What Does It Mean to Be a Person after God’s Heart?

This new episode of CORE Christianity was pre-recorded.

We'll be back live again on Monday. CORE, that's 1-833-843-2673. You can also send us an email if you have a question, and the email address is questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Daniel calling in from Tucson, Arizona. Daniel, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

Yes. I just want to say that I listen to your show every day of the week, so you're doing a good job. My question is, why is the Bible just have 66 books and not updated to 2021, or just continually updated with more books? Why is the... Daniel, that's an excellent question. Why is it... Well, first, let me just say, hey, thanks for your encouragement.

That means a lot to me. But I love your question. Why is it that we've stopped at the 66 books of the canon? Why aren't we getting new books, new revelation?

Boy, wouldn't that be nice? Some new books that maybe speak to the issues that we're seeing all around us today. What's the deal, God?

Well, here's the answer. Revelation is closely tied together with redemption. What we get in scripture, Daniel, is God's redemptive revelation. The Bible is, we might call it, redemptive history. It's describing God's acts of redemption in this world, how God has created the world and redeemed it through his son, Jesus Christ. Now, since redemption has been accomplished once and for all through the finished work of Jesus Christ, this is something that, say, the book of Hebrews makes absolutely clear, or even Jesus as he's on the cross, what does he say?

It is finished. Redemption is done, accomplished. Because redemption is accomplished, Daniel, there's no new revelation because God's revelation, his perfect revelation, testifies to that redemption. Now, that's the answer.

That's the key answer. We know that all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. That's 2 Timothy 3, verse 16. Even though we're not getting new revelation in the scriptural sense, we can still take God's perfect revelation, the word of God, and by the grace of the Holy Spirit, through the wisdom that God gives, apply these truths to the present day. That's one of the things that we hope to do in this broadcast, in particular in this program, is take scripture written over a long period of time, thousands of years ago, and yet still so very relevant for us today because it's inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God speaks today through the scriptures. But the answer to your question is we don't get new books of the Bible or new revelation because redemption has been accomplished.

It is finished. Since revelation and redemption are closely associated, they're tied together, since redemption is done, revelation, canonical revelation is done as well. And we're not looking forward to new books of the Bible. Instead, we're applying the truth of scripture written long ago to the issues of today.

God bless you, and thank you again for your encouragement. Great question, Daniel. And yet, Adriel, I think you and I have talked about the fact that there are some churches, even some denominations, that seem to want to rewrite the books of the Bible to fit their own theology, right?

Yeah, that's bad news. And this is one of the reasons why we frequently encourage people not to use the kind of language of, you know, well, God spoke to me or God gave me this revelation. We have to be really careful that we're differentiating between our feelings, our conscience even, and what we think and what God has actually said, spoken so clearly in his word. That's where the inspiration is. It's through the scriptures and by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

And so it's important for us to differentiate in those ways. Otherwise, when people don't, when people start to say, oh, yes, God is giving me these new revelations, you see a lot of abuse in situations like that, I've noticed. In churches where you have a charismatic leader who says, this is what God is saying for you to do, and he's revealed it to me. He hasn't revealed it to anybody else, but he's revealed it to me. If that's happening in your church, turn and run and find a church that's going to be focused on the word where God has clearly spoken.

Some good advice there. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. You can email us your question anytime at questions at corechristianity.com. Here's an email we received from one of our listeners named Abby. She says, what does it mean to be a man after God's own heart?

Yeah, well, that's what we all want to be, right? A man or a woman after God's own heart. And this is some language that you find in the Old Testament, in particular in First and Second Samuel, and you had this sort of transition of power between Saul, King Saul, the first king of Israel, and King David. And one of the things that's so interesting about the life of Saul is you read about him, and at first it seems like he's going to be a great guy, a great king, all the people love him, but it's just one compromise after another and he does not listen to or obey the voice of the Lord. And at one point, he even goes and offers a sacrifice that he's not supposed to offer, and he gets rebuked by Samuel the prophet. And Samuel the prophet says to him, this is First Samuel chapter 13 verse 14, but now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. Now there's a very important principle of Bible interpretation and that's that the only infallible interpreter of the scriptures is the scriptures themselves.

And so if you want an infallible interpreter of the Bible, compare scripture to scripture, let other scriptures help to illuminate what one passage of scripture or several passages of scripture mean. And I think when we turn to the New Testament, in particular in the book of Acts, you have this idea quoted as David as a man after God's own heart is referenced. This is sort of going through the history of God's people, Paul preaching, and then in Acts chapter 13 verse 21, it says, then they asked for a king, that is the Israelites, they asked for a king and God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin for 40 years. And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king of whom he testified and said, I have found in David, the son of Jesse, a man after my heart who will do all my will.

You see that's I think the interpretive key there. What does it mean to be a person after God's own heart? Well, if Saul is not that person, and the reason Saul is not that person is because he continually disobeys the command of the Lord, he breaks God's commandments. And David is described as a man after God's own heart. And he's described in that way because David does the will of the Lord because he pursues God's will. Well, that's what it means to be a man or a woman after God's own heart is to obey the voice of the Lord, to listen to him. Now, maybe that's discouraging to you because you think, boy, I try to obey, but I fail every single day. I struggle, I sin in thought, word, and indeed.

Well, let me just tell you something. David, who was described as a man after God's own heart, also sinned and he sinned in some pretty terrible ways. And yet he was still described as someone who wanted to obey the Lord, follow the Lord, do the will of the Lord. And so being a man or a woman after God's own heart doesn't mean that you're going to be perfect.

No one is. We aren't. And that's not a justification for our sin. That's not minimizing it or downplaying it or saying it's okay that we sin.

It's not. Sin is heinous, it's wrong, it's condemned by God, and we're disciplined as the children of God for our sins. But you can be a person after God's own heart and still be imperfect and still struggle. And that was David. And so, brothers and sisters, may we be people after God's own heart, wanting to, longing to do the will of the Lord, and by the grace of the Holy Spirit and the work of Jesus Christ in our lives, fulfilling that so much as it is possible, sinful though we still are, that's what it looks like. And so I really appreciate this question. And it's quite amazing to see how David is described in this way, even though he was a sinner just like us. Gives me a lot of hope, Adriel.

I read about the life of David and all the things he did. It's like, okay, well, God could forgive those. Maybe he could forgive me as well.

Absolutely. That's one of the things I'm struck by, Bill, in my own preaching as I preach through the Old Testament, reading about the lives of some of these quote-unquote heroes of the faith, Abraham and David and Lot and Moses and Noah. Every single one of them had struggles, had sins, and yet the Lord still used them in mighty ways. And what an encouragement that is for us to be able to go to the Lord, sinful as we are, offer ourselves to Him and say, God, I know I sin. I need Your grace.

Use me still. Use me for Your glory and for the good of others. And He'll answer that prayer. Amen.

Some great hope for us in God's word. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We'd like to invite you to join a special group of people we call our Inner Core. If you listen to this program on a regular basis and you find it helpful in your Christian walk and your spiritual development, well, why not prayerfully consider supporting Core Christianity? We don't get money from a particular church or denomination. We don't play commercials on this program. We depend on people just like you to keep us on the air. And Adriel will tell you a little bit more about what happens when you join Inner Core.

Yeah. Well, the Inner Core, as Bill was just saying, there is a group of people that support us with their prayers and also with their financial gifts. And for Inner Core members, you receive a copy of the book, Core Christianity, Find Yourself in God's Story, written by Dr. Michael Horton, a professor, a theology professor, professor that I had as I was training for the ministry.

And this is just a wonderful book that dives deep into the core doctrines of the Christian faith that every believer should know. And so that's one of the things that we send you. We also send out a number of other exclusive resources for our Inner Core members throughout the month. And so if you have been blessed by Core Christianity, if you've been encouraged by the work that we're doing, would you consider partnering with us to continue to get the gospel out and encourage people with sound biblical teaching? To be a part of the Inner Core, it's a monthly donation of $25 or more. And it's a huge encouragement for us to help us keep doing what we're doing and hope that you'll consider it. We can't stress enough how much those monthly gifts mean to us to help us to pay our budget to stay on the air on the radio stations that air this program. To learn more, just go to corechristianity.com forward slash inner core, just one word inner core. And we'll tell you more about how you can become a member of that special group of folks. Well, let's go to a voicemail that came in from one of our callers.

This is Jim. I had a question concerning Matthew chapter 24 verses 40 and 41, trying to understand what that's referring to exactly as far as the time in the end times. Thank you. Matthew chapter 24 verses 40 and 41. I'm going to just start back in verse 36 to give us some of the context. And here, Jesus is responding in Matthew 24 to a couple of questions that his disciples asked related to the destruction of the temple and the second coming, the sign of his coming. And he says in verse 36, but concerning that day and hour, no one knows. Not even the angels of heaven nor the sun, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away. So will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field. One will be taken and one left. That's verse 40 in verse 41.

Now two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. So just the context there makes it absolutely clear that we're talking about the coming of the Lord. And being snatched away or swept away there isn't salvation, if you will, it's actually judgment.

You think of the people that were swept away by the flood or the people in Genesis 19 who were swept away in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The angels continually tell Lot and his family there in Genesis 19, you don't want to be swept away. And so this idea of being taken is not taken in the sense of the rapture as sometimes people will say.

It's actually a judgment. And the whole context here is Jesus saying, look, you be ready. I am coming as a thief in the night. Now there's some encouragement for believers in First Thessalonians chapter five where Paul talks about the fact that yes, the Lord is coming as a thief in the night, but we as the children of God are not of the night or of the darkness. We are of the day, children of lights that that day would not overtake us.

And so we're called to live lives of sober mindedness, of uprightness, following the Lord, obeying the Lord, walking with the Lord, because we don't know the day or the hour. By the way, every time I read this text, it talks about Jesus coming as a thief in the night, I'm reminded of there was a time when I was in high school and I woke up in the middle of the night to this terrible scream, just from a dead sleep. And about five seconds later, my mom walked into the room and she saw me lying in my bed and she just burst into tears and said, there's someone who was just in our house. It was pretty scary. We got up, we called the police, but someone had broken into our house, a thief in the night.

And he was standing in the living room and my mom got up to go to the bathroom and she saw this thief standing in the living room and she screamed and he ran out of the house and she woke me up and everything progressed. I just write this text of scripture. If I would have known, I would have been waiting there with the baseball bat or something like that, but I didn't know. And that's precisely what Jesus is saying here. Look, you don't know, but you need to be ready.

You need to be ready. And that's the exhortation that we're given there in Matthew 24. Great explanation and a confusing verse to some different people.

So thanks so much for clarifying that. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. One of the ways you can ask a question is by emailing us. Our email address is questions at corechristianity.com.

Just the word questions at corechristianity.com. Cynthia wrote to us and said, my nephew is in a gay relationship. My husband and I are struggling with knowing what to do as far as attending a gay marriage ceremony.

We believe the Bible teaches that gay lifestyles are sinful. Do we attend even though it's sinful or not attend and risk losing our relationship with our nephew and his family? Cynthia, thanks for this question.

We've gotten similar questions before. This requires a lot of wisdom because I understand that you want to keep the door open. You want to be able to talk about Jesus, share the gospel with your nephew, and still love this person while not condoning sinful behavior, while not giving a stamp of approval.

We go to weddings as witnesses to celebrate, to participate, if you will. It's a complex issue. I wonder if there's a way of communicating to this family member and saying, hey, this makes me uncomfortable for these reasons. I love you. Man, I love you so much, but this is not something that I would be supportive of. Maybe they say, well, then don't come. Or maybe they say, look, I understand. I'd still like for you to be there even though I know that you're not giving a stamp of approval to this, even though I know that you're not supporting this marriage.

I think there are a couple of different ways of looking at it. If potentially you can have that conversation and you can be honest about where you're at and how you love your family member, how you love your nephew, how you want to be a part of his life and not shut that door and continue to have conversations and be in one another's homes, that kind of a thing, and they're open to that, he's open to that, then I would say maybe you can attend, but you've made it really clear about where you stand on this issue. If that's not the case, if you just realize, hey, being there is in one sense supporting this and I don't want to go as a witness and give a stamp of approval, maybe I have another conversation with him and I say, I don't think that this is something that I can do because of my faith. That's where you have to exercise wisdom.

That's where you need to have some conversations. The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5, when it comes to those who don't confess the faith, who aren't believers, we're not called to be out of the world. We're not called to judge them. God judges them. Now if this person, and this is the other part of I think how I would answer your question, if your nephew claims to be a Christian, if he's saying, oh, I'm a Christian and everything's fine, well then I would say, no, you do have to I think make a judgment there and say, no, I can't be a part of this because not only are you doing something I disagree with, but you're doing something against your very own confession, what you claim to believe. That throws another sort of piece into this question in terms of rightly parsing it out and making the right decision. But if your nephew doesn't claim faith, isn't a part of the church, doesn't claim to be a Christian, it could be that there's maybe an open door here for you to continue to have a strong relationship and to be able to share the gospel and the love of Christ with your nephew and his partner. So may God give you wisdom and grace, and may God open your nephew's heart to the gospel.

Hmm, challenging situation. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you'd like to leave us a voicemail, you can call 24 hours a day and leave your question at 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Here's a voicemail that came in from one of our listeners named Sheila. I'd like to know, why is it that the pastors preach, thank God, you're still here on earth and you're not six feet below, when it's almost like a blessing? If you believe, why be afraid of dying? Hmm.

Yeah, I guess it would just depend on the context. I'm not sure why some pastors might say that, but I can say that there are good reasons to be alive. And I think about a text in Philippians chapter 1, really a beautiful passage, Philippians chapter 1 verse 22. Paul says, I'll start in verse 21, For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me, yet which I shall choose I cannot dwell. I am hard-pressed between the two. That is, I'm hard-pressed between the desire to go and be with Jesus and the desire to continue to live.

I'm hard-pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. As you say, Sheila, to be in the presence of the Lord, worshiping God, perfected in holiness, boy, we can't even begin to imagine how glorious that's going to be. But then he says this, and this is what I meant when I said there are still good reasons to live, verse 24, but to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Paul says to the Philippians, Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again. In other words, Paul says, I have work to do here.

And you know what my work is? As an apostle of Jesus Christ, it's the edification of my brothers and sisters in Christ, of the body of Christ. I'm here. I know it's better to depart and be with Jesus, but I'll say this. I'm going to continue on for your faith, for your encouragement, Paul says to the Philippians. And the reality is that as followers of Christ, as believers in Jesus, as long as God gives us breath in our lungs, he's called us to a task, to love him, to serve him, to walk with him, to do good to all people, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

So in that sense, I think we can thank God for the life that he's given to us. Yes, it's far better for the believer to depart and be with Christ, but right now we have an opportunity to share the love of Christ with the people around us, to honor Jesus by our lives, by the decisions we make, to worship him with the church militant here on earth, calling on the name of the Lord, seeking the face of God. And that's what the apostle Paul is getting at there.

And so if people talk about why living is so much better than heaven, because heaven is just floating around and playing the harp, that kind of thing, well, they just don't have a proper biblical understanding of heaven, we do know that this life isn't all there is, and that the life to come and ultimately the world to come at the resurrection of the dead is far better than anything we could ever imagine. And yet God has given us marching orders here now, and he calls us to follow him, to love him, and to love the people around us so that others might know Jesus Christ as well. Such an awesome responsibility for us, isn't it, Adriel, to be sharing with those around us who don't know him, and to really, I think, have a sense of urgency about that as well.

Yeah, absolutely. And a lot of people feel like, you know, I'm just not, I'm not worthy to share the gospel. I fail, I'm weak, I don't even know how to articulate it so well. But brothers and sisters, it's such a simple message of good news. God loves sinners, and he sent his son into the world to redeem them, and we were sinners, and he saved us. Share that good news with others. 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.