KHCB Broadcast – Pastor’s Q & A – February 16, 2023

KHCB Broadcast – Pastor’s Q & A – February 16, 2023
• Dr. Andy Woods • February 16, 2023 • KHCB Radio

Transcript

KHCB – 02-16-2023 – Full Program Transcript

Announcer: [00:00:00] Tonight’s guest is Dr. Andy Woods, Senior Pastor at the Sugar Land Bible Church.  Dr. Woods is also president of the Chafer Theological Seminary. He has authored and contributed to many Christian books and theological journals and speaks on a variety of topics at Christian conferences and churches. The church website is SLBC.org. If you’re calling from inside the Houston listening area, you can dial 832-922-4444. That’s 832-922-4444. If you’re calling from around the KHCB network outside of the Houston area, you can reach us at 877-999-5422. That’s 877-999-5422. Or if you’d rather email your question to us, you can reach us at Questions@ KHCB.org and it’ll appear on our computer screen here in the studio and we’ll forward it to our guests. We ask that you not mention any denominations or personal names because our aim tonight is to answer questions relating to the Bible. And now to get us started, we have a special guest hosting tonight, Mr. Dan Wales. Dan.

Dan: [00:01:42] Thank you. And what an opportunity we have tonight to look into the word of God and find in it some wonderful answers, really the answers to everything we need for life in Godliness. And we have here Dr. Andy Woods, as was introduced a moment ago. And it’s a good thing that we have Dr. Woods here because he is the person who can also tell us, before we begin, some of the questions about a prophecy conference that’s coming up. And I know that a lot of people wonder about the mark of the beast and what is that or have questions about the Rapture and a lot of questions regarding end time prophecy and the eschatology of things yet to come. Dr. Woods, as always, we’re glad to have you here. Tell me a little bit about this prophecy conference that’s coming up.

Pastor Woods: [00:02:27] Yeah, it’s going to be it’s put on through my home church, Sugar Land Bible Church, and it features three speakers – myself, Olivier Melnick, who’s kind of an expert on tracking down anti-Semitism, and also Don Perkins, who’s a pretty, I think, pretty well known prophecy conference speaker. And basically the conference is “From the Rapture to Eternity”. So it’s going to cover the following subjects the Rapture Pre-millenialism, the Jewish wedding system, Daniel and the Tribulation, the Mark of the Beast, Satan’s Agenda for the Jews, the Messianic Kingdom, the Eternal Order and more. And we’re having a Shabbat dinner at Sugar Creek Country Club, and so we’re filled up for that already, unfortunately.  That’s February the 24th. But if people want to come, they could call the church and get their name on the waiting list. But the main conference is Saturday, February the 25th. It’s going to go from nine in the morning, I believe, all the way till 6:30 p.m. at night. It ends with a Question and Answer session. There’s going to be special music Friday and Saturday with Corey Keeler and Lev Shallow, who we’ve had before. And then the conference will be over, and that’s following Sunday morning at Sugar Land Bible Church. Olivier Melnick and Don Perkins are going to be speaking at our church. So people want to stick around for church. We’d love to have them, but if they’re interested in coming, we need them to go to the Sugar Land Bible Church website  www.SLBC.org and you’ll see very conspicuously there a way to register for the conference. So we would love for people to come and if they’re out of the area and they can’t come, not to fear, we’re going to be doing free live streaming for the whole event on Saturday. So our goal is just really to teach prophecy in a non confused way. Because you’re right, a lot of people have questions about this and we seem to be living in a season where these prophecies are becoming more conspicuous. Yes, indeed. As we get closer to the end of the age.

Dan: [00:04:53] And it’s really beautiful to hear the way that you’re addressing some of the things that are often not talked about at prophecy conferences, talking about the Jewish wedding feast. And when you think about that, you realize that that right there in the Book of Revelation, we hear about the marriage Feast of the Lamb. And so this is really pertinent and a lot of aspects of the future events that are just not touched on. So I’m so glad that this is all covered.

Pastor Woods: [00:05:21] That’s right. That’s what we’re doing. 27% of the Bible was eschatological, future oriented when it was written. So it’s a big chunk of God’s word that he wants us to understand. And you’re right, a lot of churches, for whatever reason, will never touch these subjects with a ten foot pole, which I think is tragic, because Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Dan: [00:05:44] Amen. Again, SLBC.org  SLBC as in Sugarland Bible Church. SLBC.org is a point where you can find out more about this prophecy conference coming up. Well, we have a number of calls that have been called in as well as some questions sent in by email to Questions@ KHCB.org. And let’s, let’s first take a question that is sent by email, which is simply a question about betrayal, asking what is betrayal? And this particular email goes at some length into the issues of Judas betraying Jesus Christ.  So what, what is betrayal in this context?

Pastor Woods: [00:06:30] Well, I think the simplest answer is found in Matthew chapter 26, verse 50.  Jesus speaking to Judas – it says Jesus – Jesus said to him, Judas, “friend”. That’s a key word. “Do what you have come to do. Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and seized him”. And of course, we all know that Judas betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver. Not even gold, but silver. I mean, he sold him out. And I think what was so treacherous about that is this was really a member of Christ’s inner circle. And it’s somebody that Jesus called friend till the very end. And it’s kind of an interesting thing how God seeing this betrayal coming through his omniscience could still look at a man like this as a friend. And so, yeah, Jesus was hurt, hurt physically because of the crucifixion, but his heart and his emotions, you know, were very wounded because one of his friends stabbed him in the back, so to speak. I think I think that’s what betrayal is here.

Dan: [00:07:42] Absolutely. And that really does make it very, very clear. Betrayal with a kiss, the greeting of a friend. And even with the salutation, Jesus gives him that word friend. It’s amazing. One other question that came in by email early that I want to cover, and then we’ve got a phone call waiting. The question that is also sent in is drawing really from the Old Testament, specifically Leviticus Chapter 11, and also Isaiah Chapter 66, asking is there some specific sin attached to eating pork? Because the, you know, the person who sent in this email is really wondering about pork and the significance at that time and today.

Pastor Woods: [00:08:30] Yeah, Well, the particular verse that he was curious about is Isaiah 65, verse 17.

Dan: [00:08:39] 66.

Pastor Woods: [00:08:40] 66, I thinks it says Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, following one in the center who eat swine’s flesh, detestable things and mice shall come to an end all together, declares the Lord. So this is a millennial passage, and it’s saying people that commit these sins and it talks about eating swine’s flesh shall be no more in the kingdom. And when you go back to the book of Leviticus, Chapter 11 verses seven and eight, you read these words, it says and the pig for though it divides the hoof, thus making it a split hoof. It does not chew cud, it is unclean to you. You shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their carcasses. They are unclean. And so eating swine’s flesh was basically a violation of the Mosaic law. And so Isaiah is just saying that violators of God’s law will disappear. They won’t have any place of influence or existence in the millennial kingdom. So the thing to understand about the Mosaic Law is it was given only to the nation of Israel. Psalm 147, verses 19 and 20 indicates that God’s statutes are for Jacob only. And so this is not something that’s binding today on every single Christian, but it was the law for the nation of Israel. And they weren’t to eat swine’s flesh. And God wanted his nation to be distinct from the surrounding Canaanite people groups. And so he had different rules like this for them to follow. And so people that violate God’s law won’t have any place in the Millennial Kingdom is what it’s saying.

Dan: [00:10:37] Okay. This is the program that’s heard each Thursday evening at this time. Questions and Answers. Dr. Andy Woods is taking a look into the Word of God to answer the questions you might have. We’ll go to the phone next and find out what this caller has on mind. Go ahead, caller.

Caller: [00:10:55] Yes, Hello. Yes. Oh, yes. And I was calling because I was listening to the other pastor before the Question and Answers came on and he was talking about having the gift of singleness and marriage and which I agree some people have. The gift of singleness and some people don’t. But he was saying, if you don’t have the gift, then marry. But I know some people and situations that they don’t have the gift of singleness, but then on the other hand, they can’t find nobody to marry, so they struggle. And that sometimes in some cases they even do things outside of the will of God. So I’m just trying to figure out what is the Bible say about that, because I know the Bible does say if you, you know, it’s rather than married than burn. So, what do you do then? If you, if you know. Because you can’t make somebody marry you. And it’s a problem because we stand we live in a fallen world.

Dan: [00:11:50] Good question. Thank you very much. Dr. Woods, I think, can address this very well. Probably looking at Ist Corinthians 7, maybe some other scriptural passages that address this.

Pastor Woods: [00:12:01] Well, I mean, it’s just like any other need you have. You say, Lord, I have this need and I would like you to fill this need, you know, in your providence and timing and you don’t try not to get in a hurry, you know, to fill the need, you know, through your own human scheming and manipulation, which is just going to make a mess of things. But the first marriage you see in Genesis 2 and what you see is God put Adam to sleep. And then he brought he fashioned woman from man’s side and then brought the woman to the man. So that’s how, that’s the best advice I could give to people who have a desire to be married. The Bible says it’s not good for man to be alone. She already quoted the 1st Corinthians 7 passage. It’s better to marry than to burn with lust. And you just say to the Lord, you know, Lord, you created me this way. I want to be married, but I’m going to just kind of go to sleep as Adam went to sleep. And I’m not going to be, I think some of the mistakes people make as singles is they, you know, they really get out there and really start to shake the bushes, so to speak.

Pastor Woods: [00:13:15] And if Adam had done that, he would have ended up ended up with an Orangutan. I think about it. And a lot of people end up with Orangutans because they don’t meet, you know, wait on the Lord. So I think the best thing to do is say, Lord, I have this need and I’m just going to trust you with it. I’m going to go to sleep like Adam did, and I’m going to trust you to meet this need, you know, in my, in your timing and providence. And you would not believe what God does in terms of bringing you the right person at the right time. I mean, I could go into a lot of details about my own life, how it worked out that way. And I think there’s a lot of other happily married people that could tell you the same kind of story. So God knows you have the need and just ask because he says, you know, you have not, because you ask not.  And then just trust him, you know, to meet those circumstances.

Dan: [00:14:09] Yeah. He makes the lonely to be situated in families. And it’s a wonderful thing that God does that in his own time, in his own way. We do have to wait on the Lord and we’re charged really not to wake love or wake passion before it’s time. So that’s these are very important scriptural admonitions. And as Dr. Woods mentioned, 1st Corinthians Chapter 7 speaks to this very, very clearly. And it’s something that we don’t have time to go into right now on the air. But there is a lengthy instruction from the Apostle Paul about marriage and about the issues related to it.

Pastor Woods: [00:14:52] And another thing to think about is while you’re single and waiting on the Lord, if you desire to be married, there’s a lot of things you can do now, that you won’t be able to do when you’re married because your interest will become divided.  One of the things I spent a lot of time doing was just spending a lot of time in study. I probably learned a lot about the Bible during that season of my life and those opportunities, you know, for undistracted study, you know, sort of start to dissipate a little bit, you know, once you get married. So there’s a lot of things that you can take advantage of now in your, in your daily life. So redeem the time, I guess.

Dan: [00:15:35] Yes. Just as Adam was busy in the garden.  Naming the animals and tending the garden and doing the things the Lord had instructed until the Lord saw fit the right time to bring him a wife. Likewise, we need to be about the work of the Lord. And again, that’s something that’s touched on in 1st Corinthians 7. This is the program – Questions and Answers.  The phone numbers 832-922-4444. That’s 832-922-4444.  Or toll free 1-877-999-KHCB. Let’s go to our next caller. You’re on the air, number 2. You’re on the air.

Caller: [00:16:16] Did Timothy have a sister?

Dan: [00:16:19] Did Timothy have a sister? And we know about his mother and grandmother, Lois and Eunice. From what we read in the Epistle to Timothy in one of the two epistles to Timothy. Paul makes specific reference to that. I don’t know about any reference to a sister, do you, Dr. Woods?

Pastor Woods: [00:16:35] I don’t. I’m wondering if there’s a specific verse he’s talking about.

Caller: [00:16:40] Not much, not much reference is made to brother and sister.

Pastor Woods: [00:16:44] I didn’t quite catch that.

Dan: [00:16:45] He said not much reference is made to brother and sister.

Pastor Woods: [00:16:48] Yeah, I, I you know, he very well could have. I just don’t have enough information.

Dan: [00:16:54] Okay. Yeah. And I don’t recall reading any such thing either. We do read in 2nd Timothy Chapter 1. As we look at verse 5, Paul writes to Timothy “for I am mindful of the sincere faith within you which first dwelt in your grandmother, Lois, and your mother, Eunice. And I am sure that it is in you as well”. And so, very clearly, there was a cluster of believers in this family that Timothy grew up in, and they made clear effort to pass on the faith and make sure that it was passed on to Timothy. But we don’t see, as far as I’m aware, any reference to a sister. All right. Let’s go on to the next question. Caller, you’re on the air.

Caller: [00:17:40] Good evening.  In Romans chapter 3, verse 21. And I’m trying to understand righteousness.

Dan: [00:17:50] That’s, so you said Romans Chapter 13?  Oh, Chapter 3. Pardon me, verse 21.

Caller: [00:17:57] Yes. And I’m trying to understand righteousness and reads, but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifest being witnessed by the law and the prophet. So if I’m trying to be righteous, what is it must I do to be considered righteous? And what is the righteousness of God?

Dan: [00:18:25] All right. Thank you, caller. This is a great question because it is really at the heart of salvation. The question relates directly to what can we do to be saved and what does the word of God say about that, Dr. Woods?

Pastor Woods: [00:18:41] Right. Well, I mean, the truth of the matter is God’s righteous standard is expressed in the Mosaic law. And the Bible is pretty clear that by the works of the law, no man shall be justified. So, the more you try to keep the law, the more you fall short. The law, what it’s really there for is to show you your faults rather than make you feel good about yourself. And the law is a very good accuser in that standpoint. So because we’re sinners by nature, we don’t have the ability to attain the righteousness of God on our own. So what we need is what the Protestant reformers called alien righteousness or transferred righteousness, imputed righteousness, righteousness coming from outside yourself. And that is a really big part of Paul’s teaching. For example, over in the book of Philippians chapter 3, verse 9, he says, and may be found in him not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. So I don’t you know, I don’t really plan on standing before God one day in my own righteousness, which is not going to get me very far anyway.

Pastor Woods: [00:20:00] I plan on standing before God in the transferred righteousness of Jesus, because the moment you trust Christ, Martin Luther called it the great exchange. You know, your unrighteousness is exchanged for the righteousness of Jesus. And God looks at you “positionally” as if you were just as righteous as His Son. And so that’s an awesome thing to think about. And it’s not something that we manufacture on our own. It’s something that’s positionally declared about us. That’s what justified means. It’s like a, it’s kind of a forensic term. It’s like a jury verdict. There’s a the righteousness is transferred to you, and then there’s a heavenly announcement that you’re just as righteous as Jesus. And then once you figure that out, then you start to think, well, maybe I should behave differently in my daily life since God has declared this about me. Maybe I should act my position. In other words, I’m not going to live perfectly, but the realization of this should cause us to not be sinless, but hopefully to send less. And that doesn’t contribute to our position of righteousness, that contributes to our progressive sanctification or growth in Christ. So I hope that helps a little bit.

Dan: [00:21:20] Yeah. Just to be very, very practical on this, to let the rubber hit the road, so to speak. If you know that you have fallen short of God’s standard, if you recognize that you’re a sinner and you recognize also that God is perfect, He is so perfect that we cannot measure up, then you know that you need some way to be saved from the penalty. That’s really due to all of us because of our sins. And the only way to find salvation is through Jesus Christ. And, what we can do to get that to appropriate that salvation is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. That’s what Paul told a jailer. And the jailer wanted to know what must I do to be saved? And the very short, succinct answer – believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. That’s something you can do right now. Any of us at this point, if we recognize we’ve sinned and recognize that Jesus Christ is God and is righteous, we can have his perfection, His righteousness put on us, if we will. We can absorb that righteousness, if you will. And it is by faith in Jesus Christ alone, just believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. And that’s a wonderful transaction. Let me just ask one other question, Dr. Woods, about this text that the caller asked about. It says, But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. So what does this mean that the righteousness of God has been shown or manifested apart from the law, and then it’s witnessed by the law and the prophets?

Pastor Woods: [00:23:13] Well, the law Mosaic Law is a perfect, perfect description of God’s moral character. And then, what we have at the end of the what we would call the dispensation of the law, is there was a man that fulfilled the law perfectly. So he, in that sense, becomes the, you know, he says, I have not come to abolish the law in the prophets, but to fulfill them. So he kept the law in our place. And he, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, and he offers us his righteousness in exchange for our unrighteousness, our infractions of the law.

Dan: [00:23:52] That is a great exchange. This is the program. Questions and Answers. And we’ll go to our next caller. Caller, go ahead. You’re on the air.

Caller: [00:24:02] Yes. I just need to ask a question concerning the Holy Spirit. I know the Holy Spirit, the third man, the Trinity, restrains Satan in this world as we know it. My question is, once we are raptured, will the Holy Spirit be taken up to or will he leave this earth too? And if that does happen, how will the people who will be left behind, you know, to endure the tribulation? How can they come to know the Lord? And I’ll just hang up and hear the answer. Thank you.

Dan: [00:24:41] Thank you very much. And boy, this is a great question for Dr. Woods, because of the prophetic element of this and the prophecy conference that’s coming up.

 

Pastor Woods: [00:24:50] Yeah, 2nd Thessalonians 2, [verses] 6 and 7. Paul writes, And you know what restrains him now so that in his time he may be revealed for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. So she’s absolutely right. The Holy Spirit is doing something really unique right now. He is preventing the Antichrist from coming on the scene.

Dan: [00:25:18] The man of lawlessness.

Pastor Woods: [00:25:19] The man of lawlessness. And I believe that Satan, who does not know when this restraint is going to be removed, because he’s not omniscient, he’s not all knowing, always has someone waiting in the wings throughout history. That’s why when you go through World history, there are so many people, you know, whether it’s Hitler or Nero or whoever, that could qualify to be an Antichrist or the Antichrist. So there’s something and this has been happening in the church age that’s inhibiting the Antichrist from coming forward. And I agree with her that it is the Holy Spirit that the long answer to that. But I agree it’s talking about a unique ministry that the Holy Spirit is doing. And so the false sort of presupposition is people think, okay, then once the restrainer is gone, then the Holy Spirit is gone. And if the Holy Spirit has gone in the Tribulation, how do you get these salvation that we read about in the second half of Revelation seven. So the truth of the matter is that the Holy Spirit will not disappear during the tribulation. The Holy Spirit will have an active role in the tribulation. The only thing that’s different is his unique ministry of restraining the Antichrist will be gone. But that doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit will be gone, because it will sort of roll back to how it was in the Old Testament time period where you have the Holy Spirit present. The Holy Spirit has mentioned first couple of verses in Genesis. You know, there he was.

Dan: [00:26:57] The Spirit of God over the waters.

Pastor Woods: [00:26:58] Hovering upon the waters, and he was working with the Tabernacle Workers and the Exodus so they could do their work of carpentry. The Holy Spirit can’t leave because he’s omnipresent, meaning he’s everywhere at once. That’s why, David, I want to say Psalm 139 said, you know, where can I go from your presence?  If I go into Sheol, you’re there. If I go here, you’re there. So don’t, don’t miss don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because the one ministry is gone, his restraint, that means that the Holy Spirit will be gone because he won’t be. He’ll be continuing to work, although in a more limited sense. And if that wasn’t happening, you couldn’t have all those salvations in the tribulation because it’s the spirit that convicts people of their need to trust in Christ for salvation. So the Holy Spirit is present in the tribulation – is just in the Old Testament sense and in a more limited sense, you know. But he’s still there.

Dan: [00:28:02] Yes. Those texts are again, Psalm 139, verse 7 and following, and then taking a look at 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2, a number of verses in there that deal with the man of lawlessness and the restraint that is going on verse 6 in particular. You know what restrains him. Now you’re listening to the Questions and Answers program on the Keeping Him Close by network. We have a station break coming up and following that, more questions.

Announcer: [00:28:33] You are never alone. This is the Keeping Him Close By network, offering the hope of Jesus Christ every day of the year. KHCB-FM Houston, 105.7. And also broadcasting in Lockhart, San Marcus, Austin, Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Natchitoches, Louisiana, with uplifting music and words of hope – Keeping Him Close By.

Dan: [00:29:27] This is KHCB. You’re listening to the Keeping Him Close By network, including many stations. And along each of these stations. We’d like to take just a moment now to pray for this nation. It is so important that we pray for kings and rulers and those in authority. This is biblical and it is something that is very practical as well, so that we might live peaceable and godly lives. It is essential that we do this. And so we’ll take just a few moments out of the question and answer program to pray for this country and indeed pray for the work of the Lord around the world, but specifically for the leaders of this nation to whom we are subject. Let’s pray. Father in Heaven, thank you for your great grace in giving us a free nation where we have opportunity to share the Word of God over the airwaves. When we have opportunity to speak openly in many, many churches across this land. We ask, Lord that you would have your hand even now on law officers, on judges, on those who represent us in Congress, in the state Senate, the state legislature. We ask that you would have your hand on the President of the United States and many other people who are in positions of authority that you have given them, and you’ve even called them ministers. Lord God, thank you for this country. We ask that we would make use of this to live peaceable and godly lives. That we would in fact submit ourselves to these authorities and Lord God, that you would provide for us godly leaders, far better than what we deserve, in order that this country might again be reawakened to you and to the truth of your word in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Again, this is the Questions and Answers program. We’ll go right away to another question because we have so many that have been called in. Go ahead. You’re on the air.

Caller: [00:31:29] Yes. Thank you, Dr. Woods. From Exodus 24:3 through 5, focusing on the first part of verse 4, where it says, Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Am I correct to use this to refute Talmudism Rabbinical adding with its oral law and the written oral law now to show that that is not inspired and am I understanding that section correctly? Hopefully. Hopefully you understand what I’m asking.

Dan: [00:32:08] I’ll read this right now just so that we can hear this. Thank you for this call. Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances and all the people answered with one voice and said all the words which the Lord has spoken, we will do. Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Then he arose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with 12 pillars for the 12 tribes of Israel. And the text goes on. But this basically is where he is writing down the words of the Lord.

Pastor Woods: [00:32:41] Mm hmm. No, I think she’s right that the actual scripture, the words of God, take precedence over any Talmudic or Rabbinic tradition. In fact, Jesus made a reference to that in Mark 7:13, and it was related to, you know, people not really taking care of their parents in their old age. They followed a tradition called Corban, you know, where you took money and you gave it to the Lord, and that was money that actually should have gone to your parents. And Jesus here says, you know, you really have a fine way of setting aside God’s word, which says, honor your mother and father for your traditions. And that’s why he says in Mark 7:13, thus invalidating the Word of God by your tradition, which you have, which you have handed down, and you do many things such as these. So you know, when there’s some sort of conflict between traditions and what God’s Word actually says is given at Mount Sinai, you go with God’s word. I mean, that’s why Jesus got in all the trouble he got into with the Pharisees constantly. It was this issue particularly related to the Sabbath, because they would get very upset, you know, what is it, Matthew 12 and other places where his disciples would eat on the Sabbath, or he would heal someone on the Sabbath and they would get really bent out of shape about that because you’re violating our traditions. And Jesus would always go back to the original intent of Moses, who gave the Sabbath, and Jesus called himself the Lord of the Sabbath.

Pastor Woods: [00:34:25] I’m the interpreter of the Sabbath because I was there at Sinai when this was given, and the Sabbath was there to be a blessing to man. So if you pull your, you know, animal out of a ditch on the Sabbath, I mean, why couldn’t you heal a man on the Sabbath? So they you know, what happened over the course of time is they got so myopic in terms of wanting to keep the law that they passed all of these. It’s basically called a fence around the law, all of these sort of man-made traditions that they thought were helping them keep the law. But over the course of time, the tail started to wag the dog, so to speak, and the traditions became they took a life of their own and they actually became more important in the thought process of the Pharisees than the actual law of God itself. And so Jesus constantly is directing people away from conflicting traditions and back to the law. So I completely agree with what she says. Can you use Exodus 34 to refute, you know, kind of, you know, Talmudic Judaism, which interprets Scripture through a whole maze of traditions. And I think I think I think you can use scripture to correct misunderstandings in Judaism, because that’s exactly what Jesus is doing.

Dan: [00:35:51] Let me point out that extending this even to this day, there are many churches and places, denominations that do not accept necessarily the word of God. They say the church tradition or the church teachings may supersede or be more important than the word of God. But that is not valid. That is not accurate. When you take a look at the word of God, it speaks for itself and makes it self preeminent. And you look at second Timothy 3:16, which is a well known verse that talks about this. And it is very, very clear that. We are to look at the Word of God and be very clear that the Word of God is useful for teaching and correction, instruction and righteousness and so many things that we need in order that we can set aside these traditions of men, the teachings of anyone, no matter how religious they may be, or whatever their tradition is. If it doesn’t square with the word of God, it needs to be discarded.

Pastor Woods: [00:36:54] Mm hmm. Amen.

Dan: [00:36:56] All right, let’s go to the next caller. You’re on the air on the keeping him close by network. Go ahead.

Caller: [00:37:07] So, I was looking at Exodus 19, verse 5.

Dan: [00:37:20] Exodus 19, verse 5, just about the time of the Ten Commandments there. And do you have a specific question regarding that?

Caller: [00:37:39] I was reading you 19, verse 5. I don’t know if it’s a question or an explanation.

Dan: [00:37:47] Okay. Well, let’s have Dr. Woods comment on this text then. Exodus 19, verse 5.

Pastor Woods: [00:37:55] Yeah, This is the famous kingdom of priests passage, but it says now, if you will indeed obey my covenant and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is mine. Verse 6, And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These words you shall speak to the Sons of Israel. So this is the Mosaic law, which was conditioned conditional. In other words, they had to do something to receive these blessings. They already had the Abrahamic Covenant, which is unconditional, which gives to Israel forever three basic blessings land, seed and blessing. They already had redemption because they had been brought out of Egypt redeemed from Egypt. And so how are God’s redeemed people supposed to act? The Mosaic Covenant is a description of that. It tells them how to act towards each other. That would be commandments 5 through 10. It tells them how to act towards God. That would be commandments 1 through 4. It tells them how to worship. That would be what the tabernacle is all about. And then here in verses 5 and 6, it’s how they are to act or to look at themselves in relation to the rest of the world. They’re a kingdom of priests. A priest is an intermediary. So they were basically standing between God and the rest of the world as his ambassadors. And so if they took on this conditional covenant, then that’s how they’re supposed to behave as God’s people that had already been redeemed.

Dan: [00:39:44] And in the New Testament, we can be ambassadors for Christ. And in fact, 1st Peter, Chapter 2 speaks of. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellences of Him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. For you once we’re not a people, but now you are the people of God. You have not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. So as children of Abraham, not in the blood, but as children of Abraham through faith in Jesus Christ, we can have a similar role as ambassadors for Christ reaching out as this sort of royal priesthood.

Pastor Woods: [00:40:29] Absolutely.

Dan: [00:40:31] All right. Let’s go to the next question. You’re on the air. Go ahead, please. Hello?

Caller: [00:40:39] Yes, Hello.

Dan: [00:40:40] Yes, You’re on the air.

Caller: [00:40:42] Yeah. What would you say to a friend that believes the King James is the only authorized Bible? Or version?

Dan: [00:40:51] Okay. We hear a lot of discussion about different translations these days. So, Dr. Woods?

Pastor Woods: [00:40:56] Well, I mean, the thing to understand about a translation is it’s a work of man. It’s man’s attempt to take, you know, the Hebrew, the Greek and the Aramaic and to translate it into your own language. The doctrine of inspiration and inerrancy, you know, only covers the actual recording of actual scripture in the original manuscripts. It doesn’t cover translations. And so I think the King James translation is excellent. I refer to it often, but I can show you parts of it where it’s not perfect. I think the King James translation kind of gets away from the truth a little bit in 2nd Thessalonians 2, verse 3, by translating the departure, which I think is a reference to the Rapture as some kind of spiritual departure. And I think that way because of the what the Greek word “apostasy”, it actually means over in Revelation 17, verse 5, you’ll see Babylon the great is the word “mystery” is capitalized in the King James version. She’s called Mystery Babylon the Great. You’ll notice that the word Babylon, a mystery, rather, is not capitalized in the new American standard Bible. And Babylon the Great is used five times in Revelation. It never is called Mystery Babylon. It’s called Babylon the Great, whose role in the end times happens to be a mystery. So that’s just to show you that the King James is excellent. But there’s a couple of places where I would disagree with it, and I could find similar mistakes in the N.A.S.B. or any other English translation that you want, because at the end of the day, these are works of man. Most of them are very good, but they’re not they’re not inerrant, like the original Greek and Hebrew manuscripts were inerrant. So I’m a little bit troubled when people say I’m King James only, and I’m much more comfortable when people say I’m King James mostly, but when they say I’m King James only, basically what they mean is that the King James version translation which wasn’t until what, the 16th century? Something like that.

Dan: [00:43:13] 1611, I want to say.

Pastor Woods: [00:43:14] Okay, There you go. 1611. They’re basically saying that that very late in the game. Translation 1611 is just as inspired as the original Greek and Hebrew manuscripts. And that’s not true. Let’s hope that hope that helps.

Dan: [00:43:31] I think unless you can say that Hebrew is your mother tongue and you’re fluently bilingual in Greek as well, and you can manage Aramaic, which is in the Book of Daniel, in some places, you probably need a translation of some sort. I’m thinking of Nehemiah Chapter 8, where Ezra read the book of the law to the people, and they needed to hear it because they had been in exile. They’d been far off from God and from His law. And in Ezra excuse me, in Nehemiah chapter 8, verse 8, we see they read from the book from the Law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading. And that’s very, very important that we do have a translation that we can look to. And oftentimes I’ll compare different translations to really make sure I get the sense of the scriptural text because I don’t have those skills in in Greek and Hebrew. All right. It’s quarter after. Let’s go to our next question on the questions and answer program. Go ahead.

Caller: [00:44:36] Hello? Okay. Hi. Okay. You’re talking to me?

Dan: [00:44:42] Yes, ma’am.

Caller: [00:44:43] Okay. I am calling about Romans 13:1 thru 5. And I it says let everyone be subject to the governing authority. So there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. But for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? I’m reading from NIV. Then do what is right and you will be commended for the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid for rulers. Do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment to the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities not only because of possible punishment, but also as a matter of conscience. And I would like to know I mean, I think there’s, there are numerous examples in the Bible, Daniel being one of them that didn’t follow the authorities. I think Jesus did submit to the ruling of authorities. And I guess in some cases. But other cases, not. I mean, I guess he you know, he didn’t follow the things, the Talmudic interpretations of, I guess, of the Sabbath and things. So I just don’t really understand it. I mean, if we are to, maybe I can just shut up.

Dan: [00:46:41] Well, let’s go ahead and take a look at this question of what happens, because these rulers, these leaders, these authorities are not perfect people and some of them, in fact, are evil people. So how do we understand what Romans 13 has to say about being subject to these authorities, especially if their edicts are not just?

Pastor Woods: [00:47:06] Well, it’s one of those questions that you can’t just look at one verse on. You’ve got to look at the whole Council of God’s Word. And all the way back in Genesis 9, around verse 6, God himself established civil government. It’s his idea. It’s there to restrain evil. And if you didn’t have a punishing, punishing body like that, then the world would be just as violent as it was in the flood era, you know, before the flood, I should say. So government from that standpoint is a good thing. And so from that standpoint, government is a minister. It has a function. You know, we’re not anti-government people. We, you know, we pay our taxes, we submit to authority, etc.. However, as America’s founding father said, the problem with government is it’s run by people that have the same sin nature as the rest of us have. And so government can overreach and it can become tyrannical.  In those cases, and she mentioned several examples where if there is a conflict between what the state says and what God says, you follow God. Acts 5, verse 29, the Apostles said, We must obey God rather than man. You have there in Exodus 1, the midwives hiding the babies from destruction, from being drowned in the Nile.

Dan: [00:48:34] They just knew it wasn’t right.

Pastor Woods: [00:48:35] And it wasn’t right. You have, she mentioned Daniel 6. Daniel was told not to pray and he in fact, they passed a law because they knew he was a man of prayer in the Persian Empire and they knew he couldn’t get him in trouble that way. And he prayed anyway. Daniel 3 You have Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who were told to worship Nebuchadnezzar was statue the moment the music played and they refused to do it. And of course they said, you know, God is able to save us, but if he’s not, we’re willing to go into the fire. So and she mentioned Jesus. You know, Jesus didn’t try to submit when he could, but she mentioned how Jesus went right against the nation of Israel. He claimed to be God. And that’s a no-no according to, you know, the nation of Israel at that time. So I guess my point is, you know, yes, government exists of God. Try to cooperate within the state as much as you can. But if there’s a conflict between the state and what God says, as a Christian, you’re obligated to go with God because government is run by people with a sin nature also. So you’ll see this in James Madison Federalist Paper number 51. He talks about, you know, if men were angels, no government would be necessary. And this is a big problem we have is government is run by men over men who all have the same sin nature. And our founding fathers were very wise in dividing power up and they also created unalienable rights that the government can’t traverse upon, such as free speech, freedom of religion, private property rights, Second Amendment. And so, you know, even in America’s design, there’s this idea that if government goes too far and overreaches, then you are obligated as an American and as a Christian to say no to the state.

Dan: [00:50:39] Peter and John, we’re told not to speak of Jesus in Acts chapter 4 and their response, Peter and John said, and this was when they were called before those in authority. They were called before the Sanhedrin and the council. And Peter and John answered and said to them, whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge, for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard. And of course, Dr. Woods was speaking about also in Acts chapter 5, It’s better to obey God than man, and that’s exactly what the Word says. So when there’s a direct conflict, you must follow God’s edict. He is the primary authority and these other authorities are subsidiary to him and his plan.

Pastor Woods: [00:51:24] Yeah, and I would say civil disobedience would be a last resort rather than a first resort. I mean, we’re not anti-government people. A lot of people just have a very negative view of anything government does. And that’s not the Christian view. But, you know, you wouldn’t tell, would you tell a woman in a marriage, the Bible says submit to your husband, even though her husband is beating her up and abusing her?  I mean, no counselor in their right mind would tell a woman to endure that. You know, if I were counseling her, I would say, get yourself out of harm’s way. And so, you know, when it comes to this relationship to the state, the a lot of people think, based on Romans 13, that the Christian view is maximum submission no matter what. But I don’t think that’s what the full Council of God’s Word teaches. So we have a right to say no. But when you say no, you have to be willing to pay the price because there could be fines, imprisonment, criminal prosecution, Etc..

Dan: [00:52:24] Yeah, that’s exactly what Paul did when he appealed to Caesar. He recognized that there were authorities established by God, and yet he did what was right. Let’s go on to the next caller. Caller, you’re on the air.

Caller: [00:52:38] Yes, hello, Dr. Woods. I have a question about the first Thessalonians 4:16. So, it’s really a general question, but a couple of sub-points. So I just kind of want to get your understanding about the. Whose shout is it? Whose voice is it? In the context of all this occurring within a twinkling of an eye.  Is it Christ or Michael the Archangel voice? And will, the whole world hear this or only believers. And what if we’re asleep and dreaming? Like I think we’d know, right? So, I don’t know, I just kind of just – If you could speak in general to this verse.

Dan: [00:53:27] Good question. Thank you.

Pastor Woods: [00:53:28] Yeah. This your famous rapture passage. It says for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. You’ll notice that it doesn’t say Michael the Archangel there, but it says with the voice of an archangel. So I don’t know. It seems to me that the Lord is shouting, but he sounds like an archangel. Or maybe there’s an archangel there contributing to the decibel level. I mean, there’s not. It’s kind of ambiguous. I’m not exactly sure what it’s talking about. What was the other part of his question? Do you remember?

Dan: [00:54:11] Whether all people will hear this? Or just believers will hear this.

Pastor Woods: [00:54:15] Well, it says they’re in Christ. The dead in Christ will rise first. Let’s see. Where can I find that?

Dan: [00:54:24] End of verse 16.

Pastor Woods: [00:54:25] Yeah. Verse 16. Yeah, the dead in Christ shall rise verse when you, when you track in Christ through the Bible, particularly in Paul’s writings, it’s used about 99 times and it always refers to the church, the church age believer, in other words, believers within the church, the universal church, the body of Christ. So I’m of the persuasion that this is something that’s heard only by the Christians. It’s very different than the 2nd advent at the end of Daniel’s 70th week, where it says every eye will see him.  So I’m of the view that this is something that’s really only audible and visible, you know, to the church age believer because of that perspective in Christ. Of course, now we have the Left Behind movies. I just went and saw the Kevin Sorbo. Very good, by the way. And you know, you’ve got the issue of the world trying to explain away all the missing people. So in that sense, I guess it’s visible because all these people will be gone. But the actual shout, I think, is something that’s only heard by the Christian because of that little expression there in Christ and how Paul uses it elsewhere. I don’t know if I’ve answered all his questions, but I’ve tried to answer some of them.

Dan: [00:55:44] Okay, Well, even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!  Let’s go to the next caller and because our time is limited. Caller, you’re on the air.

Caller: [00:55:53] Yeah. A couple of questions about church administration.  In Acts 13, it says that Barnabas and Saul were separated for the work. My question is, is the work separate from the church?  Meaning that when Mark was disallowed from going with Saul, the next time, Barnabas could have said, well, Mark is a member of the Body of Christ, and Saul could have said, I don’t care if he’s a member of the body Christ, he is not qualified for the work. My question is the work in the church separate matters?  And then related to church administration, I was reading in Haley’s Bible Handbook the other day about Second Corinthians Chapter 8 and 9, about the offering to the poor Saints in Jerusalem. And it says that the heading for the little paragraph says offering for the mother church.  Is Jerusalem still the mother church? Those are my two questions.

Dan: [00:56:49] All right. Thank you very much for those questions. And we have just moments to go through that. Let’s take a look at Acts chapter 13.

Pastor Woods: [00:56:57] Okay. Regarding Haley’s Bible commentary and Jerusalem being the Mother Church, I would probably guess that it calls Jerusalem the Mother Church, because that was the original Church of Christianity. I mean, that’s the first church, that was the sending church and all missionary activity, you know, ultimately owes its origin to that original church that we read about in Acts really chapters 1 through 7.  So that’s what it means by the Mother Church. I don’t think we would still consider the church in Jerusalem. And there are Christian churches, praise God in Jerusalem today, but we wouldn’t look to them as the mother church in that sense as far.

Dan: [00:57:42] And we’d note that that was a heading that might have been in Haley’s Bible handbook, but that’s not necessarily in the Scripture per se.

Pastor Woods: [00:57:51] And the other thing about the work, well, basically set aside Barnabas etc. for the work that they’re called to do. That’s the work related to missionary journey number one into Southern Galatia, which isn’t recorded in Acts 13 and 14. So they were specifically called to that missionary endeavor, by God. So it was a special calling that they had at that unique point in time. And so, you know, that’s the distinction I would draw between the work, you know, in the church. I mean, the church is the church, but this is a unique work concerning missionary journey, number one. That’s the calling that was on their lives at that point.

Dan: [00:58:35] Now, these are some great questions that have been answered tonight. Thank you, Dr. Woods. The program, Questions and Answers. And after a while, this will be posted online on KHCB.org in the “On Demand” section. So you can re-listen to any of these that you’d like to once it’s posted. Don’t forget there’s a prophecy conference coming up February 24th and 25th with Dr. Andy Woods, Olivier Melnick and Don Perkins, as well as special worship sessions. There are a variety of topics related to the future, From Rapture to Eternity – A Biblical journey. More information about that is at SLBC.org – Sugar Land Bible Church – SLBC.org. And I think that pretty much wraps up the time for this evening.

Pastor Woods: [00:59:23] Went by fast!

Dan: [00:59:24] It sure did. Thank you, Dr. Woods. And let me ask every person listening to please continue looking into the Word of God, because that’s where we find everything we need for life and godliness.