Bible Questions with Michael Pearl
Episode 070: Does the Bible still apply today?

Episode Transcription:

Michael Pearl:  Hi, I'm Mike Pearl. Jared dragged me indoors today to answer your Bible questions, and, so, here I am—got my Bible in front of me—and Jared has some questions that I've not yet seen or heard. What's the first question you got there, Jared?

Jared:  "I'm a junior in high school, and I'm constantly being bombarded with friends who say that it is legalistic to believe that the Bible still applies. I'm at a loss when it comes to giving a proper argument. What should I say?"

Michael:  Alright. You know, times haven't changed; it was that way when I was in high school, too. I'm going to turn to 1 Peter chapter one here to answer that question. What I did when I was in high school—Josh McDowell, I believe it was, had just come out with a book, "Evidence That Demands a Verdict"—and I read that book and accumulated a lot of information on fulfilled Bible prophecy. So, the real problem with your friends is not their doctrinal view—that's really not a doctrinal view. They're just dismissing God, dismissing the Scriptures, dismissing the whole concept because they don't really know anything about it.

So, what you need to do is arm yourself with knowledge of fulfilled Bible prophecy. Tell them about the city of Tyre, the prophecies, and how they were fulfilled. Tell them about the prophecies that were fulfilled—in 1996, I believe it was. Isaiah, where he prophesied that on the wings coming from Ethiopia, that a nation would return—a people trodden down—to Israel (God's people).

When you know some Bible prophecy and you can start sharing some of those things with excitement, you just leave them smoking in the dust—I mean, they don't have any more argument. Really, this is for you, not for them, because you're not going to come up with a Bible verse that's going to satisfy them; they've already dismissed the Bible. What you've got to do is show them that you've got a living God, a God that lives in you, and that you've got a living Book that's still functioning, still working, still prophesying.

They say the prophecies were fulfilled. What about the prophecies of Antichrist? What about the prophecies of the plagues that are going to be poured out, the vials at the end of the world? What about the prophecy of 10 nations that the Antichrist gets the balance of power? What about the four nations that come together in the valley of Megiddo to fight the final world war, or the two devils that are bound in the great river Euphrates that are released? About the Sun becoming seven times hotter, about the waters of the sea being turned to blood, and then having to drink the waters? There are all kinds of prophecies that have not been fulfilled, and prophecies that are being fulfilled right now even as we speak.

So, you just need to become a Bible student instead of a little sounding board for unbelievers. 1 Peter chapter one—I believe it is, let's see here…one, verse twenty...I'm in 2nd Peter…no wonder I can't find it—1 Peter chapter one, verse twenty‑three: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed"—that's human seed—"but of incorruptible"—which seed is the Word of God—"by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever."

So, he speaks of the Word of God as incorruptible seed that lives and abides forever. "For all flesh is as grass, and the glory of man as the flower of grass…[but] The grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away." In other words, he said that the things on this earth get old and fade away, but the Word of the Lord endureth forever. “And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”

Nope, this Word of God is as up to date as anything can possibly be. In fact, it predicts the headlines before the headlines are written. So, one day, the things that are written here will appear on CNN and Fox News and other places; and they've been spoken there for 3,000 years and written down in his Word. There's nothing more living and present than the Word of God. You just need to become a student of the Word of God and of Bible prophecies, and, when you do, you'll be able to run right over those shallow, empty-headed arguments.

Announcer: If you would like to ask a Bible question, email us at [email protected] or call at 931‑805‑4820.