Bibleline Radio Show – 2009-06-25

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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, providing real answers to whenever 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 1-800-570-4777. 576-3771. Thanks for joining us here today. This is Tom Perry for Bibleline Ministries. You are just in time to hear Dr. Hank Lindstrom’s teaching series on the Book of Revelation.

We pray that Bibleline will be glorifying to God as well as edifying to you. Through Bibleline’s combination of teachings from the Word of God and real life questions with answers taken straight from the Bible, we are continuing Dr. Lindstrom’s ministry history, of spreading the good news of salvation throughout the world, salvation through simply trusting Jesus Christ alone as your Savior. If you have not yet trusted Jesus, we encourage you to do so. Please visit our website at BibleLineMinistries.org for information that can change your eternity.

We pray that you will come to trust Jesus as your Savior and be saved to the glory of God. We hope that you’ll plan to open your Bible and join us for this verse by verse study of the book of Revelation. You might be familiar with some of the favorite topics from the book of Revelation, such as the messages to the seven churches, the seven trumpets, and the new heavens and the new earth. Throughout this series, these topics and more will be explored.

Please tell your friends and family about Bibleline. If Bibleline is not being broadcast in their area, then ask them to visit our website at BibleLineMinistries.org. Have you missed some of the teachings in this series? Then call our resource center at 1-800-576-3771. Now please open your Bible to the book of Revelation chapter 21 and join us as we begin Dr. Lynchstrum’s teaching for today. Amazing how many churches are corrupted by teaching works for salvation. And Jesus says, I will give him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

Verse 7, he that overcometh, that’s a believer. Do you remember way back when we talked about 1 John 5, 4 and 5? 1 John 5, 4 and 5 says, for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith. Verse 5, who is he that overcometh the world? Answer, he that believe that Jesus is the Son of God. So when you believe on Christ, you become an overcomer by virtue of what Christ overcame on our behalf at the cross.

And so as an overcomer, you’ll inherit all things, and he says, I’ll be his God, and he shall be my son or daughter. So if you are an overcomer, you’re a believer, you will inherit all things, and you will be God’s son or daughter for all eternity. Verse 8 tells us about those that are left out of heaven. The fearful, unbelieving, the abominable, murders and hormongers and sorcerers and adulterers, and look at this one, all liars shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

They don’t go there because they committed those crimes. They go there because they rejected Christ who paid for those crimes, and therefore they’ll stand before God and be judged for these crimes and cast into hell. But really the reason why they go there is because of unbelief, because they reject Christ. Jesus paid for all manner of sin and all manner of blasphemies. Jesus said that himself in mark 328, all manner of sins and all manner of blasphemies shall be forgiven under the sons of men.

But there’s one sin he says is never forgivable, that’s to reject Christ. And so if you die without him, then any sin, even a lie, would cause you to be cast into hell because you’ve rejected God’s provision for your sin and there is no other way you You could pay for sin except by hell. So the lost will be lost and they’ll experience what is called the second death. Verse 9, there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials or bowls full of the seven last plagues and talked with me saying, come hither and I’ll show you the bride, the lamb’s wife.

And he carried me away into the spirit into a great and high mountain and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. the glory of God and her light was like unto a stone most precious even like a Jasper stone clear as crystal. This is God’s holy city, the New Jerusalem, the city of the living God and notice it will sparkle like a diamond. He has his counterfeit city teases us with. And I always think about the story of the Wizard of Oz.

And what’s at the end of the Ellabrook Road? The Emerald City. Obviously, not the city that we’re going to go to. And notice that whole movie is filled with witches. A wizard. They go to see the Wizard of Oz. And the city is an Emerald City. And you get to that by following the Ellabrook Road. But we get to this city by trusting Christ as savior. And this is a city that’s the real thing. The Wizard of Oz story is make believe in fairy tale and wrong.

And actually is more from Satan’s side because of the Wicked Witch of the East and the Wicked Witch of the West. And we have the Wizard of Oz, which is a male witch. And so witches and a fairy tale in a story that’s not true at all. And lots of people have enjoyed the story about Dorothy and Toto. And I’ve enjoyed it too. It was quite a movie. But I am excited about this city. This is the city where I’m going to wind up, and you will too, as a believer.

It says it had a wall that was high and had 12 gates. And the gates had 12 angels, and the names were written there on which are the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel. What is interesting to me, especially in these days of rising anti-Semitism, we as believers have to recognize that anybody who enters heaven, anybody who enters the New Jerusalem will have to enter through a gate named after a Jew. I think God is letting us know how important the Jewish people have played a role in bringing about our salvation.

God took on Jewish flesh. He is the lion of the tribe of Judah. And it is the Jews who brought us to scripture. All the prophets were Jewish, and all the apostles were Jewish. And we have a Jewish heritage, and certainly we need to recognize that heritage, and God apparently will honor the Jews for their role in all of what God has planned and done in our redemption by naming each of the gates after the twelve sons of Jacob, the twelve tribes of Israel.

Verse 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, on the west three gates, and the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them were the names of the twelve apostles. Remember back in chapter four when we talked about the twenty-four thrones and the twenty-four elders. I believe they represent all of the Old Testament and New Testament believers, and the twelve patriarchs, the twelve sons of Jacob or Israel are twelve of them, and the other twelve are the twelve apostles, and the twelve patriarchs represent the Old Testament saints, the twelve apostles, the New Testament saints, and the twenty-four elders are made up of these twenty-four right here.

And notice the New Jerusalem will have twelve foundations with the names of the twelve apostles. to talk with me had a golden reed to measure the city and the wall thereof and a city life four squared. The length is as large as the breath and he measured the city with the reed 12,000 furlongs. The length and the breath and the height of it are equal. 12,000 furlongs is 1500 miles and so it’s a cube in shape. 59 miles wide, 59 miles deep and 1500 miles high.

And as we said if you implose that in a sphere, the sphere would be larger than the moon having a diameter of 2,600 miles. Quite a big city. He measured verse 14, the wall thereof, and it measured 144 cubits according to the measure of a man. A cubit is 18 inches by the way. And it says here in verse 18, and the building of the wall was of Jasper, which is clear like crystal, according to verse 11. And it says here, and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

We’ve never seen anything like that, but absolutely pure gold and the city will be like a crystal city clear as glass that you can see into. And light will project forth from it, the light being produced by God himself, who is the source of its light. We find it says here in verse 19, the foundations of the wall were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was Jasper, the second sapphire, and the third calcidoni, the fourth emerald, the fifth Sarnig’s, the sixth Sarnig’s and the seventh Chrystolite and the eighth barrel and the ninth Topaz and the tenth Chrystolpey Prasus, the eleventh adjacent and the twelfth and amethyst.

Here are stones that people pay big bucks for and they’ll just be the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem. The twelve gates were of twelve pearls. Each gate was of one pearl. Can you imagine the size of the oyster that produces pearls? Wow. gate will be made of a single pearl. Last year I saw an artist rendering of the New Jerusalem. It was a beautiful picture of the city described as it is here in the book of Revelation and each of the gates were round.

And I thought, well, why didn’t I think of that? They’re a pearl. And, you know, even in the scientific world, when you talk about space and travel, all the gates in the space stations and whatever are all round, aren’t they? And these apparently will be hinged. The big pearl will close and there’ll be a round gate. I’ve always thought in terms of a rectangular gate, wouldn’t you? And then we think of our doorways as rectangular. And here, for the first time I got a new picture in my mind, at least, that all these twelve gates are round.

They’re in the shape of a pearl that they are indeed the pearly gates. And so when we go through, each one will be named after one of the twelve tribes, and each one will be a single pearl. Can you imagine? God can do anything. I take it to be literal, and I believe that they will be pearly gates into the new city, the New Jerusalem. Thank you for joining us. You are listening to Bibleline with your host, Dr. Hank Lindstrom.

Bibleline is a teaching ministry that is dedicated to reaching out to people with the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are many resources available at Bibleline, such as Dr. Lindstrom’s DVD Teachings on the topics of predestination, false gospels, and is Lordship Salvation to counterfeit gospel? In addition to many others, please contact our Resource Center at 1-800-576-3771. Now please join us for a segment featuring Dr. Lynch from answering questions from callers. We’re going to go to Terry in Newport, Florida and Terry, welcome to my blind ear on the ear.

Hi, how are you? Good. question. When the Christian people are rapture in the end, does the Holy Spirit leave with them or does he stay down here on the earth? Well, the Holy Spirit leaves as the indwelling one in the believers, but the Holy Spirit will always be present. He’s omnipresent and he’ll be present as he was in the Old Testament times. Certainly wooing people and bringing them to salvation. He’ll He definitely will indwell some, the 144,000, I believe, were sealed with the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the tribulation period.

As in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would empower certain individuals for certain tasks, and that will be true of them. But otherwise, he will not be permanently indwelling the believers as he does in this age, but once the millennium starts, then again, the Holy Spirit will come to indwell believers permanently again. Okay, thank you very much. You’re very welcome, then. Thank you for that call. That was Terry in Northport, Florida, south of Tampa. We have John in Bradenton, Florida, and he calls in off the air and says, can Satan still talk to God like in the book of Job?

Satan, I’m sure, has conversation. It says in Revelation 12, 9 that he is the accuser of the believers. So yeah, I think he can talk to God and probably is hollering and screaming about things he She doesn’t like about us who are believers because we are his enemies. We have Linda waiting in Dunedin and she has been so patient and welcome to Bibleline. Hi Dr. Lynn Stewart, it’s a pleasure to speak with you. Thank you. I do have actually two questions but the first one has to do with, we were discussing it today yesterday, God walking with Adam in the garden of Eden.

And the teachers said that it was God and it was not. And I said, well, I thought that was Jesus because my interpretation of the Bible is Jesus is a physical manifestation of God. Whatever you see him in the Old Testament, it’s Jesus. I agree with you, absolutely right. Oh, good. Also, I guess because if Moses was so affected by the look or being the round God, the glory of God, nobody even Adam would be able to talk to God without being affected that way, wouldn’t he?

You’re absolutely right. Yeah. But the other thing is I have a relative who has heard I totally, we like to talk about the Bible, but we have a little different approach to something. Well, I have read a couple of books that do put the tribulation, the rapture at the end of the tribulation, which makes a good argument. I don’t know if you’ve read any of those books. I’ve read a bunch of them. I probably have everyone in my library.

The crucible of the crown, actually it was kind of funny, we were in Colorado last summer. And I had listened to a tape that our preacher had spoken about 10 years ago, and he recommended to Chris Paul to Crowdon. So I went to the library to get it. Now this is 10 years later. And I put it in the computer and I… Got a book and I checked it out and I went home and I read it and I looked at the copyright and it was like a 1998 book and I thought my goodness could have been the same book.

Come to find out the book that I read was actually written by a friend of ours. We had go to church with in Colorado Springs and it was the crucible, the credit of the church, the tribulation was the total title. He is a wonderful Christian and to say this Lewis-Bohastra. But anyway, today we’re talking about this and she said that because I don’t believe that the rapture is going to happen before the tribulation, that I don’t have the Holy Spirit.

That’s not true at all. You know, it has nothing to do with that. I didn’t think it did. I thought that. The Holy Spirit involves every believer from the moment of belief. you trust Christ, He indrawls you. And that’s the promise of this age. And so your body becomes His temple. And in 1 Corinthians 6, 19 is an interesting verse because apparently a lot of the Corinthian believers were not aware of it because he says, What don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you which you have of God and you’re not your own, you’re bought with a price.

Therefore glorify God and your body and your spirit which are His. He says, What? Don’t you know? Where have you been? They hadn’t been pay attention apparently but the Holy Spirit was in them. So you can’t disagree with other questions to not be without the Holy Spirit or not be? Of course. Yeah, okay. Well, I don’t know where that came from but it kind of insulted me in her. Absolutely, no doubt about it. Once you’re saved you have the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is never going to leave you.

I thought so. I feel like I do but you can’t always go by your feelings. No, you have to go by the Word of God but there’s numerous verses and that’s one of the great ones there and first granted in 619 and 20 that I just quoted that’s a great passage thank you well Linda thank you for your call all right bye bye all right that was Linda we have myra in Sarasota Florida myra welcome to Bible and you’re on the air good morning oh good morning thank you for taking my call I have a question in regards to the Trinity where in the Bible cannot find in the information regarding the doctrine itself.

Well, there are numerous verses that describe to us the Trinity. If you go to the last book of Matthew, Christ, and the Great Commission said that we are to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Notice the word name there is singular. They all have the same name because there’s one God who is existent in three separate eternal persons, God the eternal Father, God the eternal spirit, God the eternal Son.

There’s just lots of verses. I’ll give you a couple in John’s Gospel. In John’s Gospel, I love chapter 4 verse 16 where you have all three members of the Godhead in one verse. It says, in I, Jesus is speaking, John 14, 16, I, that’s Jesus the eternal Son, will pray the Father, there you have God the eternal Father, and He shall give you another comforter that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth. That’s the Holy Spirit, So there you have the eternal spirit.

So here you have in one verse all three members of the Godhead. You notice that in verse 26 of John 14, Christ says the comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, there you have the eternal spirit, whom the Father will send, there you have the eternal Father in my name. That’s Jesus and so again you have all three members of the Godhead in one verse. So there are numerous verses in the Old and New Testaments that have all three members of the Godhead all mentioned together in one verse.

So it’s exciting and I hope that if you have a Scofield Bible, which we recommend, do you have the Scofield Bible? We have a soft cover for $15. The notes in that, I recommend the old. If you go to your bookster they’re going to try to say the new one, which the notes are watered down. But the old one has these marvelous notes written a hundred years ago that just are geared to doctrine. Bibles have biographical, geographical, historical information, great for Bible trivia.

But when you get down to really knowing your Bible, you need a Bible that is geared to doctrine. The Schofield Bible explains doctrines like redemption and sanctification and glorification and predestination, words like redemption, things that we don’t commonly deal with every day that need to be explained. And of course, the Trinity, the notes are just going to help you immensely. a gift of fifteen dollars to Bible and we can plus shipping will send one of those out to you and it will really help you.

Is it true that the Trinity itself didn’t come into play until 300 years after Jesus? Oh no, that’s Jehovah’s Witness doctrine. Yeah, that’s exactly where I’m getting it from. Oh, I know it. Don’t believe those people, they are totally confused. Well, they’re non-confused. Well, no, you’re getting unconfused because they have confused you and here’s the verse. Are you got your pencil ready? I’m ready. All right, first John chapter two You’ll want to write this one down? It says in first John 2 23 and this really nails the Joe’s witnesses It says in first John 2 23 whosoever denied the son the same half not the father So what does that mean?

Because they deny Jesus, they don’t have Yahweh or Jehovah, so they are not Jehovah’s Witnesses. They are without Jehovah. And then if you look at 2nd John, this is even better, 2nd John, verse 9, 2nd John, verse 9, there’s only one chapter in 2nd John, it says, whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, which the witnesses don’t abide in the doctrine of Christ, it says they have not God. So the witnesses are godless and fatherless or Jehovahless.

And so they’re just witnesses, but they are false and I would not listen to them anymore. Okay, because I’m totally confused. Well they’ll confuse you. I’m going to get you unconfused because… Ask them if they believe in Jesus Christ as being a personal Savior and they say yes. They see that’s a cop-out because they really believe in salvation by works and they don’t understand the concept of Christ being a Savior. A Savior is one who saves you, just like a lifeguard.

If you’re drowning, the lifeguard takes you to the shore and not until you’re safe on shore has the lifeguard done his job. Christ is the one who takes us from this world and our sinful condition and takes us home to heaven and places our feet safely on heaven shore. And that’s the concept of being a Savior. Christ is that Savior. Now the witnesses do not trust Christ to get him to heaven. They’re trusting their works and the Watchtower Society to get them there.

And so they are really not telling you the whole truth. I would not listen to them anymore. You’re going to continue to be confused if you listen to them. Okay. Well, thank you so much. All right. Something else? You certainly may. And by the way, they don’t like to come to my door. They don’t. They’ve got a map. I think that says, avoid this guy. And so they stay away from me. I’ve listened to you several times before and I have no thank you from China.

22 I can’t exactly remember what challenge it from but I need to ask you in regards to take on that I know Paul says that for women are not allowed right and that’s my position women Really I have don’t have that position And it’s just like I can’t get pregnant and have a child I mean there are differences between men and women and God because of Adam being created first gave that responsibility to the men, not to the women.

Why? So you have that in the first Timothy, chapter 2, verses 11 through 15. First Timothy, chapter 2, 11 through 15. And it’s quite clear there that women are not to be elders, deacons, preachers. Women are intelligent. They’re wonderful, but they are not allowed to have that particular job. Let’s see then, I don’t understand if you’re pregnant with the word and if you’re going not to say so. Well women can witness and women can do many things for the Lord, but the position of being the leader over men and women, which is what a preacher is, is wrong.

The Bible says that women are not to usurp authority over the men. So if women were just teaching women, if you have an all woman church and you have no men there, that would be fine. But they teach men and that is wrong. The Bible says that men are not to sit under women teachers. Okay, and that’s a good question. Thank you, Maori. Thank you so much. All right, Maori down in Sarasota, Florida, calling in. 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. you’ll be able to replay today’s program in our audio archives, as well as access other resources, including a Bible search tool and flashcards, 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 We’ll teach you from Dr.

Hank Lindstrom. 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. Well, we’re going to go over to the book of Revelation for a few moments now and we’re going to turn to chapter 3 in verse 5, which is a fascinating verse. Revelation chapter 3 verse 5, if you have your Bible there, you might want to turn. It says here, He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white rainmen and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life.

But I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. What an incredible verse. But you know, you have to define the terms. It says here, he that overcomers and guess what? This is where most people go wrong and Overcomer is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ one who is trusted Christ as his savior Most people and I have this wrong idea for many years myself. I thought an overcomer that somebody not me Not me that has to be a very special super Christian somebody who’s really living the Christian life and is right on the cutting edge and up there in the top percentile of Christians that love the Lord and are serving Him, and that has to be somebody else than me.

But guess what? Let’s go to the verse that describes this or defines this in its 1 John 5, 4. It says, for whatsoever is born of God, overcome of the world, and this is the victory that overcome of the world, even our faith. saying here, if you’ve been born again, you’re an overcomer. If you’ve been born again, you’re an overcomer. And even better than that, is 1 John 5, 5, that says, who is he that overcometh the world? Answer, he that believeeth that Jesus is the Son of God.

If you believe or trust that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that he’s your Savior, you are an overcomer by virtue of the fact that Christ overcame on our behalf death, the grave, Satan, the penalty for sin and death, Jesus Christ became the victor and He overcame the devil and overcame the grave and overcame the penalty for sin and death. And He did that on our behalf. And so therefore we who are believers are overcomers. I can’t emphasize this enough.

Write it down 1 John 5, 4 and 5, 1 John 5, 4 and 5, it says in verse 4, For whatsoever is born of God, Have you been born again if you have then you’re in this verse it says for whatsoever is born of God Overcometh the world and this is the victory that overcome with the world even our faith verse 5 Who is he that overcome with the world? But he that believe that Jesus is the son of God This is something that happens at the moment you believe and the moment you believe you become Saved and you become saved eternally and so in Revelation 3 5 when it talks about an overcomers talking about you and me, a believer, one who’s trusted Jesus Christ as his Savior.

And it says three things here concerning us. It says in Revelation 3.5, He did overcome it. The same shall be clothed in white rainmen. That speaks about our robe of righteousness, the garment that we have as a saved person, that we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ. And so the Bible describes that as a robe of salvation or a garment of salvation. This white raiment is, I believe, speaks of the righteousness of Christ that we will have at the moment we trust Christ and forever thereafter.

Let me give you a great cross-reference. This is back in Isaiah chapter 61. And in Isaiah 61, it talks about this very robe of righteousness that believers have. And this is one of my favorite verses. It says in verse 10 of Isaiah 61, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.” Wow, there you have it.

And so the Bible tells us that the Lord Himself is the one that closes us with the garments of salvation, the robe of righteousness. It’s pictured way back there in Genesis where we have, I believe, the salvation of Adam and Eve pictured for us in Genesis chapter 3. It says, Adam, by faith, called his wife Eve. He named his own wife. We don’t get that privilege, do we? Obviously, we can name our children, but we cannot name our wives.

But here Adam actually chose the name for his wife, Eve. And Eve means mother of all living. And here was Adam’s faith expressed in the promise that God had made in Genesis 3.15, that the woman would have seed, and that seed of the woman would destroy or defeat Satan one day, talks of the redemption of the human race through a Savior that would come through the seed of the woman, which is probably a veiled reference to the virgin birth, because we find the seed is always passed on through the man, but here talks about a woman having seed without man.

We’re going to rejoin stations that have been on break into the second half hour by one. So they’ll 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 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 we’ll hear more Bible teaching from Dr. Hank Lindstrom. Well we’re gonna go to the phone lines we have Joe up in Hudson Florida. Welcome Joe to the Bible and program today. How you doing? Good. I was just thinking about your subject that you were using your monologue and I was thinking about the Corinthian church, how they were sinning and how Paul told them to stop sinning because they were in the body of Christ.

And then I compared them to the Galatians and how the Galatians had first heard the true gospel, the right message, and then they were misled. And I was just thinking in the same way that the Galatians were still saved even though they were being led in the wrong directions and going back to works of law instead of just Jesus. and I guess there’s a glimmer of hope there if someone has been turned from it but if the original message that they get is that works has involved a lordship salvation or whatever, then they’ve got a problem but if they heard the real message first, you kind of see what I’m getting at.

Absolutely because once you’re saved you’re stuck, you’re in once you get saved you’re stuck forever. Right. But the problem is is that a lot of people have heard a false message all their life and I would say the majority of those who claim to be Christian are not. And shockingly, some of the favorites of people, national broadcasters, are not even saved. I don’t believe because they teach a works message for salvation and you cannot be saved if you’re trusting in Christ plus it’s only by faith alone in Christ that a person can be saved.

And it’s difficult for people to comprehend this. I say it like this. They have somewhat about works curtain over their eyes and they’re blinded, which is Satan’s work to blind those that don’t understand the gospel so that they don’t believe this wonderful glorious gospel message. And they really aren’t believing the gospel message because the gospel excludes all works. It’s by grace. It’s plus nothing. I think there’s several components to it, obviously, and one of them is also, besides the satanic aspect, even just the fleshly aspect of wanting to have something to do with the process.

like you mentioned earlier, you know, they want to have something to do with it. And you know, almost like a co-savior, you know, you’ve got to be involved somehow or another. And then, of course, the blinding part. And you just wonder how many of these guys started out believing right or if they didn’t, then they switched, or if they did, then they switched to another gospel and started preaching it. They’re actually saved, but they’re up there not saving anybody, and all their works will be burned up, and they may get in by the skin of their teeth themselves, but they’ve let a lot of people stray.

But I do trust God that if that person’s truly seeking, he’ll bring them the right message, And that’s the good, that’s the silver lining to the cloud anyway. Amen. I agree with that. If they really are seeking by pray to God we’ll open their eyes to the truth that is by Christ. A lot of people want to build an image of God though and say, well this is what I think God is like. And then when they hear a message they say, yeah that’s right.

Yeah that sounds right. We should have to do something. And they never really have a heart to find out what God really is like. They’ve created a God in their mind and then when they hear a message that kind of fits that mold they stuff God into. They say, yep that’s it. That’s God. And then they just go with that. those ones will never be saved because they really don’t have a submissive willing heart to see what God’s really like.

You’re absolutely right. Well Joe, again you have some wonderful insights there. Okay. You’re the man. Alright. Thank you Joe. That was Joe up in Hudson Florida and really some very insightful comments on his part. You know in Galatians chapter 5 it says Christ has become of no effect unto you. Speaking to those who are trying to be saved by their works, it’s amazing. Christ plus works according to the Bible equals no salvation. Christ plus works equals no salvation. Christ alone equals salvation.

As soon as you add works, you’ve just taken away Christ out of the formula because there’s no middle ground here. You’re either saved by works or you’re saved by Christ. You can’t say, well, I want to be saved by both. Then you’re changing God’s plan of salvation. Then you come under what we read in Galatians there of perverting the message, which makes it in the curse message. grace by definition according to the Bible excludes works. You know whenever we see grace presented the Bible always and you’ll notice this once you begin to see it excludes works.

That’s right. In Ephesians it says by grace or you save through faith. By grace, grace meaning mercy and merit of favor. Guess what? The next phrase excludes works. It says and that not of yourselves. The next phrase talks about grace again. It’s the gift of God. Salvation is the gift of God. The next phrase excludes works. It says not of works. Well, as Danny Man should boast. So wherever you look and you find grace, grace excludes works because grace is the absence of works.

Grace is God’s mercy that is not based upon merit, not based upon what we have done. It didn’t say God so loved those who loved Him. It doesn’t say God so loved those who were keeping His commandments. It says, for God so loved the world, everyone that is on this planet. God loves you. Christ died for you. But unless you trust Christ alone, you’ll not be saved. Let me say it again. Christ plus works, equals no salvation. And the tragedy is that those who are teaching this error and those that are receiving this error think that they are more secure in their salvation as a result of their works.

And that’s that little wire I’m talking about with the safety harness hooked around you. I’ve talked to people saying, well, I’m better off than you are. I’ve got baptized and I’m a member of the church and I’m living the Christian life. And you’re talking about just trusting Christ, but look at all these extra things I’m doing. And they think that somehow makes them safer. Actually, disqualifies them totally. And according to Galatians 5 and 4, it says, Christ will count nothing for you.

Zero. You will not pass go. You will not collect $200. You will not make heaven. We’re going to Richmond, Virginia, and we have Jonathan on the air. Jonathan, welcome to Bible on your own the air. I’m Dr. Hank, I hear someone else talk. Don’t listen to the radio, just listen to me. Are you hearing a crossover with some other line? Oh, yeah, I’m on the line. All right, go for it. I have a question about as far as the way we have church structures.

Do you believe that Sunday morning, I know we have worship service and praise service, but do you see more that maybe the church should be into reaching out to people who aren’t saved and then scheduling another day, like pretty much like we do Bible study, to do teaching. When you teach the thing, you know, to become better in how to go out and do other things. But it seems like it’s more preaching to the choir the way I see it structured.

I thought maybe you could enlighten me off saying that I think we’ve been doing things so long that they haven’t been right. Well I think you’re absolutely right and the churches today are weak in the area of teaching and instructing people in the Word of God. You know the early church was very dynamic because it says in Acts 2.42 that they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine. That’s the Word of God. to be a disciple, to be able to be effective for Christ.

Christ says, if you continue in my word, John 831, if you continue in my word, in my word, in my word, then you are indeed my disciples. So disciples are those who continue in the word and churches today are not teaching the word. So how in the world can they have a congregation of strong disciples? Next question, Mary calls in from Holland Springs, eighty miles outside of Richmond, Virginia. She says, the Sabbath, Genesis 2, says this was for the rest of man or man to rest.

Can you expound on this if you say it is no longer for us? Well, I believe you ought to take one day a week, perhaps, to rest, but we are not under the Old Testament law from Mount Sinai concerning the Sabbath. If you read your Bible carefully. In Romans chapter 14, it tells us that you can really make a choice if you want, because you’re not under the law. It tells us that you can choose maybe another day. But the Christians, of course, have been given the first day of the week to commemorate the resurrection of Christ.

Let me read here from Romans 14 verse 5. It says, One man, a steameth one day above another, another a steameth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. And then it says, He that regardeth the day, regarded it unto the Lord. And He that regardeth not the day to the Lord, He doth not regard it. And so on and so on. So you need to make a choice. And if you want to worship on Saturday, that’s fine.

but we’re not legally obligated to worship on Saturday. The Sabbath was nailed to the cross, and Colossians 2.16 says, let no man judge you, therefore, in respect of meat or drink, or in respect of the holy days, or of the Sabbath. We’re now going to go to Donnie in Port St. Lucie, and Donnie, welcome to Bibleline Your On The Air. Yes, thank you. Good morning. Good morning. I have a question. I am confused by the the doctrine of the Trinity as an and I and I I say sometimes that this the doctor the Trinity makes about as much sense to me as the theory of evolution.

Can you help me with that? Well, anyway, first of all, we’re not talking about addition here. Most people think one plus one plus one is three and that’s true. But we’re talking about one times. 1 times 1 equals 1. And so the doctrine of the Trinity is that there is one God, but He eternally exists as three eternal persons. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Right now you also can be playing different roles in a sense, and that’s a simplistic way of explaining the Trinity.

But you can be a Father, you can be a Son, and you can be a brother, all three at one time. In other words, if you are married and have children, then you’re a father. If you have any living brothers, then you are a brother. And if you’re mom or dad are living, you are a son. And so you can be all three. That’s simplistic, but the Bible tells us that the Godhead is threefold. And you see that throughout the Old Testament.

The word Elohim and Genesis 1-1, in the beginning God, the word is Elohim. and Elohim is plural in Hebrew. Hebrew has words that are singular, words that are dual, that means two only, and then words that are plural, which are three or more in Hebrew. So basically that word which is used over 2,500 times in the Old Testament, Elohim is a plural form for the name God, or the office of God, and God is a plurality. You’ll notice when God created man, He said, let us make man in our image after our likeness.

And we find the Holy Spirit is mentioned right there in Genesis 1-2, the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. So there is no doubt about it that the Bible teaches the concept, and of course God is greater than we, and we’re not going to be able to maybe ever fully comprehend it, but we’ll certainly know a lot more when we’re with the Lord, and we can get a better grasp on Him. But right now the Bible very clearly teaches that God exists as three separate eternal persons, but yet there’s one God.

One quick question. You mentioned the Old Testament and the Jewish concept of Elohim. Is there a book that you can recommend to a believer that would give them a good foundation of the Jewish beliefs about God and the Old Testament? Is there views of God and the Old Testament? Trying to think with that description. I like the Schofield Bible has the notes are so wonderful even on the names of God beginning right there with little human Genesis 1-1 and so on.

And we have a soft cover of that for $15. This is the notes. Go feel Bible. Yeah, and you want to get the old one. If you go to the bookstore they’re going to try to say the new one, which is watered down and it’s not as good as the old. But you can get it from us for a soft cover. Nice printing for a gift of $15. Thank you very much for your help. Dany in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

That wraps up today’s question and answer segment. As believers in Jesus, there is no other topic that is more important to us than the gospel of Jesus Christ, and it was Dr. Hank Lindstrom’s mission to spread the gospel. Through your prayers and ongoing financial support for Bibleline, you too can help spread the gospel of Christ throughout the world and reach others with the message of salvation through Jesus. Please, prayerfully consider supporting Bibleline by visiting our website at BibleLineMinistries.org and getting copies of any of our resources such as Dr.

Lindstrom’s audio CDs on the books of Ephesians or James, plus many others. Join us now as we continue today’s teaching series from Dr. Hank Lindstrom. And all these twelve gates are round. They’re in the shape of a pearl that they are indeed the pearly gates. And so when we go through, each one will be named after one of the twelve tribes and each one will be a single pearl. Can you imagine? God can do anything. I take it to be literal and I believe that they will be pearly gates into the new city, the new Jerusalem.

Verse 22, I saw no temple therein for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. where God will reside and where He resides even now. I believe in the North and the heavens. The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it and the Lamb is the light thereof. If you saw my article in the back about heaven being in the North and the accompanying newspaper article about this point of light that they saw in the North, it doesn’t vary.

In James 1.15 it says that God doesn’t vary. And so maybe what they’re seeing today that they cannot describe or define, maybe they’re seeing the New Jerusalem. They’re seeing light that doesn’t vary. They can’t be broken into its spectra. And maybe with our modern telescopes we are now seeing the light source God and the New Jerusalem that will one day live in, that later will come down from heaven and orbit the New Earth. But it could be that this city shines at this moment and God is the light of it and it may be that scientists are getting a glimpse of the city that will one day be living in.

Isn’t that fantastic? Take a look at that article back there. We have the newspaper article about this light in the north and they don’t know how to describe and how heaven is in the north and the universe, we believe according to the Bible and it might be, that’s what they’re looking at. The nations of them which are marked the word saved shall walk in the light of it. the saved winter in heaven, the lost will not enter into heaven at all.

So the nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it. People from every nation in Kindred and Tongue will become saved down through time. And these are the ones that will walk in the light of it. And the kings of the earth to bring their glory and honor into this city. And the gates of it shall not be shed at all by day, for there shall be no night there. And I believe the gates will be opened really around the clock.

And I believe that means we’ll have access to go in and out of the city and come down and enjoy the new earth, which will be a perfect earth, pristine, clean water. The land will be polluted by man. You won’t walk along and find litter or trash. It’ll be a beautiful earth to enjoy. And that will be a place where we’ll be able to go in and out of the city. And also we find that we’ll serve the Lord while we’re there with the Lord.

They shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. Verse 27 is a verse that I saw tonight I got saved. It says, there shall no wise enter into it anything that the file of, neither whatsoever work of the domination or makeeth a lie. When I saw that verse, it stopped me in my tracks and it was like a big javelin had been thrown at me and caught me right in the chest. And I said, I’m doomed.

I told about three lies at that time. That’s not true. That’s another one. But when it said here, one lie would keep me out of heaven. I just, my mouth dropped. I just panicked. I said, I’m in trouble. I’m headed for hell. And I began to listen very, very carefully. And of course, I learned that when you trust Christ, God’s righteousness is credited to the account of the believer and God sees this as righteous. It’s answered here in my last phrase.

It says, they that are written in one. the Lamb’s Book of Life, the Lamb’s Book of Life. Jesus is the Lamb of God. The picture begins early in an Exodus where the Passover it also begins in Genesis with Abel bringing a Lamb. But in the Exodus you know under the 10th plague the angel of the Lord was to come through Egypt at midnight and he told them to slay a Lamb and apply the blood to the doorpost to the right side to the left side and above and you can almost see Christ suspended blood from his right hand, from his left hand, and from his head coming down across his body from the crown of thorns, and finally from the wound from the spear and his side.

And the angel, when he came through, passed over every home that had applied the blood. He didn’t look to see if they were reading their Bible or praying or going to church or trying to live a Christian life. The only thing the angel of the Lord looked for was, did they apply the blood? And if he saw the blood, he’d pass over that home. The same is true of us. Christ is the Passover Lamb, the fulfillment of it. And when we apply His blood by faith, trusting Christ and Savior, when God comes in judgment one day, He’ll not look to see if we went to Mass or did penance or said prayers or were confirmed or were baptized or walked the church aisle or lived the Christian life.

God will only look for one thing. Did you apply the blood? What did the hymn writer write? What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood. but the blood, nothing but the blood, nothing but the blood. Only the blood of Christ will save you from hell. Only the blood of Christ will grant you entrance into heaven. Only the blood of Christ can wash away your sin. And only the blood is what God is looking for when He comes back.

And here, notice those that are written in the Lamb’s book of life are those that have applied the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God, and they are therefore written in His book because He is looking for the blood. And if He has applied His blood by faith, your name is in the Lamb’s book of life. Isn’t that exciting? And again, salvation not by works, but by faith. The Bible is so consistent. And how is it that people in churches can go so far away and miss it?

As we had a Bibleline list to come by today and he’s in some kind of a cemetery. I mean, seminary locally here, religious school, he says, we’re having a time because of your radio program. He says, I’m telling him it’s not of works and they’re saying it is of works. He said about where to kick him out. He says, where should I go? What? You know, as a battle over this thing about works today and you can see from the Bible that God eliminated works.

It was only the blood that mattered from the very beginning. meaning. And the Bible is consistent from Genesis, Exodus, all the way through. It’s only the blood. It’s only the blood they can bring about the forgiveness of sin. Chapter 22, He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal. This is in the new city, the new Jerusalem, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. And in the midst of the street of it, and by the way, notice here it says in verse 21, the The street of the city was pure gold as it were transparent glass.

And here it says in the midst of the street of it, no to singular. There’s only one street in the New Jerusalem. And what does that mean? That we all live on the same block. We all live on the same street. I love that. There’s not going to be any suburbs or any ghettos in the New Jerusalem. We’re all going to live on the same street. I think that’s cool. So wow, God doesn’t put some people in the back alley or some back section of the city.

It says here that we’re all in the same street. And notice on the side of the river, there was the tree of life, which bear 12 men are of fruit and yielded his fruit every month. So here we have a chance to eat but not to sustain life but for enjoyment. And can you imagine you come up to the tree of life and you have a selection? 12 choices. You could choose whatever fruit you desire on that particular day.

And that’ll all be a lot of fun. And it says here also the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. If you look up that word it means enjoyment. Here’s my spin on that. I believe you’ll take a nice glass, scoop up the water of life from the river, take a few leaves off the tree and stir it around in the water and it will provide a refreshing drink. Just like we use tea leaves and other leaves today to make a refreshing drink.

I think we’ll enjoy that drink and then we’ll pluck fruit off the tree and enjoy the fruit of the tree of life and enjoy a refreshing drink, what a nice way to spend an afternoon in the New Jerusalem by the sight of the river of life plucking fruit off the tree of life and enjoying a pleasant drink from this water that’s absolutely pristine and pure and coming from the throne of God. Thanks for listening to Bible Eye with Dr.

Hank Lindstrom. We’d like to continue with Dr. Lindstrom’s teaching, but we are out of time for today. We hope that you’ve enjoyed today’s program and that you are learning from it. If you missed any part of today’s program or if you’d like to hear it again, please visit our website at byblindministries.org, where you can either listen to today’s program again or if you prefer you can get the entire teaching series through our online store. If you have any questions or comments about today’s program, please call us at 1-800-576-3771 or you can write us at Bible-ign Ministries 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634.

It was Dr. Lindstrom’s ministry to spread the gospel of salvation by telling all who who would listen about the shed blood, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, to pay the sin debt that we all owe, but cannot pay for ourselves. If you have not yet trusted Jesus as your Savior, we encourage you to do so. Just visit our website at BibleLineMinistries.org and watch Dr. Lynch from 7 Minute Video that will greet you there. If you have already trusted Jesus as your Savior, then we encourage you to develop and strengthen the foundation of your Christian life by spending time reading your Bible and learning with us about God’s Word by listening to Bibleline.

We’d like to say thank you to our audio team for their work on today’s program. Until next time, this has been Tom Perry for Bibleline Ministries. We invite you to join us again for another edition of Bibleline and as Dr. Lindstrom would say, 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. Through the seed of the woman, which is probably a veiled reference to the virgin birth, because we find the seed is always passed on through the man, but here talks about a woman having seed without a man, that’s probably the virgin birth and that this virgin born child, the Lord Jesus Christ, would be victorious over the devil.

And Adam believed that, then before Eve ever had the first child, he called her Eve the mother of all living, the mother of all living because he believed the promise that she would have children. And down through time, the Messiah would come back to the end of the day. come, the seed of the woman, the Lord Jesus Christ who would defeat Satan. And as he is the overcomer, we become overcomers by trusting in what he accomplished for us at the cross.

As a result, the very next verse in Genesis chapter 3 says that God clothed them with coats of skins of animals, that God clothed them. Well, before that, you know what happened? Adam and Eve decided to cover themselves with fig leaves. That’s right. Adam went out and got some pig leaves and they put them on what God said that doesn’t work. That doesn’t cover your sin. And so we notice here a picture of Christ. An innocent animal had to be slain.

Christ was innocent, sinless and had to be slain for you and me. The blood of that animal had to be shed, Christ blood had to be shed at the cross to pay for our sins. And that the animal itself, its fur, its outer covering became the covering for Adam and Eve. And we find that God is the one who clothed them. They didn’t do a thing. It was their faith in the belief in the coming Savior that brought about their salvation.

And the same thing in the picture is true of us. Jesus, being the innocent substitute, died for us. His blood was shed. His righteousness becomes our covering, and God is the one that clothes us. Because when we trust Him, we are clothed by Him. Look at verse 5 of Revelation 3. He that overcometh the same shall be what? Clothed in white raiment. God will put the cloth on you. It is His righteousness you are seeing in His righteousness the moment you believe.

Secondly, Revelation 3.5, I will not blot out His name out of the book of life. Most people get this wrong. We are always taught usually that your name is written down when you become a believer. That’s not true. Everybody’s name is in the book to begin with because God made provision for everyone to go to heaven. There is not a reason why anybody should go to hell if they trust Christ the Savior, all be saved, but because man is given a choice and you can reject Christ as your Savior, there will be those who will not enter heaven.

And if they die as an unbeliever, their name is stricken from the book at the moment of death. But as this verse promises, at the moment you believe, at the moment you trust Christ, God makes a promise to you and me as believers, I will not bought your name out of the book of life. Wow, what is it saying here? My name will never be blotted out of the book of life. If you’re a believer, your name will never come out of the book of life.

What is this saying? You can’t be lost. It’s amazing how many people believe you can lose your salvation and they don’t realize how far they are from the truth of God’s Word. How far they are from what the Bible proclaims everywhere. It says right here, if you become a believer, which is what an overcomer is, 1 John 5, 4 and 5, who is he that overcometh? The one that believes that Jesus Christ or trusts that Christ is the Savior, the Son of God.

1 John 5, 5. And if you’re a believer, your name will never come out of the book. It says it right here in Revelation 3, 5. He did overcometh. God says here, I will not blot his name out of the book of life. Your name will never come out. My name is never going to come out. I’m going to heaven no matter what. I’m saved forever. I can’t be lost because God has made a promise that not only has He given me the eternal life, He’ll never blot my name out of the book.

And then lastly, He says thirdly, I will confess His name before my father and before his angels. Well guess what? The moment you become saved, there’s an announcement made in heaven that there’s going to be a new arrival, you, that you are now a child of God, a child of heaven, a child of the Lord Jesus Christ, a child of God, and you will enter heaven one day and they already know you’re coming at the moment you believe. Your name is mentioned, confessed, announced in heaven at the moment you believe.

Really good news. You’ve got to run. 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 at BibleLineMinistries.org. Be sure to tune in to another edition of Bibleline from Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida.