Dr. Brown Tackles Your Toughest Questions

You've got questions, we've got answers. Phone lines are wide open. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks for joining us on the Line of Fire.

This is Michael Brown and I guess a great news for you. Often when we start the show on a Friday, I look at the screen and all of our phone lines are jammed to start the show. So many have called in in advance that by the time we're ready to start, every phone line is taken and you have to just wait for a phone line to drop out before you can try to call in. We've got phone lines open right now.

I looked at the screen, it's like, whoa! So now is the perfect time to call. 3-4-Truth, 866-348-7884. As we always do on Friday, any call with any question of any kind, if you disagree with me, if you think I'm a heretic and a false teacher, if you've been following our ministry for decades, if you're a first time caller, any question of any kind that ties in with any subject matter of any kind that we cover on the Line of Fire, any call. So this is not the show to call to find out about weather patterns in Siberia. This is not the show to call to find out about cooking recipes, although we can tell you about healthy eating. But anything you have questioned, Bible theology, Israel, moral, cultural issues, even political issues, we're very happy to talk to you.

866-348-7884. I wrote a very important article dealing with some very disturbing legislation in California that really makes minors more vulnerable to sexually aggressive adults or even sexual predators. And just on one website on the stream, it's been shared over 30,000 times. It's an important, disturbing article. If you haven't read it yet, go to stream.org or my website, askdrbrown.org, and read the article, Did California Legislators Just Vote To Protect Gay Adults Who Have Sex With Minors? Read it, find out for yourself. It is disturbing.

Okay. One more piece of news that's good news, positive news. I had on the air with me yesterday my dear friend, Scott Volk, we were talking about Israel, we were talking about our coming tour in March of next year, God willing, in the end of February into March. And he just, during a break during the show, he got inspired to do this.

I had no clue this was gonna happen. And he said, listen. He said, if gifts come in to your broadcast today, he said, I wanna match them. So if people give on Facebook, you know, $100 or $200, he said, I wanna match it. Then he texted me afterwards and said, listen, bro, I wanna match up to $5,000 for your Jewish outreach and Jewish ministry, and I wanna give you a week to bring it in. So we got a little challenge. I just talked to him on the phone, he said, bro, I wanna write a check for 5,000 to the ministry. So I was as surprised as he was to volunteer that. So here's the deal, all right, and we're gonna get this in. I feel confident we will. If you're watching on Facebook, you see a dollar sign.

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So do that if you're listening in another format or watching in another format. Just go to our website, askdrbrown.org, click on Donate Designated for Jewish Ministry, and it'll be doubled. So would you all do that?

Would you do what you can? A dollar becomes two, 1,000 becomes 2,000. All right, 866-3-4-TRUTH. We start in Charleston, West Virginia. Jeremy, welcome to the line of fire. Hi, thanks. Hey. Hey, my question was about the John 637.

Yes, sir. And 639, or the Calvinist thing about that. My question is, John 17, 12, is that fulfillment where Jesus says, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name?

Those whom you have given me, I have lost none. Right, except the son of perdition, right. So yeah, so number one, the argument that Calvinists would bring based on John 637 to 44 would say that the only ones that come to God are the ones that God brings to him, and he will infallibly save them. So no one else can come to him, and those that he saves will not fall away. And therefore, that would vindicate Calvinism.

My friend James White has a whole book on this, and he and I have debated these passages. So the first question is in verse 37, everyone the father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I'll never cast out. Who are the ones that the father gives to the son? As if you read the previous chapters, you'll see that Yeshua is rebuking different religious leaders and others because they won't come, because they refuse to come. And in John 1 12, it says as many as received him, to them he gave the power to become the sons of God. So it could very well be based on context, those who humble themselves, those who cry out for mercy, those who recognize their need, those are the ones the father gives to the son. And then, verse 39, this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise them up on the last day. Right, so we do have the exception to that, right, in John 17 12.

In other words, the father's purpose is that the son loses none. There are some, like Judas, who have turned away and who will not be saved. But as you go on reading the passage, it is speaking of those who continue to believe. Verse 40, this is the will of my father that everyone who sees the son and believes in him, this is ongoing faith, not one-time faith, may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

Who, the one who continues to believe. And then, verse 44, no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. Well, John 12 32, Jesus says, if I be lifted up, meaning on the cross, I will draw all men to myself. So we cannot come to God unless God draws us. He has been drawing all of us to himself through the cross since Jesus died. There has been a universal poll call, Acts 17 30, Paul says God commands all men everywhere to repent, and he gives salvation to those who humble themselves, recognize their need, and call out to him. And then, as we continue in faith, we'll be raised up at the last day. So with all respect to my dear Calvinist friends, it doesn't prove Calvinism, and if you try to make an absolute out of it, John 17 12, as you quoted, would refute that already.

So does that answer your question, Jeremy? Yeah, one other passage I was looking at, it was John 18 eight and nine, where he's speaking about the apostles, he said, I've told you that I am he, therefore if you seek me, let these go their way. And then he says that the saying might be fulfilled which he spoke of those whom you have given me, I have lost none. So I was just looking, it seems like he's talking about the apostles there, and then the next verse, talking about everybody else. Right, yes, certainly in John 17, you could say that that's the immediate focus as confirmed here, and that they recognized that he was keeping them, for sure. But to make the larger argument from John 6 37 to 44 to support Calvinism, in my view, breaks down based on the verses themselves, and the rest of what comes before and after in John's gospel. But it's always important to do exactly what you're doing.

See how the words are used by the same author in the same book, because that's how we should interpret them. So thank you, Jeremy, I appreciate it. Thank you. All right, eight, six, six, three, four, truth.

Let us go to Nicole in the Bronx, New York. Welcome to the line of fire. Hi, it's so great to talk to you.

I've been following you for many years. And my question is, what are your thoughts on the idea that the rapture mirrors the Jewish wedding? And does your book address that?

Yes, thanks, Nicole, and thanks for being with our ministry for so many years. There are teachings that try to argue for a pre-trib rapture based on alleged ancient Jewish wedding customs, or some would say specific customs that were found in Galilee at the time of Jesus. I have dug everywhere I can in ancient Jewish sources. I've talked to a colleague who is one of the world's specialists in these ancient Jewish sources. And none of us have, neither of us, I should say, have any idea where this is coming from. In other words, there's no evidence from the ancient Jewish world that would support these arguments.

You know, so I get online and I look at the websites and they just cite the customs, but they never tell you where they're getting the information from. So somebody heard it from somebody who heard it from somebody who passed it on. So no, I don't see any support for that whatsoever. I would argue instead that it is the public call of the return of the Lord that we are called to come, that the bride has made herself ready, and now the groom is approaching, go out to meet him. So here's what happens. The bridal party would go out to meet the groom. It's reflected in the parable of Jesus in Matthew 25. To do what, to go away with him? No, no, to escort him back for the marriage ceremony. So when Jesus appears in the clouds of glory for the whole world to see, when that happens, we are called to meet the Lord. We meet him in the air and accompany him back. It is just like the emperor coming into the city, that the gathering, the meeting, they would go out of the city to meet him, not to turn around, but to escort him back. So we meet the Lord in the air, not to turn around and go back to heaven, but to escort him down to the earth where he establishes his kingdom and formalizes his eternal bond with his people. So that's how I understand it. Craig Keener and I in the book Not Afraid of the Antichrist don't spend a lot of time on that particular argument or issue, basically because it's non-existent in the text and in ancient Jewish sources, but we do emphasize this idea of meeting the Lord and escorting him back as he returns.

So just think of this, Nicole. Instead of a secret event where you're at your computer at your job one day and I'm sitting here behind the mic and Christian taxi driver's driving his car and suddenly just everybody vanishes and the car crashes and people are like, what happened? And planes crash because Christian pilots disappeared. Instead of that, there's this trumpet call, there's the shaking, the whole world looks and sees the Lord in his glory in the air, right? We're waiting for his appearing, not for an invisible event, but for his appearing. We're waiting for that trumpet blast. We're caught up to meet him.

The whole world sees it. We are caught up to meet him. We are the dead in the sire resurrected. We receive new bodies.

We meet him in the air and descend with him where he establishes his kingdom on the earth and destroys the enemies of God. Wow, that's what we're waiting for. All right, Nicole, thank you for the call. 866-34-TRUTH. We'll be right back. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural and spiritual revolution.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks, friends, for joining us on the line of fire, 866-34-TRUTH. Remember, we have a matching grant, just happened spontaneously on the air yesterday. The next $5,000 that comes in will be doubled by our friend Scott Volk to be used for Jewish outreach. So, watching on Facebook, just click on the donate button, whatever you give is doubled.

On YouTube, click on the dollar sign, that's doubled. Go to the website, AskDrBrown.org, click donate and Jewish ministry, designate that, 866-34-TRUTH. Let's go to Alex in Richmond, Kentucky. Welcome to the line of fire. Hey, Dr. Brown, thanks a lot for, thanks a lot. So, I heard you talk about Craig Keener, I just want to plug his book, Spirit Hermeneutics.

That book is amazing and it's been helping me out a ton. Wonderful. Craig is a real gift to the body. What a great brother.

Yes, he is. But I have a question for you. I'm trying to reconcile how Paul's Gospel of Grace and the Gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus was talking about and Matthew seem to fit together. I know that they don't contradict each other, but I'm just trying to figure out how they fit together.

Yeah, thank you for the question. How did the Gospel of Grace, which Paul emphasized, and the Gospel of the Kingdom, which Jesus emphasizes, fit together? First, let's remember that John 1.14 tells us that the Word was made flesh, we beheld his glory, full of the glory of the one and only the Father, full of grace and truth. That Jesus is presented as grace and truth and grace upon grace in the Gospel.

And of course, he's the example of mercy and compassion and long suffering. But he comes with grace and truth, not grace or truth. What is John 1.17?

The law was given by Moses. Grace and truth came by Jesus the Messiah. So that's the great emphasis of his life and ministry. And his proclamation is the Kingdom of God is here, the Kingdom of God is breaking in. Now Paul says in Romans 14.17 that the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. And he makes clear that the Kingdom authority we have is the authority of the Holy Spirit and preaches the Kingdom in that regard. In other words, the Messiah's rule and reign and how do we come into that Kingdom, we come in through grace. So the message of the Kingdom of God is that God is breaking into the world with his rule and reign through his Son, that all people need to repent and turn to him as his Kingdom advances.

And how do we do that? It's through grace by faith. And it's interesting if you look in Acts the 20th chapter as Paul is giving his final words to the elders of Ephesus as they've come to meet with him in Miletus. He says, verse 21, I testify to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus. Now I'm on my way to Jerusalem bound in my spirit.

He talks about afflictions awaiting him. Verse 24, I count my life of no value to myself so that I may finish my course in the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to what? To the gospel of God's grace. Next verse.

And now I know that none of you will ever see my face again. Everyone I went about preaching the Kingdom to. So verse 24, gospel of grace, verse 25, I was preaching the Kingdom. There's no contradiction. It's the same message, just different aspects of it, different emphases of it.

Just like there's no contradiction between grace and truth. So the Kingdom of God has arrived through the coming of Jesus into the world. And his reign is extended over everyone that submits to him. And one day he will come and establish his kingdom fully on the earth. So repent and get right with God and receive his grace and mercy while amnesty is available. One of the same message, just different sides of the same coin. Verses 24 and 25 in Acts 20, putting them side by side.

You can't miss that. All right? Amen. All right. Sounds good.

Sure thing. 86634, truth. Let us go to Jerikiah in Georgetown, Texas. Welcome to the line of fire. Shalom. Shalom. Hey.

Hey, Michael Brown. I have a quick question about God's sovereignty and human free will. Yeah. Yes, sir. I've been kind of struggling with this and really I've been talking to some of my Calvinistic buddies and every time I talk to them about, you know, believing in Christ, you know, to be saved, they accuse me of being a synergist and that they say that faith is a work. And basically I don't really understand this. Could you explain it to me?

Yeah. Well, that's a completely unbiblical notion. In other words, the idea that we're a monitress and we're synergists, that we're adding in human work is 100 percent an unbiblical notion with all respect to my Calvinist friends.

What do I mean? Well, very clearly it is explicit in the book of Romans that faith is not a work, that faith is not human effort. A work would be observing the Sabbath. A work would be I stopped doing drugs.

A work would be I fasted for a week. That is salvation by works. And Paul explicitly says in Romans that it is by grace because it is by faith, not by works. So this idea that this is it's synergism in some wrong way that you are adding to your salvation or that it's complete nonsense. God has ordained that those who put their trust in the Son will be saved. And that's why throughout scripture he rebukes those who won't believe.

He says, you know, just think of this larger issue where Jesus rebukes the leaders in Israel in Matthew 23 and says, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, verse 37, you who killed the prophets and stone those sent you, how often I longed to gather your children together as a hand gathers her chicks and her wings. But you were not willing. I wanted to do it. I was ready to do it. I stretch out my hands, but you were unwilling. Before Paul and the end of Romans nine, quoting from Isaiah, God sent Israel all day long. I stretched out my hands to you, but you were disobedient all all day long. I was I was making an effort to reach you and you refused.

All right. I mean, this is over and over and over through the whole Bible. And the flip side, whoever is willing, let him come.

Those who receive him to them, he gives power to become the sons of God. John 112 or in Revelation 22, whoever is willing, come. I mean, over and over clear messages through the entire Bible.

And then when you keep reading. So so in in in Romans, all right, I was just quoting the end of the of the 10th chapter at the end of the ninth chapter of Romans. So so what is what does Paul say? Verse 31, Israel pursuing the law for righteousness has not achieved the righteousness of the law.

Why is that? He did not pursue it by faith, but as it were, by works. So faith is a complete contrast with with works.

And then in the 11th chapter of Romans, Paul lays it out like this. He says in the same way, then there is also at the present time a remnant chosen by grace. Now, if it by grace, then it's not by works. Otherwise, grace ceases to be grace. That's why we're saved by grace through faith. It's all a gift from God.

And this is the way God has ordained it. And and and that's why he calls us to responsibility again, with all respect to my Calvinist friends. When you when you when you preach Paul's words, God commands all men everywhere to repent. They can't repent. They don't have the power to repent because God hasn't given it to them. So he's calling them to do something that it's impossible for them to do. And then if we say, how must I be saved? Believe in the Lord Jesus, you will be saved if God hasn't given them the faith.

They can't believe. And even if they could believe it wouldn't apply to them if Jesus didn't die for them. So you have to take all these simple and clear verses throughout the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation and stand them on their head to mean things other than they mean to try to explain God's sovereignty. God and his sovereignty set things up and said that you are saved by grace through faith. And this is not a work. And this is our response to God's goodness, God's mercy.

It's called relationship. And again, in the fourth chapter of Romans, Paul lays that out, that if it was something we worked for, then it would be wages paid. But it's a gift because it is by faith. So point your Calvinist friends back to the scriptures. All right. Oh, yes, sir. Yes, sir.

And just real quick, I don't know why. But they always accuse you of being a semi Pelagian because I have some type of view other than Calvin. But I really appreciate you sharing that with me.

Thank you. Hey, look, for those that watch the political scene, name calling is a good way of distracting from issues. So bottom line, I look, I'm not going to sit here and say the Calvinists make God into a monster and the cow and mock things, because I've got fine Calvinist friends who love the Lord and some of the greatest leaders we've had in recent centuries have been Calvinists. And I honor what God's done to them while categorically rejecting some of these doctrines. But I'm not going to resort to silly name calling. All right. And tell you what, you could my Calvinist friends who want to call me semi Pelagian, whatever, or say I'm not saved as some of the extremists do tell you what, I'll stay with the word and enjoy wonderful, glorious fellowship with Jesus and pray for his blessing on your life.

You can do the name calling, whatever. I'll stay with scripture. Hey, thank you, eight, six, six, three, four, truth. All right, tell you what, we've got a break coming up.

So here, let's do this, James, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Could you ask your question now? And I'll answer it on the other side of the break. Absolutely.

Thanks for taking my call, Dr. Brown. Sure thing. Yeah, just had a quick question. There's been a lot, I've been seeing a lot of recent pushes towards the talk about reformations. And in the Christian world, I've been hearing that there's been, the Bible teaches about reformations, and it's biblical, and it's something that we should be doing. And I was just curious what's a good biblical response we can give to people who are starting to push that narrative.

Right. So what does the Bible say about reparations? How would that apply to the current situation in America if reparations were to be made to black Americans that had served as slaves or their, obviously, ancestors had served as slaves?

What's the righteous thing to do? How should we respond to that? And for your question, we'll tackle it when we come back. It's The Line of Fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks, friends, for joining us on The Line of Fire. You've got questions. You've got answers, 866-34-TRUTH. So we have a question from James, all right?

James dropped off so others can call in, about reparations. Is it biblical? Is it a biblical concept that we never rightly paid the slaves for their labor in centuries past in America, and therefore black Americans today are owed reparations? On the one hand, you can make an argument that if people were mistreated and abused, then there should be a making right of things. That would be a righteous thing to do, obviously, right? So reparations to descendants of Holocaust victims from Germany and things like that.

The question here would be, one, if we were trying to respond in that righteous way and never done so before, then what would that look like today? Because we don't have those people. We don't have their immediate descendants. We have descendants of descendants of descendants of descendants of descendants, right?

That's one thing. A second thing would be who's paying out of whose pocket is the money coming? I'm a child of immigrants. My mother was an immigrant. My grandparents on my father's side were immigrants. So they've got no connection with that past. So how does that work out?

Those are fair questions to ask. The other hand, you could say America paid its price by giving several hundred thousand people that there was a war. And Abraham Lincoln basically said that we're going to keep shedding blood until we've paid for our crimes and our sins, to paraphrase his much better put words. So that argument could be made that, in point of fact, it's not a matter of making a monetary payment today because Americans fought a bloody civil war, our most costly ever, with what over half a million Americans dying. This is at a time when the American population was a fraction of what it is today, and that this was to bring liberation to the slaves and to set things right.

You say, yeah, but what about the years of labor for which there was not proper reparation? Again, it's a fair question to ask in terms of a biblical mentality. And as I would see it, that the right thing to do is to do everything you can to level the playing field, to do everything you can to give equal opportunity, not to say, OK, I'm going to hire a black person versus a white person. The white person is totally qualified, the black person is totally unqualified, and I'm going to hire them, just in a particular situation, theoretical situation.

I don't think that's the right thing to do. I think you have to keep looking at what remains wrong in society, lack of educational opportunities for black kids in the inner city, reasons that family structure may still be broken down, and try to look at larger questions to see what can we do to level the playing field. To me, that's the ongoing righteous response. And on the one hand, you could easily argue against the concept of systemic racism existing today and saying, look, under our laws, there's equal opportunity. On the other hand, we could say, well, to this day, black Americans, on average, make less money than white Americans. Black Americans, on average, don't have the same educational opportunities as white Americans. Black Americans, on average, are incarcerated more than white Americans.

Black babies are aborted, on average, more than white babies. So why is that? Why is that the case?

What are the reasons for that? How do we address that? How do we, as a community, fix that and level things? That's the direction that I believe is the righteous way to go. But as much as certain things sound outrageous, I'm always glad to say, let's have a discussion.

Let's have an honest discussion. 866-344-TRUTH. Let us go to Atlanta, Georgia.

Kenny, welcome to the line of fire. Thank you, Dr. Brown, for taking the call. Thanks for having me.

I was actually looking forward to seeing you last weekend in Pensacola, but the event was canceled. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry about that. There ain't no problem.

It's not your fault. No. No. I was just speaking there. Yeah.

A bunch of things. And then the potential fear of Hurricane City, South Tennessee, and all of that, and COVID issues. Right. Yeah.

But God willing, we'll be back there in the future, or over to Atlanta. Awesome. Yeah.

Sounds good. So my question is, Genesis 1-4 about the sons of God, are those angels the same, in your opinion, the same ones that are in chains in 2 Peter 2-4 that are then released in Revelation 9-14? Right. I believe that if we're correct in understanding the sons of God were angels, that somehow the ability to take on human form and actually mate with women, marry women and mate with them producing these giants, if that's a right understanding of that, then the world was judged and they were judged. And I would see them as the same ones mentioned in 2 Peter 2-4, if God did not spare the angels who sinned but threw them down into Tartarus and delivered them to be kept in chains and darkness until judgment, or also in 1 Peter 3, at the end of that chapter, Peter writes this, for Messiah also suffered for sins once for all the righteous, for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God after being put to death in the fleshly realm, but made alive in the spiritual realm. In that state, he also went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in the past were disobedient when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while an ark was being prepared. So he specifically mentions these spirits who were disobedient in Noah's day, and therefore I would take it as the same. But I don't associate that with those in Revelation 9, because in this very passage we read in 2 Peter, the second chapter, that it says that they are held there until the judgment. So verse 13 of Revelation 9, the sixth angel blew his trumpet from the four horns of the gold altar. That is, before God I heard a voice say, say to the six angels who had the trumpet, release the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates. Whoever those are, whatever it's referring to, that's not Tartarus, that's not the netherworld. Those as I understand it, Jesus proclaimed after his death and resurrection, it is finished, you are done, victory is here, you will never get out, it has been sealed, and you will go from here into eternal judgment. So I don't see it as the same ones in Revelation, the ninth chapter.

Whoever those are, whatever it's referring to, is something else. Got it, all right, yeah, sounds good. Yeah, can I ask you just a follow-up question?

Yeah, go ahead, sure. Just because I'm doing a lot of studying here, and what's your take on the book of Enoch? Yeah, so if you just go to my website, askdrbrown.org, or if you're watching on YouTube, ask Dr. Brown, just search for the word Enoch, and you'll see a short video that we have on that. It's fascinating, it contains many traditions that were in circulation in the days of New Testament writings.

It was highly revered by both early Jews who did not believe in Jesus, and Jews who did believe in Jesus, as well as early Gentile Christians. But outside of, say, the Ethiopian canon, it's not been considered part of Scripture. You can also watch the video, Why Were Some Books Left Out of the Bible? You'll find that really helpful.

Why Were Some Books Left Out of the Bible? And then you can also search just for Enoch. Hey, thank you for the questions. All right, hey, just a reminder, if you just tuned in, my friend Scott Volk, spontaneously on the air yesterday, said he would match funds for any donation that came in during the radio broadcast yesterday. Then afterwards, he texted me and said, hey, bro, up to $5,000, and you have a week to do it. So would you stand with us if you appreciate the broadcast, especially want to help us reach the lost sheep of the house of Israel, watch me on Facebook, just click on the donate button. Your gift gets doubled, okay?

If you're watching on YouTube, click on the dollar sign. I normally don't mention this repeatedly through the broadcast, but because he gave me the opportunity to do it, let's double these funds. And if you're just watching and listening another time, go to askdartobrown.org, click on donate, and then click on Jewish ministry. Your gift will be doubled. All right, thank you.

Back to the phones over in Atlin, Pennsylvania. Seth, welcome to the line of fire. Hey, thank you so much for having me on. Sure thing. A question that I have, you've heard of the Kabbalah?

Yeah, of course. Yeah, the Kabbalah, and you've also heard of something, you've also heard of this Jewish mysticism. What's your take on that? So Jewish mysticism uses Kabbalah and the foundational books of Kabbalah or the Zohar, but there are other books as well. The claim is that the Zohar goes all the way back to the second century, but it's properly dated to around the 13th century. So in other words, the mystical beliefs of the Zohar and then the popularizing of a lot of this stuff through Isaac Luria about 500 years ago, these are more recent developments in Judaism. You have some references to mysticism or to the chariot visions of Ezekiel and things like that in more ancient Judaism, but these things are after the Bible, after the time of the New Testament. And here and there, there can be some fascinating insights or spiritual parallels that we can draw on to get Jewish eyes open to spiritual truths. But foundationally, this is a different system. Foundationally, this is filled with deception, error, counterfeit spirituality. So while there are some beautiful thoughts, beautiful comments, beautiful understandings of God's relationship with Israel, you can read this for information, but you do not go to Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism for your own spiritual growth. You'll find it to be of a different spirit and bringing different information.

I know there's some teachers that try to draw on Jewish calendar and mystical traditions and all of that. To me, that's barking up the wrong tree. So while, again, there are some beautiful comments, while there's some fascinating interpretations, the system as a whole, when you really understand it, is a different spiritual system. It's not the gospel. It's not the scriptural method of knowing God and serving God. So find out about it, but don't dive into it as a spiritual source for growth. It will lead you away from the real Yeshua and the real truth of God.

So be careful with it. Interesting to learn about beautiful interpretations within it, but overall not a system that reflects spiritual truth. Thanks for asking. It's The Line of Fire with your host, activist, author, international speaker, and theologian, Dr. Michael Brown. Your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Get into The Line of Fire now by calling 866-34-TRUTH.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks for joining us on The Line of Fire, 866-34-TRUTH. In other words, if you're posting questions on Facebook, YouTube, we don't answer those during the show. This is a show where we answer your phone calls, and once a week we do a chat on YouTube where we just answer questions that you post there as many as we can cover in 45 minutes or an hour. So we're all just doing our best to answer your questions. You say, yeah, but your website is asked, Dr. Brown.

Yeah, well, ask. Write to us. We have a team that's there to answer your questions. If we can't answer them on the air, we're here to serve, 866-34-TRUTH.

Let's go to Zach in Ontario. Welcome to The Line of Fire. Hello, Dr. Brown. Hey. Thanks for doing this. I appreciate everything that you do.

You're the man. I'll try to be brief, and I'm sure you've gotten this question many times, but the last time you did a live chat Q&A on YouTube, I asked you a question about Holy Spirit baptism, and in your answer you explained how your view of that is in harmony with the Pentecostal view where the Holy Spirit baptism is a subsequent event, post-salvation, and I understand that. I actually was raised in a Ukrainian Pentecostal church, and I always believed that, but growing in as I grew older, I realized I don't really have an answer for that, and my Baptist friends do. They, you know, the majority of the church holds the view of that, that you get to build the Holy Spirit during salvation. So what's the Pentecostal defense? What did Scripture say about Holy Spirit baptism?

How does it happen, and why do we need it? Yeah, so it's the pattern we see laid out by Jesus in the Gospels, that the Spirit comes upon him. He's baptized in order the Holy Spirit comes upon him. In Luke 4, he talks about he's anointed by the Spirit, and then he tells his disciples in Luke 24, 49, don't leave Jerusalem until you're endued with power from on high. And in Acts 180, he says, you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

So there are already believers, right? Then Acts 2, the Holy Spirit comes upon them. In Acts 8, the Samaritans are saved, but the Holy Spirit has not yet come upon them until Peter and John come and lay hands on them. In Acts 19, Paul asked the question of the believers in Ephesus, did you receive the Spirit when you believed?

No, we didn't even know about it. Then he prays for them, and they receive the Spirit, speak in tongues, and prophesy. So we see a steady pattern of people being saved and then receiving the Spirit, receiving this enduement of power. And often in church history, you see people have this breakthrough, this crisis and breakthrough, and they receive power from on high, and it changes their lives. So we've just understood that the moment we put our trust in the Lord, we're saved, we're forgiven, the Holy Spirit dwells within us. But this enduement with power is something that is subsequent to that. We are now being clothed with the Spirit, immersed in the Spirit. So 1 Corinthians 12 tells us upon salvation, we are baptized by the Spirit into the body of Messiah.

That happens. We know the Holy Spirit dwells within us, but this enduement of power with evidence of tongues and prophecy or other gifts, we see as something subsequent to salvation in the book of Acts. And that's why we believe it the way we do.

Okay, so how does it happen? I understand that you're saying there's a pattern in Acts, and some people would argue and say that, well, those are just distinctive moments in a historical account, but is there any prescription? Is there anything that Paul wrote, or is there anything that we have that teaches us, okay, if this is what you need, or if this is what you want, if you want to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, this, this, and this? First thing, why downplay the importance of what's there in Acts? Acts is there to teach us. Why downplay the historical record?

I reject that first premise, that because Acts is descriptive versus prescriptive, we can't learn from it. We learn from it left and right. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10, verses 1 through 11, that what was written beforehand with Israel's history is to teach us today. The same thing was written in New Testament history is to teach us today.

Where do you get the idea? Well, this is because it was Samaritans. God had to make the point. Why couldn't he make the point the moment they were saved, like he did it in Acts 10 with the Gentiles, Cornelius? They began to speak in tongues, and Peter said, oh, obviously saved, then, let's baptize them in water. They've been baptized in the Spirit, and they received the same as we did.

Why did it have to wait in Acts 8? So it's just a bogus thing. It's grasping at straws. So first thing, what is that teaching us? Second thing, there are plenty of things that are important that Paul does not explain how to get. He talks about, for example, the gift of healing or gifts of healing. Where does he say how to receive that, how to grow in that, how to operate in that?

Where does he say that? He talks about I speak in tongues more than any of you. When does he tell you how to receive tongues?

He doesn't. So even in his letters, he's not explaining how to receive those things. But Jesus did say that if you ask for the Holy Spirit, it will be given to you. So we ask God, Lord, I ask for everything you have. And I think every believer should be able to pray this act. Father, I want everything you have.

I want to be absolutely filled with everything you have. If I'm given at the moment of salvation, then let it be realized and manifested through me so that I can be a witness in the power of your Spirit. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of words only, but of power. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4. So we should all pray for that.

Lord, I want the fullness of your Spirit manifest in my life, that Jesus may be glorified to the full, and that I can serve your people the most and be most intimate with you. That's what I desire. We should all be able to pray that and then leave the results to God. That's what I would do.

All right? Amen. I totally agree with you on that.

I would want to have everything that God has to offer. It's just, I guess my issue is that I have a hard time defending this point. We have a real clear understanding of how to get saved, how to ask for forgiveness, all those fundamental things. I would consider the Holy Spirit baptism to be something that's possible. Hang on. Hang on. Just to be clear on that, tell me on a couple of these issues, like how to be saved, aside from believe, repent, be baptized.

That's what we know. How does someone get that faith? Tell me all the details of what it means to repent. In other words, God did not give us this little manual in any area where this is the process you do it. Where he does give it, the church doesn't practice most of it. We don't instantly baptize people that come to faith. Most circles, we don't do that. This does say, ask, ask and it will be given you, seek and find.

If you being evil know how to give goodness to your children, so will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask. There's not supposed to be a method. That's the whole thing. It's not supposed to be a method. It's not supposed to be, follow this formula, say these words.

It's relational. It's a matter of crying out to God, saying, Lord, I want everything you promised and I'm asking for it. And we seek him until we receive the fullness.

If it was a formula, that's when the things get messed up. That's when we mess up everything. Pray this prayer. Say these words.

You're in. Repeat these words after me. You'll start to speak in tongues. That's where we mess everything up.

It doesn't want it to be a formula. And again, 1 Corinthians 12, gifts to the Spirit, very important topic, important from the Lord, but being abused, right? And what happens there? Does he explain how? No, it's just the Holy Spirit does it as he desires. So let God be God and let's seek him earnestly for everything he has.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking the way critics are thinking. Think biblically. Think biblically. And ask yourself, where's the power of the Spirit in my life? That's a big thing.

I'm not really going to debate. You received it. Salvation, wonderful. Just demonstrate it. By the way, Maxwell, thank you for bringing a big smile to my face.

Oh, very, very sweet. Here you are, Maxwell, great. They're going to embarrass me.

They won't pick up. Dr. Brown knows me. I'd embarrass him. Maxwell, I have no clue who you are, but go ahead and embarrass me, please. You got the listening world.

Please go for it. Hello? How you doing, Dr. Brown? I'm doing good, man, but go ahead and embarrass me. You don't remember me from the Noah question?

You don't remember that? But anyway. I've been asked hundreds of thousands of questions, sir, over the years, but go ahead. All right. I notice that we're not live.

That's the first thing I notice, but that's okay. I'm still going to ask the question. Maxwell, we are live. I'm looking at the clock.

You got a minute and a half before we go off the air, but we are live, sir. I don't know what world you're in, buddy, but I want to hear from you. I want to know what you're thinking. Go ahead. Okay. All right.

I'm a student of history, and I know that the Jews were involved in the slave trade and a major part of the slave trade, and you were talking about reparations. False. Totally false. Hold on. Hold on.

Hold on. That's true. That's true. That's true. The Louis Farrakhan books have been demolished, destroyed, and looted. Jews played a minor role in the slave trade.

Jews played a minor role in the slave trade. Fact. Stop it. Stop it. I'll tell you what, Maxwell. Here. Here's the deal.

When you speak ignorance, you embarrass yourself. I posted my thoughts from a Jewish source on your page on Facebook. I'm not just saying this.

Maxwell, the things have been demolished. This is not a hack job. This is the straight truth for you. Okay. Now, can you answer my question? Okay. What part do Jewish people have to pay in reparations to black people?

Well, I would say that if you look at black crime on Jews in recent years, which is much higher than... Black minds look at the propaganda. You're a Russian bot now? You can just play some live? All right. So, I just wanted to give them a second to see. This is some of the nonsense we deal with. Okay. So, here, I'll post later today, I'll post in this Facebook thread, absolute complete demolition, factual historical demolition of the idea that the Jews played a major role in the African slave trade.

That's number one. Number two, we just told black crime. I brought up a stupid argument to answer a stupid argument, but may God help Maxwell because he actually believes delusional nonsense.

May God help Maxwell. The fact is, Jews stood side by side with Dr. King in the civil rights movement because they said, we are also oppressed people and we are also former slaves and we want to stand together for justice. That's why Jews are standing here with black leaders across America today, because they want to see what's right. Delusional stuff like this helps the cause. Let's do the right thing for our black friends, not delusional nonsense like this.