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If you have a question for Dave and Tom to address in a future Contending for the Faith, stay tuned, we’ll 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 continue our excursion through the gospel of Matthew. Here again are Dave and Tom: This is our Understanding the Scriptures segment, we are in the gospel of Matthew 4, and we are going to pick up with verse 9. “And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” And of course, this is Satan addressing Jesus.
Dave:
Let me comment on that verse, Tom. You’ve got a number of things involved. First of all, he’s showed Him the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and I would say he’s not just showing them to Him at that point, but this is what it’s going to be look how magnificent this will be. Jesus doesn’t say—and he says, All of these will I give thee, you fall down—Jesus doesn’t say, Wait a minute, Satan, it’s not yours to give! No, he is the God of this world. 2 John Chapter 5:21, somewhere around there, the Bible says, The whole world lies in the wicked one. I know we love to sing the song of the chorus, “He’s got the whole wide world in his hands” but that’s Satan, that’s not Jesus. Well, you could say, Tom, I’m going to elaborate just a little bit here. You see, one of the things I hear all the time, and it really bothers me, Well, God’s in control. Well, shall I go back over it? Was He in control when Satan rebelled? Of course He was. Was He in control when Adam and Eve rebelled? Of course He was. Was He in control of the universe when Hitler slaughtered all those people and Stalin, and so forth? It doesn’t mean because God is in control that He is responsible or approves everything that happens. He has given men the power of choice. So, we’ve got to be very careful saying, Well, God’s in control. I would say Satan controls an awful lot of people.
Tom:
And of course we know that idea is promoted by the teaching that God has determined everything, predetermined how you’re going to be, how you’re going to act, what you’re going to do, and there are some people who believe that.
Dave:
Well, that would be Calvinists, many of them, this is what John Calvin believed, but that is a horrible doctrine.
Tom:
Extreme Calvinists, I would say, in many cases.
Dave:
That means that not “the devil made me do it” but God made me do it. I can stand in front of the judge and say, “Wait a minute, I mean, this was all pre-determined, pre-ordained by God, how can you put me in prison for doing what God pre-determined that I would do?”
Tom:
Well, Dave, there’s another side to that. It amuses me, it shouldn’t because the teachings really bother me, but I remember a newsletter article that you wrote, What a sovereign God cannot do. That made quite a few people upset until they thought it through. You know, is there anything that God can’t do? Well yes, there are some things God can’t do. Uh-ho, here we go again. Now what might that be, Dave?
Dave:
Well, He can’t lie.
Tom:
Right.
Dave:
He can’t sin, He can’t be wrong, He can’t contradict himself. There are many things that God cannot do.
Tom:
He can’t save us against our will.
Dave:
Right, exactly.
Tom:
Which bothers a lot of people, but—
Dave:
He cannot make us love Him.
Tom:
Right.
Dave:
Well, let me mention something, I may have mentioned it before, and whenever I do I say to people, You will never forget this, but they do forget. Here I was in Canada , my wife and I came into the hotel room late at night after a meeting, just going to search the channels to see what happened that day. I am rooted to an interview with a Canadian man who had been working in Saudi Arabia , arrested, falsely accused of being a terrorist, tortured. He said he learned two things—Now I’m saying to you, you will never forget this, but I might have to remind you. But this is a very important understanding to reach into our hearts and minds. He said he learned two things: 1) I don’t care how strong you are, he said, they can make you hurt so bad, they can make you confess to anything they want you to confess. They can make you confess you killed your mother. They can make you confess you killed God! Then he said something very profound that I had never thought of before, but it’s very biblical. They cannot make you believe it! There is a place inside of every person, the Bible calls it the heart. Give me your heart, believe with all your heart, God says. He’s not going to force you, He didn’t predestine you to believe. They cannot make you believe it! We have to willingly submit our wills to God.
Tom:
And Dave, just something you’ve mentioned in this regard, God cannot do anything that is contrary to his character. So, those who were taking issue with what we’ve been saying, think about that for a minute. Can God go against his own character? He’s perfect in every way, it can’t happen! Well, let’s pick up with verse 10: “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Now Dave, that reminds me of the many times I think of Thomas worshipping, the Doubting Thomas worshipping Jesus and Jesus accepting worship. So, Jesus couldn’t contradict himself here, so he must be God if only God can be worshipped. That would be an example, wouldn’t it?
Dave:
Well yes, but they did it again when He stilled the waves, and there was a great calmness. It says those that were in the boat fell down and worshipped Him. Tom, if I can just refer to the New World Translation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. It’s not a translation, in fact, they had the so-called translators on the witness stand and they were being prosecuted in England , this was in court, and they asked them: Well, here’s a little Hebrew, here’s a little Greek, would you translate it. They couldn’t translate it, they didn’t know anything about this, okay, these were the translators. You will notice that we have a word for worship, and you referred to it, and I referred to it. They in the boat fell down and worshipped Him. Okay? And Doubting Thomas fell down and worshipped Him. You know what the New World Translation , the Jehovah’s Witnesses translation says? It uses the word “ obeisance” same Greek word for worshipping God is used for worshipping Jesus, a number of times in the New Testament, but the New World Translation dishonestly translates it, obeisance, like you would give to a king or a dignitary. Now that is wrong, that is dishonest, and they are not following the Greek, they are not following what the Bible says because they don’t believe that! So then they translate it to make it agree with their beliefs.
Tom:
Dave, we have the example, I think it was Peter, and maybe even Paul at one time in which he performs a miracle, and they want to worship him, and he corrects them right away. But you never find Jesus making that correction because there is no need, He is God, and deserving of our worship.
Dave:
Right. Now you have some verses, Tom, that cause confusion. A young man comes running to Jesus and says, Good Master, what thing must I do to inherit the kingdom. And Jesus responds: Why callest thou me good? There is none good but One, and that is God.” Then people will say, You see, He’s denying that He is God. No, He is not, He’s saying, “If I am good…” and there’s no doubt about it as you acknowledge that I am, then I must be God, because none is good but God.
Tom:
Well, to finish this up, we’re out of time here. Verse 11, “Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” So, again, this is God’s Word, this is an example of what Jesus experienced and how he was tested by Satan and he dealt with it, perfectly.
Dave:
Amen.
Dave and Tom will take up their discussion on the topic of salvation next week, we hope you can tune in. This is Search the Scriptures Daily , a radio ministry of The Berean Call . 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 1-800-937-6638, that’s 1-800-937-6638, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org . If you would like a copy of this broadcast on compact disk ask for Program #2808, and be sure to mention the call 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. Get a pen or pencil ready, we’ll repeat our contact information in just a moment.
Next week we continue our series of programs based on Dave Hunt’s book, Seeking and Finding God, and, Is faith found only in Foxholes? In Religion in the News, Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Jesus. We’ll take a look at that story and address the question: Is it okay to paraphrase the Bible? We hope you can join us. 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 a The Berean Call , I would like to thank you for tuning in, and invite you to join us again next week. Until then, 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 , contact us at POB 7019, Bend , Oregon 97708 , call our toll free order number 1-800-937-6638, that’s 1-800-937-6638, 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.
