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In Luke 13:23-30 Jesus commands some followers who question Him about ‘Are there just a few who are being saved’ to “strive to enter through the narrow door”. Well, the word ‘strive’ sounds like ‘work’ to me and I thought we were saved by faith and not by works (Eph 2:8-9)? Could you explain this passage?

Everywhere you look in the Bible there’s 7 of something–and many times that 7 is divided in half, becoming 2 parts at 3 1/2. Jesus led his ministry for 3 1/2 years. Where do you think the other 3 1/2 is?

In Ezekiel 38:1-6 what does the phrase “turn you around” mean? Where is Gog being turned around from? This has always puzzled me, and I have never found anyone mention it in a study of Ezekiel 38. Most teachers jump over that phrase to “put hooks in your jaws.” I feel that The Holy Spirit guided the writing of our Bible and that phrase is no accident, but I am at a loss as to what it means. Can you help?

Recently I was watching a very popular television evangelist and his sermon was on the Judgments. He stated that at the White Throne judgment, he, and everybody in the congregation, all those watching on television and listening on the radio would have to account for every bad/wrong word spoken and all our bad deeds during our lifetime (Rev 20: 12). How does this stack up with the belief that we confess our sins, have a heartfelt belief that Jesus died for our sins, was buried and arose on the third day, then our sins are forgiven and cast into the deepest sea, never to be remembered?

I forgot what I was listening to the other day but the person said that there is a symbolic representation of the 153 fishes in John 21:11. I remember it had something to do with the 3 troops of 51 soldiers from the old testament. I was wondering if you can expand on this idea?

I understand what Amillennialists think and I know how it is not biblical and has to spiritualize things. My question is why do they think this way? I mean the truth is the truth, but usually when people are not sticking to the truth they have some benefit in mind to them for their way of thinking. So what motivates the Amillennialist?

Is the BC/AD time thing man made? Between Malachi and Mark nothing was written. That’s about 485 years. Were there other prophets during that time? Would Jesus be the first prophet since the old testament, or would John the Baptist be the first?

I was discussing something with a family member and they said ‘You just can’t interpret the Bible literally because so many people argue over what the literal interpretation of that verse is.’ He makes a good point. In what way should we go about finding the ‘literal’ interpretation of a verse? And another question, when do we know when to not interpret a passage of Scripture literally?

I am trying to understand what gives the appearance of conflicts in the Scripture. First and foremost, I am NOT questioning the infallible Word of God. In Exodus 33:20, we are told that no one can see the face of God and live. In John 1:18, Jesus reminds us that “no man has seen the face of God.” Yet in Genesis 3:8-12, we read that “the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God….” In the following verses, God conversed with the man and then his wife. In Genesis 3:20, the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife. Didn’t Adam and his wife see the Lord God at these times?

Question–Eph.5:18, says “Do not get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery” and there are at least 10 or 12 more references on this topic. I was taught that consuming alcohol was a sin. I don’t think there is a reference to directly support this but the Bible does discourage this practice. As a medical practitioner I have witnessed the terrible consequences of drinking to excess, and therefore do not participate in this practice.

I am troubled by the condoning of drinking by many pastors almost to the point of encouraging this practice! They will point to the fact that Jesus must have supported this because he made water into wine! However, there are even some Bible teaching pastors that are alcoholics.

I know that when God made a covenant with Abraham, he was defining his descendants as a people set apart for Himself (the Jews). I believe that it was through the Jews that God would reach the rest of the world, first by using His relationship with them to be a witness of His love, then ultimately through our Beloved Saviour Jesus Christ.

If the law in the form of the commandments had not yet been given, how did the people at that time know what was sin? It is written that faith alone can please God and this is why Abraham is named ‘the father of faith’, but what was the fate of the those who didn’t know God and didn’t have the law to point them in the right direction? Also, were Abraham’s descendants – up to, including and beyond the time of Moses – aware that the only way to Heaven was through the Messiah and was this awareness due to the fact that they knew they were a chosen people?

Thank you in advance – it truly is a blessing to be able to ask you these things!

How do you interpret the parable of the sower in view of your stance on OSAS. Would you suggest that the seed that fell on rocky ground equates to those who do not receive the word and therefore are not saved? But what then of those who fall away in the heat of testing, and the ones whose growth is choked by the cares and worries of this life? Are they “Saved” in the first place? Or would you say that they never really received the word in the first place?

A quick question: in at least two of your studies you have used the expression “Let’s get mystical”. And in the study about the first miracle of Jesus, you go as far as saying that John (the apostle) was a mystic. Can you clarify this for me? I’ve always been under the impression that I should consider mysticism something wrong in the eyes of God, although I must admit I do not know a great deal about it.

I am currently researching the question if the Kingdom of Heaven and the Church are one and the same. Most Commentaries I read say so. Somehow this does not gel with me.

Reading Daniel 2:43-44 it appears to me that the things revealed to him are incredibly precise up to the first coming of Christ. Then the vision appears to leap to the time of the end. “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom…”

Could it be that the terrible beast, the fourth empire, encompasses all the time and empires from Rome on until today, peaking in the ‘Anti-Christ’s’ empire. If so, then the Kingdom of Heaven would be set up when Christ comes to destroy this last chapter of the great and terrible beast.

If this scenario has any validity then the Church can not be the Kingdom, for the Kingdom of Heaven has not as yet arrived on earth, and the ‘kingdom’ parables in Matthew 13 do not address the Church directly, although some of the lessons learned from them apply also to the Church. Can you please shed light on this?

I have a question about the church at Pergamos. I have been working through your Bible study on the book of Revelation, and I am puzzled by something.

Could you please explain to me a little bit more about the parable of the Mustard Seed, and how this ties in with the church at Pergamos? I do not quite understand it, and I thought that perhaps you might be able to explain it to me. I would appreciate further insights into this passage of scripture and how it fits with Rev. 2:12-17.

I also want to tell you how much I appreciate your studies! They are wonderful, and I have learned so much through them.

I was listening to your mp3 bible study in Mark about the parable of the sower. I was saved (I believe) when I was 14 years old, I had no support system as I was the only family member that believed, and all my friends were non-believers also. I have been living as a defeated Christian for years, I have always longed for Jesus’ return yet I have never until recently read the bible or even heard of OSAS. Is it possible that I was the seed that fell on rocky ground? I have lost interest in many of the things I used to enjoy, all I do now is study the bible and your bible study mp3’s.

I’ve read many postings on your site and appreciate them greatly. But I’m surprised at your interpretation of the Mustard Seed Parable. There are different “birds” mentioned in the various passages of the Bible; the little birds is akin to sparrows–you will find that God uses the sparrows to indicate His care for us both in the NT and in Psalms. David writes of them finding “rest” in the courts of the temple–as he refers to the godly finding rest in the Lords Temple. I’m surprised that this common interpretation is quickly accepted, without folks discriminating between the various types of birds: little birds and predators.

A popular Bible teacher teaches that there is some prophetic significance in the Kingdom Parables i.e. the mustard tree is only normally 4 ft. high and for it to hold the birds of the air was a prophecy of the church falling into Roman Catholicism and getting abnormally large and harboring pagan practices. Can you explain this teaching with a little more detail? I didn’t quite follow it for all of the parables. Thanks so much for your patience.

Thank you for this blessed site. It has greatly enriched my knowledge of the Bible. My question or rather a query is that can a woman baptize anyone? I recently came across a friend who said that a woman she knew baptized another woman. I find this Biblically incorrect for I have not come across this anywhere in Scripture. Can you answer this query for me?

I was wondering if you could help me on a dilemma I am having. Since the bible already tells us the fate of Israel and its people, how do we word our prayers to God when we pray? Every night I say a prayer but I never quite know what to pray for. I always include Israel when I pray because I am so worried about the evil that is closing in on them. Any help you could give me on this would be greatly appreciated.

I have some confusion about Romans 7:9 where Paul talks about the age of accountability. It would seem to imply that no one died spiritually before the law was given. That would give a free pass to everyone before Moses and maybe those in countries who have never heard what the scriptures say about the Law. Can that be right?

I have a friend who has not gone to church for years. She says she is a Christian but can’t seem to find a church that suits her and does not believe Christians have to go to church anyway. I think if you really are a Christian you will thirst for God’s word and want to go. What do you think?

Why did the apostles choose to suffer a martyrs death? If Christ died once and for all for our sins, and bore all the suffering of mankind, why did they feel the need to be martyred? They were the closest to Christ, so shouldn’t they have best understood Christ’s message of “it is finished”? I don’t understand why they didn’t preach in hiding like what takes place in Muslim and communist countries today. It sounds like they believed in redemptive suffering- a Catholic concept.