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This is a link to our weekly radio program Search the Scriptures Daily. You may listen to the program by clicking on the "mp3" link above. For more listening options, please see our Radio Page.
This is Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Still ahead, answers to your questions in Contending for the Faith, and, in Understanding the Scriptures, Dave and Tom will resume their conversation on God’s salvation.
“Israel, Islam and Armageddon,” the new video by Dave Hunt is now available from The Berean Call. Is the stage being set for the grand finale? Jerusalem, mentioned an astonishing 800 times in the Bible, is prophesied to play the key role in world destiny. Scores of Biblical prophecies concerning Jerusalem have already come to pass, as will those yet to be fulfilled. Discover exciting insight into what will transpire in the days to come. “Israel, Islam and Armageddon” shows how the current peace process is fraught with peril, and will ultimately lead to Armageddon, how the Antichrist will lead the world’s armies to destroy Israel, the truth about the Vatican’s intentions, and the Palestinian myth. Video host, lecturer and author Dave Hunt: We tell the truth about Arafat, who he is, about the PLO, what that is, about the so-called Palestinian people, where even the word, Palestine, that is commonly used today comes from. I think we clear up a lot of misunderstandings.
Jerusalem’s history spans more than 3,000 years, but the city’s most significant and critical days are yet to come. Join Dave Hunt for a fascinating and challenging presentation showing how today’s headlines mirror Biblical prophecy, “Israel, Islam and Armageddon.” Information on how to order in just a moment. In addition to this radio program we publish a monthly newsletter, which we make available free of charge. We also produce and distribute a wide variety of teaching materials including books in print, e-book and audio book formats, CD’s, DVD’s and other items to encourage the serious study of God’s Word. For a complete list of materials, or to get a copy of today’s broadcast, write to us at POB 7019, Bend, Oregon 97708. Call our toll free order number 877-882-4253, that’s 877-88Bible, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org. If you would like a copy of this broadcast on compact disk ask for Program #0408, and be sure to mention the all letters of this station. And if you would like to watch Dave and Tom, our weekly broadcast is available on DVD; ask about a subscription when you contact us. You can also download both audio and video podcast at our website. We’ll repeat this information at the end of the program. Now:
RELIGION IN THE NEWS
A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media. This week’s item is from The Capitol Times, November 8, 2007, with a headline: “Kid Contemplatives.” The following are excerpts: If gym class helps children tone the body, what helps them exercise the mind? Researchers suggest the ability to be still and contemplate is what can make a positive difference. In 2008, local middle school students will be among those who participate in a National pilot project that studies the effects of contemplation in the classroom, says Richard Davidson, a University of Wisconsin researcher, neuroscientist. Time Magazine selected him as one of the world’s 100 most influential people of 2006. “We’re still trying to understand how these practices work scientifically in a grade K through 12 setting,” John Dun of Atlanta’s Amber University says. It seems likely that there are things that can be done to regulate emotions effectively. Centering prayer, meditation, breath work, chanting, sitting in silence, extended concentration on an object and focusing on positive thoughts and images are examples of contemplative exercises that can be taught. The level of controversy associated with bringing the concept into classrooms in part depends upon the presence of religious overtones. “In my view it’s not a religious issue,” says Catholic priest and practicing mystic Thomas Keating. Because of the many forms that contemplation can take silence is not denominational, and it can be practiced in a methodical way. Sitting in silence for 20 minutes, twice a day gradually introduces us to our deeper self, but the academic world allows no time or place to pursue this in an organized matter. That includes seminaries, he says. Like Buddhist meditation, centering prayer for Christians is an age old religious practice that has experienced a revival in contemporary times. Keating says both practices transcend the rational mind and are a way to be present to psychological content of the moment.
Tom:
Dave, I hope our audience picks up on some of this. This is what we have been saying, Buddhist meditation, centering prayer, I mean, it’s all connected. Eastern mysticism and Catholic mysticism, and so on, it’s all related. But there is an irony here. Do you remember—well, we’ve written about it, how Maharishi Mahesh Yogi tried to introduce meditation, he called it the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, he tried to introduce it into schools in the United States, and he was put off. But then he changed the name to TM, Transcendental Meditation, and he had great success getting it into schools. But as we have mentioned in past program, Christianity is being kept out of schools because it’s religious. But now days, well, look what we are seeing here! We have Christianity, recognized as such with its meditation, centering prayer, chanting, and so on, being introduced. So, it’s coming back in, but this is not Biblical Christianity.
Dave:
Well, as we mentioned earlier in the program, you can’t find this in the Bible, never is it recommended, never do we see it practiced by anyone really. Certainly it’s not godly, it has nothing to commend it. It is as we have already discussed a technique that supposedly brings about an automatic spiritual response, reaction. It gives you the feeling of closeness, or of wonder, or whatever, and it’s taking us away from the Bible. It’s taking us away from God; it’s taking us away from Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes unto the Father but by me.” He’s talking about truth, “You continue in my Word you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Tom:
Dave, comment on this: we see, as we mentioned earlier, that an apostasy is taking place in the church, but what about the apostasy in the world? For example, what will these techniques do to prepare the world for the god of this world, the Antichrist who will come?
Dave:
Well, you want to get involved in techniques, and you think you are—well, becoming spiritual. Now they’re not necessarily seeking God, and I can say that, Tom, with the authority of the Bible. Because the God of the Bible says, you will seek for me and find me when you seek for me with all your heart. So if these people are really seeking the true God, He will reveal Himself to them. But if they are seeking a spiritual experience, or something that will give them warm fuzzies or whatever, and whoa, I must be getting close to God.
Tom:
Or feeling good about their deeper self.
Dave:
Right, yeah, introduced to their deeper self. That is the wrong way to go about it, it’s not biblical and it will open the door to demonic delusion.
Tom:
Dave, what about mind control? Aren’t these techniques similar to self-hypnosis, a program in which a person can be programmed and controlled?
Dave:
This is what Jose Silva learned from a demon literally when he would go out of his body, there was this yogi sitting there and promised that if he would follow his instructions he would give him some techniques, and so forth. So Silva Mind Control is now called Silva Method. The whole thing was based upon visualization, you visualize a couple of spirit guides and the elevator comes down into your laboratory and the door opens and out they come and these become your spirit guides and you can do some very impressive magic with their help. To see this being recommended and recommended for children, again it’s very disturbing and I hope that we are not just harping on this too much, but we’re very concerned.
Tom:
It’s a serious deception, Dave, very dangerous.
Dave:
Right.
This is a link to our weekly radio program Search the Scriptures Daily. You may listen to the program by clicking on the "mp3" link above. For more listening options, please see our Radio Page.
You are listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Still to come, Dave and Tom continue their weekly in-depth study of the Doctrine of Salvation, please stay tuned.
CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH
In this regular feature Dave and Tom respond to questions from listeners and readers of The Berean Call. Here’s this week’s question: Dear Dave and TA, I am a relatively new Christian, and I want to learn as much as I am capable of. I listen to your program and I find it very informative. I also listen to other Christian programs and I’ve learned that there is a lot to learn about Christianity. I find some of the terms very confusing. The one I am having difficulty understanding right now is “Dispensationalism.” What does it mean? And how important is it with regard to my understanding of the Bible?
Tom:
Well, Dave, a question of this nature I defer immediately to you.
Dave:
Well, Tom, there are many views on Dispensationalism, some of them are hyper dispensational. But the idea was, and there is much truth in it, there was an age of innocence, a dispensation of innocence. It says the times of this ignorance God winked at. So then came the time of conscience. Now I don’t make a strict division here, because I believe you always had a conscience. I believe that the law—there was a time under the law, and so forth, the law was their schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.
Tom:
So that would be a dispensation of the law.
Dave:
Yeah, the law, right.
Tom:
And a dispensation of grace.
Dave:
Right, in other words, they pertained to ways in which God was dealing with people, with mankind at that time. My opinion is that pretty much He dealt with them the same in all ages. Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it was glad, and his faith was counted as righteousness. So you could say, Well, Abraham couldn’t be justified by faith because that hadn’t yet come along. There is some merit in these ideas, but in my opinion it can be overdone.
Tom:
Dave, would you consider yourself a dispensationalist? I know you have been accused of that, and if so, what value, in terms of understanding the Bible would there be.
Dave:
Well, my dispensationalist friends are going to be unhappy with me. Let’s understand this word “dispensation.” Dispensation—you can use it without even thinking of God. Well, I’m going to give them a little dispensation of a little grace now. I think most people understand dispensation, they don’t understand the theological terminology—it is a Biblical word. I wouldn’t call myself—well, you see, that’s difficult. Dispensationalist—do I believe there’s a great tribulation coming? Well, it will be another dispensation, God’s way of dealing with mankind. Do I believe in the millennium reign? Yes, I do. So I guess you could call me a dispensationalist. On the other hand, I believe that in the Millennium or the Great Tribulation, God’s dealings with man in His conscience and the remedy, there is only one remedy—Jesus Christ! So, it’s always been the same remedy, the Lamb foretold this, but, as I said, I think it can be overdone. So I would say—are there dispensations in the Bible? Yes, but I think they overlap a whole lot more, and there is a thread of grace, a thread of redemption that runs all the way through the Bible.
Tom:
Dave< I’ve heard people when they talk about dispensations with regard to the value, they would say, Well, what we want you to know is that God,—there’s history involved that had a beginning, you know, middle and an end, it’s going to come to an end. We call the study of the last days “eschatology,” and so on. So, people who said well, you’re a dispensationalist, you believe there was a time for the Jews and a time for the Gentiles, and then God is going to revert back to the Jews. Does Dispensationalism help clarify some of these things in the Bible?
Dave:
Well, I wouldn’t say there was a time for the Jews and then a time for the Gentiles. It depends on what you mean by a time for. God always dealt with all mankind Jew or Gentile, by grace, they are sinners, and sin has to be forgiven. That there was a time when Israel, they were number one, they ruled the world. They rebelled, and they have been set aside. There is a time, and I believe we have entered that time, when Israel is going to rule the world again, but through Jesus Christ. So, was there a time for Jews, a time for the Gentiles? Yes, but on the other hand, Ephesians chapter 2 makes it very clear. We have been made one through Christ, and Abraham looked forward to Christ, so I think there’s some commonalties here, Tom, that can be lost in making too definitive a difference between these dispensations.
Tom:
Well, what I was thinking about, Dave, is you know, we’ve talked time and time again about our concern of those who believe in a Replacement Theology. And of course, their accusation is oh, you guys are dispensationalists, we believe in the time that God has ceased working with the Jews and through the Jews and now Israel, spiritual Israel. It is the Church. So, Biblical dispensational view, I think, would certainly knock that out of the water—Replacement Theology, I’m talking about.
Dave:
Tom, you can really get messed if you carry this to an extreme because there are those who say we shouldn’t break bread, we shouldn’t baptize, that was for a past time, and so forth. So, there are some extreme views in this, and we have to get back to the Bible and see what it really says.
This is a link to our weekly radio program Search the Scriptures Daily. You may listen to the program by clicking on the "mp3" link above. For more listening options, please see our Radio Page.
If you have a question for Dave and Tom to address in a future Contending for the Faith, stay with us, we will have our contact information at the end of the program. You are listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Now our final segment:
UNDERSTANDING THE SCRIPTURES
We resume our excursion through the Book of Acts, here again are Dave and Tom:
This is our Understanding the Scriptures segment, we are in the Book of Acts Chapter 27, and I’ll pick up with Verse 38. “And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.” Now prior to that, Paul has instructed those aboard the ship, which were going through a really heavy storm, it was about to break up. They had put soundings out, trying to find out how close to land they were, and they were getting close. Paul had them all enjoy a meal, amazingly, and Dave, they were, you know you don’t think about this, at least I didn’t think about it, they are 276 souls on this ship, quite a few. But God had told Paul that he was going to protect them all if they obeyed his instructions.
Dave:
Right.
Tom:
So again, Verse 38: “And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.” Obviously, the lighter the ship, the closer to shore it was going to be able to carry. “And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they discovered a certain creek with a shore, into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship.” I assume this means that they found a place in which the ship could get closer to the land. Verse 40: “And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoisted up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore.” Verse 41: And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmovable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.” Now Dave, my wife and I used to have a sailboat before we had kids, it was a pretty good size, 35 feet, so we’ve been in some big seas, but this is scary stuff. We’ve never run aground or been stuck in the rocks, but I can imagine what it was like, pretty frightening.
Dave:
Yeah, and I don’t know that all of them can swim, but if they will follow instructions—
Tom:
As they were told, instructed by Paul.
Dave:
—everyone will be saved.
Tom:
And Dave, not just the weather and their situation, but there was more danger involved. Verse 42: “And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.”
Dave:
You know, it’s a big responsibility to take a group of prisoners all the way to Rome. And I think in those days you were accountable.
Tom:
Right, with your own life, just like the Philippian jailer
Dave:
Right, right. No point in him waiting for Rome to kill to him, might as well take his own life because obviously the prisoners had fled, but they had not. And the soldiers, can they take a chance? Everything Paul has said has come to pass. Yes, but this could be our heads, let’s kill these prisoners so none of them can escape.
Tom:
Verse 43: “But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land: And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.”
Dave:
Exactly as God had said and now are they going to run away, these prisoners? It seems to me enough soldiers there to keep them in a little herd that they are guarding. I don’t know where they would go. They don’t know what island this is, how far it is from some other land.
Tom:
But I’m sure they are pretty exhausted.
Dave:
And they hadn’t had much to eat; they had just eaten after fasting for many days. So, it came to pass, they escaped all safe to land. Let me just take a quick look here, because this is only one account. Listen to what Paul says, he’s telling what he has suffered for the sake of Christ.
Tom:
Where is this?
Dave:
This is 2 Corinthians Chapter 11, and he’s talking about false prophets and false apostles. They are leading people astray, and then he says Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. And his ministers pretend to be ministers of righteousness, so this is related to what we were talking about. There was an enemy who wants to deceive, and the contemplative movement and the Emerging Church is putting Christians right in harms way. It’s making it possible for Satan to do that. But then Paul says you know these guys are bragging, they are great apostles, and so forth, and he says: “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they the ministers of Christ? He says, I speak as a fool, I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes (that is, with a cat o’ nine tails being scourged) above measure.” He says, “I can’t even count them, I can’t even remember how many, maybe hundreds, above measure. In prisons more frequent.” He says, “I’ve been to prison more than any of these guys, in deaths oft.” Well, he faced death, and of course, he was stoned at one time, they took him up for dead. “Of the Jews give times received I forty stripes save one.” He’s got 39 stripes five times, and supposedly, 40 would kill you. “Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned,”—and now this is what I was thinking of—thrice I suffered shipwreck. He’s only telling us of one, but he was shipwrecked 3 times, the apostle Paul. And then, he says, “A night and a day I have been in the deep, nothing under me, I just had to swim for it for an entire night and a day until I was rescued.”
Tom:
Can you imagine the conversation he has with the Lord? Lord, what am I doing here? Forgive me for that, but the thought does come to me. But knowing Paul, from reading, I’m sure his communion with the Lord was—it wasn’t just, Lord, help me, help me, help me! I’m sure he had wonderful communion with the Lord.
Dave:
He rejoiced, and if we went to Philippians, which we don’t have time for, but there he says—well, he’s writing to them from prison, and he says: “My God shall supply all your needs.” And here’s a man—well, he talks about he learned to be abased and how to abound, how to be full, to be empty, how to be hungry, and then he comforts them. “My God shall supply all your needs, through his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” And we’re certainly seeing evidence of this, I mean, what a life Paul lived, what a man of God he was, and he was given the privilege of passing on most of the New Testament to us. Well, the gospels are quite lengthy, but most of the epistles, most of the teaching came from Paul, which he says he received directly from the risen Lord Jesus Christ, and this is one of the great proofs of the resurrection. Paul was one of the great proofs, because there is no way to explain how he knew what the apostles knew because they had been with Christ. He never had, he was not even at the Last Supper. And Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11:23: “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:” and so forth. And he tells what happened the Last Supper, he wasn’t there! Now how are you going to explain that? There is no other explanation except he must have met Jesus Christ, the resurrected Lord because he specifically says, I did not go up to those who were apostles before me and say, Hey guys, I think I’ve become a Christian, I’d like to be able to preach this gospel but I could make some mistakes—Peter, help me out! James, help me, give me a quick course in Christianity. He knew more than they knew, and he had never sat down with Christ during his lifetime along with them, one of the great proofs of the resurrection!
Dave and Tom will take up their discussion on the topic of salvation next week; we hope you can join us. This is Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call.
The apostle John in Revelation 17 describes in detail characteristics of a beast which comes in the last days. Virtually all attention these days is focused on the coming Antichrist, but he is only half the story. Many are amazed to discover that that same passage reveals another mysterious character at the heart of prophecy, a woman who rides the beast. Who is this woman? John depicts her as a false church which will be a partner of the Antichrist. Tradition says she is connected with the Church of Rome, but isn’t such a view outdated? After all, today’s Vatican is eager to join hands with Protestants worldwide. We are told the Catholic Church is changed, or has it? In, A Woman Rides The Beast, prophecy expert Dave Hunt sifts through Biblical truth and global events to present a well defined portrait of this woman, and her powerful place in the Antichrist future empire. Eight remarkable clues in Revelation prove the woman’s identity beyond any reasonable doubt. Was John describing the Church of Rome? To answer this question, Dave has spent years in historical research, primarily from Catholic sources, and provides indisputable documentation.
Video host and author and lecturer Dave Hunt: There’s over 500 pages and about 800 footnotes, I think, of documentation that will surprise, perhaps, even Catholics, as well as non Catholics, as to the official teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Its history, what it really has stood for and stands for today. I’m not making it up; I think it is worth while, I think it is something you need to read.
A Woman Rides The Beast, the book and the video are available from The Berean Call, information on how to order in just a moment. And now to tell you more about our ministry, here’s TBC Executive Director Tom McMahon: The name, The Berean Call, is taken from the Book of Acts chapter 17, verses 10 and 11, where we find the apostle Paul entering the synagogue in the Greek city of Berea after he had just come from Thessalonica. To these Bereans he preached that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah sent from God. They were commended for being noble, or fair-minded, not only for their willingness to hear what Paul had to say about the matter, but more specifically, because they searched the scriptures daily to find out whether or not what the apostle was saying was found in God’s Word. That’s what we hope to encourage through this ministry. Our mission is to alert believers in Christ to unbiblical teachings and practices impacting the church. We want to exhort believers to give greater heed to Biblical discernment and truth regarding what they are accepting as spiritual. We hope to supply those who profess to be Biblical Christians with information and material that will encourage the love of God’s truth. Hopefully, we can help mobilize believers in Christ to action in obedience to the scriptural command to earnestly contend for the faith found in Jude 3. And finally, our prayer is that we can be used of God to stimulate Christians to look to the Bible alone as their rule of faith, authority and practice in living lives pleasing to our Lord and Savior.
Gary:
We offer a wide variety of teaching materials that will help you expand your knowledge of God’s Word, from books and tracts to audio and video recordings, CD-ROM, our website and much more. For a complete list of materials, or to get a copy of today’s broadcast, write to us at POB 7019, Bend, Oregon 97708. Call us at our toll free order number 877-882-4253, that’s 877-88Bible, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org. If you would like a copy of this broadcast on compact disk, ask for Program #0408, and be sure to mention the call letters of this station. Get a pen or pencil ready; we’ll repeat our contact information in just a moment.
Next week, we continue our series of programs addressing the latest spiritual phenomenon called, The Emerging Church, and: “How do we achieve union with God? In Religion in the News, Sunday school for atheists, we’ll take a look at that story and address the question: What are indulgences? We hope you can tune in. If you have questions or comments about this program, we urge you to contact our offices. Search the Scriptures Daily Radio Ministry, is made possible by God’s grace, your prayers, and your financial support. I’m Gary Carmichael, and for Dave, Tom and everyone here at The Berean Call, I would like to thank you for joining us, and invite you back again next week. In the meantime, if you desire to know God’s truth, search the scriptures daily. You’ve been listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. For more information about The Berean Call, write to us at POB 7019, Bend, Oregon 97708, call us toll free at our order #877-882-4253, that’s 877-88Bible, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org. Join us again next week for Search the Scriptures Daily, featuring Dave Hunt and T. A. McMahon.
