Best of BAM: Turning the Empire Upside Down, and Q&A

Welcome to the best of the Bible Answer Man broadcast with your host, Hank Hanegraaff. The Bible Answer Man is the radio ministry of the Christian Research Institute designed to equip believers to defend their faith and become true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ because life and truth matter. Our phone number is 888-7000-CRI.

That's 1-888-7000-274.

You can find us on the internet at equip.org. That's equip.org. The following program was pre-recorded. And now to begin today's broadcast, here's Hank Hanegraaff.

Plinius the Younger, he was a contemporary. He was an employer of Suetonius, a friend of Tacitus, who was perhaps the greatest historian of the Roman Empire, was also a highly skilled rhetorician. and he was well known for letters that were rightly dubbed literary classics. But tragically, he was equally notorious for the interrogation, torture, and murder of Christians.

His manner was to ask three times whether the person was a follower of Jesus Christ. If the answer was yes, says Plinius himself, I told them, to be taken away for execution. But if a person responded by denying the faith, Plinius had them repeat an invocation to the gods, offer rites with wine and incense before the statue of Trajan, and then utter imprecations at the same time against the name of Jesus Christ. Of course, for Plinius, the end game was the reclamation of multitudes from the worship of Christ to the worship of Caesar. He confidently asserted that through intimidation and threat of death, the tide of Christianity could forever be stemmed. In the end, he was wrong.

From catastrophe and carnage would sprout the greatest civilization the world... has ever known, a civilization based on the DNA of a biblical worldview. And the reason that people were able to withstand these kinds of circumstances, the threat of torture and death, was because they had seen the resurrected Christ, or they had heard reliable eyewitness testimony regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And they believed it more certainly than they believed they had flesh upon their bones. And therefore they were willing to face vilification and torture and torment, cruel deaths, because they knew that they would live again.

Like their master, they would rise from the dead. At the end of time, and thus animated, they turned an empire upside down. You and I can do the same. We are called to be ambassadors for Jesus Christ. The lot of you hanging on, we'll go right to our phone callers. First up is Robbie, listening in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Hi, Robbie.

Hey, Hank.

Thanks for taking my call.

Pleasure.

Our church is going through a bit of a transitional time. We're a small congregation of 80, and we've been somehow... I don't know if it's blessed or cursed with a large sum of money, and so we're in the process of designing and building a building. And with it, there's... there seems to come or bring with it a lot more problems than problems that it would fix. And so it leads me to the question of, you know, what the marks and practices of the New Testament church are and how they reflect on the contemporary institutional church today with all their practices.

Yeah, it's kind of interesting. I was talking to Francis Chan, and he had a very large church in Simi Valley. And in the end, he walked away from that church. And part of the reason, as he described it to me, was that the church had to continue to build bigger buildings because so many people were coming. And he started wondering, is that really an authentic expression of how the New Testament church worshipped? Is this what it's going to be, just keep building a bigger building and then another bigger building?

Or is there a different kind of ecclesiology. And this is a question that a lot of people are asking. But the matter of ecclesiology is a matter that Christians have, throughout the centuries, debated vigorously. Obviously it's a secondary issue we ultimately don't have to divide over. But if you look at the distinctives that you see in the early Christian church, you need to look no further than Acts chapter 2, where you see that the early Christians devoted themselves to the Apostles' teaching. to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, to prayer. So they broke bread in their homes, they ate together with glad and sincere hearts, they praised God, and the Lord added to their number daily those who

were being saved. And if you want to see that being replicated today, you find it not as much in the West, but more particularly in the East. If you go to places like China, you see the persecuted church gathering together in much the same way, And the Lord is adding daily to their number those who are being saved.

And quite frankly, the church in China is exploding as a result of it. So the big issue there, from my perspective, is that the participants, the parishioners, are all involved. The believers are not just spectators. They're involved actively in the work of ministry. And that is not just in the sense of witness. or even in the sense of oneness, but also in the sense of worship. So when they get together, they're all prophesying in the sense not of foretelling the future, but of forth telling, as we see in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, edification, exhortation, you know, to strengthen and equip the believers. So it's a very potent, powerful model that oftentimes is bypassed in the East where We have the luxury of building huge buildings and having megachurches.

But again, this is far from a settled issue in the minds of many because it is one of those issues that is debated vigorously. Ecclesiology is a secondary issue, and that's why there's so much division on it.

Okay, thank you so much.

You got it. Thank you for your call. Back to the phone lines. We'll talk next to Charles. He's listening in Fresno, California. Hi, Charles.

Hello.

My question is, is there a difference.

Between when a person knows they're going to sin and they go out and do it anyway, as opposed to a person who stumbles? Or do God see that the same way?

No, I think there is a difference, and I think you're wise to point that out. Remember that when you become a believer, what you do is you realize you're a sinner, you repent of your sin, and you follow Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of your life. Now, that repentance is a change of heart. It's a change of mind. It's a change of the will. So you want to do it God's way as opposed to doing it your own way. So your intent is to follow Christ.

I mean, that's what it means to become a Christian. You're no longer going your own direction, living by the dictates of your own will, but you've turned and you're following Jesus Christ. You say, I want to do it your way. But on that turn, as you've turned and you're on the road of repentance... You stumble and fall, and therefore you confess your sins. So I think the distinction you make is a very apt and appropriate distinction.

So would it.

Be safe to say if a person has the desire to continue in his or her sin that they might want.

To really sit back and look at if they've seriously.

Given their life to Christ?

Yeah, absolutely. Yes. Yeah, if you want to continue to willfully sin, then you might legitimately ask whether you have a said faith as opposed to a real faith. So, again, point well taken on your part.

Okay, thank you.

You get it.

Thank you so much. God bless you.

God bless you. Appreciate your call. Back to the phone lines. We'll talk next to Luke listening on Post Falls, Idaho. Hi, Luke.

Hi. I wanted to know if the Bible teaches that. Faith in Jesus Christ if it comes by personal choice or if it comes by God.

Well, there are various theological constructs that look at this differently. For example, Calvinists will say that all people are created naturally. such a way that they cannot respond to the gospel, but God regenerates certain people. They become the elect. And those who are regenerated then can respond in faith to the gospel. But if you are not regenerate, then you cannot exercise faith. So regeneration in that view precedes faith.

That is not the view that I hold, but it is a open debate amongst Christians. So this is one of those issues that is debated vigorously within Christian circles. And ultimately, I think that's where it ought to be left, something that we debate vigorously, but ultimately do not have to divide over. Be right back in just a few moments with more of the Bible Answer Man broadcast. Do remember that this is a ministry supported by listeners just like you, Be right back.

In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien's character Faramir voices the thoughts of countless soldiers throughout history. War must be while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all. But I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. If you too love what together we defend, our faith, biblical truth, and our freedoms, become a member of CRI's support team today by calling 888-7000-CRI. And as our thanks, Hank Hanegraaff will personalize to you a copy of his complete Bible answer book collector's edition revised and expanded.

Call 888-7000-CRI or visit our website at equip.org. That's 888-7000-CRI or simply visit our website at equip.org. Hank Hanegraaff will be back right after the break. The Complete Bible Answer Book Collector's Edition is the comprehensive collection of the most often asked questions Hank Hanegraaff has received throughout his four decades as host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast. With more than half a million copies already in print, this newly revised and expanded Collector's Edition Help seekers and skeptics alike sort through the truth on topics such as reliability of the Bible, religions and cults, the resurrection and afterlife, and many more issues vital to a better understanding of God in Christ and our relationship to Him. To receive

your copy of the complete Bible answer book, Collector's Edition, revised and expanded, call 888-7000-CRI. and make a gift to support the Christian Research Institute's life-changing outreaches, 888-7000-CRI, or visit us at equip.org. Anyone who's been paying attention knows there's a war going on, not just on traditional morality, civility, and decency, but even more fundamentally on historic notions of truth.

And the enemy isn't just the onslaught of fake news facilitated by a post-truth culture and turbocharged by growing legions of ideological spin doctors. No, the real enemies of truth range from post-modernist convictions that there is no objective truth to militant scientism that claims that only science can determine truth and religion is little more than primitive superstitions. But CRI support team members are not waving a white flag of surrender. They're holding the fort by undergirding every one of Christian Research Institute's mind-shaping and life-changing outreaches 24-7. To learn how you can make a difference and enjoy all the benefits of support team membership, simply visit equip.org.

Hank Hanegraaff has dedicated his life to defending truth because truth matters. However, his life and ministry were radically transformed by another three-word phrase, life matters more. Truth matters because Christianity is rooted in history and evidence. Life matters more because it is the experience of union with God. The goal of Christian life is union with God. All attempts to understand Christianity from a solely rational perspective put us in danger of devolving into a transactional rather than transformational relationship with God. Truth Matters, Life Matters More will equip you to move beyond intellectually knowing about God to experientially knowing Him in Christ. To receive your copy of Truth Matters,

Life Matters More, call 888-7000-CRI and make a gift to support the Christian Research Institute's life-changing outreaches, 888-7000-CRI, or visit us online at equip.org.

Let's return to your host, Hank Hanegraaff.

Thank you very much, Randy. I want to go right back to our phone callers. Next up is Jim. He's listening in Arkansas. Hi, Jim.

Hi, Hank.

I want to thank you for your ministry and just tell you that I listen to you as much as I can in the evenings on the way home. I've got a question about the resurrection as it's laid out in Revelation 20. I understand that when Christ comes back to judge the living and the dead, that all that's tied up with it. I'm trying to understand that why John would specify, he talks about the resurrection occurring and then the thousand years, which can be understood to be a long period of time. But then he goes on to say that the rest of the dead did not come to life until after the thousand years had ended.

And I was just trying to wrap my mind around that and hoping you could help out a little bit.

Yeah, I think Revelation chapter 20 has to be understood within the context of an apocalypse in which you're going to have people who are faithless and you're going to have people who are faithful. And in the apocalypse, there's an exhortation given to God's people to be faithful and fruitful. They're going to suffer for a short time. Their vindication is going to be eternal vindication. And I think that what's going on in terms of the millennium is not a quantity of time, but a quality of vindication for the martyrs. And therefore you have to read this passage in such a way that you make sense of what's going on within the context. Even when you look at those who come to life and reign with Christ a

thousand years, and then you have an indication that that's the first resurrection, it's not as though there are two resurrections, but the first resurrection in context is contrasted with a second death. In fact, a first resurrection cannot mean physical resurrection at the second coming of Christ. Instead, it means to be made alive in Christ. You were dead in your transgressions and sin, Paul says, but God made us alive with Christ. God raised us up or resurrected us with Christ. So Again, you have to read the text in the sense in which it's intended. I don't think there's any way in which you can come up with a scheme in which this is a long period of time, either between the first and second comings of Christ, or

is a semi-golden age with a rebuilt temple and reinstituted temple sacrifices, because that then militates against what the rest of the Scripture is teaching. So in reading this, interpreting this, the genre is important to keep careful consideration of. And I've written about this in terms of my perspective in my book, The Apocalypse Code, which is available through the Ministry of the Christian Research Institute. I want to go back to the phone lines, talk to David in Paris, Tennessee. Hi, David.

Yes, Hank, how are you today?

Good, thank you. Good, good.

Look, I wanted to ask you about the time that Christ was in the tomb and using a passage out of Matthew where Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and the scribes, they were asking for a sign. He said, There shall not be a sign given unto you except for the prophet Jonah. In chapter 12, verse 40, the ending of the chapter, Jesus speaking, says, So shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Now, in your answer book, I know that you play off of the weekly Sabbath as the Sabbath you're using is in all the references about the crucifixion and the burial of Christ. But in the Jewish times, especially according to the Qumran calendar, the Lord's Supper, the Passover, was eaten on Tuesday. And then, of course, Passover itself

was on a Wednesday, a weekday of Wednesday, and it was a high day. I believe that Jesus myself was crucified on Wednesday, that he was placed in the tomb, and then he was resurrected, of course, at the very end of the weekly Sabbath, Saturday, which would have been sundown, Saturday. Do you have anything to say about that?

Well, I think if you read my Bible answer book, you know what I have to say about that. I think the Gospels unanimously declare that Jesus died on the day of preparation, that is Friday, the day leading up to the beginning of the Sabbath or sundown, and that the Gospel writers demonstrate unanimity regarding the discovery of Christ's resurrection early in the morning on the day following the Sabbath, that is Sunday. the first day of the week. And therefore, to suggest that he died on Wednesday, I think contradicts the testimony of all four gospel writers. So I would have an honest difference of opinion there. I respect your opinion.

I respect your research. I simply disagree with you. I've looked into this myself. But in Jewish idiom, any part of a day counted as a day-night unit. And therefore, there's no need to literalistically demand that 72 hours be accounted for. And that's particularly evident in light of Christ's own contention that he would rise on the third day, not after the third day at night had ended. And one of the other points that I make in the Bible answer book is that once knowledge of ancient culturally...

informed modes of oral and literary expression replace a naive literalistic interpretation, the majesty and the harmony of the Bible begins to shine through. Christ's sacrificial death, his miraculous resurrection on the third day, is a glorious archetypal fulfillment of Old Testament types, including the type of the Passover lamb.

So Jonah's preservation for three days and three nights and the restoration of Israel on the third day prophesied by Hosea are a wonderful type fulfilled in an archetype or an antitype, that type being Jesus Christ, and more particularly in his life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. I want to go back to the phone lines, talk to Brandon Smith, listening in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hi, Brendan.

Hey, Hank. I had a question about Israel and its relation to the church, particularly looking at Romans 9-11. I've been raised in a dispensational-type teaching. I even went to a dispensational Bible college. I'm not really too comfortable with the sharp distinction that they draw between ethnic Israel and the church. You know, Paul says clearly in Romans 10 that in Christ there's neither Jew nor Gentile. So I don't think that in Christ there's a distinction between ethnic Jews and Christians, not even a distinction between Israel and the Church. My personal view is that the Church is Israel, and Israel is the Church. I mean, they represent the one corporate body of Christ. But when you get to

chapter 11, he talks about Israel being grafted back in He talks about that God brought salvation to the Gentiles for the purpose of provoking Israel to jealousy. And then finally he says that if Israel's rejection meant salvation for the Gentiles, how much more will their acceptance be? So it seems like he's teaching there that there is going to be some revival amongst ethnic Jews before the end.

and even that revival is a pivotal event in Christ returning. So just wanted to know your thought from that.

Well, I don't think it has anything to do with ethnic Jews. I think that the Bible doesn't deal with ethnicities. If you look at the Old Testament, you see that Rahab, who is a Canaanite, is in the lineage of Jesus Christ. Same thing with Roth, who is a Moabite, the archenemy of Israel, in the lineage of Jesus Christ. In Esther, when the nations look on and see Esther being sovereignly raised up to save ethnic Jews from certain destruction under Haman, the text tells us that on that day, many people became Jews. Well, they didn't become Jews because they changed their ethnicity or changed their birth mother. They became Jews because they believed in Yahweh, the God of Israel, and therefore were brought into all the types and shadows pointing

forward to Jesus Christ. Even in the Exodus, you have Egyptians who leave Egypt and are part of the community of faith. So I think on both sides of the cross, what you have is true Israel contrasted with those who are not true Israel. There certainly is a place for ethnic Israel in the sense that there is an ethnicity or a people called Jews, but the idea spiritually is always about true Israel. And true Israel, again, is made of people of every tongue and tribe and nation and people who love and follow God. So the church has not replaced Israel. The church is part of true Israel, and I think that's corroborated by what you find in the biblical text passages like 1 Peter 2, 9 and 10.

So when all Israel is mentioned in Romans chapter 11, I think it's referring to true Israel. And, of course, you have many indications that there is a distinction between an ethnicity and true Israel. In the words of Jesus Christ, there are those who say they are Jews but are not. They're a synagogue of Satan. So you're not Abraham's descendant because of some genealogical relationship to Abraham. You're Abraham's descendant because you're in Jesus Christ. In fact, Galatians 3 makes clear that Abraham only had one seed. That seed is Jesus Christ. So the royal seed of Abraham is Jesus Christ.

And if you're Jesus Christ, if you are in Jesus Christ, then you're the seed of Abraham. And again, an heir according to the promise. I could say much more about that. I've written about this in detail in my book, The Apocalypse Code. Find out what the Bible really says about the end times and why it matters today. There's a chapter on illumination. And in that chapter, I parsed this out in a lot of detail. Again, that book is available.

You can check it out on the web at equip.org. You can write me at Post Office Box 8500, Charlotte, North Carolina, zip code 28271. Or as always, talk to our resource consultants, 888-7000-CRI. I look forward to seeing you right back here next time with more of the Bible Answer Man broadcast.

Thanks for tuning in to the Bible Answer Man broadcast. Our website, equip.org, has an abundance of resources to sharpen your discernment skills and help you grow in life and truth. We provide books, videos, and informative articles. You can also listen to the broadcast, download archived programs, get answers to pressing Bible questions, or connect with us via social media.

All this and more at equip.org. Again, the address is equip.org. The Bible Answer Man broadcast is supported by listeners like you. We're on the air because life and truth matter. The Complete Bible Answer Book Collector's Edition is the comprehensive collection of the most often asked questions Hank Hanegraaff has received throughout his four decades as host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast. With more than half a million copies already in print, this newly revised and expanded Collector's Edition Help seekers and skeptics alike sort through the truth on topics such as reliability of the Bible, religions and cults, the resurrection and afterlife, and many more issues vital to a better understanding of God in Christ and our relationship to Him.

To receive your copy of the complete Bible answer book, collector's edition, revised and expanded, call 888-7000-CRI and make a gift to support the Christian Research Institute's life-changing outreaches. 888-7000-CRI or visit us at equip.org.

Best of BAM: Turning the Empire Upside Down, and Q&A

Kapitelklicken springt direkt hin

Shownotes

Transkriptvom Podcast bereitgestellt · Zeitmarken springen hin