General, page 3

Questions the Bible answers that belong to no one doctrine.

58 questions answered, showing 18 on page 3 of 3. All topics

• Whosoever WillWhat is a woman's worth to God?A woman bears God's image by creation, the same as a man: "in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Genesis 1:27). She is His own work, made with care:
• With Chuck SmithWhat is mammon?Chuck Smith, Sermon on the Mount Study Guide, Matthew 6: Our Relationship with God: “Mammon” originally was a person to whom one entrusted one’s funds. The meaning changed to become a trust in the power that money provides. One of the pagan gods of Old Testament times was called Mammon. A slave had no rights and couldn’t own anything. He had no time of his own, for he was always on call for his master. His master could work him 20 hours a day or have the slave beaten if he chose to. We cannot be a slave to God and also be devoted to material things. There isn’t enough time to serve both. Scripture, King James Version: Matthew 6:24, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.". Study notes condensed from his teaching by The Word For Today. From Chuck Smith's books, used by permission of The Word For Today.
• Whosoever WillWhat is spiritual warfare? How do I fight spiritual battles?Spiritual warfare is the believer's real conflict against "principalities... powers... spiritual wickedness in high places" (Eph 6:12), fought not with human weapons but with the armor of God, "put on the whole armour of God" (Eph 6:11), and won by Christ, who already triumphed over them (Col 2:15).
• With Chuck SmithWhat is the prosperity gospel (word of faith, positive confession)?Chuck Smith, Charisma vs. Charismania, chapter 11: The latest wind of pernicious, unscriptural doctrine to blow through the ranks of some charismatics is the “what-you-say-is-what-you-get” teaching, otherwise known as the prosperity doctrine. Among the claims that are commonly made is that God never wills that you should be sick and that all sickness is the result of ignorance or lack of faith. Such teachings sound more like Mary Baker Eddy than the apostle Paul! These people speak much of making positive confessions, and warn against any negative confession. They teach that the spoken word becomes a spirit force for good or evil according to the confession. Thus you are never to confess, “I don’t feel well,” for that is a negative confession and is bound to cause you to feel bad. You are thus encouraged to lie about your true condition or feelings. As you hear this teaching you would swear that the sermons came from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures rather than the Bible. From Chuck Smith's books, used by permission of The Word For Today.
• With Chuck SmithWhat is the right motive for fasting?Chuck Smith, Sermon on the Mount Study Guide, Matthew 6: Our Relationship with God: Some people are so concerned with themselves that even in their worship of God they seek to draw attention to themselves. Our motivation in doing righteous acts should be pure, so that God receives the glory for our good works. (Matthew 5:16) The motivation for any spiritual activity should be prompted by our relationship with God. He should be central in our minds as we go about our service to Him. If we would feed our spirits as much as we feed our flesh, we would be much better off. Fasting is an attempt to force the flesh to be in submission to the spirit. Scripture, King James Version: Matthew 6:16-18, "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly."; Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.". Study notes condensed from his teaching by The Word For Today. From Chuck Smith's books, used by permission of The Word For Today.
• Whosoever WillWhat is the significance of the Jordan River in the Bible?The Jordan is the river Israel crossed to enter the promised land (Josh 3), where Elijah was taken and Elisha received his mantle (2 Kings 2), and where Jesus was baptized (Matt 3:13). It marks passages: from wilderness to promise, from death to new life.
• With Chuck SmithWhat was Paul's thorn in the flesh?Chuck Smith, Answers for Today, chapter 4: Because of the abundance of revelations in Paul’s life God put a thorn in his flesh to keep him from being puffed up. What was Paul’s thorn in the flesh? The word “thorn” in the Greek actually means “a stake,” a reference to a big tent stake. Don’t think of Paul as having a little pesky thorn in his side. He had a tent stake driven in! It wasn’t a minor irritation—it was a major disability! Paul refers to his thorn as a “…messenger of Satan to buffet me.” The word “messenger” in Greek is aggelos, which literally means “an angel.” Paul had an angel of Satan to buffet him. His thorn in the flesh may have been a very painful eye disease causing his eyes to run continually. There are several allusions to this in the Scriptures (Galatians 4:15; 6:11). But whatever Paul’s thorn was, it was an emissary of Satan who was continually buffeting him. Scripture, King James Version: Galatians 4:15, "Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.". From Chuck Smith's books, used by permission of The Word For Today.
• Whosoever WillWhat was the route of Paul's first missionary journey?Paul's first journey (Acts 13 to 14) went out from Antioch in Syria: by sea to Cyprus (Salamis and Paphos), then into south Galatia, Perga, Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, before retracing the same cities home. "So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus" (Acts 13:4).
• Whosoever WillWhat was the route of Paul's second missionary journey?Paul's second journey (Acts 15:36 to 18:22) went overland through Syria and Cilicia to Derbe and Lystra, across to Troas, and over into Europe, Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth, returning by sea through Ephesus and Caesarea to Antioch. "And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia" (Acts 16:12).
• Whosoever WillWhat was the route of Paul's third missionary journey?Paul's third journey (Acts 18:23 to 21:17) went again through Galatia and Phrygia to Ephesus, where he stayed some three years, then through Macedonia and Greece and back by sea, Troas, Miletus, Tyre, and Caesarea, to Jerusalem. "Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus" (Acts 19:1).
• Whosoever WillWhere did Paul get shipwrecked?On the voyage to Rome as a prisoner, Paul's ship was driven by a storm for two weeks and wrecked on the island the KJV calls Melita, most commonly identified as modern Malta. "And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita" (Acts 28:1). Every soul aboard, 276 of them, reached shore alive.
• Whosoever WillWhere is Mars' Hill (the Areopagus)?Mars' Hill, the Areopagus, is a rocky outcrop in Athens below the Acropolis where the city's council met. There Paul preached the unknown God to the Athenian philosophers. "Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens" (Acts 17:22).
• Whosoever WillWho or what were the Nephilim (the giants) in Genesis 6?The Nephilim were "giants in the earth" before the flood (Gen 6:4), offspring associated with "the sons of God" and "the daughters of men." The oldest view, and the one this platform holds, is that "sons of God" were fallen angels whose union produced them, one cause of the wickedness God judged in the flood.
• Whosoever WillWho was Cain's wife? Where did she come from?His sister or a close relative. Adam and Eve "begat sons and daughters" (Gen 5:4), and in the first generations siblings married of necessity, no genetic danger yet and no law against it until Moses.
• With Chuck SmithWhy do we grieve if our Christian loved one is with the Lord?Chuck Smith, Comfort for Those Who Mourn, chapter 3: When I am gone, don't weep for me. I will be where my heart now longs to be, beholding the beauty of the face of the one I have never seen, yet I love. And though I don't see Him yet, I rejoice with unspeakable joy, full of glory (I Peter 1:8). I discovered, through the death of my godly parents, that my great sorrow was not for them, but for myself, for my personal loss of the beautiful input they always had in my life. My sorrow was selfish. I wasn't ready to let them go yet. I felt I still needed the security I always felt from their assurance and love. When I thought of them, there in His glorious presence, I rejoiced for them while I wept for myself. Scripture, King James Version: 1 Peter 1:8, "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:". From Chuck Smith's books, used by permission of The Word For Today.
• With Chuck SmithWhy do we pray in Jesus' name?Chuck Smith, Effective Prayer Life, chapter 2: Prayer is to be addressed to the Father, in the authority of the name of Jesus. Actually, you have no right to an audience with God on your own. There’s no way you can earn such a privilege. The only way you can have an audience with the Father is through Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Ask the Father for your needs, but ask Him in the name of Jesus Christ. It’s through Jesus Christ that you have the right to come, that you have a hearing, and are received. When you knock, use the name of Jesus. If I knock on His door and say, “Father, it’s Chuck here, wanting to talk to you.” He is apt to respond, “Who’s Chuck, what right do you have to knock on My door?” But if when I knock I say, “Father, this is Chuck and I come in the name of Jesus.” The response will be, “Come on in Chuck, good to hear from you.” Scripture, King James Version: John 14:6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.". From Chuck Smith's books, used by permission of The Word For Today.
• With Chuck SmithWhy does God say no to some prayers?Chuck Smith, Effective Prayer Life, chapter 2: Consider the prayer of Jesus that wasn’t answered. Though He prayed three times— “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39)—He drank the cup. Why? Because God wanted to bring salvation to each one of us. It should be noted that Jesus, though offering His prayer to the Father, added what is so important to every prayer: “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). That is the key to obedience and prayer. “Lord, here’s what I want. Here’s my desire. Nevertheless, not my will, but Thy will be done.” You can’t improve on that! For the real purpose of prayer is never to get my will done, but His. Scripture, King James Version: Matthew 26:39, "And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."; Luke 22:42, "Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.". From Chuck Smith's books, used by permission of The Word For Today.
• Whosoever WillWhy is there conflict between Jews and Arabs? Does it go back to the Bible?The tension traces to Abraham's two sons, Ishmael (father of many Arab peoples) and Isaac (father of Israel), and God's promise given through Isaac (Gen 21:12). Scripture records the enmity early: Ishmael "will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man" (Gen 16:12).