| Dr. Couch, is 1 John 2:28 a rapture passage? I have some who deny that it is. What do you think? ANSWER: From the Greek text the passage reads: And now, children, be continually [daily] sticking with [Christ], in order that when He should appear, we might be possessing a confidence [fearlessness, boldness, certainty] and we should not shrink back from Him in the coming [of] Him. This is clearly a rapture passage because it addresses those who were alive at that time (circa. 90-95 AD) when "old" John did all of his writing. Though John's days were short, he still saw Christ's coming for His own possibly in his short life-time. He speaks of "we" have confidence when He comes! This means it could have happened in John's life. Rapture passages always have a certain immediacy to the audience to whom the letter is written. It always addresses "we," "you," or "us," as is done here. 1 John 3:2 is also clearly a rapture passage. The construction "when He appears" is the same construction as in 2:28, giving a clear sign that both verses are rapture passages. According to the great Greek grammarians Dana & Mantey, the "when He appears" should better read "whenever He appears," as if taking any uncertainty away from the construction of the verse. Another Greek scholar (A. T. Robertson) says about "not shrink away from Him," could better read: "Not shrink away from His face." The bema judgment seems to take place shortly after the rapture of the church. The "shrink away in shame" appears to connect to what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:10 about being recompensed for what we do "whether good or bad." Those who do not hold to the rapture of the church really do not understand what all is happening in all of these verses. In 3:2-3 John adds: "When He appears, we shall be like Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." The hope of the rapture, truly believed and embraced, has a practical application to change the life of the believer. Thanks for asking. Mal Couch, Ph.D., Th.D. Please Click Here To Read More Answers to Your Questions |
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Ask Dr. Couch #103
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
New Audio Files: Acts
Join Dr. Couch and the Clifton Bible Church as they continue their journey through the book of Acts.
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| Dr. Couch, I've read Robert Heidler's book "Experiencing the Spirit." I knew from first hand experience that the book was full of false teaching. The reason: I was previously a flaming charismatic but one day, it just dawned on me that this teaching was absolutely dead wrong! I found out that I, and all who were in this movement, were simply egotistical fakes! We were putting on a show to impress others, and even ourselves with this false "power." However, the teaching is controlling because it feeds the flesh. Thank you for your role in teaching the truth from the Scripture. ANSWER: The book you mentioned was first published in 1998. I don't know how I missed it—I stay on top of what is printed that can so harm the church. It would take a masters thesis to point out all the errors in the book. However I just flagged a few of them to alert folks what is out there. First, I noticed that almost half of the endorsements for the book were by women. Two of the women were working with American Indian organizations. Hmmmm! A lot of false theology, and Indian mysticism, is out there in the hinterland! Second, I noticed that the book is full of speaking about "experience" and "empowerment." "Experience" is what the book is about. Then, the author changed his theology because he heard a well-known speaker who had come to town teaching on "Experiencing the Spirit." He admits that previously he had become "profoundly dissatisfied" with his Christian life as he read his New Testament. He admits he saw the light when further influenced by a charismatic couple who pushed him over the line. This is a typical testimony of most charismatics. Their dissatisfaction in the solid teaching from the Bible caused them to seek some additional experience that would give them an emotional high! Finally, he moved into the realm of setting aside his objective studies, with such objective intellectual arguments "gradually evaporating." Another charismatic tendency is to deny objective facts from the Scripture and begin operating in the realm of emotion. Clearly, he put aside objective truth and replaced it with experience. This is characteristic of what charismatics do. I have actually heard them say: "I don't care what the Bible says, I know about my own experience!" Then there is some downright theological errors in the book that go beyond the errors about the Holy Spirit's work today. He makes the statement "so those who receive the Spirit receive Jesus." He is writing about the fact that Jesus will send the Spirit when He ascended to the Father. But the Spirit and Jesus are not the same person. They are separate persons in the Godhead. Further, "The one who relates to the Spirit is relating to Jesus, so the more you develop your relationship with the Holy Spirit, the closer your walk with Jesus will be." This statement is not necessarily true. In fact, it could be downright incorrect. In the paragraphs that follow, he tries to prove his point by bouncing around from verses in the OT. As the author goes on, he continually confused the idea of "knowing" God with the issue of "experiencing" Him. To a charismatic to experience God, or the Spirit, is to have an emotional high, a euphoria, a giddy experience that is outside of biblical fact. This determines their view of walking with the Spirit. Heidler then sets up a straw man and knocks it down. He writes that those who deny the dramatic charismatic work of the Spirit, as charismatics try to claim is normative, then "teach that we can talk to God in prayer and read what He said to others in the past, but that we cannot experience Him ourselves. If that is true, we are in a sad condition, for we can have no more relationship with God …" What a leap of false logic! Then Heidler goes bonkers in trying to explain what he calls "empowerment." He says it is not a "once-and-for-all" occurrence. You need subsequent times of filling and additional anointings. While it is true that "filling" is continual, he totally does not understand the doctrine of the anointing. He then gives more false theology. He writes "The New Testament also seems to indicate there are different levels of empowering. Your initial empowering may not give you a great deal of power. … Don't be satisfied with your initial experience of empowering." What he is really saying is that charismatics have to learn to outdo each other, and copy from each other, how to act charismatically! They have to "up" the ante! They have to learn how to out-experience the other charismatic! They are great imitators who mimic each other in raising the experience and emotional bar! Remember, to them a show of emotional experience means that they have arrived spiritually. Every charismatic I know, who got out of the movement, admits that this is true! What poor theology Heidler has about "the anointing." God's anointing (chrio) has nothing to do with an experience. Paul uses the idea concerning believers only in 2 Corinthians 1:21. He writes that God has established us "with you in Christ and anointed us in God." He has "sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge." But this is a "positional" work of the Lord and not an experiential issue. Paul uses the aorist tense which implies a once-for-all positional work when we are brought to salvation. John then also writes about a positional anointing, using three nouns, and he is not talking about some charismatic experience (1 John 2:20, 27). All believers, not just a few or some, have this anointing in order to learn "about all things" that are spiritual. By this he means that, though we have human teachers to help us understand spiritual truth, such knowledge actually comes from God and is not originated simply by human beings. The Lord may use human teachers but all spiritual truth ultimately comes from Him! To prove his point about an anointing, Heidler has to go to Gospel passages and OT passages to try to substantiate what he is saying (pp. 121-123). But this won't fly! With false theological arguments he writes "When you are empowered by the Spirit, God places the anointing within you. If you are filled with the Holy Spirit, that anointing is there, right now, ready to flow out to accomplish God's purpose in the world." There is not one passage of Scripture around to prove his point on this issue! Thus, charismatics teach false theology when it comes to the issue of an anointing! Charismatics do not believe in the sovereignty of God. They give lip-service to the subject but they really limit God. Heidler says that "The Bible assures us that everything that happens is not God's will!" He adds that some believers "assume everything that happens must be God's will. When tragedy strikes, they say, 'It must be the will of God.'" All Pentecostals and charismatics deny the sovereignty of God. The reason: they are so experience bound that it comes automatic to deny His all surpassing providence and sovereignty! Heidler's theology then gets worse. Quoting Matthew 6:10 where Christ instructed His disciples to pray "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven," he argues that if God's will was always at work in the world, Christ would not have to instruct the disciples to ask that God's will take over. Heidler then says that Christ is not speaking about territory but in terms of God's will and rule. Again, false theology! The Lord is speaking about the coming of the Messianic Davidic Kingdom reign which has to do with territory! For Christ to speak of God's "will" in this passage is not saying that He is no longer sovereign. The imperative here is used as a wish, a desire, a statement of priority for the disciples. The Messianic Kingdom will come exactly when God has determined. The implication is not that the Lord is no longer sovereign. It is He who declares "the end from the beginning." His plans are never thwarted! God has said: "My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure; … I have planned it, surely I will do it" (Isa. 46:10-11). If one wishes to see true miracles, they happen when charismatics suddenly and instantly see the light and drop like a bomb their charismatic thinking all at once! I have witnessed this many times, over and over. The blinders fall from their eyes and the truth comes through. They realize that they have been fooled, and that they were but imitating what other charismatics were saying and doing! Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch |
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Ask Dr. Couch #304
| Dr. Couch, I have friends that believe the entire Abrahamic Covenant is for both the Jews and the Church (Gentiles). They use Genesis 17:4-5 and Romans 4:18 where Paul quotes Genesis 15:5. How do you answer? ANSWER: Genesis 17:4-5 reads: "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you. And you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. … I will make you the father of a multitude of nations." Paul quotes this in Romans 4:18: "[Abraham] believed in order that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, 'So shall you descendants (seed) be.'" In the last part of the verse Paul is quoting Genesis 15:5. The argument is that since the Gentiles are Abraham's children spiritually speaking, they too inherit the land promises. But that will not fly! The Gentiles get in on the "blessing" aspect of the Abraham Covenant as shown in Genesis 12:3: "And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." But the land is not promised to the church or to Gentiles. First of all, this covenant is God's covenant ("My covenant," 17:4) made with Abraham and his descendants (physical seed, v. 7). Gentiles get in on the blessing aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant by faith not by being of the physical seed of Abraham. Paul writes "Also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all" (Rom. 4:16b). "Be sure that it is those who are of the faith who are sons of Abraham" (Gal. 3:7). "Those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer" (v. 9). And, "In Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith" (v. 14). The land promises come only to the physical descendants of Abraham. The Lord said this to Abraham five times in Genesis 17:6-10. The after you in these verses is a reference to his physical progeny or descendants through the flesh. And that has to do with Isaac and not with Ishmael as said to Abraham: With Sarah's son, "you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, for his descendants after him" (v. 19).
Gentiles nor the church receive the land promises. End of discussion! Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch Please Click Here To read more Answers to Your Questions |
New Audio Files: Galatians
Join Dr. Couch and the Clifton Bible Church for the last two studies in the book of Galatians.
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| Dr. Couch, what did Christ mean in Luke 22:37 when He quoted Isaiah 53:12? ANSWER: Isaiah 53:12 is about the work of Christ as the One who would forgive sins. The Lord said: "I tell you, that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, 'And He was numbered with transgressors'; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment." Though Jesus was not a sinner, He was counted among the sinners in order to bear their sins under the wrath of God to bring about forgiveness of sins. This verse is part of the great passage about the Suffering Servant who would be a substitute for sinners. Christ also told John the Baptist that he must baptize Him in order "to fulfill all righteousness." That baptism showed that He was counted with sinners, but again, He was not one Himself! Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch |
Monday, April 27, 2009
Ask Dr. Couch #202
| Dr. Couch, our church recently went through a split. Slander and gossip destroyed the peace and contentment. A lot of people got hurt and left. I understand this is going on all over. I just found Proverbs 26:19-22. Do these verses apply to what is going on today? ANSWER: Absolutely! Here are some excellent thoughts about these verses from the Proverbs commentary volumes of Dr. Bruce Waltke. He not only exegetes the verses, and their meaning, but puts the right interpretation on what the passages are all about. Christians can be terribly destructive and go about without guilt destroying other people and institutions. Waltke writes: "The slanderer is a contentious person. He uses inflammatory speech that will burn down the community of believers. His words are so destructive, and he is so cunning, the church body will swallow his inflammatory calumnies like testy tidbits. The group that tolerates the gossip is also culpable for the conflicts that tear it apart. "By attacking others, or authority, the gossip secures his own will. He is labeled perverse, the one who turns a community upside down. His tools of trade are half-truths, facts distorted and exaggerated beyond recognition. As a storm whips up the sea, the slandering rebel whips up strife so strong that it divides even the closest friends. A contentious person must be driven from the community. "The gossip's yeast will work through the whole batch of dough. His audience greedily swallow his inflammatory speech, they delight in his words. The words now in their hearts will inevitably be on their lips. The community will ultimately lose its own peace and character by tolerating agitators against all that is right." Waltke is right on target in his thoughts coming from these verses. This destruction is happening in church after church across America! Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch Please Click Here To read more Answers to Your Questions |
Ask Dr. Couch
| Dr. Couch, how should the leaders handle spiritual problems in our churches today? Specifically, our church lacks spiritual feeding that appears to be stemming from the pastor's inability to know and dig the deeper things of the Word of God. What should we do? Thank you and may the Lord continue to bless your ministry. ANSWER: It is interesting to see that there in Australia you are having the same problems as American churches. We have moved into the apostasy of the church in which we are falling away from THE truth and THE faith! The fault is two-fold. (1) our seminaries are giving fluff and are no longer teaching the men who are to be pastors strong doctrine. And (2) the entertainment is what the people want. They want the fluff, and they'll go down the block to the next entertaining church in order to be moved emotionally. I saw this coming more than twenty years ago and realized that I had to try to stem the flow, but to no avail! The flood is now a torrent and we can't stop it. We are being judged and there is no way back! I've asked for your address—I'll send you a couple of my books that speak to the problems of the church at no cost. And just for a few weeks, all who give me their address, I will also send some books free that may help. However the people, and the leadership, must be convicted about the issues. This is hard to do because they no longer are looking at Scripture, nor are they teaching strong, meaty doctrine. Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch |
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Ask Dr. Couch #102
| Dr. Couch, I'm confused. I believe you advocate a "heavenly destiny" for the church. However, both the church and Israel will be on earth during the millennial reign. Also, you advocate seven years in heaven followed by the same 1000 years of earthly reign. Why do you consider your position a "heavenly destiny" when the church will spend 993 more years on earth after such a short stay in heaven? Wouldn't that identify the church's destiny as "earthly"? ANSWER: The order is: (1) the church is in heaven for the seven year tribulation that takes place on earth, and (2) the church comes back with Christ to be in His presence for the 1000 millennial reign. I don't get the 993 year thing! All of this seems so easy and so biblical! I must be missing something in translation! Or, there is an agenda to avoid the obvious. The agenda is to soften the truth of the doctrine of the rapture by the Progressive Dispensationalists (PDs), and bring confusion on this issue. I know for a fact that at the "big" seminary in the Dallas/Ft Worth area the students are getting terribly confused and cannot defend biblically some most clear and obvious doctrines of the Bible, much less the simple facts of the rapture of the church. To make it simple: (1) the church's key destiny is heaven at the rapture, and despite the poor reading ability of some PDs, heaven is called glory! (2) the church will be in the kingdom but is certainly not seen as the "key" people. That is Israel, and not the church! The PDs try to get rid of the church's heavenly-destiny and even try to say that heaven is not called glory. While it is true that the word "doxa" can be applied to several areas or issues, it still is used to describe in many places, heaven! They are WRONG! And don't forget, they have "reasons" to change doctrine. Be aware!
I just got through reading, once again, Progressive Dispensatinalism by Blaising and Bock, and I find dozens of verses that do not say what they claim, like: "The eschatological Zion is said to be in heaven at the present time (Gal. 4; Phil. 3:20)." (p. 266) These verses do not say that! Remember, they have an agenda! When PD began, one of the proponents said that they as dispensatioalists wanted to soften the dispensationl teaching and give a compromise view more compatible with covenant theology. one of the proponents said that in eschatology, he puts the doctrine of the rapture way down the list in importance. And remember too, that PD is softening present love of, and support for, Israel. At that "big" school the understanding of, and the teaching of premillennial prophecy, has almost died. And more and more students there, unknown to the leadership, are jumping ship to amillennialism. Thanks for asking. Mal Couch, Ph.D., Th.D. Please Click Here To read more Answers to Your Questions |
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| Dr. Couch, I know of no time in history when things changed so quickly morally, spiritually, socially, and economically, in our world. What's happening? ANSWER: It's the apostasy, and it's setting us up for persecution, but also for the rapture of the church. The rapture removes believers just before the seven years of tribulation and wrath begins—this is a judgment upon the people of earth. We are galloping in that direction! There are specific steps that have brought us to this point: (1) we at first reacted against the evil and sin that we saw coming against us. But we were powerless to really bring about change. No one listened to what we had to say. (2) but then, we began to endure what was happening. We accepted abortion and homosexuality and were unable to bring about conviction in our society. Then we started to (3) tolerate what was happening—even accepting and participating in a certain humor with those who are gross sinners. From (4) enduring and tolerating what was happening we began to assimilate what was going on. Not that we fell into the sins themselves but we allowed the evil to be at least a part of our thinking processes! We are no longer shocked and disturbed about what we are seeing and hearing! The final stage is (5) that we began to forget the fact that there was a day that we rejected the sin that has grown up in our midst. We accept these sins as part of normalcy. Statistics now show that the younger Christian sees no big problem with abortion or homosexuality. He thinks that the older believers are overreacting to these vices and evils. The younger crowd cannot remember a day when these sins were almost non-existent, or were but buried in the deep slime pits of our society. But those of us who are older certainly do remember! Understand, there is no turning back. I doubt that we will ever see a return to moral sanity in America or any other Western nation. We are into the apostasy—the falling away! Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch |
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Ask Dr. Couch #2
| Dr Couch is there going to be a worldwide tribulation? When will this happen and what is it? ANSWER: A timetable is given in Daniel 9:24-27 of 490 years in which God would wrap up His dealings with the Jewish people. 483 years have been completed and these years come down to the very period of the rejection of Christ. A "week," or a period of seven years remain in the Lord's calculation to deal with and purge the Jewish people (v. 27). During this time, the temple sacrifices will cease, which implies that a rebuilt temple is standing in Jerusalem, something which the orthodox Jews rightly look for. Verse 27 makes a horrible prediction in which there comes desolation, complete destruction. This seems to tie in with Isaiah 24. There it is predicted that the earth will be completely laid waste (v. 3), the earth will be polluted (v. 5), and the earth will be burned "and few men will be left" (v. 6). "Terror and pit and snare confront you, O inhabitant of the earth" (v. 17). Christ called this the "birth pangs" referred to in Jeremiah 30. He called it the tribulation, and the great tribulation (Matt. 24). He said there will be no day like it ever on the earth (v. 21) and that if this period was not shortened, no flesh would survive (v. 22). While we do not determine Bible doctrine by current events, anyone looking carefully at the Middle East is a fool who denies that such a day is possibly very near! Some say, "well have not others in the past predicted that the end of the earth was about to take place?" The answer is yes, but there is something in place now that was not before. The Jews have been miraculously returned to the land of Israel after being scattered around the world for almost 2,000 years! The nation of Israel must be in place for the tribulation to take place. But too, there is to be an apostasy of the church. There will be a lot of religion but little spiritual reality! I believe we are now entering into the apostasy! I hope this helps. Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch Please Click Here To read more Answers to Your Questions |
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| Dr. Couch, John 14:17 says that the Holy Spirit resides in each believer. My question is from John 16:8-11. Does the Spirit exclusively use believers to convict the world, or does He also work outside of the Church to convict the lost? ANSWER: This is a good question. Some hold to both possibilities on what is being said in the John 16 passage. Christ said in verse 7 that He would send the Spirit "to you," the believers, when the Lord goes away. But the Lord went on: "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged." The word "convict" in Greek is the word elegcho and can be translated "to rebuke, reprove, find fault, chide, call to account." It is in the future tense. When the Lord ascends back to His Father, the Spirit will be doing this work on earth among the lost in the world. Since this work of the Spirit happens after He is sent to the believers, the implication is that He does this through the believers here on earth. This probably happens, in that the children of God are used by the Spirit to bring about rebuke in regard to sin, righteousness, and judgment. But the passage may also leave open the possibility that the Spirit is doing the same work apart from the believers. I do not think one would be wrong in assuming that it is both through believers, and apart from believers, that the Spirit is reproving the world. We may not be able to be too dogmatic one way or another on the issue. Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch |
Friday, April 24, 2009
FREE CD ON CURRENT EVENTS AND MATTHEW 24
| Events are rapidly changing in our world on the National and International front. Dr. Mal Couch will be examining some of the most pertinent issues and tie them together in an outline of Matthew 24. The CD is FREE but there will only be a limited number cut. Order now. Send your name and address to: (254) 675 2681. Order NOW! |
Ask Dr. Couch #399
| Dr. Couch, I understand Newsweek Magazine has a scathing editorial against the Bible and the issue of homosexuality. What's going on? ANSWER: What is happening is clearly the advancement of the prophesied apostasy of the culture, or technically, the further degradation of the culture down the moral slippery slop in the end time. The church is indeed specifically going apostate as the world falls into the pit. In other words, (1) the world is getting worse morally and in its rejection of revelation, and (2) the church is apostatizing morally and spiritually. We are not going to stop this, and, I do not expect a revival or a turning back to God. The world (specifically the West) now has no biblical orientation as it once did to know to a degree a certain spiritual conviction. But of course, that spiritual conviction is not natural. It is given by the sovereignty of God and He now is turning away from the culture. He is preparing the world for the wrath. By the way, the Newsweek editorial shows how the Bible can be misconstrued when the reader (the lost or even the Christian) does not understand dispensationalism, and how the Word of God must be so interpreted. You have to understand that the world was different under the OT economy, and how God worked with the world differently, under the period of the law over against how He deals with the world today under the age of Grace. If Christians don't get it, they go silent because they do not see the changes within the different ages of biblical history. And they cannot answer the criticisms of the culture against the Bible! I am more and more getting tired of the old apologetics because it no longer answers the new charges against the revelations found in Scripture. You cannot have a biblical apologetic without understanding the prophecies concerning Israel and the restoration of the Davidic Kingdom. I have a bunch of friends who are just fascinated with the field of "Reformed" apologetics but it's as if they are working in the backroom and have not come out to the front room to present the Scriptures that proclaim that God is working against with the nation of Israel. Reformed apologetics needs to be put to bed and we need so new men, premillennialists and dispensationalists, who bring apologetics up to snuff! I know what I'm talking about. I went through the standard graduate apologetic courses in grad school! We need some thinking young dispensationalists to plow new ground! So we dispensationalists are right. The Covenant guys have few answers in being able to put the Scriptures together, in making clear how our day is different from the days of the OT. Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch Please Click Here To Read More Answers to Your Questions |
Evangelical Ship Sinking
| No Truth Without Love, No Love Without Truth by Albert Mohler The church's engagement with the culture involves a host of issues, controversies, and decisions--but no issue defines our current cultural crisis as clearly as homosexuality. Some churches and denominations have capitulated to the demands of the homosexual rights movement, and now accept homosexuality as a fully valid lifestyle. Other denominations are tottering on the brink, and without a massive conservative resistance, they are almost certain to abandon biblical truth and bless what the Bible condemns. Within a few short years, a major dividing line has become evident--with those churches endorsing homosexuality on one side, and those stubbornly resisting the cultural tide on the other. The homosexual rights movement understands that the evangelical church is one of the last resistance movements committed to a biblical morality. Because of this, the movement has adopted a strategy of isolating Christian opposition, and forcing change by political action and cultural pressure. Can we count on evangelicals to remain steadfastly biblical on this issue? Not hardly. Scientific surveys and informal observation reveal that we have experienced a significant loss of conviction among youth and young adults. No moral revolution can succeed without shaping and changing the minds of young people and children. Inevitably, the schools have become crucial battlegrounds for the culture war. The Christian worldview has been undermined by pervasive curricula that teach moral relativism, reduce moral commandments to personal values, and promote homosexuality as a legitimate and attractive lifestyle option. Our churches must teach the basics of biblical morality to Christians who will otherwise never know that the Bible prescribes a model for sexual relationships. Young people must be told the truth about homosexuality--and taught to esteem marriage as God's intention for human sexual relatedness. The times demand Christian courage. These days, courage means that preachers and Christian leaders must set an agenda for biblical confrontation, and not shrink from dealing with the full range of issues related to homosexuality. We must talk about what the Bible teaches about gender--what it means to be a man or a woman. We must talk about God's gift of sex and the covenant of marriage. And we must talk honestly about what homosexuality is, and why God has condemned this sin as an abomination in His sight. Courage is far too rare in many Christian circles. This explains the surrender of so many denominations, seminaries, and churches to the homosexual agenda. But no surrender on this issue would have been possible, if the authority of Scripture had not already been undermined. And yet, even as courage is required, the times call for another Christian virtue as well--compassion. The tragic fact is that every congregation is almost certain to include persons struggling with homosexual desire or even involved in homosexual acts. Outside the walls of the church, homosexuals are waiting to see if the Christian church has anything more to say, after we declare that homosexuality is a sin. Liberal churches have redefined compassion to mean that the church changes its message to meet modern demands. They argue that to tell a homosexual he is a sinner is uncompassionate and intolerant. This is like arguing that a physician is intolerant because he tells a patient she has cancer. But, in the culture of political correctness, this argument holds a powerful attraction. Biblical Christians know that compassion requires telling the truth, and refusing to call sin something sinless. To hide or deny the sinfulness of sin is to lie, and there is no compassion in such a deadly deception. True compassion demands speaking the truth in love--and there is the problem. Far too often, our courage is more evident than our compassion. In far too many cases, the options seem reduced to these--liberal churches preaching love without truth, and conservative churches preaching truth without love. Evangelical Christians must ask ourselves some very hard questions, but the hardest may be this: Why is it that we have been so ineffective in reaching persons trapped in this particular pattern of sin? The Gospel is for sinners--and for homosexual sinners just as much as for heterosexual sinners. As Paul explained to the Corinthian church, "Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" [1 Corinthians 5:11]. I believe that we are failing the test of compassion. If the first requirement of compassion is that we tell the truth, the second requirement must surely be that we reach out to homosexuals with the Gospel. This means that we must develop caring ministries to make that concern concrete, and learn how to help homosexuals escape the powerful bonds of that sin--even as we help others to escape their own bonds by grace. If we are really a Gospel people; if we really love homosexuals as other sinners; then we must reach out to them with a sincerity that makes that love tangible. We have not even approached that requirement until we are ready to say to homosexuals, "We want you to know the fullness of God's plan for you, to know the forgiveness of sins and the mercy of God, to receive the salvation that comes by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to know the healing God works in sinners saved by grace, and to join us as fellow disciples of Jesus Christ, living out our obedience and growing in grace together." Such were some of you . . . The church is not a place where sinners are welcomed to remain in their sin. To the contrary, it is the Body of Christ, made up of sinners transformed by grace. Not one of us deserves to be accepted within the beloved. It is all of grace, and each one of us has come out of sin. We sin if we call homosexuality something other than sin. We also sin if we act as if this sin cannot be forgiven. We cannot settle for truth without love nor love without truth. The Gospel settles the issue once and for all. This great moral crisis is a Gospel crisis. The genuine Body of Christ will reveal itself by courageous compassion, and compassionate courage. We will see this realized only when men and women freed by God's grace from bondage to homosexuality feel free to stand up in our churches and declare their testimony--and when we are ready to welcome them as fellow disciples. Millions of hurting people are waiting to see if we mean what we preach. This article originally appeared here. |
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Ask Dr. Couch #299
| Dr. Couch, what does the Progressive Dispensational expression "The already but not yet" mean? ANSWER: It is a stupid view that says the kingdom has begun and finds its present expression in the church, though the PDs add, there is yet to come also an earthly millennial reign of Christ on earth. It is a compromise position to make the Covenant guys happy, and maybe cause them to like dispensationalism a little more. Finding "common ground" is part of the whole movement toward modernity. It is a form of liberalism that is afraid to be dogmatic and correct. "We just don't want to offend!" It does not matter schmatz to me what the false Covenant guys think. They are wrong from the get-go to say the church has replaced Israel, and that the promises to the Jews have been transferred to the church. In my opinion this view is heresy and denies the literal coming of my Lord to reign and rule on earth as promised Him! While it is true the church will be in the kingdom, still the church is not presently fulfilling the kingdom nor is it the key kingdom people. It is true however we will have some authority during that millennial period on earth. Christ promised in the future (not presently) believers will be granted (Future Tense) "to set down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Rev. 3:21). John further says in Revelation that (in the future, not presently) Christ will grant that church believers will exercise like-authority with Him in the kingdom! We will even be given judgmental rights over the nations (Rev. 2:26-27). But no verse says the church is now fulfilling some sort of kingdom reign in this present age. Christ ratified the New Covenant, which is to be fulfilled by Israel in the kingdom when the Jews accept Christ by the work of the Spirit. Presently however, the church benefits from it by the salvation it provides, but nowhere does it say we fulfill the New Covenant. It was not promised or made first and foremost for the church but for Israel! (See Luke 22:42; Acts 2; 2 Cor. 3:1-6). But again, we are not now in the kingdom itself. The PDs, allegorical and Covenant guys, have the right to be wrong, and sure enough, they are! Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch Please Click Here To read more Answers to Your Questions |
Audio Studies: Revelation
This is the third installment of many audio studies of the book of Revelation by Daniel Woodhead. Check back for more Audio Studies. Daniel Woodhead is a doctoral student studying under Dr. Couch at Scofield Seminary
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Ask Dr. Couch #199
| Dr. Couch, is it possible that the resurrected saints who came out of the grave when Christ came forth from the tomb were resurrected OT saints who were given glorified bodies and ascended up with Christ at His ascension? ANSWER: That they were OT saints is not in doubt. The church dispensation begins at Pentecost in Acts 2. You cite Matthew 27:52-53 to prove the point of their ascension: "And the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared to many." First of all the passage does not say they ascended up with Christ to heaven. They went into the city of Jerusalem and were seen by many. But like Lazarus, their resurrection was not eternal in nature. Lazarus would die again and be resurrected at some point in the future. We all have to avoid wild speculations. While there are times we can postulate about things the Bible does not address specifically, do not be one who always goes out into left field and comes up with strange ideas! Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch Please Click Here To read more Answers to Your Questions |
BARBAROSSA AND ADOLF HITLER
| Hitler sent his Panzer troops into Russia on June 22, 1941. His invasion plans were kept secret but when his armies moved, he shocked the world as well as the Russian people who thought they were safe from him for a period. At the time, this move into Russia was the largest military invasion the world had ever witnessed. Hitler called the invasion Barbarossa! And he thought that he would have captured all of Russia by December of that year. He had the same dreams of Napoleon who also lost his armies to the Russian winter! What did the word Barbarossa mean and where did it come from? The Italian word was applied to the German Emperor Friedrich ("Lord of Peace") or Friedrich I (1152-1190). The word means "red" because of his red beard. Friedrich was a strong willed ruler who returned Germany again to the leadership of the Christian world, though Germany was actually an Empire or collection of some 100 independent states. Friedrich proclaimed a "Landfried" or Peace of the Land, whereby he enforced his rule on all of the German people. He was "a terror to evildoers" and his enemies. It is said he advanced civilization in Germany that up to that time was a pretty backward people. Friedrich may have been the first ruler to speak of the "Holy Roman Empire." He imagined himself as the world emperor ruling all of Europe. It is said that he hoped "that the entire world would consider him as emperor, as well as the Italian pope, who was at that time the vice-ruler of God." Friedrich held absolute authority over all of the Empire, and supposedly owned all the property within it. With an iron fist he held total control over Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary. In his last year (1189), he led the Third Crusade into the Holy Land, hoping to unify both East and West in a Roman Empire restored to its ancient scope. When in the 1800s Bismarck united all of Germany into one state, a proud people, the Germans, saw in him Barbarossa rising triumphantly from the tomb. When Hitler invaded Russia, he called that invasion Barbarossa. He dreamed of the glory of old Germany controlling and ruling the world. And he saw that domination beginning with the conquest of the Slavs, the backward Russian people. Hitler also dreamed of restoring Imperial Rome to its glory. His armies carried Roman standards in parades. Hitler knew history more than we give him credit for! It is no accident that he saw the German Empire (or the Roman Empire) lasting for 1,000 years, the same length of time that the Kingdom of Christ will last on earth! – Dr. Mal Couch |
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
APRIL 21 – HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY
| During World War II six millions Jews died under the persecution of the Nazis in Europe. Today, many of the Arab leaders are denying that this great tragedy even happened. But it did! The Jews have stated that that event is what God used to drive them back to the Holy Land at the end of the war. A chapter to remember: Isaiah 62. "It will no longer be said to you, 'Forsaken,' nor to your land will it any longer be said, 'Desolate'; but you shall be called, 'My delight is in her.' The Lord will proclaim to the earth, 'The Holy People, the redeemed of the Lord'; a city not forsaken!" Below are some of the headlines in The Palestine Post of past years! NAZI SAVAGERY SPELLS DOOM OF JEWISH LIFE IN GERMANY (November 12, 1938) TRIAL OF NAZI CHIEFS FORMALLY OPENED (October 19, 1945) NAZIS ADMIT MURDERING 6 MILLION JEWS IN EUROPE (December 16, 1945) NATIONAL HOME BECOMES JEWISH STATE (December 10, 1945) REFUGEES REFUSE TO LEAVE THE SHIP "EXODUS 1947" (July 30, 1947) STATE OF ISRAEL IS BORN! (May 16, 1948) "I came to bring peace on the earth" (Matt. 10:34) |
Ask Dr. Couch #1
| What is the rapture of the church? I hear so much controversy about this doctrine. Help me? ANSWER: The doctrine of the rapture of the church is as defendable as any other truth of Scripture. However, there are those who simply want to dismiss it because it does not fit into their preconceived theological framework. There are about thirteen rapture passages. Two keys stand out: (1) the rapture could have happened to Paul and all true believers in his day. When writing about it, he continually uses the pronouns: "we, you, us." The rapture could have taken place at any moment, even upon his generation! The rapture of true believers has to do with the fact that we will caught up into the clouds to meet the Lord before the terrible day of God's wrath, the tribulation, falls upon a very sinful and rebellious world population. I believe we are getting closer to the prophesied seven year tribulation, and thus, the removal of the church, the bride of Christ, just prior to that horrible event of earthly punishment. Some of the important rapture passages:
There are many other powerful passages of Scripture that explain the rapture but these are some of the most outstanding. Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch Please Click Here To Read More Answers to Your Questions |
Monday, April 20, 2009
Audio Studies: Revelation
This is the second of many audio studies of the book of Revelation by Daniel Woodhead. Check back for more Audio Studies. Daniel Woodhead is a doctoral student studying under Dr. Couch at Scofield Seminary
NO MORE GOVERNMENT FREE-BEES
| You have to take care of yourself! Read carefully Joshua 17:12-18. The children of Ephraim and Manasseh complained to Joshua that they needed more territory because they were so numerous. Joshua then urges them to go up into the forests and clear the land to provide more space "since you are a numerous people whom the Lord has thus far blessed" (v. 14). But they moan and groan! "The hill country is not enough for us …" (v. 16). Joshua says in so many words "Too bad!" You need to go and provide for yourselves. Stop complaining! "The hill country shall be yours. For though it is a forest, you shall clear it, and to its farthest borders it shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, even though they have chariots of iron and though they are strong" (v. 18). "Provide for yourselves!" A word for today! – Dr. Mal Couch |
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Ask Dr. Couch
| Dr. Couch, how could the amil guys think that the Kingdom of God in Luke 19:11 could be the church? ANSWER: The answer is simple. They cannot read very well! That may sound insulting but I can't think of a better reason. The Jews were all looking for the Jewish messianic Davidic Kingdom. They had no idea what the church would be all about. Since Christ was the promised King, they thought the Kingdom of God "was going to appear immediately" (v. 11). They were right in that it should if the nation had repented. That was the message of John the Baptist and of Christ also, but the Jews were too stubborn so the Kingdom would be postponed. Jesus then gave a parable of the nobleman who went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return (v. 12). While the story is complicated down through verse 27, I give the meaning on page 184 in my Luke Commentary (AMG Publishers). "The Jews buried the prophecy about the coming messianic kingdom, this becomes a sign of the most heinous of evils. And the citizens who said they did not want the new nobleman king 'to reign over us' (v. 14), represents the soon coming final rejection of the Jews of their promised Sovereign! The destruction of Jerusalem with its streams of Jewish blood is the preliminary reality that is back of these words." One thing is clear. The Kingdom of God is not the church! The context has to do with the Jewish people as Christ dealt with them. The rejection of the nobleman has to do with the rejection of Christ the King! The Kingdom is then postponed and the church then takes its place. Yet, the Kingdom will someday come—the earthly millennial reign of the Messiah in Jerusalem! Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch |
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Thought Provoking
| "Thought Provoking" by Pam Geller of Atlas Shrugs. I am a student of history. Professionally, I have written 15 books in six languages, and have studied history all my life. I think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is just a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes, these exist but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus. Something of historic proportions is happening. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it. Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about 10 - 15 years. The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two. We demanded and then codified into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people whom we know could never pay back? Why? We learned recently that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has "loaned" two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms. That is our money. Yours and mine. And that is three times the $700B we all argued about so strenuously just this past September. Who has this money? Why do they have it? Why are the terms unavailable to us? Who asked for it? Who authorized it? I thought this was a government of "We the People," who loaned our powers to our elected leaders. Apparently not. We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy. Why? We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving. Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate. Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why? We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (now violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it wants marriage to remain between one man and one woman. Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?). We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into a banana republic. To what purpose? Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system is on the verge of collapse. Social Security is nearly bankrupt, as is Medicare and our entire government. Our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and know precisely what I am talking about.) The list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth. It is potentially 1929 x 10. And we are at war with an enemy we cannot name for fear of offending people of the same religion who cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so. And now we have elected a man no one knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla, Alaska. All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders? No? Oh, of course. The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it. Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter and a $150,000 wardrobe is more important.) Mr. Obama's winning platform can be boiled down to one word: Change. Why? I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now. This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life. In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure. Change is indeed coming. And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again. And that is only the beginning. I thought I would never be able to experience what the ordinary, moral German felt in the mid-1930s. In those times, the savior was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing. What they did know was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory and promises. Economic times were tough, people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker. And he smiled and waved a lot. And people, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his "brown shirts" would bully them into submission. And then he was duly elected to office, with a full-throttled economic crisis at hand [the Great Depression]. Slowly but surely he seized the controls of government power, department by department, person by person, bureaucracy by bureaucracy. The kids joined a Youth Movement in his name, where they were taught what to think. How did he get the people on his side? He did it promising jobs to the jobless, money to the moneyless, and goodies for the military-industrial complex. He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe, and across the world. He did it with a compliant media - Did you know that? And he did this all in the name of justice and . . . change. And the people surely got what they voted for. (Look it up if you think I am exaggerating.) Read your history books. Many people objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and made fun of. When Winston Churchill pointed out the obvious in the late 1930s while seated in the House of Lords in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker. He was right, though. Don't forget that Germany was the most educated, cultured country in Europe . It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities. And in less than six years - a shorter time span than just two terms of the U. S. presidency - it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors. All with the best of intentions, of course. The road to Hell is paved with them. As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice: I can either believe what the objective pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust); I can believe what history is shouting to me from across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong, close my eyes, have another latte and ignore what is transpiring around me. Some people scoff at me; others laugh or think I am foolish, naive, or both. Perhaps I am. But I have never been afraid to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe - and why I believe it. I pray I am wrong. But, I do not think I am... About the author via Google... Pamela "Atlas" Geller began her publishing career at The New York Daily News and subsequently took over operation of The New York Observer as Associate Publisher. She left The Observer after the birth of her fourth child but remained involved in various projects including American Associates, Ben Gurion University and being Senior Vice-President Strategic Planning and Performance Evaluation at The Brandeis School. After 9/11, Atlas had the veil of oblivion violently lifted from her consciousness and immersed herself in the education and understanding of geopolitics, Islam, terror, foreign affairs and imminent threats the mainstream media and the government wouldn't cover or discuss. |
Friday, April 17, 2009
WORDS TO THINK ABOUT!
| "I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it." –Benjamin Franklin "The way to crush the bourgeois is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation." –Lenin |
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Ask Dr. Couch
| Dr. Couch, I've been studying the plans and blueprint the Lord gave to Ezekiel for the millennial temple in chapters 40-48. In Genesis 15:18 God told Abraham in the covenant He made with him that the extent of the kingdom would be from "the river Egypt (possibly the Nile or the Wadi el Arish) to the great river Euphrates." This would include the areas of other pagan tribal peoples as mentioned in verses 19-21. Is there a conflict? ANSWER: Absolutely not! You cited Ezekiel 47:18 that is only describing the boundaries on the east side of the land, with the starting point probably the city of Jerusalem. Other sides of the boundaries are described in verses 13-23. But there is another point you must consider. When the land was divided up for the Jews when they originally entered Canaan, the tribal divisions of the land were more limited and confined just to the heart of the territory, though the core of the land went all the way to the Euphrates. In one sense, (1) the kingdom over which the Messiah will reign is the entire world though (2) the core of the land goes all the way over to the Euphrates. However (3) the tribal occupation was a much smaller territory. There is no contradiction. Remember, context, context, context! To fully understand the divisions of the land mentioned you need to sit down with a map of the region and study carefully 47:13-23. On these verses Unger writes: "Ezekiel envisioned not only a rejuvenated land but an enlarged Canaan for all Israel, including the whole twelve tribes, to inhabit. The distribution closely follows the boundaries given Moses (Num. 34:1-15); however, the northern boundary is given first, in contrast to Numbers. … Some of the place names marking the boundaries of the land are still uncertain or unknown. But the general boundary can be traced to a point along the Mediterranean north of Tyre." Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch |
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
THE PALESTINIANS AND ARABS ARE IN DEEP TROUBLE!
| The Arab leaders are saying that the holocaust in Europe did not happen! They deny that six million Jews died under the evil reign of Hitler. They believe that if they say this long enough and loud enough that many people who are so ignorant about history will start to believe them and lose sympathy for Israel. There is trouble brewing for the Arabs who hate Israel and who wish to drive her into the sea! God's wrath will fall upon them soon, or certainly in the time of the tribulation, which I believe is not far off! Psalm 83 gives the warning, and that psalm virtually quotes what many Arab leaders are saying even today. The chapter starts out pleading for God "not to remain silent, or be still" because of the hatred of the Arabic people surrounding Israel (v. 1). Those calling for Israel's destruction are "making an uproar, and are actually the enemies of God" (v. 2). They are really hating God and exalting themselves (v. 2b). These Arab peoples are "making shrewd plans against God's people" (v. 3). They "conspire together against God's treasured ones" (v. 3b). The Arab nations call out "Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more" (v. 4). Further, "They conspire together with one mind; against God do they make a covenant" (v. 5). The peoples making this partnership are those who live around the people of Israel in the land: Edom, the Ishmaelites, Moab, Ammon, Amalek, the Philistines, Tyre, Assyria (modern day Iraq). The Arab enemies say: "Let us possess for ourselves the pastures of God" (v. 12). God will someday make them like "the whirling dust, like chaff before the wind, like a flame that sets the mountains on fire" (vv. 13-14). They will be terrified with "God's storm" (v. 15). They will be "ashamed, dismayed, humiliated and perish" (v. 16-17). However grace is still available to these Arab enemies of Israel. The hope is that they would seek God's name (v. 16). For certain, they will find out who is in charge and who controls the world! "They will learn that God alone is the Most High over the earth" (v. 18). The Most High is the name of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. See Daniel 7:18, 22, 25. The Arabs are in rebellion against Israel's Lord and Savior! – Dr. Mal Couch |
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Audio Studies: Revelation
This is the first of many audio studies of the book of Revelation by Daniel Woodhead. Check back for more Audio Studies. Daniel Woodhead is a doctoral student studying under Dr. Couch at Scofield Seminary
Monday, April 13, 2009
Ask Dr. Couch
| Dr. Couch, who or what is the Destroyer of Exodus 12:23? ANSWER: Exodus 12 is the story of the Passover. The Jews were to slay a lamb and put the blood on the doorposts and then in haste leave Egypt before the Destroyer comes to take the first born son. The Destroyer was to take the first born sons of any family in the land, from both the Jews and the Egyptians. The sacrificed lamb represented the future death of the Messiah for the sins of the people. In a symbolic sense, the blood on the doorposts meant that the first born son "was dead." The lamb was a substitute, as Christ would be a substitute, for sin. This was thoroughly explained in Isaiah 53 where it is made clear that the Messiah would be the Suffering Servant for the sins of the people. The Destroyer is the Angel of Jehovah who is actually Christ who appeared in the OT in the form of an angel. The Angel of Jehovah is deity, and is God the Son incarnate! Some do not believe the Destroyer is the Angel of Jehovah. But other passages of Scripture make this clear. For example, 2 Samuel 24:16 uses the same Hebrew word in speaking about the Angel of destruction: "When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity, and said to the angel who destroyed the people …" Also, we read in 2 Kings 19:35: "Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out, and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians …" In Exodus 12:23 the word Destroyer is "shachat" in the Hiphil Causative Participle form, and reads: "The Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the 'One who is causing destruction' to come in to your houses to smite you." The Jewish Rabbis call this One the Destroying Angel because of the use of the Participle. In verse 13 where it reads "I will pass over you," the Jewish Targum says it could read, "I will spare you," or "I will protect you" (LXX). The text also says that it is the Lord who goes through the land to smite the first born. "For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all of the first born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast …" (Exod. 12:12). "When I see the blood, I will pass over you …" (v. 13). But it is also God who sends the Destroyer who is a separate person from the Lord Himself. The Destroyer is not simply a force but an intelligent Being who will take the first born from among those who do not have the blood on the door. The Destroyer "comes to smite …" The question is often asked, is the first born of the men or also of the women? It is of the men, or boys, which were most important in continuing the families. We read in Exodus 13:2: "Sanctify to Me every first born, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel; both of man and beast; it belongs to Me." Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch |
Friday, April 10, 2009
POST-TRIBULATIONAL RAPTURE
| I am often asked "What is this all about?" Before explaining this view it is important to understand something about those who have such crazy theological views, especially when it comes to biblical prophecy. There are those who (1) are just poor scholars and who have sorry skills when it comes to interpretation. (2) There are those who have a personal agenda. They have preconceptions and refuse to take the Bible at face value. (3) There are those who hate premillennialism and dispensationalism, though they could not really tell you why! I call the post-tribulational view the escalator view of the doctrine of the rapture of the church. They argue that the rapture comes at the very end of the tribulation. The church is caught up into heaven right at the end of the tribulation, goes to glory, and then turns right around and instantly returns to earth to be in the kingdom! Now that is just plain dumb! Why would they have this view? For some reason they want the church to go through the tribulation. Some argue that to go through the tribulation is a way to purge and clean up the church before the return of Christ. This shows that they have no correct concept of the doctrine of sanctification. The posttribers say the church does not go through the final wrath of God as described in the seventh bowl of wrath in Revelation 16: 17-21. The passage says God gives to Babylon the Harlot "the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath" (v. 19). But because the posters have such sorry observation and contextual skills in interpreting the Bible they fail to notice that the Scriptures make it clear that the entire tribulation, the total seven years, is labeled the wrath of God. And the wrath of God is used to describe this total period that starts in Revelation 6. In the book of Revelation, the tribulation is rightly divided into two parts: one half and one half. But in most contexts outside of Revelation the tribulation is seen as a whole, the entire period is called the wrath of God. And again as mentioned, the church does not go under any part of that seven years. The seven year tribulation actually begins in Revelation 6 with the seven seal judgments. This entire period is called "Their wrath," that is, the wrath (seen as a whole) that comes from God the Father and from Christ the Lamb (vv. 16-17). The world begs to be hidden from their wrath, "for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to [remain] standing" or to survive this entire period that falls upon the whole earth? The apostle Paul describes the rapture of the church in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10. There, he says we are waiting for His Son from heaven, "whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath 'that is on its way'" (v. 10). Again, the wrath is seen as a whole, an entire period that has a start and a finish, from a beginning to an ending. The church will be removed from that entire period! Paul repeats this in 5:9. He writes, "For God has not destined us for wrath but for obtaining deliverance through our Lord Jesus Christ." This wrath starts in Revelation 6. Jeremiah describes the wrath as "the birth pangs" that fall upon Israel, and he adds, "Alas! For that day is great, there is none like it; and it is the time of Jacob's (Israel's) distress" (Jer. 30:6-7). The word "distress" in Hebrew is "zarach" and can be translated "tribulation" or "wrath." The wrath is seen as a whole, an entire period, in many OT passages. Zephaniah 1:15-17 says "A day of wrath is that day, a day of troubles and distress; a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, and a day of clouds and thick darkness. … I will bring distress on all men." Remember, people who have strange views that contradict Scripture have an agenda. They are trying to avoid the obvious and change what is clear to the average reader who lets the Bible speak in all its clarity. Talking about someone mixed up! George Ladd wrote: "The Church is 'already' passing through the Tribulation." Walvoord correctly noted about this view: "A literal interpretation of the Scriptures dealing with the tribulation and taking into account all the factors reveled in Scriptures concerning the Tribulation … supports the pretribulational rapture concept." Those of us who hold the pretribulational rapture are correct; the rest are wrong! – Dr. Mal Couch |
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Ask Dr. Couch
| Dr. Couch, we have a man in our church who claims to be a prophet. This is a very conservative church. What do we do? And, what is a NT prophet? ANSWER: First of all, he's a fool, and very ignorant of Scripture, and of church history. Ignorance is growing and not diminishing. Several decades back, or more, people started saying, "We don't need to study doctrine in church, just make us 'feel good' with light devotionals on Sunday morning!" In both our OT and NT a prophet is one who may be a teacher or foretells into the future. CONTEXT is what determines what is going on in a given passage. And, people have such poor interpretative skills that they do not know how to study the Word of God by Context! If we had true prophets today who could foretell into the future then someone should walk behind them, record their prophecies, and put them in a book as "The Word of God." But we do not have such people around, though with their egos, they try to convince the foolish that they are foretelling prophets. People forget that a prophet could both tell the future but also be a teacher. Once the canon of the NT was complete, such a role of being a teaching prophet or a foretelling prophet was no longer needed. The only one in the NT who is recorded as foretelling into the future, besides the apostles, was Agabus. He gave a prophecy about the apostle Paul. Philip had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses (Acts 21:8-14. Why did they not make a future prophecy about Paul? Agabus did but they did not! The reason would be that they were not prophetesses who were foretelling into the future. They would be "teaching" prophetesses, and, they would only be teaching women, because Paul makes it clear that women were not to be teaching men (1 Tim. 2:12). When the canon of Scripture was completed, with the writing of the book of Revelation (cir. AD 90-95), we have no record of legitimate foretelling prophets or even of teaching prophets. Paul makes it clear that the three most important gifts that had to do with communicating the Word of God, before the canon was complete, would someday disappear: the gifts of (1) prophecy, (2) linguistics (or tongues), and (3) and of knowledge. The gift of linguistics (glossa) helped spread the truth among those who spoke different languages. Again, one must compute that the canon of the NT was not complete. Our Bible is in Greek and is translated for different language groups! Another "communication" gift was the gift of knowledge. The one with this gift had special insights into doctrinal knowledge. This was important because as mentioned, the entire NT was not completed. Those with this gift had special doctrinal insights because the canon was not finished. When the NT was completed, it became the authority for spiritual truth. We know for a fact from 1 Corinthians 14:29-32 that the gift of prophecy had to do mainly with teaching and not foretelling into the future. But as mentioned, only the apostles along with Agabus had the ability to foretell into the future. Again, how are we certain that the gift was used for teaching and not prophesying into the future? Paul writes that those who had this gift in the church of Corinth were to exercise their gift "one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted" (v. 31). "Learning" and "exhortation" had to do with the dispensing of spiritual truth in order to inform the church of doctrine and facts that helped "grow up" the fledgling congregations. This is not the giving forth of some prophetic future message! The Greek text is very strong in the way it describes the going away of these three "communication" gifts. The apostle writes: "Love is never falling; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be in the future made inoperative; if there are [the gifts of] linguistics (tongues), they will in the future stop themselves; if there is knowledge, it will in the future stop themselves, … but when the 'completion' comes, the partial will be done away" (vv. 8-10). The "perfect" or the "completion" is the Greek word "teleion" and it is in the Neuter gender not the masculine. Some ignorant folks say this "perfect" is Christ, but it can't be; the word is a neuter word and He would be described with the masculine gender! I personally would ask the one who says he has the gift of prophecy to leave the church because, he is not only very egotistical and foolish, but I promise you he will be a trouble maker. He enjoys the "power" of saying he is a prophet and having information about the future that others do not possess! Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch |
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
New Audio Files: Galatians
Please join Dr. Couch and the Clifton Bible Church for the next installment of the study of the book of Galatians:
Monday, April 6, 2009
OBAMA INSULTS OUR ALLIES!
| President Barack Hussain Obama insulted our strongest ally this last week. When British Prime Minister Gordon Brown came to the White House, Obama did not give him a joint Rose Garden press conference that has been a tradition for decades. He refused to say to the Prime Minister that we have a decades-old tradition "special relationship" with England, instead he simply referred to our "special partnership." Brown gave to the President the 8 volume set of Winston Churchill's life; Obama gave to him a set of DVDs of American films, including "Psycho." When Obama first saw a bust of Churchill in the Oval Office he said "Get that g-d_____ thing out of here!" One historian said of the President's actions, "This was a stunning posthumous attack on the memory of a man who was not only the living embodiment of the Anglo-American special relationship (Churchill was half American)," but also an action against the ties of the Anglo relationship that made America what it is. The Calvinistic Puritans first came to this land and brought Christianity and peace to these shores. This is not to say that they were perfect; they were not! But God worked wonders through them by which the greatest nation of history was established. Though Obama went to Harvard, he must have had sorry professors in history who did not share with him the truth as to how this nation came to be. Someone has well said that the 8-volumes on Churchill will sit on the White House bookshelves and certainly go unread during this presidency. The London Daily Telegraph sadly said, "Obama has been rudeness personified toward Britain." The two cultures that are growing rapidly in this country will certainly have no clue what this is all about. Nor will those under thirty who were so quick to want "change" in America. Only (some) Christians, and conservatives, who have some smarts will understand how quickly America is being destroyed! Those of us who know history, and know our Bible, knew this was the way things would go when this man got into office! We were right! – Dr. Mal Couch |
WE TOLD YOU HERE FIRST BEFORE NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE!
| We have been saying for two years that we are now into the apostasy as predicted in Scripture. Those of us who are premillennial, and who take the Bible in its normal, literal hermeneutic, have said we are rapidly moving into the end times. You need to read the April 6, '09 edition of Newsweek Magazine. The article title: "The End of Christian America!" – Dr. Mal Couch |
A THANK YOU NOTE!
| Dr. Couch, I want to thank you for making your teachings available on the Scofield Ministries and Clifton Bible Church websites. I have been making time to listen to your sermons and am really enjoying them. Just wanted to express my gratitude to the Lord and to you for all that has been and continues to be revealed to me through the Scriptures. The Word of God is alive and powerful! I thank you for your years of preparation and steadfastness to the accurate interpretation and teaching of Scripture. I just found your cliftonbiblechurch.org website where you are the pastor/elder minister. Again, thank you so very much. I just am so appreciative of all the work you have done which is helping me understand God's Word better each and every day. -- A former student |
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Ask Dr. Couch
| Dr. Couch, what is going on in Ephesians 5:26? What baptism is this? Some hyper-dispensationalists say that immersion was only during the period of John the Baptist and is not now applicable during the church age. ANSWER: They are wrong! Paul spoke of his baptizing some of the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 1:1:13-17. He separates water baptism from the gospel in this passage. Paul writes, "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, …" (v. 17). And of course Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:26-39. Philip was a deacon in the Jerusalem church but he baptized outside of a church setting, and did so near the seashore. Ephesians 5:25-27 is about spiritual baptism and how Christ sanctified His church. The cleansing is not by water but by the sanctifying ministry of the Word. There is no way one can turn this into water baptism, though the passage speaks of the cleansing of the church "by the washing of water with the word." This brings about a cleansing that He "might present to Himself the church in all her glory, …" (v. 27). Read carefully Ezekiel 36:24-28 that describes the work of the new covenant. This work will take place with the Jews after they have been brought back to the Holy Land (v. 24), during which time the larger portion of the Jews will be converted by the work of the Holy Spirit (vv 26-27). The church presently benefits by this spiritual "washing" of the Spirit though the church does not fulfill this spiritual work. It will be finalized or fulfilled when the Jews are back in the land. That's what the passage teaches. But my main point is that the "sprinkling of the clean water, that will cleanse Israel from their filthiness" is a spiritual work done by the Spirit. One more verse down explains this. "And I will put My Spirit within you" (vv. 25-26). Thus, Ephesians 5:25-27 is about the work of the new covenant with the church. Water baptism is the picture of this event; it is a spiritual work, and not a literal work of being immersed in water! I hope this helps. Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch |
Friday, April 3, 2009
Ask Dr. Couch
| Dr. Couch, with all the evil that is now taking place in our government is it still appropriate to pledge allegiance to our flag? That is a good question, but my answer would be yes based on what the apostle Paul says in Romans 13. Can you imagine a government as evil as the Roman government of Paul's day? No government is perfect, and to pledge the allegiance is not condoning everything done by the leaders of our nation. But it is a sign of respect, and even appreciation for the blessings of good government. Paul's context in Romans 13 is about the "good" government carried out by the Romans. And that government is "established by God" (v. 1). Thus, "every person is to be in subjection to the government authorities" because that "good" authority comes from God (v. 1b). For "rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior but for evil" (v. 3). Government "is a minister of God to you for good" (v. 4a). Paul's conclusion: "Render to all what is due them; tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor" (v. 7). However, somewhere there is a line. We all must decide someday how far we can go if, overall, our government really turns evil. I believe that Christians will know when that day arrives! Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch |
Thursday, April 2, 2009
OBAMA’S MARCH TO THE EDGE OF THE CLIFF
| President Barack Obama is taking America deeper into apostasy. He has given to the Palestinians and the PLO $900 million to rebuild their cities, after they were destroyed because of their firing rockets against Israel. This is like giving to the bank robber money because he was wounded as he robbed the bank! This is stupid. Remember, that is your money! Obama is also granting the Palestinians $20 million in order to allow the terrorists to emigrate to the U.S. This only waters down American support for God's people, the Jews. This is madness. And this shows how our new President does not understand spiritual and cultural issues, nor does he understand how America came about. Our support for the Jewish people has been part of the American fabric from the beginning. But remember, part of the problem is not simply with Obama. It is with the American public who put him into office. And it is about the moral degeneration of the nation. 18% of abortions in the U.S. are performed on women who say they are "born again." Expect also for the President to lift the ban on homosexuals in the military with the "no tell" policy for the sodomites. Genesis 18:20 says of homosexuality that He is angry: "And the Lord said, And because of the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous." Our judgment is certain! We shall not escape God's wrath! – Dr. Mal Couch |
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Ask Dr. Couch
| Dr. Couch, I appreciate the passages of Scripture you give that show America is very much like Israel who turned against the Lord in the OT. Do you have some other like-passages to share? I can't help but think of Deuteronomy 9. As Israel was ready to cross the Jordan river and go into the Promise Land, the Lord warned them of how their heart could depart from Him. He warned them that they would despise His sovereignty and think their prosperity came about through their own talents and righteousness. The Jews in time would say: "God has driven out the pagans of the land because of our righteousness" (v. 4). Moses added, "Know, then, it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people" (v. 6). America has not been blessed because it is so great, but because of God's grace and kindness. We have not deserved His goodness. And now it is being removed from us. As with Israel, we are now provoking the Lord by our sins. His wrath is soon coming upon America, and upon the nations of the world. Pastors, are you teaching your people these great spiritual truths? Are you simply remaining quiet about what is going on around the world? Are you teaching them biblical prophecy and explaining to them the plan of history? Are you simply leaving them in the dark? Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch |
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