even continue his ministry. Publican sinners came to him and that was the thing the religious crowd went after him about. You know, if he came to your town today, I hate to say this, But I don't think he'd come to your church, and I don't think he'd come to my church either. I don't think that's where he'd go. I have a notion you'd find him down where the crowd is. He'd be mixing with the crowd. These little children came to it. I marveled at that. And you remember when he went through Jericho at the end of his ministry, we find there that the crowds lined the way and little Zacchaeus had to climb up a tree. And our Lord stopped, you remember, and brought that fellow down out of the tree. How wonderful the Lord Jesus was in his person. But now I want to say something very carefully, and it's this. It was the person of Christ that appealed. It was not his teachings and his great declaration that he was going to die and he'd come to redeem man. That was not popular. And you'll find that at the very beginning of his ministry, that it was his teachings that offended. He talked about he was the bread of life and that he'd come down to give his life that men might have spiritual food. Then he said to them over in John 6, chapter 65, he said, therefore, I said unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given him of the Father. And from that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. Now that crowd narrowed down, and only twelve stayed with him. Why? Because of his teaching. It is said that Savonarolo in the city of Florence went before the great populace, and he said to them, Be free! And they applauded him. And then he said to them, be pure. And then they ran him out of town. They didn't want his teaching unless it appeals to them. And the Lord Jesus said to man, you have to turn from sin. You can't live in sin. That I've come to make you free. But I'll have to give my life for you. And you'll have to come as a sinner to me. And sinners came. And when men were desperate, they would come to him. And I believe that's the only way they'll come to him today. Oh, I tell you, friends, he was a very wonderful person. Someone has put it like this. Our blessed Lord combined in one two natures, both complete, in perfect manhood all sublime, in Godhood all replete. As man he entered Canaan's feast, an humble guest to dine. As God he moved the water there and changed it into wine. As man he suffered weariness and rested on a well. As God he pierced a sinner's heart and saved her soul from hell. As man, he climbed the mountains high, a supplement to be. As God, he left the place of prayer and walked upon the sea. As man, he wept in heartfelt grief beside a loved one's grave. As God, he burst the bands of death, almighty still to save. As man, he lay within a boat, overpowered by needful sleep. As God, he rose, rebuked the wind, and still the angry deep. as man he yielded to his foes, submitting to be bound, as God his presence overawed, and threw them to the ground. Such was our Lord in life and earth, in dual nature one, the woman's seed in very truth, and God's eternal Son. O Child, O Son, O Word made flesh, may thy high praise increase, Thou wonderful, thou mighty God, eternal Prince of Peace. May I say to you, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday. Now, this is what he was yesterday. But you know, he's up under God's right hand today. He still wants little children to come to him. He still has his arms out for them and sinners can still come to him. And he can still say, even to the one that's gone to the very depths, go and sin no more. I can free you. And if the son make you free, you'll be free indeed. You can come to him. A great many people feel gingerly going sometimes into church or into meetings. They feel like they're with a bunch of goody goodies and we have to be very careful. You know, if Jesus was there in that meeting, I think you'd hear his laughter. And I think you'd fall in love with him as a person, as a man. There's been something said about him, and very frankly, I spoke against it when I first heard it. But it's gotten me to thinking it was said by one of these radicals in the East. He called Jesus a revolutionary. I don't like that. That's not true. But he said Jesus was a gutsy person. And my, oh, he's been criticized for that. And I join that criticism. I've been thinking it over. Let me say this to you today. I don't agree with it. Did you know that if we really presented Jesus as he really was, he'd appeal to the radical today? Jesus was a man. And he's the same today. But he's God. He could weep at a tomb because he's human, but he could say to Lazarus, come forth. And may that same one today meet you in your need. He can sympathize with you. He can weep with you. He can laugh with you. But he can save your soul. I wish that I could present him. Like he really was 1900 years ago when he came to this earth. How wonderful he was. And your sorrow is his sorrow. And your joy is his joy today. And he's going to be the same in the future. Same yesterday, today, and forever. He's never going to change. Someday we're going to be in his presence. And how wonderful that's going to be. Now let me move along. My, I got bogged down here, but this is so wonderful. Verse 9, it says, "...be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines, for it's a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein." Isn't it amazing that most of the cults go in for diets? And I believe in a diet. I think food is pretty important as far as the body is concerned. It has nothing to do with your relationship with God. Paul says, whether you eat meat or whether you don't eat meat, meat won't command you to God. And that's what he's trying to say here. Don't go off in these strange cults. And this strange teaching that we have today, that diet and ceremonies and ritual and going to some little group and studying some little something today, and we got a lot of those abroad, that that was going to make you a super-duper saint. My friend, nothing in the world is going to build you up with the Word of God. And the word of God won't build you up unless it brings you to Christ. And only the Holy Spirit can take the things of Christ and make them real unto you. Now he says here, we have an altar whereof they have no right to eat, which serve the tabernacle. May I say to you, fellowship actually is not at a church banquet. If I may put it like that, we always hear that today, and I heard it for years as a pastor. Come to the banquet. We're going to have some marvelous Christian fellowship. No, you're not. You're just going there for a good time, and you're just going to feel your little tummy. That's what you're going to do, my friend. May I say the only place that you can have fellowship, that is the word koinonia, is when you are around the Word of God, and the Word of God brings you to the person of Christ, and you see him in all of his glory. Then's when you're going to have a good time. Our Lord was wonderful, friends. It's terrible to pass him by. Now, will you notice here in verse 10, we have an altar. Whereof? And here's a comparison made between what Israel had under the old covenant in contrast to the better things of the new. Believers have an altar, not the Lord's Supper, not a material altar with a local address, but we have an altar. The throne of grace up yonder was the throne of judgment. He condemned me there. But also when the blood was placed there, I could come and find grace and be saved. Now, for the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burned without the camp. That means they're consumed. He's speaking of the sin offering here. Wherefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. He was outside. Now, Jesus died outside of the city. He was the sin offering. Remember, the sin offering was taken away from the temple out yonder. Jesus was our sin offering and paid the price. Now he says, let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach. Don't mind leaving a temple. Don't mind leaving a ritual. Don't think these things are helpful. Go to him. Go to Christ, for here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. We haven't anything permanent here. That's been made clear to us. By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks in his name. Actually, a child of God can bring a sacrifice. And this is now the spiritual life of the believer. There are four sacrifices of a believer. Three of them are here in verse 15. By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God. Now, praise... is a sacrifice, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to him. And I didn't mean to say the others are here, but verse 16 says, but to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. So that what we have here is four things. You can sacrifice your person, And someone has said, when one truly gives himself to the Lord, all other giving becomes easy. The second is your purse. And believe me, if he doesn't have your purse, he doesn't have you. And praise, that's mentioned here in verse 15. And then performance. That is doing good. When you do good, that's a sacrifice of a child of God. Now, I see our time is up, and it was my full intention to finish this chapter today, and therefore the epistle to the Hebrews. But friends, I got bogged down there at verse 8, that wonderful verse, and I didn't treat it adequately. Oh, if I could only make him as wonderful as he is to you. Everybody had turned to him, but I just didn't quite do that. But I will finish Hebrews next time. Until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 02 :
Has your faith been renewed or strengthened through our time in Hebrews? Well, if so, tell us about it because we love to get your notes and then hear the stories of what God is doing in your life as we study his word together. You know, you can leave a message in our app by clicking on feedback and then you can just use the speech function to write that in real quick so you don't have to use your fingers and thumbs to try to type that. Or you can always write to us at Through the Bible, Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. Or in Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. Or even easier, you can email BibleBus at ttb.org or leave a message at 1-800-65-BIBLE. And maybe we'll even share your story to encourage others studying along with us. Now, as I mentioned at the beginning of our study, if you'd like to travel the world on your knees with us, asking God to transform the hearts and lives of the people we meet along the way, then you need to sign up for our world prayer team by visiting us at ttb.org forward slash pray. Jesus made it all.
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All to him I owe. Sin had left the prince of sin. He washed it white as snow.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, ride the Bible bus for five years and you'll be amazed at what God teaches you from his word about what it means to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. It's a blessing that keeps on going. That's what we believe at Through the Bible.
Join us in this insightful episode as we explore the profound themes of righteous living and dying, starting with the lessons from both the Old and New Testaments. At the heart of our discussion is a contemplation of the ultimate sacrifice made by Jesus Christ and the courageous deaths of early Christians like Stephen and James. Their stories are a testament to the enduring power of faith in life's final moments. We delve into the significance of dying the 'death of the righteous', a concept that echoes throughout Christianity and offers a guiding light for believers. This episode not only revisits historical instances of compelling faith but also poses an introspective question to the listener: Are you prepared to meet your end as the righteous do? Throughout, we emphasize the spiritual preparation that living a Christian life entails, urging a deeper reflection on one's faith journey.
SPEAKER 01 :
Today, from the International Gospel Hour, once again, the Are You Listening Again series will continue. We're going to look at the blessing of righteous living and, friends, righteous dying. The International Gospel Hour begins right now.
SPEAKER 02 :
Hi, this is Jay Webb for International Gospel Hour. For 90 years, churches of Christ have proclaimed God's Word through International Gospel Hour. You are about to listen to another Bible-based lesson with Jeff Archie of International Gospel Hour, starting now.
SPEAKER 03 :
I am bound for the promised land.
SPEAKER 01 :
ladies and gentlemen it is a joy to welcome you to our program today and we are delighted you have chosen to listen to our remarks on this day you do us great honor by allowing us to come where you are by radio podcast or online in order that together we might meditate upon the word of the lord This series of lessons considers a principle that occurs in Numbers 23.10 that says, Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his. Thus far in our study we have taken notice of how the righteous died in the Old Testament. Now we turn our attention to those who died in the realm of the righteous within the New Testament. There is no better example to begin. our study of New Testament deaths, in righteousness than with, rather, our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. He died in a prayerful attitude and with the full assurance that the great sacrifice for humanity's sins had been made. As Jesus breathed His last precious breath, He knew the Father's will stood ably accomplished on the brow of cruel Calvary. Thereof the seven-word statements from the cross were in the form of a prayer or a petition addressed to His Father above. Luke, the beloved physician, said in Luke 23, 34, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. In Luke 23, 46, we read where the dying Redeemer said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. It is finished, is the trio of words expressed in John 19, 30. Jesus, oh friends, he lived majestically and died triumphantly. He showed his people how to live. He showed them how to die with courage and conviction. His first recorded statement in the New Testament, while he tabernacled in human flesh, was in reference to his intent to accomplish the Father's will. In his dying moments he triumphantly declared that the Father's work which he came to do stood completed. What a wonderful Savior we have the privilege of serving. Dear listener, are you a Christian? Are you marching under the banners of such a marvelous person? If not, why not? Stephen, he died in the line of duty as the first Christian martyr. Up until this time, none of the disciples really knew just how the newly begun religion of Christianity would undergird them in the moment of death. It was a religion which they had already proven conclusively that people can live by each day and which would reinforce them in periods of persecution. But was it a religion that would undergird successfully each person's walk through the veil of death, and especially the death of Christian martyr? Stephen first met this unanswered query and left a marvelous answer of courage in death. He fell asleep in Jesus with a two-fold petition upon his lips, which were soon to be sealed with the kiss of death. But let's give some of the background near the end of Acts 7. Beginning with the heavenly vision that Stephen witnessed, Luke said, But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God in Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord, and they cast him out of the city, and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7, 55-60 Stephen died in the position of prayer, the framework of faith, the realm of righteousness, and amidst the courage of his convictions. James, the apostle and brother of John, died at the cruel hands of Herod Agrippa I., He had some ten years of kingdom service to his spiritual credit at the time he was slain for the Savior. He was the first apostle to die for his faith. It is true that Judas Iscariot died many years earlier, but the apostate of treason and treachery did not die for his faith in Jesus the Christ or as a martyr for the Messiah. Matthew records the suicide of Judas Iscariot in Matthew 27, 3-10. We have no dying words from James. Luke tersely describes this incident in eleven words as translated in our English Bible. Only seven words were employed in the Greek text. The English rendering is, And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. James had now drunk the cup and been immersed in the fullness of sufferings that Jesus predicted for him and John in the words of Mark 10, 38-39. But Jesus said unto them, You know not what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto him, We are able. And Jesus said unto them, The cup that I drink you shall drink, and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall you be baptized. James drank that cup of persecution and received that immersion of suffering like the real Christian hero that he was. He did not flinch from the face of the foe. There was no recanting to save his own skin. Satan once said, Skin for skin, yes, all that a man hath he will give for his life. Job 2 verse 4 The archenemy of humanity was proved wrong in the Old Testament by Job's continued patience in the presence of pain, suffering, and loss, both to his family and his own person. James and a distinguished host of millions of martyrs who followed him upon the sacrificial block of Christian courage and conviction have proved Satan decisively wrong in innumerable amount of times during the Christian dispensation. My friends, I ask in all seriousness, are you listening? Were death to strike you this very day, would you die the death of the righteous or the death of the unrighteous? In order to die the death of the righteous, you must die as a Christian. And in order to die as a Christian, you must have obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ. That gospel demands that you hear the word because hearing produces the kind of faith that will move you to gospel obedience, Romans 10, 17. Then you must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Hebrews 11, 6. Jehovah God now commands all men everywhere to repent, Acts 2, verse 38. Confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, must be made, Matthew 10, 32, and Acts 8, 37. Upon that confession one must be immersed into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28, 18-20 and Mark 16, 15-16 and this is how you become a Christian. Then live faithfully and you can one day close your eyes in the sleep of the righteous dead and awake to everlasting life on judgment's great day. Beloved, that is what the real mission of life is all about. Preparation for death and eternity. When one is prepared to die, then and only then is he prepared to live in the truest sense of that term. Friends, again, we ask the question, are you a Christian? Would you die the death of the righteous if you left this life today? In our studies, we know that we prompt individuals to think about these things of which we have discussed and to look upon these things that are of vital importance. And so we ask you, dear friend, can we be of further help to you in your studies of the Word of God? I'm going to defer to our announcer, Jay Webb. He will share with you our free Bible study course available by mail that we hope will help you in your study of these things that we have discussed. Here is our J-Web.
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Our well-received Bible study course by mail is available to everyone absolutely free. Would you like to try it? All you do is call us toll-free at 855-444-6988 and leave your name, address, and just say, Home Study. That's it. That's all you have to do. You may also go to our website at internationalgospelhour.com. Click on the Contact tab and leave us the same information, name, address, and type Home Study in the message box. At your own pace, you can study the Bible in your own home. Again, it's free. Give it a try. And it's from your friends here at International Gospel Hour.
SPEAKER 01 :
Friends, again, we have shared with you a discussion of Let Me Die the Death of the Righteous as part of what we refer to as Are You Listening Again series. Brother V.E. Howard was known as saying, Are you listening? And as our speaker for 60 years, people knew Brother Howard many times from those three words. From 1974 to 1986, Brother Howard had the services of Brother Robert R. Taylor, the longtime evangelist for the Ripley, Tennessee Church of Christ. Brother Taylor wrote much material for Brother Howard during those years, and we have secured a great number of these lessons from Brother Taylor. These are lessons that are treasures, and we will use them from time to time, and we simply call it, Are You Listening? Again. This material has not been presented in over 40 years, but the truths therein are still just as vital and as real today. Both Brother Howard and Brother Taylor have gone the way of the living, They've died the death of the righteous, but their message continues strong. And we are blessed to offer them here in our studies through International Gospel Hour. Friends, I want to pause here and I want you to hear about a way you can follow us, well, in social media. Here is our J-Web once again.
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You can find International Gospel Hour on X, formerly known as Twitter. Just search Our Gospel. That's Our, H-O-U-R, underscore, Gospel. Feel free to retweet or repost our content. International Gospel Hour is on X, formerly Twitter, at Our, underscore, Gospel. That's H-O-U-R, underscore, Gospel. Thanks for following.
SPEAKER 01 :
And friends, we hope you will follow us on social media and also inquire for our free Bible study course by mail. We are delighted to offer these studies as part of our work at International Gospel Hour. We're very excited to present the series that we are doing concerning dying the death of the righteous and to study the Bible to look at those individuals in Old and New Testament. And we will continue these thoughts at another time. We're delighted that you've joined us, and please let us know where you're listening to our broadcast from. If you'll call us at 855-444-6988 and just simply say, I listen to your broadcast on or I listen at, we'd love to hear from you. We'll continue these studies at another time, but thank you for joining me today on the International Gospel Hour. I'm Jeff Archie, and friends, keep listening.
SPEAKER 02 :
Thank you for listening to our broadcast today. To God goes all the glory, and we hope that our study today will draw you closer to His Word to walk in His way. To listen to it again, or our other broadcasts, please visit our website at internationalgospelhour.com.
In today's episode of Family Talk, Pastor Paul Blair brings a compelling message about cultural engagement and faithfulness. Dive into his fascinating journey from the fields of the NFL to the sacred halls of ministry, where he challenges Christians to live out their faith boldly and consistently in every aspect of life. Pastor Blair reveals how the early church's understanding of faith as shown in the Hebraic mindset remains relevant for believers today, encouraging us to see life as a single, undivided commitment to God.
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Welcome everyone to Family Talk. It's a ministry of the James Dobson Family Institute supported by listeners just like you. I'm Dr. James Dobson and I'm thrilled that you've joined us.
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Well, hello and welcome to Family Talk. I'm Roger Marsh, delighted to be with you today. You know, in these challenging times, Christians face a profound calling to be salt and light in our culture. But this raises an essential question that many of us struggle with. How do we effectively stand for biblical truth in today's rapidly changing world? Well, our guest today here on Family Talk has walked an extraordinary and unique path to answer this question. From the roaring crowds and intense competition of the NFL gridiron with the Chicago Bears to the sacred calling of shepherding his congregation at Fairview Baptist Church in Oklahoma, his journey is nothing short of remarkable. He is Pastor Paul Blair, and he now leads Reclaiming America for Christ and is the visionary founder of the Liberty Pastors Network. His powerful message today here on Family Talk brings fresh biblical insights on how to stand firm in our faith while engaging our culture with both truth and grace. Before we dive into Pastor Blair's compelling message, I have some exciting news to share with you. This message, of course, is part of our 2024 Best of Broadcast Collection, a six-CD set or digital download that features all of the most popular programs that we've aired here on the radio in 2024. Now, this December presents an extraordinary opportunity for you to double your impact. Through a special matching grant, every gift to Family Talk between now and December 31st will be matched dollar for dollar. But as Christmas is drawing closer, you know the days are drawing shorter as well, so your generosity will have twice the power to help families thrive and to strengthen the biblical foundations for our society for just a few days more. To double the impact of your year-end giving and to receive your copy of the six-CD collection called the 2024 Best of Broadcast Collection, go to drjamesdobson.org and give a gift through our secure website. That's drjamesdobson.org. Or call us at 877-732-6825. And now let's dive into this powerful message from Pastor Paul Blair, a message on cultural engagement and biblical faithfulness recorded right here in beautiful Colorado Springs.
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Well, good morning, everyone. It is a honor to be here. Dr. Dobson, Shirley, thank you so much for the invitation. If I can get the slides up here, I'll introduce you to myself. Now, for those of you, a little football trivia, how many of you recognize the guy that's in the picture there with me? How many of you knew that Jimmy Johnson began his head coaching career at Oklahoma State University back in 1979? So J.J. is actually who recruited me to play college football. And, of course, he went on to, rumor has it, had a little bit of success at the University of Miami Hurricane. And then, I don't know, some team called the Dallas Cowboys. I don't know. I try to keep up with them. But then I was drafted by the Chicago Bears, the defending world champion Chicago Bears, and had the privilege, as Bob said, of playing with some Hall of Famers and some legends, you know, Dick Butkus would travel with us in our games because he was working for WGN. Gail Sayers would come by just to say hi to the guys and be around Hallis Hall. So that was really a privilege to be a part of that family. And then at the age of 37, I was called into ministry. And understand, my father was a bivocational pastor, so I loved pastors. I walked an aisle and trusted Christ when I was six years old. I loved pastors, but having been a pastor's son, I saw what the work entailed. and I never wanted to be a pastor. As a matter of fact, most days now, I still don't want to be a pastor. That explains why I'm so bold in the pulpit. I've been trying to get fired for 23 years, but they refused to do so. But I'm a retired NFL football player. I had my own business in Oklahoma City, and I was serving as a volunteer youth pastor in our youth ministry in our church at the time when God called me clearly. And at the age of 37, my wife and I Well, my wife gave me great counsel because, you know, I didn't want to be a pastor. She didn't want to be a pastor's wife. So we agreed on that deal. But she said, if God is calling, that's where we need to be because the safest place to be is in God's will. And of course, having my background, I've had an unusual opportunity to be around the country and participate in a number of different events, even got to teach about biblical economics that the pilgrims brought with them to the new world and biblical civil government on Glenn Beck's show with his chalkboard. And those of you that know him know he is very selfishly greedy over his chalkboard So I count that a privilege, as Bob said, detoured with throat cancer back in 2019. And that was not a pleasant journey, as many of you know, but I am now considered a cancer survivor. And a good friend of mine came to work on our staff there five years ago. And we worked together with Liberty Church of Edmond and now a satellite branch in Liberty, Orlando. But Bob mentioned, I've got some good news. It tracks right what you've been hearing the last couple of days, but we are trying to respond to it. as we have done. In fact, next week in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a week from today, we begin our last Liberty Pastors training camp of the year. We bring 100 pastors at a time together with their wives into a luxury hotel, and we hold them hostage there for three days. We want them to have great fellowship, get to meet one another and love each other, and have a second honeymoon. Because, you know, most pastors only pastor churches that run around 75 to 100 people. So most of them can't afford to come to a place like the Broadmoor or something like that. So we reward them. We want to be a blessing to them. But in return, they give us 20 hours of their time for continuing education. And we teach them to think biblically in areas of their life that seminary taught them not to think biblically. So we begin our camps with this question. And I'll start my remarks this Sunday morning with you with the same question. What part of your life is Jesus, not the Lord over? The answer is obvious, ladies and gentlemen. He's supposed to be the Lord of all of our lives. Therefore, there should be nothing off limits in our preaching and disciple-making at church. Jesus is not just the Lord of Sunday morning. Jesus is the Lord of our families as Dr. Dobson and Shirley know. He's the Lord of education. He's the Lord of our work habits. He's the Lord of our work ethics, all of you business owners. He's the Lord of our sex lives. He's the Lord of how we handle money in the realm of economics. He is the Lord of our politics. Jesus is Lord of all. So why is it that we compartmentalize our lives? Why do we believe that there are subjects that can't be talked about in church? Well, I'm going to explain that to you this morning. And let me just say this, your pastor has been trained to think this way. This concept is a lie straight from the pit of hell that the church has bought hook, line, and sinker. Now, let me explain. There's no question that early on the church at Pentecost was 100% Jewish. They had a Jewish worldview with a great knowledge of the Old Testament. As a matter of fact, ironically, Andy Stanley, the only Bible that the New Testament church had for about two decades was what we call the Old Testament. The Old Testament is the Bible that Jesus would have used to teach the disciples and those on the road to Emmaus how it all spoke about him. That's the Bible that the Apostle Paul would have been debating over in Jewish synagogues throughout Asia and Europe. The Tanakh was the only Bible for the New Testament church for about two decades. As a matter of fact, the question of the early church was not about baptism or the work of the Holy Spirit. The question among the early church was about circumcision. Christianity was treated as just another sect of Judaism by the Romans. At the time of Jesus, there were 24 sects, S-E-C-T-S, or I would say denominations among Judaism. You're familiar with many of them. There were the Pharisees, there were the Sadducees, there were the Essenes, there were the Herodians, and now you had this new group called the Nazarenes. all gathering together under the umbrella of the temple in Jerusalem. Christianity was Jewish to its very core. In fact, the question was not whether a Jew could become a Christian. It was whether a Gentile could become a Christian. But as the church grew into Asia and Europe, And after the destruction of Jerusalem, let me tell you, as the church grew exponentially through across Asia, after the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, after the Hebrew apostles died off with John being the last living apostle, the Greek line of thought affected the thinking of the church. In fact, much of the New Testament addresses the error of Gnosticism as the apostles warned against this heresy in their many epistles. Now understand what this Greek line of thought was. The Greeks viewed the world in two compartments or two spheres. There was the spiritual world and there was the material world. the spiritual was good and could be redeemed, but the material world was inherently irredeemably wicked. Well, this led to the logical conclusion, but heresy in the early church that Christ could not have actually come in the flesh. How could he, which is holy, become a part of this irredeemable, unholy material world? So they had a number of theories. Some theorized that Jesus was actually A phantom spirit wasn't really there. If he was walking along a seashore, he wouldn't leave prints in the sand because he was just this phantom spirit. Others theorized that the spirit of the Messiah came upon this man, Jesus of Nazareth, at his baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, and then departed the body of this man, Jesus of Nazareth. as he hung on the cross. But either way, they came to the conclusion that the word had not become flesh and given his life as a substitutionary sacrifice for us, that his blood had not been poured out for our atonement, that the resurrection did not, he wasn't actually raised from the dead, declaring our justification. So this obviously, this Gnostic thought was heresy theologically. But it was also ungodly in practice. In fact, they were pushing the concept that you can sin all you want to in your body as long as your spirit was pure. That's what John was addressing in 1 John and addressing that error head on. But again, this led to the concardinalization between the spiritual world and the material world. And we have adopted the same mindset in modern day America as we have compartmentalized Christianity. Much like a picnic plate. We keep our Christianity, if I could have the next slide, please. We keep our Christianity in its proper place, but we don't dare let Christianity spill over and influence any other sphere of our lives. That obviously is our secular life and the spiritual realm doesn't belong there. Christianity has become something that we do on Sunday morning, but we don't let our church thing interfere with real life in the material world. We have our spiritual life where we place all of our sacred things that we can talk about in church. By the way, this box is getting smaller and smaller and smaller. Then we have reality, which is our physical life, which is reserved for secular thinking. And we can't talk about those things in church. But the Hebraic mindset, ladies and gentlemen, was they understood that God created the material world and the spiritual world. Therefore, Rabbi Apostle Paul said, whatever you do, you are to do to the glory of God. Paul again said, glorify God in your body, i.e. the material world, and in your spirit, the spiritual world, as they both belong to God. So salvation and subsequent lordship was understood in the Hebrew mentality. You cannot separate them. Let me give you another example. I was sitting next to a wonderful gentleman, Craig, the other night. We were talking on our opening night. And he brought up the Shema. The Shema is the John 3, 16 of Judaism. Deuteronomy 6, 4. Shema Yisrael, hear, O Israel, Adonai Eloheinu, the Lord your God, Adonai Ikad, the Lord is one. Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one. This is the passage of scripture that they put on the masseuses that they hang on the doorpost. This is the passage of scripture that's inside the Teflon when they put their prayer boxes on their foreheads and on their hands. This is the fundamental, it's a rededication of life twice a day. It's a pledge of allegiance done twice a day in the morning and evening. But understand in biblical Hebrew, there are only about 7,000 words. In modern day American English, we have about 100,000 words that we use. So when you're studying the Bible and you go back and you look in the Hebrew, and whether you speak Hebrew or not, you all have Hebrew lexicons, so you can, with a little effort, do this. But you have to understand that the words there have a broader and deeper meaning than what we might first conclude reading it from an English or from a Western mind. So it's important that we look at the passages in context. So this word Shema, to hear, hear O Israel, literally means when you look at the lexicon, Shema means to hear. But you know what the Hebrew word for obey is? Take a guess. Shema. Shema was understood among the Hebrews to hear is to obey. You have read it in your King James Bible, he that hath an ear to hear, let him hear. No, what it's saying is that if you have an ear to hear, then do what I'm telling you to do. So there was no controversy between James and Paul from a Jewish theological perspective. although we have wasted volumes of ink debating this conflict that didn't really exist. They were both addressing two sides of the same coin. The apostle Paul was emphasizing the fact that it is faith alone that produces our salvation. And James is emphasizing that true faith will produce works. So the natural result of one falling to his knees to call upon the resurrected Christ as his personal savior is to recognize that he is in fact the Lord of your life. In other words, to put it simply, the confession of our faith should match the expression of our faith. We should be consistent. Now don't misunderstand a word that I'm saying. We are not saved because of a transformed life, but a transformed life is the natural result of one being saved. In fact, I put it like this. The new birth is a prayer of faith as a heart's confession that's based upon the revelation that Jesus is the Lord and that results in a transformation. Just as Thomas doubted, he said, I don't believe it. I saw his dead body. There's no way that guy's alive. I'll not believe unless he stands right here and I can put my fingers in the nail prints in his hands. A week later, he shows up, says, Thomas, go ahead. Thomas, when coming face to face with the resurrected Christ, hit his knees and cried out, my Lord and my God. That is a Jesus moment. The Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus going to persecute Christians came face to face with the resurrected Christ and permanently transformed his life. That is a Jesus moment. Now, I love this page I'm going to put up here because it doesn't come from a Christian website. This actually comes from a Jewish website. But it analyzes the difference between the Greek thinking pistis, which means faith, and the Hebraic meaning faith. Imunah, which means faith, says this, Imunah is more than belief that certain statements about God are true. It is a belief in God, trust and reliance upon God, all of which call forth behavior consistent with that trust and reliance. So our expression of faith should be consistent with our confession of faith. Now, Consider as an example, if you happen to be a member of a church that's not active, and your pastor says, oh, we shouldn't talk about those things. That's part of the secular world. Consider this list of charges, and it's rather exhaustive. I may have missed a couple, but this is pretty exhaustive. You go through all of the books of prophecy in the Old Testament, and you compiled a list of charges of the things that God was upset with Israel and Judah over. I want you to think in your mind as I go down each of these point by point very quickly about whether you would consider this a spiritual issue or a secular issue. Whether this is something your pastor would talk about in church, or if you are a pastor, is this something that you would consider talking about in church? Okay, things that God was upset with. They were dishonest in business. Is that spiritual or secular? Yeah, it is. Actually, it's both. So that's a trick question. They ignored the sabbatical year of release. That's an economic issue. That's a personhood issue. They used unjust weights and measures. By the way, When we just simply inflate the amount of dollars in the money supply, that is an example of ungodly, unjust weights and measures. And not only are they stealing from us, but we are stealing from our children and our grandchildren simply by putting digits into a computer. There's nothing about what the Federal Reserve or our government is doing right now with this deficit spending that is in accordance with biblical principles of civil government or economics. They removed landmarks. They didn't recognize private property rights. Ticked God off. They bribed judges. Leaders fed off of the flocks rather than caring for them. They were disrespectful to their parents and elders. They didn't care for their family. God had designed it where we were to take care of our children when they were young, and when we were old, our children were to take care of us. They lived for revelry and drunken parties. They murdered their children. Religion became big business. They were no longer ashamed of immorality, even celebrating homosexuality, and paraded and reveled in their debauchery. Things that common sense and God said were evil, they called good. Things that experienced common sense and God called good, they called good. they called evil. They were proud and arrogant. Their court system became corrupt. The government was corrupt. They denied and abandoned God. And when Jeremiah would come to the temple and face the people of Jerusalem and say, repent, they would point to the temple and say, what are you talking about? We're God's people. We go to church on Sundays. Ladies and gentlemen, God is not impressed with how pretty we look on Sunday mornings. God wants to see the reality of our love for him with our obedience. Remember what Jesus said? If you love me, keep my commandments. With our obedience and following him 168 hours out of the week. That's 24-7. Now, it's what James was emphasizing. Go ahead and talk about your faith here. Let me show you my faith. Now, here's where our pastors have that come to Jesus moment. The Great Commission tells us to go into all the world and make disciples. Doesn't say make church members. Doesn't say make professors of faith. Doesn't say make people repeat the sinner's prayer. But that's not what we've been called to do. We've been called to make disciples. And what do we do? How do we make a disciple? We teach that convert to observe all things whatsoever the Lord has commanded us. Now, folks, Ephesians says, We will often misappropriate, Christians often misappropriate verses that really weren't intended for us. We have books of devotionals where God made a promise to David and we take it because it sounds good and it's encouraging. We'll put it in a little something and we'll apply it to us. Sometimes that's good. Sometimes it's really not a correct or exegesis of scripture. But understand that Ephesians is clearly written to the New Testament church. So everything here is directly to us. And my responsibility as a pastor is, one, I'm supposed to be an evangelist. Boy, you better believe it. In fact, I have a little booklet if any of you want it. It's a wonderful book. We've had great success with this in college campuses. Just 24 pages. It's a heavy track, heavily influenced. In fact, Frank Turek did the editing for me. Frank Turek, Josh McDowell, but it's called Not Blind Faith, Verifiable Evidence That God Exists and Rose From the Dead. We have found this to be a real plus. Hey, we are huge on evangelism. I required my church members about a month ago to write out their testimonies. I wanted a copy of it. Reason being is I wanted them to consider whether they actually had one. And if they didn't, then we needed to talk. But evangelism, of course, what does it profit a man if he should gain the whole world but lose his own soul?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you know, our faith isn't just for Sunday mornings. It's meant to be lived out every moment of every day. It should flow naturally into every aspect of our lives, from the business decisions we make to how we raise our families, the way we engage with our communities, and how we serve others. That is the powerful message we just heard today from Pastor Paul Blair here on Family Talk as he challenged us to live authentic Christian lives in an increasingly secular world. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, with every single day, we receive incredible testimonies about how Family Talk is transforming lives nationwide. We hear from moms who found hope and practical guidance while dealing with troubled teens. Or couples write to us to tell us how they've rediscovered God's divine plan for their marriages. Well, fathers are sharing how they've embraced biblical leadership in their homes after years of struggling as well. And even young parents are writing and calling us, telling us how our broadcasts have given them confidence to raise their children with godly principles. Please know that your faithful financial support makes all these life-changing moments possible. And right now, your giving will have twice the impact. Thanks to some generous ministry partners who have stepped forward with an incredible matching grant opportunity, your donation will be matched dollar for dollar now through December 31st. This means a $50 gift becomes $100, $500 becomes $1,000, $10,000 becomes, well, you get the idea. Every gift, no matter the size, will go twice as far to bring biblical truth, practical wisdom, and lasting hope to families nationwide. So we boldly invite you to be part of this mission to help families grow closer to God and to each other. You can make a secure donation online when you go to drjamesdobson.org. That's drjamesdobson.org. You can also call our dedicated customer service team at 877-732-6825. That's 877-732-6825. And if you prefer, you can send your donation through the mail. Our ministry mailing address is Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk. P.O. Box 39000, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The zip code 80949. And while you're on the line with us, whether you call or click or write, make sure you also ask about the brand new 2024 Best of Broadcast Collection. that captures the most powerful and transformative programs from the past year. Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, Victor and Eileen Marks, Dr. Dobson's timeless wisdom on strengthening marriages and more. This carefully curated six CD set is also available as a digital download, and it's our way of thanking you for your gift of any amount in support of the JDFI today. So have that gift doubled when you go to drjamesdobson.org or call 877-732-6825. Well, I'm Roger Marsh. Hope you've been encouraged by today's program. Please join us again next time for part two of Pastor Paul Blair's inspiring message about living out our faith in every area of life. That's right here next time on Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk. This has been a presentation of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.
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Saying no to our children can sometimes become an unfortunate habit in the home. With another Dr. Dobson Minute, here's Dr. James Dobson. Every child needs to be acquainted with denial of his more extravagant wishes, and there's a need for parents who have the courage to say no when circumstances warrant. But this responsibility of holding the line and turning down a child's petitions can lead us to say no when we really ought to say yes. What's behind the habit of saying no? Well, it's like an umpire who immediately calls a runner out or safe at home plate. He knows that to waver is to invite an avalanche of protests. And because the kids ask for a thousand favors a day, we find it convenient to refuse them all. But this knee-jerk negativism is irritating for the child and unduly restrictive to him. Say yes to your child unless there is a very good reason for saying no. For more information, visit drdobsonminute.org.
In this transformative episode of Discovering the Jewish Jesus, Rabbi Schneider delves into his God-given vision for witnessing without fear. Through a compelling dream, Rabbi Schneider was shown a unique approach to share faith authentically and effectively, emphasizing the importance of personal connection and divine security in our lives. Join him as he recounts this heavenly encounter and shares insights that promise to revolutionize your approach to faith-sharing. Learn how to adopt a secure and confident stance in your faith journey, and discover how to ask the ultimate question that cuts through pretense: "What do you think of Jesus?" Embrace a new level of boldness and clarity as Rabbi Schneider guides you through powerful, real-world applications and scripture revelations. This episode is a call to action for all believers to stand firm, address insecurities, and present Jesus with genuine love and personal engagement.
SPEAKER 01 :
Hello, and welcome to Discovering the Jewish Jesus. I'm your host, Dustin Roberts, and today Rabbi Schneider reveals the secret to witnessing without fear. Every single one of us has felt uncertainty when it comes to sharing our faith. We wonder if we'll say the wrong thing or if the other person will reject us. And that's why Rabbi Schneider today, he wants to give us some natural and authentic ways that we can transform the way we witness to the world. And you can learn more about Rabbi Schneider and this ministry by visiting discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And right now, let's begin our message on sharing our faith with prayer. Here's Rabbi.
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Father, we ask you to come today, Father, that you'll move through this broadcast with power, God. Let your word, Abba, run swiftly, we pray in Yeshua's name, in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Beloved, we're in the midst of a series entitled Sharing Your Faith. This is part number four. I'm not going to go back and review. This has been a very exclusive series, very important. I really encourage you to get it and study it. We're talking about how to share our faith. Today, beloved, I'm going to talk to you about a subject that I've spoke on before, but I want to bring it up afresh and anew on this series. I want to talk about the specific strategy I am talking about the divine cutting edge strategy that's come to me directly from heaven that the Holy Spirit has given me in terms of how to share our faith. Beloved, there are many good ways to share our faith, but I am about to tell you that the Holy Spirit came to me and spoke to me verbally a specific question teaching me to share my faith in a specific way and encouraging me in doing so to teach others to do it in this same way. I believe you'll find it extremely effective because what I'm about to share with you, beloved, it's not from me. It came from God. Here's how it happened. Early this year, the Lord spoke to me in a dream. In the first phase of this dream, I found myself in a room. The room was shaped like a rectangle. I don't know exactly how big the room was. It wasn't a real big room. In the room, there was a couch. The coloring in the room was darkish grayish. It wasn't like the windows were open and a lot of sun was coming in, but it wasn't totally black either. It was just kind of a darkish grayish color in the room, but you could still see in the room. And I go onto the couch and there's a lady sitting on the couch. Next to the lady on the far end of the couch, so I'm at one end of the couch, and then on the other end of the couch, there's a man sitting. He looked to be about maybe 50 years old. The dream opens. My head is kind of leaning on this lady's shoulder. It was just like there was kind of like a mother or something like that. It was just kind of a comfort thing. You know, David said in one of his writings, he said that he had stilled his soul like a child at rest leaning against his mother. I believe it just meant that I was secure. And then this man is sitting at the other end of the couch. And I asked the man, beloved, in this dream, this specific question. What? Do you think of Jesus?" Immediately after this phase of the dream, the dream rolled into a second dream that was connected to it. And it was this second phase of the dream that made me absolutely sure, beloved, that I was having a dream from God. In the second part of the dream, I find myself in a room almost identical to the room that I was in in the first dream, about the same size. Again, there's a couch. Again, it's kind of gray in terms of the coloring of the room. There's not a lot of light in there, but you can still see it's not totally dark either. I believe that represents the spiritual climate of the world right now. And we can still see, but it's dark right now. Morality is dark. Hopelessness is pervading. Things are becoming more and more chaotic. Jesus described this world as a place where Satan dwelled. And so I'm in this room, the second phase of the dream. I'm on the couch and a young girl is in the room. She's standing in the center of the room. She looked to be about 20 years old. And I asked her in the dream, listen, beloved, the same exact question, what do you think of Jesus? And when I asked her the question, this is what she said. She said, well, I know he said a lot to the church, But he never said anything to me like about being boyfriend, girlfriend. And as soon as she said that, the dream was over. And I knew that I was having a dream from God because her statement was so unique and so profound. And it said volumes. This is what she was meaning, beloved, that she had heard maybe some preaching before. Maybe she was raised in church or had sat in church at some points in her life. But she never said, heard and understood that Jesus loved her. And I knew through this dream that the Lord was telling me several things. He was first of all telling me that my people need to be secure. This was communicated to me, beloved, in the dream when I found myself as the dream opened with my head leaning on that lady's shoulder, like David said, like a child leaning on his mother. It represented security, that you and I need to break off the lie of insecurity because we are secure in Jesus. Insecurity is part of our old life. We need to step out of it. We need to break it. We need to confess, I am secure in Jesus. My father is with me. Jesus is with me. His presence is all around me. He's going to provide for all my needs. It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks about me. It only matters what he thinks about me. So I will be secure. Part of being secure, beloved, is a decision. So the Lord was communicating that if my people are going to be obedient to me, ensuring their faith, they're going to have to step out of insecurity and into security. And beloved, that is a choice that you need to make. Remember when Jesus gave out the talents and when he called those he had given the talents to, to return and to show them the investment that they had made on the talents and how their talents had multiplied. Remember the one said, Lord, you gave me 10 and now here's 20. And the other one came and said, Lord, you gave me five talents, now here's ten talents. And then Jesus called the one that he had given one talent to. And the man came to Jesus with his one talent and he said, sir, you gave me one talent and here's your one talent back, for I knew you to be a hard man. He had a wrong concept of God. And because of that, he was insecure and fearful. And Jesus rebuked him. He was displeased. And beloved, you and I need to make a decision that we're going to obey God, because God has not given us a spirit of fear or timidity, but of love and of power and of a sound mind. So the first thing that you and I need to know, beloved, is we need to break off insecurity and fear and step into security and boldness and confidence. That was what the Lord showed me by showing me with my head leaning against that woman's shoulder. Then the next thing was that the man was sitting on the couch. And I asked him the question, what do you think of Jesus? And beloved, he was kind of a macho looking man. And I believe the Lord was communicating, you don't bow down to asking anybody this question. Don't fear being intimidated. Don't be afraid of what someone's going to think about you. Don't be concerned that someone's going to think you're weak because you're talking about my son. I want you to ask the world the question, what? do you think of Jesus?" And then, as I indicated, as the dream shifted, I found myself in the room, once again, similar room with the young lady, 20 years old. I asked her the same question, beloved, what do you think of Jesus? And she said to me, I know he said a lot to the church, but he didn't say anything to me like about being boyfriend, girlfriend. And what the Lord was communicating to me here was that people need to not just be presented with the doctrine of the Bible. They don't just need to hear that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. What we need to be communicating, beloved, to people as we're witnessing to them is that God loves them. individually, personally, that God knows the number of hairs on their head, that God knows where they work. He knows what their phone number is. God says, when you share me with people, I want you to communicate to them how much I love and care about them as individual people. that I care about them in their work, that I care about what happens to them in their future, that I care about their relationship with their husband or wife, that I care and I'm concerned with them and I want to be involved in every detail of their life.
SPEAKER 01 :
You're listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus and Rabbi will be right back in a moment. It's our prayer that today's message has been a blessing to you so far and we hope that it enriches your walk with Yeshua. If you have a prayer request, we invite you to submit it online at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. Our team lifts up every individual request before the Lord and it would be our pleasure, privilege and honor to pray for you and your family. At Discovering the Jewish Jesus, we are looking for like-minded people who are ready to partner with us. If you're sensing the Lord leading you to offer a financial gift of support, would you please contact us today? Become a monthly partner. Go to discoveringthejewishjesus.com. or to give a gift of any amount today, just call 800-777-7835. That's 800-777-7835. And now here's Rabbi Schneider with the rest of today's message. And so God shared with me, beloved, this strategy
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when we're out there witnessing for him to be asking people the question, beloved, what do you think of Jesus? You see, when you ask somebody that question, we're not even asking them, what do you think about Jesus? Because if we ask them, what do you think about Jesus, that can get to be kind of a heady question. But when we ask them, what do you think of Jesus, that's a hard question. And when they respond to us, we can know when somebody responds where they're at in their walk with God. And then hearing their response, we can know how to proceed, beloved, to present the love of God to them. This is the time for the church to get bold like never before. I'm not talking to just a few. I'm talking to all of us and to begin to share our faith, beloved, like never before. I want to encourage you. Don't be afraid of somebody getting mad at you. People will get mad at you. But you know, sometimes when someone gets mad at you, that's the first step to them coming to faith. Oftentimes, beloved, someone gets really mad, but they get mad because they're being faced with something that's really disturbing them and upsetting them. And this is the beginning with them wrestling with the issue. And God may use you to do it so the outcome is not based on whether they got mad or not. The outcome may be that they got mad, but six weeks later they received Jesus. And it had to do with you boldly presenting the gospel to them. What do you think of Jesus? And also when we're sharing with people, we want to be humble. And one of the best ways to do that is not to place ourselves above them, but to share with them what Jesus has done for us. making ourselves voluntarily weak. In other words, saying, oh, it wouldn't have been for Jesus. And everything that we say, we say, praise Jesus. It's a good God. We're making ourselves voluntarily weak. So we're showing them that we need Jesus just like they do so that they don't think that we're condescending. Also, beloved, I want to encourage you. To be prepared. The more prepared you are, and I'm not telling you you have to know the Bible backwards and forwards. No, I'm not telling you that. But I'm saying be as prepared as you can be. And don't wait till you're prepared perfectly to start. Start right now. But it's like this. As you learn some of the strategies that I've shared in this broadcast, and as you continue to read the Bible on a daily basis, beloved, Even if it's just a chapter a day, you're going to get more and more prepared to be able to respond to people and to be able to bring up Scripture, because the Scripture itself has life and power in it. See, the Word of God is living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword. It's able to pierce between the division of soul and spirit. So when you know the Word of God, you can bring it to the table. It's kind of like a carpenter. A carpenter can do almost any job. Why? Because he's got the tools. And so the more prepared you are, the more tools you'll have. But I don't want anybody to wait until they're more prepared. Start right now. God will train you as you go. Some of you have heard it said before, God can't steer a parked car. Just start and God will teach you and train you along the way. And again, don't be thrown when people get defensive. Don't let it throw you. Just be convinced in your heart, beloved, that the message that you bring is real. You need to be convinced that Jesus is the only way. If you have a mindset that simply says, well, Jesus is good for me. but, you know, this person doesn't believe in Jesus, so God bless them, that's fine too. A lot of people that call themselves Christians are like that. It's like they claim that Jesus is the only way. They sing praises to God in church that Jesus is the only way. But when it comes to the way that they relate with other people, it's evident by the way they relate to other people that they really don't believe that. Because they've got all these people that they know that they're in relationship with, and they know these people aren't believers in Jesus, and yet they don't tell them about Jesus. If you and I were really convinced that those people were going to hell, we would be telling them about Jesus. Jesus said, unless you believe that I am he, you'll die in your sins. We must be convinced that people need Jesus, that he is who he said he was, that Jesus said there's no other name under heaven by which men can be saved but the name of Yeshua HaMashiach. Be convinced, beloved, that people need him. And don't be afraid, beloved, that someone's going to know more than you know. No, beloved, the Bible tells us that we shouldn't be afraid because the Holy Spirit, the Scripture says, will give us what we need in the hour thereof. one of the secrets to becoming free and fluent and powerful in the abundant life of God. It's stepping out and trusting him. We have a supernatural God. And one of the things that our supernatural God does for us is he anoints us by the Holy Spirit to witness. So don't worry about having to think everything through that you're going to know exactly what you need to say in every situation. He'll give you the words Jesus taught us in the hour thereof. Now, a few practical things. Try to avoid words that people won't relate to. In other words, when Paul was on Mars Hill in the book of Acts, these people didn't know the Torah. They didn't know the scriptures. So Paul didn't start out talking to them about the Torah. But rather what Paul did is he started relating to them where they were at in life. He says, I see you have many statues here where you're worshiping an unknown God. And so Paul began by meeting them where they were at, and then he began to move from there, teaching them that this unknown God, that his name was the God of Israel and his son's name was Yeshua. And so we need to have that same mindset when we're speaking to a secular world and we're speaking to people that don't know the Lord. We want to avoid kind of Christian jargon that we might know what it means, but to them, they might not understand what we're saying. And so we need to be trying to communicate with them, beloved, in a language Hallelujah, that they can understand. Well, we began, beloved, at the beginning of this broadcast talking about how to approach the atheist. And I shared with you early on that the scripture tells us that deep inside everybody that's ever been born into the world knows there's a God. The scripture tells us that it's evident within them. And not only is it evident within them, Not only is their conscience bearing witness with them that there is a God, but when they look at creation and they see the sky that goes on forever and the beauty and the colors, deep inside they know there's a God. So when we come across an atheist, don't be intimidated and don't let the strength of their personality or their hostility or their condescending attitude throw you. Deep inside, every man knows there's a God. I talked about three ways to respond to the atheist. I talked about the argument of intelligent design, that in creation, beloved, we have intelligence. In other words, intelligence is built in to creation so that the body, beloved, when it begins to overheat, it automatically perspires to bring the temperature back down to normal. When we get sick, our body automatically begins to create antibodies to combat the sickness. And we could go on and on. There's intelligence in creation. Beloved, intelligence could not be in creation if there wasn't an intelligent designer behind it. So the first argument that we have for the atheist is the argument of intelligent design. The second argument, beloved, for responding to the atheist is the law of absolute morality, that deep down inside, all over the world, mankind at the most basic level has a sense of right and wrong. Now, the atheist will say he doesn't believe in moral absolutes, that there's no such thing, he'll say, as absolute right or wrong. But rather, he says, morality is relative, that morality is culturally defined, that morality isn't defined by a god, but they say instead, morality is defined individually. But you take that same atheist and somebody steals something from them, and what do they want? They want God. justice and so deep inside the atheist when he's wrong automatically now they revert back into a position of morality and then the third response beloved to the atheist is the response of first cause all the other theories beloved of the existence of life all the other theories of evolution have to do with beloved something that began in other words you begin with many evolution theories with what a big bang But the most obvious question when you begin to talk about a Big Bang is, well where did the Big Bang come from? What caused the Big Bang? And the only answer to this dilemma, beloved, is that there had to be a first cause that was without cause. God, by nature of who He is, has always been, He has no first cause, and that is the only possible explanation that one can come up with for the existence of life. There had to be something in the very beginning that was without cause, that has always been, and that is God. That's why God is beloved eternity. We talk about the exclusive claim of Jesus. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to God but through me. So what we do now is we bring a person to the place of having to face making a decision about Jesus. And here's what we say. If I can show you that Jesus is who He said He was, will you receive Him and will you receive His truth? We want to get them in a position that they're getting ready to have to make a decision. And then what we do, beloved, is we explain the historical accuracy of the Bible that I've covered in my earlier broadcast, why we can trust the Bible as being a historically accurate document, recording accurately the claims of Messiah. And finally, beloved, I talked about on this broadcast, we need to be asking people the question, what do you think of Jesus? I don't know about you, but for me, it seems like time keeps on going faster and faster and faster. Remember when we were little kids and it seemed like a summer was endless, like a whole lifetime was enveloped in a summer? Well, the older we get, it just seems like the years fly by. And so here we are, another year is coming to an end. As we come to the end of 2024, can I ask you humbly to give your very best love offering to the Lord through Discovering the Jewish Jesus? Because of you, beloved ones, millions of people are being reached through this ministry. In fact, I just received a testimony recently of a Jewish man that came to faith directly as a result of discovering the Jewish Jesus, and he's just one of many Jewish people that are coming to the Lord. And not just Jews, but people from all over the world are coming to the Lord, beloved, because of your sowing financially into this ministry. Thank you for your love. Would you give your best offering right now? Thank you, I love you, and shalom.
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Amen. That testimony from the Jewish man was so encouraging to receive. And like Rabbi said, we're at the end of the year, so there's not a lot of chances left to give an end of your offering. So if God is leading you to financially support discovering the Jewish Jesus with a special end of your gift of any amount, then please reach out to us today. You can call us at 800-777-7835. That's 800-777-7835. You can also send your financial gift in the mail. Our address is Discovering the Jewish Jesus, P.O. Box 777, Blissfield, Michigan 49228. And as a token of our appreciation back to you when you give, we want to send you our insightful newsletter. We'll make sure that it arrives at your door each month. This resource, it's a great way to keep track of what's happening here at the ministry. It also includes exclusive teaching from Rabbi, a letter from his wife, Cynthia, and also testimonies from people who've been touched because of listeners like you who financially support us. I get it myself every month, and I am definitely encouraged seeing all the testimonies. So if you want to be connected with this ministry in a greater way, please give today. Visit discoveringthejewishjesus.com. Thanks so much for your support. Now here's Rabbi with the Aaronic Blessing.
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In the book of Numbers, chapter six, we find a personal blessing from God our Father. This blessing should touch our hearts because it's so personal. Father God wants to intimately bless you, so receive his blessing into your life today with gladness and an open heart.
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Yevarechecha Yahweh, vayishmarecha Ya'er Yahweh, P'navei Lecha, Vichu Ne'echa Yissa Yahweh, P'navei Lecha, Ve'asem Lecha
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The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with his countenance. And the Lord give you, beloved one, his peace. God bless you and shalom.
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I'm Dustin Roberts, and this program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Join us again next time when Rabbi Schneider explains how you can prepare for spiritual breakthrough. Learn more Friday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
In this episode, Pastor Rick wraps up his series on Leaving a Lasting Legacy by discussing the importance of living by one's convictions. He challenges listeners to love like Jesus, even when faced with criticism and opposition, and to embrace the Great Commission as a non-negotiable task for believers. Through sharing personal stories and biblical insights, Pastor Rick emphasizes that the whole world needs Jesus and that each believer is called to share the good news regardless of the obstacles they face. Throughout the conversation, listeners are reminded that living a purpose-driven life involves seeing all people as priceless souls, worthy of God's love and redemption. Pastor Rick encourages believers to stand firm in their faith, highlighting that God is at work in extraordinary ways today, and that anything is possible with God in their lives. The episode concludes with heartfelt stories from listeners whose lives have been transformed through faith, underscoring the profound impact of Pastor Rick's message.
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Hey everyone, we're so glad you're here. Welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Well today, Rick's gonna bring his series Leaving a Lasting Legacy to a close. This series gives you the tools you need to pass down your faith to the next generation. And now here's the final part of a message called Living by Your Convictions.
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Now let me tell you this. Even when you give love out, you will still be opposed. Look at what Jesus said. John 15, when the world hates you, remember that it hated me before it hated you. The world would love you if you belong to it, but you don't. See, Jesus was perfect love and they still killed him. So why aren't we discouraged? Look at this verse, Psalm 76, 10. Human opposition only enhances your glory. Even God gets glory in this. Why? When we respond in love to enemy, when we respond in love to hatred, in love to criticism, God gets glory. It's a test. And Jesus just says our job is to keep on loving like Jesus. Keep on loving like Jesus did, loving like Jesus did, loving like Jesus, no matter what people say or do, we're gonna love like Jesus did. I wish, I wish I could take you with me on these trips that I do around the world where we're preparing the peace plan in different countries. When I go into each of these countries, I meet with the major business leaders of the country, I meet with the major religious leaders of the country, and I meet with the major governmental leaders, usually the president, to explain to them the peace plan, to get permission to do the peace plan in those countries. And I wish you could look into the eyes and see what happens when people give love where they're expecting antagonism. It just melts hearts, friends. It melts hearts. Now here's the fourth conviction that I base my life on, and it's this, the whole world needs Jesus. The whole world needs Jesus. And Jesus said this very clearly over and over, but in Matthew 28, we have the great commission. And he says there, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you. Always, to the very end of the age. Now this is an extremely important verse. It has five truths in it I don't want you to miss. First, notice it says our assignment. What is our assignment? It is go. He says go. Now notice, this is not a suggestion. This is not the Great Suggestion. This is the Great Commission. It's not optional. If you claim to be a child of God, if you're in God's family, God says to you, go. Go. I expect you to go, that's the assignment. Now what's the task? Go and make disciples. Well, what's a disciple? Well, let me give you a modern synonym for disciple. Living a purpose-driven life. Purpose-driven life, as you know, talks about five things. Knowing and loving God. growing to spiritual maturity, serving God with my shape through ministry, sharing God and the good news, and worshiping God with all my heart. That's called being a disciple. The purpose-driven life is just a new word for being a disciple. It just means doing the five things God put you here on this planet to do. Our assignment is go, our task is make disciples. What's our authority? Not some government, not the CIA, it's Jesus. Jesus said all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me. And what's our responsibility? Go and make disciples of some nations. Now what's it say? What? All, all nations. Does that include Syria? Yes. Does that include North Korea? Yes. Does that include Iran? Yes. There is no off limits nation. I'm sorry, I report to a higher authority. His name is Jesus Christ. And I'm not a politician, I'm a pastor. And if Iran opens a door, I'm going. I'm just telling you, as your pastor, there is no place I won't go. I'd go into hell if I could bring people out with me. There is no place I would not go. You know, Billy Graham, 30 years ago, went to the Soviet Union when Brezhnev was still the premier and communism had its death grip on the Soviet Union. And he went in and he treated the leaders of communist Russia with respect. And he was kind to them and he was polite. And he actually showed love to them. And when he came out, he was ruthlessly criticized. by both the left and the right as being a pawn, being used. One well-known critic said of Billy Graham, you have set the church back 50 years. Billy Graham, I remember, bowed his head and he said, well, I'm so ashamed. I was trying to set it back 2000. There's no place I'm afraid to go if God is with me. Now what's the implication for you? If the whole world needs Jesus, here's the implication. I must share the good news. I must share it and to keep it a secret would be criminal. If you knew the cure for Alzheimer's and you didn't share it, that'd be criminal. If you knew the cure for AIDS or for autism or for cancer and you didn't pass it on, they should put you in jail for criminal negligence. But we have something better than that. We know the cure for the human heart. We know the cure for the deepest needs of mankind. They need a savior. They need forgiveness. They need their past forgiven, a purpose for living, and a home in heaven. And we cannot hold it back. We have to share it. Jesus said in John 3, 17, I did not come to condemn the world. I came to save it. I want to be like Jesus. I want you to be like Jesus. I didn't come to condemn this world. I came to save it. I wish more Christians would stop judging the world and criticizing the world and start saving it. You're either gonna do one or the other. Stop judging the world and being so critical and just get busy sharing the good news. The Bible says this, 2 Corinthians 5. As Christ's love compels us, Christ's love compels us Because we are convinced that one died for all. And he died for all. So that those who live should no longer live for themselves. but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Friends, when you get saved, I mean really saved, when you're really saved, you can know it two ways. Your priorities change and your perspective change. If that didn't happen, you should doubt whether you're saved or not. It changes your priorities and your perspective. First, your priorities change. You no longer live for yourself. I'm not living for myself anymore. I'm living for Jesus Christ. And then your perspective changes. We no longer regard people the way we used to. We regard no one from a worldly point of view. How does the world look at people? It treats them as objects. Politicians look at people and see votes. Business leaders look at people and see consumers and customers. Men look at women and see sex objects. It treats people as things. When you are genuinely saved, it changes the way you see people. We don't see people as statistics. We don't see them as numbers. We don't see them as things or objects. We don't see people as adversaries or enemies. We don't see them as consumers or customers. We see them as priceless souls that Jesus shed his precious blood for. And they're worthwhile and they're valuable of infinite value. So much that Jesus said this is how valuable they are. And I don't care if it's a coke smoking crack junkie in the alley. They are valuable to God. And we must look at people not as objects but with a broken heart. We stop using people and we start loving people. Now what's the opposition? Because there is opposition to you sharing your faith. There are people trying to make it illegal for you to share your faith at work. There are people trying to make it illegal to share your faith at school and in the grocery store and everywhere else. What's the opposition? Well the answer is Satan. He's the opposition. Satan and his evil forces. And the Bible says this, look on the screen. For we're not fighting against human beings. but against wicked forces, spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers and the authorities and the cosmic powers of this dark age. So put on God's armor now so you will be able to resist the enemy's attacks. He says, I want you to be able to understand you're not fighting against critics and pundits, you're fighting against Satan. Ladies and gentlemen, we are in a battle for the lives of billions of people and the eternal destinies of billions of people. And if you think you were coming to a picnic, you're sorely misguided. The picnic comes later. It's gonna happen in eternity. Now is the battle. I don't know if you've noticed how many anti-Christian books are coming out in the recent days, but a lot of them. I collect them, and about five or six of them have come out just in the last month. And I don't know if you noticed on the covers of magazines, for instance, last week, the cover of Newsweek was the cross wrapped in an American flag, and it said, the politics of Jesus. And that's what Americans saw. But I happened to be overseas, and everywhere overseas, the cover looked like this. America's God complex. As if, when is America going to get over its hang up with God? America's God complex. And this week in Time Magazine, the cover is God versus science. Friends, we can't sit on the sideline on a debate like that. We have to engage, but we will do it with gentleness and we will do it with respect. How do we respond to forces that don't want us to share the good news? Well Jesus said this, he ended the Beatitudes by saying, blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. He says this, when you go to work and you get harassed for being a Christian, don't hate, celebrate. When you go to school and you get put down for being a Christian, don't hate, celebrate. When you go play on a ball team and somebody makes fun of you as being a Jesus believer or something, don't hate, celebrate. Why? Great is your reward in heaven. Great is your reward in heaven. Have a little spine. Be a man, be a woman, and stand up for the convictions that you believe. The fact is, friends, these are the most exciting days to be alive ever in the history of the world. God is at work in the 21st century more than in any other century. Did you know that one out of every three people on the earth is a believer in Jesus Christ? 2.3 billion people claim to be a follower of Christ. Nothing as big as the church. It's the biggest organization in the world. Nothing is bigger. Did you know that the largest churches in history are in existence now? By the way, none of them are in America. I've been in churches that are 100,000, 200,000, 300,000. I preached in a church with a half a million members. They're all in Africa and Asia and South America. Did you know that in China every week about 80,000 people give their lives to Christ? 80,000 a week. We are on the verge of an enormous spiritual awakening. The Bible says this on the screen. All over the world, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing. Look at the next verse. The Bible says, look at the nations and watch. Be utterly amazed. For I'm going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if you were told. I so badly as your pastor want you to see this because it's happening. More than that, I want you to be a part of it. Almost 30 years ago, I began praying that God would raise up an army that would help lead a movement to make a difference in and through and for and to the church for the global glory of God. And you are an answer to that prayer. And the reason you are here is God wanted you here because he sees in you what I see in you and you don't see in yourself. You are a world changer. Me? Yeah, yeah, you, you. You wouldn't be here if God didn't intend for him to use you. Why did he put you at the vortex of a spiritual awakening? Because he intends to use you. Now I'm out of time, but I know that some of you can't stand to have a sermon with blanks left empty. So let me just give you the fill-ins and you can fill this in and we'll finish it some other day. Conviction number five, and this one I believe in the bottom of my heart, and we've seen it over and over, over 26 years. Everything is possible with God. Everything is possible with God. The Bible says Jesus looked in them and said, with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. My God can do anything. Jesus said this. He said, according to your faith, it will be done unto you. You know what that implication is? God's waiting on you. God is waiting for you to trust him. God's waiting on me. God wants to use you. He wants to bless you. He wants to do amazing things in your life. He wants you to be a world changer. You just need to stop saying, I can't. Stop it. Just stop it. Stop saying, I can't. I can't make this marriage work. I can't do what God wants me to do. I can't, I can't. That's a lie. All things are possible to him who believes God. And God gets the most glory when we trust him for the impossible. The Bible says this, Ephesians 3.20 on the screen. With God's power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we ask or imagine. And that's why I keep pushing you. That's why I keep stretching you as your pastor, saying, we can do this. Now we're going to do this. Now we're going to do this. Why? Because I see in you what God sees in you. Enormous potential. Far beyond what you've ever imagined. But God says, I want to use you according to your faith. It will be done unto you. What's the opposition? You know what the opposition to your faith is? It's not other people. It's not critics. It's not even the devil. Let me tell you what it is. It's your own unbelief. You are the biggest problem in your own life. Why don't you believe God more? It's your choice. Why don't you trust him more? Why is God using his church? Because God looked down and found a group of people who are willing to trust God for just a little bit more than other churches. And that's our choice. It's the choice of anybody. There are a lot of things you don't have control over, but you do have a choice over how much you choose to believe God. And I have learned that every time I believe him, he fulfills his promise. Jesus said this, because of their unbelief, the Bible says, he could not do any miracles among them. You want miracles in your life? Start believing. Just start believing. Finally, the sixth conviction, history's conclusion is inevitable. History's conclusion is inevitable. I believe this with all my heart. It's a fait accompli. It's done. It's finished. There's no doubt. I've read the final chapter. The book tells us how it's gonna end. We know the end of the story. One day God's gonna wrap it all up here on earth and he's gonna take his children who trusted him to heaven forever and ever. And the Bible says this in Matthew 24. The good news about God's kingdom will be preached in all the world to every nation, that's Greek ta ethne, to every people group, and then the end will come. It's a certainty. Now this is the most important thing I'm gonna say to you because the critics always get this wrong. Friends, the peace plan and Saddleback, we are not trying to bring in the kingdom here on Earth. We are not. It's not gonna happen. It's not gonna happen on earth. We are not trying through the peace plan to bring the kingdom in on earth. We are trying to populate the kingdom of heaven. We wanna take all our friends and everybody else with us. We're not trying to set up a kingdom here on earth. That is not our goal. Our goal is to get people into the kingdom of heaven where they're gonna be for eternity. Now these six convictions are behind everything we do and everything I say and everything we do. And the Bible says one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. And we're all gonna be united in front of God and it's gonna separate sheeps and goats, those who trusted and those who didn't. What we've been talking about is the glory of God. God gets glory when I love him with all my heart. God gets glory when I love you, other people in the family of God. God gets glory when I love my neighbor, the people I'm least likely to love. And when God gets glory when I love my enemies, and when I treat them with dignity and respect, even though they disrespect me. And God gets glory when I share the good news with everybody. And God gets glory when I trust him for problems in my life that cannot be solved. except through a miracle and God gets glory when I know and trust that the end is inevitable and God wins. Let's bow our heads. Simple prayer today. Would you say dear Jesus Christ, I wanna be a part of what you're doing in the world. I believe you brought me here to use me. I want to return to my first love, you. And I want to be your hands and feet in the 21st century. In your name I pray, amen.
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Thanks so much for listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. You know, your prayers and financial support have a huge impact on millions of people here and around the world. So we really appreciate that. Thank you. And now here's Rick with a letter from one of our listeners.
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Today, I want to share with you a very special testimony from one of our listeners named Markita. And thanks to Daily Hope and your support, she recently asked Jesus Christ to be the leader of her life. Here's her story. Pastor Rick, I wanted to let you know that I have prayed the prayer of salvation that you included in the Deepening the Eyes of Faith message. I've been listening to your messages for years. In fact, my child wouldn't even be here today if it weren't for your words. You wrote, there may be accidental parents, but there are no accidental children. Well, I've given birth to a beautiful baby girl, and she's the light of my life. In fact, it now hurts to remember a time that I was fighting to decide whether I was going to have her or not. But I repeated your words throughout my pregnancy. There are accidental parents, but there are no accidental children. And although I'm a single mom today with the support of my family, we're thriving. I want to make sure that she grows up to find her purpose and to serve God. So thanks for renewing my faith in God. And as I still try to find and fulfill my purpose, please pray for me and my child. Wow. Markita, you are so right. God does have a plan and a purpose for every single baby. There are no accidental babies. So I want to take a moment right now and just pray for you in this broadcast. I pray for you and for your daughter. Lord, I'm asking you right now, to put your hand of protection, your hand of blessing, your hand of guidance on Markita and her daughter. And I'm praying for both of them to know your purpose, to feel your presence, to discover your power, to live in your plan for each of their lives in Jesus' name.
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Amen. And thank you so much for your support. Be sure to join us next time as we look into God's Word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.
