Dr. Brown Tackles Your Best Twitter Questions

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The following is a prerecorded program. You've got questions. We've got answers. Let's do it. It's time for the Line of Fire with your host, biblical scholar and cultural commentator, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice for moral sanity and spiritual clarity.

Call 866-34-TRUTH to get on the Line of Fire. And now here's your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Hey friends, Michael Brown, delighted to be with you.

Can I ask you for prayer right now? This broadcast has been prepared in advance for you today because as you are listening, I should be en route to London. Yeah, this weekend, speaking at a Messianic conference in London on Saturday, God willing, then Manchester on Sunday.

So Saturday, London, Sunday, Manchester, and then Monday, back in London for a debate with Muslim apologist Saqir Hussain on the subject as Muhammad prophesied in the Bible and then returning home on Tuesday. So we've got a special broadcast also prepared for you on Monday we're really excited about. I have solicited questions for today on Twitter, so don't send anything in.

Don't call today. I've got some really good, fascinating questions we're going to dig into together, so let's get right to it. But if you could just pray when you think of me, I would really appreciate for God's grace on the travel and then for each of the meetings to really be superlative for the glory of God. And of course, we'll give you a report on the debate as soon as we get back.

All right, so let's start with, let me just scroll down a little bit here on Twitter. Jonathan asked this, Al Mohler talked about preaching as perhaps the central act of the worship service. Others argue it's the Eucharist, so communion. Is Acts 2.42 a guide to what aspects of a worship service should be central? Is there a better verse or verses? All right, so when we gather together to worship as a group, be it in a house meeting, be it in a large cathedral, as we gather together, what should be central?

First, I don't know that any one thing should be thought of as central. You could make arguments for different things. You could say, well, it's our time just in singing praises and adoration to the Lord and worshiping him and glorifying him. Others would say, no, it's our time of corporate prayer together where we turn to the Lord. Others would say, no, it's the preaching of the word. Others would say, no, it's the time of communion.

If you had an evangelist in your midst, he'd say it is the time of altar call, calling people to get right with God. You could make arguments for all these different things, but there's one passage in the New Testament which is really interesting, and it's where Paul talks about an orderly gathering of believers, and it's going to sound very surprising to some because he's been dealing with tongues being just used too much in public in an abusive way, in the proper place of prophecy in tongues, and then he says this, 1 Corinthians 14 verse 26, what then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up, and then he gives instructions about speaking in tongues in an orderly way and prophecy in an orderly way. In other words, as they gathered in houses, so small meetings, not hundreds and thousands of people, but could be 15 people in a meeting, whatever the number was, that one would lead out in a song, another would have a word of wisdom, another a word of instruction, one would have a tongue, another interpretation, another prophecy.

So it's very foreign to the way a lot of us would think of a public gathering. But then of course we do have in Acts 2 the pattern as they gathered around the apostles and they broke bread together, which is not just eating, having a meal, but would also imply celebrating the Lord's Supper together, and they gave themselves to the teaching of the apostles. But it doesn't mention their prayer, it doesn't mention their worship in that context. So I would say that everything in terms of lifting up the Lord and meeting with him is central, and that the word is important, and the time of worship is important, and time of prayer is important, and the time of giving us a response to God is important, and if we receive communion on a weekly basis, whenever it is, that's important.

Others may have a different viewpoint on that, but to me they're all important, they're all central. There is this saying, if you're in traveling ministry, some folks would say, would you like to be here for the preliminaries? The preliminaries meaning the time of worship.

And well, that's not a preliminary, that's central, that's foundational. Now, if you have a church that meets on a weekend that the congregation has four or five services on a weekend, if I'm speaking at one of those, I'll be there the first service from beginning to the end the entire time, and then the other services I'll come in later in the worship, and this way I can have most energy to focus and minister, and instead of being through the same service over and over and over. But otherwise, if I'm there when people say, what time do you want to get here? I say, well, I want to be there for the entire worship, because this is an important time for everyone, not just the congregation, but for the guest speaker as well.

Okay, appreciate the question. Terry, Hebrews 10, 26 to 29, I've always found this to be a very troubling piece of scripture. It sounds so final, right? So what does it mean in Hebrews 10, where Hebrews says that if we sin willfully after coming to the knowledge of the truth, then no sacrifice for sins remains, but only a fiery judgment that will consume the adversaries of God.

What do we do with that? Does that say that if you intentionally sin one time as a believer, right, you know the Lord, and you sin now one time willfully, that the only thing you can look forward to is fiery judgment? If we deliberately keep on sinning after we've received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment, of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think that someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who's treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them?

And there is some dispute about the textual reading there, but I believe that's the best reading. So this person has already been sanctified by the blood of Jesus, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace. For we know him who's said it is mine to avenge our repaying again the Lord will judge his people. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

So first we have to remember the audience there is a Jewish audience, Jewish believers in Jesus, and it seems that that some were being pulled back into Judaism, back into Jewish tradition at the cost of rejecting the Messiah. And Hebrews is making clear in the second chapter, the third chapter, the fourth chapter, the sixth chapter, the tenth chapter, the twelfth chapter, that you go back, there is no salvation. You go back, there is no forgiveness of sins. You deny the once and for all sacrifice and go back to the temple system. There is no sacrifice that remains for you.

So the major point that's being made here is outside of Jesus, outside of Yeshua and what he's done on the cross, there is no salvation, there is no forgiveness. If you reject him and go back to Judaism, then as long as you're in that state there is no place of repentance, Hebrews 6. As long as you're in that state you're freshly crucifying the Son of God.

Here you are trampling him on your foot. So if you go on sinning and then think, well I can go back to the temple system, no, no, no sacrifice for sins remains. You reject the once for all sacrifice, it's over. Now it doesn't mean that you can't come back. The Scriptures repeatedly talk about coming back. As long as you remain in that state having rejected the once for all sacrifice and going back to your old traditions or to the old temple system, no, there is no sacrifice for sins. You are in that state crucifying the Son of God afresh.

You are despising the blood that was shed for you. If you come back in repentance and recognize that you have sinned against him and recognize that you have rejected his grace, what does it say at the end of Jacob, James the fifth chapter verses 19 and 20? That the person who turns a sinner back, a brother or sister goes astray, you bring them back, you've saved a soul from death and covered a multitude of sins. So that's the way to understand that passage.

Let's see here, all right. Common Sense Barbie asked this, in Jeremiah when he says, the word of the Lord came to me, is this somehow referring to Jesus specifically thinking of John 1, 1 through 5? There are some who would argue that wherever you find that phrase, the word of the Lord came to me, or the word of the Lord came to this individual, that it's actually an appearance, that it's actually or a visitation from the Son of God himself and that he's coming to speak and deliver a message but he himself as the word of the Lord is doing it. I don't normally read it like that. In Jeremiah and elsewhere, I understand it to mean that a message from God came to him, that we could experience that today if we hear prophetically that the word of the Lord comes to us, that a message comes to us where we hear God speaking something. That's all I believe it's saying. Now some have argued say in Genesis 15 that there's an actual appearance of the Lord and when it says the word of the Lord came to Abraham, it's an actual appearance of the Son of God. But the general term, the word of the Lord came to me, no I don't read it like that, I simply understand it to mean that a message from God came to that person.

Others read it differently but that's how I understand it. Bishop in Chief, hi Dr. Brown I've got a question. If God doesn't test anyone according to James 1.13 doesn't that contradict Matthew 4.1 which says that the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted.

Great question and these are all excellent questions. Number one, both in Hebrew and Greek the same word can be used for test or tempt. And what Jacob James is really saying is that God doesn't tempt anyone. He certainly tests us. Over and over in the Old Testament he says he tested his people. He tests the righteous. So this is something common in scripture that God tests us but he doesn't tempt us.

So what's the difference? One thing would be that God speaks to us to step out in faith and do a particular thing and it's a test of our faith will we obey him or not. Another thing would be that here is a married man and a seductive woman comes his way to try to pull him away. No God does not send the seductive woman his way. God doesn't tempt us with evil but he does test us.

So it's important that we translate properly contextually be it Hebrew or Greek in terms of the vocabulary there. As far as Jesus he's led by the Spirit into a situation where he's now tempted and tested by Satan. So Satan is the accuser. Satan is the tempter slash tester here. The Holy Spirit leads him out to that place where he will now go through this ordeal with the enemy. But it's still the enemy. It's still Satan who is doing the tempting here and trying to turn him away from God.

So that's what he does. God may move us into a situation where we now have to go through certain things and including those things we go through will be an attack from Satan but it is Satan that does that dirty work. It is Satan who does those ugly things whereas God will test our obedience. God will test our faith. God will test our patience and things like that. So it's the difference between test and tempt and Satan is going to be the one who tempts us to do evil. So hopefully that distinction is helpful there. Alright I'm going to get to a bunch more questions on the other side of the break. Thanks again for your prayer support for standing with us and we've got another debate coming up next week that you'll be able to watch on live stream. Hopefully also the Islamic debate will be sending out information that you can watch live stream as well.

Otherwise we'll get to the link once it is posted. I'm Paul Burnett a board certified doctor of holistic health and I want to take this opportunity to talk to you about the importance of healthy blood flow and how it's enhanced by a miracle molecule known as nitric oxide. You see blood vessels release nitric oxide which increases blood flow known as something called vasodilation. At Triveda we take blood flow seriously for our members and we've developed a nitric oxide plus supplement that has been formulated with natural ingredients designed to maximize nitric oxide production in our blood vessels which increases blood flow.

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Call 1-800-771-5584 or call 1-800-771-5584. May you live with greater wellness. We're offering Jesus as a solution when most people don't even know they have a problem. Most often it just takes more time.

Time for the other person to get to know you. Time for you to talk to them about the old fashioned problem of sin and once they understand there's a problem only then will they be ready for God's solution to the sin problem. That's where the good news of Jesus comes in. There are no shortcuts and no instant fixes.

Instant might be good for mashed potatoes and frozen dinners but instant is not so good with the good news. Inspired by the book The Way of the Master by actor Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort. A message from the Truth Network. It's the Line of Fire with your host Dr. Michael Brown. Get on the Line of Fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome back to the Line of Fire broadcast. Michael Brown here answering questions that I previously solicited on Twitter so I'm not taking your calls as you are listening to this broadcast I should be traveling to England unless you're listening a few days later in which case I might be traveling back from England.

But let's go over to Hot Rock Van. Why did Jesus curse and kill the fig tree in Matthew 21 19? In other words was that a right thing to do if it wasn't time for figs yet and and he curses it like you haven't born figs yet but it's not time to bear figs.

Let me read you what what Professor Craig Keener says in his IVP Bible background commentary. This is to the parallel passage in Mark 11. Professor Keener says at this time of year edible figs were still about six weeks away but the bland fruit had recently appeared on the tree in late March that would become ripe by late May. These were the early figs that preceded the main crop of late figs which were ripe for harvest from mid-August into October. If only leaves appeared without the early figs that tree would bear no figs that year early or late because everyone would know that it was not yet the season for real figs. Jesus is making a point about trees that only pretend to have good fruit compared Jeremiah 24. In some Jewish stories exceptionally holy men could curse others or objects and so destroy them. Jesus exerts genuine authority to curse only here as enacted parable to his disciples.

So in other words even though it wasn't the time for the real figs it was the time when you could see if the tree was going to be fruitful that season so you could already tell it wasn't even though it was giving a certain appearance you could already tell it wasn't hence the cursing as a symbolic act. So that I think is a pretty straightforward and accurate explanation there. Of course I defer to Professor Keener on these kinds of things. All right let's keep going here. All right tell you what another question from Hot Rod Van it relates so I'll get to it.

I didn't want to do two but I'll get to it. My wife asks in Matthew 24 does the blooming fig tree that Jesus talks about refer to Israel and the Jews returning to Israel if so does the generation that shall not pass refer to a single generation as we know it today. So when Jesus says in Matthew 24 that when you see the fig tree blooming you know that summer is near so also when you see all these things come in the past you know that the end is near you know that these things are all about to be fulfilled. So it is a very common interpretation to say the fig tree represents Israel. Others even claim that the cursing of the fig tree was God's way of saying God is finished with Israel forever. Of course that's the case the modesty talking about the fig tree blooming in the future. I don't see the fig tree as a primary symbol of Israel in the Bible. You have the vine as a common symbol.

You have the olive tree in Romans 11 or the vine say in Isaiah 5 and elsewhere. There are a couple of references to fig trees symbolizing Israel but it's not a primary reference and then in Luke when it says fig tree and all the other trees it would just seem to be a generic reference like hey when you see this happening like when you when you see the clouds coming over and you hear the thunder and you you know that rain is coming right that he's just making a general statement. Now some claim he's saying when you see certain signs in Israel and the nations this is an indication that this is the final generation. The problem is if you look at it in that way well that was 1948 with fig tree blooming Israel restored and now we're over 70 years out of that those of you that will be joining me in Israel in May that'll be the 75th anniversary of Israel when we're there.

So that's obviously longer than a generation. Well it's Jerusalem coming back into Jewish hands in 1967 and the sixth day war well hang on that's that's over 40 years 50 years 60 so so anyway I personally don't look at that as a sign that it's speaking about Israel. I look at it as a generic statement hey when you see this happening in nature you know the end is near. Now does the restoration of Israel tie in with end time prophecy of course absolutely absolutely absolutely no question about it is it highly significant yes the table has never been more set than it's set today but not with a specific generational time frame tied in with it. And let's see here I got to this question this question this question this question and alright Jesse I get to your question as well.

I would love to have this question answered. It says in the Bible that Samson lost the spirit but then he repented it also says this of King Saul but he did not repent. How do we reconcile this with Hebrews 6 4 through 8 and even within the Hebrews 6 4 through 6 most particularly that seems to indicate once you fall away you can never come back. Alright first when it comes to Samson there was a covenantal agreement as long as he had long hair even if he was living in all kinds of sin he still had the power and authority. Remember Judges 16 that this was just something that God gave him that Judges 16 he sleeps with a Philistine prostitute wakes up in the middle of the night and then is supernaturally empowered carries the city gates on his shoulders. So even though he sinned he still had the power now his sin and flirting with sin ultimately cost him his life. His flirting with sin ultimately cost him great humiliation and because of that he allowed his hair to be cut off and that's when he lost his strength.

But once the hair grew back it's that simple he had a strength again and he was willing to lose his own life to kill the enemy Philistines at that point. As far as Hebrews 6 though if you read it one way and it seems to be a natural reading of the text that you once you know the Lord if you fall away that you cannot return. I don't believe that's what it's saying simply because of the rest of the New Testament the rest of the Old Testament the whole theme of the of Scripture a major theme of Scripture is God's mercy calling us back calling us back calling us back. He says to Israel in Jeremiah 3 and 4 I've divorced you and you've been with all the lovers I'm not supposed to have you back but return but return the whole parable of Luke 15 the threefold parable of the lost sheep the lost coin the lost son what's the message there you can turn back you can turn back you can turn back. What do we find at the end of James the fifth chapter Jacob chapter 5 verses 19 and 20 which I've quoted many times when I sign my new book why so many Christians have left the faith those are the scripture verses I put those that already got the signed book you know I put those scripture verses in there. So what's the message the end of Jacob James that if someone a brother someone turns away they've been in the Lord they turn away and you can bring them back you've saved the soul from death and covered over multitude of sins. So God is constantly saying to the backslider turn back turn back turn back some say no Hebrews 6 means that you have a form of religion and a form and you see him and then you fall away there's no coming back well it makes no sense at all that that would be more severe than knowing the Lord and turning away and then being called back and and and what's described there really seems to be people who have experienced God for themselves. So what's the key and the ISV is the one translation I'm aware of that seems to bring this out that while you are in a state of crucifying the Son of God afresh by what by going back here it's talking to Jewish people by going back to your tradition Jewish people now who who say I can go back to the temple practices I don't need Jesus I don't need the Messiah. Hey friends Michael Brown here you know it seems the whole country now is talking about revival could it be that a fresh wave of revival is here friends I've said for decades without a fresh wave of revival in the church and awakening in society it's over for America as we know it and that's where I wrote the book revival or we die a great awakening is our only hope friends when you read this book it won't just give you a vision of what revival can do in society in the church but in your own heart in your own life in a light of fresh fire and you it ignites something in you a hunger or desire a vision of what God can do through a yielded life revival or we die even have a whole chapter where I share intimate open prayers I prayed to God even in recent years to ignite afresh a first love in me I believe is you read it something will be ignited within you as well but you know whenever revival comes there's controversy and that's why I wrote the revival answer book I wrote it in the midst of the Brownsboro revival answering the many honest questions is there too much emotion what about shaky what about falling what about unusual things that happen revival and can we really expect revival in the last days will things only get worse when you order this hardcover edition of revival or we die I want to give you this book the revival answer book 300 page book I want to give it to you absolutely free so here's number to call 1-800-538-5275 that's 1-800-538-5275 or go to askdartrobrown.org just click on shop and when you do you'll see the special offer the hardcover edition of revival or we die a great awakening is our only hope along with the revival answer book is our free gift to you when you order one more time the number to call 1-800-538-5275 the time for revival is now it's the line of fire with your host Dr. Michael Brown get on the line of fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH here again is Dr. Michael Brown welcome back friends to the line of fire thanks so much for joining us today not giving out the phone number but I just thank someone for their call is just habit like giving out the phone number because I'm answering your Twitter questions and again thanks for praying for me as you're listening to this I should be en route to London if you're listening to the podcast after I could be there already but we're praying for grace on this trip and especially looking forward to the debate with Zakir Hussain on whether Muhammad is prophesied in the Bible on Monday night so thanks for praying for that honestly I I don't know why it's a debate a Muslim would want to have it's such a losing proposition to me the very best proof texts that are offered refute themselves within themselves I mean it there are no good proof texts for their for their position in the Bible but I've been challenged to do this quite aggressively by by Mr. Hussain and they were actually willing to pay my way over there think of that to do this debate and then another one is Jesus God according to the New Testament because I told them I'm not going to debate Quran that's not my specialty I've got three years of classical Arabic I know a certain degree about Islam but that's not my specialty and it wouldn't be fair and right for me to debate an Islamic apologist on something I'm that expert in I want to be a good witness for the Lord and everything I do but they really wanted me to be over there I said well I'm going to be there I can stay one extra day hence the one debate we're doing rather than two so let's pray that many eyes are open that the faith of Christians is strengthened and that the eyes of many Muslims will be opened to help bring into a saving knowledge of Jesus Yeshua all right this is from threefold cord keep dive here love these types of questions Saul and God had a very tumultuous relationship as we have all had at one time I always find the evil spirit that was on Saul in first Samuel 19 9 interesting I also wonder if it ever departed during his life hopefully his last words were confession before he committed suicide we don't know that of course we all hope for that Solomon how did how did he die in right relationship with God or not we don't know when we know someone was in wrong relationship with God we hope that before they died they got right with God but we don't know that as for the the spirit that tormented saw certainly at times he got relief as David would play for example he would get relief and then it seems that other times this this tormenting spirit would just come on him and he would act irrationally or with tremendous anger so we really don't know in terms of long-term there's no evidence that he was absolutely set free from this torment at any time in his life that he got quote delivered if he had submitted his life fully to God and truly repented I believe he would have been set free for life but there's no evidence that he did that he may have been tormented to his last days we don't know but certainly a very tragic figure especially starts well he starts with humility but then quickly gets gets off on the wrong foot and try it one of the more tragic figures in the Bible really and there we could have been talking about the son of Saul instead of the son of David I mean theoretically we know God foreknew Jesus coming through David and predestined that but God would have given him a lasting dynasty if he had obeyed if he had honored the Lord instead God gave it to David all in the foreknowledge and plan of God but still very tragic figure all right let's see here Matthew baptism of the dead first Corinthians 15 29 wondering what it means and waves you've seen it quote applied in churches for good or bad well the only ones that really quote apply this are Mormons and I believe they apply it quite wrongly the problem is this is the only reference we have to it in the New Testament and scholars debate the actual meaning of it there's one possibility someone unlikely but possible that the Corinthians were actually baptizing people in the name of dead relatives and things like that or on behalf of dead relatives as Mormons do and even though Paul thought it was a wrong practice he was saying look you're doing this and yet you deny the resurrection of the dead why on earth are you doing this what's your purpose in doing this you deny the resurrection of the dead and yet you're baptizing on behalf of the dead why if the dead are not going to live again so even though it was a wrong practice Paul was using it to rebuke them for their lack of belief in the resurrection of the dead it's possible but it's problematic because you think Paul would correct it on the spot and say but of course that's a wrong practice there are various interpretations that have been given some think that it was in memory of martyrs some tied in with a Jewish purification right we simply don't know for sure so I don't know what a right application would be I can say with certainty that the Mormon application is wrong that the Mormon application that you can somehow be baptized on behalf of dead relatives or in a vicarious way on their behalf we'd all love that thought right it's a lovely thought it's a beautiful thought it's a redemptive thought that we could do something that would now quote save or redeem a loved one that died outside of the Lord of course it's just absolutely contrary to the whole testimony of scripture and as we often know that it's we're reminded in Hebrews 927 that it's appointed to men once to die and after this the judgment there's no redemption after death so whatever the practice was that Paul was referring to we really don't know for sure except to say it's not what Mormons are doing because that's contrary to the rest of scripture and nowhere in the New Testament does it say this is something we should be doing therefore it's just a question mark that we have and nothing beyond that alright let's see Matthew Matthew 24 34 the word generation is there a better option so Jesus saying there in Matthew 24 34 that this generation will not pass away until all these things are fulfilled Dr. Gary DeMar whom I've debated about this is very strong saying a mountain a mountain of scholarly evidence shows that all of Matthew 24 was fulfilled with the destruction of the temple in 70 AD of course I categorically reject that argument and say there's a mountain of scholarly evidence against that more importantly the plain reading of the text is against it because the disciples were asking him in Matthew 24 3 what will be when will these things happen when will the temple be destroyed and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age in their mind it was all going to happen at the same time so he answers the question about the destruction of the temple and his coming at the end of the age he answers them all together so these are these are woven together as one with some things having application to that first generation with the destruction of the temple in the year 70 and other things having application to his return at the end of the age and he's already told us in Matthew 13 that the end of the age that same Greek phrase which is found three times in Matthew he's told us in Matthew 13 the end of the age is a harvest and good and bad are brought in that's not the destruction of the temple in your 70 some of this description that is the harvest of souls at the end of the age more importantly at the end of Matthew 28 he says I'm and behold I'm with you always to the end of the age now when Dr. DeMar and I discuss that he said right this is the way to understand it I'm with you always comma even to the end of the age meaning I'm with you always and even up through the destruction of the temple which of course makes no sense in terms in terms of with you always even up to the destruction of the temple right and that word now has no meaning for any of any of us after this no there is and I didn't catch this when we were doing because I didn't have the Greek memorized in my head there's no comma there with even it is I'm with you always to the end of the age so in unless you're going to take this glorious beautiful precious promise that Jesus has given his ecclesia his body his family his church and say that he's not with us always as we go into all the world and make disciples that that promise is not there that he was just telling his disciples I'm with you always until the destruction of the temple no no no that is you talk about a mountain of evidence against that position there is a massive mountain of evidence that recognizes this is a word to believers for all generations until he returns the end of the age so we know that Matthew 24 is not just talking about the destruction of the temple it is also talking about what happens at the end of the age not the end of the age of sacrifice the end of the temple no no the end of the age when he returns and sets up his physical kingdom here on this earth all right so what do we do then with Matthew 24 34 that all these things will happen this generation will not pass away till all these things will happen some try to argue that the word generation there just means race and it's saying that this race the Jewish people will not pass away until all these things are fulfilled it's possible but I put it I put it way down on the list I don't think that's what it's talking about there it's not the most natural reading of that text others would argue this generation is used throughout Matthew to speak yes of the contemporary generation but meaning this generation of wickedness this generation of rebellion and that this generation of rebellion in other words this kind of people that the world in rebellion that that will not pass away until everything is fulfilled that's another way to read it that's more plausible than to say it means this race another argument would be that there is a two-fold application there just like in passages like Ezekiel 36 which referred to the children of Israel coming out of Babylonian exile 2,500 plus years ago and then the children of Israel coming back to to the land of Israel today you have numerous passages that that overlap and are woven together like that in the Old Testament we'll have the first coming and the second coming back to back as if it's just one event and then you realize there's at least 2,000 years between those two events so another way to read the text is that that which he's speaking about in terms of the destruction of the temple this generation alive here that sees these things will not pass away until all this happens you see this beginning to happen you're gonna live to see the temple destroyed and then the secondary application that this generation that sees all these things happening at the end of the age those parts of Matthew 24 that have to do with the second coming they will not pass away that generation will not pass away until you see the rest so you lived in 70 AD or up to that time you see these things getting close you see the Roman armies approaching you see the abomination of desolation time to flee you know you're gonna see this temple come down you're living at the end of the age you see these final signs and a final abomination of desolation and the imminent signs of the Lord's return you know you're gonna see him return that's another possible way to read the text so either way there are so many things in Matthew 24 that clearly have not yet come to pass that you cannot apply at all to the year 70 and then you end up applying all kinds of other passages to the year 70 and almost leave nothing in terms of future return of Jesus and future resurrection and make set the destruction of the temple in the year 70 is if it was important for the Gentile nations as well the fact is it was a momentous event but not nearly on any level a fraction of the momentous event that we're waiting for the return of Jesus in the clouds for every eye to see that will be caught up to meet him and descend together with him as he establishes his kingdom on the earth all right we've got one more segment we will be right back chronic inflammation is the greatest health threat to humanity infections injuries toxins poor diet and chronic stress can attack your immune system and lead to chronic inflammation but now there's a solution you can fight this dangerous silent killer with nopalea made from the super fruit of the Nepal cactus containing a unique group of bioflavonoids clinically shown to reduce chronic inflammation in a random double-blind placebo-controlled study it showed a reduction of elevated at-risk c-reactive protein levels resulting in an improvement in range of motion in the back neck and joints and an overall improvement in the quality of life nopalea has helped thousands of people by lowering levels of chronic inflammation so call now 800-811-9628 or go to triveda.com use the promo code brown25 for 25% off your first order and triveda will give a substantial portion of your order to help support the line of fire radio broadcast or call 800-811-9628 let's hear what customers are saying a couple months ago i discovered nopalea and i started taking it every day like they suggested and i started to have more movement and not feel the same stiffness it keeps me going i don't have to take days off anymore i don't have to wear the brace around my back i love nopalea because i can go out and run with a girl that's half my age and still stay stride for stride with her and my joints and my knees aren't bothering is fantastic call now 800-811-9628 or go to triveda.com use the promo code brown25 for 25% off your first order or call 800-811-9628 that's 800-811-9628 it's the line of fire with your host dr michael brown get on the line of fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH here again is dr michael brown thanks for joining us on the line of fire and thanks to our sponsor triveda helping to bring this broadcast to you and helping us spread the line of fire around the nation if you haven't checked out the supplements great way to be a blessing in your own life as well as to be a blessing to many others who will hear the broadcast through triveda sponsorship so go to triveda.com use the code brown25 triveda.com brown25 to get you 25% off and that'll also let the folks know triveda that 100% of your first order will be donated to the line of fire to help our radio expansion so thanks for standing with us and hopefully you're benefiting from these wellness products as well so david asked what are you doing in london dr brown i cannot give out the address for where the debate is going to be it's going to be at a university in london uh perhaps just because of publicity things or we're getting out in public we were just told by the university that we can get out the information privately so if you live in london and would love to attend the debate i would love to see you there at this particular university just write to us at info so info at ask dr brown dot org info at ask dr brown dot org this is going to be monday night march 20th and just say that you're interested in attending the debate and then we'll send you the address privately so that's how we have to do it saturday we'll be at a church in london with a messianic conference some great speakers there and then sunday and manchester so all that the saturday sunday info is on our website as director brown dot org if you have our app as director brown ministries also you just click there on itinerary you can find out wherever we're going to be best of all if you just sign up for our emails whenever i'm coming your way anywhere in the world we will send you a note so that you'll know where the meetings are and how to meet us there all right so make sure you sign up for our emails askdrbrown.org askdrbrown.org do that today so we can stay in touch with you um let's see fred in acts 21 paul offers a purification sacrifice will there be sacrifices offered in the millennial kingdom would there be a case for jewish believers to offer them now or for third temple were built uh i think the most recent time that i offered answered the question about sacrifices in the millennial kingdom was this past thursday or friday so just check our broadcast from last week i do believe there'll be sacrifices in the millennial kingdom either looking back to what yeshua did on the cross or just functioning more for outward purification whereas reconciliation and forgiveness comes through what was done on the cross but would there be a case for jewish believers offering up sacrifices if a third temple were built i do not believe so i could not see myself doing that now in this age especially participating with those who would think that those sacrifices had a certain efficacy that they didn't have and those who had rejected the messiah now going ahead with this third temple as if this was a sign of the of a different messiah traditional jewish messiah of being revealed as opposed to jesus the messiah you say well paul did it paul did it before the temple was destroyed i do believe there's a distinction and in this age until yeshua returns no uh there'd be no place for sacrifices or offerings and if there are sacrifices for offerings in in the millennial kingdom they will have a different function so i i've read cases where people said yes we should be praying for the rebuilding of the third temple not just because it ushers in the messiah but also because it's important no i i don't believe that at all personally i do not believe that the building of the third temple is something that would be of significance to believers other than its prophetic significance and what it means for the jewish people at large and in terms of praying for their eyes to be opened all right um let's see elizabeth for trump this is a serious question i've also i've always wondered how it is that the demons don't use our passwords credentials against us obviously god has said that it's a limit on their power but i'm still curious how that works it's interesting question all right so number one demons are not human beings in other words demons are not getting online and typing in passwords right demon demons are not trying to use steal our identity and use our credit cards to buy things so we're talking a very different realm to start that there's the natural realm and the spiritual realm and they're not operating in that natural realm they can affect the natural realm you could be attacked physically have physical sickness because of demonic assault or things like that but this is not a matter of of uh demons intersecting on that level with human beings right so that's that's the first and most obvious answer that they're not getting online and using passwords and things like that or credentials to steal our identity that's one two yes of course there are limitations on what satan can do i believe that any of us could be taken out by the enemy in one way or another if he had absolute power to do whatever he wanted to do or authority to do whatever he wanted to do that he knows our weaknesses and and he could come in an overwhelming way that would be too difficult for us to resist at a given time that's why first corinthians 10 13 tells us that we won't be tested we're tempted above our strength but god will make a way of escape for us so there are limitations on what the enemy can do we can obviously open the door to him more but even if we open the door to him it's not like oh now he's got my passport information so he's gonna masquerade as me no because they're not human beings so we're talking apples and oranges in that regard although for sure god does limit what satan can and cannot do um okay daniel i heard dr white mention james white my buddy that there is some debate if paul invented the term arson or coita or asana coitus he mentioned that he may have gotten the term from a jewish document this was during a video conversation with brandon robertson right so first corinthians 6 verse 10 excuse me verse 9 uses two greek words one of them malakos and the plural malachi having to do with being soft effeminate in this context clearly having to do with what would be called the passive partner in the homosexual sexual act between men the so-called bottom so there there are roles that are played a man that looks effeminate or tries to act a certain way so as to seduce other men so the words used together that and then the plural arson coita that uh indisputably refer to homosexual practice the fact that the nrsv tries to water it down is is completely without any lexical contextual exegetical justification completely 100 it's simply a capitulation to the spirit of the age nothing nothing less than that so what does the term mean well it's it's literally lying with a man and it's taken from the septuagint the greek that's found in leviticus 18 22 and then more specifically leviticus 2013 we speak of a man lying with a man so where did the term come from it's used in later greek literature so after new testament times it's used in other settings but before new testament times there's no example of the word being used now you have similar form words of of a man lying with a man you have other things lying with so we can talk about other sexual acts that are sinful so our best understanding is that either paul himself coined the word and again it was it was in a way that's done in the greek language of putting these words together so it wouldn't have been the first time that something was joined together with lying with so lie a man lying with a man man lying with an animal man lying with his with a with his mother or whatever the things would be they could be joined together like that so either paul created the word which had a very clear meaning an indisputably clear meaning to those first hearing it based on the greek translation the substituent of leviticus 18 leviticus 20 either of those verses either he coined it or it was coined by another jewish writer before the time of paul or during the time of paul and he borrowed it so that's the best understanding it clearly has a greek jewish origin it clearly comes into use for the first time documented in the writings of paul there and then again in first timothy the first chapter so that's what dr white said is what other scholars say as well they do the paul coined it or another jewish writer in his day or shortly before him coined it but his is the first specific reference we have and then references to it in the years and centuries that follow uh all right let's just see here what i can answer quickly let's try this one from nick is it possible that we're reading kateko and kate kong wrong in second thessalonians 2 speaking of the one that restrains instead of restraining couldn't this be a reference to satan holding fast to his position in the heavenlies then being expelled in the midst of the 70th week following revelation 12 nick that's an interesting reading but really it's it's not what the greek is saying there's something restraining this man of sin there's something restraining lawlessness satan who is the epitome of the man of lawlessness who is the one who empowers the man of lawlessness is not holding back the revealing of the man of lawlessness so it's an interesting reading but it really doesn't fit with what the greek says which is some type of restraining force that is holding back the evil that is holding back the lawlessness whether it was roman government law and order or the the emperor that had as much as the emperor himself could be full of sin and corruption he still had a stabilizing role or the roman government or just law and order in general over society you know when that's taken out then chaos can break the dispensational pretrib reading says that it's the holy spirit in the church and when the church is taken out then the restraint is gone for many reasons i reject that reading but the spirit of it the mentality behind it that there's something positive or right that is restraining holding back the final onslaught of evil at the end of the age that that is a right reading of the text so as interesting as your interpretation is it's not one that i would look to there are many many different interpretations there but that's not one that i would put on my list personally simply because of the meaning of the words hey thank you for the questions thank you for all the great twitter questions and remember keep me in prayer and eager to give you updates on what happens on our landing trip this is another program powered by the truth network