Episode 41

Teacher: Pastor Paul LeBoutillier Pastor Paul: Hi, everyone. Episode 41 of our Bible Q&A. Thanks for joining us today. I'm Pastor Paul here with my wife, Sue, and we're going to tackle a few more of your questions that you have sent in. What do we got? Sue: We have a note from Heather. She said, “You've talked about George Mueller in the past, but if you could sit down and have dinner with one woman and one man, who would you pick?” Of all the people that have ever lived on the earth. Pastor Paul: I'll pick people who have gone to be with the Lord, but not that terribly long ago. As far as a woman, I'd love to sit down and chat with Corrie Ten Boom. I mean, the stories she could tell and the things that she would share, I would like to do that. And then for men, it would probably be A.W. Tozer. I would love to sit down and chat with him. Sue: That's awesome. Wayne & Susie are from South Africa, and they say, “Thanks so much for all you are doing! My question is from one of your studies and it was about the law of double reference. Could you explain that again?” Pastor Paul: Yeah, sure. The law of double reference is a biblical law that we find within the scriptures that essentially reveals to us that some prophecies in the Bible have two fulfillments, usually a short term and then a much longer term, or even a fuller fulfillment eventually and that's the basic idea. And usually the way we recognize the law of double reference is by looking at the first fulfillment of that prophecy, but often realizing that it doesn't hit all of the nails on the head. There's usually one or two things that are still left out. So we see those fulfilled later on. Sue: Here's another viewer from South Africa, Kat, “I've been watching your Bible study videos since 2024, the year I was saved. I’ve finished reading the Bible cover to cover in May of 2025. Now I'm doing my second run, and I've got a question. David showed kindness to Shimei and spared his life, even though Shimei cursed him. However, in 1 Kings 2:8-9 he suggests that Solomon should kill him. Why? Was David still looking for vengeance? Is David being inconsistent?” Pastor Paul: I don't. It's funny, the Bible doesn't explain that. First of all, Shimei was a man who cursed David when Absalom was attempting to take control and claim himself to be king. And this is while David and his entourage were leaving the city and Shimei cursed at him and threw dirt clods at the people. One of David's men even said, just give me the word and I'll go kill him. And David said, no, it might be that the Lord has called him to curse. So later on, Shimei came and asked for forgiveness and David pardoned him. But when Solomon was taking over the throne of Israel, David gave him some kingly advice about how to deal with certain people. Some of them, he told, he counseled his son to show mercy to and grace. And some, he said, justice needs to fall. And there's lots we don't know about this. What we don't know is the kind of a life Shimei lived between the time that David pardoned him and now the time when Solomon is about to take control. It could be that he just continued a life of reckless violence and he just needed to be taken care of. And I think that's what David was saying to Solomon. You've got some troublemakers. And even though I extended grace to them for a season, you're going to be better off if you take care of these people. But you'll notice in the passage where in his 1 Kings 2, David leaves it in Solomon's hands. He gives him his advice, but he tells him, you do what you see best. So he's basically giving his son some good advice. Sue: Gloria says, “I have a question about persistent prayer and surrender. Is surrendering to God's will regarding a need the same as giving up? I find more peace in surrender than in wrestling through prayer. Will God still meet my needs if I surrender?” Pastor Paul: I find a lot more peace in surrender than wrestling too. Wrestling is a drag. Even when you're wrestling in prayer for something that is important. No, surrendering to God's will is not the same as giving up. Giving up is kind of... How do I put this? I mean, it's turning away. Giving up is kind of turning. I don't really care. I don't really care. But surrendering to the will of the Lord is laying down your rights, laying down your will, laying down your desire, and saying, Lord, I trust you. That's not giving up. That's more like giving in to the Lordship and the purpose and the will of God in a situation. And there is great peace that comes from that. I've experienced it in my life. I know you have too. But I would not say that giving up is the same thing. I've seen some people give up and it's usually not a good thing. They often do it by abandoning their faith altogether. But surrendering is putting your faith. It's renewing your faith in the purpose and will of God. Sue: I think too, also the inspiration that we have to continue to wrestle in prayer, to continue to be persistent in prayer is often really birthed by the Holy Spirit. And the Bible talks a lot about the Holy Spirit praying through us. I've often had a sense sometimes when I'm praying for something, and I do want to just say, Lord, maybe it's not your will. There's a place for that for sure. But then there's also a time when I say that, maybe it's not your will, we're done here. And then the next day, I'm like, no, this story isn't over. And it's almost like the Holy Spirit has revealed, keep going, keep going, just be persistent in prayer. And I think that that is a key, is really listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Paul: Yeah, for sure. Jesus gave us a wonderful example of surrendering in prayer when in the Garden of Gethsemane, he said, Lord, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me, but not as I will, but your will be done. And that is the essence of surrender. Lord, let your will be done. Sue: Kristin says, “I'm struggling not to lump God into the same category as my earthly family. How do I stop projecting my family's behavior onto God when His presence feels exactly like the empty room in my home?” Pastor Paul: You stop projecting your family behavior onto God by getting to know God. Honestly, that's it. There's a lot of people who are Christians, they're born again, they're saved. And they know that they know their sins are forgiven. They know that when they die, they're going to go be with the Lord. Or if they're alive, when Jesus returns, they know that he's going to come for them. They know that. But they don't know him really very well. They know him just enough. But they've kind of kept a distance and their distance creates questions. And every so often, those questions well up. And I'll get people that write me and just say, I'm a believer. And I know that I'm saved. But I've got these questions that really bother me a lot. And almost without fail, they're questions about the character of God and why he would let something happen, like in the Bible or in their lives or something like that. And you can tell by their questions, they're just not settled on the real question, which is, what is God like? Does he love me? Is his heart good? Those questions aren't settled. Salvation may be settled, but there are other questions that are still nagging them. So, in those situations, I just encourage people and I say, just focus. Don't focus on your questions. Focus on getting to know God through Jesus Christ. Focus there. Sue: That's very good advice. Sue says, “Many years ago my mum received an article concerning the characters in the Zodiac. The article basically said that this was one of God's ways of showing his plan so that all may see. I was wondering if you had ever heard of this. I have never seen any of this in the Word apart from the heavens declaring the glory of God in Psalm 19. Thanks always for answering our questions.” Pastor Paul: Sure. I think that some people embrace the Zodiac or believe in the Zodiac signs, the signs of stars and stuff like that as directing their course, because we see in God's word that the wise men were following a star even when they were coming to find the king of Israel, the newborn king. And God makes other references in the Bible about the heavens and so forth. But the Zodiac, if you really get into it, it's a way of really circumventing the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of God and seeking wisdom outside of God, even though you could say, it's God's creation. But what you're doing is you're bypassing God and you're literally directing and patterning your life after the things of the stars. There's a lot of playing fast and loose with that. I mean, you read horoscopes and things like that. They're all very generic, but they may say things that get people's hope up to think that this is the will of God for my life. And it's not a way to determine God's will for your life. Not at all. And I wouldn't go there. Sue: We've often said that people, human beings are wired for secret information. We just always want to find that one key that's going to make sense of our life or whatever. The other thing is there's a big difference between astronomy, the science… Pastor Paul: Astrology. Sue: And astrology. Pastor Paul: Yes, huge difference. And I consider the Zodiac signs and the astrology that goes with it and all that, I consider that no different than using tarot cards or reading tea leaves to determine your will. I wouldn't go there. Sue: Final question is from Yuan, “I remember you taught about the Holy Spirit dwelling in the believer. Why sometimes when we pray for his presence in our meetings, do we say “come Holy Spirit”? Thank you so much for your teaching!” Pastor Paul: I've had other people ask this. They'll say, if the Holy Spirit's in us, why do we invite him in our services? Well, the reason is, is because there's many dynamic aspects to the presence of the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you. Yes, when you come to church with other believers, you bring the Holy Spirit with you, but we also want to make sure that the Holy Spirit is a welcome guest in all that we say and do in our worship, in our words, in our fellowship, in our prayer, we want the Holy Spirit to have control in that room and in that gathering of people. And that's why we do that and there's nothing wrong with it. Again, as I said, there are many dynamic elements to the work and moving of the Holy Spirit. I encourage pastors and people when they come together, invite the Holy Spirit to rule and to speak and to minister and prepare hearts and things like that. I think it's important. Sue: Very good. Pastor Paul: So that's it, huh? Sue: That's it. Pastor Paul: Well, that's a short one. Sue: It is. Pastor Paul: Just a few questions, but hopefully we answered yours. If you have a question, we'll show you an email address in just a moment where you can write us and send those questions to us so we can cover them in a future Q&A session. So thanks so much for joining us for this episode. We'll see you in the next one. God bless.