Bibleline Radio Show – 2009-07-21

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

So cherish me, O God, and pass, Till my trophies and last night, may die. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Hank Lindstrom, a ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Declaring God’s love through radio and the internet. ProvidingDIT 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. That’s 1-800-576-3771.

It’s great to have you here with us today. I’m Tom Perry and you’ve tuned into Bibleline where you’ll hear a combination of teaching from the Word of God and real life questions with answers taken straight from the Bible. We pray that Bibleline will be glorifying to God as well as educational for you. Bibleline is a continuation of Dr. Hank Lindstrom’s ministry of spreading the good news of salvation throughout the world, salvation by simply trusting Jesus Christ alone as your Savior.

We hope that you will open your Bible and join us for our verse by verse study of the Book of Matthew as we explore topics such as Judas Iscariot betrays Christ for 30 pieces of silver. Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper. Peter’s denial of Christ as foretold and more. Please tell your friends and family about Bibleline. If Bibleline is not being broadcast in their area, then ask them to listen. See of the Internet at BibleLineMinistries.org. Join us for Dr. Lynch from Teaching for Today as we turn to the Book of Matthew, chapter 10.

Well, according to the Bible, Christ gave the purpose of the Church is that we are to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. So I call it rather than the Great Commission, I call it the Forgotten Commission because it appears that people have forgotten why Christ left us here on this earth. He left us here to reach the world with the gospel. Chapter 10, He calls on the name of his twelve disciples. Here there were twelve disciples, all of us should become disciples, but there were twelve apostles who were also called disciples, and he gave them power against unclean spirits to cast them out to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

The names of the twelve apostles are these. Here’s a listing of them. The first was Simon, called Peter, Andrew, his brother, James, the son of Zebedee, John, his brother, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, the publican, James, the son of Alpheus, Levius, whose surname is Staddeus, Simon, the Canaanite, and Judas, Iscariot, who should also betray him. 5, these 12, Jesus sent forth, and I want you to note very carefully, He commanded them saying, go not, go not, go not, go not, into the way of the Gentiles and into any city of the Samaritans, enter ye not.

Wow, because the message they preached was exclusively to Israel. It was the gospel of the kingdom. The gospel of the grace of God has always been preached, but this message that they were sent out to preach was that the king was here. The kingdom was about to be established. And so they were not to go to the Gentiles. Most people don’t know that. Most people wouldn’t hear me quote that verse. They are shocked and say, what? I mean, they were only to go to Israel.

We’ll look at verse six. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Israel needed to acknowledge Christ as King and receive Him as their King for the kingdom to be established. And it will happen in the tribulation period before Christ comes the second time. And he says, as you go over, seven, preach, saying what? The kingdom of heaven is at hand. That’s the millennium, the thousand, your rule of Christ. Verse eight, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead.

Don’t see them doing it today. And yet this was what they were able to do. Cast out demons. And then this would kill the modern healing movement. Freely you have received, freely give. So they weren’t really to take an offering. And yet the meetings I’ve been in would take, you know, four and five offerings before they do the healing part. I was in one meeting over here in a ten over on Del Maybury, I used to chase these meetings around, and they had this great big clothesline with clothespins on it.

And the ushers would carry it across the heads of the audience. And you were to pin your 20s and your 10s and your $50 bills to that clothesline. When it got to the front it was just covered with money. I thought it was an innovative way to take money on offering. Definitely you wouldn’t give any change because you wouldn’t be able to hook your quarter on there. You had to give paper money. Whoa, and some churches can really put you under the spotlight.

I remember visiting a church in college and they had this big table and they had all these offering plates and they had all the deacons come forward and they stood behind each of these plates. And then the audience was invited to come up row by row and the deacons were watching how much you put in and they said we don’t want you to put anything but paper money and the deacons are all watching and you open your purse or your wallet you throw it in and what pressure and that would be one by one you parade before these officials of the church and put your money in the plate.

Wow, you really felt on the spot when you had that kind of pressure and the whole church is looking on and everybody is watching and the leaders are watching what you give and wow, I don’t know. But there’s a lot of things that happen out there in Christianity that I would never introduce into practice here, but it happens and it happens a lot more often than you would think. Verse 9, provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses.

Verse 10 says, nor script for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes nor stays for the workmen as worthy of his hire. into whatsoever city or town you shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy. And of course, the one who is worthy we find is the one who receives the word of God. And I believe is worthy because they trust Christ and were made worthy on the basis of what Christ did for us, not on the basis of what we do for Him.

Look at verse 14, whosesoever shall not receive you nor hear your words and you’ll depart out of them. But if they receive your words, then they are worthy. And so if they receive the Bible, believe the message, then they are worthy. If they don’t, then they’re not worthy. It says, if you find a house that is worthy, you find where they are accepting the Word of God, they are by until you go then. So when you come into a house, salute it.

If the house be worthy, then let your peace be a part of it. But if it be not worthy, your peace returned to you. And this river shall not receive you nor hear your words when you depart out of the house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. And it talks here about some would receive, some would reject. And then he says in verse 15, barely I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.

If a city rejected the message, it would be worse off at the great white throne judgment in Revelation 20 because they would have rejected greater light the message of Christ and his disciples here visibly on the earth which Sodom and Gomorrah would not have received that much light or that clear presentation of Christ. So when you talk to somebody about the Lord and they hear a clear presentation about Christ from you and they’re rejected, they’ll be worse often if they had not heard it.

be judged more greatly and assigned the degree of punishment and hell based upon the light they rejected. Verse 16 he says, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Sheep are used to talk about believers and wolves are false teachers and he says, I’m sending you right out among the midst of false teachers. Be therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves. So we’re to be as wise as a serpent, but we’re to be as harmless as a dove and it says, be beware of men.

And we find in another passage he says, be aware when all men speak well of you. Not everybody will receive the message of the gospel favorably. We’ll see more of that in this chapter when we went to this event with the Jewish people that this picture is about right after the worship time. And I was going to head over to get a bite to eat and go to the Rabbi’s Circle to answer questions for an hour. A guy came up to me and said, I watched you on television.

I said, wonderful. He said, not wonderful. He said, I kicked my TV set and I cursed you. And so I tried to give a soft answer. He was all fired up. And I said, well, would you mind taking a moment to explain to me what could I have said that would so irritate you that you would kick your television and curse me? It was that message on baptism that you gave. And he was just all strung out, all upset.

Then he tried to quote from the prophet Isaiah, and it said, excuse me, the quote that you’re giving me is from Ecclesiastes, not Isaiah. He said, oh, you might be right. He didn’t know where he’s quotingProxy from or anything else. But he was very upset. And obviously didn’t really hear what I said on that program, but he got what he thought he heard and was very upset. So not everybody’s gonna be friendly toward you. So I have to watch out.

So far I’m still alive and I haven’t been killed yet, but watch out. I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be as wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove. Beware of men. They’ll deliver you up to their councils. They’ll scourge you in their synagogues. You’ll be brought before governors and kings for testimony against them and the Gentiles. So isn’t that true? Paul was brought before King Agrippa later before Caesar as he appealed his case to Caesar and others of them were brought before magistrates and leaders and leaders and were cast into prison because they preached.

They’re going to. the gospel of Jesus Christ. It says here in verse 19, when they deliver you up, take no thought, how or what you shall speak, for it shall be given you in the same hour what you shall speak. That doesn’t mean that we are not to prepare ourselves as believers, to know His word. We’re commanded in 2 Timothy 2 15 to study, to show yourself approved. But I’ve run into preachers of a particular mentality out there that said that they don’t ever study the Bible.

The Lord just tells me what to speak and watch out for those. And you can usually tell that they don’t study the Bible. But there is a mentality out there among some where they don’t do any preparation, don’t do any Bible study and they get up and they just whatever. And usually it’s repetitious, it’s usually a lot of froth and a lot of excitement and no substance. And if you’ve ever heard them preach. If you were to condense their message down, they might really only have one little theme that they repititiously repeat throughout their message.

So you’ll probably see them out there. A lot of hoop, a lot of holler, but no substance to their message. Certainly we’re told to study his word. But there would be a time when you’re confronted before leaders and the Lord will give you, I believe, the right words to speak in your defense for your speaking up for Jesus, okay? You’re listening to Bible Eye, a teaching ministry that’s dedicated to delivering the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are many items available from our Resource Center such as Dr.

Hankel-Instrum’s DVD teachings on the topics of Repentance, Faith Without Works, and the Rapture, in addition to many others when you call 1-800-576-3771. Now we’re going to take a break from our teaching to listen to Dr. Lindstrom answering questions from callers and then we’ll rejoin today’s teaching. We have Dave and Richmond, Virginia and Dave and Richmond, Virginia. You’re on the air. Yes, good morning, Dr. Hank. I’d like to get your thoughts on something here. I’ve been looking through some of the old reformation catechisms like the Lutheran Catechism and comparing it to the old Annabat.

One of the things that comes up from, say, the Lutheran and the high Anglican and some of the Reformation churches is that they say that Christ’s body and blood he both brought from heaven. And it seems that some of the Reformation churches would disagree with that. And my question is, what are your thoughts in regards to the blood of Jesus Christ? Do you believe that he obtained his blood from Mary, or do you believe that he brought his blood from heaven and I’ll hang up and listen?

Thank you, sir. Okay. I have been to believe that he was born as a human. He was fully human and he was related. The Bible says in Romans 9, verse 5, as pertaining to the flesh, all the way back to Adam and certainly back to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Jacob. He came through the line tribe of Judah and he on the genealogy, he was on Mary’s side of the genealogy as it split at David and Joseph was of the light of Solomon, but there was a curse on that line and he was of the flesh related back to David through Nathan, the son of David and that’s the line of Mary.

But I believe that his blood was manufactured by the body that he had, But I believe because he had no human father, the sin nature of Adam was not passed on down to Christ. If Joseph had been the father of Jesus, he would have had the Adam sin nature and would have been a sinner and hence could not be the Savior. So the virgin birth was a vital part of God’s plan, and God obviously planned it before the foundation of the world.

And you find the first reference to, I believe, that virgin birth in Genesis 3.15, where it talks about the seed of the woman being the Redeemer. And that is a phrase I think that’s a veiled reference to the virgin birth, because the seed is passed on in the Bible. It tells us through the man. And here is a woman having seed without a man. I believe a reference to the virgin birth in Christ, therefore, would be sinless. But I think his blood was produced from that.

Agan sperm as God is the one that fertilized that egg and this is why it says that Jesus was the only Son that God himself beget. So he beget Christ as the only begotten Son. So there’s one human being that has God as its father and a mother that was a woman of the line of the tribe of Judah, all the way back to Abraham and back to Adam. And that is exciting. So that’s my view. And of course, I don’t think he took the blood from heaven, but I think he took it back to heaven because the Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 9 that Jesus entered once into the holy place.

That’s the one in heaven. And there he took his blood, having obtained for us eternal redemption. That’s Hebrews 9, 12. And so he took that blood that he shed at Calvary back to heaven. And there it was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat as he obtained for us eternal redemption. Thank you Dave for that question. I hope I’ve answered it for you. We’re now going to go to Jeff in Lansing, Michigan and Jeff, welcome to Bibleline. Thanks for being so patient.

Hey Dr. Lynch, from how you doing? Good morning. I just had a question and it’s in regard to the rapture. Yes sir. And if you give me a second, I’ll just kind of frame the question and then I’ll present you with questions. anyway i in the christian community it pretty obvious to everyone that there’s really not a consensus on the timing i mean there may be a consensus on among christians that there is a rapture but we’re all aware of the the different theories about when it’s going to be right yes and uh…

uh… just for like the sake of argument i guess uh… let’s assume that the pre-tribulational rapture ends up being wrong and maybe a mid or pre-rath ends up being right. Could you kind of take a minute and speculate on the effect that might have on say a person lived through and then suddenly they see, like it says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 where it talks about the man of lawlessness will be revealed before the day of the Lord and the gathering together to himself, say we’re living and we go past that point and we see someone rise to power in the world who has all the attributes of the Antichrist and we say well wait a minute, what happened here?

We were supposed to be out of here or whatever. I just wondered if you could kind of speculate what would be the effect on the faith of those people who have been putting all their hope basically in the… Well, you know, it’s interesting that because that passage in 2 Thessalonians actually describes that somebody apparently wrote a letter to the people at Tuss-Lonaiqa and said that the rapture had already happened and they had been left behind and they were shaken.

They were shaken. They were shaken. Their faith was shaken. They were shaken. And here Paul describes how that that cannot possibly be happening because the rapture happens first and then the tribulation follows. I remember I had a roommate in college. lived in the dorm at the University of Florida. I went on to graduate in electrical engineering, and he was a believer and chose to room with me, and we had a great time leading guys to Christ in college. But you know, one night, in the middle of the night, he comes over and he’s shaking me, awakening me from sleep.

And I said, what is going on? He had apparently a dream that the rapture had happened, and he wanted to make sure that I was still there. I said, go back to sleep, will you? And so he was frightened that perhaps I wouldn’t be in my bed and then the rapture would have happened and he would have been left fine I think it would be very Shaking if that were true, but there’s no possibility Because the next thing on God’s program read first the salonies 110 It says we’re to wait for his son from heaven who has delivered us from the wrath to come if the rapture were to come after the tribulation Then the scriptures would have to read were to wait for that blessed tribulation of course wouldn’t be blessed tribulation, but we’d have to wait for the tribulation.

And then Christ would return. But the Bible always tells us, Jesus coming is next. And that’s what we’re waitingdatabase. Wherever you look in, it’s almost in every New Testament book that we’re to be watching and waiting and looking for Christ return. Titus gives us a beautiful verse that we’re to be looking unto Jesus. In Hebrews 12 to the same thing, looking unto Jesus, watching for His return. Not does it, does it never once tell us, wait and look for that terrible tribulation, wait for the Antichrist, or to wait for the Rapture event.

We’re now going to go to Steve in Tampa, Florida. Steve, welcome to Bibleline you’re on the air. Hi, Dr. Hank. How are you today? Good. First of all, I wanted to say thank you very much for discussing my website, CatholicToChristian.com yesterday. I had dozens of people visit the website at that time of the day, so I know that they heard it, and I’m very blessed that you did that. The other thing is I would like to get your opinion and sort of a bit of a discussion about the requirements, typically, for someone who is installed in a post of authority within the church’s structure like bishops and whatnot.

And as a former Catholic, you know that I, as a former Catholic, used to believe that the church’s doctrine has said, you know, that priests and whatnot are to be unmarried and not have families and whatnot. And in my study at the Bible, I’ve come to learn that that’s exactly opposite of what the Bible teaches us. And in doing my research, I kind of ran into a discussion of that topic. And it’s a very interesting thing to me that years ago in the Catholic Church and they built their wealth through land ownership and, you know, as many people did back in the day.

And it was interesting that the point was made that if in those days when the Church mandated that priests and bishops and whatnot were not to be married, well, if they were landowners, if they had no wife or heirs when they died, the land went to the Church. So from my perspective it seemed like a very selfish region for the church to do something like that and I just wanted to get your knowledgeable opinion about what the Bible says about what people who are supposed to be a bishop or what not in the church, what are the requirements that the Bible says for that?

Okay Steve, I will. You know Titus chapter 1 and 1 Timothy chapter 3 are two chapters that outline about 20 different qualities that should be that of a church leader. And it talks about they should be the husband of one wife. Now Paul apparently was widowed and chose to remain single so that he could effectively give himself to the ministry. And obviously he recommended even that for a short period of time during the time when Christians were greatly persecuted.

But at the same time, there’s an interesting verse in 1 Timothy chapter 4 that says, if the church forbids you to get married, that that is a doctrine of demons. Interestingly, there are a number of churches that practice that, including the Roman Catholic Church, but it says in my Bible in 1 Timothy chapter 4 that the Holy Spirit, who is the author of Scripture directly addresses this issue for you. And it says in 1 Timothy 4 verse 1, now the Holy Spirit speaketh expressly that in a latter times and that’s when we’re living right now.

Some would depart from the faith. That phrase the faith occurs 43 times in the New Testament and refers to the body of truth is contained in the New Testament record. It says they would give heed, dis-educing spirits, and doctrines of demons. In verse 3, right up front at the top of the list of it, as a doctrine actually inspired by demons is forbidding to Mary. So when you forbid to marry, that is a… Now a person can certainly choose to be single and choose not to marry.

And that is a personal choice. But when the church forbids you to marry, that is a doctrine of demons according to 1 Timothy 4, verse 3. But if you read the chapters that outline the requirements for a bishop or an elder or a church leader, it talks about in 1 Timothy chapter three, and in Titus chapter one, that these men are to be the husbands of one wife. So I hope that helps a little bit, and I thank you for your call.

And your website is wonderful. It’s called catholic2, the number two, Christian.org. and it’s a powerful witness to people that have been Catholic as to salvation, then check that out. Catholic to Christian. I think it’s not ORG, it might be.com. We hope that you’re learning with us. As you listen to this question and answer segment featuring Dr. Hank Lindstrom, if you’d like to hear today’s program again, then please visit our website at BibleLineMinistries.org. There, you’ll be able to replay today’s program in our audio archives, as well as access other resources, including articles on a variety of topics written by Dr.

Lindstrom. In addition to many other resources in our online store, it’s time for us to take a short break now. When we return, we will continue this question and answer segment and then hear more Bible Don’t go away, Bibleline will be back in a moment. To pledge your support for Bibleline, give us a call at 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771.

The scriptures are very plain about what happens after death. If you’ll turn in your Bible’s 2 Corinthians 5 in verse 8 it says, absent from the body, present with the Lord. That’s a believer. It’s going to be absent from their body, present with the Lord, immediately upon death. So there’s no other place, no stopping off place, no waiting place, no holding place. When you die, you are instantly absent this body and immediately present with the Lord. Isn’t that great news?

It really is great news and it’s the best news you’re ever going to hear in your entire life. And what is so neat is some of these verses are so wonderful in the sense that they will answer other theological problems without you even realizing it. For example, what about reincarnation? more and more are getting drawn into the false teachings of the Eastern religions, and reincarnation is one of those. There is no reincarnation, but this verse answers it. 2 Corinthians 5, 8, absent from the body, and then what?

Coming back in another life form, as an elephant, an eagle, or a dog, or a rat. Obviously, it doesn’t say that. The Bible is very clear, absent from the body, what? Present with the Lord. So all those other things that are thrown at you by the devil. I really believe Satan invents these things to get his side track. If you go back to the Bible, 2 Corinthians 5, 8, it answers all of those things. So as a believer, you’ll be immediately present with the Lord.

But now it says here in verse 9, therefore we labor. You know, Christians ought to be working for God not to be saved, because we are, and it says we labor that whether present or absent we may be accepted of him. That means to have his approval. And that means not for salvation, but for rewards in heaven. And the next verse talks about that. It says, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. All believers will appear at this judgment that is called here the judgment seat of Christ.

And this is where your works will be examined and it will be determined, the degree of reward or loss of reward you will receive in heaven. It says that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad. Good or bad. So in other words, everything I believe from the moment you get saved until the day you die will come into account one day. It will be absent from the body, present with the Lord as a Christian.

So you are going to heaven. But when you get there, you’re going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, 2 Corinthians 5 verse 10, that everyone may receive the things done in his body. According to that he hath done whether it be good or bad. So everything in your life from the time you get saved. And if you have done things that are worthy of reward, God will reward you. If you have not, you’ll suffer the loss of reward, but you’re still saved because salvation is not based upon our works.

Let me drop down now to verse 21, which is a favorite of mine. It says, for God hath made Christ to be sinned, for us Christ who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. In other words, what happened at the cross was this. God took your sins and my sins in their entirety. The sins you would commit in your entire lifetime and laid them upon Christ. And Christ was made to be sin, Christ who was without sin, who knew no sin, that we might be made what?

The righteousness of God and Him. So in other words, what happened to the cross made it possible for you to be seen before God as righteous, not based upon your deeds, not based upon your works, but based upon the work of God for you and me at the cross. When Christ died, God made Christ to be sinned for a 2 Corinthians 5, 21. And so our sins were laid upon him and he was made to be sinned for us.

Christ who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. You know, very seldom do I hear preachers tell you that to go to heaven, you have to be as righteous as God. You have to be as sinless and as perfect as God. And there’s nothing you can do to be able to obtain that of yourself. Many times, preachers will say you have to stop sinning. You have to turn from your sin. The Bible doesn’t say that.

Nowhere does it say that. But you come just as you are and you receive Christ as your Savior. And according to this verse, God made Christ to be sin for you, Christ, who knew no sin, that you might be made the righteousness of God in him. We’re going to rejoin stations that have been on break into the second half hour Bibleline. So don’t go away.

Would you like to help Bibleline continue in your area? You can! Just pick up your phone and dial 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. And now back to Bibleline. Welcome back from the break. We hope that you’re learning with us as you listen to Bibleline and hear real-life questions with scriptural answers from Dr. Hank. Dr. Hank Lindstrom. Please make plans to join us and open your Bible, as we also present in-depth studies covering a variety of biblical topics. Now, let’s return to our question and answer segment, and then you’ll hear more Bible teaching from Dr.

Hank Lindstrom. We have Michael, and he’s in Munich and New York, and Michael, welcome to Bibleline, and you are on the air. I’m going to Dr. Lindstrom. I just wanted to explain verse Corinthian 12 and 13 verse 12 and 13 and I will hang up with you. Let me get that right now. First Corinthians chapter 12 and we’re looking at verses 12 and 13. Yes. Okay. We’ll do it. I’ll hang up with you at one o’clock. Sure. Wonderful. Alright.

First Corinthians chapter 12 verse 12 and 13 and this is a wonderful passage. It says, as the body is one, and half many members, you and I have a body, and we have a lot of members. I have legs, I have arms, I have fingers, I have toes, I have eyes, I have ears, and so on, and that makes up one body. That’s what it’s saying here. All the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ.

Now it talks about the body of Christ, and it says in verse 13, 4 by 1 spirit, 1 spirit, the Holy Spirit, are we all baptized into one body? Whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. So this is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And notice it says by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body. Every believer has the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

It happens at the moment you believe, and the operation of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the placing of the believer into the body of Christ. So when you trust Christ, the Holy Spirit takes you and places you into Christ’s body as one of its members. And look at verse 27 because this is the result Michael. It says, now, not later, now, right now, you are the body of Christ and members in particular. So right now at the moment You believe and forever thereafter you are a member of the body of Christ and the way that you were placed into Christ’s body Was the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

It’s also described in Romans chapter 6 that we were baptized into his death and As we were placed into his body We were also buried with him resurrected with him and we actually according to Ephesians 2 6 have not only ascended with Christ We’re also seated with Christ in heavenly places right now because God sees us in the body of Christ And so when Jesus hung on that cross If you’re a believer he saw you in that body hanging on the cross and that’s why Paul could say In Galatians 220.

I am crucified together with Christ and Yet nevertheless I live so you were crucified with Christ and that’s the baptism of the Holy Spirit What is interesting is that people talk more about the indwelling of Christ where He comes and indwells our body, but they don’t focus very much on our being placed in the Christ body. They are the counterparts and both are operations that happen at the moment you believe. Christ comes and indwells in me, Colossians 128, the hope of glory, Jesus dwelling in me.

But also I have been placed in the Christ body. But what is interesting to me when people talk about how to be saved, they point to consequences sometimes of salvation. And they’ll say in order to be saved, you have to invite Christ in your life. Well, that’s not true. Christ does come into your life at the moment, you believe, but that’s a consequence. And you don’t ask for Christ to come into your life to be saved. You trust that He died in shed His blood and was buried and rose again from the dead and then God saves you.

But I suggest, and I kind of have a little fun with this, why don’t Christians say in order to be saved, focusing on another equal counterpart consequence of salvation, and that is you have to be in Christ’s body to be saved. Why don’t they say, to be saved, you have to get in Christ’s body, get in Christ’s body right now. Come on, come on, get into the body of Christ. You have to be in the body of Christ to be saved.

Come on, come on, let’s get into the body of Christ. They don’t even focus on that one, but yet it’s equally true that not only does Christ come in and dwell in your body, but you are placed into Christ’s body. Both are equally a consequence of salvation, but both of them happen at the moment you believe or trust Christ as Savior. So the key to being saved is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or trust on the Lord Jesus Christ and also be saved, Acts 1631.

When you do, there are these two operations of the Holy Spirit to take place. The indwelling of Christ of the Holy Spirit and also the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the placing of you into the body of Christ. And there are four other operations of the Holy Spirit that also take place at that instant of time, but they’re all consequences. And we don’t ask God to perform one of the consequences to be saved. We ask, or rather we trust that He died and shed His blood and trust Him as our Savior.

all these consequences take place, and there are dozens and dozens of them. They all occur as consequences. Thank you, Michael. Have you trusted Christ as your Savior? There’s only one way to be saved, only one way to go to heaven, and that is Jesus Himself. Jesus said in John 14, 6, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. No man, no woman, no child. No one can come to the Father except by Jesus Christ.

If you reject Christ, my friend, you have no chance because there’s no other way. There’s no other way. Peter said it so clearly in Acts 4, 12, he said, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved. Most churches teach works for salvation. It’s sometimes very subtle, but you have to do something to be saved according to most churches when the Bible says, you can do nothing.

It’s not of yourself that our best righteous deeds are filthy rags inside of God Isaiah 64 6. And you have nothing to offer God. I have nothing to offer God. You don’t either. I don’t care who you are. I don’t care where you attend or what you do. You don’t have a thing to offer God. The Bible says your best, righteous deeds are filthy rags inside of God. You You have to come just as you are. You have to simply recognize your need that you’re lost and headed for hell and you need a Savior.

And Jesus Christ is that one. And when you come to Him, by faith trusting that He made the full payment for your sin was buried and rose again from the dead, God saves you. It’s the most important decision you’ll ever make in your life. I hope you’ve made that decision to trust Christ and Savior. You could do it right now. You could whisper a prayer. could say something like as follows, I got on the center, admit it, we all are.

But right now, what I just heard made a lot of sense, and I trust Jesus Christ right now, as the one who died and paid for my sins, in full on the cross by his death and shed blood, was buried and rose again from the dead. And I trust Jesus Christ right now to save me, to give me the gift of eternal life and the moment you do that consafe we’re now going to go to uh… anonymous caller right here in tampa florida and uh…

anonymous welcome to bible and you’re on the air i don’t want to uh… i just want to give you two full question uh… to give you some direction archer tonight and uh… we have a nor pastor and past couple years just turned uh… away from away from christ and it’s to the mighty uh… dollar congregants i think uh… in the rest of the congregants are stuck at the question is when do you and how do you deal with the pastoral staff as far as that goes and when they’re turning a deaf ear to you where the dress in the scriptures that when you should just be gone well obviously if you are feeling very uncomfortable there and then you’re not really enjoying the fellowship of those believers.

I think it’s about time probably to go where you’re going to be fed and you’re going to be comfortable in God’s Word. Certainly the Bible warns in James chapter 2 that the church is not to respect those who have riches as opposed to those who don’t. And it says in James 2, for example, if they’re come somebody into your building with a gold ring and goodly apparel and they’re coming also of poor men in vile inches… kg in this class…

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And you have respect to him that has the good clothing and saying, the amuse it right up here in the front and it’s good place. And you say to the poor person, you go sit back there in the back corner on this little footstool. Aren’t you partial in yourselves? Become judges of evil thoughts and God says here, you shouldn’t do that.

So that’s a shame that that does happen. But nobody should be given special status because they’re able to give more than someone else can. but tragically money talks and in many places it happens that it happens in the church as well that shouldn’t be I just say that you I think are already expressing that you don’t feel comfortable there and you don’t feel like the pastoral staff is treating everybody with fairness so I think perhaps that’s the Lord telling you that maybe you need to find a place where you will be able to comfortably worship thank you for that call and I hope that That helps.

Okay, we have Stephen in Tennessee. And he is calling in and leaves this question off air. And it says, Stephen says, Jesus is God. So tell me, why did he cry out? My God, my God. Why hostile forsaken me in Matthew 2746? The answer is Jesus Christ is not only God, but he was fully and completely a man. And as a man, he died on the cross of Calvary, as the sinless man, the sinless substitute to pay for the sins of the human race.

And as a man, he was forsaken, which is really what spiritual death is all about. When Adam sinned back in the garden, he died spiritually, instantly. That word, death in the Bible always means separation. He was now separated from God. to Adam eating of the fruit, God walked with Adam in the cool of the garden. Did you know that? It tells us that. And of course that must have been a pre-incarnated appearance of Jesus Christ that God in a body actually walked in the garden with Adam and with Eve.

And once he sinned no longer did he walk with man, but all of a sudden man now was forsaken. And so Jesus now is letting us know what’s happening on the cross as he experienced spiritual death For you and for me and so when he cries out as a man my God my God. Why has all forsaken me the man Jesus died? You know the Bible uses that phrase referring to Jesus as the man in many ways and in first Timothy 2 5 it says there’s one God and one man, there’s one God and one man, and that one man is the one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, and it emphasizes several times in that verse the humanity of Christ, that as a sinless man, as our substitute, as the one who died to pay for our sins, he becomes the one mediator between

God and men. We also note in Hebrews chapter 10, when it talks about our salvation in verse 12, it It says this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. God never died on the cross. But the man Jesus did. And so here Jesus is a man, is calling out to God as his father. That concludes today’s question and answer segment. There’s no other topic that is more important to us than the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It was Dr. Hank Lindstrom’s mission to spread the gospel. Through your support for Bibleline, you too can help to spread the gospel of Christ throughout the world and to reach others with the message of salvation through Jesus. Visit our website at BibleLineMinistries.org for copies of any of our resources such as Dr. Lindstrom’s audio CDs on the books of John or Hebrews plus many others. Now join us as we return to today’s teaching series. There would be a time when you’re confronted before leaders and the Lord will give you, I believe, the right words to speak in your defense for your speaking up for Jesus.

Verse 20, for it is not you that speak, but the spirit of the Father which speaketh in you at those kinds of moments. And the Brother shall deliver the Brother to death, and the Father of the Child, and children shall rise up against their parents and shall cause them to be put to death. Wow, that was an awful time of persecution. Enemies became people of their own house which would turn them in for being traders and often In Jewish families to this day, if one becomes a believer, the family might have a ceremony, a funeral, and say that as far as we’re concerned, you’re dead.

You betrayed our family, our heritage, and they just ignore the fact that you exist. I see one nodding your head now. That’s what happens oftentimes. And the same or worse in Muslim families, because if one becomes a believer, they can actually be a believer. actually kill them and there’ll be no charges against them. It was just in the paper a couple of months ago, young Palestinian came to know Christ the Savior, went up into the mountains to study the Scripture secretly.

He was discovered, they killed him and cut his body up into lots of parts and delivered his body parts back to his family, his warning to his family, and to all those there that nobody else better believe on Jesus or this will be the consequence. Scary, isn’t it? I’m glad I don’t live in a Muslim country because really everybody who’s not a Muslim is considered an infidel and the Quran teaches that they should be hunted down and killed. And there is no reprisal against a father who would kill his children and become believers or a brother who kills his sister or his brother for becoming a believer in the Muslim society.

I tell you, if Lord weren’t coming back, I would be nervous because you know they are rapidly on the move to take over the world. If you’re reading the Palestinian websites, they believe within one generation, they’ll take over the planet. There are already one billion strong and they’re infiltrating in our country and in Europe, building mosques and becoming more powerful and they seem to be getting special privileges where you and I can’t pray at a school but they’re allowing schools in California and New York, Muslims that have a time of prayer, how can this happen when you and I as a Christian cannot pray in under the same circumstances?

living I think in the last days. Jesus Christ is going to come back and make it all right, but if he weren’t, I would think, wow, that’s going to be a bad world ahead. We know that it will. And this is a part of it. It says in verse 22, you should be hated of all men, for my name’s sake, but he that endures to the end shall be saved. I think you have to view here that it was expected, although God in this foreknowledge knew it wouldn’t happen, that Christ would be rejected.

And this just leaps on like continuous without the 2000 year interval here with us being inserted. The end here is the end of the Tribulation. And it says, the one who endures to the end of the Tribulation physically through all the judgments of the Tribulation will be saved to live into the Millennium if they are a believer. And I believe that it’s really talking about the two comings we’re really pressed against one another should Christ have been received as Savior.

Verse 23, I think, confirms that interpretation. It says, when they persecute you in this city, flee into another, for verily I say unto you, you shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man become. So what does it mean? I believe that as they evangelize those cities, they’d be cut short by Christ being rejected, but there’ll be another group that will follow up in the tribulation period and preach his message and then Christ would come.

So I think it just there is no present age, there is no rapture here, it just takes us right to the seven years of tribulation. The one who endures to the end of that time would be spared physically to live into the millennium. And we I think see that he’s talking about that. Verse 24, the disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he should be his master and the servant as his Lord.

If they have called the master of the house, Christ beazled, or the prince of the demons, how much more shall they call them of his household, which are us? In other words, because you would be a disciple of Christ, don’t think that you would be exempted from the persecution that Christ had received. If If you’re a Christian living for Christ, you can expect that you’re going to have some conflict and some persecution. And you should not think yourself exempt because Christ was not exempt.

And therefore if He was persecuted, will be persecuted. Then it talks about this persecution, verse 26, fear them not therefore, for there is nothing uncovered that shall not be revealed and hid that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, speak in the light. You hear in the ear preach it upon the housetops. So what Christ told them to tell, they were to tell loudly and clear and not hide it. And he said, don’t fear them which can kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.

You know, that really the worst that somebody can do to you is kill your body, but that’s all they can do. They can’t do anything beyond that. Wycliffe, who is responsible for bringing the Bible into the English language, it was all the work that preceded the King James. It really made it pretty easy for the King James translators to put it together. was hated by the Roman Catholic Church because of the consequences of what he did. People were able to read the Bible in their own language and became saved.

And the Roman Catholic Church was very angry at what Wycliffe had done, but Wycliffe died. It was buried. But the Roman Catholic Church held this grudge, and they go after you after you’re dead. And after Wycliffe had been dead, they exhumed his body, and they burned it. And then they took his ashes, They threw them in the Thames River there that goes through London. What is interesting is, just as the work of Wycliffe went out to the world, so did the ashes they threw in the Thames River, go out to the ocean and to the world.

But the Roman Catholic Church really persecuted the believers of that time and killed hundreds of thousands of believers who were saying they could be saved without the Church, that they could be saved by Jesus Christ alone. and Wycliffe died before they could get him. And so they went after his body after he was dead. But isn’t it interesting that once they killed the body, that’s all they can do? They can’t affect your soul. And if you’re as a believer killed for the cause of Christ, they can’t do anything with your soul.

And so the worst it could happen to you is perhaps the best it could happen to you because you’d be present with the Lord. Absent this body, present with the Lord, 2 Corinthians 5, 8. So it ought to give us great courage, right? So if you’re faced with death for proclaiming Christ, don’t fear those that can kill your body. That’s all they can do to you. They can’t do any worse. And then once you have died, you’ve left the body and who cares what happens to your body because you’re with the Lord and you’ll get a new body one day.

But I understand that I haven’t seen it yet, but this film on Martin Luther in the theaters right now is excellent. And it really gives you a picture of what happened in the tyranny of the Roman Catholic church against those who proclaimed the gospel and how Martin Luther and others took a tall stand to say, we will not recant our belief. We will not deny our faith in Christ, even if you kill us, will still proclaim it. And she’s seen it, apparently she’s saying, yes, that’s right.

I would recommend that you see that it’ll probably be a real faith booster for you to take courage in a day when people are being told to be religiously correct and not talk about Jesus and not bring your Bible to work and not wear a cross or some type of symbol of Christianity as they’re trying to shut us down today and you see it in the public arena all the time. Well it says here fear not them which can kill the body but are not able to kill the soul but rather fear him which is able to destroy that really means to lose.

We don’t believe in annihilation and the Greek word uppolumi means to lose both soul and body in hell. So I think that’s a warning to the ones that are lost. That’s the one they ought to fear. And we don’t have to fear those that can kill our body but can’t kill our soul. But the one people that are lost ought to fear is the one that could cause their soul to be lost forever in hell. And what is interesting that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe in the immortality of the soul is a great verse because it says what, fear not then which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul.

The soul lives on beyond death. And many of the cults deny the existence of our soul beyond death. So here’s a good one for you. Put that away someplace, or maybe in the back of your Bible, make a note of this verse that says the soul lives beyond death. And as some cults teach, the soul is annihilated at death or ceases to exist. That’s not true. We’d like to continue with Dr. Lynchham’s teaching, we are almost out of time for today.

For more information on Bibleline, please visit our website at BibleLineMinistries.org. Through your prayers and ongoing financial support for Bibleline Ministries, you can help to spread the gospel of Christ throughout the world and reach others with the message of salvation through Jesus. We’d like to say thank you to our audio team for their work on today’s program. Until next time, this This has been Tom Perry for Bibleline Ministries, and as Dr. Hank Lindstrom liked to say, and we know it to be true, keep looking up.

Jesus is coming. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a presentation of Bibleline Ministries of Tampa, Florida. Your regular monthly donations to Bibleline make it possible for this ministry to continue in your area and on the internet. Please contact us today and lend your prayerful and financial support. Bibleline’s address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Or visit Bibleline Online and BibleLineMinistries.org. Be sure to tune in to another edition of Bibleline from Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. God made Christ to be sinned for you.

Christ do no sin that you might be made the righteousness of God in Him. There are five specific crowns the Bible talks about that a Christian can earn. One of the crowns, 1 Peter 5, 4, is the crown of glory given to those who teach the word of God. in school class, you teach your family, you instruct someone else in the Bible, and you’re teaching God’s Word to others, guess what? You’re going to get that reward for teaching the Word of God.

It’s exciting. And I think anybody can do that. And I think getting on this reward called the Crown of Glory. First Peter 5’4. There’s another crown for being one who goes through the trials of life and still stays true to the Lord. In James 2 12, it says, blessed is the man that endures temptations or trials. He’s going to be given the crown of life. This is a wonderful crown for those who endure. You know, guess why? He gives in James the illustration of Job, what a man, who went through some very severe trials.

He lost all of his possessions. He lost all of his children. They were all killed. And yet he said, naked came out of my mother’s womb. kid shall I return to their, the Lord has given the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” And you know Job worshipped the Lord? How many people would curse God in a similar circumstance? Job endured those testings in those trials. And he knew as you read the book of Job that he was going to come out a better man at the end for the trials that God brought him through.

Are you that kind of Christian that would receive that crown that is given to those who go through trials and still continue to worship the Lord. I hope you are. There’s another wonderful crown for leading people to Christ. First Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 19 and 20 talk about the crown of rejoicing, the crown of joy. And that’s a crown that’s given I think when you lead someone to Christ. I think you get a crown for everybody you lead to Christ.

And so as a believer if you share the gospel with someone else and they trust the Lord as a Savior, you’re going to get a crown in heaven called the crown of rejoicing the crown of joy given to those who would lead someone else to Christ. There’s another crown in 1 Corinthians 927 called the incorruptible crown. It was written to those in Corinth and you know in Greece is where they had the Olympic Games and there the illusion is made to those who would prepare for the Olympic Games how disciplined they were.

You know if you’ve ever seen an athlete training for an event they’re very careful to get their rest. They’re very careful about what they eat and they are regimented in their discipline to practice and practice and practice so that they can maintain that skill level that it takes to win the Olympic Games. Well, in those days they would give out a laurel wreath and it was a corruptible crown. How long would it last before the leaves turned brown and the thing finally rotted and you had to throw it out?

Well that was a corruptible crown, but guess what? God says he’s going to give us an incorruptible crown. If you are one of those who would discipline your life like an athlete, training for the Olympic Games, you want to win the prize. And so you’re focused on that and you do everything you eat and you sleep and you do everything focused so that you can win the games. That’s four crowns. There’s a fifth crown. That crown is in 2 Timothy 4, 8.

This is a piece of cake. It’s for those who love the appearing of Christ, that look for Christ’s return and live in that expectancy. That crown can be earned, I think, by most Christians. If you just are looking for Jesus to come back and are living in that expectancy, you can get that crown as well. That’s a believer, certainly we ought to labor. We ought to work. But that is going to really bring about reward when we get there.

We’re going to be absent from the body present with the Lord. As a Christian, we are seen by God as righteous based upon what Christ did for us at the cross. He paid our sin debt in full. If you’ve never trusted Him as your Savior, do it now, Lord, I’m a sinner. But I trust Jesus Christ, God in flesh, as though Savior who came and paid my sin dead in full. And shed his blood in order that my salvation might be acquired.

And was buried and rose again from the dead. I trust him right now as my Savior. God bless, keep looking up. Jesus is coming, and we believe He’s coming soon. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a presentation of Bibleline ministries of Tampa, Florida. Your regular monthly donations to Bibleline make it possible for this ministry to continue in your area and on the internet. Please contact us today and lend your prayerful… and financial support. Bibleline’s address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634.

Or visit Bibleline Online and BibleLineMinistries.org. Be sure to tune in to another edition of Bibleline from Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida.