In this episode, we delve into the profound difference between focusing on ministry and emphasizing the foundational message of Christianity: Christ’s unwavering grace and truth. Join us as we explore how activities can cloud the essence of the gospel and how Jesus Christ is central to real transformation. Listen as we challenge the common substitutions many make for the true message, addressing why the law and human efforts fall short in delivering the freedom and change only Jesus can provide.
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.
SPEAKER 01 :
There’s a world of difference, guys, in concentrating on a ministry and concentrating on a message. So many times when you’re in ministry, that’s what you talk about. Or when you’re in church as a ministry, and that’s all you talk about. But the issue is that what good is a church? What good is a ministry? If you don’t have a message, it changes lives. And the issue is that what we have done is substitute everything for the message. And so it’s no longer the message that is important to people. It’s the ministry. It’s the church. But not the message. And I see that. I see that throughout the world. I see that in our own city, in our own country. where people have totally lost the meaning of a message. What good does it do for you to come and sit here on Sunday morning or to sit in any church on Sunday morning or to listen on the Internet on a Sunday morning or whatever day you’re doing so and hear that you’re under the law? What good is that going to do you except to bury you? What good does it do to come in and hear a commingling of law and grace? Are we going to have a little law, a little tithing testimony, and we’re going to have a little grace testimony? Where God says that people who do that are foolish, foolish, idiotic, moronic Galatians. Who has hypnotized you? Who’s made a fool out of you? I want to ask you a question. Did you receive the Spirit of God by receiving the message of grace or by, in other words, believing what you heard or by obedience to the law? Which is it? And we all know what it is. Well, he said, after starting in the Spirit, why are you now trying to perfect yourself by human effort? What good does it do you and me to say, I’ve been to church and I heard human effort? And I heard, pull yourself up by your bootstraps. And I’ve heard a message that is not true. What good is it going to do you? These young people sitting in this auditorium today and in the sound of our voice, wherever it might be, one of these days, they’re not going to be young people. One of these days, you’re going to get out of high school and And you’re either going to go to work or you’re going to go to school. And I want to tell you that when you go and you leave home and you leave the security of your family and of the family influence and you go to college, you are on your own and you’re around a whole lot of people who do not know the Lord. And I want to tell you something. Your activities and your youth programs, that many times we are so dumb that we think, I’m going to get my kids in a youth program so that they can have fun and games. When you go to college on your own, those things are left behind. And you are on your own. When you’re Bob Davis, looking at your wife that is dying in front of your eyes, I want to tell you something, folks. You’re on your own, unless you have Jesus. And then it’s you and Jesus that are going to deal with that situation. When you’re Paula Bearden, and you’ve lost your young, vivacious husband at an early age, you and Jesus are on your own. And all of the programs of the world… aren’t going to help you one iota when you’re hitting the crunches of life. And yet you see people who have heard and understand who I don’t think ever hear or I know they never understand the importance of a message that will change your life. Christ Jesus is the only one who can change your life. You can’t even change your own life, can you? How many of you have tried to change your own life? And how successful have we been? You cannot change your life. Your programs can’t change your life. Oh, it’s okay. It’s fun. Our kids went to First Baptist when we came to Dallas and there was activity and there was fun and games and all of that kind of stuff. But what good did it do you when you went to college? You’re down there by yourself and all of a sudden you see the phoniness set in. And you see kids getting dressed up on Sunday in their suits to go to the cafeteria so that everybody will think you’ve been to church. Don’t think that doesn’t happen. That was prevalent. That was the norm, not the exception. Why? Because it isn’t real. Fun and games don’t change your life. Activities don’t change your life. They keep you busy so you never have to face what’s really going on inside. But it isn’t going to change your life. There’s only one thing that will change your life, and that’s Christ and His message of grace. If Titus says it’s the grace of God that teaches us to say no to unrighteousness, why are we trying to use activities to get kids to say no to unrighteousness? Why are we trying to get big things? Why do we have these mega churches with all these activities? What are they there for, guys? If the message isn’t there. If the message isn’t there. What are they there for? Entertain people? How long are you going to be entertained if you’re a kid? Now, it’s okay for us adults. We’re going to stay there. But the kids that we’re so interested in, that’s why we send them. We send them there for the activities. What would happen to them when they go to college? And they get involved in homosexuality and alcoholism and everything else that goes on in colleges that absolutely, when you get into that college atmosphere, I want to tell you, you’re into a pig’s pen. And professors who don’t have a brain in their head teaching you stuff that is so contrary to Scripture. And if you’re not grounded in truth, you’re going to be sucked in by the air. So what good is it going to do if we don’t know truth? Jesus didn’t say, I am the way and the activities. He said, I’m the way and the truth. It says Jesus is full of grace and activities. Is he full of grace and what? Truth. You come to Christ to get truth. And what does it say truth does? Set you free. And if truth sets you free, what is it that keeps you in bondage? Error. How are you going to know what truth is if someone isn’t teaching you truth? Error. How are you going to know? And so we function in error, don’t we? Jesus said, I’m the truth. He came to this earth to show us what truth is. Now, God had a plan. He had a plan for man from the day that Adam fell. To redeem man and to redeem him and to bring him back to where he was before the fall of man. In the meantime, he went to the Jews. And he went to the Jews who ultimately were captured, were they not, in Egypt. And they were about a million one hundred thousand of them that were captured there. And then through the ministry of Moses teaching truth to Pharaoh. And guys, we learned a lesson there. It says in there that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh. And you say, oh really? Well, how did he do that? With the same message that he melted the heart of Moses. The same sun that hardens clay melts wax. It’s the message that either softens or hardens. When you hear a message… It’s either going to soften your heart because the message is true. It’s talking about me. If I’m sitting there and I’m having a problem, a sin problem, and a message is talking about that sin problem, it’s talking about me. I’m either going to be melted by that message or I’m going to be hardened by it. Who is that guy up there think he is talking about me? Or your heart’s going to be softened. Your heart’s going to be humbled. You’re going to be saying, that’s me. That’s where I am. And God, I don’t want to be there. I don’t want to stay there. I want you to come and change my heart. I want you to teach me truth that sets me free. So pride hardens you. And humility softens you. Is that right or wrong, guys? But it’s the message that’s going to do it. If you never hear the message, your heart never gets hardened by it. Neither does it ever get melted by it. And if you start fluffing the message, if you start saying the message today, but I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings because our feelings are so touchy. And we live today with touchy feelings. And we’re afraid to even make a comment about somebody. I mean, if someone wants to call me a Goya, that’s okay with me. Why are we so touchy? And so we’ve watered down the truth of the message of God. And folks, you can’t water down the message of truth. God didn’t say here’s a message, but water it down to make it acceptable. I want to tell you something, folks. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God is not politically correct. You’re not going to be sitting there and saying, well, that’s going to offend somebody. Well, I hope so. Because if it doesn’t offend them, how are they ever going to come to Christ? If truth doesn’t offend you, you’re never going to come to Christ. That was the purpose of the law. He had to introduce the law to offend people. If I’m committing adultery and he says, thou shall not commit adultery, that’s offensive. Why? Because I want to commit adultery. And that’s offensive. Or it becomes convicting. One of the two. It’s either going to be offensive or convicting, isn’t it? So the purpose of the law, and Paul answers that before we even got a chance to ask it, was what was the purpose of the law? And he tells us it was added because of our sins until. So guys, when you have an until, you have a before and an after, don’t you? Yeah. You have something that happened until something else happened. You were single until you got married. I was a teenager until I became 20. There’s a contrast between before and after when there’s an until. And so it says that the law was added for a purpose. The purpose of the law was to show me my sins and my transgressions. That’s why the law is in effect today. That’s why these liberals who do not want the Ten Commandments posted any place. They say, I don’t want it on public property. They don’t want it any place. Because if they wanted it in any place, they wouldn’t have any problem with it being posted in a courthouse. Which is where, incidentally, all laws came from, those ten. Every law that we have on the books today came from those ten. So if any place it ought to be, it ought to be in a courthouse. That’s where the laws came from. But you see, that’s offensive. But they need to be there.
SPEAKER 03 :
Classic Christianity Radio thanks you for your support of our online and radio ministry. Make sure to visit bobgeorge.net to order a copy of the Closer Look Bible Study Series. A Closer Look Bible Studies features eight in-depth study guides that detail hundreds of Bible verses to help you deepen your understanding of the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. A Closer Look Bible Study Guides are an excellent tool for both individuals and larger Bible study groups. Please visit bobgeorge.net to order your copy of A Closer Look Bible Studies, as well as many other wonderful books, CDs, and study guides. With your support, we can continue to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Let’s continue now with our Classic Christianity radio program.
SPEAKER 01 :
The Ten Commandments need to be in schools. For who? Lost people. That’s the purpose of the law. How many people are lost? We all are lost until we’re saved. Until. You’re lost until you’re saved. So until you’re saved, you’re lost, and the law is pertinent to you. That’s the reason it was given. It was given to disturb the soul. It was given for the purpose of saying these are God’s standards for you to live without annihilating yourself. And so it was added, it says, until the seed. Now, who’s the seed? That is Jesus. So let’s just translate it. It was added until Jesus, to whom the promise referred, had come. Now, this was true in regard to the chronology of the law being added in a point in time in history and then Jesus coming in a point in time in history. But it is also applicable to you and me today. Because the law was added because of my sins until Jesus has been revealed to you and me. And when the law has shown us who we are and what we are, who we are is a sinner, what we are is dead. Dead. So the law had two things it had to show to humanity. First of all, you’re a sinner. And secondly, there’s a consequence to sin called death. And you are born dead spiritually. Well, you see, you can’t see spiritual death. You can see spiritual life when you look at a dead person. If you’re alive, you can see death. But you can’t see spiritual death. But spiritual death has manifestations, doesn’t it? In other words, you can’t look at it, but you can see, like the wind, don’t know where it came from, don’t know where it’s going, but you can see the results of it. And so the results of spiritual death are basically some of them, not all of them, but just the basics are what’s contained in the Ten Commandments. That to honor your God with all your heart and soul. What’s a dead man? He doesn’t have any appreciation for God. It’s just a name. That’s what was me for 36 years of my life. Just a name. God, who is he? I don’t know, but I believe in him. Who’s Jesus, son of God? What’s that mean? I don’t know. Maybe God had a baby. I don’t have a clue. Didn’t care. Wasn’t interested in digging in to try to find out. Yeah, it’s there, so let’s leave it alone. Abe Lincoln died in the Ford Theater. I believe that. Let’s move on. Get on with life. That’s the way we are. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. All of these things are for the benefit of society and for as much as we are society to say, if you’re doing these things, it’s evident that something’s wrong. It’s evidence of spiritual death. So I can’t see death, spiritual death, but I can see the evidence of it. And so he gave us this law until, until Jesus came. The scripture declares that the entire world is held a prisoner of sin. Now, guys, when you are a prisoner, you’re behind bars, aren’t you? In other words, you’re locked up until you get out. And so it says when you and I are born into this world, we are locked up. We’re in prison. We’re behind bars, whether we know it or not, spiritually. Right. So you can’t look at that physically because I’m not behind bars physically. But spiritually, it gives this illustration that you could relate to physically. And that is you’re locked up. You’re like behind bars. Now the scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner. The whole world is locked up. How come? So that what was promised… being given through faith in Christ Jesus. In other words, so that the promise to release you from that jail might be fulfilled through Christ Jesus to those who believe in him. So there’s your way to get out of jail. Now, before this faith came, guys, so when you have a before and after or an until, you’ve got a before and an after. So until or before this faith came, When Jesus came to this earth and in your life when you came to Jesus, before the day came when you came to Jesus. Now, guys, that means that there is a day in the point in time in history when you make a decision whether you’re going to come to Jesus or not. No one is born a Christian. Now, how does Satan mess that one up? I’ll tell you how he messes it up. to inoculate people with just enough of the germ that they never catch the real disease. How do you do that? Make you religious. I go to church. You ask people, do you know the Lord? Oh, yeah, I go to church. No, I didn’t ask you if you went to church. I asked you, do you know Jesus? Well, yeah, I know about him. If you had asked me prior to July of 19, whenever it was, so long ago I can’t remember, 1969, do you know Jesus? Well, yeah, I know about him. Do I know him? What do you mean do I know him? What do you mean do you know him? How do you know somebody that lived 2,000 years ago? That would have been my reply. You see, folks, we inoculate people with religion. I’d rather deal with a person that didn’t know anything about religion than a person who grew up with a bunch of religion. And all you know about your religion, but you don’t know anything about Jesus. I’d rather have a heathen like me who didn’t know anything. When I came to Christ and opened the Bible, it cracked. It had never been opened. Had no clue what was in it. Made fools out of myself trying to talk to people personally. about maybe a subject, a religious subject that I didn’t have a clue what it was about. I knew nothing about it. I’d sat in church for 36 years of my life, but I’d never heard the gospel. I knew nothing about Jesus. I knew a lot about religion. So what does religion do? It inoculates you. It gives you enough information to make you think you’re okay when the fact of the matter is you’re not okay. What are you plugged into? I know some people who are religiously plugged in to spiritual experiences. They’re not plugged into Jesus. They’re plugged into spiritual experiences. I will go to church and get a spiritual experience. You ever know people like that? I will go get a spiritual experience. Do you want Jesus? Forget him. I want a spiritual experience. I want to feel good. I want my emotions to get tickled. I want to sing praise songs and I want to go through the emotion of things. I want to get excited. I saw a whole bunch of people excited. We went to a concert the other night. What is it, El Divo? Is that the name of it, El Divo? Have you ever heard of those guys? Four tenors. Have you heard of those? Beautiful singers. You know what? I had to say, for some reason, if I was to judge women by going to that concert, I’d think you were all absolutely stark raving crazy. I’ve never seen so much idiotic stuff going on in my life. Grown women, hee, voting, groaning, up there pointing, come to me, come to me. I thought, are these women crazy? You couldn’t even hear them singing for the screaming. It sounded like a Sinatra contest. They’re just screaming, but they’re having an emotional experience. It wasn’t spiritual, but it was an emotional experience, I’ll guarantee you. And we do the same thing in church. Give me an emotional experience. What are they plugged into? Emotional experience. It’s a religious one. It’s not El Devo or not somebody like that. It’s in a church setting, but it’s an emotional experience. You’re plugged into it. Some people are plugged into just Bible reading. Don’t know the Lord from a spook, but I study the Bible. Plugged into that. You can get plugged into a lot of things, but folks, in that lineup of plugs, there’s one plug there that’s called Jesus. And if you’re not plugged into him, you’re not plugged into anything that counts. Because those emotional experiences are going to go by the wayside when your guts are hanging out. Aren’t they? And all of this other stuff, this activity, I’m plugged into activity. But it’s church activity. It’s religious activity. I’m plugged into there. It ain’t going to help you a bit when your guts are hanging out or your wife has left you or your husband has left you or abused you. It ain’t going to help a bit. You know what is going to help? Jesus. Jesus. It’s not what is going to help. It’s who is going to help. And his name is Jesus. And so, folks, until this Jesus is revealed to you, you’re locked up until that faith should be revealed. So it says that the law was put in charge for the purpose of leading you to Christ. There is a purpose for everything that God does. He saved you and me so that we won’t be locked up by the law. He saved us because if you’re under the law, you cannot separate the law from the punishment of the law. Are we together? I had a lady yesterday at the conference saying, well, now we’re Christian, but aren’t we supposed to obey the law? I said, lady, didn’t you just hear what I said? No one can obey the law. How do you think you’re going to improve on the apostle Paul? Who said the things I want to do, which is obey the law, I can’t do. And the things I can’t do, I do them anyway. How do you think you’re going to improve on him? You’ve got to die to the law. The law kills you. If you’re under the law, you cannot put the punishment of the law over here and the law over here. They go together. You can’t separate the law from the wages of sin. Under the law is what? Death. You can’t separate it. If you’re under the law, you’re dead spiritually. Locked up until faith can be revealed. Are we together?
SPEAKER 03 :
Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another, and praise the Lord. Amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
Put Jesus first in your life and turn your life around.
