This Weeks Bible Question: What did Jesus mean in Luke 9:23 about taking up your cross daily?

What does taking up your cross daily mean? is a post from: Ask Michael Pearl

This Weeks Bible Question: Does Jeremiah 10:3 talk about Christmas Trees? As Christians should we celebrate Christmas or other Holidays?

What does the Bible say about celebrating Christmas or other Holidays? is a post from: Ask Michael Pearl

This Weeks Bible Question: Were snakes part of the original 6 Days of Creation? Or, do snakes exist because God cursed Satan?

When did God create snakes? is a post from: Ask Michael Pearl

This Weeks Bible Question: Does the Bible say anything about us being able to remember events or people from our lives here on Earth?

When we die, do we remember people or events? is a post from: Ask Michael Pearl

This Weeks Bible Question: I recently heard someone say, if a man dies and goes to hell that he will actually be destroyed and thus not suffer for all eternity. What does the bible say about this?

Do souls suffer in hell for eternity? is a post from: Ask Michael Pearl

Michael Pearl:  Alright, here we are to answer your questions. Jared has the questions. I haven’t seen them; I’m going to hear them for the first time just like you are right now. What’s the first question, Jared?

Jared:  In the book of Revelation, it speaks of a bottomless pit. Could you please explain this?

Michael:  Alright, let’s go to the chalk board here, if you will. Now, my mind is poor so a lot of verses I will refer to, that I can’t give you the reference immediately, but the Bible speaks of hell as down—like this. The Bible speaks of sinners as descending into the bottomless pit. It speaks of devils coming up out of the pit. All you need to do is get your concordance, look it up, and you’ll find all these verses. Now the Bible speaks of the gates of hell, a place of opening. And then it also speaks—in addition to the bottomless pit—it speaks of lake of fire and it speaks of outer darkness. So, in the book of Isaiah, it speaks of those who are on the sides of the pit: the “damned.” And then it speaks—in the book of Luke, chapter 16— of the rich man dying and being buried, and he lifted up his eyes being in torment and he saw “Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.”

And he said, “Father Abraham, send Lazarus over to dip his finger in this water and cool my tongue; for I’m tormented in this flame.” And Abraham said, “Son, between you and us”—Abraham was in what called Abraham’s Bosom, or Paradise, and the rich man was in the pit, on the sides of the pit, in torment, in flames, in fire; Abraham, on his side [of the pit], was not in flames or in fire. So, Abraham said that, “There’s a great gulf that separates us, and those of us on this side which would cross over to you cannot; and those of you on that side cannot cross over.” So he said, “We are physically prevented from bringing any of our water over to the side where you are.”

Now…the Bible said that, when Christ died, he that ascended into Heaven first descended into lower parts of Earth—this is in Ephesians, maybe chapter five—descended into the lower parts of Earth. It said he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men and then he said many of the saints which slept in the Earth were seen walking around on the Earth during the time after Christ’s resurrection, before his ascension into heaven. And then he took with him those that were raised, took [them] with him into heaven, and they will come back with him at his second coming.

Now, why is it a bottomless pit? It’s a bottomless pit because…if you have in space a donut, a planet that’s a donut, an asteroid that’s a donut, and another object is floating nearby, gravitational forces are going to pull the two together. Now, where would the small object end up? Attracted to this donut, it would end up in the middle without touching the donut; in the hole, because that’s the center of the gravitational pull. Now it would gyrate there in that center, seeking equilibrium as the mass changed in structure and in size or volume or shape as it moves throughout space. Now there is a pit that leads into the heart of the Earth. It’s called bottomless because it has two openings. It goes all the way through the Earth like this and has gates and bars that can be locked. And in the middle of it is the lake of fire called “outer darkness.”

This lake of fire is the place, the ultimate place of the damned, right here. This is the federal prison. This is the local jailhouse, prior to trial. The guilty have gone where the rich man went and are awaiting trial. The Bible says in the book of Revelation, chapter 20, that the sea gave up the dead which were in it—that’s here in the oceans—and Death—that’s in the grave—Death and Hell—that’s anywhere in this contraption—Death and Hell gave up the dead which were in them, and they all stood before God and were judged, and the books were open, and another book was open, which was the Book of Life. And whosoever’s name was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, he said.

So this rich man has not yet experienced the second death. He is in the first death right now just as Abraham was in the first death. Just as the beggar Lazarus experienced the first death and was preserved in—let’s call this Paradise an elite prison, a place where the prisoners go that are rich and wealthy and haven’t committed great offenses. We have those in this country. There are golf courses there and they have a great deal of liberty and there’s really no suffering or punishment, but they’re confined. That’s the only problem.

So God has, as it were, air-conditioned a spot in Hell. There’s where he put the Old Testament saints who were saved; who were not to be damned. He kept them there until the resurrection at which time there was atonement made for them and they were raised to go into heaven. So Paradise right now is empty. But on the other side of Paradise and in many other sides of the pit the damned await, like a wasp takes a spider and sticks it into a cocoon and wraps it up to preserve it in a semi‑state, waiting. So the damned are like in cocoons preserved on the sides of the pit waiting for the day of judgment when they’ll be resurrected.

So if a soul, a body, or any substance, is cast into this bottomless pit and goes all the way to the center, it won’t hit bottom. There’s no bottom to the pit. It reaches the center of the lake and continues to gyrate in a falling state, never reaching the bottom. So it’s a pit with two openings is the only possibility; a pit with two openings on a round planet with gravitational pull, pulling towards the center, so that it never reaches a bottom: a bottomless pit and a lake of fire. That’s called outer darkness because this molten center doesn’t have any oxygen so it doesn’t create light. So this is pitch dark, red hot, and forever.

What is the Bottomless Pit? is a post from: Ask Michael Pearl

Kirsten: Hi, I’m Kirsten and I’m here with Lizzy, and we’re sitting here next to Cane Creek. There are lots of families here swimming and it’s a nice warm day so we’re just enjoy the summer. We’re just going to be talking about some topics for the Preparing To Be A Help Meet website. I overheard you and Debi the other day at the office talking about a small flame. And I was just curious… what were you guys talking about?

Lizzy: Well, it is always interesting talking with Debi and we were talking about how as a young guy – 19-20 years old – he would be considered a small flame because he is not a street preacher or minister, yet he is still growing and maturing, and so he would be considered a small flame. Let’s say our dads, or cousins, or Nathan who is 35 or our dads who are in their 50s, would be considered a large flame, and are more mature. So we look at them and we’re like “WOW… I want a guy like that.” Where in reality they’re not quite there yet. And that’s okay because we’re not there yet either! So we were talking about my brother Joe, and he is a small flame. He’s been in college for the last seven months and he came home. Before he went, all the girls just kind of passed him by. He was just a small flame. He’s a quieter guy, you know. And so when he came back all the girls were like “WHOA! Who is that!?!” And so it was interesting to see, and he has become a bigger flame. And as time goes by they will mature and become a bigger flame. So it’s just good to keep that in mind – that as guys grow older and more mature they become a bigger flame. So that was very interesting.”

Kirsten: That is interesting. I know that a lot of girls do tend to… they don’t look at the guys who are their age as much. They are looking a little older because those guys have more experience. They have been reading their Bible and they do have more wisdom, hopefully, as an older man. And so they are more attractive or more like: ‘That is what I want to marry. Why can’t the guys my age be like that?’ Well, you can’t expect guys who are younger to be like older guys. They haven’t had all those years to mature yet and become that.

Lizzy: And we aren’t the older women like our moms who are wiser and have it all down. We aren’t them either, so we’re not going to be mature in that area.

Kirsten: So we both have to grow and not like… A couple of days later you were talking about how some girls you know, how they don’t respect the views of their friends in the area of the opposite sex or whatever view.

Lizzy: Yeah. That is true.

Kirsten: Remember that?

Lizzy: We were talking about how it’s easy to let your friends influence your opinion. You have to be careful with that. There’s good influence – like going to an elder or a couple that you respect and talking to them and saying, there’s this guy and he seems to have good Godly character and he just seems like a good guy. So talk to them about that and get their wisdom about that. And then there are other times where I can come to you as a fellow girl and be like: “Oh Kirsten, there’s this guy and he’s just so cute and everything! You know, he’s kind of a little bit of a nerd or whatever, but you know….” And if you saw him you were just like… “Oh My! He’s shorter than you…and he’s not this and he’s not that,” like physical appearances. And so it’s important to be careful with your opinions because what you marry and what I marry are going to be different. And you don’t want to influence your friend’s opinion. I had some friends and one girl had the opportunity to marry a good Godly guy and the guy came along and he was good, successful, Godly, had good character. And the older sister encouraged her sister not to go for him. She was just like “No, he’s not this and he’s not that,” and just kind of tore him apart as a man. And so the younger sister didn’t marry and as years went by, the older sister got married and is happily married, even now. And the younger sister still is not married, because she let her sister’s opinion of the guy influence her. So you just need to be careful with that.

Kirsten: So that’s a warning to all girls. When you are having that girl talk and that girl time and you’re talking about all the guys, you need to be encouraging and do it in a Godly manner, seeking wisdom, gathering wisdom for yourselves, and even among your peers. You can go to older women but we need to be preparing ourselves to be older women and wise and have chaste conversations. Be a virtuous woman. So we need to be looking at these guys, not for physical appearance, or their nerdiness, but are they a Godly man? Are they a good example of Godly character? And what are they going to become when we look at them? So I’d like to encourage you girls, as you are having your girl time or just sitting around talking about boys and guys and everything, I’d like to encourage you to have chaste conversation, to be wise in what you say, and not just look at the outside physical appearance, but whether they’re of good Godly character, and what kind of man they will become. So just encourage your friends. Like she mentioned you can go to older ladies and just get their opinions but it’s good, as women now, to be preparing to have chaste conversation and be a virtuous woman and be encouraging your friends and decisions based upon wisdom, not just silly girly notions. So I just encourage you guys… you girls!…in that.

Small Flame is a post from: Ask Michael Pearl

Shalom: Hey, Gracie. Do you remember how sometimes Mama tells you to do things that you don’t understand? Like, Mama would say, “Gracie, I need you to sit on the couch and not move for five minutes.” And you’d say,“Why? Why do you want me to do that?” But there’s always a reason why Mama wants you to do something. Did you know that in the Bible that the Israelites were sent to a new land, and Joshua was with them? God told Joshua to march around the city named Jericho. It was a BIG, HUGE strong city with BIG, BIG tall walls. And God said, “Joshua, you tell all those people to march, all the Israelites, to march all the way around that big city for seven times; and when they are done marching, to scream really loud.” Can you scream really loud?

And God said that when they did that, guess what would happen?

Gracie: What?

Shalom: The rock wall would fall to the ground! Can you believe that? Isn’t that crazy? And do know what?

Gracie: What?

Shalom: Joshua believed God, even though he didn’t understand why. He didn’t know why God wanted him to do that. He didn’t know, “Well, how is marching around a building going to make the walls fall down? How are we going to be able to take away and fight against this huge wall and against the Jericho people? But you know what?

Gracie: What?

Shalom: They all marched! They marched, and marched and marched. And you know what? I bet it was really hot. And I bet they didn’t have a lot of water. And I bet the kids were tired, and they probably whined and they cried; but they kept marching, because God told them to. They obeyed God! And at the end of seven days when the wall came down, they saw why God wanted them to march. But they didn’t know ahead of time. That’s why sometimes Mama tells you to do something, and you need to obey me and do it, whether you know why or not. Because Mama usually knows what’s best for you. OK?

Obedience is a post from: Ask Michael Pearl

Mike: Hi, I’m Mike Pearl. I’m here to answer some of your questions that you have been emailing to us, and Tremaine is helping me today. He’s going to read the questions for us. OK, so Tremaine, what’s the first question?

Tremaine: A lady writes in and says, “I have a son that quit biting me a long while past, mostly while nursing a bit after age one but stopped for a long time. But now two months past his third birthday, he has started biting us again. When he would bite while nursing I used your advice and also took him off nursing for a moment and told him to stop. It worked beautifully. It would be a full day or more before he would try again, and after a time he stopped completely. But now he has attempted biting us, his parents and his siblings, just about every day. I spank or swat him every time he does it and so does my husband and my daughter. But he keeps on trying it day after day, and sometimes more than once a day. What do I do?”

Mike: That’s not related to the biting that he did when you were nursing him. This is an act of aggression. This is an assault on you, on his parents, and on his siblings. And it’s a very effective tool. I go to prisons every week and deal with the men there. One of the things that men do when they get in a big fight, a big brawl, and get on the ground rolling around and they can’t punch each other anymore, they start biting. And believe me, that’s a very destructive way to come at someone. It can create a lot of damage. He’s being violent here. You need to recognize that.

There are a lot of other factors that you didn’t tell us about, so we just have to go on what you said.

You need to treat the biting just like you would if he was hitting with a stick, or if he was kicking, or any other act of aggression or violence. He’s being mean-spirited.

Now I would like to know, are the children provoking him? Are YOU provoking him? What is making him angry? Why does he want to hurt back? Why is he actively doing what normally would be retaliation for something? If you are provoking him somehow, the Bible says provoke not your children to wrath. So parents and siblings can provoke a child to wrath. Now that doesn’t justify his actions, but at three years of age, you can’t expect him to be mature and swallow his pride and be a martyr when people come at him aggressively. So if it’s a response to other acts of aggression, it’s still not acceptable but it makes a difference in the way you deal with him. You deal with him first of all by removing the provoking acts of aggression, and then you deal with his response.

Now let’s just assume that the parents and the siblings are not frustrating him and he’s just being a mean little brat. If that’s the case, then he does need to be spanked. You need to establish some rules. So what I would do, I would take a piece of paper, maybe on the refrigerator, and I would write on the refrigerator “Biting gets 10 licks.” I’d show it to him. He can’t read it but he knows what you are pointing to says “Biting gets 10 licks.” And you put the paper up there. Then count off ten – one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Ten licks.  Then take your switch or whatever you are using, a wooden spatula and hit your hand 10 times – 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Ten licks for biting. Then put your hand in his mouth and touch his teeth when you say that and get a hold of his jaw and say “Biting.” In other words, you want to use some physical demonstration to enforce upon his mind the rule of law. So the mouth, the teeth, biting, 10 licks – judgment falls.

And then the very next time he bites, don’t just swat him once or twice, but kind of draw it out. Make it a ceremony. “OK. Johnny bit. It’s time for Johnny’s spanking.” Take him in and show him on the refrigerator “Ten licks for biting.” Then get your little switch out, have him bend over the couch or something and then give him 10 licks on the back of his legs or on his buttocks. Make sure that it hurts enough that he remembers it. You don’t leave marks or damage him in any way, give him a spanking to where he’s going to remember that he got one. Now if you do that, he’ll quickly learn that there are consequences for negative behavior.

Biting Back is a post from: Ask Michael Pearl

We recently have had several young couples get married and we’ve been talking a lot about marriage. What makes a strong marriage, what makes a Godly marriage, what makes a wholesome marriage? And waht we noticed is that when people start talking about marriage they usually want to start in Ephesians Chapter 5. They pick up and they go, okay, it says husbands, love your wives; wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands.

And we go, well, we’re going to do this thing and suddenly we’re going to have a good marriage. We’re going to submit. We’re going to love. And suddenly we’ll open a new page, turn over a new leaf and we’re going to have a good marriage. But the thing is, Ephesians starts before Chapter 5. If you do that right, then you will have a good marriage, but you don’t, you’re starting from a place that you shouldn’t be in.

Ephesians starts over in Chapter 1 and it starts talking about salvation. A good marriage starts with your relationship with God. If you don’t have a good relationship with God, then you won’t have a godly relationship with your spouse.

Next it talks about how you would walk, how you would live. It talks about how you should pray. It talks about unity among the believers. If you are striving with the other believers, if you are fighting with other people all the time, you won’t come in and have peace in your home. If you’re ungodly, unhappy, disquieted, then when you come home you are ungodly, unhappy and disquieted. And even if you try to say “I’m going to extend love towards my wife” but as a husband you’re upset and unhappy, then you’re going to be upset and unhappy in your home.

Then it talks about endeavoring to keep peace and unity. It talks about putting on the new man. And then you come down to the end of chapter 4 and it says, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” We’re talking about living in righteousness. If you want to have a good marriage, a good family, you need to not grieve the Holy Spirit. You need to walk uprightly.

And then we get over in Chapter 5 and it says walk as children of light. It says that you should “walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” So if you want to have a good marriage you need to walk in the light. Be filled with the spirit, it says. “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the spirit.” If you want to come to marriage and have a good one, then you need to be filled with the spirit.

And then we get down to where it becomes famous. “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.” So often if you hear a problem and someone wants counsel in a relationship, the first thing they come and say, “My husband’s not who he ought to be.” Or “My wife is not who she ought to be.” And you go, No, no, no, that’s not where you start. You don’t start by straightening your spouse out. You start by straightening yourself out. You start by being who you’re supposed to be. You come into this relationship godly, happy, exuberant, and walking in unity with the brethren. And all of a sudden it’s easy to love your wife the way you’re supposed to. It’s easy to love or submit yourself to your husband the way you’re supposed to.

And then you find that it keeps going. It doesn’t stop with that, with loving your wife or your spouse. It goes into putting on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. So often we hear people talk about overcoming, about getting out there and standing up to the devil and to what he has for you. Well, it starts by living godly. It starts by being in the word of God. It starts by walking in holiness. It starts by having the relationship that you’re supposed to have with your spouse and being committed to the spirit, putting on the whole armor of God and walking as an overcomer. And what happens from all that is that you end up praying and being an ambassador to God.

So don’t start your marriage in the middle of Ephesians Chapter 5. Start in Ephesians Chapter 1.

On Marriage is a post from: Ask Michael Pearl