Hello friends, this is Doug Batchelor. How about an amazing fact? During World War II the Nazis decided to allow the allied POW's to have some board games to pass their endless months in confinement. Learning this, the British government conspired with the makers of the popular game Monopoly to smuggle into the prison camps escape kits that were cleverly hidden throughout the board games.
For instance, within the stacks of Monopoly money was real German and French currency. Silk maps of the German countryside were concealed within the box and a compass and a metal file were hidden in the playing pieces. These clever Monopoly escape kits helped several prisoners escape during the war.
Did you know Jesus is in the business of helping prisoners escape from their bondage? Stay with us friends. We’re going to learn more as Amazing Facts brings you this edition of Bible Answers Live.
[PROGRAM INTRODUCTION]
Pastor Doug Batchelor: We sure enjoy doing this with you friends, a Bible study around the world. If you have a Bible question, we have phone lines. It’s a free phone call. You can call in with your question and we'll do our best to find the answers together searching God’s book, the Bible.
That phone number one more time, we have some lines open, are you ready? 1-800-GOD-SAYS, 1-800-463-7297 will bring you into the studio. Keep a pencil ready. We’ll be giving you some exciting websites and also another number where you can request our free resources. My name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Jëan Ross: My name is Jëan Ross. Good evening listening friends and Pastor Doug. As usual, let’s begin the program with prayer. Dear Father, once again we want to invite Your Presence to come and be with us as we study the Bible. We do pray that You would guide our hearts and our minds into a deeper and fuller understanding of what Your Word says. Be with those who are listening wherever they might be, and we pray, Lord, that as we study together You would help to make clear the way that leads toward heaven. For we ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Amen.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Pastor Doug, you opened the program by talking about a rather interesting, very little known fact that during the second World War, the makers of the game, Monopoly, put in these little compasses and various other things that were necessary to actually help people escape. Now we had spoken just before the program, we were wondering, "Well, it's one thing to have all these things in the game, the board game, but somehow word must have gotten out to the prisoners that there were useful resources for them inside the game."
Pastor Doug Batchelor: So they would learn. Well I think, probably, the first time they began to play with the game they noticed that there was some real currency hidden.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Um-hm.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: And then they suspected that the British Red Cross had been working with the government to--and the Red Cross might not have even known it--but in these gifts that they gave all these POW's that there were other things. Maybe then they started to explore the lid of the box and the pieces and they found the compass, and they found the file and all these things, and it actually worked. Some prisoners were able to escape.
And then, of course, that’s a segue into Jesus helping people escape from prison, but it’s a different kind of prison. The devil has a POW camp in this world. He has kidnapped the planet and there’s a war going on between good and evil.
Jesus, when He began His ministry, He stood up in His hometown church of Nazareth, and Jesus opened to the Old Testament Bible verse Isaiah 61, verse 1; and here’s what Jesus quoted, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me....” By the way, that’s what "Christ" means, "the anointed." Jesus was anointed with the Spirit.
“The spirit of the Lord is upon me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of prison to those who are bound." And through the Bible we see cases where Jesus brought people out of prison, like Joseph. One day he [Joseph] went from the prison to the palace.
You can also see where He takes Esther, and He brings her from the prison to the palace. And Daniel goes from being a captive to prime minister. Then He takes the disciples and He opens the prison doors on three different occasions, Acts chapter 5, and Acts 16, and Acts 12. Angels come and open the prison doors so they can continue preaching.
Jesus wants to open your prison door friends. Maybe you’ve been bound by some chains of sin. We all have habits and things that weigh us down; and Jesus came into the world to give you the tools in His word and through faith in Him to break those chains and to escape. If you'd like to know more how to have that new life and how you can make it to His Kingdom. then we’ve got a free study guide, or a free book, for you tonight.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The book is entitled, Three Steps to Heaven. We’ll send that to anyone who calls and asks for it. The number to call for our resource line is, 1-800-835-6747,and you can ask for the book, Three Steps to Heaven, practical steps that can be taken to lead one closer to Jesus and to that promised home for the redeemed.
Again, the book is entitled, Three Steps to Heaven, and the resource line is 1-800-835-6747. And friends, if you’re close to your computers this evening, you can join us here in the studio by going to Live.AmazingFacts.org. We're streaming the program this evening. Well, Pastor Doug, we’re ready to go to the phone lines.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Alright, we’ll see what happens.
Pastor Jëan Ross: First caller this evening is calling from New Foundland, and we have Liladonda who is calling. Liladonda, welcome to the program.
Liladonda: Hello.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hi. Thanks for calling in.
Liladonda: Yes. I would like to talk about if I were to get into heaven.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Now get real close to your phone because you’re all the way up there in the northern country, and what was your question?
Liladonda: I would like to know if I am accepted to heaven because I have killed a lot of men at war.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, the question would be, "Will there be anyone in heaven that was a soldier that had to kill people during battle?" The Bible tells us that you willhave people in heaven, like Samson, like David, like Gideon, like Jephthah; they’re all mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11, that they’ll be among those that are saved, and they also were soldiers that needed to fight to defend their country.
So even if a person is guilty of murder and it’s not during the war, you know the Bible tells us that God can forgive all kinds of sin, and there are even people who are guilty of murder. Moses murdered somebody. Of course, he was trying to help people escape from prison. But King David killed a friend and God forgave him when he genuinely repented. So, I’m sure that if the Lord can forgive them, that He can forgive you.
Liladonda: But I have done terrible things.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, the Bible says there’s only one sin that cannot be forgiven, and that’s the unpardonable sin. Every other sin can be forgiven. And the Bible tells us that there are people who are guilty of murder, and killing, and adultery and every variety of sin, and the Lord is long suffering. He's a better savior than you are a sinner. Now the unpardonable sin...
Liladonda: I am scared of the devil.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, you don’t need to be scared of the devil because the Bible tells us that the one who is in you is stronger than the one who is in the world. So if you’ve got darkness in your life, you invite the light of the world into your heart and it will drive the darkness away. As you invite Christ in, it chases the devil away. You don’t need to be frightened of the devil.
If you’re a God-fearing person, you don’t have to fear anything else. If you don’t fear God, you’ll end up fearing everything else. But I have a book I’d like to send you, and it’s a free gift, and it’s on the subject of the unpardonable sin. We just finished it and it’s called, Beyond Mercy.
A lot of people are afraid that they’ve gone too far--and soldiers come back from war--I had a friend who was a sniper and he used his skills and had to kill people. And he just wondered, "Can I be forgiven?" You, brother, and others who are listening, always people worry, "Have I committed the unpardonable sin?" We’ll explain what that is in the book and we’ll send you a free copy. It's called, Beyond Mercy.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number to call is, 1-800-835-6747. That is our resource line and you can ask for the book, Beyond Mercy. We’ll send that to anyone who calls and asks for it. The number to the studio here is, 1-800-463-7297. Our next caller is Mark, and Mark is listening in Knoxville, Tennessee. Mark, welcome to the program.
Mark: Hi, thanks for taking my call. I know that the lake of fire is supposed to burn only for a very short time, but there appears to be some people that are going to burn for at least a 1,000 years. In Revelation 19, it talks about the beast and the false prophet.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Right.
Mark: They’re cast into the lake of fire prior to the millennium, prior to Revelation 20. And then in Revelation 20 after the millennium, it says the devil and them will be cast into the lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet are, which seems to imply that the beast and the false prophet had been in the lake of fire all that time.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, you know, I might need to take a better look at that, but I think where it says, "...where the beast and the false prophet are," some translations would translate that, "...where the beast and the false prophet are sent." So, in other words, the devil is going to the same place where the beast and the false prophet are sent.
It doesn’t mean that they’ve been there burning a 1,000 years longer, because why would you burn the beast and the false prophet and the dragon a 1,000 years longer than the devil?
Mark: Right, but why were they cast in in chapter 19?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Now that’s an easier question to answer. The chapters in Revelation are not written chronologically. Virtually every chapter in Revelation takes you into the next chapter, and then when you enter the new chapter it backs up and covers some of the same material. I know Pastor Ross just got done doing a series on Revelation.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Um-hm. You know, often you’ll find a theme that’s addressed in Revelation; and in vision, the prophet describes various events connected with the subject that he's addressing, almost from start to finish. Then a new subject is introduced and he sort of backs up over some of the previous time period that was given, and then he deals with that subject and gives certain details. So Pastor Doug, you mentioned Revelation is not written in a strict, chronological order.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah. Often in the new chapters they spend some time reviewing what was introduced in the former chapter.
Mark: So is the lake of fire before the millennium or after the millennium?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: After the millennium. Now there is fire before the millennium. The fire before the millennium is when it says, "The Lord will descend from heaven with a shout, and the voice of God ... and wicked are destroyed by the brightness of His coming." But that’s more like just the glory of God that destroys the cities.
The punishment after the great Judgment Day that’s spoken of in the Bible, sometimes called the Great White Throne judgment, that’s at the end of the 1,000 years.
Pastor Jëan Ross: There’s a verse in 2nd Peter chapter 3, verse 10 speaking of the second coming. Peter writes, “But the day of the Lord will come as thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are therein will be burnt up.”
So this is in the context of the second coming of Jesus. If you like, there is a lake of fire at the second coming of Christ, and then there is a lake of fire at the end of the 1,000 years when the wicked are all resurrected for their final judgment scene. So when Jesus comes, the Bible describes that it is tempestuous about Him; He comes with fire and glory and angels, and the wicked are consumed with the brightness of His coming.
Mark: (Inaudible) the fires?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, the fire of the Great Judgment, that lake of fire burns after the 1,000 years. If you haven’t seen it, Mark, we do have a couple of studies that deal with the lake of fire. One is called, “Is the Devil in Charge of Hell?” And then the best thing we’ve got is there is a website,and it’s called, HellTruth.com.
Everybody out there ought to take a look at that because there's so much misunderstanding about the character of God, and I think you understand that part Mark. But it will also give you more detail about the sequence of when does that lake of fire burn. It’s not burning yet because there has been no judgment day yet. HellTruth.com will give you more information, or the study guide, “Is the Devil in Charge of Hell?”
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number to call for that resource is, 1-800-835-6747. You can ask for the study guide, “Is the Devil in Charge of Hell?” We have Allison who is listening from Long Island. Allison, welcome to the program.
Allison: Hello, how are you?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Doing great. Thank you for calling.
Allison: Thank you for taking my call. I have a rather interesting question I’d like to ask you if I may?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Okay.
Allison: This is personally from--I’m not naming any names--but this is from my own private congregation.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Okay.
Allison: And this goes back--a battle that has been going back and forth--but the question is this, are you considered a whore if you wear make-up? That's it. This is what they say. They have a book on it, and this is what I--I don’t wear much make-up mind you but this is how they feel about it. They just want you to wear no make-up.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well let me tell you where that comes, just so everyone listening understands. There are a couple of instances in the Bible where it talks about women of ill repute that disguise themselves with paint. Because sometimes women, especially in Bible times, if they were working, they had small communities. If a woman was working under that profession they would try to disguise themselves.
They'd put veils on, they'd paint their faces. You can read where Tamar, by the way, Tamar ended up being an ancestor of Jesus. Tamar put on the attire of a harlot, she maybe painted her face. Her own father-in-law didn't recognize her. She must have had several coats of paint on, and she enticed him.
Then you read about Jezebel, that infamous name Jezebel. I’ve never met anyone that named their child Jezebel. Jezebel was this wicked queen. It says that she painted her face to try to seduce Jehu, who had just conquered a kingdom, and Jehu had her tossed out the window. And Jezebel is called a harlot in Revelation. So that’s where you get the connection between Jezebel, painting face, harlot.
Now, there’s another principle in the Bible. Christian men and women, I think, should be known for cleanliness and simplicity, but that doesn’t mean it's a sin to use any kind of cosmetics. I think the key would be, and this is what I share, I think if a person has so much on that people know you have it on, you probably have too much on. I think Christians want to look as natural as possible.
If the first thing that you notice about somebody is that they've got the blue goo and sparkles [chuckles]. Pardon me, I’m just telling you that we all have seen people that, for whatever reason, they go overboard.
Allison: Right.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: And I think that Christians ought to look neat, clean, simple and healthy.
Allison: Um-hm.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: And you know, I bet if you asked ten different pastors what they think about that you’re going to get 11 different answers.
Allison: Um-hm [laughs]
Pastor Doug Batchelor: But Amazing Facts does have a book, we actually have a book...
Allison: Oh really?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, we have a book that talks about that. It’s written by Joe Crews and it’s called, Colorful Cosmetics and Jewelry. And he just gives the Scriptures and talks about it straight on. We’ll send you a free copy, anyone out there. I don’t think we’ve offered that in a long time. Anyone out there who would like a free copy, it’s a book by Joe Crews called, Colorful Cosmetics and Jewelry. I think we still carry that.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Yeah, I see it right here. To receive that book just call our resource line. That number is, 1-800-835-6747, and the book that we're offering for free is, Colorful Cosmetics and Jewelry, for anybody wanting to know more about what the Bible has to say on the subject. Our next call is Brandon and he’s listening in Connecticut. Brandon, welcome to the program.
Brandon: Hi. How are you? Thank you so much for taking my call.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Good. How are you doing?
Brandon: Great, great. Before I ask my question I just want to say that my wife and I really appreciate the ministry of Amazing Facts. It has been a blessing. We felt that we've learned a lot and if we could find a church like that around here, we’d go to it.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, I hope you do and thank you for the kind words.
Brandon: Thank you, thank you. My question is on Mark chapter 7. I'm really dealing with the 18th verse here about clean and unclean food.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Okay.
Brandon: Basically what it's saying here, Jesus is speaking and He says, “And he said to them, [Are] many of you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, as it enters not his heart, but his stomach to be expelled? Thus he declared all foods clean.”
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Alright. Are you reading from the New International Version?
Brandon: I’m reading from the English Standard Version.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: the English Standard Version; the original Greek does not say that. In other words, the Textus Receptus, what it says--and I’ll read it to you from, for instance, the New King James Version. It says here, “…because it enters not into his heart, but his belly and it goes out into the ditch," or the draught, "purging all meats.” All it says is "purging all meats" in the original.
First of all, the subject of the whole study if you read the chapter 7 of Mark, food is never mentioned. In other words, what kind of food is never mentioned. It never talks about sheep, or pork, or fruits, or vegetables. No type of food is mentioned. What they’re talking about is eating without washing your hands and fear of contamination from bacteria or something.
Jesus said, "You know, you make a big deal about whether you ceremonially wash your hands, and that’s not what defiles your heart." So, Christ did not make a blanket statement here and we’ve got to be very careful not to build a doctrine one on verse. Jesus did not make a blanket statement here saying that He doesn’t care whether believers eat lots of cholesterol or take drugs--because it's not what goes in your mouth that defiles you--or just eat Twinkies all day long, if you can find them anymore.
Do you know what I’m saying? He’s not talking about that. What He’s talking about is the religious leaders that were arguing with the disciples about whether or not they could eat with ceremonially-washed hands. Now, let me give you more proof for that.
This is Mark chapter 7. If you go Acts chapter 10, when Peter has this vision that comes down, it's a sheet that comes down from heaven with all these different animals in them, understandably some of them were probably unclean; and God says, "Arise, kill and eat." Peter says--Peter is talking to the Lord--and this is five years after Jesus made this statement. Peter says, "Not so, Lord, I have never eaten anything common or unclean."
So here you’ve got Peter five years later telling the Lord, "I’ve never eaten anything common or unclean." So Peter did not get the idea that Jesus had taught it was okay. Then Peter explains that that vision means, "Do not call any man unclean." He says that himself because they didn’t want to preach to the Gentiles. They were calling them unclean.
We have a study that goes into this in detail, Brandon. If you'd like, we’ll send you a free copy.
Brandon: Great. That sounds great.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Are you still there?
Brandon: Yeah.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, it’s called, God’s Free Health Plan, is that right?
Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s right, and we’ll send that to you Brandon. If you’ll just call our resource line, I will send it to you, Brandon, or anyone who calls and asks for it. The number is 1-800-835-6747; and all you need to do is just let the folks know there on the phone know that you're wanting to get the study guide, God’s Free Health Plan. Again, that number is, 1-800-835-6747. You can ask for the free study guide called, God’s Free Health Plan. We have Michael who is listening from New Foundland. Michael, welcome to the program.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Michael, hi. Are you there?
Michael: Yup.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: And your question?
Michael: I was just wondering if you’re a Christian and you say “geez” and you don’t mean it to use God’s name [cross talk]
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Is that inappropriate?
Michael: Pardon?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: I’m glad you asked that question. Sometimes people say “geez,” or they say “gee whiz,” or people say “gosh darn.” You know, I hesitate saying it on the radio, but those words, unfortunately, are legal. Those are all derivatives of saying God’s name in vain.
In other words, instead of saying Jesus’ name, people say "gee whiz;" and I think a lot of dear people say that and they don’t even think about it, but those things are corruptions. It’s a verbal corruption of actually saying the Lord’s name in vain. Or when they say, I won’t say what it is supposed to be, but when people say “gosh” all the time, that’s a derivative of saying God’s name. They just change it a little bit so they can get away with it.
There are all kinds of near misses. But I think Christians ought to avoid those kinds of experlatives because Jesus said, "Let you yea be yea, and your nay be nay." Does that make sense?
Michael: Yes.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Now, we’ve got a book we’ll send you for free. It talks about reverence for God’s name. It’s called, The Name of God. We’ll send that to you just for asking.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number to call is, 1-800-835-6747. That is our resource line. As Pastor Doug mentioned, Michael, we’ll send you that book talking about God’s name. What's the title of it?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: The Name of God.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The Name of God. We’ll send that book to anyone who calls and asks for it. The number again is, 1-800-835-6747. I’m wondering, do we have time for... we do. We have three minutes before our break. We’ll go to Fred who is listening from Stanford, Connecticut. Fred, welcome to the program.
Fred: Yes, I wanted to ask you about 1stCorinthians 3:17, and whether that makes a reference to suicide?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, let me read it for our friends. "If any man defiles the temple of God, him will God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” Well you know, that's interesting. When he talks about this, he’s really talking about idolatry and not caring for your temple. He’s also talking about the church as the temple of God.
But it would also be true, Fred, that certainly, if you can defile your temple by immorality or by idolatry, it would definitely be defiling the temple of your body by suicide. So if any man defiles the temple, him shall God destroy. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. I would think killing your body would be a pretty major step towards defiling it. So it would fit in that category.
And I think we all know that, while there may be exceptions, that we all know people who have taken their lives and it’s very troubling when that happens; but for the most part it’s a very dangerous thing if the last act of a person’s life is self-murder. "Where there’s life there’s hope," the Bible says. So, you need to hang on. Does that help a little bit Fred?
Fred: Yes.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, thank you. I’m just wondering, do you know what? We need to write something. I did an article just recently on the subject of suicide I that think that they can find. Yeah, I did. It’s in our Inside Report Magazine. If you would like to read what I wrote on that, if you go to the Amazing Facts' website and just type in the subject box “suicide,” I’ve got a recent article that just came out in our magazine on that because we get that question a lot. We appreciate your call Fred.
Pastor Jëan Ross: You know Pastor Doug, we’re going to be taking a break here in just a few moments. Before we take that break we’d like to let folks know about a website that we have. Now this one has been around for a little while. It’s simply called, MaryTruth.com. There’s a lot of questions that have been asked about Mary, the mother of Jesus; and here is a website dedicated to explaining what the Bible has to say.
But, there’s actually a book here that you wrote dealing with the subject called, The Mystery of Mary." Folks can order it online.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: All around the world I think we can see statues of Mary. There are churches dedicated to Mary’s name and there’s a lot of confusion. Mary was a Godly saint but the Bible is clear, she was not God. She's not to be worshiped as divine. Some some people understand that, some don’t.
If they would like to understand what does the Bible say about this very unique person that ended up being chosen to bear the Incarnation of God, His name was Jesus, we're going to give you a balanced, biblical study on that. We’ll send you the book if you request it or you can read it for free online. Simply go to, MaryTruth.com.
If you go to the website you’ll also see a sermon that I presented there on the subject. I believe this website also has information, since we’re on the subject of Mary, of Mary Magdalene. So you’ll get two Mary’s for the price of one. Just go to MaryTruth.com. We explain a lot of the mysteries that are there. You’re listening to Bible Answers Live.
Pastor Jëan Ross: One more website, Pastor Doug, before we take our break, BibleProphecyTruth.com. This is one of our favorite websites that we like to announce on the air. Anybody wanting to learn more about what the Bible has to say in its prophetic passages, this is a great website to take a look at.
Do you have questions about the number 666? Well you can study it here at the website; or Armageddon; or the great tribulation; or the mark of the beast; and much, much more. Just BibleProphecyTruth.com.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: We’re excited because when you type in key words in Google, the most popular sites jump to the top of the Google search. If a person types in "Bible Prophecy," this website jumps to the top because it has so much information. It may not be the top one but it’s up there at the first page or so. You’ll really be blessed when you see all of the interesting subjects.
Now that music doesn’t mean we’re going away. We’re just getting ready to take a little break. We’re going to take a drink of water and there will be more Bible questions coming your way.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Pastor Doug Batchelor: We are back friends. For those who may have tuned in along the way you are listening to Bible Answers Live. If you have a Bible question, we have a couple of lines open. It’s a free phone call. Do you remember the good old days when we used the 800 number? We still do, 1-800-463-7297 will bring you into the studio with your Bible questions. My name is Doug Batchelor.
Pastor Jëan Ross: My name is Jëan Ross. Pastor Doug, just before we take the phone lines, you just arrived back from Canada, well a couple of hours ago now. You did some speaking and we did some training.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, you were there, too.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Yeah, Hope, B.C. Beautiful little town.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: There’s a Christian campground up there. Spectacular mountains.
Pastor Jëan Ross: It’s beautiful up there.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: And we had thousands of people. About 8,000 people came last weekend to the program there. Among the things we were doing, you were teaching how to do Bible studies and personal witnessing in a program we call AFCOE, which stands for the Amazing Facts College of Evangelism, sometimes called Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism. Maybe people would like to know more about evangelism training. They can just go to AFCOE--is it dot com or org?
Pastor Jëan Ross: AFCOE.com will get you there. You can go to the Amazing Facts' website, AmazingFacts.com, and click on the tab that says Training, or just type in AFCOE.com.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: How do you spell AFCOE?
Pastor Jëan Ross: A-F, how do you spell AFCOE? [laughter]
Pastor Doug Batchelor and Pastor Jëan Ross: A-F-C-O-E [laughter]
Pastor Doug Batchelor: This is a test [laughter]
Pastor Jëan Ross: AFCOE; you put me on the spot there. I know how to spell that!
Pastor Doug Batchelor: [Laughter] oh, I’m going to laugh through the second half of this program. Alright, who’s next?
Pastor Jëan Ross: Alright, we’re going to go to Will. He’s on the road and he’s in Washington. Will, welcome to the program.
Will: Hi. How are you doing? I'm in Sumner, California--I mean, Sumner, Washington, and I’m from Anaheim, California. My question is I listen to serious radio all the time. I’m driving in a truck so I listen to your show on Sundays and I listen to other pastors. I listen to those views of end times. There are some differences in their views. In particular, I listen to Hank Hanegraaff and he‘s a really good pastor. I've been listening for over 20 years and he opened my eyes to a lot of passages. And I take nothing from you guys. You guys are good too. You guys should be on more often. But my question is, why they don’t debate, these pastors with influences like you guys have, and him? Why wouldn’t you debate the end times?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: I’d be happy to.
Will: Because there's a lot--I know they're confused about...
Pastor Doug Batchelor: I know Hank Hanegraaff. We’ve met, we’ve talked and we’re friendly with each other. I’d be delighted to debate a number of issues. Let me tell you real quick, Will, why you run into these. There are three major categories among Christians when it comes to prophecy.
Very quick, there is something called the preterists. Hank Hanegraaff is in that category. A preterist is someone who believes that the majority of Revelation and Bible prophecy was all fulfilled by the 1st Century. They believe Nero was the beast and that all these prophecies were really talking about what the Roman empire did to the Jews and the early Christians.
Then you have the historists. That would be Pastor Ross and myself. That would be Martin Luther, John Wesley, Spurgeon. They were historists. They believed that prophecy covers a panorama of what would happen to the Christian church from the New Testament to the Old Testament. I’m talking about Revelation, in particular, from the first coming of Jesus to the second coming.
Then you have futurists, and futurists are people like Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye, Left Behind. They think that just about everything from Revelation 4 on is after the rapture and it's in the future. It would take a lot more than three minutes to explain why we are historists and the others are what they are. But, yeah, I’d welcome an opportunity to debate those things. I think there’s a good foundation for the historic view.
Will: Okay, I thank you for your answer there. That was a good one. I have to look it up and I hope--you guys should be on the radio more often. You guys are good.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, thanks a lot. We’ll see what we can do about that.
Will: God Bless you guys.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Alright, take care.
Will: Alright, you have a good one man, bye bye.
Pastor Jëan Ross: We have Sharon who is listening in Delaware. Sharon, welcome to the program.
Sharon: Hi. My question is regarding 1st Corinthians 11. Paul seems to start saying one thing, and then he kind of, like, drifts away and comes back. But in your opinion, should women, when they pray, should their heads be covered?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: You know, this is the statement where Paul says--you almost need to read the whole chapter. He’s talking about propriety in worship, and he’s talking about things that were happening in Corinth, in particular. For the sake of humility, it was the custom back then that a woman, so that she would not look like--they had a lot of temple prostitutes in the Roman religions that were scattered throughout Corinth and Greece.
So that the Christian women would not be confused for the temple prostitutes, they would say, "Always cover your heads when you come to worship if you pray publically or if you prophesy, if you’re going to say anything out loud or do any teaching." And just to distinguish that they were different. Now, I think one of the keys to understanding this was probably a custom is--and I have no burden if woman feels like she should have long hair and cover her head when she prays, and they’re convicted, there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. So I have no burden to change their mind.
I forget what verse it is, Pastor Ross, where Paul says we--oh, here it is, verse 16, “If any man seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.” So one thing Paul says don’t be contentious about this. The other thing is he uses the word “custom,” as opposed to a commandment or a law. So they were dealing with, I think, the customs of the time. Are you still there Sharon?
Sharon: Thank you, yeah, sure. Thank you very much.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: We get that question a lot. We ought to have some kind of an article or book we can send people on that. We’ve been getting that question for years.
Pastor Jëan Ross: We do.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Good question; appreciate it. Thank you, Sharon.
Pastor Jëan Ross: We have Chris who is listening in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Chris, welcome to the program.
Chris: Good evening. Can you guys hear me alright? I'm on speakerphone.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, I was just in Albuquerque a couple of weeks ago.
Chris: Oh, um-hm.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: And your question?
Chris: I wish I met you here Pastor. Anyway, my question is about forgiveness. We are required by God to forgive someone who has sinned against us. And I find that it’s really easy to forgive, but to restore the trust is really hard. What does God say about the restoration of trust, in connection with the forgiveness Pastors? Suppose somebody steals from you, do you have to restore the trust 100% to that person overnight?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: That’s a good question. Now when Jesus tells us to forgive, He doesn’t say that you have to give that person the same responsibility. If somebody--if you lend them money and they just never pay you back, you can choose to forgive the debt but you may not lend them money again because you know that they, maybe, struggle with that. But you can forgive them, but you can also be wise about it and not keep making the same mistake.
Chris: What does God say about He does not remember our sins no more?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well now, Jesus is not asking us to forget because, you and I, when someone hurts us, we can choose as Christians to forgive them, but that doesn’t mean--we all know we’re not going to forget that we’ve been hurt. Our remembering pain is something God gave us.
The reason that you don’t touch a hot stove more than once is because that pain is in your memory banks and you don’t want to do what hurts you again. As a Christian, you can choose to forgive a person, but it doesn’t mean that you’ve forgotten that they hurt you. You can choose not to dwell on it. I think Martin Luther used to word this way; he said, "You cannot prevent the birds from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from making a nest in your hair."
You might have a fleeting remembrance of what someone has done to hurt you, but you don’t have to dwell on it. If you find yourself dwelling on it, ask God’s Spirit to give you grace and think about something else. So it’s a conscious choice to forgive a person. God casts our sins into the depths of the sea, but does God know everything? Of course He does. Does God know all our sins? Sure He does. He treats us as though we haven’t sinned because He forgives us when we ask, and that’s how we should treat others. We should treat them with mercy.
Hey, thank you very much for your question Chris. I'm trying to think, what’s that lesson that we’ve got on the forgiveness of God?
Pastor Jëan Ross: Are you talking about Salvation from Above?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Salvation, no.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Yeah, Rescue from Above, is the study guide. Chris, we’ll send that to you, or anyone who asks for it. The number is 1-800-835-6747, and the study guide is, Rescue from Above, talking about forgiveness and the forgiveness that God provides for us and how we can extend that forgiveness to others who have done things against us. Our next caller is Joe and he is listening in Atlanta. Joe, welcome to the program.
Joe: Hey Doug?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yes.
Joe: Hey yeah, I was reading your book, "Is Sunday Really a Worship Day?" by Joe Crews. I telling you, I'm really getting convinced that Saturday was the day where Jesus resurrected and so forth. I’m a truck driver and I get ministered to, read and pray, you know, seven days a week which, you know, I have plenty of time to think, pray, read, listen to CDs and so forth to get ministered to.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Um-hm.
Joe: But Saturday, is that a day where we should not work at all? And if that’s the case, I don’t really have a home in Atlanta but I just have a mailbox in Atlanta. I was kind of concerned that, maybe, you know, I was telling my friend, maybe I should come off the road. But I've been a truck driver so long with this company that, you know, it's like home.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: First, let’s talk about the principle, Joe, and then you’ll have to figure out and pray about how God wants you to apply these truths to your life individually.
Joe: Um-hm.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: First, you need to just ask yourself, "Do you believe that God wants Christians to still keep the Ten Commandments, not to be saved, but because we love Him?"
Joe: Yes.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Jesus said, "If you love Me keep My commandments." And, you know the other nine Commandments, I don’t know too many preachers that say it is okay to steal, or to lie, or to commit adultery, worship idols, use God’s name in vain, or the others. The Sabbath Commandment is actually the only Commandment that begins with the word, “Remember.” It’s still there too, and we mention it a lot on this program because a lot of Christians are just re-discovering it.
And once you are convinced that you want to obey God, and it might require a struggle and some self-denial, then you’re going to have to pray about God giving you wisdom about whether you should talk to your employers and just tell them because of religious convictions you need that day off; but I think everyone knows, you need a day of worship and you need a day of rest, and you need to just put aside those business things.
Pastor Jëan Ross: I do know, Pastor Doug, of several truckers who keep the Sabbath and they’ve made arrangements with their employers. They don’t drive as part of their work on the Sabbath hours, Friday evening to Saturday evening.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, when they're on the road they show up at our church.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Yeah.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: We have them come to our church. They have sleepers in the back of their truck and they just hang out with us all day.
Joe: Okay then. You guys truck park in there, or wherever they can, and they come to worship with you guys then?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah. Well they find it nearby. We have some across the street. Some of them are also pretty creative.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Yeah. They’ll park maybe at a truck stop and, you know, give the Pastor a call of a church and ask if there's maybe somebody who can swing by and pick him up if he can’t bring his truck over to where the church is. There are all kinds of things that people work with.
It’s a blessing for us to be able to see truck drivers on the road who do honor the Sabbath and they do stop by to worship from time to time. And God blesses them.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah. It’s kind of like having a family around the world.
Pastor Jëan Ross: That’s right.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: A church family. By the way, there’s a website. A lot of people ask questions about this. So we’ve just developed a website that's just the most popular website out there with Sabbath information. It’s called, SabbathTruth.com. We encourage you to go there Joe.
You’ll find out a lot of information about the history of it. You know, if you look into the writings, I just did it again this week. I read a very interesting study guide that someone else produced. And it showed quotes from Presbyterian, Methodist, Congregationalists, Christian, Baptist, Pentecostal scholars; and they all said, every one of these quotes biblically, you cannot support Sunday as the Sabbath.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Um-hm.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: That biblically the seventh day, Saturday, is the Sabbath. And so they all know that, and just most Christians go through a tradition that developed from the Roman era. Anyway, go to Sabbath Truth. There’s a lot more there, Joe, and we hope we hear from you again and hear how it’s going.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Next caller is B.J. and he’s listening from Tennessee. B.J., welcome to the program.
B.J.: Thank you Pastor Doug and Pastor Ross. Good evening.
Pastor Doug and Pastor Jëan Ross: Good evening.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Get real close to your phone.
B.J.: Okay. Can you hear me now?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: I can hear you.
B.J.: Okay. My question was about the marriage supper of the Lamb. I never have really understood that. The way I understand it, you know, that when we’re raptured, we’ll be taken to heaven for seven years. And then I thought, maybe, could you explain that to me?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well yeah, first of all, Jesus presented the whole Gospel in the context of a marriage. He talked about the parable of the Ten Virgins that were waiting for the Bridegroom.
B.J.: Yes sir.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Jesus talked about John the Baptist as though he was the best man, the friend of the Bridegroom. Same thing, what we'd call the best man.
B.J.: Yes sir.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: The church is to prepare herself as a bride without spot or wrinkle, and the church is the bride of Christ. Revelation 21 shows the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven as a bride prepared for her husband. Then you read about the marriage supper. That was the big feast. You know, Jesus’ ministry begins in a marriage; matter of fact, did you know that the Bible begins with a marriage?
B.J.: No.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Adam and Eve. Jesus’ ministry begins with a marriage. His first miracle is at a wedding, and the Bible ends with the marriage supper of the Lamb. Marriage must be important to God. So it’s the feast; the big wedding dinner is when the redeemed gather and we eat from the tree of life and eat with Christ in the Kingdom.
And it will be that big celebration of Him with His church, His bride. So that happens. If you want to understand how that happens in relation to the second coming, we have another book we’ll give you, and it’s called, Anything but Secret. You were asking about the rapture. So we could send you a free copy of, Anything but Secret, and we have a study guide called, The Bride of Christ, that talks about what the church is. You can read them both online for free if you like, or we’ll send them to you. It’s your choice.
Pastor Jëan Ross: The number to call, B.J., is, 1-800-835-6747, and you’re going to ask for the resource, Anything but Secret. It’s a book actually. It’s a great resource to study the subject out. Then we also have a study guide entitled, The Bride of Christ. It talks about the church. And one more, The Ultimate Deliverance, talking about the second coming of Jesus.
So if you'd remember those things, call our resource line, that's 1-800-835-6747, and again, the book is entitled, Anything but Secret. Then ask them about the study guide on The Bride of Christ, and the second coming called, The Ultimate Deliverance, and we’ll send that out to you. Our next caller is Robert and he’s listening from Atlanta. Robert, welcome to the program.
Robert: Hey, how are you doing?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Doing great, and your question tonight?
Robert: Oh okay. It’s kind of confusing so I’ll try to explain it as best I can. I’m of one faith, my wife is of another faith. We have a seven year old that we know needs to be in church because we know we’re responsible for his soul. However, her faith basically will tell everyone that all these other religions out here are not informed properly; they are false; they do not preach the truth and stuff like that. They also preach that, you know, you need to receive the mark of the beast in order to get into the new paradise, which is 666 of course. I want to take my son to church, but it’s a conflict between me and her. How do I go about convincing her, or doing it without that biblical conflict?
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, that is a challenge. This is why Paul tells us that we really need to consider, before we get married, that we’re united in our faith. I don’t know if you were of different religions when you got married, but...
Robert: We are.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: ...it doesn't matter. You are where you are now and you can’t unscramble scrambled eggs, so how do we make the best of that? First of all, if you and your wife could agree and say, "Alright, we have different ideas, but there’s only one truth." If you could agree there is a truth, in other words, there’s an absolute truth; and if you could say, "Let’s study the Bible together," assuming that you believe that the Bible is the truth.
Or even if you’re not sure of that, study the Bible and say, "Let's find out why so many people believe it." If you would study together and say, "Let's go point by point through what we believe," and if you can find unity in your family, not based on compromising, but the best thing is if you can find unity based on conviction. Because if one of you is always compromising, you’re going to say, "I’m doing this but I’m dreading it." How much better if you both agreed on your faith? So, if you could get her to study together...
Robert: Well, we’ve done that. I mean, we had Bible studies together but when it comes to that, it kind of becomes a heated discussion.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: It turns into an argument?
Robert: Well, yeah, not really an argument, but a heated discussion, because a lot of what she has been brought up to believe in her faith is--a lot of the problem is symbolic. For instance, they don’t believe that when you die you go to heaven. They don’t believe that there is a burning lake of fire. Even though the Bible says it, it's all symbolic. They believe that, you know, when you die you’re just dead and you’re waiting for the new paradise to come and then everybody is going to go to the new paradise.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Well, you know what? I’d like to study with you. Now you’re asking some questions, not just about marriage and unity in the faith. Now you’re asking some of the specific doctrines. And I wish I had some time to answer those one by one with you.
Let’s, for instance, let you just take that one question about when you die. Some Christians believe you die and you go right to heaven or hell before the judgment or the resurrection. Other Christians believe that the person is actually in the grave unconscious until the judgment or the resurrection. Now here’s what confuses people. For the person who dies saved, their next conscious thought is the resurrection and the presence of the Lord, so for them it’s instant. But historically, it hasn’t happened yet.
That confuses a lot of people. That’s no reason to get divided over that. I think you can come to an understanding on that. I might recommend, just on that one point, there’s a study guide about death. What happens when you die? What does the Bible say? Robert, I'd invite you and your wife to look at that together.
Pastor Jëan Ross: We have a website dedicated to that subject too. It’s called, The Truth about Death. If you just type in, DeathTruth.com, or "the truth about death," you’ll go to the same website. It's an in-depth Bible study on that important subject. We also have something that maybe Robert, you and your wife, would enjoy. We have a whole series of Bible studies dealing with different, important Bible truths and topics.
You can go through this Bible study course for free if you would just call our resource line. That's 1-800-835-6747, and ask to be enrolled in the Amazing Facts' Bible study course. We will send you these Bible studies in the mail and it might be good for your wife and you to sit down and go through them together. Compare it with the Bible.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Alright. Hey, appreciate that call.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Our next caller is Ed and he is listening from Minnesota. Ed, welcome to the program.
Ed: Well yeah, I’m from Michigan.
Pastor Jëan Ross: Michigan, alright. I couldn’t remember what "MN" is there.
Ed: That's alright. Minnesota is not too far.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: He’s from South Africa so he’s doing his best.
Pastor Jëan Ross: [Laughs]
Ed: Oh, I see, okay.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: But you’re a citizen now though aren’t you?
Pastor Jëan Ross: I am, yeah.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Welcome to the family.
Pastor Jëan Ross: I should learn all the states, huh? [Laughter]
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Alright your question?
Ed: Oh well, sometimes I get mixed up about where I live [laughter]. Anyways, Pastor...
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Hey if it makes you feel any better, we were just up in Canada and they abbreviate it "CA;" and I thought, "That’s California isn’t it?" [Laughter] I got all confused.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: I’m sorry, go ahead.
Ed: Yes, now you almost made me forget what I was going to going to say. No, today my friends stopped by on the way back from the UP in Michigan here.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Uh-huh, and UP is Upper Peninsula for those that are listening.
Ed: Upper Peninsula, yes. That’s Canapé, Michigan. And they were, oh geez, I forgot what I was going to say.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: The note says you have a question about pigs.
Ed: Oh yeah, and the one lady says, "Well, we’re vegetarians and we own a milk farm." And I said, "Well, that wouldn’t be too bad then if I’m a vegetarian and I raised pigs, you know." And she said, "Well you’re not supposed to touch pigs." I said, "Well, I might call Pastor Doug on that one." But there was over in Mackinaw City ten minutes from where I live, they had a pig pet, a pot-bellied pig.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: A pet pig? Okay, before we run out of time let me do my best to try to answer that.
Ed: I told her that and she says, "You’re not supposed to touch pigs." Okay, go ahead. I’d like your opinion.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah. Well, in the Bible it does say pretty clearly in Leviticus--do you have that Pastor Ross?
Pastor Jëan Ross: Well I’m looking at Deuteronomy 14, verse 8. Let me read that one. It says, "Also the swine is unclean for you, because it does have cloven hoofs, yet does not chew the cud. You shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses."
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Now, yeah, exactly. So if a person had a pet pig--now I, you know, I don’t think I’d want to do that because, of course, pigs are pigs. But dogs and pigs are both classified as unclean, and a lot of people have dogs. Dogs are literally just as unclean as pigs for food in the Bible because they're both...
Ed: Yes, they’re dogs.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: Yeah, dogs are scavengers. God doesn’t intend for us to eat scavengers.
Ed: No, I know that, (unintelligible) and I’m not eating pig.
Pastor Doug Batchelor: But if you have one as a pet or if you touch one, that's different. The main thing was God was saying, "Don’t touch their carcasses;" because if a scavenger's flesh has a lot of bacteria, and we all know that pigs carry trichina larvae and all kinds of--well, they live in pig sties. They're not very sanitary. So, how much more when their bodies are decomposing, how contaminating and deadly that can be.
But, you know what? I hate to tell people this. There are a whole lot of Bibles out there that are covered with what they call genuine leather. You may or may not know, a lot of those Bibles are covered with pig hide; and, of course, that's pig skin. It's not a sin if you’ve got a Bible that has pig hide on it. Its been treated and it’s just uh--I probably ruined a lot of people’s Bibles right now telling them that.
Well friends, we’re out of time. This has been a joy. We looking forward to studying with you again next week. We’d love to hear from you. Go to AmazingFacts.org, let us know you enjoy the program. And if you can keep us on the air, we’ll be grateful. God Bless.
------------------------------------------------------END--------------------------------------------------------