Observing Spy Wednesday, and Q&A

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Welcome to the Bible Answer Man broadcast with the president of the Christian Research Institute, Hank Hanagraph PERSON. Our mission is to equip you with answers, to share the hope that you have within you because life and truth matter. Why? Because being armed with truth will equip you to counter the corrosive worldviews at work in our world today. While experiencing the authentic Christian life will make you a winsome witness of the purpose of life, which is to experience union with God and Christ, both for today and for all eternity. For more information about CRI and the Bible Answer Man WORK_OF_ART broadcast,our phone number is 8887,000 CRI. You can find us online at equip.org. The following program was pre-recorded. And now, here's Hank Hanagraph. Thank you very much, Rundee PERSON. You can also contact us

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via the mail at Box 8500, Charlotte, North Carolina, zip code 28271. We will get to your calls in the second part of the broadcast today. I do want to start this broadcast out, as I have started every broadcast out this week, with an overview of what we're celebrating during Holy Week. The Eastern Church is celebrating Holy Week this week. It is so important not to let the days simply slip by without having an understanding of what's going on in terms of the celebration, the commemoration of each and every one of these days. This, the Wednesday of Holy Week, is a day that we call Spy Wednesday. It's a day that will forever live in infamy. It's on this day that the ancient church commemorates the ultimate in contrast. A prostitute transformedinto a pure bride in contrast to a chosen disciple who conspires with sinful men to betray the king of truth. The story of anointing is a story I want to spend a little time on. It's a familiar one. In Luke's Gospel WORK_OF_ART, we find Jesus PERSON at the home of aPharisee named Simon PERSON. And as he sat down to eat, a woman who was a sinner brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil and stood at his feet behind him weeping.And she began to wash his feet with her tears and wipe them with a hair of her head. And she kissed his feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil of myrrh. This story, the story of Christ PERSON's encounter with the sinful woman. Well, it's an icon of amazing grace. Her sins are forgiven. She's granted the peace that passes all understanding.She gives her all and thereby inherits the new Jerusalem GPE coming down out of heaven from God. And so the fallen woman, she's transformed into a flawless bride beautifully dressed for her bridegroom, a wise virgin, anointed by the very chrism with which she once anointed Christ. Contrarily, there's Judas. He's considered one of those who saw the anointing of Jesus PERSON as a sinful waste. He saw an anointing both of the sinful woman in the house of Simon the Pharisee and, by the way, by St. Mary and Bethany PERSON, an anointing that took place six days priorto Passover. But in either case, he sees anointing. Again, as a waste. Why? Because he despised the master. He considered his value to be a mere 30 pieces of silver, essentially the value ascribed to the inordinate purchase of a slave.So, pretended concern for the poor, he attacks their extravagance because he values the wealth of the world far more than the wealth of the word made flesh, the word that dwelt among us. From his perspective, the anointing of Jesus PERSON with costly perfume was a waste because he had no appreciation for the infinite value of the creator of the cosmos. But from the perspective of Mary, Jesus PERSON is king of kings, he's Lord of Lords, and thus nothing bestowed upon him could ever be considered a waste.Holy Wednesday. The Wednesday of Holy Week is forever remembered. It's forever recalled as spy Wednesday. Why? Because on Wednesday of the last week of Christ PERSON's earthly sojourn, Judas became a spy for the enemies of Messiah PERSON. He, who eats bread with me, said Jesus PERSON, has lifted up his heel against me. The words of Jesus concerning Judas hearken back to David PERSON's prophetic lament,the lament concerning his betrayal at the hands of Ahithafel PERSON, Ahithful, who, after his plot with Absalom PERSON had failed, went out and hanged himself. A millennium later, Judas PERSON went out and did the very same. All of this leads back to you and to me. Do we live for the kingdoms of this world or for the kingdom that is to come? How often in scripture have God's chosen people been likened to a harlot? Even now.I think of Josea's marriage to the prostitute Gomer, which is a poignant parallel to God's wedding covenant with Israel GPE. Though Gomer PERSON repeatedly hoars after other lovers, Josea PERSON doggedly pursues reconciliation and relationship with his bride. Josea's love for Gomer PERSON is emblematic of God's love for his prostituted bride. Verse by verse, the painful picture of a people who prostitute themselves with pagan deities emerges. It culminates in Josea PERSON's lament over a people who love the wages of a prostitute at every threshing floor.The image, of course, is pregnant with meaning. Not only was the threshing floor, a place of intimacy in which the kinsman Redeemer spread the corner of his garment over Ruth, but the very temple itself was built on the threshing floor. Unlike Ruth,the prostituted bride had little interest in seeking intimacy with God and his temple. Instead, she craved intimacy with foreign gods on the threshing floors of perverse temples. The contrast between the prostituted bride and that of a purified bride could not be starker. It is that between those who bear the mark of the beast and those who bear the mark of Christ PERSON,those who love the things of this world and those who love the Lord of the world that is to come. The takeaway is a prayer that you and I are like the prostitute who anointed the feet of the master, like the thief who cried out, Jesus PERSON, remember me when you come into your kingdom. May we be the very personifications of what in unison we say during every liturgy. I will not give you a kiss as did Judas PERSON. But like the thief, I pray, Lord, remember me in your kingdom.And by the way, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, it's been the common practice throughout church history for Christians to read all four Gospels up until the point in each gospel account where the passion of the Christ PERSON begins. So if you haven't done so already,perhaps you can take just one of the Gospels and read it for all its substantial worth. Do it before your head hits the pillow tonight. But we will be back on the other side of the break with more of the Bible Answer Man WORK_OF_ART broadcast. We'll go directly to your questions. My thanks to all of you who stand shoulder to shoulder with me in the battle for life and truth. We will be right back.

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If you were going into combat, what would be more important? The number of those who were for you or the number of those who were with you. Now, apply that question to today's battle for the hearts and minds of literally millions of people at home and abroad. That's what makes members of CRI ORG's support team so vital. They're not simply for CRI ORG's critical mission. They're standing with CRI ORG each and every day.If you want your voice and your values to be heard 24-7 through the outreaches of the Christian Research Institute ORG, become a member of C CRA's support team today. Just call 8887,000 CRI to stand with CRI daily in the battle for life and truth. And as our thanks, Hank Hanagraph PERSON will personalize to you a copy of his black leather-bound, silver-embossed, complete Bible answer book, Collectors Edition WORK_OF_ART, revised, and updated.Call 8887,000 CRI, or visit our website at eqq.org ORG. Hank PERSON will be back right after this. Truth Matters, Life Matters More by Hank Hanagraph is essentially two books in one.

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Because Truth Matters, Part 1 equips Christian NORPs to defend the essential truth of the historic Christian faith. In part two, Hank PERSON explains why life matters more and how we can experience the height of human existence, union with God in Christ. Simply put, the map is not the territory, the menu is not the meal. We cheat ourselves of authentic union with Christ PERSON when we elevate the message above the Messiah. Truth Matters Life Matters More WORK_OF_ART is a modern classic and the magnum opus of one of the great theological minds of our time. To receive Truth Matters Life Matters More WORK_OF_ART, simply call 8887,000 CRA and make agift in support of the life-changing work of the Christian Research Institute ORG. That's 8887,000 CRI, or go online to equip.org.

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Bertrand Russell PERSON famously said, most people would rather die than think, and many of them do. Not so with CRI ORG support team members. Support team members are not only serious thinkers, but their membership in CRI ORG support team helps to equip hundreds of thousands of fellow believersaround the globe each and every month. Are you not a member? Then you're missing out. Not only do support team members form the backbone of Christian Research Institute's outreaches, but they enjoy their selection of resources from our Equipping Essentials Library. To discover how you can make a difference 24-7 in equipping believers at home and abroadto stand for life and truth, check out the benefits of membership at equip.org ORG. Once again, that's equip.org ORG. When you need answers about the Bible WORK_OF_ART and the intersection of our faith and culture, you turn to the Bible Answer Man broadcast and the Christian Research Institute ORG. But did you know we're entirely supported by God's provision through friends like you? In appreciation for your gift of ministry support today,we'll send you Hank's book, The Third Day WORK_OF_ART, a convincing case study on the most important truth of Christianity, the resurrection of Jesus Christ PERSON. Johnny Erickson Tata has said, Hank PERSON leaves no stone unturned, thoroughly portraying the resurrection as our grand hope, the glorious springboard from which we all dive into eternity. Strengthen your defense of theresurrection and increase your confidence in your own eternal future. Call 888 7,000 CRI or visit EQUIP.org now. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important fact of Christianity ORG. In fact, if Christ PERSON was not raised from the dead, nothing else matters. We are still in our sins and have no hope of heaven. Learn to defend the resurrection with Hank's book, The Third Day WORK_OF_ART,our gift to you in appreciation for your ministry support today. Examine and explode the lies of resurrection deniers and strengthen your confidence in your own resurrection. To request your copy with your gift today, visit equip.org or call 8887,000 CRI. Thank you.We now return to the Bible Answer Man WORK_OF_ART broadcast and your host, Hank Hanagraph PERSON.

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And thank you very much, Randy PERSON. Let's go right to our phone callers. First up, Nancy in Pennsylvania GPE. Hi, Nancy PERSON. Hi, Hank PERSON.

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How are you?

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I'm doing well. Thank you.

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Nice talking to you again. I have a friend. I just found out that a friend of mine is a member of Rodney Howard Brown, one of his satellite church. And I looked into his statement of faith, and it seems like he believes in the essentials, but I know that he's into a lot of heresy. If he believes in the essentials, how does that make his ministry a cult cult and how can I explain that to my friend?

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Well, you know, I think it's cultic for sure. And I don't think that he holds to the essentials of the historic Christian NORP faith, because what he does is he uses the Christian words, but he pours his own meaning into those words. And from a sociological standpoint, I think he's a very dangerous person. I wrote a book called Counterfeit Revival. And Rodney Howard Brown PERSON is prominently featured in that book. There are so many false prophecies that he makes. He has prophesied that people by the droves were going to jump out of wheelchairs.People were going to be raised from the dead. But the reality is, as the Holy Ghost bartender or the Holy Ghost hitman, as he prefers to call himself, and I was the subject of one of his tirades in a church, bartender or the Holy Ghost hitman, as he prefers to call himself. And I was the subject of one of his tirades in a church in Southern California LOC, which is a story in and of itself. But as the Holy Ghost bartender, he is using the power of suggestion to createplacebos for psychosomatic symptoms and sickness. In truth, there's nothing supernatural about what he does. He uses the magic of mental manipulation. And so he is constantly beguiling and deceiving his devotees. He's an unreliable teacher and, as I would say, cultic. I wouldn't necessarily say that what he has is a cult, but certainly from a sociological standpoint. He is a counterfeit of the genuine article. He has unreliable revelations that can't be trusted. He uses linguistic subversion, theological perversion, and sociological deviance that I think is very, very terrifying.I saw it firsthand over a long period of time, and that is why he's included my book counterfeit revival. Okay.

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And so in that case, what would happen to, if the Lord comes to, you know, my friend, you know, I mean, how, I guess we don't know how God would judge them, but give me an idea that, you know, she won't be lost if she's naive to it?

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Well, I don't think it's the absence of truth that dams. It's the despising of truth that dams. But, having said that, I think it's important for you as a friend to let her know that she isin the context of a very unhealthy body, a body in which the pastor is using sociocological manipulation tactics to lure the devotees to all kinds of false paradigms of spirituality.

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Okay, well, thank you so much. You helped me a lot.

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Okay, you got it. Chris next in Seattle, Washington GPE. Hi, Chris PERSON. Hi, Hank PERSON.

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I have a question here, and I've listened to you for a long time, and I must disclose

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that I became Catholic in 2017, which I think is the same year you converted to Orthodoxy NORP.

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And one of my first steps upon my journey was I listened to a debate that you facilitated between Jimmy Aiken, who I know you guys are friends and James White PERSON. And I'm just curious, what is your take on Solis Scrip Tour now as an Orthodox Christian? And do you think it's biblical?

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Well, look, I think one of the ways that I would attack that question is to go back to Ironaus PERSON. The reason I do that is he is one of the great apologists in church history. In the early Christian church, he was one of the first. And one of the most significant apologetic tomes in church history was penned by Ironaeus PERSON against heresies. And what he does in that tomb is he does not respond to the heresy of Gnosticism with the Soliscripture argument, but in refuting the Gnostic NORP heresy, he argues that you can go all the way back to an unbroken apostolic succession, and you find nothing whatsoever in theteachings of the early church that give credibility to the silly doctrines of the Gnostics NORP. So for Ironaeus, the sacred commission of the apostolic fathers was the proper transmission of apostolic tradition from one generation to the next, from the Holy Father's ORG onward to the Eucharistic Assembly of every local church in every successive generation. Now, here's what I think. I think all too often people set scripture over against holy tradition,failing to recognize that holy tradition gave a scripture. And so the holy tradition of the apostolic fathers was never considered an independent instance. It was a complementary source of faith. Ecclesiastical understanding could never add anything to Scripture WORK_OF_ART, but it was the only means to ascertain and to disclose the true meaning of Scripture WORK_OF_ART. So tradition was, in fact, the authentic interpretation of Scripture WORK_OF_ART, and in that sense, it's coextensive with Scripture. Tradition, therefore,becomes Scripture WORK_OF_ART rightly understood. And I think this is really important because how did we get the Bible? We got the Bible because, as Paul PERSON said, the church is the ground and pillar of truth. And it is through the church that we have the scriptures. You have to remember at the time of Ironaeus PERSON, they didn't have a corpus of scripture that we now call the canon of the New Testament WORK_OF_ART. That came into being over a process of time. So I think oftentimes we become dichotomaniacs.You know, we make a false dichotomy that isn't necessary, and in this case, I don't think is particularly helpful. Let's go back to the phone lines. Talk to Charles in Dexter GPE,

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Missouri. Hi, Charles PERSON. Hey, how you doing? Good. I'm an over-the-road truck driver, and I listen to your

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program. Thank you. Not every day. First, I'd like to say that I'll be praying for you that the Lord's will be done in your life.

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My question for you, Hank, is the other day I was driving down the road, I thought I heard you say that there was no rapture.

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Am I incorrect in that or did I actually hear you say that?

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Well, I would say that there's no basis biblically for a pre-tribulational rapture.

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There's not a single passage in scripture that speaks of Jesus PERSON coming to rapture the church

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seven years prior to his second appearing.

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In fact, our Lord's own words negate the very notion.

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Jesus PERSON said a time is coming when all who are in

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the grays will hear his voice and come out. Those who have done good will rise to live and

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those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. So the plain and literal sense of our

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Lord's words suggest a moment in the future when both the righteous and the unrighteous are going to be resurrected and judged together. The notion that some believers will come out of their graves at the rapture and others 107 years later DATE is clearly an imposition on the biblical text. And I would say, furthermore, that there's no biblical basis for a coming seven-year tribulation during which the vast majority of Jews NORP are going to die. That, of course, is not to suggest that the Jews NORP have not faced tribulation in the past.You think, for example, the terrible seven-year tribulations suffered by the Jews under the beastly reign of Antichas PERSON the Fourth Epiphanes. But the reality is there's no warrant whatsoever to take what happened under the Old Testament Antichrist around the first century with the beast of Revelation and then transport that into the 21st century and then think that, well, the Christians NORP are going to get raptured and the Jews are going to get bludgeon, two-thirds of them are going to die in a Holocaust EVENT that exceeds anything that's ever happened to them in their history.I've written about this in the book titled The Apocalypse Code WORK_OF_ART, Find out what the Bible really says about the end times and why it matters today. Also have an entry in the complete Bible Answer Book Collector's Edition WORK_OF_ART, revised and updated on pre-tribulation or rapture and many other answers to many other questions. Check it out on the web at eqip.org ORG at a time for this edition of the Bible Answer Man broadcast tomorrow. Another monologue this time on Holy Thursday. This is one of the mostimportant days in the entire church calendar. So long for now.

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You've been listening to the Bible Answer Man broadcast with Hank Hanagraph PERSON. We pray that today's program has deepened your understanding of Scripture WORK_OF_ART and helped you grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you'd like to contact CRI and order resources or partner with us financially, just go to equip.org. That's equip.org. Or call a resource consultant at 8887274. You can also write to us at Post Office Box 8500, Charlotte, North Carolina, zip code 28271. The Bible Answer Man WORK_OF_ART broadcast is supported by listeners like you. We're on the air because life and truth matter.

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For decades, Hank Hanagraph has shared the truth of the historic Christian NORP faith by answering

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questions over the radio, defending the faith through the written word, and preaching from pulpits around the globe. Today, he is ready to share his life in Christ PERSON, as detailed in his most profoundly personal piece of penmanship to date. Truth matters, life matters more. Hank PERSON feels closer to Christ PERSON than ever before and wants you to learn from his experiences, as recounted in Truth Matters, Life Matters More WORK_OF_ART, so that you can join him on life's greatest journey, the journey toward union with God in Christ.To receive your copy of Truth Matters, Life Matters More WORK_OF_ART, the unexpected beauty of an authentic Christian NORP life, call 8887,000 CRI, and make unexpected beauty of an authentic Christian life. Call 8887,000 CRI and make a gift to support the Christian Research Institute's life-changing outreches, 8887,000 CRI, or visit us at equip.org.