The Questions are listed below (by category, same as Sunday), along with the Scripture references.
GOD
Q: If God created us to glorify Himself, isn't that selfish?
A: Isaiah 42:8 - I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
Q: Does God really know everything that will happen in the future….down to the smallest detail?
A: Isaiah 46:9-10
SALVATION QUESTIONS
Q: How do you define faith to an unbeliever? How do you explain to a nonbeliever how/why you believe?
Q: When someone does not get to the 3rd level of faith, how does God react to this? Does this person's salvation suffer in any way?
Q: Is it possible to jeopardize or lose your salvation? What about Matthew 7:21-23? Do we have to do more than just believe?
A: Matthew 7:21-23 - Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'
John 10:28 - I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Q: How can we be sure an elder parent is saved? What if they claim to have said “the prayer”, yet refuse to go church or do other God-loving things?
Q: What happens to people the second they die?
A: Philippians 1:23 - I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
2 Corinthians 5:8 - Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Luke 16:22-24 - The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.'
SUFFERING AND EVIL
Q: Where did evil come from?
Why did God create Satan if God knew that Satan would fall and become the enemy?
How did Satan become evil/sinful? Where did the evil come from?
Why did Adam and Eve eat the apple?
A: Ezekiel 28:16, Ezekiel 28:15, Revelation 12
James 1:13-14 - Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
Genesis 3:6 - So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Q: Is it OK to pray that God bring suffering to a loved one to bring them to repentance / greater dependence on God? (or to change a trait that may not be sinful, but harmful to others)?
A: Romans 2:4 - Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
OLD TESTAMENT
Q: Why was no one else saved except Noah and his family?
A: Hebrews 11:7, 1 Peter 3:20, 2 Peter 2:5
Q: Is baptism connected to the Old Testament? If so, how?
A: Exodus 30, 40, Leviticus 8, 14, 16, Matthew 3:6, Matthew 28:19
Q: In Proverbs 30, it says, "there are three things…..yes, four…." (Prv 30:15, 18, 21, 24, 29). Why doesn't it just say "there are four things….."?
A: Amos 1-2
CHRISTIAN LIVING
Q: When we are trying to bring someone to the Lord, how do we know when to "let go and let God"?
Q: What is a Biblical way to deal with panhandlers? Should I give, knowing that God may be calling me to help, or should I refrain from giving, knowing many are not really in need?
Q: Remind us what SUBMISSION means and what it looks like in the life of a Christian.
A: Ephesians 5:21-22 - submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
-
Darren:
00:00-00:01
>> Jeff, your hair always looks fantastic.
Darren:
00:02-00:02
Is that mousse or gel?
Pastor Jeff:
00:04-00:04
[LAUGHTER]
Pastor Jeff:
00:06-00:07
>> That is a really good question.
Pastor Jeff:
00:08-00:12
I use that hair glue that's in the yellow tube.
Pastor Jeff:
00:14-00:19
And if I feel that it might be a really busy day, I give it a shot of this stuff that I have in a yellow can.
Pastor Jeff:
00:19-00:21
It's kind of a-- it's like a glue spray.
Pastor Jeff:
00:21-00:22
But thank you, Ken.
Pastor Jeff:
00:22-00:24
That's a-- you're kind.
Pastor Jeff:
00:25-00:26
You're very kind.
Pastor Jeff:
00:26-00:27
Thank you.
Pastor Jeff:
00:29-00:29
You're getting there.
Pastor Jeff:
00:30-00:31
You're getting there.
Pastor Jeff:
00:33-00:33
OK, good question.
Pastor Jeff:
00:33-00:34
Next.
Darren:
00:34-00:37
This first category are questions on God himself.
Darren:
00:40-00:41
First one.
Darren:
00:41-00:46
If God created us to glorify himself, is that not selfish?
Pastor Jeff:
00:47-00:50
If God created us to glorify himself, is that not selfish?
Pastor Jeff:
00:50-00:51
How many people have thought that?
Pastor Jeff:
00:52-00:54
Like, seriously, we can be honest in church, right?
Pastor Jeff:
00:54-00:56
Well, here's the thing.
Pastor Jeff:
00:57-01:03
The answer to that question is no, because God deserves all the glory.
Pastor Jeff:
01:03-01:18
And the reason I think that people really struggle with that, there's something inherently in our flesh, prideful, that makes us think that we deserve some glory.
Pastor Jeff:
01:19-01:27
So to hear of anybody else coming along and saying, "I deserve all the glory," Our flesh rails against that.
Pastor Jeff:
01:27-01:30
And here's the difference, though.
Pastor Jeff:
01:32-01:34
We don't deserve the glory, and God does.
Pastor Jeff:
01:35-01:44
And as I like to remind people here oftentimes, he is God, and I am not.
Pastor Jeff:
01:44-01:45
That's right.
Pastor Jeff:
01:45-01:47
He is the creator.
Pastor Jeff:
01:48-01:52
I am the creation, the created, right?
Pastor Jeff:
01:53-02:04
So, I don't think it's selfish whatsoever for the holy sovereign creator of everything to receive all the glory.
Pastor Jeff:
02:05-02:08
But when people have that reaction, that's typically what that is, it's pride.
Pastor Jeff:
02:08-02:09
And that's the root of all sin.
Pastor Jeff:
02:10-02:16
It's me, me, me, I deserve glory, I deserve, I deserve, that's sinful flesh talking.
Darren:
02:19-02:19
Very good.
Darren:
02:21-02:28
Does God really know everything that will happen in the future, down to the smallest details?
Pastor Jeff:
02:28-02:30
I believe yes, 100%.
Pastor Jeff:
02:30-02:32
And I get that from Isaiah 49.
Pastor Jeff:
02:32-02:34
You can write these references down on your outline.
Pastor Jeff:
02:35-02:38
Isaiah 49-- I'm sorry, 46, verses 9 through 10.
Pastor Jeff:
02:40-02:45
God says that's what is unique about him, is that he knows the future.
Pastor Jeff:
02:46-02:49
Do I believe that he knows it down to the smallest detail?
Pastor Jeff:
02:49-02:49
I do.
Pastor Jeff:
02:50-02:52
Do I believe that that means he makes all the decisions?
Pastor Jeff:
02:52-02:52
No.
Pastor Jeff:
02:53-02:58
I believe he knows the decisions that we're going to make, but that doesn't mean he makes our decisions for us.
Pastor Jeff:
02:59-02:59
But he's all knowing.
Pastor Jeff:
03:00-03:17
I don't believe that God's sitting in heaven looking down like, "Man, I hope Jeff doesn't mess this up today." Or, you know, like the angels are around the throne, like, "God, what's gonna happen?" And God's like, "Oh, I can't wait to find out." I don't believe that at all.
Pastor Jeff:
03:18-03:27
I believe that God, in his sovereignty and in his omniscience, I believe that God sees the past, the present, and the future, that whole timeline.
Pastor Jeff:
03:27-03:32
I believe that he sees that crystal clear, every detail.
Darren:
03:34-03:36
That actually reassures me.
Darren:
03:37-03:38
Most times, I don't have a clue.
Darren:
03:41-03:43
All right, we're going to go on to some salvation questions.
Darren:
03:47-03:50
Pastor Jeff, how do you define faith to a non-believer?
Darren:
03:51-03:55
And how do you explain to a non-believer how and why you believe?
Pastor Jeff:
03:55-03:57
All right, that's a good question.
Pastor Jeff:
03:58-03:58
Wouldn't you agree?
Pastor Jeff:
03:59-04:00
I got an idea.
Pastor Jeff:
04:00-04:07
You know, when Darren asks a question, I think it'd be great if you were like, "Ah, good question." All right?
Pastor Jeff:
04:08-04:09
Even if you don't agree.
Pastor Jeff:
04:11-04:12
So let's try that again.
Darren:
04:13-04:16
Pastor Jeff, how do you define faith to a non-believer?
Pastor Jeff:
04:18-04:19
Yeah, I thought so.
Pastor Jeff:
04:19-04:19
And how
Darren:
04:19-04:23
do you explain to a non-believer how and why you believe?
Pastor Jeff:
04:24-04:25
That is a great question.
Pastor Jeff:
04:25-04:28
How do I define faith to a non-believer?
Pastor Jeff:
04:29-04:33
If you've been coming here for any amount of time, you've probably heard me share this.
Pastor Jeff:
04:33-04:35
But there are actually three levels of belief.
Pastor Jeff:
04:37-04:40
The first level of belief is knowing the information.
Pastor Jeff:
04:41-04:45
And the second level is agreeing with the information.
Pastor Jeff:
04:46-04:53
And the third level is putting your trust in or acting upon the information.
Pastor Jeff:
04:54-04:56
And the illustration I like to use is the chair.
Pastor Jeff:
04:57-05:05
If I showed you a chair and said, "This chair will hold an adult man," now you have information, that's level one.
Pastor Jeff:
05:09-05:17
And if I said, "Do you believe that that chair "will hold a man?" And you look at it and you kind of evaluate it, And you think, yeah, you know what?
Pastor Jeff:
05:17-05:19
I think that that chair will hold an adult man.
Pastor Jeff:
05:19-05:20
Well, that's level two.
Pastor Jeff:
05:20-05:25
Now you know, now you agree, but neither of those are biblical faith.
Pastor Jeff:
05:27-05:28
And we'll talk about that in a second.
Pastor Jeff:
05:29-05:33
Biblical faith is getting to level three, and that's acting upon what you know.
Pastor Jeff:
05:33-05:45
That's putting your trust in, or in the chair illustration, it would be an adult man actually sitting on the chair to say, I'm resting in the knowledge that I now know and that I now agree with.
Pastor Jeff:
05:45-05:47
And that's what biblical faith is.
Pastor Jeff:
05:48-06:01
It's not just knowing the story of Jesus, and it's not just knowing, and it's not even just like agreeing with Jesus, it's putting your faith and trust and resting in Jesus.
Pastor Jeff:
06:01-06:09
And the second part of that question, how do you explain to a non-believer how or why you believe?
Pastor Jeff:
06:11-06:14
A lot of times when I share the gospel with people, I like to ask three questions.
Pastor Jeff:
06:15-06:23
And I like to turn the tables. I say, "What do you believe?" And they say, "Well, you know, I might believe this or that." And they kind of give me their belief system.
Pastor Jeff:
06:24-06:54
Well, then I ask, "Well, why do you believe what you believe?" And their answer to that question, "Why do you believe what you believe?" Their answer to that question really boils down to source of authority. Everybody believes something, and even for the guy that's like, "Well, I just believe that because that's just what I've always thought." Well, then that means your opinion is your source of authority, but you have a source of authority, everybody does.
Pastor Jeff:
06:55-06:59
But the third question is, if what you believe was wrong, would you wanna know?
Pastor Jeff:
07:01-07:02
And that's a yes or no question.
Pastor Jeff:
07:03-07:07
And I like to start that dialogue that way.
Pastor Jeff:
07:08-07:12
And then I, after talking with them, I say, "Well, let me tell you how I would answer those questions.
Pastor Jeff:
07:12-07:13
What do I believe?
Pastor Jeff:
07:13-07:16
I believe that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.
Pastor Jeff:
07:16-07:17
He died for our sins.
Pastor Jeff:
07:17-07:18
He rose to give us life.
Pastor Jeff:
07:20-07:21
You know, I share the gospel with them.
Pastor Jeff:
07:22-07:27
And if you had asked me why I believe that, because I believe that this book is the word of God.
Pastor Jeff:
07:27-07:32
And it sort of opens the door to share.
Pastor Jeff:
07:32-07:33
Here's my source of authority.
Pastor Jeff:
07:33-07:36
Here's a book that I've studied and researched.
Pastor Jeff:
07:36-07:39
And if it were wrong, would I want to know?
Pastor Jeff:
07:39-07:44
Yeah, I spent years in that mode, like researching the Bible, archeology and history.
Pastor Jeff:
07:44-07:52
And is this really an accurate book of history and God's dealings with man and all of those things?
Pastor Jeff:
07:52-07:57
And I found the Bible to be true even when asked the hardest questions.
Pastor Jeff:
07:57-08:01
So that's how I explain faith to a non-believer.
Pastor Jeff:
08:03-08:04
Does that make sense?
Darren:
08:05-08:07
That makes perfect sense, especially with this follow-up.
Darren:
08:08-08:12
When someone does not get to the third level of faith, How does God react to this?
Darren:
08:13-08:16
And does this person's salvation suffer in any way?
Pastor Jeff:
08:17-08:17
Okay.
Pastor Jeff:
08:20-08:21
Yeah, I thought so too.
Pastor Jeff:
08:21-08:23
That is a really good question.
Pastor Jeff:
08:24-08:34
And just to clarify, I don't believe that a person receives salvation until they get to the third level.
Pastor Jeff:
08:36-08:39
And somebody might say, well, where would you find that in the Bible?
Pastor Jeff:
08:40-08:44
Well, actually, there's a whole book in the Bible dedicated to that, and it's the book of James, actually.
Pastor Jeff:
08:45-08:46
Read the book of James.
Pastor Jeff:
08:47-08:50
James says a lot about that, but here's one of the things that James says.
Pastor Jeff:
08:51-08:53
Even the demons believe.
Pastor Jeff:
08:53-08:55
Do you know that demons have a perfect theology?
Pastor Jeff:
08:55-08:56
Do you know that?
Pastor Jeff:
08:57-09:02
Like, if you had a demon sitting down here instead of me, which some days my wife would say isn't much difference, but,
Pastor Jeff:
09:02-09:03
(audience laughing)
Pastor Jeff:
09:05-09:15
especially Sunday afternoons, But if you sat a demon down here and asked them, who is God, who is Jesus, and ask them, their theology is perfect.
Pastor Jeff:
09:17-09:21
But James says, even the demons believe, they know the truth about Jesus.
Pastor Jeff:
09:22-09:33
But James says, and they're shaking in their little demon booties, because they know who he is, but they haven't obviously received salvation, they've rejected him.
Pastor Jeff:
09:34-09:39
But there is no real salvation until you act upon what you know.
Pastor Jeff:
09:40-09:47
You don't receive salvation, you don't receive eternal life, you don't go to heaven because you agree with the gospel.
Pastor Jeff:
09:48-09:55
You go to heaven, you receive salvation, you receive eternal life when you receive and believe in Jesus Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
09:55-09:56
And that's the third level of faith.
Pastor Jeff:
09:57-10:00
So, does that person's salvation suffer if they don't get to the third level?
Pastor Jeff:
10:00-10:04
Yeah, they don't have biblical faith until you get there.
Darren:
10:08-10:09
That's a big answer.
Pastor Jeff:
10:11-10:13
Yeah, it is.
Darren:
10:16-10:20
Is it possible to jeopardize or actually lose your salvation?
Pastor Jeff:
10:26-10:27
They're a little slow.
Darren:
10:29-10:33
I've been asked this many times actually and I'm waiting for a better answer.
Pastor Jeff:
10:36-10:41
Okay, is it possible to jeopardize or lose your salvation? The answer is no.
Pastor Jeff:
10:42-11:27
The Bible says that we are saved by grace through faith and speaking of good works, we're going to get to that in a second, but good works are the fruit of salvation, they're not the root of salvation. And I think a lot of people sort of get the cart before the horse. Your good works don't save you, but when you are saved that leads to good works, because now, you know, when you're saved that means Jesus Christ is alive in you and he's living through you, and your good works are really just Jesus Christ working through you. He changes your appetites and he changes your desires and he gives you a a passion for the things of God, so that if you're saved, you can't help it do good works.
Pastor Jeff:
11:27-11:28
You just, you can't help it.
Pastor Jeff:
11:28-11:29
You can't help it.
Pastor Jeff:
11:29-11:31
Find somebody that's saved.
Pastor Jeff:
11:32-11:36
Find somebody that's a born again believer in Jesus Christ and forbid them to do good works.
Pastor Jeff:
11:36-11:37
You can't do it.
Pastor Jeff:
11:37-11:39
It's like forbidding water to be wet.
Pastor Jeff:
11:40-11:42
It's like forbidding a puppy to be cute.
Pastor Jeff:
11:43-11:47
Okay, it just, (laughs) it's like forbidding a cat to be horrible.
Pastor Jeff:
11:47-11:48
It just, it doesn't happen.
Pastor Jeff:
11:49-11:51
It just doesn't happen.
Pastor Jeff:
11:52-11:53
It's their very nature.
Pastor Jeff:
11:54-11:57
So, can you lose your salvation?
Pastor Jeff:
11:57-11:58
No.
Pastor Jeff:
11:58-12:04
If you earned or deserved your salvation, you could, if that's how it worked.
Pastor Jeff:
12:04-12:07
Like, well, I deserved it today, and then tomorrow I don't deserve it.
Pastor Jeff:
12:08-12:10
But we never earned it, and we've never deserved it.
Pastor Jeff:
12:10-12:14
It was a gift of God by His grace.
Pastor Jeff:
12:15-12:18
So, once you're truly saved, you cannot lose it.
Darren:
12:20-12:22
Okay, what about Matthew 7, 21 and 23?
Pastor Jeff:
12:23-12:26
All right, Matthew 7, 21, 23, do we have that?
Pastor Jeff:
12:27-12:45
This is a very scary passage of scripture, and I know even a lot of Christians, these verses, you talk about sobering and you talk about serious, these are the most serious verses in the whole Bible, right up there with, "It is a terrible thing "to fall into the hands of the living God," from Hebrews.
Pastor Jeff:
12:46-13:14
But these verses, "Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, "but the one who does the will of my Father "who is in heaven." On that day, many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name "and cast out demons in your name "and do many mighty works in your name?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you'd depart from me, "you workers of lawlessness." And what Jesus is talking about here is there's a lot of people that are gonna stand before him on that day.
Pastor Jeff:
13:15-13:19
And basically what they've done as they've trusted their works to save them.
Pastor Jeff:
13:19-13:22
Like Jesus, look at all these great things I did for you.
Pastor Jeff:
13:22-13:24
I did this and I did this and I did this.
Pastor Jeff:
13:24-13:28
Well, the problem is they didn't do the most important thing.
Pastor Jeff:
13:29-13:31
Look at what Jesus said, I will declare to them, what was it?
Pastor Jeff:
13:31-13:32
I never knew you.
Pastor Jeff:
13:34-13:36
That's where salvation has to start.
Pastor Jeff:
13:37-13:45
You know, Jesus said in, what is it, John 17, when he was praying, he said to the father, this is eternal life that they may know you.
Pastor Jeff:
13:45-13:47
Salvation is about a relationship.
Pastor Jeff:
13:47-13:56
So if you're doing all these works, you can be like, you can be setting up this stage every week and you can be greeting people and you can be preaching the sermon.
Pastor Jeff:
13:56-14:09
You can be doing all these amazing things, but if you don't know Jesus Christ, you're in this category and you're gonna stand before him someday and look at all these things I did for you, but you never received them.
Pastor Jeff:
14:09-14:13
So this is, I think it's great to look at these verses and take a self-evaluation.
Pastor Jeff:
14:13-14:14
Do I really know Jesus Christ?
Pastor Jeff:
14:14-14:19
Am I really doing what I'm doing out of a love relationship for him?
Pastor Jeff:
14:20-14:24
But these verses aren't about people that are saved that lost their salvation.
Pastor Jeff:
14:24-14:29
These are about people who were deceived about their salvation because they trusted their works.
Darren:
14:31-14:34
The last part of that is, do we have to do more than just believe?
Pastor Jeff:
14:35-14:37
Do we have to do more than just believe?
Pastor Jeff:
14:37-14:44
Well, I would rewind that back to the previous question.
Pastor Jeff:
14:44-14:55
When somebody says, "Do I have to just believe?" My question would be, "Well, what do you mean by believe?" If they would say, "Well, I know the Bible," that's not enough.
Pastor Jeff:
14:56-15:10
If they would say, "Well, I agree that the Bible was a true book and that Jesus was probably a good guy," I would say, "That's not enough." Is it enough to believe as in, is it enough to receive Jesus Christ and rest in him?
Pastor Jeff:
15:10-15:11
Yeah, that's enough.
Pastor Jeff:
15:12-15:15
Because everything from the Christian life flows out of that.
Pastor Jeff:
15:15-15:17
But it has to start there.
Pastor Jeff:
15:18-15:38
My favorite verse about security, John 10, 28 says, this is Jesus, he said, "I give them eternal life, "and they will never perish, "and no one will snatch them out of my hand." That is like one of my favorite verses about assurance.
Pastor Jeff:
15:40-15:52
If I had a quarter in my hand and said, "If you can come up here and wrestle this quarter "out of my hand, you can have it." It's looking like most everyone in here can wrestle that quarter out of my hand.
Pastor Jeff:
15:54-16:04
But if Darren had that quarter in his hand and said, "If you can take this quarter from my hand, "you can have it," I'm thinking there's a lot less people here that are gonna be able to get a quarter out of his hand.
Pastor Jeff:
16:05-16:15
And my point is this, Jesus Christ, the Almighty of the universe says, "I have you in my hand." So who's strong enough to grab something out of Jesus' hand?
Pastor Jeff:
16:16-16:16
Who?
Pastor Jeff:
16:17-16:17
Is the devil?
Pastor Jeff:
16:19-16:22
What about like a whole like flock of demons?
Pastor Jeff:
16:22-16:25
Could they snatch a soul out of the hand of Jesus Christ?
Pastor Jeff:
16:26-16:26
Could they?
Pastor Jeff:
16:27-16:28
No.
Pastor Jeff:
16:28-16:35
Whoever would rob you of your salvation would have to be more powerful than Christ because he says you're in his hand.
Pastor Jeff:
16:36-16:41
And if that's not enough, just a couple of verses later, he says you're in the Father's hand, okay?
Pastor Jeff:
16:43-16:51
So if you're truly saved, if you're truly saved, nothing can take your salvation.
Pastor Jeff:
16:51-16:53
And you're like, well, how do I know if I'm truly saved?
Pastor Jeff:
16:55-16:56
I'm not gonna answer that.
Pastor Jeff:
16:58-17:01
because next month we're doing a whole sermon series on that very question.
Darren:
17:02-17:03
You're all invited.
Pastor Jeff:
17:03-17:03
Yeah.
Pastor Jeff:
17:05-17:05
Bring your friends.
Darren:
17:09-17:12
This one's actually close to me.
Darren:
17:12-17:15
How can we be sure that an elderly parent is saved?
Darren:
17:16-17:24
And what if they claimed, what if they claimed to have said the prayer, yet they refused to go to church or do other God-loving things?
Darren:
17:26-17:27
That is a good question.
Darren:
17:28-17:29
I'll say that, that's a good question.
Darren:
17:29-17:29
That is a
Pastor Jeff:
17:29-17:30
good question.
Pastor Jeff:
17:31-17:32
That is a good question.
Pastor Jeff:
17:32-17:40
And I don't know if your situation is similar to mine, but there's a reason that that question was close to my heart too.
Pastor Jeff:
17:43-17:44
But here's the thing.
Pastor Jeff:
17:45-17:48
There are only two things that you can be sure of concerning that parent.
Pastor Jeff:
17:50-18:00
And that is, whether they heard the gospel or not, But the other thing that you can be sure of is that God is fair.
Pastor Jeff:
18:02-18:03
That's what you can be sure of.
Pastor Jeff:
18:03-18:15
Now if you question their walk because you don't see fruit, I would encourage you to keep that matter in prayer and to take an opportunity to discuss that with them.
Pastor Jeff:
18:17-18:23
I know, at least for me, the closer the relationship with me, the harder it is to share the gospel.
Pastor Jeff:
18:24-18:26
I'm great at sharing the gospel with complete strangers.
Pastor Jeff:
18:26-18:29
I can, like, grab somebody off the street and I have no inhibitions.
Pastor Jeff:
18:30-18:37
But for me, the closer the person is to me by the relationship, it's harder because you have sort of an emotional investment.
Pastor Jeff:
18:38-18:38
You have the attachment.
Pastor Jeff:
18:39-18:43
You have the biggest thing, I think, is just fear of rejection, which you don't have with a stranger.
Pastor Jeff:
18:44-18:47
But you don't have anything to lose by sitting down with that parent.
Pastor Jeff:
18:49-18:53
and saying, you know, Dad, I know that we had talked about the gospel before.
Pastor Jeff:
18:54-18:54
Can we talk about it again?
Pastor Jeff:
18:56-18:57
And do you know what it means?
Pastor Jeff:
18:57-18:59
Do you know what it means to believe in Jesus Christ?
Pastor Jeff:
18:59-19:00
Do you know what Jesus has done?
Pastor Jeff:
19:00-19:01
Do you know who he is?
Pastor Jeff:
19:01-19:03
Do you know what the Bible says?
Pastor Jeff:
19:06-19:12
And you share that with them, you pray with them, and that's all you can do.
Pastor Jeff:
19:13-19:15
Salvation is always a work of the Holy Spirit.
Pastor Jeff:
19:15-19:18
Our responsibility, the Bible says God has made us his ambassadors.
Pastor Jeff:
19:18-19:19
He's pleading through us.
Pastor Jeff:
19:20-19:25
Our job is just to broadcast the message and to trust God to do the rest.
Pastor Jeff:
19:26-19:34
So I would say to somebody that's not sure about their parent, why don't you just take an opportunity to sit down and talk with them again and say, do you really understand?
Pastor Jeff:
19:39-19:41
You can never talk about Jesus too much, by the way.
Pastor Jeff:
19:41-19:42
Did you know that?
Pastor Jeff:
19:42-19:47
You're not gonna like roll into heaven someday and God's gonna be like, seriously broken record.
Pastor Jeff:
19:47-19:50
Just seem like everything out of your mouth was Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
Pastor Jeff:
19:51-19:51
Not going to happen.
Pastor Jeff:
19:53-20:01
You know, God is all about the exaltation of his son, you know, lifting him high, drawing people to himself through Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
20:02-20:03
So don't worry about that.
Darren:
20:06-20:07
That's excellent.
Darren:
20:10-20:19
I've heard so many different opinions, theories, and just, I think, flat-out guesses to this next question.
Pastor Jeff:
20:19-20:20
Well, I'll take a guess, too.
Darren:
20:20-20:23
What happens to people the second they die?
Pastor Jeff:
20:24-20:24
I'm just kidding.
Pastor Jeff:
20:24-20:27
I'm not going to guess because the Bible actually addresses that.
Pastor Jeff:
20:30-20:35
But you're right, there's a lot of confusion over that because there is a lot of teaching out there.
Pastor Jeff:
20:36-20:46
There are some people that teach that when you die, you go to this place of fire where the remainder of your sin is burned off.
Pastor Jeff:
20:47-20:55
And you can spend years and years and years and years and years in this place, but if we pray and give money, your time in that place will be shortened.
Pastor Jeff:
20:56-20:58
That's not in the Bible anywhere.
Pastor Jeff:
20:58-21:13
And I would actually say that's a blasphemous concept because what you're saying is, "Okay, Jesus did his work to pay for my sin, but I still have a little bit that I have to do in this fiery place.
Pastor Jeff:
21:15-21:18
All in favor of a word from the Bible about this?
Pastor Jeff:
21:20-21:22
Yeah, that's where I turn.
Pastor Jeff:
21:23-21:33
For the Christian, for the Christian, the second you die, you are immediately in the presence of the Lord.
Pastor Jeff:
21:34-21:40
You have a verse to back that up? I got two actually. How many were here when we went through Philippians?
Pastor Jeff:
21:43-21:45
How many were here when we preached through Philippians 1?
Pastor Jeff:
21:46-22:23
Also, you know the sermon by heart? Remember this, Taylor? This was, this is assuring, isn't it? This is what Paul said, "I am hard-pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be in a place where my sin is burnt off." No, my desire is to depart and be somewhere in the spiritual realm of the unknown." What did he say? "My desire is to depart and be where? With Christ." It seemed that the Apostle Paul's understanding is the second you die, you're where? With Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
22:23-23:55
Oh, by the way, as if you didn't know, for that is far better. Yeah, yeah, being with Christ is far better." And you're like, "Well, really, is that all the Bible says about that?" In fact, it is not. 2 Corinthians 5:8, "Yes, we are of good courage. We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord." So there again, when you're out of your body, when you die and your spirit leaves this bag of dust and water, your spirit immediately goes into the presence of the Lord. So that's for the Christian. For people who reject Christ, you know, non-saved people, like what happens to them? Well, they go to a place of torment where they await the final judgment at the end of the age when they will be cast into the lake of fire. And Jesus talked about that in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, that's actually Luke chapter 16, but you can read this whole account. But Jesus said, "The poor man died was carried by the angels to Abraham's side." Now I've heard people teach that Abraham's side or Abraham's bosom is almost like this, almost like this spiritual address, but I don't believe that that's what he's talking about at all, actually when people sat down at the table together in those days, they didn't have chairs, especially not chairs this high.
Pastor Jeff:
23:55-23:56
I'm like getting a nosebleed.
Pastor Jeff:
23:57-23:59
But they actually sat on the floor.
Pastor Jeff:
24:00-24:03
And when they sat at the table, they would actually like lean on each other.
Pastor Jeff:
24:04-24:09
And I believe that that's what that poor man, that was his situation.
Pastor Jeff:
24:09-24:16
You know, he was actually sitting at the table, leaning on Abraham saying that he was where?
Pastor Jeff:
24:16-24:17
Where do you think that is?
Pastor Jeff:
24:18-24:20
I didn't study this part.
Pastor Jeff:
24:20-24:21
Where do you think Abraham is?
Pastor Jeff:
24:22-24:23
Heaven, okay, yeah, I think so too.
Pastor Jeff:
24:24-24:26
But I believe that that's what Jesus is saying.
Pastor Jeff:
24:26-24:27
He was in heaven with Abraham.
Pastor Jeff:
24:28-24:38
The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, or Hades, that was the grave or what lies beyond.
Pastor Jeff:
24:39-24:41
But look at what Jesus said about this place.
Pastor Jeff:
24:41-25:32
interesting. Being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, "Here you see the torment. Father Abraham, have mercy on me. Send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I'm in anguish in this flame." Place of torment. But that's not the final lake of fire. Actually, the book of Revelation says that on the day of judgment, everyone who has rejected Christ will stand before God, receive their judgment and go into the lake of fire. So I believe that this is where they are until the events that take place in Revelation that are yet to come till those events transpire. So it's basically out of the frying pan into the fire like you know from from bad to bad for those who reject Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
25:38-25:39
Does that make sense?
Darren:
25:39-25:41
I should be writing all this down.
Darren:
25:41-25:43
I don't hear any pencils scratching or anything out there.
Darren:
25:43-25:44
OK.
Darren:
25:44-25:44
All right.
Darren:
25:44-25:44
Good.
Darren:
25:45-25:45
Scratch louder.
Darren:
25:47-25:49
Same way Jeff tells you to flip your pages.
Darren:
25:49-25:49
Yeah.
Pastor Jeff:
25:50-25:50
Right.
Pastor Jeff:
25:51-25:51
Yeah.
Pastor Jeff:
25:51-25:51
Write harder.
Darren:
25:53-25:56
How are you projecting your thoughts onto the screen that fast?
Darren:
25:56-25:56
That's amazing.
Darren:
25:58-25:59
That's fantastic.
Darren:
25:59-25:59
Isn't it?
Darren:
26:00-26:00
All right.
Darren:
26:00-26:04
We're going to go on to suffering and evil.
Darren:
26:06-26:06
OK.
Darren:
26:08-26:11
First, where did evil actually come from?
Darren:
26:13-26:18
Why did God create Satan if God knew Satan would fall and become the enemy?
Darren:
26:20-26:22
How did Satan become evil and sinful?
Darren:
26:24-26:25
And where did the evil come from?
Darren:
26:27-26:31
And also, why did Adam and Eve eat the apple?
Pastor Jeff:
26:32-26:32
>> All right.
Darren:
26:34-26:35
>> I can repeat that if you need.
Pastor Jeff:
26:39-26:46
>> Actually, that cluster of questions, I put those all together.
Pastor Jeff:
26:46-26:47
These actually-- you're right, Jay.
Pastor Jeff:
26:47-26:48
There were like 27 there.
Pastor Jeff:
26:49-26:54
But I put those all together because obviously a lot of people had some very similar questions.
Pastor Jeff:
26:55-27:01
And we could spend months talking about this.
Pastor Jeff:
27:02-27:03
but that's not our purpose today.
Pastor Jeff:
27:03-27:05
I'm going to give you the Reader's Digest version.
Pastor Jeff:
27:05-27:06
So you ready to write some things down?
Pastor Jeff:
27:07-27:08
Okay.
Pastor Jeff:
27:09-27:11
Reader's Digest version, right, Barb?
Pastor Jeff:
27:11-27:12
Isn't that what we call that?
Pastor Jeff:
27:12-27:13
Okay.
Pastor Jeff:
27:13-27:15
All right, Ezekiel 28, 16.
Pastor Jeff:
27:16-27:18
I'm gonna give you just, like I said, write these things down.
Pastor Jeff:
27:18-27:20
We can talk more about these things in depth.
Pastor Jeff:
27:21-27:24
But Satan is actually called a cherub.
Pastor Jeff:
27:25-27:37
Satan, from what we gather from scripture, Satan, the devil, Lucifer, He's only called Lucifer once, by the way, in the Bible, but he was an angel.
Pastor Jeff:
27:39-27:48
And originally, actually, if you go back to Ezekiel 28, 15, like everything, he was originally perfect, okay?
Pastor Jeff:
27:48-27:59
So it wasn't like, you know, when Satan was created, that God was like, "Well, I'm gonna create one bad one "just to see what happens." Okay, it wasn't like that.
Pastor Jeff:
27:59-28:01
He was originally created perfect.
Pastor Jeff:
28:02-28:09
And Revelation chapter 12 says that Satan fell and took a third of the angels with him.
Pastor Jeff:
28:09-28:11
And that's what we would call demons.
Pastor Jeff:
28:12-28:18
And Jesus actually talks about this, I believe in Luke chapter 10, he said that I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Pastor Jeff:
28:22-28:30
Satan rebelled and somehow convinced a third of God's angels to rebel with him.
Pastor Jeff:
28:30-28:33
Now, the question, how did he become evil?
Pastor Jeff:
28:36-28:41
I believe that God gave Satan, just like he gave us, he gave us free will.
Pastor Jeff:
28:42-28:51
And I believe that, you know, that ability that we have to make choices, I believe that he gave the angels that ability too.
Pastor Jeff:
28:52-29:00
Apparently Satan and a third of the angels made a choice that they were going to exalt themselves against the Almighty.
Pastor Jeff:
29:01-29:03
And that was the choice that they made.
Pastor Jeff:
29:03-29:08
Interesting verse, when I was researching this, I came across James 1.
Pastor Jeff:
29:11-29:13
Listen to what James 1 says, and it should be on the wall here.
Pastor Jeff:
29:13-29:28
"But let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God.' For God cannot be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one." Okay, God's not out to trip people up.
Pastor Jeff:
29:29-29:30
Some people think God's out to get them.
Pastor Jeff:
29:30-29:32
He is not, God is out to save you.
Pastor Jeff:
29:34-29:39
God is out to exalt himself in you and through you, but he is not out to tempt you.
Pastor Jeff:
29:40-29:51
It says, "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire." And my best understanding is that Satan, like us, had a choice.
Pastor Jeff:
29:52-29:58
That God created him with the ability to choose to accept or reject him, just like we all have that choice.
Pastor Jeff:
29:59-30:00
And he chose to reject.
Pastor Jeff:
30:00-30:02
He chose to exalt himself over God.
Pastor Jeff:
30:03-30:11
And the Bible says that he tempted Eve, and Adam was with her, and they ate from the tree.
Pastor Jeff:
30:11-30:15
By the way, that's in Genesis 3, verse 6.
Pastor Jeff:
30:16-30:18
You know, the question, where did evil come from?
Pastor Jeff:
30:22-30:28
Apparently, Satan made his choice sometime before the incident in the Garden of Eden.
Pastor Jeff:
30:30-30:34
And it's much more clear to us where evil on the earth came from.
Pastor Jeff:
30:34-30:37
The Bible says that Adam brought sin and death into the world.
Pastor Jeff:
30:38-30:43
It says, "Why did Adam and Eve eat the apple?" We don't know what kind of fruit it was, by the way.
Pastor Jeff:
30:44-30:45
A lot of people...
Pastor Jeff:
30:45-30:46
I've heard that all the time and I've probably even said it.
Pastor Jeff:
30:47-30:48
You know, they ate the apple.
Pastor Jeff:
30:48-30:50
The Bible doesn't say it was an apple.
Pastor Jeff:
30:50-30:51
It was some kind of a fruit.
Pastor Jeff:
30:51-30:53
And we're really not sure what kind it was.
Pastor Jeff:
30:54-30:57
I prefer not to think of it as an apple, because I like apples.
Pastor Jeff:
30:58-31:02
So, you know, maybe they ate a tomato.
Darren:
31:04-31:05
I like tomatoes.
Pastor Jeff:
31:06-31:07
OK, well then.
Pastor Jeff:
31:08-31:09
Is there anything you don't like?
Darren:
31:10-31:10
They ate olives.
Pastor Jeff:
31:11-31:12
They ate olives, yeah.
Pastor Jeff:
31:13-31:14
No, I don't know what kind of fruit it was.
Pastor Jeff:
31:15-31:27
That's how sin and death and evil and the curse came on this world, was because Adam and Eve chose to disobey, to rebel, to reject, and that brought sin and death.
Pastor Jeff:
31:27-31:32
That's why the second Adam, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness and eternal life.
Pastor Jeff:
31:33-31:34
That's in Romans 5.
Pastor Jeff:
31:35-31:40
I know that's a very short answer, and I almost feel like, man, so much more can be said, but we're going to leave that there for now.
Pastor Jeff:
31:41-31:43
If you have any more questions about that, you know how to get a hold of me.
Darren:
31:44-31:46
Okay, 'cause I just about fired one off, that's good.
Darren:
31:47-31:48
I have one for you.
Pastor Jeff:
31:48-31:49
All right.
Darren:
31:51-31:52
All right.
Darren:
31:54-31:55
Last one in this category.
Darren:
31:56-32:04
Is it okay to pray that God brings suffering to a loved one to bring them to repentance or greater dependence on God?
Darren:
32:05-32:09
Or to change a trait that may not be sinful but harmful to others?
Pastor Jeff:
32:13-32:14
Glad Hayward thought so, anybody else?
Pastor Jeff:
32:16-32:16
(congregation laughing)
Pastor Jeff:
32:17-32:20
Come on, that is a good question.
Pastor Jeff:
32:22-32:40
Here's what I have, I'm gonna read this because I wanna be very careful in the way that I selected the words here, but I wrote down, if someone is involved in self or other destructive behavior pray that God gets their attention.
Pastor Jeff:
32:41-32:47
I often pray for God to reveal himself to them and through them.
Pastor Jeff:
32:48-32:50
And I also wrote down, remember the end game.
Pastor Jeff:
32:50-32:54
You know, in those situations, sometimes you don't know what to pray.
Pastor Jeff:
32:54-32:54
Anybody else been there?
Pastor Jeff:
32:55-32:56
Like, I'm not quite sure what to pray.
Pastor Jeff:
32:57-32:57
Yeah, that's biblical.
Pastor Jeff:
32:58-33:00
And what happens when we don't know what to pray?
Pastor Jeff:
33:01-33:04
The Bible says the Holy Spirit prays for us.
Pastor Jeff:
33:04-33:05
Isn't that awesome?
Pastor Jeff:
33:05-33:09
Like, God is praying to himself through us with the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus.
Pastor Jeff:
33:09-33:13
and wow, prayer's like all about God.
Pastor Jeff:
33:13-33:16
Well, even energized by God.
Pastor Jeff:
33:17-33:23
Well, I often pray, when I don't know what to pray, I say, God, I just pray you would reveal yourself to that person.
Pastor Jeff:
33:24-33:26
Because sometimes I don't know what God should do.
Pastor Jeff:
33:27-33:28
I don't know.
Pastor Jeff:
33:29-33:32
Something I do know is that God's not up in heaven wondering what he should do.
Pastor Jeff:
33:33-33:41
You know, God's not up in heaven like, you know, Hmm, Colleen Jones, now that's a tough one.
Pastor Jeff:
33:42-33:43
Not quite sure what I should do with that.
Pastor Jeff:
33:44-33:45
He's not like that.
Pastor Jeff:
33:46-33:51
So I'm just, you know, my prayer is I'm just agreeing that God, you know what, reveal yourself to her.
Pastor Jeff:
33:51-33:55
And, you know, I would say also remember the end game.
Pastor Jeff:
33:57-34:08
Romans 2, four says, or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that, I love this next phrase, God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.
Pastor Jeff:
34:09-34:11
God's kindness leads people to repentance.
Pastor Jeff:
34:11-34:27
That's the thing, sometimes God allows people to get broken, not because God likes watching people suffer, but because broken people realize that they need God's grace, and God, in his kindness, extends his grace, and it's his kindness that leads to repentance.
Pastor Jeff:
34:28-34:37
So, yeah, it's okay to pray for God to have his way, even if it means that loved one hitting rock bottom.
Pastor Jeff:
34:38-34:39
I've had to pray that for people.
Pastor Jeff:
34:39-34:43
God, please, this person's on a self-destructive path.
Pastor Jeff:
34:43-34:46
Will you please bring them to the place where they're at the end of their rope and they need you?
Darren:
34:49-34:59
What would you say to a person who says, you know, that guy drives drunk all the time and he finally wrecked his car and hurt himself real bad and they think God just steered his car off the road to humble him and teach him a lesson?
Pastor Jeff:
35:00-35:14
Well, there again, I would not, I don't believe that God's up in heaven directing suffering like that to say, "Well, you know, is God sovereign over those things and does he allow those things?" Yes.
Pastor Jeff:
35:15-35:18
But I don't put the responsibility of that on God.
Pastor Jeff:
35:19-35:27
I would say that person made a foolish choice to drive drunk and they're suffering the consequences and other people now are suffering the consequences for their sinful choice.
Pastor Jeff:
35:29-35:30
But that's...
Pastor Jeff:
35:30-35:31
I think there's something...
Pastor Jeff:
35:31-35:35
You see that a lot when you talk to some unsaved people.
Pastor Jeff:
35:37-35:52
You know, they eat and they have a house and they have a car and they have the internet and they have television and they have all these things and not one time will stop and acknowledge God for any of that.
Pastor Jeff:
35:52-36:06
But the second something happens that they don't like, whether it is an illness or a foolish choice of someone else or whatever, immediately God's on the hook for that.
Pastor Jeff:
36:07-36:11
God's not on the hook for all these blessings, but as soon as something bad happens, oh, that's all God's fault.
Pastor Jeff:
36:12-36:13
It's sad.
Pastor Jeff:
36:14-36:21
But now I would say in that scenario that you just gave, the responsibility is on the foolish choice.
Darren:
36:24-36:45
I know personally a lot of people think that non-believers are just misunderstood utter misquoting, they think God is actively physically punishing them as they go through life, not understanding that he's loved and wants the best for them. He allows things to happen, but he's doing these things to correct them in this life and creating hardships for them versus just allowing it to happen.
Pastor Jeff:
36:45-36:57
Well, this is a whole other sermon, but actually, jot this reference down, Romans 1. For the unbeliever, they don't have to do something to get the wrath of God.
Pastor Jeff:
36:58-37:01
Romans 1 says they're already living under it.
Pastor Jeff:
37:01-37:09
And all of the consequences that they're experiencing for their sinful lifestyle, it's the fruit of living under the wrath of God.
Pastor Jeff:
37:09-37:10
So they're already under it.
Pastor Jeff:
37:11-37:19
So it's not like God's up in heaven, you know, I don't believe God's up in heaven steering drunk drivers off the road to punish them.
Pastor Jeff:
37:20-37:32
I believe that the natural built-in consequences of living a rebellious and reckless and sinful lifestyle, I believe that God created a world where those things are just sort of self-manifesting.
Pastor Jeff:
37:34-37:42
You know, and I'm living under the wrath of God, as a non-believer, rather, is living under the wrath of God by default.
Pastor Jeff:
37:44-37:53
Living, you know, living in a cursed world where disaster and those things are just, are commonplace.
Pastor Jeff:
37:53-37:55
We should expect those things, actually.
Pastor Jeff:
37:58-38:02
And the believer is not living under the wrath of God, though, okay, just to clarify.
Pastor Jeff:
38:03-38:05
You know, read Romans 1, very clear.
Pastor Jeff:
38:05-38:07
People that reject God are living under his wrath.
Pastor Jeff:
38:08-38:11
That is not referring to people that have been born again in Christ.
Darren:
38:13-38:13
Excellent.
Darren:
38:14-38:16
We're gonna move on to the Old Testament.
Pastor Jeff:
38:16-38:22
Yeah, we're gonna move through quickly because our time's winding down.
Pastor Jeff:
38:22-38:41
I'm going to give the, what's shorter than Reader's Digest version? What do you call that? Come on, help me out here. What's shorter than the Reader's Digest version? The CliffsNotes version? Hmm. All right, moving right along.
Darren:
38:44-38:48
Why was no one else saved except Noah and his family?
Pastor Jeff:
38:48-38:59
Okay, Hebrews 11 7, 1 Peter 3.20, 2 Peter 2.5, everyone in Noah's day had the opportunity to get on the ark.
Pastor Jeff:
39:01-39:05
Because actually, Peter says that Noah was a preacher.
Pastor Jeff:
39:05-39:06
Did you know that?
Pastor Jeff:
39:06-39:10
The Bible says that Noah preached for 120 years while he was building the ark.
Pastor Jeff:
39:11-39:12
You know, it wasn't like Noah's building this ark.
Pastor Jeff:
39:13-39:13
Hey, whatcha doing?
Pastor Jeff:
39:14-39:14
Nothing.
Pastor Jeff:
39:17-39:20
You're building a boat in the middle of your yard, pal.
Pastor Jeff:
39:20-39:20
What are you doing?
Pastor Jeff:
39:21-39:22
Nothing.
Pastor Jeff:
39:23-39:26
No. While he was building the ark, he was preaching.
Pastor Jeff:
39:26-39:30
God's judgment is coming because people have turned from him.
Pastor Jeff:
39:30-39:40
120 years. And I would also point out, when the rain started coming, the Bible very explicitly says that God shut the door of the ark.
Pastor Jeff:
39:41-39:48
It wasn't like Noah was like, "Okay people, your time is up." God shut the door. But everybody had opportunity.
Pastor Jeff:
39:48-39:58
"Would they have fit?" Yeah, because the ark doesn't look like that little canoe where the giraffes are sticking their heads out of, I hate those pictures.
Pastor Jeff:
39:58-39:59
That is so inaccurate.
Pastor Jeff:
39:59-40:00
You know the ones I'm talking about?
Pastor Jeff:
40:00-40:02
There's like two hippos on deck.
Pastor Jeff:
40:02-40:06
The giraffe's head is poking out that little window hole thing.
Pastor Jeff:
40:07-40:10
Then Noah and Mrs. Noah are like crowded on the deck.
Pastor Jeff:
40:11-40:18
And we tell our kids, "Yeah, that's what Noah's ark looked like." That is not what Noah's Ark looked like, okay?
Pastor Jeff:
40:18-40:19
It was enormous.
Pastor Jeff:
40:19-40:21
It took him 120 years to build it.
Pastor Jeff:
40:21-40:22
It was huge.
Pastor Jeff:
40:23-40:32
It fit two of all the representatives of the animal, seven of some, and it would have fit as many people as wanted to get on, but they chose not to.
Darren:
40:37-40:40
Is baptism connected to the Old Testament, and if so, how?
Pastor Jeff:
40:40-40:41
That is a really good question.
Pastor Jeff:
40:41-40:44
I'm gonna say that, even if none of the rest of you wanna say that.
Pastor Jeff:
40:44-40:46
Is baptism connected to the Old Testament?
Pastor Jeff:
40:50-40:51
Thank you, thank you, Dana.
Pastor Jeff:
40:53-40:54
Thank you.
Pastor Jeff:
40:56-41:04
Okay, the Old Testament is filled with ritual washings, and actually throughout Jewish history, that became very common.
Pastor Jeff:
41:05-41:10
Exodus chapter 30, Exodus chapter 40, Leviticus 8, Leviticus 14, Leviticus 16.
Pastor Jeff:
41:11-41:20
You see, all throughout the Old Testament, You also see throughout Jewish history, ceremonial cleansings were a very common practice.
Pastor Jeff:
41:20-41:21
Am I right, Derek?
Pastor Jeff:
41:21-41:23
You're a resident Jewish expert here.
Pastor Jeff:
41:23-41:24
It was a common practice.
Pastor Jeff:
41:24-41:34
You even see in history, even some of the Jewish sects that got together, that was part of their ritual was washings.
Pastor Jeff:
41:34-41:40
But when you get to the New Testament, you find John the Baptist baptizing as a symbol of cleansing of sin.
Pastor Jeff:
41:40-41:42
It was a baptism of repentance.
Pastor Jeff:
41:42-41:43
That's Matthew 3, 6.
Pastor Jeff:
41:44-41:50
And then later in the New Testament, baptism was commanded by Jesus as a part of making disciples.
Pastor Jeff:
41:50-41:52
It's Matthew 28, 19.
Pastor Jeff:
41:52-42:01
And then as Taylor Brown shared with us from Romans chapter 6, in our day, baptism, it's not the water that cleans you.
Pastor Jeff:
42:01-42:02
You get that, right?
Pastor Jeff:
42:02-42:05
And it's not like the wedding ring that makes you married.
Pastor Jeff:
42:06-42:07
Those are symbols.
Pastor Jeff:
42:07-42:14
And Romans 6 teaches that in baptism, we are identifying with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
42:14-42:18
It's a public declaration before God and before man.
Pastor Jeff:
42:18-42:19
I am dying to self.
Pastor Jeff:
42:20-42:25
I have received and I'm being raised in the newness of the resurrected life of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
42:26-42:28
That is a really short history of baptism.
Pastor Jeff:
42:28-42:29
But that's really the connection.
Pastor Jeff:
42:31-42:34
Washing's very common throughout the Old Testament and in Jewish history.
Darren:
42:36-42:37
Very good. - Okay.
Darren:
42:38-42:46
In Proverbs 30, it says, "There are three things, yes, four." Why doesn't it just say, "There are four things"?
42:51-42:51
[LAUGHTER]
Pastor Jeff:
42:51-42:53
You don't have to confess, but can I ask you to ask that question?
Pastor Jeff:
42:54-42:55
That is a really good question.
Pastor Jeff:
42:55-42:56
Was that you, Debbie?
Pastor Jeff:
42:57-42:57
OK.
Pastor Jeff:
42:58-42:59
That is a good question.
Pastor Jeff:
43:00-43:03
And there's actually a very easy-- there's a very easy answer to that.
Pastor Jeff:
43:03-43:05
It was just a figure of speech.
Pastor Jeff:
43:06-43:07
That's really it.
Pastor Jeff:
43:07-43:08
that was just a figure of speech.
Pastor Jeff:
43:09-43:10
We have them today, right?
Pastor Jeff:
43:11-43:14
Do we use figures of speech that don't make any sense?
Pastor Jeff:
43:15-43:16
All the time.
Pastor Jeff:
43:16-43:17
Do you know what my favorite is?
Pastor Jeff:
43:17-43:19
Okay, do you know where that term came from?
Pastor Jeff:
43:19-43:20
Okay, do you know?
Pastor Jeff:
43:21-43:21
Nobody knows.
Pastor Jeff:
43:23-43:23
Nobody knows.
Pastor Jeff:
43:24-43:27
I'm a nerd, but I have researched that.
Pastor Jeff:
43:28-43:40
When the kids were at preschool one time down at Leap, I went to the library in Fox Chapel and researched, I'm a nerd, go ahead, say it.
Pastor Jeff:
43:41-43:41
Okay.
Pastor Jeff:
43:44-43:46
But we use expressions like that all the time.
Pastor Jeff:
43:46-43:50
Or one I hear you use quite often, Darren, heavens to Betsy.
Pastor Jeff:
43:51-43:53
I hear Darren say that all the time.
Pastor Jeff:
43:54-43:56
He's always like, heavens to Betsy, it's raining hard.
Pastor Jeff:
43:57-43:59
Like, where did that term even come from?
Pastor Jeff:
44:00-44:03
I have no idea where that term came from, but it was just a figure of speech.
Pastor Jeff:
44:04-44:11
And actually, Debbie, right down Amos chapters one and two, he used that a lot.
Pastor Jeff:
44:11-44:12
It was a figure of speech.
Pastor Jeff:
44:13-44:14
It was just a figure of speech.
Pastor Jeff:
44:15-44:21
It was like saying, like here are six things that get God's attention, seven things that really get God's attention.
Pastor Jeff:
44:22-44:23
It was just a figure of speech.
44:27-44:27
(laughing)
Darren:
44:28-44:30
I would have believed you if you said it was a typo.
Pastor Jeff:
44:30-44:31
(laughing)
Pastor Jeff:
44:32-44:33
No, it's not a typo.
Pastor Jeff:
44:33-44:34
Just a figure of speech.
Darren:
44:35-44:37
And I, for the record, I say heavens to mercatroid.
Darren:
44:38-44:38
Oh, right, right.
Darren:
44:39-44:39
It's not.
Pastor Jeff:
44:39-44:42
My bad, my bad, my bad.
Darren:
44:44-44:45
All right, we're going to move on to Christian living.
Darren:
44:48-44:53
When we're trying to bring someone to the Lord, how do we know when to let go and let God?
Pastor Jeff:
44:55-44:56
Good question.
Pastor Jeff:
44:56-44:57
Good question, and here it is.
Pastor Jeff:
44:57-44:58
I'm just going to read this.
Pastor Jeff:
44:59-45:11
As long as they are willing to be an audience to what you are sharing, as long as they are willing to receive what you say, you keep witnessing.
Pastor Jeff:
45:13-45:18
When they no longer want to hear it, you let them go, but you keep an invitation out to them.
Darren:
45:21-45:21
That's a great answer.
Pastor Jeff:
45:22-45:22
That's it.
Pastor Jeff:
45:23-45:24
You share as long as they're willing to.
Pastor Jeff:
45:24-45:29
And when they're like, stop preaching at me, then your answer is, okay.
Pastor Jeff:
45:30-45:35
And I'll tell you what, if you ever wanna pick up this conversation again, I would love to talk with you.
Pastor Jeff:
45:36-45:38
Don't cast your pearls before swine.
Pastor Jeff:
45:39-45:40
Keep the invitation open.
Darren:
45:44-45:47
This next one, this is actually my favorite question so far in the whole group today.
Darren:
45:48-45:50
I have a friend who deals with panhandlers in his way.
Darren:
45:50-45:52
He wraps his jacket around his fist.
Darren:
45:52-45:53
I know this friend.
Darren:
45:53-45:54
Yes, okay.
Darren:
45:54-45:54
Yes.
Darren:
45:54-45:58
But what is the biblical way to deal with panhandlers?
Darren:
45:59-46:07
Should I give knowing that God may be calling to help, or should I refrain from giving knowing that many of them really just aren't actually in need?
Pastor Jeff:
46:09-46:16
Honestly, I say honestly, like I haven't been honest at this point, but I'm going to shoot straight now.
Darren:
46:18-46:19
Now's the time.
Pastor Jeff:
46:19-46:23
I really, really, really believe though that this issue is a matter of personal conviction.
Pastor Jeff:
46:24-46:25
I really do.
Pastor Jeff:
46:25-46:26
A matter of personal conviction.
Pastor Jeff:
46:27-46:28
Some people give money.
Pastor Jeff:
46:30-46:37
Some people actually, like if you're on your way to work and you know there's somebody begging, some people will actually pack food to give them on the way.
Pastor Jeff:
46:38-46:43
I know some people that will take the person to a restaurant, will drive them to a homeless shelter.
Pastor Jeff:
46:44-46:53
The thing that I like is actually donating to local ministries that feed people and referring or taking people there.
Darren:
46:57-46:57
Very good.
Darren:
47:02-47:06
All right, remind us what submission means and what it looks like in the life of a Christian.
Pastor Jeff:
47:06-47:07
Okay.
Pastor Jeff:
47:07-47:09
You know what, our worship team can start making their way up now, right?
Pastor Jeff:
47:10-47:11
This is our last question of the day.
Darren:
47:12-47:12
That's it.
Pastor Jeff:
47:12-47:20
Okay, if our worship team would go up, I'm going to share this, then we're going to go into, I'll pray and then we'll go into our song.
Pastor Jeff:
47:20-47:21
Would that work for you?
Pastor Jeff:
47:21-47:21
Very good.
Pastor Jeff:
47:21-47:22
Okay.
Pastor Jeff:
47:23-47:28
Remind us what submission means and what it looks like in the life of a Christian.
Pastor Jeff:
47:30-47:37
Submission means that we yield our wills.
Pastor Jeff:
47:38-47:45
Some synonyms for submission I would say, walking in the spirit or the whole concept of obedience in the New Testament.
Pastor Jeff:
47:47-47:47
That's submission.
Pastor Jeff:
47:48-47:52
And I don't know who asked this question, but here's why I believe this question came up.
Pastor Jeff:
47:54-47:59
Because the word submission has a very bad connotation in our day.
Pastor Jeff:
48:00-48:04
When we hear submission, we immediately have a negative thought in our day.
Pastor Jeff:
48:05-48:09
You know, I know for me, when I think of submission, you know the first thing I think of?
Pastor Jeff:
48:09-48:11
Wrestling, wrestling.
Pastor Jeff:
48:12-48:17
You know, you get the guy tied up in the old, you know, figure four leg lock, and what's your goal?
Pastor Jeff:
48:17-48:19
you're trying to get him to submit.
Pastor Jeff:
48:19-48:27
And some people think, "Well, is that how God calls us to submit?" God's not going to put you in the figure four leg lock, okay?
Pastor Jeff:
48:32-48:33
That's not submission.
Pastor Jeff:
48:35-48:59
And on a more serious note, submission has taken a bad connotation because of marriage misunderstandings, that there are husbands that lord it over their wives to say, "You must submit," and almost treat their wife like a second class citizen or very, let's just say it, abusive in the name of that person is to submit to me.
Pastor Jeff:
48:59-49:09
It's unfortunate that the word submission has a bad connotation in our day because when you go to God's word, submission does not have a bad connotation, does it?
Pastor Jeff:
49:10-49:10
Absolutely not.
Pastor Jeff:
49:11-49:12
One more verse, can you handle it?
Pastor Jeff:
49:13-49:14
Ephesians five.
Pastor Jeff:
49:18-49:24
We all know Ephesians 5.22, "Wives, submit to your own husbands." But I'd like to remind people of Ephesians 5.21.
Pastor Jeff:
49:25-49:30
Paul's telling the church that we should submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
49:32-49:43
"Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord." And I would say, church, as we close, we more than anybody should be people of submission.
Pastor Jeff:
49:43-51:06
Right? As children, we are to submit to our parents. We yield our will to our parents. As citizens, we submit to the law authorities, right? Do you submit? If you see the red and blue lights in your rearview mirror, do you pull over? You're yielding. That's submission. In the church, submitting means I don't have to insist on getting my own way. I'm going to put you ahead of myself." In the marriage, you know, Ephesians 5 says the wife should submit to her husband as Christ, or as the church rather, submits to Christ. It's not a negative thing. It's the idea of I'm yielding my will, I'm yielding my rights to you. That's what submission means. So let's pray and I want to thank everyone for submitting some really really good questions and I hope this was as beneficial for you to be a part of the conversation as it was for me to get into God's Word to look for some answers for some of these. All right, let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you so much for the opportunity to turn to your Word and you have answers and and you've invited us to ask.
Pastor Jeff:
51:07-51:11
And we thank you that you've really covered it all.
Pastor Jeff:
51:12-51:20
There's really, I can't think of anything about this life or the next or salvation or conduct or anything.
Pastor Jeff:
51:20-51:22
You've addressed all of it in your word.
Pastor Jeff:
51:23-51:31
And we thank you that you've given us the opportunity to take some time out this week to do a little research and dig into your word to see how you would address these things.
Pastor Jeff:
51:31-51:56
Father, just now, I pray that if there's somebody here that's still wrestling with some questions, I pray that they keep wrestling. I pray that they would shamelessly bring these things before you, and that in Jesus Christ we find all of our answers. It's in His name that we pray. Amen.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Discuss any of the questions (and answers) from Sunday outlined above. Reflect on the answers given. How would you answer these?
Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another.