WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:04.000 She's back. 2 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:12.000 The cat just jumped on my lap as I was starting the stream. You guys haven't seen her in months. She just never comes up during the stream. She wanted to say hi, apparently. 3 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:23.000 No, she doesn't know you exist, actually. She's just bored. Um, so the first question for today is going to be about whether or not I can get this cattail away from my nose. 4 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:53.000 Um, no, it's going to be about whether or not you see Jesus right when you die. Like the moment you die. I don't mean the millisecond. You know what I mean? But you die and you see Jesus. It's not like a long delay. It's not like you wait till the second Coming or something like that. You're actually going to experience the presence of God upon death. Is that what happens? And I think scripture actually does answer this question for us. And I think it also matters, um, because of the way it affects our hopefulness about our future. 5 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:59.000 So I'll show you that first question. Do I see Jesus right when I die? 6 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:13.000 And Philippians is the first passage we're going to go to to talk about this, because I think Paul gives us the details there because he actually talks about his own potential death and he gives us some answers on this so we can think biblically about what happens when we die. 7 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:24.000 And, um, this does not depend on your. As you don't have to be premillennial post millennial amillennial eschatology, rapture considerations. None of that matters in relation to what I'm talking about here. 8 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:51.000 So Philippians 1:18, it says, and, um, just for the background, this is where Paul is talking about how he is persecuted, how he is attacked, how his life is actually in danger. So he may be killed for his faith in Christ. And he's okay with that. In fact, he's very okay with that. He's not looking, you know, we don't want to be martyred. As Christians, you're not supposed to try to get martyred. There's some people have an unhealthy fascination with it. Um, that's not the issue here. 9 00:01:51.000 --> 00:02:31.000 But look at what he says. Try to understand why so many Christians go, I know that I will be right with the Lord when I die, not hundreds of years later, 10 years later, not a year later, just when I die. So it says here, Philippians 1:18. I'll read the section to you, then I'll go back over it again. Yes, and I will rejoice for verse 19. I know that through your Prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 10 00:02:31.000 --> 00:03:03.000 I love Philippians because the attitude of optimism and hopefulness that he has, it's just a side issue here, but it's not the kind of optimism that says everything's going to work out fine. It's the kind of optimism that says even if everything goes horribly, I still have reasons to rejoice because I know that God is working and using it to glorify his name. And that is an impervious, invincible optimism that Christians can actually have and should have. Because we live in times where you lose your optimism. 11 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:09.000 Um, verse 21. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. 12 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:29.000 Now he's talking about his death would be a benefit to him. Okay, I'll go back over this in a second. Let's read through it. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me, yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 13 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:34.000 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 14 00:03:34.000 --> 00:04:23.000 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all so that he might minister to them. And he goes on and talks about that so clearly. Uh, Paul is discussing here. He's torn between two different things. One of the things is staying and doing ministry and catch this. That Paul's greatest desire, and this is a good example for us. His greatest reason to stick around in this world is to bless and minister to others. That is a high and lofty thing. That is a wonderful thing. Usually when we think about what if the Lord took me today or I was to die today, we think about the things that we would miss out on that we would want to do. Places I want to visit. Maybe you're not married. I want to get married first or have kids, maybe I want to whatever, see this happen in the world or experience this vacation trip type thing. And Paul's like, I want to stick around so I can bless other people. 15 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:45.000 That's a Christian mentality. That's a beautiful thing. But this tension where Paul says, I would rather be gone than be here and help you guys out, like I'm hard pressed, like that would be far better. That would be the thing that I would, would want the most, that Only makes sense if when he dies, he sees Jesus right away. 16 00:04:45.000 --> 00:05:09.000 Because if it's one of those things where, uh, like say, soul sleep some people believe in, where, um, a person dies and then years go by, maybe thousands of years go by, and then Christ returns and you're resurrected and you get your new body and you're in his presence. And during that interim time, you're basically unaware. You're basically out of it. It's as though you fall asleep and you're not dreaming and you're just kind of there. 17 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:42.000 If that was the case, then dying would not hasten Paul's appearance before Christ. It wouldn't make it any quicker because he would die and it would still be the same number of years away. It wouldn't change anything. It would only change his awareness of the passing of time and his ability to influence and impact people during that time. So it would basically be only a negative thing, not a positive thing. But he presents it as though it's quite positive. Let's look at it again, then. We'll go to one Corinthians, the other passage. I'll take you guys to too, on this topic. I think it's really, really important. 18 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:48.000 So he says, um, uh, whether by life or by death, he knows that Christ will be honored in his body. 19 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:57.000 Amazing encouragement for us. And he says, for me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. He has immediate gain if he dies. 20 00:05:57.000 --> 00:06:20.000 And he talks about it here. One of the gains. One of the gains is that he will glorify Jesus. That's a gain. But he has another immediate gain. And that is if I am to live in the flesh. That means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose, I cannot tell. I'm hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. That's what death means to Paul. It means I depart from this body. I'm no longer in this shell. 21 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:23.000 I no longer need this corrupt body. 22 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:33.000 I will be replaced one day. And then he is in a disembodied state with Jesus. He does not yet have his resurrected body. That's a future thing. The eschatology of that is future. 23 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:50.000 That resurrection and, uh, the resurrection of the saints. When Christ returns, he brings with them their spirits basically, and unites them into a new body, a reconstituted, glorified body. That would be my understanding of that. That future event that we will all be experiencing in Christ. 24 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:57.000 But immediate presence of Jesus. Second Corinthians, chapter five talks about this as well. 25 00:06:57.000 --> 00:07:05.000 So in verse six, it says, so we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. 26 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:14.000 Now, this is a really interesting thing theologically because obviously Jesus is, in a sense, is with me. He's in my heart. Right, Metaphorically. 27 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:27.000 But the Holy Spirit is in me. Okay? If you are a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit, and this is how Christ has made his home with you. Even the Holy Spirit's even called the Spirit of Christ, though I know that that seems challenging to people at times. Um, it's not. 28 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:32.000 It shouldn't be. But that's a terminology that Scripture uses as well. Right? 29 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:38.000 So in a sense, Christ is with us. Where two or more are gathered, there I am in their midst. 30 00:07:38.000 --> 00:08:05.000 There's a sense in which Jesus is with us. But you can have greater and lesser experiences of the presence of God. And obviously the greatest experience of the presence of God would be just being in heaven with God or when heaven and earth meet. There'll be a constant, ongoing, in the future, perfect relationship with God. Perfect, incredible, overwhelming presence of God such that revelation says there's no need of the Son because God himself is the light. 31 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:09.000 That is obviously a greater experience than what I'm having right now. 32 00:08:09.000 --> 00:09:12.000 So he says, we're away from the Lord in that sense right now while I'm in this body. For we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes. He says in verse 8, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord for this to make any sense. I think for us to make any reasonable sense of it, we have to see this as we try to interpret Scripture thoughtfully. Right? As I, when I die in this body, I am, um, directly with the Lord. I'm in his presence. I'm experiencing his glory. And it is greater than anything I've ever experienced in this world. Even with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, it is actually next level. Right. This is so much better. And so this is something he's like, man, we'd rather. This would be better. I'd rather be that. But of course, I'm not going to be suicidal. That would be, uh, an evil and murderous thing. And, uh, that would be a lie from the enemy to get people to think down that path. But this is something every Christian gets to look forward to. 33 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:15.000 The worst you can do is grant me my greatest wish. 34 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:18.000 In a sense, when someone's like, well, we'll kill you for that. 35 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:21.000 The worst you could do is grant me my greatest desire. 36 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:23.000 I'll go be with the Lord. 37 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:34.000 It would be bad, uh, news for others who maybe I care for, who I provide for or protect, um, or minister to. But it's not going to be bad news for my experience. 38 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:51.000 So verse nine, he goes in and he says, more so whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 39 00:09:51.000 --> 00:10:01.000 So we have this consideration, like, um, I am, uh, absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Have you heard that phrase before? 40 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:08.000 This is the phrase that you'll often get from individuals, and it comes from verse 8 of 2 Corinthians. 41 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:44.000 To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Now, a lot of people say this as a mantra, especially like in Calvary chapels, which I love Calvary, and I was, uh, in Calvary for many years and still very much similar in my thought process about how I approach Scripture and ministry. Um, but the phrase that you'll hear often in those circles is to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So people ask this question, where do I go when I die? And the pastor says, well, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. But then someone turns to 2 Corinthians 5, 8, and I had a friend that did this. And she goes, it doesn't say, to be absent, uh, from the body is to be present with the Lord. 42 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:49.000 It says that Paul would rather be absent from the body and be present with the Lord. 43 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:56.000 And so here we have to distinguish between what Scripture is saying and our interpretation of Scripture. 44 00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:45.000 Scripture's saying Paul and, uh, not just Paul, right? Paul and his companions collectively. So it's not just a special grace on Paul that he gets to be present with Jesus, rather him and his companions. A general truth. They prefer to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Now, we draw from that the interpretation. So therefore, it's true that when a Christian is absent from the body, dead, that they are then with the Lord. And therefore application or doctrinal truth, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. That's how that works out. It's not a misquote of Scripture for those who may have, uh, thought that it was. All right, that's the first question for today. My name is Mike Winger. I'm here to help you learn how to think biblically. About everything. That's my agenda. That's my goal. I've been devoting my life to this for years and years, and I'm hopefully getting better at it over time, as hopefully you are as well. 45 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:54.000 Everything I produce is available for free. All the video content, that is all the podcast content. It's all available. We put it up on social media platforms to make it available for free. 46 00:11:54.000 --> 00:12:00.000 If, uh, if you want to check it out, you can go to Biblefinger.org on the website there. We've got searchable. 47 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:20.000 You should know this. If you like this content, you should. There's playlists with all kinds of different topics where you pick a topic like evidence for the Bible or, um, Jesus in the Old Testament or the Hebrew roots movement, or the book of Romans or the Book of Mark or 1 Peter, and you can find those playlists and you can watch through all the teachings I've done on that topic or that book. 48 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:56.000 And there's a searchable feature on the website BibleThinker.org, there's two search features. Take a minute and familiarize yourself with them, because you can find the exact moment in a video where I've addressed maybe one of your questions, because I deal with questions constantly. Speaking of which, question number two comes from Kyle. Uh, should churches publicly promote local events involving alcohol? It seems unwise and inconsistent toward those with weaker consciences. Some say we shouldn't legalistically refuse to advertise these opportunities for fellowship since drinking in moderation isn't sinful. Thoughts? 49 00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:00.000 Definitely have some thoughts about that. 50 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:10.000 As I drink my coffee, which some other people would be like, you shouldn't have the coffee. And, um, would be concerned about me stumbling someone with a weak conscience because I just had some. 51 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:21.000 Um, so yeah, there's a biblical precedent in 1 Corinthians 14 that talks about, uh, uh, is it 14? 52 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:25.000 Um, uh, Romans also talks about convictions. 53 00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:30.000 And basically the precedent is this. 54 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:57.000 Be loving towards each other. Um, the short version of this is, hey, if you have a liberty in an issue like, say, alcohol is a question of liberty and moderation. Liberty meaning if you can do this in good conscience before God and thank him for it, go for it in moderation, meaning don't go for it, go for it. It has to be in godly moderation if you're going to drink. Um, and the same is true for a number of other things in life. 55 00:13:57.000 --> 00:14:03.000 So when those types of issues are there yet we know even back in the day there were people who were like, I will never touch alcohol. 56 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:08.000 Maybe they had a family problem with it, a personal problem with it. And so you don't want to stumble them. 57 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:59.000 Um, so you don't drink around them and you don't flaunt. You don't go out of your way to flaunt your drinking around them either, because that would be unkind to them. But what's often overlooked is there's also instructions about the person who has the restrictions that they're not supposed to be judging the person who doesn't have those same restrictions. And this is in a specific area of issue where there's liberties, as in, these are not sinful behaviors inherently. They can be sin. Anything could be. Um, they're not inherently sinful. So don't judge people for them. This is also an instruction in scripture, and it's important that we remember this as Christians, that I don't want to create an environment in my church where it would be so we are so cautious about not stumbling people that we actually create a situation where we're judging everybody who does enjoy a liberty that God says you can enjoy unto him. Does that make sense? 58 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:55.000 I'll give you an example. You're hanging out at your church, um, and your friend tells you a story, um, and people are listening into the story, and he goes, yeah, I went out with, uh, my, uh, my neighbor, and we went out to the bar and got a drink together. And then I was sharing the gospel with him, and he was really open for the first time ever. He's going to come this Sunday to church and he's telling all this great story. And then the only thing people heard was, you went to where and you had a what? You had a drink. That's all they heard. And then that church has gotten an environment where they're so reactionarily cautious about alcohol that they're actually sinfully judging the brother who is just engaging in a liberty. Now, he's not trying to flaunt it here, but he also doesn't have to, like, keep it hidden like it's golem with the precious, you know, that would not be a healthy environment that Christians are to create. 59 00:15:55.000 --> 00:16:19.000 So let me, Let me read through quickly. Romans 14. And let's look at this, because this is the passage ultimately that talks about this. Um, and I'll just, I'll describe terms here, because this is one of those passages where Paul writes and people go, wait, what? What is he talking about? What is weak in the faith? He's using terms on. I'm not sure what he means by that. So I'll do a really quick interpretation as I walk through, but I have a full teaching on the Romans 14 in my Romans series. You could just put Mike Winger, Romans 14. 60 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:30.000 Google will give it to you. But hold on. There we go. All right. It says here, receive one who is weak in the faith. The weak in the faith, by the way, is the person who say, I can't drink. 61 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:31.000 I, uh, can't. 62 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:35.000 Um, I could never play a game of cards. 63 00:16:35.000 --> 00:17:05.000 Um, if somebody said, I'll bet you a quarter that such and such is going to happen, I'd be like, I can't do any. If they can't do any of those types of things, they're not sinning. But the Bible does describe that as having weaker faith. Okay, I didn't make up that term. I'm not insulting you, but that is what Paul means by the passage here. So he says, receive one who's weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. Let's not focus on arguing about the areas of your weakness. Let's just say, I accept you as you are. 64 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:14.000 Let's try and work together and not. I don't need to change your mind. If you go, well, I think all gambling, every single piece of gambling, is always evil. Drinking is always bad. 65 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:37.000 Um, there's tons of Christians that hold that view. I don't want to sit and argue with you about that all day long. I want to have fellowship with you if I can. But I know what scripture teaches about it, so if it comes up, I'll defend that. But it says here, for one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Okay? So the limited one doesn't feel like they can eat all things. 66 00:17:37.000 --> 00:17:57.000 Uh, let not him who eats, despise him who does not eat. Okay? This is the one thing the guy with the liberty looks down, he goes, oh, he's one of those guys that can't even have a beer. And then you look down on him for it. Don't do that. The Bible specifically says, you can't do that. You can't do that. Do not evaluate people based upon these types of conviction issues. 67 00:17:57.000 --> 00:18:24.000 And it says, and let not him who does not eat, judge him who eats. Okay? So this is the one who abstains. I'll take the alcohol example. They never drink and they're told, don't be judgmental towards the person who can engage in a liberty unto the Lord. A judgmental thing would be this. I have a teaching on alcohol that I did that some of you guys are familiar with, um, where I go through all the passages, the bad ones and the good ones. Every verse related to the topic of alcohol, we go through it all. 68 00:18:24.000 --> 00:19:17.000 So it's both. It's positive, negative. It's all of the things, um, in that teaching, I had a pastor who commented. He was a pastor, and he said in the video somewhere, there's, like, I don't know how many comments are on there. He said that nobody, um, drinks in moderation. It just doesn't exist in reality. Everybody who drinks, they all abuse alcohol. Nobody drinks in moderation. And so I know that that's not true. I know plenty of people, especially after I have a teaching like that that goes public, then people are a little more open to me about whether they drink or not. But I know plenty of people who absolutely drink in moderation. I also have in my life known many, many people who drink not in moderation at all. Um, and I'm speaking mostly of unsafe people that I know, but it's just not true. But if you believe that you are doing what you are judging him who eats, or him who, in this case, drinks alcohol, you're judging them all. 69 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:24.000 Someone goes, I like to have a glass of wine every once in a while. And the guy says, no, liar. 70 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:32.000 You're an abuser. You're a sinner. This is exactly the thing the Bible tells us not to do. Why? Because God has received him. 71 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:41.000 Okay? He's not my servant. He's not your servant. So it says, who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master, he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. 72 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:46.000 One person esteems one day above another. Maybe you observe the Sabbath. 73 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:51.000 Maybe you. You think, uh, Easter is the most important day of the year. 74 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:57.000 Another esteems every day alike someone else doesn't. They don't esteem one day above another. 75 00:19:57.000 --> 00:20:27.000 And it just says here, that's okay. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. This is not you having your own truth. Because the truth is that it's okay if you want to do that and it's okay if you don't, because it's an issue of liberty. So it's not you having your own truth. It's you getting to express your liberty. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day observes it to the Lord. And he who does not observe the day to the Lord, he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. And he who does not eat to the Lord, he does not eat and gives God thanks. 76 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:47.000 So just let them have those differences. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. This is installing the lordship of God over, um, the lordship of my convictions in other people's lives. 77 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:50.000 That's the emphasis here, I think. 78 00:20:50.000 --> 00:21:09.000 So I could go on. Uh, but the dangers here are, um, judging your brother, uh, or showing contempt. Those are the two dangers. The one with liberty shows contempt towards the one without it, and the one without liberty shows judgment towards the one who does have it. And he says, who are you? You're both wrong. Just stop. 79 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:17.000 You're all going to be judged by Jesus, so just let that happen. On conviction issues, on liberty issues, you'll stand before God. 80 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:23.000 So how does that translate to your question? Okay, I did all that so I could try to answer your question about church. 81 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:33.000 And you said, I'll read it again. For anybody who may have forgotten. Should churches publicly promote local events involving alcohol? 82 00:21:33.000 --> 00:22:03.000 Um, I don't think churches should have some restriction on that. I think that individual churches may say, hey, we've got a lot of, um, uh, individuals who are recovering alcoholics who have come out of substance abuse. Maybe we have a really active evangelism system going on in our church that's outreaching to people and part of those groups. And we think for their sakes, we shouldn't do this. It might actually be dangerous for them. 83 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:08.000 I totally respect that. That's good. You should follow that wisdom as a pastor. 84 00:22:08.000 --> 00:23:14.000 But if your thought is, our people are unhinged on the topic of alcohol, they're really judgmental towards anybody who drinks. And so we can't promote this event where there will be alcohol. Let's say. I'm trying to think of an event. I've never even seen a church promote an event with alcohol, but I'm sure it happens, right? But let's say there's a. Oh, let's say there's a debate. I've seen these happen. Okay, so there's a debate where it's happening at a, uh, local pub, and it's a debate on the existence of God, an atheist and a Christian. And then the church is like, hey, guys, let's go out and support. Yet it's going to be at a pub. Um, I would not have a problem with the church doing that and saying, look, drinking is a liberty you have. You can make the Decision yourself. You can control it yourself. You can go there and have a drink. You can go there and not have a drink. I don't have a problem with that. Um, and I think that this question would be really foreign to the early church because, like, most of them actually drank. It was really culturally normal. I think, to my knowledge, the majority of them drank. Jesus, when he instilled communion, right? They were at a meal with bread and wine. 85 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:40.000 Melchizedek brought bread and wine out to Abraham. And I know all the arguments that this wine wasn't really wine or that it was watered down, um, or that because it was. Here's an argument I'll give you guys. Uh, because this wine was the new wine that was for, um, the Passover celebration, therefore, it was basically fruit juice. Um, but that's not true, because the actual harvesting of the grapes came months earlier. This was wine. This is wine. Wine. And it doesn't really actually take. 86 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:42.000 You can make wine in days. 87 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:55.000 So these arguments don't work. Um, Jesus definitely drank. And the Bible, in effect, was promoting an event that involved alcohol from day one because of communion. 88 00:23:55.000 --> 00:24:17.000 Now, in your church, you probably have grape juice. That is entirely a tradition. That is not something that the Bible pushes on us. Now, I also am not one of those who makes a big deal about this. I don't care. Okay? I don't think that you would say, well, it's still grape juice, but there's no alcohol content. So now it's not as powerful of a symbol in communion. I'm like, I don't see that. 89 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:19.000 I don't see that. 90 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:57.000 And we know that even then, there was a danger. 1 Corinthians can help balance this out. They would get together and they would have these love feasts, it's called, where some people would just get totally drunk and others wouldn't even get food. Um, and so this changes the way the church is supposed to function. And in Corinth, Paul tells him, hey, how about you eat before you come? And then, in other words, don't make communion. This entire big meal, that's being done with recklessness and without moderation. But. And so it changed the policy of the church. And so the church has to respond to what's happening. Like, if you promote an event and then people are going there and they are getting drunk, then you have a major cultural problem in the church, and you should make a change. 91 00:24:57.000 --> 00:25:04.000 There's some thoughts on that. I know it's controversial, especially in the US where we've had prohibition. 92 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:24.000 Um, prohibition may have Been pragmatically useful in some ways and, uh, may have been harmful in other ways. But it's not a biblical mandate. And you can't make it a biblical mandate to tell people that all alcohol is bad or to make, uh, a church environment where everybody's judging anybody who actually does drink. 93 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:34.000 That would be unhealthy. We need churches where people who do and don't can fellowship together and not despise and not judge. That's the biblical standard in Romans 14. 94 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:36.000 Question number three. 95 00:25:36.000 --> 00:26:13.000 This one comes from Jake, Gentile, who says in Psalm 139, verses 21 and 22, and verse 5:5 or Psalm 55. It seems to imply it is good to hate evil people who oppose God. But Matthew 5 seems to encourage the opposite. Where is the proper balance between these things? Thanks. Let's read these passages. Okay, so we got three of them. Um, first one, Psalm 139. 13 9, and I'll put on your screen. 96 00:26:13.000 --> 00:26:52.000 And it was verse 21 and 22. Um, I'll back up a little bit here. Um, I mean, he's talking about the evil here. He shifts from what was a beautiful psalm about God and his providence and creation, and then shifts topics as he gets further down and suddenly says in verse 19, oh, that you would slay the wicked. O God, depart from me therefore, you bloodthirsty men. Uh, so bloodthirsty means. He's talking about people that are, uh, like murderers. They lay in wait for people. They kill people, for they speak against you wickedly. Your enemies take your name in vain. 97 00:26:52.000 --> 00:27:00.000 Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate you? Do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them my enemies. 98 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:09.000 Um, I've seen this recently. Quoted, uh, as a support for a, ah, blanket hatred of Jews. 99 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:17.000 Have you seen this? If you're on X or Twitter, maybe you have. I've seen this recently quoted for that. 100 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:22.000 Is that what we're supposed to be doing? 101 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:28.000 Is that our heart? Um, now let's think about this. 102 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:33.000 Go to the other one, which was Psalm 55. 103 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:43.000 The boastful shall not stand in your sight. You hate all workers of iniquity, so God hates all workers of iniquity. 104 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:51.000 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood. The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. 105 00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:55.000 Yeah, God hates him. 106 00:27:55.000 --> 00:28:33.000 So there it is. I guess we hate a lot of people now, actually, to be honest. If that's the whole story. If that's the whole story. So let's look at Matthew, chapter 5, verse 43, and then I'll try to round this out with some other ideas. In Scripture, you've heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust. 107 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:35.000 Wow. 108 00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:40.000 That it could seem like a contradiction to somebody. I don't think it is. Um, I'll explain. 109 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.000 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? 110 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:58.000 Do not even the tax collectors do the same. And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others do? Not even the tax collectors do so therefore, you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. 111 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:03.000 You're actually being asked to do something that God does here. That's one of the key elements. 112 00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:16.000 You're being asked to walk in the footsteps of God, that Jesus is the one who loves those who hate him, who prays for those who spitefully use him and persecute him. 113 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:21.000 He's the one who does good to those who hate Him. 114 00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:26.000 He has blessed those who cursed him. Jesus is the one who has loved his enemies. 115 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:46.000 Now you might say, but isn't God, like, angry with the wicked every day? And here's where I'm going to say this is my answer to this. And I haven't heard many other people provide the same answer. So you should consider it, like, with a grain of salt. All right? Anytime you have, like, that's really what you think, Mike. Yeah, that's fair. Maybe I'm wrong. I'm open to that. Someone show me where I'm wrong here. 116 00:29:46.000 --> 00:30:05.000 I believe that people can have hate and love in different ways towards the same individual at one time. I think that God does this, and I think that that's why I can do it. So allow me to elaborate. God is angry with the wicked, yet he creates a path for the wicked to be saved. 117 00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:18.000 He is wrathful towards the evil people, but he also pours that wrath out on the cross m and then offers them grace and forgiveness and wants them to come in return. 118 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:29.000 We see this in the prophets constantly in the Old Testament where God's telling them how wicked they are and that he's going to come and destroy them, like actually physically kill them. 119 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:54.000 And then he'll say, Repent, repent, repent. Like in Isaiah, where he's like, your whole head is struck. Everything's messed up in your whole body. This is a metaphor for Israel. The whole body's all messed up. And he goes, what more do I have to do to you? Just turn and repent. You'll be washed and clean and white as snow. And so God shows his hatred in a sense of evil and evil people, along with his love for those same exact people. 120 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:58.000 He demonstrates both of these, and both of those are on the cross demonstrated as well. 121 00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:05.000 And so he's calling us to walk in the same stuff. So I can look at the person who's doing wickedly, and I can say, I hate that. 122 00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:10.000 And there's a sense, and this is where maybe you're going to disagree with me. There is a sense in which. 123 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.000 A sense in which I go, I hate them. 124 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:31.000 But I'm going to be really careful because if that sense doesn't involve me also going, lord, I want to pray for them. I want to see them come to repentance. I want to see their lives changed. I don't want them to experience the judgment of their sins. I'd rather them experience the salvation that comes through Jesus. 125 00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:44.000 If I don't also have that feeling towards them, towards the Jews, right, The Joos Jews. This is the, uh, online world right now is insane. This is why we need to be grounded in scripture so that we know where our compass is pointing. 126 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:56.000 Um, but if I have that kind of hatred towards people, or, uh, towards Hamas or Islam, which is evil, I hate Islam. I should. 127 00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:58.000 But it's also evil to Muslims. 128 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:10.000 But I hate terrorists. I hate the Islamic terrorists that are murdering and rampaging and plotting against the rest of the world. Basically, I do. In a sense, I hate them. 129 00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:19.000 But, man, that sense is overshadowed with love because I'd rather them come to repentance. And if you ask like old, is it more hate or more love? 130 00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:27.000 Well, there's just different things. Like, I hate all the evil that is present in you and the things that you're doing and you represent and you embody those things. So I have to hate that. 131 00:32:27.000 --> 00:32:48.000 But because my preference is for your salvation, what you would say is, there's actually more love than anything else. Uh, does that make sense? There is more love than anything else. A desire for you to be saved, a desire for you to be restored, forgiven, transformed, filled with the Holy Spirit, experiencing the grace of God. And then I'll put my arm around you and talk to you about how forgiven you are. For all the things you did that were absolutely hateful. 132 00:32:48.000 --> 00:33:07.000 That is the preference. And that is God's preference, not desiring that any should perish. And this is where even the old. This is not just New Testament, Old Testament. God says he takes no delight in the death of the wicked, and yet he'll destroy them. Right? He'll be the one to bring them death. But there's a preference. And this is my view, and this is you. 133 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:24.000 I don't know if you could say this, uh, in, uh, Calvinism, for instance, but my understanding is God would rather them turn and be saved. I think that seems actually very clear in Scripture. His preference would be for their salvation, which means you can't just be like, nah, I just hate him. I hate him, I hate him. And that's like the whole story. 134 00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:49.000 There must be a preference for their restoration and their forgiveness and their salvation. But there is such a love for God. There is such a love for God that if they do continue to reject Jesus, you will look upon their judgment by God and you will say, God, you did what was right. You did what was right. I don't take a sinful glee in that. But there's a justness and a goodness to even your wrath because you do hate in a proper and good sense. 135 00:33:49.000 --> 00:34:11.000 That's how I balance those two things for you guys to think about. I think it seems consistent with scripture and I don't know a better way to. I don't know another way to do it. To be like, well, no, God doesn't hate anybody. Well, it depends on what you mean by hate. You know, when first John talks about hate, it's obviously speaking about it in a different sense than the psalm is. Um, when Jesus says, you know, you've heard and said, love your neighbor, hate your enemy. 136 00:34:11.000 --> 00:34:16.000 That, that actually um, is. 137 00:34:16.000 --> 00:35:15.000 I don't think that word hate is being used in the same sense as the psalm is using it. I just think they're different contexts and that's just studying things carefully. You have to do that. All right, go to question number four. Jonathan Knudsen says, what's the difference between being a double minded man, James 1:8, and being a sincere Christian struggling with sin and the flesh's love for sinful things. Romans 7, 14, 25. Can you draw a distinction? All right, so Romans 7 is where he's like, you know, um, the things I desire to do, I don't do. And there's like this, this like, law, this like, rule inside myself, that whatever I want, I don't do. It I do the, I do the wicked thing instead. And oh, wretched m man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death. You may not know this, um, Jonathan, but there's like a huge debate about whether that Romans 7 passage is talking about Paul before he was saved or after he was saved. And it's a big debate. And so some people would be like, would just say, well, that was before he was saved. No Christian could say that about themselves. 138 00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:49.000 Um, but, um, some people might find this annoying. My view of the passage is that Paul's talking about prior to salvation. However, he's talking about the flesh, which we still are affected by after salvation. So it's not like the flesh is just, yeah, I crucify myself, but I have to daily die to myself. I still have the flesh, I still have to walk in the spirit. So I won't fulfill the lust of the flesh because the flesh is an ongoing threat. So that sense of me, of this draw and desire towards sin is in me still as a Christian. So that's the Romans 7:1 and then James 1:8. 139 00:35:49.000 --> 00:35:54.000 Let's look at that together. 140 00:35:54.000 --> 00:36:04.000 James 1:8 says, uh, I'll back up a little bit. It's talking. So let's. Yeah. Who is the double minded man? Okay, that's what we're going to try to find out. Who is the double minded man of James chapter one? 141 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:30.000 Is it the Christian who waffles? Uh, like they do good and they do bad, they blow it. They have like some real stronghold of sin in their life that they're really battling. Is that the James 1:8 double minded man? So it says here, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God. 142 00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:36.000 Right, this is the main thrust right here. You're lacking wisdom. There's some understanding you're missing out on. 143 00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:41.000 Then ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 144 00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:56.000 But let him ask in faith with no doubting. For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double minded man, unstable in all his ways. 145 00:36:56.000 --> 00:37:03.000 So the doubter is the double minded man. It's the one who is doubting. What are they doubting? They're doubting God. 146 00:37:03.000 --> 00:37:10.000 This is what they're Doubting. They're doubting God, his goodness, his care for you, uh, his existence. Um, the truth of Christianity. These are the things that they're doubting. 147 00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:16.000 That person has a deep seated, double minded issue. They're kind of Christian. 148 00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:20.000 Um, this doesn't mean that we want to condemn them for it. 149 00:37:20.000 --> 00:38:05.000 This is a diagnosis. Oh, this is a problem. You're unstable in all your ways. This is going to be a real problem for you, for your kids, for your friends, for whoever you influence, because you're a doubting person and this doubt should be dealt with. Now, we handle doubters with grace. And there are two different kinds of doubters. There's those who are sincere and who are struggling, and there's those who maybe have, I'll, uh, just be real. They have other motives. There's a desire to doubt because it helps justify something that I want to do. And the ones that are sincere, I think should be handled with amazing grace and kindness, like Jesus with the Father who says, lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Um, he handled him so gently and so well, and he accepted and received him. Even though the guy had some doubts, he still received him just fine. 150 00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:13.000 But then there's the one who, the doubts are different and that person should be treated more on the level they're at. Which you go, hey, we got to confront this issue. 151 00:38:13.000 --> 00:38:22.000 Sometimes it is your sin that makes you doubt. And if you trace back to someone who goes, I'm really struggling in doubt, and you ask pastorally, you could say, well, when did this start? 152 00:38:22.000 --> 00:38:25.000 When did you first start having these real doubts? 153 00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:33.000 Uh, not all the time, but sometimes for people, that moment where the doubt first began can be traced back to when a sin got in control of their life. 154 00:38:33.000 --> 00:38:39.000 That's just reality. And if you deal with the sin, often the doubt just goes away. So that's why you have to target that to help the problem. 155 00:38:39.000 --> 00:39:06.000 But, uh, your question. Yeah, um, which one are you or is someone else? Hypothetically, which one is the person who's double minded? That's a doubt issue. Um, sincere Christians struggling with sin describes a lot of Christians, we all are dealing with sin issues and continually needing to come to Jesus. And so John, First John was written for that person. 156 00:39:06.000 --> 00:39:46.000 Um, and it's, it's, and it's like a hard pill to swallow. First John, it's super encouraging and helpful, but it's also like really scary too. It's just both, because to be honest, when you're talking about people who are in that zone of I'm dealing with overwhelming amounts of sin in my life. You. You go, well, I don't know if you're Christian or not, and you don't maybe know. And that's. That is scary. And I want to comfort you if you are, and I want to, uh, warn you and bring you to Christ if you're not. And first, John is trying to thread that needle and do both of those things. So I'll just read a couple verses. My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. And if Christian anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. 157 00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:51.000 And he himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. 158 00:39:51.000 --> 00:39:59.000 When you're struggling with sin and you think, am I really Christian? You can start to slide into this thing where you think, I'm going to earn my salvation through obedience. 159 00:39:59.000 --> 00:40:18.000 And then I can say, I'm definitely really saved now. Uh, but actually, the way you handle sin is always the same. It's always with the grace of Jesus. It's always with the intercession of our advocate. He is the one who's paid. It's his blood that is still more than enough to pay for anything, including what you did 20 minutes ago. Absolutely. 160 00:40:18.000 --> 00:40:35.000 So you don't want to slide into that. Um, but then first John does the thing that you didn't want it to do, and it says, now, by this, we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. And it just says, hey, your confidence about your own real relationship with God is connected to your obedience to Jesus. 161 00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:58.000 But your forgiveness is not connected to your obedience to Jesus. Your forgiveness is connected to his intercession. Your assurances. Your assurance is connected to when you look at your life and go, my life looks like I'm a real Christian. That does matter. And that is something biblical. And, uh, every time I say this, people make videos to tell me that I'm a works of salvation person. And you're not listening to me. 162 00:40:58.000 --> 00:41:03.000 Your works do nothing to save you, nothing to contribute to your salvation in any way, shape, or form. 163 00:41:03.000 --> 00:41:06.000 Your salvation and your assurance are two very different things. 164 00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:35.000 And this is just a demonstration of your sincerity is your life of following Jesus. Now, I think a Christian's life can go like this. You can have times where you were down here and times where you were up here, and things can change for us. That's just reality. Um, but I'm not going to take away from what scripture says here, because I have no right to do that. All right? Question number five, it says here. Uh, um, oh, by the way, all the questions are already full. 165 00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:45.000 Um, and Sarah, she's my assistant who helps with this stuff, she tells me a lot of the questions you guys are asking in the live chat that I'm not answering today. 166 00:41:45.000 --> 00:42:16.000 Some of the reasons for that is because they're questions I've answered many times. And we have that clip search feature. BibleThinker.org, go to the search button, then look for clip search, click that, type your question in there, and I've already answered it, so I can still answer you, but that'll help you out. Andrea W. Says, do you think wrathfulness is an attribute of God or that wrath is just a practical outworking of his attributes of justice and holiness? Thanks, Mike. I pray for you and the ministry often. 167 00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:25.000 Thank you very much for those prayers, Andrea. I'm super appreciative for that and I appreciate anybody out there who's praying for this ministry. I know a lot of people are. I get messages all the time. 168 00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:28.000 Um, and I'm so grateful for you. 169 00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:38.000 I, um, know it's needed, it's absolutely needed. I need it and I need so much mountains of wisdom right now for all the things that I'm planning for next year. So appreciate your guys prayers. 170 00:42:38.000 --> 00:42:44.000 Um, is wrathfulness an attribute of God? 171 00:42:44.000 --> 00:43:25.000 Okay, so maybe someone, uh, who's a better theologian would answer this differently. I don't think so. And I'll give you one example of why that would be. Um, so wrathfulness is something that could not exist in God in eternity. That is, here's a fancy term, sans creation or without creation, before or out. This is why you say sans creation. Because if you say before God created the world, well, is it even before? Because there's no time. So how do you say before? So you just say sans creation, like outside of creation, without there being any creation, no created creatures, no created substances, none, uh, of that stuff. 172 00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:30.000 Is God wrathful then or in that state? 173 00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:48.000 Then is even a weird term for that. So is he wrathful in that state? And I think the answer is no. Um, it seems obviously no. Is God loving in that state? Well, yes, God is love. And within the Trinity there is a mutual love that exists within God and the persons of the Trinity. 174 00:43:48.000 --> 00:43:56.000 So God's loving, is he holy? Yes. Is he just? Yes. Is he true? Yes. Is he wrathful? 175 00:43:56.000 --> 00:44:20.000 I don't think so. I think wrath is a. Now wrath. God's wrath is good. My wrath is bad. Okay? My wrath does not work. The righteousness of God, James says, um, so I have to be careful with my wrath. I always get it wrong. I always overdo it. I think it's selfish. I get blindsided or blind, uh, spots rather. And then I look back later and go, I thought I was right, my cause was just. 176 00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:43.000 But as soon as I let my wrath control, I did things I shouldn't have. And that happens often. So it always, always exhibits self control. But God, his wrath is perfect. His wrath is right. His wrath is just. His wrath is good. But it seems as though it's always a response to sin. It's always a response to wickedness. And certainly sans creation, there is no wickedness, There is no sin. 177 00:44:43.000 --> 00:44:53.000 Unless you're thinking God is just angry about the potential sins or the sins that will one day come. Uh, you could argue for that and then maybe you could suggest that wrath is an attribute in that sense. 178 00:44:53.000 --> 00:44:58.000 Um, but yeah, there's my thoughts on it. 179 00:44:58.000 --> 00:45:42.000 I don't know if God is described in the Bible as having wrath. He's described as being wrathful or acting in wrath. Um, but I don't know off the top of my head of any time where God's described, wrath is described as like an inherent attribute, like holy God's holiness or, um, God is love. That, that, that amazing statement in the New Testament, God, it just is love, that kind of thing. So there's another point for you. All right, number six. This comes from Dan Dart Art. Dart Art says, how much planning should you do before starting a Christian channel? How do you know when you're ready and it's time to post your first video? And thanks. Thanks for all. 180 00:45:42.000 --> 00:45:55.000 Uh, you and the mods do. Yes. And thanks again. Thanks to the mods too. You guys don't get enough thanks. And I'm grateful. They, they deal with the live chat and man, it is wild. It's the wild west, man. M. 181 00:45:55.000 --> 00:46:05.000 And so you guys deal with that stuff and try to always keep it a positive environment. I'm grateful. Um, so how much planning should you do? Um, in a sense, I want to say, not too much. 182 00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:15.000 And here's the reason why when it comes to, like, social media, that's so easy to produce. It's so easy to just make a video and put it out there. 183 00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:25.000 If you wait till it's perfect, you will be waiting years before you put your first video out. And a lot of what you have to do is on the job training when it comes to social media ministry. 184 00:46:25.000 --> 00:47:02.000 You know, if you're doing documentaries, okay, yeah, you're going to Work for a year and make a video. Okay. But if you're doing like more casual, like things that take less time to create, I think the more practice you get, the better. So my first video on YouTube was me, uh, because I used to teach guitar lessons and I would always teach the students. One of the first things I taught them was how to get a pick out of a guitar. A guitar pick, how to get it out. You center it around the hole and you flip it over a certain way and the centrifugal force gets it out. So I made a video about that. It was like less than a minute probably. Here's how to get a pick out of a guitar. Do this, do this and then whoop. 185 00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:19.000 I did not think that was a good video. It wasn't even an attempt to be a good video. I wanted to see what would happen when I clicked upload on, on YouTube. It was an experiment. I want to see what does this do, what does it look like, what menus show up on screen, what do I think as I see the video, um, as I play it back. 186 00:47:19.000 --> 00:47:52.000 You just need to learn this the hard way because it's not intuitive. You don't know how to do YouTube well, naturally you need to learn or podcast well. So I would recommend just go for it. Um, now that being said, if you're going to have a go for it mentality, which you kind of need, you need to have like real good self awareness on the things you don't know so that you don't overstate and overstep. And if you don't have this self awareness, the comments will provide it to you. Because all of a sudden you experience this when you go online. 187 00:47:52.000 --> 00:48:11.000 You have so many people who have strong opinions about everything you say that you are exposed to things like, uh, a pastor in church never knows the kind of things people think about their sermons that they would never say out loud. But. But the same pastor who puts that sermon on YouTube, he'll read all about it in the comments. 188 00:48:11.000 --> 00:48:20.000 And it's also divorced from relationships, so it's often more harsh or more judgmental or more one sided where they saw something they didn't like and they just assumed a bunch of other stuff and then blah, blah, blah. 189 00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:23.000 But that's not entirely bad. 190 00:48:23.000 --> 00:48:58.000 This creates in you. You should read your comments, okay? Try to get the thick skin to be able to read your comments and learn from it and learn to discern what's going on in the comments and how people are replying because you will become more self aware. I say all this because when I first started uploading online, I was under a lot of scrutiny and still am. Um, that helped me to get better at scrutinizing, ah, myself, and that was a healthy thing. So there's a few thoughts for you. Um, yeah. Causes you to slow down, to not assume too much, to not maybe be as bold, and other times to be more bold because you realize you should. 191 00:48:58.000 --> 00:49:05.000 All right, I probably gave you more than you asked for, but I'm hoping that helps more than just you, because I really want to see more Christians creating content online. 192 00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:09.000 Andrewsbad Theology says could. That's funny. 193 00:49:09.000 --> 00:49:47.000 That's funny. Um, could Genesis 5:5 mean Adam's 930 years began after the fall? So he and Eve lived much longer in the garden. Romans 5:12 says death came through sin. Did Adam start dying then? Interesting. Let's look at Genesis 5:5. Is this, is this dating, um, Adam's 930 years from his. Not his birth, his creation moment, or from the fall? Okay, so I think the answer is right here in the text. So we're going to read it carefully. Read this one verse and read it really carefully. 194 00:49:47.000 --> 00:49:53.000 Thus, all the days that Adam lived were 930 years and he died. 195 00:49:53.000 --> 00:49:58.000 Okay. The key word I want to read really carefully here is lived. 196 00:49:58.000 --> 00:50:04.000 This describes what the 930 years consisted of. 197 00:50:04.000 --> 00:50:27.000 The 930 years consisted of years Adam lived. Was Adam living in the garden before the fall? Yes. It's not years that he was dying, it's years that he was alive. Was living. So that would seem to answer it. Also we have the greater context, which is all of these other people that are talked about in Genesis 5. There's name after name after name and all these different dates. 198 00:50:27.000 --> 00:50:34.000 Um, those dates go from their birth. 199 00:50:34.000 --> 00:50:46.000 They don't go from some later time in their life, like maybe hitting puberty or something else like that. Um, it's just meant to encompass the whole time they've been alive. The whole time they've been alive. 200 00:50:46.000 --> 00:50:54.000 Um, so I don't live 130 years. There it is again. He lived. Then he fathered his son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 201 00:50:54.000 --> 00:51:12.000 So I think that answers that question. Good question. Awesome. To just see, paying attention to the verse really carefully answers these questions a lot. It's surprising how well written the Bible is that it just answers our questions with stuff that's built into it. Okay, question number eight. This is anonymous. 202 00:51:12.000 --> 00:51:46.000 How do we deal with a family member, a brother who is actively teaching a false gospel Hebrew roots. But Jesus is not God. Okay, so Hebrew roots. For those who don't know, I have a series. I have like a series of videos on Hebrew roots which, uh, I randomly mentioned earlier in this stream. Um, this is a movement that is varied. Okay. There's some who are believers in it, there's some who are not believers in it. Um, but some people who get involved. I don't think it's right. I think that we shouldn't be holding this view. But I would handle people differently depending on where they're at in the movement. Right. This is my brother. We disagree. Or it's like, that's a heretic. There's a difference. 203 00:51:46.000 --> 00:51:50.000 Um, many of them end up rejecting Paul. Not all of them. Um, but some of them do. 204 00:51:50.000 --> 00:52:01.000 And in this case rejecting Jesus as God. Um, because what they do is they often get fascinated by Jewishness and enamorated by it. Uh, enamorated. 205 00:52:01.000 --> 00:52:03.000 That's a word. 206 00:52:03.000 --> 00:52:07.000 Enamored. That's the word I'm looking for. Enamored. Enamorated. 207 00:52:07.000 --> 00:52:38.000 Uh, so they get just sort of obsessed with copying Judaism. And then you start to see Jewish people as more of an authoritative, uh, source for understanding religious and spiritual things. And then that slowly turns into you embracing Jewish anti Christian beliefs, anti m. Messianic beliefs, anti Jesus beliefs, which is a real tragedy. So, um, we're not Jews, guys. We're gentiles. If you're a Jew, you're a Jew. 208 00:52:38.000 --> 00:52:51.000 And if you're a Jew who's, uh, put his faith in Jesus, the Messiah, then you're a Christian. Okay? You may not use the term. Maybe you prefer I'm Messianic or I'm a completed Jew. I don't care what term you use. But we're brothers in Christ. 209 00:52:51.000 --> 00:52:59.000 Um, uh, but gentiles don't become Jews, and Jews don't become gentiles. That's not what we get in the New Testament. 210 00:52:59.000 --> 00:53:08.000 So you're like, uh, you have a brother who's actively teaching a false gospel, or someone has a brother. Hebrew roots, but not Jesus. 211 00:53:08.000 --> 00:53:16.000 Uh, Hebrew roots, but Jesus is not God. They're adding that element to it. He has started his own group in person and is also sharing online. 212 00:53:16.000 --> 00:53:21.000 Um, this is. 213 00:53:21.000 --> 00:53:28.000 So you have to try to thread a needle. That may be impossible. Okay. But you attempt to thread the needle. So you have a couple different. 214 00:53:28.000 --> 00:53:58.000 I hate people use the word tension too much. But you have a couple different truths that you need to do both of these things. And one of them is, you've got to love your brother. Be gracious, be kind, be praying for him, be desiring of his salvation. Um, and for his good. You have to also. Romans 14. Live, uh, in as much as is possible. Is it 13? In as much as is possible with you. Live peaceably with all men, and so try to live peaceably. Can you seek peace between you guys in your relationship? Do that as best you can. 215 00:53:58.000 --> 00:54:03.000 As best you can. It may not work, but you did what you could. 216 00:54:03.000 --> 00:54:16.000 Then you have the other side, which is that you must contend for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints. Like this is an actual thing we're told to do here. Let's look at says here. 217 00:54:16.000 --> 00:54:19.000 Beloved, although I was very eager. This is Jude 3. 218 00:54:19.000 --> 00:54:47.000 I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation. I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. And this doesn't just mean in your own heart, you're trying to have good theology. It means you're dealing with creeps. Right, Creeps. Because it says for certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation. Ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only master and Lord Jesus Christ. 219 00:54:47.000 --> 00:54:50.000 Ah. Uh, so contend for the faith. 220 00:54:50.000 --> 00:55:06.000 This is super interesting. Jude is not writing this to just elders or pastors or something, right? He's writing this just to Christians. He goes, christians, every one of you is to contend for the faith. And that means confrontation of false teaching, of wrong theology. 221 00:55:06.000 --> 00:55:13.000 And in a sense, you level up the confrontation more depending on how many people they're influencing and hurting. 222 00:55:13.000 --> 00:55:16.000 And so you've got to try to do both of those. 223 00:55:16.000 --> 00:55:39.000 You won't do it perfectly, but if you're in America, um, well, I'll put it this way. You'll most likely be drawn towards one side or the other. I'll live peaceably and just kind of like be a good brother or sister who just loves this person and tries to have a relationship with them. Or you'll be pushed to the other side, where you actually don't care about them. You just see the theology you want to defeat. 224 00:55:39.000 --> 00:55:51.000 Um, you got to do both. Try to do both. And when you do both, it will change the way in which you do the confrontations. And may God give you wisdom in it. If it's you, maybe, uh, somebody else. 225 00:55:51.000 --> 00:55:55.000 Okay, I cannot pronounce this next name. 226 00:55:55.000 --> 00:56:00.000 Uh, I can't even try. 227 00:56:00.000 --> 00:56:11.000 I'm going to call you Jealot. Uh, okay. So when we pray, should we be specific, or is that trying to control God? 228 00:56:11.000 --> 00:56:49.000 Um, so there's the. I get the feeling like you want to respect God immensely at all times. And so you feel like a sense of. This is not bad. You feel like a sense of trepidation in prayer. Lord, I don't want to be overstepping in any way. Um, but the way in which we submit to God in prayer is not by not asking for specific things, but it's, I think, by not asking for carnal things. Uh, James says, you know, you ask amiss that you may spend it on your pleasures. So not doing that. I'm not asking for things to spend on my pleasures. I'm asking for things that are. That are, to my knowledge, part of me seeking first God's kingdom and his righteousness. 229 00:56:49.000 --> 00:57:15.000 And so I'm asking for those things. But we have so many examples in Scripture of specific prayers being asked over and over again. Uh, Gideon, he's like, hey, let the fleece be wet and the ground be dry. No, let the ground be wet and the fleece be dry this next time. That's like a very specific prayer. But it's for the purpose that he might do what. That he might respond to what he thinks might be a call from God to do something really big and scary. So he's doing this so he can confirm and move forward and serve God. 230 00:57:15.000 --> 00:57:39.000 So that's a real specific prayer. We have lots of specific prayers in Scripture. Um, we have, um, ah, the specific provision of God for, uh, individual things as well, where God just does real specific stuff. We know that the hairs on your head are numbered by God, that He cares about you. He really does. And so specific prayers are fine. 231 00:57:39.000 --> 00:57:41.000 Now. 232 00:57:41.000 --> 00:57:49.000 It can become, I think there can be an unhealth in praying for God to just make your life convenient constantly. 233 00:57:49.000 --> 00:57:59.000 Lord, I'd like it to be sunny today. I think it'd be nice to have a sunny day. Can I have a sunny day today? Oh, Lord, I pray that I get a good parking spot so I don't have to walk very far to get to the store. 234 00:57:59.000 --> 00:58:12.000 And, uh, I pray I run into a friend today. I just like to see a friend. It'd be nice to run into a friend. And good. And oh, Lord, I pray that the manager of the restaurant comes up and says, my meal's on the house. 235 00:58:12.000 --> 00:58:19.000 I mean, this is like, weird stuff. So we're not doing that. We want to pray in a way that seeks first God's kingdom and his righteousness. 236 00:58:19.000 --> 00:58:23.000 But it's okay to pray for Specific things. We have good examples of that. 237 00:58:23.000 --> 00:58:27.000 Number 10, last question for today. 238 00:58:27.000 --> 00:58:31.000 It says. 239 00:58:31.000 --> 00:58:38.000 Oh, okay. I got to tell you guys. Hold on, hold on. Before I go to 10. 240 00:58:38.000 --> 00:58:43.000 Uh, this is the name I couldn't even attempt to pronounce. I'll tell you guys what it is. 241 00:58:43.000 --> 00:58:45.000 He told us in the live chat. 242 00:58:45.000 --> 00:58:52.000 So it's P, N, U, T, B U, T, A G, E, L, I, T, Y, M e. 243 00:58:52.000 --> 00:58:57.000 I was like, I don't know what that is. Maybe it's something sketchy. I was like, I'm not gonna try to say it out loud. 244 00:58:57.000 --> 00:59:02.000 It's apparently peanut butter jelly time. 245 00:59:02.000 --> 00:59:06.000 No, I love it. Peanut butter jelly time. There you go. 246 00:59:06.000 --> 00:59:21.000 Next question. Simple Bible truth says, in a generation that grew up scrolling. How can we overcome it? It's not inherently sinful, but it sucks up so much of our time today. Biblical advice on this. Love your ministry. Big help to me. Um, thanks, man. 247 00:59:21.000 --> 00:59:23.000 So. 248 00:59:23.000 --> 00:59:34.000 Or woman. Um, I don't know if I have the best answer for you on this. So let me just talk to you, like, as one brother to another. 249 00:59:34.000 --> 00:59:52.000 Anytime you have something like this that is, like, an ongoing behavior that you feel may not be healthy, uh, you have a category for this. In Scripture, Hebrews talks about this. I actually just did a men's retreat with my church, and I taught at it a couple times. And I was going through this very concept, and I think I was talking about screen time as well. 250 00:59:52.000 --> 01:00:05.000 And I went through this verse in Hebrews that mentions this category of not just sins, but things that cause weights. Weights, like heavy things that weigh you down. 251 01:00:05.000 --> 01:00:42.000 And this could be that, right? It says, therefore, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, Hebrews 12:1. Let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely. And I see these as two different things. Okay, that's my understanding of this Hebrews, uh, interpretation here of Hebrews 12. 1. There's sin and there are weights, and these are not the same thing. Although weights can become sin. But when you have a category for it, doesn't mean it's sinful, but it might be weighing me down. It gives you the ability to make some good decisions about things like your screen time. 252 01:00:42.000 --> 01:00:52.000 So in a generation that has grown up doing it, if you're aware it's a problem, back off until you're aware that it's not a problem. That would be, like, a good piece of advice. 253 01:00:52.000 --> 01:00:56.000 You may find this to be really challenging. 254 01:00:56.000 --> 01:01:08.000 So I, uh, know there's apps. You can limit your screen time with. Apps you could create some kind of accountability that's there. What you need more than anything, though, is just the willpower that says, okay, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. Regardless of how hard it is, I'm just going to do it. 255 01:01:08.000 --> 01:01:10.000 That's an important step you have to take. 256 01:01:10.000 --> 01:01:44.000 Um, but, yeah, if you want to set aside something that's a weight, it's for a purpose, as it was in Hebrews there, so that you can run with endurance, the race set before us. So if you're setting aside a weight, do something else instead. Oh, I'm going to. Instead of being on my phone, I'm going to go and spend some time with my family. I'm going to go and read the word. I'm going to go do this other thing, this other positive thing. I'm going to take care of the chores I should be doing. I'm going to start applying for jobs again, and I'm actually going to mean it this time and not just use it as a stall tactic. 257 01:01:44.000 --> 01:01:46.000 That's for someone out there. 258 01:01:46.000 --> 01:01:53.000 Um, take away the thing that's distracting you, but then go do the thing it's distracting you from. 259 01:01:53.000 --> 01:02:11.000 That'd be the important thing. But this is something we all have to be concerned about. You say you're a generation that grew up with screens. I didn't grow up with screens like that. But it's affecting my generation and the people older than me. I think just as much. Okay. Just as much. Because it's just so easy and you just find yourself. 260 01:02:11.000 --> 01:02:17.000 I found myself doing this, uh, reaching for my phone, and I don't even. I don't consciously know why. 261 01:02:17.000 --> 01:02:35.000 And that, to me, was a red flag. I don't even know why. So then I get in a habit where I get my phone and I pull it out and I don't know why, and then I just don't. I don't turn it on. I just realize that and stick it back in my pocket. And I was like, okay, no. No pulling my phone out without reasons. There's a nice little rule to try to have in my life. 262 01:02:35.000 --> 01:03:10.000 Um, but I need to get better at this as well. So this is all good advice for me, too. And we want to lay aside those weights. Let me. Let me close with this verse, and then we'll pray. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely. And let us run with endurance, the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 263 01:03:10.000 --> 01:03:21.000 Let's do that. Let's do that. We have work to do as Christians. We have incredible, great work to do. You're the literal light of the world, right? Jesus said that about himself. Then he turned and said it to us. 264 01:03:21.000 --> 01:03:32.000 He goes, yeah, because I'm making you the light of the world now. I want you to be a city on a hill. Be about it, be about ministry. Lay aside the sin and wait so that you can serve the Lord and push forward his kingdom in every way possible. 265 01:03:32.000 --> 01:03:34.000 Let's pray. 266 01:03:34.000 --> 01:03:53.000 Father, we thank you for your truth. We thank you for your word. Word. We thank you for the grace of Jesus Christ that sustains us. There's no way we could stand before you or even pray to you, Father, right now, except through Christ, who intercedes for us and is our perfect advocate, who clothes us in his righteousness and brings us to you. 267 01:03:53.000 --> 01:03:56.000 Washes, uh, our sins away. 268 01:03:56.000 --> 01:04:14.000 And we pray, Lord, that you'd open our eyes to see sins and weights and that you'd set our feet on the path to run with endurance, not just to cling to Jesus. We want to do that, but we want to run for Jesus too. And we ask that you would stir up more and more of that because the world needs to see Christians running in Jesus name. Amen. 269 01:04:14.000 --> 01:04:37.000 Amen. All right, guys, um, sometimes I give you, like a little update. I don't. I'll give you a little update here at the very end of the video. Okay? Um, I'm still working on a video on, on Todd White, um, and uncovering some stuff that needs to be uncovered there. This is not about gossip. There's, there's. I have, I have plenty of evidence. I've got plenty, plenty of too much evidence, actually. That's why it's taking me so long. 270 01:04:37.000 --> 01:04:47.000 I've got a file or basically a project of 10 hours worth of content that I'm trying to pull out. Just the stuff I need because it's so much. 271 01:04:47.000 --> 01:05:05.000 Um, in addition, there's emails and there's other things as well, but that's still coming. Um, my goal here is not to produce drama, is not to titillate the ears, but rather, there is, I believe, again, I'm going to harp on this a little bit longer still this year and maybe even a little bit into next year. 272 01:05:05.000 --> 01:05:15.000 There's, I believe, a culture of COVID up that is particularly bad in the charismatic church. I know some of you are thinking, mike, it's elsewhere too. What about the sbc? And it's like, well, I thought that was pretty well publicly exposed, wasn't it? 273 01:05:15.000 --> 01:05:20.000 But I obviously can't expose everything. Um, I'm just one guy. 274 01:05:20.000 --> 01:05:47.000 But it's different in the charismatic world because when you add, I'm a prophet, I'm the anointed of God, I have a prophecy for you. And you add those elements into an abuser, and maybe if someone's really doing that, that's great. If those things are true, then serve the Lord. But when you make those claims and you're actually an abuser and a manipulator, it empowers your abuse and manipulation to go to levels you could just never go if you weren't charismatic. 275 01:05:47.000 --> 01:05:58.000 It's just the sad reality of it. Um, and people go there and then others hide it or at least refuse to expose and help expose the bad guys and help the victims. 276 01:05:58.000 --> 01:06:46.000 So these videos are to try to help change that culture in the church, because I think that it can be changed and I think that charismatics would want to change it if they just knew about it. So I'm going to help you know about it. For examples in particular, where there's big time leaders, influential leaders who are behind the scenes networking in ways that produce this cover up culture and prevent accountability while they continue to hurt individuals. Just another one bites the dust. Another one bites the dust. And Todd White is one of those guys, and others around him have helped empower him. And I would give you their names, but I'm gonna wait for the video to come out and then, then you'll get their names because some of them might try to stop me. So it'll just be surprise. 277 01:06:46.000 --> 01:06:54.000 All right, that's about it. I will see you guys next. Uh, next Friday, I think, is the plan. Um, I don't think I have any other live streams planned before then. 278 01:06:54.000 --> 01:06:57.000 Oh, we're gonna be out of town. 279 01:06:57.000 --> 01:07:00.000 Is that Thanksgiving? 280 01:07:00.000 --> 01:07:07.000 We're gonna. I guess I'm out of town. I have to look at the calendar. All right, I'm out of town next week. So two weeks from now, maybe. 281 01:07:07.000 --> 01:07:45.000 I don't remember my calendar. I'll see you at some point in the future. That's it. I'm done. Sayonara, Sa.