Radio Broadcast Monday 10/16/2023

 

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.

 

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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 together, very briefly to the book of Hebrews. We are studying spiritual gifts, we’re studying were signs, wonders, miracles, and all of those things come into play in the Christian life. And we see in chapter two of the book of Hebrews, beginning in verse four, where it says, God also testified to this salvation by signs and wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to His will. So you’re going to see something there and that I believe you also what you’re going to see is you’re going to see a past tense, he testified to this. In other words, he came and presented the message of salvation in its fullness. He presented it in his own verbiage from the Lord Jesus Christ. You then saw that message given to the apostles, as it says, first of all, he gave apostles and prophets, evangelists and pasture teachers, for the equipping of the saints for their work of ministry. And we will see in the Word of God, where people came to Jesus and said, What is the work of ministry, and he said, to believe on me, that is the work of the ministry. So the work of the apostles, the work of the prophets, the work of the teacher, and the work of the evangelist is to teach people to believe on him. That’s all an evangelist is there for is to present Christ and to encourage people to believe on him. That’s the job of a teacher is to equip you to believe on him to realize that you have a God, that first of all, is who he is God and He’s trustworthy. And because He is God, and extended to you, his love, we have the love of God that then can most naturally result in dependency upon God, that then can result in obedience to God and it’s in that order. It didn’t do you an ounce of good to go out and try to be obedient until you get in love. Obedience is an overflow, it isn’t something you go do, it’s an overflow of who you are. And so it’s your love of God and not that we loved him first loved him, but that He loved us first, resulting in dependency upon God, then resulting in obedience to God. So that message was confirmed, it was confirmed with Jesus on a number of occasions where the message of truth was accompanied by signs. It was accompanied by some miracles sometimes and some wonders, always to confirm truth. There was no exception to the fact that every time Jesus did a physical miracle, he did so in order to teach a spiritual truth. He declared himself when he fed the 5000 and declared himself I am the bread of life, and I’m the one you feed upon. He raised Lazarus from the dead and said, I am the resurrection and the life and whosoever believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live and whosoever lives and believes in me will never die. He performed a physical miracle in order to teach a spiritual truth. And there’s a reason for that. Miracles don’t set you free. Wonders, do not set you free. Gifts of the Spirit, do not set you free. Truth set you free. And when the Son who is truth sets you free, you shall be free indeed.

Steve was talking about a truth, the heartbeat of a ministry. This ministry is in the message. Now God gives that message and reveals that message and we don’t have a doubt about that. If he wants to reveal the depth of his truth to someone he will do that to anyone whose heart has been open to the point of being a receiver. In other words, when you’ve had the legs knocked out from under you, and when you’ve had your legs knocked out from under you, and you’ve given it all you’ve got and you’ve tried as hard as you can try, and you’re doing all there is to do, and you’ll find out, it’s still isn’t enough. In other words, it doesn’t work, you finally give up and say, Lord Jesus, I’m through, through with my self works through with myself effort through with my dependency upon me. If I’m going to know anything, you’re going to have to teach me. And that’s exactly what happened to me a number of years ago, when I was doing everything there was to do in the Christian life, that everyone said, if you did it, you’d be spiritual. And it would have been hard to beat my schedule. And I was miserable as could be inside, busy and barren. And so the Lord gets a hold of you and begins to teach you himself. And to begin to say, Bob, I want to teach you one of the first verses that you ever learned. I’m the vine, and you’re just a branch. But if you abide in me, and I and you, you will bear much fruit, but apart from me, you can do nothing. And I spent the first eight years of my Christian experience trying to prove him wrong on that. And, and so when you end up with your tongue, dragging down to your knees, and exhausted, why, then the Lord is ready to get your attention. And so he reveals a message to you, He reveals the truth of himself, it’s all him and, and none of us. And that message changes lives. It sets you free. So the signs and miracles and wonders that are talked about in the Word of God, we’re not to dazzle people or to have a Christian Sideshow or to get on television, and make everybody ooh and awe. The reason for a miracle always is to confirm the Word of God, the reason for a sign was to confirm the Word of God. And there’s no exceptions to that. Now, it says here that God testified past tense to this message, by signs, wonders, and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed, according to His will. In other words, he did that to confirm a message.

Now let’s, let’s turn then back over to the book of First Corinthians. And we’re going to do a very, very quick review, and then get into the body of what we’re going to be talking about today. First Corinthians 12, he talks about again, the body of Christ that you and me, it’s first Corinthians 12:12, the body of Christ that is born again, believers is a unit. That’s what we saw in Colorado, that’s hopefully what we see in our assemblies, it is a unit, and it’s made up of many parts. Each and every one of you sitting in this room today, who are in Christ, have been placed into the Body of Christ are parts of the body of Christ. So you’re many parts. This room is full of many parts of the body of Christ. And though those parts are many, they form one body. You’re a part of a body here, all over the United States, all over the world. Every born again, Christian on the face of this earth with Christ as the head is a part of the body of Christ. They’re one body, so it is with Christ, we were all baptized by one Spirit into the body of Christ, you are not baptized in the Spirit, you are baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ. Now we have taken that word baptism of the Holy Spirit and made it and perverted it into being something that God never intended it to mean. And we have taken that and people have come up with stuff that that’s a subsequent experience to salvation. That is absolutely not true. Without the Spirit of God living in you, you do not belong to Him, you couldn’t be born again, unless the Spirit of God lives in you. And Romans quite clearly states that that if the Spirit of God is not live in you, you don’t belong to Him. You and I were born again of the what? Of the Spirit. Well, how could you be BORN AGAIN of the Spirit unless the Spirit came to live within you? Now the very moment that the Spirit of God came to live within you, then the Spirit of God baptizes places you into the body, you’re not baptized in the Spirit, you’re baptized by the Spirit. And baptism merely means submerge placed into something. It was a word that was used for the dyeing of cloth, you placed a white cloth into red dye and it came out different than it went in. So you and I were in dwelt by God and then placed into his body. That’s why you and I can call ourselves brothers in Christ. That’s why you and I are in the body of Christ. He alone is the head. And that’s why we listen to one person and that’s, that’s the Christ Jesus.

Now, in this particular case, your identity goes. When you become a child of God there As neither Judean or slave, no Judean, Gentile, slave or free, we were all given that one Spirit to drink. Each and every one of us. Were indwelt by the one Spirit, one baptism, one God overall, I, every person who was in Christ in dwelt by the Spirit of God, the Spirit placed into the Body of Christ, and that transaction has been completed. Now in verse 27, you are the body of Christ, and each and every one of you are a part of it. That’s what the church is, folks, we keep talking about that. But I don’t think we hear it’s like I say, we have ears, but we don’t hear we have minds, but we don’t perceive. We talked about that in Colorado, we were talking about this very same thing that the body of Christ is people, and then somebody get right back up and talk about the church, and how we ought to protect the church and how and what they’re talking about is that organization, that thing called the Church of the church, folks, the word church and even in the New Testament, the word is ecclesia, called out ones, it is people. If you’re meeting together a Bible study from God’s standpoint, that’s Ecclesia. Gathering together, it’s what the Bible says, Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together, it doesn’t say on Sunday morning, between nine and 11, You could be assembling yourself any place at any time. And that is what the body of Christ is all about. We assemble ourselves together for the it says the apostles teaching for fellowship and the prayer. So however, and wherever you do that is, is is for your benefit, not God’s. God isn’t sitting up here saying, I sure wish those folks go church. It’s for us not for him, he already has an abundant life, He’d like for us to have one. And so we hear but we don’t hear because that thing, it’s like a generic term to us. You got the word Kleenex, while a Kleenex is generic anymore. It’s that stuff that you pull out when you want to cry, or blow your nose. But there’s all kinds of brands of things those are those are tissues, but their Kleenex became a generic term. You know, what a generic term is we had though, Coke was that way, any soft drink it had was a coke. And there’s generic terms that are out there, we’ve done that with the word church has become a generic term, it’s where you go in a building with a cross over it and take a collection sing some songs, and just as I am five times go home, and, or whatever it might be, or if if you’re used to it, somebody has a collar and if you don’t have a collar when he’s not spiritual. And some people wear robes and some people wear suits and some people I like those robes, no, no, I like the suits and, and you’re all into that kind of stuff, which is meaningless stuff. And has nothing to do with what God called the body of Christ. And he said, I am the head, I have placed you into my body, and you have been attached to the living Christ. That’s why you don’t join a church. And you know, there’s no memberships. We’re a member of the Body of Christ. How you gonna go join body? People I’m gonna go join church, Okay, you go join body is the one I’m getting at? We assemble ourselves together as born again believers. For mutual edification Teaching Fellowship, prayer with one another. It’s for our benefit.

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Bob George 13:58
All of us are a part of that. So he says you are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it of what? The Body of Christ. Not a part of the Baptist denomination or not a part of the Presbyterians. That’s manmade stuff. It’s a part of the body, we gather here together on Sunday, as the body of Christ coming together, to learn together and to learn to love each other, it isn’t joining something, it’s not a membership. It’s a mutual identity with your God. Now it says in this church or in this ecclesia, this gathering of people God has pointed first of all apostles, some prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, those having the gift of healings, those being able to help others those with gifts of administration, those were speaking in different kinds of tongues. Now, listen to this. You’re talking about all All of these gifts listed. And remember back in Hebrews, it said those were things God gave to the church as he apportioned. He’s the one who determined that one day. So I can’t sit around and teach you how to be an apostle. And I can’t sit around teach you how to be a worker of miracles, and I can’t sit around teach you how to do all those things. It is given to you by God for the benefit of the assembly. So he states that are all apostles? What’s the answer to that? No. Are all prophets? What’s the answer that? No. Are all, all of those don’t see where am I? Apostles? Some prophets. Are all teachers? No, not all teachers do all work miracles? No. Do you all have the gift of healing? No. Do you all speak in tongues? Yes. Do they? No. Do all interpret? No. But eagerly desire the greater gifts, the greater ones.

Now turn back over to Romans 12 with me for a moment. You’re going to see in a book of Romans that was written a number of years after first Corinthians that the same apostle, the apostle Paul is writing again about these things. And in chapter 12, of the book of Romans, he starts off there, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy now to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship. You want to know what your spiritual act of worship is? Offering your bodies as a living sacrifice. It’s already been made holy and acceptable in the sight of God. In other words, recognizing who you are in Christ, what he has done for you in Christ, you’ve already been made holy, you’ve already been made acceptable. You’ve already been made perfect in his sight. He’s done everything for you that he’s gonna do. There isn’t anything else you’re gonna get. You’ve got everything you’re gonna get now he says, Present your bodies to him and let him live his life to you. That’s, that’s an essence. What’s going on. Do you understand you can’t but I can? Yes, Lord, I do. Then let me do it. Do you understand that I am committed to complete the work that I began in you, Bob? Yes, I did, then get out of the way. And let me do it. Do you understand that you’re a branch and I’m the vine and you cannot produce fruit? Yes, I do. Lord, then let me produce it through you. You’ll bear it but only I can produce it. Do you understand that? Yes, I do. Look, then let me do it. In other words, get up in the morning and quit trying to do what you cannot do and get out of the way so that I can do what I can do. And that’s live my life. You cannot live the Christian life you’ve tried. you’ve struggled, you’ve made a mess out of it. Let me do it. Present your bodies. Here I am, Lord, send me. Do whatever you want to with me. I’m available to that’s all that’s holy and pleasing. And this and this alone is your spiritual act of worship my friends. Worship is not sitting around with your hands up or your hands down. That is idiotic. What if you didn’t have hands so it doesn’t make any difference to God, whether you have arms, whether you don’t have arms, whether up whether down or sideways or in your ear. It absolutely has no bearing at all on God. It does have a bearing on your understanding of God. Where did say Christ lives? Where is he living? In you. You see my friends if Satan can get you right up here believing God. Now granted, God is in heaven, but he came to live where? In you. If he can get you believe in God’s out there someplace? He’s gotcha he’s Gotcha. Because now how far out there is he, and what do I have to do to reach him?

We sing songs As the deer pants after the water that’s how I pant after you well, I’m sorry if you’re still panting after him because you haven’t found him. You see, that was marvelous for the Psalm was to sing that song because he never did know his Lord. He knew about him but he didn’t know him. He hadn’t come yet. As on the other side of the cross. They were worshipping a god that was going to be revealed. We worship one who’s already been revealed. When you seek in your find, if you’re still seeking is because we haven’t found Christ Jesus lives in your heart. He’s your best friend. He walks with you. He talks with you. He lives his life in and through you, and that’s why you and I can walk and talk with him all day long. It isn’t something that you have to wait to get in a group to do. That’s why Paul said I can pray without ceasing all day long. No position be would be a little hard do when you’re driving your car, if you’re closing your eyes in that position, we better not. But all day long, I’m talking to the Christ who lives in me, to my God who lives inside of me. It’s my best friend. Although up there, that’s not where he is, in your, in my experience he has come to live in you.

Now, you’re going to notice something. When Paul lists the spiritual gifts. In Romans 12, he alleviates the sign gifts. And in First Corinthians that was written earlier, well, he includes them, but he eliminates them in 12 just to each one. And he said, as Grace has given to me I say to each of every one of you don’t think more highly of yourself than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with a measure of faith God has given you just as each and every one of us has one body with many members. And these members do not all have the same function. So in Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We understand that. If you’re in Christ, he’s the head, we’re the members of the body, my hand belongs to this body, and it’s there to serve the rest of the body. I pick the hand up and brush my teeth in the morning and wash myself. We care for our body, don’t we? We’re all part of the same body. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him do it in proportion to his faith. If it’s serving, let him serve. If it’s teaching, let him teach. If it’s encouraging, let him encourage. If it’s contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously. If it’s leadership, let him govern diligently. If it’s showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. So the gifts that he’s mentioned, here are gifts that have to do with the edification of the body. Your sign gifts, as Paul is going to explain later on, we’re for evangelistic purposes, but in the body. It’s the serving gifts. That’s where we concentrate on.

Now, let’s go to first let’s go back now to First Corinthians 13. Do we kind of see how that falls together? So let’s see if we can pull it together? Do we all have the same gifts? No, who distributes them? God according to what? His purpose. So everyone doesn’t have the same ones? Can you learn your gifts? Or are they just revealed to you as God gives them to you? There are you know, there’s things going all over the place we sit down to study so you didn’t find out your spiritual gifts through study. And everybody’s sitting around trying to study what their gifts are. And that doesn’t work. You want to know what your gift aren’t. Get up, let God use you. Use your body as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable in the sight of God, which is your reasonable service, and let him reveal it to you. And other people will know before you do. So don’t sit around trying to figure that one out. Just let it be revealed. You’ll find yourself doing what your gift is. You can see that at a breakfast table with a kid spilled his milk. You will find out what gifts are. You really will give to help will be down there scrubbing that up. Fixing that all up. gift and mercy will be saying to the kid Don’t worry back and having a body. Gifted admonishment will say no, if you could put that milk over here on your right side, instead of your left side, you wouldn’t be doing that again. And and all of these things are going to be manifested just by knocking over a little milk and you’ll see how you respond. Now let’s go down to verse eight in chapter 13, and let’s pick up there with this study on spiritual gifts. Folks, there is no problem to me with people we are we can be taught many, many things. The problem comes in the teaching. And many of us have been taught truth that does not set you free. And there is terrific error in teaching in regard to spiritual gifts. And it puts people in bondage. And folks, if you’ve been under that I’m all I’m asking you is to look at the word of God. I don’t care what your experience is. Look at the word of God. And let the word of God speak to you because it later on says you still want to hang on to what air is it says, you just let you go and let you hang on to it. So I want you to believe what you believe not because of what a man has taught you, or even because of some experience because Satan can duplicate experiences. Satan can teach, does a great job of and you say he’s got the gift of teaching. And that’s probably true. It didn’t come from God. But there is a gift of teaching. There are many persuasive people today with gifts of teaching, using that gift to pervert and to destroy. Is that true or not? You can have a gift of giving, you can have a gift of giving and be giving it to something that is not supporting grace, it’s supporting legalism, you’re using a gift that God gave you to pervert it to support something God never wanted supported. So you can pervert every spiritual gift on the face of the earth that God gave us can be perverted. So we want to take a look out of the Word of God open up our hearts and to see what it has to say. So in verse eight, chapter 13, after he talks about love, and we’ll kind of cap this study off with that, because that’s the essence of what he says to do. He says, Love never fails. Where there are prophecies, they will cease. So you’re going to see one thing prophecies are going to cease. Where there are tongues, they will be stilled. In other words, they’ll just die away fade away. Where there is knowledge, it too will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfection comes or when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. Now the answer that comes down is what is this perfection that you’re talking about? Because Christ has already come? So what is the perfection that is talked about? Well, perfection could be when perfect love comes all of that imperfect disappears, perfect love when you and I learned and are indwelt by the love of God. Or it could mean that when the Word of God itself has been completed, then the imperfect disappears because now the total revelation of God comes.

Announcer
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’ll 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 in praise the Lord. Amen.

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Listen to the Salvation message today!

Stand on the firmness of truth. Don’t keep going back and forth. Thank Him that the forgiveness issue is settled.

Let’s pray together:

• Lord Jesus,
• I thank you for taking away my sins on the cross,
• never ever to see them again.
• Having done that, I now thank you for giving me eternal life,
• through your resurrection.
• I now receive that life.
• And I am going stand in the fact that I am a child of the living God.
• In Jesus Holy name I pray.
• Amen

All believers are now brothers and sisters in Christ.

John 3:3
³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

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