Should Every Sunday Look Like Pentecost?

Should every Sunday look like Pentecost? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, hi, I'm Bill Meyer along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

We pray you had a wonderful weekend. This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. Our phone lines are open right now and we'll be taking calls for the next 25 minutes or so. The number is 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. By the way, you can also go on YouTube and watch Adriel live in the studio right now and send him a message that way. And of course, you can always email us your questions at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, here's a voicemail we received from one of our listeners last week. Yes, I was wondering in today's times with what's going on in the Ukraine war and everything else that's going on in the world, are we now in the end times?

Thank you. Yeah, a concern that many people have. Is this the end? Are we living in the end times?

I don't think that I would look at the events in Ukraine as tragic as they are and say, oh, we must be living in the end of times. The fact of the matter is when you read the New Testament and the apostles, John and Peter, made it very clear that since the ascension of Jesus Christ, we are as the church living in the last days. John says in 1 John 2, verse 18, Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, so now many Antichrists have come.

Therefore, we know that it is the last hour. The spirit of the Antichrist is already working in the world today. Our job as believers right now during this time is to fix our eyes on the truth of God's word, to know the true Christ according to scripture, and to follow him. This is precisely what John goes on to say in 1 John 4, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the spirit of God.

Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. Now, I know that one of the reasons many people ask this question is because they're afraid. They're concerned. What am I supposed to do if we're living in the last days? Do I need to build a bunker?

Do I need to move to the mountains? How do we approach this? I always go to the words of Peter in 1 Peter 4 verse 7 where Peter said, The end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. For the sake of your prayers, he says, above all keep loving one another earnestly since love covers a multitude of sins.

Show hospitality to one another without grumbling as each has received a gift. Use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. In other words, he's not calling people to panic.

He's not saying flee to the bunker somewhere. He's saying continue to pray. Continue to serve the Lord. Continue to exercise hospitality to share the gospel with the people around you because the kingdom of Christ is advancing through the preaching of the gospel, through the faithful testimony and witness of Christians.

That's where we need to focus. We want to take the events that are going on around us very seriously, but we don't want to panic and be despairing or dismayed. We trust the Lord Jesus, who's seated at the right hand of the Father, King of heaven and earth, and he's with us. We have a lot of hope even in the midst of the trials and tribulations that we face.

God bless you. You know, a follow-up to that, Adriel, you mentioned that section from 1 John where John tells us to test the spirits and to be careful about those false prophets that may be wandering around, and it seems like there are more and more of those these days. Not that there haven't always been heresies, but a lot of people it seems like are buying in to some of those modern-day heresies.

Yeah. I mean, that's just the reality. It's been that way since the very beginning, and at the heart of it, the evil one, through false teaching, wants us to not understand who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. And so any false teaching that undermines the person of Christ or the work of Christ is indeed heresy.

I mean, we just want to call it what it is, and so that's why it's so important for you as you study the Scriptures to know what the Bible teaches about who Jesus is, about what he's done, because there's a lot of false teaching out there. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We'd love to hear from you if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Maybe you have some doubts about the Christian faith.

Perhaps you even consider yourself to be an agnostic or an atheist. Hey, we're open to your questions as well. Here's our phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. Our phone lines will be open for the next 20 minutes or so, so jump on the phone right now.

Let's go to Brian calling in from Indiana. Brian, what's your question for Adriel? Yes, in 1 Timothy 2, verse 15, Paul's talking about women to be saved through having children if they remain in faith and love and holiness.

Does a woman that has children have an advantage over a woman that doesn't? Hey, thank you for that question. Yeah, sticky verse there in terms of the different interpretations that are out there. Paul says, I'll just begin verse 14. Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived. We're referring to Adam and Eve in the garden. But the woman was deceived and became a transgressor, yet she will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control. We know that the apostle Paul elsewhere, Brian, says that different people have different gifts.

In fact, he encourages the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 7. He says, look, if you're single man or woman, don't seek to be married. He says, I'm just telling you the way I see it, Paul says, you're better if you remain single. In that sense, it's interesting in that passage. He says the advantage that you have is you can focus your undivided attention on the Lord, whereas the married couple, your attention is divided in some sense.

You're thinking about your spouse as well, how to please your spouse. No, I would say this isn't Paul suggesting that married women with children have a spiritual advantage over single women per se. I think it's important that we recognize that. Again, you look at other passages of scripture and it makes that absolutely clear. We also want to be careful that we don't suggest here that women are saved differently than men or anyone else. We're saved by the gospel of Jesus Christ through the forgiveness of sins.

This isn't salvation by works, by the amount of children that you have or something like that. There are different ways that this text has been taken. Some see it as a reference to Eve in particular, the woman saved through child bearing, the seed of the woman who ultimately is going to crush the head of the serpent.

Some people see this as a reference or as referring back to Genesis 3 verse 15, the promise that was made of a redeemer, the proto-Euangelion, as we sometimes say, the first proclamation of the gospel promise. Another thing that's interesting is when you look at the context of 1 Timothy, it seems like within the context there was this sort of demonic denial of the goodness of relationships, the goodness of marriage and having children, for example. If you look at chapter 4 in verse 1, it says, the spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. In other words, at the background here of Paul's letters, it seems like there's this heresy, this false teaching that was floating around in the church that was leading to apostasy, people leaving the church, departing from the faith through the doctrine of demons. One of the things that was being taught by these false teachers was marriage is a bad thing, relationships, right?

There's something wrong with that. Paul is coming against that. I think we want to factor that into our interpretation of 1 Timothy 2 as well. Thank you for that question and God bless, Brian.

You're listening to Core Christianity. We have a very special offer we want to tell you about today. It's a collection of some great questions and answers from some of our recent broadcasts. We have a new offer that combines some of the best questions and answers we've received on the show about faith and family. Thinking about that text in 1 Timothy 4, false teachers are going to forbid marriage. This is a minimization of the family.

It's really important that we get this right. I think it's fair to say also when we think about children that kids ask some of the best questions, sometimes very tough questions. I can think of my own children.

I have five children. They love asking questions about the faith. We're not always prepared to answer those questions, but we should be. We need to know what the word of God says and to share it with each other, especially within our families. This resource on faith and family brings together a lot of the questions and answers and other neat resources that we have related to faith and family, questions pertaining to parenting, sexuality, and dating.

This bonus material that we've put together here for you. We want you to get a hold of this resource and take advantage of it over at corechristianity.com. By the way, your support is really pivotal in keeping core Christianity on the air. And as Adriel said, helping us to add to our Bible study collection, create more resources for those who want answers to their tough questions about the Christian faith. You can get this particular collection by going to corechristianity.com forward slash family.

Look for the faith and family collection. Again, that's corechristianity.com forward slash family. Let's go to Tom calling in from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Tom, what's your question for Adriel? Hey, Tom, are you there? Yeah, I'm here. I was waiting for the beep.

Hey, that's OK. I'm a Christian, born and raised Catholic, turned Christian about 20 years ago. My question is, how do we, where did it come from that Jesus Christ died for our, or for my sins?

Where does it say, how do I determine that to be a fact? Not that I have any questions of the Christian faith. I just have questions about Jesus dying for my sins.

Yeah, Tom, hey, thank you for that question. Well, the death of Christ does, when Christ's offering of himself had to do with the payment for our sins, his suffering, not because he had sinned in any way or was disobedient in any way, but because we had been disobedient, because we needed forgiveness and justification. Throughout the Bible, the death of Christ is spoken of as relating to our sins. I think of what the Apostle Paul said in Galatians chapter 1 verse 3 as he opens up the book of Galatians. He says, Grace to you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, to deliver us from the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

I don't know that it has sunk in as much as it should. That one verse there, Jesus gave himself for our sins, to deliver us, to rescue us, to save us. For Paul, this isn't just kind of this out there reality.

It's very personal. He goes on to say in the next chapter, in Galatians chapter 2 verse 20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. For Paul, it's not just Jesus died for sins. This is very personal.

Friends, I think that this needs to be very personal for each of us. It's easy to say, I believe God forgives sins. I believe Jesus forgives the sins of some people out there. Oftentimes, I think, Tom, the struggle that we have, and I've had this struggle in my own life at times, is it's really easy to say Jesus forgives other people, but sometimes we have a hard time saying, He loved me and gave himself for me, because we know our sins better than anyone else. We don't know everybody else's sins, but we know our sins, the ways that we struggle. We think, man, does God really love me? Could he really love me?

Did he really forgive my sins? I think that according to the Bible, Tom, it's clear, one, that God wants us to lay hold of this good news, of this gospel. That it's not just about some people out there. It's for you. It's for me. We're to lay hold of this objective reality, the work of Jesus Christ, the death of Jesus for sinners. Who is it not for? Well, it's for sinners. We're in that category, and so we can, as sinners, go to Christ, flee to Christ, and cling to him, and say with Paul that Jesus loved me and gave himself for me.

Those are just two passages that I would point to, Galatians chapter 1, 4, and then chapter 2, verse 20, where Paul personalizes it. Every time we take the Lord's Supper, brother, when we go to church, and we're taking the Lord's Supper, Holy Communion, it is a reminder for us that the gospel isn't just about, again, what God did for people out there. It's for you. This is my body which was given for you. This is my blood which was shed for you. Take, eat, take, drink, receive my love, my grace, my goodness, by faith. It's for you, Tom. It's for me, and we're called to embrace that truth by faith. God bless. Amen. Hey, Tom, we'd love to send you a copy of the book, Core Christianity, by our founder, Dr. Michael Horton.

You can hang on the line for a second. We'll get your address and send you a complimentary copy of that book today. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We'd love to hear from you.

If you have a question about the Bible, the Christian life, doctrine, theology, you name it, we would love to hear from you. Our phone lines will be open for the next five minutes or so. And here's the phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. Well, we do receive voicemails here at Core Christianity, and you can call us anytime 24 hours a day with your voicemail.

Here's one we received from one of our callers named Andrea. I have a question regarding women as leaders in the church. I went through a Bible study that studied the Scriptures, and it specifically said that women are supposed to be supporters and teachers, but not as a lead minister or a pastor in the church. I currently have a couple that serve as our pastors at a church. Male and female, they're married. I just wondered how I am supposed to view that. Is that out of biblical acceptance, or should I raise the question, I'm just not sure what to do.

Here, help, please. Men and women, husband and wife, can serve within the church side by side in a number of capacities. I think of what we read in Acts chapter 18. A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus, and he was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila, this is a couple, husband and wife, heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. This couple actually had a church that was meeting in their home. Paul refers to them as co-workers with him in the Gospel, Romans chapter 16, verse 3.

You can read about the church that was in their home in 1 Corinthians chapter 16, verse 19. You do have instances in the Bible where men and women are serving side by side for the good of the body, even in the case of Priscilla and Aquila, they're teaching this individual and helping him to understand the way of the Lord more accurately, Apollos. But with regard to whether or not women should serve as pastors or elders within the church, it's my view that that's an office that's reserved for men specifically. Like a husband-wife pastor team, that's not something that I believe you see in Scripture. Let me just sort of pivot here and say a lot of times I think we have these expectations on pastors' wives. This is sort of like pastor number two kind of a thing, or at least the one who has to lead the women's Bible study or do this, that, and the other. But when we hire a pastor, when we bring a pastor on at a church, we're hiring a pastor, we're not hiring the wife as well. Of course, there are certain qualifications pertaining to the pastor and to his family. You see that in 1 Timothy 3 and in Titus chapter 1. But you really want to be careful here that we're not putting things onto the couple, and in particular the wife, as the pastor serves in his office in ministry.

Yeah, that's what I would say. You can check out that passage in Acts chapter 18 verses 24 and following, but also the qualifications for elders in 1 Timothy 3. God bless. Thanks for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

We do receive emails, and you can email us your question anytime. Here's the address. It's questions at corechristianity.com.

Mark emailed us with this question. He said, A friend visited my church and afterwards expressed some criticisms of the service. He said we need to be modeling our services after Pentecost. I'm wondering if you agree with that, or is that view really biblical?

Yeah, I disagree with that. I mean, I don't know what that would look like, modeling a service after Pentecost. Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 was the celebration of the Feast of Weeks. 50 days after the Passover, Jews are gathered together in Jerusalem. Jesus told the disciples to wait for the promise of the Father in Acts chapter 1 verse 5, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, to stick around in Jerusalem. While they're there during this great pilgrim festival there in Jerusalem, the Spirit of God fills the place, and they begin to speak with new tongues. The gift of tongues is this fire that came above the head of the disciples.

Peter preaches this amazing sermon. If you will, 3,000 people got saved there on the day of Pentecost. This was a unique event in what we say is the history of redemption or redemptive history. It was the fulfillment of the promise that God had made in Joel chapter 2 related to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all flesh. Also, the fulfillment of the promises you see throughout the prophets related to the new covenant and the gift of the Holy Spirit in Jeremiah and also in Ezekiel. This is a unique event in the history of redemption. We benefit from it, but we're not trying to recreate Pentecost today.

To do so, it'd be like trying to relive that once-and-for-all historical moment. All of us as Christians, the moment we believe, are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Now, I know that there's some disagreement on this in the truth. There's some people who say, well, you can be a Christian, you can be born again, but the baptism of the Holy Spirit is something that you experience later in your Christian walk. You have to pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, or maybe people lay hands on you to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Acts chapters 1 and 2, it's all about the promise of the Father, which is the gift of the Holy Spirit, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. That's something that Paul says every single believer has.

When did you get it? You got it when you believed the Gospel. Think about what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13. In Him, you also, he's right in the church in Ephesus, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. It's that promised Holy Spirit that Jesus told the disciples in Acts chapter 1 to wait for, the gift of the Father. It's what they received on the day of Pentecost. It's the gift that God gives to all of us when we hear the Gospel of our salvation and believe you're sealed with the Holy Spirit. Paul tells the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 13, this is another one, In one spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one spirit.

And so brothers and sisters, here's amazing news. If you're a Christian, been baptized, have faith in the Lord Jesus, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. You have been baptized in the Holy Spirit.

And there are implications to that reality. Really, the Spirit of God lives in you. You're not going to be unbaptized with the Holy Spirit or unsealed with the Holy Spirit, but we can be more or less filled with the Holy Spirit. And that's why scripture commands us, I'm thinking of Paul in Ephesians chapter 5, to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You can be baptized in the Holy Spirit, be sealed with the Holy Spirit, and not filled with the Holy Spirit.

You think, well, how do I get filled? Well, Jesus says, if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? When was the last time you asked God to fill you with his Holy Spirit?

That's from Luke chapter 11, I believe it's verse 13. Paul in Ephesians and in Colossians, he uses being filled with the Spirit interchangeably with being filled with the word of Christ. As you're filled with the word of Christ, with Holy Scripture, with God's word, you're also being filled with the Holy Spirit.

And so we pray, we study the word of God, and we receive the gift of the Spirit and the filling of the Spirit as well. God bless. 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.