Wallace G. Smith

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

A Special Calling From God

Sometimes, it seems the world is coming apart at the seams. It’s easy to wonder where God is in all of this. Does He care? Is He DOING anything?

In fact, yes, He does care, and yes, He is doing something AMAZING—not just in the world, but in the hearts and minds of individual people all over the world.

But what many do not realize is that God is not working with everyone in the same way today. The Bible says He is calling a select few for a special relationship with Him today, and a special role in the years ahead.

You might be one of those people.

Join us today here on Tomorrow’s World as we open up our Bibles and help you answer one of the most important questions you could ever ask yourself: “Is God Calling Me?”

God’s Purpose for Calling You

Greetings, and welcome to Tomorrow’s World, where we help you make sense of your world through the pages of your Bible. Today’s program might seem a little more personal than most of those you’ve seen on our channel. We want to encourage you to ask yourself one of the most important questions you will ever consider: Whether or not God is personally calling you.

You might think, “God is calling EVERYONE, isn’t He?” As we’ll see, the Bible makes it plain that He is not. But then, if He’s not, what is He DOING? Is He only trying to save some and sending the rest off to their doom with no chance for salvation? What does being “called” even mean? On today’s program, we’ll answer these questions and more, and the answers may be the most encouraging news you’ve ever heard.

We’ll also be offering you a free copy of our surprising booklet, What Is a True Christian? So many people sincerely call themselves “Christian,” yet the Bible shows that they don’t fully understand what being a Christian even means. Be sure to watch for the information you need to get your free copy.

Now, before we explain what it means to be “called” by God, I have to warn you. Some of what we’re going to explain—from the pages of your own Bible—will be new to you. In fact, it may contradict things you’ve grown up hearing in church your entire life. But it is the clear witness of the word of God. And to understand what it means to be called by God, and to perceive whether God is calling YOU, we have to begin by clearing away some important MIS-understandings.

For instance, many people seem to view the world around us as an ongoing battle between God and Jesus Christ on one hand and Satan the Devil on the other—where God is trying to save as many as He can before they die and are lost forever, and the Devil is trying to condemn as many as he can.

But, my friends, that idea is utterly FALSE. If it were true—if the world really were a contest between God and the Devil—then be honest with yourself: Wouldn’t you have to conclude that the Devil is winning? Two-thirds of humanity today does not claim to be any part of any of the many flavors of the religion that calls itself “Christianity”—not to mention the vast number who have lived and died throughout history. In fact, most people who have lived and died have never even heard of Jesus Christ. Yet Jesus Christ is the ONLY source of salvation. Speaking of Jesus, the Apostle Peter explains in Acts 4:12, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is NO OTHER NAME under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

So, if there is a “great contest” between God and the Devil, then God is losing HORRIBLY. However, I GUARANTEE you, God DOES NOT LOSE! Between God and Jesus Christ and Satan the Devil, there is no contest! God NEVER LOSES!

So, what’s going on, then?

If most of the world seems lost and ignorant of the God of the Bible—and it certainly does—should we just assume that God DOESN’T CARE about the world? Does He just NOT CARE about the fact that the vast majority of the BILLIONS of men, women, and children who have lived and died would be lost to damnation in their sins—most of whom never even had the opportunity to hear the name of their Savior spoken aloud in their hearing?

Not on your life! In fact, your Bible says exactly the opposite.

After all, 1 Timothy 2:6 says that Christ gave Himself as a ransom for ALL people. Chapter 4 and verse 10 of the same book proclaims God as the Savior of ALL people. John 3:16—one of the most widely quotes verses of the Bible—states very plainly that “God so loved the WORLD”—the WHOLE world. No matter our race, ethnicity, or nationality, God longs to bring everyone who has ever lived into a beautiful and loving relationship with Him—a relationship in which He will work to fulfill His purpose for us. As Peter says in his second letter, chapter 3 and verse 9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to repentance.”

If so few are finding salvation today, in our time—and so few have even had the OPPORTUNITY to be saved throughout human history—and yet God expresses His passionate desire that, not the few, but the MANY would find Him and be saved—then the conclusion we can draw is clear: God is simply NOT trying to save the WHOLE WORLD right NOW, at this time!

Preparing a Divine Family to Rule

Rather, God says that in this life NOW He is only BEGINNING His harvest of mankind—saving those He calls His “FIRSTfruits.” As James writes in chapter 1 and verse 18 of his book, “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.”

Those firstfruits will be resurrected and glorified when Jesus Christ returns to set up His Kingdom on earth—ruling with Him and restoring the world over the course of 1,000 years. [On screen: Revelation 20:4–6.]

Then, AFTER that thousand-year period, all who have ever lived but who have never had an opportunity to understand the true gospel of God will be [On screen: Revelation 20:11–13] resurrected to physical life once again and will THEN HAVE THEIR OPPORTUNITY to choose God’s way of life and have their names written in the Book of Life. Those who utterly refuse to repent and live God’s way will be [On screen: Revelation 20:14–15] destroyed forever in the Lake of Fire, but the rest will enjoy eternity in the Family of God, forever, to inherit the entire universe!

It is a large topic, and I encourage you to visit the Tomorrow’s World website, where you will find MANY, MANY free materials proving and explaining the beautiful plan of God in detail. We don’t want you to merely take our word for these things—we want you to take GOD’S word for it.

But for now, let’s focus on the specific topic we’re examining TODAY. If God is planning a FUTURE time when salvation will be extended in a way it is not today, then what IS He doing today?

God is calling specific individuals in the world to a special relationship with Him, preparing them for their future place in the Family of God and for their future role, directly ruling the world for 1,000 years under Jesus Christ, reigning over the nations of the world as a king and priest by His side.

Now that truth may shock you, but if you open your Bible, you will see that it has been under your nose the entire time.

For instance, notice the plain words of Jesus Christ in John 6:44: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Now my Bible isn’t any different from yours! And Jesus’ words are plain: NO ONE *CAN* come to Jesus Christ UNLESS GOD THE FATHER *CHOOSES* to call him or her at this time! In fact, Jesus reiterates the same point just a few verses later: “And He said, ‘Therefore I have said to you that NO ONE CAN COME to Me UNLESS it has been GRANTED TO HIM by My Father’” (v. 65).

“NO ONE CAN COME to Me UNLESS it has been GRANTED TO HIM by My Father.”

Can Jesus be any PLAINER than that?

Christ is clearly placing the burden of action on God the Father—telling us that it is GOD who must first CHOOSE to actively draw us to Him. In fact, Jesus reflects this same sentiment to His apostles in John 15:16: “You did not choose Me, but I CHOSE YOU….” 

Are you willing to listen to the PLAIN TEACHING of the Bible, even when it disagrees with what others say about it, or disagrees with your own preconceived ideas? If so, then, without getting too far ahead of myself, let me say here that THAT is a major indicator that God may be calling you.

These aren’t the only passages that plainly speak of God calling only SOME now and NOT EVERYONE. For instance, consider the famous statement of Acts 2:38, where the Apostle Peter says boldly to the assembled crowd, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, AS MANY AS THE LORD OUR GOD WILL CALL.”

Notice Peter’s plain acknowledgement that the response to his message and the message of the Gospel is dependent on HOW MANY GOD WOULD CHOOSE TO CALL!

Consider Paul’s words to the Church of God in Corinth. He writes to them in 1 Corinthians 1:26, “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” He points out to them—and us—that God simply ISN’T calling everyone right now! In particular, He is NOT calling many of the wise and mighty of this world. Their time will come later.

Don’t just believe me on this—believe your own eyes and what you see in your Bible!

So, if God is only calling SOME now—calling a special few before Christ’s return—what is His purpose for their lives now? And how can you know if God is calling YOU?

Having Your Mind Opened

So, what does it actually mean to be called by the living God?

There really are a number of things involved, but among them is God’s OPENING A PERSON’S MIND to allow him or her to understand the truth—and not just any truth, but the truth of the Bible and Jesus Christ’s Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

Revelation 12:9 tells us something important about the world. Speaking there of a soon-coming time of divine action against the Devil, it says, “… the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world….” God does not lie in His word. When He says the “whole world” is deceived, He means the WHOLE WORLD.

And those who are deceived DO NOT KNOW THEY ARE DECEIVED! Individuals can hold on to their beliefs very sincerely and still be DEAD WRONG, DECEIVED BY THE DEVIL, and that includes preachers and teachers! Paul speaks in 2 Timothy 3:13 of those who not only deceive others, but who are also deceived THEMSELVES as they do so.

Yet, the Bible describes the 1,000-year reign of the saints under Jesus Christ as a time when the deception will be removed, and His truth will cover the entire world. As God inspired Habakkuk to write of that future time, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (2:14). We speak of that glorious time frequently here on Tomorrow’s World.

But before that Millennium of peace, God is calling a few individuals NOW, by opening their minds and allowing them to see the truth about the REAL Jesus Christ, the REAL Gospel of the Kingdom, and the REAL way of life God desires for all people.

In the Bible, we see examples of this OPENING OF THE MIND to UNDERSTAND THE TRUTH. For instance, look at Luke 24, where the resurrected Jesus Christ is explaining to His disciples about how His death and resurrection fulfilled God’s word—something they were not able to grasp before: “Then He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.’ And He OPENED THEIR UNDERSTANDING, that they might COMPREHEND THE SCRIPTURES” (vv. 44–45).

Note, He said that He had EXPLAINED THESE THINGS BEFORE, but NOW their UNDERSTANDING WAS OPENED, and it made SENSE like it had not before! Jesus explains in John 14 that God’s Spirit was not yet in them, but it WAS working with them, as it does with all who are being CALLED BY GOD.

And that Spirit is a necessary ingredient for understanding. The Apostle Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 2: “These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man DOES NOT receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor CAN he know them, because they are SPIRITUALLY discerned” (vv. 13–14).

Spiritual things MUST BE spiritually discerned and understood. The purely natural, human mind simply cannot receive them! GOD MUST INTERVENE to help us overcome deception and understand. And this is what He does when He calls us!

So, ask yourself: Do the things you’ve heard us discuss on the Tomorrow’s World program make sense to you? When you read our materials or the Tomorrow’s World magazine and study these things in your Bible, do you find that the Scriptures bear those teachings out and back them up? If so, it may be that God is opening your mind and calling YOU to understand His truth.

But a calling from God is about more than “understanding” things. Our Creator expects us to ACT on what He shows us, and this is part of one’s calling, as well.

Notice, again, the example of God’s calling in Acts 2, when God moved the crowd to respond to Peter’s message: “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we DO?’” (v. 37).

Their response is the response God is looking for when He draws someone: A desire to CHANGE AND ACT! Romans 2:4 tells us that God’s goodness does not just enlighten our minds or make us feel good about ourselves—it leads us to REPENTANCE—to CHANGE OUR WAYS and BEGIN OBEYING GOD’S COMMANDS!

Are YOU being called? Have you ever felt CONVICTED by the things you have learned on this program? That may be God working with you through His spirit to draw you into a new and deeper relationship with Him.

In fact, let me add that there are THOUSANDS all over the world whom God has reached through this Work, whose minds have been opened to the true teachings of Scripture—enjoying each other’s fellowship and meeting together every week to learn from God’s word and from the ministry of Jesus Christ as they prepare to be Kings and Priests in the Kingdom of God.

If you are interested in finding out more about acting on what you’re learning, you’re not alone. And we have representatives in many regions all around the world who would be happy to talk with you.

Those individuals assembling together every week have learned the joy that comes from living life as a TRUE CHRISTIAN.

What Should You Do Now?

God’s plan is big. REALLY big. It encompasses all of mankind—all who have ever lived and breathed, from the beginning of creation to this very moment. It involves a Kingdom He will install at Jesus Christ’s return, that will transform the world over 1,000 years. Even the dead will be raised to life again to have the opportunity they never had in this life.

But that plan involves calling some people NOW, in this life, and opening their minds so that they can escape the deception of the Devil that has been cast over the eyes of the entire world. It involves calling those people to be a part of Jesus’ mission NOW to warn the world of the end times to come and to announce the good news of that coming Kingdom.

That plan involves calling individuals to struggle against sin in THIS life, to allow Jesus Christ to live His life within them and to build His own character in them—so that they can serve beside Him as glorified members of His Family and teach others during those 1,000 years and beyond, helping them to embrace the way of life they have learned to make a part of their OWN hearts and minds.

The question facing you is this: Is God calling YOU?

We’ve explained what that question means, and we’ve shown you how you might know. But in the end, we can’t answer the question for you. That part is up to YOU.

And as you address that question, understand that you are not alone. I’ve been there, myself. I remember wondering about so many things while I was growing up. If Christ is alive and running His Church, then why does Christianity seem to be in such confusion? If Jesus was the only way to salvation, and yet most people have lived and died without even hearing His NAME, let alone His teachings, then how could God be fair or just?

I wanted answers to those questions, and I heard many answers. But, none of them perfectly fit what God had to say in the Bible or how God describes Himself in that same Bible.

That is, none of them made sense until I saw a video, much like this one, presented by Herbert W. Armstrong, a predecessor of ours in this ministry.

And the Bible began to make sense to me in a way it never had before. There WERE answers to my questions—SOLID, BIBLE answers, even though none of the loving and sincere-but-mistaken preachers I knew were teaching those answers.

I came to see that God was calling me to a real relationship with Him and with His Son—not the Devil’s caricature of Jesus Christ, but the REAL Jesus Christ. And I came to see that His calling was not because I was smarter or wiser than everyone else. Quite the opposite. I saw the words of the Apostle Paul we spoke of earlier—that He is not calling many wise or powerful now. Rather, He is calling the base and lowly now so that the wise and powerful may know in the FUTURE that salvation is not a matter of trusting in themselves but trusting in God.

And while I THOUGHT I was a Christian before that calling, I came to learn that being a TRUE Christian was SO VERY DIFFERENT from what I had believed.

My life, ever since, has never been the same. And I would not trade it for the world.

Is God calling you?

I don’t know…What do YOU think?

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

A New Age of Idolatry

Many believe that the age of religion and superstition is over—that mankind has finally moved past its days of worshipping gods, lists of commandments, and condemnations of sin.

They would be wrong. Welcome to the world of “New Gods” and “New Sins”—a world we’ll explore on Tomorrow’s World, right now!

Religious Devotion to Secular Causes

Greetings and welcome to Tomorrow’s World, where we help you make sense of the world through the pages of your Bible. We’re delighted you’re here.

In this episode, we’re going to discuss the world of “New Gods” and “New Sins” that surrounds us today. We’re also going to offer you one of the most powerful and relevant DVDs I believe we have ever sent to our viewers: “A World Gone Mad.” As always, this DVD is completely free for the asking. Watch your screen for the details you need to get your DVD.

Now it might sound strange to speak of “New Gods” and please don’t misunderstand me. What Jesus Christ told His disciples on that Passover evening 2,000 years ago is still true today: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the ONLY TRUE GOD, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).

But the more you examine the world around you, increasingly you see a wilderness of new religions growing up like weeds. These aren’t the traditional religions of the past, focused on the ancient gods of, say, the Greeks, or the Egyptians, or Norse mythology. Yet, their followers are every bit as fiercely passionate as those ancient pagans may have been. And their devotion to their deities every bit as complete.

The sort of “gods” we’ll discuss today are reflected in the words God spoke to the prophet Ezekiel in his condemnation of ancient Israel—a condemnation that rings just as true today. Ezekiel wrote, “And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity…’” (Ezekiel 14:2–3).

“They have set up IDOLS IN THEIR HEARTS.” It’s easy to think of idols as statues of stone or gold—or even as engravings, icons, and other artwork. And such items often DO violate the Second of the Ten Commandments, to be sure!

Yet God reveals here that idol worship goes FAR BEYOND what we create with our hands! Man is particularly adept at creating idols in his HEART—false gods, to which he devotes himself religiously, submitting his mind, his actions, his morals, and his conscience.

And, my friends, today we are living in a virtual PANTHEON of idols of the heart: POLITICAL PHILOSOPHIES, SOCIAL CAUSES, IDENTITY ISSUES, NEW WORLDVIEWS… the world around us represents a growing collection of “New Gods,” ready for you to become their follower—and ready with lists of enlightened “New Doctrines,” “New Dogmas,” and “New Sins” for you to agree with and embrace as your own.

More than that—the followers of these “New Gods” are increasingly ready to wield power to FORCE belief in their faith upon the world and ready to PUNISH those who will not fall into line.

Unlike biblical Christianity, which from the beginning sought to win people’s hearts and minds through sound words and good example, the acolytes of these “New Gods” are more like what is seen in the apostate Christianity that followed: willing to do whatever it takes to forcibly compel either confession or compliance.

Whether it is the power of the courtroom, the power of the legislature, the power of the markets, or the power of the media, the faithful acolytes of these “New Gods” seek to punish anyone who dares defy the faith to which they have devoted themselves so fully.

In a moment, we’ll begin our look at several of these “New Gods”—including one that, I freely admit, truly breaks my heart.

Scientific and Environmentalist Fanaticism

Let’s take a look at some of the philosophies, worldviews, and mindsets of man that have been elevated to the status of “godhood” in our society today.

The first we’ll consider is SCIENCE. This one breaks my heart because I love science. Proverbs 25:2 tells us, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter,” and, to me, the practice of science demonstrates one of the best examples of searching out a matter.

Through the scientific method, human life has been greatly enhanced, and many sources of human disease, discomfort, and distress have been addressed. We’ve learned some of the secrets of the universe, and our understanding of our world is richer for it.

Yet science isn’t God. It doesn’t tell us right from wrong. The theories and experiments that revealed the secrets of the subatomic world also allowed us to build the weapons that would devastate Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, killing thousands.

No matter. When one is kicking God out of civilization, something has to take His place, and those who don’t understand the limitations of science (or don’t care) are happy to build altars to its name and declare it one of the “New Gods.” And like any other god, the religion its worshippers create has its orthodoxies, dogmas, and sins. As if invoking the name of their God, people seek to win arguments by claiming they have the “SCIENCE” on their side—regardless of whether, in reality, scientific studies give support to the other position, too.

Scientists are treated like priests, delivering the word of God—and the view of the majority of scientists is considered canonical truth, such that those who dare to DISAGREE with that canon are considered heretics to be “burned at the stake”—even if they are scientists, themselves.

Think that is harsh? Real-life experience says otherwise. The website “Free Science” lists the names of several scientists who have experienced virtual excommunication for their willingness to dissent from the dogma of evolution. They have faced the loss of positions, the loss of jobs, investigations by their departments, cancelation of their courses… In one case, that of double-PhD biologist Richard Sternberg, even the United States Office of Special Counsel concluded in its investigation, “It is… clear that a hostile work environment was created with the ultimate goal of forcing you out of the SI [that is the Smithsonian Institute]” (“Richard Sternberg,” Free Science, FreeScience.today). All because he had allowed a peer-reviewed paper, sympathetic to evidence of design in life instead of evolution, to be published in a science journal.

Because when Science is elevated to the status of false god, even a hint of disagreeing with evolution is a heresy, and heresy is not to be tolerated.

Another “New God” that many lump in with Science—though not at all exactly the same—is the “New God” of CLIMATE CHANGE.

And let me be up front. It makes good sense to be good stewards of the earth. Man wasn’t made for the earth, but the earth was made for man, and it makes sense to wisely manage our resources. And I’m not here to argue about whether global climate is actually changing, or whether mankind is the chief cause of that change.

Those things are beside the point, because once Climate Change has been elevated to the status of “godhood,” all things are thrown out of perspective. No other good matters next to serving the divine desires of Climate Change, and moral good and evil become determined by nothing more than their environmental impact.

Destroy a nation’s productive capacity, economic systems, and social structures to achieve a Green New Deal and save the environment. No problem. For the “New God” of Climate Change, the ultimate moral good is caring about the earth—or at least APPEARING TO OTHERS as though you care about the earth.

Political science professor Michael Munger made this point in a 2019 article for the American Institute for Economic Research. Upon giving a presentation at a recycling conference about how recycling glass is actually bad for the environment, given the pollution involved, the carbon costs, expense, etc., he expected pushback from the attendees, all of whom were die-hard recyclers. What he received, instead, surprised him. He writes:

One fellow was perfectly forthcoming: “Oh, we all know it makes no sense to recycle glass. The economic case is easy. But people should still recycle, because it’s simply the right thing to do. IT’S NOT ABOUT THE ACTUAL ENVIRONMENT. It’s about enlisting people to care about the SYMBOL of the environment. Overall, recycling is still worth doing, regardless of its effects.”

A young woman piped up: “It’s okay to say that sort of thing here, because we are insiders. But it’s better not to talk about the economics of things to the general public. We need to help TRAIN THEM to care about the environment, and recycling is one of the best ways to do that.”…

The message I had worried about, and expected to be controversial, was old hat to the industry folks. But it was beside the point, because recycling was for them a MORAL imperative. Once you begin to think of recycling as a symbol of RELIGIOUS DEVOTION rather than a pragmatic solution to environmental problems, the whole thing makes more sense (“For Most Things, Recycling Harms the Environment,” American Institute for Economic Research, AIER.org, August 14, 2019).

Going meatless because you are concerned about the cattle industry’s impact on global warming, deciding not to have children so as to reduce humanity’s “carbon footprint”—such steps are small prices to pay to ensure one satisfies the demands of the “New God” of Climate Change. But eat a burger, have a large family, or fail to recycle that soda bottle, and be prepared to be called out as a “sinner.”

Sexual Immorality and Even Thought Control

We’ve examined two of the “New Gods” of the modern age. Our next “New God” is SEXUAL ANARCHY.

When it comes to sex, the biblical model is simple: Humanity was created male and female, categories obvious in their biology. And they were created for each other, so that when man and woman committed to each other before God in marriage, then the benefits of marriage were available to them, including sexual intimacy and the children that would follow.

Yet, the “New God” of Sexual Anarchy dictates that sexuality and sexual nature is not bound by any rules, or constraints, or natural laws, at all.

In the eyes of devotees of this “New God,” the list of sins is long and detailed, but they can be summarized fairly simply: Anyone claiming to believe in biblical concepts of gender, sexuality, and marriage is to be labeled, at best, a prude, and at worst, a bigot. Such ideas are considered far too “restrictive” by the worshipers of Sexual Anarchy. And as the word “anarchy” implies, everything is up for grabs.

Sex is no longer confined to marriage. And marriage itself has been redefined to include any two people, regardless of their gender. In fact, even gender has been redefined—no longer correlating to the two sexes, male and female, but freed to move fluidly along a spectrum of possibilities—a spectrum without rules, constraints, or boundaries.

Each year, many children are sacrificed to this “New God” of Sexual Anarchy. Children not considered old enough to vote, serve in the military, or drive a car, are allowed to make fundamental and far-reaching decisions about changing their gender that will change their lives forever.

Even the courts have recently recognized at least some of the problems in such a position. On December 1, 2020, the BBC reported on a case brought against the UK’s National Health Service by several individuals, including a young woman who had been prescribed hormone blockers as a teenager to help her irreversibly prevent puberty, in line with her then-desire to be a male. The claimants won the case, arguing that children simply do not have the capacity to make decisions like that. In the words of one of the judges, “It is highly unlikely that a child aged 13 or under would be competent to give consent to the administration of puberty blockers. It is doubtful that a child aged 14 or 15 could understand and weigh the long-term risks and consequences of the administration of puberty blockers”.

But don’t expect the true believers in Sexual Anarchy to abandon their faith after one small setback. They will continue to seek to punish those individuals who believe biblical sexuality and morality is best for society—and sacrifices will continue to be made, as they march their faith forward.

In fact, faith in the “New God” of Sexual Anarchy is only one sect in a host of “New Religions” that fall under a broader “New God”—much like the gods of Ancient Greece were under Zeus, or the gods of the Romans under Jupiter. This larger “New God” could be dubbed SOCIAL REVOLUTION.

Part of the power of this “New God” is its ability to be cast in the image of the worshipper. If you believe sexual and gender norms are the Great Satan preventing society from progressing, then Revolution centers around that. If you’re a women’s studies major at an Ivy League university and believe that the world won’t be safe until the Patriarchy is destroyed, then the “New God” of Social Revolution is prepared to bless your cause. If you believe capitalism is the real bane of society, no matter how many lives it has helped, then the God of Social Revolution is ready with placards, signs, and even Molotov cocktails to help you press for socialism, communism, or even anarchy, if you prefer. And if the dream of Martin Luther King Jr., that his children would be judged by the content of their character instead of the color of their skin, seems “not quite enough,” then the god of Social Revolution is ready to arm you with Critical Race Theory—arming you for battle on social media and indoctrination in schools and workplaces.

“New Gods” bring “New Sins,” and for the god of Social Revolution, the greatest sin is increasingly ThoughtCrime, taken right out of the pages of George Orwell’s 1984. Those who think differently than the worshippers of Social Revolution must be canceled, sanctioned, and publicly disavowed. University professors are threatened with job loss, prestigious and successful writers, such as J.K. Rowling, are threatened with boycotts, and other media figures find their livelihoods endangered by discoveries of past Tweets or comments to the media, as Inquisitions examine every public statement to ensure their thinking is pure. Sometimes, after paying penance through very public apologies or social media posts in which they recant their former positions and declare fidelity to the new faith, individuals may be forgiven—though they tend to remain tainted.

The “sin” of wrong thinking is simply not to be tolerated.

Freedom from Sin?

Welcome back.

In a sense, these “New Gods” act more like the “Old Gods” of ancient mythology than they might seem. Like the stories of the Greek gods bickering back and forth in jealousy and spite, these false gods do the same from time to time. For instance, scientific studies that disagree with the conclusions of sexual anarchists are deemed hateful and inaccurate—not on factual grounds, but ideological. And even within the individual faiths generated by these “New Gods,” there is internal strife and conflict. Some of the most passionate and ugly debate that you will find on the Internet takes place between feminists and gender-identity advocates.

But, these “New Gods” are older than they appear for far deeper reasons. Each of them is simply a manifestation of a very different sort of false god, one who has reigned here on earth for quite some time: Satan the Devil.

Referring to him as “the god of this age”—or, in the King James, “the god of this world”—the Apostle Paul explains how Satan uses tactics like these false gods and idols of the heart to distract people from the truth that the REAL GOD OF THE BIBLE would have them understand;

“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do nnot believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Corinthians 4:3–4).

Since the devil enticed Eve to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and gave to her husband to eat with her, mankind has trusted in his own philosophies, systems of government, and explorations of the world around him instead of the God who made him and who has a purpose for him. These “New Gods” are simply the latest in a long line of manifestations of a deceived mankind’s misplaced trust in his own foolishness.

But, thankfully, God has not abandoned us to our foolishness.

He will send Jesus Christ back to this earth, to restore all things and to usher in the Kingdom of God, the only true hope for humanity. In the light of that Kingdom, the “New Gods” will be judged, just as the gods of Egypt were when the Almighty freed the children of Israel.

Science will be returned to its natural place, as a tool for exploring the creation. Sexual anarchy will be replaced by peace of mind by the one who created sex. The environment will be healed, and mankind will be taught balanced ways of maintaining it for the good of humanity. And the ultimate social revolution will have taken place—all of society will look to God for His guidance, wisdom, and love.

May Christ soon return and save us from the day of “New Gods” by pointing the world to the True One.

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Three Commonly Asked Questions About the Bible

Those who read and study the Bible find their lives enriched and enlightened by the divine guidance they discover within its pages. But that doesn’t mean they don’t trip up on a question or two now and then. Today, we’re going to take a look at a few questions we often receive about the Bible and show you how to determine solid answers, straight from God’s word. So, stay right here for today’s program, “Your Questions, the Bible’s Answers!”

Biblical Truth—You Can Find It!

Greetings, and welcome to Tomorrow’s World, where we help you make sense of the world through the pages of your Bible!

If you are a regular viewer of our program, you know that we base everything we teach on God’s word, the Bible. When Jesus Christ prayed to God the night before His crucifixion, He asked His Father to set His followers apart from the world around them, saying, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17).

God’s word is THE TRUTH. No other source of knowledge reflects the very mind of the Creator like the Bible, and the answers to life’s greatest questions are found in its pages.

But that doesn’t mean that every part of it is easy to understand! In fact, some things we read in the Bible can be confusing. But the answers ARE THERE, waiting for the diligent student, with God’s help, to find them. Today, we’re going to tackle a potpourri of three Bible questions that students of God’s word sometimes ask, and we’re going to show you the Bible’s own answers to those questions.

As for today’s “Bible Q&A,” here are the questions we will address:

1. Does Jesus Christ command Christians to hate their family members?
2. Exactly how did Judas Iscariot die?
3. And, why are there souls under the altar in the book of Revelation?

First, let’s begin by reading a passage that generates questions among many and see what the Bible has to say about it. If you have a Bible handy, turn to Luke 14:26, where Jesus is teaching a great multitude. He tells them,

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.”

Reading this verse, many have asked: “Does Jesus really command Christians to hate their family members?”

Of course, the idea that Jesus is literally commanding His followers to hate their mother, father, and others would INDEED be contrary to many of His other teachings. Whenever you come across an apparent contradiction like this in the Bible, it should always grab your attention, because the Bible—including Jesus’ teachings—never contradicts itself. Christ makes this point, Himself, in John 10:35, reminding the Jewish leaders in His audience that the “Scripture cannot be broken.”

So, just what is He saying here in this passage? In understanding the Bible, it’s important to understand the context surrounding the verse, instead of just reading the isolated verse. When we do this in the case of Luke 14, it is clear He is explaining the high standards His followers must meet. Rather than a “come as you are” policy, Jesus demands that people change in order to follow Him and that they commit their lives to Him fully. In verse 27 of that chapter, for instance, Jesus explains that one must be willing to bear his own cross to be one of Christ’s disciples—not a literal cross, but bearing the burden of persecution, difficulty, discomfort, and trial—even to death—just as Christ did. He says in verse 33 that His followers must be willing to forsake ALL that they possess—willing to give up anything else in their lives, and even their own lives, themselves, for His sake—or else they cannot be His disciples at all.

These passages give context for the message Jesus is trying to convey. He is telling the multitudes, and us, that we must consider HIM the most important part of our lives, versus all of the natural loves, comforts, and possessions we otherwise have.

He is NOT commanding His disciples to literally “hate” their family members. Consider earlier in the book of Luke, in chapter 6, where He commands Christians to love even their enemies:

“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you” (vv. 27–28).

Why would Jesus command us to love our enemies and those who would seek to do us harm while commanding us to hate our family members? Of course, He wouldn’t.

The phrasing here in Luke 14:26 is one of CONTRAST, not objective hate. Jesus is saying that, to be His disciple, one must be willing to put Jesus Christ first before even one’s most natural affections—toward, parents, spouse, or children. We see this even more easily by applying another principle of understanding the Bible: Look at multiple witnesses to the same event or teaching. For example, this same teaching is worded in a clarifying way by the gospel writer Matthew in Matthew 10, verse 37:

“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

In fact, those who DO give their lives to Jesus Christ, find that they don’t love their families LESS than they did before. Instead, they love them MORE. They discover that putting God as the highest priority in your life helps set all other priorities right.

So, no, He is not literally commanding us to hate our families. But He is warning us that we must love Him more—more even than our families, and even more than our very lives.

Context Matters, Especially for the Word of God

Our next question is one that puzzles many when they read the accounts of Jesus’ death and the beginning of the biblical Church: “Exactly how did Judas Iscariot die?”

You might recall that Judas Iscariot was one of Jesus’ twelve apostles who betrayed Him for thirty pieces of silver. And on first glance, the Bible’s comments about Judas’ death might seem to be contradictory. Let’s take a look at two key statements and see if we can make sense of them.

In Matthew 27, we read that after Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, he was remorseful and tried to give the money back to his conspirators, but the priests would not accept. Verse 5 tells us,

“Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.”

The priests felt the money was tainted as “blood money” and would not accept it, presumably leaving it in Judas’ name and, Matthew says, applying it sometime later to buy a field in which strangers could be buried.

However, while Acts 1 and verse 18 speaks of the field purchased with Judas’ money, it seems to describe a different fate for the traitor:

“Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out.”

The field’s being purchased with Judas’ money is consistent, but falling headlong and bursting in the middle does not sound like a hanging. How do we reconcile the accounts?

As we’ve noted before, any time we see what appear to be different accounts of the same facts or circumstance in the Bible, there is no need to assume a contradiction—indeed, Jesus tells us that the inspired word of God does not contradict itself. Rather, the multiple accounts act as multiple witnesses, each adding its own detail to the overall picture.

For instance, consider the sign that was nailed above Jesus’ head while He was crucified. Depending on which of the four gospels you read, you get a different report concerning what the sign said.

• Matthew says the sign reads “This is Jesus the king of the Jews” 27:37).
• Mark writes that the sign reads “King of the Jews” (15:26)
• Luke reports that it reads “This is the King of the Jews,” and was written in Greek. Latin, and Hebrew (23:38).
• Finally, John writes that Pilate’s sign read “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (19:19).

Do the gospel writers contradict each other? Not at all! In fact, not only do they say essentially the same thing, but also when we put all of them together, we get A FULLER picture—one of a sign reading, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

Similarly, the accounts of Judas’ death are not in contradiction when they are read as two accounts that work TOGETHER to make for a fuller picture. Judas did, indeed, hang himself out of guilt and shame. But as his body hung there, his corpse did what corpses do and began to decompose. Eventually, it fell from the rope, struck the ground, and burst open—a terrible, loveless end for the traitor who betrayed the Messiah.

Again, when you understand that the Bible does not contradict itself, but it DOES give multiple witnesses to provide a larger picture, the problem resolves itself.

Biblical Symbols Explained

For our next question, let’s look at Revelation 6, starting in verse 9. Here, in John’s vision of God’s realm in heaven, we read an odd description:

“When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.”

So, many ask: Why are these mysterious souls under the altar in John’s vision? After all, does this mean that people will live, in heaven, under an altar, until Jesus’ return? That would certainly seem a very odd afterlife! “Thank you for your faithfulness and sacrifice in the name of Christ! Here is your apartment—under an altar!”

To understand this portion of John’s vision, we need to first understand that the book of Revelation is a mixture of literal description and symbolism. For instance, Revelation 8 verses 6 through 13 describe ecological disasters that will come upon the earth before Christ’s return. That is plain and literal. Yet chapter 6 describes events such as religious deception, war, famine, and pestilence depicted as four horsemen riding horses of different colors—clearly a symbolic picture.

In this case, the symbolism of the souls under the altar would be easily understood by those familiar with the first century sacrifices in Herod’s temple in Jerusalem—as the Apostle John surely was.

When an animal was sacrificed on God’s altar, the blood of the sin sacrifice would be poured at the base of the altar and pool there. We actually read a description of this design in Leviticus 4 and verse 7:

“And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of meeting; and he shall pour the remaining blood of the bull at the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.”

So, the souls seen in John’s vision occupy the same place at the altar as the blood of animals, sacrificed for sins. And, indeed, Revelation 6 and verse 9 tells us that the voices represented innocents whose blood had been spilled because of their faithfulness to God’s word. Their slaying is a part of a terrible time of suffering still to come on the earth—the prophesied Great Tribulation.

To complete the symbolism, consider the tale of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. After wicked Cain slays his innocent brother, Abel, God confronts him, saying, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground” (v. 10).

Just as the spilled blood of innocent Abel cried out to God, the spilled blood of God’s saints in the tribulation to come will cry out for vengeance, symbolized here as coming from the base of the altar. So, no, the Bible does NOT teach that the souls of martyrs somehow consciously live on in some sort of underground apartment complex under an altar in heaven.

We want to conclude today with some broader lessons we’ve learned through these questions and look at how we can apply them in our Bible study going forward.

Conclusion—Truly Knowing the Bible

There is a great comfort in seeing the Bible as a reliable source of truth, trustworthy in all it says. Because it has so much more to say than any history book or philosophy book that mankind has ever created. It answers the deepest questions of life, provides the only true hope of our lives, and points us to the very source of life: Our Creator God.

On today’s program, we’ve answered three common Bible questions.

First: Does Jesus Christ command Christians to hate their family members? The answer? Absolutely not. He’s teaching that we need to put Him first, even above those who are closest to us, but if anything, putting Him first, we end up loving them more.

Secondly: Exactly how did Judas Iscariot die? We’ve discovered that when you put the scriptures together, they paint a larger picture. That he did indeed hang himself in remorse, and then eventually his corpse fell and burst asunder.

And then third: Why are there souls under the altar in the Book of Revelation? We looked into the book, and noticed that parts of it were literal and parts of it were symbolic. And we actually tied in other scriptures that described the altar in the temple in Jesus’ day, and looked at the practices and looked at other examples, such as how the blood of Abel called out to god, in that sense figuratively. We found that that picture made so much sense, and it’s simply the lives of the martyrs and their deaths that call out to God asking for vengeance on their behalf.

But actually when you look at it, we’ve done more than that. In going through these three questions, we’ve also illustrated a number of principles that will help you get more out of your Bible and begin making sense of this book, which too many seek to dismiss.

We’ve seen that answering Bible questions involves understanding the context around a verse, such as the larger passage, and not just the verse in isolation. We’ve seen that it helps to understand that there is an additive nature to multiple biblical witnesses, in which different statements work together to give us a fuller picture and to clarify the confusions that human teachers sometimes create. And we’ve seen that we should strive to examine other scriptures on a related topic, seeking to allow the Bible to explain itself.

The Apostle Paul wrote to his young evangelist friend Timothy, reminding him about the power of God’s word in the life of one who believes in the message of Jesus Christ. He points out to him that…

“…from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:15–17).

We should note that the New Testament we have today did not yet exist when Paul wrote those words, so he had in mind primarily the Old Testament. We really do need the whole word of God, both Old and New Testaments—so don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.

A friend of mine was once explaining his appreciation for a preacher he highly admired, and he gave him one of the greatest compliments I think I’ve ever heard. He said the man knew His Bible as one would know a good friend with whom he had spent much, much time.

You can have a relationship with your Bible like that, as well.