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Hello, and welcome to the first ever Bible questions and answers session here at
Morris Corner Church.
The reason why we're doing this is because Wednesday, the day
this video premieres, we're having our annual church business meeting.
Therefore, we can't have our Bible study in the book of Exodus.
So because of the people watching online and just we want to be consistent,
and I also didn't want to use it as an excuse to take a little bit of time off, I
decided to put together this Q &A session.
Several church members have submitted questions, so let's dive right into it.
So the first question of our time together is this.
If Christ could not have sinned, how could his temptation have
been a genuine temptation?
And that's a very good question.
Well, let me start out by reading what Matthew chapter four, verse one
says.
It says that Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the
devil.
So with this question, I think there's a presupposition, right?
If Christ could not have sinned.
So we're assuming that Christ could not have sinned.
So let's start with that.
Is that true?
Was it impossible for Jesus to sin?
Well, as evangelical Bible -believing Christians who believe in the deity of Christ,
yes, I would affirm, we would affirm that because Jesus is the son of God,
God in human flesh, it was not possible for him to sin.
God cannot sin.
So if that is the case, and we believe most certainly that it is, then the question is, how
was his temptation real?
If he couldn't sin, was he really tempted?
Well, this is a pretty common question, actually, and I think the key is that there is a
presupposition that is incorrect.
And here it is, that people think that in order for the temptation to be real,
the person being tempted must either give into it or at least have the ability to
give into it.
And we think that because it's just our common experience.
Anyone on earth who's tempted at some point gives into that temptation.
But that wasn't the case, obviously, with the son of God.
Here's what we know for sure.
We know for sure that Jesus was tempted because the Bible says that he was tempted.
Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15 says,.
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in
all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
So the Bible says Jesus was tempted.
The word temptation there, and this might help to clear this up.
If you look up the definition for the word temptation, it means to try something or to
test someone to see how they will respond or or try whether a thing can be
done.
And certainly Satan tried to get Jesus to sin and tempt
God.
So Jesus was tempted.
Jesus was tested.
Satan tried to get him to sin.
And then we see how he responded in Matthew chapter 4.
Jesus says away with you, Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him
only shall you serve.
Then it says the devil left him and behold, the angels of God came and ministered
to him.
One last thing.
We try to get some application for us.
You don't have to give into temptation.
The Bible says in James chapter 4 verse 7, therefore, submit to God, resist the devil,
and he will flee from you.
All right.
The next question submitted by a member of Moore's Corner Church is
with rainbow colors being used so often in our society today.
Could you please explain what the rainbow means to someone who believes in the Bible as the word of God?
Good question.
So obviously, in the 21st century, the rainbow, at least when the colors
are arranged in a certain order, what does it represent?
Well, the word that we hear, it represents pride.
Right.
Pride.
More specifically, in certain sexual behaviors.
Well, what's God's viewpoint on pride?
What does the Bible say about pride?
Pride is not virtuous.
Whether we're talking about those things or anything else for that matter, pride is not a virtue.
God desires that people would be humble and that we submit
to his will.
Because if you want to live a joyful life, you should submit to the
one who created you because he knows what's best for you.
So we talk about these questions, and I think that's where the question is coming from, and that's how I want to
answer.
We talk honestly about these things because we care about people and we want God's best for them.
The Bible says that God created man in his own image, and we experience God's best when we
submit to our creator.
But unfortunately, and here's where we're getting into the rainbow biblically, in the book of Genesis,
mankind, it said, had become so corrupt that every living
creature in the world, God judged the world and destroyed everybody and
everything except for Noah and his family and the animals that he brought upon the ark.
So God determined he was going to judge the world with a worldwide flood because man
had become so corrupt.
So to make a long story short, after the flood was over, Noah and his family got off the ark.
And in Genesis chapter 9, it says that God established a covenant with Noah and
his descendants after him, which is the entire human race.
And with every living creature on earth, here's the agreement that God made that he would never again
judge the world by water.
There would never again be a worldwide flood.
And the sign of the covenant was the rainbow.
God put his rainbow in the sky.
It's interesting that nobody had ever seen a rainbow before that.
And a lot could be said about the earth's atmosphere prior to the flood and then after the
flood.
But the point is, when we see the rainbow in the sky, that represents God's
covenant.
His covenant promise to never again bring judgment upon the world through a flood.
However, because mankind continues to rebel against God, the Bible says
in 2 Peter chapter 3 that the heavens and the earth, which are now preserved by that same word,
are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
So God is never going to destroy the earth again with water, but he is going to do it again with
fire.
So the rainbow in nature, here's what we need to remember as Christians.
The rainbow in nature is a beautiful sign of God's
covenant with humanity and the entire earth.
I think it was back in 2015, many of you will remember this,
when the White House was lit up in rainbow colors.
Well, it was after that, maybe a year after that, I forget exactly when, but Ken Ham, who
leads the ministry Answers in Genesis, his group built the Christian theme park
called the Ark Adventure, where there's a life -size replica of Noah's Ark.
Well, Ken Ham had the Ark lit up with the rainbow
colors.
Why?
Because the rainbow belongs to us.
It was created by God and it speaks to his covenant promise
with mankind.
And again, one final statement on this.
We speak truth to these controversial issues because we care about people
and we need to pray for people who are deceived.
The Bible, speaking about love, says in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, love is
not proud.
Love does not rejoice in iniquity.
Rather, it rejoices in the truth.
Okay.
The third question submitted by a church member.
How do you really know this is such a great question.
How do you really know if you are forgiven?
Well, I think there is a simple answer to that.
If you trusted in Christ as your Lord and Savior, you can know that you are forgiven because
God says so.
And I think you're probably expecting that answer.
Well, 1 John chapter 1, when you should expect it because 1 John 1 9 says, if we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
If a person has faith in the Lord, that here's the key.
If a person has faith in the Lord, that means they believe what he says.
So if you believe what God says and he says that you are forgiven, that's how you know.
Here's where it gets a little difficult because someone inevitably will respond and say,
yeah, well, you know, how do you know if you're wrong?
Maybe you're wrong.
Or somebody might say, and a Christian might say this.
Well, I don't feel forgiven.
You've probably experienced that.
And that's a that's a different issue.
There might be reasons why a person doesn't feel forgiven.
If a person says, well, how do you know?
How do you know you're forgiven?
How do you what if the Bible's wrong?
What if you're wrong?
Well, if you can't trust the Bible, you're an unbeliever and unbelievers might try to plant those
doubts in your mind.
And you need to disregard that because that's not the voice of the shepherd.
We need to follow the voice of the shepherd.
We need to listen to God.
But as far as someone who might say, I don't feel forgiven, that's a different issue.
There might be reasons why people don't feel forgiven.
If you did something wrong, you should certainly do what you can to make it right.
As human beings, we often feel guilty, don't we?
Because we are guilty.
So that's a normal feeling.
And it's actually a good thing that you feel guilty sometimes, because if a person never feels guilty
about anything, if a person never has any remorse, I think there's a word for that.
It's called a psychopath.
So, yeah, you feel guilty sometimes because you are.
But that's one issue.
If you've placed your faith in Christ, you are not guilty before God.
That's what we need to remember.
If you trust in the Lord, He says you are forgiven.
You are not guilty before God.
Psalm 103 verse 12 says, As far as the east is from the west, so far has He
removed our transgressions from us.
That is either true or it's not.
And if we believe God, it's true.
Your sins are forgiven.
So understand whether or not you feel forgiven, that has no bearing on whether or not you are
actually forgiven.
Satan wants you to live in guilt.
Other people might want to manipulate you and have you live in guilt.
But the Bible says, well, Satan's the accuser of the brethren.
What else do you expect from him?
But the Bible says you're forgiven.
Christ has forgiven you of all your sin.
If you have repented and placed your trust in Him.
And of course, Paul says that we should not live in sin any longer.
Jesus told the woman caught in adultery, go and sin no more.
So really, this is a matter of faith.
A person might have a weak faith and then they start to have doubts and question this.
But if a person's faith, even if their faith is weak, the object of their faith,
Jesus Christ, He is strong.
Hebrews 7 .25 says that Christ is able to save to the uttermost those
who come to God through him.
Since he always lives to make intercession for them.
So we have a lot of good questions.
And here's another one.
On what day were the dinosaurs created and where are they
mentioned in Scripture?
A lot of people will be interested in this question.
What day were the dinosaurs created and where are they mentioned in Scripture?
Well, first, let me point out that the word dinosaur is a modern term.
You wouldn't expect to find that word in the Bible.
Obviously, they would be called something else.
Perhaps that's where the whole idea of dragons came from.
Because dragons are mentioned in Scripture.
And understand that today there are obviously there's a lot of mythical stories about dragons and
we're not affirming any of that.
But understand that today there are a lot of theories that people present as facts.
And they're not really facts at all.
Such as the theory of evolution.
Well, it's just a theory.
It's not science.
Nobody was there to observe it.
You can't test it.
How is it science?
But evolution is presented, though, in the public school system as though it were a fact.
So evolution, the Big Bang, and what they teach about dinosaurs, nobody
really knows.
But these are theories, right?
And the history of the Earth being billions of years old.
These are all theories.
They are not facts.
So all of those things are connected.
And they are, I would argue, part of a religion.
Part of the religion of atheism.
So what does the Bible say?
What does the Bible say?
Were there large land animals that went extinct?
Yes.
Did they live 100 million years ago?
150 million years ago?
No.
Because the Bible teaches that the Earth is about 6 ,000 years old.
That's what the Bible teaches.
So if you walk into a museum, you say, well, the scholars say, well, of course they do, because they believe
in evolution and they don't believe in God.
So they're obviously not going to affirm the Bible.
But if you walk into a museum and you see a large skeleton of a dinosaur on
display, just maybe start asking a few questions and say, are these actually all the bones of this
dinosaur?
And if you start digging into it, no pun intended, I think you'll be
surprised at what you find out.
But to the question, when were dinosaurs created or what day?
As for any land animal, the day that the dinosaurs were
created were on day six.
And you can read about that in Genesis 1, 24 through 31.
Some of these animals are described in the book of Job, chapter 40,
which means Job was familiar with them.
Some of them were still roaming the Earth when the book of Job was written, maybe about
5 ,000 years ago or 4 ,000 years ago.
Excuse me.
Job talks about the behemoth, right, which is the largest of all of God's
creatures.
And Job says that he eats grass like an ox and his tail swings like a cedar tree.
So when you think about that in Job, chapter 40, the largest creature God ever created, his
tail swings like a cedar tree.
That sounds like a dinosaur.
Then there is the Leviathan in Job 41, which is a sea creature.
Of course, the sea creatures were created on day five.
So the Bible gives us the information.
It's just a matter of whether or not you believe God's word.
Or are you going to believe what you see on television and listen to what the atheists tell you?
You know, it's your choice.
But just know this, that the atheists have an agenda.
And really, it's not that they don't believe in God.
It's that they are opposed to God.
They are anti -theists.
It has been said that atheists know two things.
Number one, that there is no God and that they hate him.
And I think that sums it up well.
All right, next question.
How do you know when God wants you to do something?
Here's the example.
If the situation comes up and you need to make a decision, how do you know if you should act
upon it?
How do you know if it's God's will?
So how do you know if God wants you to do something?
Okay, good question.
I think we need to start by acknowledging that God, in this age,
God does not speak from heaven and tell us audibly what we should do this afternoon.
Or send an angel to tell us what town to move to, what job to take, who to marry, etc.,
etc.
He does, however, give us commands and principles to follow in his word.
Now, we could also talk about the leading of the Holy Spirit.
But how do you know if it's the Holy Spirit leading you to do something versus it's
just something that you want to do?
Here's the thing.
Everything, everything needs to be tested against the word of God.
You need to take whatever situation it is and ask, what does the Bible say about this?
Maybe not what does it say about this specifically, but that topic in general.
What principles does the Bible give us concerning this?
That's what we need to ask.
We know that there are certain things that we are not supposed to do.
Thou shalt not murder.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness.
And there are certain things that you know you are supposed to do, right?
Christians, we know we are supposed to be baptized, Matthew 28, 19.
We know that we are supposed to go to church, assemble with other believers, Hebrews 10, 25.
So there's all sorts of things we are supposed to do good works, Ephesians 2, verse 10.
So we know a lot of things what we're not supposed to do.
We know the things that we are supposed to do.
But what happens when a situation comes up that the Bible doesn't specifically address
or give an answer yes or no?
Well, I think we need to look at the scripture, get godly counsel.
You know, what is the principle?
The Bible, does it address this in any way?
And then if it's an area God has left you free on, you say, what do
I want to do?
What do I want to do?
But everything needs to be tested against God's word.
You say, well, what do you mean?
What do you want to do?
Well, Psalm 37 says, delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of
your heart.
So if there is an area that God has left you free, what town to move to?
We could use wisdom, right?
But delight yourself in the Lord.
He'll give you the desires of your heart.
Test it against the word of God.
If you're free, what do you want to do?
Because maybe it's God who has put that desire in your heart.
Again, I think it's wise to get some counsel from mature Christians that you know or talk
to your pastor.
But as for that general question, you know, what is the will of God?
There is a specific answer to that.
And Paul tells the Thessalonians, the will of God for your life is your sanctification.
So test everything against the word of God.
Pray on it.
Get godly counsel.
Proverbs 15 verse 22 says, without counsel, plans go awry.
But in the multitude of counselors, there is safety.
So no matter what it is, always ask, what does the Bible say about this?
And if you're not sure, and if you don't have peace about making a decision, you can always wait.
Sometimes we should just wait.
But talk to your pastor.
Reach out.
Get some godly counsel if you're not sure.
Here, this may be the most controversial question.
What is the best Bible version to use?
Oh, boy.
First, let me give the disclaimer.
I don't think there's any right answer to this.
To some degree, right, this would be a matter of an opinion.
But I assume the person knows that.
And they're asking, what do you think, pastor, is the best Bible version to use?
Well, my initial thoughts are the best Bible for you is the Bible that you'll actually read.
And then I have the thought that it's probably good to use the Bible that your pastor preaches
from and teaches from.
I think that would be helpful.
There's exceptions, of course.
For example, I would discourage someone from reading from the
MSG.
Okay, this is, it's not even really a Bible translation.
But The Message by Eugene Peterson, that was popular years ago.
But understand, it's not really a Bible.
I'm not against you if you have a copy on yourself or if you have read it and you enjoyed reading it.
I'm not against you.
It's not a Bible, though.
That is one man who rewrote the Bible in his own words, and then he marketed it to Christians.
It's not a translation.
It can't even really be called a paraphrase.
So I would be opposed to someone using The Message as their Bible.
If you read it for easy reading or something, well, I don't know.
That's between you and God.
But it's not a Bible.
So I would be against someone using that, certainly preaching and teaching from that as your Bible.
Also, there is the New World Translation put out by the Jehovah's Witnesses.
That is a corruption of the Bible.
I don't think you're going to see too many evangelicals carrying that to church.
But there would be some exceptions, because I said whatever Bible, the best one is the one that
you'll read.
There would be some exceptions, obviously.
By the way, when I mentioned people carrying their Bibles to church, you know, that's still important.
That's still important.
When you're in the pew on Sunday morning, during Sunday school or during the sermon, it's still important to have
your Bible open.
It's still important to have a notepad and a pen.
And I know I'm preaching now a little bit, but it's still important.
And I know a lot of people today, they use their cell phone, the Bible app, or they have a tablet.
And, you know, that's very helpful because you have a hundred different Bible versions at the tip of your
finger.
My advice would be if you use your cell phone, because it's easier to see with the backlit screen and everything.
Maybe put it on airplane mode, just so you don't get those text messages and
notifications coming through to distract you.
But as for the best Bible version, yeah, talk to your pastor.
This is always good advice.
If you're in a Bible -believing church, talk to your pastor.
The majority of scholars, I think, would probably tell you that the NASB or the New
American Standard Bible is the most accurate translation.
That's what you typically hear these days.
And without getting into a big discussion about it, I'll just make a few more comments.
I prefer the line of manuscripts that gave us the King James Version and the New King James
Version, which is the version that I use, the New King James.
I prefer that line of manuscripts over the line that gave us the NASB or the NIV or the ESV or
all the rest.
Now, again, I said this is probably the most controversial of all questions, as amazing as
that may seem, because I know that sometimes I've seen this many, many occasions
throughout the years.
You know, people have their Bible version, and if they perceive that someone is maybe kind of being a little
critical of that Bible version, they can get offended.
And that's not what we're trying to do.
But, yeah, that's a few pieces of advice.
I mean, I would prefer the King James or the New King James.
I would say it's helpful just so everyone's on the same page to use the Bible the
pastor is preaching from.
Or, you know, the best version for you is the version that you'll actually read.
So that's an opinion.
If you disagree with that, you can disagree with that if you want.
All right, here's the next question.
How will we recognize our loved ones in heaven?
Well, if the last one was the most controversial, this one might be the hardest question.
You know, if you want to stump the pastor in a Q &A, all you have to do is ask
a question where there's not really an answer given, and then you'll stump him.
So I don't think that the Bible really tells us how we can recognize our loved ones
in heaven.
I'll do my best in trying to respond to this.
In heaven, we are not going to be the way we are now.
Thank God.
And presumably, that means we are not going to look the way we do now.
You know, in heaven, will you be 12, 25?
If you're 85, will you be 85 in heaven?
You know, will someone be bald in heaven?
Like, there's all these questions, and I don't know.
Is that a carnal way of thinking?
We don't really know the answer to this.
Here's what we do know.
In heaven, things are going to be different.
Presumably, we're going to look different.
And I can say that because in the Scripture, you remember when Jesus was raised from
the dead and he had his new glorified body, Mary Magdalene saw him.
She didn't recognize him.
And she thought he was the gardener.
And it wasn't until after he spoke to her, that's when she recognized him,
right?
So, without speculating too much, I do believe we will know each other
in glory.
There's no reason to think that we wouldn't.
But it has to be said, or it has been said, that when the Bible remains
silent, so should we.
If the Bible is silent about a certain thing, we should be silent because there's not really any answer
given.
What's important is that you know you are going to heaven.
If you had a loved one who passed on many years ago and they're in heaven right now, what's
important, as far as seeing them again, what's important, if they're already there, what's important is that you
make sure you are going there.
And the Bible does give us the assurance of salvation.
It is possible, 1 John 5, 13.
Final question.
So, thank you for everybody who has tuned in.
For the members of Morris Corner Church who have submitted their questions.
For non -members, people in other states, subscribers to the
YouTube channel, thank you for listening.
Here is the final question.
What does it mean to be a true Christian?
This might be the most important question of all.
You know, we can disagree about dinosaurs a little bit.
People can have differing ideas of what Bible translation is the best.
But the thing that we cannot disagree on is the gospel.
The gospel, according to 1 Corinthians 15, 1 through 4, the gospel is
faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4 says that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.
That he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.
So, the question is, what does it mean to be a true Christian?
Because I think there's something like 2 billion people on earth who profess to be Christian.
Well, what does it mean to be a true Christian?
You must be born again.
You must be born again through faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Here's the thing, though.
There are many people who call themselves Christians who are not Christians
at all.
That's ultimately God's place to judge.
That's the Lord's call on who is and who isn't.
But Jesus made this very clear in Matthew chapter 7.
That many on that day will say to him, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name and done all these things in your name?
And what does Jesus say to them?
I never knew you depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.
So, there's a lot of people who think they're Christians, but they're not.
A lot of people who say they're Christians, but they're not.
And that's according to Jesus, not me.
So, the first thing is that we hold to the true gospel of
Jesus Christ.
The gospel is salvation by faith alone, not of works.
It's by grace through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast.
Ephesians 2, 8 and 9.
Nobody can work their way to God.
Nobody is good enough in and of themselves for God to accept them.
The only thing that can make us right before God is faith in Christ
and faith alone.
Because it is Christ alone who saves.
It's not based on you and your performance because, hey, I'm a pretty good person.
Of course, God will accept me.
Wrong.
That's not what the Bible teaches.
The Bible says in Hebrews 11, verse 6, without faith, it is impossible to please
So, there's a lot of people who say they're Christians, but in their hearts, they're trusting in their own good works.
Or they have not fully recognized that they are a sinner before God.
No, they think they're pretty good.
So, what does it mean to be a true Christian?
You are trusting in the true gospel.
You are trusting in Christ and in Christ alone for your salvation.
And then the second thing I would say, second thing I want to stress, is that if your faith is
real, there will be a sorrow over sin.
Because it's sin and the penalty of sin that we are saved from.
2 Corinthians 7, verse 10, for godly sorrow produces repentance
leading to salvation.
So, repentance leads to salvation.
Godly sorrow over sin.
So, the evidence of salvation, here's the point, the evidence of salvation is a changed
life.
That's why it's being called born again, right?
Before, you were a sinner.
You didn't have any regard for the things of God or maybe God was up there somewhere.
But when you become born again, you have new desires.
You have a new love for the Lord that you didn't have before.
You have a love for God's people.
You sin.
If you sin, you're sorry and you confess it to God.
And while salvation is by faith alone, the faith that saves is
not alone.
There is going to be some evidence of your salvation.
I would like to close with Jesus' words in the Gospel of John, chapter 15, where he
says, I am the vine, you are the branches.
He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit.
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and
it shall be done for you.
By this, my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so
you will become my disciples.