In this engaging episode of The Narrow Path, Steve Gregg takes calls exploring the subjects of faith and divine destiny. From the nuances of baptismal formulas to the enigmatic role of Satan in Jesus’s crucifixion, dive into robust, enlightening discussions that provide a deeper understanding of biblical scriptures. This episode also features insightful dialogues on the often-debated question of whether God outlines the exact span of our lives and the implications of such beliefs on Christian living.
SPEAKER 01 :
Good afternoon and welcome to the Narrow Path radio broadcast. My name is Steve Gregg and we’re live for an hour each weekday afternoon taking your calls. If you have questions about the Bible or the Christian faith and would like to raise them for conversation on the program today, let me give you a phone number. We have a few lines open. The number is 844-484-5737. That’s 844- That’s 484-5737. Okay. Now, last time we had our meeting in Buena Park in Southern California, which we’ve had for years on the third Saturday of each month, I mentioned that we’re going to be bringing those to a close. But I wasn’t sure when I made that announcement then whether that was going to be our last meeting or whether we’d have a few more. I mentioned yesterday on the air, I’ll mention it again in case people missed it. I’ve decided we will have two more meetings in Boynton Park before we’re finished. And the next one is going to be this month. I will be doing it this month, Lord willing. And that will be a week from this Saturday. We’re talking about the 19th of July. A week from this Saturday, I’m going to be doing a complete overview of the book of Revelations. Now, of course, I’ve done verse-by-verse detailed work on the book of Revelation. I’ve written a 600-page commentary on the four views of Revelation. This is going to be a flyby. It’s going to be an overview, basically to give people some perspective so that when they read it on their own, they know where things fit together. But it’s not going to be an in-depth discussion, but there will be Q&A afterwards. So people are encouraged to come if they’re interested. That’s a week from this Saturday. We’re talking July 19th. I’ll have the overview of Revelation in Buena Park, California, in the place we’ve met for many years on the third Saturday of each month. So check it out if you’re in the area or want to be. We’d love to see you at that time. Okay, we have some calls waiting, so we’re going to talk to them now. Our first caller today is Kerry from Fort Worth, Texas. Kerry, welcome to The Narrow Path. Thanks for calling.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thanks, Steve. Here in Texas, of course, we’re dealing with the heartache of this flooding event.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 08 :
And so many families affected all over the state. But my question is, does the Bible teach that our days are numbered?
SPEAKER 01 :
You mean that God has given each of us a certain number of days and we will have no more and no fewer than that? Yes.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 01 :
I don’t know. I mean, it could be. It could well be that he does. What I do know is that we can get out of his will, and I’m sure, for example, like people who commit suicide are doing something God did not ordain for them to do, and they’re bringing their life to an early end. If a person commits suicide, I’m not going to say, yeah, God had it planned that they should do that and that they should die that day. What God has determined is that he has certain things he hopes to accomplish through us as long as we’re in his will. And I do believe that before he has accomplished those things through us, we will not die. I believe that the Bible says the angel of the Lord encamps around about those who fear him and delivers them. So the angels can certainly deliver us from all harm as long as God wishes for that to be so. But there’s no guarantee that God wishes for it to be the same length of time for all people. In fact, there’s evidence that that’s not the case. Jesus himself died at a particular hour that God had ordained for him to die, and he was only 33 years old. So, obviously, many people live longer than that. Moses said in Psalm 90 that the days of our lives are three score years and ten. And I’m not sure where he was getting that figure, since he himself lived to be 120, and that number that he gave is 70, but… Certainly many people have pointed to that, that 70 was the average lifespan for most people through most time. And so, I mean, it’s not as if God guarantees you 70 years or guarantees you any number of years, but the whole question is whether we are in his will. If we’re in His will, He has a plan and a will for each of us. And if we’re conformed to that will, I do not think that we, I think we’re indestructible until such a time as that has been accomplished. On the other hand, if we fall away, if we renounce God, if we, you know, kill ourselves or do something else that brings us to an early death through just stupid behavior and wrong behavior… Well, I’m not going to say that God intended for that or that was the day that God really wanted you to die. It may be that that’s the day he decided you would die because you’re no longer fitting into his plan and you’re not going to be participating. So I can’t really answer whether God – I mean, I would say I believe God knows when everyone will die. And so that alone would translate in many people’s minds. into God having determined the day of death. However, the idea of God knowing the day of my death is not an essential doctrine to me in terms of knowing that I will not die until God wants me to. If I died today, if a doctor told me I had two weeks to live or something, I would conclude that most of what God has intended to do through my life has now been done. I’ve accomplished everything. essentially what God put me here to do with the exception of the next couple weeks or something. And that wouldn’t bother me because when God’s finished with you, why would you want to stay around here? What’s the point of being in this world, this veil of tears, when God has nothing more for you to do for him here? I mean, the only reason I’m interested in being here is to finish the work that’s given to me and to go home, you know. So I’ve never understood people who wanted to prolong their lives or complained that their lives were cut short. Of course, unless they’ve been hedging their bets all their life that they’re going to someday, when they get older, they’re going to do something that they’ll be proud of when they stand before God. But they haven’t started doing that yet. Yeah, people playing games with God, they may be brought up short. A lot of people, when I was in high school, there’s a guy in my class I witnessed to a lot. And he said, well, when I see Jesus coming to the college, I’ll say, I believe, I believe. Yeah, well, I don’t know that you’ll have a chance, honestly. And many people say, well, when I’m old and when I’m on my deathbed, I’ll repent. Really? Well, how many people die without ever having the luxury of a deathbed? You know, I mean, it’s ridiculous to live your life thinking, well, someday I’ll do something that God will be pleased with because I’m certainly not doing anything now. Now, someone like that gets the news, you’re going to be dead in two weeks. They might grieve because two weeks isn’t very long to turn things around or to do anything that they’ll be happy they did. I’m not saying they can’t be saved. I’m just saying when you stand before God, you’re not just going to be happy to be saved. You’ll be happy to hear him say, well done, good and faithful servant. I entrusted you with a few things and you did good things with them. And now you’re rewarded for that. That’s more than just going to heaven. That’s pleasing God and fulfilling your purpose on earth. So, you know, I don’t know how much God has determined about how long any man will live. I’m sure that we can cut his will short on that by being stupid. But I do believe that I will not die as long as I’m following God’s will and I have not yet accomplished what he wants me to do. That would be the only answer I could give with authority on that. All right. Thank you, Steve. Okay, Carrie. Thanks for your call. Good talking to you. Our next caller is Cody from, looks like, Bel Air, California. Cody, welcome to The Narrow Path.
SPEAKER 10 :
Hello. Hi. I was going to ask you a question. This is, like, my first question that I’ve asked on this thing. And I was just going to ask why we look down when we pray.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, we don’t have to. We don’t have to look down when we pray. In fact, in the Bible, many people lifted their eyes to heaven and prayed. The Bible does not prescribe any particular posture of the body or the head in praying. In the Bible, sometimes when people prayed, they fell right on their face. I mean, they didn’t hurt themselves. They fell down on purpose in reverence to God, you know, to reverence Him they laid on their face. Other people bowed. Often people stood. You know, there’s a very interesting case when Solomon built the temple and he offered this lengthy prayer of dedication when the temple was completed, dedicating it to God. And the Bible says, when it begins to tell his prayer, it says he stood there and he prayed, and it gives his prayer. And then when he’s finished praying, it says, then he got up off his knees, you know. So he was standing up when he started praying, but he was on his knees before he finished. We don’t read of when he may have gotten on his knees. But you see, this simply demonstrates that prayer does not have religious rules attached to it. You don’t have to dot a lot of I’s and cross a lot of T’s to have an effective prayer. You have to have sincerity. It has to mean something to you. You have to believe in God, whom you’re speaking to. There are, of course, conditions for fulfilled prayer, but the conditions do not include a posture of the body or the head. Now, I myself, I can pray when I’m walking with my head up. Though there are times I want to bow my head because bowing the head, I think bowing the head often is a, what should I say, it’s a means of humbling yourself before God. Some people say it doesn’t matter what the posture of my body is, it’s where my heart’s at. Well, that’s kind of true, but there are times when the posture of your body reflects the posture of your heart or even encourages a certain posture of the heart. You know, if you stand rigidly with your shoulders back and your head up and you’re trying to be humble, that posture seems to work against you. But if you bow your head, if you get on your face before God, it’s kind of natural to be humble in that posture. So I don’t make rules about this, and the Bible doesn’t either. But it’s certainly more to do with the posture of your heart than the posture of your body. But I would not say that the posture of your body has no impact whatsoever. that of your heart. So I don’t know if that helps. Is that it? Yeah. Okay, Cody. Well, thanks for calling. Good talking to you. Bye now. All right. We’re going to talk to Mike in Seattle, Washington next. And by the way, we have lines open. In fact, we have quite a few lines open. This is a very good time if you want to get through before the show is over. which we have, you know, another 45 minutes, but it’s often the case that during the last 45 minutes every line is full waiting to get on. Right now that is not the case. You can get your foot in the door if you call right now this number, 844-484-5737. That’s 844-484-5737. I’d encourage you to call now if you’d like to get in. because this may be the best opportunity you’ll have during the program today. Mike in Seattle, Washington, welcome to The Narrow Path. Thanks for calling.
SPEAKER 06 :
Hi, Steve. I just had a question about the gift of faith. What is it, and what do you know about it, and how does it operate? And I can take the answer off the air.
SPEAKER 01 :
Okay. Okay. I’ll talk about that. Thank you for your call and your question. What is the gift of faith? How does it operate? And so forth. Well, the Bible doesn’t explain that very much. The first place we read of it is in Romans 12.3, I believe it is, where Paul says that we should we should be humble according as God has given each of us a measure of faith. So each of us has faith. And apparently from that statement, it sounds like each one might have a slightly different measure of faith. Just like Jesus talked about people, stewards, that their master gave them some one talents, some five talents, some ten talents or whatever, which means they were entrusted with more potential as well as greater responsibility because of it. Some people, I just think that any faith we have in God can be seen as something that God has allowed us to have because the Bible says in 1 Corinthians, faith comes by hearing. Excuse me. Yeah, it is in 1 Corinthians. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So, you know, we have to hear the word of God in order to have faith. And so this is what we do. That’s actually Romans. Excuse me. I’m getting a few passages mixed up together in my head. There’s so many about faith there. So the idea that I’ve had the opportunity to know and hear the Bible is a gift to me. Some people have lived their whole lives and have never heard the word of God. For them to have faith would have to be faith in much less information than I have. The more I know. about God, the more I can trust him about. The more promises of God I’m aware of, the more there is for me to believe and live by. So I think that everyone has a measure of faith, even people who, now Paul probably means all Christians do. I believe that even non-Christians have some measure of some kind of faith. I mean, everyone can tell there’s a God if they’re not dishonest with themselves. So that’s a basic amount of faith. Some people have been raised with a complete knowledge of of the Christian faith from childhood. They have a much greater amount of faith because they have more knowledge of the Word of God. The faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. There are even people who have not only a lot of knowledge of the Word of God, which is a basis for having greater faith, but also have more experience of God’s dealing in their lives. They’ve had more experience trusting God, and their faith has grown that way. So different people have different degrees or measures of faith. Each of these are said to be something that we have to credit God for, though it doesn’t mean that he just kind of injects into each person, you know, 10 cc’s of faith in one man and 30 cc’s in another man or something like that. You know, it’s related to opportunities to know God, to know the truth, to know his word, and no doubt it’s cultivated by experience, by trusting God and seeing him work and becoming more confident in him. So I think that that’s possibly what is meant by Paul when he talks about everyone has a measure of faith. Now, in 1 Corinthians 12, when Paul’s listing gifts of the Holy Spirit, faith is one of the gifts that he mentions. And it’s not entirely clear what he is referring to there by a special gift of faith. I think most people, since Paul doesn’t explain it, and we have to somewhat speculate, I think most people speculate that it means that some people are given, as it were, supernaturally, something of a greater amount of faith, maybe for a certain situation. Let me read this list of gifts and see how it fits there. It says in 1 Corinthians 12, 7 and following, The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit. To another, faith by the same Spirit. To another, gifts of healings by the same Spirit. To another, the work of miracles. And then he mentions prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. But notice he says, faith is something that God gives to some. Now, the Calvinist view is that all faith, saving faith, is a gift from God that he gives only to the elect. But Paul’s not talking about that here. Because he’s saying, all these are gifts that are given to believers. These people all have saving faith. But among them, they have different gifts that God has given. And one of those is the gift of faith. And Paul gives no explanation whatsoever of what he means by that. So that anything I would say would have to be speculation. But basically, I’ve usually assumed it probably has to do with a time when special faith is called for in a situation. And God just… You know, give somebody that confidence. Give some Christian that confidence to trust God for something. Now, the fact is that as Paul lists these gifts, faith is mentioned in proximity with the gift of working miracles and gifts of healing and so forth. So many people feel that it’s talking about specifically faith to do something miraculous, that some people have that faith. You know, I think of certain people like George Mueller or Hudson Taylor or many others. Some would say someone like Smith Wigglesworth or whatever had exceptional faith. You know, not just for a certain circumstance. Their whole life was exhibiting unusual faith in God. And that may be what Paul’s referring to here. But I can only say may be. Because, honestly, we don’t have explicit explanations for the answer to your question, which is why I’m not being dogmatic. I certainly have thoughts, but I’m not sure exactly what they are. Now, I will say this. I don’t suppose you have to really know exactly what Paul means by the gift of faith if it’s a special gift that some people have. And if it’s not you that have it, we don’t have to worry about gifts that other people have. We need to be concerned with the gifts that we have. On the other hand, if we suspect that we have the gift of faith, then we probably have some conception of what it looks like or what it’s like, in which case you might know more about it than I if that is your gift. But if it’s not your gift, my position on all of these things would be, well, I’m not sure exactly what Paul means by a word of knowledge. I know what the Pentecostals mean by it, and that’s what I’ve always been taught it means. I’m not sure I know what a word of wisdom is. That’s one of the gifts, too. Now, I can teach a top series on the gifts of the Spirit, and I know exactly what charismatic teachers, including myself… have always tended to see these words as meaning. But whether Paul meant them that way or not, or meant something else, is not clear to us because, frankly, those terms are not used anywhere else in Scripture either. Apart from in 1 Corinthians 12, in this mere list of gifts, the term word of wisdom or the term word of faith are not found in the Bible, which means we kind of have to speculate about what Paul is referring to. There are, of course, manifestations of supernatural powers, Revelation and so forth, in the book of Acts and in the story of Jesus and even in Old Testament prophets like Elijah and Elisha and Moses and so forth. And we can say, well, that particular thing we read about there in that story probably is what Paul means by the word of wisdom or by the word of faith. Some people would say that James at the Jerusalem council in Acts 15 gave, as the conclusion of the council, a word of wisdom. Very possibly so. There’s a lot of cases where the word of knowledge is assumed to mean knowing something about someone by revelation. That’s when Jesus knew that the woman at the well had had five husbands and was living with a sixth man that was not her husband. Or when Elisha knew that Gehazi had compromised with taking money for the healing that Naaman had gotten. So there are There are ways we can kind of guess what these gifts mean, but it’s not entirely clear. Paul lists them, and what we have to remember is that he expected his audience to know what he meant, but then he had spent 18 months living with them and ministering among them before he wrote this letter, which means they knew a lot of the frame of reference that he took for granted when he wrote to them. We do our best to speculate what is meant by these things, but We have to assume that we can’t be as sure as they could have been because they knew more about his terminology and what he’s referring to. So my thought is a gift of faith. Obviously, he’s saying that some people. in certain circumstances, have more faith at the moment or maybe in general in their lives. And that’s all I can say that sounds kind of certain. The rest of it is speculation. And if I’m not the one who has it, I guess I don’t have to know what it is. If I do have it, I probably already know what it is. So, yes, that’s the most we can say about that. Let’s talk here now to Dave in Indianapolis, Indiana. Hi, Dave. Welcome to The Narrow Path. Thanks for calling.
SPEAKER 07 :
Hey, Steve. Thank you. Yeah, my question today is on baptism and particularly on how you get baptized or what is said, I guess. If I understand right, back in the beginning, they baptized in the name of Jesus and there’s power in the name of Jesus. But today, basically, when you see me get baptized, they’re saying I’m baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. That just doesn’t seem right to me. There’s no name mentioned, correct? I just want to know your feeling on that. I’ll take your answer off the air if that’s cool.
SPEAKER 01 :
Okay, that is fine. Thank you, Dave. Well, when we say that I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and you say, well, there’s no name there, well, there is mention of the name. The question is, who is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? We’re talking about his name. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now, what name is that? Now, it’s interesting that Jesus actually taught the disciples in the Great Commission in Matthew chapter 28 and verse 19 to baptize disciples. When they make disciples, they baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Only one name, but it’s the name, singular, of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now, how did the disciples understand that? Well, apparently, from their actions in the book of Acts, it would appear they understood that to mean the name of Jesus. They apparently identified the name of Jesus as the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Or else they were disobedient to Christ, which seems, first of all, seems improbable, since one of them wrote down what Jesus said there, Matthew. Matthew wrote down Jesus. What Jesus said, it’d be strange if they knew Jesus said that, but they deliberately did something different than what he said. I believe that since consistently in the book of Acts, every case of baptism that we’re told about, people were said to be baptized in the name of Jesus or the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. or the name of Jesus Christ, obviously these are not all the exact same phrases, but they’re the same person. And if the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit refers to that same person, then they’re not really off the target here. I mean, if the name of Jesus is what they regarded to be synonymous with the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, then they were obeying what Jesus said. They just weren’t using the words of that formula. They were speaking with more clarity, I believe, that they’re referring to Jesus here. But they must have felt that Jesus was referring to his own name, too, because one thing we know is the apostles from the day of Pentecost onward were determined to follow Jesus and to teach others to follow Jesus and obey him. And when we see their practice, for example, their practice in baptism, we have to assume that this is what they believe Jesus told them to do. And so when we compare the formulas that are said to be used in baptism in the book of Acts with that which Jesus said in Matthew 28, 19, we have to assume in their minds those are synonymous. It was not different. Now, I was baptized when a minister said, I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When I baptize people, I follow that formula, but I also say the name of Jesus. I just want to make sure I cover all the bases so no one can say I did it wrong. But I think whatever it is, it’s the same person we’re talking about. Jesus is the one that we’re baptized into. Hey, I need to take a break. We have another half hour coming up, so don’t go away. By the way, I think that last caller was in Indiana. I’m going to be speaking in Indiana next month. You can look at our website to see when that’s going to be and where. You’re listening to The Narrow Path. Our website is The Narrow Path dot com. The Narrow Path dot com. Check it out. There’s tons of stuff all free. You can donate there, too, if you want to. I’ll be back in 30 seconds. Don’t go away. We have another half hour.
SPEAKER 05 :
In the series, When Shall These Things Be?, you’ll learn that the biblical teaching concerning the rapture, the tribulation, Armageddon, the Antichrist, and the millennium are not necessarily in agreement with the wild sensationalist versions of these doctrines found in popular prophecy teaching and Christian fiction. The lecture series entitled, When Shall These Things Be?, can be downloaded without charge from our website, thenarrowpath.com.
SPEAKER 01 :
Welcome back to the Narrow Path Radio Broadcast. My name is Steve Gregg, and we’re live for another half hour, taking your calls. If you have questions about the Bible, I’ll be glad to discuss them with you if you call them in, and we’ll talk about them. At the moment, our lines are full, so don’t worry about it. Don’t bother calling right now, but in a few minutes, lines may open up. And if you want to try, you may get through dialing this number, 844-484-5737. Now, at the end of the last call, I think it was the last caller that was from Indiana, I mentioned I’m going to be speaking in Indiana next month, but not just in Indiana. I’m speaking in quite a few places. I’ve got an 11-day itinerary in that general area of the country. I’m going to be speaking in Illinois a few times. I’m speaking in Indiana, in Indianapolis. I’ll be speaking in Michigan quite a bit. quite a few places in Michigan. And that’s from August 16th to the 26th. That’s when my itinerary in that area will be. I’ll be speaking every day for 11 days there in different places. I’ll be driving between one and the other, and so I’ll be driving all over the area there. But if you live in the Midwest, in one of those states or near there, You may want to check our itinerary. It’s at the website, thenarrowpath.com. That’s thenarrowpath.com. Under the tab that says Announcements, that’s where all of my speaking engagements are announced, thenarrowpath.com under Announcements. And, again, this is going to be in August 16th through the 26th. I’ll be in various places. Michigan, Indiana, Illinois. Yeah, a lot of opportunities for me to meet you there. And I’m speaking in these different places. All right, we’ll go to the phones again and let’s see which one’s been there the longest. It looks like it’s been long for Carolyn in Seattle, Washington. Hi, Carolyn. Welcome to The Narrow Path. Thanks for calling.
SPEAKER 12 :
Hi, thanks. Thank you, Steve. I have two questions. The second one is a quick one, I think. The first one is in Matthew… You read many times that Jesus tells his apostles that he’s going to die, and yet I hear preachers talking all the time saying that had Satan known that he was going to die, he would not have made sure he was crucified, that he wouldn’t have had anything to do with it, may have stopped it. What’s your comment on that?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, that’s speculating about what Satan knew and what he didn’t know. Preachers often do say that. And the reason they say that is because of something Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2, which may or may not support what they’re saying. It says… In 1 Corinthians 2, verses 7 and 8, he says, Right. Right. So it says the rulers of this age did not know this wisdom of God. And if they had, they would have had no interest in crucifying Christ. Now the question is, is this talking about the rulers like Pilate? and the Jewish Sanhedrin leaders, the chief priests, Caiaphas and those guys, those were, in a sense, rulers of this age. But then, of course, Paul also uses the terms principalities and powers and rulers in contexts like Ephesians, quite a few times in Ephesians, and especially Ephesians 6, where he’s talking about demonic forces that he refers to principalities, powers, and rulers. So many people have taken this to mean that even the demonic realm… did not know this secret strategy God had for basically saving the world through Jesus’ death. And if the demons had known about this, they would not have inspired the Jews and others to crucify Christ. Some feel that’s what Paul’s saying. And that may be true, but I have to say, it’s also possible that Paul’s not talking about demonic powers here, but the evil rulers, the human rulers… Because he goes on to say, but it is written, eye has not seen nor ear heard nor have entered the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. This talks about human eyes and ears and the heart of man have not dreamed this up. Basically, he’s saying that God had a plan in his wisdom that was hidden from man. No eye or ear of man and even the mind of man had never conceived of it. So he might be thinking not in terms of demonic powers here. but rather of, he might be referring to human rulers. However, of course, that raises the question, did Satan know that the crucifixion of Christ would be his end? That is Satan’s end. The Bible tells us in Colossians 1.15 that through the cross, Jesus disarmed principalities and powers, meaning the demonic powers. making a show of them, openly triumphing over them in the cross. Hebrews tells us similarly, in Hebrews 2.14, that Christ, through death, destroyed him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, it says in Hebrews 2.14. So, certainly through Jesus’ death, he defeated Satan. There’s no question about that, biblically. Did Satan know that that would happen? I suspect not. I mean, as Paul may… may also have the demonic powers in mind here, because they would probably, like any other rulers who didn’t like Jesus, they probably wouldn’t crucify him if they knew that he’s going to defeat them through it. But Jesus predicted to his disciples on three occasions previous to that, and more obscurely in a few others. For example, there are three times in the final year of Jesus’ ministry that he said to the disciples, beginning at Caesarea Philippi, that he would go to Jerusalem and be crucified, and three days later he’d rise from the dead. So we’ve got three statements that are almost verbatim like that. But then there were other obscure statements. That’s when he said the Son of Man didn’t come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. That’s obviously a reference to the same kind of idea. And then in Matthew 12, 40, he said… He said, as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, or the whale, so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Again, predicting his resurrection. Now, those were more obscure statements. The disciples, we are told that every time he made those statements, the disciples were perplexed.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, they didn’t know, but Satan should have.
SPEAKER 01 :
Maybe, although we don’t have to assume the devil knows everything. You know, I mean, the disciples themselves, after Jesus said he’s going to rise the third day, they were perplexed and talking among themselves about what did he mean by rising from the dead. They didn’t even know that he was talking literally about that. But maybe Satan didn’t know either.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, he knew about Lazarus.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yes, he knew about Lazarus. And he knew about other cases where Jesus had raised the dead. But he may not have known that Jesus would literally rise from the dead. If he did know that, he may not have understood at all the devastating effect that would have on Satan’s kingdom.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, I guess he must know. Okay.
SPEAKER 01 :
Apparently not.
SPEAKER 12 :
Thank you. My second question is, I send cash to you periodically, and I don’t ask for a receipt. Is that safe?
SPEAKER 01 :
If the mail is safe, yes. You know, I’ll tell you, when people send cash, if the envelope is made out to the narrow path, I assume the cash is given for the radio program, and I just put it with the checks that come for the support, and we put that in the narrow path account. And I get nothing of it. I don’t take anything from the narrow path. Sometimes people, you know, send me cash, and, you know, as far as whether it’s safe to do that – Again, safe in the sense of, you know, not being stolen by mailmen. I can’t always guarantee it, but it seems to me that most of the mail goes through.
SPEAKER 12 :
I wrap it in foil. Do you think that foil is the x-ray machine that all our mail is supposed to go through?
SPEAKER 01 :
I’m afraid I don’t know much about the technology, so I can’t guarantee it. Though I do remember opening envelopes, and there was money wrapped in foil there. So yours must have gone through. Yeah.
SPEAKER 12 :
And I guess I’m wondering if, I don’t know how to say this right, if you vet your people that open your mail.
SPEAKER 01 :
I open the mail.
SPEAKER 12 :
Oh, you do? Oh, wonderful.
SPEAKER 01 :
I do, yeah.
SPEAKER 12 :
Oh, okay.
SPEAKER 01 :
There’s not that much. I mean, you know, it might be a dozen a day. But I open the mail, and then I separate the checks, the ones that go to the narrow path. I put in the bank in the narrow path account. And then we have an accountant in Tennessee who, who then goes online on the bank’s website and logs all the gifts, you know, and she takes care of everything. That’s all done in Tennessee. All I do, our P.O. box is in Temecula, where I live, so I pick it up and I put the checks in the bank.
SPEAKER 12 :
Okay, thank you.
SPEAKER 01 :
Amen.
SPEAKER 12 :
I appreciate that.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, nobody else has done that to my knowledge.
SPEAKER 12 :
Okay, Jake.
SPEAKER 01 :
Bye-bye. All right. God bless you, Carolyn. Thanks for your call. All right. Let’s see. We’re going to talk to Jake in St. Paul, Minnesota next. Hi, Jake. Welcome.
SPEAKER 02 :
Hey, great program. See, I’d like to follow up on the caller from Texas who asked about, you know, your thoughts on whether once days are numbered. And I’m thinking what he was trying to get at is, I’ve got two examples I’d like to go through with you on this. I thought he was going to speak to the kids that died in it.
SPEAKER 01 :
I think he had that in mind. I think he had that in mind, yeah.
SPEAKER 02 :
I don’t know if the way you answered that seemed like it was more of one’s control and submitting one’s will to God, but I don’t know if that really hit on what he was trying to do.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, no, what I said is what I would say even if he had specifically asked me that question. That is, if he specifically said, what about those kids? I would have given the same answer. I don’t believe that we are destructible until God is finished with us here. And if God is finished with us here, why in the world would we want to stay? You know, we’d rather go home and be with God.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I get that. I’m just thinking about – I’ll give you another example. I’m walking the dog. and a drunk driver swings by and hits me and kills me. Were my days numbered, or was it just that person’s free will?
SPEAKER 01 :
As I said, I don’t know that our days were numbered, but I know that God can protect you from every harm if he wants you to stay alive. And the hairs of your head are numbered. I would say, you know, whether that’s a different question than if your days are numbered, but I mean, not a sparrow falls to the ground apart from the will of your father. So certainly you’re not going to die apart from the will of your father if you’re in his will. I mean, that can change if you rebel against him and go off and do something late and sleep on a railroad track and a train comes. I mean, certainly he may not have wanted you to die that soon. I remember Chuck Smith used to say, you know, until God’s finished with you, you know, I think you’re indestructible. He says… But if you go and stand in front of a train, you may find out that God’s done with you sooner than he would have otherwise been. I mean, certainly people who are disobedient, their life is in their own hands, not God’s, I would say. Well, unless God still has a plan for them. I mean, if people disobey, sometimes God still has a plan. They’re going to come back and do something right. I think of Franklin Graham. He was disobedient to God in his youth, but he came back and God has used him. So I don’t try to second guess when God is done with somebody. I’m just saying that in general, when God knows that he’s done with somebody, he has no reason to keep protecting them. And so if he doesn’t protect me, if a car, a drunk driver comes across the road and hits me and I die, I have no way to interpret that except that God’s done with me here. And thank God. I’m ready to go home.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay.
SPEAKER 01 :
I’m just here on assignment. I’m just here on assignment. When my assignment’s over, I want to go home. Okay. Okay.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I was just trying to… I appreciate your description.
SPEAKER 01 :
All right. Well, thank you for your call, brother. I’m going to try to get some more calls in the next very few minutes we have here. But I appreciate your call. Richie in Diamond Bar, California. Welcome to The Narrow Path. Thanks for calling.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah. Hi, Steve. Thanks for taking the call. Sure. Yeah, I just had a question about where do you find it in the Lord’s Word? to find comfort that the Lord will not give you more than you can handle.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, that is a paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 10, where I believe it’s 1 Corinthians 10 where Paul says that, here it is, verse 13, No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man, but God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted or tested. beyond what you are able. But with the temptation or the testing, he will also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. So he’s saying that there is no testing or temptation that you’ll face that God wants you to succumb to. And he will never allow you to have such a temptation without also providing the grace or the strength to come through victoriously. Now, that you will come through it victoriously is no guarantee. God provides grace, but like, I mean, even the grace of salvation is offered to all men, but not all people experience it because they don’t believe it. Grace comes through faith. And so when God’s given you grace as a Christian to endure, you know, victoriously every temptation and to overcome them, you know, you may do so or you may not. But that’s going to be up to you. It’s not that God lets you down. God never gives you more than you can handle with his assistance. Now, he’ll often give you more than you can handle without his assistance. And Paul said that, actually, in 2 Corinthians 1. In verse 8, he said, For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren. of our trouble which came upon us in Asia, that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Now he’s saying that the trials that God put us through were beyond measure. They were off the charts. They were beyond our strength to endure. Well, did God give him more than he could handle? No, because although it was above his strength, it was not above God’s strength, and Paul rested in God’s strength. That’s why he continually said so, especially in 2 Corinthians. He said in 2 Corinthians 3, 5, and 6, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also has made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter, etc. He says we’re not sufficient. Our own sufficiency is often taxed And overwhelmed. But that’s so, he says, so we won’t trust in ourselves. Even when I mentioned that verse in chapter 1 and verse 8 of 2 Corinthians, he said, we despaired of life. The next verse says, yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves. but in God who raises the dead. So we faced death. We were facing situations beyond our capacity to endure. But that was so that we wouldn’t trust in our capacity to endure. We would trust in God. And lo and behold, God came through. So I believe it is true that God will not give you any troubles more than you can handle. But you have to include the caveat. You can handle it with his strength if you’re in cooperation with him, if you’re trusting him. His strength is there. His strength is available. And all who tap into it, all who trust him for that, experience it and get through. Awesome. Thank you so much, Steve. All right, Richie. Great talking to you, man. Thanks for your call. Let’s see. Kay in Tempe, Arizona. Welcome to The Narrow Path. Thanks for calling.
SPEAKER 11 :
Hi there, Steve. Thank you for what you do for all of us. Bless you. I wondered if you could recommend a book that has a Bible overview that you spoke of, and is it possible periodically to do an overview on your talk program to kind of connect us into those loose ends? It makes it a lot easier to understand by having that overview.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, I think it does, too. I can’t tell you a book that gives the overview. I’m sure there’s plenty of them that do. I just don’t. I mean, I read books from which I’m going to learn something. And there’s lots of books that only talk about things I already know. So I’ve never gone looking for a book to give me an overview of the Bible. But I’m sure there’s a lot of them. But there are lectures online at our website, for example. I mean, as far as me doing it periodically, doing it periodically online, the radio show, probably I won’t be doing that because this is a Q&A format. I’m sure it would be valuable for them, but of course anyone listening to the show who wants to benefit from that can go to my website, thenarrowpath.com and they’ll certainly find lectures there that give overviews of the Bible as well as overviews of each book individually as well as in-depth verse-by-verse teachings on every book of the Bible. All those are separate lectures that are available. I will say this, my book Empire of the Risen Son, which is a treatise on the kingdom of God, is essentially running through the whole Bible, tracing the one theme that is most central to it, which is the kingdom of God. And it talks, you know, starts, I mean, there’s reference to Adam and Eve and how they play into the story, and then Abraham, and then, of course, you know, Israel and so forth in their history, and then Christ coming. So, I mean, This is the survey of the Bible in a way. It’s not really going through book by book, but it’s tracing the theme, the main theme of the whole Bible throughout. So that book is available, like all my books, at Amazon. I don’t sell them, but you can buy them there if you want. Or you can listen to it free on audiobook at our website because I own the audiobook version. and can therefore make it free, which is what I do. A few of my books, I don’t own the audiobooks. One of my books is out by Zondervan, and they own the copyright. There is an audiobook of it, but I can’t give it away for free because it violates their interests. But the books that I have self-published are done for this very reason, so I can make them free. And we have posted at thenarrowpath.com under the tab that says Books. audio books of two of my most important books and a third book, too. But the Empire of the Risen Sun books can be heard for free on audiobook there at thenarrowpath.com under the tab that says books. God bless you. Good to talk to you. Let’s talk to Nicholas from North Haven, Connecticut. Hi, Nicholas. Welcome.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hi, Steve. Thanks for taking my call. I was very patient.
SPEAKER 01 :
Then I will be patient with you.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, sir. In 1 John 4.1, about testing the spirits, when I test the spirits, is it possible that when I’m alone, by myself, if I test the spirits, is that possible? Should I keep doing that? No.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, when you say test the spirits, are you talking about, you know, what, voices that speak to you and you suspect, you know, is that the Holy Spirit? Is that the demon? Or what are you referring to?
SPEAKER 03 :
Not so much a voice, but a thought. Like, I think it’s God, but it could be the demonic speaking to me. I don’t know. It says to test the spirit, so that’s what I do.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, I would say whenever any spirit is seeking to influence you at all, of course you have to test it. You can’t just believe every spirit. That’s what 1 John 4 says. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out of the world. Now, what John’s talking about there is not what you’re referring to, though in principle I would say, yeah, you need to test them all the time. But what he’s referring to, the word spirits there in his usage refers to prophetic utterances. And we find that use of the term spirits to mean utterances on certain other occasions. Paul in 1 Corinthians uses the term that way a couple of times. And John uses it that way. So when he says test the spirits, essentially what I believe John is saying is test the prophetic utterances. Because he says, because many false prophets have gone out in the world. So in other words… don’t believe every spirit test the spirits because many false prophets have gotten the world so there’s false prophecies and you want to test them and then he says any spirit that says that jesus is accursed is certainly not of god but any spirit that says that jesus lord is of god he’s talking about prophecies i believe they’re not just not just nebulous spirits kind of speaking to your mind but i’m i i I wouldn’t deny that spirits could speak to your mind, and you’d have to test them. Sure.
SPEAKER 03 :
I get an answer every time. If it’s not from God, it’s from Satan, and he says I am not that spirit or something. I don’t have mental problems.
SPEAKER 01 :
I just want to know. I guess I personally don’t stress about that because I don’t go asking spirits for answers. But, I mean, I pray to God. I pray to God. And, you know, if I ask my father for a fish, he’s not going to give me a serpent. But, you know, when John tells us to test the spirits, he’s telling us to test those prophecies by their content. And, of course, that’s what Moses said when he talked about testing prophecy. In Deuteronomy 13, he said, If there arises a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and it comes to pass… He says, but if he says, let’s go worship other gods, he says, well, don’t believe that. Don’t believe that. prophet or that dreamer of dreams because he’s actually he says the lord is testing you to see if you’re going to be loyal or not and and then later in deuteronomy 18 he says if you say well what is that who is that that word that isn’t from the lord he says if a prophecy says something’s going to happen and it doesn’t then that’s not from the lord so in other words in both cases whether it’s it’s different different testing but both cases you’re judging the prophecy by its contents In the first case, by its theological content, and in the second case, by its accuracy in terms of prediction. But what John’s telling us is that when prophecies are given, we test them by their contents. Yeah, I don’t really, myself, I don’t worry too much about the thoughts that come to my head because I’m always filtering them through what I know in the Bible, you know, if If a thought comes to my mind that’s unbiblical, I recognize it’s false and give it no mind. So, yeah, I’m not sure what the situation is you’re thinking of. But, yeah, I mean, should we be critical of thoughts that come to our head that strike us as being questionable? Of course we should. And we should test them to know if their content is, in fact, scriptural and truthful. All right, let’s talk to Jack in Decatur. Is it Decatur? Decatur, Texas, excuse me. Welcome to the Narrow Path, Jack.
SPEAKER 13 :
Yes, hello. It’s great to speak with you. Thank you. I’ve learned a lot from hearing you on the radio the last couple of years.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, great. We don’t have much time, so I’d love to hear your question.
SPEAKER 13 :
1 Thessalonians 2.16, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved to fill up their sins always. For the wrath has come upon them, the Jews, to the uttermost. Yeah. This was written 20 years before 70 A.D.?
SPEAKER 01 :
Approximately, yeah. Approximately 50 A.D. he wrote this, yeah.
SPEAKER 13 :
Okay, what is meant by, for the wrath has come upon them to the uttermost?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, I think this is also explained in Romans chapter 1, where he says the wrath of God… You know, is upon all who is revealed from heaven against all who suppress the truth in their unrighteousness, he says in Romans. In 2 Thessalonians, actually 1 Thessalonians 2 there, which you’ve quoted, he says the Jews do that. Not all Jews. He’s talking about the Jews in Judea, in Jerusalem, who had persecuted him, who had crucified Christ, who were persecuting the church there. He says these people, they’re suppressing the truth. The truth is that which Paul and the apostles are preaching, and Jesus preached, and by killing them and persecuting them, they’re trying to suppress their voice.
SPEAKER 13 :
They were judged, right?
SPEAKER 01 :
They were judged, yeah. In AD 70, they came to their total doom. But Paul was saying that wrath was already… hanging over them like a Damocles sword because they were rejecting the Messiah. It was just a matter of time before that was going to drop like a hammer on them and destroy them. And it did. I’m sure it was 20 years off. God gave them some time to repent. But he was quite right about that. And it came true even as he said. I’m out of time. Sorry, Cindy. You’ve been listening to The Narrow Path. Our website is thenarrowpath.com.
