Are there three heavens? Do the fallen angels have varying degrees of wickedness? | 3ABN Bible Q & A

hello and welcome to 3abn today Bible q a program it's Bible question and answer we're so glad that you've joined us today thank you so much for being a part of our family and thank you for your prayers and financial support for this ministry your ministry God's Ministry 3abn it's because of you that we're able to reach the entire world and you know what this is just a really fun program why is that well we kind of get to interact with you you all send in so many great questions and comments for this program we've been inundated may I say and that's a good thing because you're very interested in studying the word of God and you may say well how do I submit my question for a future program well there are a number of ways that you can do that we'll start with the phone number you can always call us at 618-627-4651 you can reach out to the call center they'll send the question over here you can also text your question or comment to 618-228-3975 we also have a way that you can do it through Instagram gotta look at my notes to make sure I get it right it's 3abn underscore official and we're always glad to receive your questions and comments here for the program and we'll answer them by God's grace in some upcoming programs you know today on the set I feel like I'm surrounded by the books of the Bible where we're going to be opening the word of God yes but I have on the set with me three gentlemen that have their names are from the Bible I have Pastor John Wilma McCain so good to have you on with us today yes I'm always excited about being able to identify with the Apostle John John the Revelator that's right brings me great joy to know that the lord loves me as much as he loved them amen and sitting next to you is Daniel Perrin Daniel book from the Bible but it's so good to have you on with us yes it is I want to stand firm as my name's sake amen yeah dare to be a Daniel there's that song that we sang in Sabbath school and vacation bible school anyway sitting next to you is Pastor James Rafferty so good to have you with us today good to be here Greg it's always a blessing to be part of the Q a amen what's happened in your life Pastor James how's the Lord bless you you well we have been blessed in so many different ways one of the newest blessings for us is we have a new new Dix a new place right we're staying here at 3abn little apartment uh it's uh great in its location we can actually walk over to the studios and it's surrounded by Green Pastures and beautiful trees and a little bit quieter you know with all the coming and going that we used to have in a little apartment we were at so it's a real blessing real blessing amen yeah and I don't know if people realize this the how the working arrangement is here he's a full-time he and his wife employees of three ABN but they also live in California so they come and go quite a bit you live here at 3abn quite a bit so this Arrangement here you're talking about it's a blessing have you so close by man uh Daniel you're in pastoral department and I know that some people may not quite know you and your family you guys arrived a few months ago and it was a faith Journey your story kind of reminds me of like Abraham in the Bible God called you to Southern Illinois you weren't exactly sure exactly where you were going God LED you here to 3abn and what an incredible blessing you and your family are to the ministry but tell our folks at home a little bit about your family because it's you and your wife plus some children uh yes indeed I have a wonderful wife who manages a home five kids age right now eight to sixteen and the blessing of that is that we get a front row seat to see exactly how God is working in people's lives and it it convinces me that whoever is out there watching on this TV screen God has God has a work that he's doing in your life and I know it's true amen and I should probably call you Professor Daniel because you spent 18 years actually teaching Bible in our seventh Avenue schools yeah and enjoyed every minute of I'm sure that's right you know there's always challenges yeah well teaching the word of God is always a blessing yeah amen Pastor John I know that not long ago it was this is to me just again confirmation from God but the Adventist Church of course recognized you and your wife for your many years 30 plus years of ministry in the Adventist Church and you think about all those years Pastor John how they've gone by I'm sure pretty quick yeah they've had their challenges but to minister for the Lord can't go wrong can you yeah at a pastor's meeting they had recently gave us they did I'm not 35 years now it's wow amazing to think that heading toward 40. from heading towards 40. don't say that too loud okay yeah but ordination in 1995 started in 1987. and here it is it's just when you are loving what you're doing the time just goes by quickly amen and uh and then 39 beautiful years of man marriage really makes the difference thank you for your years of service too yes Awards work we've been here since 2003. isn't that something how time flies let's start with the word of prayer before we open the word of God and answer some of these questions Pastor John please yes loving father in Heaven it always is a responsibility as well as a blessing to be able to open the word of God we do ask as we open this Lord that you will now give us the oxygen tanks we need to survive in this deep ocean of knowledge that's divinely born so guide our minds and hearts today as we answer help us to always desire to uplift you and give the glory to you alone in Jesus name we pray amen amen amen amen thank you so much Pastor John let's start with you on this question here from Bart says Please interpret Luke Chapter 20 verses 34 through 38. yes thank you Greg and thank you Bart for that question the whole context of the story about the Sadducees is verses 27 all the way down to verses 40 and you'll find that Luke rarely talks about the Sadducees but as is the case they will always trying to find a way to trap Jesus there were two issues the Sadducees had first in Luke chapter 20 verse 27 the Bible says then some of the Sadducees who denied that there is a resurrection came to him asking so in the very initial outset there was a denial about the resurrection and then Dr Luke in Acts chapter 23 verse 8 also brings out another aspect okay for the Sadducees says there that there is no resurrection and no angel or Spirit but the Pharisees confess both so these issues the Sadducees didn't believe in angels did not believe in the resurrection so they tried to trap Jesus with a scenario where he says in the resurrection they want to see if he even would even allude to the fact that the resurrection so they bring the scenario out that really has nothing to do with marriage that's right but it was a very clever legalistic way of trying to trap Christ and we read in verse 27 to 33. then some of the Sadducees who deny that there's a resurrection came to him asking and they bring the scenario then they brought out the teacher they revered the most Moses and they bring about the because the the logistical tradition is if a man dies the brother and the other brother and the other brother and the other brother and they all marry the wife taking up the responsibility of caring for the family and then he says now in the resurrection whose wife is she so Jesus uses Moses as reference since the Sadducees revered Moses and he responds in verses 34 to 38. Jesus answered and said to them the sons of this age marry and are given in marriage but those who are counted worthy of attaining that age and the resurrection from the dead he made a very clear neither married nor are given in marriage nor can they die any more for they are equal to the angels so he said I believe in angels and I believe in the resurrection amen and then he goes further down and he brings Moses into the scenario when you go down to the fact that Moses brought the revered uh images or the people of his lineage into uh focus when he says verse 37 but even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised so he said you believe me or you believe Moses we both agree so the Sadducees were saying well what about that so this really was the question but there was something that Jesus brought out that allowed to end this question with he says in heaven they're neither marrying nor giving in marriage but like angels and so it's obvious that Jesus alluded to a higher state that we're going to arrive at which is even better than marriage and if there's something better than marriage I'm looking forward to enjoying that with my wife amen thank you so very much and thank you Bart for that question and thank you Pastor John for the explanation uh Professor Daniel like that this comes from the United Kingdom and the person's name is gray and kind of a long question here but really good I've been diagnosed I've recently been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and while it's been a struggle to come to terms with my condition and disability I have been reassured by second Corinthians chapter 12 verses 7 through 10. I've recently felt a pull from the spirit to use the thorn in my flesh to exalt God but being introverted I can't imagine myself doing Evangelistic work I feel God urging me to use my condition to reach people in a similar position as me to serve in spreading his gospel but I don't know what to do can I please have some advice all right let me start by saying what a blessing it is to hear that you want to use whatever circumstance you're in to serve God and we love hearing reports like this and I think a lot of people are in your situation and you you mentioned that text in second Corinthians 12 where Paul had pleaded with God three times to remove a thorn in his flesh a physical ailment we believe in God's response to him is this in second Corinthians 12 9 it says my grace is sufficient for you my power is made perfect in your weakness therefore most gladly will I rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ May rest on me all right easy for an extrovert to boast you might say that's talking that's putting yourself out there but what about an introvert how can an introvert serve God and a lot of people are introverts statistics say anywhere from a third to a half of people including myself and maybe some people at this table I don't know and that reflects a valuable part of what God made you to be and being an introvert though may present some challenges in reaching out but it still does not exempt us from the Great Commission Jesus did not make any distinction for personality types when he said things like this in John 13 34 it says a new commandment I give you to love one another and and that means even if it doesn't come naturally even if it's difficult first Peter 4 verse 10 as each one has received a gift Minister it to one another and so you need to identify that God has given you spiritual gifts strengths even in the midst of your weaknesses and uh and whenever you are willing to submit yourself to God's leading and the filling of the spirit God will use you in a way that will be powerful so since you're feeling this urging to reach out to people uh in a way I I want to share a little bit of advice and the first bit of advice is to put it before God in prayer and maybe invite somebody in your life who will pray for you as well to give you some insight so start there and then open your eyes and and say God I want you to lead me into opportunities that I may not have chosen on my own and say Lord show me what those opportunities might be and God will reveal those moments to you and then I would say learn to share your testimony uh and maybe a little bit of a short gospel presentation and practice it especially with people you love who are going to be easy on you but once you learn how to talk about your experience with Jesus it becomes easier when God gives you those opportunities and then I would say keep a little bit of literature on hand sometimes maybe you don't feel like you have the right words but you can put into somebody's hand those right words that you have that have been meaningful to you and so then rededicate your life and say Lord I want to be used even if it's outside of my comfort zone people throughout Christian history in the Bible certainly were put outside of their comfort zone and God will use you in the same way thank you so very much Daniel very encouraging and also I want to mention touching on the resources you're talking about literature handing it out I want to encourage you to call the call center you can see the number on the bottom of your screen right now 618-627-4651 you can call during regular business hours you can also go online and we have all kinds of resources that we'd be happy to talk to you about we've got the literature you can hand out DVDs and see CDs as well all about evangelism Pastor James let's go to this question this comes from Houston Texas from Fran please explain the story in judges 19 verses 28-30 and about Lots offering his daughter to the men of Sodom it seems they had little or no regard for their daughters how could they be considered righteous in God's eyes well the first thing we want to note in this question from Fran Fran great question very challenging question is that righteous men do not always act righteously okay the Bible does call lot a righteous man for example and at the same time lot was selfish you know he chose the best grazing ground over Abraham who really was his senior and he also hesitated when the Angels told him leave Sodom and gomor he hesitated and that's really why his wife was turned into a pillar of salt we another example is Abraham Abraham lied about his wife being his sister twice causing her almost to be taken to Wife by other men if God hadn't interposed and we see uh Isaac doing the same thing that his father did I mean he's kind of following his example um David was a man after God's Own Heart yet he occasioned the death of the priests of Nob by trying to save himself through lying and on another occasion he coveted and slept with another man's wife Bathsheba and then had him murdered to cover up his tracks and yet Abraham Jacob and Isaac are the foundational Patriarchs of Israel and again David was a man after God's Own Heart so it's really important for us to recognize that even when God calls men righteous they don't always act righteously next we need to consider that in this story it involves the story of the concubine in judges 19 involves an immoral woman she was playing the Harlot um from her husband she slept with another man and of course the death decree uh was due her she was supposed to die you know under normal circumstances but her husband this Godly priest this levite sought to reckon be reconciled with her and to forgive her and of course he was bringing her back to him in the context of this story but then a third approach we need to look at in both stories is to understand that God wants us to trust him no matter what happens in our lives and in our situations and we see this over and over again like for example with the story of hananiah Michelle and and Azariah you know they trusted God even though the king threatened to throw them into the burning fiery furnace that's right and we see this over and over again in the New Testament you know a lot did offer his daughters to the men of Sodom but the angels interposed and protected them and we see Abraham lying about his wife and she goes to another man twice but the God interposes and protects her same thing happens with Isaac so what about this concubine well um she was not protected like the daughter of the man of the house was and we don't know always why these things happen we have to put some of these questions in God's hands we do know this that God does deliver Justice to the men of bail and we know also that in the big picture we see a type if you will of God's people playing the Harlot you know Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel all talk about God's people playing the Harlot as a people they're liking it to a woman that plays the Harlot and we know that God allows judgments to come from the Assyrians and the Babylonians and if you look read some of the verses for example Jeremiah 12 7 talks about God giving his beloved his dearly beloved into the hands of her enemies and then it talks about the women of Zion being ravaged and the children being dashed to pieces in Lamentations 5 11 and in Isaiah 13 verse 16 and then God asks people why they're doing things that cause him to bring these judgments upon them and then he brings them to a place of repentance so they turn back to him you know Matthew Henry's commentary mentions concerning this adulterous woman that she fell down at the door with her hands on the threshold begging pardon as it were for a form of transgression in a posture of a penitent with her mouth in the dust as she expired so this hope for us in all these judgments God is leading us to a place where we finally acknowledge and repent and are reconciled to him amen thank you so very much Pastor James and I like that too there's always hope right amen yeah praise the Lord Pastor John let's go to another Old Testament question here this one comes from Neil in Canada says can you please explain Hosea chapter 1 verse 2. did God actually ask Hosea to marry a prostitute wow this is a perfect segue from what James just talked about the book of Hosea is a book of an example of a young man wanting to get married and God says call Mary Gomer a prostitute now what's that what's interesting about the story is that the Lord knew before Goma messed up that she was going to mess up and when you look at and follow through the examples of the stories in the book of Hosea this is a continual example of the unfaithfulness of the people of God so you find I'll go to Jeremiah 3 verse 14 to lay the foundation so this is an actual this is not an allegorical statement but this is an actual account and when you look at the stories each of the names indicate the Journey of the children of Israel with God for example the first child meant God sows the second one meant no mercy in this house the third one meant not my child and that's when Gomer left but Hosea pursued Gomer and you find in Hosea 2 verse 5 to 7. for their mother has played the Harlot so these three children are mentioned showing that it's an actual woman they wouldn't be mentioning children's names if they were not actual children that were conceived between Hosea and Gomer she who conceived them has behaved shamefully for she said I will go after my lovers who gave me my bread and my water my wall and my linen my oil and my drink therefore behold I will hedge up your way with thorns and wall her in so that she cannot find her pets this is a beautiful story of how when we go astray the Lord doesn't Force us to come back but he makes our journey difficult and I love this it goes on it says um verse 7 of Hosea 2 she will chase her lovers but not overtake them yes she will seek them but not find them then she will say I will go and return to my first husband for then it was better for me than now and that's why the Book of Revelation says we have lost our first love the same thing that's happening to Israel that happened in the life of Goma and Hosea is happening today you have lost your first Love Therefore repent in verse 4 chapter 4 verse 15 of Hosea we read these words though you Israel played the Harlot let not Judah offend do not come up to gilgal nor go up to Beth Haven nor swear an oath saying as the Lord lives so this is just a beautiful story where sometimes the Lord may ask us to do something that seems completely out of ordinary and I like to give some imaginary context to to uh Hosea okay can you imagine a young man entering a seminary single at Andrews University Laura says you know there's a lady that's not on the campus she's the neighborhood prostitute she needed to be your wife and he says excuse me Lord that's how God sees the unfaithfulness of his people but he loves us and brings us back into relationship when we come back to our first love amen thank you so very much Pastor very good very well explained Daniel let's go to our home state here this question it says from no name but it says viewer from Illinois are there three Heavens I'm a year and a half into being a Seventh-Day Adventist and wanted to know if that's true all right I am so glad that you're learning and growing and asking good questions here Paul uses this phrase the third heaven in second Corinthians 12 and without looking at the context or taking into account what the rest of scripture says it's easy to maybe come to a wrong conclusion in thinking that there are different levels different degrees of reward in heaven but Paul says here he's continuing his section from chapter 11 where he was describing his apostleship so he's sharing his experience he says in chapter 12 verse 1 it is doubtless not profitable for me to boast not wanting to boast here says I will come to visions and Revelations of the Lord I Know a Man in Christ who 14 years ago whether in the body I do not know or whether out of the body I do not know God knows such a one was caught up to the third heaven and there's that phrase and then down in verse 4 says how he was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible Words which it is not lawful for a man to utter of such a one I will not boast yet of myself I will boast in my infirmities so he doesn't want to boast in himself but sharing his experience here and uh so what does the word heaven mean I'll share with you three Old Testament texts but we can find these in the New Testament as well Isaiah 55 verse 10 says for as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven and do not return there but water the Earth and so this speaks of heaven where the clouds are this is our atmosphere this is where you and I breathe the air and NASA tells us that this atmosphere that we're in extends 62 miles up into the air and so that's that is one way the Bible uses heaven Psalm 8 verse 3 says when I consider your Heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you have ordained and so this is the expanse of space this is where the planets and stars things outside of our atmosphere are and maybe you're one who enjoys looking at that through a telescope uh Psalm 33 verses 13 and 14 says the Lord looks from Heaven he sees all the sons of men from the dwelt place of his dwelling he looks on the inhabitants of the earth and so this would be the third heaven this is God's dwelling this is the paradise that he promises to us and so we see three Heavens here we have a first Heaven our atmosphere a second heaven this uh the expanse of space and the third heaven God's very dwelling Deuteronomy chapter 10 verse 14 is one place among several that mentions all three of these that speaks of Heaven the highest heavens and the Earth and all that is in it including its atmosphere and then we read about Jesus they're in Ephesians 4 10 it says he ascends ended up far above all the heavens and so Jesus goes through the atmosphere into space into the very dwelling of God now you and I are in this atmosphere here the first heaven we can see the second heaven but one day like Jesus we will be led up far above all Heavens into the very Dwelling Place of God so that's the three Heavens the third heaven amen amen yeah thank you very much Daniel very well explained Pastor James this question comes from Lisa what scripture references do you use to support the teachings on investigative judgment great question Lisa there are a number of verses that we can look at I'll give you some references here that you can write down and are the viewers who are interested in this question First Peter chapter 4 verse 7 the time has come the judgments begin at the house of God oh verse 17 first Peter 4 17. Matthew chapter 12 verses 36 and 37 Jesus there is talking about that every word that we speak will have to give an account thereof in the day of judgment and then Ecclesiastes 12 verses 13 and 14 tell us that the conclusion of the whole matter is to fear God and keep his Commandments because God is going to bring every work whether it's good or evil into judgment and then there's these verses in the Psalms we take the phrase investigative from the Bible itself in Psalm 11 verse 4 Psalm 26 verse verse 2 Psalm 139 23-24 and even Jeremiah 17 verse 10 there is a word used there that in its root in the Hebrew means to investigate to test or to investigate test me try me investigate me and these verses are all describing the call of individuals and believers they're requesting God to investigate them to try them in a sense to see if there's any wicked way in them and to lead them in the way Everlasting so God's people have never been afraid of Judgment of Investigation because they put their trust in Jesus Christ for their righteousness and they want God to reveal to them anything that's out of harmony with Jesus Christ so that that can be exposed and given to Jesus and forgiven and they can stand according to Matthew 22 11-14 as guests in the wedding that are covered with the Garment of Christ's righteousness and not their own righteousness another important aspect to this is why is there an investigative judgment and there are three reasons Romans 14 says that God has an investigative judgment so that we will stop judging one another we're all going to stand before the adjustment seat of Christ so we don't need to judge one another anymore right number two Matthew 27 21-23 says there are many people who profess to be Christians but aren't right they're they're actually just professors now remember remember we can't judge according to Romans 14. but Matthew 27 21-23 tells us there are many people who who rely upon their good works and not upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ who say we've done many wonderful things in thy name and Jesus says well I don't know you you don't know me you are not relying upon my righteousness you relying upon your work so that tells us we can't rely upon our good works for our salvation and then number three Revelation chapter 12 verse 10 tells us we have an accuser of the Brethren Zechariah 3 also describes him as the one who accuses us before God day and night and Jesus wants to silence those accusations and so he's going to allow every work to be brought up so he can rebuke Satan and say these have been redeemed by my blood by my righteousness the Lord of Yuki Satan even the Lord amen thank you so very much Pastor James great references and good question on the investigative judgment as well I want to encourage you to check out three ABN plus dot TV you may say well why do I want to do that you want to do it for several reasons is one of those is that you can watch this program again in other previous Bible q a programs the beautiful thing about three ABM plus is that you can start playing it you can pause it write down these references you can rewind it and then you can play it again I know these programs go by in a hurry and I don't know if you keep a stopwatch as these pastors answer the questions but they're only given about three minutes some of the questions about four so this is a very rapid paced program and I know it's always hard we get comments from you saying please have them slow down give more time where we're trying to answer as many questions as we can so check out 3abnplus.tv and if you have some questions that you would like to submit for some upcoming programs you can always do that through texting is one way and that's 618-228-3975 or you can always email us at bibleqa at 3abn.tv Pastor John this is um let's go to this question here I don't see a name with it but it's a really good question it says recently I have heard people saying that Jesus was created by the father and that is why he is called begotten they also say that he isn't God but just the Son of God this doesn't make sense to me what do I say to them well let me give them the answer Jesus is very much a God and the word begotten doesn't mean conceived from but simply sent from but now let's go ahead and walk through the Bible and let the Bible answer itself now one of the questions that people never ask themselves or the statement that is often not made Jesus cannot be the Creator let me rephrase that Jesus cannot be the Redeemer if he was created yeah that's correct the those who are created cannot redeem the creation that's right only the Creator can redeem the creation and so this is something that people that get into this long drawn-out argument about words in the Greek and Hebrew forget the fact that the creation cannot redeem itself it's only the Creator can do that so let's go to Genesis 1 1. I'll just give you some very quick questions some very quick scriptures in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth well who is that referring to Genesis 1 26 and God said let us make man in our image according to our likeness so when you look at that they also fail to bring into consideration the condescension of Christ you know there was a Plan of Redemption A Plan of Salvation in the event that man would sin and this called for Jesus coming into the world he became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him that's the condescension so when he came in human form he had to face trials and tribulations just like we couldn't use his divinity he said in the condescended form I of my own self can do nothing but there were instances throughout his ministry that was very clear that he in fact is God you find in John chapter 9 verse 35 to 38 when there was a contention and I'll read the story Jesus heard that they had cast him out and when he had found him he said to him do you believe in the Son of God in verse 36 of John 9 he he answered and said who is he Lord that I may believe in him and Jesus said to him you have both seen him and it is he who is talking with you now this is a powerful point then he said Lord I believe and he worshiped him only God is to be worshiped amen but this man right away worshiped Jesus why would you worship one who was not God the problem was only amongst the Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes and aseans and the religious leaders about his divinity but it was never an issue among those who were not a part of the ruling class and even the demons knew that he was divine good point so so they knew that Jesus in fact is divine matter of fact Psalm 45 verse 6 speaking about God we read your throne oh God is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom that's what David Assam says about God but what does God say about his son Hebrews 1 8 but to the son he says quoting the same scripture you are thrown o goddess forever and ever a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom so this foreverness of Jesus is the foreverness of his father and also the son there is no well I created you and then you created everything else that's not what the Bible says John 1 verse 4 John 1 verse 3 says all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made including himself nothing was made Colossians 1 verses 15 to 17 I'll just go further down it says for by him or all things created that are in heaven that are in the earth visible and invisible whether there be Thrones or dominions or principalities or Powers all things were created by Him and for him and before all and he is before all things and by him all things exist so if he's before all things he can't be before himself because he is the beginning I'm the alpha and the Omega amen wow praise the Lord thank you so much Pastor John four minutes that's not much time I got a lot more to say yeah no that was fantastic though thank you so very much uh Daniel let's go to actually this one here on the Fallen Angels it's a it's a really good question and uh it comes from duanelle from California says do the Fallen Angels have varying degrees of wickedness some less and some more in Luke 11 26 seven other Spirits were more wicked than the original one good question all right in our heart we want to know what am I up against what is my opponent and there's no book in the Bible called The Book of Angels or demons and so we have to search and say God teach us from your word amen and while we focus we want to know about the Angels really we want to know about the power of God that's what we want to know and so Jesus gives us a glimpse in Luke 11 there verses 24 to 26 I'll read what it says there when an unclean Spirit goes out of a man he goes through Dry places seeking rest and finding none he says I'll return to my house from which I came and when he comes he finds it swept and put in order and then he goes and takes with him seven other Spirits more wicked than himself and they enter and dwell there and the last state of the man is worse than the first and we don't want that so first Jesus is clearly referring to Demons here this comes right after a section where he's cast out a demon and he's talked about Satan as their leader and ruler and the Bible does confirmed that demons are Fallen Angels so when you're talking about Fallen Angels here these are these are demons so let's just recognize that Sin is Sin and fallen angels are 100 guilty uh having the same final result but because these fallen angels are following their own will and not the will of God they have varying degrees of of consequences about what comes from their actions and temptations varying forms of evil come from it the point of this text though here is that God is a gentleman and Satan is not you have to invite God into your life and make room for him Satan on the other hand he will make himself at home in any heart in any life that is not decidedly governed by God and and Satan's path is one of escalating evil it will get worse and worse the more we allow him to have influence in our life and so the point here is not so much to teach us about angels or demons but we do learn about that here as much as it is to instruct us on the importance of choosing decidedly right now to have our lives filled with the Holy Spirit and we must invite God in to dwell there and fill that space within us and so when we ask the question what am I up against we recognize that the power of sin is not broken only by pushing evil actions out of our lives or evil thoughts out of our minds the power of sin is broken by inviting God's presence the Holy Spirit to be the controlling influence of our thoughts and actions and so this is what we mean when we talk about surrendering your life to God it's not just saying I'm gonna not do evil things I'm going to have God dwelling within taking that space being the one in charge amen and so if we allow evil influences to return and control in our lives then there will be an escalating experience of evil that will then that will then spill over into the lives of others and damage us even more severely and so if we go back either in the same chapter Luke 11 verse 13. Jesus says if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him uh repeatedly in this little section it talks about asking and so if you have not asked God to fill you with the Holy Spirit this is something that we as Christians have to do it's not an option one of the things we can add to our Christian Life if we want to be fully controlled by God and be free of those other influences we have to ask God to fill us with the Holy Spirit and so I just encourage and challenge you to make that a part of your prayer life today and every day from here on Amen no praise the Lord thank you so very much Daniel uh Pastor James question here from Upper Marlboro Maryland from Brian in Revelation 9 4 John explained that the locusts were not to harm the grass of the Earth or any green thing or any tree but only those men who do not have the Seal of God on their foreheads what kind of seal or Mark will men of God have on their forehead will it be like a tattoo excellent question uh Brian thank you for that we read about the Seal of God in the Book of Revelation there are a couple of places where the Seal of God is described to be the character of God and let me just give you those references Revelation Chapter 14 verse 1 in Revelation chapter 22 verse 4. now you may not recognize that word character because the word that is used there is name they have the name of God in their foreheads they will all have God's name written in their foreheads that's what we're told in Revelation 14 verse 1 in revelation 22 4 but the word name is synonymous with character and is used in the Bible over and over again to reveal character so when we talk about name we're talking about God's character and of course God's character is a reflection of his Ten Commandment law which both describe God as a god of love According To Jesus words in Matthew chapter 26 verse or 22 verses 36-40 Jesus said says that the first commandment the greatest commandment is to love God with all the heart mind and soul and the second is like unto it to love our neighbor as ourselves in fact in first John chapter 4 verse 8 God is described as love God is love that's his character that's his name and we are to be sealed with that character we were created with that character in the beginning we were created in the image of God we had the character of God we had the love of God that's what we reflected and we were in harmony with the law of God but at we as we fell we lost that character we lost that name and God wants to restore that name to us so the way God seals us with the character of Love Is by the Holy Spirit the third person of the godhead and we're told this in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13 and Ephesians chapter 4 verse 30 we're sealed with the Holy Spirit and that is what we're talking about here in the Book of Revelation God's people have always been sealed they've always been destined to be sealed with the Holy Spirit to have the restoration of the character of God in them a reflection of God's law in them and in the Book of Revelation it's going to come to a pinnacle it's going to come to a final climax a Zenith if you will where we're going to see in Revelation 14 God's people having the Seal of God the name of God the character of God and the wicked also being fully manifested fully manifesting the character of Satan we see two harvests taking place in the last part of Revelation chapter 14. so the protecting seal of God according to the Book of Revelation according to the Bible the protecting seal of God is the name of God the character of God God's character is love and we are sealed with God's love through keeping his Commandments and that's how we are to love God and love our neighbor and that seal or character of God is the work of the holy spirit in us he seals into us into the truth of the gospel and according to Exodus chapter 20 in Revelation 13 and Revelation 14 the identifying Mark of God's seal in the last days is going to be the fourth Commandment specifically the worshiping of God and the fourth Commandment the Everlasting gospel calls us to worship God as Creator in order to be sealed with his name and to resist the mark of the beast amen thank you so very much Pastor James you know it's just incredible the Bible is so full of treasures and Nuggets aren't there wow what a blessing Pastor John we've had a lot of questions it seems like this program from the Old Testament about stories from the Old Testament and this is one here from Tai from North Carolina where do I find the story of Balaam the prophet and the donkey that spoke to him I did a sermon a number of years ago that I'm going to resurrect that okay because you know we have an audience that would I think will be blessed by the sermon it was it was entitled Dumb and Dumber and uh the question was which one was Dumber the prophet who refused to listen to God or the donkey that chose to listen and this is in Numbers Chapter 22. you start the story starts actually from verses 21 all the way down to the very end of the chapter actually verse 40 you find that the story is listed there you know Balaam was uh a prophet of God but balak sent to Balaam he wanted him to curse the people of God the children of God and um you find in verse 21 I'll just share some of the story with you because the answer is already given it's in the book of numbers but listen to this very interesting story how God shows that to me the lesson here is amazing God says we often call animals dumb but who's Dumber animals who can be trained or my children who refuse to be trained who's Dumber an animal who can take commands and follow them to the T or my children who refuse to even acknowledge my commands exist so this is a story about the whole dilemma of humanity more specifically of the chosen of God because there are many leaders today that are chosen of God that can be bought and this is a story where he's bought out by an adversary to do something that's uh that's anathema to the very call in his life Balaam decides to do what God never called him to do thinking that his position with God will grant him access to curse the people of God whom he's called to lead this is ironic and so this is kind of today what's happening in our world today that's why it's important as religious leaders that the call of God on our lives is a call that we cannot be bought from that's good and Ellen White says that there's a need for men who cannot be bought cannot be sold there's like Josh was in Caleb's and Elijah's men who are as true to God as the needle is to the north and that was not the case of the story Balaam decided so the donkey decides you know what what's that you wouldn't even listen so how amazing what's even more ironic in the story and I encourage you to read it is not only the donkey talking to Balaam but Balaam talking to the donkey yeah I mean like he's having a conversation with him and the Bible says in Numbers 22 um and then God's anger verse 22 was aroused because he went and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as an adversary against him and he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him now verse 20. the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way with a drawn Sword and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field and so I think you would really be encouraged to read the rest of the story what an amazing story it's in Numbers chapter 22 and really which one are we dumb or Dumber thank you so much Pastor John I think we have time for uh two more questions here Daniel this is a good one here the name who submitted is Prince here's the question when you read Matthew 6 9-13 it says do not put us in Temptation I have been asking myself is it correct or not because when you go back to Paul First Corinthians 10 13 says temptation is normal for human beings and to Jacob James 1 2 through 12 says it's happiness so what is Matthew saying all right if you're facing Temptation today I've got good news for you that God offers provision that you can be victorious over Temptation and sin amen but do we really have to ask God not to lead us into temptation is that something God would do um James 1 13 they're part of what you referenced says God does not tempt anyone to sin all right so we will start there First Peter 1 16 quoting from Leviticus he says God tells us to be holy even as I am Holy so God's desire is us for to be victorious over sin he doesn't want to place Us in places where he knows that we will fail Temptation certainly is the common experience of man as you as you reference there and Jesus shared that experience with us and was Victorious and we know that when we Face Temptation by God's power it does strengthen us and and help us to learn and to grow so what do we learn from Jesus's prayer that he shares there that Matthew Luke record where he says lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from Evil and the first thing is that this lets us know how we should feel about Temptation that we as Christians should make it a point to avoid Temptation in our life and to recognize where it might lie and to not willingly and intentionally Place ourselves there we should not desire it we should desire to avoid sin altogether and ask God's help in them and number two this uh this prayer that Jesus gives us recognizes that God is the one leading and we need to surrender to his will and his plan and path even if it goes in a direction maybe that is difficult for us that we we figured that that it would be harder for us to go this direction and then we recognize that since we are following God hearing this prayer if he's leading us then he is not going to place us in a position that we are going to fail in and we're not facing Temptation alone since he's leading we have his power his guarantee that we can be victorious that he will not give us or allow us to go through more than we can bear with his strength and so we see that Temptation wherever it may lie when we anticipate it we say Lord you've allowed me to face this and so I'm claiming right now your strength and your power God's goal for us there is at the end of this phrase where it says Deliver Us from Evil and so we know that that Deliverance comes from him and so we can't boast in our own strength say Lord help me through this we find this prayer again and we'll see it one more time here in Psalm 141 verse 3 and 4 set a guard O Lord over my mouth keep watch over the door of my lips do not incline my heart to any evil thing to practice Wicked works with men who work iniquity and do not let me eat of their Delicacies Lord I place myself in your hands and I desire you to lead me through whatever troubles lie ahead with your power amen praise the Lord what hope and encouragement praise the Lord thank you so very much Pastor James this question comes from Ann and she lives in Ooltewah Tennessee if according to history and according to Adventist teachings Daniel 7 25 has already been already fulfilled why should we expect another big time of trouble as if all the incredible sufferings of the Dark Ages were not enough all right very good question and from Tennessee we're looking in Matthew 24 and we're correlating that with Daniel 7 verse 25 it talks here in verse 21 about a Great Tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time nor ever shall be and except those days should be short and there should be no flesh say but for the election sake those days shall be shortened there is in the Bible in Bible prophecy a tribulation a Great Tribulation and then there is the time of trouble such as never was Matthew's gospel here Jesus in Matthew 24 is talking about this Dark Ages tribulation and the thing about the Dark Ages tribulation was that 50 to 100 million people they're estimating God's people Christians Believers were martyred they lost their lives during this time that will never be again that's what we just read such as was not or ever will be again was not would compare it to the flood for example where only eight people were saved but none of God's people were lost Shelby is relating to the time of trouble now the difference between the Dark Ages tribulation in the time of trouble is when Michael stands up in Daniel chapter 12 verse 1 and we can just read the verse just to make sure it says at that time Sean Michael stand up and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even at that time and everyone shall be delivered every one of thy people should be delivered who are written in the book in other words the time of trouble in in Daniel chapter 12 verse 1 when Michael stands up is a time of Deliverance for God's people in the Dark Ages you have 50 to 100 million of God's people being martyred in the time of trouble when probation closes and Michael stands up none of God's people are martyred so that's the difference that's why there's two so it's not that there's going to be another time of trouble like Daniel 7 25 there's not going to be another tribulation like the Dark Ages in Matthew 24 the Great Tribulation the time of trouble that's coming is going to be awful it's going to be terrible but not for God's people and I say that in a sense because of course God's people who are sealed are going to go through that time of trouble it's going to be difficult but none of them will lose their lives the seven last plagues will be poured out we're told in Revelation 16 and 15 and 16 but none of God's people will receive any of those plagues amen thank you so very much Pastor James what we're going to do right now is actually take a quick break and we'll be right back with some closing comments if you're enjoying our 3abian Bible q a then tell your friends each Monday will bring you a fresh program answering the Bible questions you send us using God's holy word to shed light on those texts that seem difficult to understand to have your questions answered on a future program just email them to us at bibleqa at 3abn.tv that's Bible QA at 3abn.tv you may also text your questions to 618-228-3975 that's 618-228-3975 be sure to include your name and where you live and then watch3abian Bible q a for answers from God's word these Bible q a programs always go by in a hurry in the last two minutes we'd like to do some closing comments or final thoughts Pastor James let's start with you and we'll go around the circle I want to go back to the first question judges 19 and what was that the concubine oh yes Lots children girls um four things I just wanted to summarize with that because it's a very difficult question number one was righteous men do not always make righteous choices and then number two God seeks to protect us from the evil of the unrighteous choices and the right the choices of righteous men that are wrong at times and then number three God eventually has to honor the choices of all of us and allow us to experience the consequences and the evil of our choices because God is gentleman he doesn't Force us to do what is right and hoping that we will repent from all of the evil and then in the end number four God is going to judge all of those who do evil amen very good thank you Pastor Daniel yes thinking about the Fallen Angels who are back with that question who are completely controlled by self with no influence of God and I just I was thinking it must be awful to be one of the Fallen Angels they must hate each other uh to be completely filled with self and selfishness and I'm just so thankful that God says I'm gonna I'm gonna take all of that out of you and fill you with my spirit of love and kindness amen praise the Lord thank you so much yes and speaking of the Lord our creator Psalms 90 verse 2 before the mountains were brought forth or even thou has formed the earth and the world even from Everlasting to Everlasting Thou Art God how long is Everlasting I hope to find out one day amen thank you so much Pastor John and thank you so much Pastor James Pastor Daniel Pastor John for being on today thank you for your heart for the Lord and for his word and in closing as you know like to always read second Timothy 2 15. study to show thyself approved unto God a Workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth thank you so much God bless you we'll see you next time [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN)

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Length: 54min 23sec (3263 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 14 2022