WEBVTT - Hour 2: More Independence Day Weekend Mailbag 0:00:07.880 --> 0:00:10.880 Hello friends. It's time for the second hour of Open 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:16.239 Line with me, Doctor Michael Moody Radio's Bible Study Across America. 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:20.920 We're talking about your questions about the Bible, God and 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:24.640 the spiritual life. I'm Michael Redlich, professor of Jewish studies 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:27.680 at Moody Bible Institute, and I'm coming to you from 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:33.040 Moody's downtown Chicago campus. If you have a Bible question today, 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:36.680 don't call me the reason you shouldn't call me. It's 0:00:36.680 --> 0:00:40.080 a special all mailbag, all the time edition of Open Line. 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:43.360 You can send your question by going to our website, 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:47.680 Open Line Radio, and you can click on the link 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:50.879 that says Ask Michael a question and that will pull 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:52.400 up a form, fill it out, and it'll be put 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:56.880 into a future mailbag. But for today, listen in. You've 0:00:56.880 --> 0:00:58.560 sent in a lot of questions. We're trying to clear 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:01.520 the spindle and get them out of here and answer 0:01:01.520 --> 0:01:04.280 as many questions as we can to help me do that. 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:06.840 I've got Eva right here. She's my wife. You may 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:10.560 know that, but really, she's my colleague at Moody Bible Institute. 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:13.320 She's on the faculty there. She contributed to the Moody 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:17.920 Bible Commentary and to the Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy. 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:21.920 And also joining me is Tricia McMillan. She is the 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:24.360 producer of Open Line. You hear her every week during 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:29.920 the Febc Mailbag edition, the Febc mailbag segment, when we 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:33.319 talk about that. And that's always great. But now you've 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:36.520 got a huge mailbag and you're covering all our questions. 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:36.880 I do. 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:40.319 Yeah, yeah, yeah. So let's see what we can, uh, 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:43.280 what we can get to this hour. We're trying our 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:45.679 best to answer all of these questions. 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:48.320 All right. William from Ohio listens on the mobile app 0:01:48.320 --> 0:01:51.680 and asks, why does the temple become significant again in 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:55.360 revelation at the abomination of Desolation, it seems it was 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:58.490 made insignificant at Christ's death when the temple veil was 0:01:58.490 --> 0:02:01.250 torn them. There isn't a need for a temple in 0:02:01.250 --> 0:02:03.490 the end times, so how could it be desecrated if 0:02:03.490 --> 0:02:06.370 God is no longer in the temple or recognizing the temple? 0:02:08.490 --> 0:02:11.010 I'd start by saying there's nothing in the New Testament 0:02:11.010 --> 0:02:15.370 that deprecates the temple. It does say that the blood 0:02:15.370 --> 0:02:18.050 of bulls and goats in the book of Hebrews didn't 0:02:18.090 --> 0:02:22.329 take away sin, even in the Old Testament temple. It 0:02:22.330 --> 0:02:25.649 always pointed forward to the those sacrifices were pointing forward 0:02:25.650 --> 0:02:34.610 to the messianic sacrifice. Um, and uh, but also early, 0:02:34.610 --> 0:02:37.049 if you look in the book of acts, even after 0:02:37.210 --> 0:02:41.610 the temple veil was rent, the early believers went to 0:02:41.650 --> 0:02:46.610 the temple. Isn't that interesting? Uh, in the early chapters 0:02:46.610 --> 0:02:51.930 of acts, even Paul goes to the temple at, uh, 0:02:52.610 --> 0:02:57.010 at James suggestion when he comes back to Jerusalem. So. 0:02:58.610 --> 0:03:03.210 there's nothing bad about the temple. The. The Tribulation temple 0:03:03.210 --> 0:03:06.930 will be rebuilt, uh, by people who don't yet believe 0:03:06.930 --> 0:03:10.650 in Jesus. And they are going to. I don't know 0:03:10.650 --> 0:03:12.930 how or when, but Jewish people will be worshipping in 0:03:12.930 --> 0:03:16.889 the temple until the future false messiah tries to tell 0:03:16.889 --> 0:03:19.690 them he's God and they should worship him. And that's 0:03:19.690 --> 0:03:23.090 when they they refuse, and that's when he turns, breaks 0:03:23.090 --> 0:03:26.570 his covenant with Israel and begins to persecute them. But 0:03:26.570 --> 0:03:30.570 also there will be a temple once again, looking back, 0:03:31.210 --> 0:03:35.010 remembering the sacrifices that were made. You can read about 0:03:35.010 --> 0:03:38.610 that in Ezekiel 40 through 48. It talks about a 0:03:38.610 --> 0:03:43.130 future millennial millennial temple. Also in Zechariah 14 it talks 0:03:43.130 --> 0:03:45.610 about that. And so there's going to be a temple 0:03:45.610 --> 0:03:49.810 that remembers the sacrificial system, remembers the sacrifice of the 0:03:49.810 --> 0:03:54.650 Messiah Jesus, by reestablishing a sacrificial system in the messianic kingdom. 0:03:54.930 --> 0:03:58.090 And in the The Tearing of the veil doesn't wasn't 0:03:58.130 --> 0:04:01.250 a comment on the the temple being bad, but it 0:04:01.250 --> 0:04:02.290 was showing the. 0:04:02.690 --> 0:04:04.490 The finality of the sacrifice. 0:04:04.530 --> 0:04:05.250 Of the sacrifice. 0:04:06.010 --> 0:04:09.210 Okay. All right. Thanks for that question, William. Next question 0:04:09.210 --> 0:04:13.010 is from Helen in Indiana, listens on WGN. I'm studying 0:04:13.090 --> 0:04:17.250 Ezekiel and trying to understand it in Ezekiel 44. I've 0:04:17.250 --> 0:04:20.050 always assumed that the prince is the Messiah. But in 0:04:20.050 --> 0:04:24.330 Ezekiel 45, verse 22, the prince makes a sin offering. 0:04:24.650 --> 0:04:27.210 How could it be? The Messiah is he does not sin. 0:04:27.450 --> 0:04:29.770 Are the latter days the millennial reign? And if so, 0:04:29.810 --> 0:04:32.170 why are there sacrifices? Okay, so I know you've just 0:04:32.170 --> 0:04:32.929 kind of covered. 0:04:33.050 --> 0:04:34.810 This a little. I'll answer that in a minute. But 0:04:34.810 --> 0:04:38.130 usually when a question comes up about Ezekiel, I just say, 0:04:38.130 --> 0:04:42.250 I don't know, ask Eva because she wrote the commentary 0:04:42.250 --> 0:04:46.890 with Charlie Dyer in the Moody Bible commentary on Ezekiel. So? 0:04:47.130 --> 0:04:48.289 So, Eva. Yeah. 0:04:48.850 --> 0:04:50.730 Well, let me just let's just look at the Moody 0:04:50.730 --> 0:04:52.690 Bible Commentary, which I think is a great tool, and 0:04:52.690 --> 0:04:55.060 I recommend all of our listeners and friends to get 0:04:55.060 --> 0:04:58.700 this great tool because it goes through the scriptures, verse 0:04:58.700 --> 0:05:02.540 by verse, answering the the big questions, showing how everything 0:05:02.540 --> 0:05:07.179 relates together. Very messianic in its appreciation for the message 0:05:07.180 --> 0:05:10.380 of the Bible. So here's here's Ezekiel's what we say 0:05:10.380 --> 0:05:13.900 in in the Moody Bible Commentary just on this passage. It, 0:05:13.940 --> 0:05:18.339 it says that, that, um, it says although the gate 0:05:18.339 --> 0:05:21.740 will be shut in the, in the in for the 0:05:21.740 --> 0:05:24.299 temple area, the area of the gate will be used 0:05:24.300 --> 0:05:28.020 by the prince, which she is saying she's thinking of 0:05:28.060 --> 0:05:29.860 as being the Messiah. But I think the clues in 0:05:29.860 --> 0:05:31.980 the text are that it is not the Messiah. The 0:05:31.980 --> 0:05:37.099 Hebrew word translated prince in most translations is the word nasi, 0:05:37.140 --> 0:05:40.820 which would be better translated as the leader. The leader 0:05:40.820 --> 0:05:44.820 will sit in the gate and and render judgments and 0:05:44.820 --> 0:05:48.580 settling affairs, although some have suggested this is the Messiah. 0:05:48.620 --> 0:05:52.500 The evidence is to the contrary. This prince or leader 0:05:52.500 --> 0:05:55.420 is not the Messiah because first of all, the leader 0:05:55.420 --> 0:05:58.860 made a sin offering for himself an act that would 0:05:58.860 --> 0:06:03.500 be unnecessary for the sinless Messiah. Secondly, this prince or 0:06:03.500 --> 0:06:09.340 leader has natural children. Another impossibility for the God-Man Messiah Jesus. 0:06:09.700 --> 0:06:12.740 And thirdly, he will have a special portion of a 0:06:12.740 --> 0:06:16.820 land allotted to him, whereas all the land belongs to 0:06:16.860 --> 0:06:20.900 King Messiah. So? So it's not the Messiah, but it 0:06:20.900 --> 0:06:24.060 is a leader who will be functioning under the kingship 0:06:24.060 --> 0:06:26.820 of Messiah in the millennial period. 0:06:27.180 --> 0:06:27.620 All right. 0:06:27.660 --> 0:06:29.940 So now the question is, why have the offering which 0:06:29.940 --> 0:06:33.620 I mentioned before, but I just want to the offerings 0:06:33.620 --> 0:06:36.140 in the Old Testament, even sin offerings didn't take away sin. 0:06:36.180 --> 0:06:38.780 The book of Hebrews makes it really clear they were 0:06:38.779 --> 0:06:44.060 pointing forward. So even the sacrifices in the temple before 0:06:44.860 --> 0:06:48.260 the their being destroyed didn't take away sin. So what 0:06:48.260 --> 0:06:50.580 was the point of the sin offering? To point forward 0:06:50.580 --> 0:06:54.020 to the Messiah. Now, what is the point of the 0:06:54.060 --> 0:06:58.620 sin offering or the different sacrifices in the Millennial Temple? 0:06:58.660 --> 0:07:01.740 The temple of the Kingdom? They would be to point 0:07:01.740 --> 0:07:05.219 back to the death of the Messiah, because there will 0:07:05.220 --> 0:07:09.660 be people who enter that messianic kingdom right away. When 0:07:09.660 --> 0:07:12.380 Jesus takes, you know, the people who survive the campaign 0:07:12.420 --> 0:07:16.180 of Armageddon that are the sheep in Matthew 25 and 0:07:16.220 --> 0:07:19.300 that parable, the sheep and the goats, the Gentile nations 0:07:19.300 --> 0:07:22.900 will enter who believe they will enter the kingdom, and 0:07:22.900 --> 0:07:25.060 so will the Jewish people who are saved at the 0:07:25.260 --> 0:07:27.740 end of the tribulation, when the Lord Jesus comes, they 0:07:27.740 --> 0:07:30.100 cry out for him to be saved, and they will 0:07:30.100 --> 0:07:33.580 not have resurrected bodies, neither will those nations. They will 0:07:33.580 --> 0:07:36.180 enter the kingdom. They will marry, they will have kids, 0:07:36.420 --> 0:07:38.460 and those kids will need to come to know the 0:07:38.460 --> 0:07:43.420 Lord Jesus and death will be less common. It says 0:07:43.420 --> 0:07:49.260 in Isaiah 65, in that millennial period, and because of that, 0:07:49.260 --> 0:07:53.750 when we when it's explained to these people who are 0:07:53.750 --> 0:07:56.990 born in the millennium. That Jesus died for your sins 0:07:56.990 --> 0:07:59.990 and rose again. They may not quite get it. What 0:07:59.990 --> 0:08:02.190 do you mean? He died? There he is. He's reigning 0:08:02.190 --> 0:08:07.110 over us. And so, to help them understand the significance 0:08:07.350 --> 0:08:10.990 of death, there will be a temple. There will be sacrifices. 0:08:10.990 --> 0:08:13.670 There will be memorial sacrifices. Just the same way we 0:08:13.670 --> 0:08:16.870 have the Lord's Supper today. Uh, to look back on 0:08:16.870 --> 0:08:19.510 the death and resurrection and return. Look forward to the 0:08:19.510 --> 0:08:22.630 return of the Lord Jesus. So then there will be 0:08:22.630 --> 0:08:27.310 sacrifices to explain the death and resurrection of Jesus. 0:08:27.830 --> 0:08:30.510 All right. I hope that helps you. Helen and the 0:08:30.510 --> 0:08:32.750 Moody Bible Commentary. You might be a good resource for 0:08:32.750 --> 0:08:34.309 you as you study Ezekiel. 0:08:34.350 --> 0:08:37.470 Yeah, there's a good discussion about why their sacrifices as 0:08:37.470 --> 0:08:40.590 well in the Moody Bible Commentary. Thank you. Eva. Yeah. 0:08:40.630 --> 0:08:43.590 Thank you. Yes. Thank you very much. All right. So 0:08:43.830 --> 0:08:47.350 let me find where my questions are here. I'm on 0:08:47.350 --> 0:08:51.030 the wrong page. Hang on. Okay. Tim in Georgia listens 0:08:51.030 --> 0:08:54.670 to Wpba. So, still talking about the temple? Sort of. Okay. 0:08:54.710 --> 0:08:58.230 But now going New Testament. Uh, when Jesus went to 0:08:58.270 --> 0:09:02.550 the temple and he overturned the money changers tables. Did 0:09:02.550 --> 0:09:05.910 he do this twice? Uh, because the Gospel of John 0:09:05.910 --> 0:09:08.150 seems to have it at the beginning of beginning of 0:09:08.150 --> 0:09:11.270 his ministry, and Mark has it during the week before 0:09:11.270 --> 0:09:13.990 his crucifixion. Or was there only one time that he 0:09:13.990 --> 0:09:16.870 overturned the tables and the timing and the two is 0:09:16.870 --> 0:09:18.550 just kind of different? 0:09:18.590 --> 0:09:22.630 I think we have two options. We option one is that, uh, 0:09:23.309 --> 0:09:27.390 in Mark, Mark and John disagree and they there's an error. 0:09:28.670 --> 0:09:33.870 I don't like that option. Option two is there seemingly 0:09:33.910 --> 0:09:38.150 were two cleansings of the temples, the temple two times. 0:09:38.470 --> 0:09:42.870 That's the simplest answer. Makes sense. That's what most scholars 0:09:42.870 --> 0:09:45.910 believe at the beginning of his ministry. At the end 0:09:45.910 --> 0:09:47.150 of his earthly ministry. 0:09:47.190 --> 0:09:48.960 Okay. They just didn't get it, huh? 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:50.880 Yeah, they just didn't understand it. 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:51.400 Yeah. 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:53.360 Or just waited for him to leave. Okay, now we 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:56.920 can set it back. Exactly. That's right. Yep. Okay. Hope 0:09:56.920 --> 0:10:00.439 that helps. Tim. John in South Carolina listens to Wlp. 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:03.280 Does the Bible tell us why God chose the avenue 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:05.680 of salvation by Jesus Christ through his death on the 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:09.400 cross and the redemptive power of his blood? Leviticus 1711 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:11.079 tells us that the life of the flesh is in 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:13.800 the blood, and our atonement stems from this blood. Is 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:16.280 this the answer, or is there more? I want to 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:19.079 be able to justify our God to a non-believer who 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:24.280 questions your bloodthirsty God. Why would God choose this particular method, 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:27.760 which subjected Himself and His Son to the terrible torture 0:10:27.760 --> 0:10:30.079 of the cross for the redemption of his people? 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:33.640 This is such a typical question from the New Atheist. 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:39.000 Yeah, well, let's just put it this way. First of all, 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:46.400 it's clear that a death for the soul that sins 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:52.480 it will die that there had to be a death 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:57.839 to pay for sin. And so God chose to take 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:02.079 the penalty. The penalty that we deserve. That's it. And 0:11:02.120 --> 0:11:03.720 you know, you think about the father and the son. 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:07.880 Remember their triune. Let's emphasize the EWN aspect of that 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:12.480 triunity that when we talk about the Trinity, the tri 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:18.760 represents his threeness and the the nity represents his oneness, right? Unity. 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:24.400 God himself said, I will take this. It's not like 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:29.040 Jesus saying, no, no, the father hates me. He's sending 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:33.439 me to die. That's ridiculous. The the entire godhead agreed 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:36.560 on this. This is what Jesus said. No man takes 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:40.360 my life, but I lay it down willingly. That's what 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:44.120 Jesus said. And so now I've heard this question framed 0:11:44.120 --> 0:11:48.480 this way in Isaiah 53 it says that God was 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:53.560 pleased to do this. Have you heard that expression? God 0:11:53.559 --> 0:12:00.080 is pleased us to make him suffer. And they say, 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:05.920 look how, what a what a terrible, brutish father this is. 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:12.719 But the word pleased in Isaiah 53 actually means willing. 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:18.120 The Lord was willing to do this. Um, and I 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:23.679 think that that's really important because the father took no pleasure. 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:27.040 That's why it says he's willing, but he took no pleasure. 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:32.000 He wasn't pleased. Uh, because he God took no pleasure 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:34.360 in the death of the Messiah. The death of his son. 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:38.959 God the father didn't do that. Um. What the. The 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:45.250 example I would give is in the Holocaust. This happened 0:12:45.929 --> 0:12:49.690 more times than we really want to admit, but there 0:12:49.690 --> 0:12:53.130 would be people being hidden from the Nazis in a 0:12:53.130 --> 0:12:55.050 back room or in a basement or something like that. 0:12:55.050 --> 0:12:59.770 And just when the Gestapo was coming to to find them, 0:13:00.610 --> 0:13:02.890 an infant baby would start to cry, just like in 0:13:02.890 --> 0:13:07.209 the movie Sophie's Choice. The infant would start to cry, 0:13:07.210 --> 0:13:11.929 and a mom might even take that baby and smother 0:13:11.929 --> 0:13:16.610 the baby to her own breast to keep it from crying, 0:13:16.850 --> 0:13:21.329 so that it would not expose the family members or 0:13:21.330 --> 0:13:25.050 the other people and would take the life of her 0:13:25.050 --> 0:13:28.330 own child. If you can imagine the horror of doing that, 0:13:29.490 --> 0:13:31.410 to say that she was willing to do it, that 0:13:31.410 --> 0:13:34.050 makes sense to save others, to say that she was 0:13:34.050 --> 0:13:38.570 pleased would obviously be wrong. So? So God the Father 0:13:39.450 --> 0:13:46.290 took the the Punishment through sending the son. He was 0:13:46.290 --> 0:13:48.810 not pleased with the son's death, but he was willing. 0:13:49.050 --> 0:13:52.370 That's how much he loved us for our redemption. And 0:13:53.010 --> 0:13:56.610 I think that, uh, that's that's the answer I would give. 0:13:56.650 --> 0:13:58.570 And listen, if a person's got a hard heart, they'll 0:13:58.570 --> 0:14:01.130 never receive it. But if a person understands how much 0:14:01.130 --> 0:14:03.810 God loves them, that he would be willing to do that, 0:14:04.730 --> 0:14:08.130 then they'll be responsive to it. And so I can't 0:14:08.130 --> 0:14:10.689 make a person change their mind. But that's my best 0:14:10.690 --> 0:14:15.690 understanding of why God did that. So, uh, believe it 0:14:15.690 --> 0:14:21.490 or not, I actually know met a woman who smothered 0:14:21.490 --> 0:14:26.530 her own baby, hiding her children from a terrorist. Uh, 0:14:26.650 --> 0:14:31.410 a Palestinian terrorist came into her home, and she was 0:14:31.410 --> 0:14:33.570 hiding some of her children. She was holding her baby, 0:14:34.170 --> 0:14:38.489 and she watched her husband being murdered by this terrorist 0:14:38.490 --> 0:14:40.690 and smothered her own child to keep to protect the 0:14:40.690 --> 0:14:41.810 other children with her. 0:14:41.850 --> 0:14:43.730 Yep. Up in northern Israel. So sad. 0:14:43.770 --> 0:14:48.290 And she took no pleasure in it. And so God 0:14:48.290 --> 0:14:50.250 the Father was willing to give his son. And the 0:14:50.250 --> 0:14:52.970 son said, no one takes my life. Hey, if you're listening, 0:14:52.970 --> 0:14:56.410 Jesus loves us so much that he died willingly for 0:14:56.410 --> 0:15:00.250 us and rose again. Don't become embittered at the father, 0:15:00.250 --> 0:15:03.210 but thank him for it and trust in Jesus. We're 0:15:03.210 --> 0:15:05.370 going to be back with more of your questions in 0:15:05.370 --> 0:15:07.930 just a moment. You're listening to Open Line right here 0:15:07.930 --> 0:15:15.490 on Moody Radio. Open line is designed to take your 0:15:15.490 --> 0:15:19.450 questions and provide you with straightforward, honest answers from Scripture 0:15:19.450 --> 0:15:22.050 about the things that matter most. When you join our 0:15:22.050 --> 0:15:24.890 team of Kitchen Table Partners, your monthly gift will help 0:15:24.890 --> 0:15:26.930 us stay on the air to continue to share the 0:15:26.930 --> 0:15:29.650 truth of the Bible with those who need to hear it. 0:15:29.890 --> 0:15:36.290 Become a kitchen table partner by calling us at 886447122 0:15:36.450 --> 0:15:45.140 or sign up online at Open Line radio.org. Org. Welcome 0:15:45.140 --> 0:15:47.740 back to Open Line. My name is Michael Radonich. Joining 0:15:47.740 --> 0:15:50.540 me today for this all mailbag edition of Open Line 0:15:50.540 --> 0:15:54.180 is Eva Ray melnick and Tricia McMillan. And we're having 0:15:54.180 --> 0:15:56.340 a really good time trying to get through the questions 0:15:56.340 --> 0:15:59.100 you have sent in. Doing our best to do that, Trisha. 0:15:59.100 --> 0:15:59.980 Let's keep going. 0:16:00.020 --> 0:16:02.780 All right. Monica in Ohio listens on the mobile app. 0:16:02.780 --> 0:16:05.660 I've heard binding and loosing talked about in churches for 0:16:05.660 --> 0:16:08.860 many years and this is in Matthew 16. Can you 0:16:08.860 --> 0:16:10.980 please elaborate on this subject? 0:16:11.580 --> 0:16:16.940 It's actually a phrase from Rabbinic Judaism. To bind means 0:16:16.940 --> 0:16:22.140 to forbid, to loose means to permit. And it was 0:16:22.340 --> 0:16:25.900 used when it came to decisions that were made about 0:16:25.900 --> 0:16:31.580 the law, about the commandments, in terms of rabbinic authority. 0:16:31.580 --> 0:16:35.180 So what Jesus is using is just that language that 0:16:35.180 --> 0:16:38.380 was understood to everyone. All the readers of the Gospel 0:16:38.380 --> 0:16:43.340 of Matthew were Jewish initially, and when Jesus said those words, 0:16:43.340 --> 0:16:45.620 he was speaking to a Jewish audience. They all knew it. 0:16:45.660 --> 0:16:49.540 He said when. When the church comes into being and 0:16:49.540 --> 0:16:57.940 they're exercising congregational discipline, the elders, whatever they say is binding, 0:16:58.460 --> 0:17:03.300 will be bound in heaven. You know, and whatever they say, whenever, 0:17:03.300 --> 0:17:06.540 when they make a legal judgment or whatever they say 0:17:06.660 --> 0:17:09.660 is loosed or permitted, when they're going to say, okay, 0:17:09.700 --> 0:17:14.540 you're released from this. The discipline isn't enacted that will 0:17:14.540 --> 0:17:17.859 be recognized. It's basically saying that heaven is backing up 0:17:17.859 --> 0:17:22.820 the authority of congregational leaders to make congregational discipline decisions. 0:17:22.940 --> 0:17:26.100 That doesn't mean that they can do anything, even wrongly. 0:17:26.460 --> 0:17:29.460 It just means that God's recognizing their authority when they 0:17:29.460 --> 0:17:33.100 do it right. He will. Heaven will back it up. 0:17:33.700 --> 0:17:38.139 Okay. All right. Thank you. Kenneth in Georgia, listens on 0:17:38.140 --> 0:17:40.179 the Good News Network and says, I've been listening for 0:17:40.180 --> 0:17:42.740 the last few Saturdays and I like your program. Yay! 0:17:43.380 --> 0:17:46.899 My question is about our nature and the New Testament. 0:17:47.260 --> 0:17:49.940 A believer gets a new nature and the Holy Spirit 0:17:49.940 --> 0:17:53.140 to live a Christ like life. So how does a 0:17:53.180 --> 0:17:56.459 Joe average Hebrew believer that was looking forward to Christ? 0:17:56.460 --> 0:17:58.540 I think he's talking about an Old Testament believer there. 0:17:58.859 --> 0:18:02.740 Joe average there. He should have said something like Joseph. 0:18:03.460 --> 0:18:07.900 Joseph or Yaakov. Old Testament believer. Okay. 0:18:07.940 --> 0:18:10.300 But but living in the New Testament time. 0:18:10.300 --> 0:18:13.300 No, no. How does he. I mean, Old Testament believers. 0:18:13.300 --> 0:18:13.859 Looking forward. 0:18:13.859 --> 0:18:16.740 To Christ, to Christ live a Christ like life. 0:18:16.780 --> 0:18:20.340 When his ungodly nature hasn't changed. I know the Holy 0:18:20.340 --> 0:18:23.220 Spirit came on people, but that was usually just unimportant 0:18:23.220 --> 0:18:24.740 people and only temporary. 0:18:25.300 --> 0:18:29.220 I think the assumption is that there wasn't a changed 0:18:29.260 --> 0:18:34.660 nature for Old Testament believers, but there is a changed nature. 0:18:35.619 --> 0:18:38.430 You could see it in the life of Jacob. He 0:18:38.430 --> 0:18:43.510 keeps saying, If God's faithful to me, then I will 0:18:43.510 --> 0:18:48.390 make him my God. And then he comes back. God 0:18:48.430 --> 0:18:51.189 kept him safe, brings him back, and he then builds 0:18:51.190 --> 0:18:54.949 an altar and includes it. Calls it the God, the 0:18:54.990 --> 0:18:57.990 God of Jacob. He's made God his God as well, 0:18:57.990 --> 0:19:01.150 just like Abraham and Isaac. Uh, and there's a changed 0:19:01.150 --> 0:19:05.030 nature in him. What it is, is, as a person 0:19:05.030 --> 0:19:08.510 is living by faith. The Old Testament, they're living by 0:19:08.510 --> 0:19:12.910 faith with an anticipation of the future Messiah. When they 0:19:12.910 --> 0:19:16.230 put their trust in the God of Israel, that's part 0:19:16.230 --> 0:19:19.950 of what their anticipation is. And God, based on that 0:19:19.950 --> 0:19:24.710 future anticipation, can change their nature. It's it's living by faith. 0:19:25.150 --> 0:19:28.590 And and Hebrews 11 illustrates this very well with all 0:19:28.630 --> 0:19:32.030 of the people listed, even with the specific examples given. 0:19:32.030 --> 0:19:34.030 And then, you know, I could say all of this 0:19:34.030 --> 0:19:37.109 about these other people that yeah, he doesn't the author 0:19:37.109 --> 0:19:39.550 doesn't go into detail about and just rattles off their 0:19:39.550 --> 0:19:43.270 names and hundreds more. But but those those examples of 0:19:43.270 --> 0:19:47.550 faith in Hebrews 11 and how they lived with that faith, 0:19:47.550 --> 0:19:49.669 looking forward to the coming Messiah. 0:19:49.710 --> 0:19:52.310 Yeah. I think sometimes we denigrate Old Testament believers as 0:19:52.310 --> 0:19:54.389 if now, certainly I think we have more blessings. We 0:19:54.390 --> 0:19:58.230 have the permanent Holy Spirit. The moment we believe there 0:19:58.230 --> 0:20:03.830 definitely is better to be a believer in Jesus after Pentecost. But, 0:20:03.950 --> 0:20:09.230 you know, yeah, it's better. We have greater spiritual blessing. 0:20:09.270 --> 0:20:09.949 No question. 0:20:09.990 --> 0:20:12.229 We have the we have this entire Bible that we 0:20:12.230 --> 0:20:14.950 can look at to remind us, you know, it's not all. 0:20:15.550 --> 0:20:18.270 But we shouldn't denigrate. It's not like they don't have 0:20:18.270 --> 0:20:21.110 anything to say to us or model for us. That's 0:20:21.109 --> 0:20:23.070 what Hebrews 12 says. This is the great cloud of 0:20:23.070 --> 0:20:27.470 witnesses that reminds us to stay faithful. And, uh, so no. 0:20:27.510 --> 0:20:30.590 And God could work in their lives and transform them 0:20:30.990 --> 0:20:31.629 and did. 0:20:31.990 --> 0:20:35.790 Yeah. Okay. Thanks for that question, Kenneth. Uh, Craig in 0:20:35.790 --> 0:20:40.150 Florida listens on the mobile app. Uh, he says, by 0:20:40.150 --> 0:20:45.469 God's grace and mercy, I was and am saved. June 22nd, 2003. 0:20:45.750 --> 0:20:48.350 I was on fire for the Lord, singing, praising, studying 0:20:48.350 --> 0:20:50.950 the word, attending church. And I left the church due 0:20:50.950 --> 0:20:52.910 to a challenge there. So now I'm on my own 0:20:52.910 --> 0:20:53.670 with the Lord. 0:20:54.510 --> 0:20:55.710 A challenge with another person? 0:20:55.910 --> 0:20:59.750 Yes. With. With another? Yeah, with another person in the church. 0:21:00.470 --> 0:21:02.670 My problem is this. When I go to the Lord, 0:21:02.670 --> 0:21:06.909 I'm so disappointed in myself and I almost always dread it. 0:21:06.910 --> 0:21:09.910 I love coming to the Lord, but I'm so sick 0:21:09.910 --> 0:21:12.870 of telling God that I agree with my sin and 0:21:12.869 --> 0:21:16.110 repenting all the time. Um, I feel like I'm on 0:21:16.109 --> 0:21:19.270 my knees telling him lies, knowing that I will fail, 0:21:19.910 --> 0:21:21.830 and this makes me not want to come to him 0:21:21.830 --> 0:21:23.389 because I know I'll disappoint him. 0:21:24.790 --> 0:21:27.750 Well, it sounds to me that he always starts his 0:21:27.750 --> 0:21:31.190 time with the Lord with confession. And I would say 0:21:31.270 --> 0:21:34.520 that the I like the acts model of our time 0:21:34.520 --> 0:21:41.520 with the Lord, which is adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication. Now 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:45.240 that's just one way that we can pray. But I 0:21:45.240 --> 0:21:48.840 wouldn't make confession. First, I would make adoration of God first. 0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:53.199 Worship of him for his nature and a great way 0:21:53.200 --> 0:21:58.960 to develop a heart of adoration. I found reading Tozer's 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:05.120 book The Knowledge of the Holy or J.I. Packer's. Knowing God, 0:22:05.119 --> 0:22:07.720 which deals with the attributes of God as we get 0:22:07.720 --> 0:22:11.360 to know the attributes of God, worship him. It'll take 0:22:11.359 --> 0:22:13.359 you time to get through those books. Worship him for 0:22:13.359 --> 0:22:16.880 those attributes. Uh, as you're going through those books. So 0:22:16.880 --> 0:22:19.880 I think start with worship instead of confession. 0:22:20.240 --> 0:22:22.880 It's the Lord's Prayer. Our father, who art in heaven, 0:22:22.880 --> 0:22:26.000 hallowed be your name. Holy be your name. That's a model, right? 0:22:26.080 --> 0:22:26.880 It starts with. 0:22:27.280 --> 0:22:28.159 With worship. 0:22:28.520 --> 0:22:31.520 Uh, and confession is good. It's to agree with God. 0:22:31.520 --> 0:22:33.960 He seems to understand that. But I'm just going to 0:22:33.960 --> 0:22:38.640 say now you guys girls have to. You women. I 0:22:38.640 --> 0:22:39.240 have to be. 0:22:39.480 --> 0:22:39.880 Yeah. 0:22:40.240 --> 0:22:44.120 Have to stop me. Okay, but I want to say, Craig, 0:22:44.160 --> 0:22:46.919 I love you and I want what's best for you. 0:22:47.400 --> 0:22:50.840 And it sounds to me that there's a problem. And 0:22:50.840 --> 0:22:53.160 here's the problem isn't that you have to confess your 0:22:53.160 --> 0:22:56.120 sin all the time. Because I do. And I'm always 0:22:56.119 --> 0:22:59.840 so grateful that God forgives me. But why are you 0:22:59.840 --> 0:23:03.280 not going to church? Maybe the first sin you need 0:23:03.280 --> 0:23:06.800 to confess is disobeying Hebrews 1025. If you had a 0:23:06.800 --> 0:23:09.240 problem with someone, you can't work it out. That's possible. 0:23:09.440 --> 0:23:11.200 I'm not saying you have to go to that church. 0:23:11.480 --> 0:23:15.560 That's Hebrews 1025. Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together. 0:23:15.600 --> 0:23:18.080 You're disobeying God. God wants you to be part of 0:23:18.080 --> 0:23:22.520 a community. And that's what being part of a community is, 0:23:22.520 --> 0:23:26.800 how he helps us recovering sinners recover from sin. That's 0:23:26.800 --> 0:23:29.760 why we stimulate each other to love and good good deeds. 0:23:29.800 --> 0:23:33.360 Part of the frustration that you feel about confessing your 0:23:33.359 --> 0:23:36.440 sin will be overcome if you're part of a community. 0:23:36.880 --> 0:23:39.720 It's interesting, he says about himself. I'm telling God lies. Well, 0:23:39.720 --> 0:23:42.320 you think God doesn't know? I think you better straighten 0:23:42.320 --> 0:23:44.520 up your, uh, conversations with God. 0:23:45.600 --> 0:23:47.600 When we confess our sins, telling him lies, I'll never 0:23:47.640 --> 0:23:50.200 do it again. Don't do it. Say I keep doing this. God, 0:23:50.200 --> 0:23:54.040 thanks for forgiving me. Now, the cycle of life for 0:23:54.040 --> 0:23:57.639 believers in first John one. It doesn't start with confession. 0:23:57.640 --> 0:23:59.480 It starts with if we walk in the light as 0:23:59.480 --> 0:24:02.680 he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. 0:24:02.680 --> 0:24:05.040 We have fellowship with God as we walk in the light, 0:24:05.800 --> 0:24:11.200 and then we confess our sin. And then, uh, what 0:24:11.200 --> 0:24:14.080 happens is we're walking in the light. We have fellowship. 0:24:14.080 --> 0:24:18.800 We sin breaks fellowship with God. We confess it. We 0:24:18.800 --> 0:24:21.960 agree with him that it was sin. He restores fellowship 0:24:22.680 --> 0:24:25.760 with us. But let's start with walking in the light, 0:24:26.240 --> 0:24:32.250 not with confession. And so if a person knows something 0:24:32.250 --> 0:24:35.770 in Scripture that we're supposed to do it, we need 0:24:35.770 --> 0:24:41.970 to do it. That's what James chapter three says. If 0:24:41.970 --> 0:24:45.530 we know it, we need to do it. So, Craig, 0:24:45.570 --> 0:24:48.090 go back to congregation, be part of a community, grow 0:24:48.090 --> 0:24:50.370 in your walk with them. We're going to be right 0:24:50.369 --> 0:24:52.970 back with more questions in just a moment. You're listening 0:24:53.010 --> 0:25:02.530 to Open Line on Moody Radio. So many of you 0:25:02.570 --> 0:25:05.250 call or write with questions about the Jewish people, and 0:25:05.250 --> 0:25:08.609 particularly how you can share your faith with your Jewish friends. 0:25:08.970 --> 0:25:10.770 One of the best way to do that is to 0:25:10.770 --> 0:25:14.570 help your friends understand the marvelous prophecy of Isaiah 53. 0:25:14.890 --> 0:25:18.330 Chosen People Ministries, one of open lines underwriters, wants to 0:25:18.330 --> 0:25:21.530 help you do just that. They're offering a booklet called 0:25:21.530 --> 0:25:26.250 Isaiah 53 explained. As you read Isaiah 53 explained, you'll 0:25:26.250 --> 0:25:28.770 get a better grasp of this pivotal passage of the 0:25:28.770 --> 0:25:31.050 Jewish Bible, and you can pass it on to your 0:25:31.090 --> 0:25:33.850 Jewish friend to read it for her or himself. To 0:25:33.850 --> 0:25:37.130 get your free copy of Isaiah 53 explained, just go 0:25:37.130 --> 0:25:41.930 to the Open Line Radio website. That's online radio.org. Scroll down. 0:25:41.970 --> 0:25:44.730 You'll see the link that says a free gift from 0:25:44.730 --> 0:25:47.970 Chosen People Ministries. Click on that and you'll be taken 0:25:47.970 --> 0:25:49.730 to a page where you can sign up for your 0:25:49.730 --> 0:25:58.650 own free copy of Isaiah 53 explained. I'm so grateful 0:25:58.650 --> 0:26:01.970 that the Far Eastern Broadcasting Company partners with Open Line 0:26:01.970 --> 0:26:06.050 to bring you the weekly Febc mailbag. Far Eastern Broadcasting 0:26:06.050 --> 0:26:09.490 Company is a terrific organization. They bring the good news 0:26:09.490 --> 0:26:13.530 to people via media and personal engagement. Check out the 0:26:13.570 --> 0:26:18.210 Febc podcast until All Have Heard featuring Ed Cannon, president 0:26:18.210 --> 0:26:35.419 of Febc, by going to Febc. Org that's Febc. I 0:26:35.460 --> 0:26:39.900 hope you're enjoying this all mailbag, all the time edition 0:26:39.900 --> 0:26:42.179 of Open Line. I'm Michael Wright. I'm so glad to 0:26:42.180 --> 0:26:45.179 be with you. With Eva Rydell and Tricia McMillan. We're 0:26:45.180 --> 0:26:47.340 trying to get to all the questions you have sent 0:26:47.340 --> 0:26:51.139 in as you enjoy the holiday weekend. So let's go 0:26:51.140 --> 0:26:52.980 back to the mailbag. Tricia. 0:26:53.020 --> 0:26:55.820 All right. Next question is from Sally in Tennessee. Listens to. 0:26:58.020 --> 0:27:00.460 And these are a couple of kind of witnessing questions 0:27:00.460 --> 0:27:03.100 that we'll have here. I have a non-believing friend to 0:27:03.140 --> 0:27:05.260 whom I'm trying to witness, and I don't know how, 0:27:05.540 --> 0:27:08.180 looking for words that will help her see the truth. 0:27:08.220 --> 0:27:11.620 She respects her religious tradition and does not read the Bible. 0:27:11.660 --> 0:27:13.619 Do you have any wisdom or help for me? 0:27:14.260 --> 0:27:18.220 So it sounds like she comes from a Christian tradition. 0:27:19.340 --> 0:27:23.580 Maybe not an evangelical church, but Christian tradition. What would 0:27:23.580 --> 0:27:25.939 you say to someone who doesn't want to read the Bible? Eva? 0:27:26.580 --> 0:27:29.220 Well, I would I would say that perhaps the best 0:27:29.220 --> 0:27:32.100 thing Sally could do would would first of all, talk 0:27:32.140 --> 0:27:35.340 about how valuable the Bible is for her own life 0:27:35.340 --> 0:27:38.260 in some specific areas and then say, maybe you want 0:27:38.300 --> 0:27:40.820 to read together. She might be more interested in wanting 0:27:40.820 --> 0:27:42.700 to read than Sally knows. 0:27:42.700 --> 0:27:46.980 Because all Christian traditions, whether they're evangelical or not, are 0:27:47.660 --> 0:27:50.900 have a recognize the authority and respect the Bible. What 0:27:50.900 --> 0:27:52.940 did you what did you find about that, Tricia? 0:27:52.980 --> 0:27:55.820 Oh, well, I my my church a couple of years 0:27:55.820 --> 0:27:58.460 ago did a whole series on the Bible and just 0:27:58.460 --> 0:28:00.939 opening the Bible and reading it. And the challenge given 0:28:00.940 --> 0:28:04.220 to us was find a neighbor or a friend that 0:28:04.220 --> 0:28:06.739 is unchurched and ask them if they would read the 0:28:06.740 --> 0:28:09.260 Bible with you, and then we could use they had 0:28:09.260 --> 0:28:12.660 developed this whole not a curriculum, but like help on 0:28:12.660 --> 0:28:17.060 the church website that um, to help ask questions. And 0:28:17.060 --> 0:28:18.740 so they had kind of made questions. So it started 0:28:18.740 --> 0:28:21.820 in Genesis and went through revelation and just kind of 0:28:21.859 --> 0:28:25.500 hit high points of the the Bible. 0:28:25.660 --> 0:28:26.420 The Bible story? 0:28:26.460 --> 0:28:28.900 Yes, the whole Bible story. 50. You know, it was 0:28:28.900 --> 0:28:31.380 a full year thing. And so it was pretty easy 0:28:31.380 --> 0:28:33.139 to just pick up, like if you didn't know anything 0:28:33.140 --> 0:28:34.660 about the Bible, it was like, hey, would you read 0:28:34.660 --> 0:28:37.939 the Bible with me? And I didn't do this, my friend. 0:28:37.940 --> 0:28:40.900 I had several friends who did, and they were surprised 0:28:40.900 --> 0:28:43.260 that their friend was like, sure, yeah, I'll read the 0:28:43.260 --> 0:28:47.620 Bible with you. And the hardest part was asking, you know, 0:28:47.620 --> 0:28:51.100 like getting past any fear you had that, oh, no, 0:28:51.140 --> 0:28:54.260 they might fill in the blank, scoff at me or or. 0:28:54.260 --> 0:28:55.140 They're not going to really want. 0:28:55.140 --> 0:28:57.900 To know. Yeah. And and so you just set up 0:28:57.900 --> 0:29:00.500 a time and, you know, get together and you could 0:29:00.500 --> 0:29:02.739 do it over zoom if Sally, you could do it 0:29:02.740 --> 0:29:05.020 over zoom. If you don't live near this friend or 0:29:05.780 --> 0:29:08.580 if you do, you could get together and, you know, 0:29:08.620 --> 0:29:10.740 have a cup of coffee and just read the Bible. 0:29:10.740 --> 0:29:12.620 It doesn't have to be a lot. And then just 0:29:12.620 --> 0:29:13.340 talk about it. 0:29:13.380 --> 0:29:13.500 Yeah. 0:29:14.180 --> 0:29:14.940 So, so. 0:29:14.980 --> 0:29:17.460 Sometimes people are afraid to ask to invite their friend 0:29:17.460 --> 0:29:18.940 to read the Bible with them because they think, oh, 0:29:18.980 --> 0:29:20.740 my friend's going to have questions that I don't know 0:29:20.740 --> 0:29:23.350 the answer to. Well, don't be afraid of that. If 0:29:23.350 --> 0:29:25.350 they ask the question or the answer to just say, 0:29:25.350 --> 0:29:27.350 I don't know that. I'll look it up. Let's talk 0:29:27.350 --> 0:29:28.190 about it next week. 0:29:28.510 --> 0:29:29.190 Get your Bible. 0:29:29.470 --> 0:29:30.990 Get your moody Bible commentary out. Yeah. 0:29:31.030 --> 0:29:32.190 Or call open line. 0:29:32.190 --> 0:29:32.870 Come on. Yeah. 0:29:33.310 --> 0:29:33.590 Don't be. 0:29:33.590 --> 0:29:34.910 Afraid. Lots of resources. 0:29:34.990 --> 0:29:38.310 Uh, you got good resources. I have found that some 0:29:38.310 --> 0:29:40.590 people are afraid to say yes, I'll read the Bible 0:29:40.590 --> 0:29:42.590 because they don't know anything about the Bible. And I 0:29:42.590 --> 0:29:47.390 always say, well, I'll give you an orientation, and it's 0:29:47.390 --> 0:29:50.510 not that hard to understand. And believe it or not, 0:29:50.510 --> 0:29:53.670 people say, oh, you'll orient, I get orientation. Oh yeah, 0:29:53.710 --> 0:29:57.030 that's no problem. And we used to there was a 0:29:57.030 --> 0:29:58.910 woman that used to always invite her friends to read 0:29:58.910 --> 0:30:01.550 the Bible and say, and I was this was when 0:30:01.550 --> 0:30:05.510 I was leading a congregation, and I'm going to get my, my, uh, 0:30:05.790 --> 0:30:07.950 she would call me her rabbi, but my rabbi to 0:30:07.950 --> 0:30:09.950 come in and he can read it with us. I 0:30:09.950 --> 0:30:12.870 wasn't a rabbi, but that's what she would say. And 0:30:12.990 --> 0:30:15.390 so we'd get together and I'd say, okay, today our 0:30:15.390 --> 0:30:17.750 lesson is on the table of contents. 0:30:18.350 --> 0:30:19.790 Yeah. Start really. 0:30:19.790 --> 0:30:22.470 Basic. And I start the Bible isn't a book, it's 0:30:22.470 --> 0:30:26.790 a library of books. Look, it's divided in two big sections. 0:30:27.190 --> 0:30:31.470 And I explained, just people are going, oh, this is wow. 0:30:31.510 --> 0:30:34.230 I never knew that. Hey, it's okay to start at 0:30:34.230 --> 0:30:35.989 the most basic thing. Invite people to read with you, 0:30:36.030 --> 0:30:39.110 give them the orientation and start reading. It's great. 0:30:39.150 --> 0:30:42.910 Yeah. And depending on how much your friend knows, and 0:30:42.910 --> 0:30:45.270 if you're willing to ask your friend to read the 0:30:45.270 --> 0:30:49.230 Bible with you, there are children's resources could help with this. 0:30:49.270 --> 0:30:52.590 I mean, like like the two parts of the Bible. Um, 0:30:52.630 --> 0:30:54.870 or there are some, you know, kids videos that kind 0:30:54.910 --> 0:30:56.670 of go through here are the parts of the Bible 0:30:56.670 --> 0:30:59.670 and they've got there are lots of fun songs that 0:30:59.670 --> 0:31:01.750 go through here, the books of the Bible or the 0:31:01.750 --> 0:31:04.670 different parts of the Bible that those might be, depending 0:31:04.670 --> 0:31:07.150 on where your friend is at, those might be helpful 0:31:07.190 --> 0:31:08.230 for you as well. 0:31:08.470 --> 0:31:13.590 A few weeks ago, we, uh, linked the Bible project 0:31:13.590 --> 0:31:17.310 on the Psalms on our Facebook page. So Bible Project's 0:31:17.350 --> 0:31:20.590 got some great resources. Videos eight nine minutes that really 0:31:20.590 --> 0:31:23.190 help you understand different parts of the Bible. So yeah, 0:31:23.430 --> 0:31:26.990 there's there's great stuff out there. So just be bold. 0:31:27.030 --> 0:31:29.910 Ask her to read the Bible with you. Um, if 0:31:29.910 --> 0:31:31.350 you don't want to listen to me, just listen to 0:31:31.390 --> 0:31:32.710 Eva and Trisha. They think it's. 0:31:32.710 --> 0:31:34.110 A good idea. We think it's a good idea. 0:31:34.150 --> 0:31:34.510 Yeah. 0:31:35.110 --> 0:31:38.870 Uh, Mark wrote us from Florida, listens to RMB, says Shalom. 0:31:38.870 --> 0:31:41.630 My Jewish doctor does not believe that Jesus is the Messiah. 0:31:41.630 --> 0:31:44.230 Because in the Talmud it says Jesus is an illegitimate 0:31:44.230 --> 0:31:46.990 son and that he used sorcery to walk on water. 0:31:47.230 --> 0:31:49.270 How do I refute that? In love? 0:31:49.270 --> 0:31:50.910 Of course I like how he says that. 0:31:50.950 --> 0:31:53.710 In love, of course. Well, first of all, I don't 0:31:53.710 --> 0:31:57.830 think any Jewish person says I don't believe in Jesus 0:31:57.830 --> 0:32:00.510 because of what the Talmud says about him. They don't 0:32:00.510 --> 0:32:06.830 believe in Jesus because of the cultural predisposition not to 0:32:06.870 --> 0:32:12.229 believe in Jesus. Even what the Talmud says about Jesus, um, 0:32:13.910 --> 0:32:19.480 is that he was illegitimate Legitimate and that he did 0:32:19.480 --> 0:32:23.320 do miracles, but he did them by sorcery. The Talmud 0:32:23.320 --> 0:32:25.880 does say that, but you got to understand. The Talmud 0:32:25.880 --> 0:32:31.640 was written. Codified between the fifth, about between 500 and 600. 0:32:32.680 --> 0:32:35.320 It was already way past the time when the church 0:32:35.320 --> 0:32:39.600 had become so malevolent, so hostile, so hateful of the 0:32:39.600 --> 0:32:44.400 Jewish people. And sort of in response to that, that 0:32:44.400 --> 0:32:48.880 the rabbis incorporated some answers Jewish people had for then. 0:32:49.040 --> 0:32:51.520 But we don't believe this because of what it said 0:32:51.520 --> 0:32:54.840 about this Jesus. So it does have says negative things 0:32:54.840 --> 0:32:58.040 about Jesus, but it's in response to the terrible persecution 0:32:58.040 --> 0:33:01.920 that Jewish people were already feeling from the hands of, 0:33:01.960 --> 0:33:05.680 and the lips of people like Augustine, the Great Church 0:33:05.720 --> 0:33:10.200 father of the West, and John Chrysostom, the great Church, 0:33:10.240 --> 0:33:13.240 father of the East. So it's reactionary. 0:33:13.760 --> 0:33:14.880 Self-defensive. 0:33:14.920 --> 0:33:18.640 Yeah. Self-Defense. But all this I have, you know, people 0:33:18.640 --> 0:33:21.600 have said this to me and I've said, well, it 0:33:21.600 --> 0:33:25.120 is kind of interesting that he they recognize that there 0:33:25.160 --> 0:33:31.200 are seeming miracles. Uh, maybe what we ought to do 0:33:31.200 --> 0:33:33.160 is examine to see if they got it right. And 0:33:33.160 --> 0:33:36.840 in fact, one of the things that the Hebrew Bible 0:33:36.840 --> 0:33:40.000 says of the Messiah in Isaiah 35 is that he's 0:33:40.040 --> 0:33:43.080 going to open the eyes of the blind and heal 0:33:43.120 --> 0:33:47.200 the lame and open the ears of the deaf. Maybe 0:33:47.200 --> 0:33:51.480 this is what Jesus was doing as fulfillment of messianic prophecy. 0:33:52.080 --> 0:33:55.760 And I just say, let's let's look at it. If 0:33:55.760 --> 0:33:58.280 you want, we can take a look at these other ideas. 0:33:58.280 --> 0:34:03.480 Maybe this is a misrepresentation of Jesus. Uh, it does 0:34:03.480 --> 0:34:05.200 recognize he did miracles. 0:34:05.280 --> 0:34:08.840 And sort of going back to the previous question we 0:34:08.840 --> 0:34:10.760 were talking about about reading the Bible, you can encourage 0:34:10.760 --> 0:34:12.680 your Jewish friend. Have you ever looked at really looked 0:34:12.680 --> 0:34:16.200 at the New Testament to see what the gospels, what 0:34:16.239 --> 0:34:18.719 Jesus is really like. What does it really say about him? 0:34:18.719 --> 0:34:21.239 Maybe we could take a look at some original documents 0:34:21.239 --> 0:34:22.040 about that. 0:34:22.600 --> 0:34:27.880 Yeah, there's. I don't get mad. Just like this person says, uh, 0:34:27.880 --> 0:34:30.359 in love, of course. But, hey, let's just look and 0:34:30.360 --> 0:34:31.760 see what the other evidence is. 0:34:32.200 --> 0:34:34.480 And I think for both of these, just noting the 0:34:34.480 --> 0:34:38.120 relational aspect of these, both for Sally and her friend 0:34:38.120 --> 0:34:41.359 and Mark and this and his doctor, that having that 0:34:41.360 --> 0:34:45.200 relationship where they can actually have a conversation about spiritual 0:34:45.200 --> 0:34:49.719 things can open doors that, um, that you wouldn't have 0:34:49.719 --> 0:34:52.080 expected with just a, you know, with someone else that 0:34:52.080 --> 0:34:53.439 you don't have that relationship. 0:34:53.440 --> 0:34:54.560 With some guy on the bus. 0:34:54.600 --> 0:34:55.040 Yeah. 0:34:55.280 --> 0:34:55.800 Yeah. 0:34:56.200 --> 0:35:00.799 I had a Jewish doctor once that saw me on 0:35:00.800 --> 0:35:04.040 TV teaching the Bible. He was so taken by that 0:35:04.040 --> 0:35:05.239 that he said he was going to take a look 0:35:05.239 --> 0:35:08.320 at what I taught. He was just amazed. 0:35:08.320 --> 0:35:10.120 It was like flipping channels, flipping channels. 0:35:10.120 --> 0:35:12.759 And there I was, Michael. And he started shouting to 0:35:12.760 --> 0:35:16.089 his wife, Hey! Come here. It's my patient. It's my patient. 0:35:17.010 --> 0:35:20.210 That's fun. Yep. So hopefully that's helpful for you, Mark. 0:35:20.210 --> 0:35:23.450 And also Sally. Um, get some ideas there on how 0:35:23.450 --> 0:35:26.730 you can talk to these people in your life. Deborah 0:35:26.730 --> 0:35:28.730 in Ohio listens on the mobile app and says, how 0:35:28.730 --> 0:35:31.489 can we respond to those who say Christ's teaching counts, 0:35:31.489 --> 0:35:32.810 but Paul's does not. 0:35:33.489 --> 0:35:35.649 Sounds like you should only read the red letter parts 0:35:35.650 --> 0:35:36.569 of your Bible, right? 0:35:36.610 --> 0:35:37.330 Yeah. That's what. 0:35:37.410 --> 0:35:40.650 That's what. It's a very skinny edition. 0:35:41.330 --> 0:35:42.930 Uh, Paul's teaching. 0:35:42.969 --> 0:35:44.410 Is the Gospels, I guess. 0:35:44.450 --> 0:35:45.770 And only the red letter parts. 0:35:45.810 --> 0:35:48.010 Right? Just just the things that Christ said. 0:35:48.050 --> 0:35:51.730 Yeah. Uh, Paul says all Scripture is inspired, and so 0:35:51.730 --> 0:35:56.090 that would include his own writings. Peter says, uh, of 0:35:56.090 --> 0:36:01.090 Paul that his words are hard to understand, as are 0:36:01.130 --> 0:36:04.490 the and that people distort them as they do the 0:36:04.489 --> 0:36:10.970 other scriptures. And so Peter is recognizing Paul as Scripture. 0:36:11.170 --> 0:36:14.050 I believe that's in Second Peter where he says that. 0:36:14.890 --> 0:36:20.290 And so yeah, it's in second Peter chapter three. Uh, 0:36:20.489 --> 0:36:25.490 he says they distort the untaught and unstable twist them 0:36:25.690 --> 0:36:29.330 at his writings as to their own destruction, as they 0:36:29.330 --> 0:36:33.690 also do the rest of the scriptures. Second Peter 316. Uh, 0:36:34.010 --> 0:36:36.770 I think that this now, this is the one that 0:36:36.770 --> 0:36:40.330 people often ask me about is Paul is talking about 0:36:40.370 --> 0:36:44.650 issues about divorce and remarriage in First Corinthians chapter seven. 0:36:45.130 --> 0:36:51.530 And he says, I say, not the Lord. And they say, 0:36:51.530 --> 0:36:54.770 even Paul is recognizing that his words are not from 0:36:54.770 --> 0:36:59.370 the Lord. That is such a mistake. What he means 0:36:59.370 --> 0:37:02.850 in first Corinthians seven when he says, I say, not 0:37:02.850 --> 0:37:06.489 the Lord is. He's referring to the words that we 0:37:06.489 --> 0:37:10.290 have recorded of the Lord Jesus. The Lord. Jesus said, 0:37:10.489 --> 0:37:16.649 stay married, a one clause, one exception to divorce and 0:37:16.650 --> 0:37:23.410 remarriage that you can divorce, unfortunately, is immorality. And now 0:37:23.410 --> 0:37:26.130 Paul is dealing with another issue that's been raised to 0:37:26.170 --> 0:37:31.890 him is abandonment by a person who doesn't know the Lord. Uh, 0:37:32.610 --> 0:37:35.770 he says, let him leave and or let her leave. 0:37:36.090 --> 0:37:40.450 You're not under obligation. He's saying, I say not the Lord. Meaning, 0:37:40.450 --> 0:37:43.489 I don't have a word from the Lord Jesus about this, 0:37:43.489 --> 0:37:47.330 but I'm giving you now as an as an apostle, 0:37:47.370 --> 0:37:51.810 an authoritative apostle, and an an inspired answer. I am 0:37:51.810 --> 0:37:53.850 writing to you what you should do. He is not 0:37:53.890 --> 0:37:58.050 denying the inspiration of his own words when he says, 0:37:58.050 --> 0:37:59.930 I say, not the Lord. He's saying, I don't have 0:37:59.930 --> 0:38:02.370 a written word from the Lord Jesus about this. But 0:38:02.370 --> 0:38:05.650 now I'm telling you as an apostle what the authoritative 0:38:05.650 --> 0:38:09.569 answer is. And so that's a misunderstanding of Paul. No, 0:38:09.660 --> 0:38:12.899 We should read the whole thing. In fact, I am 0:38:12.900 --> 0:38:17.020 so committed to this, you guys, that my Bible that 0:38:17.020 --> 0:38:20.259 I read, I made special effort. I found one without 0:38:20.300 --> 0:38:24.820 red letters because the whole book is inspired, not just 0:38:24.820 --> 0:38:29.020 the words of Jesus. Okay, we're going to we're going 0:38:29.060 --> 0:38:31.780 to come back in just a bit. We're you're listening 0:38:31.820 --> 0:38:34.420 to Open Line with Eva Redlich, Tricia McMillan and me, 0:38:34.420 --> 0:38:36.940 Michael Wright. And we're having a great time going through 0:38:36.940 --> 0:38:39.580 the mailbag, getting through as many questions as we can. 0:38:39.780 --> 0:38:44.020 Hope you're having a wonderful Independence Day weekend. Uh, having 0:38:44.020 --> 0:38:48.660 some fun, watching some fireworks, eating some grilled out food. 0:38:48.660 --> 0:38:51.180 Enjoy yourself. We're going to be back with more questions 0:38:51.180 --> 0:38:58.060 in just a moment right here on Moody Radio. My 0:38:58.060 --> 0:39:01.219 favorite professor, Howard Hendricks, used to say that it was 0:39:01.219 --> 0:39:03.860 a great sin to bore people with the Word of God, 0:39:04.020 --> 0:39:07.180 and that's why he wrote Teaching to Change Lives. Whether 0:39:07.180 --> 0:39:09.819 you're a parent, Sunday school teacher, or someone who just 0:39:09.820 --> 0:39:13.180 shares God's truth with others. Teaching to change lives will 0:39:13.180 --> 0:39:16.100 help you become the teacher who has mastered not just 0:39:16.140 --> 0:39:19.220 what to teach, but how to teach. Receive your copy 0:39:19.219 --> 0:39:25.500 with your gift of any size. Call (888) 644-7122 or visit 0:39:25.780 --> 0:39:38.739 online radio. Org. We're back right here at Open Line. 0:39:38.739 --> 0:39:41.540 I'm so glad you've listened today. Thank you for listening. 0:39:41.540 --> 0:39:45.180 And with me is Eva right? Tricia McMillan. I'm Michael 0:39:45.180 --> 0:39:49.140 Ray Melnick. We're answering the mailbag questions you've sent in 0:39:49.180 --> 0:39:52.899 for this special holiday weekend edition of Open Line. Let's 0:39:52.900 --> 0:39:55.259 go back to the the questions, Tricia. 0:39:55.300 --> 0:39:58.259 All right. Dory wrote us from Georgia Listens on WNBA. 0:39:58.780 --> 0:40:01.859 I was married before, and I committed adultery when my 0:40:01.860 --> 0:40:04.219 husband found out he did the same. But I am 0:40:04.219 --> 0:40:06.620 the offending spouse now. I'm remarried. 0:40:06.660 --> 0:40:07.830 I'm guessing she divorced. 0:40:07.989 --> 0:40:10.670 I'm assuming that because she's now remarried. 0:40:10.710 --> 0:40:11.150 Mhm. 0:40:11.350 --> 0:40:15.150 Um. And I'm afraid I'm living in adultery. I have repented, 0:40:15.150 --> 0:40:17.070 but I want to make sure that according to the Bible, 0:40:17.070 --> 0:40:20.470 I am not living in sin. What do I do now? 0:40:20.989 --> 0:40:24.950 I don't want to make this an issue of sin, 0:40:24.989 --> 0:40:27.910 that grace may abound. But let's remember the grace of 0:40:27.910 --> 0:40:32.110 God is greater than all our sin. And she has 0:40:32.390 --> 0:40:36.509 turned to the Lord. Now she is recommitted to the Lord. 0:40:36.510 --> 0:40:38.990 Come to know the Lord. It's not clear, but she 0:40:38.989 --> 0:40:44.110 has indeed repented of that sin, and God has forgiven her. Uh, 0:40:44.390 --> 0:40:49.189 but does it mean that she should divorce and go 0:40:49.190 --> 0:40:54.509 back to her previous spouse? Uh, we faced that in 0:40:54.510 --> 0:40:56.670 pastoral ministry. What was the quick answer? Eva? 0:40:56.710 --> 0:40:59.750 No, you have to be. You have to serve God 0:40:59.750 --> 0:41:03.069 where you are. You can't go back. You can't. We 0:41:03.110 --> 0:41:05.189 don't even know where her first husband is. Maybe he's 0:41:05.190 --> 0:41:07.790 already remarried. I mean, it just gets to be such 0:41:07.830 --> 0:41:12.110 a tangled mess. Just live where you are. For the 0:41:12.110 --> 0:41:14.750 Lord Jesus, King. Messiah. Moving forward. 0:41:14.910 --> 0:41:18.350 We can't undo the sin by committing another sin. 0:41:18.390 --> 0:41:18.910 Right? 0:41:19.150 --> 0:41:21.630 So faithfulness in your marriage, that's what you need. 0:41:21.670 --> 0:41:22.550 In her current marriage. 0:41:22.590 --> 0:41:23.590 In her current marriage. 0:41:23.630 --> 0:41:27.390 Okay. All right. Marty wrote us from Elgin, Illinois. Listens 0:41:27.390 --> 0:41:29.989 to WNBA. Can you tell me what the gift of 0:41:29.989 --> 0:41:32.870 prophecy is in the Bible? And if it's being rightly 0:41:32.870 --> 0:41:35.750 used in the church today because of past experiences in 0:41:35.750 --> 0:41:38.310 my church growing up, I tend to shy away from it. 0:41:38.350 --> 0:41:41.190 Is there anyone using the gift correctly today? 0:41:42.790 --> 0:41:47.790 Well, I'm going to just say plainly that the gift 0:41:47.790 --> 0:41:50.989 of prophecy was part of the, in my opinion, the 0:41:50.989 --> 0:41:55.469 foundational gifts of the church. Uh, and they have ceased 0:41:55.670 --> 0:41:58.230 the gifts of there's no longer any apostles. No one 0:41:58.230 --> 0:42:01.630 is testifying of the resurrected Lord. And the prophets of 0:42:01.630 --> 0:42:05.550 the New Testament were linked with the apostles in Ephesians 220. 0:42:05.590 --> 0:42:07.830 The foundation of the church was laid by the apostles 0:42:07.830 --> 0:42:10.390 and the prophets. That was a foundational gift. 0:42:10.390 --> 0:42:13.350 So by testifying, you mean somebody who actually saw it 0:42:13.710 --> 0:42:14.469 and reporting it? 0:42:14.510 --> 0:42:18.509 Yeah. A living witness to the resurrection. Paul even says, 0:42:18.550 --> 0:42:21.070 am I not an apostle? Have I not seen the Lord? 0:42:21.310 --> 0:42:24.550 And and so there are no apostles. I think even 0:42:24.590 --> 0:42:28.350 our friends who believe in prophecy would mostly recognize there 0:42:28.350 --> 0:42:30.870 are no apostles, but the prophets are linked to them. 0:42:30.870 --> 0:42:35.310 And so I would say, uh, therefore, if anyone is 0:42:35.310 --> 0:42:40.150 exercising prophecy in any way whatsoever, they're not doing it 0:42:40.150 --> 0:42:44.589 biblically because it doesn't exist. So sometimes people redefine it, 0:42:44.590 --> 0:42:47.590 sometimes they redefine it as preaching, sometimes they redefine it 0:42:47.590 --> 0:42:53.430 as exhortation. But listen, if someone just exhorts you with 0:42:53.430 --> 0:42:55.710 what would be the Word of God, accept it. Be 0:42:55.750 --> 0:42:57.950 happy about it. But sometimes people come and they want 0:42:57.989 --> 0:43:01.150 to get into our lives and tell us, I have 0:43:01.150 --> 0:43:06.240 a word from God for you. And you know it's too, 0:43:06.520 --> 0:43:07.279 too much. 0:43:07.440 --> 0:43:08.719 That is beyond scripture. 0:43:08.760 --> 0:43:12.160 Yeah. Just. No, no, no. I would just say thank 0:43:12.160 --> 0:43:14.560 you very much, but no, that's what I would say. 0:43:14.760 --> 0:43:17.160 And and move on. I had a friend once say, oh, 0:43:17.160 --> 0:43:21.880 you need prophecy because the Bible is a dusty old book. 0:43:21.880 --> 0:43:24.120 It's like getting a text message from God. You wouldn't 0:43:24.120 --> 0:43:26.640 understand it because you're too old to text message. But. 0:43:26.680 --> 0:43:29.640 But prophecy is like getting a phone call from God. 0:43:30.360 --> 0:43:32.239 I love the Word of God. And what did you 0:43:32.239 --> 0:43:32.640 always say? 0:43:32.680 --> 0:43:35.840 I'll honor. Yeah. That says I will honor my word 0:43:35.840 --> 0:43:38.440 above my name. So what God says about himself. 0:43:38.480 --> 0:43:42.080 Let's not denigrate God's Word as the containment of God's revelation. 0:43:42.360 --> 0:43:42.880 That's what we. 0:43:42.880 --> 0:43:44.680 Need. And he's written down all that we need to know. 0:43:45.239 --> 0:43:48.320 All right. Thank you. And I think our last question 0:43:48.320 --> 0:43:51.920 will be from Diana in Indiana. Listens to what are 0:43:51.920 --> 0:43:54.640 the Jewish people still looking for their Messiah through the 0:43:54.640 --> 0:43:57.799 genealogical line of King David? And have they kept track 0:43:57.800 --> 0:43:59.600 of that pure line all these years? 0:44:00.640 --> 0:44:04.640 Okay. Some Jewish people are still looking for the Messiah, 0:44:04.640 --> 0:44:08.000 and some are still looking for him to come through 0:44:08.160 --> 0:44:12.600 the line of David. Uh, but most Jewish people who 0:44:12.600 --> 0:44:15.560 are looking for the Messiah recognize that we have not 0:44:15.560 --> 0:44:20.800 kept track of that genealogy. Although a few years ago, 0:44:20.840 --> 0:44:25.960 when a Rabbi Menachem Schneerson was proclaimed by his followers 0:44:25.960 --> 0:44:30.399 to be the Messiah, uh, they said he was from 0:44:30.400 --> 0:44:32.960 the line of David. And everyone looked around the rest 0:44:32.960 --> 0:44:35.120 of the Jewish community and said, well, how do you 0:44:35.160 --> 0:44:37.160 know that? We don't know who's from the line of David? 0:44:37.200 --> 0:44:39.160 They said, well, the rabbi told us that he was 0:44:39.160 --> 0:44:43.120 from the line of David. Well come on. He was 0:44:43.120 --> 0:44:48.440 making it up. He doesn't know that. Uh, and so, yes, 0:44:48.480 --> 0:44:51.759 Jewish people are still looking for the some and some 0:44:51.760 --> 0:44:53.839 are even looking that when it comes, it will be 0:44:53.840 --> 0:44:56.600 revealed from God that he is from the line of David. 0:44:56.840 --> 0:44:59.600 But here's the thing. We know for a fact that 0:44:59.600 --> 0:45:03.160 the Messiah has come and he is from the line 0:45:03.200 --> 0:45:08.880 of David. It's clear both genealogies and Luke. Mary's genealogy 0:45:09.080 --> 0:45:12.680 shows that he's from the line of David, and Matthew's 0:45:12.920 --> 0:45:16.279 shows that he's by his adopted father Joseph from the 0:45:16.280 --> 0:45:19.000 line of David. So he is from the line of David. 0:45:19.000 --> 0:45:22.400 He is declared the son of David, most importantly with 0:45:22.400 --> 0:45:27.000 power through the resurrection. Jesus is alive. And so I 0:45:27.000 --> 0:45:30.080 would just tell anyone, Jewish or Gentile alike. You don't 0:45:30.080 --> 0:45:33.920 have to be looking for a future Messiah. What you 0:45:33.920 --> 0:45:35.760 have to do is look at the evidence that Jesus 0:45:35.760 --> 0:45:38.920 really is alive. He is declared with power to be 0:45:38.920 --> 0:45:43.120 the Messiah by the resurrection from the dead. So yeah, 0:45:43.120 --> 0:45:46.080 the Son of David has come and he's our Messiah. 0:45:46.080 --> 0:45:48.640 And that's where I would put people. Seek him out. 0:45:48.680 --> 0:45:51.319 Read the Gospels. See how Jesus fulfills what you want 0:45:51.320 --> 0:45:51.480 to say. 0:45:51.640 --> 0:45:55.359 Yeah. Just thinking about that verse in Second Timothy. Remember Messiah, Jesus, 0:45:55.760 --> 0:45:58.360 the descendant of David, risen from the dead. 0:45:58.400 --> 0:46:02.410 Yeah. That's it. That's that's the key idea. So if 0:46:02.450 --> 0:46:04.689 you're listening today and you've been thinking, I don't even 0:46:04.690 --> 0:46:07.210 know what I think about this, you can find out 0:46:07.250 --> 0:46:10.770 all about what you need to know the most about 0:46:10.770 --> 0:46:14.850 the Son of David by reading the Bible, read the scriptures, 0:46:14.850 --> 0:46:18.890 read the Gospels and learn about Jesus, and learn that 0:46:18.890 --> 0:46:21.370 he died for us and then was raised again, declaring 0:46:21.370 --> 0:46:23.410 him to be the Son of David with power and 0:46:23.410 --> 0:46:25.770 put your trust in him. What a great time together, 0:46:25.770 --> 0:46:29.330 you guys. Thank you, Eva, for uh, joining me today 0:46:29.330 --> 0:46:33.330 and Tricia and also Courtney Young for helping me out today, 0:46:33.370 --> 0:46:36.410 helping us out by doing a great job engineering. Thanks 0:46:36.410 --> 0:46:40.010 for listening, everyone. We are going to be back next week. 0:46:40.050 --> 0:46:44.009 Hope you'll be listening. Then check out our web page, radio.org. 0:46:44.050 --> 0:46:46.489 It's got every link you might be looking for. Keep 0:46:46.489 --> 0:46:48.930 reading the Bible. We'll talk about it next week. Open 0:46:48.930 --> 0:46:52.290 line with Doctor Michael Melnick is a production of Moody Radio, 0:46:52.570 --> 0:46:55.330 a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.