Bibleline Radio Show – 2009-07-08

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

So cherish me, O God, and pass, Till my trophies and last night, may die. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Hank Lindstrom, a ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Declaring God’s love through radio and the internet. Providing real answers to an ever-searching world. To reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep Bibleline on the air in your community, dial toll-free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. Thanks for joining us. This is Tom Perry for Bibleline Ministries, and our current teaching series is on the Book of Matthew.

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 will join us for this first by verse study of the Book of Matthew as we explore topics such as Jesus’ warning against false teachers, Jesus’ healing of the sick, lame and blind, the twelve disciples sent out to preach the gospel, and more.

Now join us for Dr. Lindstrom’s teaching for today as we turn to the Book of Matthew Chapter 4. And America is getting more into darkness, isn’t it? Wow. We’re seeing the shift moving. I was learning today, I heard on the radio earlier this morning, about how our Supreme Court justices are appealing to foreign law to make our decisions in this country. Did you hear that? And what a tragedy. Because what’s happening is the Constitution of the United States is being pitched out by our high court because of some of the ones that Clinton and others have appointed there and they’re headed toward a world government and they’re setting the world up for the Antichrist and it will be a government where the whole West, Europe and America will come into one rule.

You can see it happening. You can see America giving away its constitution, giving away its rights, giving away everything and giving away our freedoms and giving away our religious belief and heritage. And it’s happening rapidly. The rapture could happen anytime soon because these are the very things that the Bible predicted would happen and they’re happening right now. I’m getting off on prophecy now, which I’d love to shift that direction. But the signs are everywhere of the Lord’s return. So it says in verse 16, the people would, sat in darkness, saw a great light.

And so no wonder we talk about the scriptures being light, Christ being light. When we bring the message of the gospel, it is light. It says that Satan’s job is to blind the minds of those which believe not less than light. The glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them. So the gospel is light to a lost soul and the light can bring life and salvation to those that are unsaved. For 17, from that time, Jesus began to preach and say, Repent, change your mind For what?

The kingdom of heaven, that’s the millennium, the thousand year reign, is at hand, because the king was on the earth. Had Israel received her king, the kingdom would have been established, and God would not have established the two thousand years of this church age that we have been experiencing, but God forenoon. Now we have verse 18 and 19, where Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon, called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting it into the sea because this was their livelihood.

Now they lived in Capernaum. Capernaum was a fishing village on the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee. The Roman Catholic Church, they had their archaeological teams going in there. They claimed they discovered the house of Peter. I really sincerely doubt that. I don’t think his mailbox was still there or whatever street address he lived at. But there was obviously lots of little fishermen’s houses that they excavated and they claimed this was Peter’s house. And as they would do almost everywhere, they would commemorate that with building a church over the spot.

And so they built, I don’t know how much it cost, but it must have been a fortune, but it’s up on stilts and there’s this big concrete boat shaped church. Of course you go up inside and there’s the Catholic altar just like the typical Catholic church and they offer the Mass and all the same things they do everywhere else but I said what an ugly thing. Sitting over the supposed high. I saw it before they built that church. I said how beautiful it was just to have the natural ruins there of ancient Capernaum and here you have this awful looking to me ugly boat out of concrete sitting right over on stilts above the archaeological dig where supposedly Peter’s house.

supposedly Peter’s house was. Anyway, my first guy down at the cry has said, you know, if the Catholic Church could have discovered the exact spot where Jesus walked on the water, they would have attempted to build a church there to, that would have been a little more difficult though, to build a church on the water. But everywhere that they claim that there’s a historic spot that, especially Peter, because Peter is the one that they really focus on. We’ll talk more about him when we get to chapter 16 and what the Catholic Church does and manipulating the Bible to give them the authority that they claim that they have today, which they don’t.

So here we have Peter and Andrew, and they were fishing. They were casting a net as Jesus walks up to them. So here they’re right in the act of doing their regular daily job. Their job was fishing. And here they’re casting a net. Jesus walks up on them. And he says to them, follow me, and I will make you what? Fishers of men. Now this was a second decision that they were now confronted with. Andrew and Peter were already saved.

In fact, Andrew led Peter to Christ. And Andrew got saved from John the Baptist. Good John the Baptist. He did a good job. Turn to John 1 for just a moment. I think it’s important to see this. And turn over to John’s Gospel. Come back. But in John’s Gospel chapter 1, we have the story. Verse 40 of John 1 page 11 16 says, verse 40, one of the two which heard John speak, that’s John the Baptist. He heard John the Baptist speak and followed him with Andrew.

So Andrew was the follower of John the Baptist and apparently Andrew got saved through John the Baptist. And notice it says here, Andrew was Simon Peter’s brother, Verse 40, one of the two which heard John of Aptus speak and followed John of Aptus was Andrew, who was Simon Peter’s brother. And look at Andrew, what a wonderful guy he was. Wouldn’t you like to have a brother like him? Verse 41, he first find his own brother, Simon. And he says to him, Simon, Simon, we found the Messiah.

We found the Messiah, which being interpreted as the Christ. And in verse 42, Andrew brought him to Jesus. So who led Peter to Christ? It was Andrew, his brother. Isn’t that great? That’s the way it works. God wants you to lead your family members to Christ. And here you have an example of that. John led Andrew to Christ. Andrew now leads his brother to Christ. And maybe you have a family member that’s not saved and God wants you to bring them to Christ.

And that’s what Andrew does here. He brings his brother to Christ. He says, we found the Messiah. He found him. He’s here. And he leads him to Christ. Then later in Matthew’s account, a later account, they’re already saved. They’re back at their business. They’re casting in that. They’re fishermen. And Jesus said, follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men. That’s choice number two. Now if you become a disciple, this is what it’s all about. He said, follow me and I’ll make you what?

A great singer in my choir in the sky. I’ll make you an usher in my church in the sky, my congregation. I’ll make you whatever.” He says, notice I’ll make you fishers of men. So really the focus of following Christ is that we would impact other people with the gospel. Whatever your profession might be, whatever your vocation might be, we are to impact other people for Christ. And notice he didn’t say immediately that they would be effective, but he says, follow me and I will make you all of the things that they learn by following Christ and learning from him as he taught, enable them to become skillful at fishing for men and bringing men to Christ.

And so the focal point of your Christian life ought to be that you ought to be after a period of time able to lead someone to Christ and be able to impact other people for Christ. And oftentimes it begins just in your own family. As Andrew led Peter to Christ, you might lead a brother or family member to Christ and then expand outward to reach others. So many churches have discipleship programs and so many books you can buy on discipleship and yet many of them don’t even mention soul wedding.

I hear different churches say, we have this discipleship class. Well, what is the focus? What is the purpose? What is the goal of the class? Well, oftentimes has nothing to do with leading people to Christ. And therefore it’s a false discipleship program. Not only is there a false gospel, but there’s a false discipleship movement out there within Christian churches where they just get you to be a better church member. And that’s not what discipleship is. Christ said, follow me, and I’ll make you fishers of men.

I remember that hymn and maybe you sang it. I’m following Jesus one step at a time. Well, in any case, I’m not intending to sing here. The point is that I’ve seen people sing that hymn, who never, ever attempt to lead anyone to Christ. And then saying, they’re following Christ. I mean, obviously if they’re following Christ, they’ll somewhere on the line be, come a fisherman.

You’re listening to Bible Eye, a teaching ministry that’s dedicated to delivering the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are many items available from our resource center, such as Dr. Hankel-Instrom’s DVD teachings on the topics of, Saved by Grace, Baptism and the righteous versus the unrighteous. In addition to many others when you call 1-800-576-3771. Now we’re going to take a break from our teaching to listen to Dr. Lindstrom answering questions from callers and then we’ll rejoin today’s teaching.

We’re going to go now to Tracy and Tracy is in Port Charlotte, Florida. Tracy, welcome to Bibleline you are on the air. Hi, I’d like to just see if I could ask you a question. I know you teach that basically all you have to do is believe in order to be saved, but the Bible teaches more than that. I mean, even the devil believed and he wasn’t saved. I believe that if you can turn your back on God and you can lose your salvation, but but from what I’m understanding from what you’re preaching, that isn’t so.

Well, that’s right, Tracy. If you believe you can lose it, you’re probably not saved, Tracy, because here’s what you’re saying. You’re saying from this point right now, until you die, that what you do, whether you live for Christ faithfully or whether you don’t, will determine whether you make heaven. And in the end, that means everything that you do between now and death will determine your salvation that makes you the Savior and makes salvation by works. According to the Bible, salvation is based upon what Christ did 2000 years ago at the cross and on the cross he said it is finished.

Now we’re not saying that a believer shouldn’t live for Christ but you’re not living for Christ to determine your salvation. My salvation was determined by what Christ did for me at the cross and I received that eternal life at 18 but then I made a second decision to choose to live for Christ and And that’s what we call discipleship. You’re saved when you trust Christ, but you become a disciple when you determine to live your life out serving Christ and living for Him and God will reward you for that.

And one day, every believer will have their works examined at the judgment seat of Christ where their works will be examined to determine the degree of reward or loss of reward. And even if you did nothing, according to 1 Corinthians 3.15 at that judgment, it says, if any man’s work should be burned up, he will suffer loss, loss of reward, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. So you would still be saved, but you would lose out for all eternity and the reward you could have earned if you had lived for Christ.

But the Bible in that wonderful verse gives us the clear indication that there are going to be some that will have done nothing, zero, for Christ and their works will all be burned up. They’ll suffer the loss of that reward they could have had and yet it says they will still be saved, yet so as by fire. So obviously we don’t have a license to live as we please. God will discipline the delinquent believer and the delinquent believer will also suffer the loss of reward and eternity.

But we’re saved not by our works. We’re saved by what Christ did for us. If we could have been saved by our works, Tracy, Christ never needed to leave heaven. He never needed to die at all. And I understand that, but I still disagree with you. I believe that you can lose your salvation. And I think you’re doing it. And just the people, and just the people by teaching them that you cannot, because I mean, we have a lot of friends, a lot of acquaintances that we know that walk around and claim themselves to be a Christian because of teaching like that they do not live the Christian life, they speak the Christian word, but they do not live their life according to what the Bible teaches.

But they are under the belief that they are going to be saved no matter what. I think that’s doing an injustice to people. Well, I think it’s telling him the truth, Tracy, and if they are able to get away with that, then it would prove that they are not saved at all. You know, if you read Hebrews, chapter 12, it says, whom the Lord loves, he chases every one of his children, every son that is received in his family, he chases or disciplines when they’re delinquent.

Verse 8 of Hebrews, chapter 12 says, if you be without chastisement, where of all of God’s Children all those that are born again all those that are saved are partakers of it says that it’s a pretty strong word in the King James It says you’re a bastard and not a son in other words Somebody is illegitimately claiming to be saved if they can live as they please and God isn’t spanking them because if you’re saved You cannot get away with living as you please so if it appears that they are I would show him Hebrews 12 8 and say I’m questioning whether you’re saved or not because if you’re truly saved you cannot you can not.

Let me read that verse again. Hebrews 12-8, it says, if you be without God’s discipline, chastisement, where of all of His children are partakers, then you’re a bastard and you’re not a son. You are illegitimately claiming to be a child of God when indeed you’re not. So that’s not true. And I hear it all the time from people who truly get saved that hear this program and they tell me, you know, things were going smooth in their life until they got saved.

And I said that’s an indication you’ve gotten saved because God is now going to take away those rough edges. He’s going to be spanking you and he’s going to be getting involved in your life. But he doesn’t deal in the life of the unbeliever. The unbeliever seemingly can live as they please. But when they die they’ll wind up in hell. So Tracy you can- What’s that? Do you believe that baptism is necessary? Not to be saved, no, not at all.

What’s that? Not at all. I believe in baptism. I baptized probably over a hundred people a year easily and by immersion but not to save them. That’s a testimonial of how they were cleansed or sent by the blood. But water baptism doesn’t save anybody. Okay. Well I think maybe we should be praying for you then because I think you need to read your Bible just a little bit more closely also. Well thank you, Tracy, for that word and Port Charlotte, Florida.

You know, it’s amazing to me how many people want to add works when the Bible says in Ephesia It’s not a works. Water baptism is a work if you are required to be water baptized to be saved. And apparently the people that she’s talking about are not saved if they’re able to live as they please after they become saved. Tracey will be praying for you and thank you for that call in and hope you’ll keep listening to Bibleline. We’re now going to go to Mary.

She’s in Bartow, Florida and Mary. Welcome to Bibleline. Oh, thank you. I’m calling about the lady that called in. I think her name was Tracy. Yes. She said she thought you could lose your salvation. If she goes to Ephesians 1 verse 13, it tells us that we are sealed with the Spirit of promise and then 14 and says until the day of redemption. So if you think you could lose it, that would be like you and some people say, well you can leave you can leave him you know but you can’t be like you trying to leave your bones he’s inside of you you can be he won’t come out he promises he’ll never leave you and i don’t understand why she doesn’t i don’t you don’t get it no she doesn’t but there will be a great person is quoted obviously we’re sealed and and obviously to break that seal you’d have to be more powerful

than god the holy spirit and he itself is the seal who seals us as his possession and we are saved and say forever and it’s clear that we’re safe until the day of redemption there you go yep and it tells you right and book fourteen if he’s in one thirteen and fourteen he needs to look at those and reexamine amen thank you mary you’re welcome that was mary in barter florida the east of Tampa we have patsy in winter haven florida also to the east and uh…

patsy welcome to bible and uh… good morning dr hank uh… you’ve already uh… brought it up and said that the the last caller but i was also going to say you should have brought up about the dying people across with jesus to help the lady understand that but uh… i have a question uh… i’m sure you’ve heard about the law books that uh… sometimes they thought that on the history channels and biography channels i get the stuff but i guess they might have been happy to be watching one And there was one on the fact that Adam had a wife named Lilith before Eve.

And I guess there was a problem and she was banished or whatever. I’ve never heard this before and he just kind of checked through the Bible too and he’s not. And I was just kind of interested in what you thought about these programs that are bringing up these lost books that were never put into the Bible. And I will hang up and listen to your answer on the radio. All right. You’re so welcome. You know, the lost books aren’t really lost, but they don’t belong in the scripture.

Every book that is in the Bible was written by an authentic writer. a authentic spokesperson for God, either a prophet or an apostle. They were recognized by the people who listened to them as being God’s prophet, and the books that they wrote were accepted as God’s word at the time that they wrote them. For example, when Moses wrote as God’s prophet, all five of the books that he wrote, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy were accepted as scripture. They were placed into the piece of furniture called the Ark of the Covenant, and every Old Testament book subsequently that was accepted a scripture written by an authenticated spokesperson for God was included and that’s just the 39 books that we have today.

There obviously been many other books written down through history but they have not been accepted and there’s never been a council or group of people get together and decide which books would or would not be in the Bible. At every council there was a confirmation, an affirmation of the fact that the 39 books of the Old Testament, the 27 books of the New Testament that we have are indeed the word of God, and that there are no other. And when you read these others, obviously you get into fairytale and fantasy and many things that are really just almost laughable.

One of them about the stories of Adam, as you just brought up, tells it on the first day when the sun came up, it’s so frightened, Adam and Eve, they ran and ran and they ran off a cliff and and they were killed and God had to resurrect them and crank it up all over again. Obviously, it’s so crazy. You can almost laugh as you read them, but it’s sad because these are being promoted and they’re still around for you to read.

You can go to any bookstore and get the so-called Law Smokes of the Bible. Read them for entertainment, but that’s about all they’re worth and they really don’t belong in the Bible. I think you can sense that. not the sense of what scripture is when you read it as compared to those. The difference I would say in literature is the difference between Shakespeare and Bugs Bunny. Just no comparison. Obviously these don’t belong in the Bible. I hope that helps a little bit.

We’re now going to go to Scott in Pinellas Park and Scott, welcome to Bibleline you’re on the air. Hey Dr. Hank, how are you today? Good. The reason I was calling this morning is that I hear that was a Tracy going in and saying a few things that were more than a little unkind. But I ask everybody out there to always have a quote from the Bible, a chapter and verse. It’s not just what you think. You have something to back it up.

And that’s something I’ve always appreciated. A lot of times I may have disagreed, but then when I go back and look to see what you’ve quoted, that’s what it says. It’s not a matter of what you feel, it’s a matter of what is in the Word of God and you can simply do that. And I appreciate your showing you because you always do that. Well, thank you so much. That’s what I try to do. That’s why we even call our program Bible and because we try to connect you back to the Bible and what it says and give you a chapter and verse to support it.

And so you can say, let’s say, for Lord, this is not my opinion and it’s not some church denominational opinion. It’s what God says. And that’s what every Christian ought to be able to learn how to do, which we hope to teach on this program, go to the Bible and find what it says and then stand on it. And I think you do a great job with that. It’s just a point that I wanted to bring up for everybody who lives out there that agrees or disagrees.

Don’t worry about what you say. Worry about what God says and you do just that and I really appreciate you. Thank you awful lot Scott and you have a great day. Thanks for calling in. It’s true. One day it will only matter what God said. We hope that you’re learning with us as you listen to this question and answer segment featuring Dr. Hank Lindstrom. If you’d like to hear today’s program again, then please visit our website at BibleLineMinistries.org. There you’ll be able to replay today’s program in our audio archives as well as access other resources including an Am I Going to Heaven quiz 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 teaching 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. We are going to turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 today which talks about the issue of can we know when the return of Christ at the Rapture is near.

It says in verse 1, of the times and seasons brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. Then it says in verse 2, for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord. Now let me take a minute here to talk about that phrase, the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is a thousand year day that is about to take place. We believe it’s called the millennium, which millennium is two Latin words, million and an amining thousand years.

Christ will actually rule on the earth for a thousand years and that is called the day of the Lord. Now in its technical usage, it’s only the thousand years, but in the broader sense it includes the seven years of the tribulation period that follow the rapture. That’s what’s taking place here in 1 Thessalonians 5. The Rapture happens, chapter 4, and then the Day of the Lord begins, and it begins right after the Rapture has happened, and includes all of the seven years of the Tribulation Period and includes the thousand-year earthly reign of Christ.

So it says here, yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night. Now many people talk about, hey, that means we can’t know because you don’t know when the thief is going to come. But notice verse 4 tells us clearly that believers are not going to be caught off guard as a thief would catch us off guard. It says in verse 4, but you brethren, you believers are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief.

So we’re not to be surprised. We should be watching and looking and expecting and not surprise that all when Jesus returns we ought to say, Lord, we’ve been waiting and this is the moment we’ve been looking forward to and we shouldn’t be cut off guard at all. But the world, the lost, will be cut off guard. Let me read verse four again. You brethren, you believers are not in darkness, but that day should overtake you as a thief. So the day of the Lord will not take us by surprise.

We’ll be expecting it, watching for it. It says in verse five, you are all children of light and children of the day. We are not of night nor of darkness. So we have the light of God’s Word. And we know of the times and seasons when Christ would return and we are there. You know, Israel has been back in the land as a nation for 60 years. That’s right. Israel for 2,000 years did not exist as a nation. They had no homeland.

But in May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation. That’s right. Israel has been a nation for 60 years. Now, what Here we know in Matthew it tells us that the generation living when Israel would become a nation would not pass until Christ would return. Now Psalm 90 verse 10 tells us the length of a generation that’s 70 years, maybe 80 but 70. 3 score and 10 is the length of life that God has appointed to us humans. And so if you add 70 in 1948 that takes you to 10 more years.

Israel now has been celebrating 60 years, but if you were talking about 70 years, we still got 10 more years, that would be to the second coming. And if you subtract the seven years of the tribulation period to bring us back to the rapture, that might mean we only have three more years left. I’m not a date-setter, but certainly it’s interesting to speculate that we’ve got to be close. We’ve got to be in the times the Bible has spoken about, and the believer should not be caught off guard at all.

You yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night, But not for the believer, verse 4 of 1 Thessalonians 5, you brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. We should not be cut off guard at all. Now verse 3 tells us one of the things that we can look for that people are going to be talking and saying when it’s time for Christ to return, for when they shall say peace and security.

Those terms are being tossed about a lot today, and when people are talking about peace on on the earth and in particular peace for Israel, a Middle East peace being solved. Could it be that this is the peace that the Bible is talking about? I don’t know. But definitely it says here when they shall say peace and security, then what? The tribulation period will come upon them. Then sudden destruction will come upon them as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape.

So in other words, just like a woman who is pregnant cannot escape the pain of childbearing. So will the world not escape the trials and tribulations and judgments of the tribulation period that will follow the Rapture. Anyway, we are going to go back into the second half hour Bible. And so here we go. We’re going to do Bible line in the second half hour right now. 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 you’ll hear more Bible teaching from Dr. Hank Lindstrom. gonna go now to david leikland florida and they welcome to bible and you’re on the air hi doctor lintstrom uh…

this is day from leikland florida and you know me i have been to church number of times and i enjoy the program doctor lintstrom i want to respond to the woman who called that said that you’re doing everyone at this service and i know we don’t call but that really uh… kind of upset me because i want to tell the audience that I grew up as a Roman Catholic and never understood the doctrine of eternal salvation. I really thought that you could lose it.

And honest to God, the day I trusted in the Lord, I could remember three years ago, I got saved and I read the Bible and it all made sense. And now I truly believe and I know, like you said, we have nothing to offer God. All good works are but filthy rags. And I want to tell her, as a Catholic, I did nothing for my church many years ago. I just went there, I sat there, I listened, nothing the priest said made sense.

When I finally left, the light went on. And now my own church is a good Christian church. And they can’t keep me busy enough. I’m trying to do everything I could possibly do to teach Sunday school to help others in the church. I’m being ordained a deacon within two weeks. And it’s because I love the Lord. And now I understand that I’m eternally saved and I can’t lose it. I have this joy in me that without knowing that there is no joy and you live in fear.

I used to think that when you die, you’re going to have the, or you’re good to be on one side and then you’ll never know what’s going to happen to you. And I try to tell many Catholics because my whole family and uncles and aunts and they don’t like that. They don’t understand it. I’m trying to reach them. But if you truly say, like you said, you know that you’re going to heaven. You can’t lose it. But then you’re not going to do bad things.

I want to tell that woman that you will be serving the Lord. And I made that decision like you said to be a disciple. I said, God, whatever you want me to do, I am going to do. And the Lord has just taken me on a rollercoaster ride. It’s been great. And as I spoke to you several times in person, I can’t get enough of the Bible. I love the Lord and I’ve been doing good things for Him to serve Him, not to earn, not to lose my salvation or not that, but just to serve Him.

Just for the people who are listening, Dr. Lissner is totally correct. The Bible is completely true. You cannot lose your salvation if you’re truly saved. And that’s my comment, Dr. Lissner. And I’ll just listen to you and you could add to that. But I want everybody to know the Roman Catholics that don’t teach that doctrine of eternal security. I want to reach them very badly and some hopefully will listen and understand. It’s very difficult and easy stumbling block. Amen.

Amen. Well, thank you so much, Dave, for calling and sharing your testimony. And we’re now going to go to another Dave, David in Plant City, and Dave, welcome to Bibleline Your Own Year. Good morning, Dr. Hank. How are you today? Good. Wasn’t interested in showing today that Lady Trape has got everybody fired up and me included. I really didn’t like the statement she made about you, about not reading your Bible because I’ve listened to you for over 10 years.

If I learned anything from you, it was to believe no man and to study my Bible and to let God speak to me through his word. And an example I’d like to give and I’d like to ask you a question about it also is Genesis chapter 7 verses 2 and 3. I ask most people how many animals did Noah take on the ark and they always say two of each kind. You read this verse, it says, seven pairs of clean beasts, two pairs of unclean beasts, and seven…

Thank you so much, Dave. Actually, you know, that is an interesting observation that the book of Genesis says that of those clean animals that were more than two children. clean animals that were more than two pair. And I think somewhere for sacrifice after they came off the ark and also later became for food as well for as God changed the rules. You know they were not allowed to eat meat until after the flood but after the flood in Genesis 9 it says that they were to eat of every kind of meat and so they ate meat as well.

But obviously we believe the story of the ark that it was true and the Bible tells us of course that there were additional animals there. We now are going to go to Bruce and Bruce is in Clearwater Florida and Bruce, welcome to Bibleline your on the air. Good morning, Pastor. Good morning. This is Bruce from Clearwater. We had a previous scholar there that kind of concerned me and I had a question regarding people that are into work based salvation.

They hear a clear message and still we will not understand what salvation is and what it is and what is the consequences for that person. Well obviously We’re going to be. going to be judged according to the light that we have had and the light that we rejected and they’re going to be in worse trouble if they are lost and go to hell than a person who had not heard a clear message. There are degrees of punishment and hell.

If you read Matthew 11, you have Christ cursing three cities on the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee that had Christ go through their cities and heal and preach. He says it’s going to be better off for the cities of Sodom and other Old Testament cities that got judged than it would be for them when they’re cast into hell because they rejected greater light. even talks about the Sodom, the people of Sodom, would be better off the day of judgment than the people of Capernaum would be because they rejected such greater light.

So I think this is a problem where if they hear and are claiming to be Christian reading their Bibles and they still don’t get it, they’re rejecting greater light. And obviously believers go to heaven, unbelievers go to hell, but believers will be judged at the judgment of Christ and giving an account for their works for the degree of reward and unbelievers will be judged at the great white throne judgment and they go to hell because they’re unbelievers, but their works will be examined there to determine the degree of punishment in hell.

So obviously this is sad. And we just talked about it on the radio program a day or so ago about the Second Timothy Chapter 4, how that in the last days they would not endure sound doctrine. And actually if you look up the word endure it means that they would stand up against or they would not put up with. In other words, they just don’t want to hear it. They don’t want to hear sound doctrine. Theyongyang don’t want to hear what the Bible says, but they will continue to believe whatever lies that they have already been told.

That’s a great passage to look up. 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 3 says, The time will come, and I believe it has, when they will not endure. That word endure means to stand up against or not to put up with sound doctrine. But after their own lust, they would heap to the themselves teachers having itching ears and they would be turning away their ears from the truth. They want to be entertained, their ears tickled and they would actually believe fables or lies or deceitful teachings which are conjured of the Bible and I think that’s where we’re at right to hear today.

So thank you so much for that call. We now have, you don’t know, you’re on the air. How you doing today? Good. Okay. I was calling about Matthew, I think it was Matthew 21. My heart. they can do with their salvation. I keep trying to tell them they can’t lose their salvation. So she knew that thing about the wedding piece that the guy had. He was there, but the Lord told him to come buying them up and cast them to the outer darkness.

But when I read the scripture, I was like, I was like, Auntie, he never was saved because he never had on the garments of righteousness in her where he had never accepted Christ. And I think it was a parable he was using for the Pharisees that time when I read it within context. Could you elaborate more on that for me? Well, that’s right. No same person would ever be cast out. That’s a basic rule in interpreting the Bible. You interpret a difficult verse always in the light of a clear one.

And in John 637, you have a clear one where Christ says, Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. So here in this passage in Matthew, Christ is casting this man out. And therefore he could not be a safe person because Christ gives his word that he would never cast out a believer, a safe person. So the person must be an unbeliever. None of course if you read the text more carefully you’ll discover the reasons why.

In this case, he doesn’t have on the wedding garment, which is the garment of salvation. Isaiah 61 10 talks about a robe of righteousness, a garment of salvation that every believer has that is received by faith in Christ alone. when we trust Him as our Savior. We’re actually made righteous in God’s sight. 2 Corinthians 521 says that God made Christ to be sinned for us. Christ who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

So in other words, your sins and my sins were taken by God and laid upon Christ, this one who was absolutely sinless. And when we trusted He died for us, the very righteousness of Christ is, or of God is credited to our account, and God sees the believer as righteous, and on that basis will be able in her heaven. So that’s in Matthew chapter 22, the passage you were referring to, and is talking about a man who was not saved, and Christ cast him out.

They bind him hand and foot, and they cast him not our darkness. That’s hell, and this person is lost, and he was not a believer, or if he had been a believer, he would have had the wedding garment, the garment of salvation, and it would have been able to enter in. We have Joe in Pimbroke Pines, Florida, and he says in Hebrews 1028-29, what does drawback mean pertaining to these unsaved people? Well, first of all, Joe, these are not talking about unsaved people.

In Hebrews, chapter 10, it’s talking about saved people who do despite to the Spirit of Grace by not living for Christ as a believer. It talks about two things there that God will judge you and discipline you as a delinquent believer and also that you’re going to suffer the loss of reward. So there’s a warning there about those who draw back and do not serve the Lord as a Christian. You’ll not be lost, but you will be judged by the Lord.

That says the Lord shall judge his people in verse 31. So we know that the Lord is going to judge those who are his, those that are believers and you will suffer the loss of reward. It says in verse I think 35, cast not away there for your confidence for it has great recompense of reward. So rewards are based upon your service and obviously as a believer you need to get back serving the Lord. But nowhere does it talk about unsaved people here.

This is talking about throughout the entire chapter, people that are born again, that are saved by the blood of Christ. But in verse 29 it talks about those who do despite the Spirit of Christ and trot under foot the blood of Christ, whereby they have been sanctified. And God says, I’m going to judge them, I’ll spank them for their delinquency in order to bring them back on course to serve me. But if they don’t, then they’ll suffer the loss of reward.

I hope that helps answer that question. I hope everybody listening has trusted Christ as Savior. We’re not saved by turning away from sin. We’re not saved by joining the church or being baptized. In fact, the Bible says very clearly in Ephesians 2, 8, salvation is not of ourselves. It’s the gift of God. And so when we trust Him, we become saved. Then God gives us the power to be a victorious Christian.

That concludes today’s question and answer segment. There’s no other topic that is more important to us than the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it was Dr. Hank Lindstrom’s mission to spread the gospel. Through your support for Bibleline, you too can help to spread the gospel of Christ throughout the world and to reach others with the message of salvation through Jesus. Visit our website at BibleLineMinistries.org for copies of any of our resources, such as Dr. Lindstrom’s audio CDs on the books of Matthew or Genesis, plus many others.

Now join us as we return to today’s teaching series. The point is that I’ve seen people sing that hymn who never, ever attempt to lead anyone to Christ. And then saying they’re following Christ, I mean obviously if they’re following Christ, they’ll somewhere online be come a fisher of men. So a lot of what you see out there that claims to be following Christ and you hear that phrase and I’ve heard some popular radio teachers say that we as Christians are all followers of Christ.

Is that right? Baloney. I mean most Christians never witnessed, never tried to lead a soul to Christ, and they’re not following him. They might be saved. And prior to this point, Peter and John, rather Peter and Andrew were saved, but they weren’t followers. He says, now, I want you to be a follower of me. Follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men. And it’s just amazing to me how terms are used. And I just almost drove my car off the road when this Christian well-known said, And as Christians, we are all followers of Christ.

That’s not true. Not true at all. Very few Christians are followers. They might be saved even. But unless you are fishing for men, you’re not a follower of Christ. Follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men. Christ never hid what his intent or purpose was. He told you right up front, you enrolled in my discipleship program? Guess what? Here’s what you’re going to be at the end of the line. You’re going to be able to lead people to Christ.

That’s what it’s all about. And so if you involve yourself in any type of a teaching program that’s called discipleship and it doesn’t lead you toward bringing loss people to Jesus Christ, you’re in a false program and need to get out of it. I mean, really, it’s just absolutely amazing how the devil will take people and say, well, you’re in a discipleship program. That sounds good. Boy, I ought to be a disciple. And then they just totally led down a road that doesn’t lead them toward the goals of what Christ set down as what a disciple ought to do.

So I think this is a fascinating passage. Verse 20, look at how they responded. They straightaway left their nets and what followed him. For me it took a year. I got saved and a year later I became a disciple. I said, Lord, I’ll start telling people about Christ. And that was my second choice. And every Christian is confronted with both. You trust Christ and you’re saved. Then you follow Christ to be a disciple. And if you follow Him ultimately, you may not immediately be capable of leading someone to Christ.

But in your pursuit of learning about Christ, your goal should be that you be able to impact other people for Christ. And I believe you can get better at it. And as believers, we ought to. We ought to practice and we get better. better at leading people to Christ. And that’s what it’s all about. So think about people you might put on your list. Who doesn’t know Christ that you care about? And those are the ones to start with.

Maybe a family member, a grandmother. And we have some people right now that are traveling that said that we’re out there to try to reach some of our relatives before they go into eternity. I’ve heard several people tell me that lately. And I know that we’ve had people in this church that have gone to their homelands back to other countries and tried to reach family members there. I think that’s wonderful. I know that it’s amazing that we’ve had so many that have gone, I think you’ve gone to Norway to try to reach your family for Christ.

Mickey’s gone to Panama to try to reach his family for Christ. And I know Bill and Ginger are gone to Texas. That’s a foreign country. to reach the family for Christ. And I hear the stories of different ones trying to reach your family that right from this church are going back to take the message to some other place. And maybe you have just relatives living in another part of Tampa or maybe across the state or across the United States or some other land.

We ought to try to reach them. There’s got to be somebody in your family tree that doesn’t know the Lord. And that’s a good place to start. And then reach out beyond that and encourage them to reach others. And that’s the way it all starts. That’s the way it all begins. Andrew leading Peter to Christ, his brother, and then becoming a fisher of men at Christ’s request. And all believers ought to do that. Welcome to the book of Matthew.

And we’re glad to have you here. And I believe we are in chapter four. I think we’re talking about the great or rather what discipleship is all about. Matthew 4 19 says, follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men. Unfortunately today you can read all kinds of books on discipleship that won’t even mention much about soul winning and it’s a counterfeit therefore. Well it’s amazing that people could get that so messed up because Christ clearly says follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men.

The main focus, goal, object of being a disciple is that you would win people to Christ. And it just isn’t happening. I’ve seen programs in churches where they have this discipleship thing that goes on and on classes forever. Nobody comes out able to meet us over to Christ. I mean they just miss the whole point of what it’s all about. We go on down out of verse 23 and look in the middle of it. This is the Christ healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

We don’t see that today with the modern healing movement. I think the modern movement is a counterfeit. I think people are being deceived by it. And notice here all men are sickness, all men are disease. In these healing meetings people have serious problems, getting near the stage and they don’t get healed. I have three blind people in this church. If I knew a place where I could take them and they would be having their sight restored, restored, I would drive them there myself.

Wherever it would be in this country, I would load them up and go. But it doesn’t happen. You know it doesn’t happen. They don’t raise the dead. They don’t restore missing flesh. They don’t give sight to the blind. It’s just a real charade. And it’s unfortunately going on. And people are being deceived, left and right, all across our country. So when you compare what people are doing with the scripture, It just didn’t happen. It says here, notice healing all.

A-L-L manner of sickness and all. A-L-L manner of disease among the people. And I tell people if it were really possible today for people to do that, why don’t they first visit the hospitals? Why don’t they go floor by floor, room by room, empty it out? Wouldn’t that be great? I think it would be wonderful, but they don’t. They can’t. It just doesn’t happen. And they themselves died. Katherine Kuhlman, who had a big following, as she was a healer, died of cancer.

A.A. Allen, a famous healer, one of the early ones, died of alcohol, sources of the liver. And it was just like the one healing campaign that had to sign outside the church. No healing services tonight due to the illness of the pastor. And so it just is a contradiction. this doesn’t work. Alright,Wisconsin.com Now we’re going to go to chapter 5 in verse 1. Seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set his disciples came into him.

I want to separate here between the multitudes and the disciples. Here were the multitudes, and notice he left the multitudes, went up into a mountain, and when he was set, who comes his disciples? So I think primarily this message that he delivers here is to believers. believers. These disciples should be believers. Of course, we know Judas was the exception, but here the disciples come and he doesn’t speak to the multitudes here. He speaks to the disciples. With that we’ll move on.

Verse 2, he opened his mouth and taught them saying, verse 3, blessed are the poor in spirit. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. I believe it’s talking about people who recognize that they’re sinners in need of a Savior. And these These are the ones that come to know Christ and therefore they go to heaven. Thanks for listening to Bible I. What Dr. Hank Lindstrom. That wraps up another edition for today. Please be sure to tune in next time as we continue this teaching series.

We’ve enjoyed being with you today and hope that you’re following along with us in your Bible. There is nothing more foundational to the development and strengthening of your Christian life than reading your Bible. Please make an effort to spend time with God through reading your Bible each day and learning and growing in the knowledge of God’s Word through listening to Bibleline. If you missed any part of today’s program or if you’d like to hear Dr. Lindstrom’s entire series on today’s teaching, please call us at 1-800-576-3771 to get a copy for your personal library, or if you prefer, you can write us at Bibleline Ministries 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634.

It was Dr. Lindstrom’s ministry to spread the gospel of salvation by telling all that 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. Please visit our website at BibleLineMinistries.org to watch Dr. Lindstrom’s seven-minute video that will greet you there. Thanks to our audio team for their work on today’s program.

Our time is up for today, but we look forward to you being with us again for another edition of Bibleline. Until next time, this has been Tom Perry for Bibleline Ministries, and as Dr. Hank Lindstrom like to say, and we know it to be true, keep looking up. Jesus is coming. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, the 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. So in other words, just like a woman who is pregnant cannot escape the pain of childbearing. So will the world not escape the trials and tribulations and judgments of the tribulation period that will follow the Rapture. Once the Rapture has happened, they will experience sudden destruction, it says in verse and it says, as travail upon a woman with child, they shall not escape.

But you, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. The Bible is really saying here, we could know when it’s close, when the time is ready for Christ to come back. Well, God has given us signs about His return, and I believe we can see Him. The major sign is the return of the Jew back to the state of Israel. They have become a nation in their land again, and that affording to the Bible in the prophet Osea defines the latter days.

The latter days are defined as when Israel would go back to their land and become a nation again. So we’re in the last days, and look at all the other things that are happening at the same time that lead us to believe that we’re getting close. Whatever your Christ comes back, I believe it will be in the fall on the Feast of Trumpets. If the Lord were to come this year, that’s probably the most likely date. Now I didn’t set the date.

I didn’t say He’s coming this year. But whatever your Christ comes, it’ll be on the Feast of Trumpets. What does that mean? You’ve got the months left. And Jesus would be back if He comes this year. If He doesn’t come this year, I’ll be watching next year. And we just said a moment ago, maybe it’s three years out. Or who knows, maybe even longer. But we’re in the times and seasons of Christ’s return. I think we ought to not think that his coming will be far off because we ought to live in the excitement of his soon coming.

It ought to motivate us to make every day count, not in order to be saved because we’re saved by what Christ did for us at the cross of Calvary, but in order to have a full reward, in order to win as many people in our family and our loved ones to Christ as many as possible before the Lord comes back. We ought to be busy serving and living for Christ as we watch for the Lord to return. It’s exciting.

And I believe that as we watch the newspapers, we’re watching the news catch up to the Bible as the Bible is tomorrow’s news today. If you haven’t trusted Christ as your Savior, you need to do that. It’s the most important decision you’ll ever make in your life, your whole eternity is based upon whether or not you trust Jesus as your Savior. Would you do it right now? Just tell the Lord, Lord, I am a sinner. I don’t understand much about the Bible.

But what I heard just now makes sense and I trust Jesus Christ right now as my Savior, as my only hope of heaven. As the one who paid the sin debt that I owed and paid it in full by his death and shed blood at the cross was buried and rose again from the dead. I trust Jesus Christ right now to save me. Would you do that? It’s the most important decision you’ll ever make. And by the way, if you do that, you’ll be in the rapture if you’re living when Christ returns, which there’s a good chance you will be.

And we’ll all meet in the air and get our new bodies, which is described in the previous chapter here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Today we were talking about chapter 5 that there is a sign and there are many more for the Rapture. One of the signs is that the world would be talking about peace and safety probably for Israel and it’s being talked about right now and could that be the peace that 1 Thessalonians 5-3 is talking about and then boom the Rapture happens, sudden destruction comes on the world and they’ll not escape it.

As to rail upon a woman with a child, they’ll not escape it, but we brethren are not going to be surprised if we’re reading our Bible and paying attention. The signs are everywhere that Christ is about to return. Gotta run, but keep looking up. Jesus is coming. And I believe he’s really coming soon. I really believe that. God bless you. Have a great day. All the Dr. Hank Lindstrom will be back tomorrow. 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.