Call-In Classic Christianity Radio – Bob George P609 (02-18-21)
Synopsis
As we grow in Christ, we start asking questions. That is what children do. But are they getting the right answers, the right nutrition to grow? It is fine if you are an infant to feed on the milk of the word, but you need to start moving on towards eating meat when the time is right. So where do you get your convictions formed? Do you believe something because your pastor says it is true or because that is what my denomination taught me since I was a child? How do you know it is true? Recall that the apostle Paul commended the people of Berea for diligently studying the scriptures to see if what he said was so.
Let us look at the teaching that is so prevalent in protestant churches about tithing being for today, and that you start giving ten percent, as so many pastors teach. Is that true for today? Where do most pastors tell you to turn to? Malachi. Have you ever read the entire chapter of Malachi 3 for yourself? Are you a descendant of Jacob? No. Then the book of Malachi is not talking to you. So now you get that cleared up. Now you are ready to read the bible for yourself.
How many of you have ever heard teaching from the book of Hebrews? Have you read the book yourself? Not many I would think. Why is the book of Hebrews so important? When you read it, you discover the New Covenant you are under today. When you get the big picture, a panoramic view of what God accomplished for you in Christ Jesus, you have a solid foundation in which all the doctrines fit so nicely together in a cohesive whole. You learn about the totality of the cross, of being made complete in Christ, Christ in you, a new identity, not under law, but under grace, of the New Covenant you live under today.
But where does this grace start. You first receive the love of God. Even as a child, when your brain is not fully developed, what is the first thing so important to a child? The love and nurture of their parents. And what are you able to comprehend? You hear songs that Jesus loves me. These are all important seeds for faith to be revealed to you until that point in time in history you become born again spiritually, where Christ reveals Himself to you. Then you learn about the Trinity, forgiveness of sins, baptism and the essentials. Yes, and some of those things may be taught incorrectly by well-meaning parents or pastors, but you open the word of God yourself, and God reveals the truth to you. You start with the milk of the word. Now you move on to the meat of the word, about righteousness. So let us learn how to walk by the Spirit, not under law but under grace.
So listen as Bob George answers questions, from the scriptures, that different believers ask, that have puzzled them, that they are beginning to think that something is just not right. Is tithing for today? How do I be a light to my family? Why are churches so large but so shallow on truth? It seems churches have become entertainment centers. Why does it say in Timothy that many shall fall away from the faith? What does that mean?
Transcript
Sam from San Marcos, CA
Sam: I had a question on Ephesians 5. I was talking with a friend of mine dealing with family members who are unbelievers, particularly at times during holidays, with gatherings where people get together. We as Christians, almost start to compromise our beliefs. I just wanted your interpretation, as far as Ephesians 5:8 where it talks about darkness and light. And verse 14, where it says to have nothing to do with the deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. What are we called to do in those situations?
Ephesians 5:8-13
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible – and everything that is illuminated becomes a light.
Bob: People have taken some severe deals on that, to expose them means to go around like the village busy-bodies and expose all the sins of people they can think of. That is not what it is talking about. It is calling sin what it is. You do not hide it. You expose it. You do not call sin an alternative lifestyle. You do not call sin a disease. You call sin what it is. That does not mean you go around exposing sinners because if you do you will be the first one exposed.
Sam: As children of light, we are to live as children of light. That is what happens with darkness.
Bob: But children of light have to live in darkness. You live in the world, which is dark, and you are in the world but not of the world. So you are not going to escape the world.
SAm: Is that not the way of exposing them, to be able to shed light that we experience?
Bob: In order to expose light, you have to get in darkness. You have got a lot of Christians who sit around and have a light bulb meeting instead of going out into darkness and exposing what light is. Unfortunately that is what happens in many of our lives. We obviously migrate to Christians, because that is what we have in common with, but fail to go out into the world to expose light to a dark world. But become friends, not bosom buddies, but being friendly and being in their midst. If you are a Christian in the workplace then you are around a lot of lost people. But you can be a light in the midst of that darkness.
Bob: As far as family is concerned in that type of gathering, I would go to any family gathering. I can go and be who I am. I do not have to act. If they do not like it or feel uncomfortable that is their problem. I do not feel uncomfortable around them, with lost people at all, because I get an opportunity to share Christ with people. But they feel uncomfortable around me sometimes.
Sam: What does it mean to rather expose them?
Bob: That is exposing sin. That is calling sin for what it is. If people are doing deeds of darkness, you do not say, “Oh, bless your heart. That is just an alternative lifestyle.” You expose it for what it is. What about something like Christmas, where the point of Christmas is the birth of Jesus and it is evident and you are trying to question why it is evident.
Bob: Why would you want to do that Sam? What benefit will you do with that type of thing? You are not going to lead someone to Christ on that type of deal. All you will do is make people mad with your criticism of what they are doing.
Sam: You are to call them out as to what they are doing, as the reason, while you are there? More and more society tries to snow that over.
Bob: You will have to burn out all the retail stores out on that one, because the majority of retail is around a Santa Claus mentality. But for you, you are celebrating the birth of Christ, but I may be in a group that is not. I am going to let people know what my celebration is of Christ. Celebration is not where you are but who you are. I will let people know that this is a period where many people celebrate that Christ is born. I am going to tell them about the birth of Jesus. You will not reach people by judging them or criticizing them. Light causes people in darkness to squint. Darkness does not cause your eyes to hurt. Light does. So be a light.
Bob: This exposes things, and this is the only place in the bible that talks about that. There are many self righteous people who ought to be put in a closet somewhere, who thought that idea is to slander and expose and let everybody know what is going on in the world. It is very damaging.
Matthew 13:24-30
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
The wheat and the tares are going to grow together. It is not our business to pull them. Let that judgment be God’s and not ours. When you try to pull up the tares, you pull up the wheat. The best policy, to me, is to lead a quiet life, tend to your own business, and let God deal with those things.
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
Bob: Be who you are. That light will bring people unto yourself. Criticism never will, Sam.
Acts 13:47
47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
Bob: Okay, brother?
Sam: Thank you.
Bob: God bless you, pal.
Sam: God bless you.
Barry from Victoria, TX
Barry: I want to thank you for the Predestination tapes. I got so much out of that. I wanted to call and thank the Lord for that. It opened my eyes to a lot of things, and a lot of confirmation.
Bob: I think it opens up your bible.
Barry: It really does.
Bob: This is something that has been in our heart, but something that God continues to reveal and reveals, that I had to set it out there and teach it. It has opened up my whole understanding of the bible in a brand new way. I appreciate your saying that, Barry, because I feel the same way. I think it is a message that is very necessary to the Christian world right now.
Barry: There are so many people who have not gotten it yet.
Bob: Well, Barry. Thank you. I will let our listeners know that we did not pay you to call and say that. God bless you, pal.
Lisa from Nashville, TN
Lisa: I heard something on another show. It is in regards to the Old versus the New, about tithing. I heard someone say that in the New Testament, it does not talk about ten percent and about tithing.
Bob: Tithing is not even ten percent in the Old Testament. It is closer to thirty percent.
Lisa: What is your understanding?
Bob: Tithing is not in the New Testament. If it is not in the New Testament. I talked about this so much, I am almost sick of talking about it. I cannot understand why people cannot get this in their head. Tithing has to do with the Levitical priesthood. It has nothing to do with us today. Levi is not your priest. Jesus is our priest. All you have to do is go to Malachi. That is what everybody goes to, good old Malachi. So let us turn to Malachi.
Malachi 3:6
6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.
Bob: Are you a descendant of Jacob?
Lisa: Yes.
Bob: You are a descendant of Jacob?
Lisa: No, probably not.
Bob: Of course, you are not. You are a Gentile, probably, aren’t you?
Lisa: Yes.
Bob: So he never gave this law to you to begin with. You are not a descendant of Jacob. He is not talking to you.
Lisa: Oh, okay.
Malachi 3:7-9
7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse – your whole nation –
Bob: Are you an Israeli? No. You are not a descendant of Jacob. So he is not talking to you. He never was talking to you.
Malachi 3:9-11
because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops,
Bob: Lots of luck if you are over here. What is going to prevent pests from devouring crops is putting chemicals on it.
Malachi 3:11-12
and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed
Bob: Are all the nations of the world calling you blessed? I do not think so. Are they calling Israel blessed? They are not even doing that.
Bob: So again, Lisa, this tithing stuff, it is fine if someone wants to give ten percent, but not as a tithe, not as a legalistic tithe. It is talking to people who are descendants of Jacob. We are under the law of freewill giving, which is given to us in Corinthians, to give joyfully, freely, and without compulsion.
2 Corinthians 9:7
7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Bob: Why would God have Paul write that if we are supposed to tithe? He would have said, “Keep on a tithing, folks.”, Tithing is not mentioned in the New Covenant for God wants us to give out of the heart, not compulsion. Again, tithing was food stuff, so your barns will be filled. If these passages are teaching tithing for today, then you ought to get a whole bucket of corn and dump it on the altar if you want to be biblical. It is food stuff. It is not money. I cannot understand why people continually insist on teaching that and the lie that you are robbing God. I do not understand that when it is not in the New Covenant you are living under.
Lisa: I heard it was on your show. It made so much sense and I wondered why I am going to church my whole life and never heard that before. It kind of bothered me that every preacher I listened to is teaching ten percent.
Bob: They think it will get their buildings paid earlier. But if you look at how many people tithe, it is probably a small percentage, including the pastor. “If you are going to tithe, then I want to see your IRS report every year and see if you really believe what you are teaching.” Let people give in accordance with what God is leading them to give instead of some guilt trip someone is putting on them. It is sad leaders go to those tactics and do not trust Christ with our people so that they will give joyfully and generously. They will meet our needs if you let them.
Lisa: That goes back to faith.
Bob: It sure does.
Lisa: Thank you very much.
Bob: You are welcome, Lisa. God bless. Bye. Bye.
Louis from Covington, GA
Louis: Praise the Lord, all you Bobs.
Bob: (laughter)
Louis: I got a question on 1 Timothy 4.
1 Timothy 4:1-5
1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
Louis: What does that mean? That people are saved and depart from it? I know they do not fall from grace, but I am not quite understanding that they depart from faith. They must have it or they cannot depart from it.
Bob: I agree with that, Louis. You see that type of thing a lot. Again, you wonder, because we are in Christ, a child of God. From that point on, we are exposed to teaching aren’t we? In other words, we are going to set out as a baby to eat food. What you are going to have is there is going to be a brand new child of God, where some are fortunate enough to open up their bible and trust the word of God and trust the Spirit of God to reveal truth to them.
Ephesians 4:14-16
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Bob: There are other people who are saved, but they will say, “You tell me what to believe and I will believe it”. Others will say, “Let the pastor tell me what to believe and I will believe it”. Those people, even though saved, they are man taught. They are Jesus saved but are man taught. Those kind of people can be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine and never ever get established in their faith and remain, as the scriptures talk about, as mere babes in Christ, feeding on milk and never going on to the meat of the word.
Hebrews 5:11-13
11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
Bob: Those are options that we have. Saved but sorry. On the other hand, if a person learns to depend upon the Spirit of God to reveal truth to them, they are God taught. When God teaches you something, no one is going to teach us something else. When man teaches you something, the next man can contradict and teach something else.
Bob: Knowing that is a possibility, is it surprising that in the end times that people will fall away from the true faith? The answer is that it is not surprising at all. That is what he is saying here. You will have people who are going to suit their own desires, gathering people around them, to say what their itching ears want to hear, and turn away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
2 Timothy 4:3-5
3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
Bob: So Timothy is a spiritual son, and Paul is warning him, who is in the category of an elder or a pastor, as to what to look for, and realize what is going to happen. There will come a time when that is what people have are itching ears. I tell you, Louis, and I do not say this in a disparaging manner, but today the big churches that you look up to are more entertainment centers than they are a place to feed upon the depth of the word of God. And what people are looking for is getting their ears tickled. Just tell me something that makes me feel good. So we are in a feel-good world and a feel-good society. Entertain me. Entertain my children. Have programs for us. Get a lot of entertainment in here. I want a whole bunch of music, and very little content. You can have born again people sitting in that setting. You get used to it after awhile.
Louis: In other words, you can correct me if I am wrong, if I went to a particular church, and I believed God, and then all this entertainment begins to happen, then I would lose faith in the setting of church, but I would not lose out with God.
Bob: Yes. You would not lose faith with Jesus.
Bob: We have to realize that salvation is a critical issue. It happens at a point in time in history just as a child is born.
John 3:6-7
6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’
Bob: But you can be a born child and eat junk food and be unhealthy or you can have a child who eats good food and is healthy. It kind of depends on who is feeding you. It does dissuade the fact that you are a child. It does not discount that. It is just the fact that you are a child who is fed food that does not nourish you.
Matthew 4:4
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Bob: We can do the same thing as a child of God. When we are undernourished, we are very susceptible to all kinds of things that will ultimately destroy us, but not lose salvation given to us. It is just falling away from truth that sometimes you have never heard.
Louis: It has happened to me. Way back some 20 years ago, I had so much confidence in this particular denomination. Okay. It was just a church I grew up in. All of a sudden they turned into an entertainment center. I just lost faith in church, the setting of church, the church operation, but I did not lose faith in God.
Bob: Yes.
Louis: I was just trying to figure out if this is what it was. I lost faith.
Bob: in the institution. You never lose faith in the head but this body is another thing. We have to realize Christ’ body is in pitiful shape down here.
Louis: We have a lot of entertainment centers here.
Bob: We start something to be a supplement to and it ends up being a substitute for. Whatever God will bless as a supplement, He will curse as a substitute. So what we see, and I understand that. Sometimes, and I am not saying there is anything wrong with that, but I have been in churches with huge choirs and orchestras, and they give goosebump and shine the daylights out of you, and you get away from that.
Ephesians 5:18-20
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Bob: In the assembly we have, we have none of that, the big programs, the orchestras and bands. Sometimes I kind of miss that. But I realize which would I rather have, the big orchestra, the big bands and choirs or would I rather have solid biblical teaching? The latter is true. It seems we cannot have it all for some reason. There are very few pastors that can pull off that whole thing, to have the beauty of a music program and still remain faithful to teaching the word of God.
Matthew 4:4
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Bob: I sat under a man who did a good job with this, but again, the people are a different story. He remained dedicated to the proclamation to the word of God, but the people listening were more interested in entertainment. And there is the problem. Even though man remains faithful, the body has a tendency to want to feed the flesh instead of the Spirit.
Louis: I try to be quick. Anyways, the church that I went to, we probably had fifteen people and the teaching was very good. The power of God was there. Everything we really needed, the joy and peace, then all of a sudden down the way, they turned to entertainment. When they turned to entertainment guess what happened? It turned to fifteen hundred people.
Bob: Exactly. There again, those are people trying to grow instead of listening to what Jesus said.
Matthew 16:18
18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock [rock of Christ, the cornerstone] I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Isaiah 28:16
16 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.
We say “No, you won’t. I will build it myself”. I know how to go out and build numbers. I would have no problem building systems. I was trained by some of the best of them in how to build numbers. But I am not going to do that because I do not think it is my job to build church. That is the Lord’s job. My job is to lift Him up and He will draw all men unto Himself.
John 12:32
32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
Louis: In the book of Acts, I will add to the church such as those who will be saved.
Acts 2:47
47 And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Bob: Absolutely.
Louis: I appreciate that. I was really concerned about this passage of scripture here.
Bob: No, you cannot be lost.
Louis: Okay. Thank you, Bob.
Bob: Good to talk to you. Okay, pal. Good bye.
Rodney from Nashville, TN
Rodney: I want to know if it is a sin for me and my wife to have a drink of wine in the privacy of our own home?
Bob: Rodney, the bible says do not get drunk on wine.
Rodney: Right.
Bob: In the taking of the Lord’s supper, wine was obviously served at the Lord’s supper. Otherwise, people could not have been sitting around getting drunk, as we read about in the instruction for the Lord’s supper.
1 Corinthians 11:29-31
29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment
(This judgment is not from God, but from the body, those believers whom you have hurt by your gluttonous behavior. That is a whole other topic, the meaning of the Lord’s supper.)
Bob: Paul also said wine is good for the stomach, but wine can also destroy your household.
1 Timothy 5:23
23 Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
Bob: It depends on the abuse of it. I say that there is one way people can assure they are not going to be an alcoholic. That is to not start drinking. It is also the case of not being a stumbling block, which you will not be in your own home, unless you had children.
1 Corinthians 8:8-10
8 But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols?
Bob: Again, if drinking wine at home, and your children are seeing that, and one of them, seeing your influence, starts drinking and abusing that, and becomes an alcoholic, you will feel like a jerk. All of those things need to be taken into consideration, Rodney. It is not worth it to me personally to me at all. A lot of people just cannot live without that. I think that is ridiculous, but it is not worth it to me to be a stumbling block or it is not worth it to me to have my head fuzzy.
Rodney: Right.
Bob: You know someone who says just one glass of wine and no more. With one glass of wine, I might bounce off the walls. For my particular case, and I am just talking about me, it is not beneficial to me. It is permissible but it is not profitable.
1 Corinthians 10:23
23 “I have the right to do anything,” you say – but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything” – but not everything is constructive.
(Go back and read these passages of scriptures in their full context. As you do, think about the attitudes of love in the heart that God wants to produce in you and through you.)
Bob: Some people say “okay”. There again, you have to do with what you think the Lord wants you to do. Is it sin? No. Drunkenness is a sin. But having a drink of wine is certainly not sin.
Ephesians 5:18
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,
Proverbs 20:1
1 Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
Rodney: I guess I should put my Jack Daniels away.
Bob: I think I would try to get old Jack saved.
(laughing together)
Rodney: Okay, Bob. I appreciate that.
Bob: You are sure welcome, brother. God bless you, pal.
