Dr. Brown Answers All Your Questions

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And his doctor, Michael Brown. Thanks, friends, for joining with us on the line of fire. Please be praying this weekend. A number of events taking place. Prayer, repentance, crying out to God. God's people doing the right thing now, recognizing that more important than the elections, more important than anything else in America, is that God's people get on our faces and cry out for our sins and intercede for the sins of the nation. So please be praying. I'm scheduled to be participating at the return tomorrow in DC.

Early evening, we should have a live stream on our Facebook page. Yes, Dr. Brown. All right. 866-348-7884. 866-34-TRUTH. You've got questions. We've got answers.

Anything that relates in any way to the broadcast or anything I've talked about, written about, you name it. Phone lines are open. 866-34-TRUTH.

Let's start with Ethan in Mansfield, Missouri. Welcome to the line of fire. Thanks for having me. Sure thing. Oh, so my question is about your association with a lot of prosperity preachers. You've criticized the prosperity gospel that is false, but you say that you're not sure whether Kenneth Copeland's ministry is a false ministry or not. And you said that Todd White loves the Lord.

Yeah. He said stuff in the past like that he's never sinned and such. I was just wondering if you find any contradiction in that. Yeah, first, I have no association with any prosperity preacher. I don't work with any, don't minister side by side with any, and categorically differ with the message as to whether Kenneth Copeland is saved or not, based on his profession of faith, based on the website's statement of beliefs. I believe he is, but that's between him and God.

I differ with the prosperity message categorically. And other aspects of things he's taught. As for Todd White, of course, he talks about sinning all the time.

In other words, that we all fall short. We said that when he got saved, God delivered him from sexual temptation, and he's been free from that as a believer. But I just listened to his message from this past Sunday night, where he's talking about different idolatries we can have in his life, in our lives, and the idolatry of ministry and repenting of that before the Lord. So far as I know, he seeks to live a godly life, as we all do, but is repenting on a daily basis. The thing he said that's gotten attention is that he got delivered from sexual temptation when he got saved. I've talked to him about it.

Seems real. I mean, that's something I think we all, most all of us deal with and are vigilant with. But what else would have disturbed you? I mean, do you, you can tell me for a fact that you know that Kenneth Copeland, if he were dead right now, would go to hell. You're 100% sure of that? Like 95% sure. I'm pretty sure. Pretty sure. So if you were, can you make the pronouncement though? I guess not quite, no. And is God calling you to make that pronouncement? It's the other question. In other words, the thing that I want you to appreciate, Ethan, is that I have hyper critics constantly asking me to call this one out as a false teacher who is not saved.

A list. People I know that love Jesus that are, I would be a thousand times more confident of their salvation than in some of the hyper critics, but I don't call the hyper critics out as not being saved either. I differ with what's wrong. And if someone says, you know, a Mormon elder clearly teaching things that violate the gospel or Jehovah's Witness teacher or something else, some liberal preacher, you know, that denies fundamentals of the faith. I would say that they have crossed the line. God's their judgment based on what they teach and preach. They cannot be saved. So that's, beyond that, I don't think it's my job to sit here and tell you if this one's going to heaven or if that one's going to heaven.

You follow? Well, I can't say anybody in the Pacific, but like people such as, you know, Phil Johnson and Todd Friel, they talk about how they associate with specific names that are clearly not saved. And I don't know specifically the names, but... Can you think of one? I think I heard about Debbie White or something like that.

Maybe you missed setting up names. No, I don't know any such person. But Paula White, I met Paula White one time. We've never shared a ministry platform together. I can't say anything. You know, never talked to her, never heard her preach.

I mean, talked to her for 30 seconds one day. But the question is, I pray for Phil and Todd and bless them. But I would say what they're doing is just as dangerous as a prosperity preacher.

In other words, that they if they are pronouncing this one as a false teacher and not saved and openly doing it, people that love Jesus, people that have an Orthodox profession of faith, people that are in the word and prayer and touching the lost and touching the hurting and the dying. That what they're doing is just as dangerous. But I don't say that they're not saved. I don't say that they're not brothers.

They are brothers. And I wish we could have better fellowship. And I wish I could be a blessing to their ministries and lives even more. But I'd encourage you to be really careful about drinking in that hypercritical spirit, because it's it's dangerous. It's unscriptural here. Gullibility is not a fruit of the spirit nor is skepticism or cynicism a fruit of the spirit. And many charismatics fall into the fleshly attitude of gullibility. They want to believe so much they believe anything. And they wind up with bizarre teaching and wrong teaching, as I deal with in my book Playing with Holy Fire.

And then on the flip side, the hypercritics. And I had that attitude late 70s, early 80s, which is why it's so important to root that out as well in their desire to be Orthodox and their beliefs. They will often reject the good things the Holy Spirit is doing. And that's very serious. Last thing. Overwhelmingly, the New Testament presents a clear testimony of the importance of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and ministry and the gifts of the Spirit as something God has given to equip and help his people.

Until Jesus returns. Isn't it a serious issue to reject what the Holy Spirit is doing today based on scripture? So those are concerns to me. But, Ethan, if anything comes up specifically and you need to question more detail, just write to us. We're happy to interact. God bless men. But thank you for calling.

I wish more people with questions like this would call. Also, check out Todd's preaching. He's been asking me in recent weeks to listen to his messages. So I've listened to probably four or maybe of his last five or six messages.

So I think on YouTube you go to Lifestyle Christianity and they'll have an hour or two of worship over the night that in the midst of it, Todd preaching. So check check out his message from last Sunday night about repentance, about getting the idols out of our lives and complete devotion to the Lord. Check it out. See what you think.

All right. Eight, six, six, three, four, truth. Let's go over to Charlotte, North Carolina. Aaron, welcome to the line of fire.

Dr. Brown. Hello. Hey, can you hear me?

Yes, I can. Great. Awesome. So I actually wanted to switch my question up.

My original question. Go for it, man. You switch. You're free.

Awesome. So just a little background just to kind of help you answer my question. I'm a young Christian apologist. I'm aspiring to be a Christian apologist. Recently, I've been doing a lot of studying on Islam. There's been a surge of people converting to Islam within, you know, within my community. African-Americans have just been converted into it. Yeah. Back home.

I'm originally from Philadelphia. My mother, who raised me up in a gospel, just converted to Christianity. I'm just converted to Islam.

My brother is Islam. And it has been a surge of people converting to it. And when I do critical research, I mean, it's definitely not a religion that, I mean, it's kind of being promoted more like a pro-black religion when, you know, that's not what it is.

That's not what it was historically. So my question is, what do you think some of the spiritual side of things, because I don't really want to say it's just from a natural side. I think it might be something spiritually happening to where, you know, my mom, who, you know, was a dedicated Christian, would convert to Islam. And my brother, who was also a dedicated Christian, would convert to Islam. And it's like when I speak to them on some of the things about Mohammed, some of the things he said about black people, the fact that he was not black, even though people are saying that he was black. What do you think some of the, you know, besides, you know, praying for them, what do you think some of the more deeper spiritual roots behind the movement of, you know, a lot of black Americans converting to Islam the way they are? Yeah, and Aaron, a lot of black Americans specifically are converting to the Nation of Islam version of Islam. In certain ways, it's come closer to Islam than it did in its origins, but it is much more associated, say, with Louis Farrakhan, with anti-white racism, with black pride and things like that, all of which are really completely unrelated to Islam. And as you know, one of the things that got Malcolm X in trouble was realizing, going over to Saudi Arabia and realizing, OK, the people there and Mohammed's homeland are not black.

But you're asking the right question. And first, folks listening, watching, would you pray for Aaron's family? That's a heavy load to carry. Brother, mother, turning away from the Lord. So some of you I know would be really burdened. So let's pray with him. Forgot to turn their hearts.

But I'd say, Aaron, there are a few things going on. One is that in many of our churches, there can be a superficial religion, an emotional religion that is not attached to morality, that is not, that doesn't have a backbone to it. And so you can go into a church service, you can shout and, you know, preach back to the preacher as he's preaching and get into the good music. But you go out living a moral life. There's no family structure and things like that because of a lack of depth in the faith. So Islam brings an order with it, an authority with it. So much of our Christian preaching today is afraid to be clear in terms of what's right and what's wrong and draw strong moral lines. So Islam just does that unapologetically. And then today, when we have so much racial tension in America, where, say, if you vote for Donald Trump, that proves that you're a racist and a white supremacist and things like that. And it's kind of an us against them thing that Louis Farrakhan and others, they will they will appeal to that emotion and the Jesus that people here. And that's just this white Jesus. And we want to go back to the real faith. And, you know, we've got to got to get away from this slaveholders religion. And that's Christianity. So some of those dynamics taking place now cause people not to recover the biblical roots of the gospel, which are not white.

OK. But rather than recovering the biblical roots of the gospel, they'll reject the gospel as that slaveholders religion and with your white Jesus and Islam somehow being the black faith. Where, of course, Islam is practicing slavery to this day and was enslaving Africans long before Christians heard of the practice. Those are some of my thoughts on the spiritual end, Aaron. But keep digging and obviously reach out to ministries James White, vocab Malone, dealing with black Hebrews like David Wood and others and continue to study. May the Lord use you to bring many back to the truth.

God bless you. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34-TRUTH.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome, friends, to the line of fire. You've got questions. We've got answers. Be sure to check out my latest article calling out MSNBC's Donny Deutsch for openly comparing Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler.

And by implication, Trump's support is being compared to Nazis. It can be done on our website, AskDrBrown.org or over on Stream.org. Check out our latest videos as well. All right.

We go over to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Eugene, welcome back to the line of fire. Good afternoon, Dr. Brown. How are you? Doing well, thanks.

Yes, sir. And just for the record, I really do appreciate how you handled the first caller. In my life, there's definitely been, I would say, an ambivalence towards the things of the spirit, because I do see a lot of questionable teaching with people I do respect, like Todd Whitefield-Johnson. And listening to Justin Peterson or Todd Spreel made me very confused on how to approach the topic. And I think that you kind of handle that pretty well, honestly, by not shying away from challenges, but addressing, you know, you confront, I would say, doctrinal issues with race as well. And I see that to be absent in a lot of believers.

Well, you know, I appreciate that, Eugene. You know, we each side can have strengths and weaknesses. Our friends that are non-charismatic or sometimes anti-charismatic, they can have the real strength about one of the follow what is written. And as I said, not just be gullible and listen to some TV fraud.

But then the weakness can be it. There can be the cynicism, the skepticism, the rejection of what God is doing. Then on the charismatic side, our folks can often just be loosey goosey and kind of anything goes and not really testing things by the word and so that gullibility comes.

But then embracing what the Holy Spirit is doing and stepping out and believing. And, you know, Justin Peters has a lengthy video where he goes after different prophets and words about COVID-19 and so on. He asked me to watch it.

I watched all of it. We interacted about it extensively and he's right to call people out. I've addressed it as well.

Some of the words did not come to pass and there used to be accountability there. On the other hand, there are people that he would say this one is definitely a fraud. I feel quite sure knowing the person that they love Jesus and that they're sound according to Scripture. So we have to have a discussion. It's not just black and white or one side's right, one side wrong. We need each other as a body. Anyway, thanks for the good word. Your question, Eugene. Yes, sir.

Thank you. In my question, sir, just listening to people like John MacArthur, I have his study Bible very helpful for me in my personal times of study. But, of course, reading in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14, his rejections of tongues, and he clarified that he believes it's a known language. I'm not really sure how to get around that when I read in places like 1 Corinthians 14, too, where it explicitly says it's an unknown language to the speaker.

And I'm just wondering if you could present what their arguments are and maybe how you would respond to those arguments. And if there's any material that I can do a further study, because I would like to understand, you know, where the arguments are at concerning what the gift of tongues is, if it's in language that's known or unknown. And so I can figure out what side to kind of, you know, lean towards, if that makes sense. Yeah, well, again, the most important thing is to look at the clear witness of Scripture.

And then I'm going to, well, I'll refer you now. Sam Storms wrote a book came out in 2019, so just last year. I have an endorsement for it, The Language of Heaven, Crucial Questions About Speaking in Tongues. So Sam is a respected Bible scholar and theologian. And that was once strongly anti-charismatic and then came into The Things of the Spirit. So Sam Storms, The Language of Heaven, Crucial Questions About Speaking in Tongues. The only basis whatsoever on which you can make an argument that tongues or known languages is Acts 2, when the 120 are filled with the Spirit and speak and people hear them praising God in their own languages. Now, bear in mind, others hear it and they think it's just gibberish.

They think they're drunk. But let's say they just because everyone's speaking, they didn't hear clearly those who heard, heard the praises of God in their own languages. And glosa tongue can mean a language, but it's quite explicit in 1 Corinthians 14.

That is not the normal pattern. We have no indication of the languages being understood. The other times they're referenced in Acts 10 and 19. And tongues is distinguished from prophecy because it must have interpretation. Now, now the question is, if no one understands it, you don't understand it.

No one understands it. Paul said when he prays in the spirit, his spirit is is praying, but his mind is unfruitful. So he prays with his spirit and with his understanding and that no one can understand without someone having the gift of interpretation. If it's a foreign language, you just learn it. If you pray in tongues and when you pray in tongues, you're praying in German, then just learn German or or ask a friend that knows German. You don't need someone with a gift of interpretation.

So there's really no argument that can be brought from the context of 1 Corinthians that it's a known language. It's just the initial instance how God works. Now, that being said, there's a student that excuse me, a brother, pastor, leader in ministry for years now, but was a student of mine in the 80s on Long Island. And we were just reminiscing with another former student of a time that he was at a meeting, large charismatic gathering. And he spoke in tongues. And as he did it, it felt different.

It sounded different. And he he was waiting. OK, who's going to give the interpretation? Lord, give me the interpretation.

And there was none. And he was a little embarrassed by it. And afterwards, people came up to him and kind of said, brother, you know, you keep that to yourself without an interpreter. And the man leading the meeting publicly got up and gave a mild correction. The next day, the leader of the meeting came up and said, I have to apologize. He said, we have a group here from wherever it was in China.

We have a group here. And they were so edified and blessed that this brother delivered this wonderful word in in in Chinese in their dialect yesterday. And it was just for them. And we thought it was out of order, but it was the spirit. God still does that. I had a non charismatic friend of mine experience that with an interpreter in Latin American.

He was telling me the story of how it happened. God still does that. But clearly, Eugene, First Corinthians 14 says that's not the pattern. It doesn't say find someone who speaks the language. It says no one understands it. OK, it's it's it doesn't say don't speak in tongues unless someone who knows the language is there, but don't deliver a message in tongues unless someone can interpret it. And interpreters and it is a gift of interpretation, just as it's the gift to speak the language. So we are speaking mysteries in the spirit to God. And it could be Paul speaks of tongues of of angels in First Corinthians 13. That could be what he's referring to. So by all means, lean into that. It is the obvious plain interpretation of First Corinthians 14. When you get away from the obvious, you come up with interpretations that are impossible. So that's when you look with with tremendous value of John MacArthur's ministry in the study Bible, where I would say is on the wrong side of an issue, you'll find that treatment especially weak. And that'd be with any of us where we're wrong.

Our treatment will be weak and easy to take apart. He keep in the word and say to the Lord, Lord, I want everything you have for me so I can best glorify you. 866-34-TRUTH. Let's go to Malachi in Gary, Indiana. Welcome to the line of fire. Hey, how you doing?

Doing well, thank you. Yeah, I had a question and it's kind of tricky to even figure out how to properly ask the question, but here goes. Yeah. So say that say that I convince someone that Jesus is God in the way that we speak of when we use the term Trinity. Beyond simply convincing someone that Jesus is God because it's true, according to the scripture, to go a step further, why does it matter that Jesus is God? So, you know, how would you stress that it matters that Jesus is God as well? Yes, sir. A very important question.

And you asked it totally clearly. So we're not just trying to convince someone to accept a doctrine. There is power and truth behind that doctrine that we want to recognize and hold on to. OK, one thing is to be our savior, to be the one who takes our place, to be the one whose single righteous life is sufficient to pay for the sins of the whole world. If Jesus is just a created being, it loses a lot of its power there.

That's one thing. A second thing is it lessens an aspect of God's love and that he creates a being to send that being to suffer for us, rather than his own son that comes forth from him dying for our sins. So the reality of what happens on the cross, the fact that we have only one savior and in a literal sense, he stretches out his his hand into our world and enters into our suffering and enters into our pain. And now we can find someone we can relate to that that brings us to God. So the man Christ Jesus being the one mediator between man and God, that that takes on a tremendous power and significance. The second thing is we have no business worshiping him the way we do if he's not if he's not eternal deity. That would be taking glory away from God. That would be having two different gods. The praise, the adoration, the love we have for him is only appropriate if he himself is eternal deity. And and with that as well, the some of his teachings, of course, make more sense now. You know, before Abraham was, I am the context of the miracle of the incarnation almighty God, while remaining God in heaven steps down into our world and lives among us.

And then Jesus saying, if you see me, you see the father. So what's the father like? What's God like? Well, look at Jesus. I have a problem with God.

He seems mean and angry and always out to hurt people and destroy people. Well, let's start here, because he came into our world so we could see what he's like firsthand. If you've seen the son, you've seen the father. So those are just some of the first things that come to mind in terms of why this is so important. But Malachi, it's a question I've chewed on from different angles because reaching out to my Jewish friends, whereas they feel this is idolatry or making a man into a god or a god to a man.

Whereas this is the explanation of how God can be transcendent and imminent, how he can be untouchable and touchable, how he can be invisible and visible. So hopefully that's helpful to you. And for everyone, if there's an answer I bring, you need to review it. The moment this show is done, it's immediately archived on our Facebook page. Ask Dr. Brown. It's archived on our YouTube page. Ask Dr. Brown, A.S.K.D.R.

Brown. You can listen to the audio on thelineoffire.org. So go back and review these. Hey, thank you for the question, Malachi. I appreciate it. Right back with all your calls. 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 for joining us on The Line of Fire.

866-344-TRUTH. You've got questions. We've got answers. Friends, we've got some exciting new resources that are about to be released. We've got some major plans to reach many more people. Please be praying with us. Pray that God will enable us to reach and impact everyone he's called us to for his glory, for his purposes to be accomplished. We burn with it.

We're jealous for it. Whatever we can do to help and serve you is our great honor. Enjoy. So thanks for your prayers. Thanks for your support.

866-344-TRUTH. Let's go to Charles in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Welcome to The Line of Fire. Hey, Dr. Brown. Hey. Hey, how you doing, man? Doing well. I had two quick questions. I think I heard you talking to a gentleman about a week and a half ago. I think he might have been a doctor and the stuff that might have been healing.

And I wasn't able to listen to the broadcast all the way. But my first question is, what should be a believer's response to healing as far as, like, praying for somebody to get healed? And it can be physical or whatever the case. And I guess that we don't ever see it manifest. That's my first question.

And then the second question I had was about, I think it's in the 15th chapter of Corinthians, where it talks about Jesus standing over the kingdom to the Father so that God can be all in all. Just a quick explanation of that. And that's all, man. Yeah, Charles, those are quick questions, but those are biggie questions, man. Very big questions. Yes, sir.

But I'll do my best to give concise answers. As far as 1 Corinthians 15, where the Son hands the kingdom over to the Father that God may be all in all, that the ultimate revelation is that we serve one God, His Father, Son, and Spirit, but we serve one God. And in the Book of Revelation, the 22nd chapter, it speaks of the throne of God and the Lamb. Not two separate thrones at that point, but the throne of God and the Lamb and His servants, not their servants.

His servant will see His face. So there's an aspect where the Son turns everything over to the Father, and the great revelation is one God ruling and reigning over the world. And the Son has a role, the Son's role is a certain role, the Spirit's role is a certain role, but all ultimately Philippians 2, to the glory of God the Father. So the whole world confesses Jesus as Lord, and that is to the glory of God the Father. So that's how I understand that, the ultimate submission of the Son to the Father for God's eternal salvation purposes as we come under the reign of one eternal God.

Yes, triune God, but one God. As for the interview you're thinking about, it must be with Dr. Adrian Warnock. He's a medical doctor, he's a charismatic believer, believes in the gifts of the Spirit for today, believes in praying for the sick, but has had a lengthy battle with cancer for several years now. And we were talking about we pray for healing, we ask for healing, but many times it doesn't come. So let's say, what are our alternatives? One thing we could say is God chooses to heal sometimes and not other times.

That's one possibility. Another is divine healing is not for today. Another is it is for today, but we have to contend for it, believe for it, and try harder. Another is it's promised, but there are many things promised we don't receive because we're in a broken, fallen world. And either way, we praise God and worship Him and honor Him.

I land on the last one, Charles. In other words, if you came to me and you're not living an abusive lifestyle, it's not like you're smoking four packs of cigarettes a day and asking me to pray for healing of lung cancer. You're seeking to honor the Lord and suddenly diagnosed with a condition. My first instinct is let's pray for healing. My first instinct is not to say, well, maybe God sent this on you to teach you a lesson or what's God's purpose in the sickness, because throughout Scripture, sickness in and of itself is negative, it's an intruder, it's an attacker.

If you think of the way God made us so meticulously and beautifully and then sickness, eating away at that and destroying. In the ministry of Jesus, He gives His disciples authority over demons and disease. He revealed Himself to Israel if they would obey Him as, I'm the Lord your healer. So that's the consistent emphasis through Scripture.

Peter explains in Acts 10 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth, how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. And sickness is often associated with disobedience, and therefore when we pray for the sick, God forgives sins and heals sickness. So my first instinct is, Father, I'm asking you to heal my brother and you've given us gracious promises. I also understand that we're in a fallen world and that we're all going to die anyway. Even if you're healed 10 times, we're still going to die unless we are the generation alive when Jesus is returned.

So I'm going to go on worshipping Him. In other words, if you're part of our congregation and you're in a wheelchair and you say, Believe God with me for healing, we'd say, Amen, let's pray for healing. And if you're not healed today, we're going to praise God anyway and we're going to thank God for the gift that you are in that wheelchair. And we're going to pray that everything you can learn in this situation you'll learn and that you can be thanking God in the midst of it and ministering to others who are hurting. But we'll keep praying for healing. And if we don't get it now, we wait for the resurrection.

That would be my attitude. I wouldn't say God doesn't heal anymore. I wouldn't say, Well, you don't have enough faith. I say, Let's press in, pray. But if we don't receive that, we still know that God is good. We don't receive everything we ask for in this world.

That would be my posture. Awesome. That's cool. My father was diagnosed a second time, probably about a month ago with cancer. He got needed, got diagnosed again with cancer. And my father was actually the one that introduced me to you through way of your literature. You got the takes as your Jewish objections to Jesus, all of that stuff.

So that's how I found out about you. The man of God, help people, all of that stuff. Not calling him perfect or anything, but not saying that I have doubt in my mind about God. But, you know, sometimes these questions come up and we're like, I know God is a healer, but I'm looking for it.

I don't see it, dot, dot, dot. So that's all. And I appreciate the answer. Yeah.

And Charles, let me say this. May God's grace be with your dad. Two things real quick. One, we have a book like the book of Job in the Bible to tell us that sometimes inexplicable things happen to the righteous. But don't change your doctrine. Their friends thought, ah, Job, you must have sinned because this doesn't happen to Godly people. Job thought, well, God, you must you must be wicked because I'm not living a wicked life.

And they were both wrong. Ultimately, God restores and will lead again in this world or the world to come. So that's one thing. That's why we have books like Job in the Bible.

Here's the other thing, Charles. We know that Jesus saves us from sin and gives us power over sin and that in him we're overcomers and we never have to sin. And yet we all fall short.

It's not a day that's gone by as a believer. I haven't fallen short somewhere, sin somewhere in word or attitude or something. And yet we have power over sin. So even though the promise is for healing in this world, we don't receive everything promised.

But let's go after it because people are hurting and dying. And if we can bring healing to them, it's such a grace and it brings them a revelation of the goodness of the Lord. On the flip side, some of the godliest people I know have been sick chronically. They love the Lord. They live godly lives and they've drawn closer through sickness. But we realize that the ultimate goal is either healing in this life or eternity. Hey, thank you, Charles. 866-34-TRUTH.

We go to Chicago, Illinois. Aaron, welcome to the line of fire. Hey, Dr. Brown. Shalom. Shalom. Doing good, man.

Nice. So I have I've had a few conversations with usually a one West Hebrew that does these type of things, but even some people that just follow the law, they usually go to Isaiah 28 verses. I think it's around 12 to 17 when God is talking about line upon line, priest upon precept. Now, do you do you see that as God teaching us? That's how we read the Bible. Or how do you see that? And how does that lay out in Hebrew?

Yes. So so in Hebrew, it's really fascinating because it's it's it's almost as if God is trying to communicate with little children. And the way the way it's laid out, it's very much rhyming.

I'm looking for something that may bring it out well. But here, well, I'll read from the The New Jewish Publication Society version to them, the word of the Lord. So it's it's the ones who refuse to listen.

God saying, hey, here's a place of rest. Right. And they're not going to listen. So to them, the word of the Lord is mutter upon mutter, murmur upon murmur.

Now here, now there. And so they will march, but they shall fall backward and be injured and snared and captured. So rather than hearing the truth of the Lord, they're just hearing it is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. This and that, this and that.

They reject it and they fall. That's that's what's actually being said there. It's it's it's a negative, not a positive. And then it goes on here.

Now, the word of the Lord, you men of mockery who govern that people in Jerusalem for you said we have made a covenant with death, a concluded pact with show. So you see the whole context here is negative. And that's that's the right way to understand it. Right. OK. Yeah. I kind of saw it as like a mockery as well, though. But yeah, I want to kind of your point of view, because I know that you are fluent in the Hebrew. And I had a brother who told me that the Hebrew is a bit more clear when it comes to kind of the mockery. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I'll read it. So the high allah him devar than I. So the word of the Lord will be to them. So let's solve. So let's solve.

So it's a little commandment on commandment and line on line, but in shortened forms. So this is literally solve. Let's solve. Solve.

Let's solve. Covid cough. Covid cough. It's the air shams. The air shams little here, a little there.

The man yell who the hush lose a whore of an east bar over the shoe in the coffee. So that though they'll fall backwards and be captured and destroyed and so on. Yes. So so the Hebrew is very clear in terms of the nature of it. And it's it's very much childlike and it's very much the way that they hear. It's like blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. In fact, Aaron, it's it's a long way before I get to Chapter 28 in my commentary. And I say I'm just in the second chapter now, but I'm doing a translation of the book as well. So it's going to be interesting to see, you know, I try to come up with something that communicates the Hebrew.

But but Isaiah, more than just about any of the prophets, uses place on words more. So this is one of the most graphic one tablets of tablets of Covid cough. Covid cough. You get the feel of it there. Shams a little here, a little there. All right. Thank you for the call.

Eight, six, six, three, four. Truth. OK. Got some great questions. I'm looking at on the board here, but I've only got 30 seconds before our next break. So we'll get your questions on the other side of the break.

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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. All right, let's go straight back to the phones.

866-34-TRUTH over in California, Stanton, California. Mike, welcome to the line of fire. Hi, Dr. Brown. Thank you so much for having me on your show. I appreciate it.

You bet. Glad to. So my question is kind of along the lines of an earlier caller with regard to tongues, but specifically 1 Corinthians 14, 28. It just seems to me that there may be problems with that verse that people quote because, I mean, I've grown up in Pentecostal churches my whole life, and it seems to me nine times out of ten, the first time someone speaks in tongues is in a church service because the pastor is praying for them, laying hands on them, and they speak in tongues. Also, you know, during worship or doing an altar call, it seems as though, and maybe I'm wrong, but it seems as though the person of the Holy Spirit is sort of, for lack of a better term, welling up on the inside of a person to speak in tongues. And I've heard Pentecostal pastors and preachers say, you know, ad nauseum, that, you know, don't quench the Spirit, let it out, let it, you know, or you're going to offend the Holy Spirit if you don't speak in tongues during a church service. And then lastly, I mean, because of that verse, are we supposed to, before a church service starts, like go around the church asking if everybody has the gift of interpretation just in case you may speak in tongues? So there's just some questions that I have about that verse in particular that's giving me some problems.

Sure. So let's think in reverse order. You know, Paul does say if you speak in tongues and there's no interpreter, then be quiet. So you find out, right? In other words, it's not that you do a survey. And in the context there, you might have 15 people in a house meeting.

You probably know the people there anyway. But let's just, it's not the end of the world. In other words, it's not like, oh, no, someone spoke in tongues.

It's just, it doesn't help anybody. It would be like if I got up and started, you know, quoting from Scripture, you know, Adonai hoyi lo echsab inot deshe yar b'tseni yalmein min duchot yalayi. I'm quoting from Psalm 23. It's beautiful, but it's not edifying anybody because they don't know what's being said.

So that's what he, so it's practical. It's not the end of the world. It's like, oh, nobody there. So just then don't give the utterance. And as far as people speaking in tongues, we know that there are different settings for it. Like no one stopped Cornelius and his household from speaking in tongues in Acts 10. They all started speaking when the Holy Spirit came on them. Peter just said, well, they should be baptized in water then if God already baptized them in the Spirit. Same in Acts 19. No one stopped the believers there in Ephesus from speaking in tongues. He told them, wait, you're in a church service.

No. So the Holy Spirit comes on people. You can have hundreds baptized in the Spirit at the same time, all speaking in tongues at the same time, as happens in different biblical settings, you know, numbers of people.

The whole thing is the order of a service and messages being delivered. So let's just take during worship. Let's say you've got a thousand people in your congregation and the worship team is praying. We just get into this deep place in the Lord and the worship leader says, just love on the Lord with your own words.

Just pour your heart out to him. You're doing that. You're not hearing all the people around you. So at that moment, you know, maybe you're from Mexico and Spanish is your first language. You just start praising God in Spanish. And maybe the guy behind me, you know, he's from Cameroon and French is his first language and he starts praising God in French.

And I've got someone from Lebanon, a Christian on the other side. They start praising God in Arabic. I start praising God in tongues. It's just we're all praying together, worshipping together. And that's what many Pentecostals do.

So they're all praying kind of, you know, quietly and together. And this one in English, this one in tongues. The issue, as I understand what Paul's dealing with, is delivering messages is it's just like you're getting up to do a teaching, you know, and you get to speak in tongues for minutes like, OK, you got edified.

Wonderful. Nobody else is edified because there's no interpreter. So that's the distinction that most of us would make in terms of speaking in tongues as for delivering a message, because otherwise you don't need an interpreter if you're just worshipping God. You know, Paul says that, you know, we worship in the spirit and we worship with the understanding. So that's how I understand that verse. And that was the disorder, the delivering messages in public without interpretation.

But as far as people praying corporately and worshipping corporately, I don't believe it's a restriction there. So appreciate the questions, Mike. Thanks, sir. You're very welcome. All right. 866-34-TRUTH.

Let's go to Micah in Lincoln, Nebraska. Welcome to the line of fire. Hey, thanks, Dr. Brown. Thanks for taking my call.

Sure thing. So I had a question about Malachi 3. I was reading it recently. And, you know, the New Testament, Jesus himself, you know, they affirm John the Baptist being fulfillment of three one about the messenger that God will send. And I think when reading the follow up to that about how the Lord himself will come to his own temple.

But who can endure that day? I mean, personally, I can read that and say, yeah, I mean, we definitely see that being fulfilled. And, you know, in the New Testament, when Jesus comes to the temple and cleanses the temple. But the part that I have a bit of difficulty understanding, at least from the Christian point of view, is then verse three, when it talks about how when he comes, he is going to purify the children of Levi and then they will become those who bring to the Lord a sacrifice in righteousness. And then in verse four, it says how this sacrifice will be pleasing to the Lord and it will be just like the days previously. And from what commentaries I read, it seems like that's many believe that's referring to the days of Moses or so on. So I guess I'm trying to I mean, I've read some commentaries about from a Christian perspective, how this was fulfilled in Christ or how it will be fulfilled in Christ when he returns.

But it hasn't yet. I was just curious, what are your thoughts on that? Yeah. And you really zero in on the key question. And I've had traditional rabbis challenge me on that.

So there are a few levels of of of answer to it. OK, number number one, number one is, is that he does bring purification on the religious leadership. He does bring judgment, of course, and it's very intense and most fall under judgment because of it. The second thing is, when we get into the book of Acts, we read that many priests and Levites came to faith. So so through the purification, their hearts were turned.

And and then thirdly, sat there. There are all types of sacrifices and offerings that people speak that scripture speak of. There's the psalmist praying that his prayers would be like the evening incense, the lifting up his hands like sacrifice. You know, traditional Jews point to Hosea 14. I believe they're misreading it.

But instead of bulls, you know, we're offering offering up words from our from our lips. But the Septuagint reads differently. And Hebrews 13 follows that reading, which is it's the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that praise his name. So it could be that now these purified, redeemed, transformed Levites and priests offer up sacrifices that are that are pleasing to God, that are of a different nature, of a spiritual nature.

There's no reason why they can't be the case. The other thing is, even though the temple was destroyed in the year 70, God did not bring immediate judgment on it. So even those priests and Levites participating in the temple cult after that would have been now offering up maybe Thanksgiving offerings that would have been acceptable to the Lord. Paul participates at a Nazarite vow in Acts 18, which involves sacrifices. So there were sacrifices and offerings gone that it wasn't all for atonement. So just very, very simply, just taking it in the most literal way that now that their hearts were right and they had repented, that they were that they were able to offer up godly sacrifices. So there when they went to the temple at the altar and offered up a Thanksgiving offering or consecration offering, it was now pleasing to the Lord. Ultimately, God made the statement that sacrifices and offerings were not needed because of the cross.

But from the time of Jesus dying to 70 AD, the temple continued to function, and believers participated in that to a certain extent as well. So no reason you can't take it in the fully literal way. Hey, thank you, Micah, for the call. And let's go to Steven in Tampa, Florida. Time is short, so dive right in.

All right, Dr. Brown, thank you so much. Yeah. I have a question about the seed of God, and I'm just going to quickly read some Bible verses. 1 Peter 1, verse 23 talks about the non-perishable seed when we're saved with God, that, you know, that's forever. But then I also jump to Mark 13, verse 13, Jesus talks about that everyone will hate you, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. Now the reason why I'm asking this about the seed is because in Mark chapter 4, you have the parable of the four soils. And the one that I'm a little bit confused about is Jesus talks about the seed that falls on the ground. When they hear the word, they quickly have joy, they have some fruit, but when trials and tribulations come, it dies. Now is that person in relationship with God?

It seems like there's a middle, and I'm just trying to have a better understanding. Yeah, Steven, once you start really digging into what it means by seed, 1 John 3, we can't live in sin because the seed of God remains in us. What is that seed? So generically, in the parable, so Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8, the parable of the sower, the seed is the word of God. So the seed is the truth of the word of God.

In some hearts, it only penetrates partially. So either that person is a false convert, never truly saved, or someone that was born again, but it was not a deep commitment, and when testing came, they fell away. I do believe people can fall away, they can choose to walk away from the Lord. Others would read that as a false convert.

So those would be the two possible ways of reading it. They seem to be real, but when the real test comes, they fall away. As for the seed, the imperishable seed that remains within us, at the very least that's talking about the gospel of truth, that's talking about the gift of life that we receive as a result of that, and that is eternal and imperishable, the question is, do we have the power to walk away from the Lord? He has saved us and we cross from death to life. Do we have the power to refuse him, deny him, and go back to death? I would say we do. Others would say based on that, no, that seed becomes part of us, and we will never ever perish and can't. More to discuss at a time. God bless.