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Your Questions, Honest Answers: - September 27, 2017

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE MEAN WHEN IT SAYS WHEN CHRIST RETURNS, THE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE? IS IT SCRIPTURAL TO CLAP AFTER PRAYER OR PRAISING? Read Transcript


All right.

And it's time for your email questions

and some honest answers.

And we're going to start with this one from Donna.

She says, "I believe when we die,

we immediately go to heaven.

What does the Bible mean when it says

when Christ returns, the dead in Christ will rise?"

Gordon, this one is always kind of--

This is one of your questions.

Yeah.

It bothered me a little bit, too.

It's also Wendy.

That's right.

Yeah.

I want to know.

I always though we immediately went.

The Bible says to be absent from the body

is to be present to the Lord.

WENDY: Yes.

Jesus says, as you quoted in the break, that this day,

you will be with me in paradise.

And he's saying that to the thief on the cross--

Amen.

--because he acknowledged that he was the Messiah.

So this day, you will be with me in paradise.

Great.

That's good.

So what does it mean?

So you die.

You're with Jesus.

What does it mean when the dead in Christ shall rise?

I believe in the resurrection of the dead.

And that means a bodily resurrection.

And one of the oldest books in the Bible, the Book of Job,

he says there will be a day where I will stand on the earth

and I will see my redeemer face to face.

Awesome.

OK.

To be absent from the body, you're present with the Lord.

But in that state, you're looking forward

to the bodily resurrection back here on Earth

and then the millennial reign.

This is a win-win.

Yay

This is great news.

Both are right.

Both are right.

Both are right.

It doesn't get any better.

It's good news.

Awesome.

Thank you, Gordon.

That almost stumped me.

All right.

This is from Dee.

She says, "I attend a church where the congregation claps

after a person prays.

They also clap at the end of a praise or worship song.

Is this scriptural?"

Dee, the scripture says that the trees of the field

will clap their hands.

And what are they clapping for?

They're clapping about the great things that God has done.

So if people want to clap, I think it's a very old behavior.

It's tough to find scriptural references for a lot of things,

a lot of the liturgy, a lot of the traditions,

a lot of the customs of the church.

But at the same time, clapping just

seems to be a normal human response that goes way back.

So if people are excited about something,

why not let them clap?

It's OK.

I know.

Can you imagine--

You got a problem with clapping?

Can you imagine you're preaching

and everybody's completely silent?

That happens all the time.

[CHUCKLING]

Sometimes, I hear snoring.

And it's OK.

I'm a clapper and a shouter in any manner.

So praise the Lord.

All right.

This viewer says-- and Gordon's a great preacher.

Don't let him fool you.

All right.

This viewer says, "I would like to know what Jesus meant

in Mark 16:17 through 18 when he said, 'In my name,

they shall take up serpents.'

I have heard this quoted in the pulpit many times,

but have never heard it explained."

I actually have never heard it from the pulpit.

I think most people skip over it.

You look at this.

And boy, does some bad doctrines come up where you actually

have churches that believe in snake handling

and-- as some kind of proof of their holiness or their belief.

And all they're doing is really tempting

God, certainly tempting the snake to bite them.

There's a parallel, and you find it

in Luke chapter 10, where you will tread

on serpents and scorpions.

And Jesus isn't saying to his disciples,

please find a bunch of serpents that you can walk on.

What he's saying is that you have control,

you have dominion, over the demonic.

And that is a wonderful thing.

And we need to not be afraid of the devil.

He is a defeated foe.

There's another side to it.

And it's a perfectly good interpretation

because the verse goes on that you can--

you're not going to die if you happen to drink poison.

And so you look at scripture.

And the Apostle Paul stuck his hand into a bunch of sticks

to put them in the fire.

And a viper bit him.

And it had no effect on him.

So don't tempt God with it.

But understand He's with you.

And if you're doing His work, He's

going to protect you from all harm.

And in Luke 10, that's exactly what Jesus says--

"And nothing will, by any means, harm you."

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