Truth Set Free!!

[Music] am i alive yeah i missed the countdown but hey welcome to true set free this guy is back in that back from the dead raised from the grave lazarus round two so glad he's back we got a lot of questions so with that said if you've emailed me you know like a few weeks ago we're going to bust them out so i'll get to them as fast we can i do have some announcements for you guys uh that are local in our area this sunday is going to be kind of a different thing uh we're doing small group sunday so instead of three services that we normally have we're going to two 7 30 is going to be the indoor sanctuary and then the second service is at 10 a.m uh not 9 15 10 a.m in our outdoor amphitheater following second service uh we're gonna have a big barbecue free barbecue for you guys um we're gonna have tables set up with all the small groups and the leaders here at calvary chapel so you guys can talk to them depending on where you live patchco richland wherever they're from and uh speak with them uh we're also gonna have baptisms so if you guys want to get baptized or you know someone that does after second service we would love to do that for you um so please come out and join us anything that you want to say to these guys well uh first off just thanks for praying for me if you prayed for me if you didn't what were you doing i know you guys prayed for me um and i i just really appreciate it i got a lot of support got a lot of cards and letters and people even showed up and stood on the top of the parking garage and and prayed and that was pretty cool the nurses were pretty impressed with that um you know just thankful to the lord thankful to the nurses and the and the doctors that um helped me out and yeah so all right if you have questions email me crosswalk radio gmail.com you guys can text or voicemail 707-87276 seven seven all right you ready to jump in yep let's do it okay first one i want your perspective what are your thoughts on this afghanistan crisis and do you think that this is biblical prophecy being fulfilled um and of course we live in america does that fall into biblical prophecy and us being downgraded what do you say yeah um you know what uh first off about afghanistan i think is dishonorable and [Music] uh reprehensible uh what happened with that whole thing yeah i'm getting tired of uh people getting into office and they just decide that they can abandon americans and then especially after they abandon uh people uh turn around and claim it as some kind of victory that's calling evil good and the bible talks about a curse that comes upon those who call evil good and good evil there's a passage in second timothy chapter 3 that says this but know this that in the last days perilous times will come for men will be lovers of themselves that's politicians not all of them but that's politicians lovers of money you can go through this whole list and just think of our political class lovers of themselves lovers of money boasters proud blasphemers disappear obedient to parents and thankful unholy and loving and forgiving slanderers that that describes a whole class of our our political spectrum without self-control brutal despisers of good traitors um headstrong haughty lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of god so in that sense everything that took place there was the biblical uh fulfillment of biblical prophecy that's where the culture is going in the last days and that's what uh god predicted through paul that was going to be taking place in the last days i can't say how much i despise what happened with the with the whole withdrawal from afghanistan there was no reason for it and these people are lying through their teeth so just my opinion um when when you look at biblical prophecy on other levels uh matt was talking about the diminution uh well the the lessening of the of american influence and what he was talking about was the fact that america is not clearly spoken of in scripture in any passage concerning the last days there are passages that people try to tweak and so israel is delivered in uh revelation chapter 12 by god on eagle's wings and they'll go well the eagle's a symbol of america and so we must do an airlift for the israelis i've heard that problem with that is um the same phrasing was used when israel was delivered from egypt and so united states obviously wasn't around at the time that god delivered the people of israel from egypt and so that's a familiar phrase to uh the jews specifically and so you know again there's no clear reference to the to the united states in last days prophecy and that's that's concerning because there's there are clear references to russia there are clear references to turkey iran libya ethiopia you know egypt and and so on and so something's got to happen to get us out of the way and something that might happen is uh you get a political class uh who's in charge who has no interest in uh you know uh world uh world political situation and that kind of thing so so maybe that kind of stuff um as far as who's taken over in afghanistan uh uh names have been mentioned specifically of nations one is turkey and one is china and so the the chinese are very interested in rare earths they are actually they've got a foothold in africa specifically uh so that they can get in control of the mineral deposits in africa specifically rare earths i have no doubt that they'd love to do the same thing in afghanistan and so the taliban ban is already talking about the fact that china is one of their allies they can they consider china to be a friend the turks are already already involved um in afghanistan and again turkey along with russia and persia are the major players that fo man and attack on israel at the very beginning of the tribulation period um china uh looks like it's in scripture uh being titled the kings of the east there's a there's a passage in chapter 16 of revelation it says then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river euphrates and its water was dried up excuse me i still got a cough so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared and i saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon that's satan and out of the mouth of the beast that's the antichrist and out of the mouth of the false prophet that's a sidekick for they are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle that great day of god almighty and it talks about the fact that they gathered them together to the place uh called in hebrew armageddon so it's clear that the kings of the east are coming uh down through southern asia and into the middle east and specifically to israel and so what's kind of interesting about afghanistan is that there's a pass going through the himalayas uh into china that goes uh right through the uh southeast part of tajikistan and down through afghanistan and and so it's a it's a straight shot from china through that pass to get to the middle east and so in that in that instance um it may be something that's a precursor of uh you know some of the stuff that you see in scripture but um specifically afghanistan is not mentioned uh in in scripture as being part of uh any of the battles or anything like that so what will probably happen is they'll continue to have the side of the you know the type of society that that they've had you know since um since muhammad uh where they have warring tribes you know tribes that are warring against each other and and internal turmoil and that kind of stuff it's always been like that in afghanistan so uh that's my take so you know that passage some people think that it's america where we're sitting on the side doing a diplomatic protest to the people that are destroying israel saying don't do this don't do this yeah that's that's the one passage that that may specifically speak about us young lions of tarshish yes yes so what's fascinating to me about what just happened is um you have now and i've been i have a brother in pakistan who's smuggling refugees from afghanistan across the world really yeah that's awesome yeah you need to pray for him yeah for sure yeah um he they go in as um health uh workers or whatever and then they have ways of communicating to the christians and so that they know that they can ask them and specifically talk about their faith and try and find them a place but anyway he's been sending me daily updates and he said taliban is full in control now they're not allowing any flights out civilian at all they're going door-to-door looking for christians looking for bible apps on their phones calling them saying we're coming to find you once you know it's like people are snitching them out now and so he said it's it's full on back into the old ways like you just said that it's always been because they they can go do a terrorism event which literally happened today in pakistan uh they've already burned up a church and shot some christians and stuff uh and then they run back into afghanistan because it's all safe and free so um we have that whole situation you have us arming them when we left all these hundreds of thousands of weapons and here we are when i was there for 9 11. i was old enough i still remember where i was at and it's like now we're talking about these guys as like people in the country to talk to as far as you know communication methods and stuff and these were the terrorists we fought for 20 years and that verse of diplomatic protest it's like we're already doing that yeah we're already like well you know it's a taliban but you know we can deal with them and all the stuff and it's just wild to me what do you say to you know the christians that are over there uh the next questions i have are going to be involving some of the end time stuff we know that the rapture is the next event on the prophetic horizon for us to look to but it doesn't say how bad it's going to get until then right obviously you have believers over in afghanistan who are they're about to suffer and it's in a situation of martyrdom what do you tell christians in that situation and people trying to help and all that stuff well you know actually jesus dealt with that there's a letter to the church in in smyrna at the beginning of the book of revelation and they were a church that was under persecution and this is what jesus said to them he said these things says the first and the last who was dead and came to life let you know that jesus is the most important thing he's the first one he's he's the last he's the alpha the omega he's the beginning and the end um he's the one who's in control and he's the lord he was dead and he came to life he has power over not only life but also death and so and vice versa he said he said this i know your works tribulation and poverty but you were rich and i know the blasphemy of those who say they are jews and are not but are a synagogue of satan you know talking about religious persecution and in this instance uh in afghanistan you could uh take and place the muslims in in that category they're saying that they're followers of god they are not um it says do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer indeed the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested and you will have tribulation 10 days be faithful unto death and i will give you the crown of life you as an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches he will overcome shall not be hurt by the second death which is going to hell and so um jesus never promised that we wouldn't go through tribulation and in fact for most of the history of the church the church has gone through tribulation even in western countries even in western so-called christian countries people were put to death for reading the bible people were put to death for translating the bible into a common language german or english that kind of thing and the way that they put them to death was by burning them at the stake and so um you know again when i when i look at the whole issue of persecution i i have no doubt that we are not going through the uh the time of the tribulation that that's mentioned in the book of revelation or that's uh prominent the book of revelation we're not going to be going through that jesus has delivered us from the wrath to come we're not going to be going through that but he never said that we weren't going to go through persecution and so believers in all nations are called to pray for those for our brothers and sisters who are going through persecution as if we were going through it ourselves and i think that that's something that many people are woefully um negligent in and we need to we need to be about that especially uh when we hear about these kinds of situations uh uh that are going on in in afghanistan and so um i just want to encourage you that jesus has got this and i uh uh one of one of the things that happens when you go through hard times and dark times is that that many times um you have no power and that gives god opportunity to act gives him opportunity to deliver when you can't deliver yourself and so i would that's what i would be praying for that's what i would be looking for and i would uh commit myself to the will of god uh in a situation like that you do the best to do the things that god calls you to and then god's got it he's got your back he's got your life and as as jesus said you be faithful unto death and um he says that he will give us a crown of life and um those are those are encouraging words but they're scary words too and i understand that um uh we just need to be people who uh trust in the lord he takes care of us and so when you know when i when i look at uh situations that um i'm i'm not in a situation where i was where i've ever been persecuted uh like people um have been in africa and afghanistan and china and places like that or even even in the past i live in america um but i have been in situations where there was a good chance that i was going to die or there was a possibility that i was going to die and you know when i'm in situations like that the holy spirit has always filled me and he's always taken away my fear and he's always pointed out to me that if i do die that you know the last breath i take on earth is my first breath in heaven and so we're we're all on the way to the grave and i would love to to go in the rapture if i die before the rapture i'm still going and actually i'll be going first because it says the dead and christ rise first and and so my hope is heaven and that's what i that's what i'm looking forward to and if i if i was in a situation like those in uh afghanistan that's what i would be looking forward to i'd be praying for deliverance but i'd be looking forward to seeing the face of the lord and trusting him with my own life and with the life of those around me that i love he can take care of us so amen we should pray for these guys that's true you want to pray sure your brothers are so laura i slipped up uh all the believers and people that are suffering uh lord in afghanistan and the pakistan area just uh grant them provision lord uh these people just up and left uh from eighth century thugs that no homes or anything there's a lot of children getting abused and stuff so just be working lord i know that when like steve already said in dire straits when you have no hope or power left it's right for you lord to work in the situation so i i grant or i pray for uh open doors yes to the gospel and for all these people that can be in their lord ministering to them and serving them and giving them things that nobody else i mean people they don't want refugees coming over and then you have christians coming in and feeding them and loving them just like you told us in your word so be working lord fill them with your power and uh just watch over them and we just ask for protection as they go in bravely into these dangerous areas and uh just for divine appointments lord that you always have your hand on jesus name amen amen all right my next question um says are these teachings biblical i don't have room for all of them so we'll start with number one okay uh the church must take over the world systems before christ will return uh you know we already kind of dealt with that in a couple of passages that i used on um on on another question here but again in second timothy chapter three this is this is what it says the world is like uh during the last times know this that in the last days perilous times will come men will be lovers of themselves lovers of money boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy unloving unforgiving slanders without self-control brutal despisers of good traitors headstrong haughty lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of god having a form of godliness but denying its power and from such people turn away and that's what paul says is going to be taking place in the last days it's already happening and so that doesn't look like a church triumphant that doesn't look like a a church that's taken over the world and as a as a matter of fact when you get to the book of revelation which chronicles the last days in revelation chapter 13. it's talking about the antichrist and it specifically talks about the fact that um he has power over the believers um let's see make war with oh yeah here it is uh then he opened his mouth this is revelation 13 6. then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against god to blaspheme his name his tabernacle and those who dwell in heaven it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them authority was given him over every tribe tongue and nation all who dwell on the earth will worship him whose names have not been written in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world if anyone has an ear let him hear and so the antichrist is in control and he has the ability to overcome believers in fact in revelation chapter 7 it talks about martyrs who are uh being killed uh for their faith in christ during the tribulation period and it says that there's so many that no man can number them and so there's there's going to be a large population of believers that are subject to martyrdom when jesus comes back he's coming back to a world that's in complete rebellion against him and so there's no there's no church taking over the world and and and then ushering in the kingdom of god it doesn't it doesn't work that way in the bible and so there's not there's not a passage that teaches that so yeah you're right that's wrong yeah are guys teaching this because their eschatological view they're trying to push different things to fit in their system whether the tribulation or uh different things is that why that this comes up you know this this comes up because people have itching ears and they want to hear nice things and there are false teachers who who will give it to him right yeah so this is this is you know again this is this is clearly taught in scripture and uh there's there's no question that this is what the bible says takes place things get worse and worse as uh time goes on and it doesn't preclude uh the fact of a revival god can do anything that he wants before israel went into captivity there were two major revivals that took place because jesus still loves people and he still wants them to come to christ and we've had one major revival within my lifetime that was the jesus movement i'm praying for another one it would be very cool if uh if people would get sick of this culture and get sick of this world and come to christ himself and have true life and to true freedom and and true power over their lives in the in the sense of being empowered by the holy spirit and that may happen that may not happen but the bible is clear on the future and it does not include the church conquering everything and so anybody who teaches that is a false teacher and they're they're literally ignoring scripture so all right what about this one jesus will not take weak believers in the rapture oh you know what that's that that's one of those things that um when you when you look in the bible there are warnings uh specifically to believers that they be ready um let's let's go to matthew chapter 24 and in that in that passage jesus is warning believers that um he's coming back and he's coming about and back at an hour that they don't that they're not going to expect and he says uh um specifically uh for as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage this is matthew 24 um verse 38 excuse me verse 38. it says uh they were eating drinking uh eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day that noah entered the ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away so also will the coming of the son of man be in other words it's an unexpected event and uh because that's what happened in the flood the only people who expected the the flood were no one in his family and everybody else did not uh then he says then two men will be in the field one will be taken and the other left two women will be grinding at the mill one will be taken and the other left watch therefore for you do not know what hour your lord is coming but know this that if the master of the house had known one hour the thief would come he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into therefore you also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect then he goes on and he gives another illustration and the next illustration is the illustration of two servants a faithful one and an unfaithful one and he says who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food in due season blessed is that servant whom he is master when he comes we'll find so doing and so we need to be doing the right thing so that when jesus comes we're not ashamed assuredly i say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods then look at this but if that evil servant says in his heart my master is delaying his coming and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunkards the master of that servant will come on a day when he's not looking for him and at an hour that he's not aware of and will cut him in two and a point of his portion with the hypocrites there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth okay and so jesus gives a warning that you don't turn away from him but that's not talking about a weak christian that's talking about somebody who has disregarded the fact that his master could come for him thinks that he's got a long time until he has to turn or repent or whatever and jesus comes unexpectedly and that's that's what's being spoken about in that situation and so i would encourage you not to turn away from the lord there's a passage in the book of isaiah where jesus is being described and it says about him that a bent reed he will not break and smoking flax he will not quench and that's not something that we're necessarily familiar with until you um sit there and kind of get it get the image in your mind flat smoking flax flax was something that they used uh for a wick and a candle and so their candles were basically bowls with a little bulls full of oil with a little wick coming out of it and they would light the wick and so we know this with candles uh specifically and so you blow out a candle there's a period of time where it's still smoking uh but it hasn't gone out yet and so the idea that smoking flaxseed he will not quench um that's a picture of uh somebody who's struggling in their walk with the lord they're not on fire but they've got some smoke coming out and what's being said there is that when jesus comes he's not going to come up to a person like that and go and put him out when it says a bruised reed he will not break uh you gotta you gotta think of reeds and so we you know we're we live near the the uh columbia river and there's reeds out there and and uh you can go out when i was a kid i would play with reeds we'd do sword fights with them it wasn't very effective because as soon as you hit another reed it just bent over and it was worthless at that point and the point that jesus is uh that the lord is making in that passage is that when uh when we're talking about jesus he's not a guy that looks at somebody who's like a bent read flimsy in the first place and bent over and and kind of useless uh in the second place he doesn't look at somebody like that and go work let's rip and throw it off you know god's compassion and god's caring and so when you're when you're talking about a weak believer um when i think of weak believers i think of uh well a brand new believer a believer who just got saved yesterday is a weak believer they're by definition that they're called babes in christ right and so babies are not strong and um when you're again when you're looking at a weak believer as as we go through time and go through the their walk with god there's all these times when when somebody's struggling in the lord and they may not be doing the things that god's called them to even though they're trying to those kind of people you work with until you die because what you see there is repentance what you see there is is a heart that wants to follow the lord it's a it's those who've turned their backs on the lord and turned around and walked away that are in danger in the passages that jesus talked about talks about when he's talking about his coming for the church and so um hopefully that defines it yeah for sure yeah all right last one on this list the jews have no part in god's plans because of their refusal to accept him biblical or not biblical um the gentiles have no part in god's plan because they've refused to accept him you know that's not that's not something that that's race specific or or culture specific if you receive to if you refuse to accept god uh uh except christ you have no part in god's plan except for judgment and so that there's a clear plan for those who've rejected christ and that clear plan is is judgment uh most likely and i just want to put it in that context so that you know that the jews are somebody that god god loves if you go through i i just commend you going through and reading romans chapter 11. in that passage paul goes through and he makes the point that the jewish nation specifically is going to be a group of people that turn pretty much wholesale not completely but pretty much wholesale to jesus specifically during the tribulation period that's one of the points of the tribulation period that god makes clear to the jewish nation that he is their messiah that jesus is their messiah and they return to him again that's the whole point and there are passages in um zechariah chapter 12 is a good passage to look at zechariah chapter 14 is a great passage to look look at um actually all the way 12-14 you just go through and read that and it talks about the fact that the jewish nation uh turns and receives jesus as excuse me as their messiah and so um the the bible is clear on that we uh in no way as gentiles replace the the jewish nation uh when you look at prophetic passages in the book of ezekiel in the book of isaiah in the book of jeremiah about the millennial period that's a time where jesus reigns on the earth the bible clearly teaches that the 12 tribes of israel are here and that god's using them during that period and so the only way that you get out of that is by trying to reinterpret those passage passages as something that they don't say because they do say that the nation of israel is there during the tribulation period so or during the during the tribulation period but also during the millennium yeah so they are in no way uh um finally and completely cut off uh from the plan of god again that's in romans 11. yep yeah all right mario wrote in past steve he says if you're hoping to do a work for the lord a community revival event spread the gospel and don't know if the anointing is on you or the gift of pastor or teacher how should you go about it well mario um i you know it's it's one of those things where uh i mean that's an important thing if you're if you're gonna try to fulfill the role of a pastor or teacher or an evangelist it's important that you know what your gifting and calling is and and the way that you do that is you know i don't have a uh you know a specific thing that i can tell you about that except for going to the lord and asking him and then there's going to be evidence in your life that that's that's what's taken place god's going to start using you in there's in those areas um there's a there's a passage can i ask you a question about that yeah for your you know you obviously are called to be a pastor did god call you and tell you you're going to be a pastor like knocking paul off his horse or did you go and seek the lord and go lord i feel like this is what i want to do what say you uh well what what happened specifically with me was i was at a at a point in my life where i knew that i wanted to be involved in ministry i never i never thought of being involved in ministry as far as getting paid uh you know i was involved with bible studies and home bible studies and that kind of stuff and so i wanted to know what god wanted me to do and so i took the the opportunity of uh i went backpacking and i took that opportunity to pray over the weekend for what i wanted to do and i seriously thought i was going to be a worship leader because that's what i was doing uh in home bible studies i was i was leading worship and um god didn't tell me i was going to be a pastor what god told me was that i was going to teach and that's what he started me off with and the reason he did that with me i know why he did it with me is because if he if he if he told me that this was going to happen that i was going to be this they're they're um you know i'm kind of i'm kind of one of i came from a rowdy background and so there's there's not a huge amount of things that i'm really afraid of but public speaking is one of those things really fearful um i still get nervous before a bible study and so um uh if god had told me that you're gonna be a pastor and you know all the things that were gonna be going on that would have been pretty scary to me and so god gave it to me in little bites you know baby steps and so first he told me he was going to be a teacher and then after uh he began using me in that it was uh um at that time i'd only taught one bible study and it was an absolute horrendous train wreck it was really bad you guys in fact it was so bad that all the guys i was doing you know we were in a bible study together all the guys in the bible study voted for uh not passing around the teaching to the different guys but having one guy teach and i was the guy who precipitated that steve todd we never want to hear that again let's have this guy do it and so that was my that was my first time teaching and it was like i said it was a train wreck and after god uh told me i was going to teach it was that next week that i taught my second bible study and the the uh change was absolutely tremendous uh to me specifically because i'm it was it was completely different and so there was a point where i did not have the gift of teaching and then there's another point where i did yeah and uh it was it was when i asked god it was something you know my teaching gift is something that's god-given i've always known that uh never thought it was anything else and so um uh you know that's i i would just uh encourage you to are we still on we got sound i would uh just encourage you to spend some time in prayer and uh find out from god what your what your gifts are not what your talents are you may be a talented guy i was i'm talented in certain areas uh i just didn't have the talent of teaching and so and it's not that god can't use your talents because he can and so the the fact that you may not be afraid of public speaking uh does not mean that you're disqualified for that but um i don't i don't base the the calling of god and the gifting of god all my talents a gift is a gift it's something that's given to you it's not something that uh you made happen in your life and so that's something that that's important for christians to remember uh that there's a passage in luke 16 where in verse 10 jesus says he who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much you know and the point that jesus is making is the small things matter small things matter and so um i i would be looking for opportunities to witness uh specifically if i if i thought that i was called to be an evangelist an evangelist is somebody who leads people to jesus and so we're all called the witness but then there's those guys who have the gifting of evangelism and so we're all called to witness but then there's those guys who are just really effective at it and god uses them and we all teach on some level or another but then there are those guys who are gifted and god uses them in pretty amazing ways to bring across the word of god and mario you need those are things you gotta pray about and uh those are things you gotta work out in in your walk with god if i wanted to put an event together uh like you're talking about and i didn't know if i had those gifts but i felt like i'd like to have this happen pretty quickly i'd find somebody with those gifts and say hey would you come and help me and you know i'd like to do this on the park i'd like to you know and i look for for a way to get it done and maybe that is something that god's calling you to uh in romans chapter 12 there's something that's called the gift of administrations and that's the uh basically the gift of organization and so that might be a possibility too and so again if i if i if i didn't have that gifting um i wouldn't you know you don't want to be in a pulpit by yourself man and and so um if i didn't have that gifting if if god wasn't with me in that i would not step into a pulpit in fact actually the very first time that i stepped behind a pulpit it was greg laurie's church and i i went down to uh to talk to somebody about something or other i was gonna you know it's something was going on i can't remember what was happening and i was gonna go talk to somebody so i go into the church looking for someone and nobody's there and there's you know there's a stage and uh pulpits up there and it was just like a lectern like a wood you know lectern type thing and so i decided i'm gonna get there and see what it looks like you know from greg's point of view and so i got up there and i came up to the to the podium i put my hands on it like this and i looked down and he had a little note that was that was taped to it that said sir we would see jesus is that where that came from that's where that came from okay and so i took my hands off the pulpit and i stepped back i just realized how important it was yeah you know to you know when you're when you're up behind when you're up addressing the people of god how important it is that the christ is at work in you and so hopefully that helps you out man yeah i appreciate your zeal that's that's pretty cool doing something for the lord is a good thing yeah the first time i stepped up there there was that note too and i know and i didn't know where it came from but it has perspective where you're up there and you're like this is important no don't get in the way yeah um i like what you said though is that um it was baby steps you know because and you you've taught this many times is that god's not looking for your ability but your availability yeah and if you just have a heart and even no talent no gifting you know you're just a dumb dumb for jesus like i i just like lord i want to serve you i want to do a work for you and it's like all i think that i can stack chairs right so started ushering but if you just have that heart and you're available man he will take you places that you never even dreamed of that you had no talent or desire to be a pastor teacher just because you love them and it'll blow your doors off and you don't even have to work for it now you know we're talking like years and years and years of of being available and doing stuff before yeah you know so let me let me let me give you one more passage uh this is out of psalms and it's it's a it's a really cool one let's see it's psalm 75 and it's in verse 4 the passage starts that i want to share with you it says i said to the boastful do not deal boastfully into the wicked do not lift up the horn do not lift up your horn on high do not speak with a stiff neck that's the idea of being proud all the way through that passage then he says this for exaltation comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south and he's talking about exaltation coming from kingdoms or for men and he says again for exaltation comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south but god is the judge he puts down one and exalts another and so god is the one who lifts you up so humble yourself under the mighty hand of god and the bible says he will lift you up so [Applause] all right thanks mario for writing in man hopefully that answers your question all right i don't have a name on this one but it says i recently read where a five-year-old was denied enrollment at a christian school because the mother of the child was in a same-sex marriage what are your thoughts on that um you know what we have a christian school and uh one of the things that we do is interviews uh with the parents of the children who are going to come and uh our school is there to uh as a ministry and it's there to bless people and specifically it's there to uh educate kids and lead them to jesus right and so there's a mission for the school and that's what it is and so when we do interviews actually my wife does these interviews we don't have a problem with non-christians coming to our school we don't have a problem with non-christian kids coming to our school because that's kind of the point you know we we like them to come and learn about jesus and on top of it they they get a good education um but when we go through uh the interview process one of the things that we do is we clearly tell people uh what we're about and so my wife i i don't know if you guys know the romans road but specifically my wife takes people who are non-believers through the romans road and the romans wrote is a series of passages in the book of romans that basically go from the fact that we're sinners and we're under the judgment of god and that we need god's grace and that god is willing to give that to us it will turn from our sin and receive christ and call on his name and so that's that's that's a shortened version of that uh but she takes them through every single one of those scriptures and then she she watches the reaction sees sees what they do with it and usually you can tell the unbelievers because they're sitting there you know kind of not knowing what to do and shifting in their in their seats and stuff and then she goes through and talks about the the fact that this is the kind of stuff we're going to be telling your kids we're going to be teaching them about jesus we're going to be teaching them that jesus is real he needs to come into their hearts that they are sinners and so your kids may come home saying hey my teacher said that i'm a sinner don't get offended we're all sinners i'm a sinner too and uh and then she goes through and talks about salvation and and that kind of thing so she clearly teaches that and then she asks them do you have a problem with that and there have been times when uh actually we have people who are involved in cults and we let them and their children come here too but when uh my wife is uh sitting in front of somebody who's involved in a cult uh uh she's she's somebody who's you know she's been a believer for a very long time and she knows uh what a lot of these cults are teaching and she will just go through and talk about the differences between christianity what we believe about jesus and what they believe about jesus and then she asked them you know she tells them this is what we're going to tell your kids and we're going to teach them the bible and that's all that we're going to teach we're not going to go into any other books and so it's going to be the real bible we're going to go through and teach that and if your child comes up with something that's anti-biblical we're gonna go no honey this is what the bible teaches about that and then she goes are you okay with that you know and and uh that kind of stuff and if they are not okay with it then we let them know you know that this school's not going to be a good fit for you and so uh in an instance with uh uh two people who are in a same-sex marriage sin is sin um but we would be doing exactly the same thing and so what would happen in a situation like that is we go you know you want your child to come here do you know what the bible says about homosexuality and just be straight up with them and tell them this is what we're going to be telling your kid yeah at some point this is going to be coming up and so are you going to get all mad and have a hissy fit and and that kind of stuff and try to you know and you know uh just try to cause uh a situation with that actually probably won't even say that are you going to get all mad about that and you know just gauge their reaction and if their reaction is that they're going to cause a problem we have a ministry here and it's a ministry to lead children to jesus and to teach them the word of god and to go through and educate them and so anything that's going to hinder that ministry we're not going to be involved with and so there have been there have been people um that we haven't accepted uh at uh at our school um but not because they were unbelievers or because they were involved in some specific sin uh it was because they were they were going to be a danger to the ministry and so that's that's how i would uh handle that whole thing jesus loves homosexuals yeah yeah and uh he wants them and uh jesus loves drunkards and he wants them and jesus loves you know he just loves unbelievers and he wants them and so we could go through any number of sins but jesus jesus loves people and cares about him so that's that's how we would handle that okay uh they don't want me to put their name on this one so it says after going through your series on revelation a lot of which is pretty scary stuff the pastor that would be you kept saying but you the church won't have to worry about it since we will not be here for the scary stuff my question is what do you do if you're going to be left behind question mark how would you prepare for what is to come and hypothetically speaking they say if the lord told you specifically that you would be left behind what does one do at that point to prepare well you know the the lord telling you that you would be left behind um let me just i'm just going to give you a flat out statement that wasn't jesus right yeah there's a there's a passage um you can go to this passage turn over to uh ii peter if you if you've got a bible in um second peter uh chapter three in verse eight it says this but beloved do not forget this one thing that that with the lord one day is as as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day the lord is not slack concerning his promise as some count slackness but he's long suffering toward us not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance but the day of the lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and you know the passage goes on what that passage is teaching is that jesus is delaying as long as possible because he doesn't want anyone to perish that's his attitude and so it wouldn't be jesus that would come to you and say you know what i'm going to leave you behind that's that that's not what jesus does and so um when you're when you're hearing uh voices so to speak and i don't want to make it a weird thing but um there are things that come from you uh they're your own they're your own thoughts and your own conscience and that kind of stuff there are things that come from satan uh satan works in the area of the mind uh the bible says that the god of this age that's talking about satan has blinded the minds of those who won't believe and so he works in the area of the mind and he tempts you and he uh condemns you and it's something that satan has always done uh the bible says that uh day to day and this is in revelation chapter 12 he stands before the lord um condemning believers before before god and so that's kind of his job he's the accuser of the brethren is what the bible teaches and so jesus hasn't told you that he's going to leave you behind what jesus would be telling you is that if you're in a situation where you think you're you're going to be left behind what jesus would be telling you is that you need to repent that you need to turn from your sin that you need to give your life to jesus and so you want to prepare for the tribulation that's what you do there's no other preparation for this you know let me let me let me just give you uh an example i always use this to point out what you know how radical the bible says that the tribulation is jesus said if he didn't come back in time no flesh would be saved it's the idea that everything on the on the planet every living thing on this planet would be destroyed and jesus comes back excuse me soon enough to circumvent that um if if you end up in the tribulation period you have a one in four chance of living for through the first few months the bible says one quarter of the population the planet is killed in a battle that takes place at the very beginning of the tribulation period one in four chance of even being alive after the first few months of the tribulation there's another battle that takes place and another third of mankind is killed and so at that point you make it through the first one you got a one in three chance of making it through the next battle that takes place and when you put those those two fractions together i know math you put those two fractions together it's um one half of the population of the earth is destroyed in just two judgments during the tribulation that's not counting anything else that goes on and so you got a 50 50 chance of making it through two of the judgments that are that are listed in the book of revelation so how do you prepare for that you know um here's a here's another thing with this um you know obviously you're going through and and i don't know if you're talking about yourself you may be talking about a friend and so excuse me if i'm putting this on you um but if you if you are talking about a friend this is the stuff you need to tell them um there's a passage in ii thessalonians that talks about the coming of the antichrist and it says this at the towards the end of the passage this is second thessalonians chapter two it says and then verse eight and then the lawless one will be revealed whom the lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of satan with all power signs and lying wonders and so this guy is going to be able to do miracles as far as the world is concerned he's they're they're it's literally lying miracles and so he's going to do signs of power lying miracles that kind of that kind of stuff and verse 10 it says and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish and then he says this because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved the reason that that people fall under the sway of the antichrist is because they refused to receive the love of the truth that they might might be saved and then it says and that says this and for this reason god will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure and unrighteousness one of the things that i that i found about people who don't want to come to christ is many times it is because they may have to give up something that they really like and sometimes that is the applause of men you know the favor of the people who are around them sometimes that is a vice that they have that they know that jesus would want them to get rid of but usually when somebody has not come to christ there's a there's a reason for it and it is something that's logical they love the thing that they're doing more than they want heaven more than they would want jesus more than they would love jesus i'm not trying to again put that on people because obviously somebody who doesn't know jesus doesn't have the capacity to love him until they've met him after you met him uh then everything changes and that's one of the things that um the bible teaches you know god never says that you need to clean up your act and then come to christ but the bible teaches that you need to come to christ and jesus will change you jesus will clean up your act and so that is what a person in that situation needs you know they could they could go out and um most people who are preppers go on and go out and find a hidey hole up in the mountains someplace to try to get away from civilization civilization when when it all collapses and so i have no doubt that people will be doing that during the tribulation and the bible says that the mountains fall there are billionaires that are buying up islands in the south pacific and that's their hidey hole for when civilization collapses and the bible says that the islands sink during that time there's there's no way there's there's nowhere you get away from this uh the bible talks about the the the fact that the sun burns people on the earth and you know it's like this these are worldwide events you know there's not there's not a safe place in in that sense and so there's there's really no preparation except for repentance and one of the cool things about god is that it doesn't matter what you've done doesn't matter where you've been it doesn't matter what kind of jerk you've been what kind of traitorous punk you've been jesus jesus loves you and he wants you he forgave peter peter denied him three times one of them he was afraid of a little girl and um he forgave peter and so you know you've got the same situation with you there's you or the friend that you're talking about there's nothing that they've done that will keep them from christ there's nothing that they've done that god won't forgive the only sin that god won't forgive is the one that you won't confess and again that that's that's the situation so short answer sorry for the long answer but the short answer is you want to prepare for the tribulation repent amen that's how you do it all right we got about uh four or five minutes left um i'm about to paraphrase this next one but basically it goes like this i'm a 54 year old 54 year old male been involved in a relationship with a gal for 13 years says they were both believers saved for several years and then the lord showed them that they were fornicators they repented god showed him ephesians and all that stuff they got right with the lord and then he says this three weeks after um they repented um his wife tells him that their relationship must be platonic and she now has been instructed by god to leave all fleshly earthly desires behind and only serve jesus's will he says i realize that the word tells us that it's normal in a marriage to abstain for a while regarding the physical relationship while serving the lord's requests or specifically god's task but then you're supposed to come back together again he says i want to be righteous and respect god's will but also wants to be have you know a marriage relationship uh and then he goes on um so his heart is he wants to do the right thing and you know what god's calling him to do this is what his wife says he's not really sure okay what do you tell them um you know the you're you're quoting from a passage and that that passage is in uh first corinthians chapter seven let me let me go there and uh let's look at it real quick if i can find it here we go first corinthians chapter seven starting in verse one um well let's start in verse three because uh the first one has uh really nothing to do with your situation verse three it says let the husband render to his wife the affection do her and so you are to give your wife the affection that she is due you owe her to do that because she's your wife and likewise also the wife to her husband so there's affection that's due you because you're the husband and she's the wife right then it goes on and says verse 4 for the wife the wife does not have authority over her own body but the husband does and likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body but the wife does and then you quote it from this passage do not deprive one another except with consent for a time that you may give yourselves to fasting in prayer and come together again so that satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control okay and so here's the point that paul's making if you're married there are things that you owe to your wife if if your wife is married there are things that she owes to her husband and one of them is the sexual union and it is okay to abstain for a period of time but it is not okay to abstain forever it is that is not okay that is not scriptural and as soon as that attitude enters in satan enters in that's why he talks about satan uh does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control and so um when you when you look at the situation with a husband and wife my body's not my own my body is my wife's and her body is not her own her body is mine because we're married and uh when you're talking about a christian marriage especially in the area of sex or specifically in the area of sex this is this is like everything that we do as christians jesus said you do unto others as you would have them do unto you and the idea behind that is you give other people things that you know that they like i you know um this is what it doesn't mean it doesn't mean that you know i i don't like uh you know maybe i like smelly catfish or something and i uh you know it's it's just a meal that i love to eat it's the smellier the better you know that that kind of thing and i come up and i want to do something nice for matt and i give him smelly catfish well that's not what that passage means what that passage means is i find out what matt's needs are what what what he likes and i bring something that he actually wants to put into his mouth not the things that i like right and so when you're when you're looking at everything that you do as a christian it's other centered it's supposed to be the type of you know it's a type of situation where what i'm doing is serving the other person not serving myself and i understand that she's uh tried to put the lord in this but that's a flat-out contradiction uh to what the scripture flat out teaches that's not biblical okay so now what do you do about that don't walk up to your wife and say hey you'll say hey i sent in a you know an email to you know steve wintery's q a and he told me that you're being unscriptural that's not going to work really well and so the first thing that i would be doing is praying for her and uh you know asking asking god to open her eyes because she's being deceived um and there there may be reasons for that you need to be uh asking god to give you discernment on that whole thing but in any case she's being deceived on one level or another another thing uh that i would be doing in in this situation is i would probably go to your pastor you're going to church obviously and so i would be going to your pastor and saying hey hey can we have a counseling session can can we come in and talk to you and uh ask your wife if she would be willing to do that and hopefully um uh she would uh these guys would give you good counsel and help you to get past this um it would be really good uh in this situation for your wife if uh if a lady was doing the counseling and so maybe the pastor's wife uh is is called to that but you need to you need to find somebody who's willing to stand on what the word of god says in this situation lots of christians have lots of things to say that have nothing to do with the bible and so you need you need somebody who will will counsel you biblically uh but i would really encourage you to do that um uh another thing that i wouldn't do is embarrass your wife and so you can get guys to pray for you uh that kind of thing be very careful what you say and uh be very careful how you say it because if your wife does repent she doesn't need to be coming to a church full of people who knows what kind of sin she's been involved with it's completely embarrassing and it's humiliating and so watch your tongue you know i i understand that you can get frustrated in this situation you watch your tongue you watch the people you make sure the people that you share this with to pray for you keep their mouths shut you don't you don't share this kind of information uh specifically for prayer with somebody who is unfaithful in uh the things that they say to the people who are around them you don't want us you don't want a gossip you want a backbiter you don't want a tail bearer uh knowing what uh what's happened with your wife and so be careful who you talk to be careful what you say and uh i would seriously try to get you know ask your wife if you can go to counseling and uh have have somebody share with you guys about what's going on and the biggest thing is prayer i pray that god would convict her and god would turn her heart around if there's anything that that you've been doing you know one of the things that we need to always be is people who are willing to examine our own lives and if there's anything that you've been doing that's something that you think might have caused this revelation you know anything like that you need to check that out take that before the lord and you need to turn away from that and ask god to forgive you and ask her to forgive you frankly too and uh usually when this kind of stuff is going on there's something that's underlying that and um and it may be something that she's holding against you on some level and so i i i'd be just be careful be prayerful and uh try to get into counseling yeah yeah i've seen two like uh you know in his story of you know fornication and then your opinion the way girls treat that and the way the physical relationship is to female a lot of times you get into a marriage and then it's okay the physical relationship's right but they they have this weird bent view because it was sin and satan uses that and then you tweak it right and so i mean now you're talking about you're getting married and here's a relationship god created now to tweak that i mean you're talking about you have to have the gift of celibacy you're going to bring in all this temptation and it sounds spiritual and and stuff but like you said there's something there yeah that's tweaking it right and needs to find out what it is yeah uh you know what uh there's nobody in the bible who's ever done this including mary mary had children and so uh she was a virgin up until the time that jesus was born but then she had four boys and at least two girls and so we have the name of the names of the four boys and so uh nobody in the bible does this so all right man thanks for uh writing in appreciate it hopefully that uh answers your question all right we are over time we're out of time thanks for joining us we got the man back yay for that gun coffin he's 95 but we'll take it uh i i mentioned you guys at the beginning of the program remember this sunday we're having a different service only two services first one 7 30 and our excuse me sanctuary second one is at 10 o'clock in our outdoor amphitheater it's going to be about small groups we'll have all of our small group leaders here with tables set out you guys can go talk to them get plugged in different age different categories all that type of stuff then we're gonna have a free barbecue afterwards you guys want to hang out while we're doing that and we're gonna have baptisms also so it's on our website it's on our facebook page uh but just to let you know so god bless you guys we'll see you next wednesday to set free at 3 30 and finish the rest of the questions as you had 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Channel: Calvary Chapel Tri-Cities

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Length: 66min 47sec (4007 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 08 2021