Matt Slick Live

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network Podcast.

If you want to watch the show, you can listen, but if you want to watch, don't do it while you're driving the freeway doing off and on rims. All you've got to do is go to carm.org, and on the home page there on the right-hand side will have a picture of me. That's the best picture we could get of me. Lighting makes me look semi-intelligent, a lot of Photoshop, because I look like a bag of logs. But that's okay. That's all right. Get a face for radio. So Laura got it. Crosses on the shelf back there.

There's also a micro-adjustment of something, but people won't know what that is. That's just not really fair to say. Hey, if you want to give me a call, all you've got to do is dial 8772072276. I want to hear from you. Give me a call, all right? Hey, why don't we just jump on and get to, let's see, that will be Jason from Arizona. Jason, welcome. You're on the air. Hey, Matt.

I called yesterday, and you helped me a lot. I was asking about the Greek, and thank you. Oh, yeah. I had a quick question for you today. I'm in Romans 838, and the Strong's word, the Greek word that I'm trying to understand is G3195.

What's the English word? Things to come. All right. Things to come.

Milunta. Okay. Yes, sir. And so the Strong's was just confusing to me, the way it was defining it. I didn't quite get my head wrapped around it.

Well, let's see. And the one thing now, I don't think it's Strong's. I think it's Zotiates, Spiros Zotiates. It's the complete word study by Spiros Zotiates.

He's the guy I use a lot, just kind of how it evolved on my Logos Bible program. To be about to do or suffer something, to be at the point of, to be impending, followed by the infinitive, mostly future infinitive, although frequently in the New Testament. When followed by the present and aorist infinitive, it implies duration or transientness. So 3195, let's see how many times it occurs in the New Testament.

3195. It occurs 109 times. And it is translated as going to come next year, intending, going, propose, intending, shall certainly be, there shall be. Yeah, so it has a wide range of meaning. That's interesting. Okay. Okay, so what about it?

What about the word or something? Well, it was just confusing to me. Like, I know it's translated things to come. So I guess it was like anything that's coming in the future cannot separate the believer. Is that what Paul's trying to say?

Yeah, I would say so. Let's see, Romans 8.38. I can look to a text comparison. And things to come in the ESV, King James, nor things present nor things to come. Nor things to come in the New King James, RSV, things to come, LEB, nor present, neither the present nor the future.

So that's the same, I'm persuaded, nor things to come in the CSB, dewey reigns, nor things to come. So yeah, they all understand it to be that. It's just the varying things to come, generically speaking. Generically speaking. Okay, so when some of the translations kind of give the viewpoint, like Paul is saying, nothing separates you, but he doesn't technically use the word nothing in 8.38, right?

I mean, it's not, are we just understanding it as nothing separates the believer? Okay, what translation are you using? Well, I usually just use KJV, but... If you're going to study Greek, get away from the King James, flat out.

Okay. For you, I would use the New American Standard Bible, even over the ESV. And I'll give you an assignment.

I'll give you an assignment, okay? Look at Romans 5.18 in the Greek, that you're learning it. Compare the NASB with the other translations.

And I'm so bold as to say, only the NASB gets it right. Romans 5.18. That'll be a weekend study thing for you. You can call me up on Monday, we can talk about it.

Alright, Matt, thank you so much. But I wouldn't use the King James if you want to do a serious study of how things are, because... I'm not knocking the King James saying it's a bad translation, but it's just not there. Now, it says, if I'm convinced that, neither, and that's the oute.

So, it just means neither, nor, not, even. So, saying I'm convinced that, nothing, you know, it would work, whether it be death, but you'd have to add in the words, whether it be. So, I'm convinced that, neither death, nor life, or angels, principalities present, things present, and by juxtaposition, or things to come. And that's why I think that the things to come is future, because it's juxtaposed with the present. Things present. That is right there, which is an estato. So, that's what that means, things present, in the present. It's not the present tense, it's an iste mi, and to be present.

So, by contrast, nor things present, nor things to come, and out of that word, that's there, melonta, and it means to be about to do, suffer something, to be at the point of, yeah, it makes perfect sense why this translated that way. Okay. All right, Matt, thank you so much. Okay, bye-bye.

You're welcome so much. All right, Jason, God bless. All right, hey, if you want to give me a call, all you got to do is dial 8772072276. Hey, we got nobody waiting right now.

Yay! Because now I get to do some email. So, here we go, we'll get this going, too. I guess so many things I got to do. It's one busy day today, it's just what it is.

I woke up and hit the ground running. So, let's see, we can get some hate mail, and I love hate mail, I do. For those of you who might maybe be tuning in a little bit new and say, what's going on with hate mail? This is a Christian apologetics ministry, I defend the Christian faith, and I make a lot of people upset.

Not intentionally, it's just the nature of being right. In fact, I saw at my friend's house, Bill McKeever, down in Utah. I was there last week, and he had a sign, a little thing on a shelf. It said, I would agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong, and I just love that. I'm just going to kick out of that sign, make a great t-shirt. So, anyway, I like to say that I'm right, but you know, you can't trust a guy named Slick on the radio.

If you want to give me a call, five open lines, 877-207-2276, look at this one, this is a good one. Hate mail, this is from a while back, three years ago, apparently, we got it mixed up here. I'll debate you at a level playing field any time, you gutless coward. Yes, oh, I love that stuff, because I love talking to people who call me like that. I've had people say, you're a gutless coward, and then I look down at my belly and go, I've not been eviscerated, what are you talking about? And I play with them, I just have fun. I'm a coward, how am I a coward?

What did I do wrong, you know, what did I do to you? Anyway, start a thread at CARM between you and I on any Bible story topic you like. Wow, this guy's awesome. Including the man-made trinity ideology without you editing or modifying or deleting or censoring my posts, and we'll see how you fare. Wow, that is awesome. See, this is, if you can do hate mail, that's how you do it. You start off with a good insult right away, then you boast.

That is good. This is, I'd give this a nine on a scale from one to 10. So far, it's about an eight and a half a nine in my view, okay, that, you want to insult me? Start off with insulting my character somehow, first rule, that's good. Next, then boast about how great you are compared to me, because that would be awesome. Someone's got to write these rules down, I think, in the chat room. Write these things down, and then I can add them and append them to my how to pick an insult page, how to insult me. I actually wrote an article, how to insult me, because some people don't insult me very well. They'll use run-on sentences, the grammar ruins, the whole mood, and everything about the insults. You know, how am I going to understand your insult if you can't even insult me properly with proper American English grammar?

That's my question. And so if you're going to do it, you do it right. So I think the first rule here is accuse me of something, attack my character.

I hope they feel it in the chat room. Write these down, and then give it to me later, okay? And then second, boast about how great, this is awesome, boast about how great you are. You can destroy me on anything.

That is awesome. Okay, let's go to the third line. If you refuse, if I refuse, then let your readers at CARM know I challenged you, wow, and you declined, fearing your further shame and embarrassment in your realization.

You cannot legitimately sustain your claims anywhere, especially not in a fair, open-level playing field. Okay, so after the boasting, then mix demand. So it's insult, boast, demand. This is how you insult people. This is how you write hate mail.

This is good. So notice what happens if I refuse, if I don't want to debate them because I don't think he has all his paws in the litter box. Well, then obviously, the only option is, is because I'm fearing my further shame and embarrassment. That's the only reason I could possibly not want to debate this guy from years ago, which I'm like, hey, what's this doing here, this email? And so, oh, I actually responded to this years ago. Look at this. I wrote, this is one of the very best hate mails I've ever received. Wait a minute, I wrote this.

Oh, this is a good one. I'm really enjoying this. Here we go. He wrote something earlier and I responded.

So let me back up. I thrashed and easily successfully exposed your false ideology and was banned for it as you can't sustain your claims legitimately. You banned those who dare expose your fraudulent Trinitarian, something I can't repeat, religion. I'm still, however, receiving notifications of the lies still being posted by your, wow, incestuous friends.

Now he's attacking my friends just because they're my friends now. Oh, man, this guy's great. Either reinstate me and continue to learn truth, I bring, for a charge to your lies or else desist with sending me notifications of topics I'm not currently allowed to continue to legitimately refute. Oh, this is awesome. You've always been a disgraced and a fraud Matthew Slick and a yellow-bellied gutless coward. Man, this is awesome. That runs an incestuous side of lies and Trinitarian propaganda and only for misduped liars like yourself to participate. This is brilliance.

This is one of the best ever. Hey, I think when we get back from the break, if there's nobody calling, I'm going to continue with this email. I'm loving it. Hit me right back, 877-207-2276. Be right back. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick. All right, everyone. Okay, I'm going to read some more of this hate mail, the same one, and then we'll get to the callers.

Let's see. As you can tell, I've got issues. I love hate mail. I don't know why I get the biggest kick out of it, but I do.

I think it's awesome. And this guy goes on and he says, I'll take you on any day if you think you have grown a backbone and want to try on an even playing field. Let everyone here know that you are ashamed of your failure to be able to legitimately sustain your ideology and refuse to debate me on a level playing field, but instead hiding in shame, never letting them know you're a shameful and disgraceful Trinitarian cowardice. And so then I wrote to him. That's what I wrote. I said, that is one of the very best hate mails I've ever received.

Great stuff. I'll read it over the air on Friday. I guess I must have done it years ago. Now, if this guy could only call into the radio show and debate me on the Trinity, maybe he's afraid to do that. And I wrote, I won't expect a call. And I don't believe he ever did.

But anyway, because I would have probably written it in a response. He just insulted me and that was the end of it. But he says, he goes on, he ends, any time would be great, you proven fraud coward and pretend storybook Jesus believer. Wow. Some people are just so arrogant.

They are just so arrogant. Man, I'll tell you, I enjoyed that email. That was a good hate mail. All right, let's get to Alberto from Georgia. Alberto, welcome. You're on the air.

Good evening, Master. My question is, this is in Luke 13, 24, where Jesus says, strive to enter the narrow gate. And then he says, and walk the way, the narrow way. My question is, why should a sinner have to strive to enter the narrow gate if deep in the cross he just believed and he was already in the narrow gate?

And also, most sinner when they do enter the narrow gate. Let me answer it. Let's do one at a time.

Let's do one question at a time, okay? Okay. All right. So why would he want people to strive to enter through the narrow gate?

Because they ought to do that because it's the right thing to do. All right? Okay, I understand what you're saying, but why should there be an effort to accept Jesus? What should be striving for if you want to do just believe by faith?

That's it. Jesus Christ is in the narrow gate. Then, where it says, the problem is once the sinner enters the narrow gate.

But he hadn't yet died for people's sins, and the revelation of justification by faith had not yet been taught. So what he's telling people is to make sure you get in. You better be very concerned with it. Strive to get in there. And what do you have to do?

You have to pay attention to him and he'll tell you. And it comes to trusting him. That's how you strive to get in, through faith in Christ.

Okay. Now the thing is, the problem is with most sinners, once they enter the narrow gate through Christ, they don't want to walk the narrow way. They want to enter through the narrow gate, but then, once they become a child of God and a saint, they don't want to walk the narrow way that leads to life.

Well, I don't know. That's the problem going on in the churches today. Well, it's happening in the churches. I don't know how many of the people who are Christians, they're guilty of that in particular.

But it does occur, so I don't want to just give a blanket statement to every Christian there. But yeah, Christians should be very careful and try and follow Christ, once they're saved. That's why I tell people, preach law, gospel, and cost. The law, the gospel, and the cost.

I think all three go together. Most people just preach the law and then the gospel. But they don't preach the cost.

And that's what they need to do as well. People take this seriously. Because I was watching a video on YouTube by R.C. Sproul. He passed away already. But he said, talking about himself, he's not even sure if he's going to enter heaven.

Because he might be one of those, say, Lord, Lord, Lord, I did this and this and that. R.C. Sproul said that? Yeah, in the video.

I just went out to the polls. He said, I will wake up in hell. He said the video is a systemic clip. Okay, gotcha.

But I have a lot of doubt for that. Well, I watched the video several times already. Well, show it to me. Send it to me. Send the link.

Okay, he heard it and then when he speaks, he sounds like he has no assurance in salvation. Anyway, another question I got also for you. Well, hold on, hold on, hold on. I want you to send me the link or send me the information. Okay?

At info.com. Okay. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. All right, so back about Luke 13 24, strive to enter through the narrow door. Now, Jesus said, he is the door.

You need to enter and you can only enter through him. Okay? So, you know, there's consistency there. Not a problem. Okay. Okay. What was your other question?

Okay. My question is, you know, about the LGBT, you know, people say, well, you know, they're born that way and then they can still be a Christian and a gay. Well, according to the scriptures, if I'm born a sinner and then accept Christ, I'm no longer a sinner. I'm a child of God. I'm a saint. God declares me a saint. So, it's a change of nature, basically. So, how can a homosexual, LGBT movement say, well, born a gay is to remain a gay as a Christian.

That's impossible. If the Bible teaches you, if you're born a sinner and you come to Christ, God adopts you and gives you the power to become a child of God. And God declares you a saint.

You translate it from the kingdom of darkness and can you see him as a dear son in the light. So, how can they say? So, that's my whole point, that they're contradicting what the scripture teaches. So, you're saying, how can people who profess Christ also abide in homosexuality as an inconsistency? Yes.

How can they say they're born that way to remain that way? Okay. Let me jump in and try and answer.

Let me jump in. All right. So, there's debate. I'm not going to say that it is or isn't the case, but they have debates in their arguments about whether or not someone is born that way and has a tendency for that. Though I tend to not agree with that, that they are born that way, let's just say hypothetically that they are, which I don't give credence to, but let's say that's the case. It still doesn't excuse them because people are born with the tendencies to lie. It doesn't mean that because you're born that way, therefore it's automatically okay.

That argument doesn't work. Now, someone, and I've known someone who became a Christian and still had attraction for same-sex individuals, and he told me that he recognizes it as sin and he's struggling against it, it's under control, and that he works with the Lord prayerfully to change. He said he'd been struggling for about a year or two with this as he became a Christian.

Okay. So he still has those sinful tendencies, but he's judging them as being sinful, and he's seeking to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. So he's saved. But if you have someone who has those tendencies, or for whatever reason, and then says, well, it's just the way I am, I'm not going to worry about it, I'm going to go ahead and participate and call myself a Christian. Now, that's an inconsistency. You can't call them a Christian.

Okay? Mm-hmm, yeah, and so the same way with people, like you say, just in other types of things, and not just homosexuality, the people who say, well, they got a cigarette addiction, alcohol addiction before they were saved, and they got saved, and still they got certain bondages, haven't break free yet. But the problem is, sometimes, like, people, like, they call themselves Christian, and they be smoking cigarettes week after week, week after week, year after year, that's not a slip-up, or once in a while they fall out of the womb for deliberate practice. Hold on, hold on, hold on.

Yeah, smoking cigarettes is not the same thing as homosexuality. So we can't be in the same category. I know, hold on. Okay, we got a break. Okay, hold on, okay.

Hey, folks, five open lines if you want to give me a call, 877-207-2276, wide open lines, give me a call. We'll be right back. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick. All right, everyone, welcome to the show. Welcome back. I just want to let you know that we stay on the air by your support. Please consider supporting us.

We definitely do need that. If you go to karm.org forward slash donate, you can see all the information right there. And if you do donate and you want it to be designated for the radio, just e-mail us. Go to info at karm.org and say, hey, I just, you know, my name is so-and-so, I just donated this mount, and I want it for the radio. That's all you got to do.

All right, karm.org forward slash donate. Let's get back to Alberto. Okay, Alberto, you had another question? No, no, no, no. We were discussing about the, you said the cigarette and smoking, drinking. Oh, yes. I know that.

Yes. But the point is, but still, I know that. But the thing is, they're still habitually doing it over and over and over. It's not going to affect so much as I can see. They're doing it over and over and over.

It's not going to slip up. If people smoke cigarettes and drinking, even as a Christian, you know, you're habitually doing it. Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. You're just kind of saying a lot of stuff here, all right? So there are different levels of discussions about this as a broad topic. But do you have another question about it? Well, that's my whole point.

What I'm trying to expound is the spirituality of the sin of a Christian who smokes and drinks, and they've been doing it for years, and they said they can't quit. Yeah, but you see, look, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Hold on, okay? You're just kind of going and going, okay? Habitually smokes and drinks.

What does that mean? Do you mean has a cigarette once a month? No, sometimes crazy. Albert, okay, I'm going to put you on, I'm just going to get rid of you, okay? I'm trying to talk, and you keep going, and you're just not letting me, you know, get a word in edgewise on my own radio show. So, you know, I hung up on you. You know, you've got to work on that, okay?

Folks, five open lines if you want to give me a call, 877-207-2276. So, look, we have to be careful. We can't just give a broad stroke about things that are struggles for people. We want to understand something very important, that people have different struggles at different levels. So let's just say someone's struggling with drinking.

Well, what's the struggle level at? Do they know it's wrong and they're struggling once a week, they have a little bit too much? Well, we can't call them a Christian now?

Of course we can. If they know that it's a struggle, they know it's a problem, and it's a sin for them, because drinking's not a sin, and so it's a sin for them, then, because of their condition, and they're struggling against it, you know, if they're saying, hey, you know, he's habitually doing this, does that mean he's condemned? No, because there are different levels and degrees you've got to understand about the habituation, and are they struggling in it? People struggle at different levels for different reasons about the issue of their sin, and we have to be gracious.

We want to be gracious, because we don't want to just give a blanket statement out. If you're struggling with alcoholism, oh, obviously you're not saved. If you smoke a cigarette, you're just not saved. I don't say those things. The issue is, are you seeking to follow the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you struggling against your own sinfulness and the things that he's calling you to do?

And we need to submit all of it to Scripture. This is why I wanted to get in here and talk about this, but, unfortunately, he was just going and going and going, and so I'm ready to put a stop to that and move on. All right, Four Open Lines, if you want to give me a call, all you've got to do is dial 8772072276. Before we get to the next call, I just want to remind you that we do stay on the air. Buy your generous support. We ask $5, $10, $15, $25 a month, and we're just trying to get 1,000 people doing $5.

That's not much, and I understand that the economy is getting worse, and it is, and we are feeling that as well. And if you like the radio show, you want to see it continue, you want to hear it continue, please, then, what I'd ask you to do is just go there and support us, and if you do, then all you have to do is just email us, info at karme.org. Let us know. Let us know that that's what you've designated it for. I don't think we have that form designated on the sign-up. I don't know.

We might. I just haven't checked for a while, so I just want to say that. Five Open Lines, 8772072276. What I'm going to do is get to the hate mail and get some more, because there we go. And let's see, let's see, let's see. Oh, that was a good hate mail. I loved that last one.

I hope you guys enjoyed that one too. Let's see. I got on your website, and I cry in my hands when I read about your false doctrine. I cry in my hands. So you are the ones in bondage, not me. I am free in Jesus who died for the world.

Check your Bible, please. Yes, he did die for the world. What does the word world mean?

I ask people these questions. I say, he died for the world. I say, was it me? And they routinely will say, it means every individual who ever lived. Can you show me that in the text? It may mean it. It may not mean it. Show me that that's what it means.

And they will often call me names. How could you not see it? Are you stupid? I say, I'm just asking you to validate your interpretation from the text. Because then I'll ask them, I'll say, did Jesus, was Jesus sent to the whole world? And they'll say, of course he was.

I said, no, he wasn't. He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 15, 24. Now, that's like putting a monkey wrench in their gears. And they're not sure what to do at this point. I have to teach them theology. And teach them that the word world in the context deals with all the nations.

Because Jesus the Messiah was only sent to the nation of Israel, not the whole world. And when I show this to them, there's usually a few crickets going. Because they're like, ah, they never heard that before. And I'm saying, yeah. You see, you've got to think.

You've got to look. You can't just assume something and say, that's just what it means. And then everybody's wrong if they don't agree with what you've assumed. That's what I try and tell people.

Don't do that. If it's the case that he died for every individual who ever lived, then find me a text where it says he died for every individual who ever lived, or something comparable to it. And then I'll take them to 1 Samuel 3.14, Whitney, Old Testament, where God says that he has sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever. And I said, so did Jesus atone for the sins of Eli's house? And they said, well, of course he did. And I'm like, but that's not what the Bible says. It says right here, he will not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.

Forever. That's what it says. And so, see, what happens is so many times what people do is they have an idea, and they think they've got it figured out. Therefore, that's what the Bible means. It's just that simple. That's what it means. It has to mean this.

And if you disagree, you're a heretic and you're wrong. And I show them things. Well, wait a minute, show me this, show me that. And they don't like it that I ask these questions. They don't like it that I ask them specifically, show me, I want to know.

And they don't like doing that. All right, check your Bible, please. Freedom is when we really learn to know our loving Father's heart.

Okay, I didn't know that. I thought freedom is being set free from sin by faith and trust in Jesus Christ. But nevertheless, do yourself a favor and start praying nonstop that the Holy Spirit will show you in the Bible what the real gospel is all about. Now, here's something that's interesting. I get a lot of criticisms like this. We'll show you what the real gospel is.

Okay. So here's an opportunity for this individual to tell us exactly what the real gospel is. He doesn't.

And that's an interesting thing because I'm looking ahead. He doesn't tell us what the real gospel is. Here, you need to know what the real gospel is, but I'm not going to tell you what it is.

And that's equivalent to what he's doing because he doesn't reveal it. And yet he wants me to know the real gospel but doesn't give the real gospel the gospel that saves. So he goes on, Paul preached a totally different gospel than the other four. What? Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, by the way. Wow. This guy's just heretical.

Reading the epistles on Paul, reading the epistles of Paul on your knees with the Holy Spirit will reveal something totally different to you. Okay, great. What is it? What is it? It's because of control that the organized church is what it is. All I can say is you are not free. Why do I say?

Because you have to perform constantly. What? Get over it. Jesus already did everything on the cross. Love in Christ Jesus.

A guy from South Africa. Please go check all the translations of the Bible. All the early Bible did. Not even mention the word hell anywhere. You know, where's my shirt that says, so much heresy, so little time.

And it's unfortunate that this guy and other guys cannot think clearly and logically and rationally. It's a problem. All right, we've got nobody waiting, 877-207-2276. Let's try another hate mail. Read your site with great interest.

Please see my research in validating divine encounters from the Bible. Wow. He's got a link here. I'm going to click on this link. I'm not going to tell you what it is.

And it's in Chinese. And then it has moved to something else that is bad. Just forward it. All right, would you consider a collaboration? No, not with that. It was bad stuff.

Let's try another one. Please be advised of the following. Hosts for beasts can baptize people when they are in nursing homes and hospitals. You know. It's Matt Slick live taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Welcome to the show. Welcome back. Last segment on this nice Friday. If you want to give me a call, all you've got to do is dial 877-207-2276. Let's get to Kyle from Ohio. Hey, Kyle, welcome. You're on the air.

Yes, thank you. My question is with the difference between the doctrine of election and the doctrine of free will, you know, the Bible says whosoever shall call upon the name shall be saved. And so I realized my sin several years ago and that I'm a sinner, that I have nothing I can do about that other than accept the salvation on the cross. But then you have the verse that says that Jesus in the judgment will say, Depart from me, I never knew you. So I'm not a great prayer warrior and I'm not real good at personal Bible study. I've been in church for 30-some years, 40-some years now.

But I don't have that close relationship that I know that other people do have. And so is my salvation secure? I don't know.

Is it? In the fact that I accepted your free gift? Well, are you secure?

Well, that's what I want to know. If you trust in Christ, does he forgive you? I believe he does. Okay. I believe he does.

Have you trusted in him? Yeah. Then are you forgiven? But, yeah.

Okay. Does your forgiveness depend on your goodness? No, not a bit. It depends on his faithfulness. That's right.

It depends on his faithfulness, right? Right? Are you there? Hello?

I think we might have lost him. Let's try it again. Are you still there? It's on hold.

Are you there? It went on to hold on its own. I don't know. I didn't do it.

Sorry about that. Okay. So you've trusted. Okay, so your salvation depends on Christ's faithfulness, right? Yes, it does.

Then you're secure. So I guess that's the answer to my question. Yes. Yeah.

I just wonder who he's talking to when he says, okay, go ahead. Here's the thing. That people often doubt their salvation because they're looking at themselves instead of Christ.

Okay. Look at yourself. You're going to find you're a failure. You still have lust, pride, arrogance, covetousness. All these things and more still are floating around in your heart. You don't pray as much as you need to.

You don't read the Word as much as you need to. You're not this as much or that as much as you need to be. Therefore, how can I be saved? That means that you're looking at your own goodness to determine your salvation.

Well, that's a problem. Take your eyes off of yourself and put it on Christ. Have you trusted in Christ? Yes. Is he faithful? Yes. Can he ever forsake you?

No. Then you say, I'm secure in him because of him, not because of me. And though I fail, I'm trying to do what's right before God, which is a sign of him living in me. So therefore, I'm safe in him and you trust him.

That's how it should work. Okay. Cool. I'm just curious, though, who's he speaking to when he says that, Depart from me, I never knew you. Is that the false teachers? Let's go take a look.

It's Matthew 7, 22 and 23. Okay. Now, I'm going to ask you some questions about it. Many will say to me on that day, what day is that? That day. The day of judgment.

Very good. Lord, Lord, do we not prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, in your name perform many miracles? What are those people on the day of judgment appealing to for their salvation?

Their own works. There you go. And I will declare to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Okay. Okay. That's why he says, I never knew you because they're appealing to look what we've done.

Now, hopefully, you and I standing on the day of judgment, when God says, why should I let you into heaven, we're going to say, because of Jesus. That's it. Right.

Because of what he did. Yeah. And you even granted me the faith to put to heaven him. That's it. I got nothing to offer. I'm just hiding behind Jesus.

That's not what they're doing in Matthew 7, 22 and 23. Okay. Okay. Okay. Well, that answers my question, then.

That answers my question. Good. All right.

All right. First John 5, 13, these things are written so you may know you have eternal life. So let me ask you, do you know you have eternal life? I do.

I do because I believe the scripture's truth and I have accepted him on his terms, not mine. Nothing I can do about it. I've just accepted his free gift. Amen, brother. There you go. Yes. Thank you.

I appreciate that. See, now you're free. You're free. You're free to go live and fail and succeed and try and work and not worry that your failures mean you're not saved. Correct.

It's not okay to sin, of course. People will often take what I say out of context. But, yeah. Okay. Right. All right.

Yeah. All right, brother. I want to know him better and I'm just not that good at it, so I just need to keep working at it. Well, let me just tell you, I have Asperger's and we Aspies have an issue in that we don't need as much social interaction as others. I don't know if you're similar, but I don't need it as much. It flows into my prayer life.

Be careful how I say this. I don't need that intimacy and fellowship with the Lord as much as someone else might. It doesn't mean I don't love him, but I have struggles with prayer sometimes. My prayers are quick and to the point where others, they go on and on.

I listen to people pray sometimes. I'm not complaining. I'm not complaining. And me, I'll pray, I'm done. And they go on and on about stuff.

I'm like, how are you inserting all these things in there? I'm not complaining. But people are different. All right. They're just different. And it's okay.

So, accept what you are and work to improve it. Okay. All right. Yes. Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah.

I'm with you on that. I mean, if I ask God to do something and he's faithful, then why do I need to ask twice? If he's faithful, he'll take care of it.

That's right. I mean, within his will. I get that.

Within his will. I'm not saying, hey, Lord, give me a new car. You know, but I'm just saying. Yeah. All right. Well, I thank you for your time and I appreciate it. Appreciate it. All right, man. God bless. God bless. Thank you. Appreciate it. All right.

For Open Lines, 8772072276. Jose from Raleigh, North Carolina. Welcome. You're on the air. Hey, Matt. How are you? Doing all right. Hanging in there.

What do you got, man? Hey, I was calling because there's an argument, but I'll come past for saying that there's no rapture and once there is no rapture, so I wanted to call you guys. Is there a rapture before the tribulation or not?

No, I don't. Personally, I do not believe in a rapture before the tribulation. I believe we're going through it, but we are going to be raptured. There is a rapture and it's taught in 1 Thessalonians 4, starting in verse 16.

Okay? Yeah. See, I was confused because first his pastor said he believed in the rapture and then he changed his mind and said there's no rapture before the tribulation.

Yeah, I agree. I agree there's no rapture before the tribulation, but there is still a rapture. I believe we're going through it. I believe it's going to get bad. Now, most people in America believe in pre-tribulation rapture. That's okay.

I hope they're right. I don't accept that position. That doesn't mean I'm right either.

It's just my position. Okay. I was reading through Revelation, somewhere in there after things are happening, or whatever is going to happen at the end, and then it says he will come as a thief.

Thief of the night. And I'm like, yeah, and I'm like, okay. Here, I'm convinced that there's no rapture before the tribulation. Well, actually, here, we have nobody waiting. Let me read you something out of the scriptures. I'll read you two verses, because think about this. This really messes people up, that the rapture, the view is the rapture occurs before the seven-year tribulation. The seven-year tribulation occurs before the thousand-year reign, and after the thousand-year reign is when the new heavens and new earth are made. So that's the standard view, premillennial view of pre-trib rapture, premillennial. So, the rapture occurs before the tribulation, and the tribulation occurs before the thousand-year reign.

So, now check this out. For the Lord himself, this is 1 Thessalonians 4 16, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, and the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we always be with the Lord.

Therefore, comfort one another with these words. Now, as to the times and the epics, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you, for you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. So, the thief in the night is tied to the rapture.

That's what it is. So, there you go. So, then people say, that's the rapture that comes like a thief in the night. Now, go to 2 Peter 3 10, where the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

So, wait a minute. It says that the day of the Lord will come like a thief. That's when the new heavens and new earth are made, and the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night is when the rapture occurs. There's only one day of the Lord. There's not two, three, or twenty days of the Lord. It's one, the day of the Lord.

It's singular. The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. The day of the Lord will come like a thief.

Okay? The wording's almost identical. We're referring to the day, and in one place, that's when the rapture occurs, and in another place, that's when the new heavens and new earth are made, on the day of the Lord.

Where is room for the seven-year tribulation after the rapture, and where's room for the millennial reign of a thousand years? That's a question. Yeah, that's where I was pretty confused.

Yeah. So, and then to add more fuel to the confusion fire, if you go to Matthew 13, 30, the wheat and the tares, and allow both to go together till the harvest. The time of the harvest, I'll say to the reapers, first, gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up, but gather the wheat into my barn. So Jesus says, gather the tares before you gather the wheat.

The tares are the wicked, and the wheat are the good people. And then, in verse 40, he interprets the parable. Just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The son of man will send forth his angels, and they'll gather out of his kingdom all stumbling blocks of those who commit lawlessness, and throw them into the furnace of the fire. Now, people will say, well, that means it's during the millennial reign that the wicked people are in his reign, and they'll be taken out.

That means the first one's gathered. But the problem is it occurs at the end of the age, and when you look at other areas where it talks about the end of the age, you'll find out that what happens at the end of the age is the rapture occurs, and the new heavens and new earth are made. And there's verses for this in scripture. I don't have time to go into it all. Oh, yeah, there's, yeah, I have a study on it. I've taught it.

I asked this pastor, I said, well, close to who Jesus was talking to on Matthew 24, and he said that up there. Hey, there's some music. Sorry. Call back next week, because we're just out of time, okay? But I want to hear about this, okay?

We can talk more about it, all right? Okay, God bless him. Okay, God bless.

All right, that was Jose from Raleigh, North Carolina. If you want to give me a call, all you got to do is wait on the next week. The Lord bless you. Have a great evening, and we'll talk to you on Monday. See you later. Bye. Bye. Bye.