Classic Christianity – Book of John Part 16 (05-06-19)
Bob continues in the gospel of John, where he left off in chapter 4. He summarizes Jesus encounter with the Samaritan woman as an introduction to the topic of evangelism and starts up again where Jesus reconnects with his disciples, telling them the fields are ripe for harvest. Evangelism is reaching out in love with the truth of the gospel message. The gospel message is all about what Jesus came to earth to do and did. As believers, we share the same gospel of good news we believed and received, which is the same gospel that the apostle Paul preached. We long to share that message with others. Bob George explains what the gospel message is beginning with 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 and several other scriptures. In one sentence, the gospel is a message of how man is saved from the consequences of sin, the wages of sin, which is death by the gift of God, which is eternal life. He explains the reason he wrote the “Born Free” gospel booklet in the order it is in. He first sets the stage for understanding man’s need for life by sharing the true stories of the lives of many successful men and how their lives ended 20 years later. All of these men chose to learn the art of making a living but none of them chose to learn how to live. The true story of the lives of these men shows the futility of life apart from Christ. Man is continually seeking a life of freedom and happiness, trying to find meaning and purpose in their lives by all kinds of means. Many people turn to financial success, friends, social status, children, marriage, approval of others, sexual encounters, occupation and profession, thinking these things will bring them purpose and meaning or fulfillment to life. Many people have found all these things and have still not found the meaning and purpose to life. Could it be that man is looking in the wrong place? Here is the problem. Man is spiritually dead and in need of life. Bob appeals to the believer that the fields are ripe for harvest. Go out into your marketplace and share the good news that you believed and received by faith. When you see someone hurting, find out why they are hurting, and with the love of Christ, explain how knowing Christ is a practical solution to the problem of man. Jesus is the only source of life available for people dead spiritually. That is what the world has to hear.
John 4:31-38
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.
35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.
37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true.
38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Jesus met with a Samaritan. She ran back to the man she was living with. He told her something he already knew. That got her attention that he indeed is a prophet. The disciples came back and told Jesus to eat something (verse 31). He said to them I have food you know nothing about (verse 32). Again, the disciples are always thinking physically when Jesus is speaking about spiritual truth.
Jesus explained something. In verse 34, Jesus says to his disciples, “My will is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” How important it is for us to finish the race God has set out for us. Paul finished that race. We long to hear Jesus say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
He said these things to us as if speaking to us today. In verse 35, Jesus says, “Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” The harvest is ripe right now. People all around you and me who need to know Christ and are longing to know Christ. The more you are engaged in evangelism, it is like a piece of fruit just dangling down and they are saved upon hearing the message while others require a little more work of the word of God to be sewn into their heart. That is why Jesus said in verse 36, “Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together”. The sewer and reaper are glad together is true (verse 37). One sews and does the hard work and another reaps (verse 38).
Do you have the opportunity to sew seeds and water seeds? Certainly. The fields are ripe for harvest (verse 35). The words we speak can change a life forever. Are we willing as born again believers to be available to do so. Do you let the fear of man and of what people think of you hinder you from speaking words of truth to the changing of lives? People are not thinking of you. They are thinking of themselves. So do not worry about that. We are set apart from the world so do not expect the world to accept you. When you make yourself known as a Christian then people will say all kinds of things, such as a narrow-minded or goody-two shoes. But realize this. Can you say to someone, “You are spiritually dead if you do not have that life in you.” How urgent is such a message?
1 John 5:12
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
There is only one way to have that life in you, and that is through his Son. That is not about being narrow-minded or dogmatic. That is the only available life to man. If you thirst and you are out in the ocean that water will not do you any good. God has to bring you water you need to drink to sustain yourself.
1 John 5:13
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
When you have eternal life, that life is a present possession, and being eternal, that life will never leave you or forsake you.
John 17:3
Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Eternal life is the very Spirit of Jesus Christ living in you.
Colossians 1:27
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
When you refuse that life man goes to create his own god. All different religions out there because I do not like that one true God. So we create our own straw-man, a god I would like. We think in natural terms and come to erroneous conclusions. If my kid goes out and does something wrong, he has to go back and apologize. So we reason, “If that is the way I am, then that is the way God is.” Quit bringing God down to our level of understanding. God gave unconditionally. We don’t. Raise yourself up to be thinking with his mind rather than the mind of the world down here. The harvest is ripe out there. Everyone has a sphere of influence, a group exclusive to you, such as neighbors or people you go to church with. Lift up your eyes. Do they know that you are a Christian? Do they know the Jesus that lives inside you? If you do not know go and find out. Go and take the opportunity to find where people are, where they are hurting inside. Friendship evangelism is merely taking the opportunity to talk to people. Find out where they are hurting and then you can take the love of Jesus to them. Think beyond our own little problems. Open your eyes to see a world out there that needs life, eternal life. Those people we know who do not come to Jesus for life will die in their sins and in the uncircumcision of their sinful nature. This flies in the face of politically correct thinking. People of the world do not like the talk that there is only one way to God. They say to us, “That is not being loving and a loving God would certainly not send someone to hell.” And they would be right. We can say back to them, “You are correct. You send yourself to hell by not accepting the one provision for life God has provided for you in Jesus Christ. If you are dead and there is only one source of life then it is not “narrow minded” to say you must come to him for life. Jesus is the only source of life available for people dead spiritually.” That is what the world has to hear. If they do not like the message, shake the dust off your feet and move on until they do recognize that there is something missing in their life. Bob shared that he looked all over trying to find satisfaction and meaning to life. Yet Bob later realized that everything he wanted was as close as a prayer. People need to hear the good news of new life in Jesus Christ. The good message is needed.
John 4:38
38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Bob produced a gospel tract that helps believers share this good news. Bob then explains why he produced the “Born Free” booklet in the order it is in. First, he introduces the essential elements of the gospel message from 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
The gospel that Paul preached to them, Bob reads. It is the same gospel the apostle Paul explained the meaning of over and over.
Romans 5:10
For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
You are saved by his life and forgiven by his death. By this gospel that Paul preached to you, you are saved. This is the same gospel Jesus shared to the Samaritan woman and the same gospel the apostle Paul preached.
Is anyone in here that has trouble understanding the meaning of this?
1 Corinthians 15:2
2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.
What are you saved by? The gospel. What is the gospel?
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to [men].
He died for you then so he can live in you now. The gospel is good news. You are saved by the gospel of good news by what Jesus did for you and me. That is how you are saved. This is the root of gospel.
Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and was raised according to the scriptures. This is nothing new for it was prophesied.
1 Corinthians 15:5-7
he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
What is the gospel?
He died.
He was buried.
He was raised.
Yet people will add to that and say “And he was baptized”, “And spoke in tongues”, and “kept on a tithing”. You add one thing to this gospel that saves then you have taken away the gospel. When you add baptism to the gospel you have taken away Jesus saving you.
Who died for you? Jesus
Who was buried for you? Jesus
Who was raised from the dead to give you life? Jesus
Who baptized you? Somebody else.
So are you saying you are saved by somebody else? In the Church of Christ, people think you are saved by baptismal regeneration. If you believe you are saved by baptismal regeneration then someone else saved you other than Jesus. That makes no sense yet people add to the gospel. This is the gospel that saves you. He died, was buried and he was raised and he has appeared to you. That is the gospel, and nothing added to it.
In the “Born Free” booklet, Bob chose to set the stage of how futile life can be apart from Christ. He shared true stories in the lives of successful men, CEOs of major corporations. What happened to these men 20 years later? Their lives ended in tragedy, such as poverty, alcoholism, or suicide. You can read about these men in the following link, “https://bobgeorge.net/books-
All of these men chose to learn the art of making a living but none of them chose to learn how to live.
This true story on the lives of these men shows the futility of life apart from Christ. Man is continually seeking a life of freedom and happiness, trying to find the meaning and purpose in their lives by all kinds of means. Many people turn to financial success, friends, social status, children, marriage, approval of others, sexual encounters, occupation and profession, thinking these things will bring them purpose and meaning to life. Many people have found all these things and have still not found meaning and purpose to life.
Could it be that man is looking in the wrong place? Here is the problem. Man is spiritually dead and in need of life.
God created Adam and said to him that he is free to eat of any tree in the garden but he is not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:16-18
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Adam could choose anything except right and wrong, good and evil. God essentially said to Adam, “The day you decide you do not need God to determine that then that day you choose to be independent of God you will die”. God gave man a choice, to remain dependent or independent of God. Adam chose that day to live independently of God and on that day he died. Each of us is born into this world in the likeness of Adam. You were born in this world under the law of sin and death.
Genesis 5:1-3
1 When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind” when they were created. 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.
Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned
Ephesians 2:1-3
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
Romans 8:1-4
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Our spiritual death, our separation from God, makes us ask these questions. Who am I? Where am I going? There is a God-shaped vacuum in every man that that cannot be filled by any created thing. There is a chasm between spiritual life and spiritual decay.
From God’s vantage point, the problem of man is not that he is a sinner in need of forgiveness. The greater problem is that man is spiritually dead and in need of life.
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Bob often asks people to reread this verse and put your own name in place of the word, “world”.
John 3:16
16 For God so loved ___________ that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Jesus said this to the multitudes.
John 10:10
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Jesus said this to Martha, after her brother Lazarus had died, and Jesus was away for four days.
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?”
Jesus asks the same question to us today, “Do you believe this?”
What is this salvation so needed, the salvation that Paul proclaimed, this message that saves you?
Salvation is being saved from the consequences of sin, the wages of sin, which is death, by the gift of God, which is eternal life.
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 2:4-5
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved.
Colossians 2:13-14
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
John 20:31
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
However, before life could be given, sins must be forgiven or taken away. Only God can forgive sins. The pope, a priest, and indeed no man but God can forgive sins.
Luke 5:21
The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
John 4:24
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
Jesus came to earth for one reason. He came to earth in an earth suit to die for the sins of the world. Only he, being God in the flesh, without sin, could voluntarily lay down his life only to raise it up again. This command he received from his Father.
John 10:17-18
17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
Jesus Christ, the eternal one, humbled himself and came to earth to become a man, emptying himself, becoming nothing, for our sake.
Philippians 2:5-11
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. He became a man and made himself nothing. That shows us the relationship between us and him.
He died in our place. That demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners he died for us.
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 2:2
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
He is the final sacrifice for our sins.
Hebrews 10:11-13
11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.
Hebrews 9:22
In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Hebrews 10:17-18
17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no more sacrifice for sin.
There is no more sacrifice. If there is no more sacrifice, then there is no more forgiveness.
So what do you have to conclude about the one time that Jesus hung on a cross and sacrificed for your sins? Just what Jesus cried out from the cross when he said, “It is finished”.
John 19:30
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Yet, man in our pride and stupidity say, “no it isn’t” and “I can get more forgiveness”. That is exactly what the Jews did. They kept going back to the day of atonement, sacrificing bulls and goats in order to get forgiveness. So Jesus foretold a day that not one stone would remain standing of the temple.
Mark 13:1-2
1 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”
2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
So in 70 A.D., God destroyed the temple so there will no longer be sacrifices for sin.
You do not get forgiveness from the confessional booth. You do not get forgiveness by a priest. You do not get forgiveness repeating 1 John 1:9 as a means to keep short accounts of sin with God. You have been forgiven when you and you alone accepted that one time Jesus died on the cross and cried out “it is finished”. Then you enter into his resurrected life so that in him you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13-14
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Jesus issued a New Covenant with men, available to all who believe and receive it by faith.
Hebrews 10:17-18
17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no more sacrifice for sin.
There is no more forgiveness by God of your sins; yesterday, today, or tomorrow. Is that good news? To you it should be wonderful news!
Is it something you can fully enter into? Do you have any experience of not remembering your sins? We have nothing to go by on that. We remember everything. Does that make it any less true that we can’t but he can and he did? That is what God can do and did.
John 1:29
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
1 John 4:10
10 This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Propitiation means God is completely satisfied by the shed blood of Jesus on the cross for God to turn aside His wrath on sin toward us. Through Jesus, God took away sins, the cause of death.
It was not spikes that held Jesus to the cross. It was his love that held him there.
