1 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:55,320 Hey everyone, welcome to our September Bible in 365 live Q&A 2 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:57,880 with our amazing pastor James Cadiz. 3 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:00,320 How are you doing? Happy Friday. 4 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:01,800 I'm. I'm good. 5 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:05,480 It's it's been a season, trust me. 6 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,480 I feel you on that one. I feel you on that one. 7 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:12,640 You know, we're resting in the joy and the strength of the Lord 8 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:15,840 because if we didn't have it, I think we'd all be in the cuckoo 9 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:20,440 house. I I don't know, it's just wild. 10 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:23,600 How is everything going on in your side with the church and 11 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:25,000 everything? I've been keeping you in our 12 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,120 prayers for sanctuary and all that stuff. 13 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:32,480 Yeah, you know, things great. You know, I would say please 14 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:35,880 pray for us. We're still in the middle of 15 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,160 this process of potentially buying a beautiful church 16 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:43,080 building. We think that it would solve a 17 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:45,320 lot of problems for us. It would instantly put us in 18 00:01:45,320 --> 00:01:48,800 1000 seat sanctuary, which is something that we, we 19 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:53,000 desperately need. But there are some major things 20 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:58,880 that we have to get past. And, you know, it's just prayers 21 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:00,760 are always appreciated. And, you know, obviously 22 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:04,480 there's, there's expense involved and we could use 23 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,360 prayers for that. I believe that where God guides 24 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:11,600 us, he's going to provide, you know, and so I'm not really 25 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:14,760 concerned about that aspect of it as much as I, I'm, I'm a 26 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,480 little concerned about some of the other nuances behind it. 27 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:21,280 There's some legal issues happening by the people trying 28 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,360 to sell it who are doing some pretty underhanded things. 29 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:26,720 And the, the game is, is a little crazy. 30 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:28,360 But you know what? The Lord knows what he's doing. 31 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:30,640 And if the Lord wants us to have it, he's going to open up the 32 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:32,720 door. But you know, the way I am, I'm 33 00:02:33,920 --> 00:02:37,720 like, OK, Lord, I'm going to try to, to walk through any opening 34 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,520 that I can see. And if you close the door, then 35 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,560 you close the door, Lord. So we're, that's kind of, yeah, 36 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:45,760 that's the immediate thing. The other thing that I'm very 37 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:48,480 concerned about right now, and it's very heavy on my heart. 38 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:52,920 And I, I heard Glenn Beck talk about it a little bit and it's, 39 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:57,360 it's a huge deal in my mind. And that is we have to get 40 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:03,120 pastors, especially over these next few months to mobilize 41 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:07,920 believers in their churches to be voting in this midterm. 42 00:03:08,920 --> 00:03:13,040 If if you're a pastor and you say you do not have an 43 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,680 obligation or you shouldn't be getting into politics, you're in 44 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:21,040 the wrong place. We have got to speak up about 45 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:23,280 these things. And, you know, coming from a 46 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,040 perspective where my mom and my dad were both born and raised in 47 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:30,560 Egypt, I can tell you right now with the rise of all of these, 48 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:35,560 you know, so-called by name Islamic candidates, we, we have 49 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,960 a lot to be concerned with and we have to stand up for our 50 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:40,600 principles. You know, they're going into 51 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:44,120 mosques and they're saying they need 3 million votes. 52 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:46,120 That's what they're telling everybody in the mosques right 53 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:50,800 now. And there are at least 30 54 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:55,120 million Christians across the nation who are saying they're 55 00:03:55,120 --> 00:04:00,040 sitting out on this vote. I mean, imagine if just a little 56 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,840 bit more than 15% of them said, you know what, I'm going to 57 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:05,720 actually vote, we wouldn't have the concerns that we have right 58 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:07,320 now. It's amazing to me. 59 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:10,360 So we, we really need to pray for that as well. 60 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:12,960 It's, it's kind of a big deal. And I know I'm like, I'm, I'm 61 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:16,000 mentioning it everywhere I can not just in the, you know, not 62 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,279 just the church or the videos that I'm making, but you know, 63 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:21,839 the Q and AI thought it would be worthwhile to mention as well. 64 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:25,720 Amen, Amen. I'll have you lead us in prayer 65 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,120 and then we're going to dive into some scripture, Scripture 66 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:31,760 questions and then we'll hop into some lifestyle questions as 67 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:33,720 well. OK, let's do it. 68 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:35,880 Father in Heaven, we just thank you, Lord, for this time. 69 00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:38,640 And we ask, Lord, for your strength. 70 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,400 We ask for your wisdom. We ask for discernment and 71 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,280 understanding the issues that are being brought before us. 72 00:04:44,280 --> 00:04:47,720 Lord, I pray that the words that I share would be your words, 73 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:50,360 Lord, and not mine. I pray that you would guide all 74 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:54,000 of us to be able to understand and recognize what's being said. 75 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:55,520 Lord, I thank you so much for Eric. 76 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,240 I pray that you would just bless her immensely. 77 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:00,880 Lord, bless the children, bless the whole Kirk family. 78 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:03,560 Lord be with them. Bless the folks at Turning USA. 79 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,960 Give us wisdom and discernment and understanding for every step 80 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:09,640 that we should be taking. Lord, in these days that are 81 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:11,960 definitely getting darker. So Lord, we love you and thank 82 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:13,520 you. We look to you and we ask these 83 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:14,920 things in Jesus. Then we pray. 84 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:18,960 Amen. OK, our first questions from 85 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:21,240 Milka. And this is an interesting 86 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,360 question because we have a lot of new readers and a lot of new 87 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:26,040 people. And you and I know this is 88 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:29,480 something you have witnessed in your own church as well, a lot 89 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:33,200 of new believers who've just recently surrendered their life 90 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:34,840 to the Lord and given their life to Christ. 91 00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:39,240 So this is, I think it's a, it's a good question that a lot of 92 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,640 readers and new believers have that I think it'd be really 93 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,040 important for you to touch on. Milka asks, can you explain why 94 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:48,120 Jesus died on the cross for our sins? 95 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:50,760 I believe I understand why he was killed, but can you dive 96 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:54,960 deeper into how him dying on the cross was for our sins? 97 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,240 Did he die to prove to us that he is indeed Jesus? 98 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:01,800 I'm a first time Bible reader and I'm loving Bible and 365. 99 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:03,840 Thank you. Well, Milka, we're grateful to 100 00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:06,440 have you part of the Bible and 365 family so. 101 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:09,760 Yeah, it's it's and the question is actually very good. 102 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:12,640 I think we have to really get down to the basics here because 103 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,440 the basics are critical. And then we'll get into what 104 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:19,000 we'll zoom out and get into a slightly bigger picture that 105 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,040 helps us to be able to understand the mechanics of the 106 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:24,160 question that's being asked. First and foremost, Jesus didn't 107 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:26,560 die merely to prove that he was Jesus. 108 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,120 OK. And by the way, that's a, it's a 109 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:30,920 reasonable question to be asking. 110 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:36,320 His death was necessary because sin carries a penalty. 111 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:39,960 OK, We can simply start with what the Apostle Paul says in 112 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,880 the book of Romans. He says for the wages of sin is 113 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:45,440 death. And and that means sin is not 114 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:48,720 just a mistake or a moral failure creates real guilt 115 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:51,880 before a very holy and a just God. 116 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,800 He stands in perfection. And there there is a requirement 117 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,560 to forgive or to deal with that sin. 118 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:01,840 I got a little ahead of myself when I brought in the word 119 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:04,800 forgive. Now God cannot simply ignore sin 120 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:08,640 and still remain perfectly just. If he did that, then there's a 121 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,720 bigger problem involved, right? A righteous judge has to deal 122 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:14,960 with guilt. He can't be a righteous judge 123 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,640 and say, OK, well, we're just going to let this go, go by 124 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:20,400 because I like you. That would make him a deeply 125 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:22,840 unrighteous judge. And that's a, that's a, that's a 126 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:26,520 big issue. So This is why the Old Testament 127 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:29,960 sacrificial system is deeply significant. 128 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:33,040 It's why it matters. God established the principle of 129 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:37,240 substitution. It really speaks of an innocent 130 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:40,560 sacrifice that dies in the place of the guilty. 131 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:44,240 Now the book of Hebrews says in Chapter 9, I believe it is. 132 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:46,800 You'll have to, we'll have to look it up to Fact Check, but I 133 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:52,160 believe it's Chapter 9 it says without shedding of blood is no 134 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:53,840 remission. So without the shedding of blood 135 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:57,800 there is no remission of sins. So those animal sacrifices were 136 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:01,200 never the final answer, but they were a temporary solution. 137 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:05,560 They always pointed forward to Christ Jesus was uniquely 138 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:10,600 qualified to die for us because he had no sin of His own. 139 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:13,000 OK, Second Corinthians confirms that. 140 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:19,400 It says For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin 141 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:22,800 that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 142 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:25,240 Now that doesn't mean that Jesus became sinful. 143 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:27,000 That's not what it speaks about at all. 144 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:31,040 It means our guilt was placed upon him judicially. 145 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:35,799 OK Isaiah chapter 53 speaks of this very prophetically. 146 00:08:35,799 --> 00:08:38,480 He says he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised 147 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:41,640 for our iniquities. And then he later on he says 148 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:45,360 this is just a just a little bit down in the verse he says, and 149 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:50,160 the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 150 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:55,400 So the death on the cross is substitution in in essence. 151 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:59,400 In other words, we were guilty, he was innocent, we deserve 152 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:04,240 judgment and he in essence took that judgment on for us. 153 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:10,680 So Jesus paid a debt that he didn't owe because we in essence 154 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:14,360 owed a debt that that we could never really pay. 155 00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:18,520 So when Jesus died, he said on the cross, he said it is 156 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:19,600 finished. OK. 157 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:22,080 Now the rendering of the imperfect in the Greek is very 158 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:24,600 uniquely consequential to being understand the grammatical 159 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:27,840 infrastructure of what's being said here, what it means when he 160 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:31,040 said it is finished. This is in John chapter 19 is 161 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:35,440 he's declaring that the work of redemption has been completed at 162 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:40,080 one point in history forever and the resurrection sealed that the 163 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:45,600 resurrection demonstrated his victory over sin and death. 164 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:47,800 Matter of fact, Romans chapter 4 actually tells us that. 165 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:50,360 It says he was raised again for our justification. 166 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:53,680 The apostle Paul justify doesn't justify. 167 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:57,080 He explains that justification when he said I've been crucified 168 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:00,240 with Christ, but it is no longer I that live, but Christ who 169 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:03,400 lives in me and the life that I now live is by faith in the Son 170 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:07,600 of God who gave himself for me. So it's it's pretty powerful. 171 00:10:07,680 --> 00:10:10,160 The old man dies. The new man is resurrected to 172 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:14,000 life and that's what's so critical now Christianity is is 173 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:16,320 not about this is the part that's amazing. 174 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:20,600 Christianity is not about, you know, becoming good enough for 175 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:22,880 God. If we could make ourselves 176 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:25,720 righteous, there would have been no need for the cross. 177 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:29,800 Salvation is by grace through faith. 178 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:34,840 OK, Because Christ did for us what we could never do for 179 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:37,320 ourselves. The only way a person can go to 180 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:41,200 heaven is by fulfilling the law of God perfectly. 181 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:44,080 That's what the Bible says. Now we've all broken the law of 182 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:45,800 God. My goodness, I've broken the law 183 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:49,000 of God just a few minutes before the Bible study. 184 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:52,280 I break the law of God every few seconds in my thought life. 185 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:57,040 We all break the law of God on a regular basis so nobody can 186 00:10:57,040 --> 00:11:01,720 actually live a perfect life. We're all damned to hell because 187 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:06,840 we've all broken the law of God. But the Bible tells us that when 188 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,320 we one day hear the words well done, good and faithful servant, 189 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:14,720 God is not going to look at the imperfect life that we lived. 190 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:17,200 He's going to look at the perfect life that Christ lived. 191 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:19,160 Why? Because the life that Christ 192 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:24,000 lived on this earth. He lived that life while wearing 193 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:28,040 a robe of righteousness that when he died on the cross and 194 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:31,560 took our sins, he takes off that robe of righteousness, gives it 195 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:35,640 to us, we put it on and the the Lord sees the perfect life that 196 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:39,240 Jesus lived. So he goes to us and he says, 197 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:43,120 well done, good and faithful servant, Jesus died in our 198 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:46,200 place. He died for our sins so that 199 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:50,320 anyone who places their faith in him can be forgiven, actually 200 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:52,880 reconciled to God and given eternal life. 201 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:55,120 Now I want to bring up an illustration that I think is 202 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:58,480 valid and I think critically important because I'm reminded 203 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:03,600 of Charlie's love, for example, of the Shabbat. 204 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:08,720 And this is such a, a great place to kind of think this 205 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:11,360 through. But you know, I, I can't help 206 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:15,760 but to think about what happened in the Old Testament. 207 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:21,400 The Bible tells us that when the Lord wanted to confront the 208 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:27,080 Pharaoh and let his people go from slavery, the last plague 209 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:29,800 was the death of or the death Angel. 210 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:33,560 That would be the the, the execution of the first born in 211 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:37,560 every part of that land, and not only Goshen where the Jews 212 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:39,120 lived, but the Egyptians as well. 213 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:42,640 So God said you had to take a perfect lamb, you had to kill 214 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:45,280 it. You had to take the blood, apply 215 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:47,560 it to the doorpost of the house. There were other things that 216 00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:49,800 they had to do. And then the death Angel would 217 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:53,600 see the blood on the doorpost of that house and whoever was in 218 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:56,160 that house, death would Passover. 219 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:59,160 Now the Bible tells us from what we read in Hebrews, that the 220 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:02,640 blood of Jesus is sprinkled upon the doorpost of our heart and 221 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:05,800 death now passes over. And what's different with the 222 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:08,680 blood of Jesus being shed is it's once and for all. 223 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:13,320 There's no longer the need for an animal to be sacrificed 224 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:18,200 because of what Christ has done. And that in essence, is what 225 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:21,440 makes this so remarkable. That's what makes this so 226 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:25,080 beautiful, is that the death of Jesus did that for us. 227 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:29,040 And there's something really beautiful, really remarkable 228 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:32,200 about that picture. And that's why we look at this 229 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:33,240 as such. It's critical. 230 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:35,160 It's, it's very, very important to understand that. 231 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:41,000 And also to to our new readers there that we have on our app 232 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:43,240 and, and also we share it sometimes in our emails. 233 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:48,320 Pastor James does a really great midweek series on stuff. 234 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:53,600 And I just highly encourage you to just watch that. 235 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:55,600 Look at his videos on jameskitties.com. 236 00:13:55,880 --> 00:14:00,080 But also just take it upon yourself to dig a little bit 237 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:04,200 deeper on on some on some stuff. But you usually do it on 238 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:08,360 Wednesdays usually. The midweek study is is 239 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:09,280 Thursdays. Thursdays. 240 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:10,440 That's always Wednesday or Thursday. 241 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:11,320 Yeah, yeah. Thursday night. 242 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:15,760 Yep. OK, our next scripture question 243 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:18,560 is from Robin. Did Adam and Eve have a 244 00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:21,240 glorified body before the fall like Christ after the 245 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:23,560 resurrection? If not, does that mean death 246 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:27,040 existed in the Garden of Eden? And regarding Christians who are 247 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:29,560 raptured alive, what happens to their physical body? 248 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:33,720 I know corruptible flesh cannot enter into heaven. 249 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:37,120 Does the body remain on earth or is it transformed to the type of 250 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:40,640 body Adam and Eve had that Jesus had after the resurrection? 251 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:45,360 OK, this is boy, I know there's. A lot there. 252 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:48,120 Yeah, it is a that, that this one. 253 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:50,400 I'll see if I can keep this within 5 minutes because 254 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:52,320 there's, it's a, it's an amazing question. 255 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:55,320 It's a very thought. It's a thinking man's question, 256 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:58,920 or in this case, a thinking woman's question, and it 257 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:01,520 deserves some thorough discussion. 258 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:04,920 OK, let's start off with this. First of all, Adam and Eve did 259 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:09,880 not have glorified bodies like the resurrected body of Jesus. 260 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:13,200 Their bodies were created in a perfect condition. 261 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:17,000 They were created sinless and without the corruption that came 262 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,880 through the fall. But that is not the same thing 263 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:24,880 as a glorified resurrected body. OK, so that's a very, very 264 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:27,520 important The Bible tells us that through one man, sin 265 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:30,200 entered the world, death followed that, and that's where 266 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:32,000 the important distinction exists. 267 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:35,320 Now there is another or there's a series of very critical 268 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:38,200 distinctions here. Another one is the distinction 269 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:42,920 between what we would call innocence and glorification. 270 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:48,200 Adam was created innocent, the believers resurrection body is 271 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:51,240 actually glorified. OK so they're 2 completely 272 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:55,080 different things and the necessity for the glorified body 273 00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:58,800 was not created by the condition of sin that man created. 274 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:01,800 OK, that so So we can't conflate the two of those. 275 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:06,920 Now, Adam's body was still a natural human body. 276 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:12,160 OK, First Corinthians chapter 15 calls Adam the first man Adam. 277 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:14,240 That's what it says. And it contrasts him with 278 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:17,240 Christ, who's referred to, of course, as the last Adam. 279 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:19,560 Now, there's a reason why Christ is referred to as the last Adam. 280 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:22,760 That's a whole Bible college class that we could that we 281 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:25,800 could get into. But later on after he says that 282 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:28,640 in First Corinthians 15, which by the way is like the perfect 283 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:31,120 resurrection chapter, this is where we get a lot of these 284 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,640 conclusions from. He says that the first man is of 285 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:37,760 the earth and he even goes as far as to say earthly. 286 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:39,760 He says of the earth. He pauses. 287 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:44,000 He says earthly. The second man is the Lord from 288 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:46,320 heaven. So there's a major distinction 289 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:48,960 here. Now Adam and Eve were capable of 290 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:51,200 dying. That's demonstrated by God's 291 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:55,000 warning in Genesis chapter 2 verse 17 because he says for in 292 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:58,680 the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. 293 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:03,200 When he warned them concerning, concerning the fruit of the tree 294 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:04,680 that they were not supposed supposed to eat. 295 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:08,760 OK, so we know that they were physically capable of dying even 296 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:10,760 when they were in their state of perfection. 297 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:14,720 Now that does not mean that human death was already 298 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:17,480 occurring before the fall. As a matter of fact, Romans 299 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:21,599 chapter 5 specifically connects human death to Adam's sin. 300 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:25,400 Again, I, I already shared this with you guys already, but he 301 00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:28,079 says through one man sin into the world. 302 00:17:28,079 --> 00:17:30,800 But there's a very important phrase that he puts after that, 303 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:34,600 and I just mentioned it a second ago, and death by sin. 304 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:38,720 So death was not entered into the world prior to that time. 305 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:43,720 So there's another, by the way, I would just call it a very 306 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:47,880 fascinating clue that you'll find in Genesis chapter 3 that 307 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:51,480 speaks to us about the actual fall of man and what happened 308 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:55,360 when man actually sinned against God and God actually prevented 309 00:17:55,360 --> 00:17:58,120 him from eating from the tree of life. 310 00:17:58,120 --> 00:17:59,120 I don't know if you remember that. 311 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:02,640 And it's interesting because the reason that God prevented him 312 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,720 from doing that, he actually states in the book of Genesis, 313 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:07,960 he says, lest he put forth his hand. 314 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:12,720 And I, I believe the way that it's worded is lest he put forth 315 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:16,720 his hand and take away, take away. 316 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:17,920 You know what, I'm going to just look it up. 317 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:18,960 So I don't, I don't just mess it up. 318 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:20,400 Hold on one second. Let me, I'm going to just look 319 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:21,960 it up really quickly because I think it's critical. 320 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:23,160 I don't want to mess this one up. 321 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:26,240 My memory serves me very, very well, but sometimes not 322 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:29,520 completely. So let me, let me, let me just 323 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:31,000 do this really quickly. OK? 324 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:33,040 Yeah. OK. 325 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:35,200 So yeah, it's it's it's close to what I remember. 326 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:41,080 Basically, it's what it's telling us is it's saying that 327 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:46,400 lest he put forth his hand. And the exact wording here is 328 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:48,320 oh, gosh, I lost it. Hold on a second. 329 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:49,720 Yeah. Yeah. 330 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:50,320 Yeah. Yeah. 331 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:52,200 Yeah, yeah, yeah. What just happened? 332 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:53,400 What just happened? What's happened? 333 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:56,000 OK, Yeah. Lest he put forth his hand and 334 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:00,880 take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever. 335 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:05,520 That's the sequence. So, so God did not want Adam to 336 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:09,600 live forever in his sinful state, so he prevented him from 337 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:13,760 doing that so that the the process of redemption would 338 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:17,640 bring him to the new state that would allow him to live and 339 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:21,000 flourish in that resurrected and glorified believer's body. 340 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:24,440 You know, that, by the way, immediately tells us that Adam 341 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:29,520 himself did not possess some immortality that inherently 342 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,000 exist in the same sense as the resurrected believer will. 343 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:38,440 That's very clear to us. So a glorified believer, meaning 344 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:42,840 one who dies and, and experiences the glorified body, 345 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:46,760 he's not going to or she is not going to merely be someone who, 346 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:50,800 who, who doesn't happen to die. The glorified believer will 347 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:55,440 possess a body that absolutely cannot die and thus cannot be 348 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:58,360 exposed to sin. And by the way, it's interesting 349 00:19:58,360 --> 00:20:00,480 because Jesus actually says this. 350 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:04,560 He talks about the resurrected believers by saying neither can 351 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,200 they die anymore. And that's a major difference. 352 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:09,520 He speaks about this, by the way, when he talks about being 353 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:12,040 the resurrection in the life, when he talks to Lazarus in Luke 354 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:16,680 chapter 20, he brings us up. It's, it's very important. 355 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:21,640 Now there's another. A question and I I want to go 356 00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:24,880 back and read it. There was the the question 357 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:26,400 mentioned something about the rapture. 358 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:29,680 Can you 'cause I lost? The read it just. 359 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:30,800 The part about the. Rapture. 360 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:35,800 There's a part about the Yeah, it says regarding and regarding 361 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:38,440 Christians who are raptured alive, what happens to their 362 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:41,680 physical body? I know corruptible flesh cannot 363 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:44,600 enter into heaven. Does the body remain on earth or 364 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:48,160 is it transformed to the type of body Adam and Eve, Adam and Eve 365 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:50,400 had and that Jesus had after the resurrection? 366 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:53,360 Yeah, it's a great question, like a phenomenal question. 367 00:20:53,360 --> 00:20:58,600 OK, so I just I missed it. OK, so the physical bodies, 368 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:02,400 their physical bodies don't get left behind. 369 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:06,360 First Corinthians 15 says that we shall not all sleep, but we 370 00:21:06,360 --> 00:21:10,760 shall all be changed. And he says the dead shall be 371 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:14,400 raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. 372 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:16,560 So that's the idea. Now I want you to notice the 373 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:20,600 word changed here. That is a very critical word in 374 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:23,720 the Greek language. It means that the living 375 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:25,760 believer doesn't have to die first. 376 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:29,240 There is a a a literal metamorphosis that actually 377 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:33,360 takes place. Now the rapture, at the rapture 378 00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:36,440 specifically, there are essentially two groups of people 379 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,920 that we see that we read about. And this, this is spoken of in 380 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:43,560 the book of First Thessalonians. We have dead believers who are 381 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,520 raised, meaning people who have gone to be with the Lord. 382 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:49,280 And then there are living believers who are actually 383 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:50,680 changed. That's the operative 384 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:53,880 terminology, dead, raised, living changed. 385 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:56,560 That's it's a, it's a very critical distinction. 386 00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,360 And you know, First Thessalonians, my goodness, I, I 387 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:02,600 could quote it in Greek. OK, we all have that memorized. 388 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:05,880 It says the dead in Christ. This is First Thessalonians 389 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,720 chapter 4, right in verse 16. It says the dead in Christ shall 390 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:15,000 rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught 391 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,120 up together with them in the clouds. 392 00:22:17,360 --> 00:22:22,680 So Paul explains exactly what happens to the body that's 393 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:25,240 talked about in First Corinthians chapter 15. 394 00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:29,520 Again, he says this corruptible must put on incorruption and 395 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:31,920 this mortal must put on immortality. 396 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:34,480 So the mortal body is therefore transformed. 397 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:37,320 That's the picture. There's a, there's an instant 398 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:39,480 transformation. It's not discarded. 399 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:42,200 Now people, a lot of people will say, OK, well, what happens 400 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:44,760 with, you know, bodies that have been cremated or bodies that 401 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:46,480 have been just completely decayed? 402 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,520 Well, he's the God of heaven. He's a creator of the universe. 403 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:52,880 You could theoretically take a person's DNA and construct their 404 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:54,600 whole body. Scientists have already known 405 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:56,920 that. So that's that's a non issue. 406 00:22:57,120 --> 00:22:59,480 God will bring those material together. 407 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:01,800 He created man from the dust of the earth. 408 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:06,520 So not very, not very difficult. Right now we have even more 409 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:08,600 clues in the Bible. Philippians. 410 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:11,040 I believe it's around chapter 2 or chapter. 411 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:13,960 Actually it's chapter 3 Philippians says that that the 412 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:17,080 Lord is going to change our vile body. 413 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:19,120 That's the word that's using my body's vile. 414 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:23,840 OK, you change our vile body that it may be fashioned like 415 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:26,960 unto his glorious body. I kind of look forward to that. 416 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:40,080 Like I, I, you know, it's, it's hard not to get emotional over 417 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:46,880 this, but I've already lost £350 or so and I am being very 418 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:50,720 aggressive about doing my absolute best to lose more. 419 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:56,720 Because before my children get too old, I look forward for the 420 00:23:56,720 --> 00:23:59,160 day to come where I can roll around in the grass with them 421 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:01,560 and on my back stare at the clouds. 422 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:06,480 Now I sit in a mobility scooter because of my nerve disease. 423 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:12,000 And I recognize the fact that that our bodies are limited. 424 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:16,320 OK, like I get it. And I also recognize that I bear 425 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:20,000 some of the responsibility for the condition of my body. 426 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:27,360 But I can also tell you that there will come a time where we 427 00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:30,960 will not deal with the limitations that our bodies 428 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:35,320 have. And I, I got to mute this. 429 00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:43,360 Hold on one second. I'm so looking forward to the 430 00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:46,280 resurrection of the believers body. 431 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:51,120 I think it's it's so spectacular. 432 00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:54,920 And this is an area that I tend to obsess over because it's 433 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:56,560 another part of the hope and the promise. 434 00:24:56,560 --> 00:25:03,160 And by the way, like, make no mistake about it, OK, there's 435 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:07,840 already muscle conditioning going on and all kinds of things 436 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:13,520 going on where by God's grace, I'm going to do that. 437 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:15,760 I'm going to be rolling around on the grass of my kids and 438 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:17,720 looking at clouds and laughing. It's, it's coming. 439 00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:23,720 The time is coming. It is my, my 2 month old will 440 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:26,200 probably be a couple of years old at that point. 441 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:31,600 And my 5 year old will still be crazy and young and, well, he'll 442 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:33,120 be 5. He's 3 right now. 443 00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:36,560 And and but it's going to happen anyway. 444 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:39,520 I obsess over this a little bit, you know, because if you look at 445 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:43,200 Adam before the fall, get your act together. 446 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:45,800 James, OK, He was, he was sinless. 447 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:50,880 He was uncorrupted. His body was clearly physical. 448 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:54,040 It wasn't a spiritual body. He was, you know, natural for 449 00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:56,960 all intents and purposes. He was definitely capable of 450 00:25:56,960 --> 00:26:01,440 death and he wasn't glorified. But Jesus after the resurrection 451 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:04,880 in the Bible says we will be in like manner of our Lord, OK, 452 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:07,560 his. The distinctions are clear. 453 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,000 It was physical and recognizable. 454 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:13,840 It could be touched, He could eat, He certainly could interact 455 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:18,480 with the physical world, but it was glorified, it was immortal, 456 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,040 and it was incorruptible. The Bible gives us those 457 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,720 characteristics and our bodies will be the same way. 458 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:28,040 We're going to be able to, they're they're going to be very 459 00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:30,720 physical and real, but they will be transformed. 460 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:33,520 They'll be incorruptible. And yes, by God's grace, we're 461 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:35,640 going to still eat. There's some big meals happening 462 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:38,200 in heaven. So it's going to be fashioned 463 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:43,520 like Christ's glorious body, no longer subject to disease or 464 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,280 aging or corruption or, or death. 465 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,960 And and that's where it becomes so spectacularly beautiful. 466 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:55,040 The rapture. It, it is not God abandoning the 467 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:57,760 physical body, it's God actually transforming it. 468 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:01,920 So, so the Christian doesn't become a a disembodied spirit 469 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:03,480 for eternity doesn't work that way. 470 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:09,000 God's ultimate purpose is in essence the resurrection where 471 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:11,760 the redeemed person, the person who's put their faith and trust 472 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:16,080 in Christ possesses a very real physical, but the operative 473 00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:20,200 terminology here is glorified body that is patterned directly 474 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:22,240 after the resurrected body of Christ. 475 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:23,920 That's why he's the first fruits of the resurrection. 476 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:28,200 So we took a little bit more time with it, but hopefully it's 477 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:32,480 an, you know, little bit of a, but you know, I know I so it's 478 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:36,520 terrible, but hopefully, but hopefully it's encouraging, you 479 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:38,120 know, that people understand what it means. 480 00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:40,320 It's a good question. Charlie felt that way about his 481 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:41,960 back. He wanted to be able to run 482 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:44,720 around with the kids and it just was really hard with his back 483 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:46,000 so. I remember. 484 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:49,960 Yeah. Our next question is from 485 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:54,520 Anonymous. It's first John chapter 3 verse 486 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:58,640 16 reads by this. We know love, that He laid down 487 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:02,400 his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the 488 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,840 brothers. Is this to be read literally? 489 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:08,920 Is a Christian obliged to lay down his life for another 490 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:11,320 Christian? Maybe this question comes simply 491 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:15,080 from my lack of zeal, but I just don't think it's reasonable or 492 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:19,640 realistic for one's Christian faith to be evidenced by a 493 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:22,920 willingness to sacrifice one's life for another Christian, 494 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:27,120 especially in a time when church abuse seems so visible. 495 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:33,280 Man we. Boy, we, we, we are getting. 496 00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:34,400 We are. Getting loaded. 497 00:28:35,120 --> 00:28:40,360 Loaded biblical questions. OK, so yes, quite simply. 498 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:44,200 And by the way, I I will tell you that when I used to teach 499 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,800 Greek in the Bible college, my requirement was our Bible 500 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:50,360 college students had to start the translation project, the 501 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:53,120 first John. So this is one of those very 502 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:57,520 familiar passages to me that that make very, very clear 503 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:00,880 sense. So yes, the answer in short is 504 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:05,400 first, John 316 should be taken very seriously and quite 505 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:08,400 literally. But we have to understand what 506 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:11,080 John means by lay down our lives. 507 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:15,720 He's establishing in what I would define as being the 508 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:19,680 highest expression of of what we what we term Christian love. 509 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:23,960 OK, not commanding Christians to know like recklessly seek 510 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:26,520 opportunities to die. That's not what it says. 511 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:30,640 If you read it in the King James, this is exactly what he 512 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:36,080 says. He says hereby perceive, hereby 513 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:40,840 perceive we the love of God because he had laid down his 514 00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:44,000 life for us. And and then it says, and we 515 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:46,680 ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 516 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,560 Now there's a Greek phrase there that's translated lay down his 517 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:55,280 life. It's it's tense Ato ethen. 518 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:59,720 Now the the key verb is very critical. 519 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:03,880 It's the it's the word that we identify as tithumai, which 520 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:10,320 which which is defined as to place or put or set down or lay 521 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,680 down South psyche. That word psyche that's using 522 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:20,000 that phrase can actually mean a life or an actual person or 523 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:27,560 almost like a, a, a self depending, like depending on the 524 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:30,040 context, OK, it can actually mean self depending. 525 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:35,760 So I would just say that it plainly refers to Christ giving 526 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:39,520 his life for us, right? He gave his life and death. 527 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:41,680 That's the that's the description. 528 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:44,640 So when you look at the parallel, the same basic 529 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:48,160 expression is repeated to us. Now we go back to original 530 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:52,560 authors because John in in in his gospel account said the same 531 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:54,000 thing. He said the Good Shepherd does 532 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:55,760 what he gives his life for his sheep. 533 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:59,600 That's the John chapter 10 passage and, and he even says 534 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:02,680 it, Jesus says it. I lay down my life for the 535 00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:05,200 sheep. So this is another very 536 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:09,320 important Greek word in that verse and that that word cannot 537 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:11,360 be missed. That is the word we ought. 538 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:13,200 It's it's what translates to we ought. 539 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:17,040 It carries the idea of like owning somebody. 540 00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:19,680 It's the same terminology that the apostle Paul uses. 541 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:22,000 Not the same Greek word, but the same terminology where he says 542 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:25,080 it's our reasonable service that we do this. 543 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:28,800 Now. That means John is not 544 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:34,680 presenting sacrificial love as like some optional extra for 545 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:40,000 unusually devoted Christians. OK, the the next verse tells us 546 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:44,040 exactly how John expects this this principle to actually 547 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:46,800 operate in the everyday Christian life. 548 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:50,600 Look what he says. He says, but who so hath this 549 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:54,120 world's good and seeth his brother that have need. 550 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:57,280 And, and I believe that the phrase is he shutteth up his 551 00:31:57,280 --> 00:31:59,600 bowels. I think that's the phrase that 552 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:03,080 he shut up his bowels of compassion from him. 553 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:05,640 Then he imposes A rhetorical question. 554 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:08,600 And by the way, you know, we use rhetorical questions all the 555 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:10,600 time. What a rhetorical question means 556 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:13,600 is, is that you impose a question and the imposition of 557 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:15,920 that question, the answer is so obvious that you're making a 558 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:18,880 statement. One of the examples that we use 559 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:21,880 is, are you kidding me? Well, I'm not asking if you're 560 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:24,200 kidding me. I'm saying what you're saying is 561 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:26,880 materially ridiculous or, or are you nuts? 562 00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:29,080 Are you crazy? I'm not asking if you're crazy. 563 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:31,400 I'm saying you're crazy by asking you a question where the 564 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:32,760 answer is obvious. Right. 565 00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:38,320 So, so the last portion of that verse, he imposes a very 566 00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:42,280 rhetorical question. He says, how do we dwell? 567 00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:45,800 The how does the dwell of how does the love of God dwell in 568 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:47,440 him? I hope I'm not like terribly 569 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:49,440 butchering it, but that's the question that he asked. 570 00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:53,960 How does the the love of God dwell in that person who does 571 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:57,720 not respond to the need of the brother that's in front of him? 572 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:02,120 So I think this is a very, it's extremely important because John 573 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:06,480 moves immediately from the the subject of dying for your 574 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:09,160 brother to helping your brother like materially. 575 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:15,040 OK, so the, the words that John is sharing here is he starts 576 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:17,680 with the what, what I would call, you know, the maximum 577 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:20,000 expression of love. And that's what it is. 578 00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:22,120 And then he applies it to everyday life. 579 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:25,320 He says, hey, look, Christ gave his life for us. 580 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:29,760 Therefore, we as Christians, if we fully express our love to one 581 00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:34,680 another, it must fundamentally at its core be self sacrificial. 582 00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:39,040 If I claim that I would die for my brother while refusing to 583 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:44,000 help him when he's hungry or or hurting or in a in genuinely 584 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:47,440 need, then my claim is actually worthless because no, I wouldn't 585 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:49,720 die for him because right now I won't lay down my life and 586 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:51,880 sacrifice for him. And that matter of fact, it's 587 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:55,800 interesting because verse 18, he brings up this other word where 588 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:57,120 he says my little children decline. 589 00:33:57,120 --> 00:33:58,400 It's a very interesting Greek word. 590 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:03,120 He says my little children let us not love in Word. 591 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:07,080 And then he goes on to say neither in tongue, but then he 592 00:34:07,080 --> 00:34:12,120 goes on to say you need to do it in truth and indeed meaning you 593 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:15,440 have to be guided by what the word says concerning how you 594 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:17,159 live it. This is by the way, that the 595 00:34:17,159 --> 00:34:20,520 primary verse that I would use in defeating the garbage that 596 00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:23,679 the alphabet mafia continues to use when they say love is love. 597 00:34:23,679 --> 00:34:25,880 Actually love is not love. That's ridiculous. 598 00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:28,960 God is love. So, and then later on in first 599 00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:32,880 John chapter 4, he goes on to speak about it when he says, 600 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:35,360 beloved, let us love one another for lovers of God and everybody 601 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:37,760 that loveth, loveth. You get the whole passage. 602 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:39,520 It's actually a very beautiful passage. 603 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:42,040 You know, for he that loveth not loveth, not God. 604 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:43,760 Why? Because God is love. 605 00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:47,520 So he's building the argument into into chapter 4. 606 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:50,800 And I got to tell you first John is such an amazing, amazing, 607 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:52,880 amazing book. Matter of fact, three or four 608 00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:55,920 books down the line, once I'm finished with the Part 2 of the 609 00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:58,760 Revelation book and I get Daniel Dunn and Isaiah, I'm probably 610 00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:01,040 doing first John. It's, it's that good of a book. 611 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:06,000 But let me just simply say this. That is what the heart of the 612 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:10,720 passage actually is. John is attacking what he refers 613 00:35:10,720 --> 00:35:15,760 to as a Christianity that's not founded in the very core of what 614 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:18,360 Jesus did. I refer to it as theoretical 615 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:21,800 Christianity in some cases. Cultural Christianity is another 616 00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:24,960 good term to use here. It's very easy to say I love my 617 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:26,800 brothers and I love my sisters in Christ. 618 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:30,800 But John says that if you're going to love things, if you're 619 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:34,440 going to love people the way that God prescribes to do so, 620 00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:37,480 then that is going to involve sacrifice. 621 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:41,160 It's going to cost you something, you know, and, and, 622 00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:44,960 and I can't help but to think about the love that Charlie had 623 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:49,200 for all these kids and it costed him something the whole time he 624 00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:51,840 was alive and it costed him something when he went to go be 625 00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:55,880 with the Lord. I think that it doesn't have to 626 00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:59,000 include life every single time. It is a part of the way that you 627 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:01,040 live. Sometimes that cost can be 628 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:03,400 money. It definitely can be time. 629 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:05,520 Time is far more valuable than money will ever be. 630 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:09,320 It can be inconvenience it it can be placing yourself at a 631 00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:15,000 considerable a risk personally for the sake of the people that 632 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:17,760 are around you. And I think that that it it just 633 00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:21,240 means all of that. And again, Jesus said it greater 634 00:36:21,240 --> 00:36:23,960 love hath no man in this that he lay down his life for his 635 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:26,360 friend. And there is a major distinction 636 00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:31,560 between what we would call sacrificial love and and in 637 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:35,760 essence enabling abuse. OK and that's what the the the 638 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:37,760 area that I need to bring in the caveat. 639 00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:40,760 OK, there's nothing in first John chapter 3 that requires as 640 00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:44,640 a Christian to remain under some kind of spiritual, physical, 641 00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:48,880 sexual, financial, any kind of abuse institutionally or non 642 00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:51,560 institutionally. Christian love does not require 643 00:36:51,720 --> 00:36:56,240 abandoning discernment or allowing another person to 644 00:36:56,240 --> 00:36:57,840 manipulate you. As a matter of fact, that's the 645 00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:00,320 opposite of Christian love. It doesn't mean that every 646 00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:02,880 person who calls himself a Christian automatically, like, 647 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:05,760 receives unlimited access to your life or your family or your 648 00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:08,440 finances or even your trust. If that was the case and I 649 00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:12,160 wouldn't have a life right now, I say no to way more people than 650 00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:17,920 I say yes to as a matter of fact, in, in, in like the same 651 00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:22,320 kind of context, right? John tells us to have 652 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:26,120 discernment in that same, in that same context. 653 00:37:26,240 --> 00:37:28,800 What does he say in verse 1 of chapter 4? 654 00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:31,160 This is right on the heels of everything he said. 655 00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:33,760 He said believe not every spirit. 656 00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:36,640 And then he tells us to try the spirits, whether or not they're 657 00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:39,280 of God. So there's also something very 658 00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:41,800 important about that distinction. 659 00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:44,640 And by the way, he's not saying it to, to, to everybody. 660 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:48,840 He's saying it to the brethren. That's very, very important. 661 00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:51,320 And that's a that's a key and critical word here. 662 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:57,600 So when you when you take verses 161718, you put it all together, 663 00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:00,400 it gives us the supreme example, which is Christ. 664 00:38:00,720 --> 00:38:03,160 Verse 17 gives us like the everyday test. 665 00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:05,280 You see a need. Are you going to meet the need? 666 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:08,960 And verse 18 really in essence shares the whole principle, 667 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:11,640 right? Love can't exist merely in in 668 00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:16,440 the things that we that we say. It must eventually show itself 669 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:19,200 in in what we do. And again, Christ is the 670 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:21,280 ultimate example of this. I say this all the time. 671 00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:24,040 Christ didn't go to the cross willingly. 672 00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:26,960 He went to the cross obediently. He said, look, let this cup pass 673 00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:29,240 for me. Not my will be done, but thy 674 00:38:29,240 --> 00:38:31,600 will be done. And what we do sacrificially is 675 00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:34,080 an act of obedience. So it's having discernment. 676 00:38:34,240 --> 00:38:38,040 It's not a license for you to get abused, but it is something 677 00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:39,920 that requires you to live sacrificially. 678 00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:41,400 And that's not an easy thing to do. 679 00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:45,680 Amen. I'm going to hop to lifestyle 680 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:49,680 questions really quick and then we can go pepper back down to 681 00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:53,800 Scripture. This one's from Anne Marie, she 682 00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:55,920 says. I'd really love to hear your 683 00:38:55,920 --> 00:38:59,720 perspective on single parent adoption, particularly for 684 00:38:59,720 --> 00:39:03,000 Christian women who desire marriage and children but may 685 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:05,920 not find a husband in the time frame they had hoped for. 686 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:09,080 There's an interesting dynamic in the dating world right now. 687 00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:12,440 In my opinion, there seems to be a lack and godly men in the 688 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:14,840 church. I also have a history of cancer 689 00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:17,400 and it will be impossible for me to have children naturally. 690 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:22,320 Given my experience of a lack in the church history of cancer and 691 00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:25,440 inability to have children, I believe that finding a life 692 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:28,440 partner to handle all of that will be difficult, though my 693 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:31,880 heart is still open. Her question is, do you believe 694 00:39:31,880 --> 00:39:34,880 a single Christian woman can be called to adoption and provide a 695 00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:37,680 loving, stable home for a child while still holding a biblical 696 00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:40,200 view of marriage and hoping to marry in the future? 697 00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:43,240 And how would you respond to people who believe children 698 00:39:43,240 --> 00:39:45,440 should only be placed with married couples? 699 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:48,880 Any advice you have for me would be much appreciated. 700 00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:53,480 OK, so boy, this is a difficult one. 701 00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:58,840 And it's it's, it's a very, very hard to. 702 00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:10,880 Toward this in a way that is sensitive because look, let, let 703 00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:12,880 let me just say this there, there, there's, there's some 704 00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:17,200 things that I have to lay down find foundationally, OK. 705 00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:24,360 And mind you, I, I want to say this for the record, I am the 706 00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:27,320 father. I'm the proud father of four 707 00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:29,080 precious adopted children. OK? 708 00:40:29,080 --> 00:40:32,200 Let me let me just simply say that right off the bat, OK? 709 00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:35,280 But I have to say this because it's important. 710 00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:43,080 God's pattern from the beginning is father, mother and children, 711 00:40:48,660 --> 00:40:54,460 not merely a loving adult. And a child is what was in God's 712 00:40:54,500 --> 00:40:57,540 plan. Now we live in a fallen world. 713 00:40:58,680 --> 00:41:02,240 We have single moms, we have single dads, and those 714 00:41:02,240 --> 00:41:06,120 situations happen for a plethora of reasons. 715 00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:11,920 We have spouses who pass away, We have spouses who do evil 716 00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:19,440 things. And so there are things that 717 00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:24,760 happen that put us in that situation where people end up 718 00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:29,720 being single parents that never intended to be single parents. 719 00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:32,600 And those are the parents that I call heroes. 720 00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:34,840 I think they are absolute heroes. 721 00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:38,080 With that said, let me just simply say this. 722 00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:44,000 A father and a mother are not interchangeable parental units. 723 00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:49,240 They're not. They bring something distinct to 724 00:41:49,240 --> 00:41:55,720 the formation of a child. One of the greatest challenges 725 00:41:55,720 --> 00:41:59,800 of a single parent when they lose a spouse is to have to 726 00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:03,520 compensate for that condition that is created. 727 00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:07,600 And I believe that God supernaturally gives them the 728 00:42:07,600 --> 00:42:11,280 ability to be able to do that, even though it is less than 729 00:42:11,280 --> 00:42:14,200 ideal, because God allowed that to happen. 730 00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:20,960 For whatever reason, adoption is already responding to a tragedy 731 00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:25,200 or a broken circumstance in which a child has a lost the 732 00:42:25,200 --> 00:42:28,240 natural family structure that God intended. 733 00:42:28,240 --> 00:42:29,680 I think that's important to state. 734 00:42:29,960 --> 00:42:32,400 Adoptions don't come from pretty places. 735 00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:36,200 They come from really ugly, really messy places. 736 00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:41,640 The goal should ordinarily be to restore as much of that 737 00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:46,320 structure as possible, not intentionally create another 738 00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:49,320 absence. I want to be sensitive when I 739 00:42:49,320 --> 00:42:53,160 say this. OK, this is again where I would 740 00:42:53,160 --> 00:42:57,240 distinguish single parent adoption from widowhood or 741 00:42:57,240 --> 00:43:01,440 abandonment, or divorce or other circumstances that leave someone 742 00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:04,960 parenting alone. There is a massive difference 743 00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:08,800 between becoming a single parent through circumstances outside 744 00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:13,240 your control and intentionally choosing at the outset to create 745 00:43:13,240 --> 00:43:16,560 a household in which a child will have no father. 746 00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:23,360 The Bible's concern for the fatherless actually reinforces 747 00:43:23,360 --> 00:43:25,840 this. Like, I, I have no other way of 748 00:43:25,840 --> 00:43:29,160 putting this. Fatherlessness is being treated 749 00:43:29,160 --> 00:43:33,960 as a vulnerability to be cared for, not like some alternative 750 00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:36,480 family structure to be deliberately created. 751 00:43:36,560 --> 00:43:39,160 And I think that's a hard statement for me to, to make, 752 00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:41,840 but it's true. Psalm 68. 753 00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:46,160 I mean, it's the typical, it's the quintessential passage for 754 00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:49,360 that, a father of the fatherless, OK. 755 00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:54,160 It doesn't diminish fatherhood. It emphasizes how consequential 756 00:43:54,240 --> 00:43:56,560 the absence of a father actually is. 757 00:43:57,520 --> 00:44:00,400 And I'm saying that with all the sensitivity in the world, 758 00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:05,840 knowing who I'm saying this in front of James. 759 00:44:05,840 --> 00:44:10,360 Chapter 1 tells us to visit the fatherless and widows in their 760 00:44:10,360 --> 00:44:14,360 affliction. By the way, that's no small 761 00:44:14,360 --> 00:44:19,640 thing. People who mistreat widows who 762 00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:24,200 treat the fatherless with with anything other than visiting 763 00:44:24,200 --> 00:44:26,440 them in their affliction, God is going to judge them. 764 00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:32,320 I think that absolutely establishes our responsibility 765 00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:34,720 toward children who are vulnerable and children who 766 00:44:34,720 --> 00:44:36,960 don't have a father are vulnerable. 767 00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:42,880 It it does not establish single parent adoption as the biblical 768 00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:45,560 model for accomplishing it. And I and, and I know that 769 00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:46,760 that's a hard thing for me to say. 770 00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:49,920 Now, I, I, I will, I will say this because it is important. 771 00:44:50,600 --> 00:44:53,880 There may be extraordinary circumstances where the 772 00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:57,240 alternatives are genuinely terrible and a single Christian 773 00:44:57,400 --> 00:45:00,920 adopting a particular child is clearly preferable to 774 00:45:00,920 --> 00:45:04,280 abandonment or instability or institutional care. 775 00:45:04,680 --> 00:45:09,160 I would be very hesitant to turn an exceptional circumstance into 776 00:45:09,400 --> 00:45:11,320 a general principle. That's the thing I need you to 777 00:45:11,320 --> 00:45:14,360 understand. Like I, it, it, that is the 778 00:45:14,360 --> 00:45:15,960 exception. It's not the rule. 779 00:45:16,080 --> 00:45:19,240 It's like the situation where you see examples in the Bible of 780 00:45:19,240 --> 00:45:22,560 women taking on areas of spiritual leadership, but it 781 00:45:22,560 --> 00:45:25,080 wasn't because they were called to do it. 782 00:45:25,080 --> 00:45:27,320 It was because there was nobody else to do it. 783 00:45:28,280 --> 00:45:31,240 And I want to point this out like it's it's critical because 784 00:45:34,960 --> 00:45:39,320 look, we also have to address the issue that the inability to 785 00:45:39,320 --> 00:45:43,080 have biological children is a very heartbreaking issue. 786 00:45:43,400 --> 00:45:46,200 But that circumstance, and please bear with me, I'm doing 787 00:45:46,200 --> 00:45:48,720 this because I'm trying to be as loving as I possibly can. 788 00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:52,920 That circumstance by itself doesn't change the biblical 789 00:45:52,920 --> 00:45:59,120 design of the family. OK, So I, I think that that's 790 00:45:59,120 --> 00:46:01,640 important. And I would also be very careful 791 00:46:01,640 --> 00:46:04,920 with the argument that there are not enough godly men in the 792 00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:07,600 church. OK, there there may be very 793 00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:12,120 legitimate frustrations in the whole Christian dating world, 794 00:46:12,320 --> 00:46:16,360 but difficulty finding a husband does not give us authority to go 795 00:46:16,360 --> 00:46:20,240 back and redesign God's pattern because his pattern has become 796 00:46:20,240 --> 00:46:23,720 difficult to obtain. I want to make that clear and I 797 00:46:23,720 --> 00:46:26,960 I don't want to judge you. I'm not doing that at all. 798 00:46:27,160 --> 00:46:29,560 The desire for motherhood is good. 799 00:46:29,600 --> 00:46:33,040 God put that in you. The The desire for marriage is 800 00:46:33,040 --> 00:46:35,440 good, God put that in you. It's beautiful. 801 00:46:35,960 --> 00:46:39,320 Adoption can be an extraordinarily beautiful 802 00:46:39,320 --> 00:46:41,800 expression of God's love. As a matter of fact, I can't 803 00:46:41,800 --> 00:46:44,880 wait to tell my children that God adopted me and that's why 804 00:46:44,880 --> 00:46:46,480 I'm honored to have adopted them. 805 00:46:47,600 --> 00:46:51,800 But none of those good desires automatically answers the 806 00:46:51,800 --> 00:46:55,080 question of whether they should be pursued in in in every 807 00:46:55,080 --> 00:46:59,480 circumstance, the child's interests have to have to come 808 00:46:59,480 --> 00:47:01,960 before the adults desire to become a parent. 809 00:47:02,120 --> 00:47:06,440 And this is where adoption takes on a very scary turn because the 810 00:47:06,440 --> 00:47:11,760 primary question cannot simply be, can I successfully raise the 811 00:47:11,760 --> 00:47:14,280 child? The question should also be, am 812 00:47:14,280 --> 00:47:18,720 I deliberately placing this child into the family structure 813 00:47:18,720 --> 00:47:24,560 that most closely reflects what God's will is for that child? 814 00:47:25,520 --> 00:47:30,840 Now with that said, parenting is self sacrificing and that's 815 00:47:30,840 --> 00:47:33,520 where it starts. I would never. 816 00:47:34,680 --> 00:47:38,360 I would never personally treat a single woman wrestling with this 817 00:47:38,640 --> 00:47:41,920 as selfish or or or less faithful. 818 00:47:41,920 --> 00:47:43,760 That's a ridiculous assertion to make. 819 00:47:44,040 --> 00:47:48,120 But I would encourage persons struggling with this to keep 820 00:47:48,120 --> 00:47:52,160 asking the Lord right to to remain open to marriage and to 821 00:47:52,160 --> 00:47:56,960 refuse to make a permanent decision simply because you feel 822 00:47:56,960 --> 00:47:59,200 like time is running out. And I don't blame you for 823 00:47:59,200 --> 00:48:00,720 feeling that way. I don't. 824 00:48:01,600 --> 00:48:05,400 Sometimes I think trusting God means refusing to manufacture an 825 00:48:05,400 --> 00:48:09,720 answer to a very legitimate desire. 826 00:48:10,960 --> 00:48:15,080 OK, but because you haven't gotten an answer doesn't mean 827 00:48:15,320 --> 00:48:17,600 that you have the ability to put that through. 828 00:48:18,080 --> 00:48:22,040 By the way, I would make this same argument on many other 829 00:48:22,040 --> 00:48:23,520 levels when it comes to adoption. 830 00:48:23,520 --> 00:48:26,600 And I know that there are people who would adamantly disagree 831 00:48:26,600 --> 00:48:29,360 with me and I and I love them and God bless them. 832 00:48:29,360 --> 00:48:31,000 And it's not anything that I'm going to do to get in their 833 00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:33,560 face. But I will tell you this, I, I 834 00:48:33,560 --> 00:48:38,920 will take this one step further and I will simply say that when 835 00:48:38,920 --> 00:48:42,120 my wife, when my wife and I adopted our children, the first 836 00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:44,760 two children that we adopted came to us together. 837 00:48:45,640 --> 00:48:48,440 The older sister, the younger sister, one was 19 days old, the 838 00:48:48,440 --> 00:48:50,920 other one was two years and 10 months old. 839 00:48:50,920 --> 00:48:57,440 Whatever. We, Nicole already knew that she 840 00:48:57,440 --> 00:49:01,160 was going to quit work, that it was, she was putting in a 841 00:49:01,160 --> 00:49:03,400 resignation. That was a lot of money coming 842 00:49:03,400 --> 00:49:07,280 into our household every year. But we didn't adopt our children 843 00:49:08,040 --> 00:49:11,680 so that basically they would live in daycare. 844 00:49:12,920 --> 00:49:17,680 We knew that our children had to fully experience everything that 845 00:49:17,680 --> 00:49:21,040 God had made available to them in the family structure, which 846 00:49:21,040 --> 00:49:23,880 is why we wanted to preserve it. It's that simple. 847 00:49:24,600 --> 00:49:30,520 So single woman adopting a child, I think in general, not a 848 00:49:30,520 --> 00:49:32,760 good idea. There are some cases very 849 00:49:32,760 --> 00:49:36,320 nuanced where I think it's appropriate and it works and I 850 00:49:36,320 --> 00:49:39,120 totally understand it, especially in the foster system 851 00:49:39,120 --> 00:49:40,440 and some of the other things that are going on. 852 00:49:40,720 --> 00:49:43,400 But for the most part, I, I would, I would argue that it's 853 00:49:43,400 --> 00:49:48,400 not biblically ideal. I hope that was said sensitively 854 00:49:48,400 --> 00:49:50,120 because I I know this is a tough issue. 855 00:49:50,360 --> 00:49:58,680 It is, but it's you say it in a loving way and it's it's not 856 00:49:58,680 --> 00:50:01,520 easy. And I'm coming from the and, and 857 00:50:01,520 --> 00:50:04,760 listen, Erica, I'm, I'm coming from the conviction of a man who 858 00:50:04,760 --> 00:50:07,640 has spent thousands and thousands and thousands and 859 00:50:07,640 --> 00:50:09,320 thousands of hours in family counseling. 860 00:50:09,960 --> 00:50:14,760 I've counseled many families, you know, many couples. 861 00:50:14,760 --> 00:50:19,040 And you, you would be the first to be able to say this with, 862 00:50:19,040 --> 00:50:20,600 with clarity and with conviction. 863 00:50:21,200 --> 00:50:25,360 Parenting is not easy. It's an extraordinarily 864 00:50:25,360 --> 00:50:27,480 difficult process. And when you don't have the 865 00:50:27,480 --> 00:50:30,120 covering of your husband, it's so much harder. 866 00:50:31,480 --> 00:50:33,400 It's so much harder. And that's why I call single 867 00:50:33,400 --> 00:50:36,000 parents, single moms especially. They're heroes. 868 00:50:36,920 --> 00:50:39,240 They're heroes. There's nothing easy about that. 869 00:50:39,880 --> 00:50:42,400 Nothing. And I think any single mom would 870 00:50:42,400 --> 00:50:45,560 tell any woman, single woman who's wanting to adopt A child, 871 00:50:46,040 --> 00:50:50,520 really weigh this, think through it, because there are some gaps 872 00:50:50,520 --> 00:50:52,120 that are very, very difficult to fill. 873 00:50:52,120 --> 00:50:54,120 And only by God's grace do they get filled. 874 00:50:54,440 --> 00:50:58,200 Amen. The next lifestyle question is 875 00:50:58,200 --> 00:51:01,600 from Sydney, she said. I recently came across a 876 00:51:01,600 --> 00:51:06,160 discussion about therapeutic forgiveness versus a more 877 00:51:06,160 --> 00:51:10,040 biblical view of forgiveness. The distinction made was that 878 00:51:10,040 --> 00:51:13,520 the idea of privately forgiving someone in your own heart 879 00:51:13,520 --> 00:51:16,680 without repentance or any interaction with the other 880 00:51:16,680 --> 00:51:20,320 person is a relatively modern understanding of forgiveness. 881 00:51:20,640 --> 00:51:24,280 Instead, it was argued that biblical forgiveness is 882 00:51:24,280 --> 00:51:27,720 relational and requires repentance from the person who 883 00:51:27,720 --> 00:51:30,920 has sinned against you. They compared this to God's 884 00:51:30,920 --> 00:51:34,160 forgiveness of us. God loves everyone and offers 885 00:51:34,160 --> 00:51:37,240 forgiveness, but forgiveness itself is connected to 886 00:51:37,240 --> 00:51:39,720 repentance. From that perspective, when 887 00:51:39,720 --> 00:51:44,000 someone has wronged us but has not repented, our responsibility 888 00:51:44,000 --> 00:51:47,040 is still to release bitterness, anger, and the desire for 889 00:51:47,040 --> 00:51:50,520 personal vengeance to God, pray for that person, refused to 890 00:51:50,520 --> 00:51:53,560 gossip or harbor resentment, and genuinely desire their 891 00:51:53,560 --> 00:51:57,720 repentance and restoration. However, they argued that actual 892 00:51:57,720 --> 00:52:01,320 forgiveness cannot take place until the person repents. 893 00:52:01,760 --> 00:52:05,040 Does this understanding of forgiveness align with how you 894 00:52:05,040 --> 00:52:08,040 interpret Scripture? Is the distinction between 895 00:52:08,040 --> 00:52:10,720 releasing bitterness and actually forgiving someone 896 00:52:10,720 --> 00:52:19,160 biblically supported? OK, This is this is this is kind 897 00:52:19,160 --> 00:52:25,040 of heavy. I'm being signaled by somebody 898 00:52:25,040 --> 00:52:26,560 here. Excuse me one second. 899 00:52:26,560 --> 00:52:28,080 Just give me, just give me one second. 900 00:52:28,120 --> 00:52:29,520 I'm so sorry. No, you're fine. 901 00:52:32,560 --> 00:52:34,440 This, this is just one second. I'm I'm very sorry. 902 00:52:34,440 --> 00:52:35,760 Hold on one second. I'm so sorry. 903 00:52:35,760 --> 00:52:39,880 This has never happened. My assistant will not signal me 904 00:52:39,880 --> 00:52:42,720 for some kind of an emergency if it wasn't sorry. 905 00:52:43,000 --> 00:52:44,280 No one second. No, no, this is. 906 00:52:44,360 --> 00:52:46,960 Live What do you need quickly I'm on I'm on I'm. 907 00:53:16,840 --> 00:53:17,480 OK. Sorry. 908 00:53:17,480 --> 00:53:20,520 All right. That wasn't the emergency that I 909 00:53:20,520 --> 00:53:22,320 thought it was my. God, that's OK, Call me on. 910 00:53:22,680 --> 00:53:23,880 Hey, sorry about that. OK. 911 00:53:24,160 --> 00:53:27,520 When the kids or anyone call, I answer first ring. 912 00:53:27,920 --> 00:53:30,560 Yeah, like I know, yeah, if it's my wife, I'm picking up no 913 00:53:30,560 --> 00:53:32,280 problem. This was my assistant and he's 914 00:53:32,280 --> 00:53:33,560 like, we got to talk. We got to talk. 915 00:53:33,560 --> 00:53:37,360 I'm like, OK, all right. So it's it's about the car being 916 00:53:37,360 --> 00:53:38,680 at the dealership. It's not. 917 00:53:38,720 --> 00:53:43,040 That's not an emergency. I mean in the. 918 00:53:43,040 --> 00:53:45,400 Eyes. Yeah, no, I get it. 919 00:53:45,400 --> 00:53:47,240 He's he's. Amazing, but OK. 920 00:53:47,280 --> 00:53:53,040 So for this one, it's just to recap, it's about forgiveness 921 00:53:53,040 --> 00:53:57,520 and if your forgiveness is truly actually forgiveness if the 922 00:53:57,520 --> 00:54:01,720 other person does not repent. Yeah, I think the key is in the 923 00:54:01,720 --> 00:54:05,280 question the the the the last part of the question where it 924 00:54:05,280 --> 00:54:08,800 says something like the distinction between well, let me 925 00:54:08,840 --> 00:54:10,640 let me go back. Can you read the last two? 926 00:54:10,840 --> 00:54:12,600 There's two questions that she asked at the very. 927 00:54:12,640 --> 00:54:17,120 End they They argued that actual forgiveness cannot take place 928 00:54:17,120 --> 00:54:20,000 until the person repents. Does this understanding of 929 00:54:20,000 --> 00:54:22,160 forgiveness align with how you interpret Scripture? 930 00:54:22,160 --> 00:54:24,400 Is the distinction between releasing bitterness and 931 00:54:24,400 --> 00:54:26,760 actually forgiving someone biblically supported? 932 00:54:27,680 --> 00:54:32,400 OK, Yeah, I think that distinction is is, yeah, I. 933 00:54:32,440 --> 00:54:34,240 Think so? They're saying that the 934 00:54:34,320 --> 00:54:39,000 forgiveness, it requires someone to repent. 935 00:54:40,120 --> 00:54:43,360 The person who has sinned against you, they need to repent 936 00:54:43,360 --> 00:54:48,280 in order for the forgiveness. I guess it needs to be connected 937 00:54:48,280 --> 00:54:51,240 to the repentance of. Yeah, I think what's happening 938 00:54:51,240 --> 00:54:52,920 is she's asking about the distinction. 939 00:54:53,200 --> 00:54:57,360 She's asking whether is the distinction between releasing 940 00:54:57,360 --> 00:54:59,800 bitterness and actually forgiving somebody. 941 00:55:00,120 --> 00:55:04,240 A biblically supported one involves the internal thought 942 00:55:04,240 --> 00:55:06,120 process. The other one involves how you 943 00:55:06,120 --> 00:55:08,280 extend yourself to the to the person. 944 00:55:08,280 --> 00:55:11,800 OK, so I do think that that distinction is substantially 945 00:55:11,800 --> 00:55:16,680 biblical as long as we actually define the terms very carefully. 946 00:55:16,680 --> 00:55:18,640 OK, so let's just start with this. 947 00:55:19,080 --> 00:55:24,680 The Bible does not present forgiveness as a mere internal 948 00:55:25,040 --> 00:55:28,200 emotional release. That's just not true, OK? 949 00:55:28,200 --> 00:55:32,680 Biblical forgiveness is fundamentally relational, OK, 950 00:55:32,760 --> 00:55:36,560 And it's moral. It's not just therapeutic as as 951 00:55:37,160 --> 00:55:40,720 it's being defined here. Luke chapter 17 tells us this. 952 00:55:40,720 --> 00:55:43,480 If thy brother, that's the operative terminology, right? 953 00:55:43,480 --> 00:55:47,400 If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him, and if he 954 00:55:47,400 --> 00:55:51,520 repent, forgive him. So that verse directly connects 955 00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:56,640 forgiveness with repentance so that the pattern, this is the, 956 00:55:56,680 --> 00:55:59,120 this is the pattern and this is going to help people understand 957 00:55:59,560 --> 00:56:05,120 sin occurs, then the sin is confronted, repentance takes 958 00:56:05,120 --> 00:56:07,800 place, then forgiveness is extended. 959 00:56:08,720 --> 00:56:13,160 OK, That's very different from saying I privately forgave him 960 00:56:13,160 --> 00:56:16,280 in my heart even though he remains like completely 961 00:56:16,280 --> 00:56:18,920 unrepentant. That's not even reasonable. 962 00:56:19,080 --> 00:56:23,000 God's own forgiveness that he extends to us follows the same 963 00:56:23,000 --> 00:56:25,640 pattern, right? God is loving towards sinners 964 00:56:25,760 --> 00:56:28,480 before they repent. He's patient with us, you know, 965 00:56:28,520 --> 00:56:31,280 before we repent. He offers forgiveness to us 966 00:56:31,400 --> 00:56:35,440 before we repent. But God calls sinners to himself 967 00:56:35,440 --> 00:56:40,320 before they actually repent, you know, so, so that, that that's 968 00:56:40,320 --> 00:56:43,200 critical. Now, the actual application of 969 00:56:43,200 --> 00:56:49,480 forgiveness is, is critical because we put our faith and 970 00:56:49,480 --> 00:56:52,600 trust in Jesus. Then after we put our faith and 971 00:56:52,600 --> 00:56:56,360 trust in Jesus, there's an internal change that takes place 972 00:56:56,920 --> 00:56:59,560 and repentance follows it. That's where this can get really 973 00:56:59,560 --> 00:57:00,920 money. And this is where this could get 974 00:57:01,200 --> 00:57:06,440 very, very critical, OK. The application of forgiveness 975 00:57:06,480 --> 00:57:10,840 is connected to not only repentance, but to faith, as I 976 00:57:10,840 --> 00:57:15,040 just mentioned. OK, so we see this, by the way, 977 00:57:15,040 --> 00:57:17,640 all over the Bible now. I think the same distinction can 978 00:57:17,640 --> 00:57:20,080 help us understand what interpersonal forgiveness should 979 00:57:20,080 --> 00:57:22,320 look like. As a Christian, if someone sins 980 00:57:22,320 --> 00:57:25,840 against me and refuses to repent, listen, I'm still 981 00:57:25,840 --> 00:57:30,040 commanded to do several things. I cannot feed into hatred. 982 00:57:30,600 --> 00:57:34,320 I can't seek personal vengeance or, you know, speak maliciously 983 00:57:34,320 --> 00:57:37,000 of the person or or rejoice in their downfall. 984 00:57:37,000 --> 00:57:38,840 Like I can't do any of those things, right. 985 00:57:39,040 --> 00:57:41,480 I should even pray for the repentance that that's a 986 00:57:41,480 --> 00:57:45,160 biblical model. I should certainly have a desire 987 00:57:45,160 --> 00:57:47,280 in my heart that God is going to have to build in my heart 988 00:57:47,280 --> 00:57:49,600 because I'm the kind of person that, you know, I'm not going to 989 00:57:49,600 --> 00:57:52,400 be all sad when you hurt me. I'm going to be angry. 990 00:57:52,400 --> 00:57:53,840 You know, that's just the way I am. 991 00:57:54,320 --> 00:57:58,200 I'm, I'm not the type that, you know, wants to just, you know, 992 00:57:58,240 --> 00:58:00,280 end and defeat. I want to end to you and defeat. 993 00:58:00,280 --> 00:58:02,200 You know what I mean? That's just my, my flesh, the 994 00:58:02,200 --> 00:58:06,120 evil James in me, right? So I should desire restoration 995 00:58:06,200 --> 00:58:08,200 wherever restoration is going to be possible. 996 00:58:08,360 --> 00:58:12,720 But more importantly, it's my job to leave judgment with God. 997 00:58:13,440 --> 00:58:16,560 OK, Roman says it. Vengeance is mine, I'll repay, 998 00:58:16,560 --> 00:58:18,160 saith the Lord. We know that. 999 00:58:18,280 --> 00:58:22,280 Now this is where the idea of releasing bitterness is a very 1000 00:58:22,280 --> 00:58:26,640 biblical idea, right? Being bitter is like, look, 1001 00:58:26,680 --> 00:58:29,600 being bitter at somebody is like drinking poison and expecting 1002 00:58:29,600 --> 00:58:32,040 the poison to kill that person. All he will do is hurt you. 1003 00:58:32,640 --> 00:58:34,280 Ephesians chapter 4 tells us that. 1004 00:58:34,280 --> 00:58:37,160 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor, evil speaking, 1005 00:58:37,160 --> 00:58:38,840 all that, let it be put away from you. 1006 00:58:39,040 --> 00:58:42,440 That's what it says. Releasing bitterness is not 1007 00:58:42,440 --> 00:58:48,080 necessarily identical in any way to relational forgiveness. 1008 00:58:48,080 --> 00:58:51,160 They're very different, OK. Forgiveness in the biblical 1009 00:58:51,160 --> 00:58:55,520 sense involves the cancellation of a moral debt in a 1010 00:58:55,520 --> 00:58:58,520 relationship. That's why repentance matters. 1011 00:58:58,680 --> 00:59:01,760 I can't cancel a moral debt to somebody if they don't come to 1012 00:59:01,760 --> 00:59:04,160 me and ask me to cancel that moral debt. 1013 00:59:05,000 --> 00:59:07,200 And that's going to involve them being repented. 1014 00:59:07,440 --> 00:59:10,400 If the offending person refuses to acknowledge that they've been 1015 00:59:10,400 --> 00:59:14,000 wrong or rejects any kind of correction, they remain 1016 00:59:14,320 --> 00:59:18,120 committed to that offense. So the relationship is not 1017 00:59:18,120 --> 00:59:20,680 actually reconciled. It's not even actuated. 1018 00:59:21,200 --> 00:59:25,600 So this is also why forgiveness and reconciliation should not be 1019 00:59:25,600 --> 00:59:29,720 collapsed into the same thing. They are very closely connected, 1020 00:59:29,880 --> 00:59:33,320 but they're not the same thing. You, you can have a heart that 1021 00:59:33,320 --> 00:59:36,960 is completely free, a vengeance, while still recognizing that 1022 00:59:36,960 --> 00:59:40,640 reconciliation has not occurred. And even when you recognize 1023 00:59:40,640 --> 00:59:43,480 reconciliation has not occurred, you have every right biblically 1024 00:59:43,480 --> 00:59:47,640 to demand justice in that context, including not limited 1025 00:59:47,640 --> 00:59:50,960 to all the things that God has made available in our laws of 1026 00:59:50,960 --> 00:59:53,520 the land to be able to effectuate these things. 1027 00:59:54,000 --> 00:59:56,560 You can desire someone's restoration while still 1028 00:59:56,560 --> 00:59:58,760 maintaining significant boundaries. 1029 00:59:59,000 --> 01:00:03,480 You can pray for someone very, very easily. 1030 01:00:03,640 --> 01:00:06,840 And you don't have to pretend that there's trust that's there 1031 01:00:07,240 --> 01:00:09,640 when there's no reason for that trust to be restored. 1032 01:00:10,240 --> 01:00:12,680 Like literally, you can be a person who rejects. 1033 01:00:13,440 --> 01:00:15,880 You know, the bitterness that you feel in your heart while 1034 01:00:15,880 --> 01:00:18,040 still calling what they've done evil. 1035 01:00:18,120 --> 01:00:20,800 That's that's the, the the the picture. 1036 01:00:20,800 --> 01:00:25,440 Look, Matthew 18 reinforces the rationale behind this kind of 1037 01:00:25,720 --> 01:00:28,080 pattern. Jesus gives a process for 1038 01:00:28,080 --> 01:00:31,160 confronting a brother who actually sins and he tells them, 1039 01:00:31,280 --> 01:00:32,920 this is how you escalate it, right? 1040 01:00:33,200 --> 01:00:35,960 Contrary to popular belief, everybody, lots of pastors, they 1041 01:00:35,960 --> 01:00:37,840 open up and pray. They say, Lord, we're two or 1042 01:00:37,840 --> 01:00:39,320 more gathered. You're here in the midst and we 1043 01:00:39,320 --> 01:00:40,520 know you're here because we're all here. 1044 01:00:40,520 --> 01:00:41,920 That's not what that passage means. 1045 01:00:42,800 --> 01:00:46,520 That passage gives us a mechanism of escalation in 1046 01:00:46,520 --> 01:00:49,800 confrontation when sin is actually being observed. 1047 01:00:50,520 --> 01:00:55,560 And that's a huge, huge deal. That's no small thing. 1048 01:00:55,600 --> 01:00:57,720 No, I, I would, I would just simply say this. 1049 01:00:59,520 --> 01:01:02,720 And it's, and it's critical, OK. It's very, very critical. 1050 01:01:03,920 --> 01:01:06,720 There is a major problem also, and I don't want this to be 1051 01:01:06,720 --> 01:01:08,560 picked up. There's, there's a major problem 1052 01:01:08,560 --> 01:01:12,680 with, with, and I've heard this being used before, right? 1053 01:01:12,680 --> 01:01:16,760 What they call the modern therapeutic model when it, when 1054 01:01:16,760 --> 01:01:19,720 it tells people that forgiveness means pretending the 1055 01:01:19,720 --> 01:01:23,120 relationship is restored, regardless of any kind of 1056 01:01:23,120 --> 01:01:25,160 repentance, you'll actually damage somebody. 1057 01:01:25,320 --> 01:01:28,200 When you teach somebody to forgive when there has been no 1058 01:01:28,200 --> 01:01:30,200 repentance, you can actually hurt a person. 1059 01:01:30,360 --> 01:01:32,520 And I can make a biblical argument for that. 1060 01:01:33,160 --> 01:01:37,480 It's, it's, it's distinctly unbiblical to encourage somebody 1061 01:01:37,720 --> 01:01:39,880 to forgive somebody who hasn't repented. 1062 01:01:41,240 --> 01:01:43,680 There's lots of people in my life that have remorse for the 1063 01:01:43,680 --> 01:01:45,400 things that they've done, but they haven't repented. 1064 01:01:46,080 --> 01:01:47,560 So you have to be very, very careful. 1065 01:01:47,560 --> 01:01:51,200 Now, I think in many cases that can become very, very dangerous, 1066 01:01:51,200 --> 01:01:55,120 especially in cases of abuse. A victim can release hatred to 1067 01:01:55,200 --> 01:01:57,360 the Lord and saying Lord, I'm not going to hate this person 1068 01:01:58,600 --> 01:02:02,200 without completely giving that person access to abuse. 1069 01:02:02,800 --> 01:02:04,960 You don't want to give an abuser any kind of access. 1070 01:02:05,120 --> 01:02:07,920 You can pray for an offender without trusting the offender. 1071 01:02:08,080 --> 01:02:10,760 If if that person did something evil to you, why would you give 1072 01:02:10,760 --> 01:02:13,240 them trust? They're evil people. 1073 01:02:13,960 --> 01:02:20,400 You if you're a victim, you can very, very easily, very, very 1074 01:02:20,400 --> 01:02:25,000 easily refuse the mechanism of personal revenge while still 1075 01:02:25,000 --> 01:02:28,800 reconciling. So I think that a victim can 1076 01:02:29,360 --> 01:02:33,800 very easily remain morally clean before God without pretending 1077 01:02:33,960 --> 01:02:42,640 that some unrepentant evil man or woman has not repented. 1078 01:02:43,400 --> 01:02:47,000 It's they they haven't tried. Now with that said, I would also 1079 01:02:47,000 --> 01:02:51,600 avoid making forgiveness like so mechanical that you just have 1080 01:02:51,600 --> 01:02:54,920 like these these, you know, these levers that you pull. 1081 01:02:54,960 --> 01:02:58,400 OK, I think that the Christian posture, this is the biblical 1082 01:02:58,400 --> 01:03:01,240 position is that we should be ready to forgive. 1083 01:03:01,480 --> 01:03:04,880 OK, That's the that's the whole spirit behind Ephesians chapter 1084 01:03:04,880 --> 01:03:06,600 4, which is often times misquoted. 1085 01:03:06,800 --> 01:03:10,120 But Ephesians chapter 4, it says forgiving one another even as 1086 01:03:10,120 --> 01:03:12,600 God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. 1087 01:03:12,880 --> 01:03:14,440 That's the picture that's being drawn. 1088 01:03:14,600 --> 01:03:16,840 So the heart should not be saying, I hope this person never 1089 01:03:16,840 --> 01:03:18,680 repents so I can hold this against them. 1090 01:03:18,680 --> 01:03:20,760 Like, like we shouldn't be thinking that like that. 1091 01:03:21,520 --> 01:03:24,160 Our heart should be saying, look, I want repentance, I want 1092 01:03:24,160 --> 01:03:27,320 restoration and and I'm ready to forgive when repentance is real. 1093 01:03:27,520 --> 01:03:29,840 Like that's fine. But you don't have to be near 1094 01:03:29,840 --> 01:03:31,480 them. You don't have to trust them. 1095 01:03:32,360 --> 01:03:35,000 None of those are there. And I think that is the the 1096 01:03:35,000 --> 01:03:39,000 cleanest distinction. OK, bitterness has to be 1097 01:03:39,000 --> 01:03:41,600 released immediately. It's a biblical precedent. 1098 01:03:41,760 --> 01:03:44,840 Vengeance. It it belongs with the Lord. 1099 01:03:45,240 --> 01:03:49,920 OK, Love and prayer. Hey, all day, every day, pray 1100 01:03:49,920 --> 01:03:51,640 for these people, love these people. 1101 01:03:51,800 --> 01:03:57,280 Forgiveness in the full sense of the relational aspect. 1102 01:03:57,600 --> 01:04:00,400 It's tied to repentance. It can't happen unless that that 1103 01:04:00,400 --> 01:04:03,240 takes place. Reconciliation requires even 1104 01:04:03,240 --> 01:04:08,200 more because trust has to be restored and rebuilt over time. 1105 01:04:08,200 --> 01:04:11,360 And very rarely does that work within those those contexts. 1106 01:04:11,480 --> 01:04:15,320 I know pastors right now. I even know worship leaders who 1107 01:04:15,320 --> 01:04:18,960 are as dirty as dirty we'll get. And you know what they will, 1108 01:04:18,960 --> 01:04:21,280 they will probably never repent in their lifetime. 1109 01:04:21,320 --> 01:04:24,080 And guess what? Not only will they not be 1110 01:04:24,080 --> 01:04:27,360 forgiven, but God is going to judge them in the most stringent 1111 01:04:27,360 --> 01:04:30,600 ways. So it's not, it's not like, 1112 01:04:30,640 --> 01:04:33,680 well, I have to forgive you. No, I actually don't because 1113 01:04:33,680 --> 01:04:36,640 you're unrepentant. I refuse to be bitter. 1114 01:04:37,000 --> 01:04:40,280 I refuse to to walk in anger. I refuse to seek vengeance. 1115 01:04:40,280 --> 01:04:43,240 I'm going to let the Lord do that, but you're unrepentant. 1116 01:04:43,520 --> 01:04:46,720 So I think those were the there. Those are where the distinctions 1117 01:04:46,720 --> 01:04:47,640 are. I hope that makes sense. 1118 01:04:47,840 --> 01:04:50,200 Yeah, no, it does. It does. 1119 01:04:51,640 --> 01:04:56,360 OK, our next question, two of these are about reconciling 1120 01:04:56,360 --> 01:04:59,400 faith with science. Let me see here. 1121 01:05:00,360 --> 01:05:05,280 OK, so both Naya and Robin. Naya, I am a 15 year old in high 1122 01:05:05,280 --> 01:05:08,680 school and as hard as it is, it can already feel to be a 1123 01:05:08,680 --> 01:05:12,120 Christian in public school. I always find myself also 1124 01:05:12,120 --> 01:05:15,560 questioning in history when they bring up how there's evidence 1125 01:05:15,560 --> 01:05:18,560 that the earth is a billion years old, how they have 1126 01:05:18,560 --> 01:05:25,000 something in my eye, how there's a billion years old. 1127 01:05:25,880 --> 01:05:27,080 She just lost it. OK. 1128 01:05:27,080 --> 01:05:29,840 How they have rocks that prove the earth has been here for 1129 01:05:29,840 --> 01:05:33,160 billions of years, but the Bible says the earth is around 6000 1130 01:05:33,160 --> 01:05:35,000 years old. I just would like help 1131 01:05:35,000 --> 01:05:37,320 understanding Robin. My husband and I have a kind of 1132 01:05:37,320 --> 01:05:40,880 sweet teenage, a kind and sweet teenage son who's 14. 1133 01:05:40,880 --> 01:05:43,240 We are a Christ loving family and have a wonderful church we 1134 01:05:43,240 --> 01:05:45,520 attend. My son who has recently 1135 01:05:45,520 --> 01:05:48,240 expressed disbelief in God and is questioning a lot of what he 1136 01:05:48,240 --> 01:05:50,720 is hearing in church versus science. 1137 01:05:50,720 --> 01:05:52,280 As parents, this is breaking our heart. 1138 01:05:52,280 --> 01:05:55,680 Do you have any advice on how we approach this and help guide his 1139 01:05:55,680 --> 01:05:58,280 heart and mind? Which then on the theme of 1140 01:05:58,280 --> 01:06:01,520 science, Kate makes me laugh with her little notes. 1141 01:06:02,040 --> 01:06:07,480 Judy and Bruce also threw in there about the news of the Ark 1142 01:06:07,520 --> 01:06:12,360 that was recently discovered and verified. 1143 01:06:13,640 --> 01:06:14,680 It's a big deal. Yeah. 1144 01:06:14,680 --> 01:06:16,680 Do you think God will allow that discovery? 1145 01:06:16,680 --> 01:06:19,720 So let's just hop into the science theme of. 1146 01:06:20,360 --> 01:06:21,760 OK. Yeah, yeah. 1147 01:06:22,920 --> 01:06:28,960 So, so I'm going, I'm going to make a list for you here of why 1148 01:06:28,960 --> 01:06:31,640 the Bible lines up perfectly with science. 1149 01:06:31,640 --> 01:06:33,960 We're we're going to do that in just a minute because there are 1150 01:06:33,960 --> 01:06:38,200 some very, very good things to go by that are clear and 1151 01:06:38,200 --> 01:06:42,320 distinct, that shows us biblical evidence for why science was 1152 01:06:42,320 --> 01:06:46,080 actually created by God. It is not a construct of man to 1153 01:06:46,080 --> 01:06:49,400 use as an excuse to defer themselves from their love of 1154 01:06:49,400 --> 01:06:52,200 God or the worship of God. And it's important. 1155 01:06:52,200 --> 01:06:53,680 We're going to go over that in just a second. 1156 01:06:54,520 --> 01:07:00,000 With that said, let me just simply say that the bigger issue 1157 01:07:00,000 --> 01:07:05,480 here has to be recognizing that God is the creator of the 1158 01:07:05,480 --> 01:07:07,120 universe. You either believe it or you 1159 01:07:07,120 --> 01:07:14,320 don't. It is it is absurd to to believe 1160 01:07:14,320 --> 01:07:19,880 what the world says is a construct of our creation based 1161 01:07:19,880 --> 01:07:22,440 on a series of things that can't even be reproduced in the 1162 01:07:22,440 --> 01:07:24,960 laboratory. It doesn't even follow the 1163 01:07:24,960 --> 01:07:28,720 scientific method. OK, Now with that said, I come 1164 01:07:28,720 --> 01:07:32,680 from a family of scientists, OK? And and this is very, very 1165 01:07:32,680 --> 01:07:37,760 important. My brother does like bleeding 1166 01:07:37,760 --> 01:07:41,240 edge diabetes research, graduated from Drew Medical. 1167 01:07:42,040 --> 01:07:45,200 My sister-in-law said, look, I have a lot of scientists in my 1168 01:07:45,200 --> 01:07:47,920 family, mostly doctors, believe it or not, in my family. 1169 01:07:47,920 --> 01:07:52,520 So I'm going to tell you that I value science in some pretty 1170 01:07:52,720 --> 01:07:56,840 significant ways. Let me just address this first. 1171 01:07:57,040 --> 01:08:03,160 Science is, is simply the study of order, OK? 1172 01:08:03,160 --> 01:08:07,960 It it, it, it studies laws and structure and processes that God 1173 01:08:07,960 --> 01:08:11,480 built into creation. The Bible presents a universe 1174 01:08:11,920 --> 01:08:16,640 that is actually ordered, that's intelligible, that's governed by 1175 01:08:16,840 --> 01:08:20,319 consistent laws. Yes, scientific laws. 1176 01:08:21,160 --> 01:08:24,439 And that's precisely what makes scientific investigation 1177 01:08:24,880 --> 01:08:29,760 possible in the 1st place. If you if you did not understand 1178 01:08:29,760 --> 01:08:33,399 the premise that the universe is ordered, intelligible, and 1179 01:08:33,399 --> 01:08:37,279 governed by consistent laws, then science should doesn't even 1180 01:08:37,279 --> 01:08:40,880 exist, because science is predicated upon understanding 1181 01:08:40,880 --> 01:08:43,880 that. OK, so science depends upon the 1182 01:08:43,880 --> 01:08:47,920 assumption that nature behaves consistently enough to actually 1183 01:08:47,920 --> 01:08:51,720 be observable, to be tested, to be measured and understood. 1184 01:08:52,000 --> 01:08:54,040 That's where we get the scientific method from. 1185 01:08:54,319 --> 01:08:59,560 The Bible tells us why that consistency exists. 1186 01:09:00,120 --> 01:09:04,680 It says creation reflects the order and faithfulness of its 1187 01:09:04,680 --> 01:09:07,120 creator. Psalm 19 makes it very, very 1188 01:09:07,120 --> 01:09:08,160 clear. What does it say? 1189 01:09:08,359 --> 01:09:11,160 The heavens declare the glory of God. 1190 01:09:11,560 --> 01:09:14,680 OK, the firmament showeth his handiwork. 1191 01:09:14,840 --> 01:09:16,760 That's the beauty of that expression. 1192 01:09:16,960 --> 01:09:18,640 Romans chapter one, what does it say? 1193 01:09:18,920 --> 01:09:23,840 It talks about God's eternal power and Godhead and and and 1194 01:09:23,840 --> 01:09:28,000 and and are understood through notice this, the things that are 1195 01:09:28,000 --> 01:09:32,359 made. So studying creation is, is not 1196 01:09:32,359 --> 01:09:35,319 inherently an attempt to escape God. 1197 01:09:35,319 --> 01:09:38,359 That's that's a ridiculous way of looking at it. 1198 01:09:38,520 --> 01:09:41,840 If you understand it, property. I said property. 1199 01:09:43,200 --> 01:09:45,800 If you understand it properly, OK. 1200 01:09:47,160 --> 01:09:51,120 It's the study of what God has made and how he has made it 1201 01:09:51,120 --> 01:09:54,880 function so. So the conflict doesn't arise 1202 01:09:54,880 --> 01:09:59,720 between the Bible and genuine scientific observation. 1203 01:09:59,840 --> 01:10:04,800 The conflict usually arises in the interpretation of evidence, 1204 01:10:05,000 --> 01:10:08,320 especially when philosophical assumptions are added to the 1205 01:10:08,320 --> 01:10:11,760 scientific data. And we live in a world where all 1206 01:10:11,760 --> 01:10:14,600 kinds of philosophical assumptions are added to 1207 01:10:14,600 --> 01:10:16,840 scientific data. If you don't believe me, go 1208 01:10:16,840 --> 01:10:19,920 listen to Richard Dawkins talk for five seconds, OK? 1209 01:10:20,120 --> 01:10:22,360 You're, you're going to, you're going to easily be able to see 1210 01:10:22,360 --> 01:10:25,520 it. Science can tell us the things 1211 01:10:25,520 --> 01:10:30,040 that are, as I said before, observed, measured, repeatable. 1212 01:10:30,040 --> 01:10:32,320 That's why we talk about being able to repeat the things that 1213 01:10:32,320 --> 01:10:34,560 we observe. That's how things go from 1214 01:10:34,560 --> 01:10:38,160 theories to laws, OK? Science becomes something 1215 01:10:38,160 --> 01:10:40,040 different, and I mean it when I say this. 1216 01:10:40,280 --> 01:10:44,240 It becomes something different when someone moves from those 1217 01:10:44,880 --> 01:10:50,840 very clearly uniform, identifiable observations to the 1218 01:10:50,840 --> 01:10:56,280 philosophical conclusion that God is unnecessary or does not 1219 01:10:56,280 --> 01:10:59,200 exist. And I think that's where the big 1220 01:10:59,200 --> 01:11:04,000 leap happens. OK, that conclusion is not a a a 1221 01:11:04,000 --> 01:11:07,000 scientific measurement. That conclusion is a worldview. 1222 01:11:08,680 --> 01:11:11,360 There's no science in saying there is no God. 1223 01:11:11,880 --> 01:11:16,680 There's science doesn't do that. The Christian should never be 1224 01:11:16,680 --> 01:11:21,000 afraid If you're a believer, you should never be afraid of of 1225 01:11:21,000 --> 01:11:25,960 genuine scientific discovery because truth ultimately belongs 1226 01:11:25,960 --> 01:11:27,640 to God. God is the creator of it. 1227 01:11:27,640 --> 01:11:30,800 And if God created the universe and God gave us his word, then 1228 01:11:30,800 --> 01:11:34,880 properly understood creation and properly understood Bible truth 1229 01:11:34,880 --> 01:11:37,640 will never ultimately contradict one another. 1230 01:11:37,720 --> 01:11:41,040 They're always, if you understand creation as it sits 1231 01:11:41,040 --> 01:11:44,160 scientifically and you understand what the Bible says 1232 01:11:44,320 --> 01:11:47,000 about creation, they're never going to contradict. 1233 01:11:47,160 --> 01:11:49,280 As a matter of fact, they're going to be verified. 1234 01:11:49,640 --> 01:11:51,680 And look, we've got plenty of examples of this. 1235 01:11:51,920 --> 01:11:53,840 We, we talk about the Earth being round. 1236 01:11:53,920 --> 01:11:56,720 We didn't believe the earth was round until a couple of 100 1237 01:11:56,720 --> 01:12:00,960 years ago, actually 1492. Columbus sailed the ocean blue. 1238 01:12:00,960 --> 01:12:03,240 And then we validated what the Bible already said. 1239 01:12:03,240 --> 01:12:05,280 The Bible doesn't need validation, but you get the 1240 01:12:05,280 --> 01:12:08,560 idea. The more interesting discussion 1241 01:12:08,560 --> 01:12:12,120 here is not whether Christians should accept science. 1242 01:12:12,360 --> 01:12:14,760 Of course we should. It's a construct of what God has 1243 01:12:14,760 --> 01:12:17,000 given us. The question is where scientific 1244 01:12:17,000 --> 01:12:21,280 observation ends and philosophical interpretation 1245 01:12:21,280 --> 01:12:23,680 begins. That's where your teacher is 1246 01:12:23,680 --> 01:12:26,400 airing. Your teacher is making the error 1247 01:12:26,400 --> 01:12:31,960 because they're identifying what they perceive as being the end 1248 01:12:31,960 --> 01:12:34,960 of scientific observation and then bringing in their 1249 01:12:34,960 --> 01:12:39,080 scientifically bogus, their empty philosophical 1250 01:12:39,080 --> 01:12:40,960 interpretation. Francis Schaefer used to talk 1251 01:12:40,960 --> 01:12:43,000 about this all the time. Very, very good Christian 1252 01:12:43,000 --> 01:12:47,160 philosopher. I think that if you're going to 1253 01:12:47,160 --> 01:12:50,080 look at some of the strongest biblical and scientific 1254 01:12:50,080 --> 01:12:53,640 evidence, that's where it becomes the most useful, because 1255 01:12:53,640 --> 01:12:57,400 there are many features that exist within the universe and 1256 01:12:57,400 --> 01:13:01,880 life itself that point toward extraordinary order. 1257 01:13:02,480 --> 01:13:05,000 It gives us evidence of information and design and 1258 01:13:05,000 --> 01:13:06,160 purpose. Like I'll give you an example of 1259 01:13:06,160 --> 01:13:08,360 this, right? Like this watch. 1260 01:13:09,440 --> 01:13:14,240 It's an Apple Watch. It is filled with sophisticated 1261 01:13:14,240 --> 01:13:19,120 technology, amazing circuitry. It has things on it that are 1262 01:13:19,120 --> 01:13:22,000 absolutely unique. If I told you that this watch 1263 01:13:22,000 --> 01:13:26,400 evolved over a million years, you would laugh at my face. 1264 01:13:27,440 --> 01:13:30,080 The watch bears the mark of its maker and designer. 1265 01:13:31,000 --> 01:13:34,200 It gives us evidence of the manufacture of all the pieces, 1266 01:13:34,760 --> 01:13:37,960 and no real scientist would ever accept the premise that this 1267 01:13:37,960 --> 01:13:39,960 watch evolved over a million years. 1268 01:13:40,720 --> 01:13:46,400 Yet the circuitry that's in the hand that this watch sits on is 1269 01:13:46,400 --> 01:13:50,960 a million times more complicated to the point where we have still 1270 01:13:50,960 --> 01:13:53,200 not been able to replicate it. That's why we call things 1271 01:13:53,200 --> 01:13:56,000 artificial intelligence. We haven't gotten there yet. 1272 01:13:57,080 --> 01:14:00,400 So how is it that you could say it's absurd that this would form 1273 01:14:00,400 --> 01:14:03,520 over a million years, yet make the argument that it has to be 1274 01:14:03,520 --> 01:14:07,040 that this, that's far more complicated, actually formed 1275 01:14:07,240 --> 01:14:10,400 over that time? Again, what you're looking at is 1276 01:14:10,400 --> 01:14:14,320 you are looking at an observable moment where scientific 1277 01:14:14,720 --> 01:14:18,600 observation has stopped and philosophical interpretation has 1278 01:14:18,640 --> 01:14:21,040 has begun. You are looking at a Christian 1279 01:14:21,040 --> 01:14:25,680 who has, or a teacher who has an inherently anti Christian 1280 01:14:25,680 --> 01:14:27,800 worldview. And that's what the real issue 1281 01:14:28,040 --> 01:14:32,120 is about. So what is the, you know, what 1282 01:14:32,120 --> 01:14:36,360 is the, the, the Christian view on scientific discovery? 1283 01:14:36,520 --> 01:14:39,840 Well, we should welcome it because again, the Bible says 1284 01:14:39,840 --> 01:14:42,080 that heaven declared the glory of God. 1285 01:14:42,080 --> 01:14:46,440 And if I were to give you like one line with the with the 1286 01:14:46,440 --> 01:14:48,840 question from the 15 year old, if I were to give like one 1287 01:14:48,840 --> 01:14:52,120 sentence to summarize, you know, like the like, if you were to 1288 01:14:52,120 --> 01:14:57,280 write it down and it was like the say all and end all answer 1289 01:14:57,520 --> 01:15:01,680 to that question, the the way that I would actually word it is 1290 01:15:01,680 --> 01:15:04,200 simple. Christians should welcome 1291 01:15:04,200 --> 01:15:07,960 scientific discovery because every truth we uncover about 1292 01:15:07,960 --> 01:15:13,200 creation ultimately reveals more about the wisdom, the order and 1293 01:15:13,200 --> 01:15:15,480 the glory of God who actually created it. 1294 01:15:17,440 --> 01:15:19,760 And that's what you want to coin for the answer. 1295 01:15:21,080 --> 01:15:23,680 And so with respect to the earth being billions of years old 1296 01:15:23,680 --> 01:15:26,280 versus 6000 years old, there's a lot of argument over of a 1297 01:15:26,280 --> 01:15:28,400 radiometric dating. And this is where they come the 1298 01:15:28,400 --> 01:15:31,840 billion years old arguments. We get the 6000 years old 1299 01:15:31,840 --> 01:15:34,960 because of the history that we can trace to the timeline that 1300 01:15:34,960 --> 01:15:38,040 we find in the Bible. I do think that God, personally, 1301 01:15:38,040 --> 01:15:41,920 my view is God created the earth as just like God created man 1302 01:15:41,920 --> 01:15:44,440 aged, I think God probably created the earth aged. 1303 01:15:45,000 --> 01:15:47,400 I don't know that for sure. These are assumptions that I'm 1304 01:15:47,400 --> 01:15:50,000 making, but I do think the earth is young. 1305 01:15:50,200 --> 01:15:54,080 I just think it was created maturely and that that falls in 1306 01:15:54,080 --> 01:15:56,040 line with forming and fashing and all that kind of thing. 1307 01:15:56,280 --> 01:15:57,920 Are you ready to go down a rabbit hole? 1308 01:15:59,480 --> 01:16:02,360 We have a YouTube reader that wants to talk about Flat Earth. 1309 01:16:03,920 --> 01:16:06,280 I don't know if we have time for this well. 1310 01:16:06,400 --> 01:16:10,120 Listen, listen. The look the OK, Let let me let 1311 01:16:10,120 --> 01:16:14,080 me let me let me just say this, OK, Well, I don't. 1312 01:16:14,680 --> 01:16:16,080 Know yeah, I'm leaving this up to you. 1313 01:16:16,080 --> 01:16:19,760 I mean we have 1/2 hour left and my son might run in here any 1314 01:16:19,760 --> 01:16:21,640 minute with all his different toys. 1315 01:16:21,640 --> 01:16:25,200 So whatever you you choose, you're going to steer the ship 1316 01:16:25,200 --> 01:16:29,320 on this one about the flutters. In in the most brief terms 1317 01:16:29,320 --> 01:16:33,560 possible, let me give you biblical evidence for there not 1318 01:16:33,560 --> 01:16:36,840 being a Flat Earth. I can establish biblically. 1319 01:16:37,080 --> 01:16:39,840 Forget what we already know, forget the fact that we see all 1320 01:16:39,840 --> 01:16:42,920 these pictures and like we know what science teaches us. 1321 01:16:43,200 --> 01:16:46,200 Let me just tell you the biblical evidence in the most 1322 01:16:46,200 --> 01:16:48,640 brief way possible. The biblical evidence of the 1323 01:16:48,640 --> 01:16:50,880 fact that we're not dealing with a Flat Earth. 1324 01:16:51,040 --> 01:16:57,320 OK, and and, and by the way, it's simple, OK, Isaiah chapter 1325 01:16:57,320 --> 01:17:00,280 40 verse 22. And I know these because I argue 1326 01:17:00,280 --> 01:17:02,880 these all the time. OK, look what it says. 1327 01:17:03,080 --> 01:17:06,720 God sitteth upon what? The circle of the earth. 1328 01:17:07,520 --> 01:17:09,400 OK. The earth is described as having 1329 01:17:09,400 --> 01:17:11,880 curvature. OK, not as a flat plain. 1330 01:17:12,120 --> 01:17:16,240 Job chapter 26. He stretches out the north over 1331 01:17:16,240 --> 01:17:19,520 the empty place and hangeth the earth upon nothing. 1332 01:17:19,960 --> 01:17:23,160 OK, the, the, the picture is that the earth is suspended in 1333 01:17:23,160 --> 01:17:25,040 space. That's what it says. 1334 01:17:25,280 --> 01:17:28,120 It's not resting upon literal pillars of foundation that the 1335 01:17:28,120 --> 01:17:32,400 flat earthers say exist here. OK Job 26 same passage. 1336 01:17:32,640 --> 01:17:37,440 He have come past the waters with bounds until the day and 1337 01:17:37,520 --> 01:17:42,400 might come to an end. That language describes a a, a 1338 01:17:42,440 --> 01:17:46,760 literal boundary between light and darkness that is associated 1339 01:17:46,760 --> 01:17:52,160 with a round earth. OK Luke chapter 17, When Christ 1340 01:17:52,160 --> 01:17:53,880 describes his return, what does he say? 1341 01:17:53,880 --> 01:17:56,440 He says some people are sleeping at night while others are 1342 01:17:56,440 --> 01:18:00,320 engaged in daytime activity. OK, that's exactly what we 1343 01:18:00,320 --> 01:18:04,280 expect living in a globe, OK, living in the earth. 1344 01:18:04,520 --> 01:18:09,760 Matthew 24 says that same uses terminology that gives us the 1345 01:18:09,760 --> 01:18:13,560 same kind of indication from one end of heaven to the other. 1346 01:18:13,760 --> 01:18:17,000 Now, I know that people will talk about the four corners, but 1347 01:18:17,760 --> 01:18:20,520 let me just give you that qualification because that's 1348 01:18:20,520 --> 01:18:22,440 what the flat earthers will say. They'll say, well, the Bible 1349 01:18:22,680 --> 01:18:25,440 speaks about, you know, four corners. 1350 01:18:25,680 --> 01:18:29,840 And look, let me let me just simply say this. 1351 01:18:30,280 --> 01:18:35,400 The Bible never sets out to teach a scientific model of, of 1352 01:18:35,400 --> 01:18:40,080 the earth's shape, OK? Expressions such as four corners 1353 01:18:40,080 --> 01:18:44,360 of the earth are ordinarily figures of speech that represent 1354 01:18:44,360 --> 01:18:47,000 extremities or directions of the earth. 1355 01:18:49,480 --> 01:18:51,400 And that's, that's all it's saying there. 1356 01:18:51,400 --> 01:18:55,720 Now, the instant, the thing that when when I bring up the 1357 01:18:55,720 --> 01:18:59,680 argument that the Bible never sets out to teach a scientific 1358 01:18:59,680 --> 01:19:03,200 model of the earth's shape, then the then the flat earthers will 1359 01:19:03,200 --> 01:19:06,080 say, well, that's exactly right. So then you can't use those 1360 01:19:06,080 --> 01:19:09,400 passages that you just shared to argue that the earth is round. 1361 01:19:09,760 --> 01:19:12,680 So how do you answer that? What do you say in the most 1362 01:19:12,680 --> 01:19:16,320 simple way possible? Well, the answer is actually 1363 01:19:16,640 --> 01:19:19,040 pretty. It's pretty profoundly simple. 1364 01:19:19,680 --> 01:19:23,880 OK, the Bible doesn't have to be a science textbook for its 1365 01:19:23,880 --> 01:19:26,000 descriptions of the physical world to be true. 1366 01:19:27,360 --> 01:19:31,480 One is metaphorically used and that's, that's the, the, the 1367 01:19:31,480 --> 01:19:33,360 thing. In other words, there's a 1368 01:19:33,360 --> 01:19:37,800 difference between saying the Bible's purpose is not to teach 1369 01:19:37,800 --> 01:19:40,720 the shape of the earth and saying therefore what the Bible 1370 01:19:40,720 --> 01:19:44,360 says about the physical world tells us you know nothing about 1371 01:19:44,360 --> 01:19:45,440 it. That's what I would say. 1372 01:19:45,440 --> 01:19:50,160 So I know that people are not going to like that. 1373 01:19:50,440 --> 01:19:51,960 The flat earthers are not going to like it. 1374 01:19:52,080 --> 01:19:54,880 But the most simple answer to that is the Bible doesn't set 1375 01:19:54,880 --> 01:19:58,280 out to teach astronomy, but whenever it speaks about the 1376 01:19:58,280 --> 01:20:01,280 physical world. What it says is true. 1377 01:20:02,200 --> 01:20:06,280 So the purpose and accuracy are two completely different 1378 01:20:06,280 --> 01:20:09,160 questions, but they all in essence bring us to the same 1379 01:20:09,160 --> 01:20:11,040 conclusion. And that's the truth. 1380 01:20:11,560 --> 01:20:14,560 Again, the Bible confirms it. It's that simple. 1381 01:20:15,560 --> 01:20:18,360 It's that simple. OK, that was a great rabbit 1382 01:20:18,360 --> 01:20:20,840 hole. Back to the lifestyle questions. 1383 01:20:20,840 --> 01:20:23,160 We'll leave it at that. I know people get people get 1384 01:20:23,160 --> 01:20:24,960 very the the whole Flat Earth thing. 1385 01:20:24,960 --> 01:20:28,160 Watch, we'll get some crazy like we'll and and we'll get some, 1386 01:20:29,160 --> 01:20:30,520 we'll get some bad. Push back on that. 1387 01:20:30,680 --> 01:20:31,880 Bring it on. But what are you going to do? 1388 01:20:31,960 --> 01:20:33,560 Yeah, I know, I know. What are you going to do? 1389 01:20:34,480 --> 01:20:37,680 OK Elizabeth, my parents are walking towards a divorce. 1390 01:20:37,680 --> 01:20:40,400 Both of my parents are believers, but my mom has lost 1391 01:20:40,400 --> 01:20:42,200 trust. We have seen the Lord work in 1392 01:20:42,200 --> 01:20:46,240 amazing ways and my dad since their separation, but my mom has 1393 01:20:46,240 --> 01:20:49,160 a fleece before the Lord, as Gideon did. 1394 01:20:49,160 --> 01:20:52,200 I feel uneasy about it because it feels like a testing of God. 1395 01:20:52,200 --> 01:20:55,160 Do you have any wisdom about whether or not fleeces and 1396 01:20:55,160 --> 01:20:58,880 quotation marks are a testing of God or biblically sound in our 1397 01:20:58,880 --> 01:21:01,400 day? Totally separate note on this. 1398 01:21:01,400 --> 01:21:04,520 I got a message from Kate saying that one of our readers really 1399 01:21:04,520 --> 01:21:09,160 appreciated your comment on forgiveness and was wondering if 1400 01:21:09,160 --> 01:21:12,640 you knew of any book recommendations for forgiveness. 1401 01:21:13,600 --> 01:21:16,480 You know what I would do? I would go through my series on 1402 01:21:16,480 --> 01:21:20,720 1st John where I talk about this extensively because I spend a 1403 01:21:20,720 --> 01:21:23,440 lot of time on on the theme of that. 1404 01:21:23,440 --> 01:21:26,960 That I think is that I think is really, really good and and 1405 01:21:26,960 --> 01:21:28,880 deals with it at A at a pretty profound level. 1406 01:21:29,000 --> 01:21:32,680 That's where I got a lot of that thinking from my my teaching on 1407 01:21:32,680 --> 01:21:33,240 1st, Sean. OK. 1408 01:21:35,360 --> 01:21:36,560 So that. Would probably be. 1409 01:21:37,320 --> 01:21:38,960 OK, cool. That would that would probably 1410 01:21:38,960 --> 01:21:40,840 be the place. Just just go over there and grab 1411 01:21:40,840 --> 01:21:44,840 it. OK, so back to do you have any 1412 01:21:44,840 --> 01:21:48,480 wisdom about whether or not fleeces are a testing of God or 1413 01:21:48,480 --> 01:21:51,320 biblically sound in our day? Yeah. 1414 01:21:51,320 --> 01:21:55,040 OK, So I'd be very careful about using Gideon's fleece as a model 1415 01:21:55,040 --> 01:21:56,400 for determining God's will. OK. 1416 01:21:56,400 --> 01:21:59,640 I mean, just just plain and simple, the Bible records 1417 01:21:59,680 --> 01:22:03,240 Gideon's fleece, but it never commands us to imitate it. 1418 01:22:03,240 --> 01:22:05,360 By the way, Gideon's fleece, I think is bet is a better 1419 01:22:05,360 --> 01:22:08,840 argument for scientific method. That's a whole other story, 1420 01:22:09,400 --> 01:22:11,480 testing things. It's it's kind of an interesting 1421 01:22:11,840 --> 01:22:14,040 kind of an interesting thing because what Gideon is actually 1422 01:22:14,040 --> 01:22:16,880 doing is he's he's putting out the fleece to make sure that 1423 01:22:16,880 --> 01:22:18,560 it's God's voice. It's actually speaking to him. 1424 01:22:18,640 --> 01:22:19,960 He already knows what God's told him to do. 1425 01:22:20,960 --> 01:22:24,560 He's confirming whether or not it was indeed what what the 1426 01:22:24,560 --> 01:22:26,400 story was. He wasn't putting all the, the 1427 01:22:26,400 --> 01:22:29,920 variables together. In fact, well, like I said 1428 01:22:29,920 --> 01:22:32,800 before, Gideon already knew what God had told him to do. 1429 01:22:34,560 --> 01:22:37,480 And, and all he was trying to do is just simply make sure that it 1430 01:22:37,480 --> 01:22:38,560 was God. Same thing with Jeremiah. 1431 01:22:38,560 --> 01:22:40,280 We see Jeremiah doing the same thing. 1432 01:22:41,440 --> 01:22:44,520 And, and what that means is that that fleece was not primarily 1433 01:22:44,520 --> 01:22:48,600 Gideon's or Gideon discovering God's will. 1434 01:22:48,960 --> 01:22:52,320 It was Gideon asking God to reassure him about something God 1435 01:22:52,320 --> 01:22:55,720 had already told him. So, but I will also tell you 1436 01:22:55,720 --> 01:22:58,120 this, I think this is a very important ad here. 1437 01:22:58,720 --> 01:23:02,360 There is a danger in saying, God, if you want me to do this, 1438 01:23:02,400 --> 01:23:05,120 make this particular thing happen, I think we can end up 1439 01:23:05,120 --> 01:23:10,760 creating a test that God never promised to satisfy and then 1440 01:23:10,760 --> 01:23:13,200 treating the result as though God spoke. 1441 01:23:13,400 --> 01:23:15,560 I think the answer to this is critical. 1442 01:23:15,560 --> 01:23:17,720 It's Proverbs chapter 3, verse five and six. 1443 01:23:17,720 --> 01:23:20,200 It says this trust the Lord with all your heart. 1444 01:23:20,200 --> 01:23:22,840 Don't lean on your own understanding in all your ways. 1445 01:23:22,840 --> 01:23:26,160 Acknowledge him and he will direct your paths and then it 1446 01:23:26,160 --> 01:23:28,920 goes on later on to say be not wise and thine own eyes fear 1447 01:23:28,960 --> 01:23:32,320 fear the Lord depart from evil very heavy. 1448 01:23:32,800 --> 01:23:37,200 So the the rule is trust the Lord acknowledge him in every 1449 01:23:37,200 --> 01:23:41,720 step and then let God guide you. James chapter 1 tells us verse 1450 01:23:41,720 --> 01:23:45,680 five to ask God for wisdom. Neither tells us to manufacture 1451 01:23:45,680 --> 01:23:48,640 signs, which is really, really important now, especially with 1452 01:23:48,640 --> 01:23:53,640 something as serious as divorce. I would never, never allow an 1453 01:23:53,640 --> 01:23:57,160 arbitrary sign or a fleece to carry more authority than what 1454 01:23:57,160 --> 01:24:00,120 God has already told me in His body, in His Word. 1455 01:24:00,760 --> 01:24:05,640 A fleece asks God to confirm His will through circumstances, but 1456 01:24:05,640 --> 01:24:08,080 biblical wisdom is a completely different story. 1457 01:24:08,320 --> 01:24:12,480 Biblical wisdom asks whether our decision agrees with what God 1458 01:24:12,480 --> 01:24:16,120 has already said in His Word. I think in this situation I 1459 01:24:16,120 --> 01:24:22,000 would pray for your mother. Give her room to process the 1460 01:24:22,000 --> 01:24:24,640 trust that's been broken, because that's no small thing. 1461 01:24:24,640 --> 01:24:28,640 That is a big deal. And, and, and, and pray that the 1462 01:24:28,640 --> 01:24:31,440 genuine changes that you're seeing in your Father will 1463 01:24:31,440 --> 01:24:33,840 actually continue, because that's where it starts. 1464 01:24:33,840 --> 01:24:36,120 It goes back to the reconciliation forgiveness 1465 01:24:36,120 --> 01:24:39,760 question that we had answered earlier, OK, Real repentance 1466 01:24:40,160 --> 01:24:45,240 demonstrated consistently over time is far more meaningful, 1467 01:24:45,360 --> 01:24:47,480 whether or not a fleece gets fulfilled. 1468 01:24:47,760 --> 01:24:51,720 So pray for that and, and, and watch the Lord do that work. 1469 01:24:51,720 --> 01:24:53,280 And it, by the way, just a word of encouragement. 1470 01:24:53,280 --> 01:24:59,000 I've watched God reconcile so many marriages on so many levels 1471 01:24:59,400 --> 01:25:01,680 over real, true, genuine repentance. 1472 01:25:01,920 --> 01:25:09,080 OK, so that's what we pray for. Raymond The next two questions 1473 01:25:09,080 --> 01:25:12,320 are similar about staying encouraged through depression. 1474 01:25:12,840 --> 01:25:15,680 Caitlin and Sydney. Caitlin says I often go through 1475 01:25:15,680 --> 01:25:18,560 seasons of depression. It is often so hard to mentally 1476 01:25:18,560 --> 01:25:21,520 work my way out of them. The only thing that sometimes 1477 01:25:21,520 --> 01:25:23,840 helps is making an effort to be grateful to God. 1478 01:25:24,080 --> 01:25:26,240 Do you have any other suggestions that could help? 1479 01:25:26,240 --> 01:25:29,720 When my mood gets so low that it's hard to think positive and 1480 01:25:29,720 --> 01:25:32,680 be motivated to do anything? Sydney asks. 1481 01:25:32,680 --> 01:25:35,600 What are some of your most favorite Bible verses or words 1482 01:25:35,600 --> 01:25:39,120 of God that you turn to when you're feeling down in the dumps 1483 01:25:39,120 --> 01:25:42,360 or overwhelmed with emotion? Yeah, yeah. 1484 01:25:42,360 --> 01:25:46,920 OK, So the boy, my goodness, there's so many there's. 1485 01:25:46,920 --> 01:25:51,200 Charlie loves 12/1 Romans. 12/1 Romans 12/1 yeah. 1486 01:25:51,520 --> 01:25:53,760 Renewing of your minds. Yeah, yeah. 1487 01:25:53,840 --> 01:25:56,680 Do not be, do not be conformed to this world to be transformed 1488 01:25:56,680 --> 01:25:58,680 by the renewing of your, your, your mind. 1489 01:25:59,120 --> 01:26:01,520 And and it talks about living sacrificially as being our 1490 01:26:01,520 --> 01:26:03,720 reasonable service. I think it's it's beautiful. 1491 01:26:05,720 --> 01:26:08,720 OK, let, let, let let's get past some real basic issues first. 1492 01:26:08,720 --> 01:26:13,720 OK, first and foremost, I would not, let me say that again, 1493 01:26:13,920 --> 01:26:16,200 would not make thinking positive. 1494 01:26:16,760 --> 01:26:22,560 Think positively the goal. OK, the Bible gives us something 1495 01:26:22,560 --> 01:26:24,440 much stronger than positive thinking. 1496 01:26:24,440 --> 01:26:25,720 Although positive thinking can be great. 1497 01:26:25,720 --> 01:26:27,640 The Bible says think on all these wonderful things. 1498 01:26:27,880 --> 01:26:31,360 Nothing wrong with that. It gives us the Bible, gives us 1499 01:26:31,360 --> 01:26:35,000 truth that remains true regardless of the emotion we're 1500 01:26:35,000 --> 01:26:39,160 experiencing in the moment. Depression can make feelings 1501 01:26:39,160 --> 01:26:43,720 incredibly persuasive. You can feel abandoned without 1502 01:26:43,720 --> 01:26:49,200 actually being truly abandoned. You can feel hopeless while 1503 01:26:49,680 --> 01:26:53,320 tremendous reasons for hope actually still exist. 1504 01:26:53,520 --> 01:26:58,120 Your emotions are real, but they are often times liars. 1505 01:26:59,160 --> 01:27:00,320 All of our emotions are that way. 1506 01:27:00,560 --> 01:27:04,120 I love what David does and this goes to one of my favorites, 1507 01:27:04,160 --> 01:27:08,800 right David in Psalm 42, I just talked through this by the way, 1508 01:27:08,800 --> 01:27:14,200 in verse 5 he says why art thou cast down O my soul and why art 1509 01:27:14,200 --> 01:27:16,960 thou disquieted in me? And then look at the command he 1510 01:27:16,960 --> 01:27:20,280 gives his own self. He says hope thou in God. 1511 01:27:21,000 --> 01:27:25,200 Do you notice that David talks back to his own emotions here? 1512 01:27:25,280 --> 01:27:26,840 That's not crazy talk, by the way. 1513 01:27:27,160 --> 01:27:31,240 He acknowledges what he feels without allowing the feeling to 1514 01:27:31,240 --> 01:27:35,080 have the final word. And, and I think gratitude is 1515 01:27:35,200 --> 01:27:39,800 powerful for exactly that reason. 1516 01:27:40,800 --> 01:27:45,080 Erica and I have a mutual friend that at the courthouse. 1517 01:27:45,520 --> 01:27:48,360 I just love this guy. I love him because of just how 1518 01:27:49,040 --> 01:27:54,160 how how positive he is, but the positivity that he expresses is 1519 01:27:54,160 --> 01:27:56,040 through his gratitude. Matter of fact, a few guys that 1520 01:27:56,040 --> 01:27:59,880 are this way, I just I love it. I love his heart. 1521 01:27:59,880 --> 01:28:01,960 I love, I love the mind that he has. 1522 01:28:01,960 --> 01:28:03,680 Why? Because when you walk with 1523 01:28:03,680 --> 01:28:10,720 gratitude, it forces your mind to remember what what pain can 1524 01:28:10,720 --> 01:28:13,400 temporarily make us forget, right? 1525 01:28:13,840 --> 01:28:16,720 Like you have pain right now, but but the reality of it is 1526 01:28:17,080 --> 01:28:21,000 God's given you so much and gratitude helps you like 1527 01:28:21,080 --> 01:28:23,960 recognize that sometimes the most spiritual thing that you 1528 01:28:23,960 --> 01:28:28,360 can do is, and this is big, right? 1529 01:28:28,680 --> 01:28:33,480 Just call somebody who loves you like get outside, move your 1530 01:28:33,480 --> 01:28:38,040 body, eat something, sleep. Vitamin D get your blood, get 1531 01:28:38,080 --> 01:28:41,240 your blood drawn, see what you like actually need for your 1532 01:28:41,240 --> 01:28:42,920 system. It could be so much more than 1533 01:28:42,920 --> 01:28:47,400 just you know, I'm not feeling but myself today like you might 1534 01:28:47,400 --> 01:28:48,560 have. You might even have an 1535 01:28:48,560 --> 01:28:52,760 autoimmune issue like there's, there's so many components to 1536 01:28:52,760 --> 01:28:55,680 it. I mean, even the even POTS has 1537 01:28:55,680 --> 01:28:58,440 been something that's really been going around a lot. 1538 01:28:58,880 --> 01:29:04,120 There's so many components to to all of this that there's yeah, 1539 01:29:04,120 --> 01:29:07,800 there's a lot of layers, so. I mean, Erica, think about this. 1540 01:29:07,800 --> 01:29:11,800 You're 100% right. Think about Elijah in First 1541 01:29:11,800 --> 01:29:15,160 Kings 19. Elijah freaks out. 1542 01:29:15,880 --> 01:29:19,520 He he becomes profoundly discouraged after what happens 1543 01:29:19,520 --> 01:29:22,920 on Mount Carmel and literally starts losing his mind. 1544 01:29:23,200 --> 01:29:27,400 He gets so upset he actually asked God to take his life. 1545 01:29:28,400 --> 01:29:31,800 And you know what? God's response to him is his. 1546 01:29:31,960 --> 01:29:35,760 His response is not a lecture. His response is get some sleep, 1547 01:29:35,760 --> 01:29:39,600 Elijah. And Elijah sleeps, he eats, he 1548 01:29:39,600 --> 01:29:43,200 goes back to sleep and then God deals with him spiritually. 1549 01:29:43,880 --> 01:29:47,720 So even sometimes physical exhaustion and emotional 1550 01:29:47,720 --> 01:29:50,400 exhaustion can like they, they can be intertwined. 1551 01:29:50,560 --> 01:29:54,600 So that's what's happening. And look, these seasons are 1552 01:29:54,720 --> 01:29:58,760 recurring it look it often times they can be. 1553 01:29:59,320 --> 01:30:03,240 But if they become severe or they're interfering in, in any 1554 01:30:03,240 --> 01:30:07,280 way substantially with, you know, like normal life, go talk 1555 01:30:07,280 --> 01:30:11,960 to some, go talk to somebody close to you that's qualified to 1556 01:30:11,960 --> 01:30:15,480 hold your hand and, and, and and can and can walk with you. 1557 01:30:15,480 --> 01:30:18,120 By the way, doing that is not evidence of a weak faith. 1558 01:30:18,120 --> 01:30:22,440 Doing that is evidence of a stronger faith, right versus OK, 1559 01:30:22,680 --> 01:30:25,480 the Psalm 4211 of my favorite, why art thou cast down all my 1560 01:30:25,480 --> 01:30:27,120 soul? Psalm 34. 1561 01:30:27,400 --> 01:30:29,800 Oh my goodness, the Lord is close to them. 1562 01:30:29,800 --> 01:30:32,600 That has a broken heart. So many of the Psalms, by the 1563 01:30:32,600 --> 01:30:36,440 way, my favorite 1 and I, I told myself I wouldn't say it, but I 1564 01:30:36,440 --> 01:30:38,240 will because my mom used to say it all the time. 1565 01:30:38,520 --> 01:30:44,000 She would say cast, cast thy burden upon the Lord because he, 1566 01:30:44,000 --> 01:30:46,680 he'll sustain you. He cares about you, right? 1567 01:30:47,520 --> 01:30:49,240 First Peter says something very similar. 1568 01:30:49,240 --> 01:30:51,040 I think he was inspired by the Psalms. 1569 01:30:51,040 --> 01:30:54,160 You know, my mom was inspired by by Peter casting all your care 1570 01:30:54,160 --> 01:30:54,920 upon him. Why? 1571 01:30:55,080 --> 01:30:59,560 Because he cares about you. What are we told to do with 1572 01:30:59,560 --> 01:31:03,200 Thanksgiving? We we make our, our hearts, our 1573 01:31:03,200 --> 01:31:05,560 request be made known unto Lord, to the Lord. 1574 01:31:05,560 --> 01:31:09,120 And what the peace of God will guard our hearts and our mind? 1575 01:31:09,120 --> 01:31:12,280 That's Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 and seven. 1576 01:31:13,600 --> 01:31:16,760 Of course, I think I would be derelict if I did not mention 1577 01:31:16,760 --> 01:31:18,440 Second Corinthians chapter 4. What? 1578 01:31:18,640 --> 01:31:20,800 We're trouble on every side, yet what? 1579 01:31:21,000 --> 01:31:24,720 Yet we're not distressed. We're perplexed, but not in 1580 01:31:24,720 --> 01:31:27,760 despair. We're cast down, but literally 1581 01:31:27,760 --> 01:31:28,760 not destroyed. Why? 1582 01:31:28,880 --> 01:31:30,640 Because the God of heaven is with us. 1583 01:31:30,920 --> 01:31:33,560 But how about this one? How about the one that my mom 1584 01:31:33,560 --> 01:31:35,920 loves so much and I still love and me and Charlie used to talk 1585 01:31:35,920 --> 01:31:41,200 about all the time. OK, Romans 838 and 39 Nothing 1586 01:31:41,200 --> 01:31:44,120 shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is 1587 01:31:44,120 --> 01:31:46,600 what, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 1588 01:31:48,280 --> 01:31:52,760 Those are some of my my favorite and and when you for whatever 1589 01:31:52,760 --> 01:31:55,560 reason, feel like you can't control what you feel, anchor 1590 01:31:55,600 --> 01:31:57,680 yourself in what you do know, right. 1591 01:31:59,160 --> 01:32:00,960 Hold fast to what you know is true. 1592 01:32:01,120 --> 01:32:03,560 The Lord is still good. His word is still true. 1593 01:32:03,600 --> 01:32:06,600 It's not going anywhere. His promises are real. 1594 01:32:06,800 --> 01:32:09,160 God doesn't hold back his promises. 1595 01:32:09,160 --> 01:32:12,200 They haven't moved. Your emotions might be screaming 1596 01:32:12,200 --> 01:32:15,840 like mine do sometimes, but they don't get the final word. 1597 01:32:16,600 --> 01:32:18,960 God does, and you can find encouragement and strengthen 1598 01:32:18,960 --> 01:32:20,160 that. Amen. 1599 01:32:21,160 --> 01:32:23,880 Teresa asks. When it comes to unanswered 1600 01:32:23,880 --> 01:32:27,040 prayer, how do you know the difference between God's weight 1601 01:32:27,160 --> 01:32:30,840 and timing and God's judgment? Because there is disobedience 1602 01:32:30,840 --> 01:32:38,160 that you have not corrected. OK, so you, you kind of have to 1603 01:32:38,160 --> 01:32:40,280 deal with this in a, in a few different parts. 1604 01:32:40,360 --> 01:32:44,240 OK, And and it is important. First, let's just state the 1605 01:32:44,240 --> 01:32:46,560 obvious, right? Unanswered prayer is not 1606 01:32:46,560 --> 01:32:48,160 automatically evidence of judgment. 1607 01:32:48,160 --> 01:32:50,600 Matter of fact, I would argue that God answers every prayer. 1608 01:32:50,600 --> 01:32:52,520 He answers it with yes, no, or we're waiting. 1609 01:32:52,640 --> 01:32:55,360 OK. Some of the most faithful people 1610 01:32:55,360 --> 01:32:59,880 in the Bible waited for a very long time to hear from the Lord 1611 01:32:59,880 --> 01:33:01,800 about things that they had actually prayed for. 1612 01:33:01,800 --> 01:33:06,840 Not the same time. Look, the Bible is very clear 1613 01:33:07,360 --> 01:33:14,120 that if you have deliberate unrepented sin, it's going to 1614 01:33:14,120 --> 01:33:16,120 affect your prayer life. OK? 1615 01:33:16,480 --> 01:33:21,760 Psalm 66 actually says it. 66 verse 18 If I regard iniquity in 1616 01:33:21,760 --> 01:33:23,800 my heart, the Lord will not hear me. 1617 01:33:23,880 --> 01:33:26,400 That's that applies to us. That's critical. 1618 01:33:28,040 --> 01:33:31,640 First, John 19 gives us the answer to that problem. 1619 01:33:31,640 --> 01:33:33,280 It says, what if we confess our sins? 1620 01:33:33,280 --> 01:33:36,280 What He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse 1621 01:33:36,280 --> 01:33:39,440 us from all unrighteousness? That's the that's the picture. 1622 01:33:39,920 --> 01:33:43,760 So we have to understand that James even tells us, like in 1623 01:33:43,760 --> 01:33:47,560 James chapter 4, he says sometimes the the problem that 1624 01:33:47,560 --> 01:33:51,000 we have when things miss out is that our motive is broken. 1625 01:33:51,000 --> 01:33:54,480 He says you ask and receive not because you ask amiss, meaning 1626 01:33:54,480 --> 01:33:57,480 your motives were were jacked up when you chose to ask that 1627 01:33:57,480 --> 01:33:59,760 question. I think there's a very simple 1628 01:33:59,760 --> 01:34:04,280 way that I would approach this if I was looking at this problem 1629 01:34:04,560 --> 01:34:06,840 and and really seeking to find a solution. 1630 01:34:07,400 --> 01:34:10,920 Ask whether God has already identified something in your 1631 01:34:10,920 --> 01:34:12,280 life that you're refusing to obey. 1632 01:34:13,120 --> 01:34:21,600 If you are start with that, OK, if if the Bible clearly is 1633 01:34:21,600 --> 01:34:24,840 screaming at you, telling you that something is wrong and 1634 01:34:24,840 --> 01:34:29,000 you're knowingly continuing in it, you don't need to you don't 1635 01:34:29,000 --> 01:34:31,360 need to wonder whether or not God wants you to deal with it. 1636 01:34:31,640 --> 01:34:32,960 You know he wants you to deal with it. 1637 01:34:33,360 --> 01:34:38,000 He's already told you. But if you've examine yourself, 1638 01:34:38,080 --> 01:34:40,160 you've confessed your sin, you know, you're walking with the 1639 01:34:40,160 --> 01:34:42,040 Lord. Look, God's answer your prayer. 1640 01:34:42,800 --> 01:34:44,880 You just are not going to see the effect of it for a little 1641 01:34:44,880 --> 01:34:46,840 while. Understand that. 1642 01:34:47,160 --> 01:34:50,760 OK, God's answer at that point is, is probably wait. 1643 01:34:52,600 --> 01:34:55,240 By the way, there's some great Bible characters that waited. 1644 01:34:55,280 --> 01:34:57,120 One of my favorite Bible characters that waited for a 1645 01:34:57,120 --> 01:34:58,800 very long time is Abraham, right? 1646 01:34:59,200 --> 01:35:02,440 How about Joseph, Joseph. Joseph waited in prison. 1647 01:35:04,160 --> 01:35:07,040 David waited while he was being pursued by the king that was 1648 01:35:07,040 --> 01:35:10,400 trying to kill him. Hannah waited for so long that 1649 01:35:10,400 --> 01:35:13,840 she was perceived as being a drunk when one of the priests 1650 01:35:13,840 --> 01:35:16,800 saw her crying her heart out to the Lord for a little boy. 1651 01:35:18,240 --> 01:35:21,280 Not a single bit of their waiting meant that God had 1652 01:35:21,280 --> 01:35:23,800 forgotten them. And I know what happens. 1653 01:35:23,800 --> 01:35:30,200 Look, we often times will look at things like this and we'll 1654 01:35:30,200 --> 01:35:32,040 say, well, God is it. This is, this isn't really 1655 01:35:32,040 --> 01:35:35,400 working well, God always works. Always. 1656 01:35:35,400 --> 01:35:37,400 He never doesn't work. He's either working on you or 1657 01:35:37,400 --> 01:35:38,880 he's working for you. It's one or the other. 1658 01:35:39,800 --> 01:35:41,960 Look, I, I think the bottom line is this. 1659 01:35:41,960 --> 01:35:45,600 If God has clearly shown you that there's disobedience, look, 1660 01:35:45,600 --> 01:35:47,760 don't waste your time. Deal with it immediately. 1661 01:35:48,160 --> 01:35:52,960 If he hasn't, keep praying, keep obeying what you already know to 1662 01:35:52,960 --> 01:35:57,360 be true, and trust God's timing without assuming that his 1663 01:35:57,720 --> 01:35:59,400 silence is any kind of displeasure. 1664 01:35:59,400 --> 01:36:01,360 As a matter of fact, it's there's probably no silence 1665 01:36:01,360 --> 01:36:03,080 going on. He's answering it. 1666 01:36:03,080 --> 01:36:05,520 You just don't see it right now because you're getting worked 1667 01:36:05,520 --> 01:36:06,360 on. And that's a good thing. 1668 01:36:06,360 --> 01:36:11,800 That's not a bad thing. Totally our next question. 1669 01:36:11,800 --> 01:36:15,360 We only have a few more minutes, so let's most do speed speed 1670 01:36:15,360 --> 01:36:18,160 rounds. Keith, how can I learn more 1671 01:36:18,160 --> 01:36:25,000 about how to advocate for Yeah, advocate for God's truth. 1672 01:36:25,040 --> 01:36:29,520 I don't want to simply memorize scripture and know it is truth 1673 01:36:29,520 --> 01:36:33,120 in my heart. Sorry, I obviously need to go to 1674 01:36:33,120 --> 01:36:39,200 the eye doctor 'cause I let's just enlarge this, OK? 1675 01:36:39,240 --> 01:36:42,320 I want to be able to convince others beyond a reasonable doubt 1676 01:36:42,600 --> 01:36:46,120 that is truth and that they should put their faith behind it 1677 01:36:46,120 --> 01:36:49,000 as well. Yeah, look, I'm going to tell 1678 01:36:49,000 --> 01:36:51,680 you this really simply, and this is something I used to tell 1679 01:36:51,680 --> 01:36:53,200 Charlie all the time. Me and Charlie used to talk 1680 01:36:53,200 --> 01:36:56,280 about this all the time. Charlie had a brilliant mind and 1681 01:36:56,680 --> 01:37:00,800 he read all kinds of things, and he was very, very well endowed 1682 01:37:01,040 --> 01:37:04,520 with a lot of information at a brilliant level, more than most. 1683 01:37:04,800 --> 01:37:07,400 But the one thing that he found the most valuable, and it's 1684 01:37:07,400 --> 01:37:09,080 going to be the thing that I'm going to tell you that's going 1685 01:37:09,080 --> 01:37:12,600 to give you the greatest insight in contending for truth, is get 1686 01:37:12,600 --> 01:37:16,440 to know the Bible so well that when the fake comes along, you 1687 01:37:16,440 --> 01:37:19,000 will be ready to answer it. You don't have to know what the 1688 01:37:19,000 --> 01:37:21,440 latest philosophies or theories or ideas are. 1689 01:37:22,000 --> 01:37:25,040 Just know the Bible so well that you will have the answer within 1690 01:37:25,040 --> 01:37:26,160 you. I have never dealt with a 1691 01:37:26,160 --> 01:37:28,960 situation that was apologetically demanding or 1692 01:37:28,960 --> 01:37:31,320 anything like that where I was not able to answer. 1693 01:37:32,200 --> 01:37:35,880 And I have always been one that has been very big on just 1694 01:37:35,880 --> 01:37:40,120 knowing the Bible so well. So know what you believe, know 1695 01:37:40,120 --> 01:37:43,000 why you believe it. Understand the objections as 1696 01:37:43,000 --> 01:37:46,920 they come to you, but you're not going to do that if you don't 1697 01:37:46,920 --> 01:37:49,080 have the ability to know God's Word. 1698 01:37:50,000 --> 01:37:53,440 And once you, once you know the word of God and you know it deep 1699 01:37:53,440 --> 01:37:56,760 within you, then you will be able to communicate with clarity 1700 01:37:56,800 --> 01:38:00,240 and, and, and, and confidence. And, you know, one of the things 1701 01:38:00,240 --> 01:38:04,320 that I loved Charlie, he, he, he started doing this and he was 1702 01:38:04,320 --> 01:38:07,000 very good at it when he, when he went to the college campuses, 1703 01:38:07,000 --> 01:38:09,280 especially when the crowds got bigger and everybody wanted him 1704 01:38:09,360 --> 01:38:11,680 to respond right away and beat everybody up that was asking 1705 01:38:11,680 --> 01:38:13,080 questions. You put the mic down. 1706 01:38:13,320 --> 01:38:15,680 Yeah, you know why he put the mic down? 1707 01:38:16,000 --> 01:38:18,840 He put the mic down #1 so he wouldn't like immediately jump 1708 01:38:18,840 --> 01:38:20,400 into the middle of what somebody is saying. 1709 01:38:20,640 --> 01:38:23,480 But putting the mic down also gave him an opportunity to pray 1710 01:38:23,480 --> 01:38:27,160 and ask God for wisdom, to recall the very things that he 1711 01:38:27,160 --> 01:38:30,080 had learned in studying the Word and studying the things that he 1712 01:38:30,080 --> 01:38:31,480 needed to in order to bring the truth. 1713 01:38:31,800 --> 01:38:33,160 And boy, did God anoint him. Amen. 1714 01:38:34,840 --> 01:38:36,520 God gave him supernatural answers. 1715 01:38:37,600 --> 01:38:40,200 So take that same approach. I think you'll be great it. 1716 01:38:41,240 --> 01:38:45,560 Was so good. Oh, he's very gifted, Very, very 1717 01:38:45,560 --> 01:38:48,440 gifted in that arena. Was very supernatural, by the 1718 01:38:48,440 --> 01:38:49,600 way. Very supernatural. 1719 01:38:49,640 --> 01:38:52,880 Of course, of course. And he, he was very good. 1720 01:38:52,920 --> 01:38:55,640 He didn't just read the New Testament, it was Old Testament 1721 01:38:55,640 --> 01:38:58,240 and New Testament. Really dug into it every night, 1722 01:38:58,240 --> 01:39:03,680 would read the Bible every night and it's awesome. 1723 01:39:03,760 --> 01:39:07,040 Such an amazing prayer warrior. He loved the word. 1724 01:39:07,160 --> 01:39:12,320 He loved the word. He loved the word you can you 1725 01:39:12,320 --> 01:39:16,600 can tell all the time. Next questions from Jenny. 1726 01:39:16,960 --> 01:39:20,320 I'm the primary caregiver for my 88 year old mom who is 1727 01:39:20,320 --> 01:39:22,880 wheelchair bound and my husband who has Parkinson's. 1728 01:39:23,320 --> 01:39:25,880 They are my life and it's so hard sometimes but I know God is 1729 01:39:25,880 --> 01:39:27,960 with me. I don't know how I can even deal 1730 01:39:27,960 --> 01:39:30,040 with losing them because they are my everything. 1731 01:39:30,040 --> 01:39:31,840 How do I prepare my heart for it? 1732 01:39:32,040 --> 01:39:40,560 Please help me. You know, that's so hard that 1733 01:39:40,600 --> 01:39:43,760 that that is not even necessarily. 1734 01:39:44,600 --> 01:39:46,600 AI don't think you could ever be prepared for that. 1735 01:39:47,040 --> 01:39:49,560 Yeah, I, I, I think, I think that's right. 1736 01:39:49,800 --> 01:39:53,200 You just have to be so in the moment with them and just love 1737 01:39:53,200 --> 01:39:55,920 on them so much in the moment. You can never be prepared for 1738 01:39:55,920 --> 01:39:59,360 losing someone that you love. Especially like that. 1739 01:40:00,880 --> 01:40:04,160 Especially like that. Let me put this in the more 1740 01:40:05,480 --> 01:40:09,200 definitive terms. That are biblically based and I 1741 01:40:09,200 --> 01:40:12,040 think Erica pretty much took the answer right out of my mouth. 1742 01:40:13,200 --> 01:40:17,640 You you can't force yourself to grieve tomorrow's loss today. 1743 01:40:17,880 --> 01:40:20,360 You just can't Jesus said it in himself. 1744 01:40:20,360 --> 01:40:24,680 He said, you know, sufficient is the day sufficient unto the day 1745 01:40:24,680 --> 01:40:28,120 is the evil thereof. So God will give you grace for 1746 01:40:28,120 --> 01:40:29,680 what you're carrying today into the moment. 1747 01:40:29,680 --> 01:40:37,200 And you've you've got to just do that and, and, and look, it's 1748 01:40:37,200 --> 01:40:38,880 not evidence of having weak faith. 1749 01:40:39,160 --> 01:40:42,360 When you think about the fact that it's unbearable to lose 1750 01:40:42,360 --> 01:40:44,560 them. Deep grief is going to be the 1751 01:40:44,560 --> 01:40:46,880 price of deep love. You love somebody deeply, you're 1752 01:40:46,880 --> 01:40:48,680 going to grieve deeply. That's just the way it works. 1753 01:40:49,360 --> 01:40:52,360 I mean, Jesus loved Lazarus and look at how he cried. 1754 01:40:53,360 --> 01:40:59,520 Probably not the most, you know, outward appearing thing to do, 1755 01:40:59,520 --> 01:41:06,840 but he did because he loved him. So I will tell you this and I 1756 01:41:06,840 --> 01:41:08,520 know what you meant when you said this. 1757 01:41:09,000 --> 01:41:12,480 Just remember that God has to be your everything and I and I know 1758 01:41:12,480 --> 01:41:15,120 what you mean when you say that you're everything like I, I, I 1759 01:41:15,120 --> 01:41:21,120 get it, but make God the center of that, because especially when 1760 01:41:21,120 --> 01:41:22,680 you know they're walking with the Lord, you're going to be 1761 01:41:22,680 --> 01:41:27,360 unified with them one day. You know, and and look, David 1762 01:41:27,360 --> 01:41:29,120 said it. He said, look, my flesh and my 1763 01:41:29,120 --> 01:41:33,000 heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion 1764 01:41:33,000 --> 01:41:35,600 forever. That's what he says and you're 1765 01:41:35,600 --> 01:41:39,480 going to get to that point. I I used to think all the time 1766 01:41:39,480 --> 01:41:41,640 about how I would feel when my mom went to go be with the Lord 1767 01:41:41,640 --> 01:41:43,640 and when she did it was the worst day of my life. 1768 01:41:44,200 --> 01:41:47,440 It was terrible, terrible. But what does First 1769 01:41:47,440 --> 01:41:52,160 Thessalonians tells us right? We sorrow not even as others 1770 01:41:52,160 --> 01:41:55,440 that have no hope. We know, OK, we know. 1771 01:41:55,760 --> 01:41:59,120 And by the way, he doesn't say we sorrow not at all. 1772 01:41:59,120 --> 01:42:01,120 He says we don't sorrow like the non believer. 1773 01:42:01,880 --> 01:42:10,680 OK, we still sorrow, so do yourself a favor and don't ask 1774 01:42:10,680 --> 01:42:13,800 God today for enough strength to survive a loss that hasn't 1775 01:42:13,800 --> 01:42:17,040 happened yet. Don't do that, I think. 1776 01:42:17,080 --> 01:42:24,640 I think that the better prayer is to ask God for enough 1777 01:42:24,640 --> 01:42:28,320 strength to love them faithfully with all of your heart today, in 1778 01:42:28,320 --> 01:42:31,760 that moment. And when tomorrow comes, then 1779 01:42:31,760 --> 01:42:35,360 God will give you the grace that you need to suffer that love, 1780 01:42:36,360 --> 01:42:38,440 right? Don't detach yourself. 1781 01:42:39,560 --> 01:42:42,840 Ask God to give you the grace to love on her like you've never 1782 01:42:42,840 --> 01:42:45,280 loved on her before. And when the loss comes, He'll 1783 01:42:45,280 --> 01:42:46,960 also give you the grace to deal with it. 1784 01:42:51,160 --> 01:42:52,560 It's a hard, it's a very hard issue. 1785 01:42:52,720 --> 01:42:58,880 It's a very hard issue. It is Rihanna. 1786 01:42:59,920 --> 01:43:04,520 Are there always demons behind false gods like Baal? 1787 01:43:05,000 --> 01:43:08,640 What about our modern false gods like money and sports etcetera? 1788 01:43:09,080 --> 01:43:13,040 I hear people speak of the spirit of greed or the spirit of 1789 01:43:13,040 --> 01:43:15,400 addiction. Are there spirits behind these 1790 01:43:15,400 --> 01:43:20,600 idols or problems? OK, so I'll make this simple 1791 01:43:20,720 --> 01:43:24,720 just because like in terms of time, we we just have to be 1792 01:43:24,720 --> 01:43:25,960 careful. Let me just start off with some 1793 01:43:25,960 --> 01:43:31,880 of the obvious things, OK? Money is not the false God, It's 1794 01:43:31,880 --> 01:43:33,800 the love of money. That's the false God. 1795 01:43:34,120 --> 01:43:38,880 OK, sports is not a false God. It's it's when you love sports 1796 01:43:39,000 --> 01:43:43,000 more and prioritize it more than the things of God. 1797 01:43:43,040 --> 01:43:47,680 OK, so I, I also understand where the phrase the spirit of 1798 01:43:47,680 --> 01:43:50,800 greed and the spirit of addiction come in. 1799 01:43:51,640 --> 01:43:56,720 Let me, let me create a very important biblical balance here. 1800 01:43:56,800 --> 01:44:00,440 First and foremost, Ephesians tells us we wrestle not against 1801 01:44:00,440 --> 01:44:03,600 flesh and blood, it makes that very, very clear, but against 1802 01:44:03,600 --> 01:44:06,440 principalities and powers. And, and it goes on to say 1803 01:44:06,440 --> 01:44:09,800 spiritual wickedness in high places, spiritual warfare is, 1804 01:44:09,800 --> 01:44:12,520 is, is very, very real. The biblical balance is 1805 01:44:12,520 --> 01:44:14,760 important. OK, not every sin requires a 1806 01:44:14,760 --> 01:44:19,400 demon, but demons absolutely exploit sin. 1807 01:44:19,520 --> 01:44:21,240 They do that. They're very, very good at it. 1808 01:44:21,480 --> 01:44:27,160 Not every particular idol. Something that somebody idolizes 1809 01:44:27,400 --> 01:44:30,840 is a part you know has a particular spirit assigned to 1810 01:44:30,840 --> 01:44:32,560 it. Sometimes it does, but 1811 01:44:32,560 --> 01:44:38,320 oftentimes that's not the case. Idolatry will inevitably become 1812 01:44:38,360 --> 01:44:42,760 a doorway for demonic deception. I can promise you that. 1813 01:44:42,760 --> 01:44:44,320 You start idolizing other things. 1814 01:44:44,480 --> 01:44:46,760 You are welcoming demons to come in. 1815 01:44:46,880 --> 01:44:49,080 OK. Now, the one thing that I would 1816 01:44:49,080 --> 01:44:52,400 do is I would be very, very cautious about casually 1817 01:44:52,680 --> 01:44:55,960 diagnosing somebody with what people often times refer to as 1818 01:44:55,960 --> 01:44:59,720 you have the spirit of addiction or the spirit of Greek. 1819 01:44:59,720 --> 01:45:01,800 Like I, I'm not trying to mock that. 1820 01:45:02,440 --> 01:45:05,480 I'm just saying be very careful because the Bible gives us 1821 01:45:05,480 --> 01:45:08,040 plenty of language already to use, OK? 1822 01:45:08,240 --> 01:45:15,840 Sin, lust, bondage, temptation, deception, the flesh, the world, 1823 01:45:15,840 --> 01:45:19,960 the enemy. Like we have these terms, OK? 1824 01:45:19,960 --> 01:45:22,440 Even demonic influence is a word that the Bible uses. 1825 01:45:22,720 --> 01:45:25,520 We don't need to invent other categories that the Bible itself 1826 01:45:25,520 --> 01:45:27,040 doesn't give us. And I think sometimes that's 1827 01:45:27,040 --> 01:45:29,640 what happens when we say you have the spirit of addiction or 1828 01:45:29,640 --> 01:45:33,160 the spirit of greed. No, you struggle with these 1829 01:45:33,160 --> 01:45:35,560 addictions or you struggle walking in greed. 1830 01:45:35,560 --> 01:45:39,320 It's the love of money, which is the root of all kinds of evil. 1831 01:45:39,400 --> 01:45:42,120 Same kind of thing. So that there's where I would go 1832 01:45:42,120 --> 01:45:43,920 with it. I, I, I probably would avoid 1833 01:45:43,920 --> 01:45:49,840 language like the spirit of the spirit of I just think that's, I 1834 01:45:49,840 --> 01:45:52,160 just heard the the other day, I just heard the spirit of 1835 01:45:52,160 --> 01:45:56,200 pornography. It's like what, what, what in 1836 01:45:56,200 --> 01:45:57,880 the world? Like I, I, I don't even know 1837 01:45:57,880 --> 01:46:00,840 what that means, you know, So I, I'd kind of avoid that. 1838 01:46:01,280 --> 01:46:07,040 I just, I just would. OK, let's. 1839 01:46:12,320 --> 01:46:13,920 These are all such good questions. 1840 01:46:13,920 --> 01:46:28,770 These are all so hard. I don't want to. 1841 01:46:28,770 --> 01:46:31,210 OK, how about, all right, we'll do. 1842 01:46:31,930 --> 01:46:39,960 The next two questions are about addiction, Caroline and Kelly. 1843 01:46:39,960 --> 01:46:42,240 I'm a Christian but I am currently struggling with 1844 01:46:42,240 --> 01:46:44,280 addiction. Are these two things mutually 1845 01:46:44,280 --> 01:46:46,040 exclusive? I'm feeling worried about my 1846 01:46:46,040 --> 01:46:49,760 salvation and Kelly, a person I know is addicted to heroin but 1847 01:46:49,760 --> 01:46:51,640 having a hard time detoxing completely. 1848 01:46:51,920 --> 01:46:54,160 He's reading his Bible, praying, and believing the Lord is the 1849 01:46:54,160 --> 01:46:57,480 only one who can deliver him. Does the Lord hear his prayers 1850 01:46:57,480 --> 01:47:00,040 even though he technically is living in sin? 1851 01:47:00,320 --> 01:47:03,320 My reference is Isaiah chapter 59 verse 2. 1852 01:47:03,640 --> 01:47:06,880 But your inequities have made a separation between you, you and 1853 01:47:06,880 --> 01:47:10,120 your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that 1854 01:47:10,120 --> 01:47:16,480 he does not hear. OK, let's just simplify this at 1855 01:47:16,480 --> 01:47:18,000 its most basic level. OK? 1856 01:47:18,000 --> 01:47:21,960 For Caroline, no, struggling with addiction and being a 1857 01:47:21,960 --> 01:47:24,760 Christian are not mutually exclusive. 1858 01:47:25,000 --> 01:47:28,840 Christians can become trapped in very serious patterns of sin and 1859 01:47:28,840 --> 01:47:30,480 bondage. I think the important 1860 01:47:30,480 --> 01:47:34,640 distinction is between struggling against sin and 1861 01:47:34,640 --> 01:47:36,520 surrendering your surrendering yourself to it. 1862 01:47:36,680 --> 01:47:39,840 So if you say, well, I'm just going to give in to sin and you 1863 01:47:39,840 --> 01:47:42,200 don't really care, that's a problem. 1864 01:47:42,440 --> 01:47:47,040 I think a believer can can fall terribly while still hating the 1865 01:47:47,040 --> 01:47:49,360 sin that they're falling into, that they're giving themselves. 1866 01:47:49,360 --> 01:47:52,600 They can fight it, they can confess it, and they can be 1867 01:47:52,640 --> 01:47:55,280 desperate in their wants to experience freedom. 1868 01:47:55,520 --> 01:47:58,400 That's good. The good news is this your 1869 01:47:58,400 --> 01:48:02,240 salvation rest upon Christ and what He accomplished, not upon 1870 01:48:02,240 --> 01:48:04,840 achieving sinless perfection after salvation. 1871 01:48:04,840 --> 01:48:07,480 If that was the case, you're going to hell and so am I. 1872 01:48:07,680 --> 01:48:11,120 OK, But with that said, addiction should never be 1873 01:48:11,120 --> 01:48:12,320 minimized. You don't want to minimize 1874 01:48:12,320 --> 01:48:15,320 addiction. If if, if somebody has or what? 1875 01:48:15,640 --> 01:48:17,560 Really something has mastery over you. 1876 01:48:18,520 --> 01:48:22,080 It needs to be confronted aggressively, very spiritually 1877 01:48:22,080 --> 01:48:24,160 and practically. And there are people that you 1878 01:48:24,160 --> 01:48:26,080 can reach out to in your life that will help you do that. 1879 01:48:26,080 --> 01:48:29,920 Now, the fact that you are fighting your sin is very 1880 01:48:29,920 --> 01:48:32,640 different from making peace with it. 1881 01:48:32,640 --> 01:48:37,000 And that encourages me. That tells me your salvation is 1882 01:48:37,000 --> 01:48:40,000 very intact because of what Christ did for you, not because 1883 01:48:40,000 --> 01:48:42,920 of what you do or don't do. That's that's really critical. 1884 01:48:42,920 --> 01:48:48,800 OK, Now with respect to Kelly, yes, God hears the prayers of an 1885 01:48:48,800 --> 01:48:51,200 addict that's crying out to him for deliverance. 1886 01:48:51,200 --> 01:48:55,800 Please believe me when I say that Isaiah 59 verse 2 is 1887 01:48:55,800 --> 01:49:00,520 describing people whose sin had produced separation from God. 1888 01:49:00,800 --> 01:49:04,480 It's it's it's particularly persistent rebellion. 1889 01:49:04,480 --> 01:49:08,320 That's what it's talking about. It it doesn't mean that a person 1890 01:49:08,320 --> 01:49:11,000 trapped in sin cannot cry out to God for mercy. 1891 01:49:11,000 --> 01:49:16,000 If it did, nobody, not a single one of us would would be able to 1892 01:49:16,000 --> 01:49:20,680 call upon God for salvation. Psalm 51 is, is, is David 1893 01:49:20,680 --> 01:49:26,480 actually praying after horrific sin, sin that involved murder 1894 01:49:26,480 --> 01:49:28,880 and adultery and, and, and all kinds of things. 1895 01:49:29,040 --> 01:49:33,880 And yet God hurt him, right? So that the, yeah, the look, the 1896 01:49:33,880 --> 01:49:38,640 heroin addiction is sin and bondage that definitely needs to 1897 01:49:38,640 --> 01:49:40,440 be confronted. Come on, let's be real about 1898 01:49:40,440 --> 01:49:41,200 that. It's serious. 1899 01:49:41,200 --> 01:49:44,360 It could destroy you. But someone reading the Bible 1900 01:49:44,360 --> 01:49:47,520 and praying and and and repenting and begging God for 1901 01:49:47,520 --> 01:49:51,520 freedom is not someone God refuses to hear simply because 1902 01:49:51,520 --> 01:49:53,600 the battle isn't over yet. They're still engaged in the 1903 01:49:53,600 --> 01:49:56,600 battle. God doesn't require you to 1904 01:49:56,600 --> 01:50:00,200 defeat your sin before you can ask him to help you defeat it. 1905 01:50:01,440 --> 01:50:04,640 So you're fine. You're fine in the sense that 1906 01:50:04,640 --> 01:50:06,160 you're reaching out to the Lord, right? 1907 01:50:06,400 --> 01:50:09,640 He's going to be with you. You seek out for help to find 1908 01:50:09,760 --> 01:50:12,880 that victory over those things that that's that's what I would 1909 01:50:12,880 --> 01:50:14,360 say. Yeah, Amen. 1910 01:50:14,880 --> 01:50:20,560 OK, We hit our mark. I got to go take the little one 1911 01:50:21,200 --> 01:50:23,200 on an adventure. Probably go to. 1912 01:50:23,240 --> 01:50:25,680 Or something. You got your hands full. 1913 01:50:26,040 --> 01:50:30,320 Yes, but go ahead and and cover us in prayer as we head into the 1914 01:50:30,320 --> 01:50:34,560 weekend and just keep fighting the good fight. 1915 01:50:35,480 --> 01:50:37,520 All right, you got it. Father in heaven, we thank you 1916 01:50:37,520 --> 01:50:39,080 for your goodness and your faithfulness to us. 1917 01:50:39,080 --> 01:50:40,800 Lord. We thank you, Father, for the 1918 01:50:40,800 --> 01:50:43,600 fact that you are faithful, Lord, and we thank you for this 1919 01:50:43,600 --> 01:50:47,360 time that we could gather together as the body of Christ 1920 01:50:47,360 --> 01:50:51,960 and just come to the table to learn what your Word says about 1921 01:50:52,000 --> 01:50:54,880 so many of these things. Lord, You're faithful and your 1922 01:50:54,880 --> 01:50:57,240 good, and we love you, Lord. And we thank you, Lord, for 1923 01:50:57,240 --> 01:50:59,000 loving us with an everlasting love. 1924 01:50:59,240 --> 01:51:02,800 We pray for strength Lord, I just pray for Eric, I pray for 1925 01:51:02,800 --> 01:51:04,600 the children that you would just bless her. 1926 01:51:04,600 --> 01:51:08,000 Bless the family Lord, watch over them, protect them, bless 1927 01:51:08,120 --> 01:51:11,000 all the people that are here watching this, whether it be 1928 01:51:11,000 --> 01:51:14,880 live or afterwards. Lord, may your word penetrate 1929 01:51:14,880 --> 01:51:16,480 their hearts now. So we love you and thank you. 1930 01:51:16,480 --> 01:51:17,720 We look to you and we ask these things. 1931 01:51:17,720 --> 01:51:19,480 In Jesus name we pray. Amen. 1932 01:51:19,880 --> 01:51:21,640 Amen. All right, you guys, God bless 1933 01:51:21,640 --> 01:51:23,840 you. We will see you in October. 1934 01:51:23,840 --> 01:51:27,320 And again, if you need any additional resources, please 1935 01:51:27,320 --> 01:51:30,920 continue to go to our Bible and 365 app or website 1936 01:51:31,000 --> 01:51:35,960 siteandpleasecheckoutthevideos@jamescadiz.com. You can literally go onto his 1937 01:51:35,960 --> 01:51:40,560 website and type in any topic and, and what will pop up is a 1938 01:51:40,600 --> 01:51:47,200 just a massive list of different videos options that correlate to 1939 01:51:47,200 --> 01:51:49,440 that topic. It's, it's been very helpful and 1940 01:51:49,440 --> 01:51:51,240 such a blessing to myself and my family. 1941 01:51:51,240 --> 01:51:52,480 So I know it'll bless you as well. 1942 01:51:52,480 --> 01:51:54,840 But God bless you guys. Keep fighting the good fight and 1943 01:51:54,840 --> 01:51:57,840 we will see you next month, God. Bless you guys.