Tough Questions 3

To illustrate, God gave us the grape for man's good and enjoyment, but this does not mean it was right for Noah to plant a vineyard, and drink of the wine and become drunk (see Genesis 9:20-21).

So the grapes were not given by God "to do with as we see fit."

In the New Testament, Paul dealt with those that used a similar argument to justify fornication. We gather from the context of 1 Cor. 6:13 that some were contending that as food is for the stomach, the body is for fornication.

In other words, as food is intended to be eaten and enjoyed by

the stomach, the body is made to be used for every kind of sexual pleasure.

Paul responded, "Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord" (1 Cor. 6:13). So again, He did not give us our body to "do with as we see fit."

So it is with all God has made. There is a legitimate and proper usage and context for His blessings, and then there is distortion and misuse of what He has given.

When you stop and think about it, so much of temptation is a matter of the devil taking some God-given desire and tempting us to find an outlet that God has forbidden and is out of harmony with God's will.

So far as passages that would address the matter of marijuana, the use of marijuana is a form of drunkenness or intoxication. Therefore passages that condemn drunkenness would apply (Rom. 13:13; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:18).

The word “drunk” simply means “intoxicated.” The dictionary definition of intoxicated refers to alcoholic drink or a drug!

Also in Gal. 5:20 notice the word "witchcraft" (KJV) or "sorcery"(NKJV). This is from the Greek work pharmakeia, from which we get our word pharmacy.

The word in this Galatians verse has to do with the abuse of drugs, which were often used by the sorcerer to bring others under his spell. My point is that this is a specific passage that condemns the abuse of intoxicating drugs. The text says that they that practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Many times a question regarding whether something is right can easily be answered by asking "Would Jesus do it?"

If anyone can imagine Jesus smoking marijuana, and/or encouraging others to do so, he knows nothing about the Jesus of the Bible.

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QUESTION: What does the Bible say about abortion?

ANSWER: It is calculated that an unborn baby is killed every three minutes. That's more than 4,000 babies each day. Behind the smoke screen of high-sounding phrases like "pro-choice" are over 50 million dead babies--killed by abortions over the last 40 years.

People trying to defend or sell abortions often talk about "terminating a pregnancy," or removing a fetus or “tissue." That sounds much cleaner than talking about killing an unborn baby.

They decorate their argument for abortion with phrases like “reproductive rights” and a “woman’s right to choose,” “women’s health.”

When in fact, abortion has nothing to do with reproductive rights, or a woman’s right to choose, and certainly not their health in 99.8% of abortion cases…

It’s all about whether or not you have the right to kill a viable human being simply because it hasn’t been born yet!

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They say that necessity is the mother of invention. No doubt the idea that abortions aren’t killing a human life was invented to excuse the slaughter of unborn babies by abortion.

So, what does the Bible say about abortion? It says a lot!

Without question, God recognizes the unborn as a living child.

Matt.1:18 says, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.”

It doesn’t say she was found with fetus, or simply that she had conceived, but it says she was found with CHILD.

Luke 1:41 tells us that when Elizabeth was pregnant, the unborn "babe" leaped in her womb at the salutation of Mary.

“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.”

The Greek word for “baby” here is brephos.

The same Greek word—brephos—is used for the newborn child in Lk. 2:12 “And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe (brephos) wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”

And also in Luke 2:16, “And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe (brephos) lying in a manger.”

And even the older child in Lk. 18:15, “And they were bringing even their babies (brephos) to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them.”

So according to God’s Word, there is no difference whatsoever between a baby in the womb, and a baby born.

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One of the great revelations about God’s personal, intimate involvement in the formation of an unborn baby in the womb is found in Ps. 139:13: "For you formed my inward parts; You weaved me in my mother's womb.”

God told Jeremiah the same thing, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

Not only was Jeremiah formed by God in the womb, he was also called and ordained while still in the womb!

Think about it: The birth canal does not magically transform a non-human mass of fetal tissue into a viable human being!

Birth only changes a baby’s living quarters, its dining habits, and its air passageway.

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Further, Pro.6:16-17 says God hates those who shed innocent blood. There is no blood more innocent that a baby’s!

The only truly innocent party in an abortion is the unborn infant. Choosing the route of abortion gives the death penalty to an innocent baby.

David Watts writes, “Abortions kill. Something living is killed in every successful abortion. That's a biological fact, not a subjective moral judgment. Abortion kills something with life. Before the abortion, something is living; after the abortion, it is dead.”

It certainly didn't come from the Bible. It is contrary to what the Scriptures teach.

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Question? DOES THE BIBLE TALK ABOUT DINOSAURS?

Some believe the existence of dinosaurs poses a real problem

for those that accept the Bible as the inspired word of God. But not so. This is actually an imaginary problem.

Now first, there is no doubt that dinosaurs did exist. The real question is not "Did the dinosaurs exist?” The question is "When did the dinosaurs exist?" Therein lies the controversy!

Genesis 1 tells us straight up that all life forms--including the

dinosaurs, were created by God.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (1:1).

Then it says, “Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so” (1:24).

Dinosaurs would certainly be included in the phrases “living creature” and “beast of the earth.”

Ex. 20:11: "For in six days the LORD made the heavens

and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them..."

If it says that God created everything in six days, then everything was created in six 24 hour periods. I’ve never understood the issue with that!

So here is what we must conclude in light of the fact that God created man on the sixth day—Dinosaurs and men lived as contemporaries on the earth!

Dinosaurs and men had to have lived at the same time. There is no other conclusion that can be drawn if one respects the verbally inspired word of God.

Those who accept the unproved theory of evolution insist

that dinosaurs existed 200 million years before man. But this will not square with Mk. 10:6 where Jesus says, “From the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.”

Or Rom. 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made…”

Evolution claims that they became extinct 65-70 million years ago, and that man evolved only 2-3 million years ago.

This requires that man was separated from the dinosaurs by approximately 65 million years of geologic time!

But does the Bible speak of dinosaurs? The answer is yes!

Consider Job 40:15-24,

15 “Look now at the behemoth, which I made along with you; He eats grass like an ox. 16 See now, his strength is in his hips, And his power is in his stomach muscles. 17 He moves his tail like a cedar; The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit. 18 His bones are like beams of bronze, His ribs like bars of iron. 19 He is the first of the ways of God; Only He who made him can bring near His sword. 20 Surely the mountains yield food for him, And all the beasts of the field play there. 21 He lies under the lotus trees, In a covert of reeds and marsh. 22 The lotus trees cover him with their shade; The willows by the brook surround him. 23 Indeed the river may rage, Yet he is not disturbed; He is confident, though the Jordan gushes into his mouth, 24 Though he takes it in his eyes, Or one pierces his nose with a snare.”

What is the "behemoth" creature? Some have argued that it is an elephant or hippopotamus. A hippo weighs 4 tons and at full size are 7 ft. high.

Elephants are twice as tall, but are still dwarfed by dinosaurs. For instance, the Brachiosaurus stood over 3 1/2 stories tall, and weighed over 90 tons!

Job says that the creature he’s talking about, "moves his tail like a cedar." This speaks of a massive, long tail. Did you ever see the tails of either the elephant or the hippo? These have a short, slim tail.

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You might say, “But what about the fossils? Don't they prove that dinosaurs lived from 200 million to 65 million years ago, becoming extinct long before man ever came of the scene?

The truth is that science bears out the Bible is correct and evolution is wrong. Man and the dinosaurs lived at the same time.

In the Paluxy River bed near Glen Rose, Texas, SW of Forth Worth, dinosaur tracks were discovered in the same stratum as human footprints.

In recent years, scientists working with bulldozers in the area have discovered even more dinosaur and human tracks.

Dr. Roland T. Bird, paleontologist with the American

Museum of Natural History in New York, went to Glen Rose to

investigate the tracks.

Dr. Bird authored an article entitled, "Thunder in His Footsteps" in which he discussed the Glen Rose fossil finds.

He was not a creationist, and did not like the implications of his find, once telling Mrs. Elsie McFall (a resident of the area at that time) that if he were to acknowledge the presence of man

tracks in Cretaceous strata, all the textbooks would have to be

rewritten.

Scientists say that the Cretaceous era was anywhere from 140 million to 65 million years ago, and is when the greatest development and eventual extinction of dinosaurs supposedly took place.

This is why Dr. Bird was so blown away! Because he’s looking at human footprints alongside dinosaur prints at a time far before man is ever supposed to have appeared!

Nevertheless, Dr. Bird was honest enough to state concerning the tracks: "Yes, they apparently were real enough. Real

as rock could be...the strangest things of their kind I had ever

seen. On the surface of each was splayed the near-likeness of a

human foot, perfect in every detail."

The tracks were widely distributed. Strings of from 15 to 23 right-left tracks have been uncovered.

What happened to the dinosaurs that made these tracks? There is much evidence that the pre-Flood world was much different than the post-flood world.

Many creation scientists believe that the dinosaurs survived for a time after the flood, but because of the changing, hostile conditions, eventually became extinct.

Conclusion: Contrary to popular opinions, dinosaurs do not present a "problem" to creationists. In fact, just the opposite is true. It is the evolutionists who have the problem!

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