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.

All right, everyone, welcome to the show. It's me, Matt Slick. Listen to Matt Slick Live. I hope you had a good weekend. I had an interesting weekend.

You know me. I did a little bit of debating impromptu stuff online and interesting discussions I had. Really interesting discussion I want to go through. And um Let's see, we'll release a lot of articles. I've been working on here what I'll do: I'll work on articles and I kind of forget about them.

I don't finish them, and I have a list of them. And I just decided for the past few days to finish a lot of articles I've been working on.

So I've released like seven or eight in the past three days.

So. Anyway, not a big deal. And there's that. If you want to give me a call on this lovely, it's September 8th, 2026. All you got to do is dial 87720722.

seven six.

Now I'm going to be in Southern California. On Saturday, this coming Saturday, the twelfth November, or excuse me, um September 12th.

So I'll be there, and I'll be speaking at a conference on Islam in Chino Hills. I guess it's Chino Hills Calvary Chapel.

So I'll be there. And a lot of podcasters, a lot of people have connections down there, even though the radio show isn't live down there. If you want, you can check it out. And to do that, we got a discount. uh for anybody who wants to sign up All you have to do is go to carm.org forward slash uh calendar.

And if you do that, you go to carm. I'm going to do it right now. Community calendar, and you'll see on the dates. Let's see, 9-11 through 9-13, Chino Hills, Calvary Chapel. And there's a lot of information there.

So if you go there, and it's the last line of that segment. Type in missions when you sign up, you can get a free ticket.

So, discount code and all that kind of stuff. I've got a debate coming up. on the twenty fourth, And uh Let's see. Why is that like that? Good.

Fix that.

So, you see, we just got stuff. We got lots of stuff happening.

So, there you go. If you want to give me a call, like I said, 877-207. 2276. Let's get to Dave. From Pennsylvania, Dave, welcome.

You're on the air. How are you doing, brother? Oh, hanging in there, man. Hanging in there.

Okay. What do you got? Oh, praise the Lord. I had a question. What's your opinion on double predestination?

Well You know, I hate to say, I'm not exactly sure because I keep talking about different things different ways.

So, absolute, we do know God predestines people for salvation. We know that because Ephesians 1:4 through 5 says this. It just says it. I know a lot of people don't like the idea of God's predestination, and they just reject it all out. But the Bible teaches it.

So that's predestining the saved, the Christians, to be saved. Does God predestine people to go to hell? And that's the question. There's different ways of looking at it. And so if there are five or excuse me, ten people in a room and you pick five to leave that room, the question is, have you picked the other five not to leave the room?

Are you actively choosing them not to, or are you only actively choosing the five? to come with you, leave the room.

So Single predestination would say God is only actively choosing. out of those those ten, he's only actively choosing and predestinating those five. Devil predestination would say he's not only predestining those five to go with him, but the other five to go to hell. And so one of them, we would say double predestination would be he's active. In both situations, in his damning them as well as saving them.

So, single predestination in this context would say he's only saving. Those or predestining those for salvation whom he out of that group and letting the rest just go their natural way.

So This is why it's difficult to decide whichever one is the one I want to hang my hat on.

Now, if I were to not to deny It was double predestination. forced to reconsider it in light of Romans two excuse me, Romans nine twenty two and twenty three, what if God, although willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath, prepared for destruction. And he did so to make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy which he prepared beforehand for glory. This seems to support double predestination. In that God has chosen individuals to be prepared for destruction and individuals to be prepared for glory.

So, this is a strong verse, or two verses, in my opinion, to support biblical predestination. And this is why I'm. Half and half. Uh Even though I could support it with those two verses, there's ways to look at it that don't necessitate that an active work. even though I don't think it's as convincing as the clear reading.

Make sense? That does make sense. That's you know, reading Romans 9 and Jacob I loved and Esau I hated before anyone had done anything. Yep. Yeah, it's uh it's tough.

I I I'm wrestling with that a little bit. Yeah, and I am too wrestling with it intuitively because It I want to say it's not fair. But I'm not the judge of what's fair. And so I have to submit to Scripture. You know?

Yeah, people people don't like God's sovereignty. They don't. And um I there's all this all you know, everybody's You know, a lot of prominent Christians calling Calvinism a false gospel and Um yeah, it's kind of I don't know how you get around election and predestination in the scriptures. Yeah. Yeah, I I agree.

And also, not only, let's see if I can do this. Let's see what a note here. Here's some notes I've got on that verse. Exodus 4:21, I myself will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. That's uh God speak speaking to Moses about Pharaoh.

Ecclesiastes 3:11, he has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart.

So, yet, so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning to the end. Proverbs 16, 4 is a really strong verse. The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. We have 1 Peter 2:8. They stumbled because they were disobedient to the word, and to this they were, this doom they were appointed.

And so Were they appointed because they were going to fall, or did they fall because they were appointed? These are the questions. Jude 4. for certain people have crept in unnoticed those who long beforehand were marked out for this condemnation. 2 Thessalonians 2:11, this reason God will send a deluding influence.

And uh Revelation 17:17, for God has put it in their hearts to execute his purpose by having a common purpose and by giving their kingdom to the beast.

So when people, like you said, they resist these verses. What do we say about the Word of God? It's what it says. We have to adapt our theology. To it.

That's what we have to do. Yeah. Yeah, I d I don't think that uh I don't think that an Arminian could come up with a good defense to Romans 9. And they're not. Yeah.

Yeah, I know their defenses. They say that it's it's people groups. And I've written two in-depth responses to that argument. It just doesn't work. And it there's lots of reasons it doesn't work.

Yeah. Yep. Okay. Well, brother, I definitely appreciate it. I'll call back again.

I'll have more questions. All right, brother.

Sounds good, man. God bless. All right. Keep up the good work. Oh, I'm trying, man.

God's grace.

Okay, thanks.

Okay. Alright, bye. Right. You know, um Let's see. When we first started the radio, different networks I've been on over the years.

uh both have expressed uh this concern about me promoting Reformed theology. And I mean it with a ver they they weren't saying don't. They were just You know, it's not what the purpose of the whole thing is, just answering questions that says, yeah, I did it. And it took me quite a while before being on radio that I started. uh answering the questions in a more thorough Uh position.

And Over the years, I've been doing right here now, I think 23 years. I've gotten so many responses from people via email. hating what I say. uh a some just calling me a false teacher. And yet others have said, I didn't agree with you, but you kept quoting scripture, and I went and checked the scriptures, and it's what they say.

And he said, many have said, yeah, I've adopted that position now because that's what the scriptures teach. And so What the caller said is correct. People hate the sovereignty of God. we want to subject God and the Scriptures to our own intuition. and this is very seriously wrong.

There are things that we may not like that scripture teaches, but we've got to understand he's the sovereign king. He works all things after the counsel of His will.

Now when we talk about election predestination, double this, double that, Those things will be talked strictly about those aspects. We're not also addressing the great love and patience and mercy and grace of God. And they all need to be worked together.

so that we can come up with A holistic view of scripture regarding God's sovereignty in His work. There are tough things. to uh to believe on one side and very easy things to believe on the other. And I think this is something we need to be aware of as Christians. And you know, I do wish sometime that some group, some place.

Would have me just teach for one to two hours on Reformed theology. Do nothing but just teach, like get up in front of the pulpit, a seminar, a class, whatever it is, and just teach. and put this all together because for thirty six years now 35, 36 years. I have been. arguing and defending reformed theology On a regular basis, and I have lots of scriptures and lots of arguments.

uh memorized. And I would love to be able to stand up and just say: look, let me present all of this. I'll connect all the dots. It'll take a little while. I'll connect them all.

and you guys can decide what you want afterward. Because a lot of times people just don't have both sides of the equation. They don't have both sides of information. And a lot of times people are Are only interested in one perspective and not something that challenges them. Personally, I'm very open to being challenged.

I honestly am. because I'm afraid of what I teach. What I mean by that is God will hold me responsible more strictly than He will the average person because I'm a teacher of biblical truth. And so uh that scares me. And I want to honor him.

And I regularly pray that God would use me in spite of myself, that God would speak through me in spite of myself, and that where I am in error, That He would kindly, in His great mercy, show me those areas according to Scripture that I might turn from bad ideas, incomplete ideas, insufficient ideas. and present the truth of God's Word more thoroughly and completely. And as someone who studies a great deal, it doesn't mean I'm right because I study a great deal, but I do study a great deal. and even almost 70 years old now. I still study in depth doctrines, ideas.

I develop outlines, paradigms, word studies, and I study. And I think I've got a lot of things figured out. I could be wrong. But I do believe I have a cognitive map of how the theology of God works through the New Testament and the Old Testament. I'd love to be able to do that sometime and teach a whole class on it.

And just let people decide for themselves. If you want to give me a call, number is 877-2072276. We'll be right back after these messages. It's Matt Slick Live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick.

Everybody, welcome back to the show. If you want to give me a call, it is easy. All you got to do is dial 877-2072276.

Now, before we get to the next caller, Scott from Washington. Just want to say thank you very much to all of you who have been supporting us. I've been asking more fervently the past week because our finances in the CARM Intergalactic Headquarters were, boy, were they low. The lowest they've been. in 15 years And, you know, even when I was saying that last week, I was chuckling because I just know what God's going to do.

And so many of you have helped out, and I'm just very thankful.

So we're not that low now. We're so low, but God has blessed. And so we can actually pay a few bills now. And I really appreciate that. But if you do want to support us, you like this ministry and you want to see it, or I should say hear it continue over the air, please consider.

Just supporting us. All you gotta do is go to carm.org, C-A-R-M.org. At the top of the page, you'll see the word donate. It's easy to do. We have a new system.

We've redone a lot of stuff. There you go. All right, let's get to Scott from Washington. Scott, welcome. You're on the air.

Hey, good day to you, my friend. I just had a quick question regarding. the religions of the day.

So, you know. I was thinking and imagining Paul in his area being in Syria and Turkey, all that. For a second, I thought. You know, he was dealing with Islam, and then I realized Islam hadn't come about yet. And so it made me wonder.

What were the religions that he frequently ran into in those areas back then? Oh, that's a good question. Uh there was uh the the Canaan religion and the uh The remnants of Baal, varying pagan religions. There was the emperor worship called Caesaropapism from Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Okay, Caesaropapism. From uh uh Rome which said you could worship the emperor. And that was a no-no. And then there was something else in the back of my head. The Egyptian stuff I said there was Caesar papism or something else.

That was prominent. Oh, there was Greek polytheism as well. The Greek gods, Roman gods, and stuff like that.

So there's a lot of different. religious systems that were around at the time of Christ. Yeah. That's a good question though.

Okay, yeah, because, you know, sometimes I have trouble sleeping and I'll just lay there and. imagine stuff, think about what it was like back then. And then I it hit me, I said, Wait, Islam hadn't come about yet You know, 'cause Paul was an apologist, you know, and uh I I take a lot of joy in participating in apologetics myself and so I was just thinking about that. Um but uh I've never written that Yeah, I think that'd be a good article. It's it's definitely interesting.

You know, this He had a lot of challenges, a lot of people he met in different regions, and it just made me think about that one region, modern day Islam Central, you know. Yeah, I agree. It'd be interesting to find out what religions, I know there's just basic ones. Uh, but now I'm kind of curious to know in more detail what that would be.

So that's an interesting question. No one's ever. I don't think I remember anyone ever asking me that.

Well, it's a good question.

Okay, well, great, man. That's all I got. I'm just at the gas station. Loud cars are passing by, so I'll let you go.

Okay. All right, buddy.

Sounds good, man. Thanks a lot. Let's go. Yeah, another good one. All right, now let's get to Lynn from North Carolina.

Lynn, welcome. You're on the air. See you there. Oh, hello, Matt. How are you?

I'm doing all right, hanging in there. What do you got? Alright.

Well, I see this ad, I hate to say it, but I waste some time. Too much on my phone when I play like a Scrabble or Other games. Um and I see ads such as The Faith Made. which is got the little TM trademark above it. Complete Ethiopian Bible.

And I wondered if you sanctioned that or no.

Well, um The Ethiopian Bible will have most of what is Orthodox good Christian scriptures. But they add works, they add works, they add uh books. Enoch, First Enoch, Jubilees, Maccabees, Darup, Tobit, Judith, Esdras, Wisdom of Solomon, and these are not scripture. They're not inspired.

So That's what I would say. The ad says that actually There were 88 books in the original Ethiopian. First and it says the first Christian. Bible was saved in Ethiopia. And it said, um That actually the scholars removed those 22 books.

Yeah, it's not true. Uh That's not true at all.

So, um Here's the thing. These books, a lot of these books were written, it's called the Intertestamental Period. And this is between roughly 400 BC to the time of Christ. 400-year period where no scripture was written. The last one scripture written was Malachi.

Now what I want to do is show you something here. I'm gonna go to Luke 11. I think it's 51. Yeah. So the Jews knew about these books, and the Jews did not recognize them as scripture.

In Romans 3:2, Paul says that God entrusted the Jews with the oracles of God. The Jews didn't recognize those books. In Luke 11:51, Jesus says something very interesting. From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God.

So the blood of Abel is in the book of Genesis, Zechariah. is mentioned in Chronicles.

Well, the reason that's important is that the arrangement of the Old Testament books at the time of Christ. Was not like we have Genesis to Malachi, it was Genesis to Chronicles. And they had 22 books where they combined Chronicles and Kings and things like this. There's the same scriptures, and I still have never studied how they became differentiated the way we have now. The quantity and the text are identical.

They're the same. But the point is, Jesus was, it's like Jesus saying from the first to the last book of the Old Testament. It's like saying that. She says, for the blood of Abel, Genesis, the blood of Zechariah, Chronicles. And Chronicles at that time was listed in the order of the books.

Uh as the last book. And here's another one. This is John. Is it John? No, wait.

John. Matthew, Mark, Luke. Luke twenty-four, forty. Yeah. Jesus says, These are my words which I have spoken to you while I was still with you: that all these things which are written about me in the law of Moses.

That's the first five books, the prophets and the psalms.

So psalms, obviously, we know what they are. The prophets to the Jews were the major and minor prophets, not included in the apocryphal books.

So, Jesus is using the distinction of the three categories of the Old Testament. Law, Prophets, and Psalms. And he's saying that's what's about him. He excluded the apocryphal books there.

Okay. Does that mean that it would be bad to read the apocryphal and believe any of it? It'd be Okay that so There are historically valid things in some of these books. But if you're going to read them, which is fine, you have to understand they're not inspired. don't consider them inspired.

any more than you'd consider the Book of Mormon inspired, because it's not.

Okay. Oh yeah, we got a break. We got a break, so hold on. Hold on.

Okay, Lynn.

Okay. Hey folks, we'd write back after these messages. We have three open lines, 877-207-2276. We'll be right back. It's Matt Slick Live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick. All Robin, welcome back to the show. Let's get back on with Lynn from North Carolina. Lynn, you still there? I am.

All right. Okay, I wanted to verify something. A minute ago you were reciting things that Jesus said about his word. And you said that Abel goes back to Genesis, and somebody goes to Zephaniah. Give me that first reference, please.

That's uh Luke 1151.

Okay. But I think that may be all I've got for you today.

Okay. Unless you.

Well, she doesn't have other people waiting and then maybe I'll come up with something.

Well, I got another person waiting, so you can call back if you want and get another something going in there. All right. Thank you. You're welcome. Bye-bye.

Okay, God bless. Bye. All right, that's good today from North Carolina. Dave, welcome. You're on the air.

Hi, man. It's it's been a while. How are you today? I'm doing all right. Hanging in there, man.

Hanging in there.

What do you got, buddy? How are you? Question on the church ought in is their their beliefs regarding uh gay marriage and uh trans transsexualism and all this sort of thing is is conservative and it's biblically based. But they do say not to attach your faith to a political party or stop you're Republicans or Democrats or you're going to heaven or hell. But I think it ignores the fact, I wanna get your thoughts on this.

that yeah, we need to be politically active. because opposing gay marriage and transgenderism is contending for the faith. And Jesus asks us, He requires us to contend for the faith. What's your thoughts? Correct.

Christians are obligated to be involved in politics. We should be running for office. Christians should be trying to become president. They should become senators and congressmen. They should become mayors.

They should become whatever they can.

So that truth, hopefully, in their character can be manifested so they don't take bribes. They don't work for special interest groups, et cetera, as so many people do. And those who would say that Christians are not to be involved in politics are simply ignoring what the scripture says. Be subject to government in Romans 13. And in that, it says vote.

Well, if you're going to vote. In our government, that means you're involved in politics.

So, you can't just say, I'm only going to vote, not do anything else. Christians need to be obligated to consider moving into those political offices. They should do that. We need more Christians in office. Absolutely.

We just we have to, as Christians, tell what they stand for, and I'm sure you agree based on what you just said, a biblical way of life, what what God's plan is about what marriage means between a man and a woman. And and we need and we need to publicly state that and contend for that. And that it just bothers me that we're afraid to speak political. And uh and that's the way of maybe stopping what we're trying to say. I agree.

We are not to let the unbelievers tell us what is morally right and wrong. I was in a chat room yesterday. Online in the virtual world. And I went in, and there was a bunch of atheists, really vile. And when I'm in a room like that, I wait.

And sometimes they recognize me and they'll start asking questions. And then when I speak, because my voice is so distinctive that people stop and they listen and they ask who I am and stuff, again, we're using my. A voice changer. And so I had to be very careful when I'm there, and I usually get into good conversations. And so.

I was there yesterday and some guy Said that he was a girl, and he had a voice like mine, I mean, a man voice. And I said, No, I don't believe you're a girl. And they kicked me out. Of the room because I wouldn't bow to their perversion. And so their bigotry showed.

We are not to let the unbelievers tell us what is morally right and wrong. Christians have the revelation from God. We need to be stepping up, we need to be involved. That's what we need to be doing.

Okay. Absolutely. Yeah. Have we got time for one more question? Sure.

Probably break Wh why do you think churches who who in their theology and what they preach from from the pulpit, that they tend to preach con a conservative, democracy-based message? There's nothing wrong with the message. But then they go in and say, No, we can't say the Democratic Party is bad or Republican Party is good and they're they're Republican crooks, oh, obviously. But the Democratic Party has gotten very extreme in terms of this uh uh of this transgenderism and if we don't say that or ignore it, we're deluding ourselves. I agree.

And if I were in the pulpit preaching, I would say the Democratic Party is not the party of Christ. I've written an article. Which political party, Democrat or Republican, you can't pick a million of them, would the Antichrist belong to? And it would be the Democratic Party. Absolutely, hands down.

Killing the unborn, pro-homosexuality, pro-socialism, communism, the removal of our right of self-defense and self-governance. This is exactly what the Antichrist would want. And so, yeah, I would say things, and I do on the radio. I don't believe any Christian should ever be a Democrat. because the Democratic Party is basically evil.

Preach the right message, but want to steer clear of any Republican or Democrat talk. Why would you think that would be what are they trying to do? You think it's trying to calm Philip Brown, maybe? One of the reasons might be 501c3 nonprofit status is that you're not supposed to speak about political party-driven support. I don't care.

I do it anyway. I'm a 501c3. I wish I would never have gotten that back in the day, but at any rate, that's neither here nor there. I just say the truth is: Christians shouldn't support Democratic Party members. I'll name names.

I don't think Trump is the greatest, but he's certainly a lot better than that cackling hack. of uh Kamala who was there.

So uh You know, and I'd say d don't vote for Kamala. That's it's ridiculous. She's she's a an incompetent buffoon. All right. And so I will say these things.

And if they the government comes and says you can't say that. Yes, I can.

Well, you'll lose your 513. Then I'll lose it. Christians need to speak up and they need to say things. The job of the pastor is not to preach hammock theology, coochie-coochie-coo, you know. What it's supposed to do is equip Christians for the work of ministry.

And if they were to go through the scriptures and teach what the Bible says, particularly the New Testament. The confrontation against the powers that be and the issue of moral righteousness is a requirement of the Christians. But Christianity, too often, is just go to church on Sunday, go get something to eat after church, and you're done. And they don't there's no cost to being a Christian here. Generally speaking.

I was witnessing to a friend of mine, and he was saying that he liked this particular church because he always left the service feelings, well. But that's good in some respects. You need to, but in other respects, it's not always good to feel good. You need to feel convicted. You need to feel challenged.

Amen, brother. Amen. I'm liking you. If you come away from a church feeling good all the time, it's catering to your flesh. It's just there are cuts.

There are times that feel good, just like what our our church recently had eight baptisms, eight professions of faith, and it was wonderful. Yeah, I feel good about that. But also, if I'm doing some things in my life that is not in God's will or what Jesus would have me do, the pastor has a To speak to the congregation, need to point that out, and it may not necessarily make you feel good. It it should be convicting also at times. Right.

I totally agree. You know, I go to churches over the years, I'm not convicted. It doesn't have to be every single sermon, but. Come on, you know? Stop doing a sermon like you're reading a newspaper.

Get to the heart of something. That's what I think we need to do. That's my opinion. That's all I have, Matt. I appreciate your perspective and your point of view on it.

I thank you so much for your time. Hey, God bless, brother. God bless. Appreciate it.

Alright, thank you. Can't move.

Alright.

Yeah. All right. Now, we've got a break coming up in about a minute or two. Let's get to Patrick from Ohio. Patrick, welcome.

You're on the air. Hello? Patrick. There we go. Patrick, are you there?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, can you hear me? Yes, I hear you.

Okay, sorry, I had you on speakerphone. I'll take it off here. Is this better? Yeah, it's fine. No problem.

Okay. So my question is in Uh we just went through a study in Acts. uh at our church and And The sec the passage in Act twenty seven thirty two thirty two And Paul The sailors are terrified they're about to cut the lifeboat off and take off themselves. And Paul looks at the Centurion and the Roman soldiers, and he says, you know, unless these men stay on the ship. You yourselves cannot be saved.

So. they end up cutting the light put off, but they don't chip on it and stay on the ship.

So I feel like there's something in. that little bit there that we tried to I think about it, talk about it, but it just seems like there's more there than I'm getting. The fact that Yeah, I don't know. I just wanted to know your thoughts on that passage because I felt it was kind of interesting that Paul told. looked at the centurion and the other soldiers and said, Unless these men stay on the boat, you yourselves will not be saved.

You know, we could theoretically tie it into Noah going into the ark, the boat that saved them from the storm that was about them. We could draw that, but I don't think that the drawing that is, whoops, hold on, we got a break.

So hold on, brother, okay? Patrick, hold on.

Okay, folks, you'll be right back after these messages.

So please stay tuned. If you want to give me a call, we have three open lines: 877-207. 2276, 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 Patrick from Ohio. All right, brother, are you still there? Yeah, I'm still here.

Okay. So what's interesting about this pericope, this section of scripture, Is that the soldiers were lying? They said they were going to escape. And they were going to list the boats out. And they said, no, we're really going to just drop anchors.

So they were deceiving the prisoners. Later on when they crash land, The soldiers we're gonna kill the um of the prisoners. The reason they were going to do that is because in Roman jurisprudence, if the Soldier let a prisoner escape, the soldier took their place. There was a very strict. punishment upon soldiers who let them So it's better to kill them than it would be to let them live and escape.

The soldiers would be in trouble. And so there's that which is interesting. And also what's interesting is the issue of Paul taking bread and giving thanks. The presence of Paul broke and began to eat. And then it says 276 persons.

And me, I'm a numbers nut. I like to know why 276. Is it just a historical thing? Just happen to be the number, or is there a mathematical significance? That's just a personal thing I'd like to know about.

like 153 fish. Uh I found out the reason for that. At any rate.

So, I think what we could do ultimately is if I were preaching it as a As a flyover of this large section of scripture to the end of the chapter, I'd say it's possible to draw a parallel of entering into the ship. with uh with Noah. But I think it's stretching the text a little bit much. I think this is just, in my opinion, just a a historical account that includes in it The miraculous, the the authority of Paul, How people were saved when they listened to the word of God through Paul. People are saved, they're not destroyed.

and that they're brought safely through the storm. I think there's a hidden soteriological meaning there where people are saved when they obey the word of the Lord.

Okay. Okay. Well, I know that 276 is dividable by 3, so there's that.

So that always kind of like. That popped into my brain too, because you know the significance of the number three.

So, but I'm with you. Like, there's Uh whenever numbers come up, I think the same thing. Like there's there's got to be something to that. But Okay, well I appreciate it. Thank you very much, Matt.

And hope you enjoy the rest of your night. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. And I love numbers. Yeah, I've always liked my Okay, man.

God bless. That's right. It's one of my autism things. A lot of you don't know. I have Asperger's, been diagnosed.

And I've always been um interested in numbers and patterns and dislike them.

So To me, it's like, why that number? You got to know the number.

So, like some people have to clean. That's not my problem.

So, any rate, any rate. Hey, there you go. We have nobody waiting right now. If you want to give me a call, the number is 877-20727. I want to let you know that we stay on the air by your support.

Please, we do need that support. We're not out of the woods yet, but we're getting there. We need that regular monthly income coming in. We just ask $10 a month from people. And if we can get 1,000 people doing that, that's $10,000.

That's not that much considering how much we pay for radio and missionaries and support and bills and just stuff that comes up. It's just normal ministry work. This has been growing for a long time. Anyway, praise God. And we need to raise funds also, ultimately, in order to get our websites of other languages converted into the Karn style.

And another urgent necessity is to get our schools converted into the new programming style. We have a programmer who can do it, but it just costs thousands of dollars to get that going. And we just won't have the funds for either one of those yet, but we're going to figure out how to do it.

So we've got to do that. All right, there's so many things to talk about. We've got a couple callers coming in. Oh, we got one coming in, and we'll see if that call comes through. I could tell you about an interesting discussion I had.

Here's a question. That uh It was raised during a discussion. I was walking around the block. I walk around the block. I have a mile.

miles circuit that I walk a couple of three times a day and um I'll talk theology with people in different chat rooms. And I got into this one discussion with an Eastern Orthodox guy who took umbrage with the idea that God will ask us to do things we can't do. He goes, That's wrong. And I said, You're you're a humanist. That's humanist philosophy.

You're judging ability by our standard, not by what God's standard is. And I said, for example, John 14:1, Jesus says, believe in God, believe also in me. But you can't believe in God unless God grants it to you. Philippians 1:29. God has granted that we believe.

And Jesus says in John 6, 65, you cannot come to me unless it's granted to you from the Father.

So the I said the standard here is that God is is is holy, his character is true, and that we are obligated to follow his standard, not our own. And what you're doing, I said, is you're reducing the standard of holiness and capability to man's level instead of us going up to God's level, and we can only do that through Christ. And then he gave me this analogy. He said, A father puts some candy on top of a six-foot-tall refrigerator, tells his two-foot-tall son, jump up there and grab that. And he can't.

because he's not able to, and then he punishes the son for that. And this was his way of proving to me that I was wrong. He didn't quote scripture. didn't reference the word of God, which I pointed out. And I said, you're using humanist philosophy.

And I said, the problem with your analogy is that this is an arbitrary thing. It's not resting in the character of God. This is a moral thing that we're obligated to follow what God says. Not an arbitrary thing about jumping and physical characteristics. Let's talk about morality.

There's different categories. You're mixing the categories, and so your analogy fails. And which is correct. He made that mistake. And yet, at the same time, It was really fascinating to me to listen to someone who continued to espouse and promote.

humanist philosophy rather than God's word. and then judge God's word. by his humanist philosophy. Let's get to Nick From Virginia, Nick, welcome. You're on the air.

What's up, Matt? How you doing? Doing all right hanging in there, melancholy, little streprous as usual, hanging in there. Oh no, melancholy, that's no good. A little bit.

You know, I slept late today. It's one of those I woke up and go, what? What time it you know, couldn't believe I slept that way and uh but I've been working.

So, you know, kind of ambivalent. You know? I got you. I like answering like that. People, how are you doing?

Fine. No.

Well, I'm a little obstreprous with some melancholy mixed into a little fatigue. But I'm fine. Give a good answer. Yeah. That's right.

So what do you got, buddy?

Well, I got a question about the book of colonoscopy. First, colonoscopy and second hysterectomy. Yep, those are books that the false teachers reference all the time. That's right. No, joking aside, I wanted to get your view on the millennium.

I was curious to see if you fall into the camp of the pre, post or the ah millennium. All millennial. I'm all millennial. Yeah, I am. And I remember the moment I got converted when someone read me scriptures, or I read scriptures.

But I have friends who are post-mill and friends who are pre-mill, and it's okay. You know? Yes, I'm a I fall into the same camp. I'm millennial too.

Okay, good. And people think I'm stupid for it. And I go, well, let me show you some stuff. And they go, wow, I've never seen that before. I know.

Yeah. Yeah. I used to be, I used to be what? Like. But then um But then, yeah, I uh started seeing some scripture in a completely different light and it definitely changed like everything.

So Yep, especially when we find out that Satan was bound by Jesus when he was on earth. in Matthew 12, 22 to 32. That really rocks a lot of people. And then you learn there's only two ages: this age and the age to come. And what happens at the end of this age?

And that really, really shakes people up when I go through all those things. But yeah. Yeah, for sure. Uh-huh. Yep.

That's right. Cool. Yeah, I was just curious. Yeah, but I hope I'm wrong though. I don't want to be right.

Oh, yeah, no, me too.

So I teach what's called depresscatology. I teach it's going to get bad. It's depressing. Yeah. So uh it's going to get worse and worse.

I'm a pessimistic amillennialist. Post-meals are optimistic, and pre-meals are kind of ambivalent, but I'm definitely pessimistic. I know what people are capable of. I know how it's going to go, according to Jesus. Yeah, and I mean based on, you know, the book of revelation, I mean, it's just going to keep getting worse and worse until he comes back.

That's right. And one of the proofs is the arising the arrival of Democrats. And this long. I really think the Democrat Party is evil. I really do.

On the same level as Islam. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, it's evil. Yep. Yeah, I definitely think um Yeah, um Yeah, the Democrats are like influenced by some Some demons or something, they're definitely on the wrong path.

Absolutely. They're the party of pro-slavery, pro-Jim Clo. Jim Crow laws, pro-abortion, pro-homosexuality, all the things against scripture. They're socialistic. They don't believe in market capital.

They don't believe in these things. They want to take away our weapons. They want to take away our rights. They want to be in control. It's the ground.

They're trying to get the right to the right. They're trying to, like, they're trying to, well, they have been. They're trying to dismantle our country and make it into something else. Absolutely. They in their incredible arrogance think they know better.

Yep, absolutely. That's right. Yeah. I agree with you, brother.

Well, that's cool, man. Yeah, that's uh I was just curious.

Okay. Yeah, there we go. And I believe we're going through the tribulation period, post-trib rapture, and be running for the hills, that kind of thing. Yeah, unfortunately, I'm with you. I don't think there's going to be a rapture.

Oh, you don't? I do. I think we we could talk about this somewhere. Oh, yeah, yeah. At the end of the tribulation.

Yeah, the the being caught up in 1 Thessalonians 4. At the end of the tribulation period. Yeah. Oh, okay. Gotcha, gotcha.

Yeah, yeah. No, I'm with you on that. I thought you meant like a free trip. Nah.

Now, we're going through it. In fact, I tell people: if you want to see what Jesus says about the rapture, there's two things I point them to.

Well, three things, but Luke 17, Matthew 24:2 men in the field. One is taken, one is left. That's not the rapture. That's the wicked who are taken. Just read the context and the parallels.

And then in Matthew 24, let's see, Matthew 24, 29, I think he says. Uh Immediately after the tribulation of those days, and then it goes on, it says, He'll gather his elect from the four winds.

So the rapture, because there's only one trumpet and one gathering. And that's out of 1 Thessalonians 4. It happens at the end of the age, and that's a whole other thing. And then I show people where, which is this really gets people. In Matthew 13, I show them where the wheat and the tares are talked about.

And Jesus says, the tares and the wheat, you know, at the end of the age, are gathered. first gather the the tares. The first ones gathered are not the good, but the bad. Oh, yeah. This really rocks people's theological worlds when I show it to them.

Yeah, it's fun. I do want to hear it. Yeah, no, when I talk to people about it too, it shakes a lot of people up. Like, they don't want to hear it. That's right.

That's right. I can't tell you how many people have upset over theology, but not intentionally. Yeah, me too. Yeah. People don't want to hear it.

That's right. They don't want to hear it. They're secure in their comfort. That's right. Yeah.

Alright, brother. For sure. Good stuff, man. Oh, man. I appreciate it.

All right, God bless.

Okay. Hey, there's uh, we've only got like 15 seconds. And Elijah from Pennsylvania about Matthew 5:22. Good topic. I think I know what you can talk about.

I want you to call back tomorrow. We could talk about this issue that Matthew 5:22 brings up. We've only got another 10 seconds, folks. Thank you for listening.

Sorry, Elijah. And may the Lord bless you. And please remember to support us prayerfully as well as financially because we definitely do need it. We need that support. Go to carm.org forward slash donate.

Or top of the page, just donate. And we definitely need that. We still do. And may the Lord bless you. And by His grace, we'll back on the air tomorrow.

We'll talk to you then. Another program powered by the Truth Network.