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- [00:00]
A
Good morning, everybody, and happy New Year to you. This is a different format. What we normally do on Sunday mornings, go straight through the Bible. And next Sunday I will be starting a new book together with you. That's the book of Philippians, so you can read ahead. And we'll, we'll start into Philippians next Sunday, but usually around the holidays, we, we do this annual Q and A. So today's the day I feel really blessed. I get to do the Q and A session with my two sons. So we're going to try to do our best to tackle your questions. Now. We've been advertising the number for some time now. And so as a result, I've got 12 pages of questions that you already submitted, but you can also submit them live. And we have our computers. We're going to do the best we can to try to answer some that were pre submitted and others that are submitted live this morning. And so this is an opportunity for us to try to answer as many Bible questions as we possibly can. All three services this morning, we will be answering questions like this format. You might have submitted a question that won't get answered in this service. It might get answered in one of the other morning services. Some of the questions I felt were important enough that I'll probably answer in all three services, but otherwise each service will be different. As we try to tackle different questions, we're going to try to do our best to answer questions that have the broadest appeal. In other words, sometimes people submit a very personal question related to their situation and it may not necessarily apply to the larger group. So we may not answer questions like that. We're going to try to do the best we can to answer questions that we think would be interesting to the broadest number of people in the congregation. So thank you for submitting your questions. We will do the best we can to answer them from a biblical standpoint. And no better thing to do in answering biblical questions than to ask for the Lord's help. And so let's start out with a word of prayer this morning. Father, I just want to thank you for this new year as we just begin this new year together here at Cornerstone. And we just thank you for all that you've done this past year. We give you all the praise and all the glory for all the salvations and how you so richly provided for us in various ways. And we just want to pause at the beginning of this new year to give you thanks and praise, to ask you, Lord, to go before us to continue. We pray to ask for your favor, your blessing, and to admonish and correct us where we need that. We just commit this time to you this morning as we answer these Bible questions. And we ask, Lord for wisdom that you would help us as we do our best to answer these questions, Lord, that you would get all the glory as we look into your word. And we just want to praise you together and thank you together in Jesus name. And everyone said amen. So again the number is. Well, it's 703-844-9969. We'll keep it up for you every once in a while, but I'll let these guys answer some questions first while I get set up here. So Tyler, you want to go first? Sure.
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B
Someone asked this, and I've heard this before, someone asked, does Satan or demons have access to our faith thoughts even when we pray in our heart? And the answer really is no. We don't see that anywhere in scripture. I like this verse. It's Only first. Kings 8:39 says that God alone knows every human heart. Also, we know that God is omnipresent, so he can be at two places at once. Satan cannot. Satan is a created being, a fallen angel. And he is not omnipresent and is not all knowing. He's powerful.
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A
He. He.
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B
You know, it's even described that Michael the archangel did not want to.
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A
You.
- [04:18]
B
Know about the weird story in Jude about Moses body that he says the Lord rebuke you. So there's something about Satan that he is powerful, but I don't believe that he or demons can have access to, to our thoughts and even in our prayer life when we pray in our heart. Now if we pray out loud, sure they, they can hear that. And, and they've, I think they've been studying humans for a long time. So they can, they can make guesses on what we're going to do in our life or they, they can see patterns in our life. But it's only God that knows the human heart. I like this. Psalm139.4 talks about that God knows what we will say before we even say it. Psalm 139, verse 4. And so Satan is powerful, but he's not all knowing and all omniscient. He's not, he's not everywhere at once. And so it's a good question. And we've, I've been seeing that a lot more trending. And so I would say if you don't want Satan to know your prayers or you don't want demons to know that, then yeah, Pray in your heart. But can they hear our prayers? We pray out loud, sure, but God is still a big God, even if we pray out loud. Like, you see many prayers in the Bible of men and women praying out loud. You see many examples of men and women praying in their hearts too. Both are great. And I don't think Satan, you know, prayer is a powerful thing. And so Satan can't really combat that even if we were to pray out loud. But I don't want us to get into that mindset of, oh, they know my deepest, darkest thoughts or my prayer life if I pray my heart. No, the Bible's pretty clear that only God knows that. So God knows our heart, which is good, but Satan cannot kind of along that.
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C
That same question about prayer. Someone texted in, can you explain the purpose of prayer? When it seems like God is going to do whatever he wants anyways? What is the purpose of prayer? Essentially, that's the question. I think sometimes, and I am so guilty of this myself, I think sometimes we treat God like a heavenly vending machine. If we just press the right buttons, then we'll get what we want. And obviously God welcomes our prayers in that sense. He knows the desires of our heart. And so just verbalize the desires of your heart to the Lord. Sure, that's great. And God welcomes our requests. But ultimately, the purpose of prayer is not to get what we want. And we have to understand this. The purpose of prayer is not to get what we want, but rather it's to align our hearts with the will of God. I think someone once said, if I threw a hook out to the shore and I connect to the shore and I pull, am I pulling the shore to myself or am I pulling. Pulling myself to the shore? And in the same way, prayer is not. Not pulling God towards me and my will and my desires, but rather, prayer is aligning my heart with the will of God.
- [07:22]
A
Lord, would you.
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C
Would you purge my life of anything that doesn't honor you or glorify you? Lord, here. Here's my will. Here are my desires, Lord. But if that does not align with what you know is best for me, Lord, then I pray that in this time of prayer and communion with you, you would align my heart with yours. Ultimately, prayer is the aligning of our heart with the Lord and God. I want what you know to be best in my life. I want your will to be done in my life. And so God welcomes our requests. God welcomes the big questions. But ultimately that time with the Lord, that prayer time is to Align our hearts with the Lord. Not necessarily just to get what we want, because Father knows best.
- [08:06]
A
And that's the garden of Gethsemane, too. You know, Jesus is praying there before he goes to the cross. He says, father, you know, if you can take this cup from me, if there's any other way to accomplish this purpose other than going to the cross, let it be done. Nevertheless, he says, not my will, but yours be done. So we're always trying to defer to the will of the Father, but we don't always know what. What God has in mind. So we ask, and he's our Father. He'll always give us what is best. We got a few questions about people who are struggling with depression. In fact, this one was submitted by a teenager because this just came in a few minutes ago. I'm severely depressed. I come here on Sundays and I go to youth group every Wednesday. I've been living like this for about a year. I don't know what else to ask, but can you do a sermon about this? Let me say this. First of all, some. I'm not giving medical advice. I'm just saying that some depression is chemically caused, right? So you should go to a doctor and see, you know, maybe there's some people who the serotonin just does not function as well for some as it does for others, and you might need help from. For that. So some depression is chemically induced. Others is just the stress of life. It's just the, you know, the worries of life, the fears of life. And. And most of us can go through seasons of discouragement. Maybe depression is too strong of a word for some, but I actually did a sermon about this. It's 10 years old, but it's still valid information from March of 2015. If you want to go to the teaching library on our website@cornerstonechapel.net, go to the teaching library. You can look up First Kings 19. First Kings 19. The title of the sermon is Help God, I'm Depressed, where I talk about it extensively. And so I, you know, my heart goes out to. To those of you who might struggle with depression, whether it's chemical or whether it's just, you know, life's burdens. And just make sure you go to a doctor to get everything checked out and then just continue to pour out your heart to the Lord. You know, you see some raw psalms that David pours out about how he's discouraged and how he is asking the Lord to help him through his seasons of discouragement, too. So we can Always employ prayer as part of that. Someone asked, can you explain the difference between the Talmud, the Quran and the Book of Mormon? Are all three to be avoided? So I wouldn't say you necessarily need to avoid the Talmud. The Talmud is an ancient Jewish text that is basically a commentary on scripture. The Talmud was composed over a period of about 300 years from about 2, well actually about 400 years, from about 300 BC to 100 AD. So it's, it's a Jewish commentary. The Talmud makes up the, what's called the Gemara and the Mishnah, which is basically just ancient rabbis takes on Old Testament scripture, what we call Old Testament scripture, the Hebrew Scriptures. There are basically two Talmuds. There's the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud. When people talk about the Talmud, they generally mean the Babylonian Talmud and, but it's basically a book of oral traditions that have been written down and commentaries on scripture related to Jewish culture, Jewish law, Jewish life. So you can read it if you'd like it. From a historical standpoint, it should not be read in terms of divine inspiration like scripture, but it can help you maybe to understand some of the customs, laws and things about the Jewish people. The Quran and the Book of Mormon are very different in that the Quran is viewed as the holy book to Muslims and the Book of Mormon is viewed as extra biblical texts for Mormons for those who are a part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And the concern I have with both of those books is, is that when you look at the history of how they were compiled and composed, you know, the Quran was. Muhammad started having visions in around 610 A.D. he was 40 years old. He was sitting in a cave in Hira. Muhammad had married, his first wife was 15 years his senior. She was very wealthy. So he had money and time to sit around in caves and contemplate life. He's sitting in a cave and he begins to get visions and he begins to have visitations that he described as visitations from Jinn. Now jinn are demons. But others around him said, no, this must be Gabriel, the angel who has given you these revelations. So then based on these revelations, the Quran was dictated. Muhammad was basically illiterate. He didn't write it. He dictated these visions that were supposedly inspired by Gabriel and the Quran was composed. Okay, so the Quran is seven centuries after the Bible. But when you look at the Quran, it has many errors because since the Bible predates the Quran by more than seven centuries, when you look at the Old Testament, there are many inconsistencies between the Quran and the Bible and in a similar way, the Book of Mormon. Well, before I move on to the Book of Mormon, let me just give you a few examples of some of the inconsistencies. The Quran says one of Noah's sons was drowned in the flood. That's in Surah 11:42. But the Bible says all his sons were spared. The Quran says Lot's wife stayed behind and perished with the people of Sodom. Surah 26. The Bible says she fled as she looked back, was turned into a pillar of salt, but she fled. Abraham's father, according to the Quran, is azar. In Surah 674, the Bible says his name was Terah. So on and on. There are many contradictions. And what's interesting is when you look at how the Quran was compiled and things that the Quran says. Example, the Quran says that Jesus was born of a virgin. Surah 3:47, Jesus is sinless. Sura 685, Jesus is the Messiah. Sura 3:45, Jesus performed miracles. Surah 349, Jesus ascended into heaven in bodily form. Surah 355, Muhammad did none of these things. So I don't know how he can be called the greatest prophet. But be that as it may, the similarities between the Quran and the Book of Mormon is that the Quran was inspired by supposedly an angel. Okay? I do believe that Muhammad was right when he first said demons jinn. But the Book of Mormon in a similar way. In 1823, Joseph Smith is 17 years old and he says that the angel Moroni appears to him and tells him that there are extra biblical texts that were compiled by American Hebrews, Hebrews living in America, ancient Hebrews living in America that were written in an Egyptian dialect on golden tablets in the hills of western New York, Palmyra, New York. And then four years later, Joseph Smith discovered these golden tablets which no one has ever seen except him, according to him. And he needed a seer stone in order to translate the Egyptian dialect of these golden tablets. Here's the commonality the Quran was inspired by. I'm using quotes. An angel. The Book of Mormon was inspired by an angel because Moroni was the one who directed Joseph Smith to these hidden golden tablets. When you look at what the Bible says in Galatians 1:8, Paul warned, if we or an angel from heaven should preach another gospel than the one we are preaching, let him be eternally condemned. Okay? The Bible makes it very clear that there are no other books that should be considered inspired if the basis for those Books were. An angel revealed these things to us. So if you want to read the Quran or the Book of Mormon, from the standpoint of understanding what Muslims believe or understanding what Mormons believe, okay. But they should otherwise never be considered as inspired divine works of God. So there you have it. All right, guys.
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Oh, I had it.
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A
Oh, here it is.
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B
Someone's asking about the. The gifts of the Holy Spirit and asking, what would you say about the gifts of the Spirit being gone for today? First Corinthians 13:8,13 says that prophecy, tongues, knowledge will cease and that faith, love and hope will remain. Well, I can tell you where, where we land and where at where we believe. Scripture is clear on this. So you have, you do have these two camps where you have cessationists that believe the gifts ceased at this particular time. I'm going to tell you what time they believe. But what we believe, there's a camp called Continuationists, that the gifts are still here today and continue to be here. The place that's mentioned in First Corinthians 13:8 is that I'm reading out of that new living translation. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages or tongues and special knowledge will become useless, but love will last forever. Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gifts of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture. But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. And it's that word right there, the time of perfection. That phrase that people get hung up on, the cessationists or those that believe that the gifts have ceased, is that the time of perfection was when the Bible, the canon of scripture, was finally complete, when Revelation was finally written and we have our 66 books. That is the time of perfection. And thus the gifts of the Spirit are not needed. For today, where we land and where, where I personally believe is that the time of perfection is not referring to the canon of scripture. It's referring to our eternal state. When we are resurrected in our glorified bodies and forever with Jesus, then the gifts will become useless. Then there will be no need for the gifts of tongues or prophecy. But Paul does clearly say faith, hope and love will last forever. And that love is the greatest gift that we should all have. When, when Paul mentions in First Corinthians 12, he tells us what the spiritual gifts are for. And these top two verses we all need to understand. First Corinthians 12, 7, a spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. Okay? Spiritual gifts are for each other within the church. Okay? They're not to be shown off. They're not to say, look, I have all these gifts and you don't. They're to help each other. And then 1 Corinthians 12, 11 it's the one and only Spirit, Holy Spirit, who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. So he decides which gift we all should have. And I believe all of us today have different gifts of the Holy Spirit. Then there's a list. There's 20 plus some that you can read in First Corinthians and in First Peter and in Romans. But I do not believe that the Bible is what Paul is saying is that when the time of perfection comes is referring to the canon of Scripture being complete. And I do personally believe and we as a church will will say that we believe that that perfection is your eternal state with the Lord forever and that the gifts we believe are here for today, that we can use and practice the gifts of Holy Spirit and that they will continue on until we're in our glorified state and the new heaven and new earth is here. And then there's no need for the gifts. But faith, hope and love will always remain. Love is the greatest gift. And again, 1st Corinthians 12 and 1 Corinthians 14 are like these bookends of spiritual gifts. But in the middle, right there in chapter 13, is what we known as the love chapter. But that's why Paul inserts that there right in the center, because love is the center of all the gifts. But just because Scripture is complete does not mean the gifts are are gone. We believe that they're still here for today.
- [21:28]
C
This question is on baptism. Someone texted and recently I read verses like Acts 2, 38, Romans 6, 3 Matthew 28, Ephesians 4, speaking about baptism as though it is a requirement for salv. So the question is, is baptism required for salvation? Now the short answer is no, baptism is not required for salvation. One of my favorite verses is Titus 3, 5, 7 and it says we are saved not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy he has saved us. So baptism is not a requirement of salvation, but rather it's a response to the fact that we are saved through faith in Christ. By way of example, this wedding ring does not make me married, but it's a public declaration that I am married. And in the same way baptism does not make us saved, but baptism is simply a public declaration to the fact that we are saved. A few examples in Scripture Peter Peter is is is is Called to go to preach to a Roman. His name is Cornelius. This is Acts, chapter 10. And the Bible says that Peter preaches the gospel to this man Cornelius, and his whole family gets saved. The Bible says in Acts chapter 10, the Holy Spirit falls upon Cornelius and his entire family, so they are saved. In that moment, the Holy Spirit falls upon them as, as in response to Peter preaching the Gospel. And then it says, Peter says, well, should we withhold water from these people? They have been saved, received the Holy Spirit. So baptism. In Scripture, we always see baptism in response to one placing their faith in Jesus Christ, not as a means to attain salvation. The criminal on the cross next to Jesus obviously did not have the opportunity to be baptized. But once he placed his faith in Christ, Jesus said, you will be with me today in paradise. Acts 2:38. I want to address specifically this, the first Bible verse that this person mentions, Acts 2:38. It does. When you kind of first read it, it seems like baptism is required for salvation. Acts 2:38, Peter preaches in Jerusalem. All right, The Holy Spirit falls on believers. Then Peter goes and preaches in Jerusalem to thousands. The Bible says in response to Peter's preaching, the people are cut to the heart, and they ask, what must we do to be saved? And then Acts 2:38, it says, then Peter said to them, repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And so sometimes we come across those verses where it seems as though here Peter is saying, repentance and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins. Now, some, some. Some take that verse to mean that baptism is required to be forgiven of sins. But the, the. The word here, where, where Peter says, be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, that word for is very key because that word for can mean to attain something, but the word for can also mean in response to something. So if you had a headache and I gave you some aspirin, and I said, here, take some aspirin for your headache. You wouldn't think that I was saying, take some aspirin to get a headache. You already have the headache, so you're taking an aspirin in response to the headache. And so here when Peter says, be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, he is saying, be baptized in response to the fact that you've already been forgiven. And so when you take the full counsel of God's word regarding salvation, we are saved not by our works. Ephesians 2 says, but we are saved by God's grace through faith. Titus 3, 5, 7 again says, we are saved not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but because of God's mercy, he has saved us. So that's kind of the short answer to a longer discussion. Baptism is not required for salvation, but it's simply a response, a public declaration that we have been saved. That through faith in Christ.
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A
Yeah. And if it were that important for salvation, it's interesting that Jesus didn't baptize anybody. So I think it's.
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C
It's in. Is it in First Corinthians, dad, where Paul actually makes a distinction as well. He says, I came to preach the Gospel, not to. Not to baptize.
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Right.
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C
And so there's a distinction there that Paul makes between the Gospel, the good news, and being baptized. Baptism is simply just a response to being forgiven when you place your faith in Christ.
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A
Let me tackle two very quickly that came in just recently. Why is it that Pastor Gary used to teach from the NIV and now uses the new King James Version? I wish I could still teach from the NIV. That's my preferred go to. But in 2011, the editors revised the NIV and when they revised it, they did things that I had personal problems with. Just one quick example. If you have a red letter edition of the Bible, that means in the Gospels the words of Jesus are in red. The. The ones who revised the NIV in 2011 took John 3:16 out of the red and they said John said that, not Jesus. So there's others issues like that that I had a problem with the revision of NIV, the older NIV version from 1984, it's completely out of print. You can't get it, you can't download it. They completely, completely took it away and did this revision. So if you could still get the old version. I have old versions and paper in my house, I would, I would still be using that, but they don't. So I switched to the new King James because King James has too many these and thou's so new King James kind of softened all that. If you like esv, that's fine too. I personally find ESV to be choppy because it's a literal translation and I find the wording to be choppy. It's hard for me to even memorize it, but it's a fine text. But ESV also runs in a lot of the reformed circles. I'm not reformed, guys, so I just steered away from it. But NLT is a Good modern language translation, but that's the reason they did a revision that I didn't like. Somebody else asked, what's the unpardonable sin? Look, there's only one unpardonable sin, and that is when you reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. That's it. So don't worry about have I committed the unpardonable sin? If you trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you're not condemned for something you've done in the past. Behold, all things are new. He's made you a new creature. The only unforgivable sin is denying that Jesus is the Christ. That's the only one that we will have to suffer for eternally. But let me answer a larger question here that many people have asked and there are various questions about Israel and our relationship with Israel. And I'll just read quickly a couple of these questions. Hello, Pastor Gary, could you please address Israel? It has been a major topic in the news. What are your thoughts in terms of supporting Israel? Is it an unconditional support or can we disapprove of the government while supporting the existence of Israel? They go on another question similarly, does supporting Israel include sending the government money? Would God have wanted other countries to give money to the wicked kings of Israel like Ahab, who supported abortion and idol worship? Another question along these lines. There's a lot of friction culturally and politically between Israel and a percentage of US Citizens. I am not addressing anti Semitism, but rather the perception that Israel has a strong hand on our politicians and our country's affairs. Is it unbiblical to be critical of Israel's corruption? Can you support God's chosen and still push against corruption and evil which absolutely exists within the Israeli government? Anyway, people are going on and on about this. And let me say that last point there about, you know, can you still support God's chosen to still push against corruption, evil which absolutely exists within in the Israeli government? Listen, everybody. Corruption exists within every government, including our own. I don't like that people are, and I'm not saying this against people who have asked these questions, but I'm talking about the general sense I'm getting in our culture these days that people want to find every reason why not to support Israel. We give them $3.4 billion. They're a secular society. They, they have corruption in their government. Jews are predominantly not believers in Jesus. So why should we be supporting a country like this, sending money to a country like this? Okay, first of all, I'm going to have a lot more to Say about this on a, on a Wednesday night here in January, on January 21st. I'm going to Wednesday night, January 21st, mark it down, come out to church. By the way, we start our Wednesday night services back this coming Wednesday night, January 7th. And I'll be back in, in first chronic. But I'll have more to say about all this and addressing more of the anti Semitism and talking a little bit about Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson. That's going to be Wednesday, January 21st, and I'm going to have two guests with me. And so I'll get into more detail then let me just say this much. Supporting Israel is there's a biblical reason why we support Israel. There's a political reason why a lot in our government support Israel. Let me start with that one first. Israel is the only Jewish state in the world. I saw this, this thing on social media where they were going around college campuses asking college students how many Jewish states are there? And people were coming up with wild numbers like 5, 10, 3, 6. There's one, there's one Jewish state. There are 56 Muslim states. Okay? Politically I think it's a good thing for our government to support the one Jewish state that is surrounded by 56 Muslim states, some of which are very open about the annihilation of the Jewish people. So why shouldn't we come to the aid of the Jewish people and the state of Israel as the only democratic nation in the Middle east, okay? So that, that has political ramifications that, that I would support from a political standpoint, from a biblical standpoint. As a Christian, I'm unapologetically a Christian Zionist, everybody. So just, let me just get the cat out of the bag if you haven't heard by now and let me tell you what Christian Zionism is. Zionism is simply the belief that Israel and the Jewish people have the right to self determination and the right to the land. Okay? And that's based on Genesis 15, Genesis 15, 18. God made a covenant with Abraham that the land he would give the Jewish people was from the great river of Egypt to the river Euphrates, that's the Nile to the Euphrates. God's original design for the land of Israel was 300,000 square miles. You know how much land they have today? 8,100 square miles. Okay? So whenever people start to say give up land for peace and the Jewish people and Israel and corruption and all this stuff, it's just like, well, slow down just a little bit because God made a covenant. And by the way, the Covenant he made with Abraham, he announced in Genesis 12, he fulfilled in Genesis 15. And the covenant he made was a unilateral covenant that God made based on Himself, not on Abraham or Abraham's actions. Which means it is God's covenant that he implemented. It is only God which who can ever dissolve the covenant. But because he's a God who doesn't change, he's the same yesterday and forever. When God makes a covenant, he makes a covenant that is an eternal covenant. That's an eternal promise. And the promise he made was both for a place and a people. The place was the land of Israel. The people are the Jewish people. They are a unique ethnic group of people that God designed for a purpose, which is. And this is the reason why biblically, I think we should support Israel, number one, to show honor to a people group through which God designed. The Messiah should come for the sake of redeeming the entire world. So you show honor where honor is due. And God raised up a people group out of nothing, out of the seed of Abraham, which he was a Gentile pagan worshiping in what is modern Iraq. God selected him, made a promise to him that your descendants shall be blessed and all those who bless you will be blessed. And part of that covenant was that the Messiah would come forth through this ethnic group of people for the sake of the entire world. So because of that alone, we show honor to where honor is due. But the other reason that we also show honor to Israel and we support Israel is because God is not done with them. And Paul makes it clear In Romans chapter 11, he says Israel has experienced a hardening in part, until the full number of Gentiles come in. And so all Israel will be saved. That's Romans 11, 25 and 26. So God is not done now when it says so, all Israel will be saved. They still have to come to faith in Jesus Christ. And there are very sobering prophetic verses in the book of Zechariah, chapter 12 and 13, which talk about how eventually the Jewish people will come. By the way, many of them already do acknowledge Jesus as Messiah, but en masse In Zechariah chapter 12, it talks about how the glory of the Lord will return to Zion and people will look on the one that they have pierced. And in Zechariah 13, they will ask Jesus when they see him, when he returns, where did you receive these marks? Because he still bears the marks of his crucifixion. And he will answer them, and he will say, in the house of my friends. But Zechariah 13 gives this sobering passage which talks about how 2/3 of the Jewish people will die during the tribulation period that is coming upon the earth. The one third that come through the tribulation represents the survivors of Israel, and that is the group of so all Israel will be saved. So when you look at the prophecies and you look at even what Paul wrote In Romans chapter 11, God is clearly not done with Israel or the Jewish people. So we have a moral and biblical obligation to still support them. Having said that, you don't have to agree with everything the government does. I don't agree with everything our own American government does. Okay. It's okay to be critical of a government without denying the importance of God's hand that is still upon Israel and the Jewish people. By the way, and I'll talk more about this on January 21st. $3.4 billion that the United States invests in Israel is entirely military. It's not humanitarian for Israel. We give additional humanitarian aid to Gaza alone. And of course, we should pray for the suffering of the people. But sometimes what we get confused in our head is, oh, you know, Israel, bad guy, stop. Don't forget October 7th. Please remember October 7th. And remember that, you know, using the equivalent, if, let's say people from our southern border in Mexico came over into the United States, the equivalent of the number of Israel's, proportionally, the number of Israelis who were killed on October 7th would be the equivalent of 30,000Americans killed. If 30,000Americans were killed, what do you think our response would be? Well, let's just not, let's not be too harsh. You know, let's. We'd go in and it would be scorched earth and we would fight as a country should fight to defend. And that, that doesn't mean that we are insensitive to the casualties on both sides. War is terrible, war is ugly. But all of a sudden Israel becomes the bad guy because they are fighting a, a war that is a defensive war and they're trying to root out the evil of Hamas. So I could go on about this, but folks, look, you can, you can be critical of governments, but don't forsake Israel as a people group because God's not done with them. God made a covenant with them. And we have a biblical and moral obligation to support the nation of Israel in the sense of God's favor upon them. All right, that was a long answer. It's already. Good night. It's already 9:15. So look at the time. Do you guys have quick one sentence answers to some of these questions? Not really. Are there, are there different levels of heaven?
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C
Listen, dad.
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A
No. The answer is no. All right, let's keep moving on.
- [39:05]
B
Heaven or hell? It was heaven.
- [39:06]
A
Well, no, they ask about heaven. What else? I have a question regarding Gog and Magog war. Is this before or during the Tribulation?
- [39:18]
C
We just can't give one sentence answer. Z.
- [39:20]
A
Yes, you can.
- [39:20]
C
Listen. Listen to your dad.
- [39:22]
A
Okay. Yes.
- [39:23]
B
Is the Gog and Magog.
- [39:24]
A
What is the Gog and Magog war? Is this before or during the Tribulation?
- [39:28]
B
I'm going to say before.
- [39:29]
A
It's before. Yes. Pretty good. All right.
- [39:34]
B
I'm done.
- [39:35]
A
It leads up to the battle of Armageddon, but it's not Armageddon.
- [39:40]
B
Okay.
- [39:43]
A
Does God's silence mean he is angry? No, no, no. See, these are easy one answered. What's your hesitation over there?
- [39:50]
C
Well, there's no hesitation. It's just someone texting these questions and you just want to elaborate a little bit longer.
- [39:55]
A
Do you need to elaborate more than that? Does God silence mean he is angry?
- [39:59]
B
No.
- [39:59]
A
No, no. Yeah, right. What are your thoughts on the chosen show?
- [40:08]
C
We have different answers.
- [40:10]
A
Huh?
- [40:10]
C
We probably have different answers up here.
- [40:12]
B
We do it.
- [40:12]
A
I don't know if we would. What's your answer? Let's try. Let's end on this. All right.
- [40:17]
C
I'm not a huge fan personally.
- [40:19]
A
Okay. And why? Well.
- [40:24]
C
That'S a longer answer.
- [40:30]
B
It's good entertainment, but some of it's concerning because, you know, I wish they would just kind of just go through the gospels in an orderly timeline rather than just throw out all this other stuff that could have happened. But it's just all.
- [40:49]
A
I mean, the bottom line is with any kind of movie or drama, there is some artistic liberty that, that I would take issue with if it's not purely following scripture. There's a lot of artistic liberty in the chosen.
- [41:04]
B
I, you know, the house of David.
- [41:07]
A
Is now the house of David. Love the house of David on Prime. If you haven't seen the House of David on prime, that's all right. I mean, that's got some. But. But you're like Debbie Downer today. What's. But. But House of David has some artistic liberty too. So pretty.
- [41:23]
B
They're about 99 accurate.
- [41:24]
A
Have you really done a study? 99%. They didn't present all the sons of Jesse. Well, David was.
- [41:32]
C
But anyway, if you want to watch it, watch it. Use biblical discernment. Stick to the word of God.
- [41:38]
A
Good answer.
- [41:39]
C
Thank you, God.
- [41:40]
A
All Right. All right, let's pray.
- [41:49]
B
Let's go with this first question someone.
- [41:51]
A
Asked.
- [41:54]
B
About Satan or Lucifer. Why was Lucifer or Satan able to sin in heaven? And how can we be sure that when we are in heaven, the whole sin process will not begin again? That's a great question. I've actually wondered that as well. It's like, you know, what's to say that this won't happen again after the new heaven, new earth? But what we have in Scripture is that mankind made in God's image, has been given a choice. But angels as well in the heavenly realm have been given a choice as well. But God, because we're image bearers of him, has made a way for us to repent and be forgiven. In Scripture, you don't see that anywhere really with Satan or any other angelic being that they can have the chance to repent and, and start over again. So the consequences, I think for the heavenly beings and Satan being one of them, they were given choice as well. There's a verse actually just skipped my mind. It's in either Job or in Psalms talking about that God does not even trust his holy ones. And that translation is the angels. So his angels, sometimes he can't really trust. And we know that fallen angels are here today. And they rebelled at the time when either Satan rebelled, or I think that they can continue to rebel and make a choice to either be loyal to God the Father or to rebel. But once they make that choice, the Bible pretty much makes it clear that their seal is their fate is sealed, that they cannot go back. So why was Satan when he was created in such a beautiful, perfect way, it says pride filled his heart and that he wanted to be like God or even above God. And you can read all about that in Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28. But when that happened, because he made his choice and rebelled, God then cast him out of heaven for mankind. We're given choice here on earth as well, but we are also given the privilege of repentance and then forgiveness of sins while we're here on earth. And so I don't believe it's going to happen again when, when you have the new heaven and new earth, you don't see anything in the, in the language of the text, in Revelation saying that this could possibly happen all over again. But there was a time when Satan, after he was created, I don't know how long he had been created when he was still a good angel, but he in fact rebelled, sinned against God. And because the angels are in the presence of the Lord, they have a higher knowledge of who God is. They're held to a higher accountability in a way. So that's why I don't believe that they have a chance to repent and get forgiveness of sins. So we have a choice to love and obey God. Satan made his choice, but I don't think it means that there can be sin in heaven again or someone else is going to do the same thing. This is about Satan as an angel and angels as well, who have choice, just like human beings. But once they make that choice, there's no going back for us. We have. We have at least this one life on earth to continue to make the right choice.
- [45:16]
A
I think. I don't know if you're going off the question I'm looking at, but if. But part of that was how can we be sure that when we're in heaven we won't repeat that process? Correct. I'm not totally convinced, to be honest, that. That there could not be another coup in heaven among the angels. I mean, they. The angels currently and the angels in the future and the angels past. You know, the angels in past. There's a great rebellion in heaven, but our state is sealed because we've, like Tyler was saying, we've been forgiven, we've been redeemed. So once we go to heaven, you know, Paul talks about 1 Corinthians 15:52, about how we are raised incorruptible. We will be incorruptible at that point. 1 John 3:2 says, when we see him, we shall be like him. So does God sin? No. So in our redeemed, glorified state, we will be incorruptible. We won't be able to sin. I'm not sure about the angels part. Like, can there still be another rebellion in heaven? I don't know what would preclude that from possibly happening again, but the Bible's silent on that. Austin, what you got down there?
- [46:30]
C
Well, let's go from Satan to yoga. The question is simple. Can a Christian practice yoga? Now, for many of us in the west, we kind of just simply think of yoga as physical exercise or stretching. But yoga really does have deep roots in Hinduism. The word yoga actually just simply means union. And that word yoga, meaning union. Union with what? Yoga. Really, the philosophy around yoga is the union with the universe, you being one with the universe. And it really has its roots in pantheism, which pantheism is essentially, everything is God. We, we. We are Gods. Everything around us is God. And which obviously is antithetical to The Bible, there is only one true God. And so that yoga philosophy really is to be one with the universe, your body being one with the cosmos, which again is paganism. And, you know, the question then becomes, well, can I as a Christian just practice some of the physical stretches without adopting the philosophy? Maybe, but I think it's going to be difficult to do that. Even some of the poses within yoga have its roots in pantheism and Hinduism. And so I do think that we as believers should be very cautious and discerning when it comes to the practice of yoga simply for its pantheistic philosophy and its pantheistic roots. So be discerning. Can you stretch and all that stuff?
- [48:15]
A
Sure.
- [48:16]
C
But we as believers should not embrace the philosophy behind yoga whatsoever, as it has its roots again in being one with the universe. There's a lot of meditation within yoga as well, which the Bible does speak of meditation, but it's a completely different kind of meditation. Yoga meditation is the emptying of the mind again with the idea to, for. For our consciousness to be one with the universe. So yoga meditation is the emptying of the mind when biblical meditation really is the filling of the mind with biblical truth and the word of God. So a Christian should definitely use discernment when talking about yoga.
- [48:54]
A
Did you say Yoda or yoga?
- [48:58]
C
Same thing.
- [48:59]
A
No, stretch, I say. Okay, last service I answered, there were multiple questions that were submitted about Israel and whether or not we should support Israel and can you disagree with the government of Israel and still support them as a, as a people group? I answered that in the first service. It was a long answer too, by the way. So here's the good news. When this gets archived, they're going to thread all three services together. The, the teaching part, the Q and A part, so you can go back and listen to that. I'm not going to tackle that one, but I will tackle this other one that we got probably the most questions about because it is circulating through. Oh, by the way, let me back up. I, I will have a lot more to say about Israel and about anti Semitism on a special Wednesday night service here, January 21st. I mentioned this a few weeks ago, but we're going to tackle the whole anti Semitic influence that is creeping into even the conservative movement, even into evangelical Christianity. And I'm going to talk a little bit. Not, not going to focus. It's not going to be a bash session against Candace Owens or Tucker Carlson, but I am going to mention them. I'm going to talk about their views and we're going to we're going to tackle this, and I'm going to have two special guests with me on that Wednesday night. So that's January 21st. Okay. That said, the other big question that we got here, I would say is probably the. The number one question we got because it's circulating right now through social media. And that has to do with the podcast that Kirk Cameron did on the subject of eternal punishment. And so many questions came in about this. Examples, is there a hell? Will you live in torment for all eternity when you die if you don't believe and come to Jesus? Some say you just die and then there's nothing. Another question. What are your thoughts on the belief that there is not permanent torture for those who do not accept Jesus Christ as savior? Another question. Is hell eternal or are we annihilated as Kirk Cameron recently suggested on his podcast? Another question, referring to Kirk's comments on hell, many have called him heretical for saying he believes in annihilation. But this is not a salvation issue, so why so much backlash? And on and on. We got many questions about this. So first disclaimer. I'm friends with Kirk Cameron. He's been here a couple times. What was the name of his show? Growing Pains. Okay, so when he was on Growing Pains, years ago, he was Growing Pains.
- [51:29]
B
We know.
- [51:29]
C
Left Behind.
- [51:31]
A
Yeah. Okay, well, yeah, Growing Pains was more when I was younger and Left behind was when.
- [51:36]
C
Anyway, back in the olden times.
- [51:37]
A
Yeah, you had it.
- [51:39]
B
You told me you had a man crush on Kirk Cameron one time.
- [51:41]
A
I never said that. I had to even ask you what the name of his show was, and you were quick to answer.
- [51:50]
B
That's true.
- [51:53]
A
But I have texted with Kirk about this. In fact, he reached out to me and wanted me to play a short video response to that original podcast, trying to help clarify his position. And I nicely texted back after I watched the clip and I said, kirk, I think that. That you haven't clarified this at all. And so I'm not going to show it to the congregation. So here. What. What's this debate about? Let me explain. There's something called the doctrine of annihilation. I don't believe it, but it's a. It's a doctrine that some believe which basically teaches that a person who does not accept Jesus Christ does not suffer eternal punishment in hell or the lake of fire. They're just annihilated. They're just. When they die, they're done. And this is not really a new belief. The doctrine of annihilation has been circulating for centuries. Where it's the idea that if there are two people and one person accepts Jesus, they now have eternal life, so they will live forever. If the other individual does not accept Jesus, then their soul is not immortal, and thus when they die, they just don't exist anymore. It was interesting back in 2018, the Pope at that time, Pope Francis, was giving an interview, and it was kind of a hot mic moment where he talked about how he did not believe in the eternal punishment of souls. And then, then the Vatican kind of walked that back a little bit. But still, there was a lot of confusion even in 2018, about this doctrine of annihilation. My concern with Kirk, and I told him this was, it's, it's. Well, this, this part I didn't tell him, but my concern is that for somebody who has a national platform and anybody can have one now with podcasters and influencers, it's not a good place to work out your theology. You have to have that figured out, and you have to be able to substantiate why you believe what you believe. In Kirk's podcast, he was basically not taking a position, in my opinion, as much as he was saying, I'm questioning these kinds of things. And I'm, and I'm reading what some of the early church fathers said, and I'm looking at Scripture and I'm, and I'm trying to discern is, is the doctrine of annihilation legitimate or not? I don't think he really came down on a position because even in the podcast, if you watched it, I did. He, he even said, I'm open to correction on this. Okay. But I still don't think that if you are an influential person, you should be using your platform to work out your theology. Like, have a position. I may disagree with it and you may disagree with mine, but at least have a position and then be able to substantiate it. I can't substantiate the doctrine of annihilation because the Bible speaks about eternal suffering. And this is why it's important that we come to faith in Jesus Christ and have a heart for people who don't know Jesus Christ, because the Bible does talk about eternal punishment. Sometimes people can get wrapped around what did the early church fathers say? Hey, how about you see what Father God has to say? Like, look at the Bible and read what the Bible says and take it at face value. And sometimes being open to all these thoughts is just a breeding ground for confusion. Like, listen to this. This is Jesus. Matthew 25:46, the unrighteous will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. I don't need the early church fathers to tell me anything about that. Like, he makes that very clear in Matthew 25:46. The unrighteous will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. The human soul never dies. Everybody, the human soul, the spirit of a man or a woman will live forever. The question is, where will your spirit live forever in hell? Will your spirit live forever in heaven? Now then, the Bible does talk about how hell, Hades is just the Greek word for hell. And those within hell will in the future, Hades and those within will be cast into the lake of fire along with Satan and the Antichrist and the false prophet. Now listen to Revelation 20:10. The devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast, that's the Antichrist and false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever. That's eternal punishment. But then a few verses later, it talks about others who are unbelievers. Revelation 20:14 and 15. Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. Put it together. If the devil and the Antichrist and the false prophet will be tormented forever and ever in the lake of fire, that means the lake of fire is eternal punishment. So eventually, when death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire as well, there is eternal punishment. It is forever and ever. Now, some people stumble on this and they go, how could a loving God, you know, I hear this all the time. How could a loving God, you know, allow this? Allow that? Here's the deal, everybody. The Bible says that hell was originally created for the devil and his angels, the angels who rebelled. The Bible also says God wants none to perish, but all to come to repentance. It's not the heart of God for anyone to go to hell. So what does he do? He expresses his heart by the cross. He wants people to get saved, to be rescued, to be redeemed, so that they don't have to suffer eternal punishment. I had a guy one time who worked here for the town came into my office. He was a seeker. He had a lot of questions about Christianity. He was not a believer. And he said, here's my place where I stumble. He says, I can't get past the story of Noah and the ark. He's like, how could God subject people to an entire worldwide flood? That doesn't sound like a very loving God. I said to him, david, you're missing the point. The whole world was corrupt and sinful. Man was rebellious against God. Here's what I marvel at. That God provided an ark to rescue as many people as wanted to get on, and still people refused, except for Noah and his family. God provides a way out. He provides a plan of rescue because of his love for us, he doesn't want us to perish. But I have to say on this that, you know, if. If, again, I don't think Kirk has a position. I think he's, like, working it out. But I disagree with the doctrine of annihilation. I think he's a brother. Okay? I don't. If somebody believes in something that is not a salvation issue, it's like, you know, when the day comes that you die, you're going to find out you're either going to go to heaven or you're going to go to hell. And the reality is that you can then realize what your theology is and what part you got right, what part you got wrong. But on the doctrine of annihilation, I just can't support it biblically. So I. I gently suggested that to Kirk, and I hope that he will reject that in a future podcast. But right now he's sorting through that kind of thing.
- [59:42]
B
So on we go along those lines. And you can answer this as well. I got a question about all the different categories of the underworld or the afterlife. There's a book I really like, the.
- [59:56]
A
Levels, the levels of hell. That all comes only from Dante's Inferno, by the way. Like nine levels of.
- [60:03]
B
No, not necessarily that.
- [60:04]
A
Okay.
- [60:04]
B
What I'm talking about is the different descriptions or the words that are used in the Old Testament and the New Testament. So, for example, you have Sheol, right? You have Gehenna, you have the abyss, you have the Pit, you have Tartarus, and you have Hades. People can get confused on this. A really good book. I like. It's been out for a while. It's by mark Hitchcock. It's 55 answers to questions about Life After Death by Mark Hitchcock. And he actually, I think, deciphers it beautifully.
- [60:37]
C
Sheol.
- [60:38]
B
Think of this. Sheol is the place of the dead, for good or bad. In the Old Testament, everybody went there to Sheol. Now, the New Testament, when it's describing SHIELD is going to use the word Hades, where we get our English word hell. Okay, I believe that they're the same place, but now Hades or hell. Now, post Christ resurrection is where unbelievers go, it's a holding place. So in a sense, he. He described Sheol as the. Is the place for the departed souls, good and bad.
- [61:08]
A
That's associated with Hebrew. That's just the Hebrew Hades is the Greek Hades.
- [61:11]
B
The Greek equivalent of Sheol is used in the New Testament to denote the intermediate state where souls await resurrection and judgment for those that are unbelievers. Tartarus is mentioned one time in the Bible. It's in First Peter as a place where certain angels are confined until judgment day. And I believe that those angels were the ones that rebelled in Genesis 6. And then Gehenna. Jesus mentions Gehenna a lot in the Gospels. I think it's the equivalence of the Lake of Fire. And as. As dad says, the Lake of Fire is the second death. Hades will be put into the Lake of Fire, but we can get wrapped up. And I don't believe someone had asked, you know, is Sheol just a illustration that Jesus was using, or is it really a reality? I believe it's a reality. Shield was. Is a real place. But then when you read, is it Luke 17, Luke 16:16, about the parable of the. Of Lazarus and the rich man, You. You do have this chasm that's in between at. At the time of Christ and pre Christ, those that were good, like Abraham's bosom, known as. And then those that were bad, but they all went to this place and there was this chasm that they couldn't cross over, but they could see each other. It's a. Actually, it's a very fascinating parable. I don't actually think it was a parable in the sense that he was just making up a story. I think it's actually. There was truth to it.
- [62:35]
A
Yeah.
- [62:36]
B
It tells us that the rich man could. Could feel torment, could feel. Had feelings, could taste. He's like, I want some water on my tongue. He remembers his former life in the sense that he remembers that he has family members that he doesn't want to come here and he needs. He wants to go tell them so. Very fascinating subject on that. But again, mark Hitchcock's book, 55 Questions to the Answers about Life After Death is really good on all those topics of the words referring to the underworld.
- [63:08]
A
Yeah, it gets a little confusing because Sheol is Hebrew, Hades is Greek, and they both refer to the same place. And yet it was divided. Hades was divided into the place of the righteous and the place of the unrighteous. The only way you got to the righteous side, otherwise known as paradise too, is because you sacrificed God's prescribed way in the Old Testament to accomplish provision for your sins. But you couldn't gain access to heaven until Jesus died. And when Jesus died, he emptied out the paradise side of hell. So now the only part of hell that is occupied is among the unrighteous, among sinners, among those who have rejected Christ. So it does get a little confusing. And now when you die and you know Jesus, you go directly to heaven, you don't go to the paradise side of, of Hades or Sheol. So it is, it is a little confusing. You can go to the teaching library, cornerstonechapel.net, look up Luke 16. I did an extensive teaching, and I agree with Tyler that I don't think it was a parable. I think it was actually a story that Jesus was teaching about paradise and about Hades. But look up in the teaching library, and I go into more detail there about Luke 16 and that whole story about Lazarus and the rich man.
- [64:31]
C
And it kind of bleeds into a common question that people have is how did people in the Old Testament get saved? Which really, it's just as simple as those in the Old Testament, that their way of salvation was by looking ahead, looking toward, looking forward to a future promised Messiah. Now we as, as believers are looking back to Jesus. Fulfillment of that.
- [64:52]
B
The what fascinates me too is one other thing, the abyss. Whenever you read about the abyss in the Old and New Testament, it's almost as if it's even below Hades to where the most wicked of angels are kept. Because it also mentions in Revelation that the Antichrist. I think what happens to the Antichrist is that he may suffer a mortal head wound or even die. And it says he comes back to life from the abyss. He comes out of the abyss. So the abyss is another place where it's even where the most wicked of angelic creatures are kept, which Satan is not in the abyss. Satan is here on earth, roaming and is the prince and power of the air. But all that to say, the abyss, Hades, hell will be thrown into the lake of fire, which is a totally different place to where I don't even know. Look, no one even knows the location of that. But again, the. The study of all that, it's pretty fascinating.
- [65:52]
C
All right, question. I'll try to keep it short and sweet. The question is, since our Bible is all inspired by the Holy Spirit, why does the Catholic Bible have more books? Does this mean we're missing some teachings or are those books not inspired by the Holy Spirit? So the question is essentially why? Why does the Catholic Bible have more books than our Protestant Bibles. The Catholic Bible has 73 total books, as opposed to the Hebrew Bible or our Protestant Bible or the. The Hebrew and Protestant Bible have the same Old Testament. The Protestant Bible has 66 books. Catholic Bible has 73 books. Why the extra books in the Catholic Bible? Essentially, these extra books in the Catholic Bible, we know them as the Apocrypha. They would refer to them as the Deuterocanonical books. These were written between. These extra books were written between the Testaments, between Old Testament and before Jesus was born. Now why as, as Protestants, you know, we, we are at Calvary Chapel, we fall into the larger branch of, of a Protestant Church. Why do we believe that these extra books in the Catholic Bible do not belong in the canon of Scripture? The word canon comes from the Greek word canon and it just simply means a measuring rod.
- [67:12]
B
And.
- [67:15]
C
Basically, simply put, these extra books in the Catholic Bible and there are some even additions to some other books like Daniel and Esther. We do not believe that these extra books or extra writings meet the standard, meet the measuring rod, or meet the criteria of what we would say is authoritative or inspired. Why? Well, Jesus never quotes from the Apocrypha, never refers to the Apocrypha. The apostles never refer to the Apocrypha or quote from the Apocrypha. The New Testament letters or the Epistles, never quote from the Apocrypha, never refer to the Apocrypha. So with all loving and due respect to my Catholic friends, and many of you come from a Catholic background, we just simply don't believe that those extra books in the Catholic Bible, those seven extra books, meet the standard or criteria of what is authoritative. There are several teachings in the Apocrypha that are inconsistent with the full counsel of God's Word, one of them being the giving money to atone for sins. We know that that is antithetical to the Gospel. Here, a good litmus test, and I learned this from my dad and I don't remember which. And he's probably. You've probably said this many times. So I can't like, point to a specific teaching. A good litmus test to determine whether or not something is biblical is you have to ask yourself these three questions. Did Jesus teach it? Did the apostles practice it? And do the New Testament letters support it? Take any doctrine, any theology, any belief. Did Jesus teach it? Did the apostles practice it? Did the New Testament letters support it? If Jesus didn't teach it, the apostles didn't practice it. The New Testament letters don't support it, then don't embrace it. And so that's, with all due respect to my Catholic friends, and that's kind of a, you know, a short answer to that complex question. I don't know, dad, if you want to clean any of that up.
- [69:09]
A
No. But I will piggyback on that with another Catholic question. And again, this is not, you know, we're not here to bash the Catholics, but my estimation is that a third of our congregation has Catholic backgrounds. And so some of you are here and feeling guilty, aren't you? You know, just like. So don't, you know, no guilt, no shame, everybody. But this question often comes up about transubstantiation, whether it's trans. True or not. Now, transubstantiation is the belief that when you receive the communion elements, that it actually miraculously, the bread becomes the flesh of Jesus and the juice becomes the blood of Jesus. And. And the reason why Catholics believe this is because Jesus does say something very peculiar in John, chapter six. And he says in verse 54, Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. And so that sounds strange. And in fact, it was strange to his disciples too, because later on in that chapter, they ask when, when, when they hear this. His disciples. This is chapter six, verse 60. They asked when they heard this. They said, this is a hard saying. Who can understand it? I guess that makes sense. Like you. You want us to eat your flesh and drink your blood. And Jesus, a few verses later, in verse 63, he says, the words I speak to you are spirit and they are life. In other words, he's saying, look, I don't mean this literally. I mean this spiritually. Like, you have to be all consumed with me is what Jesus is saying. He doesn't mean literally that the communion elements become my blood and my flesh when you eat of. Of the bread and drink of the Jews. He's saying, these words are spirit. There are times that Jesus often spoke in spiritual, allegorical, metaphorical ways and not literal ways. Examples he talked about, if your eye causes you to lust, gouge it out. Does he really mean take a spoon and pop your eye on it? And he said, or if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. Now, if he meant that literally, like, all our ushers would be walking around blind and lame, everybody. We would. Well, you guys would probably. Well, you would. No, we all would. Yeah, we'd be blind up here. But here's the thing. Jesus meant in that case, like, take sin seriously. If your eye causes you to sin, like if you, if you look at things that you know are sinful, like stop doing that, like, take the relationship seriously. So he's using strong language to communicate a strong spiritual truth. But transubstantiation is something we would reject and we don't believe. It becomes blood, the elements becomes blood or flesh. The elements are a sacred reminder of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. But there is nothing about it that miraculously changes when you consume it. I want to just tackle this quick question too, because this is a, this is a very tender question and this might apply to some of you this lady was watching online. I'm a 65 year old woman living in Oklahoma. I am a Christian, but I am so tormented about the abortions that I have had in the past. I have asked for forgiveness, but I still, I'm under so much conviction. Will God truly forgive me for what I have done? And my heart goes out to her for asking the question. And I want to respond by just quoting Psalm 103, verse 12. This is a great verse for all of us because all of us have sinned. Maybe your sin was abortion, maybe your sin was adultery. Maybe your sin was pornography. Maybe your sin, you name it, but Psalm 103:12. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Now notice it does not say as far as the north is from the south, because north and south meet at the poles, but east and west go infinity. So it's God's way of saying, when you come to me and you ask for forgiveness, I will forgive you of your sins and I will remember them no more. Now, it's not that God is, you know, lacking in memory. It just means I will no longer hold your sins against you. It's the enemy who loves to continue to remind us of our past. Whenever the enemy. I heard somebody say this once. This is not original. Whenever the enemy reminds me of my past, I remind him of my future. Because when God forgives us, he forgives us. And there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8 tells us so. Therefore, I just want to encourage anybody who is still under this heavy condemnation of your past. If you come to repent and ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins, he forgives you. Now you know what's sometimes harder is for us to forgive ourselves, to walk in his grace, to receive his forgiveness, and to be the new creatures in Christ that he is, made us to be. So for this dear lady and for anyone else under condemnation from your past, when you bring it to Jesus, as far as he's concerned, it's under the blood, it's done. And so walk in that, in that grace of the Lord Jesus. All right, Tyler, what you got? We got just like two minutes, so we got a rapid fire.
- [75:15]
B
Now someone asked if God's original design for Adam was to work in the garden, will we have jobs during the thousand year reign or the millennial kingdom? And the. I think the answer is yes. I did a teaching on this in our CCBI class on Revelation and had to look back at my PowerPoints to figure out what did I actually say. But there's an interesting passage in Daniel chapter 12 and I believe that there is a interval between Christ's return to the earth and the beginning of the millennial kingdom. And it's found In Daniel chapter 12 at the very last verses, it's 11, 12 and 13. And it talks about 75 days, that it's the last verse really, Daniel 12:12. Blessed are those who wait and remain until the end of the 1335 days. Now again, you can do some studies on this yourself, but I believe that there will be some sort of an interval happening and I believe that that's when Jesus will assign certain jobs or delegations for us. And some key events in that interval that I had written is that there's going to be the judgment of the nations, the Antichrist and the false prophet in the lake of fire. Satan is bound in the abyss for a thousand years. Old Testament saints are resurrected from the dead tribulation, saints are resurrected and reign with Christ. But then there's a governmental structure of the millennial kingdom that will be set up so second Timothy 2:12 and Revelation 24 through six. And I believe that when, when Jesus places in a way jobs for us. That's why Paul says in his epistles that we will co reign with Christ. When we reign with Christ, it doesn't mean that we're just bored and twiddling our thumbs. I believe that we will actually have governmental jobs across the globe. And one of the jobs that I think will happen in that 75 day interval, but will take some time is the, the new temple will be built because there will be a millennial temple in Ezekiel chapter 40, 48. I don't think that Jesus is just going to snap his fingers and a temple's going to come. That could happen. I think though there actually will be an actual Physical building project with the new temple. And maybe some of us will have that task. So I think, yes, in God's original design, with Adam working in the garden, I think we will still have some sort of jobs or delegations that Jesus gives us to co reign with him.
- [77:50]
A
In the millennial kingdom. Told I'm governor of Bermuda, so that's where I'm going to be.
- [77:54]
B
Oh, that's nice.
- [77:56]
A
I'll tell you what, we're actually out of time, but I'm going to ask you guys this question came in. I suppose it's from a young woman. What should young women be looking for in a potential future husband?
- [78:08]
C
I guess someone assigned to Bermuda.
- [78:11]
A
I'm taken.
- [78:12]
C
Sorry, final days. Sorry, what was the question?
- [78:16]
A
Oh, brother. What should young women be looking for in a potential future husband?
- [78:23]
B
Now you guys are married.
- [78:24]
A
What did your wives find attractive about you guys?
- [78:30]
B
I don't know.
- [78:33]
C
I mean, I can answer that. It used to be my mustache. My wife was just insanely attracted to my mustache and even more attracted to me now that it's gone.
- [78:46]
A
That it's gone.
- [78:47]
C
Yeah, I mean, obviously, you know, we can give the spiritual answer, which is, you know, a guy who is pursuing the Lord more than he is even pursuing a woman. And a guy who's in the word, who loves the Lord, who's not just kind of throwing frivolously out there like, oh, I believe in God. You know, so do the demons. So, you know, you could be dating a demon, dude, not even know it. If he's just kind of saying like, oh, I just believe in God. No, he needs. You kind of got to dig deeper into that. What do you mean by you believe in God? You love Jesus, you love his word. You're serving in the church. That's kind of how you get to know people here at the church. Just serve in the church and just practically get involved. And you'll be able to observe men in their natural habitat of serving and honoring the Lord. How he loves and honors his mom or his sister. So, I mean, there's a lot of different roads we can get into.
- [79:37]
B
And a guy who is a man, not a boy. We need more men, not boys.
- [79:42]
A
Yeah.
- [79:46]
B
And a man with integrity, like Austin was saying, someone that is not only pursuing the Lord, but is. And less pursuing of another woman, but less pursuit of himself. Like, we have selfish boys who think that they can be husbands and fathers, and sadly, they can't. We need men with integrity and who are humble, not selfish. And you have a job. Yeah, that too.
- [80:12]
A
That would Help. All right, but real quick, let me.
- [80:15]
B
We've already gone good looks, right?
- [80:17]
A
Well, that does help because you do have to look at people every day. But let me flip this. We're already over time anyway. But for the young man looking for a young woman, or not so young, you know, you might be at a stage in your life or what qualities should a man look for in a woman?
- [80:39]
B
A woman after God's heart. So we're saying the same.
- [80:45]
A
Yes.
- [80:45]
C
Yeah. Again, a woman who loves. Loves the Lord and loves.
- [80:50]
A
Loves his word.
- [80:51]
C
A woman who's not just self absorbed. You know, the Bible says that in the last days, people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of pleasure, lovers of money. And we're seeing that today. People are just obsessed with the self, as Tyler mentioned. And so a guy should be looking for a girl who is not flirtatious, not, not. Not a player, but who is just mature and solid in the Lord and is pursuing and chasing after the Lord. And when you both are pursuing and chasing after the Lord, you have Jesus as the foundation of your life and of your dating relationship, then if it's the Lord's will, that relationship will flourish. But you should be looking for a woman who's just grounded in the Lord and not in themselves. Yeah.
- [81:32]
A
Should she have a mustache?
- [81:34]
C
No. Absolutely not.
- [81:36]
A
But remember this phrase, everybody, don't flirt to convert. Like, don't date to, like, well, I just get him saved or I'll just get her saved. Like, they either have to be ready and mature in the Lord or they're not ready to. To date. And that's a whole nother subject. We've got questions about dating apps, too, but we have one more service to get to, more questions. But I'm sorry, that's it for this one. I want to answer real quickly a couple questions that came in online. And the first, and I'm glad somebody asked this, because I don't talk about this, but somebody said, why does YouTube now insert ads into the cornerstone sermons available on your channel? This is a recent development I used to see here sermons uninterrupted. The ads are very disappointing and distracting. So the reason I wanted to mention this is because there's a lot of money to be made on YouTube. And I want everybody to know that we have never received any money from YouTube for the sermons that are posted on our page. We do not monetize our YouTube channel at all. And that's a personal conviction of mine. You know, there's probably, honestly, hundreds of thousands of dollars we're leaving on the table because some of my sermons have millions of viewers. And so that's how they monetize. But I just have a personal conviction. I don't like taking money from YouTube. And it's not about how many viewers can we get, it's not about how many clicks. It's just we want to put the gospel out there and we want it to be free and we don't want YouTube to send us money. But what that means is they still control the platform. They insert ads where they want because they see that it gets a lot of views. And so YouTube knows that they can themselves monetize our channel because of the viewership we have. So that's what they do. We have no control over it. I wish we could control it, but we can't. And so I'm sorry, I'm sorry for that interruption. It is disappointing, but that's something that YouTube does. We do not monetize our YouTube channel at all. Another question that just came in was about who are the 144,000? 144,000 are mentioned in Revelation, in Revelation chapter 7 and 14. Who are the 144,000? Well, if you ask a Jehovah's Witness, they say that they are, but they aren't because it tells us Clearly. In Revelation 7, the 144,000 are 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. The 144,000 will be evangelists, believers in Jesus who are Jewish, who come onto the scene in the tribulation period, which is in the future when tribulation comes upon the earth. That Revelation 6 to 18 talks about when God unleashes his wrath upon a God forsaking Christ rejecting world in order for the final call for as many people to be saved. It's not just God punishing an unbelieving world. It is to awaken a sleeping world. One of the things that God does in his mercy is he dispatches 144,000 evangelists who are Jewish, Jewish believers in Yeshua. And we know this because Revelation 7 lists at 12,000 from each of the 12. It lists it out in Revelation 7. They're mentioned again in Revelation 14. So it will be a group, a large group of evangelists. God raises up Jewish believers in Yeshua who will proclaim the good news of the Gospel during the tribulation period so that many people can can be saved. So that is in the future. And that's what Revelation 7 and 14 talks about. Now I'll hand it down the line. Tyler, what do you have for us.
- [85:33]
B
I got a practical question. I really like this. Someone asked, is it okay to stay away from people? And they put in parentheses, especially extended family or co workers who can be toxic negative influences, creators of division or take peace from your family. Is staying away from them considered unloving? And is there scripture to support staying away from certain people? I think it's safe to say, like all of us have either been through a toxic relationship or maybe you're in one right now. The Bible actually does have to say about this. So Paul actually does mention in First Corinthians 5 about believers, those who claim to be believers but are clearly not living as believers. Paul says you should, you should stay away from them. Don't associate with them, don't eat with them. They're claiming to be believers, but they're not living it. Now he's talking about believers for that one. But for this question about toxic negative influences. Maybe for those of you that have family members or coworkers that are not saved and the relationship gets toxic in that term, yes, it is. It is in a way biblical for us not to be influenced by them. And if we're surrounding ourselves with people that are like that, it, it you will feed off of that, that it does influence you in a wrong way. And I think the scripture that can back this up is really Psalm Chapter one. So when I was flipping through the Psalms and Psalm chapter one, reading out of the nlt, it says, oh, the joys or blessed is those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, stand around with sinners or join in with mockers. And it's a slippery slope. He mentions follow the wicked, stand with them, and then start to join in with them. And the Psalmist is making a point. He's saying, look, it's not really going to go well with you if you continue to follow and then stand with them. Now you're joining with them. We're to pray for those that are bad influences that, that have something about something that's going on inwardly that they're just unleashing out onto you. So I don't think it's unloving to want to not be around them and to not associate with them. We're continuing. We have to pray for them. And then Jesus does say, we have to be salt and light. So we're to avoid, I think, people in this, in the sense of we don't want to be in the company of people that are going to just be again, toxic or in this way that's going to influence us in a bad way. And again, it really starts at a young age with adolescents and then teenagers. It's called peer pressure. All right, how do you. How do you live up and stand against peer pressure? But there is still peer pressure with adults. So I think scripture does point and back this up again. Paul says in First Corinthians 5, if someone claims to be a believer but is certainly not living it, you're not to associate with them. You're to pray for them and say, look, we might have to cut ties for now, and I'm going to continue to love you and pray for you, but I can't be around you. But when someone is so toxic and negative and divisive and taking away peace from family or whatever, look, there might have to be the hard talk about, like, I don't know if we can be in the same company because it's influencing me or other family members in a wrong way. So again, we're to still love and pray for those that either claim to be a believer and are not living it or are just far away from the Lord. But to say, you've got to, you know, be around them 24, 7 and just bite the bullet, I, I just don't see that in Scripture. So I also see this when, when you are one person with a group of 10 people and everyone's a non believer and you're the only believer, 99% of the time, they will influence you more than you influencing them. You will. You are what you eat, you become who you hang out with. And so I always encourage teens or young adults, and even adults find people of the right mind that love the Lord and find godly friends that are going to lift you up and encourage you and not bring you down and become like the world. We're not to be conformed to this world. We're to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. So, yes, we gotta be on our guard and watch out for bad influences and that. Unfortunately, if it's family members or co workers, that's case by case. But the Bible is clear. We're not to really be, you know, involved in that negativity. And it just, it does something to you. And so I just encourage all of us find, find that godly friend that's going to uplift you and influence you in the right way.
- [90:34]
C
Someone texted this in. Could you please explain if there is such a thing as a wilderness season? And if so, how can Christians recognize it? And why would the Lord put a believer in a wilderness season? So first, what do we mean when we say we're walking through a wilderness season? I think all three of us really could say that all of us at times have been in a wilderness season. And it really just kind of describes when a believer feels lonely, feels discouraged, just kind of feels spiritually dry, spiritually empty. And that's very common for all believers to at times experience a wilderness season when you just kind of feel lonely, spiritually dry, spiritually empty, like you don't really, can't really hear from the Lord. And sometimes that's, that's because of sin in our own lives, just by way of making foolish decisions and foolish choices. Sin separates us from hearing the voice of the Spirit. And so sometimes we can enter into those wilderness seasons because there's sin in our lives. Sometimes we're not even aware of it. We need to ask God, would you'd reveal the sin in my life so that there can, there can be this close, intimate fellowship once again. But most commonly for the believer, wilderness seasons just happen because we, we live in these fallen, fleshly broken, tired bodies. You know, no, not asking for a show of hands, but how many of you at times just kind of just feel so depleted and tired and spiritually dry? I think all of our hands would go up because we experience those, those seasons in our walks with the Lord, just because we grow tired and weary, just distracted by the ways and the.
- [92:15]
A
Cares of the world.
- [92:16]
C
I want to leave some, some encouragement for you if you're going through that kind of a wilderness season, just feeling lonely or spiritually depleted. David would write about this in Psalm 63. And in Psalm 63 he talks about where he experienced this, this time of, of just wandering in the wilderness. And first Samuel, chapters 22 and 23 actually give us the context. He was running from Saul.
- [92:40]
A
Saul.
- [92:41]
C
King Saul was after David's life. And David was just experiencing this wilderness type of experience, literally and spiritually. And he writes, oh, God, you are my God. Early will I seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory.
- [93:04]
A
Because you're.
- [93:04]
C
Now check this out. He says, because your loving kindness is better than life. My lips shall praise you. Thus I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips. What David is expressing here is he is going through a Spiritually dry time in his life. Not exactly sure where God is in the context of his situation. And yet what does he do? He says, I remember your loving kindness. If you're going through that wilderness experience just feeling spiritually dry and depleted and tired and empty, we have to remember God's kindness, His love, and his faithfulness. You have to get your mind, you have to bathe your mind in the truth of God's word. Because what God wants to do in that. In that time of.
- [93:52]
A
Of.
- [93:52]
C
Of wilderness, in that dry, spiritually dry place, is he wants to reveal more of Himself to, To you. And sometimes God will allow us to experience that wilderness spiritually that, that. That dryness in our lives. Because what. What he's doing in effect, is he is stripping us of all of our earthly comforts.
- [94:10]
A
We.
- [94:11]
C
We get weighed down and distracted by the world, and sometimes God will strip us of everything we cling to for comfort so that we finally realize that Jesus is all we need. So he brings us to that wilderness point. So he strips us of all this earthly comfort. So we say, God, you're all I need. And we see more of his love, more of his kindness, more of his patience. There's this intimacy that happens in that wilderness experience as we draw close to the Lord. We're in His Word and He bathes our minds in the truth of His Word. And He. He draws us close to Himself and He shows us more of who he is. So do not despise the spiritually dry seasons. Press into Jesus, get in the word of God, and He'll bathe you by his spirit. Spirit in his love and in his kindness.
- [94:53]
A
Okay, somebody asks, can you talk about the sinner's prayer for salvation? For example, is it biblical to ask Jesus into your heart versus repent and believe the good news? I don't know why the question says versus repent and believe, because that is part of the sinner's prayer to repent. And what does repent mean? In fact, somebody sent in another question just now about metanoeo. What does that mean in the Greek? And it translates repent in our English Bibles. But metanoeo means to change the mind. Like you have a different mindset that you're going to stop repentances, stop what you're doing, and you go 180 degrees in the opposite direction away from your life, toward Jesus who will redeem your life, and that's repentance. So you leave the old way. But I think behind the question is this common question in general about why, why Offer the sinner's prayer. There are churches, there's one down the road I won't mention by name who does not believe that the sinner's prayer should be something that people pray because coming to Christ is about being a disciple. But my answer to that is, and let me first, I guess back up and just mention what is the sinner's prayer. The sinner's prayer is basically, if you were here for Christmas Eve, and I will do this at other times at the end of a teaching where I invite people to trust Christ as your Lord and Savior and then I will lead in a prayer, the prayer of repentance, the prayer of confession, the prayer of asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins and come into your life that you might be saved by trusting him as Lord and Savior. So that's what is commonly referred to as the sinner's prayer. And some pastors and some churches don't practice that a because they don't teach the Gospel. So they don't give opportunities for people to get saved, to be honest. And another reason is because they're just like fundamentally opposed to it. They think it is a one and done prayer. They think it creates weak Christians or they would say even people who aren't even really believers just because now you led them in a prayer. But here's my answer to that. Following Christ, like anything, begins with a decision. It begins with a decision. So when I offer the sinner's prayer to people to be saved, all I'm doing is helping them to make that decision. Now living out your life for Jesus is all subsequent to that prayer. The prayer is not just one and done. I'm good to go now. I can do whatever I want. It is a surrendering to the lordship of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. But every person who comes to faith in Jesus, it starts with a decision. And so the sinner's prayer is not a formula. It's just to help people make that decision and verbalize it. Because Romans 10, 9, 10 says if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, you shall be saved. I mean, that's what the Bible says. So I'm just wanting to help people confess with their mouth. Jesus, Lord, trust him as Lord and Savior. So that's why we offer what is commonly referred to as the sinner's prayer. It's just to help people make a decision to follow Jesus Christ. But now living out that faith is on that person. Of course, with the help of the Holy Spirit, because he who began a good work in you will carry it out unto completion in Christ Jesus. So, but that's the reason that we offer the sinner's prayer. And I think it's, it's a good thing to do to allow people that entry point of making a decision for Christ. And then real quickly, somebody asked, how do you get a 47 year old adult family member to come to Christ other than praying a lot? And I think that's key, you know, pray for that person. Everybody who eventually comes to faith in Jesus Christ is led there by the work of the Holy Spirit and so pray for them. I, I love to encourage you to pray specifically that God would surround that loved one with other believers who will speak into that person's life in ways that you probably can't remember. Jesus said a prophet is without honor in his own home country. And so in his own hometown. Jesus was not well received in Nazareth by the people who knew him, who grew up with him, and so he had to leave there. And it was interesting how there was very little effect that Jesus had there because people already had this wall. Oh, you're this kid that grew up and we saw you and you know, we don't really accept you. So a prophet is without honor in his own hometown. And so you might find that you are too close to your loved one, that they don't really receive from you. But you can be praying that God would put other Christians in that person's life, in your loved one's life, that they would influence your loved one for Christ. It's amazing how sometimes then your loved one will come to Christ and you'll be like, I've been telling you this for like 47 years. And you're like, yeah, well I, I didn't, I couldn't hear it from you. I heard it from this person. And then the last thing I'd say on the subject is Matthew 5:16, Let your light so shine before men that they might see your good deeds and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. You can pray for your loved one, but then live it out yourself so that it's contagious, so that they want what you have.
- [100:26]
B
Tyler There are several questions about anxiety. Someone says, how do I cope with my anxiety as a Christian? And first off, I think all of us in some way, shape or form go through anxiety, even if you're a strong Christian. The two verses I want to give first Peter 5:7. One Peter 5:7 says, Give all your worries and Cares to God, for he cares about you. Okay? And I grew up reading the NIV 84. So it's Peter is saying, cast all your cares or anxieties. It's the same word. Cast all your cares on him because he cares for you. And I love that language, that Greek. Casting your cares, it's like casting a net. Now, Peter was a fisherman, so he's using this fisherman language, casting, like a net of all your cares and worries onto the Lord because he cares so much about you. First Peter 5, 7. I use that verse all the time for the teenagers. First Peter 5, 7. Get that in your mind and write that down. Cast all your cares and anxieties on him because he cares for you so much. He loves you so much. So any anxiety, any worry, any stress, give it to him. Talk out loud, read your Bible, confess any sin, but give everything to him. Because I love that last phrase. He cares for you. God cares for you and I so much. And he knows everything about you, more than you know yourself. The. The second verse, I want, the classic verse is Philippians 4, verses 6 through 7. All right? You know the whole thing, 6, 7. Right now going on. You need to read Philippians 4, 6, 7. All right? I get anxiety just hearing 6, 7 all the time. And I go to Philippians 4, 6, 7.
- [102:09]
A
I'm just amazed. You know, at 6, 7, my birthday is 6, 7 and people are going around just talking about my birthday. They are.
- [102:18]
B
Moving on.
- [102:19]
A
That's what I want to believe. What's Philippians 6?
- [102:22]
B
Philippians 4, 6 and 7. Now again, NIV. I love the NIV because that's the translation I grew up. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, he says, present your request to God. And then the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Why would Paul or Peter write about anxiety and worry if we didn't do it? Because we all suffer anxiety and worry at times. Those two verses are just some foundational verses for me when it comes to anxiety. First Peter 5, 7 and Philippians 4, 6, 7. So again, when Paul says, don't be anxious about anything, but in everything, he mentions prayer and he mentions thanksgiving, and he mentions presenting your request to God. Give him anything you have or you desire or your worries or your doubts. And then he says, and then the peace of God, and look what it says, which transcends all understanding. It's a peace that passes all understanding. It's a supernatural peace that God will Give you to guard two things, your heart and your mind. Because those are connected, Your heart and your mind are connected. And when he guards your heart and your mind, it's going to be in Christ Jesus. And so again, we suffer through anxiety and maybe even depression in some way, shape or form, and we're all different. But those two verses just have been foundational for me ever since I was a teenager, you know, and I didn't go through deep anxiety or depression, but I've been around people who did. And I don't have a magic formula. All I have is God's Word, which tells me plainly, here's what I need to do. What, what do those two verses have in common? Giving it to the Lord, you might say, well, how do I do that again? Just seek him. Surrender. Open your Bible. Maybe you haven't done that in a while. And when you do that, then when you read your Bible for the very. When you read your Bible for the very first time, when you haven't read in a long time, God does something. He will do something. And I encourage you, read in the morning when you can get a head start in your day, start your day off with the Lord, even if for five minutes. But anxiety is a real thing, and Christians can and will go through it. But when you give it to the Lord, he will just do amazing things. And it may take time. It's not going to be overnight for some people. But all I know is what I know from the, from the Bible. And I just, I ask the Lord, help me. And every day's different. What did Jesus say? Don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow's got its own worries of its own. So cling to him today and cast it to him today.
- [105:12]
C
This might be a similar question, but it's a good one. How do I fight the voices in my head constantly condemning me? And how can I have a stronger relationship with Jesus? A lot of us wrestle with those thoughts of condemnation. But if you are in Christ, you need to write down Romans 8:1. Therefore there is now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. Write that down on a sticky note. Put that on your refrigerator, on your nightstand, on your mirror, because you constantly. We constantly need to be bathing our minds in the truth of God's word. Therefore there is now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. Sometimes what I see believers do is they really confuse conviction with condemnation. Listen, believers, the Holy Spirit does convict the believer. The Bible says to not despise the discipline. Do not despise the discipline of The Lord Hebrews talks about how the, the believer, the son or daughter of God, experiences God's discipline. But God disciplines us because he loves us. That's what Hebrews says. And so sometimes I know in my, in my own life I can confuse the conviction of the Holy Spirit with the condemnation of God. But no, if you are in Christ, you've turned from sin and trusted in Him. You are no longer condemned. You have come outside of that condemnation. You are now reconciled back to the Father. Now the Holy Spirit does continue to prick our hearts when we sin. That's called conviction. Do not discern, despise the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The conviction of the Holy Spirit is there so that we, we understand our sin, we confess our sin so that God can forgive, can forgive us of our sin. Conviction is a good, healthy necessity in the life of the believer by the Holy Spirit, as God's hand of discipline comes upon the believer to purge us of sin, to sanctify us, to mature us. But you are no longer condemned if you are in Christ. So Write down Romans 8:1. Memorize that verse. Write it down so you can see it first thing when you wake up. And don't confuse condemnation with conviction. That is a good thing. And that conviction propels us to the Lord and He reveals the sin in our lives so that we can confess it. He can wash us and forgive us.
- [107:20]
A
All right, I got this interesting question. Is it idolatry to prioritize academic excellence in public schooling over the spiritual well being of the child by handing them over to likely a pagan stranger, that is teachers. So let me, let me say this. The education of your children is a highly personal decision, but I understand the question. You know, our kids are grown and married now, but Terry and I have talked about this and we, we did a kind of a hybrid with, with our kids where they were in school for some of the younger grades, like first, second, third. Did you go to third grade in public school? No. I know you went to third grade. Did you go in public school?
- [108:24]
B
Yeah.
- [108:25]
A
Yeah. But you didn't go to third, did you?
- [108:28]
C
Not exactly sure what I did.
- [108:29]
A
I'm not sure either. Well, we had them in school, then we took them out for a period of time and we homeschooled them thanks to my wonderful wife who did 99% of it. She has an elementary ed degree, so she was a wonderful teacher at home. I threw in a little bit of grammar every now and again and helped a little bit with Bible. But then we put our kids back into school for High school, mainly because we looked at each other and like this might be over our heads. And so high school, we got to send them to public school. But, but we've talked. And if, and if we had to educate our kids today, this is, this is just me personally talking. Okay? This is not like some pastoral papal authority mandate. Okay? All right. We couldn't send our kids to public school today. And the reason is because the agenda has changed from the way it was when our kids were younger. The policies are different. There's an approval of reading material that we would be have objections to. So for several reasons, we could not put our kids in public school today. Now that's our personal decision. You have to make that decision based on your sanctified conscience. I will tell you now, this is the pastoral part of me talking. I do have concerns and I say this in love and you can take this or reject it. I do have some concerns about some parents who put academic achievement and athletic achievement as the priority instead of their spiritual well being of their children. I just have that concern. I just have that concern. And sometimes I stop and I go, you know, your kid probably is not going to make it to the NFL, like that's an exclusive club, but yet you're going to subject this child, this youth, to influences that you cannot undo. Now, I get it. I get the other side of the argument, which is, well, we don't want to isolate our kids and homeschooling tends to isolate them and we got to get them into the real world. I get that. But how soon do you need to get them into the real world? How soon do you need to integrate them into the real world? Because you only have a short window of time to influence them in your home. And you have to ask yourself, what are the greatest influences they are exposed to? Well, number one, it's their devices, but number two, it's their education. And you have to be asking yourself, is the risk greater than the reward here? Because if the risk is too great, where your child is going to get so influenced by now a public school education system, that is not what it used to be. I mean, let's just be honest, it's not. The policies are different. The approved reading material is different from the way it was just 10 years ago. Are you willing to expose your kids to that now? This isn't an advertisement for Cornerstone Christian Academy, although that's one of the reasons why we started it is because we want to give people an opportunity and our church underwrites it such that tuition is Half the price of any tuition you'll pay in a private school. Okay. And we do that intentionally because we want to try to make it as easy for people as possible. It's not for everybody. I get that. But the, the consideration you have to make about your child's spiritual well being is more important than their athletic or academic achievements because that's of eternal significance. That's of eternal significance. So just be mindful of that. And that would just be my caution to you. But again, it's your sanctified conscience that has to make that decision. And I also want to say thank you to the Christians that we have who are teachers in the public school system who are doing your little bit to try to influence the classroom, trying to do your little bit to influence the classroom for the glory of God in whatever way you can, to try to sprinkle salt and light into a dark world. But it has gotten dark. Funny quick story, and I'll end here. Some of you might know this, especially if you have kids enrolled at cca. But my high school algebra teacher, I had him twice. I had him for algebra and geometry in high school. He would always keep his Bible on his desk. And that always spoke to me. He didn't have to talk too much about Jesus. He wasn't really permitted to talk about Jesus. If you asked him, he could. And. But I always remember seeing his Bible on his desk. And, you know, I, I got saved when I was 15. Somebody asked me a question about that. Maybe I'll share it if we have time the next go round. But. But that spoke to me because it, it kind of emboldened me to, to. In my faith, in your high school environment. I went to public school. I went to Falls Church High School. But my algebra and geometry teacher always had his Bible out. That always spoke to me. And now I didn't even realize this till after we had hired him. The algebra teacher and geometry teacher at CCA was my high school algebra and geometry teacher, Mr. John Whitney. So praise God for, for Christians who are living out there of faith, even in the public school system, because that spoke to me as a public school school kid. All right, third grader, go ahead.
- [114:14]
B
And Principal Oblas was my principal at Allen County High School, and now he is the principal at cca, too. So for me, I think you guys.
- [114:24]
C
Just sent me outside and told me to go play.
- [114:26]
A
Go play. Yeah. And that's when you put on the electric dog collar and try to press the boundaries. Yeah.
- [114:34]
C
I don't even know why I'm up here right now. I, I don't have many brain cells left after that.
- [114:42]
B
I have a question about asking, do you believe that Babylon the Great in Revelation could be the United States? I think this is actually a very valid question. I'm going to give you my opinion, but I'm, I can see why people think this. It is, it is a theory. So Babylon the Great, it's found in Revelation 17 and 18 and it's called Mystery Babylon. People have theorized that. Could this be literal Babylon? Is this Jerusalem? Is this the Roman Empire, the Vatican, or even New York City in the United States? I, I'm being honest. When I read Revelation 18, it's hard not to see New York city in Revelation 18. Read it again in detail. It's very interesting. However, I do lean towards that a literal Babylon will be revived and that this mystery Babylon will be Babylon itself in a way where, when I was in, going through Bible college and all that. It's very interesting that the, the top two cities mentioned in the Bible from Genesis, Revelation number one, Jerusalem, number two, Babylon top two. And I think if Jerusalem, we're talking about a literal Jerusalem and Israel became a Nation again in 1948, why not have Babylon be literal Babylon and it gets revived in a way where it'll become the headquarters of the Antichrist himself. I don't think that's too far fetched. Could it be the United States? Yeah, it definitely could. But I still think that the epicenter is Israel itself in the Middle east. And then Babylon in modern day Iraq. Right now, Saddam Hussein, he tried to do that. He, he believed he was the one to revive ancient Babylon. And there's, there's a lot of prophecies when you read Jeremiah and Isaiah, Ezekiel about Babylon. I, I do think that it's still a reference to a literal Babylon. But it's very interesting how, why people may think the United States because that, I don't think that's too like, oh, that's crazy. It's not that crazy the way our country and New York City being the epicenter of our country. I know DC technically is, but when you read about New York City, it's very interesting how it sounds just like Revelation 18. But again, stranger things have happened. I think God in his sovereignty, he revived Israel. And I think he's in a way, for the end times, for his purposes, is going to revive Babylon.
- [117:28]
A
Yeah. And it makes sense because the world of the occult began in Babylon, the Tower of Babel. I mean, that's Babylon. And I think it makes sense It'll come full circle. It'll also be the epicenter for everything that is evil, too, in the world to come.
- [117:43]
B
Right.
- [117:45]
C
Matthew 7:21 23, Jesus tells believers that he never knew them and turns them away. Yet in Ephesians 1, it also says, having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit, so should believers be afraid of Jesus saying, depart from me, I never knew you? No, believers do not need to fear what Jesus says in Matthew, chapter 7, verses 21 through 23. Let me read it for you. Jesus says, not everyone who says to me, lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name. And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Now, I don't know how many of you have ever read Matthew 7:21 23 and then just been so afraid to get to the Lord on Judgment Day. And Jesus would say, depart from me, I never knew you. Listen, the question has a false assumption to it. It says, jesus tells believers he never knew them and turns them away. Now, within the context here of Matthew 7, Jesus is not speaking to true believers. He is speaking to the false prophets. Because the verses just before Matthew 7:21, in Matthew 7:15, he says, Beware of false prophets. So he's talking about these false prophets. That's then. When it, when it then transitions into verses 21 through 23. You know, the, the chapters and verses came much later. And so Jesus is just speaking here conversationally in the context of false prophets. And when the false prophets appear on Judgment Day, he will tell, these false prophets away from me. I never knew you. Now check this out. He says, not everyone who says to me, lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. He says, many will say to me in that day, lord, have we not prophesied in your name? Cast out demons in your name. Done. Done many wonders in your name. So these. These false prophets are pointing to. Look at what we've done for you. They have a false hope because they are trusting in the works they've done for God. They're not trusting in Jesus and Jesus alone. See, these false prophets are trusting. And look. Look at all the things we've done. Listen, on Judgment Day, you cannot point to your good works as a means of inheriting the kingdom of Heaven. It's not going to cut it. When, when you, when you face the Lord on Judgment Day, the. The only people who, who will get into the kingdom of heaven are those who fall at the mercy of God and say, God, I am a sinner, but I've trusted in what your son Jesus has done on my behalf. Dying on the cross and rising from the dead for me, that's what I cling to. That's what I put my trust in. That is my hope. And God will say, welcome, well, well done, good and faithful servant. And so you can't point to your good works, you can't point to your good deeds. The Bible says that our good works, this is the book of Isaiah, our good deeds are like filthy rags compared to a holy God. So us, on our best day, it doesn't cut it.
- [120:39]
A
All right?
- [120:39]
C
God doesn't grade on the curve. He grades on the cross. Have you trusted in what my son has done for you on the cross? And so this whole Matthew 7, 21, 23 is within the context of false prophets. If you've turned from sin, you trusted in Christ alone for salvation. You don't need to fear these verses. They don't apply to you.
- [120:57]
A
Yeah. All right. Our time has already escaped us. So this is rapid fire right now. I'm going to take one real quickly. Question is about young earth or old earth. How confident are you in this answer? Well, everything is a little bit like, okay, Lord, I think so. But anyway, we take the stance here that the world is young. We believe in a young earth. When you look at the genealogical record and you. If you trace it through scripture, the earth is only about 6,000 to 10,000 years old because there are some gaps in the genealogical record. So at the furthest would be about 10,000, but more likely closer to 6,000. And if you want more information about that, if you like studying things about creation and the earth and scientific information, I recommend a book by Dr. Henry Morris. Dr. Henry Morris. He served among a very distinguished career. He was also the department head for civil engineering at Virginia Tech. But many years ago, he wrote a book called the Beginning of the World. A Scientific study of Genesis 1 to 11. The beginning of the World. A Scientific study of Genesis 1 to 11. Before I recommended this, I looked it up on Amazon. You can still get it on Amazon, so you can check it out there. He does an excellent job breaking down all the scientific information and why this is a young earth. I wish we had time to answer a lot of these others. Oh, somebody asked, have you done a Sermon on the Holy Spirit. Where and how can I find it? Just go to our teaching library, cornerstonechapel.net and go to the Book of Acts. First couple chapters of Acts. I talk extensively about the Holy Spirit. Teach about it there. So look up the Book of Acts.
- [122:45]
B
You have something.
- [122:45]
A
Real quickly, guys.
- [122:48]
B
Someone asked was, was the Antichrist Nero? Emperor Nero? Yes and no. I believe he was a type of the Antichrist, small A that First John talks about. But I don't believe he was the Antichrist. I think that is still to come.
- [123:02]
A
Yeah.
- [123:03]
C
Please recommend a good devotional. I personally use and love Wisdom for Today by Pastor Chuck Smith. Wisdom for Today by Pastor Chuck Smith. And then someone also asked, what about, like, a children or family devotional resource? My family, what we're currently going through. It's called the Biggest Story. The Biggest Story. It's a family devotional. It's by Kevin DeYoung. And we, we take our girls through that. It's by the Bible, Genesis through Revelation, but geared more towards kids like, like 5 to 12 year olds. And then also the good old Adventures in Odyssey. I mean, that's what we grew up on. That's why that's we.
- [123:40]
A
That's where you got your education.
- [123:41]
C
That's where we got our education.
- [123:43]
A
I'm.
- [123:43]
C
I'm 100% we. You know, we were homeschooled for a few years and honestly, it was like, go play outside. Listen to Adventures in Odyssey. You'll be all right. And so. And they're still making episodes. It's been last going on from like the late 80s to. They're still going strong. So the good old Mr. Whitaker, Adventures in Odyssey.
- [124:01]
A
And yes.
- [124:02]
C
Amen. Praise God.
- [124:04]
A
Real quick on the devotional thing. Terry and I have been doing a book called the Praying Couple by Stormy Omardian and. And that's just a very simple devotional book where it's even written out for you. It like takes all the homework out of the devotional. And there's a prayer, the husband prays for the wife. There's a prayer, the wife prays for the husband. And there's a short devotional in there. So the Praying Couple. Is that what it's called, honey? The Praying Couple. Is that the.
- [124:32]
C
He doesn't even.
- [124:34]
A
Well, I don't focus on the title.
- [124:35]
C
You don't even know the title.
- [124:36]
A
It's the content that's more important. It's a prayer book.
- [124:41]
B
But.
- [124:44]
A
Mention what Edgar Meyer. Is that like Oscar Meyer. I'm devoted to Oscar Meyer. Edgar Meyer. A family devotional Bible. Edgar Meyer okay. The whole thing is Edgar Meyer. It's like one. Oh, they're talking about the children's family book. Yes, yes. The whole. It's not two names. It's Edgar Meyer's the Family Handbook.
- [125:19]
C
You couldn't hear that.
- [125:20]
A
She said it's the one you'd fall asleep when we were doing family devotionals. That's why I don't remember the guy's name.
- [125:29]
B
You never led family devotions. It was always Mom.
- [125:31]
A
It was Mom. Mom led family devotionals. And I gave prayer support.
- [125:37]
B
Yeah, that's.
- [125:39]
A
You just thought I had my eyes closed. I was deep in prayer. It was intercessory prayer the whole time I was there, though. All right, everybody. Austin, why don't you close us in prayer?
- [125:51]
C
Thank you, Lord, for the day that you've given us. And we don't have all the answers, but you do. Your word does, Lord. And so we continue to look to your word. I pray that you would give us the wisdom that we need to honor you and glorify you with our lives. We thank you for this body of believers, those watching online. We're just so grateful for this family you've brought together, Lord. And we continue to ask for your favor, Lord, your blessing, your wisdom that we might live lives that please you, Lord, to the full. So fill us afresh with your spirit, God, we ask. We need you. We're dependent upon you for all things, all day, in every way. We love you, God, and it's in Jesus name we pray. Amen.