KHCB – 02-23-2023 – Full Program Transcript

Announcer: [00:00:00] Good evening and welcome to our weekly Question and Answers program, a program where you can call us with your questions about the Bible, a scripture, or the Christian way of life. And our guests will answer that question for you live on the air. Tonight’s guests are Dr. Andy Woods, Senior Pastor at Sugar Land Bible Church. He’s also president of the Schaeffer Theological Seminary. Dr. Woods has authored and contributed to many Christian books and theological journals and speaks on a variety of topics at Christian conferences and churches. He’s also accompanied tonight by Dr. Jim McGowan, Associate Pastor at Sugar Land Bible Church.  The church is located 401 Matlage Way in Sugarland, Texas. That’s right off of Highway 90 at University Boulevard. Their website is SLBC.org. They can also be reached on YouTube and Rumble at Pastor’s Point of View, where you can find many of the articles of Dr. Woods, his conference seminars – also in Andy Woods Ministries.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 toll-free 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. As our guest, Pastor Dr. Andy Woods. Dr. Woods, can you give us an update on the Prophecy Conference coming up tomorrow?

Pastor Andy: [00:02:51] Sure can. And I appreciate the opportunity to do that. Our home church, Sugarland Bible Church, were hosting a prophecy conference. It’s basically entitled From the Rapture to Eternity. And it’s designed to take people through key prophetic events in God’s Word to help people understand what the future holds. And we have three very exciting speakers. One of them is Olivier Melnick, who is an expert on anti-Semitism, exposing it. The irrational hatred to the for the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which according to Bible prophecy, will intensify in the last days. Another speaker is a man by the name of Don Perkins, who is the director of a ministry called According to Prophecy Ministries. Many people have heard him at different conferences. They’ve probably watched him on Christian television. And he is a very easy to understand, but exciting prophecy teacher.  I’m probably the weak speaker in the group, the weak link, but I’m one of the presenters and I’m going to be teaching at this prophecy conference as well. And we’re having a Shabbat dinner at nearby Sugar Creek Country Club. I think we’re about filled up for that. So that’s probably at this point off limits to people. But we still have room for the all day Saturday conference, which I believe is going to be on the, correct me if I’m right on this brother Jim, the 24^th.

Pastor Jim:  25th, this is the well, the 25th, I think is – isn’t that the. Let me just double check real quick.

Pastor Andy:  Yeah, Friday is the 24th. There we go. That’s tomorrow.

Pastor Andy:  Saturday, the conference, the 25th, Saturday. You’re going to hear twice from each speaker and it’s going to begin at 9 a.m. in the morning and it’s going to go all the way through a Q&A session with the speakers as a panel up to 6:30 p.m. at night. And so it’s going to be held at Sugar Land Bible Church and we need you to register if you want to come to that Saturday, those Saturday sessions, just go to the Sugar Land Bible Church website SLBC.org. There’s an easy way to register for the conference right there on the home page. And so we still have space available.  Space is limited, but it’s still available even this late in the game. And so we invite people to attend that conference. And guess what? The two prominent speakers at the conference, Olivier Melnick and Don Perkins, are going to be sticking around Sunday morning. The conference will be over on Saturday, but they’re going to be presenting at Sugar Land Bible Church and our two services or sessions. Olivier Melnick will be teaching the first session and Don Perkins will be teaching the second session. And if you can’t make these sessions in person, the Saturday conference and Sunday presentations are accessible to all via live streaming on the Sugar Land Bible Church website. So thank you for the opportunity of promoting the conference.

Pastor Jim: [00:06:14] All right. Well, that’s a little bit different introduction to our program, but we sure want to thank you all for tuning in today, this evening. And let me just give you our three rules quickly before we go to the phones and take your calls. Number one, remember to keep your On-air time to one question only. Number two, turn the volume down before we bring you on the air. And number three, once you’ve shared your question, please hang up so that the next caller will have a free line to call in. We’re very excited to have the opportunity to come and ministry to you this evening. We know that God has something very special in store for you and for us. And so let’s go to our first caller this evening. Hello. Caller Thank you for taking the time to call the program. What is your Bible question for Dr. Woods this evening?

Caller: [00:06:57] Well, it deals with a Book of Revelation.  I got a question because I’m a little bit confused about all the destruction that’s going to go on. You know, the seas going to be bombarded or whatever, and it’s going to turn the blood, the drinking water, the rivers. That’s going to be messed up. But all the destruction is going on. I will as later on one of the other chapters. How will this Babylon be so? How will it be able to exist? Where if there’s so much destruction, how will they, where will the food come from? Where will there be drinking water for the most part, destroyed?

Pastor Jim: [00:07:50] Well, that’s a good that’s a good question. I think we can give you a good a good Bible answer on that. And you’ve called the right program and you’re going to be talking to the right person who actually wrote a book on the Babylon issue. So I’m going to pass it over to him and see if we can’t provide you a good answer. Thank you so much for calling the program.

Pastor Andy: [00:08:08] Yeah, the title of that book of People Are Interested is Babylon, The Bookends of Prophetic History. And people can find that, you know, on, you know, where they get their books, Amazon and whatnot. But it is interesting that when you look at Revelation 17 and 18, you have a very prominent role for the City of Babylon in the last days. So the question is, how can you have a city like that dominating the earth, you know, as the destruction of the Tribulation period is happening? And I would maintain that the city of Babylon will most likely come into existence before the Tribulation period even starts. And what you have to understand about the Book of Revelation is it’s generally chronological. However, there are about five times in the book where you have a non-chronological parenthetical insertion where John, via the Holy Spirit backs up and looks at an issue happening in the sequence and how that issue developed in the past and what’s going to happen with that issue in the future. And that’s exactly what you have happening in Revelation 16, verse 19. Babylon is destroyed and then you get to chapter 17 and 18.

Pastor Andy: [00:09:29] In chapter 17, verse 1, it says, The angel that had the bowl judgment that destroyed Babylon says, Let me take you into the wilderness now, John, and let me show you the truth about Babylon. And so it’s non- chronologically, parenthetically inserted. You have Babylon past, present and future described there. And so it’s not necessarily in chronological order in those chapters.  Although the Book of Revelation is intended to be understood chronologically, there are times when the chronology is stopped. It’s kind of like the six days of creation Genesis Chapter 1. When you get to Genesis chapter 2, you have a amplification of day six. And so you’ll notice that Genesis 2 is really not in tight chronology to Genesis 1, and I think that’s what’s happening in Revelation 17 and 18. Yes, the tribulation period is going to be very severe related to, you know, loss of fuel, loss of food. But John isn’t just describing Babylon in the Tribulation. He’s kind of looking backwards and forwards where Babylon came from and where Babylon is going. So I hope that helps a little bit.

Pastor Jim: [00:10:49] All right. Well, before we go back to the phones, I have a caller gave a question and didn’t want to hang on. And it was a very easy, I think, question. But let me give that to you, Pastor. This individual want to know why in the world is it that people in the Bible don’t have last names?

Pastor Andy: [00:11:08] Well, I guess I would say that having a last name is sort of more related to our culture than the culture of the Bible. And so I’m not sure when the last name started, maybe they were just too many Jims on planet Earth. So I’ll come up with the last name. Maybe there are too many Andy’s or Andrews on planet Earth, so we need to come up with some last names. Maybe that’s a European way of doing things. But what you have to understand about the Bible is we’re going back to Greco-Roman times 2000 years ago. And in the case of the Old Testament, you’re going back into Hebrew times, a good 1,500 years before the time of Christ. So let’s not take our own cultural understanding and transport it back as some kind of expectation to Biblical times.

Pastor Jim: [00:11:59] All right. Good answer and good question. All right. Let’s go back to the phones. Thank you for calling the program this evening. What is your Bible question for Dr. Woods?

Caller: [00:12:07] Yes, good evening.  In Deuteronomy, Chapter 22 and 23 also. But I’ll start with 23. And it is a damsel, that is a virgin, be betrothed unto a husband, and a man find her and the sinning and lie with her, and he should bring them both out up to the gate of the city and he shall stone them. So my question goes back to the Book of Luke, where it says in Luke 1, verse 30 and 31 said, When the angel said unto her, Fear not, thou has found favor with God and behold, thou shall conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and call his name Jesus. So my question is this – Joseph and Mary was husband and wife, and Joseph must have not knew that because the angel had to come to him in a dream and explain to him that this is your wife, so you don’t have to be afraid to put her away because she’s your wife. So my question is, why would God send the Holy Ghost to conceive another man’s wife to break his own law that he gave the children of Israel? That’s my question.

Pastor Jim: [00:13:45] All right. Thank you for calling the program. We appreciate that. Pastor, how would you handle that?

Pastor Andy: [00:13:51] Well, I would say God’s law relates to human beings violating God’s sexual standard through adultery, rape, you know, any number of sexual sins. And what you have going on in Luke is not one human being, you know, impregnating another or having sexual contact with another. It has to do with the Holy Spirit supernaturally impregnating a woman who has been untouched, you know, and no sexual contact whatsoever. So that’s why the law of God doesn’t apply here, because you’re not dealing with two human beings. You’re dealing with a woman who is sexually pure and God himself. So to put that under the law of Moses is sort of making an apples and oranges comparison.

Pastor Jim: [00:14:49] Yeah. And doesn’t God also give us a hint? Well, all the way back in Genesis chapter 3, about the fact that there is going to be a seed that’s going to come of the woman, which is not a natural birth.

Pastor Andy: [00:15:04] Yeah, the seed of the woman. That’s kind of strange statement that goes back to Genesis 3, verse 15 – the first messianic prophecy that we have in the whole Bible, because the seed or the sperm is supplied by the man. So the fact that it says the seed of the woman is sort of a veiled inference of a coming virgin birth. The virgin birth is spoken of, if we’re right on this as early as Genesis 3, verse 15.

Pastor Jim: [00:15:31] Well, amen. All right. I thank you so much for your call and we appreciate that. Let me go back. Let’s see. Let me I have a question that came in by way of email. Let’s take this one real quickly. This says, Pastor, is it normal to occasionally feel a separation from our Lord in life, or should we always feel a closeness?

Pastor Andy: [00:15:51] Well, I don’t like the emphasis here on feel because feelings are very deceptive.  We have a sin nature. We’re living in the devil’s world. You know, we’re around people that also have sin natures. And there are times where I feel on fire for Jesus. And to be honest, Brother Jim, there are other times where I’d rather just pull the covers over my head and not even get out of bed.

Pastor Jim: [00:16:17] Me too.

Pastor Andy: [00:16:18] In the morning. But regardless of what my feelings are, I’m positionally, right, with God regardless. So, you know, just remember that I’m not saying ignore feelings because they could be valid indicators that perhaps were out of fellowship with God, but they’re not always accurate validators of that. That’s very true, because the human heart is deceitful, wicked above, up, beyond cure, who can even comprehend it. So, you know, pilots, when they fly airlines, airplanes, they don’t they don’t go by their feelings.

Pastor Jim: [00:16:54] They better not.

Pastor Andy: [00:16:55] Pilots have told me the plane feels like sometimes like it’s flying upside down. You don’t go by your feelings. You go by what the compass says, which is objective and can’t lie. So that’s how we live the Christian life. You know, if we always went by our feelings, I would accomplish very little in my life. Because feelings come and go. And sometimes, Brother Jim, we have to, rather than having feelings influence our behavior, we need to have our behavior influence our feelings. We need to behave our way into good feelings. Because a lot of times when we do write, the feelings will follow. So be careful about feel and feelings are All right.

Pastor Jim: [00:17:34] Good question. Thank you so much for calling back to the phones. Thanks for calling in this evening. What is your Bible question for Dr. Woods?

Caller: [00:17:41] Yes. So my question is about the Levite. So all through the Old Testament from I guess for starting in Exodus and going on through several books, you hear about the Levites and the office of the Levites and the various different things they did have taking taken care of the tabernacle and so forth and so on. My question is, we never hear about the Levites at all in the New Testament. So whatever happened to the Levites? Did they simply disappear or are there still Levites today? Whatever happened?

Pastor Jim: [00:18:27] Great question. Thank you so much for calling the program this evening. Well, the Bible in the New Testament, I don’t know that it speaks too much about Levites, but it does talk about the priestly order of which the Levites were a part. Pastor?

Pastor Andy: [00:18:42] Yeah. It’s interesting that when you go to the Book of Revelation, Chapter 7, verses 4 through 8. It mentions the various tribes that will be saved and blanket the world with the Gospel in the Tribulation. And if I’m not mistaken, I think Levi is mentioned in the list. There it is right there in verse 7 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000, from the tribe of Levi, 12,000. So, you know, and it’s interesting that Paul the Apostle, I believe it’s an Acts 26, verse 7, mentions the 12 tribes.  James, Levi being one of those presumably 12 James Chapter 1, verse 1. He writes his whole header, you know, to the 12 tribes, which would include Levi. So I guess I’m not of the persuasion that the Levites ever disappeared. They’ve always been supernaturally kept and distinct by God himself, probably because of the role they’re going to play. One of the reasons anyway, because of the role they’re going to play in the end times.

Pastor Andy: [00:19:54] And, you know, even if we can’t track them down today, and I think we probably can. There’s a wonderful presentation we had at Chafer Seminary not long ago. The guy’s last name, I believe, is Nathanson, if I have it right, it’s on the Dean Bible Ministries website, Dean Bible Ministries dot org. He gave a wonderful treatment on the genetics of the Jewish race and how we can track the genetics of the Jewish race today, because a lot of people say we don’t know who the true Jews are. And that’s just not true. Genetically, with today’s genetics, I think we can track down the Levites and even if we couldn’t, God knows where they are.

Pastor Jim: [00:20:40] Amen, bro. That’s right. Well, and we know, too, that during the Tribulation period, there’s going to be another temple that’s going to be built and they’re going to reinstitute the sacrificial system and all, and they’re going to have to have Levites available to do that. So we’re going to just leave that in the hands of God. He knows where they are, that’s for sure. But thanks for calling the program. We appreciate that. Let me take a moment to give our numbers out. Again, I noticed we have some free lines. If you would like to call in with your question. Our local number is 832-922-4444. If you’d like to call from outside the local area toll-free, you can call 877-999-5422. And if you would prefer to send your question by way of email, you can do so by sending it to questions. That’s plural – Questions@ KHCB.org. Well, I do happen to have another email question here. This individual writes and says, Is there scriptural reference to back up the reason why kids or adults can’t take communion until they accept Christ and are baptized? Or is this just tradition?

Pastor Andy: [00:22:00] Well, I think some of this is tradition because I don’t know of any verse that says no communion unless you’re baptized. I know of no verse that teaches that.  I do know versus that talk about how communion is for the believer. You know, do this in remembrance of me. Yes. It’s designed for the Christian and only the Christian. And so if someone is not a Christian, then they shouldn’t take communion. So the issue with taking communion with children is, is the child born again or not? If they’re not born again or regenerated, then they shouldn’t take communion at all. And same with an adult, an adult that’s not born again and shouldn’t take communion because the ordinance is not designed for the unbeliever. It’s designed to add gratitude for what Christ did for us to the worship of the Christian. So that’s the only restriction I know of in the Bible. The issue is not the age of the child, and the issue is not whether someone has been baptized. The issue is saved or unsaved.

Pastor Jim: [00:23:07] Amen to that. Amen to that. All right. Well, we hope that was helpful to that individual. Let’s go back to the phone, shall we? Thank you so much for taking the time to call the program. What is your Bible question for Dr. Woods this evening?

Caller: [00:23:17] Good evening.  I’m thinking that Mary and Elizabeth were Levites. Elizabeth was a daughter of Aaron, and Aaron is a Levite. But my question is, how can I be a believer if I don’t believe what Jesus said in the Book of Revelations chapter 2 verse 9, Hear me?

Pastor Jim: [00:23:43] Yes, go ahead.

Caller: [00:23:44] Oh, how can I be a believer if I don’t believe this? And this is not true. He said, I know that works and tribulation of poverty, but thou was rich and I know the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews and or not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Now this is in red. But why don’t believers believe that? That’s my question. Okay.

Pastor Jim: [00:24:09] Thank you for calling the program again. We appreciate that, Pastor. It’s in red. So what does that tell us?

Pastor Andy: [00:24:16] Well, you know, in red, I mean, who added the red? That was the people that put together our English translations and our study Bibles. You know, the problem with red letter Bibles is it gives people the impression that some words are more important than others. The red is added by man, but God says 2nd Timothy 3, verse 16 All Scripture is God breathed and inspired by God and profitable for doctrine, correction, rebuke, reproof, training and righteousness, etc.. Now, concerning Revelation chapter 2, verse 9, and you’ll find the same reference in Revelation 3, verse 9. I mean, I believe it because it’s dealing with Jews that claim to be Jews and are not. Now, what I think is happening there is the Bible is making a distinction between believing Israel and unbelieving Israel. We know from passages like Zechariah 13 verses 8 and 9 that two-thirds of the Jews will be broken off in the tribulation and a third saved. We know from passages like Ezekiel 20 verses 33 through 38 that there’s going to be a division in the end times in the tribulation period between believing and unbelieving Israel.

Pastor Andy: [00:25:41] We know from the words of John the Baptist and Matthew Chapter 3 around verses 9 and following where he says, you know, don’t pride yourself that your children of Abraham. God could raise up stones to be the children of Abraham. What impresses God is not so much just being Jewish, but it’s being a “believing” Jew. I mean, that’s who God is going to fulfill his covenants in. And through those Hebrews who have trusted by faith in Yeshua their Messiah. This is why Paul says in Romans chapter 9, verse 6 and Romans 2, verses 28 and 29, not all Israel is Israel.  So in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9, when it talks about those who claim to be Jews and or not who are persecuting the church, you know, it’s kind of the same pattern you see in the book of Acts. Everywhere that Christianity went, it was unbelieving Jews in the book of Acts that were always persecuting the church. He is basically saying you’re being persecuted not by the Israel of God, but by merely people who are physically Jewish, but are believers.  And so I think that’s what those phrases mean. And he said, why don’t people believe it? Well, I believe it. And Brother Jim believes it. And I think God means what he says and says what he means.

Pastor Jim: [00:27:09] He said, Yeah, okay. All right, let’s go. Let’s go to our next caller. Thank you for calling the program this evening. What is your Bible question for Dr. Woods?

Caller: [00:27:18] Yes, I just was asking about the correlation between the two references to the Gog-Magog war in Ezekiel 38 and 39 and Revelation 20 and how that’s applicable to today and the things that are happening in the time we’re seeing now. No doctor would study this quite heavily, but it would be a great opportunity to get his feedback on this. So, I will hang up and listen.

Pastor Jim: [00:27:38] Thank you so much for calling.  Pastor?

Pastor Andy: [00:27:42] He’s right. I did write a little book on this called The Middle East Meltdown. The subtitle is The Coming Islamic Invasion of Israel. And people can get that on Amazon if they’re interested in that. But it’s an analysis of Ezekiel 38 and 39, which I think unless you understand that prophecy, it’s hard to make sense of the headlines because that prophecy rightfully understood, talks about an invasion of Russia, Iran, Turkey, other powers like the Sudan, into the land of Israel in the last days. And it’s interesting to watch how the stage is being set for that. We have an Israel now to invade. Yes, ever since tiny Israel became a nation again in 1948, and all of these powers that at one time were certainly with Turkey and Iran and even Russia going back to 1917. You know, Russia used to be a Christian Orthodox country. Most people don’t know that. But it’s interesting how all of those powers have turned against Israel, just like the Bible says would happen.  They’re going to invade because of Israel’s wealth. Israel, as I speak, is becoming wealthy. And these various powers not only have. They turned against an Israel which didn’t even exist in 1948 – until 1948. But they’re forming alliances with each other. You know, we just covered on one of our shows Pastors Point of View, the relationship that is now developed militarily between Russia and the Sudan. Now, that particular invasion, which is a tribulation period event, I believe, is not to be confused with Gog Magog at the end of the Millennial kingdom, because the invasion we’re talking about comes from the north.

Pastor Andy: [00:29:42] That invasion, Revelation 20, comes from all nations. And so I think Gog and Magog there is sort of is kind of like a memory device. It’s kind of like using Nephilim in Numbers 13. The spies are analogizing what they saw in the land to the worst thing they could know of in Jewish history, which is the Nephilim and Noah’s day. So they analogize the Giants to Nephilim. The same kind of thing is happening in Revelation 20 verses 7 through 9. It says the invasion at the end of the Millennium will be Gog and Magog. But I think it’s more of it’s like using the word Waterloo. You know, I’ve met my Waterloo. You’re not saying the literal battle of Waterloo is being fought. You’re just analogizing it to one of the worst battles that you can think of in history. And I think that’s how Gog and Magog is being used in Revelation 20 verses 7 through 9. So the latter is a sort of an attack against Jerusalem at the end of the Millennium amongst the mortals in the Millennial kingdom who still have a sin nature as Satan is released from the abyss. The former is sort of an attack against Israel in the Tribulation period commensurate with the 2nd Seal judgment. Anyway, that’s my take on it. The book goes into a lot more detail than I can give here.

Pastor Jim: [00:31:13] All right. Well, thank you again for calling the program and we hope that helped you. And folks, we’re going to take a very short station break, after which we’ll come back and we’ll have our prayer for the nation. So we’ll see you in just a few seconds.

Pastor Jim: [00:32:24] All right. Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters to KHCB’s Question and Answer program. It’s the top of the hour. So we like to pause at this time in every one of our programs and pray for the nation. So we’d encourage you to join us as we do. So if it’s safe for you to do that. And let’s go to the Lord in prayer, shall we? Abba Father, we come to you this evening to lift up our government, especially our leaders, those who are in control in our nation. And we do so, Lord, because you tell us in 1st Timothy 2, 1 through 2, you say, I urge then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for all people. And then you get very specific, Father. You say for kings and for all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and honesty are rather holiness. We pray particularly for conviction, that leads to salvation for our leaders, those who are unbelievers. But we also pray for those who are believers that you might protect them from the very seductive power inherent in their positions. We pray that those who are believers might be straightforward regarding their faith in Christ, and just as important that their testimony by mouth might be accurately reflected in their actions and attitudes.  Abba Father, in light of the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine, we would like to pray also on behalf of all those who are serving Christ as pastors and missionaries and the general body of Christ there. Please keep them safe and strong in their faith and convictions and please fill them with the Holy Spirit and make them mighty witnesses for the faith so that Christ will be lifted up before those who are suffering and that they might come to saving faith in the Lord Jesus as a result.

Pastor Jim: [00:34:34] We also ask, Abba Father, that you would protect all of our first responders, those who are law enforcement officers, firemen and women, EMTs, doctors and nurses, and the men and women faithfully serving in our military and all those who put their own lives in jeopardy to save and rescue others. Please bless them. Please guard them, and please bring them home safely to their families. Father, we also ask that you would help us to be salt and light and faithful witnesses to those who are lost and dying all around us so that they too, might come to place their faith and confidence and trust in your beloved son, Jesus. Jesus, who is the only one, the only provision for the eternal safekeeping of their souls. And finally, Father, we ask that you would please continue to develop within us Christ’s likeness. And Father, develop our attitudes and our actions, and help us also to remember that as your children, we are currently temporary ambassadors for Christ and that you’ve called us to faithfully occupy and represent you on this fallen planet until we are united with you through death or the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. And we pray these things, Father, in the name of Jesus, Maranatha and Amen. Thank you so much for pausing with us to pray for our country. And let’s take time now to go back to another email question. And this question says, “I’m curious as to why you like to use the New American Standard 95 Update personally and professionally”.

Pastor Andy: [00:36:35] Pastor Well, different English translations have different purposes. If you get into a lot of English translations, they’re more they’re more paraphrases.

Pastor Jim: [00:36:49] Yes, it’s often true.

Pastor Andy: [00:36:50] Yeah. Just kind of summing up in general what the original Greek, Hebrew and in some cases Aramaic is saying. You know, for really the type of deep Bible study that we do, a paraphrase just isn’t going to help. We need something that’s more word for word. You know, I’m not against a paraphrase. If you just kind of want to get the big idea or if you just kind of want to do a little devotion, you know, at the beginning of the day. You know, there’s no harm in reading more of a paraphrase translation. But if you really want to get into the nitty gritty and the particulars, you’ve got to go with an English translation that claims to be word for word. So that’s why our two favorite study Bibles, English translations are the New American Standard Bible, the 95 Update. And also we really enjoy the King James Version. We don’t think either of them are inerrant, but both have their strengths and weaknesses. We enjoy the New King James Version. And if you can find a Ryrie Study Bible, a Scofield Study Bible, or the Henry Morris Defenders Bible, these are all excellent, you know, commentaries which are in the form of a study Bible in the NASB or the NKJV. That’s probably something worth investing in. And I think, Brother Jim, you know a little bit about the difference between the 2000 NASB and the 95 Update. What would you say the biggest difference is there?

Pastor Jim: [00:38:27] Well, I think there’s there is some controversy there because I think that in the 2000 edition, they’ve gone in and they’ve made some additional changes. They’ve moved a little bit away from the more literal 95 edition. I don’t have the specific details here off the top of my head, but I’m sure you can find that if you go online and just look for a critique of the new edition, I’m sure you can find all kinds of reviews and information about that. My personal favorite is and this is just my personal preference. I like the 1977 version of the New American Standard Bible, but they all have something good and valuable to provide. But I like what you said. We really prefer translations that endeavor to provide a more word to word to word translation, if you will, of the original languages. And it’s not to say we would never refer to a different translation, but those would not be the first ones we would go to.

Pastor Andy: [00:39:28] Yeah, because Jesus said, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So that’s incumbent upon us to get into the particulars.

Pastor Jim: [00:39:39] Yes, very important. And that’s a great question. We hope that was helpful. All right, back to the phones we go. Thank you for taking the time to call the program and thank you for waiting. What is your Bible question for Dr. Woods this evening?

Caller: [00:39:54] Yeah. Thank you for taking my call. God bless you all. My question is, in Galatians 6:17, Paul says do not – no one disturb me again. I have in my body I bear Jesus’ mark. What does that mean? What is? Can you explain? What is that he meant?

Pastor Jim: [00:40:16] All right. You’re saying Galatians chapter 6, verse 17. Let us pull that up. We’ll look at that and we’ll see if we can’t give you a good answer here. Thank you so much for calling.

Pastor Andy: [00:40:26] All right. The book of Galatians chapter 6, verse 17. Paul says, “From now on, let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand marks of Jesus”. I have a note here in my Ryrie study Bible. It says the scars suffered in persecution, which spoke more eloquently than the mark of circumcision, which the Judaism sought to impose. You know, the Judaism wanted submission to the law to prove you were godly, Paul says. Well, I’ve got marks. You know, kind of a little bit of sarcasm here. You guys are so in the marks. I’ve got marks all over my body. And from persecution. And he may be referring there because this was written right after the first missionary journey. And when you read Acts 13 and 14, I think he was in Derbe, Lystra, Derbe, right in that area. And they threw so many rocks at him, they thought he was dead. And then they went they just left his corpse unburied and they went back to business. And Paul got right up and said, I’m not finished with my sermon yet. And he went right back into the same city that abused him.  And, you know, you want to talk about the marks of a disciple, it would be that.  And that very well could be what Paul is referring to, because what’s happening in the book of Galatians is they’re challenging his authority.  That’s why he defends his apostle ship and the first two chapters. And he says, let’s talk about authority. You know, I have authority as a disciple. Look at what I’ve suffered. And, you know, you guys are so impressed with marks in the body. Let me show you a few of my own. And so it’s a beautiful statement that he gives here.

Pastor Jim: [00:42:20] Yeah. I think, you know, the Judaizers were pushing circumcision on the Gentiles. And I think Paul here is really, you know, saying, well you think circumcision is a great sign. Let me show you an even better sign. And, you know, all they had to do is just take his cloak off and show all the times he’d been beaten and stoned. And so he was, they were challenging his devotion to Christ and I think that he was shutting their mouths, so to speak. All right. We hope that was helpful for you. Thanks for calling the program. And back to the phones we go. What is your Bible question for Dr. Woods this evening? All right. Well, while we’re waiting for that, we’ll go ahead. All right. Are we? Do we have our caller? All right. Thanks for calling the program. What’s your Bible question for Dr. Woods this evening?

Caller: [00:43:08] Hello. Hello?

Pastor Jim: [00:43:09] Yeah, go ahead.

Caller: [00:43:13] Yes. The Gog-Magog war that happens during the Tribulation, and the war of Armageddon. Are these wars the same thing or what?

Pastor Jim: [00:43:28] Okay. All right. Thanks for calling the program. We appreciate that.

Pastor Andy: [00:43:32] All right. The question is the Gog Magog wars at the same thing as the Battle of Armageddon? I don’t think so. In my book, I’ve got a section on that where I give a lot of differences between Gog-Magog and Armageddon. I have a chart, I believe in the book that shows the differences. But…

Pastor Jim: [00:43:56] And that’s the Babylon book, right?

Pastor Andy: [00:43:58] This is the book called, thank you, this is the book called The Middle East Meltdown – The Coming Islamic Invasion of Israel. The way I see it is, Ezekiel 38 primarily takes place at the beginning of the Tribulation. Ezekiel 39 is describing events at the end of the Tribulation period, even after Armageddon is over, like the burial of the dead, the burning of weapons and that kind of thing. So I think Ezekiel 38 and 39 brackets, the outer edges of the Tribulation. Ezekiel 38 at the beginning, Ezekiel 39 in the end. And to understand what’s happening in the middle, you’d have to consult other areas of scripture. If you want to learn about Armageddon, I would consult Revelation 16, Zechariah 12 through 14, Joel chapter three, etc., etc.. So I hope that helps.

Pastor Jim: [00:45:03] Amen. All right. Let’s see if we can slip another email question in here real quickly. This individual asks a question and they say, Why was Paul? Why is it that Paul never mentions anything about seeing things not permitted? Was he blind? So I think they’re referring to that passage where Paul went up into the 3^rd Heavens and he said he saw revelations, you know, and that he wasn’t allowed to speak of those things. So this individual was wondering, well, does that indicate that Paul was blind?

Pastor Andy: [00:45:37] Well, you know, I don’t really know of any particular verse that you could use to indicate that Paul was blind. Other than some have speculated that his thorn in the flesh was some sort of eye problem, because he says things like in Galatians, which we just referenced chapter 6, I think he says, See what large letters I write to you with?  He says to the Galatians chapter 4, I think it is you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. So, you know, the best you can do is put together some veiled references like that and then make the assumption, you know, that he was suffering from declining eyesight or blindness. But the truth of the matter is there’s just not enough proof one way or the other on that to be dogmatic. And so we really don’t know if he had the declining eyesight and suffered blindness. That’s just human speculation.

Pastor Jim: [00:46:34] All right. And back to the phones we go. Thank you for waiting. What is your Bible question for Dr. Woods?

Caller: [00:46:40] Hello there. I was baptized as a young child around 6 or 7. Is it necessary for me to get baptized again as an adult? And if I don’t, can I lose my salvation that way?

Pastor Jim: [00:46:52] All right. That’s a great question. I’m so glad you called the program. Pastor, how would we address this?

Pastor Andy: [00:46:58] Well, I’m this is a little bit personal to me because I was in that same predicament. I was raised in a particular denomination that practiced infant baptism. And then at the age of 16, I became a, I think, at that time a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. I don’t think I was before. And I wanted to get baptized, and it caused a little bit of conflict in my family because my Dad pulled out all the pictures of when I was baptized as an infant and they were pouring water on my head and I was screaming at the top of my lungs, And why do you want to get baptized again? Well, the reason you would get baptized again is now you’re a Christian. And when you study the Book of Acts, what you always see is water baptism which never precedes conversion, right? But it always follows it in every single instance. So, you know, we’re thinking here of the Ethiopian Eunuch who believed and was saved. And it says and Acts 8:35 “And Philip opened his mouth and beginning from this scripture, he preached Jesus to him. And they went along the road and they came to some water. And the eunuch said, Look, water, what prevents me from being baptized”? And the story goes on. And it says, “And he ordered the chariot to stop. And they both went down into the water. Philip, as well as the Eunuch. And he baptized him and they came up out of the water”.

Pastor Andy: [00:48:37] So, that’s the pattern. It’s never, hey, get baptized first and believe second. It’s always believed first and then get baptized second. Because what is baptism? It’s an outward confession of an inward reality. It doesn’t have any power to save. It’s just a sort of a symbol of what’s already happened inside of a person when they’ve trusted Christ as Savior. And that’s why baptism or lack thereof can’t take away your salvation, because baptism itself symbolizes a reality. It’s not the reality itself. And there are many people that, for whatever reason, are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who have never been baptized. We don’t recommend that. But that would actually be disobedience to what God says. But it doesn’t, if that’s true in someone’s life, and it was actually true in my life from age 16 to age 27, because I didn’t want to deal with the conflict in my household concerning my conflict with my parents at the time about infant baptism and its validity.  I just postponed it till I moved out and then I got baptized. So, I guess if lack of water baptism takes away your salvation, I guess if I had been killed by an automobile accident between age 16 and age 27, I wouldn’t go to heaven. Well, that’s ridiculous, because baptism is not a reality. It’s an outward symbol of a reality that already exists. So I hope that helps.

Pastor Jim: [00:50:11] Yeah. And, you know, I always come back to the criminal on the cross, you know, he said, Lord, remember me when you enter into your kingdom. And the Lord didn’t say, “Well, hold on, we need to baptize you”. In fact, he said nothing of the sort. He said, today you’ll be with me in paradise. So it wasn’t criteria for salvation, but as you indicate, it’s. It’s an act of obedience after we come to Christ.  I do have another email here, Pastor. This individual writes, “I’m very concerned about the prospect of recognizing people by their works in the light of Jesus statement. Please help my understanding. It’s almost as though I were saying I believe, help thou my unbelief, knowing that the Lord is the righteous judge, I’m confused about what He is really telling me to do.” And then he references Matthew chapter 7, beginning with verse 15 – Would you like me to read this?  Yeah, all right. It says, “Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves by their fruit. You will recognize them. Our grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles. Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then by their fruit, you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only He who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name, drive out demons and perform many miracles. Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”

Pastor Andy: [00:52:16] Well, unfortunately, Brother Jim, we’ve just run into here one of the most abused passages in all of Scripture.  People take that to mean, well, you know, if you don’t have enough good works, then you lost your salvation. Or another camp says, if you don’t have a good enough good works in your life, then you never had salvation to begin with.

Pastor Jim: [00:52:40] Right.

Pastor Andy: [00:52:41] The truth of the matter is this passage isn’t dealing with people who have professed a faith in Christ.  It’s dealing with false teachers. And Jesus here says, avoid false teachers. Now, how do you recognize a false teacher?  You’ll know them by their fruit. Their fruit will be bad. And I think primarily what he’s talking about here is their doctrine will be bad. They are the Pharisees, the false teachers he was dealing with. And these are people who never trusted in Christ, who on the day of judgment are going to be pleading their self-righteous acts as some kind of basis for God to accept them. And Jesus said, Well, you never believed in me at all. It’s not dealing with someone that lost salvation who professed Christ or someone that never had salvation that profess Christ. It’s dealing with works-oriented, false teachers who are pleading their self-righteousness on the day of judgment. Now, if people would just keep reading Matthew and watching this analogy about the tree and the good fruit, bad tree, bad fruit, they’d eventually come to Matthew 12, where Jesus uses that exact same analogy or imagery with Pharisees.  When you look at Matthew 12:24, it says, But when the Pharisees heard it, so he’s talking to the Pharisees.

Pastor Andy: [00:54:10] And then down in Matthew 12:33, he says, either make the tree good and its fruit good or make the tree bad. And it’s fruit bad for the tree is known by its fruit. And then he says in verse 34, You brood of vipers. How can you, being evil, speak? What is good for the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.  So, what he’s saying is you Pharisees are false teachers based on the doctrine that’s coming out of your mouths. That doctrine is coming out of your mouth because you’re unsaved, you’re unregenerate, you’re steeped in pride, and you think your own good works are somehow some kind of basis for God accepting you on the Day of Judgment. And this is where Jesus and also Paul are very clear that we stand before God, not based on self- righteousness, but on transferred righteousness. Amen. Christ’s righteousness is transferred to us. And so the bad tree, bad fruit, good tree, good fruit analogy is not there in Matthew’s gospel to say “I don’t have enough good works. I guess I lost my salvation. I don’t have enough good works. I guess I never had my salvation”. It’s designed to communicate. Stay away from these false teachers who never knew Christ ever and who are wrapped up in self-righteous religiosity.

Pastor Jim: [00:55:43] Could you speak to the issue of the importance of context? I think I think particularly in this situation, that’s a big deal here.

Pastor Andy: [00:55:52] Sure. I mean, any you can get the Bible to say anything you want if you don’t care about context. You know, Judas went out and hanged himself, go thou and do likewise. And what you do, do quickly. So I just strung together three verses to make it sound like the Bible communicates that we should all commit suicide. Yeah, anybody can make the Bible sound any way they want if they don’t care about context. And I’ve heard so many sermons of preachers, you know, trying to put everybody in a state of fear that they lost their salvation or never had it by saying, you know, you’re going to show up on that Day of Judgment, you’re going to say, Lord, Lord, didn’t I do this and that? And he’s going to say, Depart from me. I never knew you. Contextually, that verse is not dealing with people who have professed a faith in Christ. It’s just not in the passage. He’s warning about false teachers who never knew Christ, who are steeped in works or in religiosity. So, context is king. That’s why, that’s why, by the way, Brother Jim, we at Sugar Land Bible Church, and it’s not just unique to us all, all preachers I think should do this is to teach the Bible verse by verse, because that will keep you in the context and it will help you avoid ripping verses out of context to support pre-conceived notions.

Pastor Jim: [00:57:18] Hey, Amen, brother. Well, we don’t have any more callers at this point in time and we don’t have any more emails. So let’s take a moment. Could you just give us a little bit more insight into the Prophecy Conference, maybe what some of the topics are they may be talking about?

Pastor Andy: [00:57:31] Yeah, we’re going to be talking about Anti-Semitism, how to recognize it, why it exists in the world. We’re going to be dealing with, Don Perkins is going to be dealing with God’s order of future events. That’s critical to understanding the chronology of things coming. I’m going to be talking about what the future holds as revealed by the Book of Daniel. I’m going to be given seven truths that are rapidly coming upon the Earth because of what Daniel showed us via prophetic utterance by the Holy Spirit back in the 6th century B.C.. You know, very sadly, Brother Jim, there was sort of a police ambush in Australia, and that particular group that ambushed these police officers were involved in the doctrine of Premillenialism. So the Australian media said Premillenialism causes terror. And so they’re demonizing in the media there, Premillenialism, they’re trying to link it with terrorism. And so I’m going to be teaching a lesson on “Is Premillenialism wrong”?  And it’s not wrong at all. It’s a beautiful doctrine in the Bible. It just teaches that Jesus comes back first and then the kingdom follows. His coming is pre-millennium pre-1000 years. And we’re going to be explaining that. And it has nothing to do with promoting terrorism and domestic terrorism. It has to do with just paying attention to what God says. And by the way, if you’re not pre-millennial, you’re going to get confused as a Christian because you’re going to try to set up the kingdom without Jesus even being present. A lot of people are running around doing that. So the doctrine of Premillenialism rescues you from pouring yourself into things that aren’t going to accomplish much anyway. So that would be some examples.

Pastor Jim: [00:59:33] All right. Well, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters in Christ, we want to thank you so much for tuning in this evening. And I don’t know about you. I had a lot of fun tonight. A lot of good teaching came across the wire here. So we would encourage you to stay tuned for the next episode of the Question and Answer program next Thursday. And we’ll just sign off telling you God bless you, have a great week and love the Lord Jesus. Bye bye.

Announcer: [01:00:12] And, once again, we’d like to thank you for joining us and participating in the Question and Answers program. Don’t forget, next Tuesday we have the pastor study at 9:30 and we’ll return if the Lord tarries, next Thursday evening. Tonight’s guests have been Dr. Andy Woods and Dr. Jim McGowan with Sugar Land Bible Church. Their website is SLBC.org. Thank you so much for listening.