 Welcome to Hard Questions. This is where we gather pastors together to take on your tough questions and answer them right from the Bible. I'm Tom Hollis, the moderator, and today our panelists include Dr. William W. Gleis, Bethany Baptist Church in Pittsburgh. Ray Hypo Providence Presbyterian Church in Robinson Township. Pete Giacalone, South Hills Assembly Guy Church, Bethel Park, PA. Janthony Gilbert, pastor of another level ministries in the North Hills area. Well, pastors, thank you all for being here. We are going to take things to another level, right, Jay? Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. Today on Hard Questions. And we're asking, is praying without ceasing truly possible? But we're going to dive into another question first, and it's this. If the Jewish people were God's chosen people, why were they held in captivity for hundreds of years? This is a great question, Pete. Why don't we start with you? In the Hebrew Bible, the captivity in Babylon is presented as a punishment for idol worship and disobedience. Yes, they are God's chosen people, but that doesn't mean we're not God's chosen people. We got to get that clear. I really believe there's no distinction today. This is a little side note. I believe that we are just as much as chosen of God than any other human being on earth. The born again believer, the one who's come to know his amazing grace. But in Deuteronomy 11, so again the Jewish culture would have known the law. They would have known what was expected and commanded of them. So, and they will warn time and time again, in obedience, instead of reading all the scripture, I'll just paraphrase it. In obedience, there'll be blessing. In disobedience, there'll be consequences. And the consequences to that is whatever you yield yourself to, if I can take it back to the New Testament, you're going to be serving to. So if they decided to be like the other lands, they decided to be like the other people, then they're going to suffer the consequences to their choices. This is found in Deuteronomy. If you want to look it up at home, chapter 11 verses 22 through 26. Well, that certainly is a kind of post-Moses there, but I wanted to ask kind of, I think in this question as well, is they were in Egypt for 400 years. That's another part of their captivity. Dr. Glaze. Yeah, but if you look at their time in Egypt, they actually went down there voluntarily, and they multiplied there. So it wasn't until Pharaoh actually began, became a hard taskmaster that they suffered punishment. But their first part, their time there, it wasn't because of any disobedience. And even up until that point, Moses hadn't given the law that Pete talked about. And so even in Deuteronomy 28, it says if you are careful to do all the things that are written in this book, and it says if you're not, the Lord will scatter you among all the people. So I don't think that time in Egypt was a scattering. I think it was more, like I said, their occupation there. Yeah, yeah. Thoughts, too. Yeah, well, you know, you think about it too, with when the Pharaoh changed, he said something to be said, the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Let us deal wisely. So it was a demonic attack upon them because that was the time where the word was getting ready to come into fruition. God was setting his face towards that promise because he told Abraham, and also I believe it was Abraham, he told him, he said, listen, he goes, you're gonna go into this land, but you're gonna go into bondage for 400 years. But afterwards they would come out with great spoil. Oh my gosh. So he told them they're gonna come up with great spoil. And then he also said, it's not time yet because the sin of the Amorites is not yet full. So there were some things while they were down there that God was accomplishing in that time. But when he came out, they had enough to where they had gold, because people wonder, where did they build all the tabernacle? Well, they got all that from plundering Egypt. So once the sin of the Amorites was completely full, God released them, raised up Moses, sent them out, and then they had the ability now to establish what they needed in the promised land as well. And it says there are Rosa Farrow that knew not Joseph. Okay, so it was a different spirit. It was a different thing. I always think about the guy that's like 200 years into that though. Like, hey, he's not getting to go out, you know? I mean, seriously though, and Ray, like your thoughts on this too, there has been a lot of persecution towards the Jewish people over the centuries. They haven't, you know, for there for 2,500 years, didn't have their own land. And so what are your thoughts on this? Well, I mean, I would begin with something that Pete said, you know, my notes on this is God was being faithful to his word. That's why God did promise them that if they sinned, that he would chasten them with the nations and Dr. Glaze brought out the passage where they would be scattered. So God said this would happen. They sinned and it happened. I would go back, you know, to get more to your question there at the end about suffering in general, I mean, that was promised in the garden. And when Adam and Eve sinned, God talked about, you know, the sweat of your brow, thorns and thistles, and there's suffering and there's death. And so that that's in the world and that's in the world for the chosen people too. And I would agree with Pete, we are the chosen. We are a chosen generation of royal priesthood, you know, his own special people. We are that in everyone who believes, whether Jew or Gentile and what does God promise us, you know, all who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted and gets back to what you said, Jay. Well, I mean, if you're a believer, Satan is targeting you and the demonic is targeting you and it's to our honor that we suffer. When we suffer and continue to trust in Christ, it glorifies him because we say Jesus is worth it and we're the only ones that can do that. But that's not popular, is it, Dr. Ray? No. I mean, suffering, we have all kinds of books on prosperity. Well, when it comes time for suffering, I think there was one that was written years ago, descending into greatness. Wow. Remember who wrote that? You don't get too many books that say 10 tips on how to suffer, you know? You don't really don't. It won't sell. It won't sell. We're going to do a seminar on that. You guys, just a quick question because I mean people at home are wondering this as well. You guys mentioned that they did sin. Where did they sin before they went into captivity? I thought I heard that. Is that what I heard? As far as the Israel Israelites, I think Dr. Glaze mentioned that they were worshiping idols and second King 17, God actually says this is why because they turned away from me. They bowed down to idols. They worshiped and they committed all sorts of abominations. Jeremiah says it, they have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel, the house of Judah have broken my covenant. Therefore I bring calamity on them. And that was pre-Exodus one. This is Jeremiah 11, yeah, before. Oh, okay, okay, okay. But you're talking about before the Exodus, right? Correct. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you meant Babylon. I thought you meant Babylon. So again, so voluntarily you mentioned that they came into Egypt and they were blessed and they settled in the land of Goshen and all that. However, that turned into captivity. Right, but it wasn't because of anything they did wrong. No, no. Okay. That's why I'm asking about Egypt. That's what I was asking. Not the Babylonian and the Assyrian when I remember that one. Were we talking about a different captivity here? We were talking about both captivity. Oh, okay. That makes sense. That's why I want to get clarification. Okay, I got it. That's one of your clarification. I'm sorry. Okay. Well, a really important question. The next one is important as well because we're told to pray without ceasing and is praying without ceasing actually possible? We'll start with Bill. Well, you know, when it says that I don't think it's talking about fold your hands and have your head bowed 24 seven. What is talking about there is to have that awareness of God. You know, that I'm constantly aware that God is with me, that I can talk to him, that whatever I'm dealing with, I can transfer it over him. You know, I heard somebody put it like this. You know, in the natural world, you know, we breathe naturally. You know, I mean, as we sit here right now, all of us are breathing, but we're really not, you know, thinking about it. But when you become a child of God, you enter into the spiritual world. You know, which means now you breathe that spiritual breath where there's that constant awareness that man, God is with me, you know, that if something happens to make me angry, then, you know, I can, you know, give it over to the Lord that if there's something joyful that happens, you know, praise the Lord, that there's always that awareness that he's there and that I can communicate with him and I can turn to him at any time. Yeah, yeah. Well, I did a little deep dive here and I don't know if I did it on accident or what, but the verbiage there means constantly reoccurring. Constantly reoccurring. It's not one long thing. Right, and it's exactly what Dr. Glace says, that it becomes a constant part of your life, up in the morning, giving God praise, you know. So in other words, it's constantly, almost like the Muslims do, how many times a day did they pray? Five times. Five times a day. So in other words, may the attitude of praying be a constant reoccurrence. Okay, I like that, right? Yeah, I think it means don't leave off of praying, don't give up on prayer. Jesus has something similar in Luke 18. He spoke a parable to them that men not always to pray and not lose heart. And then he talks about the unjust judge and the widow keeping going, you know, don't give up on prayer. Don't, oh, God didn't answer my prayer. And so I'm gonna cease praying. Paul's saying, pray without ceasing. Not like you said, Dr. Glace, it's not, you know, 24 seven, I never eat, I never drink, you know, I never sleep. I mean, obviously. I don't know that person. Yeah, it's not that. But, you know, you have other verses like that. Let them judge the people at all times, God says, to the judges and exodus. In other words, don't ever, you know, not fulfill your role as a judge. And that's what he's talking about. Real quick, how do you pray without ceasing? Real quick, I think that, you know, there's saying your prayers and there's praying and then there's a praying spirit. And I think what these guys gentlemen are all talking about is having a praying spirit. You're always in that place where God's number one in all of my decisions and all of my actions and all that I do. That is, that is really good. And I hope that answers your question. Again, one of the problems is we don't pray is we don't often go to the Lord. So however you pray without ceasing, enter into that. Well, we'll coming up in 60 seconds, we're going to ask, does scripture tell us as Christians we are to prosper in all things? Stay tuned. Welcome back to hard questions. We're going to get to that other question about prospering in just a minute, but the Bible tells us not to be afraid. We do not fear. Yet the Bible also calls us to fear. Is fear a good thing or a bad thing? Right. Yes. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Jaws over. We're done. And there's two different kinds of fear, you know, and that's the point. And it's interesting because I think in normal, you know, Christian circles today we always emphasize the negative kind of fear that you're not to have at least overwhelmingly. But if you look and do a study And Dr. Arne Frank, who was a minister in this area for years, he did a book called The Fear of God, A Forgotten Doctrine. And he proved in that study that three quarters of the time that the word fear or the concept of fear or being afraid is mentioned in the scripture, it's the positive kind that we're supposed to have, that we're supposed to seek for. I mean, think about when God tested Abraham and he offers up his son spiritually. He did offer him up. And God said, now I know that you truly fear God. I mean, the whole test was about, do you fear God or not? And fearing God is good, clearly, Jesus in his life. Who defined that? Can you define that for us? Oh, yeah, absolutely. That we have a, you know, we talk about the concept of reverence to revere someone, you know, and there's a weightiness and an honor there. You know, God is not somebody that you just stroll into his presence and, you know, wave your hands and expect him to do something. I mean, he is an awesome God. And I think if any of us would see him, we would fall to our knees and not in terror, but in real reverence and honor and worship because we'd see who he is. And that kind of fear only comes from knowing who God is. Right. I think too, both think you use the word fear on both. It has to deal with the spirit of the subject. And what I mean by that is like fear has torment when it deals with the enemy. You know, that thing is coming to get you. It's coming to destroy you as a result. I'm afraid. The reverence is kind of like when you go into, I had to go to a court recently for someone in our church and to go inside the court. When I went in there, I was quiet. I honored the house. I understood they have power. They need to be respected because of the spirit. They're not there to destroy me. They're not there to torment me. They're holding power for a reason. So there's a reverence that comes in. So in order to understand the difference between the two you have to understand the spirit of the subject of the fear. So the spirit of fear itself is there to torment, to destroy you. And so we're afraid, we're gonna be destroyed. The other part deals as you said with reverence because I'm looking at God understanding that he's our father, but he's also the judge. He's also one that'll throw that lightning bolt down on you if you're someone that is coming against his kingdom. So as long as I am in alignment with what's going on there's no need to have torment over here. But there is an honor and a dignity that's shown to him because of that. You know, amazing grace. It was grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved, right? Yeah, that's good. Both of those things are part of that. And Paul told Timothy that God hasn't given you the spirit of fear. Timothy was a young guy and I'm sure that he may have felt intimidated in certain situations. And Paul said, no, God hasn't given you that spirit where you need to shrink back, but a power and love and a sound mind. So that's kind of, you talk about the reverence part. Well, there's the other part where we can reverence being afraid and kind of, where one causes us to fall down in worship. The other one causes us to shrink back. And so we don't want to operate in the fear of shrinking back. Yeah. You know, I just read in Daniel where the hand comes out and writes on the wall and balsas are his knees starting knocking together. I'm like, that's fear, right? That's the fear of the Lord right there because judgment is coming like you said. Yeah, Pete. You know, recently Dr. Glaze, I went back and really investigated that verse. What Paul uses there, he says, God has not given us a spirit of fear. So here's the great apostle Paul. And I believe at that moment, Paul is relating to Timothy and saying, even I have faced fear. And of course, we're not talking about the reverential fear. We're talking about the fear, because Timothy supposedly had an ulcer and maybe fear was part of his personal life, a stomach problem, because you see the prescription that Paul writes later is, he says, take a little wine for thy stomach's sake, for thy often infirmities. He was a fearful personality, you mean? Correct, correct. But again, he uses that word us and then the other thought about the idea of fear. There's a fantastic book out there called The All of God by Revere. And we, John Revere, and I highly recommend it. We taught it for a number of months last year and it really takes a super dive into the reverential fear and then it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God when you're wrong. You know, when I read the book of Acts and we talk about reverence and, you know, holy reverence and that, men, they were like scared stiff to sin in the book of Acts after, you know, and this is the fire that fell over, you know? It was a little bit even beyond, I think, that kind of reverence. But a really good discussion. I think it's important that we don't fear certain things but always have that fear and reverence for God. So we're gonna go on to the next one and this is the one we teased right before the break in a third, John 2. We read that we're to prosper and all things are being helped just as our soul prospers. Are we to believe this? What does that mean when we're not prospering in all things? When we get a diagnosis of cancer, things like that, what do these things mean? Pastor Jay. You know, it can have a couple different connotations to it because say, for example, if you ate unhealthy your whole life, you know, you're sold in prosper. So now you're kind of reaping on yourself. Well, people at home are going, I've seen him eat. I know what he's talking about. Me too, but you know, like, people say, well, man, even as thy soul, so you can't just say I'm supposed to just prosper even as thy soul prospers. So I think there's a category with that that you have to look at, okay, are there things that I have brought on because my soul was in prospering if I eat sugar all the time? I'm gonna get diabetes because my soul did not prosper with it. So that's part of it. But that also, on the other hand though, if you have done your part and you've done what you need to do, sometimes there are things that happen. So we have to look at prosperity also, not just as a destination, but as a journey. And what do I mean by that? As far as how do we think as thy soul prospers? So even when I'm in sickness, I should be prospering in how I think. I am an overcomer. I am victorious. I need to be thinking the word of God in regards to my circumstance. Now, back then, or even coming in the future. So I think that's the key with it. It doesn't mean like, if I got sick, well, I'm not prospering. Well, no, because you can be prospering because prosperity is simply this. God's empowerment for success. So that's what you have to be looking at. How do I get myself empowered if I do get a cancer diagnosis? And prosperity is not necessarily if my mother died from cancer 2007, but you're gonna tell me she's not prospering now. She has eternity with God. So I mean, there's ways to look at it. So it's not just what I'm receiving. I have to look at why I'm receiving it. And also while I'm in it, how am I thinking about what I'm in? All of that. And Paul also, I know that John wrote this, but Paul talks about how he's learned to be content in all things and prosper in all things, right? I would quibble with the question a little bit the way it's phrased. We read, we are to prosper in all things and be in health. And that's actually not what Third John 2 says. John says, beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prosper. So here's John praying this, but it doesn't say that number one, it's gonna happen for everybody or number two that it always happens. And so I do think that, for fellow believers, we should always pray that they prosper in all things, that they be in health, that God blesses them. But sometimes they're put through trials and testings and tribulations and sometimes we're persecuted. And that's like you said, not to deny our prospering, we're gonna prosper more in heaven because of that. And even in this life, God uses all things to work for good. So I think that it's not that we are always supposed to be as Christians prospering, but it's a prayer. I think that King James lets us down a little bit on this because he says, I would that you prosper and be in health. It almost sounds like he's saying that. I check the Greek, it's the word pray. Okay, it is. Yeah, I pray. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Well, I think the thing that's interesting too is that Gaius entertained pastors. His home was a place of refreshment and Paul's prayer was that he would be in good health. I mean, not Paul's prayer. Yes, sir, John. John's prayer was that he would be in good health so that he could minister. And so that's powerful when you think about it that God gives us health so that we can minister. Yeah. And so that was his prayer. Absolutely, and I need to get to a break. I do want to say real quick, it's not an ironclad promise that you're always going to be healthy and prosperous. It's basically John saying hi. He's greeting him, but with a really good promise and a good thing to hang on to. So thank you so much for that question because I hear that verse used a lot in a lot of different ways. Well, after the break, one viewer asked, does God call us to warn our neighbors? Stay tuned. Well, welcome back. We've had some great discussion here already, learning some things out of the scriptures. And I really want to dive into this next one. If you were called in to ask, the Bible says that if we do not warn our neighbor, their blood is on our hands. He said, this is very troubling to me. Can you explain what this scripture means? And I'll start with you, Pastor Pete. All right. In Ezekiel chapter three, and then again in Ezekiel 33, let me read just a couple of portions of the scripture because I want all these guys to get in on this. Now it comes to the past at the seven days that the word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man, I've made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Therefore, hear a word from my mouth and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked you should surely die and you give him no warning, nor speak to the warner that wicked man the wickedness or the wicked way to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. And this is what this is talking about. Even the apostle Paul when he went in the New Testament, he says, I am guilty of no man's blood. He's quoting from this. He's saying, I've been faithful to warn and we as proclaimers of the gospel, that's part of our, can I use the word job description, ministry description, we are to warn the wicked man, you stay in that wickedness, you will die in your sins and eternally you will perish. All right, well, I mean, that's I think where he's going with it with the person that asked the question, but it also kind of scary and like, wait a minute, if I don't witness that everybody is on the bus, is that required? Well, you know, and I think, you know, you have to understand the word watchman, you know, the word watchman in Hebrew actually means to look out. And the watchman was a man, a soldier that stood on the wall and that when he saw impending danger, would haul her out to the people, you know, in the city that, you know, danger was on the way. And if he didn't do it, you know, not only would they perish, but he would perish also. And so, you know, I think that, you know, what he's saying is that, cause, you know, you can, I mean, I heard preachers preach messages that if you don't not a watchman, you know, that God is going to, your blood, the blood is on your hands and you're going to be accountable. And, you know, I mean, yeah, I mean, you can take that. But the fact is, is that, you know, we miss opportunities all the time to witness. And so God's desire is that we witness, but I don't think that, you know, we need to hold our Bible and beat people over the head all the time. But just have that, you know, somebody said earlier, to an earlier question, just having that spirit, you know, of being a watchman, you know, and not that you got to get on the bus and, you know, beat people up with the gospel and stuff like that. I've never really seen anybody beat anybody over the head with their Bible. It'd be interesting to see. But, let me ask you about what your thoughts on this. I think with this too, I also think a watchman is part of also in the 21st century, we as pastors need to speak to the issues of the day. A lot of pastors are afraid to talk about, and now I'm going to talk right to that camera. There's a lot of people that are afraid to declare, what's the side of it? Transgender. Abortion. All these things. I don't want to touch on this though. Why? People might leave. Their blood will be on your hands. God gave you that audience to declare to them his truth about what's going on, which is why I'm so thankful for Cornerstone. Cornerstone has never muzzled preachers from declaring the issues of the day, because people are looking for truth. And God's like, I put you in that position, anointed you to declare. And even as a pastor, if I know someone in my church, they get ready to marry somebody that isn't good, or get ready to make a bad decision that goes against scripture. It is my job to say, hey, I need to let you know what's going on, whether they leave the church, whether they take their tithes, whether they're angry with me or not. I am watching, and God gave me the ability to see that. I need to respond to that and say something versus like, well, I didn't want to offend them. That's what I believe is the spirit behind that text. And we have to make sure that we're doing our part. I'm sorry, I got my mouth full. That's okay, that's good preaching right there. Good preaching. Ray, we have about a minute. Yeah, sure. Again, I would look at the way the question phrases that, you know, to build on what Jay was saying, and the Bible says that if we do not warn our neighbor, suddenly we're all Ezekiel, you know, a prophet who's called to do certain things. And you know, you got to take that in context. And I do think it does apply to gospel preachers. And I know some of you said that, that it is our job in a certain sense to preach against sin, to warn about God's judgment. And Paul does say, you know, I'm innocent of the blood of all men because I have not hesitated to declare to you the whole counsel of God, including, you know, the sins of the day. And Paul says, if I, you know, woe is me if I don't preach the gospel because he was a gospel preacher, not everybody is. But there is a sense in which as a Christian, if I do, you know, even in my life and allow my neighbor to do something willingly, and I see, and it's my place to warn them and I let them go. I do think that the verse applies there, you know. I'll just give you a word of warner. We only have about 30 seconds here. Warn means warn them of what? Pending doom. I would say judgment. Not judgment. The God is judge. They only answer to him. I mean, it consequence. This is a rough crowd here. We're going to tell you about hell. It's interesting because I was just teaching about the gospel on Wednesday night. And I was going to say, well, you know, hell, I kind of say that later, but a couple of people gave their testimony that that's what actually got them into the place, you know. Yeah, so anyway, well, we want to go to Jeremiah and on a scripture that says, then you will call on me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Isn't that a great scripture? Well, we hope you enjoyed today's program and we want to hear from you. Email us your questions or give us a call.