WWUTT 800 Q&A Unclean Spirits, Church of Christ, YEC, and Another Bethel Song?

WWUTT Podcast

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

Why did Jesus tell the unclean spirits not to make Him known? How do we convince somebody in the

00:06

Church of Christ that we're not saved by baptism? And what did Matt Walsh say about young earth creationism?

00:12

The answers to these questions, when we understand the text. This is

00:25

When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible study that we may delight in the word of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.

00:32

Visit our website at www .utt .com. Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

00:38

Thank you, Becky. You're welcome. This time when you were doing the website address, and you went www .utt

00:45

.com, I also almost stopped you and went, no, no, no, www .utt, that it hit my brain right before I said something like, oh, wait, no.

00:55

It's our little logo thing. I do it every time you say it too, so it's okay. Somebody's been messing with my head.

01:01

It's World Wide Web, not World Wide. World Wide. World Wide Understanding The Text. World Web.

01:08

If you would like to submit a question to the broadcast, you can send it to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com,

01:16

Friday being the day that we take questions from listeners, and we'll get to some of those questions in just a moment. But first to remind you once again, we are trying to get to G3 in Atlanta.

01:27

And just last night, I know we're late on deciding to do this, but Becky was looking up places that we could potentially stay around Atlanta.

01:36

Not a whole lot left. No. No. Not anything cheap anyway. No. I'm going to put it that way. Definitely not cheap.

01:42

So there's, yeah, you're paying for hotel, plus you got to pay for parking or any of those kinds of things. So if you're planning on going to G3, you might want to get on that sooner rather than later because the closer we get to the date.

01:53

It's going to fill up fast. And the more difficult it'll be to find things, and then when you do find something, it'll be more expensive.

01:59

Oh, and Atlanta traffic, just ugh. Oh, yeah. You want to try to stay as close to the convention center as possible.

02:06

Yes. Now, really getting around last year, we didn't have much of a problem. No. We were pretty quick.

02:12

But we did have all the ice. But yeah, it was the ice that made it a problem. And so two years in a row now, they've had ice in Atlanta for G3, where previous years they haven't had an issue.

02:24

Right. I know one of the reasons why Josh picked that date in January was so it wasn't bumping into like Shepcon and Ligonier and the

02:33

Gospel Coalition Conference or T4G in the years that that conference is held.

02:38

So I know that's why he picked January. But I also want to believe that, I mean, he just picked

02:44

January because it's like, hey, it's Atlanta. We're never going to have to suffer with winter weather. What are we going to worry about there?

02:49

Yeah, it never snows there. Never. And boy, getting down last year, we had to make two stops, two hotel stops on the way down.

02:56

We did. Because of the snow and ice. And we weren't planning on making any. No. Yeah. We were just trying to get straight through. Yeah. But the snow and ice stopped us twice.

03:03

Yeah. Two different states even. So let's pray for some clear, warm Atlanta weather.

03:08

Yes. There's a reason why Atlanta gets called Hotlanta. Let's get a little bit of that going this next year.

03:14

No parkas. No parkas. I walked around that whole conference with my coat on.

03:20

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was cold. It wasn't that cold in the building. It's just when I got there, I didn't know what to do with my coat, but I couldn't leave it out in the car.

03:27

Right. Because it was cold. And it was too far to walk. Yeah. In the cold. So I think this coming year,

03:33

I'm just going to wear a suit. That way I've got layers on already anyway. Oh, but I thought you'd do the gentleman thing and, you know, give your wife the coat.

03:41

Well, I could do that too. Or, you know. So I'll wear the suit with the overcoat, because that's what I have. I have an overcoat. Oh, there you go.

03:47

And I'll just hand you the overcoat. That's what I do with my coat. Not hinting or anything. And it's not that I'm ever cold.

03:54

No, you're never cold. But we'll also have a place we can put our stuff, because we're going to have a booth this year.

03:59

Yay! At G3. So anyway, yeah. We're trying to get to G3. Praise the Lord. And as you can tell, it costs a little bit of money.

04:07

It costs more money to do the booth. Yes. So if you could help us out with some of those expenses, we would greatly appreciate it.

04:13

And we have had some folks help us out a great deal. Oh, yes. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. But we still need to cover, like, putting the booth together.

04:21

Some of those costs aren't covered yet. And, you know, yeah.

04:28

Those aren't covered either. I'm trying to. The pssts are not covered. When you have those leaks in your tire, you know.

04:35

Oh, don't. Don't. Don't. Shh. Shh. Our vehicles held up very, very well with so many trips out that way.

04:43

They did great. So. Yep. Shh. No, you're making air coming out of tire sounds.

04:49

No, I'm not. I'm hushing you. Stop. I'm just kidding. That's not any of the expenses.

04:55

I don't want to fret about it. I will think about it over and over and over again. Not the expense I've even been thinking about. But building our booth.

05:00

Yes. So, like, all the printing that goes in for the booth. And if we've got some items in there that we want to be able to provide for people coming by so that we can get the word out about when we understand the text a little bit more.

05:11

Like a card or. Yeah. Well, cards, you know, pens, you know, something with, like, what on it.

05:17

I'd like to do a coloring book. I've been talking about that. I like the Gustav Dore pictures.

05:23

And then finding those is like a coloring book -like. To go in the. Anyway. Something to that effect.

05:29

You guys can't see his hand motions. But his hands are really going. I'm trying to explain this.

05:35

I'm trying to think of what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about, like, those little meditative coloring books like Lifeway sells. Right.

05:40

No. With the random. Stuff for kids. Specifically for kids. You know, that picture with David holding up Goliath's head.

05:47

Yeah. My face kind of soured. Don't you want a coloring book for your kids?

05:54

Zachary might like it, but. I think it would be awesome. Or a picture of JL hammering the stake through.

06:04

Stop. Right through the temple into the ground. You want your daughter's coloring picture, right?

06:10

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah, kids. That's the kind of coloring book

06:16

I'm talking about. I mean, you gotta think. Every time you got a Bible story coloring book.

06:22

You mean you don't want the boat for Noah's Ark? That was exactly where I was going. With the animal's heads hanging out.

06:28

That's exactly where I was going. I mean, they're coloring. And only the animals you find in a zoo. Not any other animals.

06:35

Right. Not any of those animals that were around 4 ,000 years ago. Right. And they all have smiles.

06:42

That's right. They're all smiling. Everybody's dead. You got a boat on the surface of the water.

06:47

And underneath that water is every person on the planet. Dead. That's what kids are coloring when you have.

06:53

So, see, I'm just bringing some more realism into it. It's an idea, sweetheart.

07:02

That's what I want when we understand the text to be known for. Okay. Bringing the realism of the

07:08

Bible out even for your children. All right. So, before my wife continues to burn me with these looks that she's shooting at me over here, let's get to some of these questions.

07:22

This first one is coming from Arturo. He says, Hey, I just started listening to your podcast, and it has been a huge blessing.

07:31

Thank you for what you do. My question is from Mark 312. Why did

07:37

Jesus strictly order the unclean spirits not to make him known?

07:42

So, let's go to this story here in Mark 3, verses 7 through 12.

07:48

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed from Galilee and Judea, and Jerusalem and Idumea, and from beyond the

07:58

Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. So, you had a good variety of people that are following Jesus here. Okay.

08:03

When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And when he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him.

08:18

And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out,

08:23

You are the Son of God. And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

08:29

This isn't the first time in Mark that's happened, in Mark chapter 1. Right. So, yet we come about again to another occasion of Jesus casting out spirits, and they're saying to Jesus, You are the

08:41

Son of God. Legion recognized Jesus. Right. They recognized him again in Mark 3. So, why is it that Jesus told the spirits not to make him known?

08:50

Well, it's the same reason he told the disciples not to make him known. So, going to Matthew chapter 16, when

08:56

Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus asked his disciples,

09:02

Who do people say that the Son of Man is? And they said, Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others

09:08

Jeremiah or one of the prophets. And Jesus said to them, But who do you say that I am?

09:13

And Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered him,

09:19

Blessed are you, Simon Bar -Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my

09:25

Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock

09:30

I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

09:43

Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the

09:48

Christ. And then going on from there, verse 21, from that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

10:04

So there was a time and a place in which Jesus was going to be known who he said he was, that he was the

10:13

Son of God. And it was all according to the Father's timing. If this was done too early, then they would have tried to put

10:21

Jesus to death too early. And we actually see that happen in Luke 4, verse 29.

10:27

Jesus went back to Nazareth, and they wanted him to perform a miracle, and Jesus wouldn't perform miracles for them.

10:34

Instead, he pointed to the prophet Isaiah to show that Isaiah was talking about him. And the people accused him of blasphemy and wanted to throw him off a cliff.

10:44

But he passed through them without an incident, because he was going to lay down his life on his own terms and not on anyone else's.

10:52

And so it was by his power that he was able to steal the people and even walk right through them without them laying a hand on him because it was not his time to be killed.

11:04

And not only was he not going to be thrown off a cliff, but he even knew the very way that he was going to be crucified, for it was prophesied in the

11:11

Psalms. David prophesied that his hands and his feet were going to be pierced. And so this manner of crucifixion in which

11:19

Jesus' blood was going to be shed for the forgiveness of sins. So all of these things were supposed to come about in a right and a proper time.

11:27

The disciples even pray in Acts chapter 4. They say, O sovereign Lord, all of these things happened, the crucifixion of your son, and that it would be done at the hands of Pontius Pilate and Herod in Jerusalem by crucifixion.

11:42

All of this was by your sovereign will. So all of this was according to the will and the timing and the plan of God.

11:48

And therefore, there had to be a certain time in which all of these things would unfold.

11:54

So Jesus told this to several people, you know, those whom he healed.

11:59

That was also in Mark chapter 1, verse 44. He said, don't let anyone know what has happened.

12:06

But sometimes he would say that, and then they would go say anyway, well, Jesus healed me. Right, right. After he said for that to not take place, or that when they knew that he was the son of God, you know, things to that effect.

12:17

So here when he talked to the disciples and he asked them, who do you say that I am? And Peter confesses, you are the

12:24

Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus says, good, you know, because my father has revealed it to you.

12:30

Right. But don't tell anyone else. Matthew chapter 11 is where Jesus says that no one knows the son except the father.

12:39

And no one knows the father except the son and anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him.

12:44

So when somebody has come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ as the son of God, it's because the father has revealed it to them.

12:51

That's still the case. Right. That was the case when Jesus was visiting with his disciples or when he healed somebody or when the demons recognized it.

12:59

Well, the demons recognized it for a different reason. Right. They saw his glory before he became incarnate.

13:05

But when the disciples recognized it, Jesus pointing out, you know this because my father has revealed it to you.

13:12

So don't let anyone else know until the timing is right. And it would be when

13:17

Jesus was ready for them to put him to death for the forgiveness of sins, for that was the very reason why he was there.

13:26

My gesturing got so broad there. I reached over and I hit Becky's microphone. That was mine.

13:32

How do you not duck more when I'm over here? I don't know. See, you're here and you can commentate on all the motions that I'm making and all this.

13:41

Yeah, they keep getting wider and wider. It's hilarious.

13:48

Well, yeah, that's the way I do Bible study through the week too. So I have the Bible open right here. Yeah, but normally you're within shoulder range.

13:56

What do you mean? Like shoulder to shoulder. You're within your shoulder width. Oh, like I'm gesturing right here is what you're saying.

14:03

Right. Okay, yeah, yeah. For the most part. Not beyond my parameters. Occasionally it'll get a little bit further, but your elbows stay in.

14:09

But tonight you're just. I'm animated. Elbows out and everything. Not sure what it is.

14:16

Like Black Friday shopping. But even when I'm doing Bible study during the week and I'm in here by myself doing it.

14:23

I have the Bible in front of me and I'm doing that. But no one makes comment about the fact that I'm.

14:29

No one can see you. That's right. No one sees me making all of those gestures. So aren't you glad you're on that side of the microphone and we're over here.

14:38

So I can't knock you out with all of my broad gestures. Okay, this next question comes from Neil in South Carolina.

14:45

Remember Neil? Yes. Always good to hear from Neil. Hello, Pastor Gabe and Becky. I recently had a discussion with a friend from college that has been attending a church of Christ.

14:57

Red flags already. He was adamant that baptism is necessary for salvation.

15:03

Of course, that's what they believe. I tried to give examples of Cornelius and the jailer that tried to commit suicide.

15:09

The jailer that tried to commit suicide. Not Cornelius. The jailer. Right. I even wadded him and sent an article from James White.

15:18

But he passed them off as following men and not the Bible. I don't think I've seen what used as a verb yet.

15:26

Yet? No. Thanks, Neil. That's a first. That's right. You're the first email that is used what as a verb.

15:33

I wadded him. I love it. His argument was that we don't need teaching just the

15:43

Bible itself. That's also a church of Christ trait, by the way. I'll talk about that in a moment. I finally tried to explain hermeneutics and gave examples of how he's reading verses in part, not as a whole.

15:55

How do we plead with someone from the scriptures that proper understanding is needed?

16:01

Here's an example of our exchange. Him. Mark 15 16. Plain as day, brother.

16:07

God adds to the church. We are sinful. We have to have it removed. We have to have our sins removed.

16:14

Baptism removes sin. Born again. First Peter 3 21. If you're thinking, I'm saying baptism alone saves us.

16:21

No, I'm not. I'm just reading the Bible. The steps to salvation. What must we do on this side of the cross today?

16:27

What must we do to be saved? And then Neil's response. I asked him to stop adding steps to a one step process.

16:35

Repentance. Faith are two sides to one coin. We are saved by grace through faith. Baptism is obedience.

16:41

Obedience doesn't save. Christ does. But I failed to get through. Yeah. And I mean, you could you could even have the right passages to respond to him with.

16:51

And if his heart is hardened to it, he's just not going to see it still. Yeah. Just be faithful to the scriptures and pray that the

16:57

Lord is going to make the correction in his heart. Right. This is the instruction that Paul gives in a second.

17:02

Timothy two. I know I'm gesturing and hitting hitting microphones again. Anyway, you smirked.

17:12

And so I was like, OK, I know. I know she's going to laugh. I'm going to go ahead and. Yes. Yes. I hit the microphone.

17:17

Sorry. I'm sorry, Neil. That was not towards your your your concerns. Second, Timothy, chapter two is where Paul instructs

17:25

Timothy to correct opponents with gentleness. Right. And God may perhaps grant repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth.

17:33

So you be faithful and obedient in how you handle the scriptures and how you respond and hope and pray that the

17:40

Lord is going to work on his heart. Right. To turn him toward this this false teaching. And it is very common.

17:45

I mean, it is the teaching of the Church of Christ that baptism saves. But furthermore, he made the comment that we don't need teaching.

17:53

We just need the Bible itself. That is a common Church of Christ belief, because if you go to most most churches that are derived from the

18:04

Church of Christ or that fall under the banner of the disciples of Christ. So that includes the

18:09

Church of Christ and Christian churches. Then if you go to if you go on their website and you'll go to a statement of faith, like what we what we believe, oftentimes what you'll see is no creed, but Christ, no book, but the

18:22

Bible. So there is no statement of faith. They don't give any like, here's what we believe about God.

18:28

Here's what we believe about Jesus. Here's what we believe about the Trinity. They don't put anything out like that in the open.

18:34

They just simply say no creed, but Christ, no book, but the Bible. So then how are we wrong in their eyes?

18:40

How are we wrong? What do you mean? Because they don't have a creed. So. Oh, yeah. They would say like, like he responded to the what video or to the

18:48

James White article. Well, no, that's the doctrines of man. You're just using the teachings of man. All we need is the

18:54

Bible. Okay. We just need to point to the Bible. So this is this is most common within the Church of Christ.

18:59

And I've got a friend who's a youth pastor at a Christian church here in town, a first Christian church. That's what they have on their website.

19:05

And I've given him a hard time about that. So it's like no creed, but Christ. So that's your creed. You got a creed on your website.

19:14

It's no creed, but Christ. Yeah, you really should narrow down what it is that you believe. But anyway, so that's that's the way they come at this.

19:21

So, therefore, they believe anything that they have interpreted out of the Bible is biblical.

19:26

They don't understand and they don't see that they're applying their own hermeneutic to Scripture whenever they make these delineations or these particular interpretations.

19:35

But when it comes down to it, baptism does not save anyone. Right. And the Scripture is very clear about that.

19:42

Nothing saves us but God. Right. There is nothing that washes away our sin, but Jesus Christ.

19:50

This is what we sing in nothing but the blood. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

19:57

Now, I know in saying that someone from the Church of Christ is going to go, well, that's a song. That's not from the Bible. No, it comes from the

20:03

Bible. Zechariah 3, 9. I will remove the iniquity. That's God.

20:09

Ezekiel 36, 33. I cleanse you from all your iniquities. 1 John 1, 7. Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin.

20:18

And then say it with me. 1 John 1, 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

20:31

Who does that? Jesus does it. Not your baptism. Not water.

20:37

It doesn't say that anywhere in the Bible. Right. Oh, but the Church of Christ person will go to 1

20:42

Peter 3, 21, which says, Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

20:57

Notice that nothing there says that baptism forgives you of your sins. That's not what it says.

21:04

In fact, it's very qualified that baptism is an appeal to God for a good conscience.

21:13

If you know that your sins have been forgiven in Jesus Christ, then you, by obedience, are baptized, because that's what

21:22

Jesus commanded us to do. That's the Great Commission. Go into all nations and baptize in the name of the

21:28

Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. As I've shared with my congregation, you summarize the

21:33

Great Commission in Matthew 28 with baptize, evangelize, and discipleize.

21:41

All right. Actually, the order would be evangelize, baptize, and discipleize. Discipleize is not a word.

21:46

I'm just being cute. Anyway. It's cute. All right. I'm glad you think I'm cute. You're cute, too.

21:55

So, the point here is that you are appealing to God for a cleansing of your conscience.

22:02

I believe that Jesus has forgiven me of my sins. Now, may my conscience be cleansed of that, that I may walk in righteousness.

22:11

And so, baptism is that confession. You have confessed it with your mouth. You confess it with your actions that you've been buried with Christ in your sins and you've been risen with Christ to new life.

22:25

That's all signified in baptism. But nothing in the Bible says your sins are washed by the water.

22:32

It doesn't say that anywhere. So, how do we understand that baptism now saves you?

22:37

Well, the word saves is used multiple ways in the New Testament to not just refer to justification but also to sanctification.

22:47

And this would be one of those occasions in which salvation in 1 Peter 3 .21 is used in terms of sanctification and not justification.

22:55

Philippians 2 .12 -13, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now not only in my presence but much more in my absence.

23:04

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is

23:09

God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Again, God does it, not you.

23:16

Right. But here, Paul is using that term salvation in terms of sanctification. Very clear in the context he's not talking about justification because he's talking to Christians who have already been justified.

23:28

Right, right. So, this use of salvation here is regarding growing in righteousness.

23:34

It is growing in holiness, being shaped more and more into the image of Christ. For though on the day we were saved we were completely justified, we've not yet been fully sanctified.

23:46

Right. And that's what every Christian experiences in their Christian walk. We're continuing to grow in holiness and in righteousness and in our sanctification.

23:54

So, Paul says work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

24:00

And nowadays it would be compared to like baby in the faith versus... Right, you're growing up.

24:05

Right. Exactly. Maturing in the faith. Maturing, maturing in the faith. So, you're working out your own salvation.

24:10

Do you say you're saved? Good. Then show it with your life. Right. And you'll show it with progress and with maturity.

24:16

Right. In this walk of faith that you're in. That's exactly the context of Philippians 2. That's also the context of 1

24:22

Peter 3. Baptism now saves you because your conscience is cleansed by the blood of Christ.

24:29

And you've appealed to God in obedience to what God has instructed of you. That you would be baptized.

24:37

And that by this baptism you're signifying you've been buried with Christ and risen again to new life.

24:42

So, now give me that clear conscience that I may walk in righteousness. Right. Putting off every sin and weight that entangles.

24:51

As is talked about in Hebrews 12, 1 and 2. And running with endurance the race that is set before us.

24:57

Looking to Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith. So, I hope that helps you

25:02

Neal with a little bit more information that you can use to share with your friend. But again, do this very gently.

25:09

Do not quarrel about these things. Right. But point out to him, he is using his own hermeneutic to interpret the scriptures.

25:16

And his hermeneutic is incorrect. And he's been conditioned by the way the church of Christ teaches to believe the way that he believes.

25:24

So, it's going to take some time and it takes some deconditioning. Yeah, that's the hard part. I mean, in a sense, you're baptizing his mind with the word of God.

25:33

To cleanse him of the wrong teaching that he's received. That he may receive right teaching and therefore a right understanding of Christ.

25:40

Right now he believes in salvation by works. Right. And he believes that baptism is a work by which you must do in order to be saved.

25:49

And if you're not baptized, then you're not a Christian. You don't become saved the moment you're baptized. And there's nowhere in the

25:56

Bible that says that. So, the only passage of scripture that they have to fall back on is 1

26:01

Peter 3 .21. Which they're taking out of context and using incorrectly. Because there's nothing in the scripture that says you came to salvation when you were baptized.

26:08

Right, right. Unless you want to say you came to salvation when you were baptized in the Holy Spirit. Eh, you know.

26:15

That would be true. Alright, let's go to the next question here. Henry in Canada says,

26:22

Hi Gabe and Becky, my wife and I love the podcast. Would you consider responding to the podcast that Matt Walsh did on Young Earth Creationism?

26:32

I think that he makes a few good arguments and I would love to know what you think about it. Thanks. So, Henry did provide the link to this podcast with Matt Walsh.

26:42

Who's not on the side of Young Earth Creationism. He's on the side of theistic evolution.

26:49

Okay. So, everything came about through millions and millions of years. Oh, okay. Of natural processes.

26:55

That's Matt Walsh's opinion. So, Matt Walsh, in case you're not familiar, he's the author of the

27:00

Matt Walsh blog. That's where he, that was kind of his claim to fame. And he did that on his own.

27:06

Used to be a radio DJ. Had his own radio show. And then he got picked up by Glenn Beck. When Glenn Beck left

27:12

Fox News and he started his own news company, which was called The Blaze. Okay. And so,

27:18

Matt Walsh got pulled into Glenn Beck's organization. And so, Walsh, everything that he publishes comes through The Blaze now.

27:26

Matt Walsh is a Roman Catholic. So, it's funny that you've got, funny in the,

27:32

I guess in a sense of irony, a sad irony, that you've got Glenn Beck, who is a devout Mormon.

27:37

Oh. Running this news organization that also includes a devout Roman Catholic. Yeah. Okay.

27:44

So, Matt Walsh will often say things about Christianity. You know, like he'll call out

27:49

Joel Osteen, for example, about his false prosperity gospel. Right. But it's like, have you called out

27:56

Glenn Beck for his false Mormonism? And it's also ironic coming from a Roman Catholic that you would call out the false teaching of anybody.

28:04

Yeah. And so, anyway, so Matt Walsh, as a Roman Catholic, was making some statements the other day on Twitter related to Young Earth creationism.

28:13

And he was just dogging on Young Earth creationists. So, then in response to some of the comments that he was getting on Young Earth creationism, he did a blog.

28:22

And that was the blog that Henry linked me to. Okay. A blog. No, I'm sorry. He didn't do a blog. He did a video, which also was uploaded to his podcast.

28:30

Oh, okay. So, he gave me the link to that. So, you can watch the video version, or you can go on his podcast and just listen to the audio version.

28:37

Check. It's 45 minutes long. Whoa, it's a sermon. So, I tell you what,

28:43

I like many of the blogs that Matt Walsh has written. I like the way that he is able to take common sense arguments and just demolish the liberal position.

28:55

And he does so with gusto. And he does it extremely well. And I have valued his blogs in that sense, because he just reveals and exposes how ridiculous the liberal worldview can be.

29:09

So, I love what he does in that respect. But I cannot, and I mean this with all manner of respect for the guy,

29:18

I cannot stand listening to him. The way he talks grates on me.

29:24

So, you take the things that he says in his blog, and you can receive it in a certain tone when you're reading it.

29:31

But when you actually hear him saying it, he doesn't quite have the finesse. And it does not come across as,

29:41

I don't know, I don't want to say as nice as it does in his blog, because he's really not being nice.

29:48

He's not pulling punches. He's exposing the flaws in the liberal worldview. But here in this particular podcast, he's trying to expose the flaws in Young Earth Creationism.

30:00

So, I started it. I got about 15 seconds into it. And then I stopped it.

30:05

Plus, I saw that it was 45 minutes. I'm like, I'm not going to listen to this. I don't even want to listen to 45 minutes to pull out some sound bites that I can put on the podcast.

30:14

Instead, I will just say that some of the arguments that Walsh was making on Twitter were among the most absurd

30:21

Old Earth Creation arguments that I've ever seen. So, whatever he's saying in the podcast better be better than what he was saying on Twitter.

30:31

Because what he was saying on Twitter was terrible. And some friends of mine and I were making fun of it.

30:36

It's like, are you serious? So, here's a couple of examples. He says, the word day.

30:43

Okay. So, basically, before I give this tweet, basically, he's saying that what we read in Genesis chapter 1, when it says there was evening and there was morning the first day.

30:55

Or there was evening and there was morning the second day. Right. So, he's using the typical Old Earth Creation argument that yom, the

31:03

Hebrew word for day, can mean anything. It can mean a 24 -hour period, but it also might be an age.

31:10

So, it's like, in those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that all the world should be registered.

31:16

You know, Luke chapter 2. Got it. So, there's an example. And that wouldn't be the word yom because it's written in Greek. But that's just an example.

31:22

So, you can use the word day to describe an age, not necessarily day to describe a 24 -hour period.

31:28

Okay. So, Walsh is taking the opinion that day in Genesis 1 is in the poetic sense, and it's actually referring to a much longer period of time.

31:37

It's not talking about a literal 24 -hour period. But he misses that. Every time the word day is used in Genesis 1, it's qualified with there was evening and there was morning the first day.

31:50

Yeah. There was evening and there was morning the second day, Genesis 1 .8.

31:56

And there was evening and there was morning the third day, Genesis 1 .13.

32:01

So, it's very clearly talking about a 24 -hour day. That is the only way that you can interpret

32:09

Genesis 1. If you try to interpret Genesis 1 any other way, you're imposing something on the text that is not there.

32:17

So, that's the way that Walsh is making an argument concerning Genesis 1. So, then he says in this particular tweet, the word day means many different things depending on the grammatical context and depending on what space rock you happen to be sitting on.

32:33

Okay. A day on Pluto is 150 hours. Jupiter is nine hours.

32:39

Venus is 2 ,800 hours. Why assume that the God of the cosmos operates in Earth days?

32:45

That's one of the most ridiculous arguments I have ever heard. Why assume that he doesn't? The Bible is not written to Martians.

32:55

Yeah. The Bible is not written to Plutonians. Yeah. And every time I say that word, Plutonian, I think of the

33:03

DeLorean and the time machine and we're going to be blasting off to somewhere. We need Plutonian to get there.

33:11

Plutonium. Anyway, that's what I think of with the word Plutonian. Yeah. So, the Bible wasn't written to people who live on other planets.

33:19

It was written to people on Earth just like we were talking about related to flat

33:24

Earth cosmology last week. Like, we make references to things based on our own vantage point.

33:31

The sun rises, the sun sets. Right. The moon rise, you know, things like that. So, that's from our own vantage point.

33:37

The sun is not actually rising. The Earth is turning. But we speak in terms of our own vantage point.

33:44

It's the same way the Bible was written. So, Matt's trying to say, no, God's creating the entire cosmos.

33:50

He doesn't operate in 24 -hour days. Well, he does operate in 24 -hour days. For our sake.

33:55

Right. These things are written for us that we might know, that we might understand. Moses is the one that is writing down the things that God did.

34:02

Right. And that he did those things in 24 -hour days. And all of those things... Well, there are people who don't think that they actually lived to be 900 -something years old either.

34:13

Right. So, that's just interpretation or something. Yeah. Or their days were different or something like that.

34:19

You know, our understanding that the Earth is 6 ,000 -something years old was first mathematically figured by a man who was a

34:27

Roman Catholic. So, it's like Matt is going against his own religious beliefs when he's trying to say that science dictates for us that the

34:38

Earth is actually millions and millions of years old, not a few thousand years old. Well, according to your own church teaching, that's not true.

34:45

But going on, Walsh also said, I am leaving it to God. You are the one declaring that it must be 24 hours and God must follow your rules.

34:55

I'm saying that I have no idea how long God took and I would never dare impose my limitations on him.

35:02

He's a Roman Catholic. He imposes his limitations on God all the time.

35:08

Yeah. Jesus, you must come into this wafer while I eat it and this cup will literally become your blood when

35:18

I drink it. Because that's what the priest is doing whenever he consecrates communion, whenever he consecrates the wafer and the cup.

35:26

He is calling Christ into the wafer and into the cup. Right.

35:31

So, God is at the priest's beck and call. This is Roman Catholicism. What the pope says goes.

35:37

And if you defy the pope, according to Roman Catholic teaching, you are anathema or you're cursed to hell because you do not obey the pope, which is nowhere in the

35:47

Bible. But this is what Matt believes. And by the way, Matt constantly opposes the pope.

35:53

He does not like St. Francis and has made that very well known. So he's a he's a very inconsistent

36:01

Roman Catholic. Yeah. But nonetheless, he holds to this Roman Catholic belief. And he's trying to say, I would never dare impose my limitations on him concerning young earth creationism or old earth creationism.

36:12

Roman Catholic tendencies. Yeah. By the way, the the flat earthers were some of the comments that they were making was that I'm inconsistent in my beliefs because I believe in a liberal and liberal.

36:26

Really now? I believe in a literal interpretation of Genesis one, but not a literal interpretation of the text when it talks about the earth being flat, which it doesn't talk about the earth being flat.

36:37

Right. Anyway, so thank you for that, Henry.

36:42

I hope I responded to what it was you were asking about. Again, I don't want to go into Matt's blog or his podcast and piece it apart word for word because it's 45 minutes.

36:54

Sorry, I just don't want to listen. If he writes a blog, I will certainly read it and then respond to those arguments.

37:01

But I really didn't want to listen to the podcast. This has been a busy day as it is on on Thursday right now.

37:07

Becky and I for us to have a date night. Yes. You know, we we have things that we do on Thursday that have us going from morning until evening.

37:15

The podcast is the last thing we do. And then we go to bed. Yeah. So midnight. Yeah. So there's no time for me in there to to even have grabbed the podcast and listen to it for 45 minutes.

37:27

Our last question here. This comes from Deborah. And she says, should

37:33

I be listening to this song called Oh, Taste and See? And what does the Bible say about bullies?

37:39

So this is another Bethel song. OK. Oh, Taste and See. And, you know, it's it's taken from the scriptures for the most part.

37:46

There's nothing inherently wrong with it in the lyrics. It's also really, really short.

37:52

Let's see. This is seven lines, nine, 13, 13 lines.

38:00

All right. And yet when I went to YouTube, Jen Johnson is singing this for over five minutes.

38:06

Whoa. So I can tell she's repeating this over and over and over again. That's what Bethel does. OK. So there's that.

38:13

If you can get through the constant repetitive nature of the song, I guess, you know, that's one hurdle you got to get over. But for the lyrics, for the most part, are

38:20

OK. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, taste and see that the

38:27

Lord is good to me. I'm sorry. Did I say this song had 13 lines in it? It's more like seven.

38:32

Just a few of them are repeated over and over again. You have turned my morning into dancing, put off my rags and clothed me with gladness.

38:40

And I will arise and will praise you. I'll sing and not be silent. Oh, Lord, my

38:45

God, I will give thanks to you forever. Repeat that line again. I will live only for you. I will lift these hands up to you.

38:51

I will dance before you. I will shout it. I will shout it to you. There's nothing wrong with any of that. No. Just the problem is you shouldn't be listening to Bethel music.

38:59

Right. Because their understanding and their interpretation of God is not orthodox. They have a heretical view of Jesus Christ and a heretical view of the

39:07

Trinity. So the God that they are singing to is not the God of the Bible. It is the God of Bill Johnson's interpretation.

39:15

So do not—I really—imperatively, I must say this to you. Do not listen to Bethel church music.

39:22

And whenever I get into these arguments with—and I mean arguments in a very peaceful sense, not in a squabbling, quarreling sense.

39:30

But whenever I get into these arguments with those who really are defensive about Bethel music, it's as though they're saying there's nothing else for us to listen to.

39:40

I can only listen to what I like and I only like Bethel music. That's not really what they're saying, but that's kind of the way the argument is coming out.

39:47

Okay. Why are you defending that you have to listen to this? Maybe is it like one of the things that mostly plays on the radio, the

39:55

Christian radio? I don't know if this song is on the radio or not. No, I mean Bethel songs. Yeah, there are

40:01

Bethel songs that are on the radio. Your church is probably singing Bethel songs. Okay.

40:06

Well, a lot of them. Well, I'm just thinking if it's all around you, then you can't help but listen to it.

40:12

But if it's— Oh, sure. Right. But if it's like a CD or something, then that's different. And it's like—

40:18

You have your own choice. Yeah. Ignorance is bliss in these things, too. Right. So it's like you don't have to know that all these songs you're listening to on the

40:23

Christian radio— Oh, that one comes from Hillsong. Yeah. That one comes from Bethel. I can't listen to it. I'm speaking in terms of don't invest your time, don't buy the

40:31

CD, don't buy the music, don't sing them in your church. If you have control over it, don't invest yourself in it.

40:38

There was a conference that Chris and I went to a year ago.

40:45

We were at the same conference. Chris, your elder? Yeah. Okay. Chris, the elder at the church. And the praise band was very good.

40:52

They were a really good praise band. They did a rendition of I Stand Amazed in the Presence of Jesus the

40:57

Nazarene. Oh, how marvelous. Oh, how wonderful. Yeah. One of the best I'd ever heard.

41:02

Oh, wow. And there was a verse that they sang in Spanish. And we did kind of a round where part of the audience sang in Spanish and the other part sang in English.

41:12

And it was kind of a round. Oh, that is really neat. It was really neat. It really was great. Because some of the band was Hispanic and some of the band was

41:19

English. The church that they came from had split services. Gotcha. So, it was neat how they incorporated that in.

41:25

It was really cool. That is. But there was another song they sang. The moment it started, I knew it was a

41:30

Bethel church song. And I looked at Chris and I said, this song is from Bethel church.

41:37

And he went, great, now you ruined it for me. And I felt bad. Yeah. I really felt bad for that.

41:43

Right. Honestly, because I was like, it would have been better for him to not know that.

41:53

There was not a reason for me to have to sing that. Because he is singing those lyrics not knowing that this had been written from somebody who has a heretical view of God.

42:02

And you just totally crushed the plane off. I did. Now he is like, I can't sing that because they are singing about a different God.

42:07

Yeah. So, it would have just been better for him to not know that. And his praises that he is lifting up are true and genuine.

42:14

Now, if Bethel music was leading the worship, that would have been totally different. I would not have even been in there.

42:20

Right. If Bethel church was leading the worship at that conference that we were at. Because they are singing to a different God.

42:27

And therefore, we don't have fellowship together. Right. We are not even worshipping the same thing together.

42:34

You are worshipping a God of your own making. But isn't it okay that I am worshipping my God as they are worshipping their

42:40

God? No. You cannot worship a God of your own making.

42:45

You must worship the God of the Bible. Right. You must worship God as He has said He is to be worshipped.

42:51

And I am making the point of they are also leading.

42:59

Right. They are leading everyone else. Yes. Right. They are leading everyone into singing to a

43:06

God of their own making. Right. And in their own way. Right. On top of that. Because it is all about like the

43:11

Holy Spirit is with us now. And so, we are doing what the Holy Spirit tells us to do. Every weird, crazy thing that they do in their services, they say is the

43:21

Holy Spirit moving. No, you are weird and crazy. That is what is moving here.

43:27

Yeah. And again, it is all what they say the Spirit is. All what they say

43:32

Jesus and God the Father is. Which again, Bill Johnson's views on this are very heretical. He claims that Jesus was not

43:39

God on earth. That He had put aside all divinity and He was only a human being.

43:45

And He teaches us exactly what every human being is capable of not showing

43:53

Himself as the Savior. But He did miracles to show that we can all do those miracles too. That is crazy talk.

43:59

And by the way, I will go ahead and give you evidence of that. Here is a movie coming out called

44:08

Finger of God 2. I wrote a review of Finger of God earlier this year. They are coming out with a sequel now.

44:13

Okay. And here is the trailer and you will hear Bethel Church say it themselves in this trailer.

44:19

Alright. I think the big story is that He is pursuing us.

44:28

That is Bill Johnson talking right there. Okay. And anyone who would watch this is only watching because He is in pursuit of them.

44:40

It was a film unlike any other. If you are really going after the Father's heart,

44:45

I mean, what are you going to find? You are going to find the most loving person in the universe.

44:53

It touched the hearts of millions. I promise I am not an instructor. You don't learn as a shield until you stare down the arrows and wait for Him maybe at the last minute to come up and protect you.

45:01

The arrows are coming in the sky, but will you trust Him enough to wait? And now, ten years later, the sequel.

45:09

We make deals with God. We are like, God, if you give us more power, then we will go. But you know what?

45:15

God says this, He says, you go and I will give you more power. There are people who are perishing and all we have to do is have confidence enough to say, do you want

45:23

Jesus right now? The story continues. I am giving myself for the one thing, the one thing that is worth giving myself for.

45:35

In all of history. In all the world. I am here for it. I am here doing it right now.

45:42

Jesus didn't heal the sick to prove that He could. He healed the sick to prove that we could.

45:48

He did miracles to show us how we can live our lives. There it was right there.

45:54

I am going to play it again. I am here doing it right now. Jesus didn't heal the sick to prove that He could.

46:01

He healed the sick to prove that we could. He did miracles to show us how we can live our lives.

46:08

So, yeah, you got it? Yeah. That's what they believed.

46:15

Jesus was only human. He was not God. He had set aside his divinity in heaven, came down as a human and was not truly man and truly

46:24

God. He was not the God -man, according to the teaching of Bethel Church. So the miracles he did was not to show, they were not signs of his divinity, even though Hebrew says that.

46:35

And so this guy is saying that, you know, he did miracles to show that we were capable of doing that.

46:42

And we have that power in and of ourselves to be able to do this. If we are living as the people that he meant for us to live as, we have the ability to do this on our own.

46:51

And that's I'm not drawing that out of just that comment that he made. That's also what Bill Johnson has taught.

46:56

Hmm. So the that's very concerning. Well, yeah. Especially if it's in a movie.

47:02

Yeah. This is the way that they explain Jesus, because they truly believe that they can do these kinds of miracles.

47:11

And quite honestly, I think that the whole thing is a ruse that among these teachers, it really does seem some of you are charlatan.

47:18

Some of you outright know that you're not actually healing anyone. And yet you're just convincing everybody that you are right, which just makes you a liar.

47:27

But then to fit to fit that to convince everybody, you have the power within you to heal somebody else.

47:34

Jesus healed to show us that we can do that, too. Mm hmm. Therefore, they shape their theology of Jesus himself into this person who was only a man and not

47:46

God. Yeah. In order to fit the theology that they have, that you have an ability to heal.

47:53

As every person has, people don't heal because they're not living up to their potential. Oh, is that why?

48:00

Right. OK, that's that's what Bethel Church teaches. So this is again, this is just to to to qualify that that Bethel teaches a

48:12

God of their own making. They do not teach the God of the Bible. It's heretical.

48:18

So therefore, we cannot fellowship with Bethel Church. Right. The music that they sing and the praises that they're singing are to a different God.

48:26

It's not to the God of the Bible. Now, some have asked me questions about, OK, you've you've produced all of this information, this material related to Bethel Church.

48:34

What about Hillsong and Elevation Church? Because they're kind of the trifecta of.

48:40

Right. Of music producers right now. It seems like most of my mind, I clump them together. Right.

48:45

Yeah. So you say one, I I just assume all. Well, quite honestly, with Hillsong, there there isn't anything about their doctrine that is heretical like Bethel churches.

48:55

And same with Stephen Furtick's. Now, you can probably draw out statements that Brian Houston or Stephen Furtick has made that you could say that that, you know, these are heretical statements that they have made.

49:09

But the base of their doctrine is not itself heretical. If you go to their statement of faith, you don't find heresy.

49:16

Whereas with Bethel, you do. It's yeah, they're heretical in their teaching. Right. So if you were at a

49:23

Hillsong United concert and you're singing along with Hillsong, I don't believe that you're singing to a different God that they're singing to.

49:29

You know, some somebody out there is going to go, I don't know. I think they they do worship a different God. Fine. But you can't really point to that like you can with Bethel Church.

49:38

Right. You know, Hillsong is extremely concerning because the doctrine that they teach is false.

49:44

It's just not heretical. Same with Elevation Church. And they partner. See, Elevation partners with many heretics, as does

49:51

Hillsong, like Joyce Meyer, T .D. Jakes, Joel Osteen.

49:56

But you don't you don't hear statements from them or anything in their doctrine of faith that would inherently be considered heretical.

50:05

So it's different for Hillsong and Elevation, even though they're kind of the trifecta of of bad praise and worship music.

50:14

Maybe not necessarily that. I get why the songs are catchy. They're catchy. When I was kind of coming out of my my period of darkness back in 2007, 08, you know, when

50:26

I was just I was just really discouraged. I was seeing the sin that is in myself and my desperate need for a savior.

50:33

That's what I was experiencing at that time. There were certain songs that really ministered to me like Mighty to Save from Hillsong.

50:42

Now, as I matured, I realized those lyrics really were not as deep as I thought they were.

50:47

Right. But but nonetheless, that term, Mighty to Save, that comes right out of the scriptures. That's Zephaniah, that our

50:53

God is mighty to save. And so that that song ministered to me very deeply during that period of time.

50:59

So I get why people like those Hillsong tunes. And I'm not going to judge you whenever I see that you're loving

51:06

Hillsong or Elevation, though, if you're singing along with Bethel, I probably will alert you to what it is you're singing along with, but not to ruin your worship experience, as I did with Chris.

51:17

Yeah. There's a time and a place. I know. I mean, he understands. He gets it.

51:23

It's difficult to be your friend. I'm sure it is.

51:29

I've heard Sinclair Ferguson talk about the Apostle Paul. No, it wasn't Ferguson. It was

51:35

Derek Thomas. OK. I believe it was Derek Thomas. He was saying that it was difficult to be the

51:40

Apostle Paul's friend. Oh, yeah, I'm sure. So and pointed to some various examples as to why.

51:49

So, yeah, I get that. You know, it's probably difficult to be friends with me. Man, I just can't enjoy anything when

51:55

I'm around you. See, Chris makes fun of the fact that I just can't enjoy movies. Right. I'm always making fun of movies.

52:01

Right. And stuff like that. Really, what it is, I think I've explained this. It is very rare that you enjoy a movie.

52:07

We own lots of movies. It's all the movies I like. We do. But it's not lots compared to what we've watched.

52:14

That's true. Yeah, we'll watch movies. OK, that was dumb. We're not watching again. Yeah, a lot. I think

52:21

I've explained this on the podcast before. You only hear me speak negatively about movies because I don't want to endorse any films.

52:27

Right. I don't want to cause anyone to stumble. So I'm like, oh, have you seen this movie? That was great. You know, that is one of the problems

52:33

I have with the Gospel Coalition doing so many movie reviews is, you know, that that kind of thing can cause someone to stumble.

52:41

Well, they endorse this movie. Do they therefore endorse this worldview in the movie? Right. Or this scene of violence is causing me to think about violence or that couple kissing there got me lusting, you know, something like that.

52:55

Everybody struggles with something different. Right. So movies are so insignificant to our sanctification that I just don't want to present a film to you that might otherwise make you stumble.

53:08

So, yeah, that's why. That's why I usually come out speaking negatively about films and not positively about any films.

53:18

OK, so that was that was Deborah's question about should I be listening to this song,

53:23

O Taste and See? And then she also said, what does the Bible say about bullies? But we've come to the end of our podcast.

53:30

Oh, what does the Bible say about bullies? So we'll save that question for next week. Sweet. We'll start with that one next week.

53:36

Part two of her question. What does the Bible say about bullies? Sorry, you have to wait a week, Deborah. Let's close with prayer.

53:43

Yes, let's. Our great God, we thank you for the salvation that you have given to us in Jesus Christ.

53:50

And we receive this salvation by faith, by believing, turning from our sin and following Jesus.

53:57

We have been cleansed from all unrighteousness. And you do that. You cleanse us of our sins, not anything that we do, not any work that you or that we have done, but it's by the work that you have done.

54:11

You have cleansed us of sin by faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

54:16

And so I pray for Neil as he's witnessing to this Church of Christ friend of his that you would give

54:22

Neil words of wisdom to share and that this this friend of his would have his heart broken over this, that it would pierce the hard heartedness that has developed over years of listening to false teaching in the

54:34

Church of Christ, that he would even be drawn out of that church and listen to someone who is more sound in their teaching in their presentation of the gospel.

54:42

We are saved by we are justified by faith in Jesus and no other way.

54:48

And the scripture clearly affirms it. So also give us a right spirit to discern the scriptures in the right way and that Neil would be able to do that and show his friend what it is that the scripture is truly saying and that his friend is even using a hermeneutic to try to interpret the scriptures his way.

55:06

I thank you for all of our listeners and I pray that when we understand the text as a ministry would continue to remain faithful to the word of God and that what

55:15

I teach is truly what your word says for the edification of your people and for the for the sake of the faith of your elect and the teaching that accords with godliness.

55:29

Thank you for this medium, the internet, being able to produce these videos and this podcast that we may proclaim your glory and your greatness according to your word.

55:40

And it's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen. Amen. Uh, do

56:52

I need to do something about that? Because it's pretty loud. What's that? That's my stomach.

57:00

I had cheese on the tacos. So before we get started recording, you need to do something about your noisy tummy.

57:08

Take a mint? I don't know. Take a mint. Does your tummy need fresh breath?