Call-In Classic Christianity Radio – Bob George P464 (8-15-19)
A very common concern people have, and a very important concern, is doubt of their salvation. You are either ignoring the life that is in you or you do not have that life in you. The first Larry that called had this concern. After listening to Bob share truth, he concluded that he did not think he had the life of God living in him. He was not certain he had ever invited the life of God to come into him. He was diagnosed as bipolar by secular psychologists and had been drinking for over 20 years and has now found himself in a mental hospital. Is there hope for him? For you? Of course there is. The problem is really with his heart and his thinking. Will he hold on to a proud heart, leaning on his own understanding and going his own way, thinking he can do it on his own, or will he simply believe the truth he has just heard about God’s provision for sin and death and offer of new resurrected life. Larry chose to put aside his pride and believed the truth and prayed to receive the new life of God, as Bob led him in prayer.
Bob asked several questions that were side-stepping the real need of his heart. Some people might refer to these questions as smokescreens. But Bob graciously answered all his questions about a proud heart, what the elect of God means, and about his being in a mental hospital with his problems. Bob kept his answers short, with simple illustrations of sun that melts wax or hardens the ground in encouraging Larry to put aside his proud heart. When Larry went back to emphasizing his situation Bob explained how he understood that. Bob explained how God designed man to function with the life of God in him, and when God is not in him, then man is functioning like a light bulb without electricity. Bob then brought him back to the real need of his life, to have the resurrected life of God to bring peace to his heart. Bob spent most of his time explaining sin and death and need of life, and what Jesus did at the cross, which was to take away the consequences of sin, which is death, and then about his resurrection, which is an offer of the only life available to man, the resurrected life of Christ Jesus. Larry was then ready to pray to receive Christ.
The condition of a lost man is a sinner. If you are like me, then you would have no problem agreeing with that point at all. You must also understand there is a consequence of sin, which is called death, spiritual death. When Adam died he died spiritually. Death is the absence of life. The life of God departed from Adam, leaving him dead to God, but alive to the world. We are born in that condition. We are born dead spiritually. The only solution to death is life. The only life available to you, to a Mormon, a Buddhist, a Muslim, a Catholic, a Protestant, and it does not matter who, you are dead. The only life available to you is the resurrected life of Christ Jesus. That is why Jesus said he came that you might have life. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life”.
The only question God will ever ask any human being on the face of the earth is what did you do with my Son? Did you ignore him and his sacrifice of his life for you? Did you accept him, acknowledging your sinfulness, his provision for you at the cross, and recognizing your condition of spiritual death and asking Him for His spiritual life? That is the only question God will ever ask.
Your basic condition is spiritual death and the only solution to that is the resurrected life of Jesus Christ. If you are able to recognize that, then invite Jesus into your heart as Lord and Savior. Then you will be born again, having the life of God living in you. You will have the mind of Christ living in you. Then you can start renewing your mind on truth and letting that truth set you free.
Bob committed to pray for Larry so he can be out of the mental hospital, which he does not belong. He said you can call any time. Do not think you are over-calling for I want you to walk in freedom, back to normalcy. Bob sent literature to him to encourage him in his new walk with the Lord.
Another Larry called, a new believer in Christ. He called for help in understanding a passage of scripture in Luke 14. Bob answered his question concerning the passage in Luke about “take up your cross and follow me” and “hating your father and mother more than me”. Not only did Bob answer his immediate question but also helped him to better study the scriptures, especially the gospels, in order to clear up his reading time tremendously. What Jesus came to do was all preparatory for the cross and the resurrection.
Is Jesus telling us to hate people when his life and message is to love people? No, he is just saying that in comparison, your love for the Lord will look like hate when you follow the Lord at all cost. Is your life here on earth more important than the proclamation of the gospel? In the early church, and in places today, an open proclamation of being a Christian would mean death to you. Even Paul said his life bore the scars from proclaiming the gospel, the truth to men. Here on earth was not important to him. What was important to him was the proclamation of the gospel. Every one of the disciples died as a martyr for Christ. The proclamation of the gospel was more important than their own life.
A relationship with the living God is more important than a relationship with men and what they think of us. We do not seek to reject men but in the process of loving the Lord, men will reject us. We love men enough to tell them the truth about Jesus. There will be those who reject us because of our stand with Jesus. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost and we learn from his perfect love, letting him lead us and guide us internally by the Spirit he has given us, to love in us and through us.
As a new Christian, when you are reading the gospels, you a reading a record of the life of Christ while he was here on earth. What was his destiny? He came to die on the cross and give you and me eternal life in Himself. In order to do that, He had to prepare us and show us what our condition was. He had to show us we are sinners. If we do not see ourselves as sinners, what would the cross mean to me? He had to show us we are dead. If I did not know I was dead, why would I need life? The teachings in the gospel buries you and me. The law buries you. If you think the ten commandments are hard, then try the sermon on the mount. The law buries us. It shows us we cannot do it. Now you got it and now you know to come to depend on Jesus, the only one who can and did. When reading the scriptures, the basic teaching of Christ Jesus is there to show us what perfect righteousness is in Him, and therefore, seeing the unrighteousness in you and me. That prepares us for what he came to do, which was to usher in a New Covenant of grace, which went into effect the day he died. So if you keep that in mind, as you are studying the scriptures, and especially the gospels, that this was all preparatory for the cross and the resurrection, it will clear up your reading time tremendously.
Transcript
Larry from Merce, CA
He calls to say he has doubts about his salvation. I believe I gave my life to Christ when I was 22 years old. I felt the presence and I read the gospel but I did not join a church and get into fellow-shipping. I went back to my old sinful nature, and started drinking again. I am 45 years old now and I have been drinking for 20 years, denying that I am an alcoholic or had a problem with the drinking. I am also bipolar. Have you heard of that before?
Yes, but I do not believe in that, that any of that is true. Let us get to your problem. First, you will not find bipolar in the bible.
Matthew 15:11
11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.
You also do not have a drinking problem. You have a heart problem. You said you gave your heart to Jesus, and that certainly could be true. But the issue is, did He give Himself to you? If you came to Christ by recognizing the truth of something, you have to come to recognize your condition. You spelled out quite honestly about some things that identified your condition except when you get into all that psychological junk out there. The world of psychology gives a name to something so they can prescribe drugs to it. So that is why you have bipolar, anorexic or bolemic or whatever it is. If they cannot give it a name, they cannot medicate you. So they give a name to it instead of saying what God calls it, a preoccupation with self.
Larry asked, “What about schizophrenic?” That is just double-minded. I will not give a drug to it by calling it double-minded. If I can call it a big fancy name, then I can put a drug on it. So all these companies, with drugs being subscribed to people, and then in a few short years discover that it has side effects that could even kill you, and so the drugs are taken off the market. God did not want us to alter our minds but to renew our minds. That is what we are going to talk about, renewing our mind.
The condition of a lost man is a sinner. If you are like me, then you would have no problem agreeing with that point at all. You must also understand there is a consequence of sin, which is called death, spiritual death. When Adam died he died spiritually. Death is the absence of life. The life of God departed from Adam, leaving him dead to God, but alive to the world. We are born in that condition. We are born dead spiritually. The only solution to death is life. The only life available to you, to a Mormon, a Buddhist, a Muslim, a Catholic, a Protestant, and it does not matter who, you are dead. The only life available to you is the resurrected life of Christ Jesus. That is why Jesus said he came that you might have life. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life”.
John 11:25-26
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
He is not talking about the sweet bye and bye, but right now. You need spiritual life. But why would you need spiritual life if you did not know you are dead spiritually? Those are the two things a man must come to grips with in his life. There is a reason I am doing what I am doing. I am either ignoring the life that is in me or I do not have that life. I have not truly yielded to the life He has given me. I am leaning on my own understanding and doing it my way. I want you to come into my heart to be my Lord and Savior and to give me your my life. I thank you for what you did at the cross. You took away my sins to never see them again. At the cross you took away the sins of the entire world. The sins of the world were placed on Christ Jesus. No one will go to hell because of their sins.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The only question God will ever ask any human being on the face of the earth is what did you do with my Son? Did you ignore him and his sacrifice of his life for you? Did you accept him, acknowledging your sinfulness, his provision for you at the cross, and recognizing your condition of spiritual death and asking Him for His spiritual life? That is the only question God will ever ask.
As you are contemplating these things, do you know fully well that you were dead spiritually? Do you fully acknowledge the fact that the only life available to you is Christ Jesus? Did you really ask the Lord Jesus Christ to take residence in your life? Are you sure that took place? Larry responded that he did not think that occurred.
I can tell by your heart you want that to take place. What I suggest to you is this. When you were dead in your sins, in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive. You agree with God and say, “Lord Jesus, if you say I am dead, then that is where I am. And you said to me that you came to give me life, I want your life. I recognize that what you said is my condition. I recognize what you said is your provision, which is your resurrected life”. So if you want, ask Him to come in and give you His resurrected life.
If that is your desire, we can settle that issue, thanking God that he has already taken away all your sins. He is not dealing with you on the sin issue today. The verdict is guilty, the punishment is death, and Jesus took it for you. The only thing we are left with is thanking Him for his provision at the cross, where he took away the cause of death, and now asking him to raise you from the dead spiritually. Larry, if that is your hearts desire, we can settle that issue today. Is that your desire?
Larry said, “I am now in a mental hospital. I go through depressions”. I understand all that. Do not avoid the issue. I do not care if you are in a mental hospital or not. You cannot tell the difference between that and what you see on television. You are talking very logically so you are not insane. Why you are in there only God knows. All I told you is scripture. Are you willing to acknowledge what God said? You cannot sin against the truth. If what I said to you is true, and all I shared with you is scripture, and if Jesus is God, and He says scripture is true, then scripture is true. If you recognize what scripture has said about your condition, then forget about all this other stuff you are going through.
Your basic condition is spiritual death and the only solution to that is the resurrected life of Jesus Christ. If you are able to recognize that, Larry, then invite Jesus into your heart as Lord and Saviour. Then you will be born again, having the life of God living in you. You will have the mind of Christ living in you. Then you can start renewing your mind on truth and letting that truth set you free. Like two girls in Louisville, KY, taking shock treatments in a mental hospital, who got a hold of this truth and walked out of that hospital in two months. Now they have a ministry talking to many people with this truth, to have the person of God living in you, leading and guiding you in the paths of righteousness. Do you want to do that tonight, Larry?
Larry said, “I so want to but something inside me compares myself to Pharaoh, the hardening of his heart. I feel like my heart is hardened.” The same sun that melts wax hardens clay. It is not the fault of the sun. It depends on what it falls on. What pride will do is harden on your heart. All pride says, “I do not need this. I can do it on my own”. Here you are stuck in a mental hospital, with all kinds of evidence that you cannot do it on your own. That ought to tell you that you cannot do it on your own, Larry. Pride is what keeps you. Pride is what hardens your heart.
Larry then says, “I am a very proud person”. Then, get rid of that proud. You ought to realize that it has not been doing you much good. How can you be proud when you are in the shape and condition you are in? You ought to be saying, “I have been acting like an idiot. I am not a big deal. I want to be guided by someone other than myself. I have not been doing too good trusting myself.” Do you agree with this Larry?
Larry then says, ““I have not been doing very well. I am drinking and throwing my life away”. Give Jesus a try. Larry continues talking, “The facts are there. I am 45 years old. I am throwing my life away.” You have not done too well on your own and that is understandable, Larry. Nobody can do well leaning on their own understanding. God in the man is indispensable to the humanity of the man just like electricity in a light bulb is indispensable to the functioning of the light bulb. It is a fine instrument but it will not function apart from electricity. God designed you to not function apart from God living in you. And what do we do? We go out and give it a try. You tell God, “I will give it a whack for awhile”. God says, “okay” and follows you around, waiting for you to come to your senses. Right now you ought to be in a situation where it is obvious to you that you cannot do it. You have proven to yourself that following your own inclinations has not worked.
Larry then says, “I am also stuck on this ‘elect’, this chosen of God”. The chosen of God was Jew and Gentile and has nothing to do with you’s and me’s. That is a theology that has no biblical bearing at all. He chose the Jews for salvation and He chose the Gentiles for salvation. Some Jews refused and some Gentiles refused. Do not get hung up on that. God is speaking to you tonight and He is asking you to let Him live in you to give you peace to your heart. God is asking you, “Are you willing to come unto me and let me bring peace to your heart”. Larry replied, “Yes, I am”. If that is your desire, and I believe it is, and if so, then let us pray together. I will say a prayer, and you repeat after me, but you are not talking to me, you are talking to God.
“Lord Jesus, I need you. I thank you for taking all my sins away at the cross, never to see them again, so that you could now offer me your life. I am now asking you to come into my heart, to be my Lord, my Savior and my best friend. In Jesus name, amen.”
Larry, based on the word of God, to as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become a child of God. You just received Him, so what have you become? A child of God. I too am a child of god, so what does that make us? Larry said, “Family”. Correct, we are brothers. I got a new brother in Christ. It says in the scriptures that the angels in heaven are rejoicing. You are now able to enter into a new realm of life. You are now able to be plugged into the word of God and to grow in His absolute love and grace for you. Larry commented, “I absolutely believe that”. Do you have the ability in the hospital there to receive literature? I want to seed you some literature. Do you like to read? Are you able to concentrate? Larry said, “Sometimes, but it is hard to concentrate with all that goes on here”. I believe you do not belong there. Call me any time. Do not think you can over-call us. Call me with any question you have because I want to see you grow and want you to return to normalcy. Larry said, “God bless you, Bob”.
Larry from Chicago, IL
Larry called to say he is a new believer. He called for help in understanding a passage in Luke, where it says to carry your cross daily.
Luke 14:26-27
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even their own life – such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
When you read the scriptures, you read it in context. Is Jesus telling us to hate people when his life and message is to love people? No, he is just saying that in comparison, your love for the Lord will look like hate when you follow the Lord at all cost. Is your life here on earth more important than the proclamation of the gospel? In that early church, and in places today, an open proclamation of being a Christian would mean death to you. Even Paul said his life bore the scars from proclaiming the gospel, the truth to men. Here on earth was not important to him. What was important to him was the proclamation of the gospel. Every one of the disciples died as a martyr for Christ. The proclamation of the gospel was more important than their own life.
Larry has been looking for a church. He went to a church and a pastor was talking about this verse. He did not explain it like you did. He said you will have to reject friends and family. He did not say it in a caring and loving way.
When Bob was in church, he did not even know anyone who was a Christian. When Bob was in church and became a believer at the age of 36, he did not reject his friends. They rejected him. He just quit going to the bar and since he no longer did, they rejected him. Jesus did not reject anyone while on the earth. He loved even his enemies. There is not a place in the bible to reject people. You will reach out to the lost and have love for the lost. You do not need to reject anybody. They will reject you. You do not have to worry about setting yourself apart. They will set you apart.
So what is important? That is the part of picking up the cross. What is more important, a relationship with God or a relationship with friends? By the grace of God, Bob had the opportunity to lead most of his buddies to Christ. He eventually led most of his friends to Christ. They could not deny there was a change in me. All kinds of things are being said by the lost about you. So you have to pass that off. There was terrific rejection in the beginning from family members and friends. They are rebelling against the God living in you. Die to your Savior daily. Until we are confronted with that, we are not sure what we would do. We form attitudes and policies of the heart, and when they are formed, we do not have to make a decision when the occasion occurs. By the grace of God, I will not reject the grace of God. By the time that situation occurs, you will not have to worry about a decision because the decision was already made.
As a new Christian, when you are reading the gospels, you a reading a record of the life of Christ while he was here on earth. What was his destiny? He came to die on the cross and give you and me eternal life in Himself. In order to do that, He had to prepare us and show us what our condition was. He had to show us we are sinners. If we do not see ourselves as sinners, what would the cross mean to me? He had to show us we are dead. If I did not know I was dead, why would I need life? The teachings in the gospel buries you and me. The law buries you. If you think the ten commandments are hard, then try the sermon on the mount. The law buries us. It shows us we cannot do it. Now you got it and now you know to come to depend on Jesus, the only God who can. When reading the scriptures, the basic teaching of Christ Jesus is there to show us what perfect righteousness is in Him, and therefore, seeing the unrighteousness in you and me. That prepares us for what he came to do, which was to usher in a New Covenant of grace, which went into effect the day he died. So if you keep that in mind, as you are studying the scriptures, and especially the gospels, that this was all preparatory for the cross and the resurrection, it will clear up your reading time tremendously.
