The Narrow Path 11/9

Welcome to pass radio broadcast. My name is Steve Greg or live for an hour each week afternoon taking your calls. If you have questions about the Bible or about the Christian faith or you have a different viewpoint from the host want to talk about that.

Feel free to give me a call. The number is 844-484-5737 that's 844-484-5737 and about 15 minutes after the hour. Were going to be joined by a friend that I recently met on my trip across country name Sam Frost and he has some some backgrounders of some study of of interest in going to be talking to him for the second quarter of the program, but that we have the first quarter of the force right now are to talk to you talk to Johnny from Dallas, Texas Johnny, welcome to the narrow path. Thanks for calling KJ around here personal beliefs so that bridges the gap was pretty close to Donald but I got a question for you my friend. I mean, I'm a Christian. I believe when he we have a debate you debating that the man can destroy the world by burning it up and I said that's impossible.really good. I got yeah that gives you the present to an extent you cannot be thinking the world can be burned by human being and that you can destroy God's creation that's impossible, highly impossible. Well of course mankind a great deal destruction and the millions and millions of acres can be burned off by man.

Your friend may be thinking of global warming and I don't think there's any evidence that there's danger of that happening, but as far as whether man could burn the whole earth up so as to make it.

Let's say lifeless.

I don't think that's likely to happen because I as I understand it when Jesus comes back there will be people living Paul talk or live in and remain when Jesus returns and also talks about how he'll destroy those who resisted the gospel and so forth. So there will be both believers and unbelievers in the world. Apparently when Jesus comes back… It's true but that's what I said. I think that to happen.

I'm only destroy some chemistry but no minutes capable of doing that.

I don't know your your world can go to an extent in that. All right.

Well all I can say is, according to the way I understand the Bible man will not do that in this man will not do that. If so, there will be intact living people and a lot of them, apparently on the earth when Jesus returns, then it would seem to me that man will not have managed to destroy the earth without it couldn't could man do that if if God didn't have other plans. Well I don't I don't I don't know. It's a pretty big project to bring up the whole earth has the power to do that. But even if man did have the power it would say to ruin the environment for all.

All living things, except cockroaches through thermonuclear Holocaust or something. I mean II don't know to what degree that is possible with the current nuclear missiles and so forth.

But it's just not going to happen. I don't believe to be tremendous destruction but I mean it's a moot point. At some point if your friends is why think we could use out of the good now.

I guess the real issues are we going to and I don't believe I don't believe I would guess that we will appreciate your question let's talk to Nathan from Eugene, Oregon Mason, welcome to the narrow path. Thanks for calling it out during your recent department memory about the story of the rich young ruler in Luke 18.

You pointed out in the language of entering versus inheriting and familiar with some of the three great emphasis and in their teaching on the rich young ruler in Luke 1818 when he asked what should inherit eternal life. They point out that the rich young ruler already had entered eternal life through faith alone and that when he was asking about lists of rewards in heaven.

They basted interpretation on the word inherit and make it clear from Jesus's response about work and it's a matter of rewards point out Matthew 1929 and about and take their stuff will receive many times more inherit again talking about rewards basic methods that any time that the Greek life and you something inherent in the future means they qualitative difference in the life and that is rewards based on works. But anytime life and you do something entered or required in the present and only condition of faith. And it simply means that getting into heaven, wondering what your response would be, well, the problem I have with the free grace people you're talking about is saying that all you have to do is believe, but the question is what is it you have to believe you. I believe that people are saved by faith alone, but that faith has to be in Christ.

Now the word Christ means the anointed one.

It's referring to the anointed king of Israel and of course as above makes very clear since all authority in heaven and earth to forgive him and he's in front of the right hand of God over all things, then belief in Christ means you believe he's the king. He is the Lord. He is the owner he's ruling and that you are subject to him another person doesn't believe that they don't believe in Christ. Honestly, I mean you don't believe in Christ simply by believing he was a human being that walked the earth. Everybody knows that nonbelievers and atheists mostly know that to be true to not believing in Christ means that you embrace the truth about Christ obviously which is that he is the Lord and he is the king.

Now, anyone who embraces the truth about Christ as Lord of the very embrace of that truth means that they redefine themselves as servants or slaves of God. If you don't see yourself as a slave of Jesus, and you don't see him as the Lord and Paul said in Romans 10 nine if we confess if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved for salvation comes as a result of confessing and obviously doesn't mean fake confession God's not impressed with false important claims remembered how God complained and in Isaiah and Jesus repeated it in Matthew.

These people draw near to me with their lips, but their heart is far from me that's not impressed with the false claim. If somebody confesses Jesus is Lord. It means that they've embrace that with her heart. It's a true true confession of their true conviction.

Now if you believe in Jesus as your Lord and you believe, by definition, that you're his slave.

Because an owner Lord is an owner of slaves, so she says if you call me Lord, Lord, why don't you do the things I say and the free grace people make it sound like you can believe in Jesus but not have to obey him and the Bible course teaches the opposite Bible teaches very plainly believing that Jesus is Lord carries with it the assumption that you are his slave. And of course slaves are required to obey their lords not saved by your obedience anymore than a child is is that becomes a family member in his family's household by obedience but a child is born into a family is called to be obedient to his parents and obedience is the role of the child in a family. Obedience is the role of a slave to master. And while a person doesn't become a slave by obeying or even remain a slave by obeying that person as a slave. His entire purpose in existence and he understands this is to obey. Same thing with the child of his parents. So if your child of God or a slave of Christ, then obedience to him is expected and required now you know these people are always wanting but but what if I'm not perfectly obedient. Will I go to hell, then this is not the way you have to be thinking of you to be.

Think about my pleasing my Lord. He is the Lord. I have known I have no task in this world except to please my Lord and I don't have to worry about going to heaven or not. That's less important to me than whether in pleasing God. And that's because when you become a real Christian. You deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Jesus you you're not so much thinking about yourself if you still think that yourself in this deal. Then probably the conversion is what the Bible describes true conversion because true conversion is where you decide it's no longer about me my privileges my rights my advantages. It's about God and his prerogatives and his rights and his glory. And if a person hasn't made that basic transitions that do not change in conversion means change.

So when a person is converted or converted from seeing themselves as the one who calls the place in their life and and in their own mind. Christ fills that role now, and although some people said, but that makes salvation of works that stupid me, Mr. summa, not thinking of course it doesn't make salvation that affords it means that salvation becomes the opportunity for works of, becomes the becomes the setting in which works are called for, but you have salvation if as soon as you embrace Christ as your Lord, like the thief on the cross, he said, Lord, remember me when you come in your kingdom. He confess Christ as Lord. He never did any good works, but he was saved, yet because he confess Christ as Lord. We are quite sure that if he had lived, he would follow Jesus because that's what people do when they recognize that they have a Lord and who am I hope that's helpful. A lot of people really want to argue over just exactly what point a person gets their ticket to heaven.

And that's not really the issue in the Bible. The issue is, are we living for the glory of God are reliving to please God. If we are than we been converted if were not, then we haven't Harless talk to Sam Frost for now this this brother is a man who I've known of by reputation for some years.

At one time he was a notable leader in the full premise can which many of you know I do not I'm not.

I don't hold for Predators views. I'm a partial first and and yet he he left that can and he's done some writing. He wrote about why he left that He also wrote another book that I've been reading called the Paris area of the Son of Man.

The workers is the word Smedes the coming of the presence of Christ and is usually will very often when referring to Christ's paras. It's usually translated as his coming and Sam asked if he could share some of our dialogue with me on these things and so I tend to be given 15 minutes here at the end of the first half-hour will have another half hour for taking more calls still Sam, welcome to the neuropathic for calling Avenue sure what was excited. I leading a part of the time.

I am here that the idea that the ideas you and family member now enjoying and I don't only show your Bentonville Bible, sell your cloak and buy a sword. So what do you want to visit about today, I'm writing to also meeting William I'm reading a book about my home contest which the Pennsylvania will never in the Middle Ages the complex and present crisis. I guess many freedoms of apocalyptic ways because it really go one people, one could easily connect the dots of the state Chinese conspiracy and the getting together with global motivation and the overhauling of an election on the Mall of the heightened In the below limit have all the barking that we want to go back and read Princeton's deputy religious defendant Middle Ages earlier than anything right if the staffing progression towards seeing many, many, many ethical times in the history of the church, particularly in the Middle Ages, very violent uprising and your thoughts on that meeting that invited you have a little section going into the kingdom and its effect on politics, national pocket having a combat mode of God and the kind of thinking your meditating in the Scriptures. Keep your mind on the kingdom of God and not God of the throne room ruling at the right hand with a lot of iron paint. Create a state of anxiety believe and follow the commands of it has to because Guist cannot, Christ cannot be unseated from his throne. So it's very clear in Daniel chapter 2 that that stone that struck the image in the seat which is of course Christ grows into great mountain to fill the earth and becomes a great kingdom that consumes all the other kingdoms and and in the end I believe the result is that Christ reigns over all the nations in the world. However, sometimes we get a little ahead of ourselves and think that were closer to that than we maybe are we never know how near we may be or how far we made David as you know there's you in the Middle Ages. There were Christians who thought that they were living at the end of the world and certainly if we if we think the end of the world means that things are getting so bad that we can't imagine the world as we know it continuing well then.

A lot of times were right. Sometimes the world as we know it won't continue but the world very much changed and altered for the way we've not can continue on it for centuries and millennia more so we don't really know how near we are to the end. But yeah, I think that we can be nervous you know it in the sense that we know that a good world is better than a bad world and if we have we have some children and grandchildren and that you know were older people weren't market last that long. But we were leaving behind some generations and have to live with the consequences of whatever worldly less than you know we in the short range we can be very concerned about the well-being of you know good people, innocent people who may suffer under oppression of evil governments. We can we can be concerned of course about the loss of liberty of the gospel to be preached and so forth.

But it's not can it be it's not the end of the world unless it is and I don't know if it is not that you know my my innocent you know I'm millennialist, and as such I see the so-called millennium as corresponding with the age of the church, but I see at the end of it.

Sacred list for a short time and causing a lot of trouble and I don't I don't say that we are living in that time because we may not be anywhere near it. But if we are living at that time then maybe it is near the end of the world, but still Christ as victor because in that scenario he comes and destroys all the opposition before the church's life is snubbed. It looks like persecution and in that era made me seem to threaten the continuation of the church, but it will not succeed.

I call her my private development. In my book kind of man where the end of one's life dominated by faith and following yeah with the spirit that becomes the deemphasis whether the end of my life all leather and, at that point really makes no difference because it is emphasized even in Matthew 24 I think what you against emphasized areas on your work strand are your lamps failed that that then becomes that moral emphasis that night. I kind of look at the end of the proximity of relationship.

Whichever one comes first makes no difference in terms of my following mortgages used in the care of your work strand in your lamps and awake watching you. The first thing you may have to limit the end of the age and the first thing out of his mouth is not be defeat that direct individual in all that means I can be discreet, so I better watch out with but I'm doing and what I'm saying. Delete right and that's true whether were near the end or not. Right as you said, it doesn't really matter whether were at the eschatological and or at our own personal and I people sometimes have asked me do you believe were living in the last generation. I say well I'm living in my last generation so you doesn't matter doesn't matter. The last generation of verse it's mine and yours and everyone living right now is living in their last generation so who cares if it's the end of the world.

I've always wondered about that too, and I see movies that you know like that where there's something threatening the whole world some kind of pandemic or maybe a meteorite or something is coming to destroy the world and I'm supposed be alarms because everyone's going to die at once. I think everyone is good.one where the other if we all die. At one time or at different times matter and I mean I mean I'm not callous about death because I know the grief because frankly, if everyone dies at once, then known to be there tomorrow except those who are unsaved died in that condition that's it. I don't really worry whether it's near the end of the world or not. I think a lot of people do because they're not ready to meet God. But in your recent book.

I guess it's fairly recent member when you wrote it. You. You made the interesting point, which I also make in my book and I think many people do not usually hear and that is that the coming of Christ in the clouds in Scripture is a term that comes from Daniel chapter 7, where Daniel says he saw one like the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven and most Christians assume that that start with the second coming of Christ.

But what I've taken from them. Your book as far as I read so far I haven't finished it, but I certainly can support my book is that the what Daniel seizes Jesus coming in the clouds to heaven. Not from heaven to earth, that as the as the disciples watched Jesus go up a cloud received him out of their sight and jump Daniel on the other side. I caught up on that from a heavenly perspective sees Jesus coming up to the clouds and it says he comes to the ancient of days that he comes to God. He doesn't come from God to earth. He's coming from earth to God and he's given a throne in the kingdom and dominion, that all people should worship him and that's of course Paul says all people should every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, so that the the ascension of Christ is that enthronement of Christ and how he you know is now seated as ruler, and every knee should bow and every tongue should confess and all nations should worship him and that's and I believe that a lot of people read that the opposite way like this is his second coming. They think he's happy enthronement when it comes back recent throne. Now they delighted to read that also knew when that step perspective in Daniel where he given a kingdom and then Jean Paul to the opposite world of given us to get back in. Paul uses that will give 51 he will hand over became accomplished and that will be destroyed.

You have asked the pension being given all power and glory and at the end of Matthew.

He said all power has been given to me in heaven and on the language of Daniel. I think Matthew is using there also conflated with Psalm 110 and so there seems to be as you also correctly note, I that there is real Jesus is draining, but not really entail and game changer when you see this note we draining our as we speak right now right and seen through the land from two has become my eyewear. What I that I put on my goggles is aggressing found two of the most one of the most important sampling right and the apostles actually quoted from Psalm when they prayed member in the Pharisee in chapter 4 of acts they were threatened with their lives and they went to prayer and they quoted Psalm two and sought as something that was fulfilled had already happened you and and and I asked for 25 they are speaking to God. They say by your mouth or by the mouth of your servant David, you said why did the nations rage, why did the people plot vain things the kings of the earth took their stand.

The rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ, and of course they don't quote this far, but a few verses later in the Psalm it says Seo.

God says, yet I have set my king upon my holy hill. He laughs and has been in derision and when the apostles called that they say in verse 27. For truly against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.

That is who is the Christ, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, the people of Israel were gathered together to do what your hand purpose determined to be done so it's like nursing you predicted this would happen, and it has happened.

Pilate, Herod, the Jews, these people conspired together just like Psalm two said they would. And yet, the Psalm says yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

So all the conspiracies of those that actually crucified Christ did not prevent him from being enthroned. After all, on the holy hill at the right hand of God, and I like the way from that event to date, no looking around surrounding nation time and also you see is the kind of an entirely left say that Bill Gates and George Soros in China and okay with conspiracy and bank and it will not work that is enthroned above by his hand of the thing that will ordain and the reason for it is the church his followers to refine to build to grow to progress.

That's the reason why these things happen. So they have an to them and that's why meditating on the pond, meditating and letting that become the anxiety I anxiety is greatly reduced. To minimize the sand. That's not waiting my hand yeah I'm being cut off your for the first But I Do Appreciate You Calling and That's a Timely Word and I Look for to Communicate with You More in the Future. Thanks and God Bless You Listening to the Narrow Path Radio Broadcast. We Have Another Half-Hour Coming, or Taking Calls As Usual. We Are Listener Supporting If You'd like to Help Us out. You Go to Our Website. The Narrow Path.com and Click on the Donations Link. That's the Narrow Path.com. I'll Be Back in 30 Seconds.

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Herod Has Radio Broadcast Live for Another Half-Hour Taking Your Calls Usually Do. If You'd like to Be on the Program. You Can Call Me at This Number 844-484-5737 That's 844-484-5737 and That Conversation Just before the Break Was with Sam Frost and and We're Just That I Got Quite A Few Different Things, but the Book of His That I'm Currently Reading Is Called the Paras the of the Son Of Man, Paras, ESOP, AR, OU, SIA, Paras the of the Son Of Man by Sam Frost Samuel Frost Right Rear Go to the Phones and Talk to Frank from Rancho Cucamonga, California Frank, Thanks for Waiting and down Welcome to Glance Earlier. I'm Looking at Chapter 14 to Be Verses 19 and 20. Paul Is Stoned and Dragged outside the City and Left for Dead.

Any Connection Those Verses and Ask with Second Corinthians Chapter 12 yet One through Six Were Eased Talked about Seeing Man Knew a Man 14 Years Ago Was Caught up to Third Heaven.

If You Can Give Me Your Opinion on That Is Going up and Take Your Correct Thank You Very Much Well It's It Is Something That I Was Actually Taught When I Was Younger That When Paul Came to Lysistrata and and They Stoned Him to Death or Simulated Death and Dragged Him Out Of the City, and Then He Stood up As the Disciples to Run and Praying He Stood up and Walked Back into the City. We Don't Know. It Doesn't Really Specify Whether He Was Really Dead or Not. Stoning Was a Pretty Brutal Waiting till Somebody They Would Not Have Dragon Medically Thinking He Was Dead Unless He Was in Pretty Bad Shape Coming from Rocks at Your Head in Your Chest Breaking Your Bones Covered with Blood.

You Know It's If He Wasn't Actually Dead He Must Be Awfully Close to It and and yet He Gets up and Walks Back in the City Now.

I Was Always Told That This May Be What Paul Later Wrote about in His Second Corinthians 12 Where He Said He Knew a Man Some Four Years Earlier 14 Years Earlier. Who Had Who Had Been Caught up into the Third Heaven and Seen Wonderful Things That He Could Not Repeat, and so My Teachers That I Said It Are Kind of Indicated Probably Is Referring to the Time When He Got Stoned. The Most Most Teachers Agree Not All Do, but Most Teachers Agree That Paul Is Talking Himself. I Actually Think He Is Talk about Himself Also so I Do Not Dispute That, but I Have a Little Problem with the Chronology Because When He Wrote Second Corinthians. It Had to Be in the Early 50s and and If You Can Work out the Chronology of Paul's Life. I Don't Know That He and Others 14 Thinkers 14 Years between His First Missionary Journey at His Second Missionary, Tracy First Corinthians and Second Crickets Were Written It Would Seem near the End of the Second Missionary Dinner at the Beginning of the Third Missionary Journey While He Was in Ephesus Probably and That Being so, I Don't Know That There Were Really 14 Years and There to Factor in. It Seems like It Might Be More like a Decade or Less, but I'm Not Sure Because Were Not Given Complete Chronological Information but We Are Given Some and I Try to Work It out in the past Five Mathematically Attitudes Try to Identify That As the Tongue Is Referred Back to Bed I Have To Say I Have a Hard Time Doing so I Got I Have a Feeling There May Be a Different Experience.

He's Talking about. And by the Way, He Doesn't Say That to This Man Who Is Caught up in Third Heaven, Necessarily, Had Come Close to Death Mean It Could Have Happened in a Dream or a Vision for All He Could Have Been Praying Somewhere in Perfectly Good Health and and Been Caught up into Heaven like for Example Ezekiel Ascribes Himself or Being Lifted up by His Hair and Carried to Jerusalem. Whatever He Wasn't Really Dead. This Is Not a after Life Experience That He Had so While I Am Very Familiar with, and Even Would Love to Embrace the Idea That Paul in Second Crickets.

12 Is Referring Back to This Incident. In the 14th Chapter of Acts. I'm Not Sure That I Could Ferment, I'd Have To Have Actually More or Different Chronological Information about His Life Than I Currently Have, Because I Think That the 14 Years Is a Little Too Long and Which Means That I Suspect It Happened before He Came to Drew's like like after He Was Converted on His Way to Damascus and Then He Had to Flee from Damascus Went to Arabia and He Is Gone There for over a Decade and I Think It May Have Happened during That Time.

If You Can. A Chronological Backward 14 Years from the Writing of Second Corinthians, so I Wouldn't Say for Sure That It Wasn't That, but I Have Problems Working It out You Mathematically Nice.

I Suspect It Was Not Referring to Stacy from Albany Is in Albany, Oregon or Albany, New York, New York Hi Luck I Ate I Could Track Candidate Question That Satan Okay I and Fax Percolate When a Gang at They Were at Back.

I Can't Find That the Client Living the Life That They Make a Bad with Attic Diagram I Had and I Get Kind of Effect Development to The 15th after Foundation at Not Getting to That You Know That You Unwrap a Gala Now. I Will, Generally Speaking As a Person Lives Their Final Years As a Drug Addict. It's a Good Indicator That They're Not Really a Christian under Several Factors Here That I Can't Really Know the System so Your Target a Real Person, an Actual Person Person Are People like This That They Come to Some Kind of a Point of What They Consider to Be a Conversion When There May Be 1213 Years Old I Get Baptized in the and They Feel like They Became a Christian, but Later They Just Are Totally Way Some People Would Say the Fact That They Drifted Completely Away Wasn't Evidence That They Never Really Were Converted Because Especially Calvinists Would Say That If There Truly Likely Would've Persevered Because They Have the Doctor the Perseverance of the Saints Is a If They Didn't Persevere in the Faith, and They Drifted off into Drug Addiction, Then Some. It's a Love Vendor Conversion Was Not Genuine at the Beginning, Not Arminian Position Would Say Well They Might've Been Converted, but You Can Lose Your Salvation so Maybe They Just Drifted Away and Apostatized and and They Were Saved on Time, but They're Not Now See Both Positions Are Very Different on That One Point but They Both Have Something in Common with Each Other to. They Both Believe That the Person Who Profess to Be a Christian When They're Young but Does Not Live for God and Goes on and Lives in Sin That Person Is Not Saved, Whether They Have Lost Their Salvation Really Never Had It.

The Condition There Is the Same.

They're Not Saved. Now There Are People Who Think That You Can't Lose Your Salvation but You Can Follow Web, You Will Lose Your Salvation If You Do That Is Not a View That the Bible Teaches Anywhere in and It's Not a View Historically Is Been Held by Any Major Camp in the Church until Fairly Recently and It Kind of's Dispensation Was Brought in. This Idea of a Almost Antinomian Kind of Once Saved Always Saved, If You Just Acknowledge Christ, Then You're Safe. No Matter Most to Do Doesn't Matter How You Live so There's All These Different Views but I Would Say This While I Would Never Pronounce in a Case like That on Whether the Person Is Saved or Not. Without At Least Talking to Them and Knowing More about What's in Your Heart and Even Then I'm Not Saying I'm I Would Have the Authority to Pronounce on It You Mean They Come Back from Their Drug Addiction by All Now Okay I Would Say This, There Are Addiction Addictions and Interesting Word. You Know, We Call People Sex Addicts and Gambling Addicts and Things like That Just Because They're Out Of Control and That Doesn't Necessarily Mean That They Have the Same Thing That Massena Heroin Addict Has or Even an Alcoholic Who's in a Who Cannot Stop Drinking without Dangerous Delirium Tremens You Know Me. There Are People Whose Bodies Become Physically Addicted to the Bad Stuff. And While They Would Be Willing and Eager to Be Free from It.

They Simply Don't Find Themselves to Be Able to Be Free Because You Know of Withdrawal or Whatever They Would Do and Some of These People You Know They Go through Programs like Twelve-Step Programs and Some of Them Struggle with It and and Don't Really Get over It Much, but God Knows the Heart. God Knows That There Are Some Things That Some People Face That Are Too Big for Them.

Now They're Not Too Big for God. But I Have To Say There Are Some People I Think You Really Love the Lord Who Don't Have Very Much Faith Meter That Is There Faith Is Not Strong or Maybe the Maybe They Really Are Trusting God in a Big Way, but They're Not Really Overcoming Sin in Their Life, for Whatever Reason, They May Want to I Will Say That Even Christians Who Are Truly and Indisputably Christians Sometimes Do Sin, for Example, Paul Had to Rebuke Peter, Who Is Clearly in the Wrong When He Was in Antioch.

According to Galatians Chapter 2 or You Know There's Other Cases Do. James Apostle Said in Many Things We All Stumble so We Know That Even Even True Christians Sometimes Sin. The Problem Is When Sin Is Dominating the Life and the Person Is Accepting That Now There May Be Cases. I Suspect There Are Think I Know of Cases Where People Are Truly Saved.

They Truly Hate Their Sin. There Truly Trying to Serve God, but There Is Something They Just Are Not Getting a Victory over I I've Made Some Good Christian Friends of Mine Who Serve God Now for Probably 640 Years When They First Got Saved, I Knew Them and They They Were a Young Couple 30 Years Old or so and I Know There Are 40 at the Time and They They've Been Smoking All Their Lives. I Got Saved and They Just Couldn't Quit Smoking. They Really, Really Wanted to but They Just Did It In Their True Followers of Christ. Now I'm Not a Person Says That Smoking Cigarettes Is Necessarily a Sin but If It Is I Should Say If You Think It Is That It Is for You and and and Therefore They Were Not Able to Get Victory over This for Some Years and Then Eventually They They Did Get to Germany Been Serving God Faithfully for Decades Now and I Have No Doubt That They Were Truly Converted before They Got Their Victory over This Habit. It's Just Sometimes Take People Longer Now You Know Heroin or Meth or Something like That That Came Addiction. I Would Imagine Would to Be Much Stronger Than Even Cigarette so All I Can Say Is I Know There Must Be People That God Sees Is Truly His Own Who Are Hating Their Sin, Struggling to Overcome It Seeking to Live a Holy Life, but Really Just Succumbing Because It Is in There and I Would Not Be Prepared to Say That Someone Whose Heart Is the Lord's, and yet Who's Got Maybe Even a Physical Addiction That There Are Not Beating.

I'm Not Saying That God Condemned. I Don't Think God Condemns Anyone Who Loves Him and Wants to Follow Him. The Issue That I Think Is More Problematic in the Church Is People Who Have No Interest in Following and They Just Want to Be Identified As a Christian Because They Think That's Good.

Fire Insurance for When They Die, but You Know but They Don't Really Care to Follow Him.

I Think What Makes a Person Truly Genuine Christian Is That They Have Embraced Christ As King and Lord, and Some Who Do so Everyone Who Does Still Stumble Sometimes. Some Have Been Much More Heinous Problems That to Overcome but I Would Say That Though They Should Certainly If Someone Is Really a Christian and a Drug Addict That They Would Certainly Take Advantage of Every Resource They Fleecy Available to Overcome the Addiction.

Obviously, As They May Realize That You Can't Glorify God by Dramatic Events. Writer Succumbing to the Habits of Sin, so Let Me Ask You a Retirement Somebody Who's Still Using or Sometimes and and Wrong, but Just Can't Get a Handle on the Lord Think Bennett Hi Wrong at Becoming Ingrained and That I Think What I Think Is Is That Same Person Had Lived in the Time of the Early Church. It Was Part of the Early Church, They Would Have a Community of Believers Surrounding Them, Upholding Them Keep Them Accountable, Preventing Them from Destroying Themselves Praying for Them and We Don't Always Have That Kind of Support That's That's What Christ Gives Us When Were Converted. He Gives Us a Family and a Community of Believers to Help Us Walk Is Not to Walk in and What We Have Now Is Christian so Often Are Much More Isolated from Other Christians May Not That They Don't Go to Church Once in A While, Even Frequently, That Their Life Is Lived Most Days Most Hours of Most Days Pretty Much on Their Own and and They Fall to Temptation Because They're Not Strong, and Again in in a Normal like New Testament Situation, They Would Be Getting Support from the Community of Believers, and I Think They'd Overcome This A Lot Faster and I Think They Need to Be Seeking That Support If the If the Church Is Not Providing It Naturally. If They Don't Know If You Go to Church and They Don't Get It. That's a Big Church and Pastors They Know Your Name and No One Really Making Meaningful Relationships with Anyone There. Then You Are Not Your Lacking in Christian Community. But but I Think These People You Know Them and They Need to Be Surrounded by by Christians Who Will Take Them under Their Wing and Sameness and Can Help Users or to Pray with You When You're When You're Feeling Weak. I'm Gonna Say No You Can't Do That, You Know, Just Call Me and yet Something That You Think the Thing Is, the Mark of a True Christian Is That They Hate Their Sin and Therefore If They Have a Recurrent Sin like That They're Going to Be Availing Themselves Desperately Have Anything That God Gives Them As an Aid to to Resistance and the Body of Christ Is Supposed to Be the Main Gift That God Is Given to Help Them and That of Course Another Thing Would Be Meditating Day and Night on the Word of God Would Say That You Pronounce for These People Are Saving up. They May Very Well Be People Who Love the Lord, As You Say, but They Just They Don't Know Where to Turn to Get, and They Tried to Beat It May Have Been Able to You Know It Says in Psalm Chapter 1 That the Man of God Who Who You Know Meditates Day and Night on the Law of the Lord Be like a Tree Planted by Rivers of Water Will Be Fruitful.

He Want with Her and Whatever He Does Will Will Succeed.

So I Think That You Know When People Are Struggling Regularly and Not Really Thriving in the Christian Life.

One Thing I Want to Ask Him Is Are You Meditating Day and Night on the Scriptures and the – They Are Strong Wrong. I Think I Might Even Sound. It Is the Sentence Course and I Mean but but God Is Stronger Than Sin. Greater Is He That Is in You Than He That Is in the World and and If You Walk in the Spirit You Will Not Fulfill the Lust of the Flesh. Paul Said in Galatians 516 so These People Need to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit and Walk in the Spirit Day by Day and As You Walk in the Spirit They Will Not Succumb, They Might Stumble Once in A While, but They Will Do so Less and Less As They Begin to Walk in the Spirit I Don't. I Can Say Much More about That Right Now except I Will Say That of the Books and the Two Book Series on the Kingdoms of This Finished the Second Book Is Coming up Soon. Within a Month and I Have Several Chapters about Walking in the Spirit There, Which I Think Could Be Helpful to Somebody like That but I Will Not Make That the Judgment Call about Whether Saved or Not. I Would Say If I Was Living in on You Know in Unrelenting Sin. I Would Feel like I Don't Have Much Reason to Believe That I'm a Sinner Because the Sinners the Converted Center Is Jesus Saves Us from Our Sins, but He Doesn't Just Do It Unilaterally. All Target.

It's through the Process of Walking in the Spirit Meditating on His Word, Embracing the Support of the Body of Christ of Other Things That God Has Provided for Us through Those Things.

He He Saves Us from Our Sinful Habits I'd like to Go Longer and This May Have More Calls Waiting and I Don't. I Can't Really Take More Time. God Bless You Stacy Thank You for Your Call Luke from Scottsdale, Arizona.

Welcome to the Neuropathic for Calling You Good. Thanks a Question Today Is about That You Bless Those Who Curse You, I'm Just Wondering If You Could Maybe Give Kind of the Light above the Local Understanding of What a Blessed Somebody in My Queue That I Think That the Thing God but Somebody but I'm Sure It Little Bit More in Depth That Felt… The Blessing Is an Interesting Concept in the Old Testament Because You Know a Man Whose Diamond Would Press Blessings on His Sons for Example, an, and the Priest Erin Hyde Park Return Would Pronounce a Blessing on Israel Regularly. The Ironic Blessing and Pronouncing a Blessing Is Basically Invoking or Seeking to Invoke Some Good, Some Benefit on People As Opposed to Cursing, Which Is to Invoke Evil upon Them Now Blessing May Well in the Old Testament Usually Refer to Pronouncing a Blessing Verbally but We Bless People in Many Ways I Think It Was Understood That If You Pronounce a Blessing on Them.

There Is Some Sense in Which Real Good Will Come to Them and but but Whether It's through Your Whether It's through Same Bless You.

Or Whether It's You Actually Blessing Them in Your Behavior. In Either Case, Jesus Is Saying When Those When People Who Are Trying to Ruin Your Life and Bring Evil and Disaster into Your Life, You Need to Have the Opposite Response Them and Seek to Help Them Have a Better Life If Possible That As You Wish Good upon Them Rather Than Evil upon the and That Your Actions like in the Law of Moses in Exodus It Says You If You See the. The Ox of Year of the Man Who Hates You Falling under Its Load or Actually Wandering Free.

He Says You Can't Take It Back to Him or If You See His Donkey Falling under Its Loan, the Man Who Hates You. Help It up Even If You Don't Feel like Doing It. Just Do It and Nurture Blessing Them You're Doing Something Kind for It's in That Case Is Not so Much a Verbal Blessing. I Have To Say I Don't Understand Much about Verbal Blessings, Although I Thought about It a Great Deal. I Don't Know Exactly What All Goes with That. To Make It What Really Happens When You Verbal Blessing of the Bible Takes It Very Seriously and so You to Verbally Bless Them, Would Certainly Mean That You Don't Curse Back at Them As Her Cursing You but I Think Even More Than That to Bless the Means to Do Them Good to to Seek Their Advantage. I Couldn't Say Much More about That Right Now, My Friend. Good to Be off the Air in Just A Few Minutes, but I Do Want to Talk to Robert from Fullerton, California Robert, Welcome to the Neuropathic for Calling It Will Quick Question 1817 Mentions the Word Church Actually Meeting There Church. While the Word Church Only Occurs Only Occurs Two Times in the Four Gospels, and Both of Them Are in Matthew One of Them Is in Matthew Chapter 16 Reduce That upon This Rock I Build My Church and Then the Others. In Matthew 18 Verse 17 Were Jesus Said If They Won't Hear You When Two People Correct Them. Then Take It before the Church, and If They Don't Hear the Church Than What the B Is a Tax Collector or Whatever Center Heathen. So Jesus Twice in Matthew Refers to the Church by That Term and the Word Is Ecclesia in the Greek Now Ecclesia Is Aware That She Is in the Old Testament in the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint to Speak of the Congregation of Israel Look the Word Congregation As It Sometimes Is down Our English Old Testament in the Greek Old Testament Ecclesia and Then This Word Which Referred Israel in the Old Testament Is Picked up by the Followers of Christ in the New Testament As They Are the Congregation There. The Ecclesia and so It's One of Those Many Times in the Early Church Took upon Itself.

One of the Names That Historically Have Long to Israel. Lots of Those Are Found in the New Testament. The People of God, the Holy Nation, Royal Priesthood, Lots of Things of the Church Is Called in the New Testament Were Things That Israel Was Called in the Old Testament, but When Jesus upon This Rock I Will Build My Church, and in Chapter 16 He Is Referring to the Fact That He's He's Building His Own Israel Is Building His Own Holy Nation to an Congregation, but in Chapter 18 When He Says If They Don't Hear Them, Then Tell It to the Church or to the Ecclesia. It Suggests That the Church Is Functioning As a Unassembled Entity Where Those Who Are Followers of Christ Desire to Be and Are Part of It and You Know It, and the Church As a Family Takes Responsibility for Disciplining It's It's Children, and When There's a Person in.

In This Context Determined Matthew 1815 through 17 When Someone Is Sinning and Won't Repent, and You Keep Approaching Them More Than Once and Give Them Opportunity Repent, but They Refuse That It Has To Be Brought before the Whole Family and Was Brought for the Whole Family. They Should Be under Pressure Because They Want to Remain in the Family, Presumably in yet.

If They Don't Respond to the United Rebuke of the Family. The Accuracy of the Congregation Will Then They Are Not Included in the Family.

They Are Kicked out, and That's Why Paul in First Corinthian's Five Said That This Man Who Was Not Responding to Lesser Discipline in the Church That Is Living with His Father's Wife Man and First Crickets Five That He They Need to Gather Together Users of the Whole Church Is Gathered Together in My Spirit with Mrs. Deliver This Man over to Satan for the Destruction of the Flesh, so the Spirit Might Be Saved in the Day of Christ Jesus. The Idea Being This Man's Being Eliminated from the Church Fellowship and Thus He's Thrust Out Of the Fellowship of the Church into the Devil's World Is Delivered over the Devil to Do What the Devil May Want to Do to Him and Hopefully He'll Come Running Back Repented to the Church in His Spirit Will Be Saved in the Day of Christ, so the Church Is the Family of God.

Of Course Paul Use Many Metaphors for to Call the Church You Know the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the Bride of Christ. The Body of Christ, the Family of God. All of These Are References to the Ecclesia.

The People of God, and It's Very Important for Us to Emphasize That When You're Born Again You Not Just Born Again Is a Baby on the Middle of the Desert Born As a Baby into a Family and Your Connection with That Family Has Got to Be Maintained on Good Terms to Live a Normal Christian Life. Now There Are Some Normal Situations but a Normal Situation That God Has in Mind. Every Christian Should Be Connected to the Family to the Body of Christ and Should Be Interactive with Family and Subject to the Discipline of the Families There Sending Him Out Of Time.

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