On My Face With God

Scripture:
Lesson: 1
Perfection in character means a full surrender to Christ, which means peace, which means happiness. As we ask for real repentance and we try to regain our first love and our fire for Christ, the only path is one of sincere self-examination and earnest prayer. We must be truly intentional as we seek Him. Join us as Pastor Ross gives us "the prayer prescription" and carefully delineates how God can give us wisdom and discernment, and repentance and victory. Believe. He is waiting to make us free.

Who Do You Think You Are

Who Do You Think You Are
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- [Announcer] It is the best selling book in history. No volume ever written has been more loved and quoted. And its words, sometimes simple and sometimes mysterious, should always be studied carefully. It is the Bible. The Word of God. Welcome to "Bible Answers Live." Providing accurate and practical answers to all your Bible questions. This broadcast is a previously recorded episode. To receive any of the Bible resources mentioned in this broadcast, call 800-835-6747. Once again, that's 800-835-6747. Now here's your host from Amazing Facts International, Pastor Jean Ross.

- Hello friends, this is Pastor Jean Ross. Pastor Doug is out this evening, but you are listening to Amazing Facts "Bible Answers Live". And how about an amazing fact? Your brain, which weighs about three pounds and makes up less than 2% of your body's weight, uses 20% of your body's energy and oxygen. And that's for good reason. Your brain contains more than 400 miles of blood vessels bringing nutrients to some 86 billion cells. The amount of sight, sounds, smells, and other bits of sensory information that flood into your brain each millisecond is dazzling. An ordinary person has about 50,000 conscious thoughts each day. There's an average of 100,000 chemical changes in your brain every second. No wonder your brain feels exhausted at the end of a long day. And if you think you're in control of all of your decisions, well, think again. About 95% of your decisions are made at the subconscious level, often processed by vast amounts of information stored in your memory files.

Then there is the second brain, your intestines, which contain 100,000 neuron processing, 30 essential neurotransmitters, along with what's called the happy molecule, serotonin. That's probably why some decisions are referred to as a gut reaction. The ability of the human brain to store information is also astounding. At the Northwest University in Illinois, research psychologists estimated that the average brain can store 2.5 million gigabytes of data. This means that all the information that enters the brain is never erased. The problem is not storing the information, but recalling it at the right time. Although the brain is amazingly complex and powerful, it is also very fragile. Even the most brilliant minds can experience disease, memory loss, depression, and dementia. In many cases, distorted memories, both conscious and unconscious, can cause physical and emotional distress. We might wish that some of our memories could be erased like a computer's hard drive, but these memories are hardwired in forever. What we need is a new software program, so to speak, to help us filter past experiences through new perspectives.

Well, God offers just such a program in the Bible. Energized by the Holy Spirit and equipped with the truth of scripture, we can reinterpret everything that we experience from a biblical perspective, leading to a healthier way of thinking. The saying is true, unless we change our minds, nothing else changes.

Well, friends, we are glad that you have tuned in for this edition of "Bible Answers Live." And if you have a Bible-related question, the number to call, our phone lines are open, is 800-463-7297. That is the phone line if you have a Bible-related question. We'll be also giving you another number, 800-835-6747, and that is our resource phone line, and we'll be handing out some free material to help you in your study of God's Word. Well, we opened the program talking about the human brain, and we read the verse in Roman 12:2 that says we are not to be conformed to the world, but be transformed through our mind, through what we read, what we think about, by filling our mind with spiritual truth.

We have a free offer that we'd like to make available to anyone who calls and asks. It is actually a book written by Pastor Doug entitled: "Who Do You Think You Are?" And this is our free gift to anyone. All you have to do is just call and ask for it. The number to call is 800-835-6747, and you can ask for the book, "Who Do You Think You Are?" and we'll be happy to send that to anyone here in North America. If you're listening outside of North America, just visit the Amazing Facts website, just amazingfacts.org, and you'll be able to read the book there online and get more information about how you can maybe get a digital copy of the book, "Who Do You Think You Are?" Well, before we go to the phone lines, we recognize that the Bible is God's book, and so we need this Spirit to guide us as we study. So let's have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we are grateful for the opportunity that we have to open up Your Word and study together. And Father, we recognize that it's your Holy Spirit that leads us into a clear and full understanding of the Bible, and so we ask the Spirit to be with us, be with those who are listening wherever they might be, and lead us into a clearer understanding of the Bible. For we ask this in Jesus name, amen. Well, we're going to go to the phone lines. Our first caller that we have is calling Jason from Florida. Jason, welcome to the program.

- [Jason] Thanks for taking my call. My question for tonight is, is it possible for someone who desires salvation but doesn't necessarily have a sincere, genuine desire for God Himself, is it possible for that person to actually be able to seek God with all of their hearts? And the reason why I am asking this is because I'm not exactly right with God and I've been asking for repentance for months and months now, but I have yet to receive repentance and I have yet to find God, and maybe it has to do, because I'm just not as earnest or diligent as I should be, because this is a matter of life or death, but it just seems like I don't really desire God and surely I just want to not go to hell.

- Well, you know, I think that's a starting point, Jason. That's not the ultimate reason why we want to serve God is just so that we can live forever and we don't want to be destroyed in the fires of hell, but that's definitely a starting point because the Bible is filled with warnings. So warning people to turn away from their sinful acts, from their sinful attitudes. That is true, you mentioned that God is the one that gives us repentance, and we ought to ask for that. We can say, Lord, please give me that deep, sincere repentance.

But in addition to asking, there are some practical things that we can actually do to help God in bringing about that experience of genuine repentance. For one, we want to start filling our mind with spiritual truth. There might be some things in our life that we are very much aware of that is causing a hindrance in our spiritual life. And we need to take the first step and say, Lord, I'm going to set this aside. Maybe there's some things that have to be thrown away. Maybe we need to change some habits in our life. Maybe even change some relationships. Maybe we're hanging around the wrong crowd. We need to make that first step. The Bible speaks about bringing forth fruits of repentance. There is something that we can do. Recognizing that it's God that works in us to give us that sincere repentance, but we also have a work to do in laying aside those things that we're aware of. And starting to seek a spiritual interaction. Attend church regularly, get involved in Bible study, get involved in prayer, do everything you can to grow spiritually, and then make those changes in your life that the holy spirit might be convicting you on. Does that make sense, Jason?

- [Jason] Yes, it absolutely does. Thank you.

- Absolutely. Well, I think that's a good start and thank you for your question. It's an important question. Next caller that we have is Rami listening from Florida. Rhamie, welcome to the program.

- [Rhamie] Yes. Hi. Thank you for taking my call. Actually I have two questions. The first one, is it lawful to do exams on Saturday, which that's the only time the exam is scheduled, as well as going to the gym? The second question is, is it acceptable to cut the relationship with a close family member which is causing me physical harm to the point that I had to go to the hospital? It's not physical abuse, but it's emotional abuse. That is the two questions I have.

- Okay, well, let's take them one at a time. Let's start with the second and then we'll work our way to the first. So the second question you're asking is, what are we doing in a family relationship where somebody is abusing us, maybe emotionally or physically? There are some of course situations like that. I think the first thing we want to do is do the best we can to try and restore the relationship. But a relationship is two-way, so you need to have the person respond. If you're in a dangerous situation or it's affecting your health, there's nothing wrong in putting some distance or some separation between you and the one that is causing that stress. Hopefully it's just temporary and the relationship can be restored, but you want to make sure that physically and as far as health goes, you need to take care of yourself. But you also want to do everything you can to try and restore and build that relationship. Maybe pray for them, maybe that's all you can do depending upon the situation, but at least you can pray, try and be a positive example. But you don't always have to be around that person that keeps adding additional stress to your life. And that's where you need to pray for guidance to help guide you in that situation. Does, does that make sense, Rhamie?

- [Rhamie] Yes. Yes. I tried a lot, but it seems like that door is totally closed. To the point I literally had to get admit to the hospital. It's becoming really dangerous.

- Right. No, God doesn't want us to put ourselves in a dangerous situation. There are times where the best you can do for a person in relationship is pray for them and just pray that the Lord would speak to their hearts and soften their hearts so that they might be open down the line and live a good life, be the best example of a Christian that you can. Well, the second part of the question you asked has to do with doing an exam on the Sabbath day.

- [Rhamie] Yes, Saturday.

- Sure. The Bible gives us the principle of the Sabbath. You find it all the way back in Genesis. Genesis 2:1 talks about God creating the earth in sixth days and then He rested on the seventh day, and therefore He blessed the Sabbath day and He set it apart. So the seventh day, the Sabbath, is set apart from all of the other days of the week. It is a memorial of God's creative work. It's an opportunity for us to focus our attention on Him, to lay aside our secular labors, our own pursuits. They might not be bad, not in and of themself, but on the Sabbath, we lay that aside and we focus on God, we gather for corporate worship. So there are situations that come along where somebody might have to take an exam, or maybe there is something they have to do for work. The first thing you want to do is ask for an exemption because it is your Sabbath. And I know many times where I've actually, as a pastor, written a letter for one of the members of the church who are asking for some type of accommodation at work because of their belief, wanting to keep the Sabbath. And we do everything we can to assist that. And most times you'll find that colleges or universities or works, they will try to accommodate you. If you're a good employee, if you're a good student, they'll try and work with you.

But what do you do if they refuse to work with you and they refuse to accommodate? Well, I think it's one of those things that we as Christians need to make a stand for. It's like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego on the plain of Dura when the king commanded everyone to bow down to the golden image. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had already made up their minds that they weren't going to violate one of the 10 commandments. Even if it meant going to the fiery furnace. And they stood firm and they trusted in God and God delivered them.

So there are times where we do everything we can, but at the end of the day, we just turn ourselves over to God and say, Lord, I'm going to stand for what I know to be true, please help, please intervene. And we trust Him to work things out. But we don't want to compromise when it comes to doing something that we know God does not want us to do. How can God bless us if we are going to violate one if His clear commandments? So in that case, I would say, no, stand on what you know to be right, stand upon the Bible truth, place it in God's hands, trust in Him, and let God work that out. We've got Anthony listening in New York. Anthony, welcome to "Bibles Answers Live."

- [Anthony] Hello, Pastor, how are you doing this evening?

- Doing very well. Thank you.

- [Anthony] Good. Good. My question is, well, at first I really didn't have a Bible verse to go with it, but I think Amos 3:7 kind of suits the question I have and it says, "Surely the Lord, God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servant the prophets." I know there's a lot of craziness going on in the world today. And I know we look in Matthew chapter 24 and Daniel and Revelation and we see the different prophecies that were foretold of what's going to happen in the last days. But then a lot of times people look at the things that the Lord has revealed to us either through the spirit of prophecy or through His Word as conspiracy theories or whatever. Obviously you want to stay away from conspiracy theories, but we know that there's an ultimate conspirator, which is Satan. So my question is, where do we draw the line between conspiracy theory and stand firm on prophecy and what has been prophesied?

- Okay, good question. The Bible tells us, and there's a principle that we find, well, several that we find. First of all, to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this, there is no light in them. So anybody that has a theory or an idea, it needs to be in harmony with the scripture. But then when it comes to prophecy, there's a lot of different interpretations of prophecy. And the verse that comes to mind is 2 Peter 1:20 where Peter says, "Knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture is for any private interpretation."

Now, what that means is, it's not for us to take a verse or scripture, to pick a passage in Revelation or in Daniel and say, well, this means this or this symbol is identifying this power. We can't do that. What we have to do is allow the Bible to interpret itself. And so when it comes to the different symbols and the different powers that are working in the last days to bring about end-time events, we need to make sure that we allow the Bible to interpret itself. And the Bible give us a number of clues as to who the big players are, so to speak, in end time events. You go to Revelation chapter 13, you have one beast that comes up from the sea, you have another beast that comes up from the earth. You parallel that with what we read in Revelation chapter 17 and some other passages in Daniel, Daniel 7, makes it very clear that the key players at the end of time is a religious system, we know that as the papacy. We know the United States plays a very significant role, that is the second beast of Revelation chapter 13.

So when it comes to understanding these end time events, we always have to filter it through what the Bible says and allowing the Bible to interpret itself. That's one principle. The second principle we need to ask is, well, what's the point of this theory or this idea? Does it lead to repentance or is it just a sensational idea? Why is somebody promoting it? Does it lead to holiness? Does it lead to a clear understanding of Bible truth? What about the fruits of the life of the person that is promoting it?

We also need to bear in mind that if somebody has genuine truth, usually it's revealed through multiple individuals, it's not just one person. The Bible speaks about, in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every truth is to be established. So it's not just one Bible verse, it's multiple Bible verses. I would be leery of somebody who comes up with something totally different from everybody else and he claims to have some special revelation from God and He believes this is the message that the world needs to hear right now, and you don't see that in scripture. I would be very leery of that.

- [Anthony] Yes, that's very helpful. Thank you. I just take it as the word of God is the Bible.

- It's got to be tested with the Word of God, absolutely.

- [Anthony] Yes. Thank you very much, Pastor.

- All right. Thanks for your call, Anthony. We've got Dennis listening in South Carolina. Dennis, welcome to the program.

- [Dennis] Hey, Pastor Ross, how are you?

- Doing well, thank you.

- [Dennis] All right. My question is pertaining to, I guess, because we are living in the last days and there is an awakening, spiritual awakening, especially for the Jewish people, there's this organization, if I may, called One for Israel, and it seems like there's a lot of Israeli Jews that are starting to accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Is that something that is prophesied in the Bible as maybe that being part of the remnant church? And is there anything that maybe Amazing Facts is doing or will do in the future maybe to help promote and get this gospel, especially the new Testament out to God's people?

- Yeah. Good question. I think that, yes, the Jewish people, individuals, definitely will come to a clear and full understanding and some of the leading Christian voices, I know Pastor Doug who is the leader here at Amazing Facts, he's half Jewish. I know of several other Jewish Christians who are committed to the Lord and they're involved in ministry and evangelism and outreach. And I think it's going to continue, as time goes on, we're going to see more and more individual Jews see the truth of Christ being the Messiah. They'll accept Him, they'll accept the truth of the Sabbath along with all of the other truths that we find in the Bible. But will Israel as a nation accept Christ as the Messiah? I don't think that's going to happen. Israel today is a very secular country. You might have some groups within Israel who are still very religious, but by far, the majority of those in Israel are secular. They don't read the Bible, they don't study. I think their probationary time as an entire nation has come to an end. When they rejected Jesus, there was really nothing more that God could do to try and reach them as a nation.

But what God is doing is He's reaching individuals and is calling them to a clearer understanding of truth. And I think there's going to be revival amongst the Jewish people who are sincerely seeking truth, just like there's going to be revival amongst Christians who are going to look for a deeper understanding of Bible truth. So God is going to gather together in the last days, those who are sincere in following Him, who are committed to keeping His commandments, those who have the faith of Jesus, the testimony of Jesus, the Bible says, if you are in Christ, then your Abraham seed heirs according to the promise. So if we believe in Jesus and receive Him, there is a wonderful promise that we get to receive all the promises that God made to Abraham. So yeah, I think there is going to be a revival in the last days, but don't look for the whole nation of Israel to suddenly accept Jesus as the Messiah. Well, thanks to your call. We've got Jonathan listening in Canada. Jonathan, welcome to the program.

- [Jonathan] I have a question. I'm a young teenager and I've been recently struggling with doubts and my faith, and I want to know, how can I strengthen my faith?

- Okay, good question. What do we do with doubts? If we're going to be honest, I think every person, every Christian has doubts that come from time to time. First of all, we want to make sure that we're arming our minds, filling our minds with truth, and we find truth in the Word of God. So it begins by spending time reading the Bible. I do that every day. I'll set time aside and I'll read the Bible. I think we just need to read the Word of God. I study the Word of God. I like to spend time amongst people who are talking about the Word of God. That strengthens our faith. But even saying all of that, there are still doubts that come into a person's mind. What we can do is we can choose whether or not to dwell upon that doubt. Somebody once said, you can't stop the bird flying over your head, but you can stop the bird making a nest in your hair. So if you have a doubt coming to your mind or an idea coming to your mind, you can choose whether or not to dwell upon that. Realize that the devil is always trying to create doubts with reference to the word of God, God's plan, God's love. And he's going to do that every time he can, but we can choose whether or not we want to dwell on those doubts. Replace the doubt with a promise of the Word of God. How did Jesus overcome temptation? He quoted scripture. He said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And so as we fill our minds with truth, these become our defenses against doubt. Does that help, Jonathan?

- [Jason] Can I also ask another question?

- Yeah, go ahead.

- [Jonathan] What if it's like you're into faith, how do you gain passion for the faith again because I was once like on fire for God and I really loved studying His Word but like recently doubts and suspicion, it just makes me that zero kind of lost. So how do you regain it?

- How do you regain that first love as the Bible says? Well, it begins by spending time in God's Word and spending time in prayer. And requires an effort. We've got to put some effort in. But if we would just faithfully do our part, spend time in the Word, spend time in prayer, fill our minds with spiritual truth, then God, the Holy Spirit, is able to work in us both to will and to do according to His good pleasure. My challenge to anyone who is wondering about, I don't feel real connected or real committed, I would say, well, make a commitment to spend a half an hour a day reading the Word, and then spend at least 15 minutes in prayer twice a day. That's the sort of prescription you might say.

And when you pray, let me just share one quick thought here about prayer. Sometimes people struggle, what do you do when you pray? I think of the word pray, P-R-A-Y. And I think of each of those letters as representing something. So when you pray, you begin with praise. So that P stands for praise. Think of something specific that you can praise God for, something that He did for you that day. And then you go onto the R, and the R stands for repentance. And then you've got to ask yourself, Lord, what is it that I need to repaint of? Whether it's my attitude, something I said, something I did, the way I treated somebody else. So we've got to spend some time repenting, and that's the R.

And then the A is the asking. And that's where we bring all our petitions before the Lord. Not only do we ask God for physical blessings and for our needs, but I think more importantly, God wants us to ask for spiritual blessings, asking for guidance of the Spirit. And then the Y is for yield or surrender. So when you pray, you want to spend some time. Don't just ramble through something, but spend time thinking specifically about something you can praise God for, something that you need to ask repentance of or repent of, or something you need to ask Him, and then what is it in your life that you want to surrender or heal to Him? And as you do this, I guarantee you, as you do this faithfully day after day, that'll enable the Spirit of God to do a work in you. And you will be amazed. You'll say, this is not me doing this, this is God working in me and through me. After all, God wants to save us. God is not willing that any should perish, but He wants all to come to repentance.

So Jonathan, that's where it starts. And I think that's true not only to you, Jonathan, but anyone that's out there. If you want to have a revival in your life, start with prayer, start with Bible study. You might even want to enroll in one of the Amazing Fact's study guide courses. Maybe you've never gone through a whole Bible study series. Amazing Facts offers these up for free. We have a correspondence course where we'll actually send you the lesson in the mail. You can fill it out, you'll send it back to us, we'll grade it, and you can go through all of our 27 study guides. We have different courses and different subjects. That'll strengthen your knowledge of Bible truth and strengthen your understanding in what the Bible says. So just the fact that you're listening to "Bible Answers Live" means that you have an interest in spiritual things. Means the Holy Spirit is working upon your heart. So you want to try and encourage that and give opportunity for the spirit to work through you, through the Word and through prayer, and you will grow spiritually. Well, friends, we don't have time to take another call. We're coming up on our break, halfway through the program. The program is by no means over, we're just going to take a quick break and then we'll take more Bible questions. The phone line, if you have a Bible question is, 800-463-7297. It's 800-463-7297. That is with your Bible question. Also our free offer numbers is 800-835-6747. And we'll be giving out different free offers connected with the various Bible questions. So don't go too far, we'll be back in just a few moments for more Bible questions.

- [Narrator] Stay tuned. "Bible Answers Live" will return shortly.

- [Narrator] In six days, God created the heavens and the earth. For thousands of years, man has worshiped God on the seventh day of the week. Now, each week, millions of people worship on the first day. What happened? Why did God create a day of rest? Does it really matter what day we worship? Who was behind this great shift? Discover the truth behind God's law and how it was changed. Visit sabbathtruth.com. Every year, 40,000 souls in North America end their own lives. Suicide is a terrible tragedy. And while it's difficult to talk about, we need to face it together as Christians. That's why in my new book, "Choosing Life," I share the biblical perspective about suicide, answering some difficult questions about faith and salvation along the way, and offering practical tips that should help and encourage others. Jesus wants us to choose an abundant life in Him.

- [Narrator] Are you looking for a simple way to share your faith? If you've ever found yourself tongue-tied when trying to explain what the Bible teaches about the Sabbath, the second coming, or the afterlife, you'll love the new Amazing Facts tracks. These colorful tracts feature easy-to-read type and are large enough to grab everyone's attention, but small enough to fit in your pocket to carry with you wherever you go. 11 key Bible teachings are available now. Purchase a sample bundle to see what fits your needs, then buy them in bulk and save. Equip yourself in your church to reach your community with the eye-catching Amazing Facts tracts. Amazing Facts tracts, easy to read, easy to share. To order your sample bundle, call 800-538-7275 or visit afbookstore.com and get ready to share your faith like never before.

- [Narrator] You're listening to "Bible Answers Live" where every question answered provides a clearer picture of God and His plan to save you. So what are you waiting for? Get practical answers about the 'Good Book' for a better life today. This broadcast is a previously recorded episode. If you'd like answers to your Bible-related questions on the air, please call us next Sunday between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM Pacific time. To receive any of the Bible resources mentioned in this evening's program, call 800-835-6747. Once again, that's 800-835-6747. Now let's rejoin our host for more "Bible Answers Live."

- Hello friends. Welcome back to "Bible Answers Live". My name is Jean Ross. Pastor Doug Batchelor's out this evening, but he will, God willing, be with us again next week for another live "Bible Answers Live" program. But if you have a Bible-related question, you heard the phone line. One more time, it's 800-463-7297, with your Bible question. We have a number of folks waiting online so we are going to get right to it. Next caller that we have is Cher listening from Hawaii. Cher, welcome to the program.

- [Cher] Hi, Pastor Ross.

- Hello.

- [Cher] Hi. My question is, is there anything where I can find in the Bible and the spirit of prophecy about inhabited other planets?

- Okay, question about other inhabited worlds, is that what you're asking about?

- [Cher] Yes.

- Okay.

- Yes.

- Yeah, the Bible's not clearly stating that, at least not, it gives us a description of these worlds, but it does use the word worlds in the plural form. And we find that in Hebrew 1:1. It says, through Him through Christ, all things were created, and it also talks about the worlds. So that's Hebrew 1:1. And then also, if you go to the book of Job, you will read about a gathering of the Sons of God, and the devil came and God said, "Where did you come from?" And he said, "Well, I came from the Earth." So the devil came as a representative from the Earth, claiming the Earth as his, but there were these other created beings known as Sons of God or referred to as Sons of God, a number of Bible scholars believed that they could symbolize these other worlds, the other representatives of these unfallen worlds. Now we know Earth is the only one that fell into Satan's trap, and that's why Jesus came and died on the Earth here. So those are some of the verses that we have that speak about worlds. Of course we know angels, the Bible speaks about angels, both good angels and bad angels, but those are some of the verses that talk about other worlds. We got Ewan listening from New York. Ewan, welcome to the program.

- [Ewan] Hi, good evening, Pastor Ross. Thank you for taking my call.

- Sure.

- Ewan] In Matthew chapter 23:9, Jesus said, "Do not call anyone on Earth your father for one is your father, He who is in heaven." And in 1 Corinthians 4:14-17 says, "I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. For though you might have 10,000 instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate me. For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach anywhere in every church." Can you comment to...

- Yes. The Bible does tell us that we ought to call no man father. And when he says call no man, father, he is not talking about our earthly father or our real father. There's nothing wrong in calling your father, father. But it's talking about a religious leader as referring to that religious leader or calling that religious leader by the name father. And of course we know there's a whole movement today, there's a whole church out there who call their religious leaders fathers. And the Bible says, no, don't do that. You have one Father, and that is your Father in heaven. So what Paul is talking about, he's not asking anyone to call him father, he's just using a family relationship to try and illustrate that he was the one that had planted the church, the church in Corinth. And that's why when he says to the believers there, he says, "You have many teachers in Christ," meaning they probably had a number of teachers and pastors, and yet you only have one who has begotten you, and he's speaking about himself. He was the one that planted the church. So he is speaking to them as the one who had invested so much in them coming to a knowledge or the understanding of the truth. But Paul was not asking the believers to refer to him as father, because that of course would be contradicting what Jesus said. But in the way that Paul planted the church, he was their father, meaning he was the one that invested and planted the church, and he sent a very beloved follower of his and refers to him as his son, and he was the one that was to instruct them and guide them in more truth. So Paul's not asking the believers to refer to him as father. Does that help, Ewan?

- [Ewan] Yes. Thank you.

- Yeah, he's just making the point that he was the one that planted the church in that sense. All right, well, thanks for your call. We've got Steve listening in Canada, Montreal. Steve, welcome to the program.

- [Steve] Yeah, great. Thank you very much for passing that much for everybody. I appreciate everything with AFCOE, everything I did it with Tony Scarpino with everything.

- Good.

- [Steve] Here's my question. Thank you much for your time and listening. I saw this quote today on Facebook and I said, in the past two, I'm going to read it. I wonder if it's correct or if it's false. It's about the Sabbath. This is what it says. The very name Sabbath is God's mark or sign of authority. The Hebrew word is shavat and it says, S-H-A means eternal one, A-V is a root word for A-B-B-A and means father, B-A-T-H or V-A-T-H, excuse me, means has of or side of, side of the eternal father. Is this something really, this so different meanings in the world of the overall Hebrew word of Shabbat, or this is something that is not really important, it's just gibberish?

- No, I definitely think there's something to that. You look at the different names in the Bible that God gave, a lot of them have deeper meaning and understanding. And when you look at the Sabbath, it's a reference to the fact that God is our Creator. He is our Father, He's the one that made us. And the word Abba that we find the word Abba, meaning father, it's interesting to see that in the word Sabbath. And then also if you go to the fourth commandment, there's many different passages in scripture, you can see how the Sabbath becomes a sign that God is the one who made us. And in keeping the Sabbath, we're acknowledging Him as our Creator and as our God. So yes, I think there is definitely something to that. And there's probably a lot of wonderful truths that you can discover by studying into some of the original meaning of the root words that you get these different words in the Bible from. Great point, Steve, thank you for your question. We've got Samuel listening in Wisconsin. Samuel, welcome into the program.

- [Samuel] Maranatha Jesus, pastor.

- Hello.

- [Samuel] I'm calling to refer to the epistle of James 1:5.

- Okay.

- [Samuel] As I grow on my faith, searching for the Lord, I notice that I come under more attack by the enemy and I'm overcoming that as I'm being taken at different levels, but I was wondering if you could help me with that on number five.

- Sure.

- For asking for wisdom, for discernment, and perception.

- Let me read the verse for those who might be driving in their car. James chapter 1:5, "If anyone likes wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." So here, God wants us to have a knowledge or an understanding of the truth. The Bible says, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." Jesus said, "I'm the way, the truth, and the life." And so when we come to God with sincerity and we say, Lord, please, lead me into a clear understanding of Bible truth, and then we allow the word of God to teach us to speak and we pray that God will guide us, God will lead us if we have an open heart.

Of course, we always want to test everything by the Word of God. But if we are sincere, God will lead us into a fuller and clearer understanding of Bible truth. I do Bible studies with individuals and we discover truths in scripture that they've never seen before. And when they see it, they say, this makes sense, I've been praying, asking God, I've always wanted to understand what happens when a person dies. What does the Bible really say about that subject? And God led them, and they've come to a clear understanding, not only on that subject, but many different subjects in the Bible. So if we have a sincere heart and we are seeking to know the truth, then we can trust that God will lead us into a clearer understanding of truth. Take advantage of the resources that's available too. And again, I want to encourage folks, if you're wanting to understand Bible truth, take a look at the Amazing Facts study guides. It's just jam packed with Bible verses and it'll make a lot of important Bible truths clear. Thank you for your call, Samuel. We've got Zoe listening in Canada. Zoe, welcome to the program.

- [Zoe] Hi, how are you?

- Doing well, thank you.

- [Zoe] That's great. I was just wondering if you could explain the Trinity to me, whether God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are all one or whether they're separate.

- Okay. Great question. In the Bible, you find a word one, for example, you have in the old Testament here, this where the Lord thy God is one. And it's interesting to note that the word one has a plural application or a plural meaning. For example, Jesus said, "For this call, shall a man leave his father and his mother, and the two shall be joined together and they shall become one." Now, when it uses the word one in that sense, He's not talking about one numerically, but one in purpose, they are united. So when the Bible says that the Lord thy God is one, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, they are United in their work of saving mankind. They all share the characteristics of deity. Meaning they have no beginning, they have no end, they are all powerful, they complete and perfect demonstration of love. And the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all working for man salvation, so they are united. In that sense, they all one. But they are three separate beings. When Jesus on the Earth, He prayed to the Father in heaven and the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus in the form of a dove. So three separate beings, but they are united, they are one in their purpose, in their mission to save mankind. Does that help a little?

- [Zoe] It does. Thank you so much.

- Okay. Thank you for your call. We've got Caleb listening in New York. Caleb, welcome to the program.

- [Caleb] How are you doing, Pastor Ross?

- I'm doing well. Thank you.

- [Caleb] All right. I have a question. My question is more like a suggestion actually. My goal is to be able to preach more the Word of God, but every time like I try, it seems like I always end up in something like debate, which I don't like. I feel like it's not spirit-led, it's more like ego-led for me, so I don't feel good about it. I just need to know how can I do that better? To be able to preach the Word to people. I also find it hard to preach people who are from religions who don't believe like we have to keep the 10 commandments, and I feel like it contradicts the Bible and the reason why Jesus died. And they would like quote scriptures from the Bible and they'll quote scriptures from the Bible that don't align with the Bible and they confuse other people, which I don't agree with. And my second question is about revelations 2:12. Is it talking about really the station west? because someone was telling me, oh it's like Satan lives, it's like his throne. I don't understand the passage, I don't believe that's what it meant.

- Yeah, let me read the verse for those who might be listening. Revelation 2:12, it says, "To the age of the church of Pergamos write, 'These things say he who has the two-edged sword: I know your works, where you dwell, where Satan's throne is.' And you hold fast my name and you did not deny my faith, even in the days when Antipas, my faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells." So your question is, what is it there where it talks about Satan's throne? Is that the question?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- [Caleb] Someone was saying that's his throne.

- No, what it's referring to there is Satan stronghold. So there were believers in the city, the ancient city of Pergamos, who were living in a very pagan society. And there was a lot of pagan rituals that were taking place, the local people in the city worshiping a number of pagan deities. And despite the fact that there was so much paganism, there were these faithful followers of Christ who were holding to the truth, and there were even some who were murdered for their faith. So he's referring to the city where they were living, where there was a lot of paganism. Because of the paganism and the false doctrine and the false worship, it's referred to as Satan seat, meaning the folks, the people in that city, they were under the power, the demonic power of Satan in following all of these pagan rituals and practices. It's got a broader prophetic application when you look at the different churches in Revelation. But I think historically, for the actual church of Pergamos, that's the reference there.

The second or the first question that you mentioned, I just want to say something about that before we run out of time, we are called to give a witness or a testimony of our faith, but you are right, when you get into an argument, you might even win the argument, but really lose the battle. The purpose for us in sharing Bible truth is to allow the Spirit of God to work upon the hearts of the people. And we need to pray for guidance. There are times for us to keep quiet, there are times for us to speak. And in our discourse, we're always looking to try and awaken a deeper and a fuller desire to know the truth. And I think that's where your personal testimony is so powerful. People can't argue with your personal testimony, it's your experience. So if you can share how that some particular Bible truth has changed your life and brought peace and understanding, they can't argue with that. If anything, they might wonder, well, I want that kind of peace too. And maybe they'll be open. Whereas if you just hit them with a whole bunch of proof texts, they might resist that. So the power of a personal testimony is still a wonderful way of opening the heart, so a person is wanting to hear more Bible truth. All right, well, thanks for your call, Caleb.

- Thank you so much.

- Hopefully that helped. Yeah, absolutely. Next caller that we have is, let's see, we have got Brenda listening in Ohio. Brenda, welcome to the program.

- [Brenda] My question is, I wonder what the Bible says about me taking some college classes on the Sabbath that I work full time and have a chance to increase my education, but for two months straight, it would be on the Sabbath and then every other weekend for 16 months.

- Well, that's a good question. We did have a caller that asked a little bit about that and there are folks that come to me all the time as a pastor and they ask, here's the situation in college. The first thing I try to do is, you want to try and communicate with your lecturer or with the school and find out if there is some credit or some additional work that can be done on a different day so you can keep the Sabbath. After all, you really want God's blessing to be on your school work, on your study. And God can't bless something if we knowingly are doing something that He's asked us not to do. That's where we need to pray about and say, Lord, please give me the courage to step out in faith and do what I know You're asking me to do and trust that You'll work things out.

Now that might mean that we have to maybe go to a different school, that might mean we have to talk to our teachers, it might mean some changes in our schedule, but you will have a peace and a joy, knowing that you're doing what God is asking you to do and you can trust in Him. So yes, there are times where our faith will be tested and tried, and I think here's an opportunity for a person who might be facing that situation. It might even be a work situation, a work that's requiring them to work on the Sabbath. Well, if they make a stand for what they know to be true from the Bible, I think God will be able to bless them and open up a door and lead them in a different direction. Brenda, I just want to encourage you that do what you know to be right. The Holy Spirit is speaking to your heart, stand true to the Word, and then pray that God will open up a door and lead you where He needs you to go. Next caller that we have, let's see, is Jaekah listening from Louisiana. I'm not sure if I pronounced your name correctly, Jaekah.

- [Jaekah] Yes.

- Oh, good.

- Yes, you did, Pastor Ross. Hi. Thank you so much for your ministry. It's blessed me so much. But my question is, why is the casting out of demons not done by Christians today as done in biblical times like specifically in Jesus' ministry? Like everywhere Him and the disciples went, they were always casting out demons and acknowledging that people were demon-possessed, and I just don't see that a lot. You know what I'm saying?

- Right. Right. It's also that the devil is very subtle in the way that he does things. In more sort of Western cultures, you might say, people are somewhat skeptical, and so he doesn't manifest himself in that way as he would in some other places. I'm from South Africa, I grew up there and we spent time in the mission field, and some of these remote areas where paganism is very strong and people are actually worshiping demons unknowingly, I have encountered demon-possessed people. And it is a scary thing, it's not something you'll look for, it's very real. And you pray for them. Some demons require prayer and fasting, but you gather the elders of the church and you pray sincerely for that person. And I've seen multiple times where an evil spirit has come out of someone in that type of situation.

So it's very real people can be demon-possessed. But I think in a Western culture, people are a little more skeptical of that, they might put it down to some sort of mental disorder or who knows what they'll come up with. So the devil works in different ways, but the end game is the same. He still has just as much control over people in Western culture through all the deceptions and the entertainment and the love of money as he does over people who you might think of or we might think of as being demon-possessed in some foreign country. So he's got his different means and he changes it based upon what's going to suit his agenda the best. Does that help?

- [Jaekah] It does. I guess I want, like you touched on it a little bit, like mental health and drug addiction and there's so much suicide going on and stuff like that, I wonder if a lot of that is demon-possession and then like, what should we be doing as Christians?

- Well, I think it's both. I mean, there's definitely practical, and I think we all understand that there can be some very real mental diseases or chemical reactions that take place or as a result of drugs or something along those lines that people are not thinking clearly, they're not themself. But then there are areas where somebody might open up a door, whether it's the music they're listening to, the movies they're watching. When you think about it, in Western societies, it is just filled with the occult movies, music, books. And so the devil's definitely alive and well and leading people astray. The Bible speaks about a battle, not between flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. And so yes, the devil is very much alive and he's influencing people all the time.

- [Brenda] Right. Right. Well, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.

- All right. Thanks for your call. Next caller that we have is Khantika, listening from Massachusetts. Not sure if I pronounce your name correctly, Khantika.

- [Khantika] Yeah, you pronounced it correctly.

- Close enough? Okay.

- Yeah, correct.

- Welcome. And your question tonight.

- [Khantika] My question is regarding the mixed multitude in the day of Moses. The Bible talked about how the strangers, they weren't welcome into the camp until the third generation. And I was wondering about what this means, because obviously, like we have examples in the Bible of people who weren't Israelites that were welcomed into the camp like Rahab, for an example and stuff. So what does the Bible mean when it says that for one thing? And is there like a modern application because we're spiritual Israel?

- Yeah. Good question. Absolutely. When we talk about the mixed multitude back in the time of Moses and the Israelites, they journeyed with the Israelites, they were in the camp, but they weren't able to actually participate in the formal worship connected with the sanctuary. And the reason for that was, the mix multitude very often would be the reason why Israel would rebel against God. They would be influenced by the mixed multitude. Many of the people that came with them out of Egypt left because they saw the signs, they were afraid, but they weren't truly converted. And so to make sure that there's genuine conversion, that's why God said it's going to be four generations. You want to make sure that the person is fully committed to the God of Israel and that they're not going to lead Israel astray. But having said that, God designed Israel to be a light to all of the nations around them. They would be telling people the truth and the temple or the sanctuary was referred to as a place of prayer for all nations. So as far as people coming to find truth or to see God, yeah, absolutely, they were welcome to do that.

Now in a modern application, I think in the church, we want to welcome anyone who is sincere, wanting to know truth, wanting to understand the Bible. But when it comes to actually becoming a member of the church, I think we want to make sure that that person, first of all, is fully converted, that they have an understanding of the fundamental teachings of the Bible and that they make a public confession to those truths, and often that is accompanied by baptism by immersion. So, yes, anyone's welcome to come to church if they're sincerely wanting to learn truth. But in order to become a member of the church, they need to make sure they know we know what it is that they're committing to, and they need to make that public confession of their faith through baptism, they want to follow Jesus. So I think there's also an application even we can see that even in our time today. Does that help? Does that make sense?

- [Khantika] Yeah.

- So God was not exclusive wanting to not allow certain people, but He wanted to make sure that those who connected themself to Israel were sincere and fully committed. That was the purpose of that.

- [Khantika] Okay. Thank you.

- All right. You're welcome. Thanks for your call. We got time maybe for one more caller. Let's see, we've got Davin listening in Jamaica. David, welcome to the program. We have about a minute.

- [David] Yes, I was basically baffled on a Bible verse I was reading the other day. And it was taken from Revelation 1:7.

- Yes. And you know what? We're going to run out time, David. Are you wondering about every eye seeing Jesus when He comes?

- Yes.

- Okay. Yes, the verse says that when Jesus comes, everyone will see Him at exactly the same time, but it says everyone will see Him. So it's quite possible that as Jesus comes in the clouds of heaven, the Earth is still rotating on its axis, and within a 24 hour period of time, every eye will see Jesus when He comes. So the second coming of Christ, it'll take time, people will be able to see Jesus coming, the Earth will turn on its axis. But the second coming, the angels and the clouds could swoop around the earth very quickly as well. When it says, every eye shall see Him, the Bible doesn't give us the specifics on that, but we can trust what the Word says. When Jesus comes, everyone will see Him. Friends, we're going to say goodbye to those listening on satellite radio, but don't go too far, we got more questions.

- [Narrator] Thank you for listening to today's broadcast. We hope you understand your Bible even better than before. "Bible Answers Live" is produced by Amazing Facts International, a faith-based ministry located in Granite Bay, California.

- Hello friends. Welcome back. We've got about two and a half minutes before we actually finish out the program with those who are watching on AFTV or watching on social media or listening on land-based radio stations. So thank you for staying with us for this final two minutes. We'd like to take some time to answer the many Bible questions that people email to us here. And so I've got a list of some questions and we are going to try to get through as many of these questions as we can in the next few minutes. So the first question we have is, can we live a sinless life in Jesus? Well, the Bible says, if the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed. In other words, there is no excuse for sin. We can't say, well, you know, I'm a human being, and so I'm just going to go ahead and sin and God will understand. I think the real point here is that if we trust that God is able to do all things and we surrender ourself to Him, we want to ask and believe that He can give us the victory. And that's the good news of the gospel. Jesus can set you free. There is no point in our experience where we feel as though we've overcome all things and we are perfect, but we're always to be striving towards complete and full surrender to Christ. A perfect person is a person fully surrendered to Jesus in every area of their life. That's the thing that we are seeking and trusting that God can do.

Another question that we have, are the 10 commandments only for the Old Testament? Well, I think if you read the New Testament, you discover that the principles of the 10 commandments and the 10 commandments themselves are also outlined in the gospels in the new Testament. All of the commandments. Matter of fact, you go to the sermon on the Mount that Jesus preached and He said, "Well, you've heard it said of all, you should not kill, but I say unto you, if you're angry with your brother without a cause, you are guilty of murdering your heart." So Jesus took the principles of the 10 commandments in the new Testament and expanded them. He gave them a much broader and deeper practical application. Another question we have is, who is Leviathan? And I'm assuming this question is related to that animal that lives in the sea. Describes almost like a dragon-like creature living in the sea, Leviathan. Now of course, Leviathan or a dragon is often a symbol that is used of the devil. And the devil is the one who controls multitudes and nations and kindreds and tongues. And in the Bible prophecy, the sea represents multitudes and nations. It is possible that before the flood, there were some kind of a reptile that lived in the sea that might resemble the description that we find in the book of Job. But in a spiritual application, the dragon or Leviathan, would be a symbol of the devil, as we see that in different Bible types and symbols.

Again, we want to welcome those for joining us tonight for our "Bible Answers Live" program. Look forward to talking again next week.

- [Narrator] "Bible Answers Live," honest and accurate answers to your Bible questions.

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