Bible Q&A • Episode 70

I take a very clear pre-tribulation rapture position based on my interpretation of the Word of God and what I see in the Scriptures. But if I have a brother sitting next to me who believes in the post-tribulation rapture of the church, I would just say, well, hey, you know, that's cool. That's where you landed. I love you. You're my brother. It doesn't bother me. Because he did his best. Hello everyone, we're back with some more of your Bible questions. I'm Pastor Paul and I'm here with my wife Sue, and we're going to tackle some of the things or questions that you have written into us about. And I think we've got kind of a good batch today.

Good. Well, uh, this first one comes all the way from the tip of Africa, from Cape Town.

Okay.

Neil says, in Numbers It says, the Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love, forgiving sin and rebellion, yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished. He punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the 3rd and 4th generation. Why are the children and grandchildren punished? My late father was violent and abusive. How does this punishment affect me as a Christian? Could you assist?

It doesn't affect you, first of all, at all as a Christian, and there's a couple of reasons why. That passage, or that idea that the Lord punishes individuals to the 3rd and 4th generation, is repeated a few times in the Bible.

Right.

And there are, there are additions to the statement that is made by the Lord. And one of those important additions that you have to understand is that the Lord says that he punishes the descendants to the 3rd and 4th generation. And here it is, of those who hate me.

Right.

And so that is a key issue of those who hate me. In other words, if that attitude continues to the 3rd and 4th generation, the punishment continues to the 3rd and 4th generation. But if somebody comes to Christ, the Bible tells us that we who are in Christ are a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come. And so When we come to Jesus Christ, every curse, every issue of the past is wiped clean. Listen, if you can come to Jesus and you're— the curse of sin to save you for all eternity is wiped away, how much more—

Right.

Would any other curse temporarily given be also wiped away? So as a believer, this doesn't affect you at all because your attitude is different. You responded to the Holy Spirit. You came to faith in Jesus Christ. The curse, any curse, is now broken.

Yeah, what a comfort. I love that. Uh, so now we go to Slovakia. Dominic says, in John chapter 14, Jesus says that anything we ask for in his name, the Father will be given to us. Does that mean that the only thing Jesus gives us is eternal life and the Holy Spirit? When I want the Holy Spirit to teach me, should I ask the Father or the Spirit directly? I understand they are one God, but I feel a bit unsure when praying.

I understand that they're one God, but the Bible doesn't seem to treat them that way sometimes. And that's really kind of where the confusion comes in. The Bible does make reference to different things coming from different persons of the Godhead. You know, we know that we are empowered through the Holy Spirit. We know that we put our faith in Jesus Christ and he gives us eternal life. But then again, it's the Spirit who comes and causes us to be born again. You know, you can't get— you can't get high-centered.

Sure.

On these various things. You can't let confusion reign. You have to simply say, even though the Bible speaks of this one thing coming from this one person of the triune Godhead, it comes from all. You know, if, if the Holy Spirit comes to empower me, guess what? The Holy Spirit, in addition to being called the Holy Spirit, is called the Spirit of Jesus.

Right.

and the Spirit of God, meaning God the Father. So there's nothing that any of the persons of the Godhead do that is unique.

Yeah.

To that one person. It is a work. You know, you look at things like the resurrection of Jesus. Powerful, wonderful. The Bible says that God raised Jesus from the dead. The Bible also says that Jesus was raised through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus himself said, nobody takes my life from me. I lay it down and I take it up.

Right.

He says, I'm going to raise myself. So who raised Jesus from the dead? God. Yeah. Everything we know about God— Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Don't get confused. Don't get high-centered. Don't get weird.

Don't overthink.

Don't overthink. Yeah, exactly. It's just— it's God. And yeah, just go for it.

Michelle asks, what does it mean that a house divided cannot stand? The reason I ask is my husband and I don't attend the same church. Does this mean we will be divided, or our household and kids will?

Not necessarily. Not necessarily. When it— when the Bible says that any household, kingdom, city, nation, you know, divided against itself cannot stand, it's talking about being at loggerheads constantly. It does not just mean that we have a different church we attend necessarily, or he likes steak and I like, you know, chicken or shrimp. Exactly. And to bring things a little more personal, it's talking about a true division.

Sure.

An active division within the home that is not being Repaired. If, if, if a couple came to a place and they said he wants to go to this church and she doesn't feel comfortable there and she wants to go to that church and they agree, listen, you go to your church, I'll go to mine. We'll come together after church on Sunday. We'll talk about what we learned.

Sure.

That's just—

we've known people.

Oh, yeah.

Over the course of our ministry.

Yeah. That doesn't mean that's a house divided.

Now, if she goes to the Baptist church and he goes to the mosque, you got a different problem.

Being

unequally yoked, you got a different problem. And she didn't mention here whether it's they're both Christians and they go to different churches.

We're assuming at this point that they're both Christian. And so I believe that it's very possible to attend different churches. I mean, it's not ideal.

Sure.

But it's possible. And don't write in and tell me Pastor Paul thinks we should go to different churches. I think you should go to the same church. But if it's not possible to have peace and unity in the home otherwise, then at least be unified in your decision.

Sure.

You know, and it doesn't mean it's going to necessarily negatively impact the family. Again, like you said, if there's a different— a difference of an unequal yoke, Because one person is Muslim.

Yeah.

Or, you know, Islamic, and the other person is a Christian. That's an issue.

Sure.

That's a completely different issue. Yeah.

I remember when I first heard about Ruth Graham Bell.

Yeah.

That just found her church. You know, Billy was never there.

Yeah.

And she actually went to a different denomination than what he was. And I had to just stop and pause and close the book. I had to just process that.

Really?

Yeah, I did. Because it was the first time I ever heard about like, I don't think this is okay. And I had to, you know, think it through. But look, that family had completely different circumstances going on.

Yeah.

And now with more maturity, I can understand, look, you had to raise your children. You had— you were there, you were present. And it should be rare, but I think there are times when there are certain circumstances that may require for a season To

be attending different

churches? Yeah, yeah,

yeah.

Nonetheless being, some churches have a children's ministry for autistic children.

Yeah, that's right.

Or things like that. There's all kinds of situations. We just need to throw out a little bit of a net of grace for people.

But it doesn't mean you're a divided home.

Right.

That's the point.

Right. Okay, Melissa says, I have a question based on episode 66 when you talked about In the Lord. The question I have is about the word in. What does it mean to be in Christ? Are there deeper meanings and implications of the word in beyond being a believer, being in the body of Christ and seated with him in heavenly places?

No, that's what it means. She's got it. She's got it. To be in Christ is to be a born-again believer, a child of God, Promise of salvation, promise of eternal life, all those things in Christ. It means you are saved, bottom line.

Marlene says, in John 4:17, when Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that the man she was currently with was not her husband and that she had had 5 husbands before, is it that she was married to those previous 5 men, or was it like she was living with them one after the other? Was the 6th man a relationship of adultery or fornication?

Well, the, you know, we don't know. We don't know the circumstances. All we know is what, you know, is the words that were used in the conversation between the woman and Jesus. Jesus said that her previous, the previous men she was with were her husbands. And then he went on to say, and the man you now have is not your husband, which means she was living outside of wedlock. But the way Jesus made it sound, is that she did not live out of wedlock with her previous 5 men. Why she broke with those previous 5 men is in question. We don't know.

Sure.

We don't know if she outlived some of them. We don't know if she divorced them because she didn't like them or they divorced her. We don't know the circumstances. And so without knowing the circumstances of how those men, you know, separated from her, whether it was through death or divorce, that would tell us whether or not the current relationship she was in was fornication or adultery. If all of her previous husbands passed away, then she would be in a situation of fornication. If some of her previous husbands were still alive, it would be adultery. So, you know, we just don't know the inside details, but what we do know is what Jesus called those previous

Sure.

He called them husbands.

And the point of the narrative is that he was speaking something out loud that she had concealed.

Yeah.

In order for her to understand that he was indeed God and knew what was going on.

He knew everything about her.

Right.

Yeah.

Sam is from Nairobi.

Okay.

And says, I'm a regular follower of your YouTube programs, and I've been a Christian since my days in college. One thing that has puzzled me, and I would like your help with, is how a few mumbled words of prayer impact the vast spiritual realm. I have at times wondered if there's even a need to engage in prayer.

We get this question quite often, and it all comes down to just, does prayer work? Is there any good that comes out of prayer? I think in our last live Q&A that we did in front of a live audience here a couple of weeks ago, we brought up this question. Does prayer do any good? Why pray? It's interesting that he refers to it as a few mumbled words. in prayer.

Well, the contrast— I think it's, it's a good phrase because the contrast is, you know, he's contrasting a few mumbled words of prayer with the vast spiritual realm.

Yeah, right. And I'm not sure what a few mumbled words of prayer do.

Yeah,

to be honest with you, I, I, I— it comes down to something we say a lot, and that is God sees the heart. God sees the heart. He looks at the heart. He's not necessarily just listening to the words. He sees the heart. And even a few mumbled words in prayer, if it's something as simple as, Lord Jesus, save me, he's going to hear that and he's going to respond. And that's going to make a difference in the grand scheme of spiritual things. Right. But if somebody is praying with a heart that doesn't care, that is double-minded, what did James say about that? He says, you ask and you don't get because, you know, you don't really believe that you're what you're asking or, you know, and so you're a double-minded person. Well, if, if, if a few mumbled words in prayer are based in or come from double-mindedness, yeah, they're not going to probably do any good.

Sure.

But if it's a heart that is seeking God— I always think about Nehemiah. And, you know, Nehemiah is the cupbearer for the, you know, the king of Persia. And Nehemiah was upset because he got word that the walls around Jerusalem were in ruins, the people were in distress, And he felt horrible for his people that had gone back to their homeland, and he was very sad. In fact, he fasted and prayed for days, and the king noticed his sadness and said, what's going on? You look sad. This can be nothing but sadness of heart. And it says that Nehemiah was afraid because it was illegal to be sad in front of the king.

You didn't bring your attitude into that.

Yeah, check your attitude at the door. You come with a smile on your face. Anyway, So Nehemiah went on to tell— he says, well, why shouldn't I be sad? My homeland is in ruins. And here's what the king said. He said, well, what do you want me to do? What do you want to do? And the Bible says Nehemiah says, I prayed to, to the God of heaven, and then he answered. Now that couldn't have been more than a few mumbled words in prayer.

Exactly.

You know, in fact, he probably didn't even say them out loud.

Yeah.

It was probably that internal just Lord God, give me the grace to speak now. And he started talking.

Yeah.

And just so— what good did that do? A lot.

Sure.

God gave him favor with the king, and the whole walls around the city of Jerusalem got built as a result. So again, it all comes down to the heart. It comes down to what's going on. It comes down to whether someone is truly seeking God or whether they're— they don't really care and they're being double-minded. That's what makes the difference.

Well, I think on the spectrum of prayer, a good summary would be, if that's your, your where you are right now is a few mumbled words of prayer, let's try and move that marker to the effective prayers of a righteous person, as James would say.

Yes.

And see it and believe it that way.

Yes, for sure.

Maria says, in the Syriac Orthodox Church, the members are told to kneel and bow kiss the cross as they believe they are kissing the feet of Jesus Christ, especially on Good Friday, and the priest blesses the heads of the people with a cross after every service. Is this contrary to the Bible?

No, I wouldn't call it contrary. It's just, it's just a religious add-on.

Yeah,

you know, you have to distinguish biblical Christianity and what it speaks of in the Bible about our faith and about the practice of our faith from the religious add-ons that have really happened in the last 2,000 years. You have to distinguish. And does that make those add-ons all wrong? No, but it makes them part of a religious tradition rather than a biblical kind of a mindset or revelation. And so that's the difference. Is it, is it unbiblical? No. You know, Yeah, you know, I don't like religion.

Well, we had a question a few weeks ago. Someone asked, why do Christians venerate the cross?

Yeah.

This is where a question like that comes from.

It does.

Is because you observe that and that's just what it looks like.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what they're doing isn't necessarily wrong. If they're, if they're told that they have to do it to be saved, that's a problem.

You know, it sounds like they have to kind of go through that process in order to be blessed. It says the priest blesses the heads of the people.

Yeah, but it doesn't say whether or not that's required to be blessed. So it just all depends, you know, when people start taking their traditions and making them requirements,

sure,

that's a problem. Jesus objected to the same thing with the Jews. He said, you take the word of God and you cast it away, and you cause your traditions to be more elevated even than the very word of God, and that's That's a problem, and it still goes on today.

Right. Remy says, do you believe a Christian can have full assurance of faith? Many scriptures speak of the hope of salvation. I know Paul says he wants us to have full assurance, but other parts say Jesus is our hope. I hope this makes sense. Thank you.

Interesting that he says, I hope this makes sense, at the end, because the whole thing is about hope. And where he's stumbling is in a modern sort of Americanized definition of the word hope. We use the word hope to describe a desire that could or couldn't take place. Like, I hope it doesn't rain on Saturday because we have a picnic or we have a baseball game. I hope it doesn't rain. And that's the way people interpret hope in the Bible. But that's not the way the Bible defines hope. When Paul talks about Jesus as the hope of our salvation. He's talking about a confident assurance. It's not, I hope he is. It is, I know he is. And our hope for a better future, a better life, is in Christ. Not that we hope it happens. We know it happens, and that makes us hopeful.

Right.

And so, it is a different definition of the word hope. He's defining it an Americanized modern way, he needs to shift his understanding of the word hope to a biblical definition.

Yeah, that's good. And our last question is from Tanya.

Okay.

Uh, I always hear people debating about pre-rapture, mid, and post-rapture. Should we be worried that people are always debating this topic? 1 Thessalonians 5:2. She's— or she has in parentheses, or do we just keep following the Lord, reading, praying, doing his will, and getting closer to him?

Well, that sounds like a good plan to me, what she suggested. Yes. Let's just keep doing that. Does it bother me that people are constantly debating the timing of the rapture versus or alongside the tribulation? No, it doesn't bother me at all. And one of the reasons it doesn't bother me is because we don't have full information. We don't have perfect revelation. Paul says, and this still applies to us today, we see as in a mirror dimly. And the fact that we have these debates and these disagreements just proves that to be the case. And so, no, it doesn't bother me. You do your best. You know, I take a very clear pre-tribulation rapture position based on my interpretation of the Word of God and what I see in the scriptures.

Yeah.

But if I have a brother sitting next to me who believes in the post-tribulation rapture, of the church. Um, I would just say, well, hey, you know, that's cool. That's where you landed. I love you. You're my brother. It doesn't bother me. Um, because he did his best. He's doing his best to figure things out. But it's, you know, there, there are a lot of things in the Bible that just are, are unclear, are not— well, let me say this, they're not perfectly clear. And we got to just do our best. The things that God wanted us to know for certain. Those are rock solid. You know, we know about God. We know about our sin. We know that Jesus is our Savior. We, you know, we know how to come to him and have eternal life. No question about those things. So these other issues, they don't bother me in the slightest. And I don't think she should be concerned about them either.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay, good.

So that's it.

That is it.

That is it. That is episode 70. So those are the questions that you sent in. I hope we did a good job with them. If you have any further questions, just email us. The address is questions@lifebibleministry.com. And while you're thinking about that name, Life Bible, be sure and visit our website, lifebibleministry.com. You'll find so many resources there. that you don't find on YouTube. So check out our website, and we hope to see you next time when we gather for another Bible Q&A. Until then, bye-bye. Bye.