Did John the Baptist Doubt Jesus?

Did John the Baptist doubt Jesus?

That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us with your question at this number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Now, if you get our voicemail system, feel free to leave your question there. And of course, you can always email us anytime. Send your question to us at questionsatcorechristianity.com.

First up today, let's go to Milton, who's calling in from Minnesota. Milton, what's your question for Adriel? I'll tell you that.

I'm really impressed. And it's truly God's word that you're speaking. My question is, first of all, what is Adriel's feelings about these secret societies, such as, well, of course, we have the Freemasons, and I ran across one and did some research on a group called the Illuminati Agent. And they were a group. They were called back in the 1600s that the Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Church, actually put a hit out on because they were such a nasty group of individuals. And of course, they laid low for a while, but now they are reforming.

And what I read, saw, and see when I did look on their page is terrible. And the very last thing you see is a picture of the great temple of Satan with all the images and the emblems and stuff on that. And I just want his take on what he thinks of these secret societies that these people are falling for, initiating into, and giving all their money to. Milton, first let me say, God bless you, brother, in the ministry and love, love hearing from other pastors what a privilege it is to encourage each other and to serve one another.

And so may the Lord bless you in the work that you do and strengthen you in His word. What do I think about these secret societies and people who are desperate for community? I guess that's one thing it sounds like to me is people just, we want, I mean, it's wired into us, I think, as creatures made in the image of God longing for community.

The problem is we gravitate towards the wrong communities. God has given us a wonderful community, imperfect as she is, but truly wonderful where we are together and being sanctified by the grace of the Holy Spirit. It's the church, Jesus's community. It's not a secret society. No, it's a public society.

It's out there proclaiming the truth of the gospel and seeking to serve and build up one another and to do good for the life of the world. And so one of the things that, you know, we've gotten the question about the Masons, for example, can a Christian be a part of that organization and also be in the church? And one thing I would just say is with whatever groups or societies we're a part of, we do have to ask ourselves, is this taking away from my fellowship within the body of Christ? Is my primary community this other society, whatever it is?

And, you know, not even ones that have, you know, all the secrecy to them. It could be, you know, your sports society or whatever it is. Is that my primary society or is it the people of God? So there are some that I think, you know, it's not that big of a deal, but then there are others where there is a lot of secrecy and, you know, weird things going on, certainly things that are contrary to the word of God. You brought up the Illuminati. I think even with the Masons, for example, you know, oftentimes people will say, well, you know, they have, you know, positive moral values and they believe in a higher power, but they sort of relativize it all. You know, it's, well, you know, this sort of higher power, but who is that higher power?

And if it doesn't matter who that higher power is, well, then what they're teaching is just not true. And so my encouragement, and I'm sure yours as well, Milton, as a minister, as a pastor, is to get people plugged in to their churches and to grow together with the body of Christ there. Well, we have the main thing in common. It may not be, you know, our cultural background.

It may not even be our affinities and interests. It's baptism and the forgiveness of sins. And boy, you get a diverse group of sinners together in the local church.

It's not easy. There are challenges associated with that because you've got people coming from all different backgrounds, but what unites us, what binds us together and causes us to persevere together is the blood of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. And so God help us, I would say first and foremost as Christians, to be committed to that society, to that group, the local church, the body of Jesus Christ. And for those who are getting caught up in these other groups, especially groups that teach things that are contrary to the word of God, then there are serious issues there.

And I think there needs to be warnings and calls, frankly, to repent where they are doing things and engaging in things that are wrong or sinful. And so, Milton, may the Lord bless you again, and thank you for reaching out. You're listening to CORE Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you've got a question about the Bible or the Christian life, doctrine, theology, we'd love to hear from you, and you can leave us a voicemail 24 hours a day at this number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Paul calling in from Tennessee. Paul, what's your question for Adriel?

Hey, Adriel, thanks for taking my call. Yeah, so I was listening to the program earlier today, and there was a question regarding a conflict between an individual that had a Calvinistic viewpoint and an Armenian congregation that he was attending. And the question kind of centered around the idea of total depravity, but I was curious why the rest of the doctrine of Calvinism wasn't discussed, you know, unlimited atonement, irresistible grace, unconditional election, perseverance of the saints. Since those are more doctrinal ideologies that really are somewhat in conflict with the scriptural teachings, why maybe, you know, you wouldn't look at that aspect of it and try to steer the individual towards a more scriptural belief system. Paul, appreciate your question, brother. And let me just say, so, you know, I'm a minister, I'm a pastor in a local church, part of a particular Christian tradition.

I have convictions that do come through. I'm sure, you know, on the broadcast, we want to teach the Word of God faithfully. But we want it to be the Word of God.

We don't want it to be, you know, a man or the opinions of men. And so this is where we say, okay, let's come together, let's reason together around the Scriptures. I also know as a minister, you know, people call in and they'll say, you know, what should I do about this situation where I'm at this church and there's a disagreement and I, you know, I don't agree with the theology and whatnot. I really, what I don't want to do on this broadcast is undermine the ministry of other people, faithful brothers, even if I disagree with them. Now, if somebody's in a church where, you know, it's just rank heresy that's being taught, they reject the Gospel, it's a rejection of the Trinity, a rejection of the vicarious work of the Lord Jesus Christ, well, then in those situations, they'll say, you need to get in a true church.

You need to start going somewhere where the Word of God is faithfully taught, where the Gospel is proclaimed. But if we differ on other issues, I'm generally not going to be, you know, I'm generally not going to say, you know, this is where you need to, you know, stop going to church there and start going over here. Not because, again, I don't have convictions about these things, but because I think that there's also a way of approaching these kinds of differences that's honoring to the Lord and pleasing in His sight. And there are also ways that are really unhealthy and can lead to sin.

And I don't want to encourage anyone in that. And so with the individual who called, and he actually called a couple of times with this question, my first encouragement was, well, brother, you have these differences. You need to be talking with your pastor and the elders of that church specifically about those differences.

And be open, you know, don't go to other pastors who agree with you and are going to just sort of reinforce what you think and then leave the ministers who are over you who are charged with the care of your soul in the dark. And so that was in part, you know, how I approached it there. And then he asked a specific question about, I mean, he brought up total depravity, which is why that's what I was addressing. That difference in particular between more Calvinistic doctrine and Arminian doctrine. And so that's why I focused on that there. Now you brought up some other things, other things that are associated with, you know, the doctrine of God's sovereignty, like irresistible grace and limited atonement.

I didn't, you know, again, I didn't feel the need to get into those things in particular. And I do have feelings about all of those, all of those doctrines. But for him specifically, my hope was, man, you need to approach this in a way that's honoring to the Lord.

And I would say the same thing for everyone. You know, you're listening to this and you have differences with your pastor. We need to have open lines of communication and humility as we approach these issues, wanting to search the scriptures together.

Paul, I'm just going to go back to you, though, because I mean, I've sort of answered your question, but did you want to talk specifically about one of those other doctrines? Or I mean, it sounds to me like you feel strongly about about this as well. No, you know, not necessarily. Thank you so much again for taking the call here.

Very often do I not get through to be able to ask the question, but I have one as I listen to different programs. But yeah, I have, I think, a good basic foundation and belief system. And I try not to let doctrinal approaches intervene in that unless it's obvious that I've been, you know, led astray or my understanding is incorrect. So I think my understanding is good on those issues. And I haven't found anybody that would sway me otherwise. But yeah, and I assume that what it was was the way it was from the from the answer and the discussion. It seemed as though the individual had talked to you before and it was focused specifically on total depravity. I understand your position and your answer.

So thank you so much. Hey, Paul, may the Lord bless you. And just again to say for all of our listeners, boy, we want to open up the scriptures together.

We may not always agree, and that's OK. There are things that are outside of the bounds of core Christianity. I mean, this broadcast, core Christianity, we want to get to the heart of the gospel.

Many of those doctrines that that Christians sadly today have just forgotten about don't understand basic doctrines, like the doctrine of the Incarnation, the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of the gospel. That's that's that's, you know, the heart of true religion. So that's that's where we try to focus. But that doesn't mean we don't want to talk about these other issues to that are important and that are in the scriptures. And even I think where we differ, I think we can differ with charity and with respect and and be able to say, let's go to the word. Let's go to the word and and, you know, put these doctrines, whatever they are, on the chopping block and say, Lord, guide us by the grace of your Holy Spirit.

That's what we want to do on this broadcast. And so, Paul, always feel free to reach out again. If you do want to dive into one of those one of those topics more more specifically and appreciate your your call. Hey, Paul, thanks so much for listening to core Christianity. We appreciate you. This is core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

And we're always open to your questions. If you'd like to email us, our email address is questions at core Christianity dot com. Here's a question from one of our listeners named Georgine, and she says, our family recently left a false church that we attended for three years.

We just stopped attending. But our nine year old is starting to ask, why don't we go to church anymore? We've not found a new church yet, but we are searching.

Do you have any guidance about how to explain this to him in a balanced way? Hey, Georgine, well, I'm I'm grateful to hear. I mean, I don't know what church you were a part of, but, you know, a false church, which I take to be a place where where the word of God isn't being taught, where the gospel isn't being proclaimed, where there's a failure to understand who God is and what he's done for us. There's there's danger in being a part of a church like that, because the things that are taught, the songs that are sung, the prayers that are prayed, that begins to shape us. And so bad theology, heretical teaching is is poison to your soul.

And so I'm glad that you got out of there. And I think I think, you know, one way of having this conversation with with your nine year old is just by emphasizing that reality, that there are true things about God and there are not true things about God. And if we're if we're sitting under a church or a ministry that is preaching and teaching untrue things about God, that's going to lead us astray. And so we want to be somewhere where the word of God is faithfully proclaimed and where where that's that's the focus, the word of God.

And so but but, you know, it's a great question that he that he's that your nine year old is asking. And and hopefully an encouragement for you to, you know, to really focus on the importance of getting plugged into a good church. Now, there's no perfect church. I think sometimes, you know, people think, well, you know, this church doesn't just perfectly align with my with my dog. I can't find any church that just perfectly aligns with me. And I'm not saying that's you, Georgine, but I've seen this before where people will avoid Christian fellowship because they just think, yeah, none of them really work for me personally. Well, look, if if a church is preaching the gospel, administering the ordinances that Jesus gave, baptism in the Lord's Supper, even if there are even if there are differences, you know, programs that you don't, you know, I just that doesn't work for my family or I'm not so keen on the style of worship.

Or maybe we have some doctrinal quibbles here and there. If you're not going to church anywhere, it's better to be in that church committed and growing with other believers and hearing, you know, the gospel preached week in and week out than than not being anywhere. And so I would say, you know, do do a canvas of the area that you're at and and, you know, maybe visit the the churches that seem OK, you know, two, three, four times. And, you know, talk with the pastor, the leadership there, pray about it, but then make a decision. Get plugged in. We this is an area where we really need to be proactive.

It's so easy for us to just sort of let it go by the wayside. And that's what my concern would be for you and for your family is that having left this this false church, you just sort of get used to not being in church and so get plugged in. May the Lord lead you and guide you. And again, you know, you can talk to your nine year old and say, it's so important that what we're hearing about God is true and in line with his word.

And we want to be somewhere where that word is faithfully taught. And so we can't be at that church because it's dangerous. It's dangerous for you spiritually.

It's dangerous for me spiritually. And may God guide you to a place where you're going to be encouraged. God bless.

Good counsel. Thanks for that, Adriel. This is Quora Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. So how should we talk about marriage in the year 2024? It seems like our culture really views marriage completely differently than God views it. And because of that, we've created an excellent resource for you on that topic.

It's one of the issues where there is so much confusion today, isn't there, Bill? When we think about men and women and relationships and marriage, specifically marriage. And so we created this resource, Why Would Anyone Get Married? And it basically walks through the purpose of marriage from a biblical perspective. I hope you'll get a hold of this resource. It's not too long.

It's about 70 pages, and so it's a short booklet, but it really has some great information in it. And so get a hold of Why Would Anyone Get Married? You can find that at QuoraChristianity.com forward slash offers. Again, that's QuoraChristianity.com forward slash offers. Well, we do receive voicemails here at the Quora. You can call us 24 hours a day, leave your question on our voicemail system. And here's one that came in from one of our listeners about John the Baptist. Hello, Pastor Adriel. First, I would like to pray for you and for Bill. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for giving us Pastor Adriel and Bill to strengthen our faith and knowledge.

Please keep them safe and wise. In Jesus' name, Amen. Back on, my question is about Matthew 11-3. John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus, are you the coming one?

Or should we expect another one? Did he ask this question to teach his disciples and other people about Jesus? Or did he have doubts about Jesus being the Messiah? I'm just thinking if he doubted, I can see how we fall short every day with being Christians. Thanks again for helping us to grow in Jesus and have a good day. Sister, thank you so much for that prayer. What an encouragement it is for me.

I know for you as well, Bill. And let me just say to you listening, we need your prayers. We pray as a team every day before the broadcast asking for the help of the Holy Spirit and for the guidance of the Lord and for wisdom. We really do want to encourage you in your walk with the Lord and strengthen you in your understanding of God's word and in your faith.

Thank you so much for that prayer. Regarding this question, you really brought up the two main interpretations. John the Baptist is in prison, and he sends some of his disciples to ask Jesus, are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another? I said he brought up the two main interpretations because the one is, well, John, he knows this. We're talking about the greatest prophet ever, John the Baptist.

He's got to know this. He's sending his disciples so that they can figure it out too. Go talk to Jesus.

He's going to tell you what I already know. And so that's one view that John is basically doing this so that they will hear from the lips of the Lord Jesus. When I preached through this passage some time ago, that was not the view that I took.

I think that John the Baptist is in a low point here, and it makes perfect sense, right? I mean, he's been following the Lord. He's been faithful to God. He's in prison. Why is he in prison? He's in prison for speaking the truth, for calling out sin.

And yet there he is in a cold prison, and he's been waiting for the kingdom of God to show up. He's been preaching it, and he's got to be wondering, well, what gives? And so he sends his disciples, I think, to ask a very honest question to the Lord.

Are you the one? Are you the Messiah? I mean, he's been preaching it.

He's proclaimed it. And yet there in the darkness, he begins to have questions. And brothers and sisters, let me say you can preach the gospel. You might even have a position of church authority. And yet in the darkness, in the midst of suffering, in the midst of pain, it's there that we start asking questions, isn't it?

It's there that what we knew so clearly in the light becomes difficult to hold on to. And what does Jesus do? Jesus answered them, Go and tell John what you hear and see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk. Lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. In other words, Jesus says, Go tell John all the things that are happening. Now, what's crazy about this, what strikes me about this is John knew all this stuff already. I mean, he had seen the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He'd heard about the miracles. It's as if Jesus is telling him once again what he already knows. And in the midst of the darkness, oftentimes that's precisely what we need to. We need to be reminded of those great and glorious gospel promises of who Jesus is and what he's come to do. Those promises that, I think, again, are harder to see in that prison that John is in or in the prison that you're in, whatever that prison might be.

Prison of sickness, prison of suffering, prison of mourning. But there is an encouragement here for all of us. I think we can say, yeah, I know what that's like.

I know what it's like in the darkness to have questions. And yet the Lord Jesus doesn't mock John, doesn't rebuke John. In fact, he commends him in that passage as it continues, talking about how God mightily used him, and he reminds him of the truth he already knew. And brothers and sisters, sometimes that's exactly what we need to. We need that reminder in the darkness of the truth.

We already know, but have questions about who Jesus is and what he's done for us and what a wonderful thing, right? The lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news preached to them. Brothers and sisters, that good news is for you. Whether you're in the light, things are going good, or you're in a difficult place right now, that good news is for you. Lay hold of it, and may God comfort you and strengthen you in your relationship with him. God bless. .