Matt Slick Live

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network.

And as usual, hopefully with you, you're listening to Match Lick Live. If you want to, you can give me a call. All you've got to do is dial 877-207-2276. I want to hear from you. Give me a call.

Today is, let's see, November 11, 2022 for the podcasters, if you are curious to know what day this occurred at. We've got a couple of calls coming in and three open lines, 877-207-2276. I want to say thanks to those who are helping out, contributing $5 a month and such. We do appreciate it. It's a very valuable support that we have.

We're losing and we're gaining, and it's because of the economy. But if you could afford $5 a month, we ask that you go to CARM.org, C-A-R-M dot O-R-G, and forward slash donate. You can set it up right there. It's really good.

Really easy to do. And we don't, you know, as much as not very much. All right, so today is hate mail day, and hopefully we'll be able to get some of that. I love hate mail. I really do. I think it's awesome for some reason. Okay, good.

I've got a little start-up problem with hate mail. Interesting. I mean, that's interesting. So anyway, good. Yeah, I lost my, my outlet crashed, and then I just had to do a couple of things.

I've got it back, and then that's a little bit different, but that's no big deal. You know, we text stuff. All right, all right, all right. Let's see, I think that's about it.

So, well, we could just jump on the phones. I don't know who this is, but welcome. You're on the air with Matt Slick. Hi, Matt. How are you? Doing fine.

How are you? Good, thank you. My question today is, in 2 Timothy 2, 12, Paul tells Timothy that if we deny Jesus, he will deny us, but what's confusing to me is Peter denied Jesus three times publicly, and Jesus didn't deny him.

He's saved in heaven. So can you help me with this confusion? Sure. It's not a hard, fast rule. You deny him, like, if you deny him once, that's it. It's all over for the rest of your life.

That's not what's going on. If you are in the practice and the state of denying who he is, then he's going to deny you. What Peter did was mess up pretty badly, as is obvious, and later you'll notice in John 21, Jesus said, Do you love me? And he said, Well, yeah. Do you love me? Yes. Do you love me?

Yes. Three times, because Peter denied Christ three times in different contexts, and so he went out and wept, and then he repented, of course, and became a very staunch supporter. The Lord Jesus Christ was even martyred for it. So in his martyrdom, he certainly was not denying Jesus. So you've got to be careful not to just assume that if you do a one-time statement, that that's a universal truth value, and that's just how it's to be understood.

Okay? I guess, thank you. I guess also what's confusing to me is, in Reformed theology, we believe that the Lord will keep us by his power saved, that he can protect us and so forth. So I guess I was confused why he'd tell Timothy, Well, if we deny him, he's going to deny us. But by grace, we're saved, and we're saved irrevocably.

Well, hold on. Can you deny him? That's Christian, can you?

Are you there? Well, I guess if Peter did, people can. I asked you. Can you deny him? You. Could you do that? I guess technically it's possible.

Okay. So let's just say that someone holds a gun to your head, and you deny Jesus, or they say they're going to kill your family, and you do. Does that mean you're not saved?

Or does it mean in a moment of great fear and confusion that you blew it? God understands. The ladder?

Yeah, the ladder. There was a man, I don't know the name, I don't know the exact details, but during the Protestant Reformation, when the Catholic Church was evil, and it would kill people for not affirming the Pope. And so in Fox's Book of Martyrs, there are many accounts of this. And so there was a man who was a papist, and then became a Protestant, became a Christian. And he denounced Roman Catholicism. The Catholics found him, got him, and threatened to kill him. And he then recanted, and he went back to Catholicism. And it was a big deal, because a lot of people were following him, and had become Protestants because of him. And the conviction was so bad that he recanted of his recantation. He said, no, the papacy is false, and I do believe and trust my Lord Savior alone, grace alone.

You know, the Protestant particulars. Well, they got him again. And they said, repent and become a Catholic, or we'll burn you at the stake. And so he said, burn me at the stake. And on the way to the fire, he asked them to stop, and then he asked to have his right hand, I think it was right hand, freed. And he walked up to the fire, and he put his hand into the flames until it burned to a crisp. And he said, thus, let it be done to the hand that betrayed my Lord. And then they put him in the fire and killed him. Now, was he not a Christian because he denied Christ, that he became a Christian?

I don't know of particulars in how regeneration works in that particular situation. But things are different. I remember in college, Rod Rosenblatt was a great professor at Lutheran College. And someone asked him the question, if someone put a gun to your head and said, deny Christ, what would you do?

Long pause. And he said, if I deny him, it's because of my sin, and if I don't, it's because of his grace. He said, I can only hope that I will never deny him.

But the fact is that if we just deny him once, I don't believe that means you're not saved, unless it's an intention in your heart of serious denial. What would you do if your family was at stake and this was the situation? And I can't tell you what I would do.

I can only tell you I know what I would hope to do. But we don't know what we'll always do in this situation. But God is faithful, even more important. I mean, whatever a Christian did, like out of fear or of the flesh or out of weakness, that doesn't negate the regeneration that he did in our spirit. So these are really deep subjects that I guess I have to just chew on for a long time. I understand everything you said, but it's just a little foggy to me. And I guess through prayer, God will give me a deeper understanding. I'm trying to just reconcile grace, and then we come across a statement like this from Paul, and it's like, whoa, wait a minute. But it's tough, man.

Look what he says in context. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen. And that word there is eklektos. So that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory. It is a trustworthy statement. If we have died with him, we will also live with him. If we endure, we'll also reign with him. If we deny him, he'll deny us. If we're faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

This is an interesting set of scriptures to examine. To what degree is a denial there, and he's faithful even when we're not. So it's like he's saying if you deny him, he'll deny us, but he's faithful.

So it's like it's a warning. You better make sure you're in the faith. You better examine everything, and yet he's faithful at the same time.

God is. So it's a tough one, but we know that we can't lose our salvation because Jesus said so. So if someone does deny him because they never say to begin with, as 1 John 2.19 says, they went out from us because they never were of us.

If they had been of us, they would have remained. Okay? Yeah, and then I was thinking, you know, the gifts of grace are without repentance, and if he regenerates us, he's not going to withdraw that doing.

Right. So it's a lot to wrap my brain around. Sometimes it's all above my pay grade. I just have to get on my knees and say, God, I'm too stupid.

Help me understand all this. That's what I do. Thank you, Matt. I don't want to hold you up on the phone here too long. Have a great night. You too, man. God bless. Bye-bye. All right.

Wow. Well, we just lost the second caller. I was informed that they're having phone problems, and so what will probably happen is if you call, I don't think that he can't hear you. He's just putting you on hold, and then I see that the call is there, and then what I will do is just pick up and respond. So if you call, you don't really hear anything, just don't worry about it. Okay? Have a little bit of a phone problem, and it does happen.

It's not a big deal. We'll work through it, okay? So, for example, we have four open lines, 877-207-2276. Let's get on the air with whoever this is. Welcome. You're on the air. Yes. This is Rudolph, and I've been calling, but nobody sent me questions. Okay.

What's your question? My question is how can Catholics say Mary is God? Because in Luke 1, in Luke 1, 47, she says that she needs a savior, because she says, you know, God my savior. She can't be God. No, they don't say she's God. They don't do that. What?

No, they never say that Mary is God or part of the trinity or anything like that. Really? Yeah. Mm-hmm. Now, that's not to say that they don't...

I thought they considered Mary as God. No. Oh, no, no. No.

Mm-mm. No, not at all. But they exalt her to a level of a goddess, but they never say she is God. They would never do that. They haven't done that.

Okay. Even though there's been some movement... So what about her being a... I was going to say, there has been a movement among some Catholics to get Mary included in the Godhead by proxy.

They actually have been, and the Catholic Church has renounced that, and that's good. What about her being a savior? Well, she needs a savior, you know, Luke 1.47.

No, no. Do they consider her to be a savior? In a sense. Not like Jesus, but that she provided the graces needed to us through her son. And that she, in a sense, cooperated with what Christ did in order for salvation to occur. Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah, they exalt her to a level of paganism.

They say things of her that are just absolutely ridiculous. Yeah. Bad news. Okay. Okay. Thank you for clearing up for me. I appreciate it. Have a good weekend. You too, man. No problem.

God bless. Hey folks, just to let you know, they're having phone problems. So I see that people are calling in, and then they drop out. So if you're listening to me, and you want to just call in, and you don't get anything... We can only have two calls on hold at a time. We only have significant phone issues due to the new studio changes. Okay.

Well, that's what they said. We'll work on that. And hey folks, stay tuned. We'll be right back after these messages. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick. All right, everybody. Welcome back to the show. Just found out that the phone problems is just for today. And Keith, our producer, would let me know that we can only have two calls on hold at a time.

Normally we'd have five, up to five, and now we can just do two. And they'll work on it. So for today, we're going to have to work on just two calls being on hold. So if you call and can't get through, I'll say, hey, another open line, whatever it is. And then you can call right away. We're just going to work it today. Not a big deal.

All right. And also, he can't really hear you. So there's a phone problem. So he's answering.

And then I just see that it's answered. There's no information. But you're on.

So just bear with me and give it a shot. Let's get to whoever this is from wherever you are. You're on the air. Hello? Hello? Hello, Matt? Okay, there you go. Hello.

So what have you got? This is… I'm sorry? This is Claudio. Okay, good. Good.

I'm glad. Do you have a question? Yes, sir. I want to… I want to know who controls this.

Who what? Are we… determine our faith? Because I go about.

I do my work. I make choices and everything. But some 103 said, know that the Lord himself is God.

If you had made us and not we ourselves, we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Yes. So is it me who would make up my choice or is it God to summon it? Oh, you mean your belief in him? Both.

Yes, sir. The Bible says in Philippians 1 29, it says… I think I'll just read the verse and then talk about it a little bit so that people know. I'm not just paraphrasing. It says, for to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake. So you're granted the faith of the act of believing by God. Now, in Greek, has been granted is what's called the aorist passive indicative. And aorist means past tense. Passive means to receive the action.

Indicative means it's a statement of fact. So it's a past tense that you have received the act of believing it. This is what God's work is. But you believe in him.

So there's a congruence here. God grants that you believe, but you do the believing. So both are true.

One is not negated by the other. And so that's what I'm trying to show. To you it has been granted to believe. So he grants that you believe.

And you do believe because it says you believe. Okay? Yeah.

So both are true. Okay? Yes, sir. I have another question you have time. Okay. Yeah, sure.

I read in Genesis 22 Jacob wrestled and God has to change his name from Jacob to Israel. As I wrestle with him. How exactly is that? I don't understand the question. Sorry.

I don't understand all the words you're saying. Could you repeat it again, please? In Genesis 32 22 we are told that Jacob wrestled with God.

Okay. And Jacob hold on to God until God, he asked God for some help. And God said your name is going to be changed.

No longer be Jacob, but Israel. Yes. So how did that happen? Did he actually talk to him? Did he see God?

Yes. The pre-incarnate Christ of anyone who behooved the one he was wrestling with. He says for I've seen God and lived. That's what he says in I've seen God face to face, Genesis 32 30. And his life has been preserved. So generally speaking what we say is that all appearances of God in the Old Testament like that are manifestations of the pre-incarnate Christ. Now there's a debate on a couple of particulars, but that's the general rule.

Okay. Okay, so he was guessing with Jesus Christ. He was most probably, my position is that he was wrestling with the Lord Jesus. Now some could even say that it was an actual angel who was retaining the name of God as a representative. And some might say that, but it does not appear to be the case because he says I've seen God face to face. Now people say well wait a minute, Exodus 33 11 says you cannot see my face for it will make you see me and live. But what's interesting in Exodus 33 11 where that is said in nine verses later, Exodus 33 20, it says God spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks with his friend. It's not a contradiction. It's something for us to have to study to learn something because in the doctrine of the Trinity this then makes sense that the totality of God and even or the Father in this context cannot be seen. But whenever God is seen it deals with the pre-incarnate Christ and that's what's going on there.

It says I've seen God face to face. My life has been preserved. Okay. Okay, sir. Thank you, sir. All right, sounds good. All right, brother.

You got anything else? My call again. I don't want to hold all the people. Okay.

Well, there aren't anybody. We're having phone problems. What he's going to do is he's going to reboot with what we call the stack.

And he might do that after your call is done or he might do it during the break and then he can type it in in the console on the screen. I can see. And so we're trying to get through this problem. And so there might be a little bit of dead time.

We're hoping not. He's allowed to hopefully type in if he wants me to get out of the stack and get back in when he tells me. It's a little bit of an issue. So we're just trying to solve the two-line problem. He's going to try to do a stack. But he said he'll do it after we're done. So we'll just figure it out as we go. All right? Yes, sir. Okay.

There's another call coming in. Good. All right, well, God bless, brother. All right. Okay, let's try this.

And maybe we'll just do the restack or reboot the stack after we get to the second break. Hello, you're welcome. You're on the air. Yes, I see you're here, Mr. Lick. That's me. Yes, you're talking to Matt. Yes.

Okay, a lot of questions. Yes. Or comments.

Yeah. You know, people say, you know, that people say, if you've got Dr. Good to say, keep your mouth shut, right? People say that. Or parents say that to their kids.

Well, that was so that people use that as a convenience because you've got something to say that is against what a certain particular denomination or a particular group or a pastor teaches something falsely or an error, they use that term to keep you quiet. You know what I'm saying? So it's best, you know, that they say, well, if you've got Dr. Good to say, keep your mouth shut.

But for their convenience, they say that. You know what I'm saying, sir? Yeah.

Did people just tell others to be quiet? Yeah. Well, my point is, people say, if you've got Dr. Good to say, keep your mouth shut.

Well, of course, it's convenient for them to say that. So what's your question? Okay, there's a break. My question is- Well, hold on. Can you hold on? Hold on. I'll be at a break.

Yeah. And we're going to try and reboot the stack. So hold on, buddy, okay? If we lose you, just call back, okay? All right.

I think we're going to redo the stack right now, and maybe Keith can let me know if that's the case, and then we'll figure it out when we get back from the break. God bless everybody. I'll be here. It's Matt Slick live. Taking your calls at 877-207-2276. Here's Matt Slick. Hey, everybody.

Welcome back to the show. Let's see. We need the screener, or the audio option. Okay, so yeah, we're having a problem with the phones, but we have two callers waiting, Then when I say go ahead and call, then when you do get through, you won't hear anybody until I pick up and start talking to you.

So if you call the number in a little bit, when I give it out after we have an opening, and I say just don't worry about it, he'll answer, but you can't hear him talk, then I'll just pick up and we'll have you on the air. So not a big deal. We'll just work with it. Things happen. It's all good. All right, let's get to the next caller from wherever you are.

Welcome. You're on Talking Mad Slick. Yes.

Yeah. Like I was saying earlier, the phrase that people like to use, if you can't say something good, keep your mouth shut, but those who oppose the truth, they want people to have that kind of mentality. Yeah, it's what the left does in that they want you to keep quiet. They don't want truth.

That is why they want to control the media, and they want to control schools, they want to control all kinds of things, because the far left is not interested in truth or interested in agenda. But yeah, that happens there, but it happens in all kinds of levels of society, in homes and people and jobs and work. Yeah. That's often the case. Yeah.

I've got another quick question. The results of this election thing, do you think a lot got to allow this, or did it get glory out of it? Oh, ultimately. The results know what happened.

Yeah, ultimately. I was watching Tucker last night about it, and he made a really interesting statement. He said that, was it 13, I forget the exact number, 13 instances where suddenly the votes aren't all tallied, and in critical areas, critical states and counties in those critical states, that out of 13 of them, only 11, or a total of I think it was 11, went for Democrats when the Republicans were ahead, and then as the votes kept being counted over the next few days, that gradually the Democrats end up winning.

And it happens. He said, I think he said 87%, or 77% of the time, I think he said, which is, to me, suspicious. So I don't know if I trust the elections anymore, period, that's just my opinion. I don't think I trust them. I just don't trust our system anymore, our government. I just don't trust them. I was telling my wife, what I think is going to happen is that during the midterms, I said, I think that it's going to be close, and the Dems will stay in power, and it somehow was made to look like it was very close, but they just squeaked by. And the reason I say that is because of what Biden said when he said a couple of weeks ago, just trust the midterm election results no matter what they are. Like, what?

I believe that there's corruption in high levels of our government and our society. That's just my opinion. But God's in control. He's going to work through it. He has his way of turning this stuff around.

He does. He has his way of blessing people and having people come into the faith and doing miraculous things. The reality is, we live in a fallen world, there's a lot of sin, but the other reality is God is in control of all of it. So we've got to look to him, be positive, and do what we've got to do, okay? So God's going to allow this country to enjoy sin, so like make them, since you want your sin, okay, you've got to have it, so you're going to be satisfied so much with sin that you're going to cry out to me, then they're going to realize how wrong they were.

Yes, that's right. And if, let's see, if you read in, I think, what chapters was it? Revelation 13, 14, 15 range, you'll see that there's judgment that comes upon the land because it's of people's sin, and they still won't repent. They still won't cry out to God for help in times of distress. No, they yell at God.

What I've noticed a lot is, in the past few years, talking to atheists in particular, is that they raise their opinions to the level of God on what is right and wrong and how the God of Christianity should not do whatever it is he does, whatever they complain about. People are arrogant, they're foolish, they're prideful, they do what's right in their own eyes, and all I can tell you is, I'm glad that God saved me out of all of that. That's all I can tell you. Okay. All right. Thank you. God bless. All right, man, God bless. Okay. All right, we have one open line out of two, so if anybody wants to call right now, you'll get in, you'll just be put on hold, you won't be able to hear anything until I pick up with you. So that's 877-207-2276.

We're having tech problems with the phone, but we're working through it, we're working around it, not a big deal. Let's get to whoever you are waiting. You're on the air.

Hey, this is Claudius. Okay. Yes. My first one is, what's the real interpretation of the fig tree? Oh, that's a tough one. The fig tree. Yes, that's a tough one.

The fig tree basically represents Israel, and the fact that it didn't bear fruit when it was supposed to, and was cursed by Christ, demonstrates that they did not, Israel, did not do what was necessary before God, and God judged them. That's 7 A.D. Okay?

That's the basics of what I understand it. Alright? Okay, sir. Okay? Do you have time for another question? Yes, I do.

Go ahead. What is the meaning of the providence of God? Providential? Providence means that God provides for us providentially. What does that mean? It means that he lets the rain come down, and the wind come down to us, and the sun come down upon us, and he provides us with opportunities to be able to work.

He takes care of us, and there's countless ways in which he has provided for believers and unbelievers, and that's called the providence of God, his preparation of all things as he works according to his will in reality, generally for our benefit. Okay? Okay, sir. Thank you very much. You're welcome very much. Alright.

Well, God bless. Okay. Hey, we have wide open lines, a whole two of them, and so if you call right now, you'll be put on hold, and you won't be able to hear anybody until I get on the air with you. So if you want to call 877-207-2276, feel free to give me a call, just remember if you do. We're having some problems today. All that'll happen is you'll just click, it'll stop ringing, and you'll go, hello, and no one's going to say anything.

Just wait, and stuff, but we have nobody waiting right now. Alright, so what I'm going to do, because it's Friday, and we do have a break coming up in a couple of minutes. Oh, there's two calls coming in. See that?

There it is. I was going to do hate mail. I'm going to do one hate mail really fast, because this is a good one, and I love hate mail, and I like it when it's short and sweet.

Someone named Julissa, which I like that name, says this, you are an absolute idiot, and have no idea what you are talking about, and anyone who believes what you write is a fool. That's the whole email. Now you know, that's well said.

It's got punch, brevity, it's well written, the punctuation's all correct. That's how you do it, and I appreciate that. Now I only would ask, really, can you explain a little bit more, so that I understand exactly what it is that you're saying. You know, you're an absolute idiot, not a partial idiot. That's what's good, but an absolute one, and I have no idea what I'm talking about. Of course, what subject am I not having any idea what I'm talking about, which means this person, Julissa, would have more knowledge about what I'm talking about to know that I don't know what I'm talking about, but doesn't tell me what I'm talking about.

Anyone who believes what you write is a fool, well, which part of it, you know, I write about all kinds of stuff, so I don't know, maybe she was a little upset at me, you think. All right, let's try this. Let's get on the air with the next person waiting. There you go.

Welcome. You're on the air with Matt Sluck. Hey, Matt. How you doing? Doing all right, man. Hanging in there. What do you got? Hey, Matt, I listen to you a lot of evenings going to work.

Okay. I'm a father of three. I'm trying to be a better man and a better father, and I've kind of lost faith at times throughout my life. You know, I had a grandfather that showed me, you know, the way to Christ, but I've kind of lost that way, and I kind of want to start over and try to be a better man, be a better father, and be a better follower. Can you recommend anything in the Bible, maybe to begin with, or where to start, maybe? As I'm thinking about things, you know, 1 John kind of comes to mind, I don't know why, but you might want to consider 1 John.

It's a short, easy book to read, and it's towards the end of the New Testament, and you can try that. Okay. But we've got a break coming up, so I want to talk to you about this after the break, okay?

And some other stuff. All right, brother? Okay. We'll be right back. All right.

So we have no open lines, because we only have two lines today. We will, Lord willing, be right back after these messages, so please stay tuned. It's Matt Slick live, taking your calls at 877-207-2276.

Here's Matt Slick. Okay, everyone. Welcome back to the last segment of the show. I just want to remind you that we do stay on the air by your support. Please consider supporting us. Would you kindly, maybe, go to karm.org forward slash donate, and you'll find that hopefully what we can ask you to do is just $5 a month. It's not a whole bunch, but if we get enough people doing that, we'll be fine, and we're asking for that. Just $5 a month.

Not much. Hope you consider supporting us. Let's get back on the air with whoever it was, I forgot his name, but you're back on it. You there? Yes, sir. All right. So you want to get back with God. You want to do what's right, right? Yes, sir. And a better man.

Okay. The first thing I would recommend you do is just get on your knees and talk to Jesus. Just talk to him about where you've been, the sins you've committed, the rebellion of your heart, the failures.

He knows them all, but there's something good about talking to him about it. And then you just trust him to forgive you of everything, and then you ask him to change you. But I have to warn you about that, that if you do ask him that, and if you mean it, he'll change you. That change isn't always easy, though, and I know from experience it's not. It's good, but it's not always easy.

Sometimes it can be very difficult, and sometimes it's just a huge blessing. But we do that because we trust in who he is, and we want his way above our own. And we know that if we ask of that, he will make us better men. Because sometimes what we have to do is change, change our attitudes, change our thinking.

And this means the core down deep of what we are needs to be addressed. And since God knows all things, he knows what to address. And he has his way. So I always tell people, you count the cost if you want to follow him and be a better person. Not just to be a better person, because that's not why you follow him. You follow him because of who he is.

He's God in flesh, and because he died on the cross and rose from the dead. You first trust in him for the issue of salvation, the forgiveness of your sins. You commit your life to him, and you do this by prayer. You trust in him. You don't want anybody to lead you, but someone could.

You don't have to have that. It's you and him talking, you confessing, you trusting in him. You should know all this if you've been in churches before and stuff like you seem to say you were. And then read your Bible and find a good church to go to, and I would recommend you go to my website, CARM, C-A-R-M dot O-R-G, CARM.org, and that you look up what to look for in a church. And then the article is there.

And just look through things, and it's pretty brief, and has a list of things to watch for in a church. And you've got to go to church, you've got to get grounded. And so you do that, and you'd be on the right road. But I'm telling you, it's not always easy. It's not always tough either. It's just that there's bumps and divots and problems on the road of life. You've just got to realize that. That's part of what happens.

But if you're willing to do that and move with him, he will definitely work with you. Okay? All right. All right.

Thank you, Matt. Okay. Good enough? All right. You can do that. Yes, sir.

Thank you. Pray. Look up to him.

Talk to him. He's God in flesh. And read that word, and you find a church to go to. Now there are a lot of bad churches around. And a rule of thumb is don't go to any church with the word United in it. United Reform is okay. But basically, a rule of thumb. If it has a word United, like United Pentecostal, United Apostolic, United Methodist, just stay away.

They're bad. Okay. The Calvary Chapel is a good, basic church. Where should I start in the Bible?

Try 1 John. Should I start in Genesis or should I start somewhere else in the Bible? Because that is something that I haven't done is read the Word and stay consistent in doing so. Well, what I would do is just, whatever you think is interesting and whatever you want to do, you start in Genesis if you want, read for a little bit, a few chapters, and maybe go to the New Testament and read over there.

Go to Genesis chapter 1 and John chapter 1 and you'll see that both start with in the beginning and you can see parallels between the Word that spoke that there be light and the Word that became flesh, Genesis and John, there's stuff like that. And I think that 1 John, the epistle of 1 John, there's 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, that's at the end of the New Testament. I think that would be a good epistle for you to read. Good epistle. Alright.

Thank you, Matt. Check it out. Alright, brother. Okay. Alright, man. Well, God bless. Alright, God bless. Alright. We have one open line if you want to give me a call and if you do, remember, you won't hear Keith answer, you'll just be put on hold, the ringing will stop and it won't go dead.

That means it's working within our limited problems we're having right now. And then I'll just pop in and go, hey, you're on the air. We have one more caller. Let's see.

Welcome. You're on the air with Matt Slick. Hello? Hello? Are you there?

Hello? Maybe we're having more phone problems. Maybe the person's away. Who knows?

Maybe they're baking chocolate chip cookies, which sounds really good. So I don't know. I'm going to take it a little bit here longer. And if not, what I can do, let's see, stacks, no, that's something different, so let me try this. Okay, try this and try that. There.

Are you there? Hello? That doesn't look like it's going to be working. I don't know what the situation is, so no big deal. What I'm going to do is put that on hold and I'll hang up on that line, that person, and you have to call back. And then I'm going to read some more hate mail, okay, because I like that and people do too. There we go.

Let's see. Here's one that was interesting. Are you threatened by the shepherd's chapel? Instead of attacking, go through biblically with concordance to teach the true word of God.

Now that's interesting because the shepherd's chapel is basically cultic and they do these things called word studies, but when they do the word studies, they don't know how to do them properly. They make a mistake and they've come up with some really wacko stuff, so that's not a big deal about that. That's not a great, you know, a great email or thing. So let's see, how about this one?

What is this one? I read your little spat about Wicca on the website. I found it very uninformed, to be honest. You deem it a form of satanic worship when in fact it honors the earth, the sky, the sun, and the moon. When people say I'm uninformed, you know, when I wrote this section on Wicca, I had purchased, I don't know, 20 books or so on Wicca, I don't know, 10, 20.

Went through articles on the web and I studied it and I studied it and I studied it. And so, you know, there are different views within Wicca, but a lot of people just generically complain like this person does. Anyway, you deem it a form of satanic worship.

It is because it's not serving the true and living God. What they do is they say that they worship elements of the sky, the sun, the moon, and gods, goddesses of their own creation that relate to the earth. That's not Satanism, because they define it in such a way they don't understand that what they're doing is actually serving false gods and demonic forces. So ultimately it is a form of Satanism, though it's not directly worshiping Satan.

They wouldn't call themselves Satanists and I wouldn't call them that either. I'm just saying ultimately the one who they're serving is not their false Wiccan gods and goddesses but the enemy of the gospel altogether. Let's see, a Wiccan could wear a tiger's eye stone about their neck as protection, such as a Christian would wear one of the martyrs about their neck that promises protection. You see, here's a good example of why Catholicism is dangerous. Because the Catholic Church teaches its adherents to wear certain things, amulets and crosses and varying things that then have properties that can help you. And this is from the Catholic Church. It's not in the Bible. And so this person is comparing the idea of wearing a stone for protection.

Now it's hard to say, well, how's the stone going to help you? They might say, well, how are those little things that Catholics do that can help you? Well, neither does. But it's one of the sad realizations that is produced by Catholicism. You can claim that you aren't part of the bigoted, oh, I can't read down, people in Christianity, yet you are. What does the word bigot mean? You see, I'm going to go look it up.

I'm going to do this right now, OK? Because people say, yeah, you're a bigot. And I say, OK, define bigot. And it's really interesting because a bigot is, quote, a person who is obstinately or unreasonably attached to a belief, opinion, or faction, especially one who is prejudiced against or antagonistic toward a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular group, close quote. So is that person being a bigot?

Are they being obstinately unreasonable? Are they attached to the belief, opinion, or faction? And when I've asked people who accuse me of being a bigot, I say, what does it mean? They, what the hell, I don't know. And then they just say it. And they accuse, they don't know what it means. Anyway, this person goes on, no one wants to be helped.

Really? In the Bible, does it not say not to push him onto others? Wow, if you, no, give me a verse for that one in the book of 2nd Moronicals. Let's see, he says, I think Bill Mayer said it perfectly, Christians find themselves superior to others because they have a book that says a man named Jesus was put on the earth to die for our sins. When he asked a Christian woman, she said, no, I don't find myself superior. I see myself as being full and trying to help the hungry. His response, I'm not hungry. That makes no sense.

You know, when someone doesn't, does not have all their paws in a litter box, you get this kind of stuff. And that's right. This person says I was raised a Catholic until I reached the age of reason. And uh, that's why the other stuff about Catholicism, when I learned the definition of contradiction, which I find in many religions goes on. And I also noticed some of your questions for Wicca as you ask how we know our God and goddesses really exist. Well, we may not have in, in a pretty little book such as yourself, but word of mouth passed down from generation to generation as is just as good as a book. I find the Bible a great work of fiction.

It fits nicely between Kim Harrison and Patricia Briggs. As for your bit about the Wicca as the devil was whispering in the ear, causing them to do horrible things. That's not what I said. Um, any rate, you know, let's just go to another one and another one Wicca, uh, no, it's the same person. Okay.

Hmm. How about, let's see, I was looking at your site, listen to your radio or your video on salvation. One of the things that stuck or struck me, excuse me, is the fact that you portrayed God as vindictive, as he sits in judgment to punish his sons and daughters for eternity. You know, I've had so many conversations with people who just come off, um, with a haughty attitude and don't, don't know the full context and I have to explain it to them. And they don't seem to be open to, uh, you know, what God has to say about the great love that he has and the consequences of rebellion against him. That's all.

They only see one part, one side, elevate that, and then misrepresent the whole. Okay. Look, we're about out of time. It's Friday. It's Monday. We'll have the phones fixed and we'll just see how that goes on Monday. I hope you all have a great evening and, um, uh, let's see, I will, uh, let's see, let's see, let's see.

Oh yeah. I got a conference I'm going to be on tomorrow and I'll put the information for that on the CARM org calendar, carm.org forward slash calendar where I'll be speaking and hopefully it'll go well. I'm not sure if it's open to everybody though, but we'll see. Just look for that. If it is open to everybody, I'll put the information up.

If it's not, I won't. I'll be speaking on presuppositionalism and the cults on a conference with Eli Ayala. He's a good guy, good friend of mine. And may the Lord bless you and please remember to keep CARM in your prayers and if you'd be so kind to support us five dollars a month, all you gotta do is go to carm.org forward slash donate.

Five dollars a month. That's what we ask and that would help us a great deal. May the Lord bless you. All right. Have a good time at church and we'll talk to you later. God bless everybody. Bye.