So this is our second Friday live stream and we have five questions today that really kind of cover the Gambit that everything from we want to talk about the deity of Christ to some personal issues about how do we walk with God and what does that mean to answering some
Some biblical questions about uh actually one of I thought one of those was going to make it in and it didn’t make it in answering some question about a specific Passage so again if you can see and hear me I’m still new to this go ahead and and type
In the chat that you can see and you can hear me if you would so I’m guessing everything must be okay because you guys aren’t saying that you can’t so we’re going to get right into it and we’re looking at the first question today and this was the this was
Actually the one with the largest response in the uh the largest response in the the Derby that we had the head-to-head and it was can Brian join you no I’m kidding uh Bri that question actually was asked in private and that’s up to Brian’s schedule I’d love for him
To be part of this but right now it’s it’s he’s got a lot of other irons in the fire with Bible studies and things like that but the the the question that was the most asked question the one that received the most support actually came from one of our one of our regular
Viewers and who watches a lot of our episodes and he wanted to know can a Christian use self-defense and this is likely something that there’s going to be some some discussion on on both sides and I think it it’s because our culture really when it comes to self-defense we’re
We’re very careful because of the way that our our constitution is worded in the Second Amendment and things like that that we don’t that that’s something that’s very um special to people it’s something that they’re very dedicated to uh one way or the other and so you want
To really think about this biblically and so I I laid out five principles that I could see in scripture over and over again that I thought were good things for us to think about when it comes to this question of can Christians use self-defense and and and firstly we want
To remember that we have an obligation when it comes to thinking about anybody like an enemy that we have this obligation that is set forth in scripture on at least three different occasions one of them is is Proverbs chapter 25 in verse 21 if your enemy is
Hungry give him bread to eat if he is thirsty give him water to drink Jesus talks in Matthew 20 uh or Matthew 5 verse 39 about if we if uh someone strikes us on the cheek then we should turn to him the other also and
He goes on to talk about how we should love our enemies because God God loves his enemies in fact you see that in Romans 5 where Paul talks about that while we were enemies of God Christ died for the ungodly in fact going back to that Matthew 5 reference what you see is
That Jesus actually says that when you learn to love your enemy this way then you are striving to be perfect as god is perfect perfect and Paul uses this again I mentioned there were three times uh in Romans 12 I alluded to his sort of to
Sort of his nod to it in Romans 5 and that is where he says in verse 17 never repay evil for evil but give thought to do uh what is Honorable in the sight of all men and so he would say also that as much as is within us we should be at
Peace with all men and so wrapping that up in self defense and and what those passages mean we sort of need to think about what’s the occasion of self-defense I mean we don’t want to go out making enemies that that there’s certainly not a a dueling culture if you
Will you know pistols to pistols at 10 Paces that’s supported by scripture but you do have passages that show up like Exodus chap 22 where in verse two it says if a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies there is no blood guilt for
Him and he and God lays out a few more rules on that in Exodus 22 in fact let me just pull up that whole passage here and read that that um Exodus 22 and2 if a thief is caught while breaking in and is struck so that
He dies there will be no blood guilts on his account but if the son here’s verse three has risen on him there Will Be Blood guilt on his account he shall surely make restitution if he owns nothing he shall be sold for his theft and so it’s kind of interesting because
If the sun has risen on him There Will Be Blood guilt guilt so it’s like if you if I’m understanding this right if you take his life during the day when you could see that he was just a thief then you have to make restitution and if you
Can’t make that restitution then it’s then it’s as if you have stolen that life if I’m interpreting that passage correctly and so it’s almost like God has one provision for when you can’t identify what the what the object of the person is or the intent of the person
Who’s breaking into your house is and another rule for when you can identify that intent and and you take his life anyway and so this whole idea of of taking a life in defense of property if I were going to try to extrapolate on that let’s say I walk outside and um I
See somebody breaking into my truck and if I were to take their life in that moment then then God would say no that that that’s not that’s not how you should behave that there’s you’re now guilty of that person’s blood but if somebody were to have broken into my
House in the middle of the night and I don’t know their intentions then that would be an a different set of rules would apply to that and so I think this really come down to to maybe as we look at this that the question about self-defense is not whether it’s right
Or wrong but what are we really talking about I mean we could go over to Luke 22 and 36 where Jesus says that if you’ve got an extra cloak or tunic you need to sell it so you can go buy a sword uh because he knew the oppression that his
Apostles were about to face but how do we balance that and I know where this question comes from because actually chatted with this individual a little bit who first raised the question and it comes from and we’ve already alluded to this passage Matthew 5:39 where Jesus talks about turning the other cheek and
I’m not sure uh that turning the other cheek would necessarily apply in this instance because what you’re talking about in turning the other cheek is not Defending Your Life you’re talking about somebody who’s rendered an insult that don’t basically what Jesus is saying is be willing to be defrauded in an
Argument don’t keep an argument going to where it progresses down the road to violence and if somebody has been violent toward you because he perceives you as an intellectual enemy or he perceives you as somebody who is who is who is in some way uh opposed to him
Then just let him think that don’t don’t keep that going and the other passage that I would the other the fifth idea that I had about this that that I think ought to govern this particular concept of whether whether or not a Christian should use self-defense has got to be James chapter
3 where he talks about after addressing what the wisdom of the world looks like he says in verse 17 that the wisdom that is from above is pure and then Peaceable gentle open to reason full of mercy and good fruits it’s impartial and sincere uh that some of your your
Translations will say without hypocrisy and so thinking about can Christians use self-defense and and by self-defense I think the idea behind it was and I should have probably clarified this with the individual is lethal force that it’s something that we ought to be very careful about being super supportive of
That that I think sometimes we get we we almost get excited for those cases where where we see this happening and we think well yeah this person got what’s coming to them well maybe they did but that is that really the outcome that we want and while I think the Bible does support
Based on Exodus 22 and and that’s you know this is how God looks at it that I think the Bible does support the right for Christians to defend themselves and their family when they when they don’t know the circumstances this person could be in my house to to murder me they
Could be in my house to harm me but if it’s just if it’s property then that’s not a place that that God wants us to go he wants us to Value life above property and I don’t know that there’s too much more that we can say about this it was
Actually the most asked and supported question but but I don’t know how much more we can really add to this discussion I’d love to see it in the comments is there is there some point that I didn’t think of that maybe you guys think of when it comes to whether
Or not Christians can use self-defense I love your G on the wall oh yeah I forgot that’s in the shot yeah that’s I wish I could play it better than than I do James I I can play the acoustic uh sort of well let me turn
It a little bit so you can maybe see it a little better there that uh that’s probably too far that uh that I can play the acoustic um well enough to not make anybody’s ears bleed but on the electric guitar I definitely need to be using headphones but what do you guys think
Did I is there another biblical principle to that I mean knowing that when you look at at the at the Beatitudes that Jesus definitely says blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God what we don’t want to do is blur the line between defending life and defending
Honor and I think a lot of times that’s that’s where that comes in is is that that this this isn’t about protecting life it’s about whether or not my honor was somehow Impe impeached upon so I’m not seeing any additional comments I I’m going to
Let the the stream catch up a little bit but if you got them throw them in there I’ll take a look at it and we’ll uh and we might come back to this because the second question that was asked and actually I’m going to go to the least asked question
We’re going to ping pong back and forth here I’ll keep you guys guessing that and this one is about Jesus and it is and this one this one actually just barely made it in it was almost in a tie with another question but it it squeaked
Past it at the last minute if Jesus Is God why did he pray to God and I thought this was a really good question this is a question I’ve been asked I don’t know maybe a half dozen times in the last couple of years over the over the time
And the tenure of preaching for nearly 25 years I’ve probably probably run in into it maybe maybe a hundred times it it’s not a question that people ask a lot but generally generally the people who are asking are asking for one of two reasons they either don’t understand how
Jesus can be both God and man or a lot of them have been in discussions with with uh or Bible studies with people who are Islamic and this is one of the things that that I know Islam goes to a lot that if Jesus Is God why is he why
Is he praying to God and I think part of the the issue here is we don’t conceptualize what it means for Jesus to be both God and man and and the reason why is we can’t I mean how do how do you process this idea that Jesus could be God and yet
Could live in a body that has a finite existence but that is exactly what the Bible says about him and what the Bible asks us to understand about him and I would say that this one to me while I can accept it because it is Jesus it’s almost as hard to understand
As God not having a beginning is that something that you ever wonder about that that I can I can conceptualize something going on for forever and ever because it’s I’m a Sci-Fi geek and that’s just the way my brain works but I it’s hard for me to conceptualize
Something that doesn’t have a beginning it’s something I absolutely have to take on faith and it’s almost as hard for me to conceive of this idea of God who doesn’t have the beginning and the word is God and the word is with God according to John 1 somehow taking on
The form of a man who not only has a beginning but he has an end and that he had a bodily death of course he was raised from the dead but his body had a beginning and an end and then was raised from the dead but what we have to realize is this
Is actually an important part of Jesus’s story it’s what we’re talking about is the reason that he can be Our Savior let me show you what I’m talking about next week I’m going to have this worked out to where I can put the passages on the screen but but if you’re following along
In your Bible take a look at this passage from Hebrews chapter 2 Hebrews chapter 2 and in Hebrews chapter 2 we’re going to look at verse 14 and it says therefore since the children share in Flesh and Blood he himself likewise also partook of the same that through death
He might render powerless him who had the power of death that is the devil and might free those who were through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives for assuredly he does not give help to the angels but he gives help to the descendants of Abraham
Therefore he had to be made like his brethren in all things so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation that is to a ransom or a buyback it’s it’s a usually a blood payment to make propitiation for the
Sins of the people for since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered he is able to come to the aid of those who were tempted now understanding that if we go back to chapter one and we look at who the he is
Here in chapter 1 and one it says God after he spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last days has spoken to us in his son whom he appointed heir of all things through whom also he made
The world and he is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power and so Jesus from the beginning before he was known as Jesus before he was known as the Son of God
That he was the word of God and he is he is the one who created everything and he is the one who continues to make sure that everything continues and is upheld and we see that same thought over in Colossians but now that we’ve established that I want you to look over
At at uh at Hebrews uh chapter 5 so Hebrews 5 and we’re going to go to verse seven here Hebrews 5 and 7 so in Hebrews chapter 5 beginning verse 7 so the the same he here we’re talking about Jesus being being a priest that is like melkisedek in this
Passage and it says in the days of his flesh he offered up both prayers and supplication remember the question is why is Jesus if he is God praying to God in the days of his flesh he offered up both prayers and supplication with loud crying in in tears to the one who is
Able to save him from death and he was heard because of his piety although he was a son he learned obedience from the things which he suffered and having been made perfect he became to all those who obey him the source of Eternal salvation being designated by God as a high priest
According to the order of melkisedek and so what the Hebrew writers is telling us from chapter 1 to chapter 2 to chapter 5 is that this journey of Jesus where he is God the Creator he becomes man the he becomes in the form of man so that he
Can conquer death that that journey is about God experiencing Life as a man and that life as a man meant that he had to he had to appeal to God or ask God the same way that we do and that’s why you see and we could really just say okay
That’s the answer to it that Jesus Is In the Flesh and therefore he’s not doing his will he’s doing the father’s will but there might be a little more to it and and we’re going to get into it in just a second but another passage where this gets discussed is over in
Philippians chapter 2 if you’ll turn over there this is a passage that we probably all know pretty well but Philippians chapter 2 where we’re talking about the mind of Christ that enables us to have joy together and and be United with one another and really serve each other that
Paul says this in verse five have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus who although he existed in the form of God did not can did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped and that word grasp grasped means that not that
He didn’t ever have it but that it was it was kind of a retention that it was something that that he let go of that and and what did what did he do with that he emptied himself taking the form of a bonder servant and be and being
Made in the likeness of men being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself so that’s that same humility that we talked about in chapter 5 of Hebrews he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross and for this reason
Also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name so you have Jesus exalted Jesus humbled Jesus dying because he is submitting to the will of God God exalting him and so you have kind of this trajectory so that the name of Jesus
Every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on Earth and under the Earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the father so here’s why Jesus made this journey where he had to learn humility and pray
To the father is it glorifies the father that’s going to become important in one of our other questions but he tells them that they need to follow this pattern uh that uh so then my beloved love just as you’ve always obeyed not in my presence only
But now much more my absence work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is a God who is at work in you both to Will and to work for his good pleasure and that’s what God was doing through Jesus he was working out his
Will or bringing his will to fruition so as we’re thinking about this and we’re we’re answering this question of that we’re answering this question of of yeah Brian pointed out if the a lot of the Jehovah’s Witnesses will say that Jesus couldn’t be God because he prayed
To God that it was necessary for Jesus to be in the state and if Jesus is exercising the will of God if he’s bringing about the will of God then he’s going to submit to the will of God and and the same way that we seek the will
Of God we seek it in his word we seek it in prayer Jesus is doing the same thing I see James says in the comments in the beginning was the word the Word was God and the word the word was with God and the Word was God
Laws of God I’m not sure I’m putting all those pieces together but I I’ll look at that in a second that life is in Christ Heath made me free from the law of sin and death and so that is the purpose that Jesus came was was to make a way
That the law couldn’t make and that was necessary as somebody that he be as the Hebrew writer says humbled James in order to do that so I I think that’s what you’re alluding to that uh Gregor says back on the former comment revenge is not the purpose of defense of family
That’s absolutely correct that’s I I hope that’s what everybody took away from that that was my main point there is that that doing it out of Vengeance or doing it because somebody is your enemy is not is not the same thing as defending your family or even defending
Your property necessarily is not the same thing as defending your family so looking at this now and going back to this question of Jesus and praying so that’s why you see Jesus engaged in prayer it’s not because Jesus wasn’t God from the beginning it’s because Jesus as
A man has humbled himself so that he could I think as James is pointing out he could fulfill that law he could bring it to completion so that he could issue this new way but it it’s still not quite to other than Hebrews 5 why is he praying to God
It does show you that Jesus here is fully the Son of God that that he is he regards God as his father that’s not just a reference to God created a body for him and and and Jesus dwelt in that body of the Emmanuel Isaiah 9 God With
Us uh uh uh but it’s it’s more it’s more than just saying that Jesus physically is both God and man G Jesus approached life like a man even though he was God is the best way that I can express that and we’re going to get into this more in
Another question so I don’t I don’t want to hit this too hard at this point but it shows you how Jesus regarded his deity that as as the son of man and the Son of God he is he is human and has to express his dependence on God his trust
In God he’s expressing his need for God and fully submitting to his will um one of the things that gets pointed out a lot of times in this discussion is when you go over to John five this has made maybe a little bit more clear so let me
Go over to John chapter 5 and take a look at this with you if you want to open your Bibles to that this is beginning in verse 19 truly truly I say to you the son can do nothing of himself now John is the one
Who tells us as as James pointed out in the notes there or the chat on the side that in the beginning Jesus is the word he’s with God and is God but here in the flesh he says he can do nothing of himself so he’s he’s emptied himself of
All authority all the authority of God that every once in a while you’ll see something that he does that shows you okay there’s some bit of this Authority that he retains like when he says your sins are forgiven or something like that that but it but even then he says the
Father gave me that Authority it says unless it’s something he sees the father doing for whatever the father does the does the or for whatever the father does these things the son also does in like manner for the father loves the son and shows him all things that he himself is doing
And the father will show him Greater Works than these so that you Marvel for just as the father raises the dead and gives them life even so the son also gives life to Those whom he wishes for not even The Father judges anyone but he has given all judgment to the son and
He’s this is this is this is going to be an interesting thing here when we get over to another question about why does judgment regard uh or why does judgment uh remain with the son and not the father we’ll get into that in another question but it says so that all will
Honor the son even as they honor the father and so so the same honor that’s due God is the father is due Jesus and he who does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him truly truly I say to you he who hears my words
And believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment but is passed out of death into life and so Jesus says judgment belongs with me but here’s what my father has said he’s being fully submissive to the father that the one who who has who has this
Belief in me that he’s going to talk about that he’s passed out of judgment I’m not going to judge them this is how I’m using the authority that my father has given me and this this it’s important to understand and there there’s a lot of discussion about this
About whether or not Jesus regarded himself as the Son of God before he came in the flesh and and I and it’s called The Eternal sunship of Christ and it’s one of those things that that the first reference I see to Jesus being the Son
Of God is after he is born now that doesn’t mean that that as the word of God he didn’t listen to the will of the father or that he he exercised his own will independently or anything like that but but you don’t ever want to say more
Than the Bible says that that the Jesus in his human as as a human was unique it was a unique time in his in his existence if God can be said to have an existence it was a unique time in his existence and I think the root of this
Question as I was asking and and seeing some of the back and forth in some of the comment sections and in some of the the uh the groups that I’m part of where people know that I do YouTube and they they’ll ask questions I think the the
Real the real thrust of this is not just how do you answer somebody who asked the question why did Jesus pray to God but it was more can I pray to Jesus is what some of them were asking and and that’s something that that I would say that the example
We see with Jesus is that he taught us to pray to the father Jesus prayed to the father Jesus said if you ask the father in my name then it will be granted but I mean there is example there is one example that I found in scripture of somebody directly
Petitioning Jesus that I could think of and maybe you can think of another one if you can leave it in the notes or in the chat sorry but it 2 Corinthians chap 12 uh verse seven where the Apostle Paul talks about his Thorn In the Flesh and he prayed three times petitioned the
Lord three times for that to be removed that Paul regarded Jesus as Lord and God as the father that he says I petitioned the Lord three times for this Thorn to be removed from the Flesh and his answer was and the text indicates that it’s Jesus speaking there my grace is
Sufficient for thee so I’m not going to tell you that that based on that that there isn’t some scriptural precedent but the bulk of what we see whether it’s in Matthew 6 where Jesus models that prayer or Jesus’s own prayer is that is that prayer is directed to the father
Through the sun now I hope this answers the question because really there’s not a lot on this question about why did Jesus pray to God except that it really helps us understand that when we say Jesus is God With Us he’s Emanuel or we say Jesus is God In the Flesh that that
He is he’s fully embracing that role he’s not it’s not a a prefigured uh not prefigured it’s not a it’s not a costume he’s putting on that he’s fully embracing that role of humanity and and the Hebrew writer talks about he says we he learned obedience he was tempted that
Yet without sin he died so that he could reconcile for us and become this high priest that Jesus fully embraced the role of humanity it doesn’t mean that there was no deity about him at all that he didn’t have divine power but he more than anything put off the authority of
God and that he would only claim the authority that God had given him he would only speak what God told him to speak he would only accept the authority that God had given him like the authority to forgive sins while he was on Earth or the authority to exercise
Judgment and that seems to be about as far as you can go with it so if you got any more questions or comments on that leave it over there uh in the chat I’ll try to get to him I’m trying to monitor the chat too I I I really really may
Need some help doing that but the next question I’m going to bounce up to uh one that had a little more a a little more backing than that question and it is does does the Bible forbid and I thought this was a really interesting question by the way does the
Bible forbid Christians from using marijuana in states where it has been legalized and this is one that there’s a lot of discussion and really a lot of turmoil about and it’s it’s one that we need to approach very very prayerfully um there there’s because it’s a bigger discussion
Than just one substance and it’s it has more to do uh in recent years with the shift of of the legality of that substance we’re probably less than five years from the country legalizing pot and and and making that taking it off the the list of scheduled drugs that and
And making it completely legal um so what does a Christian do there well the thought that occurred to me is there are lots of things that are completely that are completely legal that Christians don’t engage in because they’re just not good ideas and rather than looking at the the newly mined
Legality of this state byst state maybe we should ask about what what parameters within the Bible should govern our thinking on this and I want to start by turning over to the book of 1 Corinthians so if you’re turning along with me let’s go over to 1 Corinthians chapter
6 uh my allergies are acting up today you guys can probably see it on my face I’m trying really hard not to sneeze on camera but but if I do my my sincerest apologies for that but looking at 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and let’s go let’s go down to verse 12
And here Paul says and and he’s he’s talking about he’s really getting into this discussion of of of what Christians has the Liberty to do and what they don’t have the Liberty to do and he specifically was just talking to them about whether or not they could sue one
Another in court and he says look you’ve been redeemed from those kinds of things that you you should regard yourself as one as as not not like you were but you’re part of the kingdom of God and it’s from that thought that he says in verse 12 that all things are lawful
Lawful for me but not all things are profitable all things are lawful for me but I will not be Mastered by anything um food is for the stomach and stomach is for food but God will do away with both of them yet the body is not for immorality
But for the Lord and the Lord is for the body now God is Not only raised the Lord but will also raise us up through his power do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them
Members of a harlot and so he goes on to talk about sexual immorality there but I like the opening thought because he’s laying out a a principle here that everything that I approach in my life and he uses the example of food here even though he’s really going to talk
About sexual immorality he says okay I can look at this and say this is lawful but is it good for me and that’s an important thing to think about that just because I have the the right to do something is that thing necessarily a
Good thing to do and so if I if I turn over to passages that would talk about sobriety and I think that’s the real issue with with with marijuana is that inherently marijuana is something in that people choose specifically for the purpose of dulling their senses one of
The things that I have noticed and before I leave First Corinthians I want to think about that this for just a second and just throw it out there there’s been a lot of discussions in recent years about uh some of the some of what we knew notice the air quotes
There I’ll get them on camera knew about marijuana and what we knew to be true about it may not have been true and and the fact that there is likely some very lowlevel addiction that comes with marijuana that is is something that that some of that some recent Studies have
Indicated is at least a possibility you don’t have the the big withdrawals like you do from other drugs but but for the to say it’s completely non-addictive or completely uh free of any of any long-term consequences is not exactly true but and that needs to enter into
The discussion but it’s not something I would hang my hat on because you’re going to have people that completely vehemently disagree with that but how does the body or how does God regard bodily sobriety not just not just sober thinking but how does God regard bodily sobriety is this something that he wants
Us that he says much about in scripture if if the the purpose of of of marijuana is to to sort of reach that that whoa dude state where you’re you’re not processing thing you’re not processing the world around you in a way that you have discernment well I would say
Inherently that that’s not the way that God wants us to be um in 1 Peter chapter 4 Peter says therefore since Christ has suffered In the Flesh arm yourselves also with the same purpose because he has also suffered In the Flesh has ceased from
Sin so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men but for the will of God for the time for the time already passed is sufficient for you to have carried out the desires of G Iles having pursued a course of sensuality lust drunkenness
Carousing drinking parties and abominable idolatries and all these things they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excess of and here’s this here’s this word that shows up a couple of times in your new testament dissipation that dissipation means that means wastefulness that you’re you’re
Taking something when you are engaged in something that takes away your sobriety and you are part of your yourself is being wasted there it’s being duded and and Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 5 when he says you know don’t be drunk but that that drinking is is or drunkenness is
Dissipation what he’s tell what he tells us there is that is that it’s deluding to the influence of the diluting to the influence of the spirit of God in our lives and it makes us it makes us less able to process things like God’s holiness it makes us less able to
Process the the kind of spiritual fruit that we ought to be bearing because we have introduced a a an influence that dilutes our ability to desire and seek and follow and if inebriation with alcohol does that and we have this warning and he warns about it three different ways he talks about
Drunkenness which we understand drunkenness we he talks about carousing that’s your that’s your going out and getting getting bloto drunk at that like a kind of the the Frat style drinking that you see po popularized in in movies and television and then drinking parties the idea of of a drinking party
There is just going out and drinking it’s just a bout of drinking it’s it’s we might say meeting up for drinks and Peter says that time that’s behind you and I would say that that the idea of marijuana and smoking pot would fit solidly within this idea even though it’s not
Drunkenness it fits solidly within this idea that that it’s wasteful to our of of the abilities and the faculties that God has given us and so as I’m looking at this and I’m thinking about another passage is also in First Peter and it’s in chapter 5 where he says in verse 8 be
Sober of spirit be on the alert your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour so the less sober we are the less aware we are of who we ought to be the more wasteful in our mind we have become the the more opportunities we give to the
Devil and I I really think that that’s probably all that needs to be said about that a lot of people will point to will point to all kinds of other of other passages um that they think supports it and and I don’t I didn’t really find a good one to
Introduce into the argument if you can think of one then then put it up in the chat and I’ll address it but I I couldn’t really find one that I thought was a good argument to address it but on the positive side or or the acceptance side not really
Positive but the other thing that I I was thinking about as I was going through this is is the argument that some people will make well it’s a plant of the earth and and that would be making part of God’s creation illegal well it is a plant of
The Earth but the God created a lot of plants for a lot of things that are not meant for our consumption I mean there are there are berries if I walk out into the the Wilderness of Oregon that I could eat that would if I ate enough of
Them would kill me and that doesn’t mean that they’re not harmless and we would look at that and say there’s no wisdom in that and I think we have to look at marijuana the same way that if it’s taking away my sobriety um one of the interesting things that I thought about
That that goes along with that sobriety is how if I don’t if I’m not sober I don’t think about God’s holiness that one and I thought about because when naab and Abu were told or when when Moses told Aaron that this is what happens when you don’t treat God as holy
The next thing that he gives is a warning about drunkenness and how drunk and and there’s some thought that maybe naab and aayou were not sober when they were trying to offer whatever whatever fire to God they were offering that was unacceptable to him and so so it may
Have even been that that that a lack of sobriety contributed to that and looking at this I would just say I don’t for me for my house for anybody that asks me and wants to know my opinion I don’t care how legal it is in terms of of
State to state or nationally or worldwide that it’s it’s something that God warns about it it takes away my ability to process his Holiness and and bearing fruit in his kingdom so I want to ask we’re almost done here but I want to ask this question next and this kind of goes with
The prayer question if Jesus is the son of God this was this one actually had a lot of support behind it if Jesus is the son of God why is he called the son of man I tell you what before I jump in and answer that I’m G to pop over make sure
I didn’t miss anything uh that uh look like we got some dis that looks like we got some discussion going on over there but nothing I can follow uh nothing I can follow intently at this point so I’ll have to go back and look at those but it looks like looks like
You guys are are talking in the chat thank you for that hopefully it’s uh you’re enjoying each other um but if Jesus is or what does it mean that Jesus is both Son of God and Son of Man and thinking about this that that’s a that’s a really a really interesting question
And I know that this one is this one typically when I’ve seen it it’s been fielded to me more by people who are leaning toward atheism so why do you say that Jesus is the son of God if he calls himself the son of man and it really
Starts with the idea of what does it mean to be the son of man and the first time that that that phrase is introduced the son of man now there there’s a couple of times where job is called son of man but he’s not the son of man
That the first time that phrase is introduced is actually over in Daniel chapter 7 in Daniel chapter 7 that Daniel has seen these four beasts that have Arisen out of the sea and they’re tearing each other apart and it’s and it’s the succession of Kingdoms that
Would lead up to the Eternal kingdom of God it says in verse 9 I kept looking until the Thrones were set up and the Ancient of Days took his seat his vesture was like white snow and his hair of his head would like pure wool and the
Throne his throne was Ablaze with fire uh with flames I’m sorry and its Wheels were a burning fire a river of fire was flowing and coming out from before him thousands upon thousands were attending him in myriads upon myriads were standing before him the court set and
The books were opened and then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words of the horn which was speaking and I kept looking until the Beast was slain and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire as for the rest of the beasts their
Dominion was taken away but an extension of life was granted to them for an for an appointed period of time and I kept looking in the night visions and behold with the Clouds Of Heaven one like the son of man was coming and he came up to
The Ancient of Days it sounds like the Ascension doesn’t it and to him was G given Dominion glory and a kingdom and that all the peoples Nations and Men of every language might serve him and his Dominion is an everlasting Dominion which will not pass away and his kingdom
Is one which will not be destroyed now we might look at Daniel chapter 7 and think okay well that’s talking about events at the end of the world but the establishment of the kingdom here is actually something that was talked about earlier in the Book of Daniel strangely
Enough again after the after the succession of four kingdoms and I’m going to turn over to Daniel chapter 2 and look at something real quick Daniel chapter 2 and this is beginning in verse 36 it says this was the the dream now Nebuchadnezzar had this dream about this
Really weird statue but he wouldn’t tell anybody about it and he really wanted somebody to come and tell him what the dream was because the dream really kind of lack of a better term weirded him out it says this was the dream now we will tell its interpretation before the king
You oh King are the King of Kings to whom the god of heaven was given uh has given the kingdom the power the strength and the glory so Nebuchadnezzar was was King over Kings and so Nebuchadnezzar is the biggest baddest King on the Block at this point
And whatever the sons of men and wherever the sons of men dwell or the beasts of the field or the birds of the sky he has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all you are the head of gold after you there
Will arise another kingdom inferior to you then another third Kingdom of bronze which will rule over the Earth so you had the gold the silver the bronze and then when the fourth Kingdom then there will be a fourth Kingdom as strong as iron in as much as iron crushes and
Shatters all things Kings so it’s going to be a a stronger King Kingdom it’s not going to be as glorious or as beautiful but it’s going to be a stronger Kingdom than Nebuchadnezzar’s um so it’s going to break all things into pieces in that you saw the feet and the toes partly of
Potter’s clay and partly of iron it will be a divided Kingdom but it will have in the toughness of iron in as much as you saw iron mixed with common clay as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery so some of the Kingdom
Will be strong and part of it will be brittle and in that you saw iron mixed with common clay they will combine uh they will combine with one another in the seed of men but they will not adhere to one another even as iron does not combine with Pottery so the downfall of
This kingdom was going to be the thing that made it strong was the iron but the downfall of it is is if you don’t unite your kingdom and it’s part iron and part clay then it’s kind of like the weakest link in the chain that once the CL clay
Starts breaking down the support for the kingdom is gone the whole thing’s going to topple in verse 44 it says in the days of those kings okay so we were we so here’s what’s going to happen in the days of those kings God of heaven will
Set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed now we were told that that was going to happen in the days of the son of man when he returned to God over in Daniel 7 Daniel is saying it’s going to happen in the day of that fourth Kingdom
In Chapter 2 and so this this really deals with this idea of is Jesus presently reigning over a kingdom that that a lot of the premillennialists get into that oh well Jesus doesn’t have a kingdom now well Daniel says God says he would in Daniel and it was his kingdom
Was going to begin when he ascended back to the father and so it will that it’s going to be an eternal Kingdom uh it will never be destroyed and that Kingdom will not be left for another people it will crush and put to an end all of
These kingdoms but it will itself endure forever in as much as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mount without hands and that it crushed the iron the bronze the clay and the silver and the gold the great God has made known to the
King what will take place in a future so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy so when Jesus calls himself the son of man there and he does many times in scripture Jesus refers to himself as the son of man he’s referring back to these Daniel references of one
Who would become a king he would be given that kingship by God and it was going to happen in the days of of the Roman Empire or or when the son of man came on Earth and then ascended and when you look at how Jesus uses the term son
Of man it’s interesting because there’s several places and I’m going to show you a couple here where he uses it in conjunction with the idea we’ve already seen one over in John chapter 5 but he uses it in conjunction with the idea of also being the Son of God let’s let’s
Look at one of those we’re kind of running short on time but let me show you the one that I think it’s the easiest to see in and that’s John chapter 3 I actually just did a video an episode on this that was a long form content
Two weeks ago I I’ll put a link to it in the description when I write the description so check that out if you’re interested in knowing more about this but in John chapter 3 I want you to see this beginning verse 14 actually we could back up to verse n
And this is uh Nicodemus is asking Jesus how could these things be and Jesus says are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things truly truly I say to you we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen and you do
Not accept our testimony if I told you Earthly things and you do not believe believe how will you believe if I tell you Heavenly things no one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from Heaven the son of man so Jesus flips that Paradigm in Daniel he’s Daniel’s
Talking about the kingdom is established in the days that Jesus assends to heaven the son of man ascends to Heaven Jesus is saying the son of man first descended Out of Heaven now he is going to ascend Paul talks about that in Ephesians chapter 4 but first Jesus says the son
Of man had to descend and that’s something that Nicodemus hadn’t processed yet that the son of man is not just a king after David’s lineage that’s going to sit on an eternal Throne that the son there’s a there’s a connection directly to God before the Ascension and
If we don’t understand that it says in verse 14 as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the son of man be lifted up so that whoever believes will in him have eternal life now here’s here’s where you see this connection son of man to son of God for
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life for God did not send the son into the world to judge the world but that the world might be saved through him now let’s keep reading I know that’s
Usually where where we stop Verse 18 He Who believes in Him is not judged he who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten and what’s that next phrase Son of God and then we could go a lot
Further because it doesn’t mention that again but it talks about what the judgment is but I want you to see that Jesus just used the terms son of man and Son of God interchangeably that is he the son of man yeah he’s the son of man because
He’s following that Daniel pattern of go going back to God to receive a kingdom and he’s going to be the Eternal King something that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that Jesus is presently sitting on the in on the throne of his father over a kingdom but
He’s also because he descended from God he’s also the Son of God and it’s not in any way a it’s not in any way a a mistake or a contradiction to say Jesus is the son of man and Son of God because it actually is the idea of Emanuel the idea of the
Son of man not just a son of man but the son of man is literally God in the form of man and so as we’re seeing all of this and we could go over to John chapter 5 but we we’ we’ve looked at John chapter 5 already um you see this
Again in John chap 11 where Martha refers to Jesus as the Son of God and Jesus accepts that you see this in John chapter 20 where Thomas refers to Jesus as my Lord and my God and Jesus doesn’t again he accepts that he doesn’t rebuke that that Jesus as the son of man
Presents himself to the man who was formerly blind in John chapter nine and asks him do you believe in the son of man and that I who am speaking to you am he that that the son of man is not saying that Jesus Jesus is just a man
It’s saying that Jesus is man and Jesus Is God and it’s a big it’s a big big thought but he uses them interchangeably in John 3 all right so we’re coming up on the end here and this is the this is the last question I’m still trying to
Avoid that sneeze this is the last question that we were asked and it’s probably probably one of the more important questions um that we’ve been asked on this and it’s one that that Brian I Brian and I were just talking about this I saw Brian in the chat earlier Brian
And I were just talking about this at Coffee the other day and then lo and behold I I go home and like 15 people in different chat groups that well not that many but but in different chat groups that I’m part of are bringing this thought up about Christians and dealing
With trauma and that is why don’t the question that that was probably best articulated is why don’t churches do more to help Christians heal from trauma I think the thought is is maybe what could uh Christians be doing to help other Christians heal from trauma and so
I actually talked to a few people about this this who I know have been through some traumatic experiences in their life uh some of them remained faithful to God some of them some of them didn’t but they a lot of them were abuse some of
Them were U or some of them were abuse some of them were uh traumatic divorces and things like that and so I just sort of sat and talked with them for a little while and got their experiences and I asked them or one person in particular I
Asked him I said youo what was it that when you were going through what you were going through what was it that your brethren could have done versus versus what did you feel like you were experiencing and he honestly said that that the thing that most people don’t understand about Christians dealing with
Trauma and like I said Brian and I are going to do a whole episode on this is that when you’re in the middle of that emotion when you’re in the middle of that feeling like your whole life has been completely tainted by this experience you assume that everybody
Understands it and it hurts you to see people just going on with their life and their day-to-day and as I’m looking at this and I’m thinking about that I’m thinking okay how can we equip ourselves and I know that I know that there are some congregations I mean I’m I I
Worship with a local Church of Christ and we’re autonomous and I know there are bodies who are autonomous who who look at at trauma care as a form of benevolence to their to the Brethren that are part of body that they would they would take care that they would ask
The Brethren to assist in some kind of way with that just like they would ask if they had a a house fire or something of that nature and I think that that that’s a worthy discussion and and you know eldership are going to have to decide how they deal with that on their
Own but there are some there are some some guidelines in the Bible and I think part of it at least for me starts with a guideline the same guideline that we would use if somebody was overtaken in in some sort of trespass or some sort of violation of God’s Will and when you
Look at at Galatians chapter 6 The Apostle Paul has just talked about bearing this spiritual fruit and this the spiritual fruit in Galatians 5 that we’re supposed to Bear are love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control against such things there is no law and so that we
Should be loving and joyful peaceful patient we should be kind to one another good to one another faithful to each other and to God we should be gentle for each other he says in verse 25 that if we live by the spirit let us also walk
By the spirit let us not become boastful challenging one another envying one another Brethren if anyone even if anyone is caught in any trespass you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness each one looking to yourself so that you will not be tempted
Bear one another’s burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ and I would say that when it comes to dealing with trauma particular literally when that trauma has led to sin that often times the first thing that we want to do and I
I put this hat on too I mean I’m I’m a preacher and even though I took psychology for years and years and years and my almost undergraduate degree was in was would have been in Psychology that’s the way that I was going and I just decided I didn’t want to be a
Psychologist when I when I saw what all went into it and Kudos anybody that does and does it well but it just wasn’t something that I felt like I could personally do cuz there a lot of difficulty associated with that that particularly since I wanted to go into
Child psychology but the the idea here is often times when people are overtaken in sin we want we want to express okay here’s what the sin is that’s wrong and the person I was talking to said when I was engaged in sin and it was it was
Coming and I was raging against God because of of the what the things that were going on my in my life that were Beyond My Control I knew what I was doing was wrong what I really needed was somebody to say hey we we need to
Address the sin but we also need to stop and address the hurt what’s going on in your life that’s making whether it’s alcoholism or or or whatever the sin is that that people are getting tangled up in that what’s making this seem like a viable outlet for you what what’s
Underneath all this and and honestly as a preacher that’s something I have to stop and think about that yes I have to address the sin but I also if I just tell them hey you’re sinning and here’s five passages that say you’re sinning and you’re wrong and I don’t address
Them as a human being that has real struggles and they might be Financial struggles they might be marital struggles they might be struggles with self-image and and and wanting to do some kind of bodily harm and they’re trying to to they they’re engaging in some sin because that makes them feel
Like the pain is dulled then if I don’t help them address those things in some kind of way or help them find help for that then it’s going to be very difficult for them to hear me in fact they might even perceive me as being calloused toward their toward the grief
Or the trauma or the pain that they’re feeling and as I’m thinking about this that doesn’t mean that we can be accepting of sin but it does mean that we need to the idea of bearing one another’s burdens is not just pointing out what’s wrong Jesus there or Paul
There says when you do this you fulfill the law of Christ the law of Christ was was an interesting thought as I was kind of running down that rabbit hole and preparing to talk about this that the law of Christ the only law that I could I could
See that Jesus gave apart from from the Great Commission about how you become one of his disciples the only law that I could ever see that Jesus gave that that he called his commandment shows up it first shows up in John 13 but I think it’s it’s more clearly stated in John 15
And: 12 when he says this is my commandment he’s just talked to them about the vine and the branches and the bearing of fruit this is my commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you greater love has no one than this that one lay down his life for his
Friends you are my friend if you do what I command you no longer do I call you slaves for the slave does not know what his master is doing but I have called you friends for all things that I have heard from my father I have made known
To you you did not choose me but I chose you and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit and that your fruit would remain and whatever you ask of the father in my name it’s kind of going back to that question about prayer he
May give to you this is this I command you that you love one another so the law of Christ seems to be that you love one another as I loved you and so really just pointing out error or sin when somebody is entangled in wrongdoing rather than asking okay what’s at the
Root of this wrongdoing is it just that you’re falling into Temptation or is it that you know is there a bigger burden you need help bearing I know I’ve known a lot of guys in my life that have really struggled with things like pornography and the things that the
Thing that helped them get over that was a brother in Christ and for some of them it was their wife but for some of them it was a brother in Christ who said hey I’m going to help you and I’m going to be accountable for that I think I think
We can deal with trauma in the same way but what some of the things that that this particular person pointed out that they wished that they had PE that people had known is that often times what Christians will do is they will in the name of getting people to
Pray for one another is they will turn somebody’s trauma or or really bad life events into some kind of spectacle that they’ll turn it into a into something that they want to tell other people about and then he he told me he said I couldn’t even walk into a church
Building without having people tell me all the things I needed to do to correct my life he said I was just there to worship God I knew what I needed to do I was I was trying to make those changes and I was there to worship God but but
Everybody wanted to tell me what I needed to do to correct my life he said even the people that would listen just seem to be listening to want to speak and and that’s another thing that we can do is we can listen to listen and then
When it comes time to give advice we can say okay how do I help you I mean you know what you’re doing is wrong you know that this is sin but we’ve talked about that this is coming from a place of hurt so how can I help you heal how can I
Help you get over that hurt and honestly we we need to admit that there’s just going to be some things that are beyond our ability uh and whether that’s helping people find a counselor uh or or some sort of of Psych psychologist and and I know that that some people look at
That and say no no no you don’t ever want to do that well there are some people who are Christians who who who do that and that and do it well and even if that person even if this person has chosen to go and engage psychologist or
Something like that to deal with their trauma or to work through their their pain we need to understand that just because they’re engaged in that that doesn’t mean that they’re getting good Heth healing we need to stay in touch with them we need to stay in touch with
Them because what we want to do is make sure that they know that the people of God are there for them that their their relief from this is not coming because of of medicine or it’s not coming because of of a connection to to a a mental healthcare worker
Their relief from this we want them to see that as coming because the people of God love me they support me they want to help me overcome the sin but they also want to help me overcome the pain that I would the sin or the sin or rather the
Pain that the sin was masing and that’s honestly something that we have to come to terms with it it’s it’s reality folks it really is um the other thing that I thought about that and this is kind of this is actually the the Direction Brian and I
Are going to go with this in a couple of weeks is there actually one of the crucial steps that we sometimes Miss in dealing with trauma is helping people draw closer to God and this is where I want to close is we’re going to end on this note but there
Actually is a precedent for this and it is in uh 1 Chronicles chapter 4 1 Chronicles chapter 4 I’m sure you guys have all heard about the prayer of Jaz and few few years ago somebody wrote a book about this how you get wealthy you pray to God in this way
And that’s not what the prayer of Jaz is about Jaz is actually kind of a kind of a a sad story um in verse nine uh the the name actually before I tell you before I start reading the the name Jaz is associated with apparently pain and it was uh it means
Sorrowful um or grief and it says in verse 9 JZ was more honorable than his brothers and his mother named him JZ saying because I bore him with pain imagine being saddled with that your whole life that every time you talk to your mom she says hey you caused me more
Pain than any of my other children in childbirth that’s going to introduce some some probably some psychological problems that’s going to introduce some some self-esteem issues for sure and it says in verse 10 now Jaz called on the god of Israel saying oh that you would bless me indeed and enlarge my
Border and that your hand might be with me and that you would keep me from harm that it may not pain me and God granted him what he requested so where did Jaz turn you know he’s his mom is telling him you caused me pain where did JZ turn he turned to
God he said God I want you to to put around me whatever you have to put around me where so that I don’t keep feeling pain from the pain that I’ve apparently Afflicted to others and you know a child being born has no concept of the pain that they’re inflicting on anyone
But this is an interesting idea and this is something I I talked to to one of the people that had been through some traumatic experiences in their life and asked them to think about this for a little bit you never get to the point whatever the experience is that
You’re trying to overcome whether it’s it’s some kind of abuse or it’s infidelity in a marriage or or something like that you never get to the point where that’s not a part of the story that that’s always going to be there but what JZ is asking God to do is surround
Him with things that are not painful and so that as our connection to God grows as our faith in God deepens that we’ll never get to a point where whatever it is that we’re trying to overcome isn’t part of our story that’s always going to be part of our
Backstory that how which of us does not think at some point on some sin that we committed in our life and think think God I wish I had that moment back even even walking in forgiveness just thinking God I wish I had that moment back so that I could do that all over
Again I don’t I’ve never known anybody who didn’t have that pray but just because the reality of that is that that’s part of your life that can diminish it’s you can diminish the impact of that part of the Life by helping that person grow in their connection to God and God’s people so
Basically you can put more good things into their life you can put more positive Association into their life you can bear their burdens and help them grow closer to God to where the the trauma or the pain or the frustration or the sadness isn’t this overwhelming influence on their everyday life because
They have all of these other experiences with the people who are christm minded and walking in the spirit and trying to fulfill the law of Christ that help them see that people don’t just want to know my story so they can gossip about it and talk about it people really are vested
In my walk with Jesus and helping me overcome so I don’t know if that’s a good answer but I was looking at scripture and thinking about about the the connection there uh between trauma and healing and and how we could facilitate that as people who have who are able to
Bear one another’s burdens in Christ so those are the five questions that went out in the Derby this week I enjoyed our time together uh looks like we got up to to uh quite a few people appar Cy up to about 15 20 people in the Stream at one
Time went a little longer than I thought it would but uh but I appreciate all of you who have tuned in and uh go ahead and start submitting your questions for next week I’m going to put up the Derby again and and we’ll Whittle them down
One at a time um it’ll get a little more polished doing a live stream is a little different from doing an episode it’ll get a little more a little more polished as we go but leave in the comments what your or in the chat what questions you’d
Like us to tackle next we have still a few that are left over from last week and until I see you again stay in the word have a good day and God bless
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