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 Ansi's taking your calls and responding to your questions at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick. All right, buddy, welcome back to the show. We'll be right back. I mean, we're right back. I'm just doing three things at once.

Sorry. If you want to give me a call, all you got to do is dial 877-207-2276. Yeah, I forgot to turn on one of my connections, and that's why I got messed up. It's all right. Hey, look, we have wide open lines.

Also, you can, if you want, you can email me, info at carm.org. Info at carm.org and put in the subject line, video comment, or radio question so we can get to it. All right. Um So let's see. I don't even know what to talk about right now because I've been working on a few things.

And um And let's see what direction I want to go in. What I did last you know, I uh last night I opened up uh YouTube and had a 15, 20 minute uh thing. Not many people came in, so I went into TikTok. And uh that's a little bit more um More active because I've been going in there more regularly. And we've had discussions recently on varying topics.

And we went over a few days ago on baptism and some positive feedback on that. That was really good, that people were. Liking what I was saying about baptism and showing them from scripture things that basically they're not taught. And that was it. Last night, I went shopping and I ended up witnessing or talking to two people who were shopping about the cross one person was wearing and a shirt, another one person was wearing.

You know, I'm kind of nosy a little bit sometimes. I'll say, hey, you know, hey, I see you're wearing a cross. Does it mean anything to you? I just start off, right? And this guy and I had a great conversation.

He loves the Lord. Then um And he went a Nazarene, which is bad. But he loved Jesus. And then this woman we got talking, and she went to a local church near us, and they had women elders. And, you know, it just drives me crazy.

Why is it? Why is it that churches have women elders when the Bible says don't? It just gets me. Why is it people don't want to believe God's word? Why is it?

I just don't know. I don't know. You know, they and I've had discussions with some people who say, Well, no, it's okay, it's all permitted. No, it's not. And I show it to them, well, we have to agree to disagree.

No, there is no agree to disagree. The Bible says the elder is to be the husband of one wife. How does that elder function as that? How does that happen? And, you know, they just don't.

It's really interesting. I've had meetings with people, with pastors and elders, and talk to them about this, and the excuses they give me are lame, lame.

Well, there's neither male nor female in Christ. What? then why does it talk about husband and wives? It just You know what, they don't they just It's like me, you know, wanting to see this stop it, stop it. Stop thinking like that.

Stop it. You don't fall. It's exhausting being right all the time and correcting everyone. Let me tell you that. That is right.

It is just a full time job, you know. And uh of course, for those of you who don't know, I'm joking. But that's what I do, all right. I try to have fun on the radio. And uh, for those of you who might be tuning in for the first time, my name is Matt Slick, it's my real name, which is why we call it Matt Slick Live.

And if you want to give me a call, you can. We discuss all kinds of things here in the radio. We discuss atheism, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science Unity, Islam, Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy. Evolution, UFOs, UFOs. Talk about those.

Done a lot of research and lots of stuff. And my website is CARM.org, C-A-R-M dot O-R-G, Christian Apologetics Research Ministry. And you can check it out. But I'll tell you: hey, guess what? Um, The traffic on Carm is way down.

way, way down. the traffic is is for what it used to be. about ten years ago has gone down to I'd say I don't know, you know, how to how to Do the math. Let me put it in here. If my website traffic was, let's say, 50,000.

A day. And now let's just say, just pick an easy number, is 1000. What is the oh, I should forget it. What is the percentage? Uh that's a 98% drop.

Catastrophic decline, it says. Yeah. Oh, okay. And so, not only is karm affected by what's going on, but also. Other ministries.

I've heard other ministries. I've talked to people who run ministries, and they say, oh, yeah, traffic is way down. And it's due to AI. People are not going to websites and reading. They just type in a question and AI gives them an answer and that's it.

This is why it's happening. And the decline happened at the same time as the rise of AI. Yeah. So there you go. But hey, you know, they've written about 5,000 articles on Carm, and you can at least trust what Karm says over what the artificial intelligence says because.

It's only as good as the programmers have allowed it to be good. Put it that way. Hey, let's get to Scott from Washington. Scott, welcome. You're on the air.

Hey, good afternoon. Couple questions for you. One, I just got the Bible software logof. Is that the one that you primarily use, or do you use the one? No, I use that one 99.9% of the time.

Yep.

Okay, cool. My buddy Corey runs the Smart Christian channel on YouTube, and he did a thing with them and got a Two-day or a two-month subscription thing. And so, anyway, I got it. I'm excited to use it for my debate that's coming up on the 27th. And so, I'm going to definitely want to learn how to navigate it pretty well and share screen and all that.

But, yeah, so if you've got any tips for me, I'd appreciate that with the software, because I've heard it's hard to use. People have told me that, but I've never done it, so I don't know if that's true.

Well, I've been using it for over 20 years, 25, I don't know how many years I've been using it. And I have a template that I've arranged. In fact, if you were to email me at info at carm.org, I can take a screenshot. Or uh of the uh where'd it go? Of the format that I use, and I can explain it.

What I have is uh in my upper left hand corner I have um Let's see. Right, there we go.

So, I have the New American Standard Bible in the upper left-hand corner, and to the right of that, I have the cross-references, and then to the right of that, I have what's called the target window.

So whenever you click on a link on the left side, it it opens up whatever it is in the target window. And I have the target window opened up so that you can see Greek and Hebrew. And underneath all those, I have my commentaries. And I guess, you know, it's really effective. And so Um I have this thing set up, I think, so well.

It's so easy to use the way I do it. It is so easy to use. And if you want, I can. Um send it to you. within the picture.

Yeah, no, that'd be great. I'd appreciate it. The only other question I have, I got to get going. But what are you doing on the fourth? People have invited me over.

My wife and I had been going over there for years each July 4th. and we'll always put in some money for the fireworks and then se about four, five, six, seven families, depending will show up. There's a nice back yard with a gravel area and the kids show up too. And we do fireworks for half an hour to an hour. And So this'll be the first time going back there without my wife.

So that's what I'm doing for the fourth and um it'll be fun. Cool.

Well, good, man.

Well, stay safe, and I'll talk to you soon.

Alright, man. God bless. All right, okay. And the reason I'm not going with my wife is because she passed away in November. And for those who might not know, okay, let's get to Jordan from New Mexico.

Jordan, welcome. You're on the air. Here. Hey, Matt.

Well, first thing is I was listening to you when you started the show and saying AI is really taking over a lot right now and I just thought I'd give you a little bit of hope instead, I read I read a lot of your stuff.

So I thought it'd give you a little bit of hope there. Yeah, we still have well over a thousand people a day coming to the site. but it used to be about ninety three thousand or about fifty thousand.

So it's way down. Yeah. Yeah. Well, my main question, um I was told this, and I wanted to ask and see what you thought about it. But it's about the millennium and end times and stuff.

And so is the Roman Catholics, they would they would also be like an armillennialist view. Yes. And they would say ruling and reigning with Christ means like that's where they can pray to the saints and stuff like that. But for like a Protestant, how would you what would you say it means to rule and reign with Christ? We're ruling and reigning right now.

We're doing it now. Yeah. But Christians aren't being taught that they are. We rule and reign with him in his kingdom. And in the kingdom, in Revelation 20, he says that Satan's bound for a thousand years.

But the context is figurative. An angel came down from heaven with a chain, a key, laid hold of the dragon. This is all figurative. And bound him for a thousand years so that he would not deceive the nations anymore. Not that he wouldn't be able to do anything, but he wouldn't deceive the nations.

In Matthew 12:22-32, Jesus is casting out demonic forces, and he basically says you can only do that if the evil one, the beel, which is the devil, is bound.

So, this is what it is.

So, the kingdom of God is upon you, Jesus says. We are kings and priests. in the kingdom of God. But Christians don't know this because they're taught, we're not in the kingdom of God now. They're taught that it's coming later and it belongs to somebody else.

And so, this is, I believe, one of the reasons that Christians aren't doing their job. For one, I think the pastors need to start teaching biblical theology. And they need to start teaching deep biblical theology and stop with a pre-mill, pre-tribulation rapture, escapist ideology, which I think is unfounded, unwarranted, and destructive. I think it's incomplete. It doesn't help.

So, if everybody believed in the country, everyone believed, all the Christians believed, no, the kingdom is where Christ said, He's the ruler. And we are in his kingdom because his kingdom has come. Because he said the evil one was bound, and he said that when he returns he's going to take out of his kingdom. those who are are stumbling blocks. And the first ones taken are the wicked, not the good.

because the rapture occurs after the wicked are taken. Per um per Matthew 13, Roughly thirty through forty is what Jesus teaches. And I can get into this, I've defended it so many times.

So I try and tell people: no, we're kings and priests now, and the kingdom of God now.

So get it together and start acting like it. Which spiritual force would want us to not believe that, but to believe that it's not our right to reign here. It's not our right as Christians under the headship of Christ to push forward against the gates of hell, because Matthew 16:18, the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. The gates of hell are defensive, they're not offensive. That means we Christians are attacking them.

But what do Christians do when they see the gates of hell? Hey, they run and hide because they're afraid. Nope, we don't do that. We're the ones who promote the truth. We're the ones who have Jesus Christ.

We're the ones who promote that Jesus Christ has died. And risen for the dead three days later. And we can take captive that which needs to be taken captive for the glory of God. Doesn't mean it's going to be easy. But it does mean that it'll work and we can do it.

And we need to do it and we need to be in for the long haul.

Okay?

Sorry. I had to preach that.

Okay. From the end. Yeah, that makes sense. Um I was just really like trying to understand like 'cause I know that you're saying that we're raining right now and everything. Yep.

I was just wondering like what does that like mean? Like For the Catholic It's like we're ruling and reigning And we pray to the saints, that's why.

Well, hold on. The Catholic Church is a false church. It's a false church. We'll get back to talk about sections, okay? Hey, folks, we have a break coming up here.

If you want to give me a call, 877-207-2276. I'll be right back. It's Matt Slick Live, taking a call at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. Oh Rodwood, welcome back to the show.

If you want to give me a call... The number is 877-2072276. We'll get back to John, or I mean Jordan, in just a minute. What I'm teaching you is not common theology in America, and I think it's very unfortunate that it is. And maybe I'll go through and teach it after the callers are kind of done.

We'll see. But this is a different kind of eschatology or end times doctrine that's taught in most churches where the escapist mentality encourages us to run and hide. And I don't believe that that is the right attitude we should have. Let's get back with Jordan from New Mexico. Jordan, welcome.

You're on the air. Hey, okay. Um Uh my question was like Does the saint in heaven How are they ruling and reigning right now? And Like, what are they doing in heaven right now to that we can know that they're ruling and reigning in heaven? Does that make sense?

Yeah, well and what are they doing? And uh Uh I don't know what they're doing right now. You know, my wife passed away seven months ago, and sometimes I wonder: what is she doing right this second? You know, is she talking to someone who's passed on before? Is she just talking about how dumb I was in so many areas?

Which you know, that'd be a lot of work. You know, it could be take her a while for you to do that. But uh you know who knows? And so I don't know.

Now The issue here is that, for example, Jesus or Paul says in Colossians 1:13, He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son. We're in the kingdom of God now, the kingdom of Christ. And so he says in Matthew 12, 28, If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

So the scriptures are teaching the kingdom of God is now.

Now, the people in heaven who passed on, are they in that kingdom in that sense? Of course, yes, because they're still members of the body of Christ.

So generically I'd say yes, but I don't know much much more to say other than that.

Okay?

Yeah. And then the last question, uh just us Or like How is like how would you how do you think? the millennium is going to look like or After the mill after the the millennium. What is the world going to look like after the millennium or resurrection or however you would perceive it? In the pre-tribulation, I mean the pre-millennial view, after the millennium, is the new heavens and new earth are going to be created.

And we will enjoy an eternity in the new heavens and the new earth. That's what that is. In the amillennial view, that means we're in the millennium of Christ now. that it's a long period of time, and a thousand years is figurative reference. And so the same thing will happen.

The new heavens and new earth are going to be made and will be with the Lord forever.

Okay?

Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. All right, man. God bless.

Yeah. Okay. And just remember, folks, the Roman Catholic Church is not a true Christian church. It's an apostate false church. Yeah.

Let's get to John from South Carolina. John, welcome. You're on the air. Hey, Matt, how's it going? Thanks for taking my call.

I have a Quick question, just something that a little bit Fuzzy to me, I guess, in the Bible. How do you explain the order of Melchizedek? Or who who is that and how is it significant? It's significant because it's typological of Christ, just as Abraham and Isaac were typological of Jesus, where Abraham and Isaac, the father and the son, and the helper, three of them, went to the place of sacrifice three days, took to get there, Jesus in the grave three days, etc., etc. Melchizedek is a type or representation of the priesthood that Christ enjoys.

And he And we see this in Psalm 110. David, he prophesied after the order of Melchizedek. And in Hebrews 5, 6 and 7 it talks about Jesus being a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

So, Melchizedek is a type and is represented as. one without beginning and end, without genealogy. This is one of the ways of showing the majesty of a great king. It doesn't necessitate that it was a pre-incarnate Christ, as some say. or some infer, it's a possibility, but I don't lean that way.

Because if it was, then he was a priest pre-incarnate for a long time on earth. It doesn't make any sense.

So the preincarnate manifestations of Christ in the Old Testament. are a manifestation, not an incarnation. A manifestation is that the word, which would be one nature, Became flesh. But the incarnation of Jesus is he has two natures: a divine nature and a human nature.

So Melchizedek could not have been an incarnation. It just wouldn't work. It could have been a type or manifestation. Of Christ temporarily, a very short period of time, but it wouldn't really make sense because apparently he's offering sacrifices.

So it doesn't make sense.

So the order issue of the ordinal Kesedik is brought out by the writer of Hebrews in order to demonstrate the priesthood of Christ and what it really is. Gotcha. What is the I guess the Hebrew translation of that, or is there one? Uh what's what's the that? No, the um sorry, it's a no Kasadik.

It's malkathetic. That's what it is. What we're doing is it was called transliteration. It's just like in Spanish, mateo, or mataias in Greek. And a transliteration is taking a word and just making it sound in normal English or whatever it is.

That's all it is. Proper noun. Yeah. Okay. Can I ask one more question?

You did. You just did. Ask another. Yeah, so what are your thoughts in Job? I know some people say that uh it is Satan who actually tests Joe, but then others say that it's uh Ha Satan and not necessarily the devil.

So I was just curious what y you thought about that. You know, I've never really thought about that in that, but from what I understand, it was because Satan is another name for the devil. And the LORD said to Satan, So, if people want to say Satan is not the one, that would be interesting. Because the word, if I go to Matthew. And let's see, Satan.

Jesus addresses him and says, Go, Satan. It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only. And so he's referenced as the devil because it says in Matthew 4:8, again, the devil took him to a high mountain, Jesus says, calls him Satan. the adversary.

So if we go back to Job, it would seem that Satan there is the devil.

Okay. Gotcha. Okay. Thanks, Matt. All right.

You too. God bless. All right, now next longest waiting is Charlie from North Carolina. Charlie, welcome. You're on the air.

Wow, I can't believe I'm on here.

So, dude, you're pretty awesome. I like the way that you do apologetics, man.

So, praise God for you and your service to the Lord. Praise God.

So, my question is: So, my pastor is an amillennialist. And So my confusion with it is like, so if as an amillennialist with that position, and we say that so many of these things are allegorical, like the thousand year millennial reign. And like now I know that some things like that we can't like really comprehend, crowns, candlesticks, things like that. Like, I believe that can be kind of, you know, taken allegorically, but like, I mean, like, when. Hold on, hold on, brother, hold on.

We got a break coming up, okay?

So, okay, it's all right. That's what, man. And when we get back, we'll get your question and we'll tackle it. We'll give it a shot. All right, so hold on, bro.

Hey, we'll be right back after these messages. Please stay tuned. Uh It's Matt Slick Live, taking a call at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right, everybody, welcome back to the show.

If you want to give me a call, the number's 877-207. 2276, Charlie from North Carolina. Welcome. You're back on the air, bro. Awesome.

So yes, so really basically my question is about the amillennialist position and how So if, like, I know that the position is like, so the land isn't literal, like, it's not, he's not going to reign on a literal throne from Jerusalem. And that the thousand-year millennial reign isn't literal, but like we're in it now, and Satan is like bound or. And my pastor explained it to me pretty well, but like so Like why would we not Take the thousand-year millennial reign literal, like because when it came to their exile in 584. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.

So, you're asking multifaceted questions, and then as you ask a question, I can't believe I'm on here. I've been wanting to ask you this stuff forever. It's all right, it's all right.

So, let's go to Revelation 20, all right? The thousand years, okay? I'm gonna ask you some questions as we read through it, okay? Revelation 20, verse 1. This is where we're talking about the thousand years.

So, then I saw an angel come down from heaven. Was that a literal angel in literally heaven? I would say I believe so. Yeah, I'd agree with you. Holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.

Is that key in a chain literal or figurative? I mean, if you asked me, I would say in some way it's literal.

Okay, in some way it's literal, which means it's figurative. Because if it's literal, then it's literal.

So he didn't have a literal key. You don't bind Satan with a literal chain, you know, made of bronze or an alloy of metal, and you tie it around a spirit, that's Satan's a spirit, and you bind him. It's figurative.

Alright, good point. and laid hold of the dragon. That's figurative. The serpent of old, Lord's literal. Who is a devil and Satan?

That's literal. Bad and for a thousand years, literal or figurative. I'm literal. Maybe. Maybe not.

I mean, when the Lord told Jeremiah there were going to be captives in Babylon for 70 years, it was. 70 years to the T, and Daniel counted it down to the T and looked forward to the end of it because he knew when it was going to end. Except for how long did they wander in the desert? 70 is not a thousand. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

And a day is but a thousand years. A thousand years is but a day. The word thousand is used figuratively.

Okay. So That's I mean That's what I'm doing. Yes. Ah, okay.

So, Jesus, when he comes back, show you why. Go ahead.

Well, and I'm not completely closed off to this. I'm not some dead set, like, you know, pre-trib, pre-Iden, I don't ascribe to the pre-trib stuff and all that, but.

So when he comes back, he's not literally going to be, according to your theology, he's not going to be. on a throne in Jerusalem. But if then there is gonna be no actual Maybe he will in the new heavens and new earth. Because. Yeah.

People don't know this if you're going to study this. You need to study what's called this age and the age to come. It's the biblical division of ages. This age and the age to come. Paul taught it, Jesus taught it.

And people just don't teach it. The premillennial view, I've never heard any teacher address it.

Now it doesn't mean they haven't. I'm just saying I haven't heard it being done. And So, at this age, in the age to come, in this age, we have trials, tribulations, and marriage. In the age to come, eternal life. There's no longer any marriage.

There's two ages. What happens at the end of this age? That's the question.

Now, in the premillennial view, the rapture occurs a thousand years before the new heavens and new earth. Except in 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 through 5, verse 2, it says the rapture occurs at the day of the Lord who comes like a thief in the night. And we're pads of, thought of. Yeah, Sarpazo. And in 2 Peter 3:9, it says, The day of the Lord come like a thief, in which the new heavens will be made.

That's the same day. That's what they're saying. It's a single event on a single day.

So the literal thousand years is gone.

Furthermore, it says in Revelation 20, the reason he's bound is so he won't deceive the nations anymore. It doesn't mean he can't do bad stuff. And with his demonic forces.

Well, we don't need Satan. But would he say he's still deceiving the nations now? No, I would say he is my opinion I I'm just going to say this, my opinion, I I suspect that he has been let loose. I think the thousand years' reign is figurative because it's in a figurative context. The third the term thousand is used figuratively all over the place in the Bible.

That's not I don't see any place where it's uh it's t said lit to be literal. I just don't see any context where it is. Maybe it's there. Maybe someone could show it to me. I just don't see how Satan has been bound.

I don't see how he's been limited. In any way, like in terms of like, man, if this is the millennial rain, man, I mean, or die, whether it's middle or not, this isn't, I mean, it's not much raining going on. I got you. Hold on a sec. Hold on a sec.

Now, if we're supposed to be reigning with Christ, because Colossians 1:13 says, For he rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son. We're in the kingdom of his beloved Son. In Matthew 12, 28, Jesus is casting out demonic forces, and they said, Yeah, you're doing it by the power of the devil. And he says, If I cast demons out by the Spirit of God, which He does, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Luke 17:21.

For they will look, look, here he is, or there he is. Behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. John 3:3. Maybe I'm just looking at this too, like what I can see with my own eyes and not thinking about the position in Christ spiritually. There you go.

Now, think about this. Think about this. If it was taught in churches across America that the kingdom of God is now. That we are kings and priests according to this theology. Because it says in Revelation 5:10, you have made them to be kings and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.

Now, we can interpret this in different ways. You know, the new heavens, new earth, I think it's legit to do that. But the issue is is In 1 Corinthians 4:8, you have already fulfilled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us.

So there are verses that talk about the position that we have as kings and priests in Christ. That's what it says. Mm. Here's the thing about this. If people believe a literal thousand years is in the future, and it certainly is possible that it is, I I'm not saying any proof that it isn't, I don't believe in that position, but let's just say if people were believing this all over the place, then they're waiting to get out of here.

They're not doing their jobs taking care of God's kingdom. You're not acting as kings of the people. And Jesus said, the one who endures to the end will be saved. And, like, you know, like, who wouldn't take the mark if all the Christians disappeared? You know?

Yeah, and that that's a supportive role for the premillennial, pre-tribulation for view. I think there's positions that could be supportive for both positions or versus for that. But my point is this. If we were taught, no, the kingdom of Christ is now, start behaving like it. That would change people's attitudes in so many areas.

And this is what I tell people all the time in Matthew 16:18, the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. And for some stupid reason, all over. I'm hearing the gates of hell are prevailing and that the Christian church is losing ground. What, gates of hell? They have motors and wheels on them and they go after us?

No, gates are definitely a good idea.

So it's like we're waiting on something that's already here and now. No, the gates are defensive. They're to stop attacks. The gates of hell will prevail against the church. The church is supposed to be on the attack.

On the attack against the prisoners. Exactly. Is the Christian Church doing this today? No. Largely, at least in America.

No, they're not. They're sitting around in their hands, going to church on Sunday, being comforted in messages, going out and being fed and at restaurants on Sunday. Instead of supporting ministries and supporting evangelists, supporting missionaries all over the world, I mean, not saying that all people are not doing all this, a lot of people are, I'm just giving a generic thing. Because it's not the case that we're being supported all over the place. I do a ministry, and we struggle every single month to meet our bills.

and we're supporting different ministries. If people thought this was the time This was the time we're supposed to really have the attitude of this is the kingdom of God now. We need to support those who are doing it and do it themselves. Everything would change. Yeah.

But no, you think like we're seeking comfort? Like we're just like we're letting things that please our ears and like it's like, oh, I'm not going to have to go through nothing and I don't need to do nothing now. Exactly. Exactly the case. Yeah, I get it.

I'm going to study some more, man. Like, because the way that you kind of explained it, I'm going to, I don't know, man. It's just so hard to let go of what I've been taught my whole life. You know what I mean?

Well, I don't blame you. I mean, and besides, you're hearing something contradictory to what you've been taught your whole life from a guy named Slick. I mean, come on, you go doubtful, you know?

Okay. Man, if you call tomorrow around the same time, can I get some more questions? Because I've got to help somebody move furniture, dude. I listen to you all the time. I think we're going to get a bunch of people.

We got a break coming up. We've got a break. Call back tomorrow, dude. We'll do it tomorrow, okay? Don't mess people up.

All right, God bless you. Love you guys. All right, back. God bless. Hey, we'll be right back for these messages.

If you want to give me a call, 877-20-7000. 722760 right there. It's Matt Slick live, taking a call at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. All right, and welcome back to the show.

If you want to give me a call, the number's 8772-07-2276. Another Charlie from North Carolina. Welcome. You're on the air. Day and we're at.

I was wondering. Why We're not able to cast out demons and raise the dead and heal the sick and the bond and the death today.

Well, I believe we are. I believe we can. That's what I think. Yeah, absolutely.

Now, we've got to understand that with the apostles, they were in Matthew 10:1 through 8. They were specifically given authority to do that on command. Absolutely. And the apostles perform this in Acts, that is apostolic authority. Which the Catholic Church, the East Orthodox Church, don't possess because they're not doing this on command.

Right.

Okay, now.

So, why aren't we doing it?

Well, we can only do that when God ordains it. And we can only do it when we're walking in His will and these things occur. There are books that document medical miracles. Of people who've been the subject of prayer, and very interesting things happen. And people are raised.

I I've heard of anecdotal stor stories of people raised. I can't verify it, but I've heard of it. I had one guy I talked to, he told me it was face. He was out on mission work in Africa. He saw a guy rise from the dead.

You told me. I said, okay. And he's a Christian. I don't have reason to doubt him. But we're not doing this on command.

Which uh I don't know why, except maybe to say it's not the purpose of God to do that. In that sense, God does it in His sovereignty when He wants through His people, and another possibility is that we're not walking in faith enough.

So I don't know, but those are good questions.

Okay. Yeah. I heard a lot that a lot of miracles happened in Africa because they're just They remind me of Of Israel when they were obedient in the old days, they went to the temple every day. Yeah. Yes, I've heard a lot of it.

In third world countries, I've heard a lot that these miracles occur because that's all they've got. And there's been some miraculous things. But we here. Because of pre-tribulation rapture, let's relax, let's don't worry about anything. kind of attitude comfortable with our medical stuff and our our technology.

We don't need to rely on God as much, hence we don't see these things as much. Yeah. Yes. I've been listening and I like what you're saying is that we are on offense. We should be on offense.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. And Christian needs a single thing. And we can do that by.

Ready? We can do that by supporting ministries and but such like that. That's one way. The other way is to ask God to be used. to uh you pray and ask God to equip you And to do whatever he wants you to do the way he wants you to do.

Now, for a lot of people, it's not going to be doing radio or writing books or doing live debates. It's going to be just, you know, they work and then they tithe and support their churches and then they support varying ministries. You should support your church first. And you pray and intercede for others. And that's part of the work of Christians.

And Christians can be doing this all over the world. Oh mm-hmm.

Okay. Thank you, man. I appreciate it. Lucky. Yeah.

All right, now let's get to Brantley from North Carolina. Brantley, welcome. You're on the air, bro. Hey Matt, it's good to speak with you. My question is.

Is it appropriate to separate from those who profess Christ? But hold to one. Either old earth creation understanding or a King James only position. That depends on the depth of each one.

Now So I'm going to do is go to Philippians 1. Fifteen.

some to be sure preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed to the defence of the gospel. The former Do it for uh impure motives. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or truth, Christ is proclaimed.

And in this I rejoice. Yes, I will rejoice. All right. So if we have old earthers And was it a group, old earthers and what? Over creationists, yeah, India Jones, that's right.

If they are not adding those things as requirements for other Christians. then I don't have a problem with them having that position. I think they're inconsistent.

So I don't believe the Earth is millions of years old. But I could argue that it is from some issues of relativity. Gravitational forces that have an effect on the rate of time, which things I've researched, and you could make a case for it. The universe appears old because just as God created Adam mature and He created the earth mature, He could have done the universe as well.

So the appearance of the old earth could be grounded in Scripture and God's work. And so I wouldn't separate from someone on that basis. If some person were to say, no, that's what you have to believe, then we have a problem. No, I don't have to believe it. If they say, well, that's my position and it's okay, then not a problem.

King James onlyists seem to Be a little bit more uppery about this issue in that they say if you don't use the King James, you're not really using the true Bible, which the King James has problems. And for them to say that it's the only really true translation would be bad.

So I generally have found myself separating from King James Onlyists insofar as they claim that's the true Bible. When people hold the King James only as they believe it's the best version and they just want to use it, but it's okay to use others, then I don't separate from them because I don't want to be associated with people who. cause Division in the body of Christ over which Bible version to use.

Okay. So I was kind of wondering if I should, um. to soften my position in my young earth creation I mean, because as I approach it Uh for a scriptural authority. as my interpreting mechanism for the evidence. as opposed to secular science.

And should I soften my position on that, as that's the only understanding we should approach it from So that way I'm not causing division.

Well, here's the thing. You talked about the issue of division. and we don't want to cause division unnecessarily.

So, if someone holds, like I said, let's use this as an example, says the Earth is millions of years old. I disagree with them. But Okay. My concern is: do they love the Lord Jesus? They preach him the gospel.

Do they believe in the Trinity? Death and resurrection of Christ. If they do. then I'm not going to worry about the other issue. Not not until it comes up.

Later. I don't have a problem with that. I mean, because. What if they're right? Are we then doing what we shouldn't be doing by causing separation?

We don't want to have division in the body of Christ.

Now, because I believe the earth is young doesn't mean I'm right about my belief. Because there are arguments with mathematics and physics that back them up. That the relativistic idea of, how do I say this, make it make sense? The issue of the explosion of the universe, if it did explode, which seems to be the case. That God could cause that explosion.

Boom, there it is, and it puts everything in place. That's not a problem if he wanted to do that. There have been mathematics that I've heard about where they say as the universe is expanding, the speed of its expansion has changed, which affects the rate and appearance of age in different locations of the universe.

Well, okay.

Well, it's worth discussing. Because I'm not in divide over this. If someone holds to the essentials of the faith but holds to an old earth. I'm not going to cause any problems. If they hold to King James only, but they hold to the essentials, I'm not going to cause any problems.

if they both require that I need to believe those, then that's a problem, and I'll I'll tackle that. Makes sense. Yes, thanks, Matt. I appreciate that.

Okay. All right, so I try and be gracious and try and cause that came out wrong. I try and cause unity over the essentials of the Christian faith. But also I try and cause division. In the sense of separating truth from error and trying to get people to get off their lazy rears and start becoming aggressors in the kingdom of God.

And I mean a polite, loving, confident movement of standing for the truth of Christ. And we need to do that and not risk failure and embarrassment. uh or not worry about risking for failure and embarrassment. That's not something we should be uh concerned with. I understood that.

I appreciate that.

Thank you. All right, brother. God bless. Alright, I'll play it. Happy going.

All right. Um So We have about three minutes. Let me say something here. Um This issue of the kingdom of God.

So, if Jesus is casting out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. That's what Jesus says. Here Matthew 12 28. If he's casting them out by the Spirit of God, he says, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. and he was casting them out.

And G um Jesus says John 3:3, Truly I say, unless one is born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is a spiritual thing. The kingdom of God is among us. And we need to understand. that our job as Christians is multifaceted.

and God will put upon your heart what He desires for you. But we are generically to seek the expansion of the kingdom of God.

Now some people think this kingdom is only in heaven. But that's not the case. Because Jesus says the kingdom of God is come upon them. in Matthew 12, 28. when he was casting out demonic forces.

In Luke 17, 21, They will say, Look, here it is, or go there. No, for behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. Mark 1:15, the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. John was teaching on the Baptist.

See, the view of Scripture is different than the modern view, in my opinion. The kingdom of God is that future millennial reign. And that's what we're looking for. That's why people give up. Because Satan's alive right now, in that he's not bound.

So that's why he is so strong. That's why the world is not doing anything. That's why Christians aren't really doing anything because they'd only be enabled during the kingdom, the thousand years. If that's false, Then The the opposite would be true. that we are in the kingdom now and need to be behaving be behaving strongly.

In light of that. And that's why Jesus says the gates of hell will not prevail against the the the uh the church. Because the Christian Church. with Christ's head, It's the one who's supposed to be knocking down the gates of hell. in every area.

How that works out is so unfamiliar to us. Because we're not doing it. That people say, what does it mean?

Well, we can talk about that different ways. But you're called. in the kingdom of God if you're a Christian, to work for the kingdom of God. for the glory of Jesus Christ the expansion of the truth of the Gospel. and you support him of varying types.

and you lift people up in prayer.

Alright? There we go. We're out of time. May the Lord bless you. And if you'd be so kind to support us, we do need that.

Well, we do. And just go to carm.org. Top of the page is the word donate. Just check that out. We'd love that if you would.

It does help a lot. May the Lord bless you by His grace. Back on me here tomorrow, and we'll talk to you then. Have a good one, folks. God bless.

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