WWUTT 1160 Q&A Social Media, ShepCon, Silent Prayers, Sharing Communion with Unbelievers?

What are we still doing on Facebook? Does God answer silent prayers or should we always pray out loud?

And can unbelievers take communion? The answers to these questions and others, when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible teaching podcast. That we may be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the

Lord. Tell your friends about our ministry at www .utt .com. Here once again is

Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. You're welcome. We are still on Facebook. Yes, we are. Despite the message that I had dropped in the middle part of February, that I was going to be shutting the

Facebook page down. You lied? Well, the plan's changed. Oh, okay.

That works too. So the reason why I was going to shut it down is because Facebook had changed their policy

Oh, big time, yeah. For having Facebook pages. It's not the same as having a personal profile.

A page would be like the What page, or we have our church page, or there's the page that I started that is myself,

Pastor Gabe, to deflect you away from my own personal profile page. Okay. I just didn't want a

Facebook profile account. I didn't want to have Facebook at all. I don't like Facebook.

I wouldn't even be on social media at all if it wasn't for When We Understand The Text. At the time that I started

What, I didn't have any social media accounts. So it was just starting up these videos, and I had so many friends say, hey, if you want these things to spread, you need to be on social media.

I didn't want Facebook, so I started the Twitter. Well, somebody else started the Twitter, but I said

I would manage the Twitter. We kind of split responsibilities. So anyway, that's how

I ended up on Twitter. And now I even have an Instagram. It's the same name on both. It's Pastor underscore

Gabe. If you're looking for me anyway, and because of the policy changes on Facebook, there was now even more hoops

I was going to have to jump through in order to have the What Facebook page. I didn't start that page, but I'm the only one on it now, and I didn't want to deal with it anymore.

And so I just made the announcement. Look, I'm just not going to mess with all of Facebook's politics.

And when I shut down my account, the What Facebook page is going to go with it. So I made the announcement that that was coming to an end.

A lot of folks asked, please don't. This is the only way that I still receive your stuff. Some folks said, I never even see your stuff, which is part of the problem, because I've had the politics.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Working around Facebook's algorithm, which is why you don't like Facebook. That was why one of the it wasn't the main reason why, but it was one of the reasons why

I had gotten off of Facebook in the first place. However long ago that was shortly after we got married. It was.

Yeah. But, you know, you would say some little pithy thing or I would post a picture of my kids and it would get like 200 likes.

And then you would say something about the Holocaust of abortion and how we need to be aware of these things.

We need to be sharing the gospel and raising awareness and fighting for life. And you'd say anything like that, and it gets like three likes.

Nobody even notices that stuff because Facebook would filter it out. And therefore, there really was no reason for me to have one since I couldn't be missional with it.

I couldn't even preach the gospel with it. You put a Bible verse reference in there, and even Facebook knows how to screen those things out because of their algorithm.

Therefore, I shut down my own personal account and then started what, a couple of years after that.

And then everybody's telling me, you got to get back on social media. But anyway, I managed to find a workaround.

I managed to come up with a way that I don't have to have a personal Facebook account and I can still keep the what page and the church page is still up and also my

Pastor Gabe page. So all of that is still there. And that's letting all you

Facebook listeners and users know it didn't go away. We're going to hold on to it for now until Facebook wants to make some other policy change.

But I'm not going to say what I did to find this workaround because I don't want Facebook to know.

Just - Is Facebook listening? Yeah, I mean, Alexa's listening.

True. And everybody's Alexas are going off now. How many times?

What do you want Alexa to search? Alexa, buy

Pastor Gabe's book on Amazon, 25 Christmas Myths and What the Bible Says. I guess

I have to say, buy Gabriel Hughes's book on Amazon. Yeah.

Something like that. Yeah. Pastor Gabe. Alexa's going, I'm sorry, I don't know that name. What does it say?

What does it say when? I don't know. It has random, couple of different random responses. Whatever they reprogram it to.

Yeah, so we're still on Facebook and thank you to all of our Facebook listeners and viewers for supporting us and sharing the videos.

Yes, thank you. The way that this spreads is because you share it.

Take a video, share it on Instagram. When I jumped on Instagram, I did not realize how many what videos were shared through Instagram.

I thought there were certain, I just didn't know a lot about Instagram. I thought there were certain dimensions that videos had to be and I knew the what videos weren't those dimensions, but now you can still share what videos even though they're the 1280 by 720 dimension, which is a typical, that's a typical

YouTube video. I know you are on Pinterest too. Are you ready to tackle that?

No. I'm not getting on Pinterest. Yeah. That's definitely your area.

I'm good with Instagram and Twitter. I don't need any more. I didn't need an Instagram either, but I started one so you can follow me there.

We are, I wasn't able, I was going to say we didn't get to Chevcon this year, but you wouldn't be going to Chevcon anyway.

Sad. I love California. She had a lot of fun at Truth Matters back in October and I loved that because you got to go.

I mean, Chevcon is great, but admittedly, my people, my peeps, my peeps,

Chevcon is really a lot of fun. It's great fun for pastors, but I have to admit

I like Truth Matters better and it was because my wife got to go with me. It was so fun.

I'm just over here giddy. Don't mind me. So, because we did Truth Matters in October, I did not do

Chevcon this year. It would have been really hard for me anyway because I went to the National Religious Broadcasters Convention last week.

My dad was being honored with the Milestone Award, which is 50 years in Christian broadcasting.

So cool. Yeah. The guys like John MacArthur have been honored with that award.

I think last year he got the Milestone Award. R .C. Sproul, I remember the year that he got it.

Oh, and Kay Arthur got her Milestone Award, same award ceremony.

So the first one who received it was Kay Arthur and then there was somebody else, a name I didn't recognize. I don't even think he showed up.

He sent like a representative to go get his award for him. And then third was my dad,

Don Hughes, who has been in broadcasting for over 50 years. Well, he was up until the end of last year and he got let go from his job.

That's the nature of radio. They don't want the old -season guys anymore. They want young whippersnappers who are able to spruce up the sound.

So it's been harder and harder for my dad to find work as he's getting older. And right now he's even looking for work.

But at least he made that 50 years before he got cut loose.

Anyway, so it was great to be there with my dad. I took my son with me who's eight years old. So we had three generations of Hughes's represented there.

So cool. As he received his award. Did you ever get a picture of all three of you guys? They had professional pictures done.

Like professional photographer came in, took a picture of us with the president of NRB who happens to be

Janet Parshall this year. For those of you who are familiar with her Christian talk show.

And they're supposed to send those pictures to dad. So we do have professional photos coming.

But they get everybody through and take your pictures. You can't just hand them your phone. It's like, here, I want one on my phone.

Okay, I'll wait. We're all backstage. We're all having to fit like a schedule.

Oh, speaking of that, speaking of being backstage. So I took a picture of this and I sent it to Becky. We're backstage at the

National Religious Broadcasters. This is about 20 minutes or so before the whole program is going to start.

And everybody who is receiving an award is back there because we're getting pictures taken and stuff like that.

They're also kind of walking us through what's going to happen and all this stuff. And when we get backstage, there's not many people back there.

By the time we left, there were like 20 or something. But when we first got back, there was like five people and it was the three of us.

And Keith and Kristen Getty and Johnny Erickson Tata.

Oh, yeah. And I recognized her right away. Well, of course, Johnny Erickson Tata is difficult to miss.

She's the one in the wheelchair. For those of you who don't know who Johnny Erickson Tata is, she was paralyzed when she was a teenager from the neck down.

She's a quadriplegic and has a wonderful testimony and story about the goodness and grace of God.

And I wish I had some Johnny quotes I could just pull up and read here. But I didn't prepare anything for that.

Anyway, I thought it was really neat. We get backstage. I'm like, there's the Getty's. There's Johnny Erickson Tata. She was talking with Kristen Getty.

I didn't feel like I didn't want to interrupt. But I met her when I was like seven.

And Zeej was with me who was eight. And I wanted to say something. I want to say, hey, I met you over 30 years ago.

Yeah, that would have made her feel real good, babe, real good. You don't have to tell everything.

So that's why I didn't. I'm sure she appreciates that unknowingly. I'm just going through my mind.

How do I break into this? That one's just here, meet my son. And then you tell the whole story later.

Anyway, so then right before, right after we got pictures done and before we were about to be dismissed and go to our tables,

Johnny says, well, I want to pray for you guys and I want to sing some hymns.

And so we gathered together in a circle and she led us in a man of sorrows was the first time that we sang.

I can't remember what the last one was. She led us in that hymn. Then she prayed, prayed for everyone.

Can't remember if she led or if somebody else led. And then after that, she led us in another hymn and she said that was it.

And that really was what she was back there for. I thought she was backstage because she was part of the program, but she was just back there to sing some hymns with us and pray for us before we were about to go out for the awards banquet.

That's so cool. And that was it. And she even said that's why she was there. And I think Janet Partial stopped her and wanted to say something like, well, we ought to get you on stage to pray or something like that.

And Johnny just said, no, no, no. That was it. You know, I wanted to come back and visit my friend,

Kristen, Kristen Getty, and then pray and sing with us.

That was great. Enjoyed that a lot. Anyway, so that was a chance to interact with Johnny that way, even though it didn't turn into being able to introduce my son and say.

Yeah. Well, at least he got to see her. Yeah. Oh, he was totally unimpressed with all of it.

So. Well, he's eight. Like we're backstage. So we've seen the animated movie of Pilgrim's Progress.

Right. Right. The new Pilgrim's Progress film that came out, what was it? Last year? Yeah, I think so. And Kristen Getty plays the voice of the interpreter in that movie.

And so, when I had Zej there, I said to him, just this past Sunday, we had sung

In Christ Alone. And so I said, hey, buddy, you know that song we sang in church,

In Christ Alone? And he said, yeah. And I said, this man right here, I wasn't introducing him to Keith, I was just kind of pointing people out.

And I said, this man right here wrote that song. And he goes, oh. And then

Kristen Getty, I said, you see Kristen Getty right here? This is his wife, Kristen. And she was the voice of the interpreter, the angelic figure in the

Pilgrim's Progress movie that we watched. He's like, okay. I'm just not impressed at all.

I was like, all right. Well, I tried. Well, it's funny that you mentioned that because he and Annie both were trying to write songs today.

Oh, really? Yeah. They were trying to write their own songs. And they were trying to write it together. I know they had their guitars out. They're trying to write it together, but they have such a different approach that Annie said it wasn't going to work.

So then they separated and tried to write separate songs. So maybe there was an internal excitement after you said that.

Could have been. Just didn't express it there. Yeah. But he really was excited to meet a fellow songwriter.

Yeah. Well, I really didn't think he was impressed by the trip at all. But then we got home and he was like, he wanted to go again.

But he's the kind that whenever emergency management, whenever some sort of urgent situation comes up.

He is just calm, cool, collected. And he's like, thinking about everything, everything we need to grab, everything we've already have, where we're going, who's coming.

Yeah. And that's really interesting because when something happens to him, he panics. But when it's happening to somebody else, he knows how to manage the situation.

It's like we didn't even teach him that. It just comes to him naturally somehow. He knows how to handle himself in a crisis situation.

Yeah. Not when it's happening to him, but when it's happening to somebody else. So, anyway. So, he's just got that internal, like exterior is calm and yeah, okay.

Yeah. But inside, he's like, yes, you know, like, just really excited. Yeah. So, anyway.

Well, that's. So, anyway, that was our NRB trip. Yeah. Well, we, me and Zeej.

Okay. Yeah. And we got back on Saturday night and then

I preached the next morning. So, we drove, we did this trip driving. I drove from Nashville back to Kansas, takes about nine to ten hours.

And then I had to preach the next morning and that was Saturday night. We got back

Saturday night. On Monday night was when Nashville had that terrible tornado. Yeah.

And it was just like a mile or two from where we were staying, a couple of miles from where we were staying. And it's.

Which in tornado talk, that's not very far. Yeah. You never know where they're going to go. But the whole time we were in Nashville, it was cool.

Like it was mid to upper 40s. I think the warmest it got was maybe 50. So, nothing you would have thought being, hey, next week, they're going to have some really terrible storms.

Yeah. And just two days later, they had that terrible tornado. Over 20 people have lost their lives.

So, be in prayer for the people in Nashville. A lot of folks cleaning up from the devastation.

And I've seen on Twitter, people taking pictures of like hangouts, places where they grew up that are totally done.

The building's going to have to be knocked down. Historical sites that were. Yeah. There.

It's not going to be the same. So, yeah. I mean, right. Right. In central Nashville. I mean, it hit right there downtown.

So, yeah. Be in prayer for the folks as they are cleaning up. And I know that the

Southern Baptist Convention. And that's their mourning. Yeah. And mourning. Yeah. Loss of life. I know the

Southern Baptist Convention does great disaster relief. And they have a hub right there in Nashville.

So, I hope they're out there with their trailers and doing some good work. Helping some folks get cleaned up after the storm.

One other thing I was going to mention here, oh, was related to the Literal Word app. So, I've still been receiving messages from folks asking me when

I'm going to get done with recording the audio portion. Pray for his voice still. Pray for my voice.

Especially as we're getting back into springtime. And there's that chance that we could fall back into allergies again. And quiet neighborhood.

Quiet neighborhood is pretty important. It's really difficult for me to record during the day. Because we do have a loud neighborhood.

But strangely, it's dead quiet at night. Yeah. So, it'll be really busy and bustling during the day.

And then at night, it's just perfectly quiet for me to record. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, my voice doesn't last very long.

If I were to quit doing the podcast, I could probably knock this out. Yeah. I mean, it might take me a couple of weeks, at least.

But it would be easier for me to get it done if I wasn't also doing the podcast. It was kind of poor planning on my part. But there's been a number of other reasons why it's taken me this long.

I did not anticipate even getting into 2020 and still be doing this. I have been journaling thoughts as I've been working on this project.

I would love to share with you some of the things that were going on that have delayed this getting finished.

But I want to wait until I'm finished before we start talking about any of that. Thank you for your prayers and your encouragement as we've been working on getting that done.

I would still encourage you, please go download the Literal Word Bible app. It's free for your phone.

It's the New American Standard Bible for your phone. But man, what great cross -references.

You've got the Greek Hebrew lexicon in there and all this other kind of thing. It's just such a great app.

You could sit there and play with it for hours. Yeah. Just on the neat features that it has, let alone the fact that you're reading the

Word of God on your smartphone. Look that up. The Literal Word app, free for your phone.

While we were at NRB, we were walking around at the Expo. Oh, what was the homeschool conference that was there at the same time?

Teach Them Diligently. Yes. It was going on at the same time. We got bored with the

NRB Expo. I still need my stuff, by the way. Yeah, right. It's over here on the floor.

Oh, okay. Well, that's great. I brought it in here and just dropped it on the floor. What was

I saying? The TTD, Teach Them Diligently. We got bored with the

NRB booths, their exhibition hall. You mean you got done with them?

Sure. No, it was boring. So, we went over to the one at Teach Them Diligently, and it was like three times bigger.

Oh, wow. I don't even know that we got through every booth. We kind of had to cut it short because we had some other things to go to.

It was great running into people in there who knew who

I was. That's awesome. I was like, hey, we listen to when we understand the text. I know you.

I didn't know you were here at this conference. Well, I'm not. I'm over at NRB, and this looked more interesting, so I came over here.

That's awesome. I should have been attending that conference. No, you should have been with your dad. That's true.

You were where you were supposed to be. No, I know. I know. Just joking. I didn't have to pay for that, thankfully, because we were there as my dad's guest.

So, we weren't paying for NRB. But, yeah, the banquet was... Boy, the food was great.

I had to teach Zeej manners. You know, you start with the outside utensils and work in. He had never seen that many utensils around his plate before.

I haven't either. So, that was fun. Yes, you have. Come on. I have. Aaron's just teasing.

I could even mention a certain dinner that we had. Yep. It was fun. And so, while we were walking around in the expo, we're handing out, when we understand, the text brochures.

And my dad was sure to share with everybody that we were stopping and talking with, Oh, Gabe is also doing the

Voice for the Literal Word Bible Lab. So, you need to go to your phone and download that. Amping you up. Yep.

So, he was... He's your number one promoter. Well, Literal Word's number one promoter at NRB.

Oh, really? Oh, yeah. That's awesome. He was out there as Literal Word's spokesman saying, download their

Bible app. You know what I mean? You were confused. Your dad was? Yes, my dad was. Oh, okay.

I thought you meant... Never mind. I was off in La La Land, apparently, trying to understand your rabbit trail.

Yeah. No, my dad was sharing with everybody, download the Literal Word Bible app.

That's awesome. Gabe's voice will be on there eventually, but download this app. So cool.

So, there you go, Literal Word. You got a hype man working for you here.

All right. So, this is Friday. That's like our 20 -minute intro. I didn't even... Have we gone that long on an intro before?

Maybe once. On the Friday edition of the broadcast, we take questions from the listeners, and you can send those questions to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

This first question, I think, has waited a couple of weeks, but I'm going to start with this one. Does God answer silent prayers, or should prayers always be out loud?

I saw a tweet about this. I don't remember if it was an article about how in the

Bible it says the different ways of praying. Oh, really? Yeah. It's like, pray when you're laying down, pray when you're standing up in the mornings.

Yeah, absolutely. I don't remember where that's at, though. Well, you have the statement that Paul made with the Thessalonians, 1

Thessalonians 5, pray without ceasing. Yeah, that was in addition to this one.

This one is like... This was talking about kinds of prayer. Kind of, yeah. Okay. Just when to pray.

You pray all day. So... Well, when you're thinking about kinds of prayer,

I like to consider, and this is what I was teaching the kids, I think it was last week when we were in our devotionals. But 1

Timothy 2, you have the Apostle Paul right at the start of the chapter say, first of all, then

I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.

So there you've got really four kinds of prayers. Yes, you do. The word prayers is used there, but supplications, intercessions, and thanksgivings are also prayers.

Prayers, yeah. You're praying on behalf of somebody else. That would be an intercession.

Right. So you're interceding for someone else. You have a friend that is going through something and you are praying on their behalf unto the

Lord. Yes, praying for them. Yes. And then a supplication would be like an earnest request, even begging before the

Lord. That kind of yearning in your heart makes you hunger and desire God all the more.

So that's the understanding of supplication. And then you have thanksgivings and always coming with a thankful heart, as the

Apostle Paul instructed the Philippians to do. So that in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

That's Philippians 4 .6. And that verse, by the way, begins with, do not be anxious about anything, but with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.

If you come to the Lord, even in an attitude of supplication, even that earnest crying out unto the

Lord. Right. You're still doing so with a spirit of thanksgiving, knowing that God has so provided for you and taken care of you and given you salvation in His Son.

That at the end of all things, all this world will be laid to waste. All that is left is

Christ. He will deliver you and exalt you to a place where the things that trouble us now will be practically forgotten.

Yeah. Except that they will be amplified into the praise and thanksgiving we will give God for all eternity. Well, you know, very true.

But we don't come to God thinking in hopelessness, because that would be anxious.

That would be the anxiety that Paul is talking about there. This whole situation is hopeless. There's no way out.

Right. Right. Yeah. This is going to be the thing that kills me. I'm going to be destroyed in this. God has forgotten me.

You know. Right. Don't come with that kind of thinking. But knowing that in Christ, as Paul also says in 1

Timothy 2, we have a mediator. There is one God and there is one mediator between God and man.

And that is the man, Christ Jesus. Or as we read in 1 John, He is our advocate before the

Father. So that means that He is speaking favorably of us before God.

Right. And knowing that, there is a rejoicing that happens in our heart, knowing that we have access to God and it is through Jesus Christ, that He is, you know, we talked on the podcast earlier this week about Jesus being our fellowship with God.

He is our mercy seat or the atonement place. Right. As talked about there in the book of Romans, Romans chapter 3, where He's referred to as the propitiation.

So it's that same Greek word hilasterion that was being used for mercy seat in Exodus 25 when you read that in the

Septuagint. And so Martin Luther made that connection between the mercy seat in the

Old Testament being the place where we meet God in the New Testament. Jesus Christ is our access to God.

So it's just knowing that creates a yearning in the heart and a hopefulness when we come to God in prayer, knowing that our sins are forgiven, we have righteousness to be able to come to God and enter into His presence through Jesus Christ, and that our prayers are being heard by God because of what

Christ has done for us. Right. So it's the resting upon Christ. It's the faith and trust that we have in Him that draws us in prayer and gives us hope that we not need to have anxiety or that feeling of hopelessness when we come to God.

So in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, Philippians 4 .6.

So I've mentioned that one. I've mentioned 1 Thessalonians 5 with the pray without ceasing. Where is the one, pray when you get up or when you rise,

I think is the phrase. Yeah, you're thinking of probably Deuteronomy 6. It could be. I know it's

Old Testament. Right. So in Deuteronomy 6 is where we are told, these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. So all of this is saying in any and every opportunity, show your children the

Lord, because this is talking about teach them diligently to your children, talk of them when you sit down in your house.

Oh, this is Bible verses. When you walk by the way. Right. Oh, I thought it was talking about prayer for some reason.

Well, it's the words that God has commanded us. Okay. So you could apply prayer to that. Yeah. Okay.

Teaching your children about prayer, being among those things. Right. When do you pray? When is it appropriate to pray?

How do we - All the time. Yeah. How do we pray without ceasing? Because Paul even said in Romans 1 -

Do you talk constantly all day? Man, my voice would be so bad by the end of the day. I do talk constantly all day.

Well, pretty close. It's like my job to just talk.

Anyway, but in our mind, we have the mind of Christ, Philippians 2 -5.

Our thoughts are so committed to Christ that anything we think, all that we say and do is in subjection to him.

So he is governing our thoughts and our actions. It's as if we are in constant communication with God and communicating with God is what?

Prayer. It's prayer. Right. Yeah. So if we understand the commandment that's given in Romans 12 -1,

I appeal to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

So giving our bodies unto the Lord is an act of worship. Is the mind not part of the body?

Right. So even in our minds, we're subjecting ourself to Christ and anything and everything we do, we are in fellowship with Christ and in that constant oneness with Christ, which we have according to his spirit, then it would be as if we're praying without ceasing.

So even the conversation that we're having right here, we have God involved in our marriage.

Our marriage is founded on Christ. So even the conversations that you and I have with each other would be considered as prayer if our words are honoring to the

Lord. So think of this even as the way that you talk with your spouse. Right. You know, husband's the way you talk with your wife, wife's the way that you talk with your husband.

Is the way that you're talking to your spouse pleasing to God? Think of not only your words, but also your tone.

And I mean, what your heart is, what you fill up with your...

You're doing fine. I'm following you. I'm just chirping over my words. Okay. So what you fill your heart up with is what is going to come out of your mouth.

So if you are angry about, even if it's not anything to do with what you're talking about right now, if you're thinking about something you're angry about, that's going to come out as anger.

And even if you don't really mean it, it's still going to come out as angry. Oh yeah. What was the thing

I did the other day? You were talking to me and I rolled my eyes. Yes. And it had nothing to do with Becky.

It was because I had been sitting here at my computer working on budget stuff. Yeah. I asked you to come help me.

And you were like, oh. And I did. But it was actually... It was just right after I asked him.

Okay. So anybody in their right mind is going to be like, okay, you don't have to after a teenage response like that.

It was actually a delight that you were asking me to do that because it was like, great. I get to stop working on this budget stuff.

I'm tired of working on money right now. And you had been sitting there for a long time too. I had been. Yep. So... So it was a relief.

It was a relief. I was not rolling my eyes at my wife who was asking me to help her with something.

You weren't even really rolling your eyes. You were just reacting of... I was just going, oh. Yes. Something. I can't remember what it was.

But yeah. But in my mind, that was a response to... To what you had asked. What I was asking. Yeah. I was like, okay, if it's that big of a deal, you don't have to.

So we had to... I could tell the way that she reacted to that was I had to, you know...

No, no, no. That was not... Wait, wait, wait, wait. That wasn't at you. I wasn't... I wasn't exasperated by anything you were asking me about.

Yeah. I was actually relieved to stand up from my computer and not be sitting here anymore. Right. I have to... I have to explain myself sometimes too, because I'll snap at you.

But it's... I didn't mean to snap. I just... That's the way it came out. And so I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Hang on. That was not how it was meant to be said. Yeah. Let me try that again.

You know? Or that I'm just... I'm tired right now. And that's why I'm sounding like this.

The kids have gotten on our nerves. Yes. Something. Children not listening all day. Something like that. That's...

Yeah. That's a quick way to get it. So having that kind of communication with each other. So we can...

And trusting that that was not meant that way. Right. Yeah. Not taking everything personally, which is going to be difficult when it's your spouse, because,

I mean, you guys are emotionally knit to one another. Right. More so than you're going to be with any other person.

And it doesn't even matter what your marital condition is like. Right. You're one.

Yes. You're emotionally tied to each other differently than you're connected with any other person.

So make sure that the way that you're conversing with one another, the way that you honor each other, how you show grace to one another, like when you have those instances where one of you might be a little bit short with the other, but it really doesn't have to do with something that they said, something like that.

You're showing grace to one another there. And that is

Christ governing over even your talk.

So as though Christ is there in the conversation and everything that you're saying is honoring of God, so therefore it fits in that dynamic of praying without ceasing.

Right. That your mind is always in subject to Christ, because we want to have the mind of Christ.

We want to think as he thought. We want to have a mind that is focused on kingdom work.

And like, so is the way you're talking with your spouse, is it building the kingdom? Right.

Are you building your spouse up in sanctification and growing in holiness and righteousness in Christ?

So that's kind of the understanding of praying without ceasing. Now we're far from really, well, not far, but we're not exactly on the question as it was asked.

Well, if it's silent, then is it okay? Right. Does God answer silent prayers or should prayers always be out loud?

Yeah. I think we've answered that. Right. Well, yeah. It's prayers of all kinds. Yes. And he does answer.

Right. So praying with your mind is still having that mind that is in subject to Christ.

Right. Because he's omnipresent, right? Yes. Is that the right word? Oh, yeah, sure. That's the right word. And he is the one who searches mind and heart.

Right. And will give to each person according to their works.

You have Jesus even saying to the church in Revelation chapter two,

I can't remember exactly which church I want to say, Thyatira, where Jesus says that,

I will give to each of you according to your works. I am the one who searches mind and heart. And that's the way that John started

Revelation in chapter one with he, it is he who searches mind and heart.

And so then Jesus even introduces himself that way to the church in Thyatira.

And God being the one who knows our thoughts, it's David prayed in Psalm 139, before a word is even on my tongue, you know it fully, oh

Lord. Yeah. And David also praying, let there be nothing before my eyes that would be unpleasing to you.

So that all of our thoughts, everything that we think, all that we set our eyes upon, all that we desire, let it be something that is honoring to God.

Right. As I've heard Mike Riccardi say, he talked about this when we were at Truth Matters back in October, but if it's a sin to do it, then it's a sin to desire it.

Right. May we not even have in our minds a desire for things that are unpleasing to God, that he does not want for us.

If God doesn't want it for us, then we should not want it for ourselves. It would be sin for us to want those things that God does not want for us.

So we have mentions of praying in private. You know, Jesus said in Matthew chapter six, don't pray out in public with arms raised so that you can get everybody's attention.

Doesn't mean you shouldn't pray in public because Paul says in first Timothy two, I desire then that the men should pray in public.

It's just that that's not the reason why you pray in public. It's not to get everybody's attention.

But he says in Matthew six, go in your closet, close the door, be in secret by yourself.

And what the father sees done in secret, he will reward. So that is that that should be our approach in prayer.

It is our mind and subject to Christ. Doesn't matter whether the prayers are out loud.

Doesn't matter whether they are silent, though I would say, I mean, if you're praying out loud, there is a certain ministry that you do even for yourself that I think is a little more effective than just praying silently.

You know what I mean? Well, kind of. I mean, is it the kind of thing where you think a thought and then you try to say it and you're like, that sounded better in my head?

Maybe so. But if you're by yourself and you say it out loud, I mean, who are you displeasing? Myself.

I have. But it's like that. It's like that statement in Isaiah 55, where my word will not return to me void.

Yes. So even when we are by ourselves, if we're praying the scriptures, for example, and we say that out loud, it becomes a ministry to us.

It feeds our hearts even to hear us say it and not just be thinking it or, you know,

I think sometimes prayer can be kind of lazy in that sense, because you might get away with thinking, well,

I thought it today, you know, but did you actually go through a practice of subjecting yourself to Christ, of humbling yourself before the

Lord, of not letting there be distractions of other things flooding your mind? Right.

Or did you just say their name and skip over what you were actually praying for? Yeah. You know? Yeah. Making a more concerted effort than just saying, well,

I drove today and while I was driving, I thought of God. So that was prayer. Right. Like, I'm saying that we should be in prayer without ceasing, having a mind that is always in subjection to Christ, but don't hear me saying that we shouldn't take time to pray out loud.

Right. I think that there should be quiet time that we're spending by ourselves.

In everything you do. Yeah. Right. Quiet time we spend with God, but that quiet time includes praying out loud.

So anyway, I hope that... Anti -quiet time. Yeah. Right. I hope that helps you with your question,

Christian. God does answer silent prayers, but if it is best for you to pray out loud, then do so.

I would say that's encouraging for you. First Thessalonians 5 .17, it finally came to me.

Pray without ceasing. That's where that was. Next question is Melissa.

Melissa says, hi, Pastor Gabe and Becky. I am an avid listener to your podcast and are thoroughly encouraged by your proclamation of God's word.

Thank you for that. Amen. I have a question regarding the Lord's Supper. I was recently listening to a church's

YouTube channel in my area. The pastor was explaining before the communion service that everyone is welcome to take it.

He explains that Jesus allowed Judas to take it, even though Judas would betray him.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was wondering if you could expand on how wrong this is.

So Melissa apparently already understands this is wrong. I'm so thankful I attend a

Bible -believing church, but unfortunately I have good friends that attend this church that I have a question about.

Thank you so much for your continued service. Did Jesus give the

Lord's Supper? Did he give communion to Judas? This institution of communion, did it happen while Judas was there at the table?

Yes. Well, if we read in the book of Matthew and in Mark, it's kind of hard to tell.

Right. Because he talks about Judas betraying him before he does the institution of the

Lord's Supper. But it doesn't say in there if Judas has gotten up and left. That's an account that we have in John.

But of course the institution of the Lord's Supper is not there in John. It's Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

John has the discourse, the very long discourse, longer teaching there in the upper room, but doesn't have a mention of the institution of the

Lord's Supper because the Lord's Supper was already instituted. Was already practiced in the church at that particular time.

So not a reason for John to have to write that again when the other three Gospels had covered it. So where do we get a better idea of whether Judas was there at the table or not?

Well, let's go to Luke 22 and starting here in verse 14. And when the hour came, he reclined at table and the apostles with him.

And he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.

For I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took a cup and when he had given thanks, he said, take this and divide it among yourselves.

For I tell you that from now on, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.

And he took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, this is my body, which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me. And likewise, the cup after they had eaten, saying, this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

But behold, this is verse 21, behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table for the son of man goes as it has been determined.

But woe to that man by whom he is betrayed. And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this.

So that's happening at the institution of the Lord's Supper, according to Luke 22.

So since Jesus included Judas in the partaking of the Lord's table, should we welcome unbelievers to take communion?

No. Why? Because it's bad for them. Right. Exactly.

It is extremely perilous for them to be taking the Lord's table when they are not of the

Lord's body. So we look at first, go ahead, what were you going to say? Or have something like a sin lingering over them.

Yes. Right. Like partaking of it in any unworthy manner is the way that Paul puts it.

So this is 1 Corinthians 11, and I'm going to start in verse 23.

This is kind of some lengthy instructions that Paul gives here on how a proper practice of communion should be taken in the church.

So I would encourage you, Melissa, go there and study that. Look at what 1 Corinthians 11 says.

And when it comes to helping your friends to understand this, that's where you should go. Right. Follow what

Paul has instructed the church to do when it comes to a proper practice of communion or the

Lord's table. Just a friendly reminder. Even though Paul is saying this and not

Jesus, it is still the Bible. It is still all God -breathed. Right.

So just as a point. Yes. That's a good point. All scripture is God -breathed. Yes. 2 Timothy 3 .16.

But Paul does say here, 1 Corinthians 11 .23, for I received from the

Lord what I also delivered to you. There you go. Okay. Perfect. He backs himself up.

That's right. In case I have to remind you, this is God's Word. That's what

Paul is saying. That the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the

Lord's death until he comes. Verse 27 now, whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the

Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the

Lord. Let a person examine himself then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.

If this pastor is encouraging unbelievers to partake of the

Lord's table, he is actually welcoming them to come into judgment. And that's horrible.

As a pastor, he should not be doing that. What he's doing is very, very dangerous to these men.

How dangerous is this? Well, we go on. That is why, verse 30, many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the

Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

Let me read that again. Verse 31, but if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.

You as a believer have any and every right to discern that this person is not walking with the

Lord and should therefore not be partaking of the Lord's table. Now this responsibility, quite honestly, falls on the pastor and the elders first.

Right. And they should be those who know this person can partake, this person cannot.

And this is something that we refer to as guarding the table. John Calvin did this, and he got kicked out of his church for it in Geneva.

And so he was away from his church for a time, and then they basically apologized and welcomed him back after that.

But this was what got him kicked out of the church, was that he was guarding the table. He was preventing people who were not right to partake in the

Lord's table from taking of it. And imagine that, they got offended. Yeah, right, exactly.

Because they would have been eating and drinking themselves into judgment. And by the way, folks, I have to say that I have personally witnessed this, a person partaking in the

Lord's table who had no business being there because they had serious sin that they were hiding, and they did eat and drink condemnation onto themselves.

I've witnessed this happen. So don't just think of this as something that took place 2000 years ago, when the

Holy Spirit was moving, when it was in that apostolic era, but it's not anything that we have to worry about or be afraid of now.

Yes, you eat and drink judgment on yourself. Even if the

Lord stays his hand, and he decides not to afflict a person who is partaking of the

Lord's table in an unworthy manner, they will come into greater judgment on the day of judgment.

So you have to understand that whether we see judgment play out in real time before us, or it's the judgment of the

Lord on the day of judgment, there is still a heaping of judgment that has come upon this person because they've partaken in the

Lord's table in an unworthy manner. Right. And shame on this shepherd, this pastor, that word literally meaning shepherd, for welcoming unbelievers to come to a place that the scripture explicitly states they should not be.

Oh, I am scared for his soul. Yes. That's, I mean, it's

James 3 .1. Not many of you should aspire to be teachers, my brothers, for you know that teachers will be judged with greater strictness.

Right. So this is... It's a very serious matter.

And I mean, as a pastor, the night before, I know we're going to partake in communion. We don't do it every

Sunday, we do it once a month. It's the first Sunday of the month at our church. I know that there is, especially among reformed leaning churches, a greater push toward doing it every

Sunday, but we do it just the first Sunday of the month. But the Saturday night beforehand,

I spend a greater time in prayer and concentration, meditation before the

Lord than I would do so any other Saturday night. Most Saturday nights, I'm just prepping my sermon for the next day.

But on that day that I'm going to be breaking bread and serving it at the Lord's table that next morning, I make a particular effort to submit my mind to Christ.

And even when I go up to bed and I'm laying down next to Becky and she's snoozing next to me, even while I'm laying there,

I'm still, Lord, I know what I'm doing tomorrow when it comes to coming to the Lord's table, welcoming other people to that table, breaking bread, passing out the cup that represents the blood of the new covenant.

I mean, these things are... It's a big deal. It's sacred, right? Yeah. And Christ is there with us at this table.

Even though we as Protestants don't believe in transubstantiation, that's a false doctrine.

It's a heretical doctrine. But even though we don't believe in that, Christ is still there at the table.

Though the bread doesn't literally transform into his body, it represents his body.

And Jesus is there with us as we're breaking this bread, showing that we are his disciples.

Do this in remembrance of me. So it's a very sacred participation. It's why we call it a sacrament.

The sacrament of baptism, because we are baptized with Christ in his death and risen with Christ to new life.

Amen. And the sacrament of the Lord's table, because this is the body of Christ broken for us.

This is the blood that was spilled for the forgiveness of sins. So there's a sacredness to this practice, because we are partaking with Christ in these things.

And we remember the sacrifice that was given for us.

What great sacrifice had to be paid for our sins so that we might be forgiven and have right standing with God.

So these things are very, very important. And I'm constantly meditating on the

Lord's table and even thinking about what others have written about this in the past, how the church has been practicing this over centuries.

I'll come to various teachings on this, because I want to know. Even though I've been doing it for 10 years, in serving the

Lord's table for 10 years, I still want to be sure that I am handling this in a proper way.

That this is the reverent way that is honoring to the

Lord and that we as Christians together partake in a way that is worshipful and meaningful, because it's the way that God said it is to be done, not the way that we want it to be done.

It is not something that we are at liberty to mess around with. And that's what I think this guy is doing.

So Melissa, take 1 Corinthians 11, read that. And that, I would say, should be the passage that you would use to help guide your friends in understanding a right and proper practice of the

Lord's table. And have grace with them and be very patient. And if they start getting a little,

I don't know, agitated, go ahead and take a break from it and table it for another time.

Let's talk about this when civil heads can. Yeah, and go home and study and come back if you have any questions or when you have questions, come back and let's chat some more.

Yes, because once a person gets angry over that, it's really difficult to overcome that.

It's done. Yeah. Yeah. So let cooler heads prevail. And if they calm down, it's usually because they've checked out.

So no matter what talking you get later, it's usually to a brick wall. So. Yeah, take some time to breathe.

Yeah. And it's okay. You know, pray for them. Yes. Definitely pray for them.

And for that pastor as well. Oh my goodness. Yes. Well, that is the end of our program today. And we thank you for listening.

Once again, you can submit your questions to when we understand the text at gmail .com. God bless you guys at ShepCon.

Yes. Enjoy this last day and have a safe trip home. Oh, amen. Let's finish with prayer.

Yes, let's. Heavenly Father, we thank you for what you have given to us in your son, the salvation that we have received in Christ and the forgiveness of sins.

And then through Christ, our mediator, that we can come to you in prayer and we can pray to you in our mind.

We can pray to you with our mouth, but let us pray with our whole body, with everything that we are.

We are subject to Christ, giving our whole body unto the Lord as a spiritual act of worship and teach us what it means to pray without ceasing, to have a mind that is constantly focused on Christ in obedience to what he instructed in Matthew six, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all the things that we need will be added to us as well.

We pray for those who have been affected by this tragedy in Nashville, and I pray that you would give them comfort in their spirits.

There are people there to share the gospel with those who need to hear it as they're asking questions about why does devastation happen in this world?

It's because of the sinfulness of man. And yet Christ has promised us that he is making all things new and there is eternal life forever with him in glory.

So let there be bold persons, even in the midst of tragedy, who are the hands and feet of Christ and are taking the gospel to a questioning people.

And then I pray also for Melissa, who is needing to lead her friends in a proper understanding of what is being represented here at the

Lord's table and how we practice this wonderful sacrament of communion. And I pray that you give her a sound mind and good judgment according to what is said in your word.

May in all things we find the sufficiency for all manner of faith and practice here in the word of God, the

Bible, and know that this truth is inerrant and guides us in all that we need. In Christ's name we pray, amen.

Amen. Turn this off.

I did not bring the letter. Oh, you didn't? No, because I think she asked me not to say anything.

Okay, that's fine. So I was going to respect that. I did send her a private

DM thanking her. Okay. So she knows. Gotcha. Excuse me.

I think I still have like cheese on my throat. Waiting on you, babe. From those chicken enchiladas.

Yum. They were so good. Good. I'm glad. I know. I was doing that upstairs.

Sorry. Could have been all the dust I was moving around. Yeah, it could be the coronavirus too.

It could be. Have you washed your hands lately? Oh, I just touched my face. Oh no. I did.

Let me lick my finger and turn the page. Give me a wet willy. Ew, no.

Oh. No wet willies during the coronavirus scare.

Oh, they're so gross. Oh my goodness. Stop. Stop. They give me the willies, like just talking about it.

That's probably where that term comes from even. Nope, I'm sure. We ought to do like a special ways you can spread coronavirus.

It's so bad. Now you're going to have to explain to our children how what a wet willy is.

Well, people will hear us coughing and be like, I'm going to stop listening to this before I get coronavirus. I'm just listening to it.

We are not contagious. Over the mic. We also don't have coronavirus.

We don't. We have not tested positive. We've not tested positive for it. Yeah, right.