Call-In Classic Christianity Radio – Bob George P437 (5-03-19)
Bob received calls of encouragement for him to keep up the good work he is doing, speaking truth into the hearts of men. One caller accepted the gift of eternal life while listening to Bob explain the gospel message. Bob encouraged him to study the bible to know the truth and left him materials to help him grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, material that is designed to be read alongside the scriptures, so the Holy Spirit will reveal truth to men.
Bob also received a call from a listener to help sort through things he has been hearing in a bible study concerning the Lord’s supper. So many people are confused about the Lord’s supper, and are even scared to death that they do not receive the Lord’s chastisement for fear they have partaken of the Lord’s supper in an unworthy manner, being caught up in introspection over sin. Bob goes through the entire passage in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34, explaining truth in context, exposing error in thinking and then explaining what the Lord’s Supper really is about, a celebration of joy and not fear, a celebration of the New Covenant.
We are the body of Christ, in whom the Spirit of God dwells. Jesus represents the loaf that was broken, who was crucified and who died to take away the sins of the entire world. The cup is a symbol of his blood for new life, for life is in the blood. When Jesus celebrated Lord’s supper with his disciples, the loaf, when eaten, symbolizes that Jesus is going away, but when he goes away, he will pass out the Holy Spirit that will take residence in men who by faith believe and receive new life. So ingesting the loaf is a symbol of the Holy Spirit that resides in you because of what Jesus has done.That is why we do this in remembrance of him, as the scripture instructs us to do.
James from Victoria, TX
James called for clarification on what was written by the apostle Paul in regards to the last supper in 1 Corinthians 10. He has heard from a bible study where people have been saying to be careful as you eat and not to eat unworthily. In the bible study, a brother mentioned about a chastising of the Lord, where the Lord puts sickness on you until you get back with the Lord.
Bob said that that talk turns your stomach. The Lord’s supper has nothing to do with that at all. Let us read the scripture in its complete context.
1 Corinthians 11:17-34
17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. 20 So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, 21 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. 22 Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!
The Lord’s Supper
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. 32 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world.
33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. 34 Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.
And when I come I will give further directions.
In verse 17, their gatherings are doing more harm than good. Why is that? In verse 21, it is because as you eat, some of you go ahead without waiting on the others, eating all the food up, so there is none left over when the poor people arrive, humiliating them. Do you not have homes to eat in? Shall I praise you for what you are doing? Certainly not!
In verse 27, is where Paul reproves these people for behaving like this, as those who eat and drink in an unworthy manner. Shall they be praised for their behavior? Certainly not!
What was the unworthy manner they were doing it? They were not waiting on one another. According to verse 27, they were guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Who is the body? Is not the body the people of God, those who have become children of God by new birth? Of course. What was happening to the body there? One part of the body was sitting down happy, having their fill of food, and when the rest of the body showed up, there was no food and drink left. So they are guilty against the body of Christ and his blood. Life is in the blood. If you are in Christ Jesus, the life of Jesus is in you. You are sinning against the body and the Lord who lives in the body of Christ.
In verse 28, what is Paul instructing them to do? Examine yourself? Are you a glutton and a pig? Are you looking after the body or just looking after your own needs? So in verse 29, they were instructed to discern the body of Christ while they are eating and drinking. Those who eat and drinking without considering the needs of others, discerning the body of Christ, are eating and drinking judgment on themselves. Judgment from who? The body. In verse 30, we read that the reason many of you are weak and sick is your gluttony. When you eat or drink too much, you either go to sleep or pass out. In verse 31, Paul exhorts them to be more discerning in what they are doing, in how their actions are affecting the body of Christ. In verse 32, when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined. This bible is a book of discipline. He is instructing the body to quit being gluttons and to have concern for the rest of the body.
The church world has perverted the Lord’s supper. People are saying, “You better get your sins confessed and you better have introspection unless you bring damnation on yourself.” People are so afraid to take the Lord’s supper for fear they have committed a sin unto damnation. So you hear, “You better have introspection or you are going to eat and drink damnation upon yourself”. Thus people go to the Lord’s supper scared to death, thinking they have a sin not confessed, bringing damnation on themselves.
What is this celebration of?
1 Corinthians 11:23-24
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
Jesus holds up the loaf, and says “this represents my body”. The loaf represents his body. No magical stuff going on here. This is not transubstantiation, where people have erroneously believe Jesus is miraculously transformed into the literal body in a loaf of bread. It is just a hunk of bread. Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” This loaf represents the body of Christ. Jesus said, “This is my body broken for you.”, to illustrate spiritual truth in a visual way. You can touch this loaf. If it could talk it would talk back to you. Jesus, when he was with his disciples at last supper, was telling them that this body of mine is going away and when it does you will not see me again. In essence, Jesus is saying, “When I go away, then I am going to send my Spirit to live in you and you are going to be my body.” This is what this is a picture of. Jesus holds the bread and passes it around. After everyone takes the loaf, where is it? It is gone and it is in you. It is a picture of the day that you became a born again believer placed in the body of Christ. The loaf is gone. Jesus left the earth and went away and then by His Spirit came to live in you. It is a picture of you being placed in the body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:25-26
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
What is the cup for? It is a celebration of the New Covenant. In the book of Hebrews, you can read to find more details about the New Covenant. This passage in Hebrews summarizes the New Covenant God made with man after his death.
Hebrews 10:16-18
16
“This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”
17 Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”
18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.
What does the deceived world do? They get in endless introspection and sit down to beg God to forgive our sins instead of celebrating that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not counting your sins against you.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them
He alone took away the sins of the world, which is the reason I have eternal life. Because sins were all taken away, there is nothing to cause the Spirit to depart from me. Believers, who have seen the Lord’s supper as a celebration, have said to Bob: “Bob, I have never seen that done that way before”, and they are full of joy as they celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
1 Corinthians 10:15-17
15 I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.
Oscar from Beeville, TX
He calls to thank Bob for clarifying the scripture just mentioned by the previous caller. He really called for clarification on Romans 8:18-22.
Romans 8:18-22
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
Oscar was getting caught up in what the curse was. Since there is curse that Jesus did when he died on cross but there is also this curse we see as one reads the account in Genesis with the fall of Adam. There is this earnest expectation fro children of God to be revealed and then there is this frustration in creation and this bondage to decay. So are we all just waiting until this curse is lifted so as to be brought into freedom and glory?
Creation is all that God created – water, sea, animal, plants, all of universe – so we are all waiting until the curse is lifted.
Yet when death entered the world, through the sin of Adam, all creation was affected.
So are there different curses? What curse are we freed from? For we also read in Romans that cursed is everyone hung on a tree. So curse has not been lifted yet?
We are freed from the wages of sin, which is death. We ourselves grown inwardly for the redemption of our bodies. Christ says cursed is anyone hung on a tree. So he was cursed also so we have been freed from that curse. We have been freed from the wages of sin, which is death. We have been freed from the fear of death. Freed from that particular curse and that is the only one there really is. When you are dead that is as bad as you can get.
Natural disasters and all that is a result from the fall of man, under the curse from the fall of Adam. Death of Adam also brought the curse of sickness and death to animals and plant life. All of creation was affected by the sin of Adam. The creation is all that God created – water, sea and everything in the universe – is the result of the curse. Everyone is under the curse until transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light when you accept his resurrected life. All of creation affected by the sin of Adam right up to the present time so we groan inwardly for the redemption of our bodies. When the ultimate takes place is when we meet the Lord in the air and come back to earth to reign with Christ for a thousand years. That is when the curse is lifted and when the lion lays down with the lamb.
Romans 8:23
Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Isaiah 11:6
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
Revelation 20:6
Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
Todd from El Paso, TX
Today he was lost without Jesus but after this conversation with Bob he became a new creation in Christ Jesus. He says he was suicidal and schizophrenic. Satan told him to do this or that and he called Bob because he wants to get away from that.
Salvation is recognizing what God has said about you. You can go to a psychologist and he will tell you about you but he does not know any more about you than a lamp post. He is just as messed up as you are. When God says something about you, and he created you, so if anyone knows about you, then it should be the one who made you. So listen to what God has to say about you instead of some shrink that says you are bipolar or schizophrenic, which you will never find in the scriptures. The bible never tells you that.
So let us look to what the Bible says about you. You were born dead spiritually. Death is the absence of life. Life departed from Adam when he sinned. You have been born dead spiritually, born in Adam, dead to God. But God says he does not want you to stay that way. That is your condition but Jesus has been raised from the dead to give you life. The life God wants to give you is eternal life. Are willing to turn to Jesus by faith, accepting the fact that he took away the sins of the entire world at the cross, when he died on that cross, and was raised from the dead to give you resurrected life? If that is your desire, then you are ready for him to come and live inside you, to be your guide and lead you into all truth.
Bob said: “Todd, is that what you want to do?”
Todd replied, “Yes”
Bob led Todd to express his faith to God as he leads him in prayer.
“Lord Jesus, I need you. Thank you for taking away sins at the cross. Now I receive Jesus into my heart as my Lord and Savior and very best friend.”
After Todd became a new believer, trusting that what he just prayed as depending on Christ’s provision alone, receiving His resurrected life, Bob encouraged him in his new life journey with Christ.
Todd, when you just prayed a minute ago it is as a result of exercising faith in what God came to do for you. Do you realize all sins of your entire life have been placed on the back God never to be seen again (Hebrews 10:16-18)? That is what Jesus suffered and died on the cross to do for you. He did that because the consequences, or wages, of sin is death (Romans 6:23). If he had not taken away the sins of the world, then he could not have offered you eternal life. That is what you really needed, which is life (John 17:3, 1 John 2:25). Because he took away the cause of spiritual death, then he has now given you eternal life in Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Jesus literally came to take residence in your life and lives in you (Colossians 1:27, Romans 8:9-11, Ephesians 2:22). Now he will guide you into all true (John 16:13).
Todd, man will tell you anything as long as it sells. I cannot depend on man. I must depend on God and His word to find the truth about myself, God and people. Bob sent him a new believers packet. He encouraged Todd to work through the packet along with his bible to solidify all the things he had heard when he just trusted in the receiving of eternal life.
Luke 15:10
In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
Todd then addressed his concerns he had about Satan. He thinks about every day how the devil is trying to get him. Bob encouraged him in the pursuit of truth as the means to stand firm. “Well, Satan will stay after you but now he has lost you. Now, you come to know the truth by studying God’s word and asking him to reveal truth to you by His Spirit who now lives in you. When error comes into your head, and when you know the truth, you can give it right back to him. The only source of truth we got is through God and His word.
Jeff
Jeff is a pastor in North Glen. He called to thank Bob for helping people through issues. He wanted to encourage Bob to keep doing what he is doing. Bob is delighted to hear people gabbing a hold of truth. The nature of man is rebellious in regards to what God says about things. People erroneously teach that Jesus died only for the elect rather than to take away the sins of the entire world. God’s word is clear that God through Christ has taken away the sins of the world.
2 Corinthians 5:19
that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.
The natural man is also deceived into thinking he can do good works to enter heaven. Yet, God’s word is clear that man can is born spiritually dead and is unable to raise himself from the dead. The only life available to man is the life in Jesus Christ and that life must be received by faith in His resurrected life he has offered you.
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
So man is naturally rebellious to God. Man rebels in how God has initiated the means for us to even be saved, failing to accept that what he did to take away the entire sins of the world. Man also rebels against God’s offer of eternal life. Man would rather try and work for it instead, which is impossible for man to do. That rebellion is always there.
God is the initiator and we are responders. We rebel in the way he tells us to respond, which is by faith, to the receiving of eternal life, the only means to enter the kingdom of heaven. Man rebels with trying to enter by works. That rebellion is always there. We rebel in both ways, either in what he has initiated or how we are to respond to what he initiated. He who is forgiven much loves much.
Jeff testified of his former life that his biggest struggle was that he could not let God love him. He could not understand how anybody could love him in his sin. He testified that his own father did not even love him. When he discovered how God loved him, his life changed dramatically. That is why he is in the ministry, serving as a pastor. He called to encourage Bob to keep up the good work. Bob was also delighted in his call, that there are grace preachers out there today, in contrast to a world of so much false teaching and deception.
