Classic Christianity – Book of Hebrews P37 (11-21-23)
Quit Being a Weed Puller and Start Growing Grass
~ Most everyone today is concerned with weeds in their lawn instead of learning how to grow grass. We need to realize that according to Jesus, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.” This is why in another passage of Scripture it says that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” Yet most are out there trying to get their flesh all cleaned up. They are pulling out weeds left and right and still more weeds pop up because quite frankly you can’t pull them out by the root. There is nothing good in the flesh. That flesh of ours is going to the grave whether we like it or not. Only the person that abides in Christ Jesus can live as God would have us to live, by faith, from beginning to end. “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” You can’t live the perfect life, only Jesus can and did live the perfect life. And only when we get out of the way, and allow him to live his life in and through us, can we bear the fruit of the Spirit. So start abiding in him today. Rest from your works of self righteousness and rest in his total righteousness for you.
~ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. Hebrews 4:9-11
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~ “Now Satan will clean up your flesh, Satan will help you clean up your flesh. Because if I can get this habit stopped and Satan can help me do that, what does that build in me? Pride and self confidence. I got rid of this habit. Now when you get rid of that habit, are all of them gone then have you noticed that how when you get rid of one just don’t have any more bad habits? Man, it’s like trying to hold 10 corks underwater, at the same time isn’t it. You get rid of those over there and up, these are clumping up, you’re grabbing here and you’re grabbing here and you’re trying to hold them down. There’s no end to this thing. It’s a bottomless pit in it. And so Satan will help you to get rid of your bad habits so that you can grow some some pride and have some self confidence in what I can do. Look what I did. Then another one pops up. We’ll have another one pops up and I have gotten rid of one and another one has popped up. Why then what do you automatically think there? What are you going to do with that one? Well, well, I got that one. I’ll get this one. And then you get that one. He helps you with that one too. And then you got another one. What are you going to spend the rest of your life doing? Trying to do what? Get rid of what? All of your bad habits isn’t that right. Now when I asked you a question, how much concentration are you going to have on him when you’re trying to get rid of your bad habit? Why none. And what does it say in the scripture that a mind that is on the flesh does what? Sows to the flesh and a mind that’s on the Spirit does what? Sows to the Spirit. So where is your preoccupation with your mind on getting rid of all your habits are on the Spirit of God? Where should it be? Spirit of God.” ~ Bob George
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Now to us we want not only instant gratification, we want instant freedom from that gratification. Don’t we, if it’s wrong gratification. Isn’t that right? I mean, I want this place that I want gratified immediately. And then I say I want to stop this habit immediately. And that’s where we’re out looking for quick fixes. And that’s what the entire, it seems like, that the deceit that is going on in Christendom today especially in the media is quick fixes come down get hit in the head fall backwards and you’re fixed forever. And and all that kind of stuff going on. And you’ve been delivered. Folks know you haven’t. Only thing you’ve been delivered from is out of darkness into light. And to say I’ve been delivered from a sin forever. That is ludicrous. You can get back into it at any time. And anybody that has lived long enough we’ll find that to be true. Like a person said, I repented I quit smoking and then start again. Well, obviously you didn’t repent and then said see you did repent you weren’t sincere if I didn’t repent when you came to Christ either you little smoker. Just wrap you up with that stuff. Now we come up with all this stuff, instantaneous deliverance, everybody’s trying to get delivered and everybody’s getting delivered and delivered and you got everything in a deliverance ministry. Folks I want to tell you something about that deliverance ministry. What in the world have you delivered from, a habit? I’ll tell you something, Christ isn’t looking on your habits. Looking on your heart. We have to understand something folks in his Christian life, like I say, gotten hung up on this stuff. He says, Bob, yeah, you’re doing this and this and this and this. But I have promised to complete the work that I began in you, and in my timing. And I am not interested in stopping this habit. I’m interested in renewing your mind. And the renewing of your mind will stop that habit.
Now folks, it’s like this. I remember when I was in California. We lived there. And they had what they called dichondra lawns as a type of grass. And I went out there one time, and I noticed my lawn was just full of weeds. And I said, I’m gonna go cleanse that lawn. And I got out there and I pulled weeds and I pulled weeds and I pulled weeds trying to get all the weeds out is nice dichondra lawn. Have you ever noticed about pulling weeds? What happens when you get once a little rough? will touch the pole? What do you do? Do what? Yeah, just Yeah, break the head off. Now isn’t that smart? Don’t you know where it’s going to be back next week, another clump, right? But you break it off and say hey, cleansed the lawn. That’s what we’re doing. We’re tearing the weeds off of things because the root of all sin is unbelief. That’s what this book of Hebrews is about. That’s what this whole deal is about, unbelief is the root of all sin. We’re out here confessing the fruit and forgetting the root. All we’re doing is ripping the heads off of things. And what God is interested in is getting to the root. And there’s a way to get to the root that is totally contrary to our thinking. And that’s not getting to the root. It’s in growing grass. And so I’d get out there and here I’d get this lawn all cleansed, walk in say boy, all the weeds are gone. Now what you didn’t notice they’re a bunch of heads down. They’re just been ripped off. And next week up they are again. So you go out and you pull some more next week. There they are again. I want to ask you a question. You ever gonna get to the point just pulling weeds where you don’t have any weeds? Uh-uh. You know what God says if if a lawn man would come along and say, Bob, I want to tell you something. If you keep pulling weeds for the rest of your life, you’re going to be on that lawn pulling weeds forever. Why don’t you let me teach how to grow grass? Why don’t you let me teach you how to grow healthy grass. Because if I can teach you and you’ll put that into practice and grow healthy grass, what you’re going to find out ain’t gonna be instantaneous, like you’re looking for. But in due time, over a period of years, that grass is going to get so healthy, that it’ll choke out the weeds. And so and so if if all you’re gonna concentrate on is pulling weeds, you’re gonna be pulling them for the rest of your life. But if you will concentrate on growing grass, you’ll find it’s gonna choke out the weeds. Is that true or not? Is that true in growing grass? Yes. Is it true in spiritual life? Absolutely. The same way that’s what it’s talking about. Walk in the Spirit, walk by faith. Enter into this Sabbath rest and you’re gonna find something happening to you. You will not be fulfilling the desires of the flesh you’re gonna see the desires of the flesh continually getting less and less and less not because you’ve tried but because the grass has choked it out. It’s like a kid sitting in a playpen with his teddy bear hanging on to that thing for dear life can’t get it away from me try to take that teddy bear away from him cry screams and yells. And we say man’s basically born good. Haven’t been around a baby. You know that’s amazing kids learn to lie before they even talk. Ever notice that? Yea before they can talk. Do something, did you do that? Don’t even know how to say no, no. They can lie before they even talk. And we say all these well good No, just They’re all man’s born basically good. No, we’re not born to the sin nature come out of that womb that way. And so this little kid’s hanging out of that teddy bear and you say, Well, how do you get that teddy bear way? So you come down and try to analyze why he’s hanging on the teddy bears. Trying to find out maybe his potty trained a little too early or something don’t know for sure. And why is he hanging on to teddy bears? And maybe it was because we had a dysfunctional family or something else. And maybe he’s hanging on to teddy bears. And you didn’t come up with all those reasons why he’s hanging out to teddy bears, but he’s still hanging on to the teddy bear.
Like a friend of mine said she went through all kinds of counseling and everything else. And after about three to four years and about 50,000 bucks found out why she hated her husband, why she hared her mom why she hated her dad. But she still hated her husband. Her mom and her dad still hate them, but knew why now, but that was worth 50 grand. And so you see, you can discover some whys and wherefores, but what’s the solution to it, there’s, that’s the key. You can sit down and analyze why weeds are growing? Well, because there’s stuff in the soil and because of this and this and still have weeds, but I know why I got em, it didn’t help much when you’re having to pull weeds all the time, does it. So the key to that kid with hanging on to the teddy bear is to get him something living. So say get him a puppy. And you put the puppy in there that’s alive and well and can lick you and then and talk to you and their way and all those kinds of things. And pretty soon, the little kid is so preoccupied with a puppy, and he could care less about the teddy bear. Just come and take it out of there and don’t even know it’s gone. It’s the it’s the preoccupation with the puppy that loses the interest in the other thing you were holding on to. And in each case, those are misplaced dependencies. And we all have them, don’t we, all of us have misplaced dependence, we have things that we’re holding on to because we think it’s doing something for us. And then the world says you shouldn’t be holding on to that. And of course, we’re always great on telling everybody what we shouldn’t be doing. And you as a Christian shouldn’t be doing that. And so well, I tried, I probably shouldn’t be doing that. So I’ll try to gut it out and stop doing that. So then we do the most intelligent thing we know to do. God. Please take this habit away from me. How many have ever prayed that one? How many have ever prayed that? Please take that habit away from me. Does it go? Well, if you’re praying God, please take out habit away from me, and after all, we’re told anything we ask God to answer. He doesn’t take it away. What’s the only conclusion that you can have? Faith wasn’t big enough. That’s one conclusion need to get some faith and send in 20 bucks, and I’ll help you with that. And what else would you have to conclude? God didn’t hear you maybe? And then of course, why didn’t you hear you? Why, unconfessed sin. So so so now I got another sin I got to work on now I know why I got this habit because of this sin over here. So now it said now I got another prayer. Lord, take care of both of these. It makes sense, doesn’t it? Ask God take away those things, doesn’t it? That makes sense to ask God? Yeah, the sins are there doesn’t make sense to ask God to take away these these sins that I got and everything else, please get rid of these habits, doesn’t that makes sense? You know, God says, I love you too much to answer that prayer. I take that sin away from you that you’re asking me to take away from me, what am I doing? I’m cleaning up your flesh. I didn’t come to clean up your flesh, Bob, I came to kill it. I love you too much to take that habit away. I’m gonna teach you how to grow grass. That’s gonna take a little longer. And all your Christian friends are probably going to get impatient with you and be judging you and while you’re still hanging on to it. But I want you to trust me because I’m interested in the long pole. I’m not all hung up on these nitpicking things that you’re hung up on. I’m interested in the long pole. And I’m going to teach you how to grow grass if you’ll let me and as that grass grows, it’ll choke out the very things that you’re wanting to get rid of. Folks, when you and I are calling on the Holy Spirit of God to clean up our flesh, which we’ve done for years and years and years. We are at Asking God to do something that he will not do.
Now Satan will clean up your flesh, Satan will help you clean up your flesh. Because if I can get this habit stopped and Satan can help me do that, what does that build in me? Pride and self confidence. I got rid of this habit. Now when you get rid of that habit, are all of them gone then have you noticed that how when you get rid of one just don’t have any more bad habits? Man, it’s like trying to hold 10 corks underwater, at the same time isn’t it. You get rid of those over there and up, these are clumping up, you’re grabbing here and you’re grabbing here and you’re trying to hold them down. There’s no end to this thing. It’s a bottomless pit in it. And so Satan will help you to get rid of your bad habits so that you can grow some some pride and have some self confidence in what I can do. Look what I did. Then another one pops up. We’ll have another one pops up and I have gotten rid of one and another one has popped up. Why then what do you automatically think there? What are you going to do with that one? Well, well, I got that one. I’ll get this one. And then you get that one. He helps you with that one too. And then you got another one. What are you going to spend the rest of your life doing? Trying to do what? Get rid of what? All of your bad habits isn’t that right. Now when I asked you a question, how much concentration are you going to have on him when you’re trying to get rid of your bad habit? Why none. And what does it say in the scripture that a mind that is on the flesh does what? Sows to the flesh and a mind that’s on the Spirit does what? Sows to the Spirit. So where is your preoccupation with your mind on getting rid of all your habits are on the Spirit of God? Where should it be? Spirit of God.
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Bob George 13:46
Now turn back with me for a moment to the 16th chapter of the book of John. Let’s begin in verse five. Jesus talking to his apostles who said now I’m going to Him who sent Me. And yet none of you asked me, Where are you going? Don’t know where we are chapter 16. Because I’ve said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth. It is good that I’m going away. Unless I do what’s he called? The counselor will not come to you. But if I go I will send him to you. Now, folks, this is what Jesus had said and communicated earlier that unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it abides what? Alone. Christ when he was here on this earth, that was God, in the flesh of Jesus of Nazareth. God was on this earth in the flesh of Jesus of Nazareth. In other words, he clothed himself, the deity of Christ clothed himself in our humanity, and walked on this earth as God clothed in our humanity, representing God and Man at the same time, better known as the God Man. Now Jesus, then therefore, if you are going to see God in action, you were going to have to find Jesus of Nazareth, because that was God in action, if you were going to look for the body of Christ, you would have had to go to Israel to find this man, Jesus of Nazareth, because that was the body of Christ, the body of God, represented here on the face of this earth. Now, he said, if I remain in that form, then I’m going to abide alone. And so for the good of you, and for the good of mankind, I am going away, but he says, when I do, I’m going to do something, I’m going to send the same spirit that raised me from the dead, in any man and woman, boy and girl on the face of this earth, who by faith, trust me, come to me by faith, and I then will send the Holy Spirit to go and live in them. And therefore God living in man will be all over the world, wherever a man is, with Christ living at. And that, incidentally, is what the scripture is talking about, when it says greater things will these will you do because of goto through the Father doesn’t mean that you and I are going out and going to be doing greater miracles than God or bigger things than him, it means that it’s going to whatever he’s doing is going to have the capability of doing it all over the world at the same time, which was not the fact when he was in his own body. So the greater things is not in I’m going to do more exciting things than Jesus did. But it’s the body of Christ that is all over the world, Christ is working all over the world. Any place there is a born again, believer Christ living in them, Christ is ministering to people in that area, whether it be Bangladesh, whether it be in Russia, whether it be in Poland, whether it be in China, Canada, America, Dallas, wherever it might be, wherever there’s a born again, Christian Christ is there living in them, and able to express himself through them. So that’s the greater things not, I’m going to do more miracles than Jesus that’s ludicrous for people walking around thinking that, but the fact that we have the capability with Christ living in us, and Christ living through us of being able to speak the truth to someone and see him come, come alive. It’s amazing to me.
It’s amazing to me, when I go into areas, there was this lady that came up from in New York and came up and introduced me your son, sweet looking young guy, probably about 18, 19 years of age, her daughter and her son in law. And she said, all of them came to Christ. They listened to radio. It just rejoice in the Lord. She said, I prayed and prayed and prayed for my kids all these years that one guy had been on drugs have been on everything, now they’re in Christ. Well, what in the world is that? Well, it’s Christ Jesus, who lives in you, using your mouth to speak into some stupid microphone that you don’t understand, going across airwaves all over the place and ended up in a radio someplace, and some by listening to those words coming out of a radio, and her heart responds and are born again, you talk about a miracle. You can’t beat that as a miracle. You’ll never see a bigger miracle than when you’re born again of the Spirit of God. You’ll never see a bigger miracle than to be dead as a hammer and raise from the dead. If you and I had the ability to go into a graveyard and raise people physically from the dead, you talk about a TV program? Boy, we would have one to go in and say, Hey, come forth, and out. They come from the great boy, you talk about getting on TV, raising money. That’d be a big one. We got something more important than that. We have the ability of allowing the Lord Jesus Christ who lives in us to speak through us and raise people from the dead spiritually. You realize that’s what’s going on every time someone comes to Lord, they’ve been raised from the dead. We are all born into this world, dead spiritually. And what spiritual birth is is raised from the dead. And you and I Have that unbelievable privilege every day of our lives of walking around on the face of this earth in our own bodies, allowing Christ Jesus who lives in us to live through us, speaking the words of truth to people and seeing people respond to being raised from the dead, we don’t think anything of that just kind of ho hum. Because we’re so preoccupied with the physical that we don’t see the importance of the spiritual. What we need is some spiritual plastic surgery. We got a lot of implants taken place physically. And we need a transplant of the Lord Jesus Christ coming to live in us and a realize he lives in us spiritually. And we have the capabilities of being involved every day of our lives and eternal things, not temporal things eternal.
Glen, is a medical doctor, the best that you can do for someone is to help them physically temporarily, that’s as good as it’s gonna get. But anyone that you’re treating is going to be dead as can be one of these days, including you and me. So the best that you could do in one of the most well respected professions in the world, the best that we can do is to help someone temporarily, physically, temporarily, that’s the best we can do. But boy to have that combination, and not only being able to help someone physically, but to be able to be involved in eternal things. That’s got some meaning to it. To realize that is born again Christians who grew up for the living Christ, we have the ability to present some truth that will have eternal consequences. That’s mind boggling to how God would enable you and me to be mindful of us is enough, but to give us this unbelievable privilege of being endwelt by him and being used by him, to communicate truth to people, and to see eternal things occur as a result of that is mind boggling.
Now, that’s what he’s talking about, I’m gonna send the Holy Spirit to it unless I die. I’m not I can’t send the Spirit to you. Unless I die a New Covenant cannot go into effect a New Covenant whereby it says, I will put my laws in their hearts and other words, my Spirit will be in their hearts, and their sins and lawless acts, I will remember no more and where these have been forgiven, there’s no longer any sacrifice for sins. So he had to die, or he would have been abiding alone. But he said, When I die, just like a seed dies. And until it dies, it abides alone. But when it dies, it bears much fruit, a seed of corn planted into the ground dies, doesn’t grow one ear of corn, it grows many years of corn. That’s what bearing fruit is all about. And so Christ Jesus died, so that we might live raised from the dead. So that spirit that raised Him from the dead, put in you and may until he’s all over, he’s an each one of you. And when you leave here and go into the highways and byways of life, Christ is in you, he’s every place in his body. And that’s what he said, I will come to you, unless I go away, the counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. So he’s going to send the Holy Spirit and he did to us. When he comes, he’s gonna tell you what the Holy Spirit’s gonna do. This is the counselor folks. This is the counselor. We’re not counselors. He’s the counselor. We call ourselves counselors. We’re not counselors. You if we do we’re doing a poor job on ourselves. Do you realize I can’t even counsel myself? What are we then? Well, when Amy said we’re sheep dogs hurting the people back to the shepherd. That’s all any of us are as Christian I don’t care what little label you want to put on yourself. No big deal is anyway in the body of Christ. There’s no big anointed guys walking around. Just people indwelt by who? By God. And so of Christ Jesus is alive living each in each and every one of us. We draw upon the one who is the Counselor, the Holy Spirit of God living in us to do the counseling for what in our own hearts? Yeah. Now he said when the Holy Spirit comes, he’s going to convict the world of guilt in regard to sin. In other words, you’re guilty in regard to your misconception what sin is about and righteousness, what you’re guilty about what you’re misconception about what righteousness righteousness is about and judgment in regard to sin, because in righteousness and judgment in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me, that’s the world’s sin. The Holy Spirit of God is coming to point out to man what the world’s sin is unbelief. What do we camp on sin? Where do we where do we live in regard to this sin issue? What do we think sin is? Well, the filthy and the Dirty Dozen, don’t we? Terrible 10. We’re always looking at sin is what we do. Jesus said, The world’s sin is unbelief in me. That’s the world sin. Will there be anybody folks that will ever go to hell because of their sins? Plural? Anybody? How come? Where are all of your sins the whole world sins? Well, they were at the cross. And how many of those sins did he die for? All of them. So what is the world sin? You see, sin, singular, did not need forgiven, because sin is unbelief. You don’t forgive an unbeliever, then you end up with what? A forgiven, unbeliever. Sins had to be forgiven. But the sin of unbelief has to be corrected. That’s what repentance is changing your mind. From an unbeliever to a believer. Now, were you born into this world as a believer or an unbeliever? Well, an unbeliever. No one came into this world believing in God or Jesus or anything else. Oh, we had a you can see. I mean, there’s an awareness that there’s a God but we didn’t enter into this world as a believer.
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