December 5, 2025 • 28 mins
On today’s Bible Answer Man broadcast (12/05/25), Hank answers the following questions:
Do the Seven Spirits in Revelation 4 point to the complexity of God? Julio - AZ (0:52)
How do I know God’s will for my life? Dianne - Kansas City, MO (6:14)
Who is the “rock” in Matthew 16:15-19? Is the rock Peter or Jesus? Nelly - MD (15:12)
How do you explain God hardening Pharaoh’s heart? Randy - CO (17:07)
What happens to aborted children at the final judgment? Do they have rewards in heaven? Randy - Jacksonville, FL (19:33)
What’s your opinion of those who serve in the armed forces? Randy - Jacksonville, FL (23:04)
Do the Seven Spirits in Revelation 4 point to the complexity of God? Julio - AZ (0:52)
How do I know God’s will for my life? Dianne - Kansas City, MO (6:14)
Who is the “rock” in Matthew 16:15-19? Is the rock Peter or Jesus? Nelly - MD (15:12)
How do you explain God hardening Pharaoh’s heart? Randy - CO (17:07)
What happens to aborted children at the final judgment? Do they have rewards in heaven? Randy - Jacksonville, FL (19:33)
What’s your opinion of those who serve in the armed forces? Randy - Jacksonville, FL (23:04)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to the Bible answer Man Broadcast with Christian Research
Institute President Hank Canigraph. Our mission at CRII is not
only to equip you with Christian doctrine, apologetic accuracy, and discernment,
but to help you become a faithful apprentice of Jesus Christ,
because life and truth matter. If you'd like to know
(00:28):
more about CRII and the Bible answer Man Broadcast called
eight eight eight seven thousand CRII eight eight eight seven
thousand CRII, or go to our website at equip dot org.
That's equip dot org. The following program was pre recorded,
and now here's Hank Canigraph.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Thanks very much, Randy, and lot of you hanging on.
Let's go right to the phone lines. Julio listening in Arizona. Hi, Julio, Ah, yes, Hank,
thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
For taking my call. I have a question for you
that's going to be on Revelation four. H It's right
after verse five. It starts talking about the twenty four
elders and then going and specifies that there are seven
burning torches that are the seventh spirits of God. My
(01:19):
question is this, I understand that as being different than
the seven lamp stands that represent the seven churches. Is
this passage here, I'm just trying to understand it. Does
this passage here kind of give us a glimpse of
the complexity of who the Lord is, who God is?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, I think you're right to distinguish this from the
seven golden lamp stands. And yes, this is a metaphorical
reference to the sevenfold nature of the Holy Spirit. In
other words, aspects of the Holy Spirit which are delineated
elsewhere in the Biblical text. And this is one of
(01:57):
the reasons why it is so critical to read scripture.
In light of scripture, If you look at Isaiah eleven two,
you have the Spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge,
fear of the Lord. And I think this is what
is being referenced with respect to the majesty of the
(02:20):
Holy Spirit.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Amen.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
And when I read that, I mean I just had
a great sensation that, you know, we do praise a
mighty God. And clearly, when I read this, it just
gave me a sense of you know, the creation who
God is. The Bible does say that we'll learn the
mysteries when we get up in heaven of who God is,
and I surely look forward to that. Well, thank you,
Hanny for taking my question, you.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Got it, and thank you for your enthusiasm. One thing
I've said so often is that Revelation is not a
mere book of riddles originating from a shallow post Christian mind.
It's a book of symbols, and those symbols are deeply
rooted in Old Testament history of mistaking their meanings when
we fail to hear the background music of the Old Testament.
(03:07):
So the tree of life that is referred to in
Jesus's Letter to the Church in Ephesus first appears in Genesis.
The Ten Days of Testing in Schmyrna, find a reference
in Daniel. Think of the heavenly manna promised to the
Church of Pergamum. It first fell, of course from heaven
(03:27):
in Exodus. Or Jezebel, who promoted sexual immorality in Thia Tyra, Well,
that's a mirror image of the idolatrous Jezebel in Kings.
The seven spirits of the Letter to the Church in Sardis,
they hark back to the spirit that we just described,
(03:49):
and not just in Isaiah, also in Zachariah or the
Key of David, referenced in the Letter to Philadelphia echoes
the world words of Isaiah, and Christ's rebuke to the
Church of Laiadicaea alludes to the words of Proverbs. My son,
do not reject the discipline of the Lord or loathe
(04:12):
his reproof. For whom the Lord loves, he reproves, even
as a son the Father in whom he delights. And
let me say just a couple more things about this.
I think it's critical because people oftentimes go off with
a fertile imagination rather than fruitfully examining the biblical text
(04:33):
and reading scripture. In light a scripture, the letters of
Christ to his persecuted bride utilize images deeply embedded in
the language of the Bible. And likewise, the judgment of
Christ against a prostituted bride in Revelation is written on
(04:57):
a seven sealed scroll. It's announced with seven trumpets, It's
depicted my seven plagues, and that has a reference in
the history of the Old Testament scriptures. The pattern of
sevenfold judgment against unfaithfulness on the part of Israel is
(05:17):
spelled out in dreadful detail in Leviticus. Four times God
tells his covenant people I will punish you for your
sins seven times over. So in like fashion, the imagery
of sevenfold judgment against apostate Israel is unveiled on four occasions.
(05:40):
In Revelation. The pronouncement of judgment for unfaithfulness in the
seven churches is followed, of course, by the judgments of
the seven Seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bulls.
All of this to say, reading scripture in light a scripture,
the beauty, the fray migrants, the meaning of scripture will
(06:02):
become apparent to you. One of the reasons that I
have produced the Apocalypse Code, so you can learn to
read the Bible for all that's worth, mine it for
all its wealth. Let's go back to the phone lines.
We'll talk next to Diane listening on BOT Radio in
Kansas City, Missouri.
Speaker 5 (06:19):
Hi, Diane, Hi Henk, how are you today?
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Good? Thank you.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
I'm having questions about dis serment, and there's a life
decision that I had to make right now, and I'm
trying to ask God was his will? What was he
like for me to do? But I'm going to be honest,
I'm having a trouble kind of getting a handle on it.
Do you have any corners.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, a couple of things. First of all, whatever you do,
it has to be in concert with the will revealed
in the Word of God. But practically speaking, God leads
you through people and through circumstances. So if what you
are looking at doing does not violate any biblical precedents
or principles, you can move forward. If the ship is anchored,
(07:06):
nothing's going to happen, and the ship has to head out,
and then God's going to open ports or close ports
as he sees fit, and he will lead and guide
you through his people. Remember you're not a lone ranger Christian.
You are part of a body, and so the body
functions and it helps give you guidance in the process.
(07:27):
So people and circumstances God will direct you through them.
And again you want to always move in concert with
the will and purposes of God is revealed in scriptures.
So you know, if the point is, well, I want
to become a porn star, well you know right at
the very start that doesn't fly with scriptures, So you
know that can't be true. I mean, that's a graphic
(07:47):
example of saying that there are obviously parameters, but once
you have those parameters, God will lead through people in circumstances.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
Okay, So a question I have is, you know, ministers,
the other Christians have told me that you and know
a lot of times through a peace which I have felt,
you know, because I'm a strong believer and I have
felt that peace that you know people have been talking about.
But can also God talk to you through more of awareness.
(08:19):
And I've been looking at Luke sixteenth. Do you know
the manager? And even though it has to do with God,
is not necessarily you know, congratulating the manager for you know,
being dishonest, which is master, but it's also talking about
being prepared.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yeah. Yeah, And I think you've been up a really
good point because there are times where you have an
intuitive sense of uneasiness about something, and.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
I think you're having right now very uneasy and you.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Have to listen to that. I mean, I've always cautioned
people by saying that feelings are notoriously unreliable and therefore
they should be tested. But that is not to say
that those or those intuitions that God gives to us
are unimportant. Of course they're not. They are important, and
we need to, you know, pay attention to these things.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
Okay, Dan, So I guess what I'm hearing is now.
I just want to make sure I understand it's more
of but it's going to have to be a kind
of like a leap of faith, and just take it
sow and canstiously and just pray paithfully and read my
Bible and still communing with Guy each day, and he
would direct my path.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Yeah. The only thing I would say is I would
leave the word just out. When you say just a
leap of faith, I would turn that around and say,
there's no safer place than in a leap of faith.
I mean, faith ultimately is a channel of living trust
between a person and their God. And if your God
loved you so much to redeem you, think about how
(09:49):
much he cares about every detail of your life. There's
not a hair that falls from your head that he
doesn't know about it, according to the scripture, So he cares.
He's involved in the process. Keep your eyes and ears open,
make sure you get godly counsel, and God will lead you,
as I said, through his body, through people, and through circumstances.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
Okay, Dan, all right, I see things are beginning to
start to take shape. Now. I guess I'm just feeling anxious.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
But that that happens, well, you know, bathe yourself in prayer,
bathe yourself in prayer, and you know, go to the
foot of your bed and kneel down and talk to
your maker, and then just absorb yourself in the fact
that here you have the opportunity not just to talk
(10:36):
to the president, not just to talk to a world leader,
not to talk to an electronic wo but you get
to talk to God, Amen, and cares, and he is
not unattended to every single aspect of your life. He
cares and he's involved.
Speaker 5 (10:51):
Okay, well, thank you so much, and thank you for
taking my call.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
And you have a blessed day you too.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Thank you so much for giving us a call. We'll
be right back with more of your questions. Stay tuned
for that.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
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Speaker 2 (15:10):
Hevery much rendy, and let's go right back to the
phone callers. Next up is Nelly listening in Maryland. Hi, Nelly, Hi, I.
Speaker 6 (15:18):
Have been speaking with this brother for several months, and
I'm trying to see that he knows the truth, because
it seems like he doesn't. And yesterday was brought up
Matthew sixteen fifteen through nineteen. Jesus says, but who do
(15:40):
you say that I am? And then Peter answered and said,
you are the Christ, the son of the Living God.
And Jesus says that my father, who is in heaven,
only he can reveal that to you, and this brother
said that that rock means that Peter is the rock.
(16:05):
I thought Jesus Christ was the rock of the church.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Yeah, And I think in this context that point is
actually made emphatically. The rock is Peter's confession in verse sixteen,
you are the Christ, the son of the Living God.
So you have a foundation of the church. That foundation
is given to us as the disciples, the prophets, and
(16:34):
the apostles. If Matthew was trying to say that Peter
was the rock, he would have used the word petross
twice instead of what Matthew uses is the word Petra,
which refers to Jesus, the foundation, the cornerstone, and the
spiritual roc. And I think all of that collectively points
to the reality that's not Peter that is the rock,
(16:57):
but it is his confession that Jesus Christ is the
son of the Living God that is the foundation, the rock,
as it were. Let's go back to the phone lines.
Next up is Randy then Colorado. Hi Randy, Hi, Hank,
how are you good? Thank you?
Speaker 7 (17:14):
Yeah, I have a question about pardoning of the heart.
We've been talking about it in our church for a
little while and I'm still confused on the issue. When
I read in Exodus chapter ten, just before the plague
of the locusts, God tells Moses that I have hardened
Pharaoh's heart so I may commit these miracles, and you
have a testimony of my power to your children and grandchildren,
(17:36):
basically paraphrasing, you know. And then again in Romans, Paul
writes about that situation, and it seems to me that
in that situation God did it deliberately and theroh didn't
have a choice. But you know, that doesn't coincide with
us being a creation that has free choice. So I'm
(17:59):
looking for some clarification on that.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Yeah, I don't see fatalistic determinism in this at all.
What happens every time God relents and removes the plague,
Pharaoh responds in disobedience. So what becomes the occasion for
the hardening of Pharaoh's heart is mercy, And mercy for
those who believe is the occasion for salvation, but mercy
(18:24):
for those who continue to rebel becomes the occasion for
the hardening of heart. So when God hardens Pharaoh's heart
in Exodus chapter ten, in reality, it is Good's mercy
that is the cause of this hardening. Again, every time
God shows Pharaoh mercy, every time he removes the plague,
Pharaoh responds in disobedience. So why is someone like Pharaoh
(18:48):
prepared for destruction. It's because that's what he wanted. God
gave him a chance to repent, but instead he hardened
his heart. And you can see the mercy of God
in the number of times God relents, removes the plague
and every time Pharaoh hardens his heart. So on the
(19:09):
one hand, you can say God hardened Pharaoh's heart, that's biblical.
It's also biblical to say that Pharaoh hardened his own heart.
So both sides of that coin are communicated in the scripture.
But there's no place, I would say for fatalistic determinism
or for reading of fatalistic determinism into the text. We'll
(19:32):
go back to the phone lines, Doctor Randy Jacksonville, Florida. Hi, Randy, Oh.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
Wow, hey, how are you? This is great to talk
to you. Likewise, I just recently discovered your show within
the last week and I've been listening every day that
you're on. It's just amazing and I want to thank
you for what you do.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Oh, thank you.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
I do have a couple of questions. I hope you'll
have time for it. One is it was regarding the
abortion issue. Now, I'm a creationist and I am also
an anti abortionist. When I think about abortion and all
of the children that you know die at the hands
of abortion, I wonder how that relates to the beam
(20:13):
a seat as far as the people who did get
a chance at life, did serve the Lord throughout their
lives and they now are at the judgment seat of
Christ getting their rewards. Well, doesn't that mean that all
of these lives that didn't get the chance don't even
have the opportunity to throw their crowns down before the
(20:36):
Lord and glorify I am even better, And that's kind
of my opinion. But I'd like your opinion on that one.
And then if you wouldn't mind have one more quick
question after that.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Yeah, well, I think you're making a good point. I mean,
this is one of the horrors that attends taking prematurely
a life, and that is not just the life of
a preborn child, but a life in general. Every time
is committed, there is the abrogation of a life that
has meaning, purpose, potential, fulfillment. And it is part of
(21:10):
the problem that we find as a result of evil
in the world. But what we know is a righteous
and just God takes into consideration every converging factor, and
he makes out of that which is rotten and spoiled,
degenerate something beautiful. How all this cashes out in eternity
(21:32):
I cannot say, because I don't have the wisdom of God.
What I can say is that I know that whatever
God does, whether with an aborted child or someone whose
life has been cut short through some other malady or
evil in the world, I know that God will do
what is righteous, loving, just, and merciful in that greatest size.
(21:57):
And so I leave these circumstances in the hands of
an infinitely just and infinitely merciful God. I trust him.
In other words, because here's one of the things that
we can't always answer, and that is the why question.
When Job asked the why question, God said to him,
in effact, you don't even know how to create a
(22:20):
single drop of dew. How can you know what's going
on in the heavenlys Which is to say that Job
ultimately was taught the lesson not to find the answer,
but the lesson of trust, so that he could ultimately say,
though he slay me, yet will I trust in him?
(22:41):
So we know enough about the nature of God to
know we can trust him even though we don't have
answers to these maladies, whether a murder or an abortion
of a preborn child.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
Okay, yeah, that makes a lot of sense to me.
I mean his sovereignty and you know something that we
just don't grasp all the time. And if you did
have another moment, yeah, I'm also a soldier in the
United States Military and a Christian. I sometimes think about,
(23:16):
you know, what I'm going to be in the in
the next battle when I have to fight for my country,
which is what I swore to do. The only verse
that gives me comfort is you know, I don't have
the exact verse, but it's basically God telling you to
whoever you are a bond to, whoever you are working for,
(23:36):
you serve them as you're serving me. Can I get
your opinion on our servicemen in one of who put
their life on the line and also that time to
have to pull the trigger and kill, well.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
First of all, thank you for your service. A war
in defense of justice has to be, of course, fought justly,
and thus we may kill a child if we encountered
a child with a bomb strapped to his back, but
we may not shoot an innocent baby in the arms
of its mother. So again, war has to be fought
(24:10):
justly because true love protects the innocent against the evil
of an aggressor, and that kind of love sometimes leads
to war. It leads to military action. But if you
say military action is not allowed in order to maintain
order among nations, then by logical inference, then police should
(24:32):
not be permitted to maintain the order of a nation.
So again I think it's a leap of logic to
allow the police to or resist a murderer at the
same time and not let the military resist a murderous nation.
Wars are permitted by God in the same way the
divorce is because of the hardness of our heart. So
(24:53):
we live in an imperfect world and as such we
need police. As such, we also need some time armies
that resist evil. Thank God for the resistance to not
see Germany and the holocaust that they produced.
Speaker 4 (25:09):
If I had two grandfathers who were both in that work, yeah,
I completely understand. Listen, I want to thank you for
your time. I was actually inspired to find the station
by a good friend of mine. We're going to be
saying Rookles's attention to your show and just love you.
So please keep up the good work and we'll pray
for you.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Well. Thank you so much, and again on behalf of
all Americans. We can be so grateful for our military,
for the fact that they are putting their lives on
the line so that we can do what we do.
If it were not for the military, perhaps I wouldn't
be on the radio able to do what I'm doing
right now. So I thank God for your service, and
(25:53):
I thank you ultimately for your Christian commitment, because in
the end, how do you change things? Well, we live
in a perfect world. We need police, we need armies,
but ultimately, when the heart has changed, behavior is changed
as well. Thanks for tuning in today. We'll see you
next time right here with more of the Bible Inchment broadcast.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Thank you for joining us today. Our mission at the
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(26:34):
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Once again, that's equip dot org.
Welcome to the Bible answer Man Broadcast with Christian Research
Institute President Hank Canigraph. Our mission at CRII is not
only to equip you with Christian doctrine, apologetic accuracy, and discernment,
but to help you become a faithful apprentice of Jesus Christ,
because life and truth matter. If you'd like to know
(00:28):
more about CRII and the Bible answer Man Broadcast called
eight eight eight seven thousand CRII eight eight eight seven
thousand CRII, or go to our website at equip dot org.
That's equip dot org. The following program was pre recorded,
and now here's Hank Canigraph.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Thanks very much, Randy, and lot of you hanging on.
Let's go right to the phone lines. Julio listening in Arizona. Hi, Julio, Ah, yes, Hank,
thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
For taking my call. I have a question for you
that's going to be on Revelation four. H It's right
after verse five. It starts talking about the twenty four
elders and then going and specifies that there are seven
burning torches that are the seventh spirits of God. My
(01:19):
question is this, I understand that as being different than
the seven lamp stands that represent the seven churches. Is
this passage here, I'm just trying to understand it. Does
this passage here kind of give us a glimpse of
the complexity of who the Lord is, who God is?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Yeah, I think you're right to distinguish this from the
seven golden lamp stands. And yes, this is a metaphorical
reference to the sevenfold nature of the Holy Spirit. In
other words, aspects of the Holy Spirit which are delineated
elsewhere in the Biblical text. And this is one of
(01:57):
the reasons why it is so critical to read scripture.
In light of scripture, If you look at Isaiah eleven two,
you have the Spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge,
fear of the Lord. And I think this is what
is being referenced with respect to the majesty of the
(02:20):
Holy Spirit.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
Amen.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
And when I read that, I mean I just had
a great sensation that, you know, we do praise a
mighty God. And clearly, when I read this, it just
gave me a sense of you know, the creation who
God is. The Bible does say that we'll learn the
mysteries when we get up in heaven of who God is,
and I surely look forward to that. Well, thank you,
Hanny for taking my question, you.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Got it, and thank you for your enthusiasm. One thing
I've said so often is that Revelation is not a
mere book of riddles originating from a shallow post Christian mind.
It's a book of symbols, and those symbols are deeply
rooted in Old Testament history of mistaking their meanings when
we fail to hear the background music of the Old Testament.
(03:07):
So the tree of life that is referred to in
Jesus's Letter to the Church in Ephesus first appears in Genesis.
The Ten Days of Testing in Schmyrna, find a reference
in Daniel. Think of the heavenly manna promised to the
Church of Pergamum. It first fell, of course from heaven
(03:27):
in Exodus. Or Jezebel, who promoted sexual immorality in Thia Tyra, Well,
that's a mirror image of the idolatrous Jezebel in Kings.
The seven spirits of the Letter to the Church in Sardis,
they hark back to the spirit that we just described,
(03:49):
and not just in Isaiah, also in Zachariah or the
Key of David, referenced in the Letter to Philadelphia echoes
the world words of Isaiah, and Christ's rebuke to the
Church of Laiadicaea alludes to the words of Proverbs. My son,
do not reject the discipline of the Lord or loathe
(04:12):
his reproof. For whom the Lord loves, he reproves, even
as a son the Father in whom he delights. And
let me say just a couple more things about this.
I think it's critical because people oftentimes go off with
a fertile imagination rather than fruitfully examining the biblical text
(04:33):
and reading scripture. In light a scripture, the letters of
Christ to his persecuted bride utilize images deeply embedded in
the language of the Bible. And likewise, the judgment of
Christ against a prostituted bride in Revelation is written on
(04:57):
a seven sealed scroll. It's announced with seven trumpets, It's
depicted my seven plagues, and that has a reference in
the history of the Old Testament scriptures. The pattern of
sevenfold judgment against unfaithfulness on the part of Israel is
(05:17):
spelled out in dreadful detail in Leviticus. Four times God
tells his covenant people I will punish you for your
sins seven times over. So in like fashion, the imagery
of sevenfold judgment against apostate Israel is unveiled on four occasions.
(05:40):
In Revelation. The pronouncement of judgment for unfaithfulness in the
seven churches is followed, of course, by the judgments of
the seven Seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bulls.
All of this to say, reading scripture in light a scripture,
the beauty, the fray migrants, the meaning of scripture will
(06:02):
become apparent to you. One of the reasons that I
have produced the Apocalypse Code, so you can learn to
read the Bible for all that's worth, mine it for
all its wealth. Let's go back to the phone lines.
We'll talk next to Diane listening on BOT Radio in
Kansas City, Missouri.
Speaker 5 (06:19):
Hi, Diane, Hi Henk, how are you today?
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Good? Thank you.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
I'm having questions about dis serment, and there's a life
decision that I had to make right now, and I'm
trying to ask God was his will? What was he
like for me to do? But I'm going to be honest,
I'm having a trouble kind of getting a handle on it.
Do you have any corners.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, a couple of things. First of all, whatever you do,
it has to be in concert with the will revealed
in the Word of God. But practically speaking, God leads
you through people and through circumstances. So if what you
are looking at doing does not violate any biblical precedents
or principles, you can move forward. If the ship is anchored,
(07:06):
nothing's going to happen, and the ship has to head out,
and then God's going to open ports or close ports
as he sees fit, and he will lead and guide
you through his people. Remember you're not a lone ranger Christian.
You are part of a body, and so the body
functions and it helps give you guidance in the process.
(07:27):
So people and circumstances God will direct you through them.
And again you want to always move in concert with
the will and purposes of God is revealed in scriptures.
So you know, if the point is, well, I want
to become a porn star, well you know right at
the very start that doesn't fly with scriptures, So you
know that can't be true. I mean, that's a graphic
(07:47):
example of saying that there are obviously parameters, but once
you have those parameters, God will lead through people in circumstances.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
Okay, So a question I have is, you know, ministers,
the other Christians have told me that you and know
a lot of times through a peace which I have felt,
you know, because I'm a strong believer and I have
felt that peace that you know people have been talking about.
But can also God talk to you through more of awareness.
(08:19):
And I've been looking at Luke sixteenth. Do you know
the manager? And even though it has to do with God,
is not necessarily you know, congratulating the manager for you know,
being dishonest, which is master, but it's also talking about
being prepared.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yeah. Yeah, And I think you've been up a really
good point because there are times where you have an
intuitive sense of uneasiness about something, and.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
I think you're having right now very uneasy and you.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Have to listen to that. I mean, I've always cautioned
people by saying that feelings are notoriously unreliable and therefore
they should be tested. But that is not to say
that those or those intuitions that God gives to us
are unimportant. Of course they're not. They are important, and
we need to, you know, pay attention to these things.
Speaker 5 (09:10):
Okay, Dan, So I guess what I'm hearing is now.
I just want to make sure I understand it's more
of but it's going to have to be a kind
of like a leap of faith, and just take it
sow and canstiously and just pray paithfully and read my
Bible and still communing with Guy each day, and he
would direct my path.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Yeah. The only thing I would say is I would
leave the word just out. When you say just a
leap of faith, I would turn that around and say,
there's no safer place than in a leap of faith.
I mean, faith ultimately is a channel of living trust
between a person and their God. And if your God
loved you so much to redeem you, think about how
(09:49):
much he cares about every detail of your life. There's
not a hair that falls from your head that he
doesn't know about it, according to the scripture, So he cares.
He's involved in the process. Keep your eyes and ears open,
make sure you get godly counsel, and God will lead you,
as I said, through his body, through people, and through circumstances.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
Okay, Dan, all right, I see things are beginning to
start to take shape. Now. I guess I'm just feeling anxious.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
But that that happens, well, you know, bathe yourself in prayer,
bathe yourself in prayer, and you know, go to the
foot of your bed and kneel down and talk to
your maker, and then just absorb yourself in the fact
that here you have the opportunity not just to talk
(10:36):
to the president, not just to talk to a world leader,
not to talk to an electronic wo but you get
to talk to God, Amen, and cares, and he is
not unattended to every single aspect of your life. He
cares and he's involved.
Speaker 5 (10:51):
Okay, well, thank you so much, and thank you for
taking my call.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
And you have a blessed day you too.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Thank you so much for giving us a call. We'll
be right back with more of your questions. Stay tuned
for that.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
The famous British apologist GK. Chesterton once noted, the true
soldier fights not because he hates what is in front
of him, but because he loves what is behind him.
Because at CRII we love what is behind us, our faith,
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call eight eight eight seven thousand CRII that's eight eight
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(11:48):
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(12:12):
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equip dot Org. The Complete Bible answer Book Collector's Edition
(13:03):
is the comprehensive collection of the most often asked questions
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(13:26):
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(14:08):
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the very words of God himself? Three years in the
making and based on two decades of research and reflection,
Hank Henagraph's monumental book Has God Spoken answers what is
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God Spoken? Memorable proofs of the Bible's divine inspiration, Hank
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or wishful thinking. It is the only logical conclusion after
an honest examination of overwhelming evidence. Order has God Spoken?
From the Christian Research Institute by calling eighty eight seven
thousand CRII or go online to equip dot org. Equip
(14:56):
dot org. Let's return to your host and canagraph.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Hevery much rendy, and let's go right back to the
phone callers. Next up is Nelly listening in Maryland. Hi, Nelly, Hi, I.
Speaker 6 (15:18):
Have been speaking with this brother for several months, and
I'm trying to see that he knows the truth, because
it seems like he doesn't. And yesterday was brought up
Matthew sixteen fifteen through nineteen. Jesus says, but who do
(15:40):
you say that I am? And then Peter answered and said,
you are the Christ, the son of the Living God.
And Jesus says that my father, who is in heaven,
only he can reveal that to you, and this brother
said that that rock means that Peter is the rock.
(16:05):
I thought Jesus Christ was the rock of the church.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Yeah, And I think in this context that point is
actually made emphatically. The rock is Peter's confession in verse sixteen,
you are the Christ, the son of the Living God.
So you have a foundation of the church. That foundation
is given to us as the disciples, the prophets, and
(16:34):
the apostles. If Matthew was trying to say that Peter
was the rock, he would have used the word petross
twice instead of what Matthew uses is the word Petra,
which refers to Jesus, the foundation, the cornerstone, and the
spiritual roc. And I think all of that collectively points
to the reality that's not Peter that is the rock,
(16:57):
but it is his confession that Jesus Christ is the
son of the Living God that is the foundation, the rock,
as it were. Let's go back to the phone lines.
Next up is Randy then Colorado. Hi Randy, Hi, Hank,
how are you good? Thank you?
Speaker 7 (17:14):
Yeah, I have a question about pardoning of the heart.
We've been talking about it in our church for a
little while and I'm still confused on the issue. When
I read in Exodus chapter ten, just before the plague
of the locusts, God tells Moses that I have hardened
Pharaoh's heart so I may commit these miracles, and you
have a testimony of my power to your children and grandchildren,
(17:36):
basically paraphrasing, you know. And then again in Romans, Paul
writes about that situation, and it seems to me that
in that situation God did it deliberately and theroh didn't
have a choice. But you know, that doesn't coincide with
us being a creation that has free choice. So I'm
(17:59):
looking for some clarification on that.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
Yeah, I don't see fatalistic determinism in this at all.
What happens every time God relents and removes the plague,
Pharaoh responds in disobedience. So what becomes the occasion for
the hardening of Pharaoh's heart is mercy, And mercy for
those who believe is the occasion for salvation, but mercy
(18:24):
for those who continue to rebel becomes the occasion for
the hardening of heart. So when God hardens Pharaoh's heart
in Exodus chapter ten, in reality, it is Good's mercy
that is the cause of this hardening. Again, every time
God shows Pharaoh mercy, every time he removes the plague,
Pharaoh responds in disobedience. So why is someone like Pharaoh
(18:48):
prepared for destruction. It's because that's what he wanted. God
gave him a chance to repent, but instead he hardened
his heart. And you can see the mercy of God
in the number of times God relents, removes the plague
and every time Pharaoh hardens his heart. So on the
(19:09):
one hand, you can say God hardened Pharaoh's heart, that's biblical.
It's also biblical to say that Pharaoh hardened his own heart.
So both sides of that coin are communicated in the scripture.
But there's no place, I would say for fatalistic determinism
or for reading of fatalistic determinism into the text. We'll
(19:32):
go back to the phone lines, Doctor Randy Jacksonville, Florida. Hi, Randy, Oh.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
Wow, hey, how are you? This is great to talk
to you. Likewise, I just recently discovered your show within
the last week and I've been listening every day that
you're on. It's just amazing and I want to thank
you for what you do.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Oh, thank you.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
I do have a couple of questions. I hope you'll
have time for it. One is it was regarding the
abortion issue. Now, I'm a creationist and I am also
an anti abortionist. When I think about abortion and all
of the children that you know die at the hands
of abortion, I wonder how that relates to the beam
(20:13):
a seat as far as the people who did get
a chance at life, did serve the Lord throughout their
lives and they now are at the judgment seat of
Christ getting their rewards. Well, doesn't that mean that all
of these lives that didn't get the chance don't even
have the opportunity to throw their crowns down before the
(20:36):
Lord and glorify I am even better, And that's kind
of my opinion. But I'd like your opinion on that one.
And then if you wouldn't mind have one more quick
question after that.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Yeah, well, I think you're making a good point. I mean,
this is one of the horrors that attends taking prematurely
a life, and that is not just the life of
a preborn child, but a life in general. Every time
is committed, there is the abrogation of a life that
has meaning, purpose, potential, fulfillment. And it is part of
(21:10):
the problem that we find as a result of evil
in the world. But what we know is a righteous
and just God takes into consideration every converging factor, and
he makes out of that which is rotten and spoiled,
degenerate something beautiful. How all this cashes out in eternity
(21:32):
I cannot say, because I don't have the wisdom of God.
What I can say is that I know that whatever
God does, whether with an aborted child or someone whose
life has been cut short through some other malady or
evil in the world, I know that God will do
what is righteous, loving, just, and merciful in that greatest size.
(21:57):
And so I leave these circumstances in the hands of
an infinitely just and infinitely merciful God. I trust him.
In other words, because here's one of the things that
we can't always answer, and that is the why question.
When Job asked the why question, God said to him,
in effact, you don't even know how to create a
(22:20):
single drop of dew. How can you know what's going
on in the heavenlys Which is to say that Job
ultimately was taught the lesson not to find the answer,
but the lesson of trust, so that he could ultimately say,
though he slay me, yet will I trust in him?
(22:41):
So we know enough about the nature of God to
know we can trust him even though we don't have
answers to these maladies, whether a murder or an abortion
of a preborn child.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
Okay, yeah, that makes a lot of sense to me.
I mean his sovereignty and you know something that we
just don't grasp all the time. And if you did
have another moment, yeah, I'm also a soldier in the
United States Military and a Christian. I sometimes think about,
(23:16):
you know, what I'm going to be in the in
the next battle when I have to fight for my country,
which is what I swore to do. The only verse
that gives me comfort is you know, I don't have
the exact verse, but it's basically God telling you to
whoever you are a bond to, whoever you are working for,
(23:36):
you serve them as you're serving me. Can I get
your opinion on our servicemen in one of who put
their life on the line and also that time to
have to pull the trigger and kill, well.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
First of all, thank you for your service. A war
in defense of justice has to be, of course, fought justly,
and thus we may kill a child if we encountered
a child with a bomb strapped to his back, but
we may not shoot an innocent baby in the arms
of its mother. So again, war has to be fought
(24:10):
justly because true love protects the innocent against the evil
of an aggressor, and that kind of love sometimes leads
to war. It leads to military action. But if you
say military action is not allowed in order to maintain
order among nations, then by logical inference, then police should
(24:32):
not be permitted to maintain the order of a nation.
So again I think it's a leap of logic to
allow the police to or resist a murderer at the
same time and not let the military resist a murderous nation.
Wars are permitted by God in the same way the
divorce is because of the hardness of our heart. So
(24:53):
we live in an imperfect world and as such we
need police. As such, we also need some time armies
that resist evil. Thank God for the resistance to not
see Germany and the holocaust that they produced.
Speaker 4 (25:09):
If I had two grandfathers who were both in that work, yeah,
I completely understand. Listen, I want to thank you for
your time. I was actually inspired to find the station
by a good friend of mine. We're going to be
saying Rookles's attention to your show and just love you.
So please keep up the good work and we'll pray
for you.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Well. Thank you so much, and again on behalf of
all Americans. We can be so grateful for our military,
for the fact that they are putting their lives on
the line so that we can do what we do.
If it were not for the military, perhaps I wouldn't
be on the radio able to do what I'm doing
right now. So I thank God for your service, and
(25:53):
I thank you ultimately for your Christian commitment, because in
the end, how do you change things? Well, we live
in a perfect world. We need police, we need armies,
but ultimately, when the heart has changed, behavior is changed
as well. Thanks for tuning in today. We'll see you
next time right here with more of the Bible Inchment broadcast.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Thank you for joining us today. Our mission at the
Christian Research Institute is to defend the faith, answer Bible questions,
and encourage Christians to watch their life and doctrine closely.
To find resources to help equip you, go to equip
dot org. That's equip dot org, or call us at
(26:34):
eight eight eight seven thousand CRII. You can also write
CRII at Post Office Box eighty five hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina,
two eight two seven one. The Bible answer Man Broadcast
is supported by listeners like you. We're on the air
because life and truth matter to the number of wolves
(27:02):
surrounding the Christian flock is growing, and they relish nothing
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Support Team members aren't in favor of feeding these wolves. Instead,
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