In this enlightening episode, we dig deep into the teachings of the fourth chapter of 1 Corinthians, reflecting on the dangers of following men instead of Christ. Our exploration reveals how easily we can become ensnared by the charisma of leaders when we stray from the uncomplicated truth of the gospel. We’ll discover the significance of maintaining faith in the foundational truths taught by Jesus, which transcends the need for rituals and man-made doctrines.
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 03 :
Let’s turn to the fourth chapter of the book of 1 Corinthians. Fourth chapter, the book of 1 Corinthians. He’s talking here about being man followers. And in the chapters preceding this, he dealt with that in two different occasions. And how that we have such a tendency to be followers of men. Some follow Apollos, some follow Paul, some follow Peter. And he’s saying this should not be is Christ divided. And Christ is not divided. There’s one message. And that’s why he tells us in this passage that we’re about to read. And we’ll get to that in a moment. But down in the sixth verse, he says, don’t go beyond what is written. Now, why? Well, because if you go beyond what is written, that’s who you’re going to follow. If Apollos goes beyond what’s going to be written, we become followers of Apollos. Because otherwise, if the same gospel and the same truth is being taught, what’s the motivation for being a man follower? I might like one guy’s presentation a little better than the other, or I might like someone’s personality a little better than the other. But you don’t become stringent in your following of man unless he’s got something different. He’s added to the gospel. Why do Church of Christ people believe in baptism? Well, because that’s what they believe. So what do they follow? The people who teach that you’re saved by baptism. The Bible doesn’t teach that you’re saved by baptism. No. The Bible teaches that you’re saved by faith in Jesus. Not by anything you do, but by everything he did. And it spells it out in clear terms. This is the gospel that saves. Death of Jesus, burial of Jesus, and resurrection of Jesus. There isn’t any baptism in there. There isn’t any tongues in there. There isn’t any church attendance in there. There isn’t any tithing in there. It’s the death of Jesus, the burial of Jesus, and the resurrection of Jesus, period. Now, where do you become a man follower when you add to that? That’s why I belong to the church of Christ, because they believe in baptismal regeneration, right? Well, I’m sorry, you can believe that, but it’s dead wrong. Well, I believe in this because we believe that Paul is a latter-day apostle. That’s fine, but it’s dead wrong. Just plain dead wrong. There isn’t anything about apostolic cessation in the gospel. In fact, it isn’t even in the Bible. So the thing of it is, is we have to understand the truth of these things, that when you add to something, you can gather a following. You’re not going to gather a big following by just teaching what’s here, because everybody can teach that. But if I can add to it, if I can add something that’s unique, why then I can get people to follow me. And that’s why people follow those type of things. Because if you’re just teaching this… there is no need at all in getting all hung up on somebody. Because if somebody has anything to teach you and me, they got it out of here, not out of their own imaginations or their own thinking. So he says, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ, to regard the apostles. Because, my friends, these are the men who, That enabled us to be here today. It were these men that we’re going to read about that were so finely treated that we’re here today. And he said, here’s how you ought to think about us as those who were entrusted with the secret things of God, that God revealed to these men spiritual truths that was not known in the world today at that time. And so he says, now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. In other words, this message was entrusted to faithful men who we’re told in the Scripture should in turn pass it on to trustworthy men who will in turn pass it on to others. It’s called spiritual multiplication. I pass this message on to you. Where did I get it? Out of the Scripture. You can get it out of Scripture too. Pass it on. For what reason? For us to sit here like the Dead Sea and just keep it to ourselves and say, man, this is the greatest message I’ve ever heard. And I’m just going to sit there and teach myself. No. Why do you learn what you’re learning here or learning out of your own personal study of the Bible? Why do you do that? So that you’ve got something, friends, to pass on to others. Not in an obnoxious way. Not just going out and just hammering people to death with all you know about Scripture. But going out and, Paul says, loving people. And loving people enough to listen to people. And to listen to them long enough until you hear some of their problems and many times hear the biblical violation of That’s in their mind. And that’s where you get started. That’s when you start teaching. Is you’ve listened to where somebody is and you’ve listened long enough to hear there’s some error. Because my friends, every problem that you and I encounter is because of error. If truth sets us free, error is what binds us. And when I find myself in bondage, I have to look back and say, Bob, there’s some error in my head that needs to be programmed out. That’s why it says don’t be conformed to the world, but be transformed. How? By the renewing of your mind. Renewing your mind on what? Truth. Where are you going to go to find truth? In this Bible. Where Jesus said, my word is truth. And if Jesus claimed he’s truth and he says my word is truth and he is God, then his word is truth. That’s where you go to look for truth. And if he isn’t God, pitch this thing in a wastebasket and go eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you may die. If Jesus isn’t God, because if he isn’t God, then we’re not saved. And so he says to. Look to us as servants of Christ, not of necessarily big deals. There anything in the Bible about the apostles being bowed down to and kiss rings and dressing up in clothes that no one else wears? There anything in the Bible about that? How in the world did we get into it? Adding to what is written. Very simple. And if I can get enough uniqueness, I got a big following. Because the more unique I am, the more people say that must be it and follow it. So he says it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. So he says be faithful. They were faithful. We should be faithful. He says, I care very little if I’m judged by you or by any human court. Indeed, I don’t even judge myself. You remember in the scripture where it says a man who judges himself by another man is a fool? And there’s a reason for that. Because if I’m judging you, there’s only two things that can come out of that. Number one, I am better than you. That’s pride. And number two, I’m worse than you. And that’s self-condemnation. And both of those come out of the pit of hell. And so anytime we are judging another person, we’re basically putting ourselves in a superior role or an inferior role. And he says, don’t do it. Don’t do it. Remember what… He said to Peter, Peter, what do you care what I do with John? I’m telling you to follow me. We’re not there to do what Peter does and do what Paul does. We’re there to follow Jesus. The leaning of the Holy Spirit of God who lives in every believer. So he said, I don’t care if I don’t even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t even make me innocent. We talked about last week how our conscience can be programmed. And so you don’t live by your conscience. You live by the Holy Spirit of God who lives in you. And the Holy Spirit of God cannot be programmed. He’s already programmed and he’s programmed by God. He is God. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore, do nothing before the appointed time. Wait for the Lord to come. In other words, judgment, appraisal is going to come. You don’t have to sit around praising people. God will do that in His time. He’ll bring to light what is hidden in darkness and expose the motives of man’s hearts. Again, we look at people’s actions, but you see there’s motives involved in this, and the whole issue is why do you do what you do? And he says, I’ll judge that because no man knows what another man is thinking except the Spirit of God who lives in them. And in the same way, no one knows what God is thinking except the Spirit of God. And we have received the Spirit from God so that we can know what God is thinking. So he’ll do… the judging now brother she said i has applied these things to myself and apollos for your benefit so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying do not go beyond what is written then you will not take pride in one man over against another again what puts your pride adding to what is written because if you’re written there there anything to take pride on i didn’t originate this god did we’re just messenger boys So we can’t take pride for being brilliant of thinking this up. We didn’t think this up. We just communicate what’s here. And he says, do not go beyond what is written. Well, what are some of the ways in which Christendom has gone beyond what is written? Baby baptisms. Is there anything in the Bible about baptizing babies? Is there? Or do you know? No, I’ll just take my word for it. Well, better yet, go back and study the scripture. You’re not going to find it. It’s not there. Now, why did someone have it there? Why did they bring it in? And that becomes a part of my denomination. We believe in baptizing babies. So if you believe in baptizing babies, you better come here because they don’t believe that over there. So what do we do? Become denomination followers, man followers, which is what he’s saying. Don’t do and don’t add beyond what is written. But you see, a person says, well, you know, I know that Jesus is the only way. There’s no other name under heaven given among men whereby you must be saved. And I know that to be true because Jesus said that’s true. Well, then what about my baby? Who hasn’t heard yet. What about him? I’ll tell you what about him. That’s in God’s hands. It isn’t in the scripture. It isn’t written what’s going to happen to them. That’s God’s business.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 03 :
What I do know is that decision goes into the hands of a perfectly loving and a perfectly just God. And I believe unless something’s wrong with our thinking, we can trust him for that decision. But it’s not given. So because we’ve got to have all the answers, somebody said, well, let’s baptize them. Let’s sprinkle them. Because we’ll drown them if we dunk them. So let’s sprinkle them. And that’ll assure that there’s other salvation. No, it doesn’t. No one’s saved by getting baptized. No one’s getting saved by getting sprinkled. Outside of that, you ought to just bring in a big hose and just douse the whole group in here and say, that’s it. You’re all in. But because they want answers, they come up with beyond what is written. What about today where you see, because you never saw that before, but in these last years, how about slaying people in the spirit? Do you find that in the Bible? Is there anything in the Bible? It’s telling me that the spirit came to give life, not knock the daylights out of you. And isn’t it amazing how those people that get slain in the spirit always get slain and fall into the arms of people with the gift of catching? Have you ever noticed that? Even when one lady’s wig was falling off and she was going back, but she caught it before she passed out. Folks, this is nonsense. There is nothing in the scripture about going over and blowing on somebody or hitting them in the head or just you’re so powerful you just slam in the spirit. There ain’t anything about that. What is that? Adding to what’s written. And that’s where your following comes in. I follow Benny because he slays you in the spirit. Well, you’re going to follow him to hell. Because if you believe that does something for you, there must be something wrong with your mind. Because you don’t know the scripture. It’s not there. Not there. That’s why he’s saying don’t add. Don’t go beyond what is written. What else? Well, new prophecy. I’m a prophet. Did you guys know that? I’m a prophet. Now, you see, if you believe that, there should be a mass exodus, in my opinion, out this door. But, you know, you get some people that say, yeah, that’s right, that’s right. No, no, no. No. No is when this canon was closed, when the perfect came, that means nothing else to be added. Remember in the book of Revelation, it says you add to this book, you’re under a curse. When this book was finished, God’s prophecy ended. There is nothing more that God wants us to know about himself than is here. There is nothing more that God wants us to know about end times than what is here. There’s no need for someone to come up to me and say, God told me to tell you. I say, hold on a minute, brother. If God wants to talk to me, he’ll talk to me. He doesn’t need to talk to you to talk to me. But I cannot tell you the number of people who walk around and will come up to you. I’ve had it happen. One guy came up, almost lost his life, put his hand on my head. God told me, I said, get your hands off of my head. He didn’t tell you anything. If God wants to tell me something, he’ll tell me. Any of you people out there have over two kids? How many of you have over two kids? How many of you want one kid to know something, you go to the other kid and tell him to tell him? No, you go to him direct, don’t you? But we have people who think that. What is that? Adding to. That’s putting yourself in a position that I know something that you don’t have. Guys, I don’t know one earthly thing that you don’t know or at least are not capable of getting a hold of. Not a thing. I don’t have a spatial knowledge, and neither does any other pastor or these so-called ministers. And so, what else do we add? What’s another obvious one that we add? Church membership. It seems to me that does not the Bible say that when you come to Christ, you become a part of the body of Christ, right? A member of the body of Christ. Well, if you’re born again and you’re a member of the body of Christ, what do you need to be a member here for? And so what is it? Adding to it. That’s why we don’t have a membership here. But it’s also why some people flake in and out about every six months. Because I could put you on guilt trips. And really lay it on you if you’re not here. It’s good to see you again, brother. You’ve aged. Church membership is not biblical. You’re already a member of the body of Christ. Accountability groups. Friends, I want to tell you something. If I can’t be accountable to God, why do you think I’m going to be accountable to you? Quiet time. Sounds good. But you know what happens when you preach quiet time? Well, then, did you have yours today? You did. Well, I can’t outdo you on that one. What time did you have it? Six? I had mine at five. Pride. Begin to start comparing yourself that I’m more holy than you are. All of this stuff sounds good. A lot of stuff sounds good. Living by principle sounds good, but it says it doesn’t do one earthly thing to cure sensual indulgence. How about asking God to give you what he’s already given you? Is that adding to what’s written? Yes, it is. You see, my friends, if we’re supposed to walk by faith… And the Bible tells us that without faith, it’s what? Impossible to please God. Now, folks, that doesn’t mean it just kind of doesn’t please Him a little bit. It says it is impossible to please God if you’re not walking by faith in God and what He came to accomplish for you. Impossible. So when I am asking God… To give me what he says I’ve already given you, is that faith? Are you all thinking? Is that faith? No. Are you born again? How do you know you’re born again? Because you’re one of the elect? That’s also adding. How do you know you’re born again? Well, because there was a time in history when I became aware of the fact that I was a sinner and I became aware that there’s a consequence to sin called death, spiritual death. And if I’m dead, I need life. And Jesus came along and said, I came that you might have what? Life. And I recognize I’m dead spiritually and I need life. And Jesus said, I am the life. And I accepted him into my heart as my Lord and Savior. I thanked him for his forgiveness. And I asked him to come and give me what I didn’t have. Spiritual life. I had physical life that I got from mom and dad. But I didn’t have spiritual life. That’s why it says you must be born of the water. That’s physical birth. And the spirit. That’s spiritual birth. Two births. Now, if you’re born again… Would it be faith for me to be praying to God, oh Lord, please give me eternal life? I mean, you want eternal life, don’t you? But you got eternal life. He who has a son has what? Life. What kind of life did he give you? Eternal. So would it be faith for me to be saying to God, Lord, please give me eternal life? Would it? No, guys think this through because if you’re confused, something’s wrong. That isn’t confusing. If you’ve got it, you don’t get it. If you don’t get it, it’s because maybe you don’t got it. Would it be faith to say, Lord, please redeem me? No. No. Why? I’m already redeemed. In him I have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Is it faith to ask God to forgive you? No, you sin. Well, then what do you do when you sin? Well, it’s not what I do when I sin, it’s what did he do when I sin. And if I know what he did, then I know what I’m supposed to do. But because I don’t know what he did, then I make up my own as to what I do. Some say you go to a priest. Some people know you don’t have to do that. You can go direct. Some people say, like Martin Luther, you climb up and down on your knees, on the concrete, on the stairway. You agonize. Jesus said, you say, thank you. Faith says, thank you. I know what he did with my sin. You were born forgiven. You don’t get forgiven. You were born forgiven. God was in Christ reconciling what? How many people? The whole world unto himself, not counting their sins against him. Is that true or isn’t it? Is it true or isn’t it, guys? It’s true. And if it is true, how do you respond to that? Please do. No. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. And so these are just a few ways that we go beyond what is written. And he says, don’t do that. It says… When you don’t go beyond, then you will not take pride in one man over another. So what causes you to take pride in one man over another? Adding to what is written. Coming up with your own ideas. Don’t do it. For who makes you different than anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you didn’t receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? And if you did receive it, excuse me, why do you boast as though you did not? So he’s saying, what are you bragging about? If you don’t add to what’s written, then what you know is what’s written. And what you know is what’s written. And what you know is what’s written. And what you know is what’s written. That’s why we got unity. We both know what’s written. And we both have the Spirit of God living in us to reveal what it means. That’s why there’s a unity here. Already you have all you want.
SPEAKER 01 :
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.
