Bible Questions and Answers, Part 55

When you ask what is a Christian, it is one for whom to live is Christ. Christ is our life. We have nothing but Christ and we have everything in Christ. Welcome, friend, to this Friday edition of Grace To You with John MacArthur.

We're going to mix things up a bit today. Instead of walking you through a passage of Scripture, John's going to field questions from his home church about the Bible and the Christian life, maybe questions you've wrestled with as you've studied God's Word. But before we get to the Q&A, John, you have a few thoughts for those listeners who share our passion for the unvarnished Word of God, because collectively they did something extraordinary to help keep the teaching of God's Word available on radio stations like this for the coming year. Yeah, and what we mean by that is when we came back a few days ago to Grace To You and saw the mountain of mail and began to pour over it and read the letters and open the envelopes, I can say this, the outpouring of support for this ministry was beyond generous.

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The first question is from a man named Nathaniel, and you'll hear his question, then you'll hear John respond. My father was saved as an adult and later led his parents to the Lord, grew up in a Christian home, grew up in the church. By God's grace, he blessed me with a godly wife that comes from a second and third generation Christian home. We've seen our children make a profession of faith and bear fruit. Are there unique challenges and opportunities in raising and ministering and shepherding multigenerational Christians?

And if so, what would they be? That's a very good question. And I think there are challenges in raising multigenerational Christians. In fact, there has been a lot of discussion about the fact that first generation Christians are the passionate, committed, devout, energetic, sacrificial, enthusiastic Christians because they know what they've been saved from, because they have something to compare it to. And there is a zeal and a joy and a sense of wonder over the grace of God that rescued that first generation. And that second generation of Christians raised in the church, never really knowing much other than the church, brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, coming to faith in Christ at some point, loses something of the wonder and the awesomeness of conversion because they lack the experience of a dramatic transformation. It takes, I think, children raised in that environment, young people raised in that environment some years to engage in adult life to find out the wonder of what they've been rescued from because they usually have to find it out from somebody else. And they don't really see that when they're in the church.

They're in a Christian family, a Christian church. In our society today, however, it becomes pretty apparent very early because of the exposure to the things that are outside the church that once Christian families could insulate their children from and no longer are they able to do that. There is some indication among some people that the third generation of believers seems to drift toward a certain kind of apathy and indifference.

Familiarity breeds a certain contempt. This would be particularly true, and I think I have to say this and not in a self-serving way, but because it's true, this is particularly true in an environment where there is no real stimulation of their hearts and minds in the things of Christ and the Word of God. What is really hard is second generation and even harder, third generation Christians raised in a sort of insipid, superficial, shallow church experience that lacks penetrating conviction, that lacks clarification of the Word of God, where the Word of God is not continually taught and exposited and brought to bear on their lives in all of its unending richness and beauty and magnificence.

It's easy to become familiar with the same old, same old, same old. Many people were raised in churches where they heard an evangelistic sermon with a very little variation week after week after week after week. Second generation young people raised in that kind of environment find it very boring and it lacks the penetrating stimulation that they need to really grow. Third generation Christians even find it harder to do that. But I think all of that aside, first generation, second, third, fourth, or whatever it is, in my case, fifth generation Christians, if they are exposed regularly, systematically to the church as the church should be and to the Word of God as the Word of God should be, when the Word of God comes to bear on their lives, it erases, it cancels out all of those issues because it has the power to penetrate. I don't think even third generation Christians should find the Word of God boring. I think and when they're led into the deep things of God and when they're drawn to think deeply and widely and to consider the greatness and the glory of God from every facet of the Word of God, it only enriches, enriches, enriches them.

It's still a challenge. I think if you ask the guys in the youth ministry, they would tell you that kids that are saved in non-Christian environments, non-Christian families come to Christ in high school, or come to Christ at the university and the college ministry. They have a freshness and a zeal and an eagerness that is unique to that. And sometimes the kids that are raised in Christian families don't have that same passion because they take these things for granted. But again, the answer to that is the power of the Word of God to take them to a knowledge of God and an understanding of God that is new and fresh week after week, month after month in their lives. And that's why it's so important in the church that we cover the whole Scripture so that God gets full exposure in all His glory to all generations of believers.

Okay? My question is, what happens to us when we are in heaven? We do have the Holy Spirit within us right now. Would we have a need for the Holy Spirit in heaven? And also if yes, how about the Old Testament saints? They did not have the Holy Spirit. Would they have it? Yes, good question. In the Old Testament, the Old Testament saints did have the Holy Spirit.

They did. No one could be saved without the Holy Spirit. Salvation is the same in every age, in every era. No sinner can raise himself from death. No sinner can raise himself from ignorance.

No sinner can by his own power escape Satan's clutches. That's a divine work of God, a work of God done by the Holy Spirit. You get an illustration of it in the creation where the Spirit moves over the waters and creation begins to take shape. In Genesis it says, my Spirit will not always strive with man so that you have the Spirit striving with the sinner, bringing the sinner to conviction. Same thing in John, John 16, the Spirit convicts the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. So the work of salvation has always been the work of the Spirit, always been the work of the Spirit.

David acknowledges this, don't take your Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of thy salvation. The Apostles understood it this way. They said this, Jesus said this to them, they're talking about the Holy Spirit, and Jesus said, He is with you, He shall be in you.

There wouldn't be any salvation in the Old Testament apart from the Holy Spirit. Okay, so the Holy Spirit was with them, the Holy Spirit ministered to them. But in some new and full sense, He is in us.

So it's not a question of the reality itself, it's the question of the degree of that reality. The Holy Spirit has always been with the people of God, always. And when you think about heaven, there will be no need for the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit. There will be no need for the Spirit's work of conviction. There will be no need for the Spirit's work of instruction.

There will be no need for the Spirit's work of illumination, as far as we know, in the sense that we know it now. There will be no need for the Spirit to show us Christ. Remember, Jesus said, when the Spirit comes, He will show you all things concerning Me because we will see Christ. And yet, the Spirit of God will function in some way in the glory of heaven to direct us into that form of service which God intends for us to do. But it never refers to believers in heaven having the Holy Spirit in them. There's no Scripture in that regard. So when we go to heaven, we will be perfect, we will be like Christ. That doesn't preclude the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit, you remember, ministered through Christ. So there is some sense in which the Spirit of God will be part of even, I think, our eternal service, but in a way different than we experience now because we will have entered into spiritual perfection and Christ-likeness in heaven.

Okay? Good question. Q. My name is John and I have a question for you. We were in Bible study this morning discussing 2 Corinthians 13 and specifically verse 5 where it says to examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. And I guess my question is more pastoral.

How do we navigate between the gravity of that verse, one that we should always be mindful of, and also 1 John 3.20 where it says, "'For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart.'" A. That's a very well put question. And I think the answer to it is you navigate it this way. You ask the question and you rejoice when the answer is affirmative.

Right? There are times in your life when you ask the question. And then having asked the question, when you run the test and you find that all the test validates the reality of your faith, then you rejoice. And then you are beyond the condemnation. The text is not holding us captive to some endless condemnation that can never be overcome. It is simply saying, ask the question.

And the question can be answered. What do you do to examine yourself whether you're in the faith? You look at evidences of salvation.

It's the direction of your life, not the perfection of it. Simple things and basic things like, do I love Christ? Do I desire to honor Christ? Do I resent the sin that is in me? Do I want to be with the people of God? Do I love the truth of Scripture? Do I love the Word of God taught and understood? Does it bring me joy? Do I love to praise the Lord?

Do I love to sing the hymns that exalt and honor Him? These are the evidences of a transformed heart. Those are the questions you ask.

It's not about perfection, it's about direction. It's about what you desire, what you want, what brings you joy. Do I live with hope of the life to come? Do I trust in the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ?

Do I believe those things are true? And having answered those questions, then you have risen above the condemning heart. So it's important to ask the question. That's why the Lord's table says, let a man examine himself. That needs to be done repeatedly every time the church does that because there are always going to be people who need to have the question answered, but you don't spend your whole life trying to answer the question. There were times early in my Christian experience where I would examine myself to see whether I was in the faith.

Every time I would press the test home, I would find failure and sin in my life, but I would pass the test because I would have to ask myself, where do these holy longings come from? Where does this hunger for the Word of God come from? Where does this desire to honor God come from? Where does this desire to serve Christ? Where does this hope of heaven come from? Where does this strong desire to avoid hell come from?

This is not normal to me. Where does this desire to be with the people of God, to fellowship with them come from? I would a hundred times rather be with the people of God than with a group of unbelievers in some activity that they're engaged in.

Where does that come from? My heart belongs to the things of God. My heart belongs to the Kingdom. So you process those questions and you look for evidences of God's work in your life. And one great evidence in your life, and this is where you rehearse this, is how does your faith do in severe trials? That's why Peter says the testing of your faith is so important because it produces endurance.

Hey, I've been there at the edge of the disaster. I've been there on the brink and my faith did not fail, it held. And so God has given me a faith that can prevail in the most difficult situations. And when I examine myself, I can look back and say, I remember this event when human faith would not be able to hold up, but my confidence and my faith was strong. And so it's a faith given by God. So you examine by looking at your longings and looking at the history of God's work in your life. And once you've taken the exam and the answer is in the affirmative, then you don't allow your heart to condemn you.

Then condemning heart is simply a temptation. Okay? Hi, Pastor. Hi. My name is Andrew.

Hi, Andrew. Psalm 36 says that God cares for people and animals alike. Proverbs 12 says that godly people care for their animals and Scripture also says that the lion will lay down with the lamb. My question, Pastor, is that for those of us that are animal lovers or pet owners, do we have any biblical hope to reassure us that we'll see our pets in heaven?

AUSTIN No. But there are people who are gardeners and they're not going to see their plants there either. So... Plants don't fetch, Pastor. What? Plants don't fetch.

No, I understand. And there are people who are rock collectors and they're not going to see their rocks there either. So there are just a lot of things in this world that God has given us for enjoyment in this world. God does preserve man and beast, Psalm 36 says, does say God preserves man and beast. God has filled this world with all kinds of wonderful and rich benedictions and blessings and animals do bring a joy into our lives. I know my precious wife Patricia is a lover of birds and that's kind of a wonderful pet to have, I think, because they never come inside and all you do is put seed out there and they just arrive and fly all over the place and if you want to get rid of them, just don't put any seed out of there and they'll go somewhere else. But we love the creation of God.

We enjoy the creation of God, a beautiful garden and our yard has always filled many birds because she's so careful about putting up all these different little receptacles full of seeds so that we can enjoy them and feeders for hummingbirds and things like that. And God has filled His world with these wonderful, beautiful creatures that really we don't ever shoot them and we don't ever eat them, so they're not there for that purpose. They're there just to display God, that's all, just to show His love of beauty and color and a kind of music and wonder.

These are things that God has given us for this life. They are not everlasting or eternal. When they die, they do not go to heaven. So there is no indication that there will be animals in heaven. Somebody will say immediately, well doesn't Jesus come out of heaven in Revelation riding a white horse? Well there may be one white horse in heaven. But whatever it is, it's not a horse like any horse you've ever seen, or I have ever seen. So there is no indication of that about heaven. Heaven is only a place for people in terms of how Scripture describes it. But that's true of so many things in this life.

There are many, many, many things that we enjoy in this life that the Scripture doesn't say have a counterpart in heaven. Okay? Good question, Andrew. ROBERTO. Hello, Pastor, my name is Roberto. AUSTIN. Hi, Roberto.

ROBERTO. Hi. I've been wanting to ask you this question for a long time because you have a habit of looking at things more deeply than other pastors. As the body of Christ, are there any insights that you have from the fact that woman was the only living being that was not made from the dust, but that was made from man? There's the obvious bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, but is there something maybe that you can share with us that is a little bit deeper than that?

AUSTIN. Well, the series I did in Genesis, the series I did in Genesis, I covered a lot of those kinds of things. I would simply say this, woman is the direct creation of God and she was made with dust in a secondary sense since Adam was made from dust. She being made from Adam was made from the same stuff that he was made from.

And so, we don't want to make too big an issue out of that. But what is clear and it must be understood is that woman was created for man because man without her was incomplete, obviously. You can't procreate. But procreation wasn't even the first issue.

The first issue was companionship. So woman is the one who completes man. I don't think that we want to draw any conclusion that because she alone was not created from the dust, she is something higher than man, nobler than man because bone is more exalted than dust. But I do think what we want to understand is that man is incomplete without woman. There is a temptation to make a case for woman's inferiority because she was the one who was deceived and brought the race down.

Adam was not deceived. I don't think you want to go there either because Adam was completely agreeable to the iniquity which Eve was engaged in. So I think it's simply the design of God rather than creating a man and a woman out of dust and bringing them together to make the point that rather than being viewed as absolutely in all ways equal, man is created as the head clearly and woman is then later created from man to be his helper. And this is the divine order as God is the head of Christ and Christ is the head of the man, the man is the head of the woman. So I think it's trying to show us that it's critically important in marriage that there be a man who is in charge and a woman who is there to help.

And then, of course, out of that comes procreation. In our society today, of course, that has been literally obliterated by the feminist movement. And now the latest assault on family lesbian marriage or homosexual marriage...by the way, you've seen that happen now in the state of California. It isn't going to change a lot now because in countries where they have allowed homosexual marriage, only about ten percent of homosexuals ever get married. They don't want to get married. That isn't the point. But what they do want is legitimacy for their behavior and this gives them that. But when a state or an entity says that marriage is a coupling of two people on any terms, it has completely denied the biblical kind of marriage because biblical marriage is not a coupling of any two people for sexual reasons, it is by God's design a coming together of two people to produce families.

That's what it's for. And the exception is barrenness. But the pattern that God ordained was a man and a woman to support that man and the bearing of children to produce families to pass righteousness from one generation to the next. So as soon as you eliminate children, and we've already seen that, a wave of people wanting to get married but not have children, then you come to the place where homosexuals and lesbians can come together and be called marriage. You know that marriage has been redefined now as a coupling of any two people of any sex for sexual purposes and nothing else and it has lost its identity, its biblical identity, its true identity as a means by which people can bear children in well-ordered societies. And I will tell you what will happen. When you define marriage as any other thing than for the purpose of bearing children to be raised by a father and a mother so that society can be protected and preserved by well-ordered families, you will see a massive increase in delinquency, crime and all kinds of mental disorder and it's going to get worse and worse and worse because children who are exposed to those kinds of environments are going to be so warped in the future as to have no bearings morally or socially. And that's what's coming and it's going to come like a flood. So I think the point of Genesis is that God made the man as the head and the woman as the helper and the purpose was to raise families to bear children and fill the earth and to pass righteousness and order down through society. When that family is disintegrated, society literally flies apart at the seams.

Okay? This is Grace To You with John MacArthur. Thanks for being with us. I trust today's Q&A on Grace To You has shown you that Scripture has answers, clear, applicable truth for any question you have. And speaking of God's truth, if you have the motivation, we have the tools to help you dig deep into God's Word, including our flagship resource, the MacArthur Study Bible.

Its most important feature? About 25,000 footnotes that unlock the meaning of virtually every passage. And to encourage your daily Bible reading, there's our updated version of the MacArthur Daily Bible. To place your order, contact us today. Call 800-55-GRACE or shop online at gty.org. Along with the 25,000 footnotes that explain virtually every passage, the Study Bible also has introductions to all 66 books with outlines, maps, charts, and more—tools that help you go deeper in your study of Scripture. The MacArthur Study Bible comes in the New American Standard, New King James, and English Standard versions of Scripture. To order your Study Bible now, call 800-55-GRACE or go to gty.org. Our website is also where you go to pick up the updated edition of the MacArthur Daily Bible. It's a reading guide that will help take you through the entire Bible in 2022. And it also comes now with the New American Standard text and with a durable leather-soft cover. And the leather-soft edition is a Grace to You exclusive.

You can only get it from us. To get the new MacArthur Daily Bible, visit our website, gty.org, or call 800-55-GRACE. Now for John MacArthur, I'm Phil Johnson, reminding you to watch Grace to You television this Sunday, and join us next week when John shows you what it means to be delivered by God. That's the title of the study. He begins on Monday with another half hour of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace to You.