Searches every word across every teaching, article, and Q&A on the site.
Searches every word across every teaching, article, and Q&A on the site.
Teacher: Pastor Paul LeBoutillier Pastor Paul: Hi, everybody. We are back with some more of your questions that you've sent in, and we're going to do our best to answer them today. I'm Pastor Paul, and I'm here with my new wife. Wait a minute. Sue: I'm your original. 47 years ago this coming week. Pastor Paul: Yeah, that's true. From the time this airs, in about five days or so, we will have been married 47 years. Sue: Same wife, new look. That's what women do. Pastor Paul: She has in her new summer hairdo, and I like it. Sue: Thank you. Pastor Paul: It's short, but it's cool, and it looks very nice on you. Sue: Thank you. That’s sweet. Pastor Paul: You're very welcome. Let's get into our questions for this time. Sue: First one we have is from Rick & Susan, and they said, “After spending quite a bit of time searching for a church home, we’ve found a wonderful church and life group community that we really love. However, we've noticed that the sermons tend to be a little more seeker-focused, and we're finding it hard to get the deeper teaching we're longing for. We're wondering if it's okay to attend our life group at one church and go to Sunday service at another where the teaching is more spiritually nourishing for us. Does Scripture offer any guidance on this kind of situation?” Pastor Paul: No, scripture really doesn't offer any guidance. I think you just need to kind of pray it through and think it through. I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong about attending two places. They're recognizing, as they say, that the messages are seeker focused, which is really probably more evangelistic, I'm guessing, in nature, rather than a deep study of the Word of God. And so for that, they feel like the other church is a little bit more to their liking. Eventually they may want to pray through just being part of one church. It can be hard separating yourself between two fellowships. It really can be a challenge. And I think sometimes, having been a pastor, it can create in people kind of a lack of commitment to either fellowship, because it's really hard to be committed to two. And so people end up often just being committed to none. So I think Rick & Susan and anyone else who finds themselves in this sort of a situation, might need to kind of pray it through and say, which fellowship are we really committed to in terms of serving? Because we all know that going to church is more than just what we get. It's what we're to give. And so where are you serving? That's what I would ask them, where are you giving? Where are you serving? Where are you putting your energy and resources and which one of the men that leads those two churches do you consider your pastor? Because I think all Christians, all believers, need to be under in some kind of an accountability relationship. And it's good to know who your pastor is. So those are things just to kind of think about. Sue: But the question is, does Scripture offer guidance? And you said, not really. Pastor Paul: No, it really doesn't. We've had a lot of people write us over the years telling us that they love their church, but they really don't get any real serious Bible teaching from the standpoint of starting a book of the Bible, going through the whole thing and then completing it. And that's why they listen online to us. Sue: And even before this day and age, people would pick up Spurgeon or moody or something to augment their own personal study. Pastor Paul: Sure. Commentaries and that sort of thing. Sue: There is nothing wrong with that. Pastor Paul: Absolutely. Sue: All right. We'll move on to Renee; “I'm curious as to why in Genesis God curses the devil instead of punishing him? I know that there are some things the Bible doesn't explain and this may be one of those things. I'm just checking to see if I've missed something that should be obvious to me.” Pastor Paul: When you read through the Bible, Genesis to Revelation, you see that God's ultimate punishment of the devil, has been happening over the years, and continues to happen until it's ultimate fruition, which we read about in the book of Revelation. So God is working toward that very thing. But you have to remember that Satan was given authority to be who and what he has been over these centuries by man. God created man, put him in the garden, gave him dominion. He said, rule over the earth, rule over the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, the fish of the seas. And the dominion that God gave man was complete. When we fell to the temptation of the enemy, and I'm speaking of mankind in general, we abdicated an authority to Satan, whereby later in the Bible, he's referred to the prince of the power of the air. So he's been given these things by man's abdication. So God has been respecting that abdication over the years. And then Jesus came as a man, God became a man that he might begin to take back what had been given to the enemy, which is the power of death and the grave. And Jesus conquered that, so that was taken away. The Bible says that Satan has been disarmed. Paul says this, I want to say it's in Thessalonians, Colossians, he's disarmed the rulers and authorities. So this has been going on for a long time, and there will be an ultimate punishment of the devil. I would say to Renee and to whoever else has been thinking along these lines, don't worry. God's got it well in hand. Sue: That's right. Morgan says, “How do you respond to questions about the existence and evidence of dinosaurs that date back earlier than the story of Adam and Eve? If dinosaurs came after Adam and Eve, why is there no mention of them in the Bible?” Pastor Paul: If you have a dictionary of the Bible and you look up the word dinosaur, you're going to be disappointed, because the word didn't exist when the Bible was being written. In fact, I think a lot of Christians may not realize that the name or the title, dinosaur, didn't come into existence until the mid-19th century. The year was, in fact, 1842 it was coined by a man named Sir Richard Owen. And prior to that, dinosaurs were just beasts, and that's what the Bible does use. Secondly, you got to remember that just because the Bible doesn't mention something, it doesn't mean it didn't exist, or that the Bible doesn't have the kind of information that we're looking for. I think people have a false sense of what the Bible is. It's not an encyclopedia of all things created and uncreated. It is God's message to mankind about himself and the way for man to be saved. That's the purpose for which he gave us the Scriptures. So you have to remember that that purpose is what God stuck to over the years. And if mentioning or talking about dinosaurs didn't meet that purpose, then that's why they may not be in there, but thirdly, they may be in there. Because, if you've ever read through the whole Bible, and particularly the book of Job, which admittedly is a difficult book to read, and I think for that reason a lot of Christians probably stay away from it, but if you go to Job chapter 41 particularly, you will find God confronting Job and describing a beast for which no modern animal fits that description. I believe he's talking about a dinosaur or what we would know today as a dinosaur and what they called a beast back in those days. But I would encourage this person and anyone else who's interested to read Job chapter 41 and you see for yourself whether or not dinosaurs appear in the Bible. But the original question was, how do you respond to questions about the existence and evidence of dinosaurs that date back earlier than the story of Adam and Eve? I respond by questioning the dating method that scientists are using to date things prior to Adam and Eve. Because, you see, modern science has a worldview of a very old universe that goes back billions of years, and they just accept that. They just believe that without question. They don't have any sort of a biblical worldview related to these things, and so they carry that bias into their various conclusions. And what a lot of Christians don't understand is that carbon dating, which modern science uses to date things, is based on many assumptions, and one of the assumptions is unprovable, because they are assuming that the decay rate of things that they can date is the same back then… Sue: As it is now. Pastor Paul: As it is today. And that's an assumption that they can't prove because they can't go back in times and date things from the past, they can only date things from the present, or that are in existence in the present. So there are assumptions that carbon dating is based upon, that I personally believe are incorrect. And there's a lot of things modern man just doesn't know and he has to base things on what he thinks might be the case, but ultimately he's guessing. So carbon dating, when it comes right down to it is based on guessing or guesswork. And when man begins to guess, especially when he has a bias against the Bible, he's going to come up with all kinds of things that are going to be contrary to the Word of God. So I would encourage people that really want to learn more about carbon dating, perhaps from a more biblical perspective, to go to a particular website called Answers in Genesis. Just Google it. Go to their website. They've got a tremendous search engine, and just put in carbon dating in the search and read the articles that these Christian scientists have written on these subjects. Sue: So many good resources. Pastor Paul: Excellent resources. Sue: Especially if someone what she started off is, how do you respond to questions? If you're really interested in responding to other people or your own children, that is a fantastic resource. Pastor Paul: And a good response to this person as to how to respond to statements about evolution is to respond with understanding and going to a place like Answers in Genesis is a great place to gain understanding. Sue: Good. Robert says; “It says in the Bible that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. My question is, when we die and leave our old bodies behind, will we just be a spirit until we receive a new body?” Pastor Paul: It's interesting. I read questions like this, and he says, will we just be a spirit? We don't even know what it means to be a spirit. Sue: We've never been one before exclusively. Pastor Paul: Not exclusively. We have a spirit, but we've never been a spirit without a physical body. So we don't even know what that means. Am I going to be like Casper the Friendly Ghost? These are the things that come into our minds. The fact of the matter is, the Bible tells us that angels are ministering spirits, and yet they seem to have some kind of physicality. So what exact form are we going to be in? I don't know. The Apostle Paul referred to this intermediate state prior to receiving a resurrection body as being unclothed. Interesting term, isn't it? So when someone dies, their physical body dies, the spirit and the soul don't die. They go to be with the Lord, and we are then unclothed because we don't have a new resurrection body. But what do we have? We don't know. We have a spiritual body. But what form does that spiritual body take? We don't know. There's just a lot we don't know. But the answer to Robert's question is prior to the resurrection, and if we die before that time, we will be a spirit and soul. Your spirit and soul will be with the Lord in some form. Sue: We'll find out. Pastor Paul: Yeah, we will. Sue: Kristin says; “If the Jewish people were chosen by God, and there will be only a remnant of Israel saved during the Tribulation, that is still just a very small percentage of all the Jews who have ever lived since Christ walked the earth. I have a hard time reconciling, for example, the millions of Jews that suffered greatly during the holocaust, only to go on to an even worse fate in eternity because they denied Jesus as the only way to the Father. I often wonder, was there no relief for them, even in death.” Pastor Paul: This is a good question, but as I read it, and you can correct me, Sue, if you think I'm wrong, it sounds to me like Kristin is taking the term a remnant of the Jews as meaning that only a remnant of the Jews is ever saved in all time? Is that what you see in that question? 2 Corinthian 5:4 (NIV) For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Sue: Maybe, yeah. Pastor Paul: The fact is, when the Bible talks about a remnant of the Jews being saved, it's talking about of the Jews who are alive during the time of the Great Tribulation, only a remnant of those Jews will be saved. And that's something that the Apostle Paul says. However, from the inauguration of the church until the present day, and then up until the Lord returns, Jews have had the same opportunity to come to Christ as anyone else, as Gentiles have, and during that time, many, many have come to Christ. We know from the writings of Corrie ten Boom, who was not a Jew, but who spent time in a German prison camp along with Jews, that many Jews got saved in those prison camps because people like Corrie and her sister Betsie were there giving the Gospel to them, holding secret Bible studies in German prison camps during the Holocaust. So we know that a lot of Jews came to faith in Jesus Christ, and certainly many, many, many have over the centuries. So once again, the term a remnant of Israel refers to those who are alive during the Great Tribulation. Sue: All right. Regina has two questions, and she says, “I love your insightful and inspiring teachings, Pastor. I've been trying since 1985 to get a pastor to answer this question. Pastor Paul: Wow, that's a long ways. Sue: That’s a long wait, and that's a lot of pressure on you right now. And she says; “No one will touch it. Regarding John 9:1-5 - Does this passage point to reincarnation?” Pastor Paul: John 9:1-5 is a question from the disciples to Jesus related to a man they happened to see along the way who was born blind. And they asked Jesus, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind. So she's asking, does this suggest that perhaps this man sinned in a previous life? I think that he was born blind, at least that's what we're kind of deducing. First of all, in answer to her question, it's not possible for that passage to point to reincarnation, because the Bible explicitly denies the possibility or existence of reincarnation. We know that from Hebrews 9:27 which clearly tells us that it is appointed unto man to die once, not twice, he does not come back as another person, live another life and have another opportunity to live a better life that is simply not a biblical idea. So no passage in the Bible gives any reference or validation to the existence of reincarnation. Sue: So her next question is, “When and how could the man have sinned if he was born blind?” Pastor Paul: So if there's no such thing as reincarnation, why would the disciples even ask? Sue: Why would they ask that? John 9:1-5 (ESV) As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Hebrew 9:27 (ESV) And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. Pastor Paul: Why would they ask? Could he have seen? Sue: Some people just say, ask questions without even thinking about it, that's one possibility. Pastor Paul: And that could be what's going on here. Sue: That could be. Pastor Paul: That's what you have to understand. This question was put to Jesus by the disciples, who had a lot of weird ideas, frankly, and their whole premise about this man was in error, and Jesus corrected them on it. And apparently some of them believed in the possibility of a child committing sin prior to birth. Sue: Do you think that could have come about from David's statement? Pastor Paul: David made the statement; “I was a sinner from birth, from the time my mother conceived me.” And I would imagine some people could take that statement to mean that it is possible to sin in the womb and then be born into some sort of physical infirmity or something as a punishment. But that's not what David was saying. He was making the statement that all mankind is born with a sinful nature. You don't have to sin to be a sinner. You're born a sinner. We are born with a nature and a bent towards sin. It literally is hard baked into our nature. So before you've ever committed a sin, you're a sinner. That doesn't mean you sinned as a pre born infant, and that seems to be the suggestion the disciples made here, but it was all in error. Sue: Look, I've studied the Gospels enough to know that both the disciples and the religious leaders were chronically asking some pretty weird questions. Pastor Paul: Dumb questions. Sue: Dumb questions. Pastor Paul: And there were times even when the Sadducees asked a pretty dumb question about a woman who'd been married to seven different brothers, Jesus responded by saying, are you not in error because you don't know the Scriptures? Sue: Sure. Pastor Paul: So there was a lot of questions that he fielded that just came from erroneous thinking. Sue: All right. Dahlia has a question. She says, “I come from a home where a woman never wears trousers or cuts her hair or wears jewelry but I want to know if this is really biblical.” I think the implication is she's probably been told this has been done for biblical purposes. Pastor Paul: And technically it has been done for biblical purposes. Because you know the Bible says a lot of things. And you could probably come up with a lot of different things that you could say, that's biblical. Because for some people, all it means is that's in the Bible. There's a lot of really nasty things that are in the Bible that God never desired man to experience or to replicate, but they're in the Bible. So you could say, that's biblical. And there are biblical statements about clothing, there are biblical statements about jewelry and things like that. The question isn't whether something is in the Bible. The question is, what is God saying here to me about this? How does this apply to me and to my life? That's what really needs to be asked. Let's start talking about clothing. She said, I come from a home where women never wear trousers. Does it say in the Bible that women are not to wear trousers? No, it doesn't. What it does say is that women are not to wear the clothing of men. It's in Deuteronomy 22:5 (ESV). It goes like this; Deuteronomy 22:5 (ESV) A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God. That's what it says in the Bible. So somewhere along the line, men began to start wearing trousers. They didn't in biblical times, nobody wore trousers, so it didn't apply then. But somewhere along the line, when men began to wear trousers, they assumed, this is men's clothing. So they applied this scripture, and they made a rule out of it, women are not to wear trousers. Who says that trousers aren't also for women? Who says that? Well, God didn't say it. God didn't say trousers weren't for women. I personally think a woman can dress just as modestly in a pair of trousers as she can in a dress. Well, that's my opinion. And some might say, Pastor Paul, that's just your opinion, and that's true. But it's also just your opinion that trousers are a man's garment. So this is what happens. God gives principles in the Word of God. And he basically says, I don't want a man dressing like a woman and a woman dressing like a man. Sue: And the principle given in the law at that time was, agree with your gender. Pastor Paul: Exactly. Sue: Like, just be at peace. Pastor Paul: Be content with how God made you. Sue: That's the principle there. Pastor Paul: Exactly. If you're a man, be a man, dress like a man, act like a man, speak like a man. If you're a woman, dress like a woman, act like a woman, and don't try to be other, because you're going against nature. God put nature in charge of some things that to superintend them in our lives to because it brings order and peace. We, however, have said, no, no, no, I'm not going to submit to that. I'm going to make up my own rules as it relates to these things. Now, what about a woman's hair? What about makeup? What about jewelry, things like that? Again, you can't just say, is it biblical? Because in the Bible, Peter, in the New Testament, does give a word to women about these things. Here's what he says; Sue: So what's the principle there? Pastor Paul: Exactly. People read the passage and they interpret the principle in what they consider to be practical day to day terms, and they say, here's what this passage says. You are not to do anything special with your hair, because we're assuming that braided hair was a way of adorning a woman. You're not to adorn yourself with jewelry. Obviously that includes makeup. He didn't mention makeup, but it must include it, because that's adornment. And so they come up with rules, and they say, “You shall not.” And they're literally get added to like the 10 Commandments. We're going to add 11, 12, 13 and 14 right here, and it has to do with how a woman dresses. But if you really look at what Peter is saying in this passage, he's not forbidding a woman to look nice, he's saying, don't let that be the extent of your beauty. Don't let your beauty be merely external. Work on an inner beauty. Make sure you're focused on what he calls an imperishable beauty. And that means it's an unfading beauty. It's not something you can see in a mirror, but it is what he calls a gentle and quiet spirit. And he says it's a very precious thing in the sight of the Lord when a woman makes herself beautiful on the inside. He's not forbidding a woman to look beautiful on the outside. Just don't let that be the extent 1 Peter 3:3-4 (ESV) Do not let your adorning be external – the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear – but let your adorning be the hidden Person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. of your beauty. So it's really something that we have to be very careful to look at in the Word of God. See these principles for what they are, and don't create rules based on principles. Understand that God is speaking to the heart of people when it comes to their gender, when it comes to things like external beauty, when it comes to things that the world fixates on. He says, don't fixate on those things, be content, walk in a true, gentle spirit of beauty and know who you are in Christ. Sue: That's a great answer. Our last question comes from Grace; “Hi Pastor Paul & Miss Sue. Thank you both for your teaching. Does it say in the Bible that you're not supposed to use any kind of birth control?” Pastor Paul: No. First of all, of course, artificial forms of birth control hadn't been discovered in biblical times, and so obviously the Bible is not going to speak about things like that. But the Bible does make kind of a passing reference to family planning. In John 1, the apostle John speaks of children being born according to a husband's will. And that simply means it's kind of a fancy way of saying family planning, where a husband makes a determination. We've had enough children, and we're done. We're done having children, or we're going to have more children. I remember my grandmother making a reference wanting to have children, and she said, we threw caution to the wind. Sue: I love it. I know. John 1:13 (ESV) Who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. Pastor Paul: It was a lovely way of saying we decided to withhold any natural forms of birth control that we were using at the time, and they lived in the time. Sue: Which is all they had at the time. Pastor Paul: Which was all they had. We're just going to let nature take its course. And if we conceive, we conceive and so forth. And they ended up actually conceiving two children over the course of their married life. And some people have huge families, and that's wonderful, if that's what they've decided to do and so forth, that's great. But the Bible doesn't specify anything about forbidding any kind of birth control or family planning for that matter. Sue: That's good. We need to leave it there. Pastor Paul: We do need to leave it there and be careful not to, if the Lord speaks to a couple about their family planning, then they should keep that to themselves. That's what the Lord is doing in their heart, and they should not assume that is a word that is given to all couples. Sue: Exactly. We got married very young. And so we were an example of a couple with decades of childbearing years. And we've known families that covered the entire spectrum between families over here who have wanted desperately to conceive a child and just seem to be not able to working on that over here that just had to glance at one another and we're going to add another one to their family. And I think as the church and as Christians, we just need to really walk with a lot of compassion toward one another in wherever they're at on the spectrum, and just not impose a lot of rules on people, or a lot of just our own idea of what God wants. It's a challenging thing for a husband and wife to walk through. Pastor Paul: It really is, and it is something that is very personal and very individual, and couples need to make the decision based on an individual decision, not on pressure from what they hear other people. Sue: That’s good. That’s what I was searching for the word, pressure. Pastor Paul: I've heard people say in the past, and I know you have to that they are trusting the Lord for the size of their family. And basically what that means is, we're never going to employ any kind of birth control, natural or artificial. And if we get pregnant, we're just going to trust the Lord that's what he wants us to do. Many times that sort of an approach can be seen as a more spiritual type of approach, and I think that puts pressure on couples sometimes. It's like, maybe we're not that spiritual. Sue: The implication is you're not trusting the Lord for the size of your family. Pastor Paul: If you're doing any kind of family planning, you're really not trusting God. Sue: You’re not trusting the Lord. And that's exactly where I'm saying, I think we need to really walk in a lot of compassion and care with what we say. Pastor Paul: Absolutely. Well, those are the questions that we have for this episode. We hope you enjoyed it and got some good out of some of the answers. And we hope you'll be with us next time. If you have a question you'd like us to cover, send it in to questions@lifebibleministry.com. And remember that all of our teachings, mine through the Bible, Sue's for Women, Women of the Word, and the study guides that go along with them can be found at Life Bible Ministry along with a lot of other things that we simply can't make available on YouTube. So check out our website. We hope to see you when we get back with you for another Bible Q&A. Until then, God bless you. Bye-bye.
