Bibleline Radio Show – 2008-07-15

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Hank Lindstrom. Coming to you from Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida declaring God’s love through radio and television, providing real answers to an ever-searching world. Got a question? Dial toll-free at 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. Now here’s the host of Bibleline. Dr. Hank Lindstrom. Franklin Strum. Well, good morning and welcome to Bibleline. I’m great to be with you today. Thanks for tuning into the broadcast. We look forward to being with you every day Monday through Friday as we come to you live from our studios right here in Tampa, Florida at the Calvary Community Church and we welcome you to the program.

If you get a chance, you’re welcome to come by and visit with us. Our Resource Center is open every day Monday through Friday till about 4.30 in the afternoon. I’m going to invite you to visit our resource center. We’ll get a chance to meet you, shake your hand, and you’ll get a chance to meet us. It’ll be great. We’d love to have you do that. You’re also welcome to come by on a worship day on a Wednesday or a Sunday.

And this Sunday would be a great Sunday to come, especially if you’re driving from any distance, because we have a dinner every third Sunday, and you’re welcome to come at 10.30, and bring your Bible, your appetite, your family, and then stay for the lunch that will follow. lunch that will follow and eat some of the best home cook food in all the world. We’ll have a great time. Every third Sunday, that’s possible. By the way, if you’re too far away to come and you’d like to participate in everything, you can catch our worship services on the internet live on Sunday morning and in archives throughout the week.

So check that out. Check or go to BibleLineMinistries.org, BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the camera. If you do that at 11 o’clock Sunday morning, when I begin the message, the audio and the video will come up on the screen. You’ll be able to watch that worship service live from anywhere on the planet earth. Isn’t that amazing? And you can also then go back and archive it. There’s a year’s worth of sermons sitting there waiting for you to watch. So please take advantage of that and enjoy.

And also our radio programs are sitting there in archive as well as being streamed right now live. If you go to the internet right now you can catch this program live on the internet and then of course later as often as you’d like and you can download an mp3 format for your iPod. You can also have the podcasting all that’s free and take advantage of our website BibleLineMinistries.org. Check out our website and pass that word along to your friends BibleLineMinistries.org.

Good to be with you today. This is Tuesday and we’re having a great day. And I hope you are as well. If you have a question, you’re welcome to call us. The phone number is 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. And we’d love to hear from you. You can leave a question off here, but you can also go up on air with us. and we’ll be glad to take your question on the air. And we’re going to get to the Bible first, and then we’re going to go ahead and talk about some of the things that are of interest to you, as you call in, with your questions.

We’re going to turn to Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1, verse 16 is a grand verse. Wow. It says here, Paul says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for if the gospel is the power of God and the salvation to everyone that believe it. What a great verse. The word gospel means good news. And the good news message is that of the death, the burial, the resurrection of Christ. First Corinthians chapter 15 verses 3 and 4 is probably the classic definition of the gospel that Paul said he delivered the gospel to the Corinthians and he describes it there as being the message that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

That means it was prophesied and the Old Testament had foretold Christ would come and die on the cross. And then it says he was buried and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures and that means the Old Testament scriptures I foretold. The Bible is not only his death, but his burial and his resurrection. It’s amazing. A lot of people don’t realize that Jesus Christ is mentioned throughout the Old Testament. Those who lived before the cross believed that Jesus was coming to die on the cross.

What is so interesting this past week is a new discovery in Israel, a three-foot stone. This is called the Gabriel Revelation. This was dated about a hundred years before Christ. In it, it talks about the the Messiah, being one that would come and suffer and die and come back from the dead after three days. Wow, it’s got a lot of heads turning in Israel as this was on the lead page of the Heretz newspaper, leading newspaper in Israel, and the Jewish people are asking ourselves, should we be looking for a Messiah that would actually die and then come back again from the dead?

the Old Testament Scriptures taught that, and this great message is the message that God uses to save people. It says here I am not ashamed of the good news message of the death burial and resurrection of Christ, for if the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. In other words, nobody gets saved unless they hear the gospel, believe the gospel, and trust Jesus as their Savior. And that good news message of Christ’s substitutionary death, the fact that Jesus took your place and took the punishment that you deserved on the cross and paid your sin debt in full was buried in rose again from the dead.

That message is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. I remember I had a roommate that I led to Christ in college and he was not having much success in leading anyone to Christ. And I said, well, let me hang out with you and I’ll observe and I’ll give you some suggestions. He was saying, it seems to be easy for you, but I am not having any success. Well, I listened to him when he talked to people and you know he could defend the Bible being the Word of God.

He could talk about some amazing facts in the Bible and impress you with his knowledge. But I found out as I listened carefully, he never got around to the gospel. And I told him later, I said, you know, you’ve got to give them the message of the death, the barrel, the resurrection of Christ. That is the message that brings about salvation. You can debate the Bible with people, win the arguments. You can impress people with your knowledge of the Bible.

You can do all kinds of things in teaching the Bible. But you know, if you don’t give the gospel, nobody’s going to get saved because it’s the gospel, the good news of the death, the burial, the resurrection of Christ that is the power of God unto salvation. Read that verse again, Romans 1-16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for if the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone to believe it. That Greek word for power there is the word in the Greek from which we get our word dynamite.

It’s that explosive power that brings about salvation to the lost person who trusts Christ as their Savior. You know, without Christ you’re spiritually dead, headed for hell, condemned even at this very moment as we speak. But at the moment you trust Christ, you’re no longer condemned. You receive the gift and possess everlasting life from that moment on, and God promises that He’ll never lose you, He’ll never cast you out, you’re forever saved based on trusting the Gospel message. You know Romans is one of those wonderful books and we did a wonderful 10-hour series on Romans that’s available on CD for you.

If you want to order that, it is powerful. But we find that Romans really defines the gospel for us. And Paul begins right up front by saying Paul in verse 1, a servant or the Greek word means bond slave of Jesus Christ called an apostle and then he says separated unto the gospel of God. In other words, it is the gospel that separates people and it’s the gospel that separates the saved from the lost. It’s the gospel that separates the laws from God.

And it’s the gospel that brings the laws to God where they become born again. They become a child of God in a living heaven forever and ever and ever. And so Paul said, I’m separated unto the gospel of God. That’s where you draw the line. Where you are either in a conversation with somebody who is a believer or is not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and is death, burial and resurrection, that is the difference between whether you’re talking to a saved or lost person.

And when we talk about fellowship and intimacy with another believer, obviously you separate when somebody doesn’t believe the gospel message. Today we have so many churches that never even present the gospel, or, as in my case, present a false gospel. The church I was raised in taught salvation was by works that I was led to believe that when I died there would be a great big book that would be brought out and God had recorded And they’re all of my deeds, good and bad.

There would be a great big scale behind God. And he would read off what I had done that was good. He would read off the things that I had done that were bad. And that they would have angels placing weights on the scale to represent the good things and the bad things. And I’d watch the scale and with perspiration, fropping down off my forehead as I sweated =-=- out. hope that I had enough good works to outweigh the bad works to make me eligible for entering heaven.

That’s what I believed. And you know most people I think think in terms of a scale and good works versus bad works. That is not even close. The Bible doesn’t teach any scale in heaven. And yet guess what? All the world religions and the counterfeits of Christianity teach that thing about a scale. I heard that as a little boy and believed it. And it was amazing how many little things it would reinforce that as a child that I had to be saved by my works.

I loved my mother and what a dear sweet woman she was. But you know, as a little boy, she would tell me that if I wanted to go to heaven, I had to eat everything on my plate. And there were some things on my plate sometimes that I didn’t like to eat. And I would force myself to chew those things and get them down just because I wanted to go to heaven. Later my mom got saved and we all got saved in our family.

It would embarrass her when I would tell that story. She said please don’t tell that story anymore. I know what people to think that was misleading you because she really was a wonderful woman. But she didn’t know at that time. And obviously those were little childhood memories that reinforced the fact that I had to work by way to heaven. If I was going to get to heaven, I had to eat everything on my plate at every meal. And so we didn’t waste any food at our house.

We were required to eat everything that Mom prepared. Well, you know, most people I think are trusting in works and they’ve never understood that Jesus paid it all. He paid for every sin you had ever commit past, present and future on the cross of Calvary. And if you have trouble with that, think for just a minute. When Jesus died 2,000 years ago, how many of your sins were future? The answer is all of them! You weren’t even born yet!

Yet God looked down into the future He saw when you would be born. He saw your whole lifetime transpire. He saw when you would die. He took every sin that you had ever given in your life and laid them all upon Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ paid for them in full and announced, on the cross, it is finished. In other words, the fully paid our sin debt on the cross by His death and shed blood was then buried and rose again from the dead.

that message of the death, the barrel, and the resurrection of Christ is the good news that is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Wow, that has got to be good news. And you know when I heard it, I said that it’s good news. I always thought I would never be able to make it, that I’d never buy my works and my deeds make it, and I was right. I didn’t realize though that the answer was different than what I had been taught.

I didn’t realize that Jesus paid it all, and if I would only trust Him, I would be saved. But you know I did. I trusted Him in 18, and I received that gift of eternal life, and I still have it to this moment. And you know I can’t be lost, because Jesus promised that He would not lose one person. That would ever come to him. John 639, write it down. John 639, he would not lose one person that came to him.

And then in Hebrews 13, 5, write this one down. Hebrews 13, 5, he said, I will never leave you. Once you trust Christ, Jesus promises to never leave you. Think, think, think with me. If somehow you could ever lose your salvation and wind up in hell, Jesus would have to go to hell with you because he said I will never leave you. That’s never going to happen. Never going to happen. Once you’re saved, you’re saved forever. That doesn’t mean we have a license to live as we please.

God will discipline the delinquent believer and you’ll suffer the loss of reward in heaven if you don’t live for Christ. You’ll be the loser in heaven for eternity as far as rewards are concerned, but my friend you’ll still be saved. The Bible says you’re saved by God’s mercy, by His grace, and not by our works. West Anyman should boast or brag, the Bible says. Well, I’m Dr. Englund, and it’s great to be with you today. I hope everybody listening has trusted Christ, and I can share this good news with loved ones and friends and make sure that your family knows the Lord of Savior.

We’re going to go to West Hammon, West Virginia, and we have Misty who’s been patiently waiting on the line. Misty, welcome to Bibleline from West Virginia. You see? Yeah. You’re on the air. How are you? Good. Good to have you on the air with us today. Are you listening to the phone of the radio? If you listen to the radio, there’s a delay.228 Which problem would it be if you’d be for me to read? Well, you know, I recommend the King James and a lot of people say it’s difficult, but that’s just because you’ve been hearing other people say that, because the King James Bible is quite a remarkable piece of literature.

It was a great translation done by a large committee of men and it’s been around long enough to have all the problems worked out. If you have a good reference Bible like I recommend the old Schofield Bible with the King James translation and any problems are always worked out in the margin. But the King James is written at a fifth or sixth grade level of reading. Now when you go out to your books, you’re by one of these more modern ones, they’re anywhere from three to five to eight more years of level of difficulty in reading than the King James.

And so people tell me, I can’t understand the King James. And then I usually reply, well, do you have difficulty reading it? fifth and sixth grade level and then usually I don’t hear any more comments. Usually the only problem with the King James for people is the these and the vowels and they just disappear after a few months. I lead people to Christ all the time. I get them into a King James and I have no complaints and nobody tells me I don’t understand what I’m reading.

That’s actually I think something that happens where the devil AssangeocativeGGGG\\\\\\\\etooth aforeadequificantParam)); millenn I would recommend the old Schofield Reference Bible. We have them here in our Resource Center at Bible, and you could call back. And our operators, I could tell you all the different varieties from a $20 soft cover, all the way up to a large print, genuine leather, thumb indexed, large print Schofield Bible for $100. So that would be what I would recommend. many of the other ones are going to be more difficult and cause more problems than they solve.

What’s the next thing? The fabulous thing that you’re calling in from WES. We have Doug and Lansing. Doug, welcome to B1. Hi, my question is about getting baptized. I just had a question about that a few days ago, and I have been… A baby for getting baptized. You should get baptized as an adult. The whole thing is that an infant baptism is unscriptural. There’s no basis for it in the Bible at all. And it all developed out of the dark ages when there were so many infant mortalities and church taught that water baptism was essential.

So they moved baptism right back to right after you were born and they sprinkled the babies. But there’s nothing in the Bible about baptizing anybody as an infant and There’s nothing about baptizing somebody before they get saved So you have to come of age where you’ve trusted the Lord and then what is going on there is you’re giving testimony By your baptism that you’ve been cleansed of your sin by the blood of Christ and the water doesn’t have a thing to do with it Water is merely ceremonial.

You know the Jewish people baptized in the Old Testament There was lots and lots. In fact, Hebrews tells us there were diverse baptisms. That means many different baptisms in the Old Testament. And all of them were ceremonial. For example, if you had contracted a contagious disease, you would be quarantined and when you became well, you would go before the priest and show them that you had no longer any symptoms. And guess what? They would baptize you by immersion,029 totally submerge you you as a picture of the fact that you were no longer infectious and could now re-enter the neighborhood in the society and they would present you as being now clean.

But the water didn’t clean you. You came to the priest showing that you were already healed and now the baptism was a confirmation and a public declaration that now you are cleansed of that disease. And when you trusted Christ, you were cleansed of your sin and given the gift of eternal life and now by water you proclaim that you’ve been watched by the blood of Christ and so it has nothing to do with the water. I see what you’re saying.

So, my pastor is saying it’s a re-appirmation of my faith. Should I have any place to say that maybe he’s wrong or I don’t want to be submissive to my… Well, you know, it has nothing to do. There’s no connection between the present baptism and the former baptism, the former that it was totally unscriptural, unwarranted, wrong, shouldn’t have been done, is a false teaching and churches that baptize infants are doing something that is absolutely nothing in the scripture to support it and it’s not biblical.

And my mom tells me that I was. Sprinkled is a little baby. But I don’t give that one moment’s thought of any importance in my life because it’s not difficult. It’s just one of those many things I did before I became saved. And once I got saved, I realized, wow, I’m saved by the blood of Christ. And I trusted Him and I’m saved. And then I became baptized by immersion as a public testimony that I was cleansed by sin by the blood of Christ.

I’ve baptized a lot of people by immersion every year. And every one of them are affirming the fact that they are saved by the blood of Christ that works have nothing to do with it. They’re saved eternally, cleansed of their sins forever, and the water is a symbol of the fact of that cleansing that occurs that’s really by the blood of Christ. Yeah, and I really thought led to do it, and it’s a brand new message every day. Amen, okay.

I hope that helps a little bit with it. It’s amazing how many churches still cling to some of those false traditions that came out of the uh… ages they’d somebody understand that they were not going to practice this anymore because it’s not difficult and uh… a lot of pastors don’t have the courage to do that or they might raise their job i guess okay thank you so much you’re very welcome and god bless you all right we’re now going to go to some other callers here if you’d like to call in the number is uh…

one eight hundred 576-377-1, 1-800-576-3771. And give us a call, we’ll put you up on the air and I hope you will. If you could, would you pray for Bibleline and also would you consider giving a gift to Bibleline? You know, we are totally supported by our listeners. We don’t have any other means of support. And I want you to know that this is summertime and we have a lean summer usually every year anyway. But also, it’s a time when our economy is down and we can sure use your help to make sure that we’re on the air in all of our areas.

And the Lord uses people just like you who enjoy the program who give to Bible and to keep us going on the air. And I believe that’s very, very difficult. When Paul talked to the flippin’ believers about giving, he said in flippins 4-17, Not that I desire a gift. He’s really saying, I’m not really trying to get your money. It’s not about that. He says, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. In other words, as you give to ministry that’s doing something for God, the fruit that is accrued by that ministry will also that accrued to your account in heaven.

And I believe that you will earn the same number of rewards that us here in the Bible and instead of the Bible. would earn for bringing this program to the world by your prayers and by your gifts to Bible. That’s an exciting concept isn’t it? If I was living in the Italian as an Apostle Paul, I would love to just devote all that I could in supporting the Apostle Paul’s ministry because boy wouldn’t you like to have the fruit that came from his ministry account on your account in heaven when God hands out rewards.

Boy that would be wonderful and that’s really what it all about. We don’t pay any salaries here at Bible and we’re trying to be as free as we can and reach out as far as we can. We believe we’re running against the clock. Christ is coming back and we believe the days are growing short that we’ll have the opportunity to do what we’re doing right now. And would you join with us in that great commission to get the gospel out?

Would you call today and give a gift by credit card or call and ask for an envelope to be sent where you could mail that gift in or give on our online bookstore Bibleline Ministries dot org. Consider that. I’m Dr. Englinszroom. We’re going to go to break. We’ll come back into a second half hour. So stay tuned right where you are. And I’ll be right back in just a moment after this break. I’m Dr. Englinszroom. Don’t go away. Don’t go away.

Bibleline will be back in a moment. Give us a call at 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. Well, I’m Dr. Englinszroom. It’s great to be with you today. Thanks Thanks for tuning into the broadcast as we come to you live from Tampa, Florida. From our studios, we’d love to meet you. If you ever come to Florida, please come by and see us. We’re located just a block west of the Tampa International Airport and we’d love to have you drop by and come by and shake our hand and get a chance to meet you.

If you can come on a worship day, that would be terrific and we would just be thrilled. We’ll roll out the red carpet for you whenever you come. So consider that and of course if you can’t, on the internet you can catch everything, you can catch our radio programs, you can catch our worship services, you can catch our television programs, you can catch our online bookstore which is our resource center and you can do everything today over the internet which is remarkable.

And I want to just thank all of you who pray for and give to my blind, you’re the ones who make it happen and God bless you. We really do have a wonderful partnership with our listeners that makes this program possible. God bless you, every one of you. We certainly can use your help and we ask you if you would consider, if you haven’t been giving to be a part of the Bible and ministry and help us to get this message out.

If you like this program, we would encourage you to help us to get that message out to to as many as we can while we can do that. And that would be greatly appreciated. And we also want you to know that we have a lot of wonderful materials in our Resource Center. We mentioned earlier in the program today the book of Romans that I did 10 hours of teaching. That’s a great book. And to get a grip, get a good handle on the book of Romans will really just advance your Christian life.

Also we have the book of Hebrews, one that has so many troubles and verses for some. we make all of those clear where you’ll understand what’s going on in the book of Hebrews. We have the book of Jude which is that incredible pivotal book that is the sixty-sixth book in the Bible that connects the previous sixty-four books of the Bible from Genesis right up until Jude and introduces the last and final book, the book of Revelation. What a book Jude is, only one chapter but let me tell you we did ten hours of teaching on it we almost couldn’t squeeze it all in it’s jam-packed with great information and I would recommend the book of Jude as a wonderful study and you can order that through our Resource Center just call in in fact and just talk to our operators and they can tell you what we have available and how you can order them

If you want a resource sheet sent to you, you can call and ask for that to be sent free of charge. You can look at the sheet and see all the things we have. We’re going to rejoin the stations that have been on break, and then we’ll come back into a second half hour of Bibleline. So that’s going to start right now. So hold on. Here we go. Would you like to call Bibleline and ask Dr. Lindstrom a question?

You can. Just pick up your phone and dial 1-800-576-3771. 771 that’s 1-800-576-3771. Now here again is Dr. Hank Lindstrom. Oh, alright. We’re back from that break and this is Bible and I’m Dr. Hank Lindstrom. It’s so great to be able to be with you. You know, there’s nothing better than to be assured that you’re saved and going to Heaven. You know, as a believer, what a wonderful thing that we have in God’s Word. where God says you can know your save, you can know your forgiven, you can know your child of God, you can know you’re on your way to heaven.

And there’s no doubt about it. The believer has got a real wonderful, wonderful assurance that nothing can ever undo what God has done for him. I love Romans 8, 38 and 39 where Paul says that I am persuaded that neither death nor life or angels or principalities or powers or things present or things to come nor any other creation. She’ll be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. My friend, there’s nothing that can separate you from God.

What should you become saying? I tell people you’re stuck. You have to go to heaven when you like it or not. Nothing can undo what Jesus did for you at the cross. And from that moment on, you are saved forever. And wow, it is so, so good to know that. And I hope that you’re assured of your salvation. Let me give you a good verse. 1 John 5, 13 says, these things, if I written unto you, they believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know K-N-O-W, not hope, not guess, not perhaps, not maybe, but do you may K-N-O-W, you may know that you have eternal life.

My friend, I know I have eternal life, and I saw that the night I first heard and understood the gospel, and I trusted Christ that I’ve known ever since, that, wow, no matter what happens, I can know right now that I’m I’m going to go to Heaven One and I can know right now that I have everlasting life. We’re going to go to those phone lines and if you want to call let me have you write down the number 1-800-576-3771, 1-800-576-3771.

And we’re going to go to Richmond, Virginia. We have Albert on the line and Albert, welcome to Mind Blonde. You’re on the air. Yes, sir. You ought to write a book sometime with all that stuff you can put on the air. thank you and i got one almost ready to go i just got to do the final edit we’re going to do that will the uh… announcing it over the uh… by one program but they said he did understand if you could put it like a a nice paper back book explain some of that stuff you know that particularly the one people call the most often on exactly what they would be up and be on a top ten thank you appreciate the compliment well we’re on the way where we almost there to have a book out and will be hopefully able to probably announce soon that that book is available

for your daughter. My question is, last week I was out of my truck and I heard you talking about all things become new once you say. Yeah. And I couldn’t write them down because you know most people misunderstand at birth. They sure do. That’s probably one of the most misrepresented verses in the Bible. As we said it really talking about not your sins are gone But that all new conditions exist for the one born again, and what were they well some of them I listed where you were lost But now you’re saved or you’re found if you were Going to hell, but now you’re going to heaven Okay, you were a child of the devil, but now you’re a child of God Okay, you were under the law, but now you’re under grace right and you were And now my mind is going blank.

Okay. But I’ve got a sheet that article I’ve written that’s on my website, born again what happened. I list 39 things that happen that are all brand new consequences of the result of your trusting crisis savior. Okay. And it’s wonderful. Thank you for calling in Albert Albert in Richmond, Virginia. We’re now going to go to an anonymous caller in Miami and welcome Miami to the Bibleline program. Yes. Hi. All right. I’d like to hear your comment on her if it’s possible.

Go ahead. A lot of people. I mean, I believe that salvation is by faith and only by faith. But I hear a lot of preachers keep preaching that. that you’re saved by faith, but then to get to heaven it’s like something else. Like you have to earn your way into heaven and they use verses like without holiness no one shall see God. I’d like to hear your comment on that and I’ll hang up sir. Okay, no problem. You know, and you’re absolutely right and this is how clever the devil is.

You’ll say some things that are true and then steal away the truth by saying something that contradicts it. The verse you’re referring to is in Hebrews chapter 12, and it talks about without holiness no one will see the Lord. And what it’s talking about is that you have to be absolutely holy, absolutely as righteous as God to good in heaven, but guess what? None of us are capable of pulling that off. But when you trust Jesus Christ and his substitutionary death of the cross, God credits your account with God’s full righteousness.

In other words, God considers you holy or righteous from the very moment you believe. And that’s just an incredible, wonderful truth that our position in Christ is that we are holy and that we are righteous. And without that, you will not see the Lord. And that’s in Hebrews chapter 12. But they misrepresent that and they try to tell you that you have to live holy to be saved. And it’s not our living holy that will save us because we could never become holy enough, but it’s Christ’s death and his life that was given to the cross that enables us to be holy before God by faith in Christ as Savior.

Let me just give you one great verse and it says in Romans 4.5, to him that does not work, but would believe on Christ who would justify the ungodly, his faith in Christ is counted for righteousness or you could say holiness they’re both the same we are made holy or righteous by faith alone in christ alone thank you for that call we’re not going to go to winnay vin florida we have uh… randell on the line and randell welcome to bible on your own ear and you know that i’ve got a strong interest for a little bit yes sir uh…

my question is what actually small comment first of all i think you’re uh… bobble spade jr morning mary over here when i have a little bit uh… i have to what would you was talking about what the grade level of you know one of the critical level of king james version of reading the bible and you know understanding and being able to even pronounce the words like that i was reading it no some words in there that i just got stumped on being able to even just pronounce them.

And I was wondering if we were correct in saying that you said fourth and fifth grade level, but wouldn’t that apply to like four to 600 years ago, whether then being in this time and place? You think we’re dumber today? Sure. You think we’re dumber today. But actually, there are some words that need to be looked up. But if you have the school field, All those words are defined like redemption and sanctification and glorification and predestination and those terms that you wouldn’t understand.

They are explained very clearly in the Sculphill. That’s why it’s such a compliment to the Bible. And no matter what translation you have, you still have to know some of those doctrines or the Bible’s not going to make sense. But the Bible really is not that complicated, but if you’re not saved, the Bible isn’t going to make any sense at all. Because 1 Corinthians 2, 14 says, the unsaved man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God for their foolishness to him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.

So the unsaved person can read the Bible through numerous times and they still won’t have a clue. But once you trust the Lord as Savior, even a child begins to have a light come on, begin to have understanding in the scriptures and that’s wonderful. And so the difference is, many times, is the person who’s having a big struggle with the Bible is not even saved. I remember prior to my salvation, the Bible didn’t make heads or tails to me, but once I got saved, boy was like the light turned on and the Bible began to make sense to me, and that’s because it’s spiritually discerned.

So that’s an important factor as well. Well, thank you for calling in from Winterhaven, Florida, Larry, and Randolph out there listening to the program. We have Carl and Tampa now on the line. Carl, welcome to Bibleline. You’re on there. Yeah, there’s a new guy that I’ve been listening to now on the radio. I haven’t really heard him that many times, but he just came out. I just wondered if you could tell me you don’t hear about him at all.

So, yes. Okay. Well, RC Sproul is a Calvinist. He is also a reporter. The replacement theology says God has done with Israel that the churches replaced Israel. Believe it, I heard him just as past year on the radio teaching that the second coming was in AD 70. It’s already occurred that the tribulation period began in AD 64. Nero was the antichrist and that Christ came back in all of his power in all of his glory in AD 70. Of course, nobody saw it.

And no thousand your kingdom of peace developed following that but they they they sometimes I think they get too smart and they Make everything in the Bible of metaphor and they just explained it away and say the Bible doesn’t really mean What it says when you take it literally you can’t have the views that they have and So I would be very careful and out molar is a is of course a Baptist pastor and and I noticed that But sometimes on salvation there’s always that tendency to add a little bit of the Christian life or works.

You know the Southern Baptists have the acronym Faith for Evangelism, F-A-I-T-H. And the fourth one is the T and it should be trust. If I had written that, it would have been Trust Christ. And then the H in Faith stands for heaven. So you go to heaven if you trust Christ. And the Southern Baptist, across America, say that that T stands for turn from sin. So in order to be saved, if you follow the witnessing plan of the Southern Baptist Church, the fourth step in the acronym Faith is turn from your sin, then H you get to go to heaven.

That’s wrong. That’s works for salvation and that’s unfortunate. So this is where you have to just kind of be on guard every time you listen to anybody. I invite you to watch me very carefully and listen carefully because we all need to be held accountable to the Bible and there’s no place where the Bible says that you have to turn from sin to be saved. In fact, the very opposite, the Bible says that God died for sinful men. And I love that hymn.

Christ received sinful men. What a wonderful hymn that is. And that’s true of every one of us. We’re all sinners. In Romans 5, 8 it says, God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners. And in the Greek it means we were still in the state of actually committing acts of sin when Christ died for us. He loved us and died for sinful men, men actually committing acts of sins while he died. And he would forgive us if we’d only trust him as our Savior.

So thank you so much for that call. I hope I’ve helped a little bit, but you just have to be very careful Bible students to make sure that you are listening to what you’re hearing and matching it up with the Bible. And if it doesn’t agree with the Bible, it’s wrong. Isaiah 8.20 says, if they speak not according to this word, that is the word of God. It is because there is no light in them. You have to be careful to make sure you’re in tune with the Bible.

We now have Rob and Largo Fortum. Rob, welcome to Bibleline you’re on the earth. Hey Pastor, Hank, are you today? Good. I’ve got a quick question for you here about something in Galatian. Is there a difference between our hope is when we die and go to heaven and then inheriting the kingdom of heaven? Is that two different things? Well, the word hope means expectation. So obviously Christ himself is our expectation. He is called the Blessed Hope. And of course, his coming forth at the rapture itself is also called the Blessed Hope.

And it’s at that point that obviously we’re in. We’re not only in his presence. We have our new resurrection body, but we will obviously become as the Bible says we’re already as a believer right now, joint heirs together with Christ, Romans 8 verse 18. We are joint heirs together with Christ and when we get to Heaven and when the Lord comes at the Rapture which is called the Blessed Hope, we will fully realize all those wonderful promises that will become real.

Well, the question that I’m having is there a difference between the Kingdom of Heaven and then your dying and being in the presence of God after we die because in Galatians here in The thing I keep coming across this, it says in verse 17 that the flesh naturally lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And then it goes on to give a lift to the works of the flesh. And then it says at the bottom there in verse 21, it says those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Well that’s true of those that are unsaved because the unrighteous will not inherit anything from God and is talking there about the unsaved. But if we as believers practice things that we used to practice or would practice as an unsaved person, it will not affect our salvation, but it will reflect in the life that we’re living here. We’ll have invings, strife and wrath and murders and seditions and drugs and everything in our our life if we let our flesh control our life.

But the real answer is in verse 24 there where it says the believer has crucified the flesh in Christ when they trust the Christ of Savior. So we are not in that group that will not inherit eternal life. But it’s saying that we shouldn’t be doing things that those who do not know Christ who will go to hell because of those crimes, because they will not be an inheritor because they haven’t been born again. we shouldn’t be doing those things, we should be doing the things that reflect the fact that we’re now a child of God and enjoy the fruit of the Spirit and the rewards that God has for the believer who faithfully serves it.

So it’s talking about we can still have consequences of sin in our life as a believer, but they will never, the consequences of going to hell will never be true for us. Okay. Now, can I ask you one more question about for John chapter 3. I read this where it begins. It says, behold, what manner of the love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called, the children of God. And then it goes on to talk about, you know, we have this hope in Jesus and naturally he will be like him.

And then verse In verse 3, it always kind of raised a question in my mind. It says, and everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself. Now, does that mean that it’s because of our hope that we purify ourselves or there’s some type of way of living or something that we need to continue? Well, this is talking about Christ. And obviously, if you are living, recognizing that Christ is going to come back and judge you and you’re going to be rewarded for your service or lack of based upon what you’ve done or not done at his coming.

It should help be an incentive for you to prepare for your life. If you go back to chapter 2 and verse 28 it says, and now little children abide in him, that when he shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him it is coming. So you’ll be ashamed if you don’t live for Christ. And if you have this expectation, like right now I don’t know when the Lord’s coming back, but the potential for this year is the Feast of Trumpets, which is September 30th, which means that if the Lord were to come this year, I’ve got just a little over two months left on the planet.

And I’m living my life as though I only have two months left because I think that’s an exciting way to live. And that expectation in me that Christ could come in just two more months has got me right on the edge. I’m perked and excited and motivated big time because, wow, I might be going out of here this year. I mean I come this year and you may not come next year. But praise is coming back and I like to live with that expectation.

That’s what it’s talking about in 1st John 3-3. Okay, well I sure appreciate all your answers and I want to give a shout out to Harold. I haven’t heard from him lately. He used to call in every once in a while but… He’s done? No, he calls and he calls last month sometime. He’s down in Miami and maybe he’s listening right now so we’ll hopefully have Harold call us. Yeah, bless his heart. You have to. He’s listening Harold. Okay.

I’d like to say it better. Rob in Largo, Florida. We now are going to Liz in Prince George, Virginia and Liz, welcome to Bibleline You’re On The Air. Good morning. I have, well I have two questions. First one is, did the Midianites ever believe in the God of Abraham? I don’t believe so. Okay, because I was a little confused when it speaks of Moses meeting up with John jethro who was a priest of medians what does that mean that he was a a religious leader of that group and he obviously married one of his daughters so they never i’m sorry so apparently i don’t think it was a poor ever was a believer that’s unfortunate that’s one of the downsides here you know when you read about them heroes of the bible they weren’t uh…

uh… flawless and they all have their flaws i think Moses really made a mistake there in marrying an unsafe woman and it brought him grief because especially as we think covered on the radio the other day that she almost got him killed. Mm-hmm because she refused to circumcise their children and Now the Lord met the Lord the Moses in the way and was going to kill him in his support took a sharp stone and she Circumcised their her son right there at the feet of Moses and threw the foreskin at Moses and said you’re a bloody husband to me But Moses was spared because she did that but otherwise he would have been killed Okay, thank you.

Can I ask you one more question? Sure, go ahead. Okay, in the Lutheran Church, does the pastor give a congregation absolution for their sins? I think there’s that hint, but you know, that’s totally unscriptural. Only Christ can absolve your sins and He does that when you trust Him to save you once and for all for every sin you’d ever come in your life. Okay, thank you very much. You’re very welcome and That is a throwback to the Catholic Church where the Catholic Church pleases the priest has the power to Forgive her absolve your sin we now have Jean and Saint Petersburg and Jean welcome to Bibleline your own ear I That’s a question we just don’t know the answer to I’m assuming she’s gonna go bodily so the baby gives up with her Also, the Bible will be available.

Will people still be able to read the Bible like we can today? Well, they’ll be able to read it, but I don’t know if it will be more secretive, I would imagine. There’ll be a lot of persecution upon Christians and Jewish people during that time, and so I think you may find it more underground, but definitely the Bible will be available. People will be getting saved, and millions will be saved, according to Revelation 7, during the tribulation period. So yes, that’s true, but the majority will be blinded by the devil and not trust the Lord of Savior.

I wanted to mention that because in that same chapter verse He says in Revelation 13, seven this author implies that there might be a Middle Eastern rural hill across the world and the special resurrection are people that died or they will march during the tribulation and he’s implying that they’ll come back with us when comes the second time coming to the bathroom. That is a little bit… bit foggy. You know, there’s only the resurrection that occurs at the rapture, then there’s a resurrection that occurs at the Second Coming, those martyr during the Tribulation Period will get their bodies at the Second Coming when we come back with Christ.

That is true. But as far as the Middle Eastern leader taking over the world, it’s really a Western leader who takes over the Middle East who becomes a Middle Eastern leader. So we’re headed there right now and the United States has got its footprint all over the Middle East and I think that we are the country out of which the Antichrist will come and he He will become that Middle Eastern leader and actually put his palace in Jerusalem and rule the Western world, Europe and the Americas, from Jerusalem.

You’re very welcome and thank you for that call. That was Gene in St. Petersburg. If you haven’t given the Bible and would you consider helping us again, we are listener supported and I hate to talk about money. I really am embarrassed because of what happens in some ministries where they just are absolutely after your money and I think that’s all they care about. But my friend, we care about souls, we care about you. We’re trying to reach out with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We don’t pay any salaries and we spend all of our funds that come in to make sure this program goes out every day. And we believe we’re working against the clock that Jesus Christ is coming back soon and we need to do all that we can do while we can do it. Would you partner with us and invest in Bible and help us accomplish that task? Because it’s bigger than me, it’s bigger than our staff and it’s as big as God would have it to be and obviously as He touches your heart to have the same vision as we have.

There’s a need to get good clear Bible answers out there and to get the gospel out in a clear fashion where people Can understand how to be saved and they cannot be lost That needs to be financed and we don’t have any other means but you are listeners would you partner with us would you call maybe today and Give a gift my credit card over the phone or would you maybe call and ask for an envelope to be sent to you with our dress on it and mail a gift in or would you maybe go to our online bookstore?

At BibleLineMinistries.org and give a gift there on our online bookstore and our secure website. We truly do need your help. And we believe that the time is running out and there’s a day coming, maybe sooner than we might have thought, where we will say, well, I wish I had done that. I wish I had sent some money in to help Bibleline, or maybe I would have done this or done that for the Lord before he came, because maybe the Lord will catch you off guard or catch you by surprise.

Well, don’t let that happen. Would you call today? We don’t know when the Lord is coming. I’m not a date-setter, but I think He’s coming soon. If you’re reading the headlines, truly, I think even the unsaved world realizes we’re coming to a time of great change in our world. And that’s Jesus that He’s coming back. I’ve got to run because the day is out. It’s over. But we’ll be back tomorrow. you can catch this program on the internet and also others.

If you go to BibleLineMinistries.org. I’m Dr. Hank Lindstrom saying goodbye. We’ll be back tomorrow, Lord, and keep looking up because Jesus is coming and we believe He’s coming really soon. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a presentation of Bibleline Ministries of Tampa, Florida. Your donation to Bibleline makes it possible for this ministry to continue in your area. Bibleline’s address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Or visit Bibleline online at Biblelineministries.com. Be sure to tune in for another edition of Bibleline from Calvary Community Church of Tampa, Florida.

I’m Dr. Engleins from And It’s Been Wonderful to Be With You Today. Thanks again for tuning in to the Bibleline broadcast. God bless every one of you who listen. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your gifts. Thank you for your concerns. We thank you for your notes that encourage us. Some of them say, keep it up. Some of them say, go Hank. Some of them say, keep preaching the gospel. And we just are really encouraged by the people telling us to keep on keeping on with the Bible and Radio program.

And we’re going to do our very best. And of course, you could be a part of that by helping us. you’d like to be a partner with Bible on. We appreciate all of you, and if you don’t give a dime, we still love you as much, but it would be wonderful to have you as a partner with us helping us accomplish this great task. There’s a world that needs to be reached. The gospel needs to be getting out, and this is certainly a means to do that.

So much of Christian radio never even really addresses the lost and their need of Christ, and we believe that There are many people listening that need to know Christ, and we are hearing from those who get saved through this program and what a thrill that is. Some in their car or in their truck, some in their home or in their office, and we’re excited about what God is doing. And pray for us that we could be able to fully accomplish this task and do as much as God would have us to do before He comes back.

Jesus is coming. He’s coming soon. If you read the newspapers, my goodness, you have to realize this world is changing quickly. And it’s scary, really. If you didn’t know the Lord, you would really say, what kind of a future will I have? How can I plan for the next five or ten years? Because everything seems to be up in the air. Major banks failing problems with different diseases today, and floods, and fires, and tornadoes, and everything else. Jesus is coming and that’s what we need to focus on.

Gotta run. Keep looking up. I’m Dr. England. I’m saying goodbye, but we’ll be back tomorrow. Join us again then, if you would, and have a wonderful day. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a presentation of Bibleline Ministries of Tampa, Florida. Your donation to Bibleline makes it possible for this ministry to continue in your area. Bibleline’s address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. visit Bibleline Online at BibleLineMinistries.com. Be sure to tune in for another edition of Bibleline from Calvary Community Church of Tampa, Florida.