How Should We Pray for Those Affected by Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine?

How should we pray for those affected by core?

What's unfolding in that part of the world right now? But certainly wanting to pray for all those who are there and suffering. Psalm 46, beginning in verse 1, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea.

Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling, there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved.

God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter. He utters his voice.

The earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Come behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear.

He burns the chariots with fire. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations.

I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. I've been meditating on that psalm, thinking about that psalm today in light of everything that's going on. Some of the requests that I saw coming from missionaries in the Ukraine. One was, pray for Ukraine to trust what is not changeable and to hope in what cannot be lost. May the church in Ukraine be strengthened through this war. In other words, holding fast to the faith and to the Lord and to that which cannot be lost in the midst of these very scary, precarious times. I saw another update, a post on the Gospel Coalition, a pastor writing there as a missionary in the Ukraine. He said, during this critical moment, our church, which has about a thousand people attending on a normal Sunday, is also a place of service. We've recently conducted several trainings on performing first aid.

People are learning how to apply a tourniquet, stop bleeding, apply bandages, and manage airways. These lay people aren't going to become doctors, but this has given them confidence to care for their neighbors if necessary. We have decided to stay both as a family and as a church. When this is over, the citizens of Kiev will remember how Christians have responded in their time of need. While the church may not fight like the nation, we still believe we have a role to play in this struggle. We will shelter the weak, serve the suffering, and mend the broken. As we do, we offer the unshakable hope of Christ and His Gospel.

While we may feel helpless in the face of such a crisis, we can pray like Esther. Ukraine is not God's covenant people, but like Israel, our hope is that the Lord will remove the danger as He did for His ancient people. As we stay, we pray that the church in Ukraine will faithfully trust the Lord and serve our neighbors.

Really, just right there, I think there's some helpful words for how we can be praying, in particular for the church there in the Ukraine. That the Lord would be with His people, protecting His people, be a refuge for His people, but also that He would use the church in a powerful way through these circumstances. That the Gospel would continue to advance, and certainly we want to pray not only for the Christians who are there, but for all the people who are suffering under this war. That the Lord would bring peace swiftly, like as Psalm 46 says, He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear.

He burns the chariots with fire. That the Lord would bring that kind of peace to that region, and we continue to join with the people of the world and with those who are in Ukraine in praying and asking the Lord for His intervention. Let's continue to pray for that situation over the next couple of days.

We don't know how long this will be going on, but just remember, as Adriel said, not just the believers there, but all of the people that are affected by this situation right now. Thanks for that, Adriel. Let's go to the phones. If you have a question about the Bible, the Christian life, doctrine, or theology, we would love to hear from you. Our phone number is 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Ralph is on the line from Long Island, New York. Ralph, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hello, Pastor. Thank you for taking my question. Okay, in Hebrews chapter 1, I'm just going to read the first two verses, Pastor Adriel.

I'm reading from NAS. You know, after he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days have spoken to us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world. So the question is, in these last days, amen to Psalm 46, I heard you. Okay, the question is, does God still speak today, any new revelations, or did he just, he spoke through Jesus, through the Gospels, right?

Yeah, great question. Is God still speaking, giving new revelation today? I love that you went to this passage in Hebrews chapter 1, because it does seem to indicate that, look, back then God was speaking to our fathers by the prophets. Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, so on and so forth, that God had a word for his people through these prophets who were looking forward to the coming of Jesus so often. Now you think of the various prophecies related to the coming of the Messiah, but in these last days, God has spoken definitively, finally, in his Son, Jesus, who is the ultimate prophet, priest, and king. He fulfills all of those offices that you had in Israel, really revealing to us as the prophet, the ultimate prophet, the will of God for our salvation.

And so Jesus is the prophet to whom we go, the one who is speaking today, I would say, by his spirit, through his word. But I don't think that we need new revelation, and one of the things that's so important to understand, Ralph, is that in the Bible, revelation and new revelation was often tied together with the accomplishing of redemption. The Bible is the history of redemption, redemptive history, and so it's the record of what God was doing to deliver his people. Well, there is no new redemption that needs to be accomplished. We have the once-for-all redemption of Jesus Christ.

It's been finalized. I mean, this is what the author of the Hebrews is going to go on to say in places like Hebrews chapter 10, where he emphasizes that once-for-all offering of Jesus. And so because we don't have new acts of redemption in the sense of the accomplishing of redemption, we shouldn't expect brand new revelation in the same way that we were getting under the Old Covenant and here even during the time of the New Testament. Now what we have is the Spirit of God today through the word opening our eyes to what God has already done. We have the application to us by the Spirit of that once-for-all redemptive work of God in his Son Jesus. And so the sense in which we experience maybe the revelation of the Spirit today is through Jesus.

And this is exactly what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 1 as he's praying for the church in Ephesus. He says in verse 16, I do not cease to give thanks to you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him. Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ. See the focus there is Jesus still.

The eyes of our hearts being opened to see and grasp the glory of Jesus and the work of Jesus for us. That's the focus. And so watch out for people who are talking about new and fresh revelations that take the focus off of Jesus.

They get people focused on other things. No, it's not going to happen. There is no new revelation in that regard because there is no need for new redemption. It's been accomplished. It's been sealed.

It's been done. God bless Ralph. Amen.

Great answer to that question. Thank you, Ralph, for your calling in and for being a regular listener to Core Christianity. By the way, today we are offering one of our core Bible studies, and it's one that Adriel wrote himself on the book of Galatians.

Yeah. Look, the book of Galatians is such an important book of the New Testament because it gets straight to the heart of the gospel. The book of Galatians was written in a time of great turmoil, and Paul was very concerned for a church, the church dwelling in Galatia, because people in that church were beginning to be led astray by false teachers, and they were being taught things that weren't true pertaining to the doctrine of justification, pertaining to how to understand God's law. And one thing I can say pretty definitively as a pastor and having done this broadcast now for some time is there's a lot of confusion today in the church still about the law and about the gospel. And so we want to help you sort that confusion out by taking you through the book of Galatians. It's a 10-week study, this 10-week study on the book of Galatians, and you can get it over at corechristianity.com for a donation of $20 or more. Be great for yourself or for a small group Bible study or a Sunday school class because we actually offer a discount if you order several of those for your church or your small group. You can find out more by going to corechristianity.com forward slash studies.

That's corechristianity.com forward slash studies and look for the Bible study that Adriel mentioned on the book of Galatians. Well, let's go back to the phones. Here's our phone number. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, it's 833-843-2673. You can spell it out on your phone. It's 833 the core, and we'll be taking calls probably for the next 10 minutes or so.

So hop on your phone right now and give us a buzz. Let's go to Kenneth in Mount Rose, Missouri. Kenneth, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

Oh, well, it's Mount Rose, but okay. I was listening yesterday, and I heard someone calling, and I hear a lot of people over the history of my life. They keep going, oh, we need to worry about the mark of the beast, what to look for, all this yada, yada, yada. But my problem is, is why are you worried about that? If you're worried about that, that means you know you're not going to be saved. You need to be worried about the mark of God.

Do you have that? Why are we not more emphasizing on that than the other? That's my question. Yeah. Why do we get so wrapped up in the Bible prophecy thing and trying to figure out who the antichrist is and what is the mark of the beast when maybe we haven't gotten the first things in order, which is what does my relationship with Jesus Christ look like?

Well, I mean, a couple of things. We are called to be discerning, Kenneth. I think about what John says in 1 John where he talks about the spirit of the antichrist and how we as believers today need to test the spirits. Any spirit that says that Jesus has not come in the flesh is not of God. That is the spirit of the antichrist, which John says you heard was coming into the world and is already in the world. And so there is this false and demonic doctrine that's out there, and the spirit of the antichrist is at work in the world today, has been since the days of the apostle John. And the goal of the antichrist, the spirit of the antichrist, is to take our eyes off of Jesus, to confuse us about who Jesus is and what he's done. From the very beginning, you think of some of the early heresies in the history of the church, they always focused on the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Why? Well, because that's the vital organs, if you will, of the Christian faith, his life, his death, his resurrection. If Satan can mess us up on those things, well, then he's got a victory. And so the focus has to be, and I think this is where you're right, who is Jesus?

And do I know him? Am I sealed by God? And that seal is talked about, I was just talking about Ephesians chapter 1, verses 15 and following, where Paul talks about that prayer that he prayed for the Ephesians. A little bit earlier, he says in verse 11, In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory.

That's the mark right there, if you will. That seal, the seal of the Holy Spirit that we have, how? Through faith in Jesus Christ, by knowing him, by receiving him, by faith, for the forgiveness of our sins. And I'm with you, Kenneth, that should be our focus, and it should be the focus of pastors today to fix the eyes of people, not on, you know, who we think the Antichrist is going to be, but on the true Christ, Jesus, who lived and died and rose again for our salvation. We need to have a right relationship with him.

If we don't, nothing else matters. Kenneth, thanks for your call. Thanks, Kenneth. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. By the way, you can watch Adriel on YouTube every day. We have a YouTube channel, and if you go there at 1130 a.m. Pacific time, you can interact with Adriel in the studio that way, so check that out. And of course, you can always email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. Let's go to Troy in Nashville, Tennessee.

Troy, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Yes, I'm making a follow-up, and first of all, I appreciate your ministry, Adriel, and I'm making a follow-up on the chip of Elon Musk. His manufacturing company is manufacturing right now.

And I forgot, I didn't even speak about what they're doing in Switzerland. They're literally taking a chip in their hands in Switzerland, and I wouldn't doubt it, so over 100,000 people by now, they have been doing it for about two or maybe three years now, and it's a real tangible device that they're putting in people. And Elon Musk is going to do the same thing. It's a real tangible device that's going to be put in people's foreheads to control people is what it's really about. And I was wondering if this is truly tangible instead of spiritual that the chip is going to be, and I know that the mark that God will put in people will be his own mark. It will be spiritual. Could you tell me anything about that?

Yes, it sounds like we're getting to your question. I've said this before in talking about Revelation chapter 13 and 14, but we hear about the mark of the beast. There are some people who say, oh, that's got to be some sort of a microchip or a tattoo, that kind of a thing, some physical mark that an individual is getting on their body as opposed to viewing it as identification with the Antichrist, more spiritual. It's a symbolic language that we get in the book of Revelation. This is why it's so important for us to understand biblical genres, Bible prophecy, and in particular visionary prophecy, which is what the book of Revelation is made up of. At the book of Revelation, John repeats this phrase, and I saw. It's as if God is giving him these pictures, these vivid, colorful pictures of things that are taking place in history, but we have to make sure that we're understanding those pictures according to the symbols that are provided for us in Scripture. The language of the mark of the beast, the number of the mark of the beast, 666, that's a significant symbol in the Bible.

It's the number of man. It's often identified in the Old Testament or related to in the Old Testament instances of greed or immorality, idolatry even. I don't know that it's this tattoo, 666 literally, that's put on people's foreheads or hands or even a microchip. No, the idea here is this spiritual identification with an idolatrous system of worship, genuine apostasy turning away from the gospel, not embracing the true faith, not embracing Jesus, but embracing the worship of the beast and the Antichrist.

You're right. When it talks about the saints being marked by the Lord, I think that's the seal of the Holy Spirit, and that's again spoken of in Revelation chapter 14, the first couple of verses there. If that's this spiritual reality, I don't see why there's any reason to think that there isn't also that same kind of thing parallel with the mark of the beast as well. Now that doesn't mean that there aren't real historical implications to all of these things.

There are, and that's how prophecy works. It's just we have to understand the symbols as they're given to us in the Bible. One thing I can say, I think quite confidently, and this is what a lot of people are afraid of, is that they're concerned, well, if it's this microchip or this kind of a thing, am I or are people going to accidentally take the mark of the beast? They just didn't know. They thought it was a good thing. They thought it was a positive thing, and lo and behold, it's actually the mark of the beast.

Well, no. You don't accidentally take this mark of the beast. It comes through deception. It comes through apostasy. It comes through the rejection of the gospel. So if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, sealed with the Holy Spirit, as Paul said there in Ephesians chapter 1, the guarantee of your inheritance for that final day, you don't have to worry about accidentally taking the mark of the beast. You've been sealed by the Holy Spirit, and that's one of the comforts I like to give our audience because I know that there are a lot of people who are concerned about this. And so, Troy, I appreciate your encouragement, brother, and thank you for digging into the Word and for giving us a call. You're listening to Core Christianity. Just a reminder, we have that great Bible study on the book of Galatians available today.

This is one that Adriel wrote himself, and you could use it for personal study or for a small group or a Sunday school class, and you can find that by going to corechristianity.com forward slash studies. Also, just a note that we're going to be recording a second program today, a second edition of Core Christianity. So if you still have a question about the Bible, the Christian life, doctrine or theology, or even what's going on in our world today, we'll be taking calls for the next 30 minutes or so. So hop on the phone right now and give us a call at 833-843-2673.

833 the Core. Let's go to a voicemail we received from one of our listeners. This is from Lisa. First of all, I benefit from your program every single day, so I want to thank you guys for what you're doing. The question is, both for Pastor Adriel and Bill Meyer, how do I share the gospel and the love of God in Jesus without alienating my agnostic friend who identifies as gay? Specifically, when I'm confronted with the question, so is being gay a sin, how do I avoid compromising the word of God in answering that question and not dodging it without alienating this loved one who thinks their attraction is fundamentally who they are? I want to convey the gospel in a way that's winsome, but I also want to be truthful and faithful to God.

So any direction you could give me I would really, really appreciate. Thank you, God bless. God bless you too, sister, and God bless you as you seek to minister to this friend. A couple of things. You mentioned how this individual, and this is so true of many people today, they just sort of wrap their identity up in their sexuality, and this has been something that's been progressing over the last several decades where we just sort of identify the core of who we are with our sexual desires. Well, that's different than what the Bible teaches, and so I think part of the approach is being able to say, look, actually who you are is someone made in the image of God.

Almighty God. We're called to reflect God in how we live, in the love that we extend to each other, in those things that God calls us to. But the reality is we live in a fallen world, and because we live in a fallen world, we're broken, we're sinful, and even our sexuality can be broken in terms of the desires that we have, the inclinations that we have. I think it's being able to say, look, you're not to be identified first and foremost with your sexuality, although your sexuality is part of who you are and how God made us as human beings, but we're also broken, and so we have to understand that part of the puzzle, but we're not so far gone, so broken that we can't receive the grace of God.

Check out the works of Rosaria Butterfield. She talks about this specific question that you've asked and how to be loving and engaging, winsome, but also firm in what the Bible teaches, and may God bless you as you hold fast to the Scriptures and seek to care for your friend. Thanks. 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.