Discover the transformative power of Pentecost in this episode, where Bob George vividly illustrates the birth of the church and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As we break down these foundational events, you’ll gain a clearer understanding of the new life offered through Christ, a life not bound by the law but energized by the Spirit. Whether you’re a new believer or have walked this path for years, this broadcast will renew your appreciation for the gift of the Spirit and the dynamic life it enables.
00:00:12 Introduction to Classic Christianity Radio
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 02 :
We’re going to pick up in the… 15th verse of chapter 9. But again, before we do, we need to review for just a moment where we have been in this study on the book of Hebrews. Guys, I do not believe that there is a book in the Bible that is of any more importance than the book of Hebrews. I quite frankly believe that that’s why in many instances it’s very seldom taught because many times it’s very seldom understood. But apart from us getting a glimpse of the book of Hebrews, we do not know the depth of what Christ Jesus came to accomplish on our behalf. And until we understand this book of Hebrews, we don’t see the entire history of God working with man and then seeing the significance of finally coming to this earth in order to usher in a new covenant, and it’s a covenant of grace. The entire Old Testament, and as we talked about last week, including the four Gospels, because as we will read in the Scriptures in chapter 8, as we read last week, that this is a new covenant, he said, I’ll make between God and man. I’ll put my laws. Those are the laws of Jesus. Love your God with all of your heart, mind and soul and love your neighbors yourself. Those are the laws that he will put in our hearts. And those laws are the fulfillment, Jesus said, of all of the prophets and all of the scripture. In other words, to fulfill the entire Old Testament was fulfilled in love. And so he said that they’ll be my people. And I’ll put my laws in their minds. I’ll write them in their hearts. They’ll be my God and they will be my people. And I will forgive their sins and remember them no more. And where that sacrifice has taken place, there is no more sacrifice for sins. That’s all a part of the new covenant. I’ll forgive their sins. I will remember them no more. And by calling this covenant new, he has made the first one obsolete and and is aging and will soon disappear and that’s exactly what we have to get into our minds if we’re ever going to walk in the newness of life that the old has to age and disappear in regard to the application of how do you live your christian life because there is nothing in the old testament that is there for us to live we can’t live it if we could have lived by the demands of the Old Testament, then Jesus came and died for nothing. He was foolish to come to this world. If we could live in the energy of our own flesh according to God, he was foolish to come. We talked about last week that the focal point of God’s total plan of salvation didn’t end at the resurrection. It ended on the day of Pentecost. It ended 50 days later when the Holy Spirit of God that Jesus had promised, it’s good for you that I go away. But when I do, I’m going to send my spirit to live in you and you are going to be my people. You’re going to be my body here on this earth. And so the ultimate conclusion of the entire plan of salvation by God was Pentecost, the day when Jesus came to invade our lives, to restore in us what we had lost in Adam, that being the Spirit of God living in us, restoring life to man. That’s the whole object of salvation, to restore life to man. That’s what birth is, life. And that’s what Christ came to do, give us new what? Life, new birth in Christ Jesus. That is nothing that we can get down here. There is nothing that man has to do with salvation except either accept his offer or reject his offer. But man cannot add one iota to salvation. It was given for us and to us in order for him to live his life through us, but we have nothing to do with it except either accept it or reject it. And so this new agreement between God and man was given to us. It was given to us out of his mercy and his grace and his love. Why? We had no chance at all of accomplishing this in the energy of our own flesh. We talked about the fact of how evident that was with the apostles. These are men who walked with Jesus, who talked with Jesus. who were with him continually for three years, they saw his baptism. And what was the purpose of his baptism? To show that he was the Messiah to Israel. That’s what John the Baptist said. The reason I came baptizing is the one who told me to baptize told me the one on whom the dove descends is the Messiah. So he came to identify himself to Israel. The apostles were there. They were there with his death, his burial, his resurrection. They saw everything that he did. They heard everything that he said, and yet were absolutely paralyzed until the day of Pentecost. These apostles, until the day of Pentecost, even after his death, burial, and resurrection, were in hiding, trembling, fearful of what was going to happen to them, were they not? And these same men who were living in hiding for some 50 days on the day of Pentecost when they were indwelt for the first time in all of history with the Spirit of God permanently coming to live in us, went out and boldly proclaimed to the very people who had killed Jesus, you people killed the Son of God. Where did that boldness come from? The Spirit of God living in you. That suddenly they were whole again. It’s like a light bulb trying to function without electricity. Suddenly, it can shine. Why? It’s plugged into the electricity. A car without gas can suddenly function again. Why? Because it now has gas in it, and now it can function. And man can now function for the first time the way God intended man to function. Why? Because he’s indwelt by God. Just exactly how God created man to be, indwelt by the living Christ. And so, folks, the day of Pentecost is probably the most exciting day or should be the most exciting day in the history of all Christendom because it was the beginning of the church. It was the beginning of man personally being indwelt by God permanently. And that word permanently needs to be emphasized. It was the first time that God came permanently to live in man, including Jesus Christ. What happened to Jesus at the cross where he who knew no sin became sin? Was Jesus born with the Spirit of God living in him? Absolutely, that’s who he was. What happened at the cross when he who knew no sin became sin? The Spirit of God departed from him. Why? Because of our sin. But what was the promise? When that happens, I’m going to come back and raise you from the dead. And that Spirit that raised Him from the dead went to the Father and on the day of Pentecost entered into mankind for the first time to give us permanent salvation, not temporary. Not a salvation where the Spirit comes to live today, but through sin you can lose it tomorrow. Because the only thing that could cause the Spirit of God to depart from you and me once we’re indwelt by that Spirit is sin. And the reason that is an impossibility is because of the cross where he took away the sins of the world and took away the cause of death. And the reason you and I know where we’re going when we die is because I know who I am while I’m alive. We are forgiven people. All the world has been forgiven. There was only one sin accountable to man. According to Jesus, who we say we believe in, the world’s sin is unbelief in me. The sins of the world have all been placed on Jesus. That means Hitler’s. That means Mussolini’s. That means all these nutcases running around in the world today. And it also means you and me. The sins of the world have been taken away from the eyes of God, never to see them again. Only one sin attributable to man, rejection of the Son who came to do that. It was only because of the quality of the blood of Christ, the Son of God, God himself coming to this world, that his life and his blood was of such value that it was able to take away the sins of the world eternally from the eyes of God. Is that good news or not, guys? Now, with this new covenant that went into effect and was finalized on the day of Pentecost, when that was a day when the body of Christ was formed, the body of Christ 2,000 years ago, if you were to look for it, you would have had to go back to Israel and look up Jesus of Nazareth, would you not? And there you would have found the body of Christ. But he said, this body is going away, but it’s good for you that it’s going away, for when I do, then I’m going to send my spirit into you, and you’re going to be my body. So the day of Pentecost was the day that the body of Christ was transferred from a singular form of Jesus of Nazareth to people all over the world at the same time. And why we can do greater works than he is not in quality, but in quantity, because we’re all over the place, and he was at one place at one time. So you’re the body of Christ. That was something brand new, guys. That was something that had never been before. That people could become the literal body of the Son of God here on this earth. All of this took place as a result of this new covenant. This was all the new covenant, all in the mind of God and in the plan of God as to how he was going to bring salvation to us lost creatures. I think one of the reasons we become so complacent in our Christian life is we forget how lost we were and how lost we are apart from him. Because we come up with this nonsense that, well, you know, basically I’m a good person. How many times do you hear that? Hopefully you don’t say it. Hopefully you don’t believe it. Basically, I’m a good person. Just went out and killed a few people, but basically, I’m a good person. You hear it all the time, don’t you? Basically, you’re not a good person. Says, why do bad things happen to good people? Because there aren’t any good people. If we were good, we wouldn’t need Jesus.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 02 :
And so we have to understand our hopeless condition apart from Christ. So all through the Old Testament was a history of of man trying desperately to live a life pleasing to God in the energy of his own flesh. That’s what the Old Testament is. That’s what the four gospels are. When did the new covenant go into effect? On the day that Jesus what? Died. What are the Gospels about? His life. So when did the new covenant start? At the birth of Christ or the death of Christ? At the death of Christ. And so all through, even the Gospels, what do you see? Men trying to live the Christian life in the energy of their flesh and falling flat on their face just like they did before Jesus ever came. So he said, you can’t do it before I came. You can’t do it when I came. You’re only going to do it when the Spirit of God comes to live within you. Then and then alone are you going to have the power to carry out my life in this world. Only then. Now, just being indwelt by the Spirit of God is not going to do it. The Spirit of God is there now so that you and I have the privilege of participating in that divine nature that lives in us. But I also have the ability to participate in my flesh. I’m indwelt by life. I have life, but I live as if I didn’t. You have people who try to live a life that they do not have. And then you have people who have a life that they do not live. And so you can have this life that you do not live and don’t know it. Or you’ve come to Christ for his forgiveness only and you’ve never been born again of the spirit. You’ve never come to him for life. You just came to him for forgiveness. That’s not salvation. That’s why these people have come along with baptism. You know, it takes away your sins. So, your sins are taken away. That isn’t salvation. Why are you talking and camping on that for? You’re not saved by the death of Christ. You’re saved by the life of Christ. While we were yet enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son. That’s when you’re lost. How much more, having been reconciled, shall you be saved by His what? His life. That’s why Paul said, without the resurrection, we’re to be pitied of all people that are still in our sins. Why? Resurrection is what gives life to the dead. Forgiveness doesn’t give life. Forgiveness gives forgiveness. Life gives life. And so there are many times that people have been conned into come forward and get your sins forgiven, go back to the pew as dead as you came to the altar. So that’s why they call them pews. So many dead people sitting in them. Why? Because they’ve never heard what life is. They’ve been given a false gospel. Come to Jesus and get your sins forgiven. That’s not salvation. It’s come to Jesus to get Jesus. You come to him, come unto me, not come unto my forgiveness. You come unto me. And the Bible says in him, you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. So where is the forgiveness that was provided for us then received? in him, in his resurrected life. Quite frankly, folks, that’s why so many people on the face of this earth walking around saying, I saved, I think I saved. Live with doubts all your life, but you don’t want to think about it. I think I’m okay, but I got all these doubts and doubts and doubts because somebody told them when you come forward and get your sins forgiven, you’re saved. There’s no power. You don’t have any more power. It’s not your fault. You have no more power then than the apostles had before the day of Pentecost. Sincere, honest, but they had no power to live a life that they didn’t have. And so this day, this new covenant is a phenomenal plan of God that he put into effect. So that we could be plugged into God eternally and to live the life that he called us to live. And so by calling this new covenant new, he’s made the first one obsolete. And what is obsolete is aging and soon disappear. What does that mean about the Old Testament? What’s it say about it? What’s in the Old Testament? The law. Is the law all the way through the Old Testament? Or is it just the first five books of Moses? Well, the law is all the way through. First five books of Moses just explained the law that you’re supposed to live on back to Malachi. They were still grunting and groaning in Malachi. He says, you’re going to have to die. You can’t do it. He gave us all those books. That Old Testament’s thick. All those books, which is a life of man desperately trying to live in the energy of his flesh and falling flat on his face and still in the midst of it showing the faithfulness of God. Isn’t that wonderful? The faithfulness of God. He knew what they were doing. His plan was, I’m going to give you plenty of time to prove to yourself you can’t do it. I’m going to give you a lot of time for that to show you you can’t do it. And one of these days, you’re going to be prepared for and having long enough experience of showing you can’t do it, and I’m going to come and show you who did. And that’s Jesus. And so for verse 15, for this reason, Christ is a mediator of a new covenant. You have your old covenant. You have your Old Testament. You have your old will. All of those interchangeable. A covenant is a will and a testament. Testament. If you have a will and a testament, that’s your will. You’ve prepared it now while you’re alive, but when will it go into effect? When you die and not a day sooner. Same thing with Jesus. That the Old Testament went away and the new one, we placed it on the day of his death. Because why? Because everything that he needed to do had been accomplished for you and me. He took away our sins. He was raised from the dead and he said, in 50 days I’m going to give you life. And when I give you life, it’s all done. It’s over. You’ve got everything that you need now for life and godliness. So for this reason, Christ is the mediator of this new covenant. That those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance. Now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. In case of a will, we’re told, it’s necessary to prove the death of the one who made it. Why? Well, because a will is enforced only when someone has died. It never takes effect while the one who has made it is living. We all know that, don’t we, in regard to our wills. And that’s why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. In other words, without a forfeiture of life. The difference was, it wasn’t our life, it was the life of an animal. But an animal sacrifice can’t handle it. The forfeiture of an animal on our behalf could cover sin, but the forfeiture of an animal on our behalf could never take away sins from the eyes of God. It took a living sacrifice for that. And the living sacrifice was none of us. It only had to be him. So when Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all of the people, he took the blood of calves together with water and scarlet wool and branches of hyssop and sprinkled the scroll on all the people. And he said, this is the blood of the covenant. This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you to keep. Uh-oh. This is the covenant that I commanded you to keep. Now, where did the problem develop? Right there. This is a covenant that I command you to keep. What did man find out about that? He can’t keep it. Did God, do you think that shocked him? I don’t think God said, ooh, golly, I thought they would. This is the covenant which I’m commanding you to keep. Paul said this, guys, there’s nothing wrong with the law. It’s holy and it’s good. But when it flows through me, what does it do? It kills me. Nothing wrong. It’s holy. It’s good. But I cannot keep it. I’m trying like crazy. But I cannot keep it. Well, what happens to people like that when you keep raising the bar? You get over this bar, what do you do? You raise it. You get up this point, you raise it. Now, with me, it’s only a curb. but when I was younger it might have been a little higher in a curb but now I’m getting over curbs about as good as I can do so don’t raise it above a curb for me but the issue is that you keep raising the bar and what happens when it gets to the point where you just can’t get over it well you become frustrated why because someone’s saying get over it get over it you ought to be able to do that your faith isn’t big enough Get some bigger faith and you can jump higher. And you know what happens to people? We bug out. We say, I can’t do it. God is commanding me to do it. He wants me to do it and I can’t do it. So I’m out of here. Adios, God. If I ever see you, I’ll see you in heaven. But I’ll take care of the earth. I’ll do it my way. Just like Sinatra. I’ll do it my way because I can’t do it your way. It’s not even necessarily that I want to do it my way, but I can’t do it yours. So the only one I have left is me. So I’ll just do it my way. And that’s what we have in the world today. People attempting to do it their way and falling flat on their face. But at least that’s better than suffering the condemnation of God saying you can’t do it. And that’s what people rebel against, folks. People aren’t rebelling against Jesus. People don’t know Jesus exists. And if they do, they don’t know what Jesus came to do. He came to love the daylights out of you. How in the world can you rebel against someone who loves you to death? So you’re not really rebelling against Jesus. You’re rebelling against religion. You’re rebelling against a religion that says, I demand that you keep it. And I can’t do it. So I give up. I’ve told many people, you’re a good rebel. You’re a good rebel. They come in and say, I hate religion. Good, I do too. I do too. You’re a good rebel. You ought to be rebelling against religion. You’ve got good company. Jesus, the apostles, all the early Christians rebelled against religion. Jesus didn’t come to give us religion. He came to give us a life. You don’t live by principles. You don’t live by law. You don’t live by promises. You live by a life. And it’s not yours. It’s his. It’s no longer I who live, but it’s Christ who lives in me. So when Christ, who is your life, appears, you will appear with him. It’s no longer you. It’s him. And so he said, here’s the covenant which God has commanded you to keep. Now, in the same way he said he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood. And guys, mark your Bible or check it. Without the shedding of blood, there is how much forgiveness? None. Now, how many of you believe that? How many of you don’t believe that? Well, I don’t have any hands there. Then how many do believe that? Well, okay, that’s better. All right. Without the shedding of blood, how much forgiveness is there? None. I’m going to ask you another question. Is Jesus going to shed his blood again? How many times did he shed his blood? And for how many people? How many people? For how long? You mean every person that’s ever been born and every person who will be born again? He died for them. Okay, now, without the shedding of blood, there’s no forgiveness and there’s no more shedding of blood. What do you have to conclude about the one time that he did shed his blood? What do you have to conclude about that?
SPEAKER 01 :
It’s finished. Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another and praise the Lord. Amen.
