KHCB Broadcast – Pastor’s Q & A – September 14, 2023

KHCB – 09-14-2023 – Full Program Transcript

Noe (Announcer): [00:00:12] Good evening. Welcome you to the Weekly Question and Answers Program, a program where you can call us with your questions about the Bible, about a scripture or the Christian way of life. And our guests will answer that question for you live on the air. Tonight’s guest is Dr. Andy Woods. Dr. Andy Woods is Senior Pastor at the Sugar Land Bible Church. He’s also president of the Chafer Theological Seminary. Dr. Woods has authored and contributed to many Christian books and theological journals. He speaks on a variety of topics at Christian conferences and churches. The church website is SLBC.org. You can also reach him at the Pastor’s Point of View on YouTube and Rumble, where many of his articles can be found. Conference seminars at his website Andy Woods Ministries.org.  Also Sugar Land Bible Church would like to announce a special guest speaker. Coming up on October the 8th at the 9:45 a.m. and 11 a.m. service. That’ll be Mr. Curtis Bowers. He is an American politician, former educator, restaurateur and filmmaker who served as a state representative in the Idaho legislature. Curtis now speaks extensively on the left’s long war against God and the intentional promotion of socialist ideology in education, media and churches. The Bowers family sings at events across the country and recently released the documentaries Agenda the Sequel and Agenda 2 – Masters of Deceit. Also, the Sugar Land Bible Church is announcing their prophecy conference coming up February 23rd and 24th, 2024.

Guest speakers will include Olivier Melnick. You can look him up on the KHCB website under the First Person. He was on an interview August the 24^th. Listening to it, it’s an incredible interview. Also, they have Russ Miller, guest speaker with David, Dr. David Reagan and Dr. Andy Woods. There’ll be a banquet dinner on Friday, February 23rd, and on Saturday, February 24th will be a full day of teaching by the featured speakers with a Question and Answers at the end of the day. A Q&A will be at the end of the day to close out the conference. If you’re calling from inside the Houston listening area to the Question and Answers program, you can dial 832-922-4444. That’s 832-922-4444. If you’re calling from around the KHCB network outside of the Houston listening area, you can dial 877-999-5422. That’s 877-999-5422. Or if you’d rather email your question to us, you can send that to Questions@KHCB.org and it will 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 featured tonight, along with Doctor Andy Woods. And he needs no introduction.

Bruce: [00:04:42] Thank you, Noe. Noe Santana – doing our production work today. And no, this isn’t the voice of Dr. Jim McGowan, who is usually in this particular seat helping Dr. Andy Woods. Jim is the one of the pastors at the Sugar Land Bible Church, along with Dr. Andy Woods. Jim was unable to be here tonight, so they were scraping the low part of the barrel and found me and said, Hey, can you sit in here? So I’m delighted to visit with Dr. Woods and look at the questions that you might have about God’s Word. We’ll be here for about another hour or so, not quite that long. But it is a joy to be able to visit with Dr. Woods and look at what God’s Word has to say and what does it mean to us and how can we apply it to our lives. There’s no way, said our phone numbers are 832-922-4444. That’s 832-922-4444. You can also dial toll free if that’s outside of the area that you can call toll free, then call and we will pay for the dime or the call cost. 877-999-KHCB. That’s 877-999-5422. Or you can simply write a quick question. Email to Questions@KHCB.org. While listening to all the activities you have with all these events taking place at Sugar Land Bible Church, what do you do in your spare time?

Pastor Andy: [00:06:06] Well, not a lot, because there’s not a lot of spare time.

Bruce: [00:06:08] Exactly. Well, we’re delighted that you’re willing to do this evening. In fact, we’re switching with CF Hazelwood, who was with the Huntsville Bible Church. CF will fill in for Andy on the last Thursday of this month. So we appreciate his willingness to change the schedule. We want to start with an email that comes to us through our email Questions@KHCB.org. This email says “Greetings. We have found out that my son’s girlfriend is now pregnant. They are not Believers. How do I feel? Happy or do I congratulate them? I feel like if I do that, I’m promoting sin because of my view of Christ. Or am I being selfish? I do want to love them and pray for them. So, Pastor, how can I approach this? I certainly appreciate your response. Thank you.”

Pastor Andy: [00:06:57] Well, I mean, that’s a tough a tough situation to be in. On one end of the stick, you know, there’s a brand new life, you know, and that life is a human being that God allowed to come into existence. And so you want to I think it’s appropriate to celebrate that. But you kind of have to couch your celebration in a way where you’re not, you know, condoning the immorality, you know, that brought forth the life. So I don’t know if I have a clear answer than that other than try to walk that line, you know, try to be loving, try to be respectful of the new life, but, you know, also try to communicate that you know, the Bible supports sex within, you know, monogamous marriage. And so that’s probably the best I can do with that one.

Bruce: [00:07:52] All right. Those are real challenges that take place every day. And sometimes those are, well, not as easily definable as far as what are we going to say? What do we do? What do you do? I guess that’s where the Holy Spirit tries to guide you. You try to yield it to the sense that he might give you. I love your fact that you say be loving and yet still express your thoughts. I guess that’s the question is how do I speak the truth and love?

Pastor Andy: [00:08:18] Well, you know, you see that with Jesus, with the woman caught in adultery in John 8, and he says, you know, after he starts writing in the ground and no one really knows what he wrote there in the dirt. But it could be a record of everyone else’s sins that wanted to throw rocks at her, you know, for all we know. But, you know, he after the crowd disperses, he says, you know, woman, where are your accusers? I don’t accuse you either. But then at the end of that periscope, that paragraph, he says, Leave, you know, go thou and sin no more. So there’s it’s one of the great parts of the Bible that brings together truth and love together. Speaking the truth in Love. Ephesians 4, verse 15, my professor Robert Lightner, systematic theology that I had him for, he said, You know, it’s easy to speak the truth. Anybody can speak the truth. But to speak the truth in love is what our calling is. And that’s not always easy to do.

Bruce: [00:09:28] All right. I think all the women at the at the well of Samaria, when Jesus said, you know, you’ve had five husbands and the one you’re with is not your husband, very truthful, but still he was able to somehow express to her because her reaction was amazing. When she realizes that he is the Son of God. So, thank you for that kind question. We appreciate that. We pray the Lord will give you some wisdom. And if you have some trusted friends that you can ask to pray with, you do that as well. It’s always good to have people interceding on behalf. All right. Noe says we have a call, so let’s take this first call. Thanks so much for being a part of tonight’s Questions and Answers program. What’s what’s your thought? What’s your question this evening?

Caller: [00:10:09] Yeah, Hello. Hello, Dr. Woods. Hello, Dr. Woods. I’m going to read I’m going to read my question because I wrote it down here. So my question is, will the third temple upcoming be Holy in terms of God recognizing it as Holy, since the Jewish people still don’t yet believe that Jesus Christ was and is their Messiah and God is not going to be dwelling in it like the former temple. And I also add, Daniel does say abomination of the Holy Place, but at the same time, they are still under unbelief at the time of the construction of the temple to well into the second half of the tribulation. So that’s my question.

Bruce: [00:11:02] All right. Thank you so much. If you don’t mind, we’ll let you hang up and open up the phone line for someone else to call in a question or be on hold. So what about this third temple coming and its Holiness and the Jewish people who may not still recognize?

Pastor Andy: [00:11:14] That’s a great question. I’m looking here at the Book of Revelation, chapter 11, verses 1 and 2. It says There was given a measuring rod like a staff and someone said, Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship in it.  I think that’s a reference to the Book of Zechariah Chapter 2, the measuring line. And I think the reason this temple is being measured is because it it’s it falls short of God’s standard. You know, it’s going to be a really a temple that the Antichrist desecrates. As far as I can tell, it looks like the Nation of Israel has built that temple in unbelief. In fact, the city of Jerusalem, if you drop down to verse 8 of Revelation 11 at this time is analogized to Sodom and Egypt. So it would be a temple that falls short of God’s standard. It seems to be built of nationalist, out of nationalistic pride. Yet it’s interesting, as you go down to verse 2, it says, Leave out the court, which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations and they will tread underfoot the Holy City for 42 months. So this city and this temple is still called Holy, even though it’s called Sodom and Egypt later in the chapter. So why is it called Holy, even though it’s built out of nationalistic pride and falls short of God’s standard? That’s why it’s being measured, I think. Well, it relates to the fact that God’s people, the nation of Israel, are always looked at as his people. They have an unconditional covenant from God. Going all the way back to Genesis 15 and prior to that, Genesis 12. So God always looked at the Nation of Israel as his holy people, as his special people.

Bruce: [00:13:16] Set apart, isn’t it?

Pastor Andy: [00:13:18] Yeah, set apart, But at the same time they wandered into tremendous sin. God didn’t agree with everything they did. Just read the Old Testament and you’ll see that. And this is just another example of it. I mean, they’ve built this temple. It’s being measured. It falls short of God’s standard. It’s going to be desecrated by the Antichrist. It looks like it’s built out of nationalistic pride. Yet at the same time, it’s God that gave that land unconditionally to the Jewish people by way of an unconditional covenant. And that may be the reason why it’s still referred to as Holy.

 

Bruce: [00:13:51] And that promise was back to the patriarch Abraham, right? As far as the blessings that they would receive. So it’s a historical situation, but also a future one. So thank you for that question. We appreciate it. I hope that clarifies it. You know, the Book of Revelation is a fascinating book, but one has to be careful about how you understand exactly all the details, because some of it we don’t quite understand, even with all the revelation we have.

Pastor Andy: [00:14:21] Yeah, that’s true. And you know, back to Abraham. Then, he was named Abram. His name hadn’t even been changed yet. But, you know, it’s interesting, God gave him that promise, gave him that covenant Genesis 15. But then in Genesis 16, he’s impregnating Hagar his handmaiden there, his slave. And his wife is encouraging to do it to help God fulfill his promises. So when Abram did that, I mean, does that mean that he – that the covenant in Genesis 15 got canceled? No. It just meant that he’s moved into disobedience and he’s in a position now to be disciplined, but he’s not in a position to have the covenant cut. And if you can kind of take that analogy and read it through the rest of the Bible, a lot of these contradictions seem to take care of themselves. I mean, how could how could a temple that’s going to be desecrated called Holy? Well, the same reason a wayward Abram – Abraham in Genesis 17 didn’t lose his status, his covenantal status given to him earlier.

Bruce: [00:15:36] Right. The promise still was true and continued. All right. This is called Questions and Answers. Dr. Andy Woods of the Sugar Land Bible Church, our very special guest tonight. He is also the president of the Schaefer Theological Seminary. And we have another question that’s on the phone. So let’s go to you. Hi. Thanks for being a part of the broadcast tonight. What’s your question for Dr. Woods?

Caller: [00:15:57] Yeah. Hello. Is this me?

Bruce: [00:15:59] This is you. Yes, please.

Caller: [00:16:01] Okay. Yes, thanks. Hello. My question is the following. There is like a meditation technique and deep breathing to help people control stress. Could this be a tool from the devil to control people’s minds or like, a new age thing? I was just wondering.

Bruce: [00:16:21] Okay. And you said meditation, technique and breathing. For what purpose?

Caller: [00:16:26] To control stress.

Bruce: [00:16:28] Stress. Okay. Control. Stress. Gotcha. All right. Is this something from. All right, we’re going to let you hang up so we can open up the phone lines. By the way, our phone number is 832-922-444 4 or 877-999-5422. What about that?

Pastor Andy: [00:16:44] Well, you know, when I get worried, I need to kind of take a step back. And sometimes my wife says, you know, just breathe deeply a little bit or take a walk. I mean, I don’t know if there’s anything inherently sinful in that. To me, to me, it’s just a common sense thing. But there is a reality of Eastern mysticism, you know, where they teach these sort of practices that are religious in nature. And so, you know, when you do it, you just want to make sure that you’re not borrowing from Eastern mysticism and bringing it into Christianity, because I don’t think we really have the authority to do something like that. You know, there’s this idea that meditation – I believe in meditation. I mean, the Bible says meditate on his word day and night. But when you bring in Eastern mysticism, you figure out what they mean by meditation. What they mean is empty your mind of everything as if that’s even possible. And the first thought that comes into your mind has to be God speaking to you. Well, that’s not a biblical concept. You’re now moving away from Biblical meditation into more of an Eastern mystical understanding. I mean, that’s how I would understand yoga and a lot of these practices breathing that people get involved in. You know, I think it’s common sense to take some time off and take a walk and breathe deeply, but don’t do it in a way that you’re trying to follow some kind of eastern mystical paradigm.

Bruce: [00:18:19] You know, or emptying your mind or whatever. I was thinking, the psalmist says in Psalm 46:10, to be still and know that he is God. I don’t know if breathing is involved in that or not, but the idea is just pause, isn’t it? The whole idea of cease from striving?

Pastor Andy: [00:18:33] Yeah. And it’s when you study Psalm was it 46. It certainly isn’t talking about empty your mind. I mean that’s somebody that’s bringing in an Eastern philosophy to interpret the Bible. And that’s what to stay away from. In other words, breathing, relaxation, meditation, you know, try to develop more of a Biblical definition of those rather than an Eastern mystical.

Bruce: [00:18:59] Is it wise to be wary somewhat of somebody recommending these things?

Pastor Andy: [00:19:04] Well, you always want to consider the source. I mean, if someone is talking to me about meditation or breathing exercises, I’m wondering what source are they drawing from?  Is it, is this a biblical source or is it sometimes even Christian authors are pulling from Eastern mysticism, secular. You know, a really good author on this, in my opinion, is Roger Oakland in his book Faith Undone. And I recommend Lighthouse Trail’s website because it can kind of help you as you. As you look at different evangelicals promoting different things, they’re pretty good at documenting the source of those things. And when you see it sourced in something other than the scripture alone, I think that’s the point of demarcation.

Bruce: [00:19:56] Okay. Stay away from. All right. Roger Oakland. Faith.

Pastor Andy: [00:20:00] Faith Undone is very good.

Bruce: [00:20:02] Then the.

Pastor Andy: [00:20:03] Lighthouse Trails.

Bruce: [00:20:04] All right. Lighthouse trails. All right. Good questions. Thank you so much. Again, if you would like to ask a question, we’re here until about 10:30 this evening. 877-999-5422 is one number to call. And then if you’re in the greater Houston area, this is the easiest 832-922-4444. Dr. Andy Woods of the Sugar Land Bible Church, our guest this evening, or our host of this program. Let’s go back to our phone lines. Thank you so much for calling. What’s on your mind? Thank you for being a part of tonight’s program.

Caller: [00:20:37] Hi. Yes, good evening. I just have a question regarding Revelation 2:13. I’m sorry, It says pretty much. It says that. Well, it says, I know where you dwell where Satan’s throne is. Of course it is Jesus Christ speaking. And I was wondering, is that like a physical throne that Jesus Christ is mentioning about Satan or is like a spiritual sense his throne?  And I guess the other question would be, too, is who is in Titus in this case, where his faithful Jesus calls him as a faithful witness? Anyway, that’s my question. I’ll hang up.

Bruce: [00:21:12] And that’s in verse 13, My faith, even the witness of Antipas, my witness, my faithful one? Is that correct? Okay. Later on in that verse. All right, Revelation 2, that looks like 12 and 13. All right. Thank you so much. We’re going to let you hang up and try to answer this. All right.

Pastor Andy: [00:21:28] So he’s in chapter 2, verses 12 and 13. Yeah. Okay. It says “unto the angel of the church in Pergamum write the one who has the sharp two edged sword. I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast my name and did not deny my faith. Even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one who was killed among you where Satan dwells”. Well, you know, Satan, of course, controls currently the whole world first. John. John also wrote 1st John in addition to Revelation. But 1st John, chapter 5, verse 19. He says, The whole world lies in the lap of the wicked one. So Satan orchestrates the world system, you know.

Bruce: [00:22:13] So that’s his throne, you mean, or is it? Well, well.

Pastor Andy: [00:22:16] I haven’t gotten to the throne yet, but. But he orchestrates the whole world system through his fallen angelic beings. But Satan at the same time is not omnipresent and he can’t be everywhere at once. And so he can set up headquarters wherever he wants to. And my understanding is, in this particular case, the things that were happening in Pergamum, you know, by way of paganism in that particular city, were so perverse and profound, many people say that’s where Satan at that particular point in history, you know, set up his headquarters. I think he can set up his headquarters in different places. I think he set it up at the between the Euphrates and the Tigris at the Tower of Babel. Here’s another example where he apparently, for a time set up his headquarters here in Pergamum. So that’s my understanding in terms of where Satan has his where Satan has his throne. I’m looking here at the Ryrie study Bible and it says where Satan’s throne is a reference to Pergamum‘s worship either of the Roman emperor or of Zeus at his altar on the local Acropolis, or both. It says, in terms of Antipas, his faithful witness, he’s I think that was a real man that lived, you know, in that time that was faithful to Jesus, you know, apparently to the point of death. And Jesus is using him as a positive example, you know, to challenge the Christians at the church, at Pergamum, to be faithful unto Jesus just the same way. So I think he’s just drawing from a real historical, literal person that they all knew. And so that’s basically my understanding of who Antipas was.

Bruce: [00:24:14] Okay, So the throne, I guess we would say is real, although we don’t see it as a throne like we imagine Solomon had or kings have or things like that, It’s.

Pastor Andy: [00:24:25] Well, it’s kind of like a nerve center. It’s like the brain is, you know, sends out the signals to the body. I mean, Satan.

Bruce: [00:24:32] The HQ, The headquarters.

Pastor Andy: [00:24:34] Yeah, the headquarters. I mean, and when you understand, we understand that Satan is a created being. And the Book of Ezekiel chapter 28 around verses 13 and 15. I mean, two times it says “in the day you were created”. I do take that as a reference to Satan there, the cherub, the guardian cherub. When we understand that he was a creative being, he can’t be everywhere at the same time. So, you know, he’s got to run the country or the world which he controls from somewhere. And I think he just moves his location around, you know, depending on the circumstances and depending upon his purposes at any given point in history. I mean, back at Genesis 11, it was at Babel in the future Tribulation period, you know, it’ll probably be, I would think, Babylon rebuilt or maybe maybe Rome or maybe even Jerusalem, you know, for a time being. And here in the first century, apparently it was Pergamum.

Bruce: [00:25:36] Okay. All right. I hope that helps you out a little bit. Revelation chapter 2, verses 12 and 13. If you go on, you find more about the judgment of Pergamum and even the Old Testament references to Balac and Balam and how they got off the correct way or the right way. All right. This program called Questions and Answers. Thank you for listening, Doctor Andy Woods, our very special guest. 832-922-4444. We can squeeze one question in before our station identification. Hi. Thanks for being on the air. What’s your question for Doctor Woods?

Caller: [00:26:10] Hi. My question is about Paul. When he says I fill up in my body, what is lacking? I don’t know the full verse because I’m driving. But I always wondered in context of the Cross and it being finished, what is he talking about? If it’s if it has to do with salvation and or what is the suffering that is lacking that Christ not fulfill? Or is it just a Paul way of saying something that I don’t understand?

Bruce: [00:26:34] Okay, very good. And you’re saying I’m sure the passage.

Pastor Andy: [00:26:38] Yeah, that’s in Colossians. Uh, unfortunately, my mind is drawing a blank. I don’t remember the exact verse in Colossians. Let me, let me check into that real quick, if I could. Um.

Bruce: [00:27:02] The illustration that Paul gives there is focused on what’s going on and why the Lord is there.

Pastor Andy: [00:27:08] It is. Colossians 1:24 Sorry, a little bit slow here. Colossians 1:24 – “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake and in my flesh. I do my share on behalf of his body, which is the church. In filling up that which is lacking in the afflictions of Christ”. Here I’m looking at the Ryrie study Bible and it says, “Because of the Union of believers with Christ, Paul sufferings for the sake of the church can be called Christ’s afflictions”. Remember when Paul Saul was converted in Acts Chapter nine to Paul? His name was changed to Paul. Remember what the Lord said to him when he blinded him there temporarily on the Damascus road. Think gets around Acts Chapter 9, verse 4 “Saul. Saul, why do you persecute me?”.

Another interesting verse to this is the sheep and the goat judgment where Jesus is making a determination at his Second Advent which of the people on the earth are believers and which are unbelievers. And he says, “as you’ve done it to the least of these, my brethren”, speaking of the Jewish people, I believe they’re my brethren. “You’ve done it unto me”. So what Paul is saying, I think, is when we suffer, Jesus suffers because after all, we’re the body and he’s the head.

Pastor Andy: [00:28:43] And I don’t think this particular word for suffering. And I’m trying to remember what it is in Greek. I think it’s the ellipsis, but I don’t think that is ever used of the afflictions of Jesus. I may have to double check myself on the use of that, that Greek word, but I remember the last time I studied it. It’s not saying that somehow, you know, Christ’s sufferings weren’t enough. That’s not what it’s getting at, because it’s a different Greek word here. And at the break, I’ll look it up and give you the exact Greek word. But, you know, that’s sort of the interpretation that people give that are involved in works oriented religions, that somehow Jesus did 90% and we got to kick in 10% sort of mentality. And they use this verse and this is not what this is talking about. It’s more the idea that when we suffer, when Paul suffered, Jesus suffered, you know, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? In other words, as Saul was persecuting the church, it was Jesus that was feeling the suffering. It’s the body, you know, the head body analogy. And I think that’s a much better way of understanding it than thinking that, you.

Bruce: [00:30:01] Know, something was lacking.

Pastor Andy: [00:30:02] Because remember what Christ’s final words on the cross were? He said, It is finished. It’s a Greek word, tetelestai, which means paid in full. And it’s actually in the perfect tense, meaning a one time action with ongoing results. So there’s nothing that’s somehow lacking in what Christ did for us. It has more to do with we fill out His sufferings as we suffer would be my best understanding of that.

Bruce: [00:30:30] All right. Great question and appreciate your wonderful question asking us about that. All right. Colossians, chapter 1. All right. We need to pause for station identification across the network. We’ll be back in 60 seconds here on Questions and Answers.

Announcer: [00:30:43] Whether you missed a program or simply want to listen to one again, KHCB.org offers the on demand feature for your convenience. Go to KHCB.org. This is KHCB FM Houston 105.7 and broadcasting in Lockhart, San Marcos, Austin, Beaumont, Port Arthur and Natchitoches, Louisiana. Thanks for listening.

Bruce: [00:31:40] And you’re listening to a program we simply call Questions and Answers. You have questions, the Lord has answers in his Word, the Bible. And helping us answer those questions is Dr. Andy Woods. Dr. Woods is with the Sugar Land Bible Church, located in Sugar Land, Texas, a suburb of Houston, southwest of the city. And he is also president of the Chafer Theological Seminary. What is that? What is the Chafer Theological Seminary?

Pastor Andy: [00:32:05] Chafer Theological Seminary is basically a school. We have headquarters in Albuquerque, New Mexico. But we’re we’ve become a predominantly online school. And so we’re a seminary.

Bruce: [00:32:22] A seminary. This is a deeper.

Pastor Andy: [00:32:23] Deeper. It’s more than just like a casual Bible study that you might have at your local church. It’s really designed to equip people for different ministries that they may have. I mean, our primary target is people that want to be in the pulpit. So we have a four year degree where we teach Bible exposition, systematic theology, Greek, Greek and Hebrew. And we’re preparing people to be rightful dividers of God’s word from the pulpit. But we have a lot of other students, too, that are Sunday school teachers, missionaries. So we offer, in addition to our 120 unit (Th.M), we have a 60 unit (M.B.S), and then we also have 30 unit credentials that people might like to attain. If you want to develop an expertise in theology or Bible survey or Greek or Hebrew, we have that available too. So we’re really an equipping institution where we’re trying to prepare people for the ministry that God has for them.

Bruce: [00:33:27] All right. And how will they find out more?

Pastor Andy: [00:33:29] Just go to https://www.chafer.edu/.

Bruce: [00:33:36] All right. Chafer, you don’t need “Seminary”. Is it?

Pastor Andy: [00:33:40] Just https://www.chafer.edu/.

Bruce: [00:33:42] All right. That’s. That’s really chafer.edu. Well, it’s been your custom on this broadcast. Whatever day you have it for the last Thursday of the month, or this one to just spend a few moments in prayer and asking the Lord certainly to intercede, too. Well, I guess intercede and certainly work in the lives of those who are in government and in our nation. So would you mind leading us in a quick word?

Pastor Andy: [00:34:04] Thank you for the privilege, Lord. We just lift up our country during this time. Anybody can look and see that our country is really in a state of need and we just pray for your grace. We pray over our leadership. 1st Timothy 2 verses, 1 through 4, where we’re told to pray for people in positions of authority that they might make decisions in a way that’s harmonious with your will. And we know from the Book of Proverbs that as a watercourse guides water, so you direct the heart of the king and turn it any way you want. And so there are many people in our government that don’t know you at all, and some of them seem to have very evil motives, but at the same time, you’re not inhibited by that. So, I just ask that you direct them to be making decisions that would be good for our nation and you tell us to do that in 1st Timothy 2:1 through 4 so that we can live a quiet and peaceable life so that the gospel can go forward, unrestrained. So all of our leaders, everybody in positions of decision making authority like that in our government, state, local, federal, we lift them up to you at this time. We ask it in Jesus name.

Bruce: [00:35:24] Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. All right. Questions and answers. Doctor Andy Woods 832-922-4444. I know we have some of folks that have been hanging on through our prayer and through our station break. So let’s get to the next call. Thanks for being a part of tonight’s program. You’re on the air with Doctor Andy Woods. Go ahead. You’re on the air.

Caller: [00:35:44] Yes. I was calling to add on to what your sister was talking about, meditation. Okay. Now, I have two questions. I know in Matthew, it teaches us how to pray. But in Proverbs, I think what she was trying to make sure like what is the proper way to meditate or is it a different way for meditation and praying based off of Proverbs and what’s going on? Jesus gave in. Matthew, Is it a difference or can you do them? I guess I said what I have to say. But yeah, that’s my question.

Bruce: [00:36:17] All right. Thank you so much. Is there a difference in what the Lord was saying? I’m not sure he used the word meditation, but I know he did teach us to pray in Matthew chapter 6. And then I think, I don’t know if it’s proverbs or you were referring to is it Psalm 1 where we meditate on the Word of God day and night? Psalm chapter 1 is maybe what the friend is referring to instead of a book.

Pastor Andy: [00:36:38] Yeah, it’s in Psalm 1 talking about the righteous man meditates on his word day and night. And then we remember the instructions that God gave to Joshua, you know, telling him, you know, do you want to have success or not? We all want to succeed, don’t we? So it says in Joshua 1 verse 8, “The book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night”. That’s exactly what Psalm 1 verses 1 through 3 says. And then it says, Be careful to do according to all that is written in it for then you will make your way prosperous and you will have success. So that’s the kind of meditation that the Bible is promoting. It’s not a Eastern mysticism, empty your mind, you know, kind of meditation. I mean, meditation is great, but you have to be careful what definition you’re pouring into it because, you know, someone throws out the word meditation and it can mean anything, right? So we want to define the word Biblically. We don’t empty our mind. We fill our mind the opposite. We fill our mind with God’s Truth and Word. We don’t empty our mind and, you know, kind of pretend that the first voice that we hear in our mind or the first thought we have may be, what a better way of saying it happens to be God. In fact, she mentioned Matthew 6. I mean, Jesus specifically said in Matthew 6, don’t you know, go on and on with kind of vain babblings, as do the pagans. So we’re told right there not to, in prayer, incorporate pagan practices into prayer. And it’s the same with meditation. You know, meditate. Yes. But do it biblically. Don’t bring into it some, you know, Eastern foreign definition that the Bible doesn’t.

Bruce: [00:38:35] Support with Jesus advocating, go into your inner room and close your door and pray to your father who is in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you. That’s not necessarily meditation, you’re just focused on the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ or God, the Father. You’re not emptying your mind, I think is what most Eastern mysticism.

Pastor Andy: [00:38:54] And there you’re communicating to God. Meditation is where God is communicating to you. I mean, there are two different spiritual disciplines that all growing Christians should be involved in. But, you know, the thing that’s happening today is you have this whole spiritual formation movement that people are kind of embracing. And when you start, you know, dialing down on what they mean by spiritual formation, a lot of the time they’re borrowing from the monastic time period, the dark ages, where these monastics did all these sort of practices like, you know, Lectio Divina and all of these other things. And they’re trying to bring that into Christianity and they’re trying to make it sound as if you don’t do these monastic practices that have been lost to Christianity, then you’re really not completing Christ. And that’s what to be wary of, you know, practice the spiritual disciplines. But, you know, there’s plenty in scripture about spiritual disciplines, but make sure when you do it, do it from a Biblical angle rather than an Eastern mystical angle. And just because someone uses the same word does not mean that they’re pouring the same definition into the word. And that’s why early I recommended the Roger Oakland book.

Bruce: [00:40:13] Faith.

Pastor Andy: [00:40:14] Faith.

Bruce: [00:40:14] Undone.

Pastor Andy: [00:40:15] Is very helpful. Back to the Colossians 1:24. I did look that up. It is the Greek word thlipsis, which I don’t think is ever applied to the sufferings of Christ.

Bruce: [00:40:25] That word. Okay, so the suffering there is of an individual or a person and Christ understands.

Pastor Andy: [00:40:32] It’s more like Christ in his present session When we hurt, he hurts would be how I would explain it. It’s got nothing to do with.

Bruce: [00:40:42] Something lacking in the sufferings of. I keep thinking of the word lacking.

Pastor Andy: [00:40:46] Yeah, it doesn’t have anything to do with his sufferings on the cross is what I’m saying. Because the sufferings on the cross were complete.

Bruce: [00:40:51] Right. And Paul wasn’t there at the cross, we don’t think, right? No, we don’t know. But he wasn’t saying that he somehow Christ didn’t suffer enough there. Yeah, right. Which is an easy thing to see if you just read it contextually. Yeah. So. All right. Hope that helps you out. Thank you so much for your call and for your questions. We have a quick email here and I say quick. It’s a short question, but it’s going to be an involved answer. “My question is, how do we do greater works than what Jesus did?” Yeah, that’s a real easy one for you.

Pastor Andy: [00:41:21] Well, that is something that Jesus said in the Upper Room discourse and it’s a wonderful verse. He says, You’re going to do greater works than me. And by the way, what kind of God would say that I you know, everything we know about deities out there, they always subjugate their followers. And here’s Jesus coming along, telling his disciples, You’re going to do greater works than me. That just is an amazing thing that he’s saying. It’s so contrary to everything we know about what other gods would gods (little “g”) would do. But I think it has more to do with not so much the miracles that he did, because most people make it sound like, well, he walked on water. I’m going to walk on water. You know, he turned water to wine. You know, I’m going to turn water to wine. I think it’s more talking about not so much the quality of the miracle, but it’s quantity. In other words, Peter, when he opened his mouth on the day of Pentecost, 3,000 people got saved. You can’t find Jesus saving people in that mass in the

Gospels. In fact, in John 6, you know, he spoke for a while. Yeah. John 14 verse 12 is where we’re getting this from.

Pastor Andy: [00:42:45] He spoke for a while and a crowd disappeared. And here are his disciples in the Book of Acts through the Holy Spirit’s power, reaching numerically a size of people that Jesus never reached. Now, beyond that, Jesus never wrote a book. There’s no Jesus book, you know, in the Bible that Jesus authored, and yet his disciples authored, you know, 27 New Testament books. And beyond that, Jesus, when he ministered, he did all of his ministry within the narrow borders of Israel, which is not a massive country. You know, it’s about the size of New Jersey, probably modern day Israel. And here are his disciples taking the gospel to Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, to the remote parts of the Earth. And here we are, Brother Bruce, in the year 2023, on a totally different continent, you know, speaking into technology where our voice can be heard by an incredibly large number of people. You know, you factor in archives, people listening after the fact. I mean, Jesus never did anything like that. And so that’s kind of my understanding of it. It’s more not so much the quality of the miracle, but its quantity.

Bruce: [00:44:02] And the opportunity to reach even more. And what he reached. All right. So that’s a thought there. Appreciate that from John 14, verse 12, understanding what the Lord was referring to. And of course he was referring to his disciples that they would go out, make disciples of all nations. That was their goal. And so, you know what an incredible spread he had by choosing these 12 that would go out and continue on the work. The apostle Paul says in 1st Corinthians 15, this is another email about the baptism for the dead. That’s 1st Corinthians 15. “And someone has said there was a cult that says that you can’t possibly be in their group unless you are baptized, even dead. What does Paul referring to?”. By the way, this friend is listening in Missouri and listening online. Yeah, we don’t have a station in Missouri, but thank you. Thank you for listening and thank you for the question. 1st Corinthians chapter 15. Yeah, that’s Cynicism of the Dead.

Pastor Andy: [00:44:54] Yeah. 1st Corinthians chapter 15. Most people interpret that as some kind of pagan practice, you know, that the Corinthians were involved in. I think the answer, is a lot simpler when he says Baptism for the dead. Basically when you become a Christian, you’re dead. You know, you’re dead to the things of the world because you’re a new, new creature in Christ Jesus. And so that’s just another way of saying conversion. And with a new convert, what are you supposed to do with the new convert? You’re supposed to baptize them in water. So Paul’s simple point is why do you guys baptize if Jesus never rose from the dead? This is his resurrection chapter. I mean, he’s defending the resurrection of Jesus, which they were apparently on the precipice of throwing overboard. And basically his point is, you know, he goes all the way through this chapter. Why are you suffering as martyrs? You know, why are you expending yourself for the cause of the gospel? Why are we, as apostles put on trial? I mean, we’re the most pitiable of men if there is no bodily resurrection of Jesus. If there’s no bodily resurrection of Jesus, there’s no Christianity. And by the way, why are you baptizing new converts?

Bruce: [00:46:15] Right.

Pastor Andy: [00:46:15] So ,it’s kind of he’s kind of getting them to see the logical fallacy of their ways.

Bruce: [00:46:20] The fact that there is within our hearts eternity planted, as Solomon mentioned. So people are doing all kinds of things to look for eternity, that there’s something after this life. And he’s saying, yeah, but Christ has risen from the dead and we follow him. Okay, Yeah.

Pastor Andy: [00:46:35] Really, the central point is there. Verse 14 “If Christ has not been raised and our preaching is in vain, and so is your faith”. So you’ve got the resurrection of Jesus, you got Christianity. And if there’s no such thing as Christianity, what are you guys doing baptizing new converts for? That’s my understanding of it, right? That’s, by the way, in 1st Corinthians 15:29.

Bruce: [00:47:02] Okay, very good. Questions and answers today on KHCB. Dr. Andy Woods our very special guest. And Sugar Land Bible Church is where he pastors is also president of Schaeffer Seminary. We have a number of callers waiting patiently or impatiently, I’m not sure. But anyway, you’re on the air now. Thank you so much for your call. What’s your question for Dr. Woods? It is your turn. Thank you so much for your patience.

Caller: [00:47:26] Okay. Good night.

Bruce: [00:47:28] Thank you. What’s your question?

Caller: [00:47:30] Yeah, I would like to know when I believe. Okay. When a believer dies, his soul goes up to the presence of God. But when an unbeliever dies, I would like to know where the soul goes to.

Bruce: [00:47:45] Okay, So when an unbeliever dies and then when an unbeliever dies. All right.

Caller: [00:47:50] Yes. And I’m also I want to know if believers should participate in lotteries and raffles and if there’s a reference in the Bible to that.

Bruce: [00:48:01] Okay.

Pastor Andy: [00:48:02] If believers should practice what? I missed that.

Bruce: [00:48:05] Go ahead. Should believers do what?

Caller: [00:48:07] You understand my question?

Pastor Andy: [00:48:09] The first part we did. But you said something about should believers practice, and I missed that.

Caller: [00:48:14] Participate in Raffles and Lottos. And if there’s any Bible references concerning that.

Bruce: [00:48:21] And you’re saying raffles.

Caller: [00:48:23] Yes. Okay. Raffles and Lottos.

Pastor Andy: [00:48:26] Oh, like lottery.

Caller: [00:48:28] Yes.

Bruce: [00:48:29] Yes. Lotteries and things of that nature. Okay. All right. Very good. Good questions. We’ll see if we can answer them. Thank you. We’re going to let you hang up. We have another people trying to get on, so we’ll let that phone line get freed up again. All right. So first of all, when a believer dies, what happens to them? And when an unbeliever dies, what happens?

Pastor Andy: [00:48:44] Well, the believer, you know, 2nd Corinthians 5, verse 8, absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Philippians 1:21 through 23. Paul says it’s far better for me to depart and be with Christ, which is much better for me. To live as Christ to die is gain. So that’s where the believer goes into the presence of the Lord. The unbeliever, I’m going to Luke 16 verses 19 through 31. Remember the rich man who died in unbelief? He went to a place called Hades, which was a place of torment. And that’s where he awaits his future body. Because the Book of Revelation in the Great White Throne Judgment, Chapter 20 talks about how Hades will be opened and unbelievers of all ages will be brought out of Hades and they will then be put in resurrected bodies. And as their name is not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life, at that terrible judgment, they are then transported in a resurrected body from Hades into another locale called the Lake of Fire.

Bruce: [00:49:58] But Hades even now is in torment.

Pastor Andy: [00:50:00] Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where do they go now? Prior to the Lake of Fire is Hades. Which Luke? 16:19 through 31. Looks like a terrible place.

Bruce: [00:50:09] All right, then he asks for a little.

Pastor Andy: [00:50:11] For.

Bruce: [00:50:12] A drop of water.

Pastor Andy: [00:50:12] A drop of water. And then he sends someone back to warn my five brothers so they don’t come here. It’s a very real place they go to called Hades, awaiting their, you know, final judgment at the great white throne judgment where they’re transferred into the Lake of Fire. Um, as far as like raffles, lottery, games of chance, I don’t personally don’t think the Bible supports that. I do think the Bible supports investments and sound investing, but just sort of gambling, taking wild, uncontrolled risks. I think you’ll find a lot of things in the Book of Proverbs that would tell us to stay away from practices like that. You know, any kind of get rich quick, you know, type of potentials type of scenario where you’re not functioning according to sound rules of investing, but you’re just, you know, taking a chance and hoping of getting rich quick. I think you’ll see the Book of Proverbs condemns that practice pretty, pretty thoroughly.

Bruce: [00:51:16] Yeah. Didn’t Solomon say something about money has wings? It flies away. So that’s why we want to be wise with our purchases or with our wherewithal the Lord allows us to have. Thank you so much for that call. We appreciate that. You’re listening to Questions and Answers Again, Dr. Andy Woods, our guest. Let’s go back to our phones and thank you for your patience. What’s on your mind? What question do you have for Dr. Woods.  It is your turn. Thank you so much.

Caller: [00:51:40] Okay. I am. Want to know, I have recently sort of heard. I mean, this makes sense, right? You read five Psalms a day and you read one proverb a day and you get through the whole Psalms and Proverbs in a month. Okay? And so the question that I have is, is that, would you consider reading the Psalms and Proverbs as prayer? Is reading Scripture a fair description of prayer? I don’t know. I mean, sometimes I get. I don’t think you can just sit there and say the Lord’s Prayer all day long, I mean, in your entire prayer time. Although that was a prayer that Jesus taught. So anyway, that’s my question.

Bruce: [00:52:30] All right. So Psalms and Proverbs, are they considered prayers or can I use them as prayers? We’re going to let you hang up and we’re going to go to our next caller.

Pastor Andy: [00:52:36] Yeah, I would not say reading the Bible, Psalms, Proverbs, whatever is prayer. Prayer is where we talk to God. Meditation, the right use of the term is God speaking to us. However, I will say this the better you understand the Scripture, the more informed your prayer life.

Bruce: [00:52:58] And some of the Psalms are prayers.

Pastor Andy: [00:53:00] Yes, they are. Let me just give you an example, Daniel. There’s a tremendous prayer that he prayed in Daniel 9. And you’ll you’ll see that what precipitated that prayer was his study of the book of Jeremiah. He knew from the book of Jeremiah. I think it’s chapter 25, verse 11 and chapter 29, verse 10, that the captivity, the Babylonian captivity would last 70 years. And he knew that the clock was almost up. And so that leads to a tremendous prayer that he gives to God for the future of Israel there in Daniel chapter 9. So I think prayer and meditation are two separate things, but they can overlap. You know, if we ask 1st John 5:14 is it if we ask according to his will, he hears us. Well, how in the world do you discover his will? You discover his will and his word! So the better you know the word, the better you’re able to pray with and not ask, as James says, around chapter 4. But I want to say verse two, ask amiss, you know, so the two are related, but the two are not identical. So I would say.

Bruce: [00:54:10] So, it’s not wrong to pray to read the Psalms as prayers. Don’t know if that’s really a good practice to use that as your prayer, but.

Pastor Andy: [00:54:19] I would say allow the psalm to inform your personal prayer. Okay. And you know, there are some wonderful things in the Psalms which are, you know, worth praying. You know, Jesus prayed the Psalms, but it’s not some kind of I guess what I’m trying to say is we’re dealing with two different practices here. When you’re reading God is talking to you, when you’re praying, you’re talking to God. But the more you can bring into your personal prayer life, the use of scripture, the more effective your prayer life will be.

Bruce: [00:54:51] I guess know how to pray.

 Pastor Andy: [00:54:52] Yeah, exactly. Okay.

Bruce: [00:54:53] All right. Very good. Thank you. I hope that helps you out. Appreciate that. Yeah, I think it’s five Psalms and one proverbs and get through them all in 30 days, which may be too fast. Maybe not fast enough.

Pastor Andy: [00:55:03] Well, the more I’ve gone through the Bible, the slower of a reader I am because. And you just have to send it to my preaching at the church. So, you know, you know how slow I can go. So, you know, the more I’m in the Word, the more slow I’ve gotten personally.

Bruce: [00:55:23] And there’s a lot there. Yeah. All 66 books when a person. This is an email “when a person rejects receiving Jesus as their savior. Is that considered the greatest sin or would it be considered something else other than sin? Is there any scripture that can give you an answer as to what is the rejection of Christ? I guess maybe referring to the unpardonable sin maybe”.

Pastor Andy: [00:55:44] Well, I mean, I’ll just put it this way The only sin that sends someone to hell is the sin of unbelief. In other words, you, the Holy Spirit, convicts you throughout your life to receive Christ as your Savior, and you just persist in unbelief. That’s the only unpardonable sin. I mean, that’s the only sin that will eternally separate you from God. John Chapter 3, verse 36, is very clear. It says “He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him”. If you want to define an unpardonable sin today, you know that would be it. Going to your grave. Having never believed or trusted in the finished work of Jesus for your salvation.

Bruce: [00:56:37] Okay. John 5:24 is one of your favorites as far as the need for salvation. “Whoever hears my word and believes in him, who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life”. And so there’s the issue of belief. And is it John 6? I think it’s about doing the works that people always say, well, you’ve got to do a bunch of works. 26 do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food, which that sounds all right.

Pastor Andy: [00:57:04] 28 and 29.

Bruce: [00:57:05] “Therefore, they said to him, What shall we do so that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered, This is the work of God, that You believe in Him whom He has sent”. If we don’t believe, we have no forgiveness.

Pastor Andy: [00:57:17] Exactly.

Bruce: [00:57:17] Yeah. All right. Thank you so much. We’re running out of time to get to all these questions. Let’s go back to the phone and try to get one more in before we go. Go ahead. Thank you so much for taking time to call us with your question. And what is that question?

Caller: [00:57:30] Yes. Does the Bible support or condemn same sex marriages? And is their position clear in the New Testament?

Bruce: [00:57:38] Okay. Does the Bible give any kind of reference to same sex marriage and what passages could we use for that? All right. Thank you so much.

Pastor Andy: [00:57:48] Well, I mean, I hate to put it this way, but a same sex marriage is not a marriage. I mean, God communicated in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. You know what a marriage is? You know, he says, be fruitful and multiply. He’s Jesus when he’s questioned about divorce and remarriage in Matthew 19 quotes Genesis 1, I think it’s verse 27 “At the beginning, he made them male and female”, and then he quotes Genesis two, verse 24, “For this reason, a man shall leave his mother and father and cleave to his wife. The two shall become one flesh”. So marriage is one man for one woman, for one life. That’s God’s standard, I realize as fallen human beings, many have fallen short of that standard. But that doesn’t mean a standard doesn’t exist. That’s God’s standard. I mean, I didn’t make the rules, God, that made the rules. So anything outside of that paradigm, whether it be three men that want to get married or a man that wants to marry a boy or same sex.

Bruce: [00:58:56] Marriage, multiple partners.

Pastor Andy: [00:58:58] Polygamy, polygamy. I mean, society can call it whatever they want. It’s not a marriage. And, you know, I would go back to she wanted to know, is this supported in the New Testament? Well, it’s supported in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 and Jesus in Matthew 19 verses 4 through 6 when he’s asked about divorce and remarriage, goes right back to the paradigm of Genesis 1 and 2. Matthew’s in the New Testament. And so, you know, I mean, the Bible is pretty clear about on homosexuality, Old Testament and New Testament. New Testament Romans 1:26 and 27, you’ll see a very strong condemnation of the practice of homosexuality. So, same sex marriage violates God’s standard. And so I would say it’s really not a Biblical marriage.

Bruce: [00:59:48] All right. Well, questions and answers on the air on the network today with Pastor Andy Woods. Doctor Andy Woods is the pastor at Sugar Land Bible Church. If you’d like more information about their ministry, go to their website SLBC.org. Or if you’d like more information about the seminary that he officiates after and helps and guides and directs and even teaches https://www.chafer.edu/. Always a joy to have you here. Thank you for your time.

Pastor Andy: [01:00:15] Yeah, thanks for having me.

Bruce: [01:00:16] As you continue to serve and thank you for all the wonderful questions. I’m sorry we didn’t get to all of these, but the Lord willing, we’ll have another edition next week if the Lord hasn’t returned. And if he has, then we’ll have all the answers we need. That’s right. Thanks so much for joining in. You’re tuned to Christian radio, keeping him close by.