Bible Questions and Answers, Part 41

All wisdom, all the benefits of wisdom divine wisdom all righteousness, all of that is found in Christ.

Everything is found in Christ to answer questions from his local congregation in Los Angeles questions about crucial doctrines like Christ's birth and his sinless life, the permanence of salvation the qualifications of an elder in the ministry of the Holy Spirit in heaven more than matters of curiosity. These questions will help you apply Scripture's truth to some issues that I think most of us have wondered about. So let's get to this Q&A, you'll first hear a member from John's congregation. And then John will respond as Roxanne partes, and the question I have is Matthew 542 give to him who asked if you do not turn away from him who wants to far from you. Does that mean we get to everybody that asks of us. I think it's a general principle yes give to him who asks of you. The assumption is that he's not trying to take advantage of the assumption is that the need is real that the need is genuine. What you're really asking is if I see a bigger do I give money to a bigger that's not the point.

As a general principle, and that is the principle that when someone has need legitimate genuine need and they come to you and ask for that need to be met and you have the resource to do that, then you should do that limits. Let me just say this. One of the principles that I operate on. As I travel around the world is never to give any money to a bigger none. Because when you do that you make baking successful and when baking is successful, it becomes a career when we are in India, for example, little children come up and literally hang on your clothes hang on your arm with these great big dark eyes and they plead with you for money. And of course you realize that around the corner is the guy who owns all these little kids who has them doing this and collects 75% of everything that they collect and it's an absolutely massive enterprise, you find that in most Third World countries of our time. We have to be very judicious and very careful that you don't grow up bigger but you don't feed that kind of thing where there is a situation you know to be a genuine need, and you have the opportunity to meet that need your right here. We know that sin entered the world through man. I assume the word man is used in a generic way. Since all into the world and seen so if married by her own admission needed a Savior making her a sinner and since Jesus was part of her flesh as well as that of the Holy Spirit. I accept by faith that Jesus was sinless don't understand how Jesus would not be tainted by seen since he was born from her body. What questions you don't understand it near the line is anybody else.

So you're in good company is an absolute fact and and now your you view people are you people are getting deep here. You understand now because basically the question you're asking is how is the sin nature past, how is it passed past through the bloodstream. Is it passed through DNA is passed through the you know the genetic code is it passed through the chromosomes that mean that's a very difficult question to ask. Certainly the capability of the human body to grow old is passed through the chromosomes, DNA, genetics, and Jesus body grew old.

The ability of a body to be injured and wounded, even die.

Jesus experienced all of that. So there was some of the essence in understand this.

There was some of the essence of what it means to live in a truly human form just to say there was some of the components of real humanity, which has the capacity to feel pain-and-suffering and hunger and thirst and die.

Jesus had that and that came through the very real flesh of his own mother, but somehow God filtered out in that process. Any influence of sin whatsoever how he did that he did. He knows I don't know. I don't know what your question is, is a good one because it does assume that one sinful parent should be enough to make a sinner out of you and him in in any other circumstance we would say that is true. I mean one sinful mother we could certainly understand could beget a sinful child. If one could beget singularly and one can't but hypothetically but in the case of Mary, though she was a sinner. God somehow filtered out the sin normally would be passed to the child. He did that miraculously. It shouldn't surprise us that he did that miraculously, since it's even miraculous that he conceived within her that child by planting the seed, not by having a man so the whole thing is miraculous how he did it. I don't know. But Jesus came out fully human, bearing all that is full humanness and yet without sin. God just filtered that part out screen that out somehow supernatural. Okay we have a lady right in the middle document we have read quite a few commentaries about this and I had a dear pastor tell me that the Bible casts a lot of light on the commentaries but I still have a question I need to ask you who are what is Babylon the great, as listed in the 17th chapter of revelations.

I think Babylon the great, represents a worldwide religious system in chapter 17. The restoration of the original anti-God paganism that was associated with the Tower of Babel in Genesis, and thus it bears the same name, but I think it's a worldwide religious system and it appears to me if you read carefully through chapter 17. It centers itself in a city with seven hills, which isn't too hard to figure out Rome. It seems to me to that. It's bigger than Rome because it's drunk with the blood of all the martyrs, which means it takes all false religion that is massacred, the true church throughout all the centuries of mass is all about and one final grade massive religious fall system the.

The antichrist along with the false prophet allow the system to exist for a while and then consume that false religious system.

When the antichrist establishes himself as the only one to be worshiped and that sets up the final Babylon, which is more of a secular world economic situation you see in chapter 18, but I see it as a conglomerate system of false religion worldwide that is centered in the city of Rome and has as its titular head. Very likely the Pope whom some believe would even be the kind of person that could serve as antichrist of the false prophet so I see it is a world religious system sort of centered in in Rome.

Thank you, thank you and we have another lady over here to ask a question and I just wondering. The Bible teaches as a Christian we die we we receive different grades of rewards in heaven and on. I'd like to know if you could expound on those degrees, but also if there are different degrees of suffering in hell.

I think yes to both of those questions. There will be varying degrees of reward in heaven. That shouldn't surprise us. There are varying degrees of giftedness, even here on earth to get a good glimpse of what heaven might be like look at the church.

From the moment of your redemption of the Lord put his Holy Spirit within you, and according to first Corinthians 12 he gave you certain spiritual gifts right. He gave gifts to all of his church. They differ they have their what our gifts, they are varying capacities for ministry varying capacities for service to God in his church, and I think the same thing will be true eternally.

I think in eternity, we will all be given according to our abilities, and according to our faithfulness.

Varying capacities for glorifying serving and worshiping God. So I think that it's going to be based upon two things one would be the sovereignty of God who would choose to give as he wills as in first Corinthians 12.

As you give spiritual gifts in this life to the church and in whatever way he chooses to do that. That's a sovereign thing and secondly I think there is another component and that is to do has to do with faithfulness here, I believe our eternal reward will be in some way determined by the level of faithfulness.

We have had here the will of the reason we do. There are number of reasons why we assume this one of them was a conversation the dead. Jesus had with the mother of James and John, who said my boys want to sit on your right and left hand when you coming to the kingdom. He said it's not for me to give that it's for my father to give that and there he said that there are going to be some people elevated somebody's unity on my right somebody gonna be on my left and some others are going to be going down the line here. It's not for me to decide that it's the father but then he went on to say, the criteria by which that is going to be decided is faithfulness unto death.

So I think the greatest reward in the future is rewarded for the most people is the most faithful people and that probably plays itself out in those who were faithful in the death of martyrs. Those who gave their life you could give your life in living as well as give your life and dying couldn't you know I mean by that you can make the self-sacrifice to the maximum extent even while you're alive, will you sacrifice everything else and be what Paul called a living sacrifice so I think there is definitely going to be in heaven. Varying levels of service.

Just as there are with the Angels.

There are archangels in their cherubim and seraphim and principalities and powers and rulers and all of those varying levels of angelic hierarchy. I think in eternity. We are all to be sorted out within that eternal worshiping community then given varying capacities and varying responsibilities which are determined by the sovereignty of God and our faithfulness here. That's why John says look to yourselves that you lose not the things you brought, but that you receive a full reward.

It is possible that you could be faithful in the Lord be ready and prepared to give you a full reward, but by some sin in your life. Toward the end of your life. You could begin to forfeit and those things be taken back off the list added to the wood hay and stubble kind of thing in your reward would be less what is it is going to be some people with bigger crowns. No were not going to be going around saying hi hi got a big one. You got a little and I can agree that whatever we get.

I believe in the picture. The 24 elders we take our crowns and cast them at the feet of the Lord.

What I don't believe there going to be anything that's visible.

I think it's going to be a capacity for serving God fully and completely, and I don't think you'll have any sense of loss, horny sense of missing anything because each individual's capacity will be reached to its maximum. But I think what we want to do is have the greatest capacity for worshiping God as his sovereignty would give us and is our faithfulness would warrant now in terms of of the other.

There will be degrees of suffering. Hebrews 10 says how much greater suffering will come to the one who is trodden underfoot the blood of the covenant Canada none holy thing done despite to the spirit of grace. To put it simply means this, the more people know about the gospel and reject a greater degree of suffering, they will experience when they trample underfoot the blood of the covenant that is to say the pagan, who never heard anything about the gospel of Jesus Christ will not suffer.

To the degree that the apostate would whose who heard it all understood it all and blatantly rejected. Okay I my name is Phil Bock.

We were members here until about five years ago when we moved to Utah in the adult Sunday school class in our church back there. We were going to the book of Galatians and in chapter 5, which I was teaching a couple of weeks ago we came to Galatians 5, two and five, for which talk about the consequences of accepting circumcision or coming under the Jewish law or doing anything legalistic. Paul writes in verse two. The price is of no benefit to you that were severed from Christ. Verse four fallen from grace got into quite a discussion with a fellow in the class about whether this meant you could lose your salvation, which was the position he took in fact he got so upset that he got up and left. I just wanted to ask how he opened one area enough to allow us to salvation. I tend to think he doesn't have it to begin with. Anyway, how would you ago that situation what would you suggest first of all, again you're back to context and I think what he's saying here. Galatians 5 he he sees writing to believers and and yet he knows it in the wings of the Judaizers. Those people who went around saying were Christians. But we believe before you can enter into Christ. You have to keep the Mosaic law and go to the physical rite of circumcision, and so this is adding law to grace and Paul's viewpoint is always, if you add a lot to grace you nullify grace. I'm that's clear in Romans three and Romans four if you soon as you add any law to grace. You nullify grace as soon as you say yes.

Salvation is by grace. If you do this and if you do that under some kind of temporal action that you can do, like keep Mosaic ceremonies and get yourself circumcised.

And that's part of salvation you've now nullified grace and so what he is saying is if you are receiving circumcision believing that this is contributing to your salvation than Christ is not of no benefit to you. In other words, you have now forfeited a salvation purely and only by grace, and you clouded the issue by your works.

You are now saying yes it is grace, plus my words and that negates the only means of salvation which is grace in verse four, you are really severed from Christ if you're seeking to be justified by law. You are now fallen from the grace principal doesn't mean you are saved and now you've been lost.

You have fallen away from the only means of salvation which is the principle of grace.

Circumcision was a very important symbol, but it was not a means of salvation, but those Judaizers were trying to make it a means of salvation is uncovered. I was wondering if you thought those verses had in the relevance to believers.

Once there saved and if so what that was. Well if you say, if you say that then you're going to say that a believer has it that Christ is of no benefit to a believer and in verse four that he has been severed from Christ if I'm going to say this is going to be applied to a believer. Now I'm what I have to say the believers somehow lost a salvation but I don't want to presuppose that you can't lose your salvation and read it in the text. What I want to say is Paul has been preaching through this entire book salvation by grace I mean he's back in chapter 3 says Lucky began in the spirit you can't be perfected by your flesh means being justified by the spirit through grace or not to be perfected by the law through works in the principle of comparing grace to law goes through this whole book, and I think all he's saying here is, look Christ set us free to be free keep standing firm to let somebody come along and tell you your works are going to save you because if you get into that you're going to fall away from the grace principal which is the only thing that can truly save and you going to be cut off from Christ, I think, to go beyond that is to read anything into the text.

Obviously it has some implications. You could say well for a Christian if I if I try to live in the flesh. I'll get cut off from the power of Christ. But I don't think that's what this essay okay yes Vince, are you Johnson questions with regard to some scriptural references to the presence of the Holy Spirit in the eternal state.

While the Holy Spirit is God. You mean you one.

It is going to be there. Well, I just want to know some references that I can look up well I have been yeah you about this a.m. isolating him out from the rest. I don't know if I can think of that offhand, isolating the Holy Spirit out from the rest of the Trinity to note that he is eternal. I mean, obviously he is as eternal as any other member of the Trinity because he is God. The third person, so his. Each analogy is tied to his his identity, his this person.

Let's see, try Hebrews 914 try Hebrews 914 that comes to mind in the I think see yes verse 13. If the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those of been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ to through the eternal Spirit.

Now there's a reference to the tonality of the Holy Spirit.

And if you start there and in Hebrews 913.

You might want to check some other resources you might find some other references to the eater analogy of the Holy Spirit. I don't know if this offhand I can't just grab any out of the air. But anyway, you might be able to find some other ones I think about first Corinthians 1528 because it's it's just such an important one. It says that ultimately when everything is resolved, all things are subjected to God the son himself will be subjected to the one who is subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all, in all and so there you have the eternal God.

Everything ultimately resolved in his eater analogy. In the end, and what is its function. What is his ministry. If you will, in the well. He will uphold everything just like he does now I'm in the goddess when we get to eternity got to stop doing what he does what he does now. If it's going to be righteousness in eternity. He's going to have to sustain the righteousness the Holy Spirit will continue to do whatever the Holy Spirit is all is done. The only difference is going to be with reference to us, but you know we're not all there is.

There's a whole angelic creation.

There's an entire endless universe. There's a whole heaven of heavens and there's a new Jerusalem. There's the abode of God in all the enterprise that God is involved in sustaining all that is and whatever role the Holy Spirit is always played and that he will continue to play in. Is there a difference and what is the difference between the ability to teach and the spiritual gift of teaching and then flowing from that. Is it possible to be in an elder position or past position like yours without having the gift of teaching. Okay, let's start at the end know it's not possible to be in a pastor or teacher role without having the gift of teaching or preaching and all preaching has to have the teaching content, so even a preacher is teaching Wally's preaching. He's proclaiming content. It is possible I supposed to say a man has the gift of preaching the emphasis in preaching and in is not strong in the classroom is not a strong teacher is such but no one could be an elder with neither of those capabilities okay.

Then the question before that was what is the difference between the ability to teach and the gift of teaching. There is no difference in my mind it's I'm always referring to the spiritual gift now. A person can have the gift of teaching and not be an elder. There many women in the church, you have the gift of teaching.

There may be many other men in the church, you have the gift of teaching. Some of them are not elders because one they are not desiring that office. The spirit of God is not called them to that.

Not prompted them to that.

Secondly, they're not elders because maybe they're not one woman man. Maybe they haven't demonstrated that leadership in the family that sets them apart. Maybe their character has not been above reproach and all those others' qualifications are there but it may just be that God hasn't elevated them to that particular office in their very content to teach in the church. This church, for example, has many men and many women who have the gift of teaching, but are not elders, so you can have the gift of teaching which is a spiritual ability to teach and do not necessarily be an elder you can't be an elder. Without either the gift of teaching or preaching and the debt. The difference between the ability and the gift in the church there isn't any difference outside the church.

There are people who have the ability to teach, but it's not the spiritual gift I believe. Inside the church when we're talking about teaching the Bible teaching spiritual things were talking about a gift only taken a step further, it is conceivable, and it is probably very common that you have people in the church, you have the ability to teach school teachers and university professors, but they don't exercise the gift of teaching in the church. That's another completely different thing that is a spiritual enterprise that helps sort out a little yes, but when you talk to this morning about the ability to teach. Being a skill, then how would that be developed if for as well as the benefits of the AE. I wasn't trying to talk about. It is a developmental thing, but I do believe it is developed. I hope I'm a better teacher and preacher.

Now that I was when I started I had the gift then, but it's a matter of developing and refining and exercising and using and enhancing that get and that's all how the spirit of God works.

I mean even Jesus grew in wisdom and stature in favor with God and man were all in a progressive kind of growth and our ministry certainly should reflect that development so we I believe when you're saved. The gifts are there.

The spirit of God probably gives them then as first Corinthians would indicate he divide several similar to every man as he will at the same time we receive the spirit of God, and at that point the gift is there, it begins to be enriched and strengthened as we exercise that gift, but it is a skill in the sense that it's something we do in a function that sets us apart from other people. In other words, being honest, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious being hospitable.

The other things that are there being developing self-control.

Those aren't skills those are character qualities. Now we're talking about teaching and preaching you talking about a skill that skill in the church is a spiritual gift okay good question. That's John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University in seminary fielding questions from members of his local congregation in Sun Valley, California in the Los Angeles area. This is part of a special time of Bible questions and answers on this edition of grace to you. You know John, one of the benefits of the Q&A session like today's.

Is it helps us see just how comprehensive, insufficient Scripture is people come to you with questions like this, and they may not realize it, but you have not seen these questions beforehand, so you're answering extemporaneously and it's just a reflection of how well you understand the Bible, but even more. What strikes me is how thorough the Bible is in dealing with all the necessary components of our lives.

Scripture has all the answers to all of our important questions.

So the challenge for believers is to know how to navigate the Scriptures. Yet in the year actually ride what I do and what you do in a similar situation of the Q&A when the question comes to me I just pull together the salient Scriptures and they just pop into my mind and I can craft a kind of theology that answers that question. So it's my familiarity with the Scripture.

And this, the meaning of the Scripture that allows me to answer and honestly fill most of the questions that I get in those environments are available if you navigate the footnotes in the MacArthur study Bible, so I just remind our listeners that everybody has questions to that's that's fine. The reason that I wrote the MacArthur study Bible notes 25,000 footnotes that explain basically all the passages of the Bible was to answer the questions that people constantly ask yell tell you little secret. We get a lot of questions through the mail it, grace to you and I answer those first thing I do when I get a question is see what it says in the MacArthur study Bible and usually the answer is there. Yeah, because that's the point of explaining the Scripture. Sometimes they don't know what Scripture to go to but if they did they would find that the answer in the notes there so I would just say passage by passage verse by verse through the Bible. I have written detailed notes with all kinds of tools and aids in helps so that you can navigate the verses and the issues and the doctrines that are taught in the Bible that this is a library of Bible understanding right in your Bible of the MacArthur study Bible is available in new American Standard new King James the ESV shipping is free and the life you don't have a MacArthur study Bible will join the millions to do in order one today.

That's right, and friend. Everything in this resource. The cross references the maps the charts and especially the 25,000 study notes there all there to help you better understand God's word and growing in obedience to our Lord's commands. It's a great gift for any student of Scripture to order the MacArthur study Bible. Contact us today. Call us toll-free at 855 grace for visit our website Jide TY.org as John said the study Bible is available in the English standard new King James and new American Standard versions as well as several non-English translation with reasonable prices and free shipping.

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You can also donate online@tty.org or when you call us at 855 now for John MacArthur. I'm Phil Johnson encouraging you to be here next week when John begins a series on some of Christ's most powerful and fascinating teaching the parables join us as we dive deep into Christ's parables, with another 30 minutes of unleashing God's true one verse at a time on Mondays, grace to