WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:22.399 Ask uh biblical questions, either things related to uh the Bible or the Christian life or uh how things intersect or maybe uh areas of just uh uh curiosity and and uh wanting to know deeper what the Bible teaches on on one particular topic or another. 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:39.520 Um I know Pat's gonna have some uh ground rules up there, but just to remind you, and I'm I'll go ahead and read a scripture passage uh before we begin, uh, but limit the questions to biblical or practical uh implications of b of Bible truth. 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:47.600 Uh this isn't uh Dave's opinion on X, Y, Z issue facing uh politics or anything like that. 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:52.320 Uh please recognize that I'll share my understanding uh uh to these questions. 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:58.000 It's um it's not intended for a protracted debate, so this isn't uh kind of a debate. 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:02.560 If you ask a question, um I'll try to answer it to the best of my ability. 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:13.840 And there may be questions I just can't answer, either it's something in depth or an area that I haven't studied, and so I may uh have to defer to a later time to answer it in another venue. 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:18.159 And uh so some things can't be uh answered off the cuff. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:29.359 And also, uh, if it's a question that's so particular and so specific that it really isn't germane to uh the entire body of Christ, it may be something that just on a more individual basis. 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:32.400 Um and then this isn't time to stump the pastor. 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:33.680 Let me let me say this. 00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:36.480 There are so many things I don't know. 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:38.879 It isn't to go, let's figure out if he knows. 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:48.000 Uh I did this with the college group a couple months ago, and they're like, well, you know, the fourth king after Hezekiah, and the second, you know, I you know, this isn't time. 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:52.000 There's there is a lot that uh I'm not good at trivial pursuit. 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:56.000 Uh I'm I'm not biblical trivia pursuit, so this isn't stumped. 00:01:56.400 --> 00:01:58.239 It's very easy to do, actually. 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:01.840 Um you can find all the obscure things that I won't know. 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:09.439 Um so let me go ahead and read uh from Titus chapter 2 just uh to hear from God's word. 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:14.319 And then um so if you have your Bible, turn to Titus chapter 2. 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:21.680 It can be found on page 998 uh in the um uh in the Pew Bible. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:25.840 And as we mentioned, every week, we love the fact that we can give away Bibles. 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:31.280 And if you don't own one, take that Bible with you at the end of this service and make it your own. 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:32.400 It's our gift to you. 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:38.960 We replace them every week, and it's just our joy to be able to give God's word uh to people every week. 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:43.520 And so if you don't own a Bible, please take that Bible with you. 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:49.199 Titus chapter two says, But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:56.319 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 00:02:56.560 --> 00:03:01.840 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderous or slaves to much wine. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:14.800 They are to teach what is good, and so train the younger women to love their husbands and children to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:32.080 Likewise urge the younger men to be self-controlled, showing yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in all your teachings show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:35.280 Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything. 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:44.159 They are to be well pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. 00:03:44.639 --> 00:04:12.879 For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself to us to redeem us from all lawlessness, and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:18.800 Declare these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority, let no one disregard you. 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:26.879 Now, to begin with, I did receive an email question this morning as I was uh leaving for church, and so we'll start there. 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:37.360 If you have a question, you can come up to the mic or you can uh send a uh text as well, but uh give you those opportunities. 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:51.680 Uh but the question that I received this morning was this uh it says, What is happening in Acts chapter 8, verses 14 through 17, uh that the Holy Spirit came on these people uh a while after they had been saved? 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:55.839 Why wasn't it instantly like we believe it is for us today? 00:04:56.079 --> 00:05:01.199 Also, how did they know whether they had or or had not received the Holy Spirit? 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:02.639 Great question. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:17.680 If you turn to Acts chapter eight, there's something that's going on in Acts that we need to recognize, and oftentimes we don't make some distinctions, which I think we uh would be helpful to make. 00:05:18.399 --> 00:05:24.959 Um within the Bible, you have different types of uh of communication. 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:29.360 You have narrative sections and you have teaching sections. 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:34.800 Now, the whole Bible, in one way or another, teaches us, but not always in the same way. 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:53.839 And so you have uh passages that are descriptive, they are describing what happened in time and place uh at a certain time, and passages uh that are prescriptive, that are prescribing uh a normative truth for all times and all places. 00:05:54.079 --> 00:06:12.800 And so when we go through the Gospels in the book of Acts, we need to recognize that that within the teaching there, there are also descriptive uh passages that are describing what God did once, and it may not necessarily be normative for uh all times and all places. 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:17.279 For instance, Jesus walked on water and he told Peter to walk on water. 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:29.040 Um I just saw a video recently where there was a pastor talking uh to a group and telling them that if they had faith, they could walk on water like Jesus did and Peter did. 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:35.519 Um I think that misses uh the intention of what these descriptive passages are. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:41.759 They're explaining what God was doing at that time and in that particular place. 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:54.399 Within the book of Acts, we have a transitional period of time that Luke is writing to describe the establishment of the church. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:07:00.639 So in Acts chapter 8, let's look at the passage here and I'll show how this fits in with the larger context. 00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:03.680 Acts chapter 8, beginning in verse 14. 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:16.319 It says, Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that the Samarit that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent there Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:22.639 For they had not for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:27.199 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:31.199 Now keep your finger there, turn to Acts chapter two for a moment. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:35.120 I want to tie a couple passages together. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:49.360 If you remember in Acts chapter 1, verse 8, Jesus says, But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:58.319 So you have these concentric circles starting with Jerusalem and then Judea and then Samaria and then to the ends of the earth. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:10.800 And on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, the Holy Spirit is poured out there, and if you look at verses 38 and 39, it says this. 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:27.439 And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises for you and for all your children, and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:36.799 And you see here there's the the uh there is accepting of Christ and the receiving of the Holy Spirit, all within the context. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:42.240 Believers were almost uh always immediately baptized upon a profession of faith. 00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:46.559 Uh we see earlier the Holy Spirit poured out in the day of Pentecost. 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:59.120 And in earlier in Acts chapter 2, the Holy Spirit is poured out uh there in the beginning of chapter 2, and uh and it says uh in verse 2, and suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind. 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:10.000 It filled the entire house, and divided as of tongues of fire appeared on them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:12.159 Okay, now keep that passage in mind. 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:13.600 Let's turn to Acts chapter 10. 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:15.279 We'll kill a couple of birds with one stone. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:19.120 Acts chapter 10, verses 44 through 48. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:45.840 Now in Acts chapter 10, verse 44, uh, this is with Cornelius now, a Gentile, and it says, When Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word, and the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles, for they were all hearing them, speaking in tongues and extolling God. 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:55.360 Then Peter said, Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? 00:09:55.600 --> 00:10:02.399 So now you have a circumstance where they hear the word, they receive the Holy Spirit, and now they're being baptized. 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:09.840 Uh in Acts chapter 8, uh you have uh slightly different in 14 through 17. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:16.399 You have uh they came down, they received the Holy Spirit, they had already been baptized into the name of Jesus. 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:22.399 Now look at Acts chapter 19, verses uh 1 and following. 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:40.480 In Acts chapter 19, now you have the the in Ephesus, you're getting to the further regions out in Jerusalem, Samaria, uh, in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria to the ends of the earth. 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:46.159 Now we're getting moving out from this concentric circle, and it says that it happened while Apollos was at Corinth. 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:51.200 Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus, and they found and he found some disciples. 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:54.639 And he said to them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? 00:10:54.879 --> 00:10:58.799 And they said, No, we have not even heard there is a Holy Spirit. 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:01.279 And he said, Into what then were you baptized? 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:03.039 They said, Into John's baptism. 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:05.279 So these people had come believers in God. 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:10.639 They had been baptized, they had come to faith, uh, and they had come to John's baptism. 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:19.279 They had not yet heard the gospel and the crucifixion, the resurrection, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:27.679 And Paul said to them, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is Jesus. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:33.759 And so he preaches the gospel to them, and it says, On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:40.159 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:42.159 There were about twelve men in all. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:44.320 Now you're more confused. 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:54.080 Um the point here is, and and let me give you one last passage just to complete the confusion, in Acts chapter 11. 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:59.360 And I think this is instructive to everything that is going on in all of these passages. 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:03.679 In Acts chapter 11, beginning in verse 16. 00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:14.240 Because now Peter is coming back and telling the apostles what happened in Acts chapter 10 with Cornelius. 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:18.159 And so now they're coming and they're beginning to compare notes about what had happened. 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:32.639 And in Acts chapter 11, uh, Peter is explaining what happened in Acts chapter 10, and he says, as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:38.559 And I remember the word of the Lord, how he said, John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:50.159 Verse 17, if then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus, who was it that I could stand in the way? 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:58.639 When they heard these things, they fell silent and they glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also, God has granted repentance that leads to life. 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:11.840 Now keep in mind, in uh in Judaism in that day, there was this sense of it was us and everyone else, and everyone else would have been second-class citizens, even those who had converted to Judaism. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:37.200 But what happens here in the book of Acts, you remember uh Peter is there and he has this sense that, you know, never should he touch anything unclean, and then he has this vision, and immediately after he has this vision, then one comes uh from Cornelius' party and he asks them to come, and Peter makes a connection that nothing is unclean, that God has declared clean, and so he goes and he shares the gospel with Cornelius. 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:55.440 Now it could have been in people's minds that even though in Acts chapter 8 the Samaritans, which would have been uh a mixed breed of Jew and Gentile, they were a mixed multitude uh genetically, they were uh they were uh half breeds in people's minds, and so they were less than. 00:13:55.600 --> 00:14:03.519 And so now here in Acts chapter 8, the Holy Spirit falls on them, just like it did in Acts chapter 2. 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:07.360 Now, in people's minds, they would have said, yeah, but they're still kind of Jews. 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:12.639 Well, now you have Gentiles, these who weren't associated with Judaism. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:22.399 Now, he was a God fear, it says about Cornelius, and so he would have uh been a follower of Yahweh, although not having gone through circumcision. 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:25.120 But what Peter says is is instructive. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:49.600 He says, when the Holy Spirit fell on them, I knew that they were accepted just like we were, because the very same event happened to them that happened to us earlier, and showing the unity of the body of Christ, that the same experience happened to each group of people. 00:14:49.679 --> 00:15:02.399 And so what you find is as you move out of these concentric circles from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria, the Samaritans have the same type of event that they had in Acts chapter 2. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:44.000 And then you get here to Cornelius, who is a God-fearing Gentile, and the same event happens to them that happened in Acts chapter 2, and then you get to Ephesus, which is moving to the farther reaches of the world, and the same event happens to them that happens in Acts chapter 2 to reveal that in every new group of people they are united in equality with the believers in the day of Pentecost, and God at each new movement outward from these concentric circles, they have the exact same type of experience to show the unity of the church, regardless of what group of people they are. 00:15:44.159 --> 00:16:06.559 And so uh there's a lot going on here, but you notice, even as we compared the passages, uh, that as uh there there isn't a normative pattern during this time, but what you as you begin to trace it out, you see that it's God's intention of teaching the apostles the fuller meaning of what he's doing. 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:24.639 And so this is uh during this transition period, not normative for today, but was instructive to them to understand that whether you're Jew or Greek or barbarian or Scythian or bondman or free, that you are all one in Christ. 00:16:24.799 --> 00:16:27.759 And so that was the uh the intention there. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:34.799 And so you don't see this normative pattern that you see uh in Paul's teaching and moving forward. 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:45.120 Well, let me go and uh try to answer a couple other questions as uh people are uh continuing to uh write in. 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:48.559 Waiting to see. 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:49.919 Jen will answer that one later. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:50.879 No, just kidding. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:17:00.159 Um related to this, uh, and and I'll do I'll step on this landmine. 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:07.839 Uh it says, has the gift of prophecy and speaking in tongues continued to this day or have they stopped? 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:14.319 And this is a very uh uh uh uh controversial question that uh that people have. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:17.039 I will share uh my perspective on it. 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:30.240 I know that there are people that have uh differences of opinion uh on it, but let me just deal with what the New Testament says first, um, and then I think it'll put in perspective where my per my opinion comes in. 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:37.920 Um in the Old Testament, you had prophets, and and the prophets of God spoke authoritatively. 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:53.599 And so when the prophets in the Old Testament spoke, they said, Thus saith the Lord, and and a true prophet of God spoke uh without error, and what that prophet said was absolutely binding upon the hearers. 00:17:53.759 --> 00:18:02.400 In fact, if a prophet ever said anything that did not come to pass, uh that prophet was known to be a false prophet and would have been put to death. 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:11.839 And and we see that uh uh in the Old Testament, in Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, there's prescriptions for those uh who speak false prophecies. 00:18:12.079 --> 00:18:22.799 In fact, I've been reading through Jeremiah, and you see Jeremiah's uh going back and forth because the false prophets were prophesying peace when God was about to bring judgment upon his people. 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:29.759 Now, what's interesting is when you get to the New Testament, uh you see a change happen. 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:43.920 You find that the binding authoritative teaching doesn't continue to reside with the prophets, but it resides with the apostles. 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:55.599 And the apostles, in one sense, are the heirs of that authoritative uh binding uh ability that um that we see in the Old Testament prophets. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:19:06.720 Uh, in fact, when you get into the book of Acts, um you find you find prophecies, you find prophets still being mentioned in the book of Acts, uh, not just among the uh apostles. 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:10.160 Um I think of of Agabas, for instance. 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:24.160 Uh but what's fascinating though is when you find um these prophets uh in Acts chapter 21, for instance, uh it talks about Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and he stayed with him. 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:27.039 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:29.680 Uh 21 9, verse 10. 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:34.640 And while they were staying many days, a prophet named Agabas came down to Jerusalem. 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:39.119 And he makes his prophecy telling Paul, Paul shouldn't go to Jerusalem. 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:50.160 And he's well, he's saying that this is what the Holy Spirit says, uh, that the Jews in Jerusalem are gonna bind him uh hand in foot, deliver him over to the uh to the hands of the Gentiles. 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:58.240 Um then Paul hears this and he says, Well, I'm willing to suffer whatever God has for me. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:03.359 And so uh they're begging him not to go, but he says, I'm gonna go and do God's will. 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:06.079 Um, I'm gonna go where the Holy Spirit leads me. 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:17.200 And what's interesting is if you trace everything that Agabas said, all of the details don't match up with what we find out at how Paul was treated specifically during that period of time. 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:27.359 Uh moving forward to 1 Corinthians chapter 14, I'll skip over for now chapter 12 in the list of gifts. 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:36.720 Uh but what you find in 1 Corinthians 14, even among the prophets during Paul's day, and just talking about during the time of prophesying. 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:50.000 Uh in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, verses 26 and following, uh, it says, uh, what then, brothers, when you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:52.160 Let all things be done for the building up. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:54.559 So everything was to be done for edification. 00:20:54.799 --> 00:21:00.079 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be only two or three at most, and in turn, and let somebody interpret. 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:03.519 So if nobody interprets, that person should be silent. 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:04.960 That's what he says in verse 28. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:10.160 But if there is no one to interpret, let each one of them keep silent in church and speak to himself to God. 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:16.400 And then verse 29, let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:18.640 Think about that. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:28.319 Let two or three speak, and let the others, and in the context, it's either the other prophets or the other leaders, the elders in the church, weigh what is said. 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:42.640 If uh, and uh it says if a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent, for you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and be encouraged, and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets, for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:59.680 So, even in the book of 1 Corinthians, the prophets at this point did not have an authority, nor were they uh were uh in errant, that they were in essence sharing. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:12.240 What they believed that God might be laying on their hearts, but it wasn't to be taken as absolute truth without being evaluated. 00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:21.359 And so even within the book of 1 Corinthians and the book of Acts, we see this shift happening. 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:34.400 And so even there, when God was moving through people, it was not like he was moving through with Christ, who was authoritative in everything he said, or the apostles who were authoritative. 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:43.039 This would be what we would say in our vernacular was, well, you know, I have a sense that God might be leading this way. 00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:46.960 Or it seems to me that God has put this on my heart. 00:22:48.240 --> 00:23:00.400 So I believe, I don't see anything, and this is my personal conviction, that would say that all instances of tongues have ceased, or all prophecy have ceased. 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:25.759 However, I would say that first of all, most of what we see is what is called tongues in modern day does not fall in line with what Paul says here, even in just this one passage, because if there's not an interpreter, he doesn't say to speak quietly, he says don't speak at all, and that isn't normative in a lot of Pentecostal churches. 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:44.559 And then secondly, I would say that even when somebody, if God moves in somebody that he thinks that God is speaking, he needs to recognize that that isn't to be taken as absolute certainty because everything that is done and said is weighed by God's word. 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:48.640 And so just like when I preach, what do you guys do? 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:49.440 Hopefully. 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:53.119 You open your Bibles to see if that's really what's true. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:24:04.319 If somebody comes up and says, you know, I really think that God's putting this on my heart to tell you, and say thank you, but ultimately the only authority that we have is God's word. 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:17.680 And so a lot of what goes on under the uh discussion of uh prophecy or uh spiritual gifts such as this, I would say don't keep in line with God's word. 00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:42.000 And yet I don't, I wouldn't say that God cannot, in any circumstance, move in a person's life so that he gave them the ability uh to uh to speak a language he didn't know in order to communicate to others, or that God could not move in a person's life to give him a message uh to tell others, but it is never authoritative and binding. 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:46.880 Uh only God's word is, and we see that even in the pages of Scripture. 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:51.839 So I'll I'll stop there, and uh you can send the emails via Pat. 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:52.559 No. 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:58.960 Um but uh but anyway, uh there's there's so much more that could go into that. 00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:20.720 Um, and and a lot I I didn't say and didn't say well, even what I did, but um but but I do think most of, let me say this, most of what happens today, even if we were living in first century uh uh Jerusalem or Corinth, um, would be out of bounds of what the scripture says, even just taking the passages at face value. 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:36.160 Um so we have to be very careful because most of what people uh do in these areas doesn't line up with God's word, and so I would say it's out of bounds of what uh just what the New Testament says, regardless of some of these other questions. 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:42.640 Well, let me go, let me uh try to answer a couple others. 00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:51.039 Okay, I'll I'll answer this one quickly. 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:56.319 Um it says, how can we avoid exasperating a strong-willed child when discipling them in love? 00:25:56.480 --> 00:25:57.680 Ephesians 6, 4. 00:25:58.000 --> 00:25:59.839 And I'll say, I don't know. 00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:13.599 Um, I I I patience, prayer, um uh, and and honestly knowing the sinfulness of your own heart. 00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:16.240 I mean, I think I I I'll answer for myself. 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:25.920 One of the things that I've learned about children, um, you know, when you when you're single, you think you have it all together, and then you get married, and then you begin to realize like how sinful you really are. 00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:34.480 You know, you like you didn't realize that you're the one that squeezes the toothpaste in the middle, and then you get married and you blame your wife, and you realize it's you and you've been doing it your whole life. 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:44.400 Um, you you find out how petty you are, you find out how um just I mean, just it's it's amazing uh how much my holiness has gone down getting married. 00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:48.880 Um and then you have children. 00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:54.720 And any last vestiges of thinking you have it together are gone. 00:26:55.519 --> 00:27:05.920 Because you you think you're patient, and you tell yourself before you have children, how can a two-year-old frustrate me to the point of almost losing it? 00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:08.559 And then children come. 00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:15.519 And all of the things you said that that you you know you couldn't believe, um it just happens. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:23.839 And so uh and so honestly, I mean, realizing how sinful I mean, I have to realize how sinful I am. 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:35.119 And and how prone I am to get angry, how prone I am to be petty, how prone I am to want to control other people, there's this there's this natural tendency that we build idols up. 00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:38.480 We, you know, I want peace, and this becomes my idol. 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:43.599 And and anybody who attacks my idol, I'm going to respond in kind. 00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:53.759 And so a lot of it starts with recognizing the sinfulness of our own hearts, of realizing, you know, when I get angry, is it really because my child is doing something wrong? 00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:57.759 Or is it because in my mind I wanted things a certain way? 00:27:57.920 --> 00:27:59.359 I wanted to control my child. 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:02.400 I wanted my child to act a certain way, be a certain way. 00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:04.319 I'm worried about my reputation. 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:05.440 Well, I'm a pastor. 00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:08.400 What are people gonna say if my children act like this or do this? 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:23.200 And so so so often our exasperating our children is really because we haven't looked deeply in our own hearts and realized that a lot of times it's our own sin that we're not confronting and confessing, and we're then wanting things. 00:28:23.359 --> 00:28:50.240 We've we've justified our own sinfulness, and so then we begin to want to control and and and and uh dominate our children uh to conform to what our will and our desires are and our wishes are, and and quite honestly, a lot of the time it's just a matter of recognizing uh, first of all, you know, asking ourselves, is this really something that is, you know, are they are they hurting themselves? 00:28:50.400 --> 00:29:00.480 Is it is it for their own character, for their own building, or is it just because I want things a certain way and they're they're violating my sense of peace or my standards? 00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:14.480 Um so so, in a lot of ways, there's this um there's this need for us to really look at our own hearts and to realize how sinful we are, and that we don't we don't have it together. 00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:33.440 Um and and go to Christ and and just ask for forgiveness and ask God to search your heart, um recognize just what your sin is, and then um ask God for the grace and strength to respond to your children with love and for their good, not for your peace and your benefit. 00:29:33.599 --> 00:29:36.640 And uh again, I mean I I really don't have the answer. 00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:38.799 I mean, I struggle with that every day. 00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:43.200 Uh I have three children, one wife, three children. 00:29:43.359 --> 00:29:45.519 Um struggle with that every day. 00:29:45.839 --> 00:30:01.759 So I think, um, yeah, like I said, I mean, I just realize more and more um how much I need God's grace in order not to allow my own uh pettiness, my own sinfulness, my own desires rule the day. 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:04.400 Um, let's go in another direction. 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:10.000 Um, it says there are a lot of rules in the Old Testament that we do not follow today. 00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:14.960 Some of them are more clearly released from than others, such as with Peter's vision about unclean food. 00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:18.319 How do we still determine what Old Testament laws are binding for us today? 00:30:18.559 --> 00:30:29.279 Um again, the I would say, first of all, I mean, the the New Testament gives us, um in interprets for us how we handled the Old Testament. 00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:31.279 Jesus uh talked about that. 00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:33.279 He did not come to abolish the law. 00:30:33.359 --> 00:30:36.160 Uh in Matthew chapter 5, verses 19 to 20. 00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:38.240 He said he came to fulfill it. 00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:54.960 Um and in Hebrews, uh, you go out, you look at Hebrews in chapters uh 7 and following, and really what the writer to Hebrews is showing is the superiority of Christ over Moses and the superiority of grace over the law. 00:30:55.200 --> 00:31:06.480 Now, when we come to the law, um we need to make some distinguishing uh some distinctions between them, uh or we can get into trouble. 00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:08.799 We can become confused. 00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:13.920 Um there is within the pages of the Old Testament the ceremonial law. 00:31:14.079 --> 00:31:26.880 There was also the civil law that related to uh to Israel, but for our purposes there is the ceremonial law, and these are uh the rules and regulations and the sacrifices coming from Moses moving forward. 00:31:27.200 --> 00:31:33.200 And so you have the ceremonial law, uh which was a shadow of what was to come. 00:31:33.359 --> 00:31:35.039 That's what it says in Hebrews. 00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:46.720 And so when the reality came, when Christ came, all of those shadows really just pointed to the reality of who we are in Christ and what Christ was going to do. 00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:55.359 Now, there is an in there is some instruction even with the ceremonial law, even though those have been fulfilled in Christ and are no longer binding. 00:31:55.519 --> 00:32:01.680 But even when you just step back and look at all the laws, the laws touched every area of life. 00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:04.319 You know, you had to think about, well, what do I eat? 00:32:04.480 --> 00:32:06.079 You had to think about what do I wear? 00:32:06.319 --> 00:32:08.640 You had to think about at all times, what do I do? 00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:12.000 How am I separate for God? 00:32:12.160 --> 00:32:14.079 How am I been how have I been set apart? 00:32:14.160 --> 00:32:17.839 If you were a Jew in the Old Testament, how am I set apart for God? 00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:21.759 And in every area of my life, God has lordship over. 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:29.680 And so even when you look at the ceremonial law, you see the influence of God in every area of life. 00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:34.720 And I would say that that principle still uh applies today. 00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:43.119 It says in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 that uh, and whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all for the glory of God. 00:32:43.359 --> 00:33:01.440 And so that even though we're not bound by any of the ceremonial laws and rules and regulations, um, we ought to have that mindset that everything we do ought to glorify God in what we wear, what we even to the food we eat, we eat it for God's glory. 00:33:01.759 --> 00:33:05.119 And to think about uh, how do we eat for God's glory? 00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:08.079 How do I live my life for God's glory? 00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:10.079 But I will say this as well. 00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:12.960 There is another law, which is the moral law. 00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:19.759 And the moral law is nothing more than a reflection of the character of God. 00:33:20.319 --> 00:33:31.359 And so the moral law, which is reflecting in God's character, reveals to us who God is and in his holiness. 00:33:31.680 --> 00:33:37.119 And when Christ came, Christ came to reveal the Father. 00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:46.000 And we, the Bible says in Romans 8.29, that those whom he foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. 00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:56.480 And so God is at work in every believer, conforming us to the image of his son in our attitudes and our actions and our thoughts and our responses and our relationships. 00:33:56.640 --> 00:34:36.719 And so that in a right sense, we can look at the moral law, we can see the character of God, we can see most clearly the character of God and the person of Christ as he lived it out, and then we can say that in a right understanding of God's moral standards, it does give us a mirror in which to look at and to see our lives, and in looking at Christ, it gives us a model to see what living out a life pleasing to God for his glory looks like in time and space, and to know that that is our goal, to be conformed to his image, he's moving us towards that trajectory by his grace, by his spirit. 00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:47.440 Let me just quickly, I'll see if there's one more uh that I can answer quickly. 00:34:56.480 --> 00:34:58.400 Each one of these is like a sermon series. 00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:07.440 Um I'll answer this one and I know what's the answering. 00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:08.880 Let's see. 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:11.760 Define God and give four examples. 00:35:12.800 --> 00:35:19.840 Um it says, um, it says, will you speak about the rapture? 00:35:20.079 --> 00:35:20.800 Thank you. 00:35:21.599 --> 00:35:28.400 Um and and again, this is I I would I would suggest this, and I can only go through a couple passages. 00:35:28.719 --> 00:35:37.519 Um that in uh in the New Testament, the Bible talks about uh two realities. 00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:44.079 Um one reality is that most of us are going to die, but not all of us. 00:35:44.239 --> 00:35:59.039 I mean, and and potentially, not all of us, um, because the Bible talks about the fact that uh that some will be uh caught up together in the air and uh and be with the Lord. 00:35:59.119 --> 00:36:08.800 So if you look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and again, um there is uh there's a lot of of uh of that that could go into this. 00:36:09.119 --> 00:36:19.599 Um But the the Thessalonians had been under the false impression that Christ had already returned and that they missed it, that somehow they uh they had missed it. 00:36:19.760 --> 00:36:27.840 But Paul had had obviously in his time in Thessalonica, as he established the church, had taught about these things, but they needed further instruction. 00:36:27.920 --> 00:36:35.599 And he says, But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may grieve, you may not grieve as others who have no hope. 00:36:35.760 --> 00:36:42.800 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 00:36:42.960 --> 00:36:52.400 Uh, for this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord Jesus, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 00:36:52.639 --> 00:37:13.519 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, so that we will always be with the Lord. 00:37:13.679 --> 00:37:16.079 Therefore, encourage one another with these words. 00:37:16.320 --> 00:37:42.159 In the end of First Corinthians chapter fifteen, uh you find uh a similar type of of uh of comments in First Corinthians fifteen, fifty or fifty-one, he says, Brothers, I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:48.960 For this perishable perishable body must put on imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 00:37:49.199 --> 00:37:56.800 And so what Paul is teaching here in 1 Thessalonians and in 1 Corinthians, uh notice there is an order. 00:37:56.960 --> 00:38:05.760 So when I die, uh if it's before Christ returns, um my body goes into the grave. 00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:10.719 Now the Bible says that my soul, my spirit goes to be with God in heaven. 00:38:10.800 --> 00:38:13.440 To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. 00:38:13.679 --> 00:38:17.920 And so my body, and theologians refer to this as the intermediate state. 00:38:18.000 --> 00:38:20.000 It's an unnatural state. 00:38:20.079 --> 00:38:32.079 Uh God intended for us to be a unity of body and soul, and we will be again, but when a person dies, there is for a time this uh unusual state of separation. 00:38:32.239 --> 00:38:37.440 Our bodies go in the ground uh and our our souls go to be with God in heaven. 00:38:37.599 --> 00:38:44.800 But it it says that when Christ returns, uh that those who are alive, uh something is going to happen. 00:38:45.039 --> 00:38:49.519 He says that there is a priority that the dead in Christ rise first. 00:38:49.920 --> 00:39:11.280 And so that those who have died will, that their bodies will be resurrected in an imperishable, glorified body like Christ's body, and will be raised, and that those who are alive, they will be transformed, so they too will have a glorified body, and they will meet the Lord in the air. 00:39:11.519 --> 00:39:19.199 And and for those who are alive during that time, and if if if you notice Paul, he even says, We shall not all sleep. 00:39:19.280 --> 00:39:26.559 Um, there was this anticipation and this expectancy that they didn't know when Christ was going to return. 00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:34.320 And so they had this hope that maybe it would be in their lifetime, that they would be among those who would still be alive when Christ returned. 00:39:34.559 --> 00:39:46.719 And and and every generation has had that hope that they may be among those who are still alive when Christ returns, and that they would be caught up together with the Lord in the air. 00:39:46.960 --> 00:40:15.280 Um there there is uh a lot of debate in the details, uh, and again, there's a lot of theology that goes into Daniel chapter 9 and Daniel's 70th week, uh, this period of the 70th seven, uh, which uh many scholars, most scholars would say is a seven-year period of time, three and a half years of peace, three and a half years uh uh of tribulation, the text says, and that when during this period of time that that event, the rapture, is going to happen. 00:40:15.360 --> 00:40:19.679 Uh but again, that would be a whole sermon series or a whole uh lecture. 00:40:19.840 --> 00:40:33.199 But suffice to say uh that the Bible talks in very unmistakable terms that those who are alive at the return of Christ uh that they will be transformed and caught up together to be with the Lord. 00:40:33.679 --> 00:40:36.320 I know our times escaped us. 00:40:36.480 --> 00:40:39.280 There's a bunch of great questions here. 00:40:40.559 --> 00:40:45.440 Um I'm gonna have to leave them because I know I don't want to hold you hostage. 00:40:46.639 --> 00:41:09.440 Um again, there's so much to be said, and a lot of these, um, you know, for those who have been in my theology class this summer, there's uh, I mean, a lot of this is contingent on uh even a lot of these answers on prior commitments and and and preconceived notions of what we believe, how the Bible is structured and fits together. 00:41:09.599 --> 00:41:26.480 And so a lot of our understanding of the Bible um we need to recognize is is influenced by uh our perception of how things are and how things work out, whether we're talking about spiritual gifts, whether we're talking about um eschatology, or we're talking about other areas. 00:41:26.719 --> 00:41:29.519 And so we need to be like the Bereans. 00:41:29.679 --> 00:41:32.480 If you remember the Bereans, they were listening to Paul. 00:41:32.719 --> 00:41:39.679 They were listening to the Apostle Paul, and it says of them, they searched the scriptures to see if these things were so. 00:41:40.320 --> 00:42:11.679 And I would challenge you, no matter who you're listening to, whether it's me, whether it's somebody on the radio, somebody on television, regardless of who it is, you have your Bible open or whoever you're reading, whatever book you're reading, whatever author, no matter how popular he is, a bestseller, that you have your Bible open and you look up every passage that is quoted, whether it's if they just give a reference in a book or they're saying it, so that you can see for yourself what the Bible says. 00:42:11.840 --> 00:42:19.760 Because every one of us needs to be a student of the Bible and not just expect the experts to have the answer. 00:42:20.079 --> 00:42:22.880 God has given his word to each one of us. 00:42:23.280 --> 00:42:38.239 And each one of us uh has the privilege to study God's word and the responsibility to avail ourselves to what God has given us, uh, to search the scriptures, to ask questions, to study, to read, to pray. 00:42:38.480 --> 00:42:47.119 And uh, it's not easy, um, and it takes a lifetime, uh, but that should be what each one of us does. 00:42:47.280 --> 00:42:54.000 Um and so I want to challenge you with that uh to search God's word and to continue to pray. 00:42:54.239 --> 00:42:58.639 Well, let me go ahead and um and close. 00:42:58.800 --> 00:43:00.320 I know you just want to do the song? 00:43:00.559 --> 00:43:02.159 Okay, we'll we'll do a song after this. 00:43:02.239 --> 00:43:03.519 So let me close this in prayer. 00:43:04.639 --> 00:43:08.800 Father, um, with most of these issues, we could only scratch the surface. 00:43:08.880 --> 00:43:23.599 Um, there's a lot to be discussed, uh a lot to that uh to explain differences of opinion and why people have uh one opinion over another and what your word says and how it's interpreted by different people. 00:43:23.679 --> 00:43:25.199 But Father, I pray for us. 00:43:25.760 --> 00:43:46.400 You have given us your Holy Spirit and you have given us your word, and you have called us as your people uh to know you and love you, and you have revealed yourself to us through your word so that we might have an accurate understanding of who you are and what this love relationship is. 00:43:46.719 --> 00:44:02.559 And so, Father, I pray that even though we've talked about some deep theology, that these won't be academic discussions, uh, but these will stir our hearts for greater love and devotion to you and to recognize, Lord, that that you are our end. 00:44:03.440 --> 00:44:06.480 And your word is a means to knowing you. 00:44:06.960 --> 00:44:12.880 And so, Father, may we never lose sight of that even as we love one another and discuss these ideas together. 00:44:13.039 --> 00:44:14.159 We pray in Christ's name. 00:44:14.480 --> 00:44:14.880 Amen.