Should Christians Be Performing Exorcisms Today?

Should Christians Be Performing Exorcisms Today? Call us with your question at 833-THE-CORE. Make a note of that for future reference. Ralph in Long Island, New York. Ralph, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

Yes. Hello, Pastor Ariel. Hey, Ralph. Sorry.

No problem. How are you doing? I'm doing all right. This is a little nervous because this is a tough question.

Hey, let us have it. Okay. In Matthew chapter 24.

Okay. In the first three verses, I'm reading from the NAS. Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when the disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And the answer He said to Him, you know, do not you see all these things? He said to you that one stone somebody left upon another will do not be torn down. And the disciples said, okay, when will this be?

And then, you know, he went into there will be nation rise against nation earthquakes and various wars, abomination, desolation. All right, Pastor Ariel. I'm going to skip down to verse 33 and 34, Matthew 24, and he's talking to his disciples, right?

Even so, you too, when you see all these things recognize that He is near right at the door. They said, truly say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Now, I'm searching the scriptures. I'm going to reform church. So they say reform theology, right, says this took it's already took place when Rome came in, destroyed the temple and Jerusalem in AD 70.

But this sensation says this did not happen yet. So my question is, Pastor Ariel. Going to scripture. How do you exegesis? How do you expound this?

Yeah. Hey, Ralph, thank you for that question. And it's the tricky one, one that a lot of people get tripped up by. And I think the answer is going back to the beginning of the chapter.

As you say, I'm glad that you started there. If you go just to the next few verses in verse three, as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, tell us, when will these things be? Now, the reference there to these things, they're getting at what Jesus had just told them in the previous verses related to the destruction of the temple. So when will these things be?

And here's a second question here, Ralph. And when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? So there are two things really that Jesus is unpacking here. He's talking about the destruction of the temple and he's giving them signs, indications.

He's saying you guys need to be ready for this. But he's also talking about the things that relate to the second coming, to his final coming, to the end of the age. And so I think when we realize that and then we recognize it in Matthew 24, there are sort of two things that are being talked about.

It sort of goes back and forth between talking about these things. We can say, well, yes, in a very real sense, they, that generation, experienced the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. But this also looks forward to a future desolation, if you will, destruction, one that characterizes Christ's second coming when he comes to judge the world finally in perfect justice and righteousness. And so keeping those things in mind, I think, helps to clear up any problem that we might have in terms of the chronology. And did they really, were they really there to see these things?

Well, yes, for the destruction of the temple, which was one of the things that they had asked about. And so Ralph, thanks for that question. Love that you're digging into the scriptures. God bless.

Thank you, Ralph. So cool to hear people who are really, as you said, digging into the scriptures, Adriel. And that's one of the things that we are encouraging here at Core Christianity on a regular basis. Get out your Bible, start reading it. If you've got a tough issue or question, call us and Adriel will be glad to respond to your question. Let's go to Josh in Merfield, Minnesota. Josh, what's your question for Adriel?

Yes, hi. So in the longer ending of Mark, I'm running across quite a few people using that passage to prove that Christians today should be practicing exorcism, speaking in new tongues. They should, let's see here, pick up serpents. You're familiar with the longer ending, but I know that we can identify that this is not in the original or the older manuscripts that we have. But when you're dealing with a Christian who is into this type of stuff, how do you, without saying this isn't scripture or it's questionable, how would you go about dealing with this passage without trying to say it's not scripture? Yeah, thanks for that question. Really practical, because if you're talking to believers who are saying, well, we should become snake handlers because look at the end of Mark and do this sort of spiritual Ghostbusters thing going around casting out demons, that affects how you're going to live the Christian life.

And frankly, I mean, you could be putting yourself in some danger, so I appreciate this question. It is interesting because you look at the longer ending of Mark and as you said, there are a lot of textual scholars who say, well, this may not have been in the original manuscript of Mark's gospel, but there really is nothing that contradicts teaching elsewhere in the New Testament. In fact, it seems to prepare us for everything we're going to be seeing in the book of Acts, the disciples speaking with new tongues and performing miracles and so on and so forth. But when people will appeal to the book of Acts or even a passage like this and say, well, we should be doing this today, this should characterize the Christian life, my response is, well, we have to think about the way in which God ordinarily works today and how God was extraordinarily working during the days of the apostles, in particular for the advancement of the gospel, getting the word of the gospel out. And it seems to me like the purpose of miracles in the New Testament, these miraculous signs, was always to point to the reality of the gospel. You see this in various places, for example, in the book of Hebrews, in the early chapters of Hebrews, the author of the Hebrews is encouraging the Christians that he's writing to, to hold fast to the gospel, not to drift away from the gospel. And he talks about how God basically testified to the reality of the gospel with various signs and wonders, Hebrews chapter 2, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

That's Hebrews chapter 2 verse 4. The scene in the gospel of Mark, in Mark chapter 2, where Jesus heals a paralytic to demonstrate that he has the authority to forgive sins on earth. And so the signs, the miracles were never an end in and of themselves. And I think for Christians who are really focusing on the quote-unquote miraculous Christian life, we need to emphasize that. We need to say, look, the miracles in the New Testament, it wasn't about like, hey, this is what the ordinary Christian life should look like. They were always pointing to the greatest miracle of all, which is the forgiveness of sins. And just think about what Jesus himself said when he was confronted or when a number of his disciples came to him after a period of casting out demons, how he responded to them. This is Luke chapter 10 beginning in verse 17. The 72 returned with joy saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. That's where our focus needs to be on the gospel, on the fact that God through Christ has written our names in heaven, that our sins are forgiven. And so, Josh, as I'm talking to people and as you're having conversations with friends who maybe are focusing on this, I would say try to steer the conversation in that direction because, again, the whole purpose of the signs and wonders in the New Testament was to testify to the reality of the gospel. And if people who are talking about this today aren't doing that, if the focus isn't the gospel, then they're confused and maybe even misleading people. And so, appreciate your question, brother, and may God bless you as you have those conversations with your friends.

Hey, thanks, Josh. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, right now is the time to call. Our phone lines will be open for the next 15 minutes or so, and you can ask your question by calling us at 833-843-2673. You can spell that out on your phone at 833-THE-CORE. By the way, we should mention that some radio stations air this program on a tape-delayed basis, so if you're hearing it later in the afternoon or earlier in the morning, just to let you know, the time to call in and talk to Pastor Adriel live in the studio is 1130 a.m. Pacific Time. That translates into 1230 Mountain, 130 Central, or 230 Eastern. During that time period, you can call into the studio with your question.

Otherwise, just leave a voicemail anytime, 24 hours a day. Well, summer is just about over, school's starting up, and when school starts, a lot of kids are going to start getting questions about the Christian faith, and we have a wonderful book that parents and grandparents can read with their kids that will help them respond to some of the tough questions they may get about Christianity. Yeah, it's called How Do We Know Christianity Is Really True? It's great for ages 9 to 13 as you think about the big questions related to life, related to God. How do we know that Christianity is true? This is a resource you can go through with your kids or with your grandkids, or that they could go through on their own, and so get ahold of this book. It's called How Do We Know Christianity Is Really True? It's one of our most popular resources. When we first offered it, I think we ran out in just a few days, and so get ahold of this resource while you still can.

How do we know Christianity is really true? We can send that book to you for a donation of any amount at our website. Just go to corechristianity.com forward slash offers.

Again, that's corechristianity.com forward slash offers, and look for that particular book. All right, let's go to a YouTube question that we received from Linz. Linz says, I've lost the habit of daily reading of scripture since the last two months, and I'm feeling far from God. I can't seem to focus because of personal circumstances. How do I get back into having daily devotions?

Well, you're not alone, Linz. I think that a lot of Christians struggle with this. There are periods in our lives where we feel just that energy, that passion to study the scriptures, to pray, to continue to press forward in those things, to persevere in those things, and then there are mornings where you wake up, and you just have no energy at all, no desire to read. I know that some believers really struggle with this.

They wonder, well, what happened? Has the Holy Spirit left me? Did I lose my salvation? As a brand-new believer, I struggled with those thoughts because early on in my Christian walk, I had this great passion. People say, you're on fire for the Lord. You just are devouring the scriptures, but then over time, that fire seems to go away. You wake up, and you're distracted, and boy, you read the Bible, and it just doesn't seem like you're getting much out of it.

So what do you do in those situations? Well, I think rather than say, well, I'll do that when the feelings come back, I think we have to cultivate this persistence, if you will, this commitment, this diligence in doing the things that we know are going to contribute to our encouragement, our growth in grace. I mean, I oftentimes tell people this related to going to church on Sunday morning.

I know that there are going to be Sundays where you wake up, and it's, I just am extra tired, or yesterday was a really busy day, or that kind of a thing. I don't really feel like going, well, no, we're committed to these things. We're committed to these things because we believe that it's through these things, as we hear the gospel preached, as we're meditating on the word of God, as we draw near to the Lord in prayer, that God is continuing to work in our own lives and to strengthen us to help us grow. I think it's interesting that the apostle Paul, when he was writing to Timothy, he says, you know, train yourself in godliness, exercise yourself in godliness. Bodily exercise profits little, but godliness has this major profit, not just for this life, but also for the world to come. You think about it like going to the gym, for example, right?

Most of us, we wake up in the morning, and the last thing we want to do is go on a run or go to the gym, and we know that if we do it sort of inconsistently, there's not a lot of payoff. Maybe we go once a month, that kind of a thing, but as you persevere, as you press forward, as you continue to do those things, you begin to see the benefit, and it's the same, I think, with studying the scriptures, with reading the Bible, and so I would just encourage you, Linz, to get back into the habit, and of course, we're not going to be perfect, and you don't need to condemn yourself when you miss a day or a few days. You just continue to press forward and draw near to the Lord, and know that as you do that, the feelings, they follow, and it might take some time, but as you're digging into the scriptures, and as you're reading the Bible, as you're praying, even when it's difficult, you're continuing to press forward.

I think you really start to see the fruit, the benefit from that, and so I want to encourage you, don't beat yourself up, but continue in the small things to be faithful. God bless you. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Here's the number to call if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to a voicemail we received from one of our listeners named Chip. Hi, I have a question about Galatians 4, specifically the part where Paul talks about Hagar and Sarah, in that he gives the example of Hagar being the one whose son is a slave according to the flesh, and Sarah, her son, being according to the promise. I wonder why Paul makes this dichotomy between the two because Sarah seems to be the person who treats Hagar very poorly, Hagar seems to be the one being unjustly treated, yet here Paul seems to exemplify Sarah as, I don't know, the good example or the good person of that story. So, just wondering what your thoughts are on that passage. Well, it is very clear from Genesis 16 that Hagar is mistreated.

In fact, I just preached on this text not too long ago. The reality is Abram and Sarai, this is prior to their names being changed in Genesis 17, they're acting very faithfully in Genesis 16, even after all of the promises that God had given to them. Now they're trying to bring about the promise of God through human strength, through the arm of the flesh, and as a result, Hagar is mistreated.

We're told in Genesis 16 that she was treated harshly, and the word there is a very strong word, and so she flees, and the angel of the Lord pursues her. And so I think we see God's care, God's compassion, God's goodness even to Hagar, despite the fact that the promise of God was not going to come through her and through the child that was born of her and Abram's relationship. And so what Paul picks up on in Galatians 4 is just this idea of the promise, that ultimately the promise of God was always supposed to come through Isaac, through the natural son that Abraham would have with Sarah, and he's distinguishing there between the child of the promise and the child of the flesh. Later in the story of Genesis, of course, there is this tension between the child of the promise and the child that was born to Abram and Hagar, and so it's really important I think that we see that, and it's all of those things that Paul is picking up on, but I don't think he's intending to depict Hagar as evil or wrong even in Genesis 16, because the text of Genesis 16 makes it very clear that actually it was Abram and Sarai who were sinning.

The focus is on the promise of God and how ultimately God's goodness was going to come through Isaac, and that's what Paul is picking up on in Galatians 4. Appreciate that question. Have a blessed day.

Okay, it's kind of a two-part question. Okay, I was reading about eunuchs in the Bible, and okay, what happens if, okay, a Christian couple, or an unmarried man, unmarried woman, meet in a church, date, six months, do not fornicate before they marry, then they marry and the woman finds out that the man is a sexual eunuch, or has homosexual tendencies, but he's not acting upon those. Isn't that the same thing as the sexual sin that is permissible for divorce in the Bible?

Thank you. Hey, Diana, very complex question and situation. Now, typically, you know, when we talk about divorce from Scripture, my view is that there are two legitimate grounds according to the Bible, according to the New Testament in particular.

One is infidelity, the other would be cases of abandonment, and I think we take that from 1 Corinthians 7. But one of the things we're really careful to do on this broadcast is not just to tell people, hey, this is, you know, a clear case where you can and should get a divorce, that kind of a thing, because the reality is these kinds of complex issues require a lot more help. They require the help of the local church. The hope would be that this couple would sit down with their pastor, probably with a counselor, a therapist even, and think through some of these issues and how to best approach them.

That's not something that I can do from this seat where I'm at right now. There needs to be a lot more done in terms of, you know, thinking through this situation. But I would say probably the important steps now would be, as I just mentioned, sitting down with the pastor. Are these people, you said they got married, they met in the church, they got married, are they in a church still?

I mean, is this something that has come before the congregation? I am still in the church, but he has left me, blown off me, blown off the step-grandchildren, blown off God, blown off, and he also has financial craziness. But anyway, I've talked to the pastor, and the pastor agrees I really have no choice because of all this financial craziness that he's put me through. But I didn't even know until I read that passage that some people are born eunuchs.

Well, Diana, I am so sorry to hear about this situation. And again, it's complex. It sounds to me like this could be a case of abandonment if he's just totally left the marriage, abandoned you, abandoned the church even. And this is where it's really important for the church to step in, where Jesus gives us a process in Matthew chapter 18, the process of church discipline. And so I think that that's also going to be really important here, that your pastor, the elders there, need to be calling this person, this man, to repentance, to faith, to walk as we've confessed in Jesus.

And so that's got to be a part of it as well. But as you think through these things together with your pastors, as you bring into consideration texts like 1 Corinthians 7, where it talks about abandonment, Paul, writing to Timothy, says that if a man does not provide for his family, he is denied the faith and is even worse than a non-believer. And so this is a real serious, serious thing. And I'm sorry to hear that you're having to go through this. I want to just take a moment right now to pray for you, to pray for your pastor, and just to ask that God gives you wisdom and much grace in this time. So let's pray. Dear Father, we lift Diana up to you. God, our hearts break.

We know that you love marriage, that marriage is a good gift that you give to your people, and yet because of sin, so often we don't treat your gifts as we should. And it sounds like our sister is in a really difficult situation right now. We pray for wisdom for her. We pray for wisdom for her pastor, for the leadership of her church. We pray for this man, Lord, who seems to be running from the marriage, from the church even.

Lord Jesus, would you bring him to repentance, to turn, but be at work in this situation. Grant wisdom, grant healing, grant peace to our sister as she looks to you. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen, Diana. Thank you for giving us a call. May Christ continue to hold you in his arms, and I know that he does. Join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.