Is There Any Proof of Angels, Demons, and the Spiritual World?

Is there any proof of angels, demons, and the spiritual world? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, hi, this is Bill Meyer along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us right now with your question. Here's our phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

833-843-2673. You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts, and of course you can always email us at questionsatcorechristianity.com. Now I want to give you a little behind-the-scenes peek here at CORE Christianity. Our program is actually based in San Diego, California, where Adriel pastors a church. I do my part remotely from Minnesota every day, but a few times a year I get to come to the studio with Adriel, which is really a blast, and yesterday we had a little fun. Both of us had some family experiences. These are Southern California things, so if you're freezing somewhere in the United States right now, you have to bear with us, but what did you do yesterday? I went to Disneyland yesterday. So my daughter's birthday is this month, and Grandma, my mom, was very generous, took us all to Disneyland. We had a wonderful, wonderful time getting to ride the rides.

My daughter just absolutely loved it. Pretty tired today, though. We woke up early in the morning, were there for about 12 hours, and then got home. They say it's the happiest place on earth. We had a great time, but I will say this. After a long day, when you get to the parking garage, it's no longer the happiest place on earth. It's crazy how you can go from 100 to zero, just almost, because when you're there after the kids are melting down from cotton candy and popcorn all day long, you're looking at an ocean of cars, and you're thinking, Lord, what?

I just want to be home right now. But we had a great time. It was a lot of fun, and you also yesterday had a good time with your family. What did you guys do?

I did. Well, you know, that we're here in San Diego, you've got to go to the zoo. The San Diego Zoo is famous worldwide. We have zoo passes.

We go pretty frequently, yeah. It was amazing. I mean, it was a little cool here in San Diego, and again, for people that are freezing right now in, you know, Wisconsin. Sixty-three. Sixty-three in the sun yesterday. I think that's what it was. It felt cold. But it was breezy, and so we got to see most of the animals, some of them were hiding out from the cold.

But for the most part, it was a great time. Anyway, let's get to some calls. We have Chris on the line who's calling from Nashville, Tennessee. Chris, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Can you hear me? Hey, Chris, I can hear you.

All right. Well, I don't smoke, but I'm just wondering, what would you say to a person who smokes? Is it a sin? If they're trying to witness to them, should they deal with the sin first or become a Christian, then kind of deal with their habits, or you know what I mean?

Yeah, Chris, thanks for that question. So what I would say is no, smoking is not a sin. I mean, there's a question of wisdom here and just health, but sin is defined as any one of conformity to or transgression of the law of God. And so we don't get to pick and choose what is a sin and what isn't a sin outside of Holy Spirit.

God is revealed in his word, what he calls us to ultimately, the law of God is fulfilled in loving God perfectly and in loving our neighbor as ourselves. Now, I know that some people will go to that text in First Corinthians chapter six and say, well, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. And so, you know, if you're smoking, doesn't that pollute the temple of God? That's just not really the context of what the apostle Paul is talking about there.

Specifically, he's talking about sexual immorality and that being what pollutes the temple of God. But the reality is there are so many things that people can do. I mean, I think of food. Oftentimes this comes up, right? One of the ways we don't take care of our bodies is by what we eat.

So we do want to exercise wisdom as far as this is concerned. But I would say no, you know, it'd be wrong for me or for another person to say, well, that's just a sin. Now, with regard to the second part of your question, Chris, you know, if you're witnessing to someone, sharing the gospel with someone, do you say, come to Jesus, but first, before you come to Jesus, you're going to need to clean up your life a little bit. You definitely need to stop smoking.

You definitely need to stop doing this, that, or the other. I would say when we're preaching the gospel, we're preaching the gospel to sinners as good news. It's this sin that is captivating us, is captivating you specifically. Christ came into the world to redeem you from that sin, to free you from slavery, to sin. And so we go to God, burdened down by our sins to receive that forgiveness and that mercy. No one can sort of perfectly clean up their act and then come to God and, okay, well, God says, now I'm going to accept you now that you've done this. No, we go to God as sinners, and we're justified as sinners. So I think, however we're preaching the gospel, what you don't want to communicate to people is start doing better, and then you can come to Jesus. No, we're saying, at our lowest, Jesus came to us and brought his grace and mercy and the forgiveness of sins, and we're called to repent, to turn to him. But even with that, I think there's the recognition that the Christian life is this life of continual repentance, that you're never going to get to a point where it's like, okay, now I'm there, I've arrived, and I deserve God's grace or something like that. And so the gospel is good news for sinners.

That's, I mean, that's it. And so as we preach the gospel, may it be heard as that, because that's what it is. You know, this week we went to see the movie Jesus Revolution, and one of the aspects of that film, if you haven't seen it, is you have this small, I think it's Southern Baptist Church with an older congregation, and Chuck Smith, the pastor, starts bringing in these hippies because they're coming to Christ, and it's growing rapidly.

And we're in time with that because they want them to clean up their act first, look at their dirty feet getting on our carpet, and what does Chuck Smith do? He washes their feet as just an act of, you know, servanthood, and it's a beautiful film, and it really talks about that very issue, doesn't it? I don't know, Bill, that the cleanliness of the carpet is the most important thing, you know, in the church, that we don't want the carpet to be tarnished by sinners walking upon it.

Well, good luck with that. I think of just, you know, look at Paul's letters, like his letter to the Corinthians. He's writing to this group of people, and he says, look, some of you were homosexual, some of you were drunkards, you know, you've been through this whole sort of laundry list of sins, but you were washed, you were sanctified. And within that church, there was a lot of drama still. I mean, there was a lot of, I think as sinners come to faith in Jesus Christ, it's messy. This is the reality, and the church is a home for them to come and experience God's grace and to grow in the grace and the knowledge of Christ, regardless of how they look, regardless of, you know, what kinds of shoes they wear. We're coming as sinners because we desperately need Jesus. And I appreciated that about the film.

I mean, obviously the film is going over, you know, something that happened historically. And I think for all of our churches to just to say, okay, look, we want people who have struggled and are struggling to come and to experience the grace of Christ. And maybe they look differently than we do, maybe they dress differently than we do, but we're not here because we're some kind of a social club. We're here because we too desperately need the grace of God, and he gives it to us here. And we want others to experience that grace too. Amen.

So well said. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you have a question about the Bible, the Christian life, maybe some struggle in your life, you could use prayer. Here's our phone number, 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Of course, you can always email us at questions at corechristianity.com. Let's go to Jelissa calling in from Tennessee.

What's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hi, how you doing? Doing well, Jelissa. I was calling in. That's good.

I was calling in. I'm Christian faith. And I was currently dating someone who is of Muslim faith. And I was trying to see, is that a good relationship to enter into? Or is this something that I need to think about before I enter into a serious relationship with this person? Yeah. Well, in one sense, Jelissa, I think it's something that you don't need to think about because I think God gives you the answer in his word with regard to how we as Christians should approach dating relationships and ultimately a relationship that's going to lead to marriage with others.

And it says, look, here's the requirement. Don't date and pursue these kinds of relationships outside of the Lord. The most important thing that any of us can answer, the most important question that any of us can answer is who do you say Jesus is? And if this individual is a Muslim, a practicing Muslim, they take their religious beliefs seriously, what they're going to say about that, the way they answer that question is to say that Jesus is, you know, he was a prophet.

He was a teacher. He didn't really die on the cross and rise again from the dead for our sins. He certainly isn't God, as the church has taught for 2,000 years. And so they reject, Islam rejects the Jesus of the Bible and the Jesus of reality to be 100%, I mean, just honest with you.

And so I would say this is a really, really important question, the most important question when you think about who you're going to be in a relationship with. And I would go to the words of the apostle Paul in second Corinthians chapter six, verse 14, where he said, do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. That is those who reject Jesus and the gospel. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers for what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God. We in the church, you as a believer, if you believe in Jesus, you're united to him by faith.

Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Now I know what a lot of people say, it's just hard to find a good guy out there, somebody who's mature, somebody who I like, who I'm attracted to, and we just connect. And so a lot of times people find someone and boy, we connect on everything else, but we don't connect on this question of faith, of who Jesus is. And so there's compromise that happens, and I would just say to you, prioritize your faith and your relationship with Christ.

Now that doesn't mean that you can't have a friendship with this individual. It just means that you need to prioritize your faith and your relationship with Christ and see that as primary and what God says in his word. And so my hope would be that you wouldn't pursue this in terms of a romantic relationship because of what God says in his word so clearly, that you guys could maybe be friends, and that the Lord would bring someone into your life who is going to prioritize Christ.

Because ultimately, in terms of relationships, romantic relationships, that's what we should want. We want somebody who's going to help us grow in our love for Christ and our relationship with Christ too, not someone who's going to pull us away from Jesus. And so may God be with you and give you wisdom. And again, that passage that I read, and I just encourage you to sit down and to read this text as well, it's 2 Corinthians 6, verses 14 and following.

God bless you, Julissa. Thank you for giving us a call. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you have a question about the Bible, the Christian life, doctrine, theology, maybe there's some area of your life where you're feeling some sense of persecution, maybe at work or at school because of your Christian beliefs, give us a call. We'd love to hear your question. 833-THE-CORE is the number.

That's 833-843-2673. So how do we discern and walk in God's will for us when it comes to things like our relationships, our jobs, our everyday decisions? Well, we have a brand new booklet for you today that answers those questions. Yeah, Bill, aren't those questions, I mean, that specific question about the will of God for my life, isn't that one of the questions we get over and over again on this broadcast? How can I know that God is leading me this way and not that way? We've put together a resource that we think will be really helpful for you as you seek to discern the will of God in your life. It's called, What is God's Will? So, I mean, pretty basic and straight to the point there, but it's so important for us that we approach this question through a biblical perspective and that we're letting the scripture inform how we should think about the will of God and what it looks like for each of us in our own lives to pursue the will of God. This short 50-page booklet beautifully helps us see how to pursue the will of God in our lives. So get a copy over at corechristianity.com for a donation of any amount.

Once again, it's called, What is God's Will? We think this will be tremendously helpful to you. You can go to corechristianity.com forward slash offers to find that booklet. You can also call us at 833-843-2673. Again, that number is 833-THE-CORE. Well, we do receive voicemails here at Core Christianity.

You can call us 24 hours a day and leave your voicemail. Here's one from one of our listeners that came in earlier this week. Is there any evidence and proof for a spiritual world or a devil or a Satan for demons or angels or anything supernatural? Any evidence or, Bill, have you ever seen a demon?

I have not personally seen one. I do believe they exist and that they can oppress us as Christians. I mean, it sounds like that question specifically is looking for kind of a personal experiential, you know, or I mean, if you're looking for physical proof, if we're talking about a spiritual world, it's not like, oh, there's a demon's footprint, that kind of a thing. Sometimes, a lot of times when people are looking for evidence, they're looking for it in the wrong way. We're thinking about evidence for the truth of God's word, evidence for the resurrection, looking for like physical evidence, you know, you think of like a laboratory, that kind of a thing. So often when we talk about the truth of the gospel, for example, we're talking about the fact that it's historically corroborated by all these different sources, that it's true as far as the history is concerned, what we have in the word of God.

But we're not looking for evidence like, you know, we found Jesus's, you know, a report card from, you know, and with regard to angels and demons specifically, I would say, yeah, actually there's a ton of evidence all around us. Now what the Bible says, and I've just been preaching through the book of Revelation, we're getting closer to the end of the book of Revelation, it just talks about how the dragon, Satan, is behind so much of the deception in the world today. This system, what God's word refers to as the Babylonian system, if you will, just seems to infiltrate everything. John says elsewhere that the whole world lies under the sway of the evil one.

And what does that look like? Well, it looks like people being lovers of themselves, lovers of money, proud, boastful, arrogant, disobedient, violent. It looks like a rejection of the truth of the gospel, and not just the truth of the gospel, but just basic truth. And how often do we see that today? I mean, some just basic fundamental truth that are now being called into question, even the idea of truth in general in our society. And so these are all, I think, signs of the influence of the dragon in our world today.

We see it all over the place. Now, if you're looking for some sort of experiential, I know believers who have had extraordinary experiences in terms of spiritual warfare. And so that spiritual world is very real, very real. And we see the influence of the evil one everywhere. We also see the power of the gospel and the word of Christ, the forgiveness of sins to change lives and to deliver people out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's light. So for those who have eyes to see, I would say it's all around us. It truly is. And may God help us to see it and to live in light of the reality of the fact that we're not just living in this material world, but there's more to the world than meets the eye. And we need to be discerning as far as that's concerned.

Well said. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Just a note that after our live program ends here in just a few minutes, we'll be recording a second episode of Core Christianity. So if you weren't able to get through with your question in the last half hour or so, feel free.

You can still call for the next 35 minutes or so at 833-THE-CORE with your question, or you can leave a voicemail at that number anytime. Let's go to John, who's calling in from Missouri. John, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Yeah, I appreciate your show.

I would like to ask this question. Is demonic activity increasing? Is that a prelude to the revealing of the Antichrist or whatever system that's coming after that? And another thing is, will Christians also be turning away from God's word if they're truly Christians in the last days, based on, you know, it's said that the word will be spread and then the end will come near. I forget what verse that is, but is that referring to the Christians turning away, or is that just when the last, you know, God's word is spread to the entire world and then the end comes?

Thanks. Yeah, John, so a couple of questions there. One, Revelation 20 talks about Satan being released for a short time to gather the nations of the world for battle, for the great battle of Armageddon. And so one second, I mean, it's a spiritual deception, a great apostasy. This is what Paul talks about writing to Timothy. But if your concern is, well, is it going to be true and genuine believers who lose their faith?

I would say that the answer is no. So in Revelation chapter 20, you have the description of that great gathering of the nations through this spiritual deception, but also throughout the book of Revelation, you have the promise that the people of God are sealed, kept, protected by the Lord. And I think that this is something that you see throughout scripture, even, you know, even, you know, John wrote Revelation, but also in his gospel, you know, what does Jesus say in the Gospel of John in John chapter 10?

No one can snatch my sheep out of my hands. We have this great comfort as believers having been sealed with the Holy Spirit. Now that doesn't mean that there aren't people who have deceived themselves. And, you know, maybe they said a prayer at one point in their lives, totally reject the gospel, don't even understand the gospel, but they float around in church for a while and then they leave and we think, oh, did they lose their salvation or something like that? No, I don't think that they lost their salvation. I think they hadn't truly grasped the truth of the gospel to begin with. Because those who do, those who were born again, persevere in faith. That doesn't mean we're perfect.

And that doesn't mean we don't struggle and experience great suffering even in the Christian life, but God keeps his own. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Eric calling in from Missouri. Eric, what's your question for Adriel? Yes, how y'all doing? Good, Eric. Awesome, awesome.

Well, I have, if I could, I got two quick questions. One is in regards to smoking. That's the first time I ever heard that, said that smoking wasn't a sin. And I don't know if that's just like you saying, smoking in general, because, you know, everything can be used for a purpose. I know, you know, even, you know, marijuana probably has some type of medicinal purpose that is not misused as far as like smoking just for leisure and nicotine. And, you know, of course, people lose on lives and income to cancer and things of that nature. And also, if you could elaborate on that.

And also, I just, I've always been kind of puzzled. I know this one spiritual leader, a doctor, I'm not going to say his name, but he doesn't believe in any like supernatural gifts, anything like healings or miracles. He thinks God only can speak to you out of the Bible, no other way at all. I just wonder, what do you think about that, that God can only speak to you through the Bible and nothing else?

I know like any miracles or healings is just, hey, it's non-existent to us. Two great questions there. I mean, when I was talking about smoking earlier, I was primarily referring to brisket and pulled pork and those kinds of things. That is fair game.

No, no. I mean, it was a question about about cigarettes. And I said, look, here's here's what sin is. It's any want of conformity to or transgression of the law of God.

We can't we can't just make up. We can't say that's a sin because I'm deciding it's a sin. Now, there's the question of wisdom there, Eric, as you mentioned, and obviously wanting to be healthy and take care of our bodies. And and so if we're doing something that is unhealthy, I mean, and I brought up the issue of food to heart disease, right? Like this is this is an area where we we aren't being good stewards or maybe we're not being good stewards of our bodies. And so those are things that we want to bring before the Lord. But say someone, you know, had a celebratory cigar or something like that. I don't think that we could say, well, that's you've you've sinned, you've broken God's law and you need to confess your sin.

No. So so that's what I was getting at specifically with regard to the question about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. There are some cessationists who say, no, the miraculous gifts have ceased to be an ordinary part of the life of the church.

Now, Eric, that's that's my view. And so I do believe that God still can and does do miraculous things today, but that ordinarily in the life of the church, the way we're growing in faith, in holiness, in our relationship with God and with others is through a solid understanding of the scriptures. Now, if somebody said, no, God just doesn't even do miracles or anything like that at all today, I would I would take issue with that because I don't think that that's what the Bible teaches.

And you couldn't say that God is free to work however he wants and whenever whenever he wants as God. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at CoreChristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833 the core. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.