Bible Q&A Session | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Good evening, and welcome to Maranatha Bible Church Q and A part one. At MBC, we believe that the scripture in its entirety, Old and New Testament, is the living Word of God. As the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy in two Timothy three fifteen and sixteen, and now and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Old scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for the proof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. For this very reason we preach and we teach scripture, not man's ideas, not man's philosophy, not man's interpretation, but the scripture and always comparing scripture with scripture in a spirit of humility and prayer.

We believe that the best method to preach and to teach, The whole counsel of God is through exploratory preaching. That's what we do. We go through the scripture, book by book, chapter by chapter, and often verse by verse. All subjects are covered. Most of our questions are usually answered when we preach in this systematic preaching.

But it takes a lifetime to go through the whole of the scripture. That's why it's necessary for each one of us to study the scripture on their own on daily basis. And as we study the scripture and as we go through life, we face many questions. We face many challenges. We need answers.

Some approach the pastors after the service with their questions. Other others don't do that. We felt, for this reason, a need. We felt led to do this q and a. And I want to thank all those who asked, the questions.

There were many questions submitted, so we had to cut the list down in order to leave sufficient time for substantial answer. We will likely have another q and a. That's why I, in the beginning, called it part one. Additionally, in order to respond to as many questions as possible, the answers will be extremely not extremely exhaustive, but, prayerfully, will be, of value. Let us, commit this time to the Lord.

Our god and father, we thank you for this time. We thank you for your word. We're here to hear your word. We're here to hear what you have to say. Lord, we know that many twist and many distort the word of god, But, God, help us be faithful in interpreting the word of God the way you meant it to be interpreted, to understand it the way you want it to be understood.

Help us be faithful tonight and always to serve you, to abide by your word, and to divide your word rightly. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Pastor Daniel, the state of the church in America and in many parts of the world is very sad. Many churches have departed from the truth.

Many have decided to preach a diluted gospel, a watered down gospel, even others to preach completely another gospel. How would you advise a new believer? Someone who just come to the faith in Jesus Christ. How such a believer to find the right church? What they should be looking for in a church?

How would they to discern if it's a bible church or not?

Yeah. That's a loaded question. It's a great question. It's an important question. I wanna first off say that there is no perfect church.

You're not gonna find a church with perfect elders. You're not gonna find a church with perfect people. You're not gonna find a church that will have everything to the to the tailoring of your liking necessarily. But there are nonnegotiable standards that the Bible has prescribed for the local church, and that is what we should be looking for, whether you are a new believer or somebody who is a seasoned believer and you've moved to a new location, or or you've grown in your faith and you're starting to discern some things of a ministry that you've been part of for a long time. Thankfully, in this time of history, god has provided his word, a copy of the scriptures, at a level that we have never known before.

We are not like the Barians who, though, they heard the apostle Paul preach, found it within themselves the conviction to evaluate everything that he said according to the scriptures, and it is very likely that they would either run to the nearest synagogue and explore the scrolls to do that, which took great effort and time, but that's how hungry they were to know the truth. At this point in history, we have, all of us in this place, a copy of God's word. You can download God's word. And so we are able to use the word as the standard, as the measure of evaluation for any ministry or minister. Now what I would say about looking for a local church is to look no further than the leadership.

Look no further than the leadership, because a people will rarely rise above the leadership of that local ministry. The leadership of that church will set the the standard of the sufficiency of scripture, of the reverence for the scripture, of the application of the scripture. And so as God has called elders to be under shepherds of these assemblies, they're also not just proclaimers of truth, but examples of truth, living out the truth that they preach. And so if you wanna know what direction a ministry is going into, then just look at the leadership. Look at the elders of that place.

How do they handle the word of God? How do they live? And and to me, personally, it's a question mark when when a a church has elders that are not accessible, that don't live before the people. And so you wanna be able to see that because that will be really a great indication of of where that church is headed. And then to evaluate what they say based on the word of God.

And then to see, again, do they preach? Do they teach? Is this the substance of their message? What did what did they present in in their sermons? And then from there, you can you can rest assured, okay, I can trust that if this is where they are with the word of God, that this is a healthy church, that this church, though it may not be mature or or perfect or have everything in place, that if they have this as the driving force of their ministry, we will get there eventually.

We will get there eventually. And so, I would say to anybody who's looking for whoever's watching, especially, to to look for the most biblical church you can find in your area. Look for the most God honoring, God fearing, bible preaching ministry, and and commit yourself there, even though not everything might be in place. Have conversations with those elders. You have every right to ask questions, and then prayfully, examine and and see if that's where you're supposed to be.

Yeah.

Our next question is, someone asked, why are are there a few believers I know who radiate joy inexpressible and filled with glory? Why is it that I can't seem to attain that joy myself? And I believe many people feel this way, and even that would cause them maybe to doubt their salvation.

Yeah. So the question, why is it that so very few people I know radiate that joy inexpressible and full of glory, which is found in first Peter one. And that's really the standard, isn't it, for the Christian, that they should have that joy without expression. There is no human language that can define what you are sensing because of your relationship with God. And it's it's really what you were saying in the introduction.

It's kind of the a sad commentary on the condition of many believers today. I would I would echo that. That you might know people who go to church, who might affirm the doctrines of, of, you know, sound doctrine, but they don't seem to have the enjoyment of God. They they seem to have their interest in other things, and that could be for many reasons. I mean, that can be a sermon in itself.

One reason, and this is a strong statement, but it's a very possible statement, is that those people are not really believers to begin with. If there is no sign, no evidence of delight in the Lord, of submission to his will, of joy in obedience, then there is there that's that's a serious problem. But at the same time, a believer who has once known that can fall into a place, can drift into a heart posture where that is not really the full measure of, of that reality, and and that can be because of temptation being given over to. That can be because of worldliness. We know that an entire church in the book of Revelation was plagued with lukewarmness where they felt satisfied in their riches and their status in society, and the Lord Jesus rebuked them.

And so, I think as a general answer, I think think the reason why so few is because so many are lukewarm. So many have come to a place where, this is almost a burden more than it is a delight, and they just wanna do the bare minimum, to satisfy their religious conscience or to just make sure they don't get in trouble with people that they've grown up with or what they're familiar with in a faith community. But that is not the standard. And and for that person who says, how why am I not there? There could be two reasons.

And there are there are two categories of of pitfalls that any believer can fall into. Number one, you've probably heard it, lawlessness. Again, it goes back to that lukewarmness idea. There is there is sin that has crept in, and when sin creeps in, it robs us of so much, including joy in the Lord, peace with the Lord. We rob ourselves of rest.

We rob ourselves of confidence. All these things are relinquished the longer we remain in a pattern of sin. The second pitfall is legalism. Legalism. So you might have a person who says, you know, I love the Lord, I I'm obeying the Lord, I'm I'm cutting so much out of my life, and yet I still feel still.

I actually feel more burdened than anything. I feel as though there is no sun shining on my heart. I feel like it's just dark and gloomy and and stiff. And I would say, well, what is your motivation for obedience? Why are you doing what you're doing?

And then based on that, you can you can you can learn a lot about yourself if you're honest. I'm afraid of going to hell. I am afraid God is ready to judge me for one mistake, whatever the case may be. And yet the scripture would say that the commandments of the Lord are not burdensome. So there's something wrong there even in your pursuit of obedience of of a personal devotional life.

If the motive is wrong, even though the means might be right, the end result will not be the way God designed it to be. And so I would say, look at your own heart. Is there sin in my life that I'm tolerating? And if that's not the case, am I living according to a standard that is beyond what the scripture says? And am I operating in obedience out of a motivation that is not even based in the word of God?

Out of a fear that is not biblical, and and then you will come closer to that place where where you can know that joy that comes with walking in the will of God as he lays it out for us.

Is it possible that personality could play a part in that? If someone, for example, is sensitive, easy for him to feel the emotion and it express his emotion. So he might seem to be more joyful, but not necessarily he's more joyful, but someone is a little bit not as sensitive, but might not show the same type of joy.

Yeah. So, I mean, I would answer that by saying joy is much deeper than visible emotion. And I would I would go back to the first question. If you're looking for a church and you were drawn by the emotion that's being charged by the worship team or even by charismatic pastor, charismatic in terms of personality and delivery style, or the people and how they respond to certain things. That can be dangerous.

That can be that you can easily be caught up in a frenzy, and from that frenzy, you can be even caught up long enough into into strange things. So there is a joy that is beyond, that's deeper than emotion. That's why we have to be careful even judging other believers based on the lack of visible signs of happiness or delight. There there is something more concrete, and and and it should manifest to a certain level. So I would say, if the Holy Spirit this is my conviction, and I see it in the word of God.

If when the Holy Spirit comes into the believers believers life, he he dominates their personality. Not that he changes the way that they're wired or or their uniqueness, but whatever, fallenness is found in our personality, he is there to revive it, to work through it, to mold it, to shape it, and to the standard that he has set for his children. So, yeah, be careful of measuring joy based on visible outward manifestation. It's more internal than anything else. It's a it's a satisfaction, a gratification, a settledness, a contentment, that despite outward circumstances, it still remains.

And so, look deeper than that. Don't look for why don't I cry when I hear worship songs, and why am I not excited all the time when I wake up in the morning. It's it's deeper than it's a knowledge of who God is that sits in the driver's seat of your devotion and determines where you go and what decisions you make because of a truth that you believe. And some days, the emotions accompany that. Some days, it's not there, but the truth is so overwhelmingly good that it overrides your emotional state.

That's what true joy is. That's inexpressible joy.

Next question bothers, many believers. This is regarding to the words of Jesus in Mark three twenty eight. I'm going to read them, truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of men, and whatever blasphemies, they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin, for they were saying he has an unclean spirit. And the question is, I'm afraid I have committed the unforgivable sin.

What should I do? What is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?

Great question. I think in every Q and A you're gonna have somebody asking that question. Every Q and A, it's inevitable for that to appear on the list and I understand why. There are a lot of, people who are tormented by this. And the people who should who should, be enjoying the relationship with the Holy Spirit are in fact not because of a misunderstanding of what Jesus warned about.

Let me put it this way. Context is huge. This word about the blasphemy of the holy spirit is totally for the unbeliever and not a warning for the believer. Because you won't see that warning in the New Testament. You won't see a warning for New Testament believers to not blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

You will see other warnings pertaining to the relationship with the Holy Spirit, and one that we all generally know is do not grieve the Holy Spirit. And in the same context in Ephesians four, we're told that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. So it's possible to be sealed with the Holy Spirit, to have a permanent imprint of his ownership over us, and yet still on a relational level, on a practical level, grieve him where he gets quiet, where we can, as Thessalonians say, quench him, where we don't see the fullness of his work in and through us. Those realities pertain to the believer. Jesus was speaking to the unsaved.

He was speaking to the group, as we know, as a Pharisees, the religious elite of his day, who have already determined up to this point that they hated Jesus. They even wanted to kill Jesus. We're told before this that they were plotting how to destroy him. They've already had their opinion said about who Jesus was. And so at this point, as we know, Jesus cast out a devil, and people were asking, is this the son of David?

Is this the Messiah? The Pharisees hear this, they're obviously concerned, and they couldn't they couldn't discredit the miracle, so they wanna discredit the source of the miracle. And so they say, he's doing this by the prince of demons. He's doing this by Satan's power. And Jesus steps in and he warns them about this accusation.

And it's interesting because people often explain this, and many of you probably have heard this and have been comforted by this truth, that the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is ultimately a lifelong rejection of the conviction of the Holy Spirit to be saved, and ultimately, you cannot be forgiven if you reject Jesus. And I would say to that, yes and no. Yes and no. Notice in Mark, we have the commentary of of what the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is. For they were saying, he has an unclean spirit.

Blasphemy is a verbal sin. It is something that you use your mouth to commit. And so they were giving a defiant irreverence towards the person and work of the Holy Spirit, in a way in which they were attributing something that was redeeming holy and good to Satan, and his evil nature, and his evil doings. Jesus warned them, you're treading very closely of committing a sin that will disqualify you to be forgiven. And, what's interesting there is, how do we practically apply that today?

Well, again, I would say that, for the believer just as a general principle, we should be careful in what we say about the Holy Spirit, what we say about the work of God, what we say about others. Be very, very careful in what you say, because besides the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, it's just a good principle to be very slow to speak. But what we can understand from that is in connection to the the heart posture of these Pharisees. You can come to a place where you so disregard God, blaspheme God, express your hatred for God, that you make it much more difficult for you to ultimately come to Christ. And we see that in Hebrews six, don't we?

We go people go to that passage and use that to to to say that you can lose your salvation, those who have tasted of the heavenly gift, those who have been enlightened that language there, that if they have turned away, that it is impossible for them to be saved. It's impossible for them to repent again. That's a whole separate teaching on it on its own, but the language there is is not used. There's no salvation language there. That's all experiential language.

Meaning, if you have been so exposed to a manifestation of the spirit of God, and yet you still choose not to submit to God, and submit to the gospel, and submit to his lordship, then you are making it that much more difficult in this lifetime to ever be saved. So here's why I said yes and no. It's a verbal sin. It's a verbal sin. But this sin of expressing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit was really, as Jesus said, a manifestation of something that was inward.

There was a heart posture there that was it was deeply, deeply disturbing. Because here's the idea, it's just a simple equation. If I am seeing one of the most clearest demonstrations of God's love and power before me, and I smear it to say that this is Satan's work, how am I ever going to be saved? How am I ever going to give my life to Christ if I'm If I see Christ in the flesh, and one of the most climactic ways that he can demonstrate his power and his sovereignty, and yet still in that say, this is of the devil, If you believe that, then how will you ever come to him? How will you ever say yes to him?

If you've already if you've already slandered and assumed and determined this is Satan's work. And so, yeah, the the fact that somebody would even ask this question and is concerned if they've committed this sin, I believe is a great sign that they have nothing to worry about. Because to blaspheme the Holy Spirit is really to to enter into a place where you're almost unsavable. Like, you have so seared your conscience. You you have so hardened your heart, and which is there's just a possibility in this life to do.

You can be unsavable before you die. That's a scary place to be, to harden your heart to such a degree. And so, if you want proof of that, just look at the Pharisees after Jesus warned them. They only get harder towards Jesus. They only get more vicious towards Jesus, and they ultimately crucify Jesus.

And so, I would say, if you're an unbeliever listening to this and you're concerned, have I ever committed this sin? Have I blasphemed the Holy Spirit? Measure your life to the to to the Pharisees. Measure your response, your heart posture towards Jesus to the Pharisees to see if you fit there. But for you to want to be saved and want to be forgiven, as you know, is a great sign that you have not committed that sin, and that, Jesus Christ can indeed save you.

And so, I I think I think it's something that a believer should not have to worry about, and Satan has used this to torment many believers. And that's why that's why we're doing q and a's like this so that you can be free and that you can enjoy your relationship with God instead of believing a lie about it. Yeah. I hope that's sufficient. Would you add anything to that?

Or

That's great. Okay. Our next question someone asked saying, a lot of believers justify cursing as long as as it is not directed towards

someone.

What are your thoughts about this? This was unheard of for me growing up, but somehow this seemed to be with the younger generation.

I have a lot of thoughts about it. Justify cursing. Yeah. I don't know. I think for somebody to say a lot of believers justify is another indictment against the modern church.

Really is. If if we are trying to justify cursing, I mean, how high is our standard as believers? Really? Is that what we've come down to? Let me let me say this.

In in Leviticus one, you have an interesting picture of the burnt offering, which you would take an entire animal, chop it up in pieces, put it on the altar after you would separate that one animal into different portions, which is an interesting practice. But it provides a beautiful visual. Being on that altar is, in the new covenant sense, a picture of being totally committed to Christ, totally consecrated to Christ as a living sacrifice. God is not interested in dead sacrifices, he wants living sacrifices in the new covenant. But when you look at the different pieces of the animal, it provides some kind of an illustration how every part of this beast was set apart unto God.

And what I would ask somebody who is a believer and is trying to justify a certain habit or language or expressions is if if you were if you you are a Christian who's supposed to be consecrated, let me focus on the part that deals with this area. How has that part been consecrated to the Lord? How has this part been What's different here from your life and the unbeliever's life? And I would be very eager to know what they would say. What has changed?

When Christ enters into your life, he sanctifies body, soul, and spirit, and he longs to transform every part of us. The same way he was passionate with every detail of the tabernacle, so that it could appropriately host and reflect his glory. We are now the tabernacle of God, and he is just as concerned with every single detail of his new home so that we can appropriately reflect the glory of God. Now, some might say, give me verses. And you you you'd be amazed to know how many people will will even go to the bible to try to justify this kind of behavior.

I'll give you one simple verse. It's in Matthew chapter 12, and I believe it's in verse 36. And this is what I would simply ask somebody who who might be trying to justify this. Jesus said something that and you've heard me say from the pulpit many times because I believe when you look at Christ's standard for us, it's almost scary, and in a good way, because he doesn't measure holiness the way we do. And this is what he says so clearly, I tell you on the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak.

Every careless word they speak. Unproductive, unthought of, uncalculated words. Jesus will take those words and consider them in judgment. Now, if he will do that with careless words, how much more with profanity and obscene talk, which Colossians three eight tells us not to do. No obscene talk.

No unflattering language. Nothing that would not build up. And so, I would say, can you confidently say that those words that you speak, whether it's in your to yourself or with your group of friends because you're just you're cool. Your group of friends are cool. So you say some words because, you know, we're Christians and we we wanna be cool these days.

I would say, do you think Jesus would be able to take those words and evaluate them and say, you're reflecting my glory. You're reflecting my glory. This is holy and pure. What about Philippians? Whatever is pure, four eight.

Whatever is honorable. Whatever is whatever is worthy of praise. Respect all these different now he gives that list of of good things to think about. Not even in the realm where people can hear you, but the things that are just in in this corridor here. He that's the standard, holy things, beautiful things, excellent things, praiseworthy things.

These are the things that you should be thinking about. Never mind saying how much more than in my speech? How much more than in my speech? Let me ask you this. Okay?

And maybe I'm hesitant to ask this because someone would say, yeah, I would. But I will just ask this for those who who know where I'm coming from. The way you speak with your Christian buddies, the language that you use, Would you dare to would you dare do that in front of your elders? Now, I know some churches, they encourage profanity. Right?

They encourage it now. But I'm asking you for for those that that you love and respect, who preach the word, live the word, would you dare express yourself in such a way? We're mere mortals. How much more God who will take into account everything that you say? And so, if this is a struggle in your life, if this is something that you, have justified for a long time, I would ask you, just look at this one verse.

I can go to many scriptures. Just look at this one verse. People will give an account for every careless word and and evaluate that with your own life and say, can I be able to say confidently that if I stood before the Lord with my language that he would be able to say, well done? Beautiful. You reflect me.

And, and I think that will suffice for such for such a question.

And I believe this is what the world and Satan are trying to do, trying to deceive, the young and many others to think that your words are not really important. It is just the state of your heart, but what is in your heart would come out from your mouth.

And let me add to that, actually. Thank you for bringing that up. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. To think it to think that your words have no meaning or that they don't have impact. Well, I'm not saying it to anybody else, even to yourself.

Even to yourself, to those around you especially, is is is a is a great insight into the lack of understanding of the potential of good and evil that our actions have. So just remember just remember that this tongue throughout the scripture can can cause fires, James says, can poison, and can also revive and bring things to life. So gather the evidence from the word of God, and really the burden of proof is on those who justify it. I would say just show me in the scriptures where you can justify those four letter words. Show Show me in the word of God where you can actually practice this and actually be a true ambassador of Jesus Christ.

That's it.

Our next question is a quite theological question. Will we see three separate persons of the trinity in heaven?

I believe so. And the reason why I believe so is because John saw it. John saw it in Revelation chapter five and verse six. If If you want me to just read it to you, I'll turn there quickly and notice that while he was having a vision of the throne room, he had a clear description of each member of the trinity. And, I think that's a great indication that we will, in fact, see the father, son, and spirit.

Verse six, and between the throne and the throne according to the context, it's clear. That's that's where the father is sitting. And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a lamb. That's Jesus. I saw a lamb standing, as though I had been slain with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

So there in one verse, you you have the father on the throne. You have the lamb, Jesus Christ, standing by him. And then you have the sevenfold ministry of the Holy Spirit, described as the seven spirits of God. Not that there are seven spirits, separate spirits, but this is described this is a term, a phrase to describe the seven manifold workings of the Holy Spirit, all there together in one place. How that's gonna be when we arrive there, I'm not too sure, but there's great evidence apart from this one verse that, we will be able to see each member of the journey.

What does Roman seven twenty five mean? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Yeah. That's a great that's a great verse to ask. I've never had somebody ask that question before, but I will say there are many questions around Romans chapter seven generally. There's actually great debate about Romans chapter seven. Is anybody here, is everybody here familiar with the struggle about Romans chapter seven?

It's the expression of Paul with his relationship in in desiring to obey God, but then his flesh pulling him down, weighing him down, and and actually overcoming him, it seems, at some points, to actually walk in the flesh. And the debate is this, Is this Paul speaking about his pre Christ days? Or is this Paul expressing himself currently in his writing at the time of his writing? This is my experience now that, yes, I wanna obey God, but the the the law of sin is right there. And I I do what I do what I don't wanna do, but what I wanna do, I can't seem to be doing it.

And what he does in Romans seven twenty five is he kinda he kinda summarizes that argument. And what he's saying is, yeah, with my mind, I will submit to the law of God. I will pursue the law of God. In other words, my desire is to obey. That is my desire.

But with my body, I will submit to the law of sin. And it's like, well, what are you trying to say there? And I believe what he's trying to say is he's expressing the struggle that the believer, each believer has. That as long as we are in this flesh, we will know some kind of a a warfare because we are still somewhat infected with Adam's nature. So there will always be that, conflict that we read of in Galatians chapter chapter five.

And so in his heart's desire and his mind, he will set himself to obedience, but he will also know that there will be this resistance and this opposition even from within to do the opposite. Now no matter where you stand on that debate, while Romans seven is talking about Paul and his pre conversion days, or no, this is this is this is actually Paul describing the Christian experience. Here here's what satisfied me, and I hope it satisfies you. I believe no matter where you stand, it's settled in Romans chapter eight. That's it.

Because now you have life in the spirit. So now you have Paul telling you how you can actually overcome the desires of the flesh, live in victory, and not be dominated by the desires and the impulses of this body. And so Romans eight is the answer. What Paul is doing there, he's simply summarizing his argument from from beginning of chapter seven, about this conflict that every believer will know even in their converted days.

Our next question is, how should we view deliverance ministries?

How should we view deliverance ministries? Somebody submitted that and I love the fact that they asked that question because this is a growing phenomenon, really, an issue I believe, in in our day. It was there at one point, but it's resurfacing again, especially among ministers who would fit in my demographic, millennials. You have a lot of millennials that are leading the charge in reintroducing and, teaching deliverance. And, if you're unfamiliar with that, the the idea of deliverance ministry are are ministries that are solely focused on casting demons out of people.

And let me say from the beginning, I believe today people can be possessed by devils. And I believe that we can cast out devils with the authority of Jesus' name. And some would say, no, Jesus gives that authority to certain believers and, okay, I see where you're coming from that. But what I'm trying to say is that those that reality is possible. People being possessed and people being be being able to be set free through the authority that comes in the name of Jesus.

I'm there. I believe that. So let me say that from the beginning. My concern with deliverance ministries, and maybe this is totally foreign to you, but I'm seeing people get caught up in this by the droves. It is becoming increasingly popular, and I believe it is dangerous because what's a common denominator with those who are proponents of who propagate rather deliverance ministry is that they seem to only cast out demons from Christians.

So those that they are trying to set free from demonic possessions are apparently those who profess to believe Jesus Christ as lord and have been saved. That's that's concerning to me. And so, those who hold the deliverance ministry and have deliverance ministries, I from what I've seen, I've rarely, if at any time, have seen them setting unbelievers free from demons. When that's exactly what Jesus was doing when he came. You see no instruction in the New Testament for us to cast out devils from one another.

And what's crazy about this deliverance ministry is it's getting so out of hand. Now they're beginning to teach Christians how to self deliver. So, I'm and and it sounds funny, but it's true. How now now you have instructions. How can you cast out a demon from yourself?

You don't see any of that in the bible. And so, there there is so much gymnastics that needs to take place with the word of God for people to defend their ministry that is so focused on apparently setting people free from setting Christians free from demonic possession. And they will go to text, and we just we just went through this in Mark a few weeks ago. They'll go to the examples like Ananias and Sapphira. Satan has entered into their hearts.

Why did why did you believe him and allow him to lie to you? Peter, when Jesus says get behind me, Satan. Here's my here's my answer to that. If those people were truly possessed by devils, then why didn't Jesus or the apostles cast the devils out of them? Nothing of the sort.

And so, the examples are are irrelevant. And on top of that, the methods don't line up with the word of God. So those who hold the deliverance ministry, they cast out demons in a way that I don't see in my bible either. What I see in the scripture is that somebody who has the authority to do what Jesus did, namely the apostles, were able to do it with just a few words, with one command. And if they were not able to do it, Jesus says, you have you're not in the spiritual strength that you should be.

This one comes out through prayer and fasting. Right? But, just some methods I don't understand. There's there's commands for the demon to come out of your nose, come out of his mouth, come out of the ears. It's just and they're instructing them where to go.

And I I it's very concerning to me. And here's my main concern. You heard me say this from the pulpit if you were here that particular Sunday. My main concern is that these people who are flocking to these ministers who who claim to be able to deliver you from a demon is that, as I meditate upon this, is really assault on the gospel. Because the gospel tells me that I am transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of light.

And that now I I have been free from the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. And I've been promised greater is he who's in me than he who is in the world. So with all these things that are connected with the ultimate deliverance in the gospel, what does it say for people who claim to be children of God to be recaptured by Satan and to have Satan dominate them and determine their behaviors. What does that say about the power of the gospel? The ultimate deliverance that you can bring to somebody, the ultimate rescue from the clutches of Satan is to repent and believe on Jesus Christ.

Right? And and I'll say this on a practical standpoint and a sanctifying saint, standpoint. When you have Christians who are who are given over to this, they are replacing deliverance with repentance. That's what I was saying. So So instead of repenting of their sin, dying to self, carrying their cross, they're making another phone call on Zoom to be set free from the demon of lust so they can be delivered, or the demon of anger, or the demon of greed, or the demon of alcoholism, or the demon of overeating.

Everything is a demon now. And demons are getting blamed for something that they're not doing. Now I'm not negating the fact I I'm not gonna negate the fact that demons can tempt, that demons can lie, that demons can have access with a foothold, not in the sense that they will possess you, but they can influence you. Like, Peter's mind was influenced when he was telling Jesus, you don't need to go to the cross. That all of that is true.

But to say that you can be possessed with a devil and that you are in need to be you have to have this thing cast out of you is foreign to the New Testament promise in the gospel. And so, listen, if you're into this, please, please understand, this is dangerous. If you are following ministers who are preaching this, no matter how passionate they are, no matter what kind of testimonies they might present, be very careful. The gospel is more powerful than the gospel that these people believe. I believe that.

Because this gospel according to the word of God rescues you from the domain of darkness, which includes any access for Satan to have your heart, have your mind to the point where you are possessed.

In Matthew three sixteen, we read of the baptismal of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says, and when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went from the water and behold, the heavens were open to him and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And behold, a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. The question is, what changed for Jesus when he received the Holy Spirit when he was baptized by John the Baptist, and how was he different before?

Great question. I think the Bible is clear about what took place on that day when Jesus was baptized by John, and when the heavens ripped open, and when the Holy Spirit descended upon the sun. And I believe there are two clear answers. One is found through John the Baptist in John chapter one, where he was assured by God that the one on whom the spirit would descend and remain on was in fact the Messiah, was the one that he was preparing the way for. So number one, the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus in that that scene was to identify him as the long awaited anointed one.

This is the one who was prophesied about. This is the one who will now come in and usher in the kingdom of God. So number one, the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in that way to identify him in a very visible and obvious manner. Secondly, according to Acts ten thirty eight, we're told that the Holy Spirit anointed Jesus to do good works, right, to destroy the works of the devil, to bring healing, and to manifest a a power that was without measure. And so there was a particular anointing upon Jesus as a man who was dependent upon the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to fulfill the ministry that he was called to as the servant of Yahweh.

So there was an empowerment there that Jesus did not necessarily know prior to it. Now what that doesn't mean is that Jesus didn't have a relationship with the Holy Spirit before his experience in the waters of the Jordan. One clear evidence of that, though many of those years were silent in our bibles, is the very incarnation of Christ. The Holy Spirit was there at his incarnation, worked with Christ, so to speak, at his conception. And so even from the earliest moment of Jesus' entrance into the world, the Holy Spirit was right there.

And so though though though again, those years might be, behind the scenes, we we should not doubt that he had perfect communion with the father, perfect communion with the spirit, by nature that he is the son, and they are inseparable because they are all one. Our next question,

can you tell me how to read the bible? Is there an order I can follow?

I love that question.

Someone who is very obedient.

Yes. Somebody who wants to read their bibles. I love that question. Well, you're gonna get different ideas from different people, so this is not, this is not a matter of, there's only one way. But I'll tell you my way, and hopefully, that will help the the way the the method that has worked for me, the plan that has worked for me.

And some of you who know me already know the simple answer, and it's just to read it systematically from cover to cover. To read it from Genesis to Revelation, and once you're finished, to go back to Genesis and go over it all over again. I found that that is the the most complete and most, beneficial way to approach the scriptures, and to stay on that path. I I feel like and again, I'm not putting down anybody who holds to a different way. Some people read three chapters in the old, three chapters in the new, and then the proverb and a psalm with that.

Some would some would read a few chapters a day. I'm I'm not gonna get into that, but what I'm saying is if you if you want to know all of the Bible, then read all the Bible. It's as simple as that. And how that works for me is it keeps me on track, and I know that by doing so, I am developing an a mental terrain, a map of the word of God. And the best way to get revelation is to cover all of the scriptures.

And then as you read to become so familiar with different portions of the word of God so that when you come to a certain place, you have, like, five, six references that will come. And then that's where sermons are created. I'm not saying that's the reason why, but that's how many of the times in preparation, I'll read a a portion that we're about to teach on, and then as I'm reading it because I've been in my personal reading, going through the scriptures, things just come to the surface that relate to that. And and many things many joys and treasures are developed from that place. But there are times where as I'm reading, let's say I'm in the book of numbers and numbers is very unique for different reasons, but I'm personally going through something or there are some answers that I need.

There's nothing illegal by, I'll I'll personally, I'll read what I need to read in that, but I'll also go into other portions where I know that this will provide remedy to me. I'll go to the Psalms. I'll go to the Proverbs. I'll go to the epistles. And I'll just reassure myself in order to to receive something for that current moment.

But I would say, set yourself to know the entire library of the word of God. Don't go to one book, stop halfway, and then go to another book because you wouldn't do that with any book. You wouldn't read a novel or whatever it is and then stop halfway through and then start another one, read it one quarter and then go to another one. You miss something. There is there is a intent with that book from cover to cover.

There is things that are connected that if you jump and eject early on, you you might miss something that you didn't read early on. So honor the text and complete the book. This is a library. This is not one big book. It's a library of books compiled together, and read through it systematically so that you can get the most out of it.

That's my simple approach. I've done it for eleven years, and I've just seen so much blessing from that. If you do do something else and it works for you, praise the Lord. But my conviction is you wanna know that the whole Bible. You wanna know the entirety of the Bible.

And so whatever your reading plan is, make sure that you are covering every book every book.

I like to combine also how to read the scripture with when to read the scripture. I believe we have to set a time every day to read the scripture. If we don't do that, we would not read the scripture. So I have learned myself to set a time every day in the morning, specific time to wake up. That time is specifically designated for reading the scripture and prayer.

That's critical. So, I believe we we must do both. Our next question is, a person wants to understand the meaning of, a verse in John three twenty one. I'm going to read the verse, but whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. What did Jesus mean by that?

My answer is pretty simple in understanding the context.

He's he

in the verse before, he's speaking about that those who are evil will not come to the light, but because their works will be exposed. So essentially, what he's trying to say in simple terms is that those who truly want to be in the truth and want to be in the truth and want to be in what is right, they will come to the light. They will, be willing to have their sins exposed and to turn from their sins, and to live in fellowship with God, which means that they will live honestly and openly before him. So in essence, what it's trying to say is that if you are for the truth, you will do what it takes to be and remain in the truth, which, includes having your sins revealed, having God's standard shine upon those sins, and then to make your judgments based on his judgments, which means to turn away from it, and then to remain in that light is to fellowship with God honestly, transparently, and repentantly. Yep.

The next question I believe it is, by probably, a young person. The question is what advice do you have for young people that want to get into ministry?

Am I old? I think, wow, that's a loaded question. What advice so I'm assuming it's pastoral ministry. Would you say that?

I believe

so. I believe so. I'm gonna answer that one.

Maybe mission.

Missionary. Yeah. Event whatever the case may be. Full time ministry. What advice would I give to young people, a young person who's considering full time ministry?

The first thing that comes to mind is watch your life because that's what Paul told Timothy, who is a young minister. In first Timothy four sixteen, keep a close watch on your life and on your teaching. Right? And, many people get excited about ministry because maybe they have a gift, they can speak, or they are able to retain theology. They're able to to to, you know, be bold in evangelism.

They have great aspirations. But, the life part is missing. And if if you believe that, you will take holiness seriously once you get into ministry, that's a dangerous plan. A very dangerous plan. And so determine now that you will live honorably before God whether people see you or not.

Because your character will determine the longevity of your ministry. And so, I would say the best thing to do is to invest in your personal godliness, to seek God for help, and that will include in great part a devotional time to the Lord that must be protected at all cost. Ministry can easily steal that away from you, so easily. And, if you're not careful, as you just said, to to cultivate that time and then and to to so elevate it as a supreme importance as the greatest investment to your ministry, then it it your ministry won't last very long, in my opinion. So I would say, first of all, just especially for those who are young at this time of history, with what's going on with our culture, Pursue holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Pursue holiness because that will be the greatest contribution to the effectiveness and the authenticity of your ministry. With that being said, to a young person in particular, be patient. Be patient. I remember praying many times. Lord, I'm young.

Use me because I'm young, and, because I'm young, I have so much to offer, and it's a greater testimony because I'm young, and and I pray very differently now. Although I wanna I wanna be used by the Lord in in in my younger years, obviously. I also see the wisdom and the preparation that God wants to bring in someone's life, including my own, And that takes time. That takes time. And so don't rush for a platform.

Don't push doors. If God has truly called you, he will open the doors. And as one very well known minister said, it is your duty to take care of the depth of your ministry, and it is God's responsibility to take care of the breadth of your ministry. And so God will take care of the networking. He'll take care of the opportunities.

He'll he'll put you where you need to be. But in that time of waiting, just enjoy the Lord. Grow in your knowledge of the word of God, develop a prayer life, serve the people that he has put in front of you, learn to love the leaders that God has placed over you, serve the church that you are in, and just trust that the Lord will bring you to that place. There's no need to be fidgety. There's no need to be franked.

There's no need to make things happen. Just let the providence of God bring you to where you need to be in his perfect plan and enjoy the ride. So be patient. I can say much more, but those are the two things that

come to mind. It it is not uncommon for new, for young believers and for new believers, to be very much excited and they want really to serve the Lord full time. But we really, I think, need to listen to the advice of pastor Daniel. Our next question regarding the KJV King James Version. Oh.

What would you say to someone who says that the KG is the only true translation? Yes.

That didn't land very well. The KJV being the true translation. I love the King James version. I respect the King James version. God has used that version as a gift to the church for three hundred years for the English speaking world.

God has used ministers that I look up to and I read books from that have used the King James version. And so I understand the emotional argument behind why the King James is the purest and the only translation that should be used. But if you step aside from the emotion attached to it and just logically and critically think about it, there are some concerns with that argument. I can spend the next, ten, fifteen minutes speaking about the manuscript argument, and I think that is the most important argument. But I remember struggling with that question because, not because of the King James only, but because of all these translations that were out there.

And I was like, Lord, I want the best one. I want the most accurate one. I want the most faithful one. And, and there is there there is a truth there because there are false translations. And and for us to think that Satan wouldn't produce perverted Bibles or diluted Bibles, that is a great possibility.

And there are translations that I would not recommend for your personal life and for a ministry context. But at the same time, there are faithful translations, and and it's really up to us when you do the your due diligence and evaluate and and the research, to say, yeah, I can I can hold to something that's not the King James and still be blessed and believe this is God's word? Here here's how something happened to me. It's not a it's not a common answer to this question. But this is what what comforted me.

I remember reading through the New Testament the New Testament and seeing Old Testament quotations. And from my own reading, I would read those New Testament references to the Old Testament, then I would go to the Old Testament in my in the same bible, and I would see that it was not word for word. I don't know if you've ever seen that. I'm like, well, what's going on here? And so I would read another New Testament quotation of the Old Testament.

I would go to the Old Testament and read it, and it was not word for word. And I was like, what is happening here? I don't understand. Until finally, I realized that many New Testament quotations of the Old Testament were quotations from something known as the Septuagint. That sounds fancy, but the Septuagint is really a term to describe the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament Bible that occurred two, three hundred years before Christ.

And the reason for that translation was because Alexander the Great took over the known world. Greek was the common language, and you even had Jewish people who were adopting that language. And so there were, seventy, seventy two men who determined to translate the Hebrew bible into, the the current at that time, the current world's known language, which was the Septuagint, the Greek translation. And what I found amazing was that the New Testament authors inspired by the Holy Spirit went with that one instead of going directly to the Hebrew Bible. And I thought that's that's really interesting.

And to me, there is some level of comfort there in in the current dilemma that people might have that, I can go to a a new King James. I can go to an ESV and believe that it's still God's word. Because how translation works is that you go to the original the original Greek, the original Hebrew, and you translate from that. You're not translating from another translation. And so the way I would go about it is to say, if you see that logic even in your own bible, why can't you use that same reasoning for our translations today?

And so I would say, there are many faithful translations. There are two kind of categories of translations. There's the word for word translation, and then there's the, thought for thought translation. And the two differences are this. There are some translators who took the bible, went to the original, says, we're gonna try to translate every word, Greek or Hebrew, and try to bring it to the exact meaning in the English.

And so they're less worried about what the the phrase or the text is saying and more about what the words are and the closest equivalent that we can find in our modern language. So those categories would be King James, New King James, ESV, and ASB. Then there are those who translated with the attempt to say, well, because of a culture difference and because of a generational difference, some meanings may be lost because of our current culture. So we're gonna go to the text. We're gonna go to the original text, but we're gonna try to find the meaning of it, and then and then communicate the meaning of the text and then put that into newer translations.

I am in favor of the word for word. I'm in favor for the word word for word. So stick with those categories. Now the debate is with the ESV and NASB, they went to a different family of manuscripts than the King James and the New King James, and that's the great debate. That's why you have you have two teams butting heads.

And why did the ESV and the NASB come up with their translation? Because throughout time, archaeological digs and discoveries, there were manuscripts that were discovered that were older than the ones that the King James and the New King James were using. So they're older. They were closer to the dates of when the apostles lived. So the argument on this side is, well, it's closer, so it must be more accurate.

And this side is saying, no. No. No. Just because it's older doesn't mean it's more accurate. And so you can see where the debate is coming from.

Here's the comfort. Whenever it comes to the translations and if there's any differences between these translations, none of them affect key core doctrines of our faith, and that's what we can thank God for.

I just want to add one thing also. If we demand from the English speakers to read only the King James, what we'll do with the Greek speakers, the Hebrew speakers, the Polish speakers, the Arabic speakers, then shall we now translate the Arabic and the Hebrew from the King James? Shall we have a King James in Arabic and King James in Hebrew?

And that's not how translation works. Not faithful translation. Right. You would go to the Greek, you would go to the Hebrew, and then translate in that language, in in the Polish language, in the Arabic language. Absolutely.

Yeah. We they can this can be a much more exhaustive answer, but I would like to ask everybody a question. Are you guys doing okay in terms of because we're We do one more question. Yeah. We are you guys sitting alright there?

The lack of answer is concerning, so I don't know if it's

yes. Or The last question.

We'll we'll do one more question.

One more question. Someone asks, I was raised Catholic. Is it a sin to pray to the Virgin Mary?

Hopefully, we'll be be doing a whole teaching on this in our series in the gospel of Mark on a Sunday, and it might be more than one message, concerning the Catholic church, their teachings, what history has shown concerning the development of the church of Rome. But that answer to me, for anybody who is familiar with the New Testament is is obviously, yes, it's wrong to pray to anybody apart from God himself. And the reason is is the simple question is, when you are praying, what are you assuming in that posture of dependency to whoever you are praying to? What are you assuming about the object that you are seeking? And if you are praying to someone and if you make that a practice in a church tradition or a law of any community of believers, what are you saying about that person where you can say, I can pray to that person, you can pray if you're across the world, you can pray to that person.

You can pray if you're in that time zone. You're assuming certain things. You're assuming things that only belong to Jesus, who said, if you ask anything in my name, I will do it. You're assuming omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence. Are you not?

For me to be able to communicate to someone and ask them to do something and for others to be able to believe that same thing says something very, very clear about the person that you are praying to. That's a very simple answer. And let me add to this while we're on it. We'll end here. For those who who believe that you can communicate with saints who have passed on, who are in heaven, oftentimes, the argument is, well, you look at Revelation and the saints who are in heaven are very aware of what's happening on the earth.

Being aware of what's happening on the earth and being able to intervene or to be able to partner with God to intervene based on your participation are two different things. Huge differences. And my question is I asked this to somebody in in the part in the part of of the world where they they venerate and they borderline worship saints. My question is, when Paul said to the Philippians, it is my desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But then he goes on to say, but, you know, I'm feeling the struggle because for me to remain here is fruitful for you.

I can serve you. I can help you. If he believed that he can be fruitful on their behalf in heaven, then why would he feel that tension? In his mind, in Paul's mind, to depart and be with Christ meant that his ministry on the earth is final. It's ended.

It's concluded, and he would now be in heaven to enjoy the Lord, love the Lord, worship the Lord without hindrance, without filter. And so I would say if if Paul believed that he can be in heaven and then still help the saints, whether it was through his intercession, then then why did he express himself in the way he did? Why did he give that that tension and communicate that tension to the believers? And the obvious answer is because he himself knew that his ministry on the earth, his help towards the saints, would come to an end as his life came to an end. And so there are so many clues in the scripture that indicate that once you and I as mere mortals come into the presence of God, that our ministry on the earth and our involvement with ministry on the earth is over.

That's why we should love, serve the Lord as much as we can while we're here and while we have breath.

Amen. Thank you so much, pastor Daniel. No problem. We're sorry we could not go through all of the questions, but, God willing, we will have another q and a. Would you please conclude, in prayer?

Yes.

I will. And if you do have questions after the service, we'd love to sit and just answer those questions. There we we trimmed so many, and there are still, from what I understand, many, many more in that. So time, time is is not on our side tonight, but we hope this was blessing to you. Lord, we thank you for tonight, and we ask that, these questions through the wisdom of your word provided would have been satisfied.

We ask, Lord, that if there's anybody who's still struggling with doubt or fear or concern or genuine curiosity or longing to be in in greater light concerning your will that, you would be the one who would guide them whether through a sermon, whether through another q and a, but more more personally, though, we ask that you would make it known to them yourself through the word in their personal seeking and studying of it. Lord, we just ask that this church will remain true to the bible, and we ask that your people would would know inexpressible joy. And we pray, Lord, that this this group here tonight would be able to, in all ways, including our speech, to glorify you and to honor you. And that, lord, we ourselves, we know how to defend what we believe in a world that is assaulting truth day after day after day. Help us stand strong and also know what we believe.

We love you and we honor you in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.