Bibleline Radio Show – 2008-12-10

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

So cherish the old again, for us, Till my trophies and past I may die. Welcome! Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Hank Lindstrom, a ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, declaring God’s love through radio and television, providing real answers to an ever-searching world. To reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep Bibleline on the air in your community, dial toll-free 1-800-576-3771. 1-800-576-3771. Now, here’s a rebroadcast of Dr. Hank Lindstrom, host of Bibleline. Hi, this is Tom Perry for Bibleline Ministries.

We’d like to thank you, the listener, for your prayers and support. I’d like to encourage our listeners to visit our website, BibleLineMinistries.org. Once again, that’s BibleLineMinistries.org. Our Bibleline radio program will be continuing 24 hours a day, seven days a week on our website. Please continue to support Bible line. Your prayerful and financial support is greatly needed at this time so that we can continue Dr. Lindstrom’s work in spreading the gospel across the world. If you’d like to partner with us at Bibleline, please contact us at 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. Once again, we would like to thank you, the listener, for your prayers and support for Bible line ministries. God bless you. Well, good morning and welcome to Bibleline great to be with you today. Thanks for tuning in to the broadcast. We look forward to being with you each and every day here at Bibleline and we hope that you’re enjoying the program. And thanks for tuning in today. By the way, we are streaming to the internet and you can hear us all over the world on the internet.

We just had a brand new country, Gambia in Africa, and that makes the count now 147 countries that have logged on to Bibleline this year. And we’re excited about being able to reach all over the world. Every continent is represented except for Antarctica. I don’t know that there’s many folks on Antarctica and that’s probably the reason why. But we’re in Africa, we’re in Europe, we’re in Asia, we’re in Australia, we’re in South America, Central America, and all over North America.

And you can tune in the program at your pleasure, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you go to BibleLineMinistries.org or .com, we hope that you’ll take advantage and go to the Internet site and listen to my Belign. By the way, we are leaving for Israel March 12th. If you would like to go, it is time to get your mind made up. We are going to leave on Monday, March 12th. Come back on a Friday, March 23rd.

We hope that you will join us. This will be trip number 14 for me. I hope that you will join me. We will be baptizing in the Jordan River and we will be having the Lord’s Supper next to the Tomb of Calvary and we hope that you’ll take advantage and go with us and we’ll have a wonderful time in Israel. All the information is available by calling our 800-number-1-800-576-3771. Also by going to the internet you can go to the Bible Eye News on the homepage and click on that and download all the information about the trip and we hope that you will take advantage and go to Israel with us.

So we know we’re in the month of December and Merry Christmas to you and your family and I hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday. It’s a great time to witness. We have a lot of tools in our resource center to help you evangelize your friends. We have some wonderful tracks that really work. That’s right. They actually lead people to Christ. One of them called, am I going to heaven? We have the story that we like to share.

a man in our church gave one to a fellow worker at work and the fellow being polite, put it in his shirt pocket, took it home, put it in his dresser drawer and the story goes and it’s a true story. 13 years later, he cleans out his dresser drawer, finds the track, sits on the edge of his bed, reads it and gets saved. That’s right. Then he also with his wife became members of my church and what a wonderful story.

13 years later, When the track was finally read, it did the job. This is the kind of track we have. A lot of people are getting these to put in their Christmas cards. They’re getting them to put in their presents with their gift. They want to reach out with the gospel here at Christmas. What a great way to do that. And you can get those in bundles of 100 that really is a great tool. We also have CDs. A lot of people are putting these selectively with people they want to reach with the gospel.

This particular CD has led thousands to Christ. There’s a great… He said, if somebody listens to the CD, we had a fellow call us from Tennessee, never heard of us before. He was going in the hospital for surgery, was dying of cancer. And 15 friends prayed for him. One of them sent him the CD, how permanent is your salvation? And he listened to that and he got saved. He called the number on the CD, reached us, didn’t even know if we existed or not, and He wanted to order 15 copies because he wanted to pay back those people that prayed for him and he wanted them to learn about Jesus and how to go to heaven.

And in an exciting story we hear these kinds of stories all the time and these are great ways to reach out during the holidays. I hope you’ll do that. Also, would you consider during the month of December giving a special gift to Bible? And you know a lot of people make up their Christmas shopping list and they shop for the kids and they shop for the aunts and the uncles and the parents and everybody. But Jesus somehow is not on the list.

When you think about it, that doesn’t make sense. It’s Jesus’ birthday. And the wise men had it right. They brought all their gifts to give to Jesus. And maybe if you haven’t put Jesus on the list, would you do that and maybe consider giving a special gift to my blind. We’d like to get all of our bills from 2006, paid for, enter the new year clean and fresh and I want to thank in advance for considering giving a gift to Bibleline during the Christmas holidays a special gift to help us make sure that everything is caught up with Bibleline and we thank you in advance.

We’re going to come to the Bible for a few minutes and then we’re going to go ahead and take our callers today. We’ve got people already calling in, leaving off air and some people are getting set to go up on the air and you can call the number 1-800-576-3771 and be a part of that. We’re going to turn to John’s gospel chapter 1 and it says here about Jesus in the beginning was the Word. Now the beginning, I take it, is the same as in Genesis 1-1, when the universe was created, when God created time and space, Jesus already was.

That’s what it says here. says here, in the beginning WAS the Word. So when the beginning began, Christ already had existed since eternity passed. And the word word here is the Greek word logos. And it really means a thought or a concept. It’s the expression or utterance of that thought. And Jesus Christ is actually the second person, the second eternal person of the Godhead, the The way that God would reveal Himself was through that second person, the word, the expression, the thought, the concept of God would be revealed in a human body when God would come and take on human flesh.

It says in the beginning, was the word, the word was with God and the word was God. And then it says all things in verse 3 were made by Him. Without Him was not anything made that was made. He’s the Creator. Did you know that Jesus Christ? when we think about Christmas, that little baby lying there in a manger created the universe. He’s God. In verse 14, it says, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And John here says, and we beheld his glory.

We saw him. The glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus Christ is the word made flesh. He is God who came and took on a human body. And the wonderful story is He came in order to redeem us. And according to verse 12, but as many as received Him to them, God gave power or authority for them to become the sons of God, to intergods family, to become born again, to become a child of God.

It occurs when you receive Christ. In other words, salvation is in a person. It’s not in a church organization or denomination. It’s not in a set of rules. It’s not in the commandments. It’s not in a list of things that we would do. It’s in the person of Christ and the Bible says here, but as many as received Him Christ to them, God gave power or authority for them to become the sons of God. to me how this verse so simple and yet it seems like the concept is missed by so many.

How many times? And I’ve heard it so often even by good Bible teachers, they would say, give your heart or give your life to God to be saved. But as interesting as that is exactly the opposite of what the Bible teaches. Exactly the opposite. What do you mean? Well, if you look at this verse and you’ll find no exception throughout the Bible, it says here, but as many as received Him to them God gave power or authority to become the sons of God.

In other words, the Bible order is always God is the giver and we’re the receivers. Now think about it. If you were to be asked to give your heart or your life to God, That makes you the giver and God the receiver. It is the exact opposite of what the Bible teaches Isn’t it amazing and it’s wrong? You’re not saved Talk to a young lady about 21 years of age just a week ago, and she said you mean you don’t have to give your heart to Jesus to be saved She’d heard that all her life.

I Said no Nowhere does the Bible say to give your heart or your lungs or your kidneys or your pancreas or your thyroid to God? You know, we don’t give anything to God to be saved. He’s the giver. For God’s the love of the world, John 3 16 says that he gave his only begotten son that Whosoever any of us that would believe on him would receive the gift of everlasting life. In other words, God is the giver, we’re the receivers, to try to say that you have to give your life or to give your heart to Christ means that you’re the giver and God is the receiver.

That is 180 degrees out of phase. It is exactly the opposite of what the Bible teaches. And yet how many times have I heard a good message by a good pastor and then he gets to invitation and says, it’s not too late for you to get saved, it’s not too late for you to give your heart to Christ. And I would say to myself, wow, what happened? Great message. I was blessed by the teaching, but yet when we get to the gospel, the devil somehow clouds are thinking I guess, and muddies it up and makes it wrong because you’re not saved by giving your heart to Christ.

And he doesn’t even want your heart. Nowhere’s the Bible saying, please give me your heart or your kidney or your thyroid or any part. I just say that to bring out the point that we don’t give anything, nothing. I love the hymn, just as I am I come without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me. We come empty-handed, nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross, I cling. It’s only by trusting Christ in what he did for us that were saved, and God is the giver, we’re the receiver.

Salvation in the Bible, without exception, is called the gift of God. it is God’s gift. God is the one who purchased it. God is the one who gives it. We’re the receivers, the recipients of that gift. If you haven’t received Christ, then you haven’t received the gift of God. And therefore you have missed the meaning of Christmas and you’re still lost. If you’re not sure about whether you would go to heaven if you were to die, chances are you’re not going.

You see, if you’re not saved forever, then you’re not saved. Being saved by definition means you’re delivered from going to hell and delivered to go to heaven. A lifeguard doesn’t take you part way to shore and abandon you. He hasn’t really done his job of rescuer saving you unless he’s taking you all the way up on the shore and you’re safe now from drowning. And Christ of course takes us from our place here on this earth, condemned and lost and headed for hell and takes us all the way to heaven’s shore and plants us safely in heaven.

You know the Bible says positionally when you trust Christ you are seen by God as already seated in heaven. That’s right. Ephesians 2, 6 says that he’s raised us up together with Christ by grace you are saved and made us to sit together in heavenly places In Christ Jesus right now as far as goddess concern. I’m in heaven If you’re a believer right now as far as goddess concern, you’re already in heaven. You’re already seated there. He sees you in heaven seated with Christ.

Isn’t that wonderful Ephesians 2-6? Look at it for yourself. I didn’t write the Bible. I didn’t make this up. It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? And it is true. That when you trust Christ your salvation is concluded, finished, settled forever and as far as God is concerned you’re already living in heaven. You’re already seated there. You’re already there with Christ, Ephesians 2, 6. How can you then ever be lost once you become saved? Christ, or God would have to take you out of heaven and throw you back down onto the earth.

That’ll never happen. My friend, you’re already there in heaven as far as God is concerned. I’m Dr. Englunds from this is Bibleline. Great to be with you today. Thanks for tuning in. Let me give you that 800 number. It’s 1-800-576-3771. We have Dr. Anonymous in Tampa, Florida. He’s our first caller today. Welcome to Bibleline. You are on the air. Good morning. How are you doing? Good, good, good. I’m on the road. I want to share this with you. I know you got right wing tensions and everything.

I strongly believe that you’re doing more often than your little convince about your fear-notch for context, It’s a great experience. There are a lot of holiday expected limouspers all around the country that gives their panel salvation correctly about inviting. writing them to have an opportunity to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Okay, in a lot of cups and stuff, they want you to believe and Satan and let Satan take control of your life and the next thing you know you in the hookman say, Tannock, forces called Satan got your life.

Satan got your heart got all up. But right now it seems like Satan on earth turned the heart a loose. You don’t want to hold on to it. So I don’t mean this to come and say we need the real trust Christ without a Lord and safety and let Christ control of our heart. But that God Satan on earth turned that news. God bless you and have a great day. Alright, well thank you. Actually those terms are not clear either.

You know we don’t accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. We accept Christ as Savior to be saved. To accept Christ as Lord is a second decision that oftentimes occurs later. When you accept Christ as Savior, He saves you. When you accept Christ as as Lord you become a disciple. And for me, I got saved when I trusted Christ as my savior, but it was a year later that I made the decision to submit myself to the Lordship of Christ and recognize him as Lord in order to be saved.

If you add Lordship as a condition of salvation, then you won’t be saved at all. Let me quote a passage from Matthew chapter seven. Here’s a whole crowd that will one day before the Lord at the Great White Throne Judgment and they in this verse are speaking to Christ and they acknowledge His Lordship and notice then they also affirm their Lordship and yet they go to hell. In Matthew 722 it says many, many that means a majority I believe will say to me in that day that’s Christ.

Lord, Lord, have we not? And notice they acknowledge the Lordship of Christ. They say, Lord, Lord. And in three areas, they boast and brag about their loyalty and their allegiance to the Lordship of Christ. They say, haven’t we preached in your name? Haven’t we cast out demons in your name? And in thy name done many wonderful works? So they not only acknowledge the Lordship of Christ, but they profess to have been faithful to carry it out. And what does Jesus say in verse 23?

Then when I professed unto them, I never knew you. Not I once knew you and I lost you, but I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Interesting. I never knew you. Why wrong answer? They never said, Lord, didn’t we trust that you died on the cross of Calvary and by your death and shed blood, you purchased our salvation, that you were buried, that you rose again from the dead, that you’re alive forevermore, and we trusted in your death and your burial and resurrection as the means of our salvation we believe the gospel message.

Had they done so, Christ would have said come right on in. But notice they’re talking about works and about lordship and that doesn’t save. I never use the phrase except Christ as your Lord and Savior. I always say except Christ as your Savior because accepting Christ as Lord is a second This session. And so if you were to actually even get the order right, it would be except crisis, Savior, and Lord. But Lord comes as a second decision apart from salvation and is not the mechanism to be saved.

So if you’re telling somebody how to be saved, you don’t say except crisis, Savior and Lord. Because that means you’re attempting to be saved and become a disciple as a means of your salvation. When salvation is based totally upon what Christ did for us at the cross, we simply receive Him God gives us the authority to become born again and become his son as we read in John 1.12. Then we are confronted with a second decision to become disciples.

That’s the way it really played out in real life. When the disciples got saved, that was one decision. But when they were invited to be disciples, that was a second choice. You know, Peter gets saved in John chapter 1. Andrew leads Peter to Christ. He brings him to Christ and Peter gets saved. And we know that Jesus renames him right on the spot when he became born again. Then later in Matthew chapter 4 and verse 19 Christ said to Peter, Follow me and I will make you a fisher of men.

That was a second decision and it was at a later time. It was a subsequent experience to salvation. Peter became a disciple as a second choice. Peter asked what he would get for being a disciple, and Christ said, whose whoever shall forsake houses or lands or family or wife or children, for my namesake, shall receive a hundred fold. So he talks about a 10,000 percent return on whatever you sacrifice to be a disciple. disciple, but that does not bring about salvation.

As we find in Matthew 7, verse 22 and 23, a whole lot of folks were counting on their discipleship to get them to heaven and weren’t saved at all. Now Judas, for example, was a disciple, but Judas went to hell because he never trusted Christ as his Savior. Well, Dr. Anonymous, I believe that your terminology needs to be more clear in your presentation because we accept Christ as Savior to be saved and then we submit to His Lordship to be disciples.

One brings about salvation, the other brings about rewards and blessings in our Christian life. We have Vincent waiting here in Tampa, Florida. Vincent, welcome to Bibleline you’re on the air. Good morning, Dr. Hank. I have a question, a continual sin. and supposing someone in a book there is living in a sin that he just can’t get a victory over. And I was looking at 1 John 5 or 16 where it says, But if I… If any man sees his brother sin is sin which is not a sin unto death.

I do not say that he shall pray for it. What is the sin unto death? Well if you commit that sin God is going to take you home to heaven early. It talks about God disciplining a believer and it apparently is a different sin in different individuals lives. Moses for example committed the sin unto death. He smoked the rock in the wilderness rather than speaking to the rock and the Lord as As a result of that, took his life.

If you read the end of Exodus, he was 120 years old, but yet the Bible said his eyesight was still 20-20. His strength in his body had not abated. He was in great physical condition, and the Lord took his life, and he was not allowed to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land. Joshua did that. We also have, for example, Ananias and Sephira in Acts chapter 5. They lied about their giving to the Lord. the Lord took their lives, boom, boom, one after another, and they took them out and buried them, and the Lord took their lives.

So that was a different sin. In 1 Corinthians 5, you have a man living in point of cation with his stepmother, and the Lord says there to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of his body, his flesh, that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. So maybe through some sexual sin, you’ve got to allow this man to be taken and to be killed or die, but yet the Bible speaks about him being saved when he stands before the Lord.

There are illustrations throughout the Bible of people committing a sin where the Lord took them home. 1 Corinthians 1130 says, because of the Corinthians living in willful sin, for this caused many of you are weak and many of you are sickly and many of you are dead. Because the Lord had chasin them as believers and took them home to heaven early. So I don’t know what that sin would be for you. At one time early in my Christian life I felt like I knew what it was.

The Lord laid it upon me very strongly. If I chose not to live for him and chose not to go into full time Christian work, I felt like my life was over the Lord was going to take my life. And I don’t know. We’ll find out one day whether I was right or not. But I felt very strongly that I didn’t have a choice, that the Lord wanted me to live for Him and serve Him. And if I chose not to do that, He was going to take me off this planet early.

And that would have been the sin and the death for me. But in any case, if you willfully sin, the Lord says that He will chase it or discipline that delinquent believer. Okay. Just a second half of that. Why are we not to pray for that person? you cannot prevent what God is going to do. He’s going to take that person out and there’s no prayer on your part that will prevent that from happening. Got to go to break.

Thanks for calling in Vincent. We are going to go to break and we’ll come back and do this Bibleline part two. So hold on to your hats. We’ll be right back. We’ll go away. Bibleline will be back in a moment. To pledge your support for Bibleline, And give us a call at 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. All right, I’m Dr. Englund-Sruv and this is Bible. I’m great to be with you. We are just having fun being with you every day. And we look forward to it.

I want to thank you all who pray for it and give the Bible and because you’re the ones who keep us on the air. We are listeners supported. I don’t take a salary in order as any of our staff. We really funnel everything back into getting this message out. We believe there’s an urgency. Time is running out Netanyahu on an interview last week or so, said that we’re three to five years from Armageddon. That this mad man ruler of Iran is openly stating that he wants to destroy the nation of Israel.

He made another appeal to do that last week. If he gets the nuclear bomb, then we’re headed toward obviously nuclear destruction here on the earth. Can you imagine? Scary times, I pray that we could safely till the rapture at least and be caught out. Would you consider giving a special gift to Bible and during the Christmas holidays? We’d like to make sure all of our bills are caught up and paid for as we enter the new year. And it would be greatly appreciated.

We really do thank you in advance for considering giving not only your prayers for Bible and every day, but also to give a gift to Bible and particularly a special Christmas gift to take us through this year and out of debt and into the new year. In any case, that would assure that we would be able to continue this program in your area and also to continue Bible ends, reaching out to the world. So far, 147 countries able to see us on the internet.

You know, we’re on there 24 hours and 8, 7 days a week. And that’s all over the world. That’s the world wide web. And we have our radio programs and our TV programs there. We now webcast our morning worship service. You can go back and watch the worship service on your computer. And if you have a big monitor, you could make it as big as your monitor is. You can see it full screen and a lot of people are really enjoying that.

And on Sunday, some gather the whole family in front of a great big screen monitor and they watch the worship service as I bring the message from Calvary Community Church where I pastor here in Tampa, Florida. We’re going to rejoin the stations that have been on break. If your station doesn’t carry the second half some, don’t, you can go on the internet and catch the full program, either live now or later at your convenience. In any case, we want you to pray for Bible and again consider giving a special gift here at Christmas to Bible and thank you in advance.

God bless hold on to your hats. We’re going to go to do Bible and part two. So don’t change that dial. Stay tuned. I’ll be right back. You like to help Bible and continue in your area? You can. Just pick up your phone and dial 1-800-576-3771. 1-800-576-3771. Now here again is Dr. Hank Lindstrom. Alright, we’re back from that break. This is Bible and we’re coming to you live from Tampa, Florida, from our studios here at the Calvary Community Church where I’m the pastor.

We look forward to being with you every day. We are listeners supported. That means we have a partnership with our listeners. It’s very real. And if our listeners did not support the program, we would not be on the air. That’s the way it works. And somebody said, do you get paid to be on the radio? No, I don’t get paid to be on the radio. And I don’t take a salary to be on the radio. We really want to see this message get out.

We feel there’s a real urgency. Time is running out. Christ is coming back. And this is a time when we need to really double up our efforts in order to get the message out. to get the message out. Would you consider at Christmas time here giving a special gift to Bible and to make sure that we can exit this year with all of our bills paid and enter the new year debt free? Wouldn’t that be great? And I want to thank you in advance for your Christmas gift to Bible and you can either mail it and if you don’t have the address you can call our operators at the 800 number and they’ll send you an envelope with our address You can also give a gift by credit card directly over the phone.

I hope that you will consider doing that. I want to thank you in advance for giving to the Lord and for helping Bibleline as we enter the year 2007. Plan to go to Israel March 12th. That’s a Monday coming back March 23rd at Friday. This is 12 days exclusively in Israel. I believe we’ll be able to have a safe trip. It’s a trip number 14 for me. for me. I’d love to have you on board as we’ll study the Bible every day, all day long.

We’ll have a great time, plan to go with me, give me a call, and we can mail out the information to you or answer your questions over the phone and make sure that you are comfortable by knowing what the trip is all about. We want to go right back to the phone lines. We have lots of folks waiting and lots of off-air questions we haven’t been able to get to yet. So we’re going to first go to Kyle down in Sarasota, Florida, patiently waiting.

Kyle, welcome to Bible One. You’re on there. Good morning. I called up yesterday and I asked you about 1 Corinthians 4 and 9. I think we’re with spectacles to the heavenly beings. And I was talking to people and telling them what you said. My sister believed you because we’re supposed to be asleep when we die. but there’s a couple reasons that I haven’t dealt and I’m not clarifying in my head where to be separate from the body present with the Lord, I would think if we’re with the Lord then we could see.

Another thing was all the medians that are on TV supposedly talking to the dead and then another one was where Saul was able to talk to Samuel in the grave. That was an exception. He was brought up out of the heart of the earth and that’s 1 Samuel 28 and that was an exception. In fact, the medium screamed and freaked out because that never happened before. But that’s the exception. Otherwise, they don’t come back from the dead. Christ has the keys to Hades or Shiel where the spirits of the unsaved are.

And that’s where they were until Christ opened it up with His key and took them all up to heaven on His resurrection. But no, they don’t come back. And so they also are not seeing what happens here on the earth. That brings sorrow. But definitely angels watch over us and we are observed by angels and not only God’s angels, but Satan’s angels watch over us. And of course to the world that are about us right now, the living, they think sometimes we are fools.

And as it says in that passage in 1 Corinthians 4, we’re fools for Christ in their eyes. really were very wise the Bible says because we’re doing that which is really going to count for eternity when this life is over. The things that this world has thought was important won’t really be so important. We won’t be that concerned about which football team won the game or what baseball team won the World Series or keeping track of all those scores and this and that and the other.

What will really count? Well what did we do for Jesus Christ while we were here. And for the world they think we’re a little bit crazy when we focus on that. But according to the Bible we’re very wise because that is what really counts because one day God is the one who’s eventually going to evaluate our lives and judge whether we’ve done something of worth or not. And that first Corinthians chapter four talks about that judgment in the verses prior to the verse we’re discussing here but absolutely the believers in heaven are not watching what we’re doing here now.

What do you think they’re doing? If they’re asking from the body, present with the Lord. Well Revelation chapter 7 says they’re serving the Lord day and night. So we have jobs and they have things that are very meaningful to do. So we’re not going to be sitting on some cloud playing a harp someplace but we’ll be busy living for the Lord. Kyle, I’m glad you called. Thank you. Alright. Kyle, and no, we can’t pray to the dead. We’re not to contact the dead.

That’s forbidden. That’s where Satan’s angels come in and they impersonate the dead. And they trap you into the occult world when they do that. You don’t want to fall into that trap. The Bible says we are forbidden to try to contact the dead. Isaiah 819 says we are not to try to conduct that. If you want to know about the future or about what’s happening as far as your own future, call upon the Lord Himself and He’ll direct your path and that’s where you need to go.

We’re going to go to Thomas in Tampa, Florida. Thomas, welcome to my room. You’re on the air. How are you doing Pastor Hank? I have a question. In the book of John, Jesus is talking about the ritual. I want to know if that allegory, parable, or easy statement act. And secondly, I’m trying to find out what made the rich man unworthy and Lazarus worthy, because in reading all that new of Lazarus that he was poor and broken down, and the rich man was rich and living sumptuously.

So I’d like to know the first question, and secondly, what made it advantageous for the rich man to go to hell and last week. All right. And by the way, it’s in Luke 16 where this passage is. And we find the rich man went to this place of flame and torment in the heart of the earth because he did not believe on Christ. But we find that Lazarus being a believer went to the paradise side or the comfort side.

And of course when Christ died, he also went to paradise. He told the dying thief, today that’s what we would be in paradise. He also had said in Matthew 1240, he’d be three years old. days and three nights in the heart of the earth. So when Christ went down into the heart of the earth upon His death, He met the dying thief and Lazarus, the neighbor Hammon, all the Old Testament saints, He emptied the place out and took all of them up to heaven and now paradise the Bible tells us in the 2nd Corinthians 12, 3 is in heaven itself.

But we even have here the testimony of this lost man in Luke 16 saying he wanted somebody to go to his father’s house because he had five brethren that were lost and he wanted Lazarus to go witness to them. Now what do you think Lazarus would witness about? And he would witness of course about Jesus. And he wanted somebody like Lazarus to go back and witness to his brothers lest they also were to come to this place of torment.

So So belief or unbelief is the difference between heaven and hell. Jesus said that if you believe on Christ, you’ll not perish, but you’ll have everlasting life. But if you don’t believe on Christ, then you will perish and not have everlasting life. That’s the difference. And so as far as a big turnaround, the rich man who had everything good in this life, all of a sudden discovered he had nothing in the next life. Lazarus, who was poor in this life, yet a believer, was basically in a very rich position in life beyond the grave.

When that’s exciting, we have a great future to look forward to, Thomas, and as believers, we’re going to be in a much better state than we are right here. And when someone goes to heaven, they certainly wouldn’t want to wish to come back here to this planet. Oh, okay, because another thing was that in reading it, because I believe it’s that what she said that’s what I’m trying to pull out of it because I didn’t see in that particular scripture the indication of Lazarus belief being the standard.

So I’m not the Bible in front of me but something that it said and you could correct me when he reached over with his abraham you know could he send Lazarus over with it. Abraham in the common he said well when you lived you get all your good things then and The last one did almost indicating that he had gotten all his good stuff on this side and that somehow stopped him from having eternal life on the other side.

And I just didn’t catch, I mean I understand that belief in Christ is the only way but I didn’t see that indicated in that particular scripture the way it was stated. That’s not even the point being made here. It’s really basically saying that no matter how much wealth you have here, it’s not going to change the outcome if you die without Christ and go to hell. You’re going to be in an awful, awful, awful place and your riches that you had here on the earth aren’t going to help you.

A lot of people who are rich think that they are going to be just fine because their riches seem to take care of everything here but they don’t take care of anything once you die. If you’re without Christ you’re forever lost. Yet the poorest man who puts their trust in Christ is going to be A great position in heaven. We’re going to walk on streets that are made of gold and we’re going to live in a city that’s made by God himself and the foundations are made of every precious stone imaginable and it’s going to be a wonderful place and I’ve got a mansion.

According to the Bible all waiting for me all paid for in heaven as Christ said in my father’s house are many mansions and if it weren’t so I would have told you but I go to prepare a place for you. And then he says if I go to prepare a place for you all coming again and receive you. under myself that where I am there you may be also. Fantastic. Once again, Pastor, you have opened up for me. I really appreciate it.

Thank you so much, Thomas, and you keep listening, and we’re going to go on now to talk to Wanda up in Pensacola, Florida, and Wanda. Welcome to my online. Hello. How you doing? Good. I just want to clarify about communion. When should you take it and how often should you take it? I’m going to hang out because I’m on the next. I’m on my field phone. Okay. Can you explain this, please? Sure will. The Lord’s Supper, it doesn’t tell us how often it seems like the early church did it on a weekly basis on the first day of the week when it came together.

It says they would break bread, which is talking about the Lord’s Supper. But if you read 1 Corinthians chapter 11, which seems to be the most complete presentation of the Lord’s Supper of all, it tells us that as often verse 26, as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death, till he come. So it leaves it open there, it seems, and says as often as you do it. So you could do it more than once a week or you could do it less than once a week.

Some churches do it weekly, some do it monthly, some do it quarterly, some do it biannually. I think that’s just too long to wait. In my church we do it monthly. And that’s simply because we didn’t want it to be just a ritual, but we wanted it to be a very meaningful service. But if we go through harder times here in the US of A, I believe I would have it more often because it’s a precious time, but we don’t want to lose that preciousness because we do it so often that it just becomes a ritual.

But it tells us here in verse 26 of 1 Corinthians 11, as often as you do it. So it seems to leave it open as to how often it’s something we do repeatedly, many times throughout our Christian experience, whereas water baptism was only to be done once because water baptism was a picture of salvation. You’re only saved once. And the washing of your sin was by the blood of Christ, but the water symbolic of how we’re cleansed of our sin by the blood.

But then as in our daily walk in our fellowship with the Lord, the Lord suffers a time of communion and just sitting down and talking with the Lord and being reminded of his love as we are reminded of what a great price he paid when he gave his life and shed his blood at the cross. Thank you, Wanda. I hope that helps if it didn’t complete the answer before you called me back and we’ll try to do something about that.

We have Jeff down in Venice, Florida and Jeff, welcome to Bimlin. Thank you for taking my call, Dr. Lindstrom. I’m in the book of Romans right now, Chapter 9. I am looking at the chapter as a whole and I’m having trouble finding where man’s will salvation because everything I’m reading here is specifically from verse 14 on is God’s will and God’s election. I was just wondering if you could clarify that for sure. Let’s back up a little bit in verse 11.

It says here that the purpose of God according to election might stand here is God’s whole doctrine of election explained. It says first of all it’s not based upon work. So it’s not based upon what we do or where we go to church or whether we keep the commandments or not or whether we are baptized or do penance or go to confession. It’s not based upon works. But it is based upon him that calleth and that speaks about God inviting us to be saved.

Can you see that invitation in John 3.16 for God’s soul of the world? That’s all of the human race that he gave his only begotten son. And here’s the invitation. Here’s the calling of God that whosoever… Anyone that would believe or trust in Christ would not perish but have everlasting life. So God offers eternal life through faith in Christ. Then we find later in the chapter it gets really down to the nitty gritty and it says in verse 30, what shall we say then that the Gentiles which followed not after righteousness have attained to the righteousness, or have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of what?

faith. That’s where your will comes in, where you choose to trust Christ and your made righteous in God’s sight. But Israel, verse 31, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Verse 32 says, wherefore, because they saw it not by what? So here they did not exercise their will in placing their faith in Christ. But as it were, they were trying to be saved by the works of the law and they stumbled at that stumbling stone whereas it says it is written verse 33, Behold, I lay in Jerusalem in Zion, a stumbling stone in a rock of offense, who’s whoever believe it?

There it is. That’s your will. When you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you’re not going to be ashamed. You’re not going to help. You’ll have eternal life and it’s throughout the chapter. I can get through more of it, but it’s there. So it’s on both sides. How about verse 14 where it says what shall we say then is got to be charged with on justice Where is Paul going with that because that he’s basically saying that you may not like God’s plan of salvation He says in the next verse there in verse 15 He said to Moses.

I’ll have mercy on whom I’ll have mercy and I’ll have compassion upon whom I’ll have compassion Who does God have mercy on? Well, let me give you a good verse in Ephesians 2 8 it says by grace or by mercy on merited favor Are you saved through what? Faith. So God has mercy on those who have faith in Christ. He does not have mercy or compassion upon those who reject Christ. And that’s exactly what we saw in verse 30, 31, 32, 33 here in Romans chapter 9 that God chooses to have mercy on those that would believe.

And then Paul continues the story in chapter 10 and says, Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is it they might be same. But because they do not seek it by faith, God cannot have mercy upon them. And it says, I bear them record that they’re zealous, but not according to knowledge. They’re being ignorant of God’s righteousness. Verse 3, going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. Verse 4 says, when they believe on Christ, then they receive the righteousness of God.

And of course, they were attempting to be saved on the basis of the works of God, says, I’m not going to have mercy on them. But I’ll have mercy on all those that place their faith in Christ. And those are the ones that I have mercy on. So that’s where he’s going with it. He’s saying that God had the right to choose to have mercy on those that would believe on Christ and not have mercy on those that would not trust Christ.

Okay. I really appreciate it. Thank you. And that chapter seems to cause people a lot of trouble. I don’t know why they stumble so much, but throughout the chapter, it’s clearly a chapter on God giving an invitation to save people based upon the consequences of Christ, death at Calvary, not based upon their works and their church membership and all those things. And if they would believe he would have mercy on him, if they wouldn’t believe on Christ, then he would not have mercy on him.

It’s that simple. We have one in Pensacola, Florida, and she says she has another question. So we’re back to you, one in Pensacola, Florida. Yes, sir. I had a second question. OK, should unbelievers take communion? No, they really should not. It has, it wouldn’t hurt. I mean, it doesn’t have any meaning for them. You know, when Christ instituted the Lord’s Supper, Wanda, there were 12 disciples there. But he dismissed Judas and told him to go and do it. He was going to do quickly.

Judas was not a believer and was dismissed from the room. And with the remaining 11, he institutes the Lord’s Supper. So no unbelievers don’t belong there. And Christ clearly cleared the room of unbelievers when he instituted the Lord’s Supper with the remaining 11 believers. Okay. Okay. Okay. Thank you. You’re welcome. It was Wanda again in Pensacola, Florida. We’re live up there at the very time the program goes live here. We have Sean in Richmond, Virginia and Sean. Welcome to my one year on the air.

Good morning Dr. Thadde. Good morning. Good morning. I was reading about John 14. Today is reading. Whatever you should ask, my name that give him to you, I was wondering if you can give him an option, not literal. I could get him to expand upon that to explain that to me what that’s really what he’s really saying there. Well what he’s saying is in my name means in his authority he has basically given you a blank check, but it’s things that are in accordance with what he would approve.

That’s what that in my name means. So if you are saying I want money to buy my name. a brand new Rolls Royce, he’s probably going to say no. But if you need money to eat, he’s probably going to say yes. If you need money to carry out ministry for the Lord to win the lost, I believe he’ll say yes, he’ll take care of that need, whatever it might be. And so basically we are to pray in line with his will.

And Christ taught us that in the Garden of Gethsemane when he was facing the cross, he said, you know, if there be another way, you know, then to take this cup, you know, he wanted to avoid the cross, but he says, yet nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done. So we are also to learn from that that we are to pray within the will of God. And if we do, we’re going to get yes answers. And basically, he gives us a blank check that if we are going to be doing things according to his will in line with God’s we’re gonna yes answers to all of our prayers.

What about with the… Well, you know, it is little. If you read that passage, it’s kind of fascinating. Matthew, I’m gonna turn over there and we’ll take a look at it. But he’s talking about a specific mountain there. If you look at verse 21 of Matthew 21, Jesus answered and said unto them, barely I stand you, if you have faith and doubt not, you should not only do this, which is done to the fig tree, but also if you say unto it says this mountain, not any mountain, this mountain.

He’s talking about the Mount of Olives. It says, Beadahol removed and Beadah cast into the sea, it shall be done. Did you know that’s going to happen? That mountain is going to be removed, and we can pray for its removal and know that it’s going to happen because God has already predicted it will be. In Zechariah 14 Christ, when He comes back, His feet will touch on the Mount of Olives, and then mountains going to split and half of it will be removed to the north, half of it to the south and that particular mountain that he’s referring to there will be removed and so it’s quite specific.

It’s just not a blank statement that, okay, I see a mountain over there, I’m going to pray that it’s removed but he’s talking about this mountain. He was right there on the Mount of Olives and he says, if you pray for this mountain to be removed, it will be removed because God’s already said he would remove it and again the same thing, it’s according to his will. If you pray in his will you’re going to get a yes answer every time.

And so it’s some great passages here but basically we need to be studied in our Bible so we know how to pray you know and so if we can pray scripturally we’ve got it made because we can get yes answers to our prayers but a lot of people don’t do their homework so you need to know what the scriptures say and then you’ll be able to do that. Thank you Sean so much for calling in from up there in Richmond, Virginia.

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