Q&A
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Thank you, 276.
In the little flock.
CX-336-CX338 Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh. Times Where is the heart And your heart falls.
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00:05:06
So then then we'll spend perhaps a little longer on than others, but uh, I put them in some order here. What I'm going to do is read the question, probably suggest some scripture, make a comment or two, and then, uh, someone else can add to it. That would be wonderful. Uh. And sometimes the question leads to a question too. So umm, we'll uh.
As Tim just prayed, count on the Lord for help. As I often say, we don't have all the answers, but we do have the answer book, so I'm thankful for that. So the first question is this, what is the difference between the heart and the soul?
Interesting question because sometimes they are brought together in the same sentence or the same verse. The children of Israel when they were given the 10 commandments.
They were to love their Lord, their God with all their heart and with all their soul. And so you say there must be a difference. But before we get specific on that, let's read a portion in First Thessalonians.
First Thessalonians chapter 5.
First, Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 23. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. What this verse teaches us is that we are a tripart being. We are in taken up in three parts. There's the Spirit.
That's the God conscious part of man and that is what sets the human race apart from everything else apart from the animal Kingdom is that God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. We have a spirit from God, We have a God conscious spirit within us. Now I know it says the living soul there in the verse I just quoted, but we're gonna talk about that in a moment.
So we're we're Spirit, Soul.
Soul is the seat, in this context, is the seat of the emotions and affections. Now animals have a soul too, because I saw a dog out here, and Renee and others were petting it and it was responding, wagging its tail, and so on it it it responded to love. And animals do that. Animals have emotions.
Where spirit, soul and body. The body then is the physical part. So the spirit is the God conscious part of us. The soul is the seed of the emotions and affections, and the body is the physical.
But this question is uh that's been raised is asking what is the difference between the heart and the soul. Now again I would say they're very much connected but the soul is also taken up in other ways. In scripture sometimes the soul is referred to as the person themselves. Let me give you an example. It says 8 souls went into the ark Noah and seven of his family 8 souls were were saved.
It says in Ezekiel the soul that sinneth it shall die, that is the person whose sins. Death is the result of sin.
Uh, another example is that there's given a number of souls that went up out of Canaan with Jacob when he went up to Egypt to see his son Joseph and to spend his last days in the in the land of Egypt. So sometimes the soul is used in that that context. A lot of times it's the moral, undying part of the of the person. It's the intangible.
In other words, the physical, the body, that's the physical. That's what we can see. But there's the soul. That's the intangible part of a person. So that's the soul. The heart then is that which at the fall of man, became corrupted.
With it you you find that when God looked down 1600 years after man sinned in the garden after creation.
00:10:02
It says that the heart, the thoughts of man's heart, was only evil continually. That which had come from the heart of God, from the hand of God, and had been pronounced as very good, had all of a sudden, after 1600 short years, become the most corrupt thing that it ever inhabited this earth. And when you follow the history of the natural heart of man, we find that it never get it does. There's two things that never does.
It never gets worse and it never improves. Why do I say it never gets worse? Because the moment man sinned in the garden, he he got a fallen nature and a corrupt heart that has never got worse and never got better. And so Jeremiah said later on, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. The Lord said in Mark's gospel, out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, and he gives a sample list of what proceeds out of the heart of man. What has got worse is the manifestation of the heart.
Outward sin and rebellion get worse as the dispensation ends, like in Noah's day, and that's what hap is happening in our day. The heart of man is not getting worse today, it's just manifesting itself in a more open and rebellious.
Uh way and sin is not just preach uh practice today, it's preached and glorified. Now there's other references too to the heart that really take us in a thought beyond just it being the seat of the emotion, the center of man. Uh, let me just, uh give you an example. Let's go to 1St Kings chapter 4. This is in connection with Solomon.
First Kings Chapter 4.
And verse 29.
And God gave wisdom and understanding exceeding much and largeness of heart, even as the sand of of on the seashore. And if you read this chapter you'll find it's repeated and and a couple of times that Solomon because he asked of the Lord for wisdom, the Lord gave him a wise and understanding heart.
You know, after we get saved, the Lord wants our heart. As I said earlier, I think in these talks he doesn't want our sinful heart, but we get a new heart, My son, give me thine heart. And there are many references to a wise heart and understanding heart. In Second Timothy. It speaks of a pure heart. It is that then in the new man that responds to the to the Lord and as a result of responding to the Lord.
Respond to as to the love of souls, and as to the love and care.
Of our fellow believers. So that's just a little bit, uh, of an outline. There's plenty could be said on the subject of the soul and the heart, but not some. Others have a few comments on this subject.
Uh, I would might just add to that When it's a qua subject of the heart, a little differentiation between the soul and the heart, The heart has to do a lot with motives in scripture and so again call on the Lord out of a pure heart that is unmixed motive. That's that's pureness in our in our motives and in our desire to follow and honor the Lord and give him the first place.
Uh, in our lives. So the heart, often in scripture, has to do with motivation.
There is also a verse that would show what you're just saying about it responds to the love of God in Romans 5.
Sometimes it's good to have a verse to show what he just said. Romans 5 and verse 5.
Just it says.
And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God.
Is shed abroad in notice in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
00:15:05
There it's.
The Spirit of God within us responds to that love of God, and it causes us to love one another.
Yeah, that's helpful.
And it's out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh as well. So what we say is going to show what is in our heart. If our heart isn't right before God, if our heart isn't pure, we're going to say things we ought not to. When the heart is right, then it is manifest by what we say and what we do too, of course.
I just say this about the soil too. Sometimes the words I say are used in different contexts and we talk about man having a never dying soul and that is different than the animals. When our dog dies or our pet dies, that's it, It's it's over. Say a little story, it'll make you smile. But I was impressed when my mother passed away. My cousin brought her five year old son to the Funeral Home.
And he had some questions and one was well if and Amy's with the Lord, why is she still in the box in the coffin? So his mother explained that, well, yes, her spirit is with Christ and but this is her body and it'll be in the grave and so on. And then he said to her something I thought was very interesting for a 5 or 6 year old. He said, you know what? What? Well, he wanted to know why if Aunt Amy's with the Lord, why is everybody sad and crying?
So his mother tried to explain this to him. He said, You know, mom, we really should be sadder when our pets die than when people who know the Lord died. Because, he said, when my dog dies, I know I won't see it again, but I know I'm going to see Aunt Amy again.
I I thought that was a very astute observation for for a young child, but that illustrates the truth. We so we have a soul that is going to live on in one of two places, with the Lord Jesus in the Father's house or in hell within a lost eternity.
I have secondary questions. Yeah. So we can have your heart, or we can have an evil heart. Can we have a evil soul or a pure soul? Or is it just a soul? It's who you are?
I I I believe the soul is the soul, if that makes makes sense. When it when, when it has to do with the condition of things, it more has to do with the heart. So we can have an evil heart of unbelief, as you say. We can have a pure heart.
But the soul is the seed of the emotions. It's the heart that became corrupt. Now we can have the wrong emotions, I realized because we are, we have, we still have the flesh. And so sometimes our emotions we don't react in the in the proper way. But I believe the emotion when it has to do with good or bad, righteous or evil, pure, unpure. It more has to do with the heart.
Just again a little differentiation, although they're very closely connected.
He gave a verse about the the heart. Uh, controlling of what comes out of our mouth. Uh, good burst for uh, our actions is uh, guard thy heart above all that is guarded. Bravo, there's the issue of light. Very good. Thank you.
That's, uh, Proverbs 423. Thank you.
OK, we're going to move on. Just for the sake of time, let me just say this about whether it's our talks, uh, on the subject we're taking up for a question and answer period like this ministry and times like this are really to whet our appetite so that we'll search it out more for ourselves. So in meetings like this we cover, we we try to get a a basic outline, give a few scriptures and hopefully you'll uh search these things out a little further.
OK, the second question here is at first glance Proverbs 26, verse four and five, and we'll turn to it, seem to contradict one another. Would you be able to explain why that is so, and if there and if there happened to be similarity? So this is a good question. Let's go to Proverbs 26.
00:20:00
This is a question I used to ponder when I was a young person.
Proverbs 26.
And I'll read verses 4:00 and 5:00.
Answer not a fool, according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.
Well, at first glance this seems like a contradiction, that he's saying one thing and then taking it back and saying another. But I believe what is being brought out here is the fact that it takes discernment to know when to not answer a question and when to answer a question. Now if we had time, we could go through the life of the Lord Jesus and you will find that often the Lord Jesus.
Answered at great length questions that were asked. We alluded to it this morning in UH John chapter 3. A man named Nicodemus came to the Lord Jesus by night, stayed up late 1 evening to ask the Lord Jesus some questions. And the Lord discerns that Nicodemus questions were very, very sincere, and the Lord stayed up that night to carefully go over the questions. And even when Nicodemus repeated the question, the Lord very patiently went over the answer again and told him He must be born again. And so on, because the Lord discerned that there were sincere questions.
But you know, there were some people that came to the Lord Jesus and they asked questions and the Lord never answered their questions. You know, there was an incident where they came and asked him by what authority John the Baptist did his, his miracles, his ministry. And the Lord said, and the Lord never answered them. You know why? Because he knew it wasn't a sincere question. In fact, Scripture says they only asked to try to catch him in his words, to try to trick him. So they have something to accuse him of. And so go through the gospel sometime and notice the different questions that are asked.
And whether the Lord answered them or not, and how He answered them, sometimes he just gave a one sentence, brief, concise answer, and moved on. Sometimes he spent time again, the woman at the well. She had some sincere questions, some real enigmas in her life, and the Lord sat there and patiently answered her questions. Now I realize the Lord could perfectly discern the heart of the men and women that asked him the question.
And he knew precisely how to answer those questions, because he was God and he knew perfectly. Uh, why? The person answered asked the question if they really were sincere, what they were gonna do with the answer. But I believe this, young people, if you look to the Lord, the Lord can give you wisdom and discernment. When someone at school or work asks you a question, discern whether it's a question that's just being asked in mockery or to try to trip you up.
In your Christian faith, or whether it's a question that is be is asked sincerely, And if it's asked sincerely, think about the verse that says be ready always to give an answer for the of the reason of the hope that is within you. So we need to be ready with the scripture to answer questions that are sincere. Now maybe somebody else has some thought on this. Uh, very good question.
6 chapters or something like that would be. Oh, maybe Solomon forgot what he was writing about.
You can. You can learn a lot by contrast. And so it's a contrast one after the other. And as alluded to, there are times to answer and there are times not to answer, and even even the intent of the question. You look at the Lord's ministry. You have the the, the scribes and the Pharisees.
Acting the fool and asking him questions. You have the examples of with the Sadducees and UH. A certain woman was married to a man and he died. In the six other brothers likewise they were fooled and asking it, but they were they were trying to trying to prove that the word of God is not true and he simply brought the word of God to bear. But there are other times that you mentioned as as per the uh the the question with respect to the ministry of uh of John or rather the Lord's ministry of of where he get he gained that authority and they were presuming to sit.
00:25:04
As as competent judges, and he wouldn't. He wouldn't allow them that position because they proved in their inability to answer another question that they were confident to judge. And so it's it. It takes discernment.
There's a verse in Ecclesiastes that we're told if the iron be blunt and you do not wet the edge, then it requires more force to put there too. But wisdom is profitable to direct, and often the real challenges in our own heart. Someone will ask a question and we're not in communion. We don't. We haven't been walking with the Lord and we'll just start swinging wildly in all directions when perhaps we should have remained silent.
Let let's just talk about that for a minute because that's that's the other side of it. Sometimes people ask me ask us a question, it's better to say I don't know than to just wing it as we as we would say. And you're not gonna help somebody spiritually by just talking and saying stuff that maybe doesn't really answer the question or isn't even doctrinally or scripturally accurate so.
I don't know is a very good answer if we if we really don't know.
And also it's helpful to take sincere questions to others who you know can help you. But don't forget to take your questions to the Lord and to the word of God. You know, it's interesting with the Queen of Sheba when she came to Solomon, and Solomon is a picture of the Lord Jesus. And when the Queen of Sheba came, she came to prove him with hard questions. And you know, when she got into the presence of Solomon, it says that every question was answered.
To her satisfaction. You know, you ask another brother or sister a question and you get an answer and you say, yeah, that's good, but doesn't really satisfy you. You just feel like you're it's still not the whole answer. And then you ask another and you get a little more and so on. But there's nothing like taking a question to the Lord and to the word of God. And when you take a question to the word of God, don't expect an answer right away. You know, I found in my experience that it's good to top questions away, not struggle with them, but tuck them away in your mind.
And then sometimes I've been reading the word of God or reading some written ministry, or someone makes a comment in a reading meeting or a ministry meeting and wow, that was the answer I was looking for. Maybe it was two or three years later. But rather than struggle with the question, just committed to the Lord, read your Bible, listen to the ministry, that you have orally read some good scriptural ministry that's on your parents bookshelves or that you can get it the bookstore or back on this back table.
And you'll find in time the Lord will answer your question like the Queen of Sheba to your satisfaction.
The only thing I might add, and it's a little bit it's connected but barely. But uh, the Lord always defended his deity and he. He always if it was a if it was a question of of them mocking who he was.
He was always very quick to to answer if it was.
Making if it if it was making fun of him personally or or mocking him personally or harming him emotionally he he didn't answer a lot of the time but when he when it came to questions of.
His deity. He was very quick to answer.
He also it seems like in the Gospels he also.
Answered if if there was umm. Those who needed him to answer. So if the Pharisees were asking his disciples, then he always came in. Or a lot of times he comes in and answers like in in Matthew 8 or I think it was 8 umm or maybe nine. He comes in and he answers the questions that the Pharisees said to his disciples.
But a lot of times if they came to him and it was a nonsense question, he would redirect a question to them that they wouldn't answer.
So that's why, he told Timothy, foolish and unlearned questions avoid, for they do gender stripe. In other words, you give an answer and it's only going to add lead lead to another foolish question. It's only going to lead to some controversy and so on. And I think what you say, Austin, is good. Uh, we won't turn to. I'll just give you an example of what you're saying about the Lord.
00:30:01
There was an occasion when they accused him of two things. They said thou art a Samaritan and hast the devil. Now he never answered the charge of being a Samaritan because that was a slur on his manhood. The Samaritans were a despised people. In fact, the woman at the well admitted the Samaritan Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Why are you talking to me? That was a slur on his manhood. But he did answer the charge of having a devil, because that brought into question his deities. So just to to confirm what you say.
Very good.
And, and just one more comment in connection with what Austin said. Sometimes the Lord answered the question not for the person who asked the question, but for others who may have been listening. If someone asked a question and they didn't really want the answer, but there was a multitude or others standing by that needed the answer, then the Lord would would answer it for them. And I often say you can turn a good, a bad question into a good answer too. So.
OK, we're gonna move on here to the third question.
This question says I am wondering about the verse in second Timothy chapter 2 and verse 12.
If we deny him this is in quotation. That's the part of the verse they're wondering about. What might that mean? OK, let's go to Second Timothy, chapter 2 and verse 12.
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us. Now before I put this in his context and try to explain it in a simple way, I want to make it very clear that this verse in no way is telling us that we can lose our salvation. I, it many have taken it out of context over the over the.
Centuries, and used it to support the thought that I can be saved today and if I deny the Lord tomorrow or do something.
That's not according to his mind or his for his glory. I can lose my salvation.
Now you say, how do you know that that the truth of this Because you can't divorce this verse from many other scriptures that confirm to us that we ha ha. Once we're saved, we can never lose our salvation. Like John 10, we're safe in the hand of the Lord Jesus. We're safe in the Father's hand. We have eternal life and the gifts and calling of God are out without repentance or irrevocable. We have the gift of eternal life. He'll never revoke it. He'll never recall it.
A multitude of scriptures. That's why you always have to take scripture in its context. And no, scripture is a private interpretation. Don't pull a scripture out and interpret it without taking it up in the context of the whole of the word of God. So OK, it doesn't mean that we can lose our salvation. Well then what does it mean? Well, as I think someone just said, we often are taught in scripture by contrast.
And we have a contrast in this verse. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.
What he's talking about here, and it goes along with what we were Speaking of in connection with the 4th chapter earlier today. He's talking about the Kingdom. He's talking about the time when we're going to reign with Christ. It has nothing to do with getting to heaven, nothing to do with that at all. But it has everything to do with our reign with him in the Kingdom. If we suffer for him with him, we're going to reign with him.
If we give up something in this life to follow the Lord, we're going to have a place in the Kingdom. He's going to make it up to us in connection, as we said, with rewards. What he's really saying here is if we don't give up things down here to follow the Lord, if we're not willing to suffer a little reproach to follow the Lord and to suffer for and with Christ here, we're not going to have a full reward in the coming day.
So that's what Paul develops, and we'll talk about it a little more tomorrow when we go on with the 4th, with the 4th chapter go to a verse in second John.
00:35:00
That has, uh, goes along with what we're saying, the 2nd epistle of John.
And verse eight, look to yourself that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Now again, I know we mentioned this in passing it in in the meeting earlier, but what he wants you and me to have is a full reward. He doesn't want to have to deny us.
That full reward. You know, sometimes when my girls were younger, I promised them a reward or some payment for whether it was good behavior, whether it was for doing chores. When we used to travel with my girls, I would get about a week's good behavior out of promising them we'd finally stop at McDonald's for a Happy Meal. Donald's is not my favorite restaurant, but we would promise them that reward for good behavior.
Or if they helped around the house on a Saturday, there would be a reward. We'd go out somewhere after, there'd be a little money change hands or something like that. However, there were times when they would get the reward but not the full reward. Maybe I would have to say to them, well, I know I promised you $10.00, but you know, I think it's really only worth five or five or six. And any of you who work for a corporation or or business company.
You understand this?
Sometimes they offer a bonus, a reward at the end of the year, and that bonus is based on your performance, whether it's sales or whatever it might be based on your performance. There's going to be a reward or a bonus at the end of the of the year or the pay period, and some may get more than others. And so again, there's going to be a difference in rewards. Is he going to have to deny us?
A full reward, uh, in the coming day. Now let's look at one more scripture in First Corinthians chapter 3.
Again, this is talking about rewards for believers that the judgment seat of Christ.
We won't read all this, but, uh, we find that our work is going to be manifest at the judgment seat of Christ. And then, umm, it says in verse 14, if any man's work abide which he hath built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved. Yet. So it's by fire. So he's it. There's there's nothing to do with us being in heaven. It's nothing to do with going to heaven or hell.
We're gonna be sent. We're saved.
If you if you're trusting on the on the blood of Christ, the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, you're saved for eternity. But there is going to be loss in heaven. It's going to be lost as to what he can reward us for as to our place in the Kingdom. As we said earlier, he's going to have to deny us a full reward. It's just like he's got the reward there, the fire manifest things and he has to hold back on part of the reward.
Every person is going to get something. Every man shall have have praise of God. But is he going to have to deny us some of the reward that he will delight he wants to hit. His delight will be to give us so. It's nothing. It's not denying us entrance into heaven, it's denying us the full reward that he wants to minister to us.
And remember, rewards have nothing to do with our enjoyment of heaven either. We're all gonna have fullness of joy. They have to do with the Kingdom has nothing to do with heaven itself.
I think it's important to UH.
Just mention briefly about uh, the subject of losing your salvation. Uh.
And perhaps, if I'm not paid for, perhaps I believe that I don't leave it off. That's not what our salvation is based on. It's not based on anything of ourselves. If you look at Leviticus chapter one with the burnt offering, and they were to bring the lamb that was without spot, without blemish, and then to put their hand on that lamp and recognize that that lamb had to die for them. And that lamb was taken, and it was. It was killed and the blood was flinking and it was placed on the altar.
00:40:14
And it says if there was, if there was sound something wrong with that land, there was a spot or blemishes. It doesn't say that the land wouldn't be accepted, it says that the person bringing it wouldn't be accepted.
And we aren't accepted into a heaven, into heaven based on our actions. We're accepted into heaven based off pricing the perfect offer. And if we are not to get into heaven, the only reason that the only way that could happen is for God to say his son's work on the cross.
OK. Let's move on to the next question.
This question this is #4. Who wrote the book of Hebrews? Are there verses and or style or character of writing that support this? Now before I answer this question, I want to go to Hebrews chapter 3 and tell you why there's no Apostolic name connected with the book.
Hebrews chapter 3 and verse one.
Wherefore, Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Jesus Christ. Now as you, we under. As you know, when you turn back the page to the first chapter, there's no writer's name given like you have in the other epistles. Whether it's Paul or John or James or Jude or Peter, there's no name given because.
In the book of Hebrews, he immediately presents his son, God. You know what? It's a very unique way. It's the only book in the Bible that starts with God is that interesting, And God immediately presents to us his Son, in contrast to the Old Testament figures and foreshadows. But the reason, the other reason why there's no Apostolic name given is because the Lord Jesus.
Is presented as the apostle here and there's no earthly apostle to over shadow or detract from that. Now an apostle is a sent one. That's that's what an apostle is. The disciples A follower, an apostle is a sent one. The 12 That were chosen were both they were they were just called. They were disciples to follow the Lord and they were sent out by the Lord within a with a mission as apostle and the Lord Jesus sent by God.
Well into this world was the apostle sent by God, and there's nothing to detract from that. So he's the apostle in Hebrews. But now the question is then who wrote? Do we have any inkling or clue who wrote the book of Hebrews? I believe we do, and it's in Second Peter.
Second Peter Chapter 3.
And verse 15.
Now this is Peter writing, and and let me just say, before we read this, Peter is writing to those who had been saved from Jewish background, those who were Jews by birth, who now had been saved and were part of the Church of God. And he says in Second Peter 315 an account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you.
As also in all his epistles speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrestle as they do also the other scriptures under their own destruction. Now Peter is telling these believers that were saved from that are saved Jews, if I can put it that way. These are saved Jews. And he's reminding them of something that Paul had written to them.
And there's only one.
Epistle, written by divine inspiration.
By there's only.
One epistle written by divine inspiration that we don't have a name attached to.
When else would have Paul written to them? Because there's no other epistle that Paul wrote to Jews. All other epistles, all the epistles that bear Paul's name, are written to Gentiles. And so I believe by process of elimination we can conclude that if Paul wrote to the Jews to save Jews by divine inspiration, it has to be the the Epistle to the Hebrews.
00:45:28
I I believe when you go through to you'll see something some expressions that are very characteristic of Paul especially at the end of the epistle and and so on. But but I I say again, when else what what other writing would Peter be referring to? There's no other writing of Paul to to to specifically to the Jews. He's right. He writes to Gentile assemblies and and individuals.
No, we still have two questions and they're good questions. So I I I'd like again to to move on.
The word is the world is increasingly calling for tolerance of things the Bible says are not right. They give an example of homosexuality. How do we balance showing the love of Christ with not being in agreement with them? Uh, with their way of of thinking.
Very good question. I can't say I have the proper balance in my own life or answer, but.
Maybe just one verse I'll give you, and then I really would like to hear what some others say in Malachi.
Chapter One Last Book of the Old Testament.
Malachi chapter one.
And I want to read just the first part of verse 2.
I have loved you, saith the Lord. And then I want to go to verse 10 and just go down the verse about.
2/3 down the verse he says I have no pleasure in you, said the Lord of hosts. Now again, at first this seems like a contradiction. On the one hand he says I've loved you.
On the other hand, he says, I have no pleasure in you now. Malachi's writing to the people of God. They're at their lowest point, morally and spiritually. In the Old Testament, things have deteriorated to a deplorable level of things, and the sacrifices, the worship, their private life, their family life, everything had completely broken down.
What is the difference between these two expressions? On the one hand, it's the people and their position. On the other hand, it's their it's their actions and their condition. He didn't love them any less because of what they were doing, as far as they being his people, but he had no love or pleasure in their actions. Now I realize this is the Lord and again.
The Lord is perfect, and He's a fine flower. The evenness of his of his person, his righteousness, never overshadows his love or his love, his righteousness, his faithfulness.
And his compassion, they they're always in perfect balance. But I, I, I believe that we can seek to have that same spirit and attitude towards the world.
We're to love the Sinner, but we are not to love or go along with their sin or their actions. And I think young people, we need to be very, very careful in the day in which we live.
That we don't fall into this mode of having tolerance. And if someone asks us what we think or we have opportunity to present not so much what we think but what we know from Scripture is is right or wrong, and we have opportunity to present it without lobbying or arguing. I believe we need to be ready to give, as we said earlier, an answer and an answer from the word of God. I really would be interested to hear what others have to say on this subject.
00:50:22
What we have where the salt of the earth too.
Saint principle.
But if the salt had lost its savior? If we're just.
Intolerant to that we're like the salt that has no savior.
It's not falling to the trap of believing that the word tolerance is something that is effectively good in all outlets. OK, where to sell? Umm, so the the neoliberal and postmodern world would have to believe that the word calling us is something that is perfectly good, umm in all manners. Even though in a postmodern world there is no objectivity, right? Yeah.
So it's kind of self contradictory.
So don't fall under the into the trap of, you know, they set a track by saying that they were called. It's all good.
Umm, but.
Can I have two brief questions? And then, uh, go on from where it would be? Is the conscience that's safe, Uh, the Safeway to determine what is right and all at the top of the word of God. The the conscience is never to be our guide. The conscience is like the yellow traffic light. It's the warning. It's like the flashing light when you're approaching a construction zone or an area where the road has fought, caved in or something like that. It's a warning, but it is not our guide.
The word of God is always our guide and our standard. And that's why as we as, as we said earlier that with when Timothy was told to go on in the last days, he was to hold the sound, the sound doctrine that he had been taught. Because if we give up the word of God, we have no standard. And that's the problem today. There's no standard. It's just whatever you like, whatever, stand, whatever.
Is good. Whatever you feel is good, is good. Whatever you feel is bad, in fact. So there's there's no standard. It's like in the days of the judges in the Old Testament. Every man is doing that which is right in his own eyes. Now, in that connection, I would say this, that if we have opportunity, if people ask us what we think about some of these things, then we need to be ready to answer, but not to be ready to answer with a clever argument or with our own intellect.
But to be ready to answer with the word of God, because that's where the power is and the Word of God stands on its own. And you can argue something till you're blue in the face and you're not going to convince anybody. May not convince anybody, but when you use the word of God, that's when it's go in the power of the Spirit, that's when it's going to have it. It's proper effect and what keeps us from getting.
Used to send our tolerance of sin is to keep in the word of God, keep thyself pure, keep close to the Lord. Be thou holy, for I am holy. It's walking in practical holiness and with the word of God before us that is going to keep us from sinking to the level of what the world has has sunk to. Because I believe the great work of the enemy is to desensitize the people of God.
You know, the enemy doesn't introduce something, whether it's homosexuality, whether it's *********** or whatever it might be. It's not introduced blatantly and all at once. It's introduced very, very slowly so that over time we don't even realize how much the, the, the we we slipped on or the world has slipped on the on the slope. So we need to keep in the word, keep close to the Lord.
Keep the the holy standard before us.
Or, you know, it's so easy for us as the people of God to become desensitized to sin. Now, as to the rest of the question here, yeah, you answered what I was asking.
00:55:07
You know the first sentence? Yeah, that's good. Uh. The reason why I ask that is because, uh, the world has taken the consciousness of God, right, and has come up with our own set of moral standards. And according to their own set of moral standards, homosexuality is an OK thing because they say people were born that way. We know from the word of God that everyone has a sin nature, right? And homosexuality is a sin, just like lying and every other thing. And the problem is with this agenda.
Is that we? Uh, especially with homosexuality? Umm, And there's other things as well, that man has set their own standards for what's right. It's not according to the word of God. And is doing that and accepting homosexuality. They're not accepting lying or stealing or these other things so much. Uh, because uh, they they tend to say, well, uh, man wasn't made to do those things. Those things are just long enough or.
Uh, disadvantage to others and they don't see anything negative to other human being with homosexuality. And there's more standards of failed and what needs to happen is we need to, as you said, to be the fault of the earth and show what scripture says on the matter and it's not that. Umm.
The word of God is not against uh sentence. Uh who's the person? Uh Joe. Uh, the line who spoke. He said. Speak Joe for my desire to testify. Me and God wants to have a relationship with each one of us and that's the steep part. And his desire is to justify us. He's given us his son to answer whether homosexuality, lying, feeling, whatever, the thing they do so God so loved the world doesn't love their sins.
But he loves the people that inhabit this planet on which on which we live. And so as to the question here, how do we balance this, You know, when the Lord Jesus was here, he had absolute love and compassion for both multitudes and individuals. I'll give you just two examples. With the multitudes, he lifted up his eyes and he saw the multitude and he had compassion on them. There was a young man came to the Lord and it says, and Jesus beholding him, loved him. And so it shows that he has love for the people that inhabit this planet, but he has no tolerance or love for their sins.
And when, when we speak the word of God, we're not trying to reform people. We don't preach reformation. We don't tell people to turn over a new leaf. We need to reach the conscience. You know, salt is a preservative, and it also stings. You put salt on a wound, it's gonna stink. It's the conscience that must be reached. The heart, yes, but the conscience must be reached. And how are we going to do that? By presenting the word of God, telling man he's a Sinner.
Not preached much today and even in many Christian circles. But we're here to present Christ, not reformation. We're here to present Christ. Tell people how they can be saved. And that is our responsibility not to be here. To lobby against the abuses of humanity. Not join a coalition not plot card. We're here to present Christ to the lost and if someone asks us what we think of certain of those abuses of humanity and.
Certain sins tend to be able from scripture to answer and give the Lord's standard.
You know the way that that was Soma did with Nineveh. Go go and look at this and look at the first chapter of Jonah and just look at look at what it says about Nineveh verse 2.
This is what the word of the Lord that came to Jonah. Look at Jonah chapter one one and verse 2.
And arise, Go to the end of that great city and cry against it. This is what it says, for their wickedness has come up before me. Now look at the result when loans to Jonah obeyed in Chapter 3, when you actually did go and and preach to them.
Look at verse 4, where he cries that yet 4040 days, and none of this shall be overthrown. Look at the results of this wicked city. And when they really did repent so the people of none of them believe God, and proclaim the fast and fit on sackcloth from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For the word came into the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth and sat in ashes.
01:00:11
So did God save that wicked city? He absolutely did when, uh, the words came to them and they were pinned.
Very good, Yeah.
We never helped someone by just going along with them. And I've often said to you never that when the if you go in the ditch, the tow truck doesn't pull you out of the ditch by going in the ditch with you. It stays up on the solid ground and pulls you out of the ditch. And we never help someone by compromising or getting in the ditch with them. We if we remain on the ground of the truth, that's the way we're going to be able to help. So whether it's the lost as to salvation or a fellow believer.
Who's, uh, wondering about some of these things?
A brief comment.
Christianity is not a social reform program. You can wash a pig till it squeals, but it's still a pig and it's it's gonna go back into wallowing in the mire. What the? The error that that Christendom has has fallen into largely is seeking to make the world a better place. Trying to trying to wash the pig till its wheels. And the pig doesn't appreciate that.
And so it's not our job to go about and and to set this world straight. And so you have in First Corinthians chapter 5.
I wrote unto you in verse 9 and in epistle not the company with fornicators yet, not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous or extortioners, or with idolaters. For then must you need to go out of their world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such an one known not to eat.
The Lord was in the presence of the woman who was taken in adultery in the very act.
You would speak to her. You would seek to reach your conscience.
But if, if it were one of his disciples, it would be in a different matter completely. And it's not that we would approve of any of these things that are wrong. We have the the list of things mentioned in First Corinthians 5 here, Most obviously wrong, but it it says verse 10, yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world. We're not set the world right. If if someone is living a clean, decent life and they're a Sinner, they're still going to hell. That's what's important. They need new life. It's not.
It doesn't matter if the kids if if the pig is spotless or if the pig is dirty.
The problem is that they're repeating and they they a center needs new life in Christ and and so a lot of a lot of the heat in this quote UN quote debate a lot of the the problem is is simply in the fact not understanding that we as believers that we're a heavenly people. The Lord would say umm of of his disciples they're not of this world even as I am not of this world. We're not we're not set this world right and so we can stand for the truth if someone asks us.
What we think, what the word of God says, we most definitely.
Must take a stand and and state what what word of God says.
But but we're not to go around and and and and be the the conscience and the police of of of the world and and try and make sure that they behave and act as Christians when they're not.
Our time is gone, but I do want to take up this last question. Can you explain in a simple way? Can you explain a simple way to defend the faith and present the gospel to someone who says Christianity is no different from Islam and the Bible is similar to the Koran by pointing to the stories of violence and genocide in the Old Testament?
Paul speaks twice in Philippians chapter one. I'll just give you the reference in verse 7 and verse 17 of Philippians chapter one of his defense of the gospel. But I believe this and we're going to look at another scripture in a moment. But I believe this, that when Paul in defending the gospel, simply presented the gospel, that's what he did if someone.
Tried to counter the gospel. What did Paul do? He presented like he said to the Corinthians, the gospel is that Christ died, he was buried, and he rose again the 3rd day according to the scriptures. That was really Paul's defense of the gospel. Now they're certainly, and when you go through the apps, there's certainly room for preaching and discussion when it comes to the truth of the gospel. But again, young people, I don't think you get very far by arguing.
01:05:16
The gospel, if you try to argue with someone and try to make them see you your point of view, it's not going to work. And Paul, I believe realized that all we can do is present the scriptures, the simple scriptures of the gospel and leave them for a work of the Spirit of God. I cannot convince anyone of get to get saved. Only the Spirit of God can compel sinners to come in.
That the Father's house might be full. Now we are to present the gospel simply and clearly. It says in the Acts they so spake that a great multitude believed. And we need to be exercised to present the gospel simple and clear in the power of the Spirit. But always use the Word of God, because as we said, we're born again, not, but we're born again by the word of God, not our explanation.
You know, my getting up and taking the gospel and telling a story about somebody that almost drowned isn't going to save a soul.
It might help to illustrate a scriptural point. And there's nothing wrong with telling stories and using illustrations. The Lord did it himself. He even used current events like the Tower of Siloam, falling on those, those ones, and so on. So nothing wrong with using stories, illustrations, even current events to make a point. But that's not what saves the soul. It's to bring in the word of God that lives and abides forever, that is quick and powerful and so, so Paul's defense of the gospel.
Was presented as clear and simple as possible. Now as to the question here. What authority do we have for the word of God over and above something like the Quran or even the Book of Mormon or other books? Ho religious or what the world would term her holy books that have been written? Let's go to a verse in Colossians that I think at least been a help to me.
In uh in this UH as to this question Colossians chapter one.
And verse 25.
This is Paul speaking. Wherefore I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which is given to me to, and if you notice, Mr. Darby's translation, to complete the word of God.
What Paul is saying here is that it was given to him to complete the revelation of God to man by inspiration. Now, OK, I I, I maybe shouldn't have added inspiration to complete the revelation of God to man.
You say, well, John wrote later than Paul because John was the last of the New Testament writers. How does this go with, with, with John's writing there? What Paul is bringing before us is that there's no revelation beyond what Paul gives us. Paul gives us the truth of the Church of God, our position as believers, our responsibilities as the Church of God and the the Lord's coming. And there's no revelation beyond that.
That's why John, who it's true, wrote later, He said no new commandment right on to you, but what you've received from the beginning. John doesn't bring before before us new things. He simply confirms things that have already been been revealed. It's a confirmation, we might say a review in that way, but there it was given to Paul to complete the revelation, to complete the word of God in that way.
Now the Quran was written, what about 600 years or so later than uh than the last writing of of uh the Bible that the book we hold in our hands. How can there how can that be God's revelation? If if Paul completes the revelation, then anything written subsequent to that, that's propagated as being divine or from God, it can't, it can't be, it disqualifies it.
Immediately.
So, so the Quran cannot be the Bible, if I can put it that way. It can't be God's revelation, uh, to men. Now how? The question is asked too. How is it justified? How do we justify the stories in the Old Testament, the stories of of violence. And you know, you read some of those stories, thousands and thousands of people killed in those battles in one day and it was man to man combat.
01:10:24
Now I know this is hard to explain to someone else, but I think most of us here realize again that God deals with man in different ways, in different dispensations or time periods, time frame in their history, and with the children of Israel in the Old Testament. You have to keep it in the context that their blessings and their inheritance were not heavenly like ours.
Their blessings and their inheritance were connected with this earth, and that's why it was right and proper when they went in to take the land of Canaan, that they would completely drive out their enemies. In fact, it became a snare to them to this very moment that they didn't. Why are they suffering the way they are over there today? Because they didn't obey God and completely annihilate their enemies. Their blessing was earthly, their inheritance was earthly and there were earthly.
Physical enemies dwelling in the land of Canaan that were keeping them from coming in and possessing and enjoying their inheritance, and so they were to drive them out. Now, in Christianity, is that the way we are to do it? No. Our blessings are heavenly, and so we don't take up the soy or take up with arms and drive out our our enemies. In Christianity, the Lord introduced it. In the Beatitudes, we're to love our enemies. We're to.
Live peace of as much as possible. Live peaceably with all men we're here to present.
Christ in in the Gospel and so on. I I know that's gonna be hard to explain to somebody at work or an unbeliever at school who's trying to question this. But, you know, maybe it goes back to the quest to the one of our earlier questions. Sometimes it's better not to answer. Sometimes those questions are not sincere, and it's better just to leave it, Maybe just quote a verse of Scripture and to just leave it and let the word of God have its power.
Be convinced in your own soul by the Spirit of God that this is the inspired word of God from cover to cover. You may not be able to convince anybody else, but be convinced in your own soul.
Fairly simple were epistles known in red of all men? You think of the one who had the legion of demons, and he was told to go home and tell how great things God had done for him. You look in John's Gospel, Chapter 9, and it's a beautiful chapter. There's the one who was born blind. The Lord comes. He he makes the clay anoints his eyes. He goes to the pool of Siloam. He washes.
And from that point forward, he's hounded incessantly as to to what happened, who Jesus was, all all these different things.
And he he doesn't know. He he doesn't get into a debate. They say, well, if this man of God or this man can't be of God or how could he do these things. One thing I know that whereas I was blind, now I see facts are very stubborn things. The umm the Pharisees were very good at debating, but here was a very stubborn fact in front of their eyes. You're the man who was blind and he now saw and one can run circles around me and uh frontwards upside down backwards and make me look the pool, but they cannot take away.
The joy and peace in believing and I remain in the measure that I walk in communion with the Lord. An epistle known and read of all men. Your car breaks down or something. Some calamity happens in your life and you take it from the Lord. You're rejoicing in the Lord that carries more weight than all the the arguments that you can make us to why these ones were were killed in in the book of Joshua and judges or or kings or Chronicles. Wisdom is justified of her children.
And as as we seek to walk according to principles of the word of God, that's what will bear weight on the conscience of the individuals that we meet with. And that's that's a fairly simple answer to say. One thing I know I I have no idea about these others. But one thing I know where it's always blind now I see. So don't let the things you don't know keep you from enjoying the things that you do know. And that's what the blind man, he wasn't going to let anybody take away from what he was. He did know.
Very good.
01:15:01
Let's pray.