Note: The time signatures [00:00] below indicate the start of a question if you'd like to skip to a particular one of interest in the audio file.
[02:45] - Q: What does scripture say about one world currency?
A: See Revelation 13:16-17 - Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.[6:18] - Q: If you could experience any moment in The Bible as an observer what event would you witness?
A: Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus. No wrong answers here.[09:12] - Q: How do you break generational curses?
A: See Exodus 34:6-7 - The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
See Ezekiel 18:20-23 and 1 Corinthians 15:33[15:31] - Q: How long after the birth of Jesus did the 3 wise men appear? Most nativity scenes have them there along with the shepherds. Matthew 2 says they arrived about the same time as his birth. Some have told me they arrived more than 1 year after his birth which would beg the question, what did they do in Bethlehem all that time.
A: See Matthew 2:11 - And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:16 - Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. See Matthew 2:2[21:26] - Q: Romans 13:3a → “For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.” This is backwards these days. 12:21 says not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good. So, we are to fight. Why don't we? Or are we to passively accept evil rulers?
A: It is God who puts up and takes down kingdoms. We war by praying.
[28:58] - Q: Are there any verses in the Bible that speak against a multiverse theory (as an explanation for why our universe is so finely tuned)?
A: The only reality that we are aware of is the one that God created.[32:07] - Q: Is there an “Age of Accountability”?
A: See Numbers 32:11, Psalm 51:5, Jonah 4:11
There is an age, but it differs on a person by person basis. There has to be a point in your life where it’s possible that you can understand and make a decision whether you are going to follow and accept or reject Christ in your life.[36:55] - Q: If we are called to forgive everyone, should we forgive the devil? Is that our place to do that?
A: Forgiveness is about the healing of a relationship. God doesn’t forgive everyone because not everyone wants to fall into a right relationship with God.[40:51] - Q: Why should we bring children / babies into the world? Especially if we are in the end times.
A: See Gen 1:28, Gen 9 - We are commanded to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth.[42:35] - Q: If it took the Council of Trent to determine the Old Testament, how can we as Christians be assured there are not some books missing from the Old Testament and/or the Bible as a whole?
A: See Luke 11:51 - from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.
Any question that was missed due to time constraints during the service Pastor Jeff will address the answer on the blog.
-
Andrew:
00:00-00:08
Edmund's story but the little I do know of decades of missions and pastoral experience. I'm excited to hear from you today. So I'll let Pastor Jeff introduce you more, but here we go.
Pastor Jeff:
00:11-00:57
We do have to give a little bit of an honor because for those of you that have been around here before, we do Q&A like once or twice a year and Mark Ort, one of our elders, and he's been a friend of mine for a very, very, very long time, but he's usually up here with me because Mark Ort and I did prison ministry together and we did this all the time every week. Well Mark was unavailable this week And this guy here late in the week I'm like you know what we have a guy 40 year missionary in Germany and I'm like Edmund surely has and he's done this before right? 20 years? I thought you said 40 years. 40 years of ministry 20 was in Germany I beg your pardon I thought all 40 was in Germany Man, all right, well, we'll strike that from the video.
Pastor Jeff:
00:58-01:00
All right, well, where were the other 20 years?
Pastor Jeff:
01:01-01:02
California.
Pastor Jeff:
01:03-01:04
Oh, that's worse than Germany.
Pastor Jeff:
01:05-01:05
(laughing)
Pastor Jeff:
01:06-01:06
Sorry.
Pastor Jeff:
01:08-01:10
All right, I have much more respect for him now.
Pastor Jeff:
01:12-01:19
He went from a really, really, really dark place far away, and also he went to Germany.
Pastor Jeff:
01:21-01:25
But anyways, so I reached out to Mark Like I said, he wasn't available.
Pastor Jeff:
01:25-01:29
I'm like, hey, I was thinking about asking Edmund, and he said that would be an excellent choice.
Pastor Jeff:
01:29-01:33
And it was kind of late in the game, so I really appreciate Edmund stepping in.
Pastor Jeff:
01:33-01:36
So if you would just show him some love and appreciation.
Pastor Jeff:
01:39-01:41
So Edmund, why don't you have a seat?
Pastor Jeff:
01:45-01:46
Let's look at some of the questions.
Pastor Jeff:
01:46-01:48
Do we need to set the timer on the?
Pastor Jeff:
01:51-01:52
We need to set a timer?
Pastor Jeff:
01:52-01:53
We're good.
Pastor Jeff:
01:53-01:57
All right, so I'm gonna lay some ground rules, right?
Pastor Jeff:
01:57-02:09
The rules are this, we can only, well, first of all, if you are a first-timer, these questions were submitted by the congregation over the past month, and we can only answer what we think you're asking, okay?
Pastor Jeff:
02:09-02:22
So if you submitted the question and we take a swing at it and you're like, "That's not what I meant at all," see me privately and we can talk more about it, but we can only answer the questions according to what we think is being asked.
Pastor Jeff:
02:23-02:28
And we are going to attempt to give the shortest and most simplest answer possible.
Pastor Jeff:
02:28-02:28
Why?
Pastor Jeff:
02:29-02:31
Because there were 10 questions submitted.
Pastor Jeff:
02:31-02:36
And honestly, if we gave all of these questions the time they deserve, we would miss the Steeler game.
Pastor Jeff:
02:36-02:39
So every one of these were great questions.
Pastor Jeff:
02:39-02:39
Right, Edmund?
Pastor Jeff:
02:40-02:41
We could spend a lot of time on these things.
Pastor Jeff:
02:42-02:43
So let's get to it, my friend.
Pastor Jeff:
02:44-02:44
What's up first?
Edmund:
02:45-02:46
Question number one.
Edmund:
02:47-02:51
What does the scripture say about the one world currency?
Pastor Jeff:
02:51-03:01
Okay, now interestingly, there is not a verse in the Bible that says, "There shall be a one world currency." There's not a verse that says that, right Edmund?
Pastor Jeff:
03:02-03:16
But that principle is drawn out because Revelation chapter 13 says, we went through the book of Revelation here in the church, talking about the antichrist and the false prophet and the mark of the beast and all that.
Pastor Jeff:
03:16-03:28
It causes all the small and great, both rich and poor, both slave and free to be marked on the right hand or the forehead so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark that is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
Pastor Jeff:
03:28-03:51
So we certainly see the principle there that if there's going to be this worldwide control of the economy to the degree that nobody globally, because we know that this tribulation is globally, nobody globally can buy or sell unless you have the mark of the beast, then that necessarily implies there has to be some sort of one world currency.
Edmund:
03:53-06:14
Yet at the same time we've got to consider since it doesn't say it literally in the Word of God but we see through church history it has come through because the Bible talks about types like Joseph being a type of the Savior his brothers remember sold them out and then he ends up being the Savior of the world at that time while there's different types and there's types of Antichrist the Bible and 1st John says there's many but here in our recent Bible studies at the church there was in Luke chapter 2 Caesar Augustus who was Octavius but his name is Augustus at this time he made a census and through the census he did the Bible tells us he did too. And when you would go to Ephesus, which is in Turkey, if you would walk down the promenade, at that one point, this is when the persecution was going, they would put Christians on poles and light them on fire for light. But if you would go into the marketplace to buy or to sell, he had a subscription on the entrance that says, "Caesar is the son of God and you had to agree with that to be able to buy or sell so you have a tight and yet on the second census because he's down numbering the known kingdoms of the world and it was all for financial gain and power so you have a type of Antichrist it's there there's many other ones throughout history so we see there is something coming.
Pastor Jeff:
03:53-06:14
Absolutely you see how that is possible right like you know this you know we see little you know examples of it in history but it's preparing us because John says that there are you know many Antichrist but there's one big one coming it's sort of like that with this that we see little pockets of how such a thing as possible but there's going to be a global you know restriction you won't be able to buy or sell unless you worship the Antichrist.
Edmund:
03:53-06:14
And the ability is here the Sequoia supercomputer to be able to do the calculations for every transition, it's been here.
Edmund:
06:14-06:16
In fact, there's probably even a faster computer.
Pastor Jeff:
06:16-06:17
>> Yeah, absolutely.
Pastor Jeff:
06:18-06:18
All right.
Pastor Jeff:
06:18-06:19
What have we got next, Edmund?
Pastor Jeff:
06:21-06:27
Before you ask this one, this could be my favorite question ever asked in Q&A day.
Pastor Jeff:
06:28-06:34
And when I was talking to Mark when he was planning on being here, he said the same thing.
Pastor Jeff:
06:34-06:37
He said this could be my favorite question ever in Q&A day. So...
Edmund:
06:37-06:47
It says, if you could experience any moment in the Bible as an observer, what event would you like to witness?
Pastor Jeff:
06:47-06:48
Isn't that a great question?
Pastor Jeff:
06:49-06:55
We don't know who submits these unless they put their name, but I, you know, whoever did this, that is such a great question.
Pastor Jeff:
06:55-06:56
And you know what?
Pastor Jeff:
06:57-07:04
The first thing that I thought of when I read this, you know, the first thing I thought of, the event that I would like to see would be the resurrection of Lazarus.
Pastor Jeff:
07:04-07:05
Wouldn't that have been awesome?
Pastor Jeff:
07:05-07:21
Could you imagine being there and like people are crying and he's in the tomb and here comes Jesus and Jesus like, "Roll the stone away." And they roll the stone away and Jesus, "Father, I thank you that you always hear me." And Lazarus come out, could you imagine?
Pastor Jeff:
07:21-07:28
And then here comes Lazarus, like, oh, that had to have been just like one of the most mind-blowing things anybody has ever seen.
Edmund:
07:29-07:31
Glory!
Pastor Jeff:
07:29-07:31
So to me, it would be like the resurrection of Lazarus.
Pastor Jeff:
07:32-08:06
That that to me was just that that would have to be absolutely just... What about you?
Edmund:
07:32-08:06
Well, according to prophetic words that come from our bible there's a day even as we see the development of what we're seeing today there's going to be at one world government with armies being led by evil man called the antichrist at one point in the time future to now invade Israel and to the city of Jerusalem.
Edmund:
08:06-08:16
And that is when the long-awaited time of Christ to come back, and he comes back like a movie to rescue his people.
Edmund:
08:17-08:25
And he will stand on the Mountain of Olives, and it will quake, and he will end up destroying the Antichrist.
Edmund:
08:25-08:41
But in that time when he does come down, of Israel will see the piercings in his hands and they will recognize that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. How glorious is that gonna be?
Pastor Jeff:
08:41-09:35
Amen yeah yeah I don't and I don't know if there's really a wrong answer to this one I mean could you imagine all the things we can think about like I was talking to my wife about this like watching David kill Goliath you know could you imagine being there to see that whole scene or you know being their creation you know when God was like let there be and boom there it was and there's just yeah such a good question and yeah I think lots of great answers what do we got next Edmund?
Edmund:
08:41-09:35
We got a good one here. How do you break generational curses?
Pastor Jeff:
08:41-09:35
Okay generational curses just to sort of define in case Again, we're trying to assume what's being asked here, but for people that might be like, "What do you mean by generational curses?" Well, it's the belief that your actions affect your offspring.
Pastor Jeff:
09:36-09:46
And that some people believe that when you do wrong, God is going to punish your kids and your grandkids for the wrong that you did.
Pastor Jeff:
09:46-09:48
And I don't believe it exactly works that way.
Pastor Jeff:
09:50-09:54
But biblically it is true, like for example, what do we have?
Pastor Jeff:
09:54-10:27
Exodus 34, "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation." Now, Edmund's going to clarify this here in a second, but it's not as if God's going to say, "Okay, I'm punishing you for your father's sin." Edmund's going to explain that in a second.
Pastor Jeff:
10:28-10:33
So when I think of the generational curse, this is something that we see all around us.
Pastor Jeff:
10:34-10:48
You know, and we don't need for anybody to shout out examples of this at all, but you've seen it in families where there's a certain sin tendency that seems to be passed on.
Pastor Jeff:
10:49-10:59
Meaning, like, dad is an alcoholic and an abuser, the son has the tendency to do that, to treat his wife that way.
Pastor Jeff:
10:59-11:08
Or somebody with a sexual addiction or perversion has a child that has something similar.
Pastor Jeff:
11:08-11:13
So you see how the sin tendency does get passed down.
Pastor Jeff:
11:14-11:17
And the question is, how do you break that?
Pastor Jeff:
11:18-11:19
Well, you know, good news.
Pastor Jeff:
11:20-11:23
We live under the new covenant of Jesus Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
11:24-11:37
The prisoners are set free and bonds are broken because the blood of Jesus Christ doesn't just atone or cover our sin, Jesus takes away our sin.
Pastor Jeff:
11:37-11:41
So there is healing and wholeness in Jesus Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
11:41-11:45
So that's how that's broken, is only through the blood of Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
11:46-11:54
So Edmund, would you please, I know you, and some of the stuff you prepared, were talking about the way the generational thing works.
Pastor Jeff:
11:54-11:55
Would you please share with us, please?
Edmund:
11:56-12:11
Well, in contrast to that thought that you're automatically guilty, the next generations, we have in Ezekiel 18, verses 20 to 23, It says, "The person who sins will die.
Edmund:
12:12-12:19
"The son will not suffer the punishment "for the father's guilt, nor will the father "suffer the punishment of the son's guilt.
Edmund:
12:20-12:26
"The righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, "and the wicked of the wicked will be upon himself.
Edmund:
12:27-12:38
"But if the wicked person turns from all his sins, "which he has committed, and keeps all my statutes "and practices justice and righteousness, "He shall surely or certainly live.
Edmund:
12:39-12:40
"He shall not die.
Edmund:
12:40-12:45
"All his offenses which he has committed "will not be remembered against him," very key.
Edmund:
12:46-12:50
"Because of his righteousness which he has practiced, "he will live.
Edmund:
12:51-13:04
"I do not take pleasure in the death of the wicked," declares the Lord God, "rather than that he would turn from his ways "and that he would live." So this is important, we see a difference here.
Edmund:
13:05-13:09
And so when it comes to generational curses, it's true.
Edmund:
13:10-13:17
That's why a lot of Christianity, it's not so much taught, it's caught.
Edmund:
13:19-13:23
When mom and dad practice it, the kids pick it up.
Edmund:
13:24-13:29
If a parent ain't practicing it, but he's telling his kids, be a Christian, that doesn't work.
Edmund:
13:30-13:32
Usually that ends up being rebellion in the end.
Edmund:
13:33-13:45
So we're seeing that when it comes to that guilt or that sin, curse if we want to say it, what we see is in the end, it's the consequences that affect that family.
Edmund:
13:46-13:56
And consequences, same temptation that brought down your parents will end up bringing down most likely the kids because that was normal in that household.
Edmund:
13:57-14:04
So I think this is more rather than the guilt and the condemnation that comes with that.
Pastor Jeff:
14:05-14:06
Absolutely, yeah.
Pastor Jeff:
14:07-14:14
And I mean, you see that, like I said just so many times, just the tendency of the father.
Pastor Jeff:
14:15-14:16
You see that scripturally, right?
Pastor Jeff:
14:17-14:25
You remember Abraham fell into some sin, lying about his wife, and then what did his son do?
Pastor Jeff:
14:25-14:54
Like almost the exact same thing right? And what like how did how did he learn that? It's I think that's how the Generational thing works. We have this tendency to carry on the sins of our fathers.
Edmund:
14:25-14:54
First Corinthians 15:33 says do not be deceived bad company corrupts good morals. So we see that it changes us who we hang out with You know, we're many times guilty by association Right.
Pastor Jeff:
14:55-14:57
That's what you know, we tell that to our kids, right?
Pastor Jeff:
14:57-15:31
We're like you you act like the person the people that you're closest to so That's true. I mean look at your friends if your friends are a bunch of knuckleheads. You're probably a knucklehead. Right in a nice way.
Edmund:
14:57-15:31
In a nice way.
Pastor Jeff:
14:57-15:31
Yeah, we mean that in the good Christian way Right Edmund at least that's how I met it I don't know about him but that's that's how I'm meant it.
Edmund:
14:57-15:31
But what you break it, it is personal repentance.
Pastor Jeff:
14:57-15:31
Yes, that's it personal personal Yeah, absolutely.
Pastor Jeff:
15:31-15:34
All right. What do we got next?
Edmund:
15:31-15:34
Next one is...
Edmund:
15:35-15:42
Christmas yes, here's a Christmas one Says how long after the birth of Jesus did the three wise men appear?
Edmund:
15:43-16:02
Most Nativity scenes have them there along with the shepherds. Matthew 2 says they arrived about the same time as his birth some have told me they arrived more than a year after his birth. which begs the question. What did they do in Bethlehem all that time?
Pastor Jeff:
16:03-16:39
All right. Excellent question, because it is confusing because when you see a nativity scene The the the Magi are there the wise men are there and there's always three of them and they have their gifts This year I saw a picture somebody posted online of a little nativity scene they had in their house, and the caption above the scene says, "My mom still hasn't noticed." So I'm looking very closely at this nativity scene, and somebody stuck an action figure of Yoda from Star Wars.
Pastor Jeff:
16:40-16:43
And you know, he's wearing the tan and he's bent over.
Pastor Jeff:
16:43-16:50
And I'm like, "That's hilarious." So for sure, Yoda was not at the nativity scene.
Pastor Jeff:
16:51-16:57
But the other truth is, neither were the Magi.
Pastor Jeff:
16:57-17:12
And we know that because Matthew 2 says that at this point, Jesus and his earthly parents, it says, and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother.
Pastor Jeff:
17:13-17:33
But then verse 16, it says, "Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious," look at this, it says, "and he sent and killed all the male children of Bethlehem and all in that region who were two years old or under." So he didn't just randomly pick that number, he got that time from the Magi.
Pastor Jeff:
17:33-17:50
So he's like, "If I'm going to kill the king that was born, I have to get all the babies that were two and under." And so it's because of that that we realize that Jesus was obviously born at this point, but He was under two years old at this point.
Pastor Jeff:
17:50-18:02
But the truth is the Bible doesn't say exactly how old He was, and we don't know how long the Magi were in Jerusalem or Bethlehem because they went to both places, right?
Pastor Jeff:
18:02-18:17
They started in Jerusalem and ended up in Bethlehem. So the Bible just doesn't give us a timeline there Edmund.
Edmund:
18:02-18:17
Yes in Matthew 2:2 - is a little key Information here says they asked where is he who has been born?
Edmund:
18:18-18:21
So the Lord is already born now.
Edmund:
18:21-18:37
How long is the question? We do not know and Yet at the same time We got to ask this questions. We got it. We got to have a series of questions because these three wise men They came from Persia What we do know is that?
Edmund:
18:38-19:00
Daniel out of coming out of Babylon went into the Persian Kingdom kept in captivity as well he is believed the one that brought up the order of the Magi's and And so he would have been looking toward the Messiah to come about this star, 'cause it's mentioned in the word of God.
Edmund:
19:00-19:13
And so as this order of Magis, we even get the word magistrates from Magi, they would come because they were considered king makers.
Edmund:
19:13-19:19
They would be part of making the next priests and also the next kings.
Edmund:
19:20-19:26
So they were into all this understanding and kind of prophetic things.
Pastor Jeff:
19:26-19:28
They were like doctors and astrologers.
Pastor Jeff:
19:28-19:33
They were a whole, the pharmacists, they were a whole lot of things rolled into one.
Pastor Jeff:
19:33-19:34
Very important people.
Edmund:
19:35-19:53
So here we have them coming, and if they were under that order of Daniel, who was looking, because we know Daniel, remember Daniel, especially chapter nine, He's talking about even the day, Palm Sunday, literally to the day.
Edmund:
19:54-19:58
So it's all about numbers, exact timing of everything.
Edmund:
19:59-20:07
So he knows that prophecy's gonna come to fruition, but how much more the birth.
Edmund:
20:08-20:16
And so Daniel understands, he teaches these Magi's this whole thing about a coming Messiah for the whole world.
Edmund:
20:17-20:20
So no doubt, I don't think they were dragging their feet.
Edmund:
20:20-20:22
I think they were there on time.
Pastor Jeff:
20:23-20:38
Yeah, and you know, that's where you get to watch, because some of the images and depictions that we see can sort of, I guess, subconsciously shape our theology, but we think that there were three of them, and we don't know how many there were.
Pastor Jeff:
20:38-20:42
We think there were three because it says there were three gifts, right?
Pastor Jeff:
20:42-20:47
So we just assume that each one brought one gift, And in some traditions even have their names.
Edmund:
20:48-21:01
There is, actually in Germany, in the city of Cologne, there's a big cathedral, there's this golden chest, beautiful golden chest, and supposedly the three heads of the wise men are in that chest.
Pastor Jeff:
21:02-21:02
Really? - Yes.
Edmund:
21:03-21:05
I got a picture, I'll have to show you.
Pastor Jeff:
21:07-21:09
Is there any way we can get that picture up on the screen?
Pastor Jeff:
21:10-21:14
I think we all wanna take a gander at the three wise heads.
Pastor Jeff:
21:15-21:17
So, wow!
Edmund:
21:17-21:20
Remember, they were into relics in that time in Europe.
Edmund:
21:21-21:23
Anything that had power behind, so.
Edmund:
21:23-21:25
Three heads of the wise men, that's pretty powerful.
Pastor Jeff:
21:28-21:29
All right, what do we got next, Edmund?
Edmund:
21:29-21:30
This is a good one.
Edmund:
21:31-21:35
This is something that I think a lot of people are thinking about.
Edmund:
21:36-21:40
And it comes from Romans 13, verse three.
Edmund:
21:40-21:47
It says, "For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.
Edmund:
21:49-21:54
And then the question says, this seems to be backwards in these days.
Edmund:
21:55-22:03
According to Romans 12, 21, it says not to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good.
Edmund:
22:04-22:08
So are we to fight or don't we?
Edmund:
22:09-22:13
Are we to passively accept evil rulers?
Pastor Jeff:
22:13-22:28
Okay, when it says, "Overcome evil with good," I don't see that as a call to fight a wicked government because the subject of government doesn't come until chapter 13.
Pastor Jeff:
22:29-22:36
Chapter 12 focuses on personal relationships, specifically personal relationships in the church.
Pastor Jeff:
22:37-22:56
So when it says, "Overcome evil with good," it's not saying, "Okay, they're evil, I'm good, so I need to overcome them." What that's saying is, "When someone does evil unto me, I don't retaliate with more evil." It's not like revenge and retaliation and eye for an eye.
Pastor Jeff:
22:57-23:17
It's, "Okay, I'm going to overcome your wickedness with acts of righteousness, with things that would imitate Jesus." You know, by the way, we're not exactly pioneering new territory as a culture and having wicked rulers, right?
Pastor Jeff:
23:18-23:30
Because you realize there's a whole lot of people throughout history, even biblical history, that lived under wicked rulers, like Moses, Elijah, Paul.
Pastor Jeff:
23:32-23:33
How about Jesus Himself?
Pastor Jeff:
23:34-23:37
You know, we just spent three years in the Gospel of John.
Pastor Jeff:
23:37-23:41
Jesus lived under, you know, an extremely wicked government.
Pastor Jeff:
23:43-23:48
And, you know, we don't see them being revolutionaries to overthrow the government.
Pastor Jeff:
23:48-23:54
There was a submission even to a very evil government.
Edmund:
23:54-24:15
And that's important to understand, because remember Nebuchadnezzar thought his kingdom, which it was, it was amazing, It's the gold part of the statue that was in the vision, yet he had to learn that it is God who puts in kingdoms and takes down kingdoms.
Edmund:
24:16-24:24
So that's one thing, and we're all in this plan of God, and really we're just sojourners here.
Edmund:
24:25-24:30
And we're here to really make a choice for God or against him.
Edmund:
24:31-24:47
And this is one of the things, because when it comes down to this point of do we fight and do we kill or not, well, the commandment, the sixth commandment, it's more thou shall not murder, not thou shall not kill, because we see in scripture there is killing.
Edmund:
24:47-24:48
David killed Goliath.
Edmund:
24:49-24:50
Elijah killed the false prophets.
Edmund:
24:51-25:10
So there is, we gotta get certain things right and not go in the wrong direction, because even I in Germany, because I can understand the German culture, what happened there in World War II with Hitler and all that, they're against war, at all means against war, and they call it evil and wrong.
Edmund:
25:10-25:21
But then I had to tell them, wait, be careful on that point because we see in Revelation 1911, Jesus is coming back to earth to make war with the Antichrist.
Edmund:
25:22-25:24
And I go, so is Jesus sinning?
Edmund:
25:25-25:27
And now they don't know what to say.
Edmund:
25:28-25:34
You see, we gotta really look at the Word of God and what it's saying and not our own feelings and opinions.
Edmund:
25:35-25:36
Very key, very important.
Pastor Jeff:
25:37-25:45
Yeah, and as far as passively accepting evil rulers, as long as we have the power of prayer, I don't think we're ever passive, right?
Pastor Jeff:
25:46-25:47
You know, so.
Edmund:
25:49-25:51
But again, what does the Lord says?
Edmund:
25:52-25:54
Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.
Pastor Jeff:
25:54-26:01
Right, and what is our responsibility to the government, the Bible says that we should be praying for those that are in those positions. So...
Edmund:
26:01-26:22
Well, that's the thing. You know what? Uh, that is, that's a very key point because most Christians, in all the years of ministry, I've been California or Germany, prayer meetings are the least attended thing of all church ministry.
Edmund:
26:24-26:32
And so if we're really wanting to deal with this system, then we need to come together and pray against the system.
Edmund:
26:33-26:36
Because at Nehemiah, that's what he did.
Edmund:
26:36-26:41
When you look at all the different things in scripture, they prayed against evil, okay?
Edmund:
26:42-26:44
We're in a spiritual battle, the Bible tells us.
Edmund:
26:45-26:49
So how we war is through prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
26:50-26:52
That's right, that's right.
Pastor Jeff:
26:52-27:03
We saw Jesus correcting Peter when he pulled the sword out and thought he was gonna hack his way through revolution, right, and put your sword back.
Pastor Jeff:
27:04-27:06
If you live by the sword, you die by the sword.
Pastor Jeff:
27:06-27:08
And Jesus healed Malchus.
Pastor Jeff:
27:09-27:14
So yeah, we're not without resources as long as we have the power of prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
27:15-27:17
Really, prayer's not the power of prayer.
Pastor Jeff:
27:18-27:21
It's communication with the one who has the power, right?
Edmund:
27:21-27:23
But protection of your family and so forth.
Edmund:
27:24-27:31
To kill, it's just, it means literally in the Ten Commandments, thou shall not kill.
Edmund:
27:31-27:33
But it's not, that's not correct.
Edmund:
27:34-27:35
It's thou shall not murder.
Edmund:
27:35-27:39
But to kill, it would be, okay, it means cause someone to die.
Edmund:
27:40-27:47
So if an evil is coming against your family and you're protecting them, that is a righteous act according to the Word.
Pastor Jeff:
27:47-27:49
Yeah, and the Bible makes a clear distinction there.
Pastor Jeff:
27:49-27:51
Murder is fueled by hate.
Pastor Jeff:
27:52-27:57
Premeditated, I hate you, I'm plotting to eliminate you.
Pastor Jeff:
27:57-27:58
That's murder.
Pastor Jeff:
27:59-28:00
And yeah, that's different.
Pastor Jeff:
28:00-28:04
If you're coming after my family and I'm defending my family, I will kill you.
Pastor Jeff:
28:04-28:05
And that's not murder.
Edmund:
28:05-28:11
But the key thing is, each human is made in the image of God.
Edmund:
28:11-28:26
And God holds that as a high standard before we make a decision about killing or anything like that because there's many people in life that repent.
Edmund:
28:28-28:31
They've done evil things and they come to repentance.
Edmund:
28:32-28:44
You know, and so this is where we don't understand, but the one thing I do understand is this, 'cause I lived on the evil side before in my BC days.
Edmund:
28:45-28:51
And the thing is, the mercy you pour out is the mercy that you're gonna be given.
Pastor Jeff:
28:52-28:54
The measure you use, we measured back.
Edmund:
28:54-28:55
That's right.
Pastor Jeff:
28:56-28:57
Don't ever forget that.
Edmund:
28:57-28:57
Amen.
Pastor Jeff:
28:58-29:02
Let's move on because we do have some more good questions here.
Edmund:
29:03-29:05
Here's one, very interesting one.
Edmund:
29:05-29:14
It goes, there are many verses in the Bible that speaks against a multiverse theory as an explanation of why our universe is so finely tuned.
Pastor Jeff:
29:16-29:22
The Bible doesn't really speak for or against that.
Pastor Jeff:
29:22-29:33
There are really no verses that speak of like, if I'm understanding the question correctly, there are really no verses that speak about multiple realities.
Pastor Jeff:
29:35-29:41
And I would say the only reality that I'm aware of is the one that the Bible addresses.
Pastor Jeff:
29:42-29:57
And in this reality, God created this perfect world, and man, you know, well, obviously tempted by the devil, eve, sin, leading Adam to willfully sin, bringing sin into the world.
Pastor Jeff:
29:57-29:59
And that's why we are all born with a sin nature.
Pastor Jeff:
30:00-30:06
You don't ever have to teach a child how to do wrong, lies, steal, cheat.
Pastor Jeff:
30:06-30:07
They know how to do that inherently.
Pastor Jeff:
30:08-30:10
Who teaches their child how to do that?
Pastor Jeff:
30:11-30:11
Like, nobody.
Pastor Jeff:
30:11-30:22
You'd be a monster if you sat down and son, let me tell you how to lie and sneak through life You'll get ahead you'd be the worst parent ever. So how does your kid know how to do that if nobody's teaching?
Pastor Jeff:
30:22-30:45
It's because we're born with this wicked sinful rebellious nature in us. That's that's how we are we're born with a bent to sin and the Bible says that God is a God of just justice and if he was going to give us what we deserve He would send us to hell apart from His presence because we rebelled against a holy God.
Pastor Jeff:
30:46-30:57
But God loved the world so much that He sent His Son to die, to take our sin on Himself, and rose from the dead to give us the promise of eternal life.
Pastor Jeff:
30:59-31:19
And the way that you are reconciled to God and have your sin taken away and have the promise of eternal life, whenever your days are done on the earth, you have this promise of heaven, eternal life starts now, but you have the promise of heaven, the way that you receive that is through faith.
Pastor Jeff:
31:20-31:21
Taking God at his word.
Pastor Jeff:
31:21-31:23
I believe that Jesus is who he said he is.
Pastor Jeff:
31:24-31:26
I believe that he accomplished what he said he would accomplish.
Pastor Jeff:
31:26-31:30
And I am turning from my sin because I see how it dishonors you.
Pastor Jeff:
31:30-31:34
And I'm crying out, God, please forgive me based on the blood of your son.
Pastor Jeff:
31:35-31:37
please forgive me for my sin.
Pastor Jeff:
31:37-31:46
And when you do that, you become a child of God, you become a co-heir with Christ, and you receive eternal life and you have the promise of heaven.
Pastor Jeff:
31:47-31:48
That's the only reality that I'm aware of.
Edmund:
31:49-31:50
Amen, amen.
Edmund:
31:51-31:53
And I would say all atheists are willful atheists.
Edmund:
31:54-32:05
They don't wanna believe, they will try to find a way to make an excuse to everything except God of the Bible and what he's done.
Edmund:
32:06-32:16
So the next question is a good question 'cause many people ask this question and that is, is there an age of accountability?
Pastor Jeff:
32:18-32:24
Okay, so there is, but I don't think there's a magic number, okay?
Pastor Jeff:
32:25-32:26
Now, what is age of accountability?
Pastor Jeff:
32:26-32:34
What that means is at some point in your life, you are responsible for making the decision on whether you're going to accept or reject Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
32:34-32:38
There has to be a point in your life where that's possible, right?
Pastor Jeff:
32:38-32:39
Just think about it.
Pastor Jeff:
32:39-32:45
When you're a baby, when you're just born, right out of the womb, are you able to accept or reject Christ?
Pastor Jeff:
32:45-32:45
Well, obviously not.
Pastor Jeff:
32:46-32:47
What about when you're a toddler?
Pastor Jeff:
32:47-32:48
Obviously not.
Pastor Jeff:
32:48-32:49
Do you see where this is going?
Pastor Jeff:
32:49-33:05
At some point in your life, you reach a point where you understand, I am a sinful person and I need God's grace, and I see what he's done through Jesus, and I have to accept or reject that at some point in your life.
Pastor Jeff:
33:05-33:13
Now, the age of accountability thing, there are principles like scripturally, Numbers 32:11.
Pastor Jeff:
33:14-33:42
Remember, because of Israel's persistent, hard-hearted sin, God got to the point where He said, "Those that are 20 years and older are not going to enter the Promised Land except for Joshua and Caleb, and those younger than 20 are going to enter." So there's the principle there, you know, that God says the older generation is gonna die out in the wilderness, the younger generation, innocent, not being held responsible for that.
Pastor Jeff:
33:42-33:45
But 20 is not the magic number, okay?
Pastor Jeff:
33:45-33:52
So if you're like this teenager that knows better, and you're like, well, I can just do whatever the heck I wanna do because I'm not accountable yet.
Pastor Jeff:
33:54-33:56
I kind of pumped the brakes on that.
Pastor Jeff:
33:57-34:13
But there's no magic number, but at some point in your life, you have to make that decision for yourself because at some point, the lights come on, you know, I'm guilty of sin and I see what God's done.
Pastor Jeff:
34:13-34:17
And I think it's gonna be different from person to person.
Pastor Jeff:
34:17-34:18
I mean, what do you think?
Edmund:
34:18-34:22
Well, the first thing is to realize what the word of God does say.
Edmund:
34:22-34:30
Remember, David said this in Psalms 51,5, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother did conceive me.
Edmund:
34:31-34:36
So we know of the Adamic sin nature that all men, women inherit.
Edmund:
34:37-34:43
So when we understand that, then we know where we have to have a savior.
Edmund:
34:44-34:46
So that is the thing.
Edmund:
34:46-34:56
So we know that there's a time where the human has an ability to understand the predicament, where they're at.
Edmund:
34:57-35:09
And we know that God's heart is for his creation, that it's fallen and it's in this place of a need of a savior.
Edmund:
35:10-35:11
And so this is what we see.
Edmund:
35:11-35:14
We see God's love, his grace, and his mercy in our lives.
Edmund:
35:14-35:19
And we see his heart, I think, in the book of Jonah.
Edmund:
35:19-35:22
Let me read this, chapter four, verse 11.
Edmund:
35:23-35:29
And God, because remember, Jonah, He wants the place to fry, you know, he wants fire to go down.
Edmund:
35:30-35:52
So we see God's heart here and God says, "Should I not pity Nineveh, that great city "in which there are more than 120,000 persons "who cannot discern between their right hand "and their left hand?" See, God understands these little ones, they don't know yet.
Edmund:
35:53-36:01
And so there is a time and a place of the understanding, and that does vary from child to child.
Edmund:
36:01-36:17
And we do know one thing is the Jews, they have their estimate, and that is 13 years old, that they believe, they have these little things, like the Song of Solomon, they don't believe a Jewish man should read that 'til after the age of 30.
Edmund:
36:17-36:23
So they have these little things, because it's so romantic that they, you know, I'm down over there on that book.
Edmund:
36:23-36:28
So you got these little rules, but is it literal for everybody?
Edmund:
36:29-36:38
So each person, especially on this one, you see God's heart, he wants them to understand, but he knows there's a time when they don't.
Edmund:
36:39-36:50
So we just gotta leave it to that point of where that one child, and of course, no one comes to an understanding unless the Holy Spirit awakens them.
Edmund:
36:51-37:07
And that's key.
Pastor Jeff:
36:51-37:07
Right on well, let's um, let's we go just a few more here. Let's go through these quickly Speed round.
Edmund:
36:51-37:07
Okay, if we are called to forgive everyone should we forgive the devil? Is that our place to do that?
Pastor Jeff:
37:10-37:25
uh, I Know I know where this question came from because it was submitted like two or three times and I Should we forgive the devil?
Pastor Jeff:
37:27-37:35
And I think the mindset behind this is, okay, we're called to forgive everyone.
Pastor Jeff:
37:36-37:45
So we get this idea that forgiveness means no matter what you do to me, it's okay.
Pastor Jeff:
37:46-37:47
And I'm okay with that.
Pastor Jeff:
37:47-37:49
And you're fine by me.
Pastor Jeff:
37:49-37:53
But biblically, that's not really what forgiveness means, is it?
Pastor Jeff:
37:53-37:56
Forgiveness is a healing of the relationship.
Pastor Jeff:
37:56-38:04
It is, "You've wronged me, and you owe me." And forgiveness is, "You no longer have that debt.
Pastor Jeff:
38:05-38:17
I'm freeing you of that debt." So forgiveness is much more multifaceted than, "You can do whatever you want to me, and I'm cool with that." Forgiveness is about the healing of a relationship.
Pastor Jeff:
38:18-38:21
And whoever asked this question, I would ask them to think about it this way.
Pastor Jeff:
38:23-38:25
Does God forgive everybody?
Pastor Jeff:
38:26-38:32
Now, there's something in us that immediately wants to say, "Yes, God forgives everybody." Hold on, does He?
Pastor Jeff:
38:33-38:34
Does God forgive everybody?
Pastor Jeff:
38:35-38:37
And the answer is no.
Pastor Jeff:
38:38-38:43
Now, is the offer of forgiveness available for everyone? Yes.
Pastor Jeff:
38:43-38:45
But that doesn't mean everyone takes it.
Pastor Jeff:
38:46-38:53
God doesn't forgive everyone because there are people that refuse to come into a right relationship with him through Jesus Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
38:53-39:07
And if God forgave everyone, that means heaven is full and hell is always and eternally going to be completely empty because everybody's forgiven. So forgiveness is much more than just this passive, you know, do what you want kind of thing.
Pastor Jeff:
39:08-39:15
And the devil, though, being a fallen angel, he falls into a completely different category even than than humanity.
Edmund:
39:16-39:18
Yeah, 'cause he was a high-ranking cherubim.
Edmund:
39:19-39:23
So you need to understand the orders of the angels.
Edmund:
39:23-39:32
And yet, as a cherubim, we see that he rebelled and he brought a third of the angels with him in this rebellion.
Edmund:
39:32-39:34
But you gotta understand one thing.
Edmund:
39:35-39:40
He, according to Ezekiel and other scripture, he was perfect at one point.
Edmund:
39:41-39:53
And so from him to decide with the heart to be able to decide, he chose to go against God in rebellion, but he was already perfect, so he's confirmed in that way that he is.
Edmund:
39:54-39:55
We are much different.
Edmund:
39:55-39:56
We are born sinners.
Edmund:
39:58-40:39
We already have death on us when we come out of the womb, but through the grace of God, we're able to be born again and come to life, to eternal life, and then we are right now, when we accepted Christ, the beginning of sanctification, separating the evil out of our life and all those practices, but there's a day, either through death or through the rapture, we will be like Jesus, the Bible says in 1 John, and that means, that speaks of our glorification, and we will be like him, therefore we cannot sin, and we'll be confirmed in that.
Edmund:
40:39-40:42
So we won't, in heaven, have to worry about sinning.
Edmund:
40:42-40:46
will be confirmed in this point of perfection.
Pastor Jeff:
40:47-40:47
Right on.
Edmund:
40:48-40:49
Awesome, happy for that day.
Pastor Jeff:
40:49-40:50
That is awesome.
Pastor Jeff:
40:51-40:51
All right, two more.
Pastor Jeff:
40:52-40:54
We're gonna get through these quickly here.
Edmund:
40:54-41:00
Why should we bring children or babies into the world, especially if we live in the end time?
Pastor Jeff:
41:00-41:01
Okay, easy.
Pastor Jeff:
41:02-41:06
We are commanded to multiply and fill the earth twice.
Pastor Jeff:
41:07-41:11
Genesis, what, chapter one, verse 28, and again, Genesis chapter nine.
Pastor Jeff:
41:12-41:12
That's the commandment.
Pastor Jeff:
41:14-41:18
So I don't see anywhere in the Bible where God took it back.
Pastor Jeff:
41:18-41:21
Like fill the earth, and then he's like, okay, you can stop now.
Pastor Jeff:
41:22-41:27
No, so if you can have babies, have as many babies as you can.
Edmund:
41:28-41:30
Amen to that, I read to that.
Edmund:
41:30-41:50
And also you gotta realize is that the scriptures are clear when it's a believer involved in this childbearing, even if you have a non-believing spouse, that child is separated or sanctified by the Lord to be, it's actually the word holy.
Edmund:
41:51-41:59
So we have to see that God really looks toward the children 'cause remember, they are made in his image.
Edmund:
42:00-42:02
So that's very important to keep in mind.
Edmund:
42:02-42:29
And at the same time, all of us, no matter what age we're living in, We're all gonna have trials and tribulation
Pastor Jeff:
42:02-42:29
Right on! Yeah, that's we don't know I mean, I do believe we're in the end times and Jesus could come back today tonight next week We don't know but we're called to just live a life faithfully until he does return and You know building the earth.
Pastor Jeff:
42:31-42:45
I Believe that's still a valid command All right last one.
Edmund:
42:31-42:45
Last one. If it took the Council of Trent to determine the Old Testament How can we as Christians be assured that there are?
Edmund:
42:45-42:59
Not some books missing from the Old Testament or the Bible as a whole?
Pastor Jeff:
42:45-42:59
We get a lot of questions regarding Canonization, you know, how did these all these books turn into?
Pastor Jeff:
42:59-43:08
Like this Bible that we have on our laps in our pews And regarding the Old Testament, just very quickly, Jesus verified the Old Testament.
Pastor Jeff:
43:09-43:12
He quoted from at least 14 different books.
Pastor Jeff:
43:12-43:15
Jesus acknowledged people as being real, right?
Pastor Jeff:
43:15-43:18
Jesus talked about them as real people, not fables or fairy tales.
Pastor Jeff:
43:19-43:23
I believe in the Old Testament because Jesus believed in the Old Testament.
Pastor Jeff:
43:24-43:30
And actually the Old Testament was already a completed unit in Jesus' day.
Pastor Jeff:
43:31-43:34
He verified that. Luke 11, 51 is one example.
Pastor Jeff:
43:34-43:48
Jesus says, "From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the sanctuary." And you're like, "Well, how does that verify things?" Well, in the Jewish Scriptures, you see, our Old Testament is in a different arrangement.
Pastor Jeff:
43:48-43:55
But the way the... it's the same books in the Jewish Scriptures, in the Jewish Old Testament, exact same books, but they're arranged differently.
Pastor Jeff:
43:56-44:07
And in the way the Jewish books were arranged, One of the first events in the Old Testament was the death of Abel, and one of the last events in the Old Testament was the death of Zechariah.
Pastor Jeff:
44:08-44:11
So it was sort of Jesus putting the bookend on that, verifying that.
Edmund:
44:12-44:20
I think very important too is to realize that our Bibles came from the Jewish people, not the Europeans.
Pastor Jeff:
44:20-44:21
Right.
Edmund:
44:21-44:31
That's key, because Trent was really a response from the Catholic Church against the Protestant movement that was now happening in the 1500s.
Edmund:
44:31-44:39
And so they were trying to, because there was a separation going on about what is truth, and there always has been.
Edmund:
44:40-44:49
There's been different movements, the Anabaptist movement, or in German, or Switzerland, it's the Vita Taufa, to be baptized again.
Edmund:
44:49-45:03
That was, you were put to death by the Lutherans, or the Calvinist of that time, they put them to death, Christians putting Christians to death because of a doctrine.
Edmund:
45:03-45:12
So this is why we have to be careful and we have to go back to what the Jews said and not just men and their movements.
Edmund:
45:12-45:13
Movements could be wrong.
Edmund:
45:14-45:22
As sincere as they wanna be, as sincere as Mormons and being faithful to get in those bicycles and go all over the world.
Edmund:
45:23-45:25
They're not gods, they say they're gods.
Edmund:
45:27-45:31
They're sincerely wrong when it comes to those type of doctrines.
Edmund:
45:31-45:36
So we have to be really careful on this and stay to what the word of God says.
Pastor Jeff:
45:37-45:51
And like I said, canonization is a topic that we could talk about for hours and hours and hours with authorship and it wasn't like, This is authoritative because we accepted it.
Pastor Jeff:
45:52-45:56
We accepted it because it is authoritative.
Pastor Jeff:
45:56-46:02
And there was a whole process that was involved in that that unfortunately we don't really have time to get into today.
Pastor Jeff:
46:03-46:12
But regarding the Old Testament specifically, it was a canon by the time Jesus was preaching and teaching from it.
Pastor Jeff:
46:12-46:21
So as our worship team comes forward, I want to thank Edmund for helping me out here, especially at this...
Pastor Jeff:
46:24-46:26
What a blessing it is for our church to...
Pastor Jeff:
46:27-46:43
We have Mark, who's such an amazing leader and elder in our church, unavailable, and we have this rock star get up here, pinch-hitting and doing a phenomenal job.
Pastor Jeff:
46:43-46:45
I thank you so much, Edmund. I'm going to pray.
Pastor Jeff:
46:45-46:52
And I appreciate you taking the time to do your studies and do this with me here in Q&A Day.
Pastor Jeff:
46:52-46:56
Father in Heaven, we thank you that your Word has the answers.
Pastor Jeff:
46:57-47:01
And Father, we're not a group of people that are afraid to ask things.
Pastor Jeff:
47:01-47:05
We are not a group of people that put certain things off limits.
Pastor Jeff:
47:05-47:08
We don't talk about this. We don't ask about this.
Pastor Jeff:
47:08-47:09
This is a taboo subject.
Pastor Jeff:
47:10-47:16
"Father, we believe that You have all the answers and we run to You.
Pastor Jeff:
47:16-47:20
And when we don't know, we seek and we search and we study.
Pastor Jeff:
47:20-47:46
And I thank You so much that You've given this church the elders and leaders that we have that are able to step up and help us understand how important doctrine is and how important it is to truly understand what your Word says and sort out the lies that are being promoted, things that people say your Word does say that it actually doesn't.
Pastor Jeff:
47:47-47:53
Father, we want to be true to what you revealed to us because we believe that your book is the Word of God.
Pastor Jeff:
47:54-47:57
And we want to believe it, we want to proclaim it.
Pastor Jeff:
47:58-48:00
Father, we want to pray it back to you.
Pastor Jeff:
48:00-48:12
Father, we want this to be the means by which You continue to sanctify us, and grow us, and teach us about the heart of the God who saved us.
Pastor Jeff:
48:13-48:21
So Father, we again thank You for these amazing questions that were offered up, and we thank You for Your Word that gives us the answers.
Pastor Jeff:
48:22-48:24
We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Review the questions submitted above. Discuss any of these that stuck out to you, or that maybe your group finds particularly interesting.
Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another!