Radio Broadcast Tuesday 07/18/2023

Classic Christianity – The Book of John P71 (07-18-23)

Jesus Cleansed The Temple of God at The Cross

~ Most people don’t understand what Jesus really came to do the first time he was here. Jesus actually came to cleanse the temple and the future temple of God. People read the story of Jesus driving out the moneychangers from the temple and don’t have a clue that it was a picture of Him actually making the new temple, the temple of God, children of God, pure and a house of prayer. For anyone in Christ Jesus today, we are the temple of God and we are told that in Scripture. Jesus cleaned that temple at the cross. He got rid of all of our sins and took those upon himself and cleansed them never to see them again, so thus when the Holy Spirit comes to live in every believer through becoming born again of the Spirit of God, He has made us permanently pure forever by His death on the cross so that sin would no longer have a hold on us in His life. He was victorious over sin for us at the cross, so that we can become the righteousness of God in Him at our moment of becoming born again of the Spirit of God. For we are the new temple of God today. And our temples are pure not because of what we do or don’t do but because of Jesus and what He did on the cross. We were bought with a price, and the price was Jesus himself on the cross. So remember, we are not our own today. We are His forever because we were bought with a price! Thus we honor God with our bodies by making them available to Him.

~ And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. ^{Matthew 21:12-13}

~ What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. ^{1 Corinthians 6:19-20}

~ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. ^{2 Corinthians 5:21}

~ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ^{Romans 12:1}

Jesus Explained The Meaning of The Word of God, And People Didn’t Like it.

~ “And Jesus got underneath the skin, and said, the law teaches exterior. I am teaching interior. The law says Do not murder. I go under the skin and say if you’re angry at your brother, you’ve already murdered them in your heart. I’m going deeper than the law. The law says do not commit adultery. That’s outward. I’m going under the skin to get to the root of that by saying that I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman with lust in his heart has already committed adultery. Lust comes before adultery. And the law deals with the effect, I’m dealing with the cause. And man doesn’t want to deal with the cause, just let me deal with the effect. Let me deal with what you don’t do and I can pretend I don’t do it and hope you don’t find out that I am doing it. And I’ll be okay. And he said to those people, you’re a bunch of whitewash sepulchres. You’re all clean on the outside but your dirty is a pig on the inside a wee bit of Bob George interpretation there with the pig but you’re dirty on the inside. You’re dirty. You said Our hearts are wicked, deceitful, above all things who can know them? Your actions aren’t. It’s your heart that your problem. And so these people hated Jesus. And when they heard these people praising him and saying blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. They said rebuke your disciples, came up and chastised God Himself chastised, it takes a lot of guts to chastise God. But they did it they didn’t know he was God.” ~ Bob George

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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
We’re so prone to follow Him for what He can give us. They followed him when he fed the 5000. Why? As he went over to the other side of the lake, and they followed him. He said the only reason you’re following me is because I fed you on the other side of the lake. You’re gonna have people today and I have seen that in church work of people who do work down on the streets. You can get a guy to give me a meal, what I need to do, get baptized leave me to the water. And I’ve seen it 1000s of times of people taking advantage of that in order to get numbers to their credit. Of just dunking people in water and sand they’re all saved and then go down and get a meal. The only reason they went to the water was to get a meal, not to get Jesus. And you have to have discernment on that type of thing, if you’re ministering into that realm to know whether this is sincere or whether they’re just following you to get a meal. That’s one of the dangers. We give a meal without Jesus, all you’ve done is satisfy a hunger for three or four hours. You haven’t accomplished anything.

And so they were following him for all of the miracles that they had seen him do. They cried out blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. So they were praising Jesus, the King who comes the name of the Lord, this king who does miracles is King who is different than anyone we’ve ever seen. The Pharisees, who are the enemies of the gospel. Now think who the enemies of the Gospel were, the most religious people on the face of the earth. People that according to orthodoxy, by the time they’re 18, were to have the Pentateuch memorized, that’s the first five books of the Bible. And by the time they’re 23, to have the entire Bible memorized. How’d you like try that one on for size? But that was how stringent the teaching of the Pharisees was to memorize scripture to have it written on the door posts, always quoting scripture, but never having a clue as to what it meant. And so these teachers of the law, these teachers who had set themselves up as the authority for the interpretation of the word of God, when they came in contact with the living word, the interpreters of the written word, denied the Living Word and hung him on a cross, because he didn’t agree with their interpretation. They were interpreting the Scripture, not in light of revelation, but we’re interpreting scriptures in light of their tradition. And that’s what Jesus said, you follow your traditions, but you’ve missed me. You search the Scriptures in hopes that by them the scriptures, you possess eternal life. But these are the Scriptures that testify about Me. And yet you refuse to come to me to receive life. And so these Pharisees, these teachers of the law, they were adamantly against Jesus. Now, if Jesus was a teacher of the law, would they have been adamantly against him? They weren’t against him because he had a beard. Or because of how long his hair was or how short it was. They were against him because of what He taught. And Jesus got underneath the skin, and said, the law teaches exterior. I am teaching interior. The law says Do not murder. I go under the skin and say if you’re angry at your brother, you’ve already murdered them in your heart. I’m going deeper than the law. The law says do not commit adultery. That’s outward. I’m going under the skin to get to the root of that by saying that I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman with lust in his heart has already committed adultery. Lust comes before adultery. And the law deals with the effect, I’m dealing with the cause. And man doesn’t want to deal with the cause, just let me deal with the effect. Let me deal with what you don’t do and I can pretend I don’t do it and hope you don’t find out that I am doing it. And I’ll be okay. And he said to those people, you’re a bunch of whitewash sepulchres. You’re all clean on the outside but your dirty is a pig on the inside a wee bit of Bob George interpretation there with the pig but you’re dirty on the inside. You’re dirty. You said Our hearts are wicked, deceitful, above all things who can know them? Your actions aren’t. It’s your heart that your problem. And so these people hated Jesus. And when they heard these people praising him and saying blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. They said rebuke your disciples, came up and chastised God Himself chastised, it takes a lot of guts to chastise God. But they did it they didn’t know he was God. Rebuke your disciples.

And Jesus said to them, I tell you, if these keep quiet these disciples keep quiet. These stones, and if you’ve ever been to Israel, that’s all you’re gonna see stones, they are all over the place, you need to be stoned, that’s the place to go. These stones will cry out. Because he’s saying that I can use anything to proclaim the good news of the gospel, you might be able to get rid of man, if you did, I’d cause the stones to cry out.

As he approached Jerusalem, he saw the city and he wept over it. For those of you who have been to Israel in the past, normally, you’re coming in on a bus into a place that oversees the entire city of Israel. And normally, the song Hosanna is played in the bus. And you look down on that city of Jerusalem and realize there’s the city where my redemption was purchased for me. There’s the city where God entered into human experience, and took away my sin, and was raised from the dead, to solve my problem of spiritual death, by His life, His resurrected life. That’s where it all occurred. And I want to tell you something, if you can stand on that site, and look down on that city, that beautiful city, and not weep, there’s something wrong with your emotions. Because I think it’s impossible to do. And I think it was the same with Jesus as he looked down upon the city of Jerusalem. And he saw the city that he was going to enter into, and take away the sins of the world at the cross, and to be raised from the dead for our justification. And he said, had you only known he wept over it. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, if you had only had known on this day, what would bring you to peace. If you would have only known what could cause you as a people to live in peace. There’s never been peace in Israel. And there never will be peace in Israel, all the United Nations. Every time I’ve seen Presidents standing there with the Israeli and shaking hands, I just say, Oh, brother, another one. Because it ain’t gonna happen. There’s never going to be peace in Israel until the Prince of Peace returns. And every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess that Jesus is Lord, they will look on the one whom they have pierced, and they will be converted. That’s when peace will come and only that, only on that day, will peace come to that land. And he said, if you would have only known, if you could have only grasped on this day, what or who could bring you peace. But now it’s hidden from your eyes. You can’t see you’re blinded. What do you blinded by? Your own ego, your own pride, you’re hanging on to your own traditions. You’d rather be a Jew, than you would to be a Christian. Or you’d rather be a Gentile than to be a Christian. If you would have only known. I would have saved your city and your people that day. But your eyes are blinded.

The days will come upon you. And he’s talking now to the city of Jerusalem. When your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground and your children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you. If you go to Israel today and with the excavations of the walls and the temple. There is not one stone left upon another, just as it said, Not a one. When Titus came in to destroy the city in 70 ad, they destroyed it in its entirety. They built an embankment against them, They encircled them, they hemmed them in. They killed by 1000s The Hebrew people and the children. Why? Didn’t recognize the time of God’s coming to you. And then Jesus entered into this temple area. And he began to drive out those who were selling, making the temple into a market place. And he said, it’s written he said to them, My house will be a house of prayer, but you’ve made it a den of robbers. You’ve turned the temple into something that it never intended to be. And folks, today, we’ve turned the church into something that it was never intended to be. The church was to be from day one, a place of coming and listening to the apostles teaching, and to have fellowship and have prayer. Period. It was not a place to come and be entertained, to drink Starbucks, to have bowling alleys, basketball courts entertained the lost. So you should got to build more buildings to house the lost people so they can entertain themselves, go to the YMCA. The church today no different than the temple back then is to be a place of worship is to be a place to come and learn. It’s not a place to come and sit and soak, but to come and learn. Why? So that you can be productive. The job of the pastor is to equip you for your work of ministry, what is your worship ministry? To believe in Christ. When they asked Jesus what’s the work of the ministry told them to believe in me. To trust in me. That’s the work of the ministry. What is your job if you’re a minister, what is your job as a layman? To help people to teach them how to trust Jesus? How to walk by faith in him. But if turned this thing into a den of robbers. We’ll be lucky if we ever have to build a building bigger and this why I don’t think we’re gonna have that many people interested in learning about Jesus.

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Bob George 13:40
I want to tell you something if we went out on a joy boy campaign, and we went out to get in and entertain people, we could pack this place out. But what’s it packed out with? Lost people. Say people, you know, I know that I was one of them. I was one of them. Put a basketball court at the bottom of the basement and I’m there, didn’t matter to me it’s the ceiling was only nine foot high I could slam dunk at age eight. Entertain me. I was entertained as a child. And I thank God for the minister that entertained us because at least we were singing songs on Easter and at least our songs. We could get some Gospel out of it but I was entertained. And when I was a kid we had a church bus that was unheard of no churches had buses back then to go out to the park and play and we went to the park and we played football and we played baseball we played softball we did all kinds of entertainment. Never though heard one time about Jesus. Never had a Bible open when I was saved and open my Bible it cracked. Why? It never been open before, 36 years of age, didn’t need to have an open to ever carry a Bible, the church. I’d have been embarrassed had been the only one there. But I was entertained. A lot of potlucks had a lot of fellowship. But nothing of any substance to it. My friends, that’s a condition, unfortunately, of the majority of the churches today, watered down the gospel to be politically correct. Don’t be too harsh, don’t tell people that you’re saved only by Jesus that might offend somebody. Kind of watere it down so it’s kind of acceptable to all people. And that’s what has taken place in the world today.

And what Jesus said then is applicable today, you’ve made my house into a den of robbers. Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests and the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people who were trying to kill him, let me go back there, just the people were trying to kill him. Now let’s go back to what he was saying.

Turn back to 15 Chapter 15. John, he’s saying to us that the purpose of the church, and the purpose of this gathering is to learn about Jesus and to learn about how to trust Jesus, how to walk by faith in Jesus, how to yield to Jesus, how to abide in Jesus, and we all need to be taught that don’t we? That’s why he gave some to be teachers, and some to be evangelists. What’s the role of the evangelists? To teach people to believe in Jesus. That’s the role of the evangelists, you’re lost and you need Jesus. What’s the role of the pastor teacher? To teach people now that you’re saved to trust Jesus with your everyday life. And so Jesus after this Sunday that he went through Palm Sunday, where everyone was screaming Hosanna and the next week, we’re saying screaming, crucify him, shows how fickle we are. But he’s gonna teach. And so he gives what, in my opinion, is the greatest illustration in the entire Bible, of how to walk in the newness of life that is ours through Christ Jesus.

Now, he starts out by saying, I am the true vine. Now the reason he said that is because Israel was identified as the vine. That was even an insignia we’re the vine, and were connected to God. And so they thought they were the vine. And Jesus says, No, I am the true vine. You got a vine over here, but I’m the true vine. I’m not this one over here. I am the true vine. And my Father is the gardener. Now, folks, again, where is he? Here. He’s in Israel. Who’s he talking to? The Hebrews? Who did the gospel go to first? The Hebrews? Who did he revealed himself to before the gospel? The Hebrews. Who did he set apart from the entire world? The Hebrews, so he’s talking here to the Hebrews. He says, I’m the true vine you’re not. My Father is the gardener. And he cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit. While every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it’ll be even more fruitful.

In other words, you can be a believer, but not be a born again believer, can’t you? You can be a professor but not a possessor. You can profess Christ but not have Christ. I believed in Jesus. Say all my life, you’ve heard people say that I’ve been saved all my life. No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, that didn’t happen. You might have believed in Jesus from most of your life of remembrance. But knowing about Jesus and being born again are two different things. And so if you’re not bearing fruit, it’s because you’re not abiding. If you’re a branch, and a branch is connected to the vine, the role of the branch is to abide in the life of the vine. And the role of the vine is to produce in the branch whatever it is the life that produces fruit in the branch, but the branch bears the fruit, but the branch cannot produce the fruit.

Fruit of the Spirit, love. Have you ever tried to love somebody? Lot’s of luck. We might love love those who are lovely. But what about the ones who aren’t lovely? And then after we get to know the lovely we don’t like them very much either. What’s that thing and says, Oh to dwell with the saints below that would be glory. Oh, did well with the saints above that would be glory, but to dwell with the saints below. Well, that’s another story. Love joy. Can you produce joy? No joy has come from God. How about peace? No, not get world peace. But what about peace that passes all understanding? Try to go produce that. What about patience? Can you produce it? I’m gonna be patient. No. What about kindness? You see, all of those things, guys are all characteristics that we know about, don’t we? But we don’t have a point of reference and being able to produce them in the energy of our own strength, do we? And unless you’ve are in Christ, Jesus, you never have experienced those things in and through your life. No, a little happiness might have had a little happiness. Maybe had a little temporary peace, that type of thing. But not true peace, not joy. And so he’s saying to us, that if you don’t bear fruit, and if you do bear fruit, then he’s going to prune you back, which is what you do with a branch you prune it, so that the life doesn’t have so far to go and the only place it can go is out. That’s why you see fruit on trees. And then he said to his apostles, you are already clean, because of the word that I’ve spoken to you. So what cleanses us? The Word of God. So he said Remain in me. Now what does it mean to remain in me? Well, it means to let go of everything else and earn anything remaining except him. If you’re willing to let go of everything except Jesus, then the only thing left is Jesus isn’t it? That’s remaining in him. And I will remain in you. No branch now guys again, are you a vine? Or are you a branch? You’re a branch. Are you not? Are we all awake? We’re all branches. He is the vine. He’s saying no branch can bear fruit by itself. If a branch is not attached to the vine, you’re not gonna get anything out of it. It must remain in the vine. If you are going to bear the fruit of Christ Jesus, you must remain in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. So what is the Christian life as you’re born again? Remain in Jesus. What does that mean? Keep trusting Him. As you receive Christ Jesus the Lord so walking in him, how did you receive him? By faith. How do you walk in him? By faith. Unless you remain in me you can bear no fruit. I’m the vine he said. You the literal Greek translation as you are branch doesn’t even say the branch a you’re branch. If a man remain in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. And apart from me you can do how much? Nothing. What is the first indicator of abiding in Christ? The first fruit of the Spirit is what? Love, love. first fruit of the Spirit love. How much can you love apart from Christ Jesus? With Christ’s love? How much can you do? Nothing. Nothing. Then let’s see is that a little discouraging to think I can’t even do that? So no, I didn’t discouraging at all. It’s encouraging. because it lets you know that you must keep remaining in Christ Jesus. I wondered sometimes, Lord Jesus, why did you leave me? Why did you come to enter me and allow me to be born again of the Spirit and leave this old body of flesh with indwelling sin living in it? You could have taken that away. You could have eradicated that out of my life. Why didn’t you do that? It was like the Lord said, because of a did you’d forget me in a minute. And it’s why it says, To rejoice in your weaknesses. Why? Your weaknesses are what keeps you dependent on the Lord, if you didn’t have any weaknesses, who would need the Lord.

Person says I can never commit murder, then you only need 90 present Jesus. I can neither murder or commit adultery, then you only need 80% Jesus just think you might get good enough someday, but you don’t need him at all. That’s how some people live, trying to get good enough that I won’t even need Jesus. He says you can’t do it. And the fact that you can’t do it should lead you to, is it possible to be done? It’s not that I can’t do it. But is it possible to be done? He said, sure. Sure, it’s possible to be done. All you have to do is to yield in me, who is the initiator of love and joy and peace and patience, and I will bear the fruit. I’ll produce the fruit in through you. But you can’t do it when you’re out trying to get it out for Jesus. You see some people just desperately just trying so desperately to do something for Jesus. And it’s all in the energy of the flesh. You admire their interest, but they need to relax. That’s what’s called burnout. Have ever heard a spiritual burn out? Why? Because you’re not trying to work for God. I did that for years trying to work for God, I exhausted myself. Trying to do good for Jesus. Jesus, God, I’m gonna go work for him. I mean, I’ve heard people say, greatest thing you can ever do is burnout for God. Have you ever heard that burnout? I think, yeah, that sounds great. Just exhaust yourself. Go on the mental hospitals and I’ll burnout for God. No, he didn’t want us to burnout. He says, take a vacation. I want you to take a vacation in me. I want you to get out of the way and let me get kn action.

Announcer 27:16
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.