 Welcome to Hard Questions 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 R. Glaze, Bethany Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, Ray Hypo Providence Presbyterian Church in Robinson Township, Pete Jackaloney, South Hills Assembly Guy Church, Bethel Park, PA, J. Anthony Gilbert, pastor of another level in the North Hills area. Pastors, I always appreciate you making time to come here for the program. And today on Hard Questions, we're taking on your hotline questions. I love it when you call in with those hotline questions. Let's start with this one. Can the devil be redeemed through Christ? So, is it impossible to save the devil? And if you were able to convert the devil, would that save all of humanity from hell? Well, that would be a real good mission trip. Let me tell you. Preaches of the devil, but that's a good question. So let's start off with Pastor Glaze. Yeah. Actually, there were several questions that were asked. So just beginning with the first one, can the devil be saved? You know, when we look at Isaiah 14, that seems to be the classic passage in which describes the fall of Satan. And God identified that Satan's fall came from within. It came from within his heart and just think, you know, there was no sin in existence at all. And when Satan sinned, he brought sin into existence. And so at that point, when he said that he would lift his throne above God's throne, it said that he would become like the most high. That I believe at that point when he rebelled and he fell, that he was locked into his eternal state, that at that point, you know, there was no redemptive value in him at all, that he could not be redeemed, that he made a choice and a third of the angels that followed him, that they made the choice and they became locked into their eternal state of being lost and being eternally judged. And then the other thing, when you look at when Christ came, that Christ didn't come and die for angels. You know, that was part of the question, can the devil be redeemed through Christ? Is that Christ came to save human beings. And so from that standpoint, you know, I don't believe that the devil can be redeemed through salvation in Jesus Christ. Yeah, I mean, that's a great point, Pete. Matthew chapter 25, and I agree with everything Doctor said, verse 41, then he will say to those on the left hand, depart from me, you cursed into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. So once that the judgment was passed on to Satan and all his cohorts, the judgment was passed. And once that judgment was decreed by God himself, there's no turning back. So he was cursed from the beginning. And as a result, there's no, no possibility of redemption from him or any of the fallen angels whatsoever. I mean, I think this is one of those areas and we'll come over here. But the question that pops up in the mind is kind of why if he could of his will fall, why can't he go back, you know, and like repent the devil? You know, and of course, I guess we just have to stay with what the Bible says on that. Right? Yeah, I like what's been said so far. Part of our salvation when we consider how we're saved is that Christ came and took our place, right? Human beings are an organic race. Jesus is called the last Adam. We fell in Adam, you know, your verses like Romans chapter five, verse 19, as by one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners. So also by one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. One of the crucial things of our salvation is Christ had to be a man. Right? He couldn't have come as an angel. As you said, Dr. Glaze, he had to take on our nature to pay the penalty that our sins deserve and then to earn the righteousness that we fail to earn every day. And so Christ is our substitute. Christ, that's why he's man and God. There's no possibility for that with an angel. Angels aren't an organic race. They don't all come from one angel. You know, they're all created in and of themselves complete and they don't, there's no race for Christ to go into. He would have to become the savior for each particular angel as it were. He couldn't become an angel for all the angels. They're not connected the way we are. So, you know, there's that in the plan of God that an angel, when he falls, there's no possibility of salvation. And so he's not going to repent. He's not going to turn back because unless Christ dies for his sins, he wants to suppress that truth. And I think the last question says, if the devil was converted, would it save all humanity? Obviously it wouldn't, because if that would be the case, that would be the Satan is the blame for all of our transgressions. So we're born into sin. Now, is there a possibility, I guess you could go a little bit deeper with it and you could talk about if Satan never would have been in earth, would there ever be sin? You know, we could go there, but I know we don't have time to go into all that. But that's good, though, because, you know, they're asking, well, is the devil the one that caused the fall? But we've all entered into that, right? And that goes back to the story that or the passage you just read about through one man's sin. We are all now given into sin. So even with the devil out, we are still all born in sin. I always tell people that people say, well, you know, we're all good people, aren't we? I said, isn't it amazing? Every child, you don't have to teach them to lie. You have to teach them how to throw a fit. You don't have to teach them how to be selfish. Because we have to teach them how to be good because we are inherently bad. And that's the reason why we have parents that have to discipline our children is because that's just innate within us. That is what's in our hearts. So that proves that we don't believe in original sin. Just have kids, right? Oh, yeah. That's a great point, though. The devil could cease to exist and we would still need a savior because we're still sinners. That's right. That's right. Hey, we love our kids. We love our kids. We just know that, you know, there's a there's a nature to wrestle with there. Well, let's listen to our next question. Why in the Old Testament when Moses and God were trying to leave from Egypt, did God harden the Pharaoh's heart a couple of times? You would have thought that he would have wanted the Pharaohs to soften his heart. Why did he harden it instead? Yeah, great question. Thank you, Pastor Ray. Yeah, this is a good question. People wrestle with this. And I think the first part of the answer has to be with the sovereignty of God and his purposes and his plans. Romans 9 17 says for scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose, I have raised you up that I may show my power in you and that my name may be declared in all the earth. And then the very next verse, therefore, he has mercy on whom he wills, whom he wills. He hardens. No one deserves mercy. All should be hardened. I think that's part of it, too. And God's plan includes the wicked. Proverbs 16 for the Lord has made all for himself. Yes, even the wicked for the day of evil. Think of Judas being made by God, no knowing what he's going to do. But, you know, Jesus even chooses him for that reason. And yet Judas and Pharaoh both do exactly what they want to do. That's the other thing I want to say about this. So, you know, we read the Exodus story. We see 10 times it says the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. Six times it is hard. It was hard. It grew hard. It became hard. Three times Pharaoh hardened his own heart. So what are we seeing there? I like to compare the hardening of the heart to being in Pennsylvania and driving behind a cement mixer. You know, you get behind a cement mixer and you're like, oh, I'm done because all the hills, you know, but you know, if the cement mixer is not spinning, if that tank is not spinning, man, it'll fly up the hill because it's empty. Why does it have to spin when it's full? Because the natural tendency of cement is to harden. The natural tendency of the fallen heart is to harden. How does God harden Pharaoh's heart? Does he put something evil there? No. All he has to do is withdraw his restraining influence that he has in every human being, that we don't become as bad as we could be. All God has to do is withdraw some of that common grace, Holy Spirit work that all human beings get were not as bad as we would be otherwise. And as he withdraws, Pharaoh hardens himself. So but that's the act of I will harden. I'm going to let him do. I'm going to, you know, as Romans once says, I will give them over to their sins. That's what God did. That's how he hardened Pharaoh's heart. And I also think with that, too, God, if he could be redeemed, he would be redeemed. God says he desires that none would perish. But what he does, and a lot of it to your point, he just almost like pulls it. He said, well, I could I could make 40 years and let it go by and let my mercy and my grace be upon you for those next 40 years and you wouldn't be hardened. But you're still going to be hardened in 40 years. He just kind of accelerated what was already there. And that point says, well, I'm going to let him have it his way. Give him the Burger King anointing. Could he have softened? The Burger King anointing had their way. Have it your way. I got that. Right over my head, Jayde. But could he have softened? I mean, he softened their neighbors, right? He asked that they plundered Egypt by asking neighbors for, so he could have softened Pharaoh's heart, right? Well, I agree with what you're saying, but again, I think the teaching of man's free will, what I immediately went to, I went to Exodus, chapter five and verse two, and Pharaoh said, so what's the scripture say? Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. So he listened to his boast. He says, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let. In other words, he is making his arrogant boast that, first of all, look, let's get something straight. I don't know this guy, and you can almost get from that. I don't want to know him. So and then I believe God allowed him to have his own way. Well, we're going to we're going to take a quick break. Good answers, everyone. And coming up in 60 seconds, we will ask whether relationships between men and women in heaven stay tuned. Welcome back to the show. You know, we're taking your calls from the hard question hotline. And if you would like to leave us your question, we encourage you to call 412-349-4326. Let me give you that again, 412-349-4326. We'd love to answer your question on air. Let's go to the next one. And I would like to know, would there be a relationship between a man and a woman in heaven? Well, that's a question. It's a question that I think the Lord addresses directly. Pete, well, in Mark's Gospel, Mark, chapter 12 of verse 25, Jesus was was, I believe, answered this question. Jesus said to them, are you not therefore mistaken because you do not know the scriptures nor the power of God? For when they raise, when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven. There's we're going to get a new body. And I really don't know if there's going to be sexes in heaven. I'm leaning towards there isn't because as Jesus makes this bold declaration, he says they will neither marry nor given in marriage. And he compares that to the angels. So so to say there's a female angel and a male angel, I have problems with that. I really believe if I take this scripture alone, I really believe we will not be there will not be marriage in heaven. Yeah, seems pretty clear. Well, you know, in a parallel passage in the Gospel of Luke, actually the question that Jesus answered that you just brought up before that, you know, there was the lady, you know, who husband had died. Right. Right. And then they said, and she had seven more husbands beside that. So in the resurrection, whose husband, whose wife will she be of the seven? So, I mean, the whole thing is about relationships. That's the context of that passage. And then Jesus comes in and says that, well, don't you know that in heaven, they neither married nor are given in marriage. So what he's saying is to answer the question that the gentleman asked, no, there's not going to be any relationships between men and women in heaven. Now, I think we will know that, you know, who we were married to on this earth, we will know of our relationships that we had on this earth. But as far as any physical relationship in heaven, there will be none. You know, when I think of the beginning of this whole passage, the passage you guys are talking about and how the Sadducees are the ones asking, and they're kind of coming like intellectual, smart outlets like, hey, we're really got them. We're really got them. Let's ask them about seven wives. We're going to get him. We're going to show how full she is. And Jesus just takes off. Yeah, because they didn't believe in a resurrection. If there's no afterlife, then, you know, they thought this would, you know, by give a contradiction or something to the afterlife. And I agree with the men. I don't think there will be marriage or sexual relationship in heaven, but there will be relationships between men and women. I do think that male and female is part of the image of God for humans. And so I think that will continue. And I think that we will know each other in heaven better than we know each other on earth, right? I mean, you'll know each other without sin. You'll have perfect love for one another, perfect love for your neighbor. But I don't see any evidence that there would be marriage and sex and children and an ongoing human population. I think at that point, you know, we're in the eternal state, right? Right. Well, let's let's go. I'm going to get you started on the next one there, Jay. Let's go to the next question. I grew up Catholic. I am born again Christian. I recently picked up a statue of Jesus. I was wondering, is it OK to have it sitting in my living room? And is it all right to have pictures of Jesus in my house? And is it all right to have the crucifixion hanging on the wall? This is a big question for many, you know, streams of Christianity of whether this is OK. Yeah, I've heard this asked before. And personally, I believe I don't think there's anything wrong with any type of picture. Some people have pictures of Jesus on a picture or they'll have the statue or things along that line. I think the key is that you don't want it to become a form of idolatry. You know, you don't want to be praying to it or you don't want to have any type of feel like there's power in it. Or if I took it down or something happened to it, that something's happened to my faith. There's no power in those things. But if you want something as a representation, I mean, if you think about all the different garbs and stuff that people wear and different things, some people have the backwards collar and then some of the different churches to have the the the bishops robes and all. I mean, none of that is biblical. That's all traditional stuff that man made. I see we have the non ties section and the top section of different kind of collars here, whatever it might be. But we can't get caught up where the Bible is silent. We have to be silent. And where the Bible makes it clear, things shouldn't happen. And I think the main thing he doesn't want graven images that things that we should not be worshiping or putting our faith in, I think, but otherwise just having something you want as a representation. So it's right in the Ten Commandments. But the key is to worship it. Is that where you go with that? I would. And I, you know, in my reform tradition, I'm probably even in the minority because a lot, you know, go back to the Puritans. They wouldn't want any representation. I know a lot of reform people, they wouldn't see a movie about Jesus and they don't want to see the baby Jesus in the, you know, major scenes or anything like that. And I just think it's a misunderstanding of scripture on their part because I agree with Jay, the commandment is clear. Exodus 20 verse four, you shall not make for yourself a graven image or any likeness and here's the thing or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or is that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth of anything that is in any way. So we can't make cups, we can't make buttons. We can't make, you know, pictures of stars. If we're going to take that, you can't make anything. But I mean, the text is clear. You shall not bow down to them nor worship them. We are not to make images for worship. A cup can be an idol if I bow down to it and worship it. But to have a historical, this is the thing, to have a historical picture of the man Jesus who really lived and then to have it that I'm going to worship it. This is not allowed and this is just a fact of history. So I would take the position that, yes, you can have paintings the last supper or whatever Jesus in there. If I start to worship it, then I'm wrong. So if you want to have a picture of Jesus, a statue or whatever, I think that's allowed. Well, let me let me go down that road because I agree with you guys. But what we've seen in some of the old churches in, say, in in Italy or parts of Europe, the people are praying, they're like praying, hanging on the feet of the statue to where this feeder weren't shiny from them. I hang on. So it's almost like that's the problem. That is the problem. And if I can use a scripture problem that took place in numbers twenty one nine, remember when the serpents came down and and bit the people and then they were told to make to put a serpent on the bronze pole. But what happened when they look to the serpent, they were healed. But then they went a step further and they started, you know, that pendulum swung and they began to worship that. I've been to Israel where where the tomb is there. And and Elaine and I, we thought it was pathetic, where people were just weeping over that slab and just kissing it and not knowing how many thousands of other people's lips have been on that. Oh, my gosh. So so again, it's the idea of the pendulum swinging and like the guy said, why have any of that kind of imagery when we can have the perfect image, the perfect knowledge of God through the word of God? So like the guy said, proceed with caution. Yeah. Well, you know, I'll take a different take on it. And I do agree with everything that's been said. But as an African American pastor and I don't know, Jay, if you've run into this, you know, sometimes I'll use a PowerPoint and I'll, you know, project images on the PowerPoint. And it's amazing to me, the number of people that are offended because generally the picture that you present is a white Jesus. And so, you know, I find for me, you know, now, you know, even as I teach and preach that I try to not project the image of Christ or, you know, try to project something that's kind of neutral. So, you know, I would say that, yeah, there's nothing wrong with it. But I think even in our society today, that it could be offensive to people and even Satan can use that, you know, as far as people seeking the gospel. Because, you know, in the church that I'm in, again, you know, you've got people coming that need to be saved. And then all of a sudden, man, I can't identify with that, you know. And and so Satan can use that in the lives of people. So, you know, man, this is like, I don't know if we go to commercial. Well, I'm up against the break here, but it brings up the question, was Jesus white? That there was what was how do we portray Jesus? Save it for another show. Well, after a quick break here, one viewer asked, will we see God? Stay tuned. You know, one of us. Welcome back to Hard Questions. Here is our last hotline question of the show. Please explain Matthew five and eight blessed of the pure in heart, or they shall see God, not a manifestation of God. They shall see God. Please give me your view on that. All right, let's go over to Pastor Ray. Historically, the greatest blessing that we look forward to as Christians is the beatific vision when you will see the face of God. Theologians restful about exactly what does that mean? God doesn't literally have a face. God is a spirit. He has no body. He reveals himself in various theophanies in scripture, a burning bush or a whirlwind or three men that approach Abraham. You know, God reveals himself in these theophanies, but that's not God, right? What will we see when we see God? You know, I don't have a definitive answer other than we will see all that we can see as physical, spiritual beings in the presence of God. And we will be satisfied. There will be no, oh, I wish I could see more. When you see God, what that means is your heart will for the first time be at rest. There'll be no more desire in you. There will be complete and full satisfaction. I mean, it's incomprehensible for us because we always want something more. We always want something better. We always want something to last longer. When you see God, desire will rest. You will no longer desire anything. I mean, it will be perfect bliss, and that's what we'll enjoy forever and ever. And, you know, I mean, there's some scriptures, but I'm sure the brothers will talk about that, but, you know, we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. First, John three, two, again, I can't flesh that out and say exactly what that will be, but I will see the fullness of God that I can handle and I will I will be satisfied. I love that. Great answer. Let's go over to Pastor Glaze and let's just go over to Pastor Glaze, shall we? What he said. Get the gloves on. No, you know, I mean, I agree with what Ray said, you know, we will. And the caller asked the question, you know, about not a manifestation, but that's what we will see is a manifestation of God. You know, again, you know, Paul told Timothy, he said, God is invisible. Said in John 424, God is a spirit. So, you know, we can't see God in his essence, but we will see some manifestation of God. Wait a minute. I'm letting you off too easy. You always maintain that we will not see God because we can't see a spirit in heaven, right? Right. Right. Yeah. So we won't see God. We won't see the essence of who he is. Right. Yeah. Yeah. But I think that, you know, in Revelation chapter four, it talked about the one that sat on the throne and so they were able to see the one that sat on the throne. Now, I don't know what visibly, you know, they were looking at, but again, I like the way that Ray put it because, you know, whatever we see will satisfy us. Whatever we see, you know, well, I mean, we sing a song in the black church. Oh, I want to see him look upon his face, you know, right, right. So I mean, we sing that song. Yeah. So I sing that song. So I do look forward to seeing God, you know, as far as the manifestation and the presence that he presents. So yeah, I do look forward to seeing that. All right. There is a scripture says that we'll see that the fullness of the Godhead bodily is in Jesus Christ. And and and as I struggle sometimes with this also, remember when they were stoning Stephen, Stephen was able just before he took his last breath here on earth, he was able to look in the heavens and he said, behold, I see the Son of God, I see the Son of God standing at the right hand of the Father. So Stephen saw something. Yeah. But I believe I think Ray brought it across so articulately. The fact is that the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Jesus bodily. We will see Jesus bodily. Therefore, we agree with that? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Therefore, we will see God because Jesus is God. All right. Sounds good. So I didn't always have to necessarily be a physical manifestation. I mean, he's talking to them about the kingdom. And so for me also to be able to see God, I believe also to be able to understand him. If your heart is pure, you're going to begin to see him. Yeah. Everybody can't see him. You know, everybody doesn't understand him. Everybody doesn't perceive him. Everybody doesn't grasp him. So when your heart is pure, it's not like if my heart is pure, then all of a sudden God's going to show me, hey, man, you see me now. You know, I mean, it's like he's a spirit, like he's talking to them in spiritual terms, not necessarily like, hey, if your heart is pure, God is going to show up in a physical form and manifest himself to you. You know, I believe he's talking more of the ability to understand, to comprehend who he is, to be able to see how he moves and operates. And not just like, for example, like how some people say, I see that completely differently than another person would based upon how my heart is. So they'll see through the lens of God and see how God would see things and how he would comprehend and perceive things. And that's really good. And I think what after in the afterlife that we will be completely satisfied in what we see kind of going back to what you you said. But do you think that's what they're saying? Jesus was telling them that he's speaking of the afterlife there, or do you think he's speaking of now? I guess I'm not clear about their question. Well, you're talking about the scripture in Matthew five. Yeah, right. You know, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Yeah, I believe that there is a understanding that we see of God. You know that, you know, if we live right, if we have a purity of heart that we will be able to see God in the way that he's manifested unto us. Well, I'll tell you what, it's too bad. The program has to end. You just have to go to the Bible yourself. Well, we want to read this scripture to you. Those who know your name, trust in you for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you at Psalm 910. Well, thank you so much for joining us. Continue to search the scriptures. When you search through the scriptures, you will find God. Amen.