Galations #11

[0:00] Something else that I'd like to pass around because we're doing this just a little different. Started a couple of weeks ago and take one of these if you will please.

[0:10] These are just blank sheets of paper and what we are doing is inviting guys to submit a question that they have about anything.

[0:21] I don't care what it is. Don't sign it. These are all intended to be confidential and anonymous. But the idea is you take one of these blank sheets of paper and any question that you have about the Bible, about the Christian life, about anything.

[0:40] Feel free to write the question out and bring it next Thursday. And all we want you to do is take it and fold the sheet in half one time.

[0:52] Then fold it again one time. That will be in quarters. And we collect them all. So nobody knows who wrote what or whose sheet is from who. And that way we are confident that we can at least scratch where people are itching.

[1:07] So if you have a question, something troubling you or a curiosity, feel free to write the question out and bring it next Thursday. We'll collect them all. And then eventually we'll get to your question and we'll do our best to deal with it from the Bible or from logic or from whatever source is needed.

[1:27] And we'll start off with a couple of questions. Actually, we're going through Galatians. We're in chapter 2 now. And we've just interrupted the study briefly so that we can deal with these issues.

[1:42] And most of them will not require a lot of time. So we'll devote a little bit of time to them before we get to our Galatians study. This question submitted, what nationality and religion came from Ishmael?

[1:57] Well, Ishmael, of course, is the father of the Arab population pretty much.

[2:11] Actually, Ishmael is the son of Abraham and Isaac is the son of Abraham also. But you'll recall that Ishmael was the son of the bondwoman.

[2:22] And this was an Egyptian handmaiden of Sarah's. And it was because of the barrenness of Sarah's womb that she suggested to Abraham that Abraham go into her handmaiden, which in effect was a slave.

[2:39] And when he meant go into her, of course, he meant go have sex with her and impregnate her because in vitro fertilization wasn't known of then.

[2:52] And the only way that you could produce baby was the old-fashioned way. And that's what they did. And Ishmael was born. And as a result, most of the Arab population that exists today are descendants from Ishmael, not from Isaac.

[3:09] Of course, the Jews are descended from Isaac. The Arab population, for the most part, are descended from Ishmael. And they have a relationship, the Jew and the Arab. But today, in many instances, they are bitter enemies.

[3:24] And as you can well recall from the conflict going on in Israel and the Gaza Strip, the Gaza Strip, which is between Egypt and Israel, is where a couple of million Arabs live now.

[3:40] And they've been rocketing and bombing, sending rockets into Israel. And Israel is invaded a couple of times. That's an ongoing struggle with the PLO and so on.

[3:51] And so, the nationality, of course, is pretty much Arab, but it involves different Arab nations. And the religion is very decidedly Muslim, or the Islamic faith.

[4:06] And then, what nationality and religion came from Esau? Esau is also related to the Jew, but again, for various reasons, at odds with them.

[4:20] Esau was the twin brother of Jacob. And Jacob was the child of promise. So, Jacob continued the line that was begun with Abraham and Isaac.

[4:37] And Jacob, being the next born, became the father of the twelve sons that eventually became the twelve tribes of Israel. But his twin brother, Esau, who is described in Genesis as being of an entirely different stripe than Jacob, actually became the father of what is known as the Edomites.

[5:04] Now, the Edomites don't mean anything to people today, but in the Bible, they were. And they were a very prominent people. They multiplied profusely and came to occupy the geographical area of what is today Lower Transjordan.

[5:23] And this is the area where Petra is located. It is in the deep south of Jordan. To give you a reference fix, the people of Edom were those who would not grant passage to the children of Israel when they were coming out of Egypt, headed for the promised land.

[5:47] They came to the land of Edom. And they asked permission to cross through the land, promising that they would make sure that nothing was ruined or destroyed and anything that was would be replaced, etc.

[6:04] And the Edomites said, no, nothing doing. We're not going to allow you to come into our territory. So, of course, they had to go around it. And that was eventually a real sticking point with them.

[6:17] To give you another little bit of a frame of reference, Herod, who was the appointed king, he wasn't a king by rights. He was a king because he was appointed king by Rome.

[6:32] And Rome ruled in Israel at that time. In fact, Rome ruled much of the world at that time. And they put a king on the throne. The Caesar of Rome put a king on the throne that the Jews absolutely hated because he didn't belong on the throne in the first place.

[6:49] And he wasn't even a Jew. He was an Edomite. And his name, of course, was Herod. And he became famous for the massacre of the innocents.

[7:00] He was the one the wise men went to and inquired, where is he that is born king of the Jews? And you recall the story about Herod having all the male sons, two years of age and under killed.

[7:11] So, Herod was an Idumean or an Edomite. He was a direct descendant of Esau. Certainly not a descendant of Jacob.

[7:23] And his religion as well. His religion as well is Muslim. The Edomites or the Jordanians are Islamic.

[7:35] And if you wonder what's the difference, Islam is the name of the religion. Muslim, M-U-S-L-I-M, sometimes spelled M-O-S-L-E-M, pronounced either Muslim or Muslim.

[7:51] They are followers or adherents of Islam. Islam is the religion. A Muslim is the person who follows that. In the same way that Christianity is looked upon as a religion, and Christians are those who are adherents or followers of it.

[8:08] So, and speaking of Islam, I want to share this with you, and I want you to listen to it very carefully. And if there is an error or a flaw in it, or a lapse of logic in it, I would certainly like to know it, because this is a rather powerful thing, and it conveys volumes.

[8:30] You may have seen it before. It is circulated online, and it deserves wide circulation. This is submitted by a gentleman by the name of Rick Mathes, M-A-T-H-E-S.

[8:47] He is a well-known leader in prison ministry. Listen carefully. The Muslim religion is the fastest growing religion per capita in the United States, especially in the minority races.

[9:07] Last month, I attended my annual training session that's required for maintaining my state prison security clearance. During the training session, there was a presentation by three speakers representing the Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Muslim faiths, who each explained their beliefs.

[9:32] I was particularly interested in what the Islamic Imam had to say. Now, an Islamic Imam that's spelled I-M-A-N is pronounced Imam.

[9:46] He is the equivalent of a rabbi to the Jews, or a preacher to the Protestants, or a priest to the Catholics. He's their religious leader, the Imam.

[9:59] I was particularly interested in what the Islamic Imam had to say. He gave a great presentation of the basics of Islam, complete with a video.

[10:12] After the presentations, time was provided for questions and answers. When it was my turn, I directed my question to the Muslim and asked, Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[10:26] But I understand that most imams and clerics of Islam have declared a holy jihad against the infidels of the world, and that by killing an infidel, which is a command to all Muslims, they are assured of a place in heaven.

[10:51] If that's the case, can you give me the definition of an infidel? There was no disagreement with my statements, and without hesitation, the Imam replied, An infidel is a non-believer.

[11:12] I responded. So, let me make sure I have this straight. And of course, a non-believer to a Muslim is anyone who is not a Muslim.

[11:26] I mean anyone. If you're a Christian, you're considered an infidel. If you're an atheist, you're considered an infidel. If you're a Catholic or a Buddhist, you're considered an infidel.

[11:37] Only if you are not, only if you are Muslim, are you not an infidel. And even then, you may be the wrong kind of Muslim, because there are Sunnis and Shiites, and they are really at each other too.

[11:51] So, anyway, to continue. Let me make sure I have this straight. All followers of Allah have been commanded to kill everyone who is not of your faith, so they can go to heaven.

[12:13] Is that correct? Is that correct? The expression on his face changed from one of authority and command to that of a little boy who had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

[12:28] He sheepishly replied, Yes. I then stated, Well, sir, I have a real problem trying to imagine the Pope commanding all Catholics to kill those of your faith, or Dr. Stanley here ordering all Protestants to do the same in order to guarantee them a place in heaven.

[12:56] The Muslim was speechless. I continued, I also have a problem with being your friend when you and your brother clerics are telling your followers to kill me.

[13:10] Let me ask you a question. Would you rather have your Allah who tells you to kill me in order for you to go to heaven, or my Jesus who tells me to love you because I am going to heaven and he wants you to be there with me?

[13:32] You could have heard a pin drop. Needless to say, the organizers and or promoters of the diversification training seminar were not happy with my way of dealing with the Islamic Imam and exposing the truth about the Muslims' beliefs.

[13:53] In 20 years, there will be enough Muslim voters in the United States to elect the president. I think everyone in the U.S.

[14:04] should be required to read this. But with the ACLU, there is no way this will be widely publicized unless each of us pass it on.

[14:15] So, and yes, by the way, there will be copies of this made and I will distribute them for your consideration next week. Now, it should also be said, not all Muslims endorse this kind of teaching because in the Muslim faith, and I've read this and studied it, I'm not an authority on it by any manner of means, but I've read the Koran and the theology of Muslims and the word jihad, J-I-H-A-D, J-I-H-A-D, means holy war.

[14:58] But the holy war has two concepts to it. One is that the faithful Muslim is instructed to conduct a holy war within himself that is internal.

[15:15] And in that holy war internally, he is to strive to be a better person, a better Muslim, a better whatever, and it is an internal spiritual struggle that he has within himself.

[15:31] Well, Christians can identify with that because we have the same problem between the spirit and the flesh internally. That is the spiritual meaning that is given to the Islamic idea of jihad.

[15:45] Unfortunately, that is not the meaning that many other Muslims assign to it. because it also means a holy war externally whereby you seek to convert others to the Islamic faith and if they will embrace Islam, then they are a convert to Islam and they are spared the sword.

[16:12] But if they will not embrace Islam, then you have a responsibility under Allah to execute them.

[16:24] You simply kill them. Now, in areas throughout the world where Islam has been the predominant faith and controlled the culture, they had an option of allowing the one who would not convert to Islam to live among them as an infidel having to pay exorbitant fees, taxes, be treated strictly as a second or third class citizen, be subject to harassment, intimidation, threats, and everything else, until your life becomes so miserable that you either leave or convert to Islam.

[17:04] And all you have to do to convert to Islam is repeat the Shahada, which simply says there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.

[17:16] That's it. That's it. That makes you a Muslim. Of course, just mouthing the words doesn't make me a Muslim, but if it is said in sincerity and in the heart, which of course it is not in my case, then you become a Muslim.

[17:33] and you are allowed to live. So, Islam has conquered much of the Mideast either by preaching and convincing people to convert to Islam or by the sword.

[17:51] And the executions that we have seen, the beheadings and all the rest of it, are simply those carried out by the radical extremists of Islam who believe and take that external jihad very literally.

[18:07] And the Koran really does teach this, that if you are a Muslim and you cannot convince someone else to embrace the Islamic faith, then you have an obligation to dispatch that person because their very life and living is an insult to Allah as long as they are not subject to Allah as a Muslim.

[18:36] And if you kill them, that is your guarantee of a place in paradise with Allah.

[18:48] That's the only way, well, excuse me, it is by being a martyr. if you give your own life, as in a suicide bombing, or as in those who crash the planes into the twin trade towers, if you die as a martyr, and their expression, dying as a martyr, means you give your life to further the cause of Islam.

[19:16] And if you do that, however you do that, if you're killed in a battle, if you're killed as a suicide bomber, or whatever, that is the one way, and that is the only way, as a Muslim, that you can be absolutely guaranteed that you will be in heaven with Allah for eternity.

[19:37] And that is the only way you can guarantee that your sins are all forgiven by Allah, is if you die the death of a martyr. That's how and why these people become suicide bombers.

[19:49] And we look upon that, and we say, that is absolutely nuts. That is just plain crazy. Well, to you, and to me, and to most of the world, it is.

[20:01] But to people who believe it, it isn't crazy at all. To them, it is an item of faith. And they are thoroughly committed to it.

[20:13] So, if you begin teaching children at a very, very early age, that the greatest honor they could ever bring to Allah or to their family is to die as a suicide bomber, and they grow up believing that, that's where you recruit your martyrs.

[20:33] And that is going on in different parts of the world, and we know that these radical extremists have infiltrated the United States.

[20:45] Sometimes they surface. We see things about that in the news. others are just lying low, waiting for opportunities or waiting for orders from others, and who knows what we may be facing in the future.

[20:56] So, so much for the nationality, religion of Ishmael and of Esau. Yes? I have no interest in reading the Koran, but can you lead me to that section of the Koran where this is proposed?

[21:17] You want, you're talking about chapter and verse in the Koran? Yeah. Well, I'll bring it next week. I don't have the Koran with me, but I'd be glad to bring it next week and we can share with you where that is in the Koran.

[21:29] Now, here's the difference, and as I give this to you next week, it's specifically stated there. There's just no question about it. I have not exaggerated anything, but there are those among the Muslims who would say, well, yes, that's what it says, but it was never intended to be taken literally.

[21:53] And that's the way the radical extremists take it, is literally. Most Muslims do not interpret that literally. They say that you are to take the spirit of the jihad, and they principally direct it inwardly, so that it becomes a personal war within oneself for self-improvement, etc.

[22:14] So, I'll be glad to bring the chapter and verse next week of the Koran. In fact, I'll bring the Koran next week, and we can look at it. Okay? Yes?

[22:25] One time, we were on vacation in the old Yugoslavia, Croatia and surrounding areas, and one of the tour guides commented about what you had said earlier about how, in the past, somebody in a family would convert to Islam, but it was an economic conversion.

[22:49] It might just be one person in the family, and they say they were Islam, but they never practiced it, and kind of like our Sunday Christians, but that then gave them better jobs and better status in society, and their families like that.

[23:06] Sure. So, I think a lot of Muslims, quote-unquote, are not really practicing just as there's like Oh, I'm sure that's true.

[23:19] Yeah. That's true in every faith. In every faith, you find those that are just in name only. In Christianity, particularly in Protestantism, we usually call these C and E Christians.

[23:33] That means they show up on Christmas and Easter. If then, or maybe for weddings or funerals or something like that, and you've got your very moderate, loosely practicing Catholics who may attend a mass on Christmas Eve or something like that, they never go to confession anymore, but if you ask them, they're Catholic, and you've got the Protestants, you've got Jews who hardly ever go to the synagogue unless it's a bar mitzvah or a wedding or something like that.

[24:01] So every faith has people who are deeply serious about it and take it very seriously and practice their faith, and then there are others who are Muslim or Christian or Catholic or whatever, just pretty much in name only, and they just don't take their religion too seriously.

[24:19] So all faiths have that to contend with. The vast majority, I am persuaded, the vast majority of Muslims are not really interested in killing anyone.

[24:35] But there is that radical extremist group and today the most popular name under which they go is ISIS or ISIL, and they are on the rampage now.

[24:48] They just recently took Ramadi and now they are a few miles from Baghdad and if Baghdad falls, Katie bar the door. I can't imagine that, but that's entirely possible.

[25:02] So we don't know for sure where that thing is going. Next question is, what is the difference between the judgment seat of God and the Bema seat of Christ?

[25:12] Christ? Well, there is a lot of difference and perhaps the greatest distinction between these is that one is for believers and the other is for unbelievers. And when we talk about believers and unbelievers, we are not talking simply about people who believe there is a God as opposed to people who don't.

[25:30] When we talk about believers in the Christian faith, it goes much further than simply believing that there is a God who exists. There are a lot of people who call themselves Christian because they believe there is a God.

[25:47] And if you were to ask them, they would say something like this, well, I believe in God. Well, so what? So does the devil. That doesn't prove much of anything.

[25:58] Even the devil believes in God. To be a believer in the Christian faith means you have acknowledged the reality of your own personal sins.

[26:09] And you have also acknowledged that there is nothing you can do to remove those sins. You cannot be good enough, long enough, consistent enough, or whatever, and you desperately need a Savior.

[26:24] You recognize that Jesus Christ did for you what you could not do for yourself. He paid for your sins in his own body on the cross.

[26:36] And when you see Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you put your faith and trust in him rather than in your good works or your church attendance or whatever, that makes you a Christian.

[26:49] You become born again, you receive Christ as your Savior, you are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ and you become one in union with him.

[27:01] And that baptism has nothing to do with water. It is not a ritual, it is an internal belief. That's what makes you a Christian. And how you live your life, your value system, your deeds in the flesh as opposed to the Spirit matter.

[27:18] While we are not saved by good works, we are saved unto good works. And once we are saved, we are then in a position to render the kind of works to God that will be acceptable.

[27:32] Because they are works of the Spirit, not works of the flesh. And we are also, as a believer, capable of really messing up spiritually.

[27:45] Christians do not lose their ability to sin when they become a Christian. You just lose your excuse for it, or your reason for it. Because once you become a believer in Christ, we still have a volition.

[28:02] We still have a will. We still are subject to temptations, and we are still capable of submitting to those temptations. And when we do, we sin.

[28:14] As a Christian, we sin. And while it's true we enjoy a positional perfection in Christ, whereby all of our sins and trespasses are forgiven, we still have a fellowship factor to contend with, and that means we need to be on good terms with the Lord, and we do that by acknowledging our sin when we sin, admitting it, confessing our sin, and if we confess our sin, God is faithful to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[28:46] So, when a believer dies, we are going to give an account, not of our salvation, that's already secure in Christ, but we are going to give an account for what we did with our salvation, for whether we live the life that was pleasing to the Lord, or whether we didn't.

[29:07] This is called the award throne or the bema seat of Christ, and it is expressed in 1 Corinthians 3, where the apostle Paul said, for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and our deeds will be evaluated.

[29:27] What we have done from the time we became a Christian until the time we appear before the Lord. And he tells us that every man's work, deeds, will be tried, purified as it were, like you would take metal and put it in a crucible and heat it so that the impurities are pulled away from it, and the purity remains.

[30:00] And every man's work will be tried of what sort it is. There are deeds of wood, hay, and stubble, all of which will be quickly consumed, just as you would put wood, hay, or stubble in a flame of fire.

[30:17] And then there are deeds that are of gold, silver, and precious stones. Those are the things that we did as a believer that were pleasing unto the Lord.

[30:30] They are the works of the Spirit as opposed to the works of the flesh. We'll be getting to that in Galatians 5, later, not today, but maybe next year we'll get there. And these are deeds of the flesh as opposed to deeds of the Spirit.

[30:45] So the believer is not going to be judged for his sin because Christ already paid that. We are going to be judged for our works, whether they were of the flesh or of the Spirit.

[31:00] And on that basis, we will be rewarded or denied reward. I have no idea what the rewards will be. We are not told what they will be.

[31:12] Frankly, most of us ought to be more than pleased with nothing more than a well-done, thou good, and faithful servant. I can't think of anything more pleasing to receive from the Lord than a statement like that.

[31:27] So I don't know what the rewards will be. As far as I can determine, this is a Wiseman opinion, we will not be judged for our sin because Christ has already been judged for our sin.

[31:44] And if God is going to judge you for what Christ already paid for, that's even in our law system, that's called double jeopardy. You cannot try a person for the same crime twice.

[31:58] Christ died for your sins. He died for all of them, not most of them, not just the big ones, or not just the little ones. We are forgiven all trespasses in Christ, we're told in Galatians.

[32:11] So that is a blanket forgiveness that every believer enjoys. That's what it means to be in Christ. That's what it means to be born again. If your sins are not forgiven in totality, you are in big, big trouble.

[32:29] We are all in big trouble. Because if your sins are not forgiven in their totality, then that means what Christ did to pay for your sins wasn't really sufficient.

[32:41] Which is a rather blasphemous thing to even consider. God. So, the judgment seat of Christ is for believers only. I'm not real sure exactly when it's going to occur.

[32:54] Some think it is immediately after you die and in the presence with the Lord. Others think that it's in connection with the marriage supper of the Lamb. I just don't know. All I know is it's future. All I know is we are all accountable to God.

[33:08] We are all responsible. There will be a time of accounting, even for believers. believers. The judgment seat of Christ is distinct, and sometimes it's called the Bema seat or the award throne of Christ, is radically distinct from the great white throne judgment that is found in Revelation 19, where John says, and I saw the dead, small, and great.

[33:39] That means the nobodies and the somebodies stand before God, this great white throne, and the books were opened, and every man's work was judged according to the books.

[34:03] books, and whosoever name was not found in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire. Some take that fire literally, some take it figuratively.

[34:20] I'm not sure exactly how to take it, but I know this. Literal or figurative, you don't want this. it's going to be horrible.

[34:34] It is going to be the exact opposite of heaven. It is going to be our definition of hell, whatever that is.

[34:45] And the thing that will make hell, hell, and the most excruciating, is that it will be completely devoid devoid of the presence of God.

[35:00] Someone has said, when it comes to placing one's faith and trust in Jesus Christ, a person may say to God, not your will, but mine be done.

[35:18] And they reject Christ, because they want their will, not God's will. And the time may very well come, when people who do not want God at all in their life, will be given their request.

[35:36] And hell will be a place where they will not have to contend with God in any way, shape, or form. It will be completely devoid of God. That's the thing that will make hell the greatest hell.

[35:50] So, the award throne of Christ and the judgment seat of God are two entirely different things. One is for believers, and one is for unbelievers. Dan?

[36:00] Can you re-read the question? Re-read the question? What is the difference between the judgment seat of God and the Bema seat of Christ? What seat of Christ?

[36:13] The Bema seat. Well, that's the word in the Greek that's used. The Bema seat is the place where the awards are given. It's a term in the Greek, and it goes back, well, you see this every time the Olympics come on, when we have the Worldwide Olympics, and the three winners, the gold, the silver, and the bronze, they all stand on this platform, and the one with the gold stands in the middle, the one with the bronze and the silver on either side.

[36:42] That is a takeoff on the ancient Bema seat that the Greeks used in the athletic games that started back in Greece.

[36:55] That's where the original Olympics began, in Greece. And the Bema seat was where the emperor would reward the athlete who won the race or the contest, whatever it was.

[37:11] He would stand on that platform, receive the accolades from the people, and would usually be given a laurel wreath, and that was a recognition, that was the Bema seat, the award throne.

[37:25] And that's carried over in the New Testament because the Greeks, of course, were really familiar with that, and everybody could identify with that during Paul's time. And here's another question. I won't take time to answer it, but we'll answer it next week.

[37:37] Playing the lottery, is this a sin? Well, we'll talk about that next week, okay? Hey, appreciate you being here, and what I'd like you to do with the blank sheets you've been given, write your questions on the sheet, however many questions you have, and if you don't have any questions, bring back the blank sheet and hand it in blank, and I won't answer that one, okay?

[38:06] All right, thank you, enjoy your breakfast.