Why doesn't God work signs and wonders as He did in the Bible? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. Hi, I'm Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. And we'd love to hear from you. You can call us with your question at 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. As always, you can post your question on one of our social media sites, and you can always email us your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com.
We also receive voicemails, and here's a voicemail we received earlier this week. Hi, so I wanted to ask a question about the end of Exodus. It seems like there's just a lot of measurements and things that people wouldn't think about, but all of the gospel is supposed to be good for us to hear. So could you let us know what they're talking about in the end of Exodus?
Hey, thank you for that question. Yeah, all of God's Word is profitable for us, even the stuff related to the tabernacle and the instruments there in the tabernacle. And you get to the end of the book of Exodus, and you do have a lot of instruction about, you know, here's how you want to make the table and the bowls and, you know, this, that, and the other. And it can sort of seem like, okay, what is all this? Why is this here?
Well, a couple of things. First, we need to recognize that God is giving Moses, you know, direct instructions for how to make this building, if you will, and it was supposed to be a replica of what you had in heaven, of the heavenly temple, the heavenly sanctuary, if you will, so that when a worshiper entered into this space, it was as if they were being transported into the very throne room of God, into the very presence of God. You had the Holy of Holies, you know, this really an important connection, I think, there for us to make because it teaches us about worship and the significance of worship and and what God is trying to communicate to his people. And the other thing that's so important for us to understand about this is you get to, you know, the book of Exodus, the end of Exodus in particular, leading us into the book of Leviticus where you're going to have all sorts of instruction about the animal sacrifices and the different offerings that were made.
This is all, you know, if you start the story in Genesis where you have the creation, then you have the fall, and then you have God calling his people, the patriarchs, and giving them these promises. It's God calling his people back to dwell in his presence. And so when you get to the end of Exodus, you have essentially God calling his people back home, welcoming them back in. And in the tabernacle you have this sort of, not just this picture of heaven, but this replica of Eden, this garden imagery.
You have the lamb stand with the tree of life, if you will, the menorah there burning in the sanctuary of God. So it was this picture also of restoration, and that restoration came through what we see in Leviticus, the animal sacrifices, God making a way for his unclean people to be cleansed so that they might dwell in his house. And so all of it really is a great picture of redemption, of the gospel. And in that sense, you know, we learn a lot.
We can take away a lot from these stories. I mean, when Jesus shows up on the scene in the beginning of John's gospel, John the Baptist says, behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And we know what that means. We understand what that means because of some of the background that we get in places like Exodus and Leviticus.
And so that's why it's important for us to understand these things. And so I encourage you as you're reading through the Bible, as you're going through the Old Testament in particular, reading it in light of the whole story of redemption, especially how it culminates in Jesus Christ. God bless. You're listening to CORE Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We'd love to receive your questions about the Bible or the Christian life. You can call us 24 hours a day and leave a voicemail at 833-THE-CORE.
We also want to invite you to join a very special group of people. We call them our inner CORE. Yeah, the inner CORE is a group that supports us with a monthly gift of $25 or more and also with their prayers, which is really important.
Yeah, I've already said it. It really is only a work of the Spirit. It's only through the blessing of God that what we want to see happen will happen.
And that is lives changed. People coming into a deeper relationship with the Lord through a proper understanding of His Word, through a proper understanding of the core doctrines of the Christian faith that we need to continually recover and set before our minds and our hearts, because they're those doctrines that are going to really shape us and nourish us and strengthen us to be able to share our faith and to be able to defend our faith when people challenge it. So if you've been blessed by this broadcast, if you're encouraged by the work that we're doing, would you prayerfully consider joining the inner CORE? And when you do, you'll get a copy of that book, CORE Christianity. And you will have advance copies of all of the resources that we offer here at CORE Christianity. Those go out to our inner CORE members first.
You can learn more about becoming a member of the inner CORE by going to our website, which is corechristianity.com forward slash inner CORE. Well, let's go to a voicemail we received from one of our listeners. This is from Bob. I would like to know why God was so present back in the day, but now He won't even show us any sign of Him.
I was just curious about that. Yeah, you read through the Bible and it seems like God is just talking to people left and right. I mean, calling Moses from the burning bush, you think about the book of Acts and the experience of the apostles, men like Peter and Paul, the healings, the miraculous healings that were taking place, or just the ministry of Jesus. One thing we have to understand, rather, is that when we're looking at the Bible, we're looking at the history of redemption, if you will. It's easy as we're reading this to think, oh, this is just sort of the everyday experience of the people of God. But even when Jesus was performing miracles in the gospels, you know, the people around Him were saying, no one has ever done anything like this.
This was not the common experience for Jews, for Israelites. And so, typically in scripture, what you have is an influx, if you will, of miraculous activity, of divine speech, whenever God is accomplishing redemption. So you think of Him delivering His people from Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea, or you think of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ and His earthly ministry, His death and resurrection. You think of the church and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in the early days, if you will. So whenever redemption is being accomplished in history, you have God speaking miraculous activity.
Well, why don't we see that as frequently today? Why don't we see miracles today? There's not to say that God can't work miracles today and that He doesn't work miracles today because I believe that He does.
It's just not our everyday, ordinary experience. Well, the reason I believe that that is is because redemption has been fully and finally accomplished. There is no more redemption that needs to happen.
Jesus, by His once-for-all offering and resurrection from the dead, has accomplished redemption for all time. So we're not going to be getting new revelation and, you know, this influx of miraculous activity because Jesus has sealed the deal, if you will. And again, that doesn't mean that God isn't active today speaking and working and moving by the grace of His Holy Spirit. It just means that we shouldn't expect it to be just like we see in Scripture with, you know, these redemptive historical events. And one passage of Scripture that I would point you to is what the author of the Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1. Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son. See, the author of the Hebrews is trying to give us this definitive, sort of, Jesus is the ultimate prophet who's speaking to His people. So God is speaking today, clearly, to you and to me, to us, through Jesus, His Son, the prophet, if you will, who is seated at the right hand of the Father. And how is He speaking to us? Through His holy and inspired Word, illuminating it by the grace of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And so if you want to hear God speak to you, be immersed in Scripture and pray for understanding.
Pray that the Spirit of God would reveal the truth of God more and more to you as you study the Word of God. The issue is not that God is not speaking today. The issue is that we're often looking to hear Him in the wrong places. We say, well, God, why aren't you speaking to me, you know, from a cloud in heaven like you did to Jesus at His baptism? Well, God has chosen to speak to you through His Word.
The question is, are we going to take it up and listen to Him? God bless. Great explanation and another encouragement for all of us to be digging into God's Word on a daily basis and learning how to apply those truths to our lives. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Brett calling in from Texas.
Brett, what's your question for Adriel? Hey, Pastor Adriel, thank you so much for all that you do. It's a blessing to listen to your program. My question today, when my wife and I first got married, we we met and we attended and met and believed a more of a prosperity gospel and the church was very much a prosperity gospel NAR type church. And so then we, you know, we met there, we got married there.
And then I, I have kind of ended up coming more to and understand more of a formed understanding of the faith. And my wife, my wife has not come to that same conclusion. And this has caused quite a bit of tension in our marriage.
And, and whatnot, a little bit of upheaval. And I really today, I was really just more hoping for some counsel on the situation. Well, let me, let me pray for you first.
Brother, it sounds like, you know, a difficult situation. Obviously, you know, we want to be unified with our, with our spouses on the same page, especially when we're thinking about where to attend church. And so I want to pray for just peace for you, for wisdom, peace in your marriage as well.
God, I lift Brett up to you right now. Thank you for his question, Lord. Thank you for his desire to follow you, to serve you, to know you, to be in a church that is faithful to your Word. And I pray, God, that you would fill my brother with your Holy Spirit, that he would exhibit in his life the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, even in this situation, as he communicates with his wife.
Would you, would you be at work in her as well? Would you help them to get on the same page? And would you get them plugged in, Lord, to a church that is faithful to your Word, where they are going to mature more and more in their faith, in their marriage, in their relationship with you? And so I just ask God for your blessing on my brother, on his marriage, on his family.
Pray for wisdom for them and for peace in his home. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Yeah, I mean, so I think this is a situation where, where obviously, you know, you, you, you, you do want to be on the same page. Now, if, if a church is teaching something that is, that is completely out there, the prosperity gospel, for example, then, then just for, for your own spiritual well-being, you need to get out of there, because it's, you know, there's, there's poisonous doctrines that can begin to seep into our lives and be detrimental to us spiritually. False teaching kills.
It, it destroys. Now, it could be, I mean, I don't know the, the specific church that you're part of. It could be that maybe the, the church that you're part of isn't, isn't all the way that way, but there's just some things that you, you differ on with them. And then there's a struggle there.
I, I would say, look, you want to be patient with your wife? You want to have these conversations about the Word of God? I was just thinking as you were talking, you know, of, of what Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 1, this, this solemn charge that he gives to Timothy, saying, I charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the Word.
Be ready in season, not of season. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myth. As for you, always be sober-minded, enduring suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. That's, this is what he highlights here is the problem that we're seeing in, in the world and in the church today is people just want to have pastors, spiritual teachers that are just going to tickle their ears.
Tell them what they want to hear. Hey, God wants you to be happy and healthy and, and, and wealthy. They're preaching all sorts of things, maybe self-help, you know, but they're not preaching the Word. And if I could, if I could speak, you know, to, to your wife, I would, I would just want to say, sister, you want to be somewhere where you are going to hear the Word of God faithfully taught, purely presented where Jesus is going to be exalted and, and your eyes are going to be continually fixed on him and on his work for you. And so often in, in churches that have embraced the prosperity gospel, some of these other, other doctrines that you referred to, Brett, that doesn't happen. And as you seek to care for your family and to lead your family, you want, you want to be in a place where you're going to be nourished by the pure gospel of Christ, by the pure Word of the Lord. And so I would just encourage you in that way.
And I would encourage your wife in that way. And that doesn't mean, you know, just sort of, you know, ripping, you know, the, her out from one church and just going to another. I mean, it's something you talk about something you talk about and you do and, and working together, praying together, maybe visiting some, some churches in your, your area and your neighborhood that are faithful to the Word of God and, and, and praying about it together and, and building relationships with people in, in those churches is the right way to go. But may God be with you, Brett, thank you for, for your question and may the Lord just lead you in this brother.
Some good counsel. Thank you for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with pastor Adriel Sanchez. One of the ways that you can ask us a question is by going to our YouTube channel. You can actually watch Adriel live on YouTube every day at 1130 AM Pacific time. Just translate that into your own time zone. Starts at 1130 AM Pacific on our YouTube channel.
And you can shoot us a message. We have one from Hector who is watching on YouTube and Hector says, how do we receive Jesus Christ and what do we have to do to receive him? I love this question, Hector. So practical, so simple, so important. We receive Jesus Christ by faith alone. What is faith? Faith is, is a saving grace whereby we receive and rest upon Him as He's offered to us in the gospel. It's that free grace of salvation, that free gift of salvation. I like to think of faith as sort of an empty hand, right? It's not something that you do. We're not talking about a work that you do. And sometimes when we talk about receiving Jesus, you know, we can sort of talk about it as this, as this work.
Well, you got to go through this process and, and, you know, take these steps and no, it's, it's simpler than that. We receive Him by the hand of faith. And what kind of a hand is that?
Well, it's, it's an empty hand. If it has anything, it has our sins, you know, that we're holding up to the Lord and saying to Him, God be merciful to me, a sinner. And we realize in that moment that He is indeed merciful to us sinners, that we can lay hold of Him by faith. That the picture that I like to go to in the gospels is in Mark chapter five, where you have a woman who has had this issue of, of a hemorrhage for a period of 12 years. In that day, she would have been ceremonially unclean, probably an outcast in society. And Luke's gospel tells us that she had spent all of her money done, you know, everything that she could to try to get better, but only grew worse and worse. And so here's, here's a woman who's at the end of the, at the end of her rope, if you will, has suffered immensely, has been ostracized from the community. And she just thinks, if I can just grab a hold of Jesus's rope, I'll be healed.
And of course, you know, you know the story. I hope you do if you don't read Mark chapter five, but Jesus is walking. There's a great crowd around Him and she sort of crowds her way, gets her way through the crowd. She grabs a hold of His robe and Jesus stops and He says, who touched me? And Peter says to him, Lord, you're all these people around you. What do you mean, who touched you? Don't you see, you know, we're all bumping into you. And He says, no, no, who touched me? I perceive that power went out from me.
And the woman came forward, trembling and afraid. And she told Him everything and how, when she grabbed a hold of His, His robe, she was cleansed. And Jesus says to her, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease.
What is faith, friends? It's an unclean hand. It's our unclean hand, grabbing a hold of the righteous robes of Jesus Christ. And when we do, we experience that cleansing, that forgiveness. It's all we have.
That's all we bring to the table, Hector. And so if you're wondering, you know, what do I got to do? How do I receive you? I would just say, man, lay hold of Him by faith. Receive Him for the forgiveness of your sins.
And that doesn't mean that, you know, the story ends there. We continue to grow in our faith. We're called to be baptized and to get plugged into a good church, a solid church. And so I would encourage you to do all of those things if you've received Jesus Christ. God bless you. Thank you, Hector.
What a great question. And we appreciate so much your listening to Core Christianity and your desire to learn more about the faith. This is Core Christianity. And once again, if you'd like to join our inner Core, you have an open invitation to do that.
And our special virtual meeting is coming up in April. You can find out more by going to CoreChristianity.com forward slash inner Core. That's CoreChristianity.com forward slash inner Core.
Here's another YouTube question, Adriel. This is from one of our listeners who says, how can we appropriately speak the gospel to my family who are Roman Catholics? I find it difficult because they adore Mary very much and they put her on the same level as Jesus.
Well, yeah, that would be a significant issue, right? Because Jesus is the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity. There is no one equal to or with God. And so I would say you share the gospel with them in one sense like you do with anyone else, focusing on the grace of God towards sinners. You know, there are many people in churches, in evangelical churches, in Roman Catholic churches, in Eastern Orthodox churches, who really just can't simply articulate what the gospel is. If you ask them what is the gospel, they would have a hard time giving you an answer. They might say, well, I think it's, you know, be a good person, love your neighbor, so on and so forth. Well, that's actually not the gospel.
That's the law. That's what God calls us to do, but that's not the gospel. And so I would just say, maybe beginning with that question, what is the gospel? What is the good news of the Christian faith? And then maybe sing, based on the answer that they give, where to go from there. If they say, well, it's, you know, love God, try to be faithful to him, you know, adore the saints. I mean, I don't know what they would say, but it's just an open door, an opportunity for you to be able to say, let me tell you what, the good news is way better than all of that. It isn't be a good person and try harder.
Right? That's actually not very good news because we all fall short of that. We've sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, of God's law. The good news is we've sinned, and yet God has made a way for us as sinners to experience his love and communion with him through his son Jesus, who lived the perfect life of obedience, righteously fulfilling the law of God, every step that he took, and then suffered and died for our sins so that freely, not on the basis of anything that we've done, not on the basis of our merits or our own inherent righteousness, but on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus Christ given to us, we might be justified in God's sight.
Boy, that's such good news. You know, oftentimes I think when we talk about the gospel, we miss that. We communicate it as we're trying to convince you of our religion so you can start following all these rules, that kind of a thing.
No. Brothers and sisters, Paul says in Romans chapter one, the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. This is life changing stuff. This is experiencing communion with God himself by the power of the Holy Spirit through the forgiveness of sins. We should tell people about it. We should say your sins can be forgiven through Jesus.
Lay hold of him by faith. It's a free gift. That's the good news. And so I would focus on that. It's easy to get into conversations and debates even about some of these other things, you know, the role of Mary or the intercession of the saints, those kinds of things.
And there's a time and a place for that. But focus on the gospel, on what scripture says about salvation, on who Jesus is and our relationship to him. That's what people need. That's what we need. And it sounds like that's maybe what your family needs in this situation. And so I would just encourage you to prayerfully, humbly, graciously articulate these things.
Ask these questions. And then as you're having these conversations, going straight to the work of Christ for you, for them, and placarding that before them because that's how the Spirit of God works. The Spirit of God works through the word of God, through the word of the gospel. And as people hear the gospel, it's the spirit that opens eyes and hearts. And I pray, a friend, that the Lord would do that for your family. And so may God grant that and may God be with you and be with them as you have these conversations. 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.
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