In this compelling episode, Bob George takes us on a profound exploration of Jesus’ teachings concerning the pitfalls of hypocrisy and legalism. Drawing from examples in scripture, Bob highlights the importance of practicing genuine faith rather than adhering to superficial religious rituals. With passionate clarity, Bob echoes Jesus’ call to depend not on human interpretation but on the Holy Spirit for true understanding.
00:00:12 Introduction to Classic Christianity Radio
00:28:02 Conclusion – Living a Christ-centered Life
SPEAKER 03 :
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 :
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, The teacher of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat, so you must obey them and do everything they tell you. People are still doing the same thing today. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Don’t offer no help, just criticize. Everything they do is done for men to see. They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long. They love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues. They love to be greeted in a marketplace and to have men call them rabbi, teacher. But you are not to be called rabbi. For you only have one master and you’re all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth father. for you have only one Father and He’s in heaven. Do we have religious organizations calling people Father? He said, in the Bible, don’t do that. You only have one. You only have one teacher, the Christ. Now, folks, you’re sitting here in this group listening to a teacher. Hopefully, that God called into that position. But as we’ve said before, Who is your ultimate teacher? The Holy Spirit of God. And unless you’re depending on the Holy Spirit of God to reveal the meaning of the Word of God, you are not going to be taught. I don’t care who’s teaching you. I can teach you what the Bible says. I can teach you what God has revealed to me what it means. But for you to know what it means, you’re going to have to take that by faith and you’re going to have to depend totally upon the Holy Spirit of God to reveal the meaning of that to you. Because eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor mind has conceived of those things that God has prepared for those who love Him. But it must be what? Revealed by the Spirit of God. And so your dependency for understanding the meaning of the word of God can never be on a man. It has to be on the Holy Spirit of God. So he says to them that the greatest or you’re to be called teacher. You have only one teacher and that is the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Folks, until you learn to serve, you’ll never learn to lead. There are many people out trying to be leaders who have never, ever, ever accepted the role of being a servant. The Lord Jesus Christ himself… As Amy was talking the other day, just kind of opened up something to me that I had not really thought through that deeply, but the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was on this earth serving His Father. That’s what He was there for. A servant is there to do what your master tells them to do. Now, although he was God, remember, he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but he humbled himself and became obedient. He said, I do nothing unless the Father tells me to do it. I say nothing unless the Father tells me to say it and how to say it. And incidentally, as the Father sent me, so send I you. We are not to sit around doing, wondering what Jesus would do. That’s a big movement. What would Jesus do? Well, he raised the dead. What would he do in regard to his wife? He didn’t have one. What did he do in regard to a husband? He didn’t have one. What did he do in regard to kids? He didn’t have any. So if you’re trying to emulate what did he do, you’re in a wrong realm. What Jesus did was to live in dependency upon his father and did what the father told him to do. That’s what you emulate. Not what he did, but his dependency on the Father to do what the Father told him to do. In case you haven’t noticed, he hasn’t told any of you to raise the dead recently. He told Jesus to raise the dead. He told Jesus to heal the sick. Now, if he told you that, go at it. But don’t try to emulate Jesus because that is not the Christian life, is emulating being a parrot or a monkey. It is living in dependency upon what God is telling you to do. You are spatial. You’ve got your own DNA. You’ve got your own fingerprints. You’re not a mob. You’re an individual. And God in his uniqueness living in you is saying, I’m going to tell you, fellow, what to do. Not him. I’ll tell him what to do. I’m going to tell you what to do. And you follow me. He doesn’t send everyone into the ministry. He doesn’t send everyone into this realm or that realm or this realm. It’d be boring. We’re unique. And he says, quit trying to be like a monkey following each other or like those dumb pigs and sheep that just go over the end of the cliff if the leader goes over. You’re unique. If he called you to do something, go do it. Do it with joy and vigor. He’s saying, therefore, whoever humbles himself will be humble, will be exalted. In other words, when you’re living in dependency upon Christ, you’re going to be exalted in Christ. Verse 13, woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You travel over the land and sea to win a single convert. And then when he becomes one of you, we make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. Now, wouldn’t this teaching be great in a positive thinking clinic? You know what this is, folks? This isn’t positive thinking. It isn’t negative thinking. It’s truth. Travel over land and sea to win a single convert and then make him into a son of hell just like ourselves. Trap him into our own trap. Woe to you blind guides. You say if anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing. But if anyone swears by the gold in the temple, he’s bound by his oath. You blind fools. Now this is Jesus talking. Sweet, loving… Jesus you blind fools which is greater the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred you also say if anyone swears by the altar it means nothing but if anyone swears by the gift he’s bound by the oath you blind men which is greater the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred therefore he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it and he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits in it. Folks, the harshest words that Jesus ever spoke was to the self-righteous. Do we understand that? To the woman caught in adultery, neither do I condemn you. Get up and sin no more. To the self-righteous, you’re a bunch of whitewashed sepulchers. You see, folks, we’ve learned to tolerate legalism. We support it. We build huge buildings to it. And we glorify men who teach it. But not Paul. And not Jesus. He said, you’re the most damaging people on the face of the earth. And he treated them accordingly. The only harsh words that you ever heard come out of the mouth of Jesus was to the self-righteous hypocrite. And so he says, woe to you, the fourth woe. Verse 23, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You give a tenth of your spices, mint, dill, and cumin, but you’ve neglected the more important matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former. You blind guides, you strain out a gnat, but you swallow a camel. This is harsh stuff, isn’t it, folks? He’s saying to them, oh, yeah, you tithe your stuff, your food stuff. When it comes down to your mom and dad needing something, you won’t give them any. I’m going to give all your money over here. See somebody in need, forget them. I’m on my way to the church to tithe. Now, because Jesus had not ushered in the new covenant yet, whereby the law had not been canceled yet because it hadn’t been totally fulfilled yet, He was able to say, yeah, because we are under the old covenant, you should have tithed, you should have fulfilled. That’s an obligation of the law, but not at the neglect of helping those in need. Now, you’ll have people who will still want to teach that tithing because Jesus said that. Well, you talk about straining at the net. Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You clean out the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee. First clean the inside of the cup and dish and then the outside will also be clean. How many of us have invested our money in the outside instead of the inside? How many of us are more interested in what we look like than what we are? How many of us would rather take our time, treasure, and talent and invest it in things instead of the eternal things that are going to enable people to spend eternity with Jesus instead of eternity away from him. To set our priorities in life that there’s not one thing any more important that you and I can do than letting people know about the relationship that they can have with Jesus. That’s an eternal thing, folks. Everything else is temporary. You can get the best education in the world, temporary. Make all the money in the world, temporary. Have the biggest house in the world. Temporary. But the house you’re going to live in eternally is eternal. And if we have love, then our priorities in life should be, number one, first of all, to give of ourselves to God, and second, to see that this message goes out to a lost and hurting world. Everything else should be secondary to that. Clean up the inside and then the outside will also be clean. The sixth woe, verse 27. Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You’re like whitewashed tombs. You look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside you’re full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way on the outside you appear to people as righteous, but on the inside you’re full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Real complimentary stuff. Number seven, woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, if we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken a part with them in the shedding of blood of the prophets. Talking to the very people that are going to shed his blood. So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Verse 2. Verse 3. Some of them you will kill and crucify. Others you will flog in the synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on the earth from the blood of the righteous, able to the blood of Zechariah the son of Bechara, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, all of this will come upon this generation. Jerusalem, O Jerusalem. You see, in the midst of the unbelievable chastisement of Jesus… is this unbelievable tenderness underneath the skin showing why I’m saying what I’m saying. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. I would have liked to have gathered you like chicks under their wings, but you weren’t willing. So you’ve got this two-fold thing of the Lord. You’ve got him telling truth, and truth hurts. But then he’s explaining, my heart aches for you. You heard somewhat the same thing, did we not, for the Apostle Paul said, I would give up my own salvation for my own people of Israel if they would just listen. And folks, this is not exclusive just to Israel. It’s exclusive to every hard heart that’s on the face of the earth that rejects the truth of Christ. People know themselves that they’re empty inside. They know that. They know they’ve never found what they’ve been looking for. They know that they’re not complete people. And the offer of Christ is made to them over and over again. The hardness of people’s heart is still in existence today, causing their resistance to the offer of love from the Lord Jesus Christ.
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 :
Now to the Apostle Paul saying to the self-righteous Jew is no different than what the Lord Jesus Christ said said to the same groups of peoples, you see, folks, we’ve learned to tolerate legalism. We support it. We build huge buildings to it. And we glorify men who teach it. But not Paul. And not Jesus. He said, you’re the most damaging people on the face of the earth. And he treated them accordingly. The only harsh words that you ever heard come out of the mouth of Jesus was to the self-righteous hypocrite. And so he says, woe to you, the fourth woe. Verse 23, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You give a tenth of your spices, mint, dill, and cumin, but you’ve neglected the more important matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former. You blind guides, you strain out a nap, but you swallow a camel. This is harsh stuff, isn’t it, folks? He’s saying to them, oh, yeah, you tithe your stuff, your food stuff. When it comes down to your mom and dad needing something, you won’t give them any. I’m going to give all your money over here. See somebody in need, forget them. I’m on my way to the church to tithe. Now, because Jesus had not ushered in the new covenant yet, whereby the law had not been canceled yet because it hadn’t been totally fulfilled yet. He was able to say, yeah, because we are under the old covenant, you should have tithed, you should have fulfilled. That’s an obligation of the law, but not at the neglect of helping those in need. Now, you’ll have people who will still want to teach that tithing because Jesus said that. Well, you talk about straining at the gnat. Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean out the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will also be clean. How many of us have invested our money in the outside instead of the inside? How many of us are more interested in what we look like than what we are? How many of us would rather take our time, treasure, and talent and invest it in things instead of the eternal things that are going to enable people to spend eternity with Jesus instead of eternity away from him? To set our priorities in life that there’s not one thing any more important that you and I can do than letting people know about the relationship that they can have with Jesus. That’s an eternal thing, folks. Everything else is temporary. You can get the best education in the world, temporary. Make all the money in the world, temporary. Have the biggest house in the world, temporary. But the house you’re going to live in eternally is eternal. And if we have love, then our priorities in life should be, number one, first of all, to give of ourselves to God, and second, to see that this message goes out to a lost and hurting world. Everything else should be secondary to that. Clean up the inside and then the outside will also be clean. The sixth woe, verse 27, Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You’re like whitewashed tombs. You look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside you’re full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way on the outside you appear to people as righteous, but on the inside you’re full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Real complimentary stuff. Number seven. Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, if we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken a part with them in the shedding of blood of the prophets. Talking to the very people that are going to shed his blood. So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up then the measure of the sin of your forefathers. You snakes, you brood of vipers. How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify. Others you will flog in the synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on the earth from the blood of the righteous, able to the blood of Zechariah the son of Bechara, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, all of this will come upon this generation. Jerusalem, O Jerusalem. You who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you. How often I’ve longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Now let’s go back to the book of Romans. Verse 3, when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you’ll escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance, patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance? But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God will give to each person according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek, and folks, I would recommend that you put, for clarification, in your Bible here, put His in front of glory because you’re not seeking your own, and we’ll explain that in a moment. So those who are seeking His glory, His honor, and His immortality, He will give eternal life. But for those who self-seek, so you see that is the very opposite of what He’s saying here. Those who self-seek And who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. But glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, first for the Jew and then for the Gentile, for God does not show favoritism. Now, folks, there again is where many interpretations can come about. You say, see there, if you do good, you’re going to have eternal life. If you do bad, you’re not going to have eternal life. What is good? What did Jesus say was the one sin of the world? Unbelief in Jesus. What is doing good? This is what this whole book, Quit Holding Back, Truth, Accept Truth, Recognize It’s All Jesus and None of Us. Now, is there a byproduct to that? Folks, if you are a branch and you see fruit coming out of it, how come that happened? Could you say to the branch, you’re doing good for producing fruit? No, because you’re not producing it. Could you even say you’re doing good by bearing fruit? No, you’re doing good by abiding in the vine who alone can produce the fruit. Because if you weren’t abiding, nothing would be coming out of you. So you’re not getting praise for what you’re doing. You’re getting praise for who you’re abiding in. And so when he’s talking here about all of us who are doing good or doing bad, he’s dealing with what are you doing with my son Jesus. So to those who reject Jesus, they’re going to remain dead and in hell. That’s your destiny. to those who accept Jesus, are going to be with Him forever. You’re indwelt by Him now. He said, I’ll never leave you nor forsake you. Your destiny is totally assured. When you die, you’re going to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. God does not show favoritism. I didn’t develop one plan for the Jew and another plan for the Gentile. I neutralized all of you so that everyone will be saved in the same way. And that’s by faith in him and in him alone. Now, folks, let’s go down to verse 12. All who sin apart from the law. Now, who is that? That’s the Gentiles. So do you have any doubt from a biblical standpoint that God never gave the law to the Gentiles? How could you sin apart from the law if you had the law? So did he ever give the law to the Gentiles? Then how did we get it? What are we teaching every Sunday? Something that he never gave to us. He gave the law to the Jew. Now he’s saying to us as Gentiles, you who sin apart from the law will perish apart from the law. What is the wages of sin? Death. You’re going to perish whether you’re under the law or you’re not under the law. Because the wages of sin is death. Now that neutralizes all you Gentiles. For it’s not, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. Who’s under the law? The Jews, how are they going to be judged? By the law. What’s the verdict? Guilty. What’s the punishment? Death. Now, has he neutralized us all? Those under the law? You can’t do it? Dead? To the Gentile that doesn’t have the law, you’re dead. Now, everyone then comes into this world in what condition? Dead. And if you’re dead, what do you need? Life. Life. Oh, well, good. Let’s go to Buddha. Let’s go to Muhammad. Where’s Muhammad? Dead. Where’s Jesus? Raised from the dead. Well, just go be a Catholic. Dead. Go be a Baptist. Dead. You see, folks, no one can come alive through anything man-made. If you’re dead and you’re going to come alive, something from out there is going to have to enter in here. Because there’s nothing in dead that can produce life. And so he neutralized the whole world. So those who sin apart from the law, the Gentiles, dead. And those who sin under the law, the Jew, dead. For it’s not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.” Okay, what do we say about that? Now, you’ll get some people to look at that and say, see there? If you obey the law, you’ll be declared righteous. What’s the scripture say? No man will ever be declared righteous in the sight of God through what? Obedience to the law. So, what is he saying here? It’s not those who hear the law who are righteous, but those who obey the law will be declared righteous. Did anyone ever obey the law? Who’s the only one who ever obeyed the law? Jesus. Who’s the only one ever declared righteous? Jesus. And the righteousness that you and I have does not come from us. It comes from where?
SPEAKER 03 :
Him. Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another, and praise the Lord. Amen.
