The Berean Call Podcast

Originally published June 1, 1993

An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me.... And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.

—Exodus 20:24-26

...[L]et us build us a city and a tower [of Babel], whose top may reach unto heaven….

—Genesis 11:4

No two tenets of faith could be more opposed to one another than those presented above. On the one hand, we have God's rejection of any human effort to buy salvation or His favor. If man is to come to God, it must be solely by His grace and His provision, not by any human work. On the other hand, we see man's flagrant repudiation of God's prohibition against self-effort, and his arrogant attempt to build a tower that would enable him to climb by steps of his own making into heaven itself.

Question: I disagree with what you have said concerning the rich young ruler. “The issue was not the young man’s salvation but rather service to Christ.” In fact, salvation is in view and not service, for this ruler asked, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Response: Yes, the young ruler did ask what he should do to inherit eternal life. But there was nothing he could do! Having already broken the law, his keeping it perfectly in the future (even if that could be done) would not pay for past sin or justify him. And so it is with all mankind.

Though he claimed that he had kept the law perfectly, that wasn’t true, for “all have sinned.” Nor was Christ giving him conditions for salvation, for “by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight…” (Romans 3:19-23).

If “selling all and giving to the poor” is essential to salvation, then none of us are saved. It was Christ’s means of revealing to the young man his love of riches, and that he didn’t, as he claimed, love his neighbor as himself. Certainly, Christ was not telling him that if he sold all he had and gave to the poor he would be saved. That act would merely be the means of his starting to follow Christ.

This is number 231 in our series of “Get Biblical Understanding.” In this session we’re reading many but certainly not all of the biblical verses that have to do with The Heart.

The heart addressed in this series is not the physical organ within our body but rather the non-physical aspects that pervade humanity, which is at the center of our spiritual and mental life. Only God knows our heart and from Him alone comes our only true insights.

ROMANS 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

ROMANS 5:4-5 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

ROMANS 6:17-18 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

ROMANS 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

ROMANS 9:1-3 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

ROMANS 10:1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

ROMANS 10:8-10 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

This is number 230 in our series of “Get Biblical Understanding.” In this session we’re reading many but certainly not all of the biblical verses that have to do with The Heart.

The heart addressed in this series is not the physical organ within our body but rather the non-physical aspects that pervade humanity, which is at the center of our spiritual and mental life. Only God knows our heart and from Him alone comes our only true insights.

ACTS 15:8-9 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

ACTS 16:14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

ACTS 21:13 Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

ACTS 28:25-28 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

ROMANS 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

ROMANS 2:5-6 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

ROMANS 2:14-15 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;

Our website: www.thebereancall.org

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The message of this treasured epistle is just as clear and convicting today as it was to the early churches of Galatia: We are justified by grace through faith alone - not by works of the law.

Join T. A. McMahon and radio guests (Greg Durel, Mike Gendron, and Jim McCarthy) as they discuss this powerful Pauline epistle and its relevance to your daily walk.

View the full series: https://www.thebereancall.org/galatians

More about the Bible: https://www.thebereancall.org/topic/bible

Our website: https://www.reachingcatholics.org

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Our topic for today and next week is the age of the earth and the days of creation. Is the earth billions of years old, or only thousands of years old? Did God create the earth and its creatures in six days—meaning days as we think of our 24-hour days—or days as understood as great lengths of time? Now here to discuss the subject with me is Jay Seegert, the cofounder of Creation Education Center and its principal lecturer. His degrees are in physics and engineering, yet as you’ll hear, his heart and mind are first and foremost in the Bible. Jay is the author of Let There Be Light, and has produced an excellent DVD titled Creation in Six Days: A Biblical and Scientific Analysis.

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Join Dave and Tom as they engage in an in-depth, verse-by-verse examination of the Gospel of John. We hope you will be challenged and convicted as you listen to these insightful, exegetical discussions compiled from nearly four years of Search the Scriptures Daily radio programs. Open your Bible and get ready for an edifying pilgrimage into God's Word.

Question: How much power do Satan, his minions, and the Antichrist have? Can they heal?

Response:That Satan has great power is unarguable, as Job chapters 1 and 2 demonstrate. He is, however, restricted in this power: “And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power [within a specific limit]; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD” (Job 1:12). Regarding an “ability” to heal, however, we must recognize that Satan is not the Creator and can’t bring life and healing. As Paul clearly told the pagan philosophers on Mars Hill, “For in him [the Lord] we live, and move, and have our being...” (Acts 17:28). In Exodus 15:26, the Lord declared, “...for I am the LORD that healeth thee.”

In contrast, Satan can only afflict. Job 2:7 tells us, “So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.” Although Satan can afflict, he can also withdraw the affliction, thus giving the appearance of a healing: “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14).

During His earthly sojourn, Jesus encountered a woman who for 18 years had been crippled by a spirit (Luke 13:11). Jesus identifies her infirmity as being from Satan: “[T]here was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and...could in no wise lift up herself.... And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?” (Luke 13:11,16). Satan’s power is real but easily overcome by our Lord. Jesus’ miracle of healing clearly showed His authority over Satan.

The hallmark of Satan’s end-times deception is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:8-10: “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” He is the master of deception, and if “healing” will attract those being deceived, he will produce a counterfeit healing.

This is number 229 in our series of “Get Biblical Understanding.” In this session we’re reading many but certainly not all of the biblical verses that have to do with The Heart.

The heart addressed in this series is not the physical organ within our body but rather the non-physical aspects that pervade humanity, which is at the center of our spiritual and mental life. Only God knows our heart and from Him alone comes our only true insights.

ACTS 7:39 To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, 

ACTS 8:13 Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.

ACTS 8:18-21 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. 

The message of this treasured epistle is just as clear and convicting today as it was to the early churches of Galatia: We are justified by grace through faith alone - not by works of the law.

Join T. A. McMahon and radio guests (Greg Durel, Mike Gendron, and Jim McCarthy) as they discuss this powerful Pauline epistle and its relevance to your daily walk.

View the full series: https://www.thebereancall.org/galatians

More about the Bible: https://www.thebereancall.org/topic/bible

Our website: https://www.reachingcatholics.org

Our main website: www.thebereancall.org

Store: store.thebereancall.org

Download our app: www.thebereancall.org/app

Sign up for our email updates: https://www.thebereancall.org/subscribe