[0:00] Well, good evening, guys. Good evening to you too, Miss Rebecca. I'm glad to see you. I'm thankful you're here. You and I will have fellowship this evening.
[0:10] Everybody else can just watch along with that. No, it's okay. It's okay. Don't talk to the pastor. He may, no, it's all right. Okay, well, I told you guys I would do this.
[0:21] This is about the time the pastor says, I wish I didn't say that I would do this, but I said I would do it. So I'm gonna open us up with a word of prayer real quick and then we'll move forward. So let's pray together. Lord, I thank you for this night.
[0:32] I thank you for, Lord, just your faithfulness and your goodness to us. I thank you for allowing us the opportunity to come and gather together. Thank you for, Lord, just the privilege it is of looking at your word with one another.
[0:45] And we pray that all things and all ways you would be honored and glorified. And we just thank you for what you're gonna say and how you're gonna speak to us tonight. We pray that our lives would live in response and obedience to that.
[0:57] And Lord, again, it would just be for your glory and your honor. We ask it all in Jesus' name, amen. So I shared with you this morning that Friday, I had the opportunity at the invitation of Ms. PJ.
[1:10] She finally figured out how to get the pastor to do something. She asked my wife to ask me, which is, I said, a proper technique. And I said, it's not, she said, was that conniving? I said, no, absolutely not.
[1:21] That's wise. Because typically if I get asked, I forget things. But at her invitation, I had the chance to go sit down with a homeschool cooperative and answer questions, field questions from these young men and young lady, which I enjoy.
[1:37] I greatly enjoy that. I didn't necessarily like the way I was, I told Carrie, I said, the pressure was kind of put on. She said, he's the answer, man. I was like, oh boy, I'm not the answer, man. But thankfully she quantified that and said, and if he doesn't know, he'll search with you.
[1:51] I said, yeah, there we go. I like that. But it kind of hit me. We don't have the opportunity to do that a lot here. So I told you this morning, I'd give you the chance. If you have any questions, you say, oh, I wish I'd asked the pastor this.
[2:02] Then you can ask me tonight. And then if we get done, we'll get into the text. If not, we will, if nobody has any questions, then that's fine. I kind of jokingly said, if you don't have any questions, I'll have to sit down with you because you've got all the Bible figured out.
[2:15] But I was joking. I know that when you study scripture, a question comes to mind and you forget what that question is. And we don't write them down as we should. But so here we go. I'll give you the opportunity.
[2:26] The reason I chose Sunday night, if anybody's wondering why did you choose Sunday night, this is the only service that we do not live stream. So I did not feel like you would probably want to talk on YouTube, though we audio record it.
[2:37] It can be edited if it needs to be when it's uploaded. So we don't live stream this service. So I figured this is the best service for me to go. Any question, I'm open. Ms. PJ asked, she said, is there anything off limits?
[2:49] I said, absolutely not. Anything they want to ask. So if you have any questions, anything you've always wondered, I might not know the answer. I probably won't know the answer, but the word of the Lord does so we can work it out together.
[3:00] So here you go. Here's your chance. Anybody have a question? Ha! You were right, Ms. Myrtle. She said, you know Ms. Rebecca's going to come in with a list and she's going to have the first one.
[3:11] Go ahead. I have a list. I mean, I really, I really had to search. Now I just don't know about that. But, but. Okay. Get this.
[3:23] Animals weren't always carnivores, right? Right. Or were they? Right. It says in the beginning that everything was created and everything ate from the leaves of the plant and the fruit of the tree.
[3:34] So everything was herbivorous. Yes. Okay. So, after the fall of the white today. The Bible tells us in the book of Romans, Romans chapter 8, that all of creation groans until the day of the redemption of man.
[3:48] So my understanding is, and this is, I think, in all actuality, this is a very serious thing. We fail to comprehend how significant man's sinful rebellion or the fall of man affected not only them but all of creation.
[4:04] We disrupted man, by I say we, man. Man disrupted God's order. Man was created to rule and subdue creation, to rule over.
[4:15] And when that which is to rule over it falls, then everything falls. We see that in the workplace when leadership is poorer than everything else is poorer. So my understanding, my biblical understanding of that is everything was created.
[4:29] And this, again, this is why when you go into Isaiah and you're reading of the coming kingdom, because Isaiah speaks of the soon coming king, it says the lion and the lamb will lay down together. Well, why will the lion and the lamb lay down together?
[4:40] It's because the lion's not hunting the lamb anymore. Everything goes back. Everything is renewed. It goes back to its original intended purpose. And this also is why man could subdue and rule over even animal creation.
[4:54] So we didn't have it when we still eat meat. I'm hoping so. Oh, okay. Yeah, it says that the desires of our heart will be provided. So I really like meat.
[5:05] I mean, I really do. I mean, and, you know, the wedding feast, definitely in the time of Christ, the wedding feast contained meat. meat. So, you know, it says that there's a...
[5:17] But then, but then where is that? I mean, that's not part of sin. No. But it's just... Is eating meat sin? No. Okay. I mean, I mean...
[5:27] You've got to kill the soul. Yeah. It's the slaughtering of it. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, now you're treading on... Now you're treading on ground. It's going to get me in trouble.
[5:38] Because the question is this. Do animals have souls? See how I say you're getting me in trouble? Because now we're starting to move into the realm of talking about people's pets.
[5:51] And I'm not going to answer that right now. I'm just asking the question. Because Carrie looks at me and says, don't answer that question. Because she knows I get in trouble every time I answer that question. So... My answer is, like, I don't have souls.
[6:02] We're going to be in it. Yes. Now, I don't believe there'll be companions. I believe there's that. Now, I do not believe. I mean, just in case you were wondering, I do not think that animals have souls. I think the soul of man is that which reflects where God said, let us make man in our image.
[6:17] Because an animal responds. Right? An animal responds to nature. It has a responsive action. Man chooses their action.
[6:29] There's something within man that tells them this is wrong. I don't think that... I mean, an animal, even though I know what we say with corrective action with our dogs, my dog knows when he's doing something wrong, but the reason my dog knows that he's doing something wrong is because he's done that before and I got on to him.
[6:41] Right? But his natural tendency to be just him. Now, I could be completely wrong in that. I mean, that's just me. Right. So, even if they're loving... Even if animals are loving, that's kind of a...
[6:56] But it's a reaction to a reaction? You think? They're going... Yeah, I mean, most animals that are loving are packed animals. This is why cats love in a different way.
[7:08] I know there's some cat lovers in here, but cats are okay if you... They don't have to get near you. They don't have to be around you. They're like, I may or may not walk up to you. You know, because cats are not always packed animals, whereas dogs naturally create it that way.
[7:22] So, they're going to be a lot more conducive to be attracted to whoever gives them the most attention. We got a 100-pound Anatolian shepherd who thinks he's a lap dog because in their breeding, they were bred to be very connected to whatever it is they were protecting and he'll literally get up in your lap because he just...
[7:44] That's how they bond. I mean, that's, you know, that's the genetic makeup there. Keep digging and you're going to really get me in trouble and you're starting to make me sweat, but that's okay.
[7:56] I can't dig any farther than I can. Okay. Now, the answer is will we eat meat in heaven? I really don't know. I mean, I feel like we will, but, I mean, Jesus ate fish in the resurrected body multiple times.
[8:10] So, huh? Okay, people, let's move through. Okay. You know, you talked about it just a little bit this morning, but I'm really confused with it.
[8:21] So, can you pronounce it? I can't pronounce it. It's Melchizedek. Melchizedek is how I say it. I say it as a K. Oh, Melchizedek. Melchizedek. Melchizedek. Can you? Just talk about that for a minute.
[8:32] Okay. We'll really get into Melchizedek. Later we get into the book of Hebrews because he's introduced. But, if you go to the early pages of the book of Genesis, if you remember this story where Abraham and Lot had to divide and Lot chose Sodom and Gomorrah because the land was beautiful and lush and green.
[8:51] So, Lot went by what looked good. And then, let's go down here. I've got to find the right chapter. Okay.
[9:03] Here we are. So, it's going to be Genesis 14 as the context. Lot gets in trouble because the... Now, Lot... What you need to understand about Lot is Lot held a prominent position in Sodom.
[9:15] It's not like he just lived there because it says in the text that when the angels of the Lord showed up, Lot was sitting at the gate of the city. Now, to us, it's like, oh, he was just hanging out like he would on a street corner. No, to sit at the gate was to hold a prominent position.
[9:27] Okay. And probably because Lot was pretty wealthy because if you remember the reason they had to separate is because Lot's livestock and hired men could no longer coexist with Abraham's livestock. Had a lot of possessions.
[9:38] So, wealth was dictated by possessions. So, Lot is here and one of the kings that were in allegiance with Sodom and Gomorrah just decided they were going to quit paying royalties back to the kings who were kind of over them.
[9:52] And so, there's this great battle that breaks out. You have five kings who go against seven kings and it's in Genesis 14 and essentially what happens is the five kings defeats the seven kings and they fall into the tar pits.
[10:04] Well, someone leaves that battle and goes and tells Abraham because Lot was taken captive. Now, we have to kind of set the scene for all this because this is one of the cool stories of the Old Testament because instead of going and getting other help, they go tell Abraham.
[10:16] Well, Abraham says, okay, and he gets his men, his shepherds, right? So, Abraham takes his men and essentially in the power of the Lord goes and defeats the five kings who has just beat up seven kings and their armies.
[10:30] So, if we ever want to see as God faithful with his people, yes, because Abraham went and brought back Lot and all the captives that were taken from Sodom and Gomorrah. So, Abraham brings them back and it says on his way back, look in Genesis 14, verse 17, then after his return from the defeat of Shedalarmar, that's that king, we'll just call him Shea, and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom, now that's nothing surprising because Sodom and Gomorrah were the ones who had suffered loss.
[11:00] So, the king of Sodom went out to meet him, that's Abraham, at the valley of Shavah, that is the king's valley. And here it is in verse 18. It's the first mentioning we have. And Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread and wine.
[11:14] Now, he was a priest of God Most High. Now, this is amazing because this is the very first mentioning we have in Scripture of anybody being a priest of God Most High. This is Elohim, the Most High.
[11:28] Okay, so this is Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. Now, he was a priest of God Most High and he blessed him. He blessed Abraham. Now, the argument in Hebrews is that the greater will always bless the lesser.
[11:43] Right? Because the lesser cannot bless the greater. So, Melchizedek has to be greater than Abraham. Okay, and then it goes on down and at the end of the second half of verse 20 going into, well, the second half of verse 20 says, He gave him a tenth of all.
[12:01] That is, Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the spoils. Okay, now Hebrews is going to say, so Abraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek and the Levites, Levi was still in the loins of Abraham because he didn't have any children yet.
[12:18] So, therefore, the argument is Melchizedek's greater. Now, the mystery behind this man because the question is, where did he come from? Why do we even have him?
[12:29] My personal opinion is that this is a, he is a Christophany. A theophany is an appearance of God in the Old Testament. The burning bush is a theophany.
[12:41] The pillar of fire over the, you know, the pillar of cloud by day, the pillar of fire by night, those are theophanies. That's God showing up. Christophany is Christ, a pre-incarnate Christ showing up in the Old Testament.
[12:56] Okay, so if Jesus is eternal, when he was born of a virgin, that was his manifestation, not his beginning. So he is there in the beginning, so he is appearing. I think another Christophany is when the angel of the Lord met Joshua before the battle of Jericho.
[13:13] He was the captain of the Lord's army. Well, who else is captain of the Lord's army besides Christ? Right? So, I think that captain when Joshua said, are you for us or against us? And he said, no, neither.
[13:24] I think Melchizedek is Christ in the Old Testament and the author of Hebrews points to Melchizedek as being the right for Jesus to be a priest because the book of Psalms says that God has called him to be a priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
[13:41] I'd have to go look at my cross reference, but it's referenced in Psalm. We only see him mentioned here. We see him referenced in the book of Psalm and then we see, it says, you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek and we see that reminded of us in Hebrews.
[13:56] The reason he's important is this, Jesus has no earthly right to serve as a priest under the Abrahamic covenant because only the descendants of Aaron can serve as priest.
[14:10] So he has to be, because he's from the lineage of Judah, not from the lineage of Aaron or Levi. He's not a Levite. So he is from Judah, which is important for other prophetic.
[14:22] He has to be, you know, from Judah who pays a price. So he has to be according to a priesthood that is better or bigger than Abraham.
[14:34] Well, Melchizedek is the first one we have mentioned as a priest of the Most High God who blessed Abraham and Abraham paid him a tenth, which shows us he is better.
[14:45] Now, let me take it even deeper. This is where it blows our mind. In Jewish thought, if there is no genealogy recorded and there is no death recorded, then you are eternal past and eternal future.
[14:59] If we don't state who you came from and it does not state when you die. I'm saying in Jewish thought, then you have no beginning and you have no end. This is why we read in our genealogies, so-and-so begot, so-and-so, and begot, so-and-so, and begot, so-and-so, right?
[15:12] He lived in the Genesis we see and he lived so many years and he died. He lived so many years and he died. He lived so many years and he died. Because it's showing us that life has a beginning and an end. The one person we find in scripture that we cannot find his beginning and we do not know where his end is is Mechizedek, other than Jesus.
[15:27] And this is why the author of Hebrews says he is a priest forever. Now let me take it one step further. He was king of Salem. Salem means peace.
[15:40] He's the prince of peace. He is the prince of peace and he is the priest of the God Most High. Now who else is the prince of peace? It's Jesus Christ.
[15:53] So my personal interpretation is that this Mechizedek is just like the angel of the Lord, the capital of the Lord. Every time in the Old Testament you see the angel with a capital A, angel of the Lord, that's Jesus in the Old Testament.
[16:06] Just manifesting himself in a different way. So I think this. Yes? So it's probably not a prince of anything that you talk about bread and wine. Probably not. No, because the bread and wine I just want to point to.
[16:19] Yes, because he brings bread and wine to Abraham. Okay. Why? So is there so much going, there's so much showing in the Old Testament?
[16:30] And I don't mean any offense to the Jews or anything like this, but why do they struggle so much with Christ? Why is that, why is there even the doubt? Because if you took Genesis to Malachi and you study Genesis to Malachi, sure we can see Christ in that.
[16:48] But they were looking for a political warrior redeemer. The only way I can say it is their heart wasn't searching for a savior.
[17:03] They were looking for a deliverer. Yeah. Because, again, it's the same way someone once said, asked John Piper, if you had an hour to share the gospel, what would you do?
[17:19] He said, I would spend 50 minutes describing the law and 10 minutes describing the cross. Because until man knows he has lost, he does not know he needs a savior. So, while the Jewish people would agree that Melchizedek is something special, they're just really not within their heart to really dig any deeper and find out who is he.
[17:42] And, you know, again, because, I mean, the story would flow pretty good if Melchizedek never showed up. The only reason I think he's introduced for us is because God is weaving the story together and we don't see the full picture of it until we get to Hebrews.
[18:02] Ah, that's why Jesus has a right. Because the answer is, and a Jewish person will tell you, a practicing Jewish individual will tell you Jesus cannot be priest because he's not from the tribe of Levi.
[18:15] And your answer to that is from the book of Hebrews. He is not a priest according to the Mosaic law. He is a priest of a better covenant who goes back to Melchizedek and the way we know it's better is because Abraham paid him a tenth.
[18:31] And the Levites who received your tithes in essence were still in the loins of Abraham so those you give your tithes to paid him a tenth. And you always pay the greater one.
[18:42] And there is nobody in scripture that we can find that is above Melchizedek and his priesthood. And he's introduced to us as a priest of God most high. Yeah.
[19:11] And that goes into the scriptural reference. And I mean you can elaborate into this if you want to. What Paul says in Romans 9, 10, 11 is that God has put a partial hardening over his people as a whole.
[19:24] But and it says until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. Someone asked me what does that mean? What's the fullness of the Gentiles? And that's you know God has a set number. And here's and this is hard for us to wrap our mind around but here again is the grace of God working along beside that if the Jewish people had not rejected him then that gospel would not have been sounded out as a worldwide invitation.
[19:54] Because when Paul went to the synagogues and the Jews rejected him he said I turn to the Gentiles right? And as Brother said their hearts are hardened until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in which means God has a number I can't tell you what the number is nobody knows but if you tie that with I think Revelation 6 and this is why I think we went through the book of Revelations that the tribulation period is God's dealing with his people the Jewish people because I don't think God's through with the Hebrew people the Jewish people I really believe that the tribulation is him calling his people back to himself because the church is raptured therefore the fullness of the Gentiles is done so now God uses that to call his people back to himself and you know he said well how loving is that that all those years pass that Jewish people die without a savior well as Isaiah said they hear with their ears and they see with their eyes but they they hear not and they see not it's all there it's just you know they had the same opportunity we do but God's grace is what used their hardening and God did harden them and we have to those are biblical truths we have to wrap our mind around because it says that
[21:10] God hardened the heart of Pharaoh and there is a partial hardening of the heart of the Jewish people so that the gospel would be offered to all right yeah Malachi says that really clear you know God hated Esau loved Jacob Francis Chan once said the question is not can God does that the question is can you love a God that would do that you know could you love a God big enough that has the right to make those decisions and you have to answer yes because he's God even if we can't understand it well that's not fair what does the clay say what can the clay say to the potter right yes ma'am so God's got everything orchestrated but we have free will we kind of get into his plan
[22:12] Dale Moody used to say the predestination of God and free will man are two wings on a dove if you take one away you fly in a circle so does God know who's going to be saved yes has God predestined and we can even use the word election we have to say yes we can use that and the reason we have to say that now okay I'm going to stop right here let me just go ahead and say please don't at all ever try to pigeonhole me into some man's theology now when I say that don't leave here and go oh well he's Calvinist or he's an Armenian and some of you say I have no idea what that means and that's great I love the fact that you don't know what that means but in some circles he's preaching Calvinistic theology and because it deals with predestination we're not going to work through that tonight because we just don't want to that it would cause me more problems than it would cause us any benefit okay but what I ask is I don't ever want to be turned a Calvinist or Armenian I'm a biblicist okay which if the
[23:13] Bible says it I'm going to proclaim it and the Bible does speak of predestination it does speak of election it speaks of foreordination that God foreordained men to salvation those words are very clear in scripture but it also says that whosoever will so there is this divine mystery Jesus himself said the spirit removes where it wants no man knows the way no man knows how God does not remove man's free will in his predestination but I gotta go back to what I said this morning if God does not know who's going to be saved then he is not God because there's something he does not know and Jesus himself said no one comes to the father lest he be drawn by the father so it's not man's free will alone it's God wooing them and moving them and drawing them to come to him through those things so yes those are one of those things where I also love how I ended up you told you say when I get to the text and it says predestination
[24:15] I preach predestination when I get to the text and it says free will I preach free will explain the trinity to me yes ma'am that's a good one I don't know if we will be able to see I don't have any biblical ground to say this I'm making answer anything they want to with me I do know that we will be aware in the story of the rich man and Lazarus the rich man was aware of what was going on with his brothers rich man was very aware but he wasn't in heaven he was just after his death and this is another one that kind of and if you don't agree with the biblical interpretation that's okay the book of revelations tells us
[25:19] God wipes every tear away right but there's also there's actually two instances in the book of revelation where he wipes the tears away the first one is very early in the book of revelation where he wipes the tears away from those who were beheaded for proclaiming him during the tribulation so they died a martyr's death they literally during the tribulation they began preaching christ they died they get there god wipes their tears away for the rest of us okay my understanding is the church doesn't enter the tribulation so for the rest of us it says he wipes our tears away at the end of the book of revelation so that means if we just do the math that I have if he raptures the church today and he could and then we enter seven years of tribulation and it's actually even after the millennial reign of christ so that's a thousand years after millennial reign of christ millennial is a thousand then he wipes the tears away that shows me I have at least one thousand and seven years to cry in heaven before he wipes my tears away now will that be tears of sorrow because you say well there's no sorrow in heaven I get that but
[26:33] I think there is mourning because I think I will know who's there and who's not there I think I will also have an awareness of my missed opportunities and we can see throughout revelation that those who are in christ's presence are fully aware of what's going on on earth you may want to add to that you can yes ma'am you look just like the last one asked the question but you can go ahead that's a really deep question really good I don't know I know at least one animal in the garden that suffered because it says that God killed an animal God offered the first sacrifice in scripture because he says he took the skin of an animal when he clothed Adam and Eve so at least one animal in the garden died as a result of their sin now whether or not there were any animals remaining in the garden when he put them outside
[27:39] I don't know I don't know that's a great question told you the young ones can ask harder questions than the older ones anyone and anybody else can answer any question they want to answer I just happen to be standing up here facilitating this not knowing all the answers so by all means yes ma'am I told you you were going to get me in trouble with that question and I don't know I mean they could be there I don't know there we go that I'll take that answer you're asking the wrong guy those questions I'm going to say this is why Carrie looks at me not until now like recently do I have a dog that I really really really cared about I grew up on a farm my dad was a dairy farmer he's got out of milking the year I was born on our farm everything was functional which means if it stepped and I don't mean to offend anybody in this matter okay if it did not do what it was supposed to do it was removed so we didn't get very connected we didn't have pets we had tools so for you know that's just so I kind of grew up with that hardness you know if his best dog did something it wasn't supposed to if it started to chase animals it wasn't supposed to if it did something that it wasn't right that livestock was more important to that dog and therefore that dog was removed and that's just the world I grew up in now presently
[29:21] I have two dogs that are very connected to me one of them is an older German shepherd that's probably going to die and it'll probably break my heart it'll be the first animal I've ever had that dies I'll probably cry over so yes I mean I get that again I don't mean to be cold in those things your life situations will always dictate how you respond to things and that's that's just how I am yes ma'am okay I'm going to say that the angels came first based on the book of Ezekiel where it says that a third of the host of heaven was cast out and I think that that was Satan's rebellion precedes the creation of heaven and I mean precedes the creation of earth that's what I'm going to think and the reason I say that it precedes is because we find him in the garden very early yes ma'am you know there's there's this great consistency they're called near death experiences
[30:33] NDEs and you can google search them and look them up there's actually books been written about it and one of the consistent things that happens with near death experiences is there's a big difference between a believer who has a near death experience and a non-believer who has a near death experience the believers who have near death experiences there are about three things that are very very consistent one of them is the appearance of a bright light the second one is they see vivid colors usually flowers or grass or something very vivid and then there is this awareness of someone calling them or sending them back so that's happened in the life of believers in non-believers near death experiences and there's a book written I wish I could remember what it was called or what it was titled that really just takes a doctor's approach to this because he saw so many of these there's this sense of gloom this sense of darkness and this sense of isolation which are both approaches are consistent
[31:35] I try not to get to you know people tell me well I'm not worried about going to heaven because when I get to hell I'm just going to have a big party we fail to we fail to accurately interpret scripture where it says that it's an eternal state of isolation and separation and outer darkness so you know heaven is a place of fellowship and communion hell is a place of isolation and separation and what we have found in you know even record after record after record after record of these near death experiences those things seem to be consistent Brian Bruce I'll never forget Brian Bruce paramedic he was telling me that if he had someone in the ambulance and he knew they wasn't he could tell if they were nearing death and they were not believers because almost every time they would begin pulling their feet up as if they were getting burned on the bottom of their feet so but otherwise you know those who have had just a piece and I personally and I know
[32:36] Rodney has been there's so much more than me and so many others but I personally have been in the presence of a number of believers who have all died and there be a sense of peace Rodney if you want to add anything to that you feel free because you okay anyone else yes ma'am my daughter oh boy okay well I would say the answer is in your question there when God's people if we can sin without conviction then we are not his people
[33:44] I believe his rebuking now is an eternal rebuking and you know we see that as because of the presence of the spirit the spirit one of the spirit opportunities or spirit jobs is to rebuke and correct and change us but I also believe that God does correct his people Paul said that a number of believers in the church at Corinth took communion in an improper way and fell asleep now the word sleep there means death but it also that word is very very very telling because that word sleep means the death of a believer so you have believers people saved who are taking the Lord's supper in an impure improper way and dying and some people say well that was the Bible it's not happening any longer but I think it is I remember the story Adrian Rogers told of walking Adrian Rogers of course died in 2005 but Adrian Rogers went into a hospital room and was talking to a church member who was living in open sin saved redeemed forgiven eternity in heaven and he went in with another deacon and he did the biblical practice he went with one he went with two and he confronted this gentleman about his sin the man refused to repent of his sin as they were leaving the room
[35:00] Adrian Rogers made this comment he said mark my words God will not allow this man to live much longer within 48 hours the man was dead I think sometimes we call things happenstance and chance when really it is God correcting and rebuking his people because God will not be mocked he's never never allowed himself to be mocked and many times I think the premature death of the believer is a direct result of unrepentant unconfessed sin but today we explain it anyone else yes ma'am what about carbon testing on rocks saying that the earth is millions of years old that question is so easy I'm going to listen I'm just joking okay carbon dating on rocks because the earth is millions and millions of years old now I was a scientist guy I love science but if anybody wants to help me on this one you can the greatest answer I can give to that okay first of all if we take a conservative approach to scripture we would say the earth is between four to six thousand years old maybe eight thousand years old okay there are great bible teachers
[36:17] Tony Evans being one of them that I trust not saying that I agree with them on this answer because I don't agree with every bible teacher we honestly don't know how long the earth was formless and void okay but let's just look at carbon dating first and then we'll answer the other thing carbon dating in the rocks to dictate how old the rock is but they used what layer they found the rock in to dictate how old the carbon is so it's circular reasoning they're using the one thing to say it's this old but they're using whatever strata that they found it in in the earth as another thing saying well it has to be this age because it was found in this layer of earth but we know that it's this age because the carbon and we know the carbon found in this layer of earth is this age since it possesses this type of carbon so it's circular reasoning it's always talking in circles and the other question really just blows our mind is who's to say God could not create something that was old when God created the earth did he create something that had a carbon dating imprint of one year or did he create it with a hundred thousand year head start or did he create a world with big dinosaurs that he was not pleased with right and he using whatever method he used he ended that world and began another and that's where we we get the formless and void we don't know how long that where the spirit hovered over the darkness and was formless and void there's so much we don't understand with that creation work part there so I don't trust scientific dating so much even though I think it has its place but again there's the assumption someone asked
[38:02] W.A. Criswell one time and I've heard the question is do you believe a fish literally swallowed Jonah and he said yes I do and he said so you think there's a fish in the ocean that could literally he said I know by faith that God could create at least one fish big enough to swallow Jonah and keep him alive and that's really all that matters the question is could a man live inside of a fish that's not the question the question is could God create a fish which a man could live inside of and the answer is yes so so he could create the earth for minutes and years and then find the stone cap and do something of this right and again I'm not going to say that I adhere to this okay but there's this thing called gap theory where it says in the beginning the earth was formless and void there are people who say well that formless and void state and the spirit hovered over its darkness lasted for millions of years it says and then God said let there be light so there's this gap theory okay that God had it out there it was formless and void spirit was hovering over its darkness and then after so many years
[39:14] I don't necessarily adhere to that I think God worked in successive seven days I don't mind that gap theory that the formless and void existed for a number of years before he created everything else I don't mind that as much as I really don't like the creation age theory in which it says that a day is like until a thousand years and a thousand years like until a day where someone says in the first day God created this that that was a thousand years in that creation and then the second no I believe that once God said let there be then it was six successive days of creative work and then on the seventh day he rested I believe it was a creation week not a creation millennium there's a website called creation moment and they talk a lot about that harmony evolution just I love talking about evolution it defies so many scientific lives it's just the second law of the generation is shot to pieces because everything falls apart if left alone so there's no way we can evolve it takes an outside porch to make something bigger and better and more adapted that's not what we do when we should right things deteriorate they don't elevate you're exactly right the theory of evolution really falls apart very quickly in all scientific research and even
[40:50] Darwin himself Charles Darwin said if history does not validate this theory then it should be cast out but those who teach it never tell you that part another great resource living waters which is Ray Comfort's ministry he does great when he challenges people in the scientific research he's got great stuff with that any other questions so I answer it.
[41:25] And it's probably not the best answer. But we both know we have boys that ask really complicated, hard questions. And Nolan, the other night, he was scared going to bed.
[41:38] And so we prayed. And I said, you know, Lord, put your angels around and protect him. And I would just tell that night you're saved. You know, nothing's going to come get you. And there's angels around you. And he goes to me and he said, if there's really angels all around us, why do tornadoes come and tear down people's houses and kill people?
[41:53] Hmm. Yeah. That's just one of those questions of if God is good, then why do bad things happen?
[42:05] You know, and it ultimately goes back to the free will question, too, because in order for God to not allow bad things to happen, he would have to kind of go against his own standard and his own order of things.
[42:21] And we have to ask ourselves, where do we draw the line? Where do we say nothing worse than this could happen? You know, and the reality of that is that every one of us have a, when I say what is bad, every one of us have a different level of what is bad or what is wicked.
[42:38] We all have a different level of what is wicked. And we can't say, well, where does that line stop? You know, is it with this or with this or with this or with this? And the ultimate reality is we don't understand.
[42:49] So God, I think tornadoes, hurricanes, all the natural disasters, again, go back as a result of the fall of man. And we are seeing the, and I know people will tell you, well, it's all this other things, but it goes back to the fall of man.
[43:04] Now, how do you answer that to a little boy? We just trust. Because Braden's asked some of the questions to me, and I know he's asked some of the carriers. He's like, that's where faith comes in. Yeah, and I thought, if I could share, I shared it with Carrie before.
[43:18] I found a really good book, if you have children, that helps answer some of those really hard questions. It's called Keeping Kids on God's Side. But I would even recommend it for any adult to read, because she really answers a lot.
[43:32] You and her could really probably have a deep conversation. Because you talk a lot like she does, like she's really researched. Where the Bible contradicts itself.
[43:45] You know, it doesn't. But she covers that. Right. And so it's a really good book. It's called Keeping Your Kids on God's Side. I think her name's like Natalie Payne.
[43:57] I think. Yes, ma'am. No. No, it never rained until Noah built after Noah built art.
[44:08] That's why everybody looked at Noah like he was crazy, because they'd never seen rain. Because it says up until that time, God would water the earth with a heavy mist or a dew. And then it says the fountains beneath and the heavens above broke open.
[44:20] I mean, could you imagine someone building an ark for 120 years and nobody's ever seen rain? I mean, Noah could say, well, the earth's going to flood. And they're like, well, this mist is not going to flood the earth. Which, again, goes back to people say, well, Neanderthal man.
[44:35] If we want to get into the scientific side of it. I know I speak in circles. But, you know, there are two things on a male or two things on a man that never stop growing. Well, three if you count your nose.
[44:48] Your ears and your forehead. A man constantly growing. Okay? Now, that's fine. Most of us won't see any dramatic change in that. Right? Yeah, do that. Our heads are growing, right?
[44:59] I thought my hair was growing, but my forehead's growing. Well, we say, well, things have never changed. But if you are Methuselah and you live 900 and something years, you're going to look like Neanderthal man. Right?
[45:10] Well, so how did they live so long? Well, most people, the biblical, because, I mean, you don't have to separate science. You just have to interpret science to the biblical lens. If God was creating such a world in the garden in those early days where it was almost like a greenhouse environment, things were thriving, you know, man, the society of man is degrading.
[45:36] It's not progressing. That's why the book of Judges shows us the spiral downward of man. And, you know, the fall of man began to have an impact. This is why we see them having shorter and shorter and shorter and shorter and shorter lives.
[45:48] It's because their impact begins to affect creation. But prior to that, when there's this perfect environment for growing and perfect environment for living and perfect environment, and even some will explain that this is even where some of our dinosaurs come from, because things were living.
[46:05] If man was living 900 and something years long, then let a, you know, let a Komodo dragon live 900 years. What's that thing going to look like? I don't know. I mean, but this is kind of where we begin to see that.
[46:18] So there were no storms, nothing like that. First storm was when Noah went to the ark. Seven days after he went to the ark, actually. Okay, I'm going to ask. All right. Okay.
[46:30] Adam and Eve could not live in a perfect world. Mm-hmm. Heaven is supposed to be a perfect world. Mm-hmm. You're supposed to be there for thousands of years. You didn't say it's going to be a good city.
[46:41] Is that because they're not living in a perfect world? I think it also. Hmm. Ooh. Well. No.
[46:53] Okay. Because according to the book of Revelations, Adam and Eve could not live in a perfect world because man would not create robots. He created free will. He created man with a choice. Right?
[47:04] So he gave, because here's, if God is good, why did he even put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden? If he didn't want to eat from it, why tempt him with it? Right? Because he didn't want robots.
[47:14] He wanted man to respond to his love and to respond. And yet they were tempted. Now, the thousand years is not in heaven in the sky. The thousand year reign of Christ is actually on the earth.
[47:26] That's where Jesus comes back with his people. And he sets up the millennial reign on earth. At the end of the tribulation. Okay. Satan is bound. And then Jesus and his people come. Jesus sets up his throne on earth for a thousand years.
[47:39] Now, that is before the final judgment. At the end of Revelations. So what we're saying is, there are people who came through the tribulation.
[47:54] They did not die. Satan was bound. And for a thousand years, Jesus comes back with his people and sets up his millennial reign. He is reign on this earth.
[48:05] For a thousand years, Satan began to move. So there are people alive. When he came there, people will have kids. People will have, you know, there will be people born. And what we see, and it goes back to what it is, kind of a no and a yes.
[48:19] What you see is it's not us that Satan proves is wrong. Because we're redeemed. We're forgiven. We're unborn of us. But it's those people who were born during a thousand years.
[48:30] They were born in a perfect society. The presence of evil was removed. Satan was cast out. Jesus is ruling over them. And there are people who were born. But yet, they just live in perfection and never really respond in faith.
[48:44] So when Satan is released, he begins to stir up. He begins to lead astray, not the redeemed, not the forgiven, not those who are ruling with Christ.
[48:54] But those who are alive on the earth during that perfect season. Which, I mean, I said no, I shouldn't have. But the answer is yes, man still cannot live in a perfect environment. And that shows us that without Jesus, without the blood of Christ.
[49:08] But that's not us that Satan stirs up. It is those who were born during that time. Who just took for granted everything's good, everything's good. But at first sight of temptation, they give in to it.
[49:23] Then, that's the battle of Armageddon. Where God, where Jesus fights that final battle. And then the heavens and the earth are made new. And the heaven comes to earth.
[49:33] And there's new Jerusalem. And then we live eternity. And at that point, it's the redeemed that are always eternally in his presence. Because I believe Christians are always perfect.
[49:47] Right. But I believe, you know, at death or rapture, we will be. Because Paul says, I am not yet what I should be. But I know that I will see him as he is and be as he is on that day.
[50:03] And that's why I think when we come back with him in that thousand year reign of Christ, it will not be a matter of the redeemed being tempted. Because we're going to follow him into the battle of Armageddon. But it's those who are alive when we come back with him.
[50:16] And the children that are born during that time, they're born in a perfect environment. But again, it's not a mind thing, right? It's a heart thing. The very moment Satan shows up, the heart is stirred to sin in them again.
[50:28] Because they never accepted a sacrifice for their sin. They just took for granted that they were living in a perfect environment. I don't know that it's all of them.
[50:39] But it says that Satan will lead astray a multitude enough to raise up an army. Which again shows us because the question is, well if there wasn't any evil in this world, then surely I would believe.
[50:55] And we have a biblical answer to that two times. In the garden and in the revelations. Even if evil was removed, even if there were no tornadoes, even if there were no hurricanes, even if there were no storms, man has to respond, needs to know they're saved.
[51:14] They need to know they need a savior. And these are the things which point us. It's actually God's gracious act that allows these things to exist because they show us our need outside of ourselves.
[51:26] Because everywhere in scripture we find man living in a perfect environment. They begin to be self-contained. They begin to be self-satisfying. They build the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 because man is like, we're it.
[51:38] You know, our descendants came off the ark. We're it. Let's build us a city and magnify ourselves. And God says, ah, you're not it. Broke them up. I know we're pressing on time, but I told you we'd stay here a little bit longer.
[51:51] Anyone else? I don't want you to leave. Miss Rebecca, you said you didn't have a list. Well, if things just come in my brain, I know that's unusual, but it is.
[52:03] No, but if God allowed disasters, so that he can get glory. Because ultimately maybe he can get some, even though it's terrible. I think maybe it's terrible.
[52:16] I would say yes to the point. I mean, we have to be careful because we go into that. God is not the creator of evil.
[52:27] God does not create, but he most definitely allows. And I think God uses these things to show man their need.
[52:38] Okay? To show man their need for someone other than themselves. Because ultimately he does get glory through a number of them.
[52:52] Any other questions? I don't want someone to leave without asking a question that they wanted to ask. Even if I can't answer it. I just wanted to add a discussion earlier about near-death experiences.
[53:07] If anybody here has seen the movie, heaven is for real about the little four-year-old boy who has a near-death experience. And even though he doesn't understand about Jesus and God and heaven and all that, it's supposed to be based on the true story.
[53:17] And all the things that he tells his parents, he saw, just read the Bible. It's amazing. All right. Any other questions?
[53:30] All right, Ms. Myrtle. Mm-hmm.
[53:47] Mm-hmm. Right. And that's a good question because the question's asked, well, why would God take the land away from the Canaanites and give it to the Hebrew people?
[54:13] Well, that's mean. It doesn't, you know, it seems like, how is he? No, no, no, go ahead. No, maybe just as a people living there too. Were they?
[54:23] Were they? Because the Bible says in the book of Genesis, when God promised Abraham that land, because he made that to Abraham, and then when he called Moses, he told Moses he was going to judge the inhabitants of Canaan for their sins.
[54:45] And his tools for judgment were to the Jewish people. He said, well, they didn't have a response, they didn't have a chance to hear. In the book of Genesis, there's this repeated phrase, he called on the name of the Lord.
[54:58] We see one of Adam's sons after, I think it's actually Seth, the one that was born after Cain and Abel, who called on the name of the Lord. And that's the very first mission in calling on the name of the Lord.
[55:11] And that call on the name of the Lord literally means he proclaimed the goodness of God. It doesn't mean he prayed. It means he declared God's goodness. When God called Abraham out of the land of the Ur of the Chaldeans, now stay with me, I know it because it's again, because the question is, God's a big mean God if he's calling people just to go kill innocent people.
[55:30] But he called Abraham to wander around Canaan. Right? He wandered around what is called the promised land. Everywhere Abraham went, it says, there he built an altar and he called on the name of the Lord.
[55:47] So essentially what Abraham was doing was holding tent meetings. He was proclaiming God's goodness in Canaan. And he was telling people how good God is in Canaan to the Canaanites.
[56:02] God gave them the message of his goodness. And then God said, what are you going to do with that message? So he put the Hebrew people in captivity for 400 years. After 400 years, God says they are wicked.
[56:14] They're sinners. They were burning their children in the bellies of metal cows called moloch that they would build. And they would set a fire in this cow and it had a door in it.
[56:25] It's almost like a big barbecue. I know it sounds bad. But they would take their children and they would put them in there and burn them alive. They were wicked beyond measure.
[56:37] But they had heard the goodness of the Lord when Abraham was there. Those people who heard it were not still alive, but they didn't take that message and share it with the generations after them.
[56:50] God had enough. And God declared to Moses, I'm judging them for their sin. What God did with the Hebrew people, he could have pushed them out.
[57:00] But that was the Canaanites' judgment for their wickedness. If you study historically, there is nobody really that has been alive that is more wicked than the Canaanite people.
[57:11] So God was not a big mean God. God gave them opportunities to respond in the early pages of the book of Genesis. And he calls his people. I mean, all they had to do was look up and go, man, Abraham lives in the worst land and he has the most prosperous flocks.
[57:25] How is he doing it? And Abraham was always declaring, God is good. God provides. God is good. God provides. And then all of the children, you know, Isaac was there. And then you have Joseph in his coat of many colors.
[57:36] And there is this proclamation of God's goodness. But they didn't respond to that. And God finally said, that's enough. God will not be mocked.
[57:51] So God did send the messenger. He sent Abram out of the land of the Ur, the Chaldeans, to proclaim his goodness. God gave them opportunity. For 400 years, God waited patiently. They kept getting worse.
[58:02] They kept getting worse. They kept getting worse. They kept getting worse. And God said, okay, now I'm going to judge you for their sins. Sure, it looks big and mean on the outside. But when we dig into it, really what God was doing is he was declaring judgment on them for their sins.
[58:18] And that's what the Hebrew people were doing. They were God's tools of judgment. He didn't just take their land away. He gave them opportunity to repent. And they did not. And if we read biblical history, we see that everywhere God did that, those battlegrounds, someone had went before and declared how good God was.
[58:41] Nineveh ends up being wiped off the face of the earth. There's a curse that's put down upon Nineveh, right? But I mean, Jonah went there first. There's all these curses on these lands. But what you find is someone had been there before declaring that God was good.
[58:52] God was good. God was good. God does not. The Bible says that God will not dwell with the spirit of man forever.
[59:03] That he calls man to an account. And unfortunately, what was happening in Canaan is that the children of those who heard and the descendants of those who heard during the time of Abraham never heard.
[59:16] So it's not God's fault, right? God had already declared. Yes? So God didn't destroy the city itself. He destroyed the people.
[59:27] And the city wasn't packed. So when they went in, they had everything there, right? Yeah. Which is what most archaeologists kind of scratch their heads over, is that he pushed the people out in front of them.
[59:41] And that's why, you know, because people say, well, we never find this. We don't find evidence of mass destruction. We don't find evidence of cities being razed and completely destroyed.
[59:53] And we don't find evidence of new inhabitants in the land. But that completely coincides with the Bible because God says, I'll give you houses you did not build and wells you did not dig and gardens you did not plant.
[60:03] He removed the people and the Jewish people just took over there. Because one thing archaeology has discovered is it seems that somewhere during the time, which happens to be shortly after the Exodus, the language just seemed to change in the land of Canaan for some reason.
[60:21] Yeah, go figure. It went from Canaanite to Hebrew, and I don't know why. I mean, you know, so, yeah. But they were using their pots.
[60:31] They were using their pans. They were using, you know, they were using their houses. Because, again, freed slaves don't have that stuff. You know? So God had to spray or wait. Hold on.
[60:45] Anyone else? God's amazing. He is. He really is. Any other questions? I appreciate you guys.
[60:57] And I know, I mean, you don't have to agree with my answers, and I appreciate you listening. And I know many of you can have so much more input than I could, so I appreciate. I love these nights because it pushes me, and it helps me to at least be on my toes a little bit.
[61:14] So thank you. We'll get to Numbers 13 Wednesday. I'm sorry that we didn't get there tonight. But we're going to start, we do live stream Wednesdays, but we're going to also start audio recording Wednesdays so that we can have it on the website so that it completely coincides.
[61:28] But Numbers 13 is a good passage, too, because they see the promised land. That's where they refuse to go in. Okay? Anything else? If it's okay with you, too, I'm just going to close this in a word of prayer, and we'll be dismissed tonight.
[61:42] So let's pray. God, I thank you so much. Lord, we rejoice in the chance we have to come and to iron, to sharpen iron, and, Lord, just grow together because we realize your word is deep and at times is difficult.
[62:00] God, you've called us to search out and to know these difficult passages. You've called us to search out and to build one another up. So, Lord, I pray that tonight would have been an encouragement. God, that it would be a reminder of how great you are, how in control of all circumstances you are.
[62:19] And, Lord, we just stand in all humbleness and all humility with the admittance that there's so much we don't know. Lord, we thank you by the power and presence of your spirit that you continue to speak to our hearts and speak to our minds.
[62:32] And, Lord, you equip us to give an answer for those who ask the reason for our hopes. Lord, we want to be those who can give an answer. We want to be those who can speak intelligently.
[62:43] But, Lord, when we come to the end of our intellect, we can come by faith. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you have paid the ultimate price for us. And by faith, we accept those things which we cannot comprehend.
[62:55] Those things that are higher than we are, that your ways are much higher than our ways. And, Lord, by faith, we accept and react to each one of them. We praise you for what you're going to do this week.
[63:07] And we pray that these times of discipleship would be a greater motivation for us to proclaim your goodness, your love, and your mercy to others. Lord, in all ways, be glorified and be honored and be with us as we leave here tonight.
[63:19] And may we be your people, ready and willing at every time, every opportunity, every calling to do your work. Lord, we love you, we praise you, and we give you all the honor that we possibly can.
[63:32] And it's in the sweet name of Jesus we ask all these things. Amen. Amen.