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.

Alright, everyone, welcome to the show. It's Friday. It is, let's see, March 20th, 2026. If. You feel like give me a call.

It's easy. All you got to do is dial 8772-07-2276. I want to hear from you. You can also send an email. That's easy.

Just address your email to info at carm.org info at C-A-R-M dot O-R-G. Put in a subject line, radio comment or radio question.

Sometime to get to them on the air. Mm-hmm. Lines are filling up. Let's get on with Adam from North Carolina. Adam, welcome.

You're on the air. Hey, Matt, thank you for taking my call. I appreciate you. Sure. Where do you got, buddy?

So, so I really have. I was hoping Friday would be kind of a dead day for you, and you could work through a couple of parables for me. But since you got the calls lining up, could you work through the prodigal son parable for me from Luke 15 and just walk me through that? What does it mean?

Okay, uh let me go through um I've got a thing on parables on karm. And I go through it and I'll just use it as a Prodigal Sun. I'll use it as a really quick reference.

So we have the issue of The Okay. We have two sons, and who do the two sons represent? One of them represents Israel, one of them represents the Gentiles. And what we have is the boy. He wants his uh He wants his um Inheritance.

Now, you did not ask for your inheritance. Because if you did, it meant you wanted your father dead, because you didn't get your inheritance until after the father died.

So it was a very serious issue.

So when he says a certain man had two sons, okay. He's wishing for his father's death. This is an insult. The father in the culture is expected to discipline him, maybe physically strike him, beat him, as is the eldest son. You are saying you want your inheritance now, you only get that after he's dead, you're saying you want him dead.

And so The father gave him the request. He divided his wealth among them, which is just. Incomprehensible in that culture. Why would you do that? You should discipline this child.

And here you are giving it to him. But what kind of a father are you? Not in that they're decrying him, they're just like in a normal cultural thing, you're not doing what's normal culturally.

So The boy left because he wanted to sell the land and do all his riches. But he couldn't sell it in the land of Israel because if he did, then the ride of redemption at the seventh year and the 49th year. then the land would come back to the original owner.

So, who's going to buy that land? Particularly in the culture at that time, knowing the son was showing disrespect to the father, then you participate in that by buying yeah, I'll buy your land from your father, then you're going against the father as well, and you'd be an outcast too.

So, he has to leave to go to the Gentiles.

So, right here, this is insult upon insult against the house and the community there in Israel. And in that condition, he loses everything and there's a famine. And then he goes to uh sort of unclean animals, swine. This is Deserving the people who listen to the parable would rightly say, Yeah, good for him.

Well, at that point, he deserves what he's getting, you know, to feed pigs. And it's just, oh, it's so reprehensible in the mind of the Jew. Here, it's like saying, Here, Jew, feed pigs. It's like saying that. Really?

Really bad. And he was in such bad shape, he was longing to fill the stomach with the pods and swine were eating on the same level as the pigs.

So He's now rejected by the people around him, even in the cultural, in the other culture.

So he's rejected the people of Israel. And he's re now he's rejected by the other people he went to. Here feed pigs. This guy has lost everything. And it says, but when he came to his senses, how many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread?

I'm dying here with hunger. His motivation now is poverty and physical discomfort. Servants were an honourable class back then. and he could live in the village. uh he wouldn't need to live under the same roof as as the eldest son.

And he could at least live. This is how bad off he is: to go back into his own country and face the humiliation, ridicule, and mockery of his people. That's how bad off he was. You have that. He says, I'll go to my father and I'll say to him, Father, I have sinned and gets heaven, and I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

So the goal we have to ask is your repentance? Because the goal seems to be a servant. Maybe he began to be fully repentant, we don't know. He got up, came to his father, but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. ran to him.

Men of stature did not run. That was a sign of immaturity. You were in control of your life. You strolled. you were in a hurry like children are.

Just the culture of the time. And yet he ran. Oh my goodness, the viewers. What are you doing? Where are you humbling yourself?

Where do you make yourself look bad? Just run to this horrible son of yours. This is just breaking all kinds of cultural norms when Jesus is teaching this. The Son should run to the Father, not the Father to the Son. And expectantly the father should take a cane or something and beat him.

Okay. The son said, verse 21: I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight I am no longer worthy to be called your son. No bargaining now at this point is offered. He admits his guilt at this point.

So it this looks like what he's probably repentant. And the father said to the slaves, Bring the robe, the sandals. etc. And the ring on his hand. The robe was a sign of dignity and honour.

The ring was a sign of authority, and shoes were the sign of him not being a servant, because servants were barefoot. Kill the fatted calf. The fatted calf? That's not just for a family, that's for the village. Celebration time.

And note the blood is shed. Kill the fatted calf. The son of mine was dead, he's come to life again. This is reminiscent of regeneration. We're dead in our trespasses and sins.

He's made us alive in Christ. Verse twenty five, the older son in the field heard the music This is another lost son, believe it or not. The prodigal son is lost, and the eldest son is also lost. But we look at The visuals, see how bad that one son is, the other one's good, but they're both lost. He summoned one of the servants 26.

What? I think I lost you somewhere. Could you go back a second? The other son is lost as well. I think I missed that point.

Yes, and I'll show you why. You've explained. Yes, okay.

So the older son became angry, was not willing to go in. He wasn't willing to join in the blessing and the grace upon the younger son. And then he addressed his father in verse 29. Look. For many years I've been serving yo.

It doesn't say my father. He says, look here. You know, my dad was 6'4. If I went to him and talked to him, I'm six feet. If I went and said, Look, let me tell you how it is.

You know, he could reach across the room with one arm and throw me out the window.

Okay. Well, this is even more so back then.

So, this is a sign of disrespect to the Father. The Father represents God. It's a disrespect against him. I've look how much I've done. Look how good I am.

You've never given me a kid.

So when he's addressing him, He's showing disrespect to him as well. his disrespect was hidden. the other son's disrespect was open.

Okay, and he complains. about the father and His son. He's complaining now. He's not saved. Because this is representative of Christ, the crucifixion, redemption.

When this son of yours came, who was devoured your wealth with harless, you killed a fatted calf for him.

So this other sum was really bad. Your life in the Greek is ton beyond. It means the life.

So he devoured your life, and then another life is given. for redemption, this life of the animal, which of course points to the crucifixion. He said, My child, you've always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. He's talking to the Jewish nation there. You've always been with me.

All of mine is yours, covenant. But we had to be married, and rejoice for your brother of yours was dead, he's begun to live, he was lost, and now he's been found. It says, We were dead in our trespasses and sinned, but now we're found. This is a parable of grace. The eldest son represents the Jews, the younger son represents the Gentiles.

The grace of God is for both. The self-righteous Jews, look, Father. Look what I've done. and you're going to be gracious to him over there. This is showing the hypocrisy of the Jews, and that's what's really going on, okay?

I don't think I've ever had it unpacked quite like that. It kind of really kind of blows my mind a little bit because we always think about in teaching the prodigal son, just it's a it's a parable of no matter how far you go from God, you can come back. There is so much more Absolutely. That? Oh my gosh.

I'm actually looking forward to a couple of days from now when this goes online and I can re-listen to this and take notes because. Uh wow. All right. Oh yeah. In fact, we have cars lined up.

But afterwards, what I'll do, one of my favorite parables deals with the woman who went in and And kissed Jesus' feet and wiped it with her hair at the Pharisees' house. That one. Oh. Wow.

So maybe I'll do that one if when we're out of calls, okay?

Well, I'll tell you that. I'm going to call back because I want to talk about the sower and Luke, and I'll let other callers come in, and I'll get the sower of the seed and Luke. Oh, okay. That was the next parable I wanted to run. But I don't want to take up other people's time.

You answered my first question, so I'll call back and get in queue for the next parable.

Okay, sounds good, buddy.

Okay. Well, God bless. Thanks, partner.

Okay, bye. Thank you. All right, hope that was interesting. If you want to give me a call, the number is 877-2072276. I mean, one hour.

That's my habit. I've been doing this for so long. Let's get on with Jermaine from California. Jermaine, welcome. You're on the air.

Oh, hey, Matt, I um Just wanted to ask about communion.

Okay. All right, let's speak up loud and clear.

Sorry, I don't get Laura's mad at me. That's the end of it. Yeah, just um I so the I've been to different churches over the years. Uh current church I go to, we do it once a month, a previous church day. They tend to do it weekly.

Is there really a wrong or a right in that situation? Because both of them justify it by By how they feel. And I'm for me it's just as special if it's once or twice or however many. Is there any recommendation of how you should exactly do it? Um You should do it generally it says as often as you come together.

So it seems to be a weekly recommendation, but it's not a requirement.

So you could do it weekly, you could do it monthly, you could do it in quarters. I think that the better thing it might help itself is to do it weekly. because it says as often as you come together, uh etcetera. Um That makes sense. But it's okay because it's not adamant.

Okay. Yes, it just seems people take different positions on it and Yeah, I don't uh I don't I'm not necessarily involved in any one particular side, but I had no problem with doing it every week at at the previous church I attended. But The current church, which preaches a lot more sound doctrine, they do it once and No one really says anything about, so I'm just curious. Yeah. Yeah, I remember a church I w I uh guest preached at in Santa Cruz.

Central California area. and they did church they did uh communion every week. And I really liked how they did it because it was really nice. The front rows had pews, and the front two sets of chairs of pews. with the center aisle and then aisles on the far left and right.

and so the front two long pews were always empty. for the service. Because of what they would do, which I'll tell you what they would do after the break.

Okay, so sorry about that. That's a break. Hold on, buddy. Folks, we'll be right back after these messages. Please stay tuned and hopefully.

We'll get some more stuff. We'll be right back. It's Matt Slick Live, taking a call at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick.

All right, welcome back to the show. Let's get back on with Jermaine. Are you still here, buddy?

So yeah.

Alright.

So, anyway, I'd just like to say how they did it because I could still visualize it. After the sermon was completed, the band would start playing, and they did it very reverently. It was very nice. And what would happen is the front pews were empty, and the second pew had family in it, or whoever. Their job was then to move up into the aisle and go sit on the empty pew.

And then the elders, this is what I like so much, the elders would give the communion elements to the father, who would then distribute them to the family. If there was no father present, and say the father was absent for whatever reason, or they weren't married, the elders would then give it to the mom and or the children. And then when they were done, because the elder would pray right with them, they would kneel with them and pray with them. Then the people would go back into this that pew that the pew, and then the third row would come and they would do the same thing: third, fourth, fifth, all the way back. And I thought it was wonderful.

I I just think it's a great way to do it. It's not real practical in a huge church. But The idea there was that they were doing it on a regular basis, and I thought it was really neat.

Okay. Yeah, that sounds really cool.

Now, do you think this is something that can be done? individually, like say you're you know, reading and just kind of feel led to have your own communion? Is that is that unorthodox? Um Okay. The first thing I do is think: is there any scriptural prohibition for that?

And there's no scriptural prohibition. The context is when you come together, implying a plurality of individuals. there and you uh then take the communion as a group. That's the norm. But nothing in scripture that I'm aware of says, well, you know, thou shalt not take it by yourself.

So we have people who are home. They're homebound for whatever reason. They can't get to a church. And they don't get to participate in communion normally in a In a church body context, I think elders should then go over and give them communion if that's possible, if there know of a church. But anyway, so we come down to your answer.

Is it possible then for someone to reverently do it on their own and I just have to say yes.

Okay. Normatively speaking, it should be in a body of Christ, but if the circumstances warrant it that you can't get there. and you haven't for a while, then I think that a proper Presentation of an individual who, in prayer, gets the elements and prays. And then partakes of them, I can't condemn it. I just don't see anything in Scripture that condemns it.

So Okay.

Okay. And just finally, does it have to be? 'Cause uh we we use nonalcoholic wine. I've been We've used grape juice, but I've seen some people claim that it should be just how it was done back in the day, and we need wine. I don't find that to be scriptful myself, but what would you have to say about that?

If they want it to be biblical, truly biblical, the literal way, then someone has to have a large loaf of bread. It's unleavened. I think it's unleavened there. And then they would break pieces off and hand it out.

So sometimes people say they want to be biblical, Hespy Wine, but they don't do the other way that it was done as. the cultural thing.

So now we have the issue in modern times of alcoholics.

So do Do we want to provide something that they can't have? They can't touch they can't touch alcohol. And now you say, sorry, you gotta have alcohol.

Now you're tempting them to stumble.

So that's why I would say that in a church you could say, here on this table is alcohol, on this table is grape juice. And you could do it that way. And you could even say we had a gallon of grape juice, and we put one dropper full. one dropper, one drop, of wine in it and mixed it in. And you could have that as an option to say, if you really want wine in there, but you don't want anything other than just a drop in there, that's doable.

I'm not saying we should all do that. I'm just saying there are. options. And I definitely would think wine and non-wine would be something worth giving if you're to have wine. But if you just do grape juice, then you don't have to worry about anything any more, and you're not tempting anybody.

So I think the fruit of the vine, which is grape juice, is admissible.

Okay. All right, yeah, that was a very thorough explanation of communion, and and yeah, I've been to churches that have done that as well, so. Yeah, I appreciate it, man. Thank you. Yeah, have a good weekend.

God bless you now. You too, brother. Come visit me here in Idaho sometime, Germaine. All right. Yeah, I'm praying I I really want to do that.

Sure, that'd be great, man. You always got a place here. All right, buddy. God bless. All right, and let's get to Cole from Georgia.

Cole, welcome. You're on the air. Yeah. How you doing now, Matt? I'm doing fine, Cole.

What do you got, buddy?

Okay, now, now, now, give me a give me a, you can get the, it won't take long. Um Now do you believe I got a couple of questions. How do you feel about The Ten Commandments in schools. I have no problem with them. I think it's a good idea.

Okay, uh now which one of the commandments Out of all ten, Does God say remember?

Okay, good, good, good answer.

Okay, now. If you're gonna put up the Ten Commandments in school, Wouldn't you have to obey it? Or all ten, you're telling your sending a message to Bay. the Ten Commandments, or you would have to put up nine commandments. Because you're it's it's a bit hyp hypocritical.

We're sending a Un uh a message that's not true. by putting up the ten and not honoring all ten. You're not forcing the children.

Well, you're not forcing the children to. No, no, hold on. They're not forcing the children to obey them. They're just the Ten Commandments as a representation of the authority of God and that they're good things for you to know. That's all it is.

It's not an admonition. No pastor's there telling you how to apply or anything like that, so it doesn't work, okay?

Okay, well. Oh, all right, I've got one more point.

Now, uh Another question about the Ten Commandments. which one of those Ten Commandments was before the law. Yeah, under God. No, and there's another one. The Sabbath, yeah.

Go ahead. The Sabbath.

Okay, and he says, remember, but everybody forgets it. Yeah. So, Mike, Mike, don't sing. Star and sing, Matt. Don't sing and hear me out.

You can go down that list. And you can't break Any of those. Except one, that they do Or break. They break they you can't break any of them. You go down that list and you Go down the list.

What? You can't not want. What? What you are? Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Do you have a question? Do you have a question? Critical. Do you have a question? My question.

Why can't you only one of the Ten Commandments? But I already answered you. I already answered you. No, what's your question? My question is.

If you don't believe in the Catholic faith, then why are you honoring what they honor? Oh my goodness. You were the ones that went to the woman. Don't leave it in the Catholic Church. That's way too broad.

And so you're not narrowing down the issues. We've got to go.

Okay, we're going to go. We'll get to Adam next from North Carolina. We'll be right back, folks, after these messages, please. Woo, stay tuned. It's Matt Slick Live, taking a call at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick.

All right, welcome back to the show. Then let's get back on with Adam from North Carolina. Adam, welcome, buddy. You're on. Oh my gosh.

Oh my gosh, Matt. That last caller. I don't know how you do it. I really don't. I have a super sarcastic sense of humor, and you've got a touch of that as well.

And you are so reserved. Oh, my goodness. You're brilliant. But oh my gosh, how do you hold it in?

Well, I I I hit the mute button while I'm chuckling. Not mocking. It's just I just think some of this stuff is hilarious. But uh he I've noticed with him that what he s tends tends to do is uh not dialoguing, but then just kind of overriding. And then when that occurs, then it's time to go.

So I've heard him a number of times. You know, it's funny. I actually, this is the first time I've actually listened to you live. That's second officially, but most of the time I get a replay on the Truth Network and I listen to you on the way to work and the way home. And it doesn't give me the chance to respond, but I hear all your callers and Oh my gosh.

Patience of Job, my friend. Patience of Job, you know. I don't know.

Some say, but at any rate, we'll see.

Okay. So, what do you got, baby? What's up? All right, so I wanted to go on to that second parable. Could we talk about Luke 8, 4?

and the sower and the seed.

Okay. Alright, and then Well, the thing is, he does it. Jesus already does that. We can go through some of it. But uh it's the It's a famous parable.

The sword went out to the seed. This is in Luke 8. He went out to sow his seed.

Some fell beside the road and was trampled underfoot.

So what they did, the method of seed sowing, was to take a handful of seed and throw it. And so it would suddenly go on different places on the path, on good soil, on bad soil, rocks, whatever, because you would just throw it out there. not like modern thing where you are more efficient and the seed goes in a certain location. And this was just normal how they did it.

So that's why it says That the birds of the air came up and ate it up because it wasn't buried. And so they're just talking about this. And the Palestinian or the issue of that area is it's very hot. The sun is very hot. The um The conditions are very difficult.

Now, I'm gonna get over here.

So No, but it Where do it go? Why did that do that? I didn't want to do that.

Something just happened in my computer.

So, uh So when it went into verse 6, It went onto the seed, under the area where the birds got it, ran open fields. Basically, it kind of represents a hardened heart. Where the word doesn't really take any root at all, it's just hard, hard and tart. That's one kind of person. And I've met, oh man, so many like that.

The rocky ground generally, we could say, represents. Delusion, the idea of just a quick mental ascent of something and not really heartfelt. The issue of the soil among the thorns, worries, pleasures, the things of the world that come in and destroy them. Jesus is saying, he'll tell us what it means later. But there's just some cultural aspects of it.

And there's not a whole bunch that really adds light to this, like there are in other parables. And so, but there is one something that's interesting is that. that the issue of saying is a hundredfold. That's that's not normal. Because when you throw the seed out, you might get seven or eight or nine or ten times more.

produce out of the sea, but not a hundred. That was unheard of.

So this Is really interesting because it's showing the power of the word of God, how great that word is, that it accomplishes great things. When it goes out, There's a great amount of reaping and production that comes out of the preaching of that word. And that's what's going on there. And then Jesus, of course, goes in and he talks about what these things are. He says the seed is the word of God.

Right. And in verse 12, the devil comes and takes away the seed. And rocky soil are those who receive for a little while have no root. And the seed fell among the thorns is the worries of the world. I mean, he tells us.

The good seed soils when you've heard the word honest, good heart lasts forever and produces a great deal. And that's the only real cultural ad additive that I could really add in there is uh is the bit about it's abnormally great in what it produces compared to what is sown.

Okay. And Okay.

Okay. So when we're talking about these parables, The sower of the seed and the prodigal son from earlier. And we talked about the seed that Is sent out. I mean, the particle sun, we talk about the seed that. I mean, not well, I've really got to unpack the particle sign.

You've gave me so much information there. But when we talk about the sewer, It's it it I'm having difficulty times. Yeah, yeah, I'm right here. I'm right here. I'll tell you what.

You really want to win this stuff? You wanna really want to learn anything? I do, I do. No, no, I'm not. You know what?

I don't want to learn it. I know it. I want to understand it. Learning is one thing. I can learn things all day long.

Understanding it is something different, and then bringing it into my heart, that's Even more difficult. Yeah. Well, I tell you what, I can recommend a book Where I Learned This From. There's a book you can get and read. And it's worth having.

It's one of the few books That if I could only have 10 books with me, this is one of them. The Bible be one, this be another, a systematic theology. A reformed devotional from one of the Presbyterian divines. And this book. Poet and peasant, and through peasant eyes.

So if you were to go to Amazon and just look up Poet and Peasant, And it's by a guy named Bailey. Just think of a bale of hail hail of hay, excuse me.

Well that reminds me everybody, you try this when you're walking when you're driving down the road. This way off topic. You're driving down the road, there's a big pile of hay there.

Someone in the car with me, I'll point at the hay, and I'll go, hey. Let me look and I'm done.

Okay. They go, what? They go, hey. And they go, okay, it's fun.

So, Bailey, Poet and Peasant, and Through Peasant Eyes. It's one of the few books I highly recommend. I went through that book. With a fine-tooth pencil, and I'm not kidding. And I went through and I learned a great deal, and I should go through it again.

I have it in written form, in a book form. But it's fantastic. That's where I learned this stuff. From years ago. And it's a dual thing, poet and peasant, and through peasant eyes.

It's not an easy read, but it's not a hard read. It's not easy in that you got to pay attention to what he's saying. But what he did was This guy. He went over to that culture. That culture.

And says, look at this, reach it to the Middle East, okay? What does it mean, for example? When uh when the guy says, I see trees walking around. I see men walking like trees. What does it mean?

It means that they used to go up, men would go up, walk into the hills, and take twigs and branches, bundle them up. Crawl underneath them, lift themselves up. But lifted up and walked back down in Selim. That's how they made a living. They look like walking trees.

So when the blind man said, you know, father, you know. I see he when he's seeing, I see men walking out trees. That's what it's referencing. And the Good Samaritan, for example. The Samaritans were hated.

When he said to the innkeeper. I'll come back. And pay you more if you need this, helping this guy who is naked and unconscious. The man's risking his own life. In the culture, the Samaritan was hated by the Jews.

The man he's helping, you don't know his nate his culture by his dress. or his accent. Neither one's knowable, so it could be a Jew, and the Jews hated the Samaritans if a family member is looking for him. And finds him at an inn, and the inn owner says, Yeah, a Samaritan brought him in. He's coming back.

They're going to lie in wait for him. He's risking his life. There's all kinds of stuff like this. That just brings these up.

Okay. I've never heard you say that before. That's amazing. I'm excited to check it out. Definitely.

Do you have more callers? Or can I take up your time? I got more callers. We'll get back in line. Just hold on.

We'll get to them. They'll come back to you, okay? All right. You know, I called on a Friday because I figured you'd be. Slower.

Usually we are slower on Fridays, but that's what it is. All right, buddy. So these won't take long. All right. Hold on, okay.

Yeah. Let's get to Claudius from North Carolina. Claudius. Welcome, you're on here. Yes, sir.

Yes. Question, not a Bible question. Um, I make some donation. on to your radio station twenty twenty five, How could I have a record? of the donation I made for my filing.

If you made it to us, then email us at info at carm. org. And just say your first and last name, and that you need an end-of-year tax receipt. And if it's on our records, Then we'll give it to you. The reason we've had trouble with this, and the reason is my wife was the one who was taking care of this, and she passed away in November.

And all of a sudden, we're just running around with uh like chickens with their heads cut off.

So this is why we're late on so many of these. But that's what I would suggest you do.

Okay, Claudius?

Alright, buddy. Thank you, sir. All right, man. God bless. Okay.

We'll be right back after these messages. Get to Mark from Ohio. Be right back. Please, stay tuned. It's Matt Slick Live, taking your call at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick.

All right, welcome back to the show. Let's get back on with Mark. I'll get you, Mark from Ohio. Mark, welcome. You're on the air.

Thank you. Hi Matt, thanks for taking my call. Sure. What do you got, buddy?

A couple of things. First of all, I was listening to you a few months ago, and you were talking about. with a truck driver who had Been living with his girlfriend and having premarital sex, and you really convicted me that night that, um, You know, I haven't really made the oath with God yet because I'm scared to death of making an oath that I might break, but I've made a personal oath. And I look forward to um Moving forward to making that oath list, God did that. I want to have any kind of relationship premarital sex.

So thank you for that for convicting my heart. Second and then my question for you tonight, second thing. Um glory to God. The second the question I had was Most of my life I had been Literally scared to death of passages in the Bible that scared me more than anything. It says, I'd rather you hot or cold.

If you're a lukewarm, I'll spit you out of my mouth. And I was always under the assumption, again. Being going to a grace-filled church for the last five years, I've really breaken free from the law of religion and where I'm under the grace of God versus the law now.

So I heard it was explained to me that that was in reference to God would rather you be all law. Or all grace, if you tried to mix the two together, then he would spit you out of his mouth. And it was like this big weight was lifted off of my chest. I'm like, Again, what I think. Either hot or cold, it was making it about me and my behavior and what I could do for God, not what He's already done for me.

So, how it's hurt.

Okay, okay, please explain.

Okay. S So what we do, we go to look at the text, and it's Revelation 3, starting in verse 14. The angel church of Laodicea. And if Eric Johnson, if you're listening, man, every time I read this, I think thank you for doing the tours, going to Laodicea.

So I've been there twice. He says, The Amen, the faithful witnessed the beginning of the creation of God. I know your deeds, you're neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were hot or cold. Yeah.

Hereopolis was the area there, and it's also from Pamakule in. In Turkey. And by the way, folks, you got to look up Pamakule in Turkey and see the water. Oh my goodness, it's. It qualifies like as being one of the seventh wonders of the world.

It's just incredible. But at any rate. The Laodicea would receive hot water from the, not too far away, through the pipes that would come through. And it would, by the time it got to Laodicea, it wasn't hot for the use that it could be used for in hot stuff. It wasn't cold like other churches would have.

It was just neither. And there are records of people actually drinking it and vomiting. We made him sick.

So what Jesus is doing He's using this issue. You either form me or against me, be there. Make a decision what you're going to do. Don't stand on the fence. Live for me or don't.

That's what's going on there.

Okay? He says, I wish you were hot or cold, cold or hot, okay? Because you're neither, I'm going to spit you out.

Now there's nothing in there. It says they're damned because of it. But They were self-let's just say that they were self-satisfied, they were complacent in their Christianity. This is not about living law or grace. It's about: are you going to live for Jesus or not?

Are you going to live for Jesus? If you say you're a Christian, Well then live it. Yeah. live for him.

Well, that's kind of my quick yeah, that's kind of my question is You know, if you're in the analogy that if you're hot for Jesus, you know, you're on fire for him, you're, you know. But if you're but if you're cold, then that means that you literally have no use for him, then he was he's accepting you as either hot or cold.

So he would he would accept you as not Being on fire for him at all and not having a use for him, it would put you under the same category as the hot. Be hot for it.

Well I'm a little confused on if he's Let's not take it too far. Look, there are people who are Christians who are really redeemed who just don't do much for the Lord. They're not really witnessing much. They're not on fire for the Lord Jesus. They just kind of are riding the tide in and out of life.

And that's between them and God, and that doesn't mean they're not saved. But they will suffer loss of reward in heaven for not utilizing what God has granted to them and their giftings and things like that. People who are hot, we want to say hot on fire for living for Jesus. We kind of use the metaphor, and we could do that.

So People need to the the point is look make a decision. Don't be iffy. In and out. Just live for him or don't. That's what I say to a lot of Christians.

I say, are you living for Jesus or are you not? It doesn't mean you have to be on radio, write books, do websites. It means whatever you're at in your capacity, are you living for Jesus or not? In your job, your work, your family? Are you living for him or not?

That's what it comes down to. And if you're just kind of, well, sometimes in, sometimes out, that's worth puking out. Get away. That's you know, make a decision what you're going to do: live for him or don't live for him. Don't be ambivalent.

That's what he's saying.

Okay. So that's kind of what the Hulk Hogan analogy when he made that decision, he was either going to be all in or all out. He wasn't going to be lukewarm, if you're wrong. Yeah, I don't understand personally, I do not understand how any true Christian. can be ambivalent about serving God.

I won't be either. Yeah, you see. Yeah, I believe if you're truly saved, you've the spirit man inside of you. You can't deny. You can't deny what he's done for you, so therefore it becomes like I said, well, I don't need air.

Okay, Matt, why sure again, I appreciate you convicted my heart to live a different lifestyle and honor God. And I appreciate you taking my phone call and giving me a little bit of clarity tonight in my spiritual walk.

Well, good. Let's just say that the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit, convicted you in the light of the truth of his word. How about that?

Okay, absolutely. Yeah, you were just the messenger, but the word was received. By God's grace, amen. Praise God, brother. Amen.

All right. Take care, man. Appreciate you. God bless. You too.

God bless. All right. Now let's get back to Luke from North Carolina. Luke, welcome. You're on the air again, buddy.

Maybe, maybe not. Luke, you there? Hello?

Okay, there you go. All right, man. Okay, you're excited about this? Yeah, I can. What do you got?

All right, first off, this is in Lucina F. All right. Uh, can you put me on hold? Because this is Adam from Raleigh, North Carolina. Uh-huh.

And we were talking about the prodigal son and the sower and the seed. That's right. And you kind of threw me on hold.

So I'm concerned because I've got plenty of time.

So if there's a Luke holding, maybe him and we're done. You're the last one.

So what do you got? What's your question? I got you.

So I'm struggling with a lot of things now. Really driving. All right. And Mm-hmm.

So we talked about particle sign. Yeah. We talked about the sower of the seed. Yes. So How do you know if you're saved?

Oh, it's easy. One of the signs is you worry if you're saved. Here's an illustration. You and I are out in the ocean, far from land. It's windy, the waves are choppy.

We're having a good time. And we see two men in the water. They're in their street clothes. And there's no boat around. There's nothing.

We take a life preserver, tie a rope to it, throw it out. It lands just a few feet from them. We're yelling at them: grab the life preserver. One of them is struggling. One of them is trying.

and the other is face down in the water. He's doing nothing. Obviously the one who's alive is the one struggling. We Christians struggle against our sin, were convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit. We wonder if we're in.

And we're concerned because we recognize our own failures, our own stupidity, our own sin. That is a work of God. It's a work of God. Atheists don't do that. It's fast.

And that's the what do you do with Hebrews one? He was six fourth six. Oh, that's easy. You mean those who have enlightened you? It's maybe easy for you, but it's not for me.

It's easy. I'll explain. This book of Hebrews is written to the Hebrews. to the Jews. Specifically.

They've been enlightened. About who Jesus is. They tasted the heavenly gift. It doesn't mean they swallowed because it's just me taste. What does it mean to taste?

They are made partakers of the Holy Spirit. Nothing in here says they were saved. They tasted the good word of God in the powers of the age to come. They tasting it is something that you don't consume. You just taste it.

You're checking it out. That's what's going on. And this fits Judas, and it fits the Jews as a whole. They saw what Christ was. They understood.

that he was the heavenly gift. He's the one who came, and the miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit moved among them because a lot of people don't know this. Jesus was doing his miracles by the power of the Spirit. And then get into that another time. The power of the Spirit.

They made partakers. They were participating. They saw what was happening. raising of the dead. himself rising from the dead.

They've tasted the Word of God, the truth of who Christ was as the Word of God and the spoken word of God in the Scriptures and in what Christ had said. And the powers of the age to come, because Jesus talked about this, which few people know about, the age to come. The power that's coming. in the kingdom in the work of God in the new heavens and new earth. When they fall away from that, they cannot be renewed.

Because there's nothing left. Let me before you comment, let me go to Hebrews 10.26. If we go on sinning willfully, have received the knowledge of the truth, they're no longer made as a sacrifice for sin. And I ask people, what does this verse mean? Does it mean, has any Christian ever willfully sinned after receiving the knowledge of the truth?

If that means they're saved? Of course we have. If it means we're saved, Then Then there's no sacrifice we're going to hell if we've ever sinned after we've saved. That means I'm going to hell, you're going to hell, everybody's going to hell. But it doesn't say that they're saved, it says they've received the knowledge, they've been informed.

And then they rejected it. There no longer is a sacrifice because the true sacrifice is Christ Himself. They've rejected that. And that's what's going on with Hebrews 6, 4 through 6. They've been enlightened.

Tasted the heavenly gift. Made partakers of the Spirit, the Word of God. Nothing in there says they're true believers.

Furthermore, 1 John 2:19 says, They went out from us because they never were of us. If they had been of us, they would have remained. And Jesus says in John 6, 39, Okay? This is the will of Him who sent me, that all that He has given me I lose nothing. Yeah, look at all the fucking But what it's good is They do interact us.

I'm sorry, what? What if I do reject? What if I do reject? You can't. What if I have tasted?

I've known. You can't because, look, do you believe Jesus is God in flesh? That's it all. Do you believe he died in the cross, rose from the dead? Absolutely.

Okay. Brother. Brother, you're saved. You're secure in Christ. Take your eyes off of your own sin.

Put them on the man up there whose blood cleanses you. and trust him. Decide to lean on him, not your understanding. And we're out of time. Brother, we're out of time.

Call me back on Monday. Let's talk. I want you to understand, Jesus loves you. even though he knows who you are. He loves you even though.

And he's chosen to save you. He will never leave you forsake you. No matter what you think. Call back Monday. We have to go because that's just worth the time, brother.

But if you want, you can email me too. All right, butter. Gotta go.

Sorry. Good night. Good night. Let her pray for Adam. I mean everybody pray for Adam.

He needs that. I totally understand what he's going through. We write, I mean, I'll write back. We're back on a Monday, but by God's grace. Another program powered by the Truth Network.