Matt Slick Live

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network. It's Matt Slick Live. Matt is the founder and president of the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry, found online at Carm.org. When you have questions about Bible doctrines, turn to Matt Slick Live for answers, taking your calls and responding to your questions at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick.

Hey everybody, welcome to the show. It's me, Matt Slick, and you're listening to Matt Slick Live. If you want to give me a call, it's easy. All you have to do is dial 8772-07-2276. I want to hear from him to give me a call.

I'm in my office here doing this and checking all the wires and everything. It should be good. All right, you can watch if you are interested. You can check out the show on. On Rumble andor YouTube.

Just go to either one and type in Matt Slick Live, all one word, and you should be able to watch it there. And uh yesterday I tried something. I um I'm trying EV Mox. And I went in. And sent a uh a vid video, a live video to X Uh Facebook And YouTube to try and see if there's a way to get more and more people to come in, listen, learn, and things like that.

And I'll tell you, it didn't work very well. Not many people really came in, and nobody really had any discussions or anything to say at the time. But hey, you know, we try, we learn, and I'll be trying it again, trying to get people to. Commit and teach, because that's the whole goal. That's what I want to do, is teach and inform people about the truth of who Jesus is and what the truth of the faith is.

Because a lot of people don't know the Christian faith very well sometimes, and we need to do what we can to at least I'm trying, you know. we can to uh get the f the uh the truth out there. All right, let's get to Jamal from North Carolina. Jamal, welcome, buddy. You're on the air.

Brother Slick, how are you doing today, sir? Doing all right, man. Hey, I hope you're gonna show up at the The conference I'm going to be at in a week and a half.

Next week. God willing, I will be there with bells on.

Well, good.

Now you gotta come up and say, hey, man, it's me, Jamal from the radio. And then we'll give you a hug or something like that, or, you know, whatever. You may back away because once you see me in person, you may go, but we'll see. I was going to say the same thing. I was like, you might not want me to fail the guy from the radio once you see me.

I might just be too much for you because. I can talk your ear off, man.

So, oh, okay, Jamal, I hear you. Go 50 feet now. Thank you for your participation. That doesn't help you. We gotta let some other people talk.

I'm sure we'll get along fine. It'd be good. Oh, that sounds good.

Sounds good.

Well, let me get right into it because I'm already starting to talk too much. Wanted to um Talk about biblical authority, and I have a follow-up behind the question. Um What gives somebody biblical authority, a pastor or a teacher? Um Who's to say that this guy can do what he does? All right, generally speaking.

What we want to understand is there's what's called the internal and external call of an individual into ministry. The internal call is the work of the Spirit upon him, guiding him, moving him in towards this direction. The external call is the body of Christ recognizing that such a person seems to have that calling, that function, that gifting.

So, the internal, external. Once both of those are in place, we have an individual. Who then serves in ministry?

Now, by definition, when you go to 1 Timothy 5:17. The elder is uh a pastor's an elder. And so the elders who ruled well are considered worthy of double honor.

So they rule in the church and therefore they have authority simply because of that.

Okay.

Okay, all right.

Sounds good.

I have not heard that. external internal call before, but that uh makes a lot of sense. One of the reasons why I asked that question, and here's my follow-up. Um referencing the guy that's called twice. Uh just does not want to seem to submit to biblical authority.

Meaning, what you tell him was in the Bible, and he wants to try to truth that saying this is what Matt Slick says. and you quote him the scripture and he still does not want to take it. And for anybody else that's listening, This is the problem with so many denominations, so many false teachers who don't want to look at the scripture, sola scriptura. and want to have their own interpretations. Um, and one of the guys' reasonings was Well, Paul was just another human being.

But you yourself said, Well, Jesus validated Paul, so to speak, and then you would ask other people. I've heard this argument before as well: well, Jesus himself. was just a regular guy.

So why should we follow Jesus? I think that's one of the Jehovah's Witnesses, uh, you know, uh belief beliefs right there.

So when we get away from the scripture and what it says, pure and simple, when we don't deify, sorry, when we don't put Jesus as a deity, you have all these problems and denominations of false teachers that you have out here. Uh, just wanted to see if you um you know sign off for that or am I totally off the left field?

Well, everything except for one phrase, you see, Jesus is a deity.

So he's not a deity, he's God in flesh. And you don't mean he's a separate God. That doesn't concern.

So if I say yes, and then someone says, Matt said yes, this is what this guy said. He called Jesus a deity. That means he. You know, I got to be careful because people. People look for anything I can they can find Where I do something wrong.

And like a guy, I called some guy an obstreperous twit, and he says, I'm therefore not a Christian because I said that to him. They make videos, you know. See what he said? He's not Christian.

So, anyway, yeah, there are different things that you said and different levels of response that we can give to various things.

So you said a lot of things. And you're on the right track, man. You're on the right track.

So I'll just thank you. Give me a high five.

Alright.

So Yeah. That that was pretty much it. Um 'Cause uh the the the the false teaching and not respecting the Bible I I I just wanted to be one of the guys that uh when I say no It is so scripture or the the Bible is uh what it is. I forget the scripture that says not one jot or tickle would be changed, you know, for from this book, from the Bible. And that's also saying that, hey, the Bible is worth following.

I'll say this one last thing and I'll sorry two more things and I'll let you go. I was with Stu today. And hopefully I'll be getting trouble by by saying this. Oh, we went down to A prison. A shut down prison.

And there's this organization called Break the Cycle. and they have a movie that's coming out that's not our already ours. And this guy by the name of Cyril He wants to address fatherlessness. And he's been in much of Rainman band. And He saw how fatherlessness was hurting so many people.

You know, guys in prison and being the you know, people uh who had kids. Uh that we're in. Uh the the kids whose parents were in were in prison. Right. And Those kids who have parents in prison, from what he was saying, are 80% likely themselves to go to prison.

He said, I want to break this cycle. And we went down there to the facility. He wants to give you guys jobs. This is a Christ-centered movement right here. People are pouring into his ministry.

He's seeing a lot of people come to Christ. He's seeing a lot of chains being broken. People leaving prisons. And prison's being shut down because of his effectiveness. And a lot of kids are not following the same pattern as their.

as their as their parents.

So just to give a shout out, thank you, Stu. Thank you, Andy Barrel-Sachs with Energize Ministries for allowing me to go and see this. This is a powerful movement. And this guy's doing a lot of good things. And we got to jump on this.

We got to help this guy break the cycle. Uh one last game and I'll get off here. This is my last last name.

So Oh, well, thank you. Appreciate that. Support matchlet, guys. Uh we talked about Metflick on the way back 'cause we were talking about doctrine and You know, him coming down to North Carolina. We're all excited.

We wanna do something for you. We appreciate what you do. You're one of the guys out there that's talking about true doctrine. And you can argue on many different points. Support Matt Slick, increase his ministry.

Let other people get on board and hear what he's doing as well. He's only asking $5 a month. If this cheap guy on the radio that talks to you guys, this cheap guy can do it. Anybody can do five bucks a month, help them stay on the radio, help them uh spread his mystery out. Um and thank you.

And I appreciate your brother Slick. And hopefully, I'll see you. Take care, God bless. Yeah, hope to see you. Yeah, it'd be great.

Well, appreciate it, brother. Wow, that's good stuff. Yeah. All right. Yeah, I really do hope to meet Jamal.

He'd be great. I'd love to meet people that I talk to over the radio and stuff like that. It's really an awesome thing. And by the way, I have met Stu on more than one occasion. And one of the impressions I have about Stu is his desire to further the kingdom of God.

And I'm serious. I don't know if he's listening, but that's what I think about him. I think he's a man who wants to further the kingdom of God. And we've had discussions about the radio show that I do. And how do I say this politely?

There have been. I'm gonna say this a strategic way. He has me on. For reasons of principle, let's just put it that way, good reasons, and that's what he's interested in. And so, praise God for Stu.

He's a good guy. And anyway, and you can, you know what? I'm going to say this: you can also support the radio, Truth Network Radio. You can support them. You know, and there are ways to do that.

The Truth Network. Go there and support. Just give them. And give some support, we could all use it anyway. All right, let's get to uh Kit from North Carolina.

Kit, welcome. You are on the air. I ain't done today, Matt. Doing all right by God's grace. Great grace, that is, hanging in there.

What do you got, man?

Alrighty. Um I want to reedify what you were just saying a while ago about Jesus what not d deote? That is considered as a deal because that is not his original name. And we know this. Jesus is considered as Latin and Greek, which means that cannot be his original name, so that's considered as a deity.

His name has been changed Numerous times. His jays just came out 400 years ago, which means that cannot be his name. which comes from the word Zeus, which is out of a pagan god from Roman Greek.

So that's considered as a DOT.

Well, let me correct you. No, it didn't come from Zeus. I've heard this argument before.

So, you know what my name is, right? Do you know what my name is? Right. You're Matt Slick, which is Slick? Yeah, that's right.

Slick's my real n last name.

Now, uh, my my first name, my birth first name, my mom and dad gave me is Matthew.

So, Matthew, so that's my name.

Now, when I'm speaking Spanish to somebody and they ask me my name, I say Mateo. Is it And That's my name in in Spanish, in Espanol, okay? Could have been Spanish, and my name was Mateo.

So I say, when I'm talking to people in Spanish, my name's Mana. Mateo. Does that mean it's not my name? Because it's not the same pronunciation. Are you there?

If it's the same origin, it's need it's got to be the same origin. That name and the the the Savior's name are not the same origin.

So so uh then uh the word for Matthew in uh Greek, New Testament, is Matthias. Mateus and then Spaniel is Mateo in English is Matthew. Matu in French.

So is the pronunciation that which makes a name true? Yes, sir. What's his original name in Hebrew? No, no, no, I didn't ask that. I said, does the pronunciation of a name make it true or not true?

Because if someone calls me Matthew, I'll answer to it. Yeah, that's that's my name. In Spanish, I'll answer it. Not a problem.

So, should I say no? That's not the true name.

Well, the way my name is in English is Matthew. That's how it's given, that's the original.

So, if someone called me Mateo in Spanish, am I not supposed to answer? Hold on, we got a break, okay, buddy? Hold on. We'll deal with this some more. Hey, folks, we're right back after these messages.

Please stay tuned. We'll be right back. It's Matt Slick Live, taking a call at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. Alright, everyone, welcome back to the show.

If you want to give me a call, all you got to do is dial 8772. Two zero seven two two seven six. Let's get back to. Let's see. Kit from North Carolina.

Welcome. Are you still there? Oh, yes, I'm still here. Yeah. All right, so uh Let me ask you, uh do you believe that you have to pronounce the name of Jesus properly in order to be a true Christian?

We know this is pagan. The Bibles have even been edited. Those are not the original Bible. The Bible has been changed to Castamacium. I mean, come on, we need to stop these lies.

all these shows and all these programs, but you don't get lies out here day by day.

Well, let me ask you: do you have any evidence that the Bible's been altered that much and stuff? Do you have any evidence for that? Yes, sir. Yeah. I did the research, so yes, I've traveled the world.

I've been baptized. Jesus came out 400 years ago. No such word as Jesus and Christ, God, and Lord. Those are titles. Told us what remains in those positions, which I'm not going to stand up but tell us who.

It says in Matthew 1:21, in the Greek New Testament, it says, You shall call his name Jesus. In Greek, it's pronounced iesus. That's how it's pronounced. And we're told in the Greek New Testament.

So that's where it says. You look up the origin of that name, sir. That name is from Africa. That's Roman Greek name. It's a great thing.

Okay.

So here's a question. Yes, but it's a hug. We just small run. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Let me ask you a question here.

Why is it that the Greek New Testament says that Why is it Greek New Testament? Why does it say his name's Jesus, Jesus? Why does it do that? It's false. We know all this stuff was about they used the Barbers for control.

They came over and changed their Barbers out. The Babas have been changed through Counts of Nazi. Come on now, talk to me. You're not talking to a novice. I've traveled the world and got knowledge.

All these ignorant folks calling in talking stuff. I mean, come on, let's be for real. They need to stand up, man.

Okay, okay, hold on, hold on. You're just saying stuff.

So you've traveled. That's good. I have two. And so the Bible is not trustworthy at all? What's our boats are even missing?

We know the books have been there. That was created by the Massal at Lodge. That's the Massachusetts. Massachusetts Lodge is the one running these churches.

So their book's missing, and you said it was written to control people? Yeah, we know what a baba wooden for. Came in there, a white Jesus, white. There's no such thing as a white Jesus. There's no such.

The name's been changed. That the title inside all these antibiotics edited. Who who Did all this in order to control people? Do you have? I mean, I'm just curious about that.

Council of Narceo. The Council of Nicaea could not have done that. It could not have done that. No, hold on, hold on. The Council of Nicaea, I've been to Nicaea.

I've been there, I've been in the with the building, one of the buildings of the where when the Second Nicaea occurred. It's not big enough to hold enough people to go out all over the Mediterranean area, find all the Greek manuscripts and alter them.

Okay.

Are you a Christian? Yeah, of course I'm a Christian. The Christians are liars. Christians are liars? Yes, sir.

Reading the Bible, Christians are liars. Yes, sir. Okay.

Christians are Catholics and Christians. Which means it lied. No. No, uh Catholics are not true Christians if they believe official cul Catholic theology. But I will say this about Catholics: they don't practice lying.

That's not what they teach. They don't teach that. I don't teach it either.

Okay.

Why not? Everything that teaches nothing but lies. Why there has so much permascity going on in these churches? Liars, all that's going up in them churches. Gays and lesbians.

What do you see? It's coming out. Yeah, there's a lot of bad stuff.

So the Bible's not trustworthy. Is that what you're saying? Bananas, sir. The Bible has been edited. Lord and God is not even a name.

The name of the. Let's even look at it this. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run to it. They'll say, just look at that right there.

We'll see.

Okay, let me ask you. We're doing it at the same time. Let me ask you. Let me ask you. So the word Yesus or Jesus' name in Greek occurs over 900 times in the New Testament.

the Greek word yesus.

So you're saying all the manuscripts of the Greek New Testament, all of them have been altered, the Greek, all over the place, Mediterranean? All of them? to put the false name in.

Okay, good. You know, sort of the Bible should be saying and baptized in the name of the Father, Son, the Holy Ruart. What's the name of the Father being in? There is no name of the Father, it's the name of God, the Trinity, which is Yahweh.

So, do you believe in the Trinity? Do you believe in the Trinity? Just curious. You know, something trinity. Man is one.

Hello, he is. He's one. He's one and all. The Father and the Holy Rule are all. All right.

Is Jesus God in flesh? Is Jesus God in flesh? Ain't no such thing, no Jesus. Jesus ain't paying no price. If you go to Jesus and you get your degree, that's plagiarism.

Is Jesus God in flesh? Just curious. Ain't no such thing as Jesus but it's Yahushua.

Okay.

He is the favour of the world, no other than All right, well, we're going to, you know, I appreciate your input. I appreciate your input. But I will say this, that you've been greatly deceived by a lot of false teachers out there. You don't know the issue of the does not understand textual criticism, does not understand how the New Testament was arrived at, and is just making a lot of mistakes. And you know, and I've encountered people like that before, and they I don't know what I just I'm not sure what happens in that they believe all this stuff.

It's it's just not factually based. and is not coherent.

So, anyway, having said that, let's just move along to Oscar from New York. Oscar, welcome. You're on the air. Yes, sir. Thank you.

I have a question I'm trying to Tell them figure out. If Jesus died for all our sins, Why do people have to go to hell?

Well, that's a great question. See how The reformed people would say this: he did not bear the sin of everybody who ever lived, but only of the elect. And therefore, that would make sense because then, if Jesus only bore the ones, sins of the ones given to him by the Father. Then the others still are in their sins, and so they will have judgment upon them and they will go to hell.

Okay.

So Jesus didn't die for everybody then.

Well, I personally don't believe he did, even though people like to say that. They'll quote John 3:16, God's loved the world. And they say the word world means every individual. And I'll say, How do you know that? You know, because it means the word world, and then they interpret it to mean every individual.

When you go to 1 Samuel 3:14, God is speaking, and he says, I've sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for. by sacrifice or offering forever. Oh, okay. I just saw something in Matthew chapter 1, verse 21. Sure.

It has for the sense of his people. Yeah, it says he will save his people from their sins, yes. Yeah. Hold on, we got a break, okay? Can you hold on, brother?

We'll talk a little more about that. Sure. We'll get back to Oscar from New York in a little bit. We're just going through atonement theories, basically, worth discussing. If you want to stay tuned, please do.

And you might be surprised. what the Bible actually says about this. Please stay tuned. Be right back. It's Matt Slick Live, taking your call at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick. All right, everyone, welcome back to the show. Let's get back on with Oscar from New York. Oscar. You're on the side.

Okay.

So that's called reform theology, the position I gave you, which solves that problem. But then the counter, some people will say, well, he died for everybody, but you have to activate. The atoning work of Christ by your faith of receiving Him. Then you apply it to yourself when you believe. And that's a common position held by churches.

all over America, but it's very problematic. Because Jesus is a propitiatory sacrifice, and that is um Uh 1 John 2.2. And by definition a propitiation doesn't make forgiveness possible. It Uh it makes forgiveness accomplished. It makes the casting of the sindeth.

Done. When the high priest in the Old Testament would go in on uh on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. He would offer a sacrifice for the nation of Israel. And by the Priest doing it. Israel as a nation and everybody in that nation was propitiated.

That was it. It didn't depend on their faithfulness or their goodness or their, I'm going to appropriate the work of God to myself by my faith. That the kind of attitude was foreign to scripture. both Old and New Testament. It's a manufactured Um How to say this blonde hair, blue eye Caucasian surfer Jesus attitude.

Where people will say that I will apply by my wisdom, my believing, my choosing, I will apply and activate the atonement of Christ. And this is a false teaching. That's in a lot of churches. It doesn't mean they're not saved, but it's just not found in Scripture.

Okay.

So if we look at propitiation, then your question comes up. And if Jesus paid the, if he canceled the sin debt at the cross, as Colossians 2:14 says. If it's canceled, you can't go to hell if it's canceled for you because it doesn't exist anymore, it's gone.

Well, logic requires That if anybody goes to hell, then they've not been propitiated. Their sin that's not been removed. But again, people like to reduce the sovereignty of God. and elevate their own And it's humanist philosophy in the churches today. And then they'll say, yeah, no, you have to apply it to yourself by your wisdom, by your faith, by your choice, then you make it real to yourself.

And that's just not in the Bible. What happens when we believe is we're justified. Jesus cancelled the sin dead at the cross, first I mean Colossians 2:14. He bore our sin and his body on the cross, first Peter two twenty four. When we believe, that's when we're justified.

That's when the righteousness of God is reckoned to our account. That's Philippians 3.9. Romans 3.20, Romans 3.28, Romans 4.5, 5.1, Galatians 2.16.

Okay.

Okay, so it is Christ's faith that saves us, not our faith. No, we are justified by the faith that we have. This issue of Christ's faith or our faith is in the Greek. It's a question in Greek of Ephesians 2:8 and 9.

Now, God, so this issue, which faith? The faith of Christ?

Well, we could say both, but.

So we're justified by faith without the works of the law, Romans 3:28. The one who does not work, but believes, in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credit, is righteousness. Romans 4:5.

Now, God grants that we have faith. He grants that we have faith. Look at 1:29.

So God grants it to us, so it's His work that we believe in Jesus. That's exactly what Jesus said in John 6:29. This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent.

Well, he grants that we have faith. It's the work of God that we have faith, but we do the believing. And so we're justified.

Okay, okay.

Okay, so the believing. That's the key word. Yeah, we do the believing. Yeah, we actually do. We receive Christ, John 1:12.

And I read that, and a lot of people are surprised by what it actually says, John 1:12 and 13. As many as received him, that's what Christians do. We receive Christ and His sacrifice by faith. As many as received him to them he gave the right to become Children of God. They become children of God when they believe.

In that sense, okay? Even to those who believe in his name.

So believing in his name, which means believing in the work of person of who Christ is, who were born.

Now, it doesn't say born again, but it says born.

So, in the context of believing and receiving Christ, it makes sense to say it's born again that he's talking about, who are born not of. It says, yet born not of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.

So we're born again by God's will, which 1 Peter 1:3 says He has caused us to be born again.

So that's the work of God. Yes, it is. And I teach this to people, and a lot of people just resist it because they've been indoctrinated into the idea. That the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian surfer Jesus died on the cross, bore everybody's sin everywhere all the time, and therefore it's just simply up to the person, the sinner's wisdom and ability to receive Christ and then activate the atoning work that then gets applied to them, and then they become saved. And that's just not in the Bible.

It's in the book of second hysterectomy. That's what I call it. That's what I say. In the middle of the Thank you very much. Thank you.

You're welcome. All right, please.

Okay, God bless.

Okay.

All right. Let's get to Craig from Virginia. Craig, welcome. You're on the air. Hey, man.

Hey, Matt, how you doing? I'm doing all right. Where are you at? I can't remember. I'm in Idaho.

Oh, okay. Yeah, I just moved back here from California to take care of my mom. But anyway, I was hoping to give your moderator my question and then hang up. But two quick questions. I think it's Revelation 6:10.

Um What state of mind are these people in that they're saying, how long, O Lord? Like, are they anxious? Are they enjoying the joy of the Lord? Or, you know, are they like in a room like the DMV? Or are they at like a posh resort?

Or you know anything about their situation? And then the second question. Hold on, let's look at this first. Let's look at the first one. All right, go ahead.

It says, when the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, because of the testimony which they had maintained.

So we're talking figurative language here. underneath the altar. How do you see souls? And what does it mean to be under the altar? Because millions are slain.

So, how big is this altar?

So, this is figurative language, and it represents actuality. There's something really going on here, and it's the people who have died in the faith. and they're in heaven. And they are crying out with a loud voice, how long? Will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood?

And those who dwell on the earth, because they were killed unrighteously, and they're asking, How long are you going to stay your judgment upon them? On the wicked people. And that's all that's going on.

So, don't know about a location, and the attitude is: well, they're in the salvation sense, they're with the Lord. And they can ask questions, and they do. They ask how long will this continue.

So you could say they're a little anxious, whichever word you want to kind of apply to it is workable.

Okay.

Yeah, it's not like it's not like they're angry, maybe you're anxious, it's that they're, um Sincere, maybe, more something more like that, right? See, I don't like to put words on like that. I mean, me, I don't say they were anxious or angry.

Well, someone might call up and say, What was the percentage? How much were they angry? How many were angry? Was it all people, or were they mostly angry, partially angry? You get into stuff like this.

People ask me these kind of things and they want to, you know, stop me and and or try and stump a Matt slip. They'll say, I stumped you, you didn't know what the answer is. And I go. I go, would you grow up? You know, it sucks like this.

And so that's why I just say, well, it doesn't say. There's some concern. They were concerned and inquisitive. And that's generic enough, and leave it at that.

Okay.

Right. All right. Second question was what's your view on the Rapture? I believe that the rapture will occur after the tribulation. We're going to go through it.

What I teach is called deprescatology. I don't believe we're going to escape the tribulation. I don't see it taught in Scripture. Any place. I don't see a future 1,000-year reign wherever it is going to be nicey-weissy.

I don't see that in Scripture. I see the two-age model. And it's not the most popular view in America for obvious reasons. But I teach the two-age model and what happens at the end of this age. And at the end of the age the wicked are gathered, the judgment occurs, the new heavens, new earth are made.

So I um yeah and I've taught on this many times, and it's very compelling arguments that I have. Even people who don't agree say, yeah, it's very compelling, very interesting. stuff.

So you know Most reasonable friends that I have, we feel the same way that we're going to go through something here.

So But okay, that was it, I appreciate it. Yeah, I'm wrong. Yeah. I don't want to be right about it. Thanks for all you do.

God bless. You too, man. God bless. All right, hey folks, you have nobody waiting and the last segment of the hour is coming up. If you want to give me a call, all you got to do is dial 877-207-2276.

Be right back. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. Hey, everybody, welcome back to the show. If you want to give me a call, it is easy.

All you have to do is dial 877-207-2276. We have nobody waiting right now. And just working on during the break, I work on articles. I do, I work on articles. And a lot of times, what happens is the people will ask me questions, and I think they're good questions.

And I'll actually start an article during the break. I'll start typing stuff out, some answers, because my brain's thinking about it. And I've done this for years, and how many do I have that I've not finished? I'm looking at the bottom of the list. I have uh over nine hundred.

Over 900 questions. Man, there's so much to do.

So, hey, look, if you want to give me a call, the number is 877-207-2276.

So uh just to let you know that uh be out in um Built in uh oh uh North Carolina, man, I was thinking a couple different things. North Carolina is speaking on the 15th, 16th at the ministry to Muslims.com website meeting. They're having an East Coast conference there. They're having different speakers come in. I'll be one of four.

We'll have panel discussions. There's some really very competent people there. In all seriousness, when I get to these conferences, I know the group, I know the people there, and we meet every once a year, twice a year, sometimes depending. All of them who speak at ministry to Muslims, they all know Islam better than I do. And so I'm always intimidated.

I actually am a little bit intimidated when I get into the room with these guys because they just know stuff. And they really focus on Islam a lot more than I do. But, and I talked to the main guy, George, about this, and I said, You guys, you know, I mean, like George, he speaks Arabic. He runs a ministry to Muslims. He knows everything.

He can quote the Arabic, ignore these verses. He's awesome.

So I'll never be on that level. And there's a lot of great people out there who have some great stuff. But he says, I have the ability to apply biblical theology to the Islamic situation and teach people the comparisons and see how it is because I understand the Bible theological perspective.

So, well, that's what he says. And he's a nice guy to lower his standard to have me out there. George is awesome. And he's a great guy. And I'm going to tell you.

I don't know if he's listening. He might be even listening. I don't know. But I'm going to say something. I've met George several times.

We talk a lot over the phone. And um I haven't met that many humble people like him, in all seriousness, very humble. And once we were in Seattle. And It was a a Muslim festival of some sort. And so I went up there, I drove up there, and and witnessed with them.

And I I'm never going to forget this. It just Oh. Never gonna forget it.

So this this guy who speaks Arabic, who has forgotten more about Islam than I'll ever learn. can speak on multiple topics in Arabic. He's he's a great guy, loves the Lord Jesus and knows his doctrine. I remember we were walking from one place to another place and had literature in our hands to pass out and trying to witness to Muslims. And this woman.

was nearby and she was in a Hij hijab, you know, Muslim woman, and I watched him go over and talk to her and the humility and the patience that he showed with her. It was just It was so strong. I could see it. Never forgot that. You know, it's funny how you remember different things about different people.

And that's the one thing I remember about him the most. He's a very gracious guy. But anyway, he runs ministrytomuslims.com and ministry the word T-O, all one word, ministry to Muslims.com. You can go there, you can check it out. And he's going to have lunch there.

We're going to have a good time. I'll be probably speaking there around 7-ish. I don't know the exact time. I'm just going to meet him there and then the others for lunch. Or not lunch, but for dinner at 5:30.

And then we're going to go over to the venue and speak. And the next day, will be there as well. And I'll get more information on it. It's at what is the name of the church? Oh, I got the name of the church.

I actually found it. Oh, I know what to do. Hold on, I'll get to what it is right here. because it's in Cannapolis. in North Carolina, And um Here we go, where we go, there we go.

It'll be at Charity Baptist Church, and that's on Brant Lee Road in Kannapolis, North Carolina, 2420 Brant Lee. Charity Baptist Church, Charity Baptist Church. And that's what it'll be. You can check it out. You can go to ministry to Muslims.com and just plug in it.

And there you go. And I'll be in the area too.

So I'm going to stay an extra couple of days.

So, if you want me to come by and speak someplace, let me know. Or if anybody wants to just meet at a restaurant or something like that, someplace in the area, can meet a restaurant, be fun. You know, I like meeting people, and so it's a lot of fun. All right, let's get to Scott from Indiana. Scott, welcome.

You are on the air. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Hi.

Okay.

Go ahead. You have a question? Yeah, my question is do You ha to the state Is that the only way that you can be married in God's eyes? No. Okay.

Um The state does not give authority. To us um which has been given by God.

So the state is something we should submit to, because Romans thirteen says to submit to this the laws of the land. And and so when I perform a marriage ceremony, I tell the people You need to do what the Bible says and get a marriage license, etc. and be formally, you know, legally in that uh State sense done. But this, I tell them, the state is not what makes the marriage. uh legal or true.

That's not what it is. What makes a marriage legal and true is when a couple, male and female, not male and male, not female and female, a male and female exchange vows, usually before witnesses, where they commit to each other in a covenant pattern. And then, in that covenant agreement, you take this person to be your wife or your husband, and you promise to keep yourself to that person, to provide for that person, be with that person, certain boundaries and things like this. When I have a marriage ceremony, it's what I talk about with a couple. Before I go through the ceremony, I say this is where you're w this is where the marriage vows take place and that's what institutes marriage.

Okay.

So if the state is needed for marriage, then a couple or some people who crash landed on an island and there's no official minister or state government there and a couple wants to get married, they can get married by creating that covenant bond and agreement before the people there and stuff like that.

So, no, the state is not what's necessary, but you should submit to the state's requirements for marriage ceremony petitions and filings and things like that.

Okay?

Okay, so can two people just commit to each other? And is that considered married? Yes and no depending on the c context, okay?

So, if two people are in a living room and they just say, hey, just commit to each other, okay, fine, they're married.

Well, If we're in America, the rules are you're supposed to you know do this before uh a judge or people or witnesses and have some legality in it. And so it's a gray area to say what we need to submit to and what. Really, a covenant of marriage is. If a couple just It's really difficult, okay, because we can have a situation where a couple could be on an island, so to speak, and then they commit to each other in that sense.

Well, that restricted context, which is exceedingly rare, I would say that such a couple in that sense would be actually married. But I would not say that such a commitment to each other in a living room, in a city, in a state, in a country, is legitimized simply because they say it is. But on the other hand, the authority is not instituted by the state, but by God.

So this is it's a tough one to nail exactly.

So, um They should be married. There's some neighbors living together, and I met them and I said, Oh, you know, and I wasn't trying to preach at them or anything. I just met them and I said, Hey, you know, you ever want to get married? Let me know. I'm two doors down.

And, you know, I do marriages, and I smiled, and they chuckled. It was that kind of casual thing. And if they were to say to me that they wanted to get married formally, And they called me, or they came over to my house and said, Could you do that? I'd say, sure. You know, because I would do that, or unbelievers, I would do that so they wouldn't be sinning anymore, living together.

And I would say, well, let's get some witnesses. And you need to file with the state, and we'll do a ceremony. We can do the backyard in your living room, have your friends come over, and we'll do it. Not a problem.

You see, so the urging is that we comply with as much as possible as legally required. But that's not the authority I submit to, it's God's authority. All right. Cool. All right, thank you so much.

All right, brother. God bless. Thank you. Okay.

God bless you. All right. So uh yeah, I have done uh Marriages before. I've married couples at a park overlooking the ocean. uh at the backyard of a hotel.

On the porch Of a house. Um where else have I done it? In a hotel? Where will I have it? in a church in churches.

and things like that. Um So, yeah, and different reminiscing, you know, different marriages that I performed and. And there's different ways to do it too. I'm just thinking out loud. One of the ways I'll say to people, I'll say to the couple, I'll say, look, The con the people are gathered.

100 people, 200 people are gathered to watch you. I'll say a lot of times what they see is the preacher up there performing the ceremony. and the couple's back is to the con the people. And I say I say to some, I say, Just whatever you want to do is up to you. But what do you think about the idea of I put my back to them and you face them?

And people, I never thought of that.

Well, that's what we did once, I did that one time with a couple. And another time I was up on a higher level than the the couple was, and they kind of would stand and face each other at an angle.

so that other everybody could see them. And that was done. And one couple I did um we're friends with did a lot of marriage counseling. I do a lot of marriage counseling before marriages, uh normally speaking. And uh I was in uh a suit, you know, neck necktie the whole bit.

And for some reason, man those those The lights in the church, oh man, they were hot and uh.

So I am sitting there or standing there, and you got to stand. You got to be at attention. You got to be polite. You got to wait. We're standing for 20 minutes, and I broke out sweating so strong.

And the guy, you know, we're friends, and he goes, Just Matt, are you okay? And I said, wow. I said, man, it is hot up here just standing. And he says, yeah, it is hot. And so he actually went and got a friend, and they turned the air co-op and stuff like that.

Remember that? It was no big deal. But one of my favorite ones was uh Doing the, you could ask me about it sometimes, you can call up how we did a marriage ceremony with a Korean. Bride and a Chinese groom. It was either one or the other, I forgot which.

And that was fun behind a hotel. Yeah, it's nice. It's nice. I like to do the marriage and then, so to speak, disappear into the crowd because it's about them. And uh but mar doing marriages is fun.

Funerals oh, I don't like doing funerals. That's what you got to be so careful. And marriages too. But anyway, what a blessing. Just reminiscing.

There you go. There's the music. I'm out of time. May the Lord bless you by His grace. We'll be back on there tomorrow.

And Lord willing, we'll talk to you then.

So have a great evening, everyone. God bless. Bye. Another program powered by the Truth Network.