WWUTT 1770 Q&A Morning Joe Rant, Song of Songs, Illegal Immigration, Honor Everyone

How should we as Christians engage in political issues? Do the man and the woman in Song of Songs go a little too far? And how do we show honor to all people? The answers to these questions when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible commentary that we may be equipped for every good work in Jesus Christ our Lord. Please tell others about our ministry at www .utt .com. Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky, who is not in studio with me this week, but she sends you her love. I'm working on something right now, or I'm trying to get this project rolling anyway, that when completed could mean that Becky would be more regular on the Friday edition of the broadcast.

On Fridays, we take questions from the listeners. You can submit those questions to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com. And it's these Friday episodes where Becky usually joins me. But you probably have noticed since we've moved to Texas, we're coming up on two years now, since we've moved here to Texas, she hasn't been as regular on Friday because we're not recording from home anymore.

I've got my recording equipment at the church. We've got to find somebody to watch the kids or our schedules have to line up and she can't be sick or tired. You know, there's all sorts of things. The stars have to align in order for things to work out for her to be here and record these episodes.

We've also had to cut them in half. We're not regularly an hour anymore. It's just about 30 minutes. So I'm working on building something at home. And I'm going to tell you a little bit more about that at the end of the episode.

So hang tight. I want to share some details about that. Before I get to our questions today, I want to begin with a particular passage. This is a passage I have to come back to pretty regularly because I can tend to be an argumentative person or a little combative with some other people.

And I need to come to this passage to humble myself and to trust in God and continue to grow in what I have been taught and learned through his words. So this is Philippians chapter two, beginning in verse 12, work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who is at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing so that you will be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world holding fast the word of life.

I can get pretty passionate about certain moral causes, as I'm sure you probably can as well. Right. And sometimes my passion for those moral issues will take me into a political realm or on a social platform as I defend those things that are right and good.

And it might be things like defending unborn life, hating abortion, wanting to abolish abortion and protect human life or the preservation of marriage, defining it as a man and a woman for life as God created it to be, according to his word.

These things will get politicized, but they're moral issues. And if we don't take a stand on those things, if we let the leftists have this stuff, people die. I mean, the leftists just want to kill everybody is the way that it looks.

But sometimes when we argue about these things in the world, like we step into the world to to defend those things that are right and good against those that want to destroy them. Sometimes when we venture into that arena, we can, if we're not careful, and it certainly happens with me, we can start to argue and talk like the world.

Right. We argue with them. We grumble and dispute like they do. Like Paul talking about here in Philippians 214, do all things without grumbling or disputing. We need to be careful with our language and the way that we push back on these things that we seem otherworldly in how we talk about this stuff.

We don't act like the rest of the world. We act like somebody who is outside of the world for this world is not our home. But we are looking toward the heavenly kingdom of God for all those who are in Christ Jesus.

That is our permanent destination. That's where we have our citizenship. Now, we live in respective countries, but that's just while we're in these bodies here on this planet. Our true citizenship is in heaven, as Paul will also say in Philippians coming up in chapter three anyway, so we can defend these moral issues.

And it's good to do that for this for the sake of defending those rights so that we have those opportunities to share the gospel and do so without fear of tyranny from our own government or being harmed by people around us in the society.

We defend those things that are right and good so that we may continue to have a platform to be able to share the gospel of Christ. We must remember as we defend even these moral causes that we don't forget the gospel.

You can succeed at every moral argument that you desire to win, that you desire to be upheld. Every ethic that you want to have upheld in your society, you could succeed at all of that. But if you have not shared the gospel of Jesus Christ, all you've given people is a comfortable seat on their way to hell.

Notice again what Paul says here in Philippians two. What is what is first? We must work out our salvation with fear and trembling. And what's at the tail end of that section that I read to you, holding fast the word of life.

So we don't grumble in dispute. We shine as lights in the world in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. But on the on the opposite sides of those instructions, the bookends to those instructions are that we're working at our salvation.

We're holding fast to the word of life. We don't forget the gospel. And we continue to share the gospel, not just arguing these moral issues, which, again, it's good that we do as long as we're remembering the gospel.

We remember it for us, that we may grow in sanctification, that we are representing Christ rightly as we venture into these different arenas in the world. And we also recognize that it is only this gospel that saves anyone we're talking to.

They could be like us on all these moral issues. But if they don't have the gospel, then they are not saved. They're going to go to hell just like the leftists, just like those who do evil and wickedness in our society.

The conservatives will even go to the same place as them if they do not have Jesus Christ. It's a sad thought to think about, but there are going to be many conservatives in hell, too. They were on the right side of the political debates, but they did not have the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It's easy for me, as I said before, it's easy for me to jump into these moral issues and forget the gospel. Don't forget the gospel. Don't forget it for yourself. Don't forget it for others. Now, on that note, I just recently did a what video that deals with a certain moral issue that gets politicized, but it's moral.

I mean, it's necessary for us to have to vote a certain way in order to defend unborn life. You can't vote Democrat. I'm going to say that over and over and over again. You cannot remain consistent in your Christian ethics and vote Democrat.

You just can't do it. Recently, Joe Scarborough, who's the host of Morning Joe on MSNBC, he made a statement about abortion that Jesus was pro-abortion. So I did a what video about that. I'm going to play that for you here.

And then my first question has to do with this video. So here we go. This was the most recent what video that was released earlier this week. MSNBC Morning host Joe Scarborough claims that Jesus was pro-abortion.

As a Southern Baptist, I grew up reading the Bible. Maybe a backslidden Baptist, but I still know the Bible.

By the way, his third wife is sitting next to him, with whom he committed adultery.

Jesus never once talked about abortion. Never once.

In Matthew 15, 19, Jesus said, for out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false witness, and slanders.

And it was happening back in ancient times. It was happening during his time.

The law says if a child in the womb is delivered prematurely and killed, you shall pay life for life.

Guess who's the author of that law? For people perverting the gospel of Jesus Christ down to one issue, it's heresy.

Name one person who's saying the gospel is being anti-abortion. The gospel is that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. But if you want to argue that Jesus approves of the murder of unborn children, you're the heretic.

If you don't believe me, if that makes you angry, why don't you do something you haven't done in a long time? Open the Bible, open the New Testament, read the red letters. You won't see it there.

Said the adulterer, the whole Bible is the word of Christ. He does not disagree with any part of it. Like Psalm 106, which says, they sacrifice their sons and their daughters to the demons, and they shed innocent blood.

So the anger of Yahweh was kindled. In Revelation 21 .8, Jesus said, in red letters, But as for the cowardly and unbelieving, the abominable and murderers, the sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.

Repent of your sin and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Jesus said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. You can be sure of this, Jesus hates abortion.

When we understand the text. Now that particular clip went on a little bit longer than that. Scarborough continued to rant about how these people are just pro-birth. They're not really pro-life. So they care about the life in the womb, but then when they're born, they don't care about him anymore.

A typical leftist talking point. And he said, you know what else Jesus said? He said, you need to care for the poor and the needy, and these people don't do that. Listen, who's more poor and needy than an unborn child in the womb?

It's just flat out wrong to say that the pro-life movement doesn't care for the poor and needy. There are more pregnancy care centers than there are abortion clinics in the country. In the number something like three to one, there's three pregnancy care centers to every one abortion clinic.

And when you go to those pregnancy care centers, I mean, they just dole out charity to these women who are struggling with a pregnancy situation, which they've probably been abandoned by the man. And so there's much care that is done for these women and for these children, even after that child is born.

Most charities are Christian folks. They're started by churches and other para-church organizations. So anyway, Scarborough was just going on and on about, you know, stupid leftist talking points. He doesn't know anything about the issue itself.

He doesn't know anything about what the pro-life movement does, and he doesn't know his Bible. He just straight up doesn't know the Bible. I think that was pretty evident. So with regards to that video, Scott emailed and he said, Scarborough, the scripture that came to mind when Scott was watching that video was in Psalms, Psalms 50, 16.

But to the wicked, God says, what right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips? Amen, Scott. That's a great point. Yeah, that was just vanity. It was it was Scarborough just blaspheming, claiming that he knew the Bible and what Jesus taught, which was it was just nothing but gaslighting.

So Scott goes on to say it's something the world does when they use scripture. It's never to glorify Yahweh. Loved the video. I reposted it to Facebook. Also, are you on Twitter via what guy or is this just a clever brother in Christ?

Yes. So there is a Twitter account out there. That's WWU TT guy. Is that me? I'll only say this. I did not start the account. It was started with my permission several years ago. It doesn't belong to me.

But I have had some input in what gets posted on it, because what is mine when we understand the text belongs to me. So the person that started that asked my permission. I said that they could. And then I provided input with what gets posted on there.

And that's as much as I'm going to say, hey, listen, I got banned from Twitter. I'm banned because I called out sin and I shared the gospel because I said homosexuality was worthy of death, exactly what the Bible says.

And I said, turn from your sin to the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's all I did in a single tweet. And I got permanently banned from Twitter. My phone number is blocked. So if I enter my phone number on any other account, phone number or email address, Twitter's going to lock it down.

They've got me flagged. I am a threat to people's social media experience who just want to sin and not be told that they're doing anything wrong. And that judgment would come upon them if they continue in that way.

And they must turn from it to the gospel of Christ. They don't want to be told that. And so to protect those people who love their sin, I've been banned from Twitter. Therefore, I'm not going to jeopardize the what guy Twitter account by signing into it with my phone number or my email address.

But yes, I have provided some input in some of the things that gets posted on that account. This next question comes from Joel. Hello, Pastor Gabe and Mrs. Becky. I've been enjoying the Song of Songs podcast episodes on Thursday so far.

How would you contrast the modern issue of men simping, which is putting a potential significant other on a pedestal? I would probably describe it as lustful idolatry versus the language used in Song of Songs between the woman and the man.

Can we go overboard when attempting to woo? When can the line be crossed? Thank you for your podcast. Now I'm not really that up on modern day lingo, but I actually do know what simping is. And it's not necessarily putting someone up on a pedestal.

It is fawning over a person who really does not reciprocate your desire back to you. So so you love this person, you obsess over them, but they don't really care for you at all. That's simping is you're acting like a simp.

In other words, putting someone on a pedestal is to think of someone as perfect and they have no faults. And the problem with that, of course, is that it's just unrealistic. That person is going to let you down.

They're going to do something that that that will, you know, crumble your expectations of them. And it's a lot of pressure to put on a person to expect them to have to perform perfectly all the time. They can't make any mistakes and they have to meet your every need, which no person can do that.

Not even your boyfriend or girlfriend, your fiance or fiance. Do we still use that word or your husband or wife? You cannot expect your significant other to fulfill every longing and need that you have.

Only Christ can do that. He is sufficient for our every need. So, yes, it's possible for us to put too much into another person. That's not what we see in Song of Songs, though, as I've been as I've continued to repeat as we go through this, this is a couple that is honoring the Lord with their relationship and we see that everything that they are doing is right.

They are doing it in view of others. They're in broad daylight. It's not in nighttime. You know, they're not running off in the middle of the night in in away from the eyes of others in some sort of forbidden love.

That's not what this couple is doing. That's what we were told the adulterous does when we go back to like Proverbs six and seven. She's the one who at night is is beckoning the man to come to her. My husband is away.

So come by my house and the father is admonishing his son and telling him, stay far away from that woman's street. Don't even go down it. Don't even go to her house, for that is the way of destruction.

But the love that we're reading about in Song of Songs, the passion, you could put it that way. Even this is something that is pure. This is a virtuous woman who admires her man. This is a man who loves and cares for his woman, and they care for each other in the way that they are careful with each other.

Right. They're not going to consummate this affection that they have for each other until they get to their wedding night. So right now, at least where we're at in Song of Songs, this budding romance that they have with each other is being done in broad daylight and in view of other people.

It's not running away in the middle of the night to share our love and our feelings. Out of view of everybody else. Yeah, you can get into a lot of trouble doing that, getting together in the middle of the night.

That's not what this couple is doing. And really, when it comes down to it is we're reading these things in Song of Songs together. I think that everything that we've read thus far is pretty understandable.

Like we're understanding the metaphor, we're trying to understand the metaphor and the symbolism and things like that used in the language. But as far as the feelings are concerned, if you've ever been in love before, you can totally relate to this.

Maybe you've not known how to articulate it. And as we're reading through Song of Songs, you're going, yeah, OK, my affection for the gal that I like or the guy I like, it sounded a lot like that. Ladies, you've if you've been in love, if you've now gotten married, if you've been married many years, you surely remember that period where you're writing this man's name in your notebook and you're putting your name with his last name because you want to hear how it sounds.

You're thinking of kids names, you know, stuff like that. You think about it when you're laying on your pillow, just like the woman does that as she describes this in Song of Songs. And though the man, fellas, though you've got to go out and work, you're still thinking about that next time that you get together with your woman, that you get to see her again.

Right. Those are things that we've read about just in Chapter one of Song of Songs. So these feelings that we're reading are very relatable. There's nothing here that indicates going too overboard or man, that guy is just he's just a little too into his woman.

No, I tell you what, if you're convicted by what we're reading here, like ladies, if you think I need to admire my man as much as this woman admire her, admires hers or or fellows, you say I need to I need to be as loving and as affectionate in my language toward my spouse as this guy is.

If you've been hearing that as we've been going through Song of Songs, if that's been a conviction that's been on your heart, listen to that, because this is the word of God. This is the Holy Spirit speaking to you through Song of Songs and even convicting your heart that you might perfect your relationship a little bit more.

You would be sanctified together in your relationship into something that honors one another and most of all, honors God. Now, there's some other applications that I've made with regards to the passages we've read in Song of Songs.

But if you want to hear those other applications, you got to go back and listen to the episodes. I do Old Testament study on Thursday. Yesterday was my well, it was my third lesson in Song of Songs altogether, but it was the second time doing exposition since the first week was just an introduction to the book.

But you can catch the Song of Songs study on Thursday. This next question comes from Paula. She says, hello, Pastor Gabe and Becky. Thank you for your amazing podcast. I listen to them frequently. I was wondering what is a biblical response to people immigrating here illegally and then the further issue of busing these immigrants to sanctuary cities?

Is it a sin to knowingly come here illegally and enter our country, breaking our laws? And what of busing them to cities throughout the country? I've heard many liberals say that Jesus is not happy about this.

I'm torn in my heart. On one hand, I feel if you call yourself a sanctuary city, that you should have no problems accepting these people. But on the other hand, if they are being used as a political football, that doesn't seem right.

I'm trying to see all of this from a biblical, godly perspective. And not my flesh. Any help would be appreciated. May God bless you, both your family and your ministry. Paula, I've only lightly been following this issue.

I'm not very in depth on what is going on. So I'm not going to I'm not going to drone on about this issue politically with my own political opinions. But let me just say this. Entering a country illegally is breaking the law.

Romans 13, one says every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God and those which exist have been appointed by God. Now, as I am a citizen of the United States of America, I have to answer to my governing authorities here in America.

I don't have to answer to the governing authorities in Canada. But if I were to cross the border into their territory that they possess as the nation of Canada, I am now subject to their laws. And if I walk over into Canada illegally, I'm going to have to face the consequences for that.

Paul even goes on to explain that in Romans chapter 13, verse three. Rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of that authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same, for it is a minister of God to you for good.

But if you do what is evil, be afraid. So if you're going to break the law, be afraid. It does not bear the sword in vain, for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.

So these persons that are coming into the United States illegally from other places, they're generally when we're talking about people coming over the border, it's between Mexico and the United States.

But those people who are coming from Mexico were not just from Mexico. We've got people from the other Latin American countries and even South America. And you've got people from Europe that come over to Latin America and then come up into the United States from there because they feel like it's easier to get in through the southern border than it is, of course, to hop a plane or hop on a boat and get into the United States.

That way, a person can become an American citizen, should they so desire the inscription on the Statue of Liberty. Give me your tired, your poor. You're huddled masses yearning to be free. Now, of course, you're applying through the government and the government does not act speedily on these things.

And there's also, you know, all the different things you have to jump through about leaving this government for another government. And, you know, are you getting dual citizenship or you're transferring citizenship?

All of that stuff certainly takes some time. And to bypass that and whatever money you would have to pay, people are just trying to enter into the United States illegally. It's still illegal. They should be sent back.

You have to go through the proper process of everything that needs to be done to affirm identity, establish that person with citizenship so that they are allowed to vote. You know what's going on with the left right now?

They don't care about the millions of people that are coming over the border. They're fine with that because they're trying to abolish in respective areas that that you have to show ID in order to vote.

These people come in from another nation without ID and they tend to vote Democrat because Democrats are the ones that claim to have the policies for the poor and those on welfare and things like that.

They don't they don't help the poor. I'm tired of hearing that they don't. They want to keep you poor and they use the poor and they will make more people poor, but they're not helping the poor. Nonetheless, the people that come into the country illegally, they tend to vote Democrat.

And so that's why the Democrats. That's why the left are in favor of that. That's why they're OK with it. So to give some of these Democrat mayors in non-border cities a taste of their own medicine, you've got Republican governors and mayors who are busing illegal immigrants into these Democrat cities, those cities that have been called sanctuary cities for those who are illegal immigrants, as Paula talked about in her email.

And you've heard stories about them being sent to Chicago or being sent to Martha's Vineyard was the one that was earlier this week. I don't think that that is the answer to this because you're taking an illegal alien, somebody that is in the United States illegally, and you're just establishing them somewhere else in the United States.

I understand the kind of chess match that some of these Republican governors are playing, but they need to send them back. If you've got the money to send them to Martha's Vineyard in Chicago, you've got the money to send them back over the border.

That's what needs to happen. We are not a nation of kings. When you're talking about the United States of America, we're not ruled by kings or monarchs. This is a nation that is governed by laws. And so even governors, senators, representatives, the president in his cabinet, on and on it goes.

Even they have to be subject to these laws. They're not over those laws. They have to be subject to those laws. And when a governor does not take a person who is here illegally and send them back to the country that they came from, instead, he buses them to a sanctuary city and just establishes them deeper into the United States.

He's not upholding the laws that he is expected to uphold. If a person is here in the United States illegally, they've broken the law and they will continue to break the law. They didn't have any respect for the law when they came in.

They're not going to live here as a respecter of the law. And eventually you get enough people in here doing that. It's going to destroy the nation. Here we have even our own governors who are not respecting those laws, but using illegal citizens as chess pieces in political games that they're playing with one another.

So I'm disappointed to see this. I know a lot of people are like, you know, they're they're cheering for Governor Abbott, who's my governor here in the state of Texas or Governor DeSantis in Florida, because, hey, he's outsmarting the libs and he's sending those illegal aliens to them that they have to do something with them.

I get it. I understand, you know, when you're when you're watching the political gamesmanship, you want to cheer for your side. But I don't think that this is the right response. I mean, I understand that they're they're trying to open the eyes of the of the Biden administration to the crisis.

That is, well, you know, they're they're not even really trying to open the eyes of the Biden administration because the Bidens, the the Bidens, I'm just going to call them the Bidens. I don't have to say administration so much.

Anyway, Biden and his people, they know exactly what the problem is on the border. They don't want to do anything about it because, like I said earlier, the Democrats are fine with it of people coming in the nation illegally and voting Democrat.

Great. That's more votes in our pocket. Let's just do what we need to do to abolish voter ID laws so we can get more of these illegal people voting Democrat. It's all just political games. There is there are all kinds of things at play right now attempting to destroy the nation.

It's not just one or two things. It's all kinds of stuff. Paula, I know I said I was going to I was going to make that a short answer. And no, I think I went on about that a dozen minutes or so. I got one more question here.

I did not catch the name, though. I didn't take the name of the person that sent this in and wrote it on my page. So I'm submitting this question to you anonymously. Hi, Gabriel. I'm trying to understand.

First, Peter to 17, where Peter says, honor everyone, which seemingly is out of sync with other verses, including Proverbs 26, one which says, like snow and summer and like rain and harvest. So honor is not fitting for a fool.

And Romans 13, seven, we were just in Romans 13, which says pay to all what is due to them tax to whom taxes do custom to whom custom is due respect to whom respect is due honor to whom honor is due. This verse indicates to me that some are not worthy of honor.

So what does Peter mean in first Peter, where he says, honor everyone? Let's go to the verse and look at it in context. This is going to sound very similar to what we just read in Romans 13. I'm in first Peter to beginning in verse 13, be subject for the sake of the Lord to every human institution, whether to a king as the one who is in authority or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do good.

For such is the will of God that by doing good, you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free people and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as slaves of God. Honor all people, love the brethren, fear God, honor the king.

So what does Peter mean when he says honor everyone? Let me answer this in two ways. First of all, consider the opposite. What would the opposite be? Dishonor everyone, right? Does the scripture tell us to dishonor everyone?

No, you don't find that anywhere in the Bible. Is there anywhere that says that we should dishonor someone like anybody? No, there's nothing in the Bible that says dishonor this person, you can honor all of these, except that guy you should dishonor.

Even when we're looking at Proverbs 26, one, it doesn't say dishonor the fool. So when you look at the command that way, that helps you to understand it a little bit better. We are to show respect to all people.

In fact, Paul says in Galatians chapter six to show charity to everybody, especially to those who are of the household of faith. So our first focus is our brother and sister in the Lord, our church that we are a part of.

And then as we have opportunity, we show charity even to others so that we may share the gospel with them. Even showing that charity to people who are not brothers and sisters in the Lord, we use that as an opportunity to share the gospel, sharing charity with everybody.

So in the same way, this command that Peter gives in first Peter to 17 is that we should show respect to all and we respect different persons in different ways. Right. You're going to respect the person at the grocery checkout, the person who is checking out your groceries for you in a different way than you're going to respect the police officer in your community in a different way than you're going to respect, you know, the mayor of your town or something like that.

So we have a certain level of respect for every person in the respective offices or positions that they hold. That's what Peter is saying. So as we show honor to each person respectively, according to the rank or office that they have, especially in this context, because here in first Peter two, we're really talking about governing authorities more than anything else.

So that's the first way I wanted to explain this. Second way is that we're talking about two different kinds of literature when you're reading first Peter and when you're reading Proverbs 26, Proverbs 26 one is wisdom literature.

It's not actually giving you a command. It's giving you a general truth. It's sowing and reaping. If you sow this, then you'll reap this. That's the nature of Proverbs. So reminding you once again of what Proverbs 26 one is like snow in summer and like rain and harvest.

So honor is not fitting for a fool. Now, some translations. It will read like this, so glory is not fitting for a fool. That's a little bit different than honor. It's they're not parallel words. The word that's used there in Proverbs 26 one is not the same way nor context that Peter is using it in first Peter to 17.

So this would be better to understand. Proverbs 26 one would be better to understand it as like like a person who is a fool who won't grow in wisdom, but is doing those things that. Produce or yield wickedness or evil.

You don't want to give him a position in which he's going to use that evil mindset that he has to afflict or harm other people. Don't elect a fool for office might be the direct practical application that we would give to that.

Right. Don't show honor to a fool. Don't give glory to a fool in the sense that you are putting him in a position now where he's going to be afflicting other people. Right now, the fool is only harming himself, but you give him power.

You give him glory or a position of honor. And suddenly his foolishness becomes a detriment to everybody around him. So I hope that whoever this person was, I'll email you a link to the episode of this podcast when I go find the email that I got this from.

And hopefully that answer will work for you. I appreciate it. So that's the that's the questions that I have in front of me. And again, if you have any questions that you would like to submit, you can send them to when we understand the text at Gmail dot com.

Now, I said here at the very end, I was going to say to you what this project was that I'm working on. I've got a video that I'm going to do. I was hoping I was going to get this video done yesterday of exactly what this project is.