WWUTT 1240 Q&A Gates of Hell, Info Without Outrage, What is Dispensationalism?

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What did Jesus mean when he said the gates of hell will not prevail against the church? How can we be informed about the times without all the outrage?

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And what exactly is dispensationalism? The answers to these questions when we understand the text.

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This is When We Understand the Text, a daily Bible study in the Word of Christ, that we may follow the teaching that produces godliness and be shaped in the image of the

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Son. Tell your friends about our website, www .utt .com. Here once again is

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Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. You're welcome. You're looking a mite red there, dear. Just a wee bit.

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Just a few days into the summer. And Becky got her first sunburn.

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That's right. And I swear that I was under the shade for more than I was out in the sun.

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And I probably was. But, yeah. She's already had allergies.

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She's had migraines from those allergies. And she felt like she needed to add a sunburn to her woes.

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One more thing. Yep. So, just imagine whatever you're picturing us doing on this side of the microphone,

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I was going to say on these sides of the microphones. Where does the plural go in there? Anyway. Yeah, that's a little odd.

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Just picture that Becky's significantly redder than you might usually picture her.

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Yes. This is the Friday edition of the broadcast, and we respond to questions from listeners, which you can submit via email to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

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You can also find us both on Twitter, and we're on Parler. Yes. Parlay. No, don't do that.

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No. I ban. I forbid. You forbid. The reference of it being

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Parlay. All right. I'll submit. It's not Parlay. Thank you. We're patriarchal in this household.

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And not only is it pronounced Parler, but when you post something, it's a post.

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It's not a Parlay. It says that on the button. You post something, or you're typing something, and it says

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Parlay. Does it really? That's what it says. No idea. I haven't paid attention. We're talking about that now, just so you're aware, and then we're never bringing it up again.

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Check. It's Parler. And you can find Pastor Gabe on Parler, or are you

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Hughes Becky? I think I'm Hughes Becky for some reason. For some reason. Yeah. Why didn't you go with Becky Hughes?

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I have no idea. Surely that name wasn't taken yet. I think it chose for me. So it's

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Calvinist. Yeah. Yeah. It chose you instead of you choosing it. Sure.

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Now, on Parler, I want to start with this comment from Patrick Cho, who is the pastor of Lighthouse Bible Church in San Diego, and he shared this.

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Be known as one who speaks words that are true, that build up, that give grace.

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Generally, as a Christian, your speech should be life -giving. That's very much like what we read in Ephesians 4 .29.

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Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, so that it may give grace to those who hear.

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And to the Colossians, in Colossians chapter 4, Paul said, let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer each person.

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Our current day, the things that are going on in our world, desperately in need of that.

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Oh, yeah. There is no tact whatsoever. Oh, yeah. From the world side of things, it is -

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Merciless. Yeah. Graceless. Merciless, just shoot -in -your -face kind of words.

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And it's almost as if the world is handing you a card. You're allowed to complain about whatever you want to complain about.

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Unless it's about me. That's right. Yeah. Then you can't complain. You can claim a victim status for yourself, you can rant about whatever you want, as long as you allow me to rant about whatever

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I want. Until it involves me. That's right. As long as it doesn't have anything to do with me, and when it does, then it's oppression.

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Yes. Now I'm being oppressed. Yes. But how much do we need to be salt and light in this world as we are called to be followers of Christ?

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Being salt, and here we have the reference to our speech being seasoned with salt in Colossians chapter four, and always being gracious that we may give grace to those who hear.

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This is desperately needed, and we are shining a light in the midst of a crooked and depraved generation when we do all things without grumbling and complaining.

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I was just about to mention the grumbling and complaining part, because we're at home a lot more, and yes, our situations are very, very different than what they have been ever before.

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Yeah, pretty much. And the grumbling and complaining, it comes so naturally when you're comfortable at home, because you get done with a busy day at work, you come home, that's where you kind of let it all out, and then you regroup, and then you start the next day.

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Well, now that we're home all the time, be careful of how much grumbling and complaining you do, because there are other people around you still that are listening, and especially if you have children in the home.

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They see your character. They are listening. That's right. They are watching and seeing how you handle these things, and are likely going to grow up to do the same thing and repeat the same way.

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So be extra cautious, and guard your lips, guard your mouth. David praying to God, put a guard over my lips.

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Yes. So that way nothing unclean escapes from you. That's right. And let the words of my mouth be pleasing unto you,

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O Lord. Which means the things in your heart are being pleasing to the Lord too. That's right. It's out of the overflow of the heart and the mouth speaks.

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I've tried to be conscious of the way that I talk on the phone, and making sure if my kids were to overhear what

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I'm saying, which is entirely a possibility, they come to the study door, they're waiting for a break so that I can ask dad a question.

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So if my kids are listening, is what I'm saying going to minister to them, or would they hear a side of their dad

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I wouldn't want my kids to imitate? Right. If I don't want my children to imitate it, then I shouldn't be speaking in that way even on the phone.

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Right. If you're on social media in any capacity to do it there too.

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That's right. Thanks for adding that. Because there are more people, more people watching and listening and observing on social media than there are in your home.

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And I would say that even on social media, there might need to be an attempt there to be a little more -

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Oh, extra. A little more sickly sweet than you might be in person. Overly. Overly sweet.

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Yeah. Because people will read tone into it that you didn't intend. It's like they think you're... If you confront them about anything, they think you're shouting at them.

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Yes. And that it's angry. It's like angrily hurled at them. Yes. So, qualify your statements with things like respectfully, saying respectfully or kindly or using the word brother or sister, depending on who you're talking to.

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Brother, hey, I just... We don't agree here, da, da, da, da. However you engage in these topics, I think that we should be free to express disagreement online.

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I agree. Those kinds of conversations, don't think that as a Christian, you can't ever disagree with somebody in view of the public, but how you handle the disagreement is...

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Speaks volumes. That's right. Is gonna be the testimony. Never resort to personal insults, making fun of a person's appearance or something like that, but you're just talking the ideas through.

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And not just expressing yourself, but be sure also to listen to what the other person says and respond accordingly.

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Yep. Letting your speech always be gracious. That means including the words you type on the internet. Yes. Out of the overflow of your heart, the hands tweet.

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The hands tweet. That's what... Anyway. Moving on. The birds tweet. Yeah. So, we're gonna first begin with a question that has to do with what

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I was teaching this week in Romans chapter five. So, we're talking about the federal headship of Adam. We're born in Adam.

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We're born again in Christ and then we're under the federal headship of Christ. And I gave the illustration of this being more like a king or an emperor than like a president or congress.

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So especially in the western world or in English speaking countries, it might be more difficult for us to wrap our minds around the concept of federal headship, but this would have been easier in the time in which these things were discussed.

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Even though that exact term is not used in the scripture, that is nevertheless what we're talking about when we read as in Adam all die, so shall in Christ all be made alive.

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Okay. This email came from Jerry and he says, howdy, love the show.

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Thank you. While the president doesn't have the ability to technically declare war, presidential expanded powers and power over nuclear weapons gives him the effective ability to put the nation at war.

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As far as my understanding goes, I have used Trump slash Obama as a federal head example in teaching

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Sunday school because he can put our nation into war at his whim or discretion.

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The president still has the sole authority to launch a nuclear attack. I think technically if he decided to use nukes on a whim, it would be illegal to refuse that whim.

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People would have to disobey the law to stop him. With that in mind, do you think that we should still not use the president as an example of federal headship?

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Thanks, Jerry. Well, I appreciate your email, Jerry. My point wasn't necessarily that we can't use the president or Congress as an example of federal headship.

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My point was more in the sense that in the age in which this was written and the people to whom this was addressing, federal headship was an easier concept to understand than maybe we can grasp today.

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Because I don't think that most people generally consider that the president can just push a button and launch a nuclear attack.

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I mean, of course, it's a little bit more complicated than that. But we don't think of, well,

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I want to say we don't think of the president as being a federal head, but maybe we do. We've probably moved.

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Depends on who you're talking to. Yeah, it might be. We probably have moved out of that concept of living in a constitutional republic and the people seem any more to be crying.

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Give us a king. Yeah. And that's who we think we're electing when we're choosing a president. Yeah. Now, if this was a true king, the people would not be selecting the president.

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Yeah, right. It would not be selecting the king. Like in Israel, Israel did not pick

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Paul or I'm sorry, Paul, Saul, who did not become Paul. This is the other

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Saul. Yes. So the people of Israel did not select King Saul. God did.

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Right. And then he was anointed by Samuel, who was God's prophet. Right. After Saul, God chose

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David. So the people didn't choose David either. They didn't pick a king and then hoist him up there.

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Right. The king was appointed by God. And generally, that's been the sense of the position of a king, especially when you look at well,

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I mean, not generally, but but you look at Great Britain, for example, they believe that the king has been appointed by God.

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So that has been a divinely appointed position. There are other pagan cultures where they believe their emperor has been divinely appointed, even though they may not believe it's

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God, the true God who had appointed them, even though that would be the case. God is the one who sets up men.

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God is the one who tears them down. Yes. According to Daniel, Chapter two. So the the emperor of Japan, for example, what was one of the longest reigning monarchies on Earth.

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And he began the monarchy in Japan began as a divinely appointed monarchy.

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And the people not only believed that the emperor was appointed by gods, but that the emperor himself was a god.

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Was a god. Yeah. Up until the end of World War Two. And then that has kind of changed the attitude or the understanding of the monarchy in Japan.

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But anyway, that's the perception that most people have had in the world regarding their king.

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Either he is a king that has been appointed by God himself or he is appointed by divines or he himself is divine.

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That's the general understanding. Therefore, when we read about all who were born in Adam and we read that headship concept in Adam, a people in first century

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Rome had a had an easier understanding of grasping that than I think that we do today.

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And even even when you're talking about imperial Rome, though, there was a point where it belonged to the republic.

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Then there came a time when emperors reigned. Right. Rome at one time hated the concept of a king.

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They didn't want a king. They didn't like anything about the monarchy. But just over time, that's eventually what it became.

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The emperor was absolute. He was considered to be divine. He was he was a god himself. He would reclaim himself to be a god.

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Sometimes he was able to sell that and other times not so much. But anyway, that's that's why that's the only reason why

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I mentioned that in our modern context may be a little more difficult for us to wrap our minds around the understanding of federal headship from our

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Western world understanding of federal and the government that it relates to.

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But then again, you know, related to Jerry's question and second guessing that depends on who you're talking to. That's true.

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We may think of the president as a king anymore. But thank you for your question, Jerry. I appreciate that.

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This next one comes from John, our friend John in North Carolina. Oh, yeah. Hi. He says Greetings again,

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Pastor Gabe and Becky. I may or may not have told you that that after being trapped in it for 34 years,

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I came out of the Charismatic Church in 2012 due to the patience of God and several people that had that he had strategically placed in my life, among other heretical things.

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One of the prevailing ideas they foster is that Satan rules hell, almost in a similar way that God rules heaven.

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I quickly found that to be untrue, thanks to excellent teaching sermons from people like Dr.

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John MacArthur, Votie Bockham, R .C. Sproul and Paul Washer. Another excellent resource

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I have discovered is GotQuestions .org. That site confirms that there is no scripture that says

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Satan rules hell, only that he has been called the prince of the power of the air.

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That's in Ephesians chapter two. They stated that the most likely source of Satan ruling hell came from Dante's epic poem,

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A Divine Comedy. We know from Matthew 25 that God created hell for the devil and his angels, although we know that it wasn't created only for the devil and his angels.

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With all of this in mind, I still hear several orthodox preachers talking about evil things and lying things that come from the pit of hell, kind of seeming like hell as an evil uncontrollable place and not the place of divine eternal punishment.

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Plus, there is also Matthew 16 .18 which reads, And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock

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I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. It almost seems like this is speaking of hell as a place that needs to be conquered, not the place

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God created for eternal punishment. I have yet to hear a satisfactory explanation of that verse.

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Am I reading too much into this? I'm overthinking it? My wife tells me I do have the ability to overanalyze.

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If there's anybody that can be honest about our character in that way, it's our spouse.

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Any explanation you can give would be great. And lastly, I have heard that there is a special place in heel for autocorrect.

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There's a special place in heel for autocorrect. God bless you and your family.

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I continue to benefit so much and learn from the daily podcast as I drive my truck up and down the interstate.

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Sincerely, John. Always good to hear from you, John. Thank you so much for your questions. So first of all, we'll answer this in two parts.

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Going back to the statement that you made about Matthew 25, God created hell for the devil and his angels.

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Let's look at that in context first, and then we'll get to your actual question part of this. So it's in Matthew 25 that's part of what's called the

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Olivet Discourse, Jesus telling his disciples on the Mount of Olives about what to expect at the end of the age.

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That's the question that they've asked of him. When are these things going to be? Matthew 24, specifically the question, the disciples came to him privately asking, tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?

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So that's what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 24 and 25. And then at the end of Matthew 25, he talks about the final judgment.

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The son of man sitting on the great white throne of judgment and all the nations being gathered before him.

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And he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

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You remember this? So the goats go on his left and the sheep go on his right.

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And it's there in the statement where he says to those on his right, enter the kingdom that was prepared for you from the foundation of the world by my father.

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When I was hungry, you gave me food. When I was thirsty, you gave me drink. I was a stranger. You welcomed me.

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I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.

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And the righteous are going to say, Lord, when did we do these things for you? And he will say that what you have done to the least of these brothers of mine, you have done also to me.

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But then he turns to those on his left and he says, depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

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For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty. You gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me naked and you did not clothe me sick and in prison and you did not visit me.

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And then they are also going to respond, Lord, when did we not do these things for you? And then

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I will answer them, truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to the one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.

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And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. So that place of eternal punishment is described as the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

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That's where they get cast into the place that was prepared for the devil and his angels. What we understand from the book of Revelation, chapter 13 in particular, is that those who follow

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Satan are the ones that will be cast into the place with Satan, where he will be punished and ultimately destroyed for all eternity.

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So it's the place for the devil and his angels, but those who followed Satan. And whether or not you chose to, you were a follower of Satan.

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You were either a follower of Christ or you were a follower of Satan. It's either or. It's either or. That's right. And in John chapter eight,

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Jesus says to the Jews, you are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.

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So you are either children of your father in heaven and will receive the eternal kingdom that he has prepared for you from the foundation of the world that you will inherit as followers of Jesus Christ.

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Or you are of your father, Satan, the devil, and you will be cast into the place that Satan and his demons will be cast into for all eternity, the place of eternal punishment.

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So that's the statement there of the place for the devil and his angels.

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People will be punished there as well because they followed Satan to eternal destruction. That's where God will cast them in the final judgment.

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In Matthew 16, 18, so this is nine chapters before this, Jesus is asking his disciples, who do people say that I am?

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They say, well, some say you're Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. But who do you say that I am?

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And the disciples or Peter is the one who speaks up and says, you are the Christ, the son of the living

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God. And Jesus says, blessed are you, Simon bar Jonah, for flesh and blood is not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven.

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And then verse 18, which John quotes in his email, and I tell you. In his email? Yeah, that's what

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I said. Oh, John. Which John quotes in his email. I thought you were talking like Peter, John.

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I was a little confused there. The disciple quoted in his email.

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I was like, he quoted in his email, wait, what? Which email? John, first John, second

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John, revelation, which email was this? Wow, I was really confused.

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That was a good little comedy break. Back to the answer here.

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I'll just let you keep talking, I'll sit back here. So as John, our friend from North Carolina quoted in his email,

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Matthew 16, 18, and I tell you, you are Peter, which is my middle name, by the way.

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So in case there was any further confusion, John and Peter, I tell you, you are Peter.

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And on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

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So John says, it almost seems like this is speaking of hell as a place that needs to be conquered, not the place that God created for eternal punishment.

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Yes and no. We don't conquer hell in the sense that we storm its gates and actually leap into the place that is that literal place of eternal punishment.

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But we are snatching from the flames those whose destiny is hell, if they remain under the federal headship of Adam instead of the federal headship of Christ.

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If they remain unsaved, if they remain in that dead state, walking in their sins and their trespasses, dead in their sins and trespasses, following the course of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

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That's Ephesians 2, 1 through 3. That's who we are before Christ. But then in Christ, we have the grace of God.

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We have the forgiveness of sins. We have eternal life with Jesus Christ, our Lord. So we were following the course of this world to destruction.

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But then when we heard the gospel and repented from sin and believed in it, we've been snatched from the flames, which is an actual expression that we have in scripture.

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It's in the book of Jude verse, well, I'll start in verse 22. Have mercy on those who doubt.

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Save others by snatching them out of the fire. To others, show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

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So as we preach the gospel and there are people who turn from sin and follow Jesus Christ, we are snatching them from the flames.

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So when we read again in Matthew 16, 18, the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church.

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The gates of hell are not going to be able to stop the advancement of the church, the growth of the kingdom of God in this world as people are being rescued from eternity and damnation into an eternity with God in heaven.

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So in this way, the gates of hell cannot stop the advancement of the gospel. I know that what we see going on in the world is chaos and we think that a secular culture is bearing down on us and it might look to you in your eyes like the church is losing, especially if you're watching too much nightly news.

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But we're not. God's purpose stands. He is accomplishing exactly what he means to accomplish even through these evil days.

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He is still saving his elect for eternity with God in heaven and we need to continue to be faithful to preach the gospel in difficult times, to live in godliness, never feeling overwhelmed by the direction of the culture.

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Christianity was never about living comfortably. Right. And not to like just give in to the wind no matter which way it blows, like to stand firm, you know?

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Yeah. Just we know that we have one Bible that's been around for ages, ages and ages and it's the same

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Bible and there's nothing that changes about that. So as long as you're standing on the word of God, you have no reason to be in woe of anything that happens around us.

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That's right. God has promised us. We have eternal life with him, Jesus saying to his disciples in this world, you will have tribulation.

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Yeah. You will have trouble. But take heart. I have overcome the world. Praise the

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Lord. Amen for that. It's on that note that I want to come to this next question and this is from a friend in Washington whose name

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I did not catch, but he asked this question on Twitter. Okay. And so it's kind of goes right with what we're talking about here.

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I figured I'd pull this up. He says, how can we easier balance remaining informed and not succumbing to the media fed outrage?

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My heart and mind is so weary of being angry and upset. I get that wading into blissful ignorance is not helpful.

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What can I do to help be balanced in my approach to these times? I want to have a loving heart about this instead of the subsurface anger that I seem to perpetually carry.

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Well, you know, I think that because our culture responds to these things in an angry way, whether or not you agree with the answers that you're hearing, that anger kind of becomes infectious.

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Yes, it does. So you either getting yelled at. That's right. So you either agree in anger or you disagree in anger because the whole current that's pushing the message is just angry.

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Right. And it makes it difficult to kind of keep a peace of mind. How difficult is it to keep peace about your senses when somebody's yelling at you?

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Just like you said. Well, I mean, we're called to be slow to anger. We're called to be

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Christlike, who is slow to anger. That's right. It's something that obviously a lot of us have to work on and some more so than others.

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Yes. But it is something that is very important because it's stated over and over again that the

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Lord is patient. Yes. And therefore, we are to be patient. That's right.

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So we must exercise patience, too. But here, let me give you four things here to kind of help manage being able to stay informed on the things that are going on in the world, but not being overtaken by the stuff that you're listening to as well.

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So number one seems like a very simple enough instruction. Read your Bible. That's right.

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I think we all need that reminder anyway. Definitely. Read your Bible. Read it. If you listened yesterday to the broadcast, as I finished up Psalm 119, you have the statement in verse 161, princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of your words.

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And the statement there being that we're not overwhelmed by the chaos and the bad news and everything else that's going on around us in the world.

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We're not looking at all of the evil and we're just dumbstruck or awestruck by it.

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Like, wow, people are really, really bad. What happened to the freedoms that we enjoy?

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They seem to be disappearing from us. We're looking at that all around us. And as I said yesterday,

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I think that we, even in a Western culture, are starting to feel more and more what it means to have princes persecute us without cause.

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And that's going to increase. We're going to see that increase more and more. But the fact of the matter remains, if we have the word of God written on our hearts, or as Paul said in Colossians 3, verse 16, let the word of Christ rule in your hearts.

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If God's word rules, if it reigns over us, even in our hearts, then we stand in awe of the word of God.

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We don't stand in awe of the bad news of the world. Definitely. The good news of the gospel is what's amazing to us.

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Not cowering in fear or being so overwhelmed with bad news and even constant responses in anger and shouting and whatnot.

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I mean, overall, with the kind of protections that we have enjoyed in the United States of America, we've had it pretty easy.

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Oh, yes. And so I think there comes with that a little bit of softness. I don't mean that as an insult, but we do.

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We get kind of soft. Yeah. Kind of? Yeah. I'm sorry. We don't face a lot of the trials and turmoils and things like that.

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Even a person of a lower class status in the United States still has it pretty good compared to the rest of the world.

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And because of that, we tend to be a little tender. And there does need to be some strength about us to face tough times when they come.

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And even an anger or an abrasive attitude that comes from the voice of society.

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Reading your Bible, being in God's word, having your mind, your thoughts, your heart governed by his word is so terribly important.

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It's important all the time. But this is going to be the thing that is going to help you cope with still being informed and not being overwhelmed.

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Right. Would you consider whenever the Bible states, be ready in season and out of season, this would definitely be in season?

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Well, yeah, that was specifically related to the instruction Paul was giving Timothy to preach the word.

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Be ready in season and out of season. That was his role as a pastor. I think that even the lay person can find application in that.

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That we need to have a firmness in the word that, you know, like I said, it governs your thinking.

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So we're not overwhelmed by bad news. We're not overwhelmed by temptation. We're not overwhelmed by personal trials that we might face.

31:42

Any of these kinds of things, you know, whatever may surface, whatever trial or tribulation we face in this world.

31:49

We're ready in season and out of season with the word of God. Maybe not having to respond to a person, but we know what

31:58

God's word says about this situation so that it doesn't overwhelm us. In that sense, we would be ready in season and out of season.

32:05

But as it applies to preaching, which is specifically what Paul was giving Timothy there, we're exhorting, rebuking with complete patience and teaching.

32:16

And an instruction that he gave Timothy earlier in 2 Timothy chapter 2 is that he correct opponents with gentleness, patiently enduring evil.

32:26

So you have that instruction that kind of comes up twice for Timothy to be patient. Okay, so I kind of equated that to like the brides waiting outside, you know, with the turns and then some of them didn't come prepared.

32:41

That's right. So, I mean, I equate it with that being ready, you know, in season and out of season, you know, that.

32:49

Yeah. Well, right. That's what Jesus said. Okay. In relation to that parable. Oh, okay. You never know when the bridegroom is coming.

32:56

Right, right. But those who were filled with the Holy Spirit of God were truly prepared.

33:01

Right. For that. They, they, the day of the Lord did not overtake them like a thief.

33:07

Right. For us who are prepared, Christ's return is not going to be like a thief in the night. But for those who are unprepared, it's, it's going to take them by surprise and they will be unprepared for that day.

33:21

Yeah. So that's first, that's, that's my first recommendation for you. Read your Bible. And number two. Pray.

33:27

Yes. Reading your Bible and praying. Reading your Bible is God speaking to you.

33:33

Praying is you speaking to God, but even in prayer, you are taking your thoughts and you are submitting them to God's will.

33:39

It's not about, uh, well, God, okay, you've told me what you think. Now let me tell you what

33:45

I think. That's right. Certainly expressing your cares to the Lord. First Peter five tells us to do that.

33:51

Cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Yes. But in our prayers, we're still called to have a spirit of thanksgiving even in difficult and troubled times.

34:01

Yeah. It's all over the Psalms. It's all over Psalms. Going through the difficult times, but still being, giving thanks.

34:08

And remembering God's steadfast love. Yeah. Even when it doesn't, I don't see you.

34:14

I don't know what you're doing here, but I trust in your steadfast love because you have dealt bountifully with me.

34:20

Yes. That's, uh, Psalm 13 verse five, it's either verse five or six. I can't remember how many verses are in Psalm 13, but anyway, uh, yeah.

34:30

Being regular in prayer. This is a, you're constantly submitting your mind unto the Lord, reading your

34:35

Bible and praying. And I remember John Piper making this comment years ago.

34:41

It still rings true. If social media is going to do anything for us, especially at the judgment, it's going to be to show us how much time we had to pray and didn't.

34:52

Yeah. I saw that the other day. Yeah. I saw that quote. I was like, oh. The quote came back up again. It still comes back up every once in a while.

34:58

Yes it does. It was a great comment. It was, but we have plenty of time to pray. So you need to pray if you, if you're asking the question, like if you're coming to me or another pastor, uh, and you're getting guidance from any kind of spiritual leader and you're asking them a question, how can

35:15

I do this? How can I do that? Even the question that's been asked here, have you prayed about it first? If you have to ask the question, if you have to ask for guidance, pray because the first person who's going to give us wisdom is

35:25

God, not ourselves, not your pastor. Although God will use those people in your life to help venues.

35:34

Yeah. That's right. To give you learning. Right. But James one five says, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives generously to all without reproach.

35:45

So he's the first person that we go to, to ask for, for wisdom. We go to the father.

35:51

Uh, number three, third thing that I would share with you, focus on personal relationships rather than online relationships.

35:58

Don't spend too much time on the internet. Definitely don't spend too much time watching

36:04

Fox news or MSNBC. You know, what's helped me a lot is that, well, number one,

36:09

I get a lot of my news from you cause we chat, but, um, seriously, whenever I watch something,

36:16

I don't listen to it. I always have it on mute first. And then if it's something I'm intrigued by, then

36:23

I might unmute it for a little bit. You'll hit that little speaker button. Yeah. But then I'll mute it again. That's right.

36:28

So it's really helped me and not getting angry or overwhelmed by it because I don't have to listen to all of it.

36:35

Yeah. That is just so much and it's all in your face kind of stuff that it's, there's no reason to listen to everybody yelling.

36:44

If we listen to everybody with a mic right now, oh my goodness. Or talking over one another. Yes. All the time.

36:51

And it's just, it's, they're doing ridiculous things. So I, I don't know,

36:58

I have a hard time listening to people who are acting like little kids. Yeah. Worse than little kids. Yeah.

37:03

When you're watching these news shows, I mean, they're not, um, they're, they're not really reporting the news to you.

37:10

It's a bunch of opinion heads that are giving, all under the opinion, um, column.

37:16

Well yeah. When you're, when you're reading it, you mean, no, everything is, um, um, categorized under the opinion.

37:23

Op -ed. Right. Op -ed. I get what you're saying. Yeah. I'm having a hard time. But yeah.

37:29

So that's the way the news is built and you'll notice it. You'll, you'll turn on cable news, they'll give you a headline and they really don't say much about it.

37:37

And then suddenly here, uh, for more information about the, or, or for more here is talking head number one.

37:43

And we've also asked talking head number two to be on. And they're literally talking heads. You're looking at heads on your screen that are just spouting off their own opinions, telling you how you need to think about this.

37:55

It's not really reporting on news anymore. No. And it's not usually not about the headline either. That's right. Just kind of spins off into something else.

38:03

Yeah. They have, they have spun the message into how they want you to feel about this.

38:09

So if you just mute them and you just watch until you're intrigued, then you only listen to a little bit.

38:14

Does it look like people are yelling? Yeah. You know, kind of feel it out or just scroll on by.

38:20

It's okay. Yeah. Really. I would tell you don't even bother with cable news at all. Even Fox news. Don't watch them.

38:26

Discern is a good one. Discern is a good one. Uh, Christian headlines are decent. Yeah. Didn't quite represent me properly, but yeah, you still get the basic news from Christian headlines.

38:37

Um, you get headlines. Yeah. You get news from Albert Mueller. And by the way, Albert Mueller's website, we talk about the briefing, but his website has like four times the information as to what you get on the briefing.

38:48

There's way more on there. And so he's got some wonderful material and all from a

38:55

Christian worldview perspective, of course. Breakpoint can be really good. Oh, if you want just up to date and you don't want to be overwhelmed, the world, world watch news in three world watch news in three.

39:10

I think that's what it is on YouTube. Hang on. Let me, I'll go ahead and type it up. World world news in three.

39:17

That's what I'm typing in. We'll see what comes up here. Yeah. You're going to get a whole bunch of non world watch news in three and the channel is called world watch news.

39:27

So this is, there you go. Three minutes of news from Brian. Is it Basham or Basham?

39:33

I have no idea. I think it's Basham. He says, he says. Oh, Bash. He's a big Bash. Because he's the big Bash. Right.

39:39

Right. So Brian does great work. Love his stuff. Our kids watch it every day. Yes. That's an easy way to get news.

39:46

Three minutes and you're getting it from a Christian worldview perspective. He even closes with a great Christian tagline.

39:51

Yeah. The kids love it. That's wonderful. And it's so entertaining for us too. Yeah. I mean, you know, it's not like little kid level, it's, it's headlines all around the world.

40:01

That's right. It's really good stuff. And it's, it's kid friendly, like Becky said. And if they ever cover things that might be, uh, potentially not such good news for your kids.

40:13

Yeah. They'll disclaimer, they'll put a disclaimer at the beginning. Say, Hey, just to let you know, parents, we're going to be talking about some things that might be, uh, a little strong for young ears, especially like when the riots were going on.

40:25

Yeah. That can be pretty alarming to see that kind of footage. Yeah. So however you want to navigate the news for your small children, that is a great resource we would recommend.

40:35

Or for yourself if you're feeling overwhelmed. That's right. It's fun. And world news in general, that magazine, their website, you can sign up for world to get what's called the

40:46

SIFT. And it's just basically the major headlines of what's going on that you need to know.

40:51

And it's delivered to your inbox email every single day. There you go. It's called the SIFT. Uh, and you've got, uh, uh, all of those major headlines from Christian, uh, a

41:02

Christian publisher that is doing this journalistic work and letting you know the basic news that you need to know.

41:08

Yeah. A lot of the things that, uh, most news sources are not going to talk about, whether you're talking about in print or, uh, cable, but anyway, in general,

41:18

I, again, I want to reiterate, just don't even watch the cable news networks. You don't need any of them. No. Reading would be much better.

41:25

Uh, it just, and be careful with some of those sites. Don't, I know that Drudge Report in the past has been conservative.

41:31

He just thinks the world is ending right now. Aww. It is bad stuff on Drudge Report.

41:38

It is nothing but negative. So don't read that either. It's just filling your mind with fear.

41:43

Unfortunately, Matt Drudge, who started as an independent reporter at one point, well, he still is, but he's fallen into that same mindset of fear induced news.

41:52

It's easy to get overwhelmed by all of this. Yeah. It really is. And especially when it's in your face all the time, cause everybody has something new every five seconds.

42:02

Yeah, I know. And it's really not new. It's the same stuff, just worded a different way.

42:07

Right. And so it's, it's just don't, don't fall for the, the hoopla that they're, they're trying to feed you.

42:17

Don't, don't eat it. Don't look at it. Yeah. Don't listen to it. It doesn't matter if they say that they're coming from a conservative perspective or a liberal perspective.

42:26

They can still be trying to play your emotions. They want you to watch. Yeah. And therefore it's emotionally driven news.

42:33

They might sprinkle some facts in there. It is. It's emotionally draining on you when you're surrounding yourself with that kind of a thing.

42:40

So again, back to this list. Number one, read your Bible. Number two, pray. Number three, focus on personal relationships more than online relationships.

42:47

And number four, I know this can be hard, but it's possible under the guidance of the

42:52

Holy Spirit to speak into these issues that are going on in the world around you without them owning you.

42:59

And I think that there is a necessity for us to train our minds for that. There can be times when

43:06

I am unaware that a certain issue is making me angry and Becky will tell me, babe, you're angry typing.

43:11

Yep. Yes. It's hilarious because I'm like, oh, you're angry about something. Yeah. How'd you know you're angry typing again?

43:20

So be careful with that. But it is important for us to speak into these things.

43:27

But as it says in first Peter 315, in your heart set apart, Christ is holy.

43:32

If Christ reigns over your heart, then you have the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding.

43:38

That's right. Guarding your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. I've kind of combined first Peter three and Philippians four there.

43:44

But first Peter 315 goes on to say that we need to be ready to always give an answer for the hope that lies within us, but to do this with gentleness and respect.

43:57

We must have our emotions governed by the Holy Spirit of God. And again, that happens first and foremost through Bible study and prayer, but also the encouragement and admonition that you'll receive from personal brothers and sisters in Christ.

44:15

Yes. And don't forget to guard your eyes and your ears and your mouth and your heart to just put up that guard against what is evil.

44:28

Don't let it in. Yes. All right. Let's see if we can get a couple more in here.

44:33

First of all, this comes from Britt in Guthrie, Oklahoma. We've had Britt's questions on the program before.

44:39

Yeah. Good day, Pastor Gabe and Becky. Thank you for your great ministry through the podcast and videos. I've heard you mention

44:45

Keech's Catechism numerous times in your podcast. I've also been reading from the Catechism the last couple of sermons because we've been doing the

44:53

Lord's Prayer. I'm wondering where I may purchase a copy. I have a copy of the LBCF, the

44:58

London Baptist Confession of Faith, 1689, and would love to go through the Catechism.

45:04

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Well, you can get one through Founders' website. If you go to founders .org,

45:10

they've got them there. You can also... I'm holding mine in my hand because it's next to me on my desk.

45:18

It's always with my Bible right here on the desk. So the Baptist Confession of Faith and the

45:23

Baptist Catechism. And generally, when I see hardbound copies of the Baptist Confession of Faith, it comes with the

45:31

Baptist Catechism. So I'm surprised you have an LBCF 1689 that doesn't have

45:37

Keech's Catechism in it. Generally they do. It's in the back. But anyway, even going on Amazon and looking up a hardbound edition of the

45:46

Baptist Confession of Faith, you should also be able to find a copy of that that includes the Baptist Catechism.

45:51

And it'll say in there that it has the Catechism in it as well. You're usually just spending about eight or nine bucks on something like this.

45:59

They come out to be pretty cheap. Next question. This will be the last one we get to here. This is from Brian and he says,

46:05

Hello, Pastor Gabe. I recently and randomly followed you on Twitter and have within the last couple of weeks started listening to your excellent podcast.

46:14

I decided to go back as far as Apple podcasts would allow and try to get caught up as I have nothing but time to listen while I work.

46:24

That's a blessing. Be able to have a job. You can do that. I am a fairly new Christian, having believed

46:29

I was saved since being baptized at the age of 15, but realizing through the grace of our

46:34

God that I wasn't actually saved until the Lord brought me to true repentance at the age of 40 in 2018.

46:43

Praise the Lord. Amen. Yes. Amen for that, Brian. Therefore, this is all new to me and I feel like I'm learning so much every day that up ends what

46:53

I thought I knew previously. Recently, as I was listening to your podcast, I heard you say that John MacArthur, whom

47:00

I am an avid listener of and whose preaching series on the Lordship of Christ, I credit with opening my eyes to the reality that I wasn't truly saved until just a couple of years ago.

47:13

Dr. MacArthur is a dispensationalist and you said that you are not. I've been trying to decipher what exactly that means, and I have a surface level understanding, but through listening to your podcast, your recommendation to listen to Vodie Bachum's series on Revelation, which is blowing my mind,

47:31

I'm realizing that dispensationalism has far reaching ramifications for understanding God's word, and I'm a bit overwhelmed and confused.

47:38

I'm writing to ask if you have done any videos or podcasts that addresses this issue that might be helpful to my understanding, and I'm very curious why you don't believe in dispensationalism.

47:50

Thank you for your faithful work in helping people like me to know and understand God's word, and thank you in advance for any help that you can give me.

47:59

Have a blessed day. Well, we just have a few minutes left here, so I'm going to kind of do a whirlwind on this a little bit.

48:05

Go for it. I got another question just recently, and I don't know what I did with it, but there was another gal that wrote into the program and she said,

48:12

I could have sworn that you said that you went through the book of Revelation, but I can't find it in any of your podcast teaching.

48:20

She probably heard me say that I went through it with our youth at church, because we did spend a school year going through the book of Revelation, and then

48:29

I've also recommended that Votibakam series on Revelation, which you can find on our website.

48:35

Go to www .utt .com, click on links, and under those categories, you'll find the teaching series on Revelation.

48:43

I've linked to two. There's one by Votibakam, and there's another one by Sinclair Ferguson. They're both really good, so that's what

48:50

I would recommend you pick up. But I myself have not gone through Revelation like in a recording, so you're not going to find a recorded version of me teaching through that book, but those are good series that I would recommend.

49:03

As far as helping you understand dispensationalism, I have three sources that I most commonly appoint a person to.

49:13

Number one is a booklet or a brochure. It's called Four Views on the End Times.

49:19

Number four. Number four. The number four. You can find that at Amazon, and it's pretty cheap.

49:26

I think it was like four bucks or something to get the print version. It might be $2 to get the

49:31

Kindle version. Okay, yeah. I don't remember. Something like that. That could have been even one of those works that I was frustrated to see cost more on Kindle than it did in print.

49:40

But anyway, you can pick that up there, and it helps you understand the four main views of the end times, whether that's dispensational premillennialism, historic premillennialism, amillennialism, or postmillennialism.

49:54

Now Brian, don't get overwhelmed by this, because as the Apostle Paul tells us in First Thessalonians chapter four, we are to encourage one another with these words.

50:04

So we will have differing perspectives on the end times, but they're not heresy unless a person is saying

50:12

Christ has already returned or that he's never going to return.

50:17

If it's one of those two, then you're getting into heresy. Or you're not saved unless you believe this way.

50:23

That's right. That's another thing. When they attach salvation to it, then they've raised it to a first -tier issue, and that becomes heretical.

50:32

Be careful about that, too, because I've been in churches that taught that way. If you don't believe this view of the end times, well, then you're going to miss the boat when

50:39

Jesus returns. You won't get to go with him. That's generally what they'll say. Anyway, it's good to be up on your knowledge of these different perspectives.

50:50

And again, don't feel overwhelmed by the fact that there are differing views of the end times.

50:56

Be patient and be gracious with those things. As we started the program talking about having a speech that is always seasoned with salt.

51:04

So the next two books that I recommend. So first of all, that pamphlet on the four views of the end times. Then there's two other books.

51:10

There's a book called Dispensationalism by Michael Vlack, who teaches at Masters University. Dispensationalism, Essential Beliefs, and Common Myths.

51:19

So he kind of helps you understand John MacArthur's view of dispensationalism in particular.

51:24

Not the lowest common denominator of dispensationalism. That's another book that I recommend so that you understand what dispensationalism is.

51:32

But then there's a third book that I recommend, and it's entitled Dispensationalism, Rightly Dividing the

51:39

People of God by Keith Matheson. I would tell you to read them both and compare them.

51:45

So you're reading Dispensationalism, it's a fairly short book by Michael Vlack. And then Dispensationalism by Keith Matheson, which is also kind of short.

51:53

So what is dispensationalism? What are we talking about? Well, commonly dispensationalism is referred to as viewing time as God having worked in various dispensations.

52:05

And this in contrast with covenantalism, which is God working through covenants.

52:11

But when it comes down to it, even the dispensationalist is a little bit covenantal. And even the covenantalist is a little bit dispensational.

52:19

If you believe in an Old and a New Testament, then you believe in two different dispensations. That's two different periods of God's working in time.

52:27

So what exactly is the distinguishing characteristic of dispensationalism?

52:33

And here it is from Charles Ryrie, who was a very famous dispensational theologian.

52:40

He says, the essence of dispensationalism is the distinction between Israel and the church.

52:48

This grows out of the dispensationalist's consistent employment of normal or plain interpretation.

52:54

And it reflects an understanding of the basic purpose of God in all his dealings with mankind as that of glorifying himself through salvation and other purposes as well.

53:07

Therefore, dispensationalism is the distinction between Israel and the church.

53:12

That's like the defining characteristic of dispensationalism. This distinction is the result of a consistently literal interpretation.

53:21

That's what they will claim, that they're the consistently literal interpreters of scripture. And this distinction reflects the understanding that God's primary purpose is to glorify himself.

53:32

Well, I certainly agree with that second part, but I don't agree that the dispensationalist is the most consistent literal interpreter of scripture.

53:41

There are some places I would say the dispensationalist is rather inconsistent. But this is also kind of a non -argument.

53:47

It's like saying, I interpret the text better than you do. I use the same grammatico -historical approach to interpretation that a

53:55

MacArthur dispensationalist will. But we come to two different conclusions on our understanding of the church in Israel.

54:02

A second problem with dispensationalism as a system of teaching is that it's a fairly new development in theology.

54:08

It did not come about until the 19th century, popularized by John Nelson Darby and C .I.

54:15

Schofield. The earliest church fathers were not dispensationalists.

54:22

And if you find the right dispensational teacher, they'll acknowledge that. They will just simply say that the church fathers were wrong on their understanding of what we would commonly refer to as dispensationalism today.

54:35

But it is a new school of thought. It is not common throughout the history of the church to see the church and the people of Israel as two distinct people groups.

54:44

The church is the expansion of Israel. So there is always only one people of God.

54:51

And it is whoever is faithful to the Lord and his word. It is the one who has been circumcised from the heart.

54:58

Even children of Israel were circumcised in the flesh, but were not circumcised of heart and therefore were not true

55:04

Jews. But as we've been reading, as we've been going through Romans in Romans chapter two, it says that a

55:11

Jew is not one outwardly, but one inwardly. Anyone can be a Jew by a circumcision of the heart.

55:18

And so being cut off from the world and united to God, we are the people of God. And as it states in Romans chapter three, starting in verse 22, there is no distinction.

55:30

There's no distinction for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus to be received by faith.

55:43

This is for Jews and Greeks together. Yeah, the wall of hostility has been torn down, according to Ephesians 2, 14.

55:52

Now, I would disagree with my brother, John MacArthur, on his view of the end times, but that in no way to me discredits his ministry and the faithful gospel preaching that he has done for more than 50 years.

56:09

He is still a teacher that I greatly admire, and I would be more than blessed to even hold a thimble of the kind of ministry that he has led for the last 50 years.

56:21

If God were to bless me with just a very minor portion of that, that would be tremendous to me.

56:28

This is a man that God had appointed for this time and place, and he has dealt faithfully with the work that the

56:35

Lord has entrusted to him. Yes, he has. So thankful to have known men that have worked with John MacArthur.

56:44

I recommend the Grace to You ministry just last week on the broadcast. I guess if you ask enough questions, it is kind of a broadcast.

56:55

I expressed last week a recommendation of attending the Master's University.

57:01

Oh, yeah. You learn good expository teaching from that or any of the associated expository seminaries.

57:08

Anyway, all of that to say that, though we may disagree on our eschatology, we still agree on the mains, that Jesus Christ is

57:16

Lord, that he is sovereign, he is sitting on a throne, and that he is God. He is going to sit on his throne, he is going to accomplish his purpose of election, we have nothing to fear.

57:23

God is in control. Put your faith and your trust in him. Turn from your sin, receive the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ our

57:32

Lord. Amen. Amen. That's our show for today. Let's conclude with prayer.

57:38

Yes, let's. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time, and we thank you for these listeners, and I pray that you would reign in their hearts, that they would know the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding, guarding our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.

57:53

Never let us lose heart in these troubled days, but may we draw closer to you and long all the more for heaven, crying out with our brother, the

58:03

Apostle John, who said, Come quickly, Lord Jesus. We are ready for these days on earth to be done and our eternity with God in heaven to begin.

58:14

Deliver us into your hand. Keep us from the ways of this world and teach us to walk in godliness day by day.

58:21

We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Okay.

59:34

Text. A daily. Oh, yes. How about that? Text. This is when we understand the text.