Radio Broadcast Monday 04/01/2024

Classic Christianity – Book of Hebrews P86 (04-01-24)

Sacrifices Were An Annual Reminder of Sins ~ Jesus Set us Free From All of That!

~ If you are in Christ, and He is in you, He has set you free from the law of sin and death. The law was a shadow of things to come, not the realities themselves. The book of Hebrews is key to our understanding what the new covenant is all about. Once you realize the truth, that God is no longer counting your sins against you, the book of Hebrews is a message of freedom, that makes you want to jump for joy! God didn’t want us to be under the law, because He knew no one can do everything that the law required. So God took care of that for us. He fulfilled the law for us, so that in Him we could become the righteousness of God. Yet people have started there own laws. They act like God is happy with them when they don’t do something (as in sinning), yet God looks and knows our hearts. He knows what we are thinking. He knows each of us, and there is no hiding from Him. He sees our innermost thoughts. And many times those thoughts are not very good, because we still live in this body of flesh and blood that is going to the grave, and is corrupted. That is why flesh and blood can not inherit the Kingdom of God. However, our new bodies will be sown incorruptible. When we physically die, we will have our new resurrected bodies and be with Jesus forever. That will be a glorious day for each of us!

~ “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” ^{Hebrews 10:1-4}

~ “Now folks, everything we’re talking about is the result of the New Covenant, the new agreement between God and man. Under the law, could we be saying that? Oh, no, under the law, the law demands that the flesh behaves, doesn’t it? The law demands flesh to behave. And incidentally, guys, when it’s talking about being dead to self, and you get a lot of teaching on that about, well, you got to die yourself, you know, die to self. So you see people walking around trying to die to self and, and dying to self, it has no meaning to it at all, unless you understand it means to be dead to the law, because the law is what self is under. And to die to self is to die to the law, because the law demands self to behave. And when you die to the law, there’s no longer a demand on the flesh to behave and therefore I’ve died to the law. I’ve therefore died to the flesh, which now enables me to walk in the Spirit. So dying to self doesn’t mean I’m going to get the point sometime where I don’t have any bad thoughts anymore. And I’m going to keep trying, and I’m going to live this Christian life of it kills me and says it will. People walk around as tight as a drum trying to be perfect for Jesus. Instead of realizing he’s already made you perfect.” ~ Bob George

Bible Study Booklets

Join Bob George in this chapter by chapter exposition of the book of Hebrews. Available for download the complete series on the Book of Hebrews. The Book of Hebrews is key to understanding the New Covenant.

Announcer 0:12
Welcome to Classic Christianity Radio with Bob George Bob’s clear, timeless teachings on the complete forgiveness and unconditional love of Jesus Christ will transform your life as you learn about God’s amazing grace. Let’s join Bob as he teaches us from God’s Word.

Bob George 0:28
Well, let’s turn back to the book of Hebrews chapter 10, we’re going to pick up at the beginning, just in review, because we’ve covered this in the past. But at the beginning of chapter 10, it’s contrasting the difference between the law and between the New Covenant that we are under today. And, as we’ve talked about, and discuss so many times in verse 16, of chapter nine, where it says that a will, in case of a will, it’s necessary to prove the death of one who made it, because a will is enforced only when someone has died, it never takes effect, while the one who made it is living. So this book we hold in our hands, is merely a recording of the will and testament of God toward you and me. And that’s why we call it an Old Testament, and a New Testament and old will and a new will. Because there were two agreements between God and man. One was the old agreement called before the new agreement took place. Now that new agreement went into effect on the day that Christ died. And so it’s talking now about the law and all of the requirements, the righteous requirements of the law, that it says was meaningless and useless, because when it flowed through us, we couldn’t do it. And so it was saying they’re there for the actual, the law is only a shadow, it is not the reality themselves. It’s only a shadow of the things that are coming, not the realities themselves. Now, as we talked about before, that when your sun is to the back, and it’s reflecting, you see the shadow out there. And so the shadow is caused from the sun being at your back reflecting you. When you turn and face the sun, your shadow is behind you. That shadow is not a reality, it’s merely a shadow of the reality, the reality is behind you. So when you turn to face the Lord Jesus Christ, and to realize that he has called us into a relationship whereby you and I can walk face to face with a living God, then the law is behind us. And we are guided by something brand new, we are not left alone, we are guided now by something brand new, and that new is Christ Jesus alive, through His death on the cross, where he took care of the sin issue once and for all raised from the dead so that his Spirit can come and live within us so that you and I are now guided internally, by Christ Jesus, who lives in us not externally by laws written on stone. And so the law is a shadow, not the realities themselves. And for this reason, it can never by the same sacrifices, and in this particular case, it’s talking about how do you get forgiven.

Because forgiveness is a necessary thing for the human heart to know that we are forgiven. Guilt is what puts about 80% of the people in hospital beds, according to the doctors. And so guilt is something that has to be dealt with. And it was dealt with in the Old Testament before the reality came, it was dealt with by the shadow, it was dealt with by the blood of bulls and goats. But you see, anytime that forgiveness has to be kept being done over and over and over again. Then I’m always I’m never resting in the finality of forgiveness, I’m only getting forgiven and then I’m then I’m guilty again, then I gotta get forgiven, then I’m guilty again and again. And even though there was certainly a reprieve once a year in the Old Testament sacrificial system, that it was never complete. And it says, because of that you could never draw nearer to God in perfect worship. In other words, that type of forgiveness can never make you perfect, number one in the sight of God, because if you got forgiven if that made you perfect, the next time you send you’d be imperfect. So there it’s never final. And inside of the human heart, we’re always seeking and that’s why you see people today and they’re still in seeking, just seeking God and and I’m just seeking and I’m trying to get closer to God and say, well, then you must not have found him. Because Christ says when you’ve drunk of this water, you’ll never thirst again. So you seek God until you find it, but once you found him, why would you want to seek somebody that you’ve already found? And has already found you. It’s like we were talking about it. Even in a song, probably a changed some words. But if we were talking about lifting up their hands to God, well, that was an Old Testament way, because that’s where God was. But where is God now? Well, he’s living in your heart. So if that represents I’m reaching up to God, you don’t understand where God is, because God is now living in your heart, which is your only hope of glory. And there, he’s living in my heart what I need to reach out to him for? Now, in the Old Testament, that was the most obvious thing in the world, because that’s where he was. But today, he came to live inside of you and me permanently, forever. So if you’re going to have an outward motion, we all be clutching your heart, not this. And so we said, we need to understand that many times these outward signs of ours are barely an indicator what’s going on in our head.

At the end of four hours of lecture, one of the young men sitting in a back over there said, Bob said, Well, I’m confused. And he said, You mean to tell me, what you’re telling me is, here’s this guy over here. And folks, this is not unusual. This is this is normal Christian teaching. You tell me this guy over here has led a real moral life a good moral life. And when he dies, he’s gonna go to hell if he doesn’t have Jesus, and then this other guy’s Oh, here claims to be a Christian. And then he goes out murder somebody, and you say he’s gonna go to heaven? Have you ever heard that question? Yeah. Well, let me ask you a question. The Bible says, There is none righteous, no, not one. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not one. Do you believe that? Oh, yes. And no, you don’t. You just say you believe if you believe that you never ask a dumb question.

If you believe that there is none righteous, no, not one. How could you ever say what about this moral man? Could you? When they came to Jesus, they said “good teacher” and he stopped him right in their boots and said, Don’t call me good unless you’re gonna call me God. Unless you’re gonna call me good. Don’t call me God, because only God is good. Now, if you don’t want to call me God, don’t call me good, because only God’s good. He was saying, there’s no man, that’s good. You see, we can give neat appearances on the outside can’t we? And they say, isn’t that sweet. Person comes up, Oh, that guy. I mean, that sweetest person ever on the face of the earth. Say, Really, interview their wife. You see, people come along, say their moral, they’re isn’t anybody moral. And if you were how moral would you have to be for you be called moral? And morality is not the issue of salvation. Christ is the issue of salvation. Someone said, in fact, he just recently heard it, which I thought was very good. He said, You know, when I read another man’s book, I read his thoughts. When I read the Bible, the Bible reads my thoughts. That’s a very true thing. And so when we hear in the scripture that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, there is none righteous, no, not one. Paul said, wretched man that I am, who will free me from this bondage of sin and death? That how could you ask a question? What about this moral guy living over here? So you can’t ask it if you don’t believe it. And what I had to challenge that young man to do is say, Sir, I’m not trying to put you down, or I’m gonna force you to believe what you say you believe or else deny it. But I can’t leave you dangling. So if you believe what the Bible says that all have sinned, all have fallen short of the glory of God, there is none righteous, no, not one. If you believe that, and truly believe it, you will never ask that question again.

And then you get the guy over here that talks about the fact that well, what about if somebody goes out and kill somebody? And see, we always we always get the biggy you don’t we? I mean, you know, I mean, I don’t know about you. I haven’t done that too recently. So if that’s the criteria for holy knows, I’m doing pretty good. Now, I’ve thought about it numerous times. And you know, according to Jesus, if he’s God, what he said is Bo, that’s the same as murder. The law says, Thou shalt not murder but I say unto you, if you’re angry at somebody says same as murder. The law says, don’t commit adultery. I say if you look at one with lust in your heart, you already committed adultery and all of us are saying, Oh, I think I’m in trouble. said Yeah, that’s right. If it’s dependent on you to get to heaven, you’re in big trouble. So you see the ask the question, well, could a Christian go out and murder somebody? The question is, could a Christian get angry at somebody? Now, is that a hard one to answer? I mean, do you have to think very long on that one? In your own life? As if it could a Christian, are you a Christian? Do you ever get angry? Well, that takes care of the answer to that question. So could you murder? Well, of course you could. And we would certainly hope that the Spirit of God living in you would prohibit you from that. But if you can get angry, you could murder. If I can lust, I can commit adultery. And if I don’t do either one of those two, it’s there for the grace of God go I. It’s not look at me how wonderful I’ve been there for the grace of God go I.

So anybody walking around thinking that they’re righteous, because of what they’re doing, is a deceived human being because God isn’t looking on the outside. That’s what man looks at God’s looking on the what? On our hearts. He sees what we’re thinking down under the skin. And brother, when you understand that the only attitude that you can ever have to have for God is oh, Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Mercy. And thank you for your love. And thank you for your grace that has been given without restraint to all of us who are in Christ Jesus. So I asked a guy the question again, do you believe we just talked about this, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not counting men sins against him? Do you believe that? Oh, yes. But how could you ask the question about the guy went out an murdered? Or did that say that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not counting men’s sins against him except murder? Or did it say that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself? Not counting when sins against him period? Now, do you believe that? Yes, no, you don’t. Or you wouldn’t ask the question. So before we get out of this room, you’re either going to excuse the question, or believe the Bible, but you can’t hold on to both of them.

Now that’s what we do. We talk double minded man is unstable in all ways. What’s a double minded man? When it says I believe this and then puts the billy goat bucks on it. And we got a billy goat Christianity. Yes, but but but but but. When Christ says there’s no unrighteous, there’s no buts connected to that. It’s just plain. There’s an unrighteous no, not one. And that’s why we need His righteousness, not earned, but given to us, which he came to do freely in Christ Jesus.

Now folks, everything we’re talking about is the result of the New Covenant, the new agreement between God and man. Under the law, could we be saying that? Oh, no, under the law, the law demands that the flesh behaves, doesn’t it? The law demands flesh to behave. And incidentally, guys, when it’s talking about being dead to self, and you get a lot of teaching on that about, well, you got to die yourself, you know, die to self. So you see people walking around trying to die to self and, and dying to self, it has no meaning to it at all, unless you understand it means to be dead to the law, because the law is what self is under. And to die to self is to die to the law, because the law demands self to behave. And when you die to the law, there’s no longer a demand on the flesh to behave and therefore I’ve died to the law. I’ve therefore died to the flesh, which now enables me to walk in the Spirit. So dying to self doesn’t mean I’m going to get the point sometime where I don’t have any bad thoughts anymore. And I’m going to keep trying, and I’m going to live this Christian life of it kills me and says it will. People walk around as tight as a drum trying to be perfect for Jesus. Instead of realizing he’s already made you perfect.

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Bob George 14:26
So all of those things you could never say what you hear and is in my heart every week if it wasn’t for the New Covenant. So this new agreement between God and man took place because under the old agreement under the law of forcing the flesh to behave and flesh cannot behave. Therefore, you had to go back for forgiveness over and over and over and over and over again. You could never make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, as it says it goes ahead to explain this guys. And it’s the same thing with today. If that kind of forgiveness, or that kind of a theology where you have to keep going back and getting forgiven and getting forgiven and forgiven, if that could make perfect, anyone, you would do it once, and that’d be the end of it. That’s what it says, if it could have made perfect those who draw near to worship, it could have stopped being offered for the worshipper could have been cleansed once and for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for our sins. Now, that is the goal for God for you and me is to be cleansed once and for all and no longer feeling guilty for our sins. If you are going to feel guilty, what should be the only reason you should ever feel guilty? If you what? If you are. Isn’t that complicated? Now, if there is no law to accuse you that how guilty Are you violating a law? I mean, if there weren’t a signs out there saying, drive 55, how guilty would you feel if you were at 65? And if you didn’t feel guilty going 65 when there were no signs, what kind of guilt? Would it be? It’d be a false guilt. You see, I can program your conscience to make you feel guilty over anything. I mean, I can teach you that it’s really bad to eat meat on Friday. I don’t know whoever came up with that. But if I told you bad stuff, meat it’ll kill you on Friday. It’s okay on Sunday, but not Friday, Bear NOT eat that on Friday. Why you left out a hamburger on Friday, you’ll be so guilty, you’ll have stomach pains, you’ll need Tums for the tummy. Is a true guilt? Of course not. Did it come from God? Well of course not. But I can program your conscience to feel guilty over anything, I want to have you by it, you’re going to feel guilty. You come down and in my little group down here says that if you really want to be spiritual, you need to go to prayer meeting on Wednesday. And so if I’m gonna belong to that group, well, then I need to be at the prayer meeting on Wednesday. Because if I’m not why I’m obviously not one of God’s guys. Or we can do what what we used to do that the real spirit of the people who are just kind of there. I mean, they’re they’re there. They may be a Christian may not but just kind of mamby pamby. They come Sunday morning. Now, if you’re a lot more spiritual, that whether you’ll be there Sunday night, and I want to tell you, then, when you really start getting spiritual, you come Wednesday. And when you’re just about to make your ascension, you show up on Monday for visitation and Brother, you’ve just got it. Now you see if a won’t ever use their mind, if I was feeling guilty, because I didn’t go to prayer meeting on Wednesday, all you’d have to do is just join the Presbyterian Church, they don’t have one on Wednesday. And so you could alleviate all that. But you see, I can program your conscience to make you feel guilty, if you don’t show up for something that we’re having on Wednesday. And from God, God didn’t say that. But your conscience is programmed. And many times we can’t differentiate between our conscience and the Holy Spirit of God living in you.

So when you’re talking about this area of forgiveness, we have to understand that from God’s vantage point in order to free you and me to be free to LISTEN to the Spirit of God. Not to be programmed by my conscience, but by God’s Spirit. That we’re going to have to deal with this sin issue once and for all, because you cannot be listening to God’s Spirit when you’re on a guilt trip. Because God didn’t come to put you on a guilt trip. God came to free you from guilt, not put you on it. And until I am free, understanding my forgiveness and my freedom in Christ Jesus. And to realize that although my feelings might feel guilty from God’s vantage point, I am not. Because I was already guilty, that sin was judged 2000 years ago at a cross and the verdict was what? Guilty. And a punishment was what? Death. and who took it, Jesus, how much of it all of it, how much is left for you? None. So although I may feel something, it’s because of what I’m thinking because it is not a God. So God says if I’m going to enable you and me to draw nearer to imperfect worship, to know my God to be able to present my body as what he’s serve as a living sacrifice that totally been made holy and acceptable in the sight of God, which is my reasonable worship, it’s a reasonable thing to do, then I can’t present that body of mine to him on a moment by moment basis with guilt over my head, and so I said, I gotta I’m gonna deal with this sin issue once and for all. That’s what the New Covenant about the sacrifices are merely an annual reminder of sins because it’s impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to what? Take away sin. So the blood of bulls and goats, no sacrificial system, no confession booth, no First John one nines, no altar calls a can take away sin. Those things, cover it. But obviously, in your own mind, they haven’t been taken away, or you wouldn’t need to keep First John one nining and yourself today. So it doesn’t make any difference whether you’re going over to Israel and killing a lamb or whether you’re first John one nining and an altar call. The issue is you haven’t settled the issue of forgiveness. And as long as it’s something that has to keep being done over and over and over again, you’ll find you’ll never draw nearer to God and perfect worship. Because how can you enter into the grace of God, when you’re not sure your sins are all forgiven?

Now, John the Baptist introduced Jesus as Behold the Lamb of God. Who does what with your sin? Well he takes it away. He didn’t come to cover it. He came to take it away. Old Testament, under the law, atonement covered sin. Jesus came to what? Take away sin. And that’s why he was able to cry from the cross. What? It’s finished. Now, guys, it’s the same deal. The person says, Well, do you believe it’s finished? Oh, yeah, I believe it’s finished. But let me ask you a question. Bob, I really believe it’s finished. But let me ask you a question. If you really want to do something bad, don’t you? Don’t you didn’t ask God to forgive you? And that, have you ever heard that one? All right. Now, why do you ask that question? Because you don’t believe it’s finished? The reason for the question is because faith that has to have an object has not been placed totally on what Jesus said it is based on what I’m doing instead of what he did. And my faith is on me and what I’m doing in response to him and what he’s doing instead of just plain faith on him period. So when Jesus says it is what finished guess what he meant? It is finished. That’s what it means it is finished, it has been done. Unlike the sacrifice of the blood of bulls and goats that can never take away sin. Unlike the sacrifice of the blood of bulls and goats that had to be done being done, being done over and over and over and over again, which could never take away sins, unlike all of that. It says I God came to this earth and went on that cross once and for all. And by that one offering I made forever perfect in the sight of God you Kevin whom I have made, holy, it’s finished. There isn’t anything else for you to do, it’s finish. Now do you believe that? Well, if we believe that then why would we ask the question what if we really went out and did a biggie? And so Christ, so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him unless they did a biggie would not perish but have everlasting life you see.

Folks when Christ hung on the cross. As we said before, these spikes did not hold him on a cross. Love held him on the cross. God could have melted those spikes in a New York minute. It was the love of God that held him on to Christ. God so loved that he gave God’s who demonstrated His love toward us and while we were yet sinners, Christ willfully volitionally hung on a cross. Spike’s didn’t hold Him to a cross love held him there. How did that love manifest itself? In saying I love you guys so much. And I want to tell you something. There’s no way in the world for you to have a relationship with me under this religious system. You can never draw near and perfect worship under this religious system. You can never draw near to me in perfect worship, when you’re still dealing with what I’m going To deal with once and for all, at that cross, I didn’t come to form a religion, I came to form a relationship with you. And I so desire for you and me to fellowship with each other, and to know each other, and to love each other, and to interact with each other that I God, I’m going to do anything necessary to bring that about. And the only thing that can be done to bring that about is an ultimate sacrifice for sin whereby the shed blood of God himself is more precious than all the vilest of the sin of the world. The blood of bulls and goats can’t cover that. Can’t take that away, but by blood can. And I’m willing to die and shed it on your behalf. So that you and I can have a relationship with each other. Now that’s love. You don’t you wonder sometimes why did God want to do that? And the only explanation for that as a kind of love that you and I cannot even enter into. But it’s total love. How can we ever deny the love of God for you and me, when we realize that when God so demonstrated His love that He gave His Son for you and me, so that we can have that relationship? Now, so spike’s did not hold Jesus love held them. Now when he said it was finished, there is now no more judgement for your in my sins. John 3:17. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through who? Through him. Whoever believes in Him Jesus is not condemned. But whoever does not believe stands condemned already. How come? Because he hasn’t believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. Now what is believing in God’s one and only Son give you and me? Life. What is the wages of sin? Death.

Announcer 27:11
Thank you so much for tuning in to Classic Christianity with Bob George. We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s program. We truly hope that today’s message has inspired you to walk a life of faith in the Lord find more information online at BobGeorge.net. There you will also find available CDs, DVDs and Bible studies available for purchase. It’s through your help that we are able to spread the good word of Jesus Christ. Until next time, walk in faith be good to one another and praise the Lord. Amen.