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September 14, 2021 6:30 am
Episode 793 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions.
Questions in this Episode1. What does Matthew 10:22 mean where Jesus says, “you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved”?
2. I saw a meme on Facebook about abortion, and there is a lot of controversy right now about the new new anti-abortion laws in Texas. This meme said that because God gave up his only begotten Son that he is pro-choice. That really upset me cause I know it’s not true. What are some scriptures you can point me to to show that this is not accurate?
3. Do the means of burial matter for a Christian?
4. My fiance died a few weeks ago and I am struggling with grief. Is there a healthy way to grieve?
5. How do I trust God with the salvation of my children who are not walking in faith right now?
6. In 1 Corinthians 14:33, it says, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” And in Genesis 11:7, it says, “Come, let us go down and confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” I wanted to know the difference between the word “confuse” and how it is being used in these passage.
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ResourcesIs the Bible pro-choice. Much is one of the questions will be answering on today's addition of core Christianity hi this is Bill Meyer along with Pastor Israel Sanchez.
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 you can call us with your question. At 833 the core that's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post a question on her Facebook, Instagram or twitter accounts. You can watch us live on YouTube and you can email us your question at questions at core, Christianity.com first up today let's go to Don in Topeka, Kansas.
Don what your question for pastor atrial, good afternoon. I'm writing about mad and in the book of Matthew and six, and also in verse 22 one. If he could explain what that means I delegate your studying the book of Matthew. So Matthew chapter 10 verse six. Jesus setting out his apostles, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel sees the cinema specifically to the Hebrew people and proclaim as you go, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying give without pay and then you said also verse 22, where Jesus said to them, and you will be hated by all for my namesake, but the one who endures to the end will be saved to versus your your referring to Don 22 okay what will. Initially, I mean we have here Jesus setting his disciples out to proclaim the truth of his kingdom to to the Hebrews it to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Later on, but there's this this offer.
Specifically, due to his own people, and of course you know in the beginning of John's gospel, for example, we read that Jesus came to his own, but his own did not receive him, and that's one of the things that's being anticipated is that as the chapter continues in verse 16. To begin, he said, look, I'm sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake. And so he's he's preparing his disciples for the mission.
He's ascending the money for defending them to the Israelites, pacing, look, you can experience persecution and of course that's what Jesus himself experienced he was he was crucified by his own people, and so Christ is preparing his disciples for that for for that the persecution their inexperience throughout their their apostolic ministry. In particular, and he says you know the one who endures to the end will be saved is calling them to persevere in the message. In the gospel that he's given to them not to depart from it, not to turn from it, but to continue preaching faithfully. Does that answer your question, Don was or something about verse 22 that you were specifically wondering about how wondering you know how you write me how you endure to the end. Yeah.
Very practical very very practical question. The New Testament has a lot to say about that. Of course you know that the Christian life is referred to as a race, and not a sprint. I think it's more of a marathon, but I think with the author to the Hebrews says he believes in Hebrews chapter 12 were to run with endurance the race set before us, looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith and sew up a part of finishing well is keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus and Jesus himself is the one who is the author and finisher of our faith.
He's the one Don is and to be faithful to keep you, to hold onto you and Ben were called to persevere in holding fast to the message to the gospel that he's given to us and that's precisely what is telling his disciples to cling to hear anything hold fast to this gospel as you preach it you're going to be persecuted for preaching the message.
To be dragged in the synagogues and flog and so on and so forth. But hold fast to the word that I gave to you and that's what each of us are called to do is hold fast to the gospel, not to let go of that confidence that we have in the forgiveness of our sins through the work of Jesus Christ that the book of Hebrews. For example, brings that up over and over and over again and so how do we run the race well and had we finish well. We keep our eyes fixed on Jesus makes a question. Thanks Donna.
Thanks for listening to core Christianity will we get a lot of voicemails here and you can leave us a voicemail 24 hours a day on our phone number 833. The core 833.core just spell it out. There's a voicemail that came in yesterday and I am calling from my mouse and wanted to know how great my life finally helped me understand and get closer to God and that you guys can continue and doing what Christ can mean that was talking about human?
That would just pass into action and not go anywhere and I can't find them to be that so because God guide said that he wrote that he in support of aggression, no questions asked that I can go to bed about. That's not to love one sister thank you so much for your encouragement. Glad to hear that this program is been a blessing for you and that you also sound like a very wise woman, avoiding those social media debates. I think that we all ought to, probably at all cost because it just typically are very helpful but often times we do see something you know Liz were scrolling by our through our social media fee, something that does anger us a misrepresentation of the truth and in that's precisely what this this image.
This means that you saw is anybody was saying that because God the father gave up his son. He is pro-abortion are pro-choice just doesn't understand what we mean when we say that God the father gave up or sent his son into the world. Actually, God the son, the second person of the holy Trinity assumed humanity through the womb of the Virgin Mary was conceived by the grace of the Holy Spirit and born, and came and lived a perfect life in our place and in Jesus Christ, the eternal son of God, born into the world. We talk about God giving up his son were thinking about him sending his son into the world to be born, and to live a life for us for the forgiveness of our sins so that his righteousness might be given to us to die on the cross as the atonement for our sins, and then to rise again from the dead, and so it's just a way of twisting the language I think of the Bible in order to support that an individual's immuno political viewpoint and the fact of the matter is, people can do that on all sides of the equation.
We we like to use the Scriptures for our own sort of ideas and will twist the word of God to support our own political ideas. It will order or any number of other things. That's precisely what this is. Yet throughout the Bible.
It's very clear how much God values life. Even though the lives of the unborn passage of Scripture that I oftentimes go to a Psalm 139 were David the psalmist says in verse 13, you formed my inward parts you needed me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth your eyes saw my unformed substance in your book were written every one of them days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them it's very clear right of God values cares for loves life and the life of the unborn.
Those are those are legitimate human lives of vulnerable lives that need to be cared for and protected.
Think of the this scene in the Gospels early on in the gospel of Luke where Elizabeth meets with Mary and John the Baptist in Elizabeth's womb leaps as he experiences the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in the womb of the Virgin Mary. It's as if even there in Elizabeth's womb, John the Baptist is able to recognize he's in the presence of Jesus the Lord in Exodus chapter 21.
If a pregnant woman is hit and her her child dies that the person who hit her, who struck her, is charged with murder because it's a real legitimate human life. And so the Bible is very clear about this, and it sounds to me like like these people are just twisting the Scriptures for their own ends, and so pray for them and continued it to preach and teach and share the truth. Thanks again for your encouragement.
I just love that passage from the first chapter of Luke when when John the Baptist leaps in his mother's womb. His chest is probably one of the strongest pro-life statements, there could be in the Bible is amazing man and there are so many cool things about that tax bill and I just think it's so neat to to think about how even at that stage in John the Baptist life. He's somehow miraculously, by the grace of the Holy Spirit able to recognize the presence of the Lord and let him that's encouragement to me as a father you know with with young kids. Just knowing that Jesus is able to make himself known to our children by the grace of the Holy Spirit. He did it right there with John the Baptist in Elizabeth's womb. And so a really wonderful, wonderful text as you say you're listening to core Christianity with pastor Israel Sanchez and we often receive questions about repentance on this program and today were offering a free resource that answers some of those questions will it's called seven things everyone should know about repentance and what's the difference between true and false repentance.
Those kinds of things. What is repentance is it is it just the sort of change in my my thoughts.
Is it a change in actions surreal practical resource that we think will help you as you think about repentance in your own life and minutes of the were all called to to grow day by day in and the grace the knowledge of Jesus turning away from our sins growing in holiness of this resources and help you out again. It's called seven things everyone should know about repentance. Would love to offer this to you for free. Just go to core Christianity.com/offers that's core Christianity.com/offers and look for seven things everyone should know about repentance something I do daily. Let's go back to the phone sedan from Wichita Kansas down what your question for pastor. Israel Mark all you know I have hundreds of questions but always one show when we die.
Or should we as something that we like the Bible we should do with our body matter being created or being buried because I know that God buried Moses when he died. So that means any thing or another.
Yeah hey thanks for that question. And this is a question we have received before, you know, is it okay to be cremated.
You have to be buried. You know in in in the days the New Testament you were oftentimes placed in tombs. That is not not put beneath the ground. We think even of the entombment of our Lord Jesus Christ. How do we handle the body. I think forcing out want to say is well with with care.
We do have a high view of the body. As Christians, we don't think that the body is a bad thing in this. The spirit is good, God created our bodies. The reason that Jesus rose from the dead.
It was to redeem our bodies even it is. Is this reality that when they were to rise to our bodies are to be glorified restored sin taints our bodies all of us and you know what it affects every part of us, but the body is not bad. The body is good.
It's a part of God's good creation. And so with care. We we handle not not disrespectfully and and that's what some people think well does that mean that I can't be cremated and I don't think that that's that's the case editing. The Bible says that cremation is is wrong or a sin per se, I oftentimes will say damning people call and assess it with the focus in terms of our internal state is not on how we were buried it's on who we trust it in while we lived in so that's the key. Who do you trust in right now, you believe in Jesus and when we die. Think there is liberty of conscience in terms of making those decisions with our families and saying you know II think of when we buried her at I think you know it it be better for me to be cremated that kind of a thing in the Bible.
I would say does not speak to that. Clearly, specifically, and so I think there's some freedom here. Thanks for your question. By the way down we have a great core resource on this topic. It's a core question. It's called can a Christian be cremated. You can find that my going to core Christianity.com/questions.
A lot of people asked that question on a regular basis and and so it obviously it's on a lot of people's minds these days let's go to Dan Lum sorry Bob in Bellevue, Nebraska Bob what your question for pastor.
Israel I'm dealing with. I lost my fianc about seven weeks ago.
Lung cancer and and I'm not sleeping and what it is very difficult to me to turn loose so what you have held. I needed let's let's please take a moment right now for us to pray for you answer, let's let's pray for Bob brothers and sisters gracious heavenly father Lord was just talking about and have been talking about how how you value life all life. When we know corn your word that not one sparrow falls to the ground apart from your sovereign will.
And we are are are of more value than many sparrows.
The Lord Jesus said it, so foot for my brother, Bob, I pray in this time of grief of morning. The sorrow that you would grant him the comfort that only you can give by the grace of your Holy Spirit, the hope that only you can give by the grace of your Holy Spirit that you would raise him up, Lord, and set his eyes upon you and on the promise that you give to your people in Christ and the hope of the resurrection of the dead in the life of the world to come be with our brother. Now we pray in Jesus name Amen amen.
You know Bob, I think of the Lord Jesus, who at the gravesite of of Lazarus wept with Lazarus sisters, Mary and Martha Lord cares for people he cares for you. He cares for mourners and when when we experience death in this life.
It it it's one of the most painful things. One of the most difficult things in the Bible says we we do mourn and that's that's natural.
That's, that's right, the listener with the apostle Paul said in first Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 13. Referring to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He says we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that is, those who have died that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus, God is going to raise up your fianc and when a believer dies Bob, the souls of believers are made perfect in holiness there there in the presence of the Lord through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ with that is that the comfort that the apostle Paul is referring to there in first Thessalonians chapter 4 we do grieve and that's a process and I think it's important that you have people around you who can encourage you and comfort you. Also in this time because it is going to be a process of grief. But what that what the Bible says is that we don't have to grieve as those who grieve who have no hope because we do have a great hope in in a life beyond this life through Jesus, the hope of the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come in so I pray that as as you grieve brother that God would also plant that deep hope in your heart. One resource I think with grieving that can be really helpful to it's a very a very short book Bob mean you could really even read it in one sitting, but it's CS Lewis's book, a grief observed and it was basically his his journal entries.
If you will. When when his wife had died and he was wrestling through grief and and praying to the Lord and seeking the Lord nieces at times it felt like like you know that the doors were locked and God was not answering the other windows were closed, the lights were off in any talks about that sort of process of grieving. And as I said it is good to be a process and so may God give you grace and strength during this time. Hope and may the Lord be with you brother. Thank you for for reaching out again that passage that I just read was first Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 13. If you want to refer to it again and will keep you in our prayers Bob Bob wonderful ministry that you might want to take advantage of is called grief share many churches around the country have grief share groups and there's nothing I think more helpful than being in a group of individuals that are going through something very similar to what you've gone through so you might want to just check out their website find a local group share group near you. This is core Christianity with pastor Israel Sanchez. You can leave us a voicemail anytime 24 hours a day by calling us at 833 the core there's a voicemail that came in from one of our listeners named Randy my question. I'm 60 years old I have three daughters what I write them all, and church elders started 20 4 AM, Lee went in after they write the lady as we look like my problem is, is mentally challenging, debilitating, almost like I might not go to heaven. I met my friends level. Wonder how this person deal with heat. By contrast, Donald site. Thank you, boy. Randy you know that there are a lot of parents who can sympathize with you more than anything we want to see his children loving Jesus. And so when they go astray or when we feel like they're not loving Jesus like we raise them to it. It's devastating. I think the story of St. Augustine in in his book the confessions on those Christian classics and he talks about how he beat basically spent you know all a lot of the first part of his life of stiff arming God, wanting nothing to do with the Lord and his mother. Her name was Monica. She prayed for him day in and day out. As she watered the ground with her tears. She had that kind of agony that the anguish that you're talking about the she prayed for him faithfully and is it. It's an amazing story him. He did come to faith in his 30s but he spent a long time basically running from God, disobeying God living a life of rebellion, but there's an encouragement there for us to pray as parents recognizing right we cannot.
You cannot save your kids.
We do our best unit would it took to set Christ before them to set the truth of God's word before them, and then we we water everything with prayer and you need to just continue to pray and pursue the face of the Lord, crying out to him when you feel that that agony that anguish take it to the Lord because as I said, the burden of saving your children that something you can't do so you can have that with that weight on top of you. You need to take it to the Lord and said God this is only something you can do only you can do the work of drawing my children closer to you now as you're praying I think you want to keep the doors open and continue to have conversations with them where you're sharing the love of Christ to them.
You are modeling for them what it looks like to walk with the Lord to love the Lord faithfully and then that's an important piece of it to someone else who can really I think identify with you is Paul in the book of Romans.
In Romans chapter 9 he talks about the anguish that he felt because many of his cortical brothers. His his fellow Israelites did not turn to Jesus when Jesus came preaching the gospel to them. He says I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. Romans chapter 9 verse two for I could wish that I myself were cursed, cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers. My kinsman according to the flesh right that that they had rejected the Lord nieces. I wish I was cut off so that they might be saved. I have this unceasing anguish, since it sounds like you feel that anguish to what you know. He goes on to be good. He goes on to pray for them and to talk about God's sovereign power in so rest in the fact that God is able God is able to save us. Even after we've wandered far away you think about the parable of the prodigal son. This is the heart of the father calling the wandering children back to himself and lavishing them with his grace and pray that for your children, and may the Lord give you confidence and peace in him that he's the one who is able and wisdom as you continue to to love your children, bless your brother this is core Christianity, we have time for one quick email questions Israel Martin asked this he says in first Corinthians 1433 it says for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, and in Genesis 11.
Seven it says come let us go down and confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech I want to know the difference between the word confuse and how it's being used in these passages. Yeah, sometimes the same word in the Bible, can have a broad what we call semantic range.
Others use different ways in different contexts in the context of the book of Genesis, the Tower of Babel. You have a judgment that came on wicked people who were trying to ascend into the presence of God through this tower that they were building trusting in themselves first printed in chapter 14 God not being the author of confusion. Paul talking about how to rightly order the service a gathering together and he says he needs to be decency and order because God is not the author of confusion.
The same word to different contexts, thanks. Thanks for listening to core Christianity request your copy of today's special offer is that us at core, Christianity.com and click on offers in the menu or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833 when you contact us. Please let us know how you been encouraged by this program and be sure to join us next time. As we explore the truth of God's word together