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.
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Well, what causes fights and quarrels among us? They come from the desires that battle within us. Any of us ever had any ungodly desires? Yeah, we’ve had them. You want something, but you don’t get it. So you kill and covet because you cannot have what you want. You quarrel, you fight. Now, guys, if we’re capable of doing that with one another, especially in marriage, where prior to the marriage you were just ushy-gushing all over each other, and just couldn’t stand the thought of being away from one another for just five minutes. And then after a while, you’re trying to figure out ways to get away from each other. Why? Because you have fights and quarrels. Why? Because you want something and you don’t get it. I want Amy to meet my needs. And she isn’t meeting him, so I’m going to quarrel and fight with her. And she’s looking, I want him to meet my needs, and I don’t meet him, so she’s going to feud and fight and fuss. Now, if that can happen with two people that literally have experienced the most intimate relationship that you can have, which is marriage, you can’t get any more intimate than that. Then how do you think countries are going to get along? Think about it. Is it a mystery that countries are in war? Is that a mystery? Not a mystery at all. Anymore than it’s a mystery that you and your wife are at war sometimes. Or you and your husband. Because we want things. And we don’t want God’s will. We want what I want and I want it now. Am I right or wrong, guys? And I’m not speaking from a political standpoint, but I had to think to myself when, you know, you’ve got people politically that think, oh, all you have to do is just negotiate with people. Don’t go to war. That’s stupid. But just negotiate with your enemy. Have you ever tried to negotiate with your enemy? You ought to watch Judge Judy sometime. Yeah. and just see how well two people that can’t stand each other negotiate with each other. You can’t negotiate with your enemy. Your enemy hates you, and you hate them. But you’ve got people who think, oh, just negotiate, just negotiate. During a campaign, Carrie was saying, oh, just negotiate. I thought, if you’re such a good negotiator, how come you got divorced from your wife? You should have negotiated with her. It’s not negotiating with a whole bunch of people. That’s just with your wife and her with you if you’re such good negotiators. Guys, you know what they call that? They call it hypocrisy. And I don’t care whether it’s one side or another. I’m not talking Democratic or Republican. I’m just talking about hypocrisy of thinking that you can negotiate with an enemy. I’ve lived long enough that I’ve lived… back in the days of World War II. Some people say, have come up to me and asked, you know, were you in the war? I said, well, yeah, I was alive during the war. They said, World War I or the Civil? But we had a person back in the late 30s by the name of Adolf Hitler. And in And in other parts of the world, we had Mussolini in Italy. You had other leaders and dictators, but Hitler was a maniac. Our country back at that time was what you would call isolationist. Don’t go to war. Just sit back and negotiate. Or stick your head in a hole and pretend that England didn’t get the daylights bombed out of them. And all these countries are getting taken over. Just stick your head in the hole and pretend that’s not a case. But we had people on both sides of the ocean, Japan on the Pacific and Germany on the Atlantic. And it was a time when this man Hitler had announced his intentions to take over the world, to become world dominant and to be an Aryan race. He hated Jews. He hated anybody of color. And he was going to take over the world. Announced, and we say, no, no. You had Stalin that our president referred to him as good old Joe. Well, good old Joe wanted to take over the country too and the world. And so we’ve had these things, and history will enable you to look back, and if you don’t learn from history, you’re going to become a different history yourself. This man Hitler’s goal was to take over the world, and guys, when I was studying in ROTC in school, the ROTC instructor pointed out that had Hitler not gone into Russia… and instead gone into England, he would have taken over the United States. That’s how close we were to being taken over in World War II. We could be speaking German today, and we could be Heil Hitler-ing today. This man was there to do that. Now, when you’re an isolationist country, which we were, then you say that’s their business. That’s their business. We don’t belong over there. That’s an isolationist viewpoint. Let’s negotiate with an enemy, with a madman. And finally, it came down to the point where when the Japanese attacked on December the 7th, 1941, and attacked Pearl Harbor, that the president announced that we were at war with both Japan and with Europe. And we entered into that world that England was already deeply into getting the daylights bombed out of them, and we entered into that war. And people back then, like they do today, say, oh, I hate war. Well, everybody hates war. The issue is, when you have freedom, because there are people who want to cause fights and quarrels, Because they want what you have and they can’t get it. And they want to take you over. Freedom has to be fought for. It has to be defended. And that’s the reason that we celebrate today Memorial Day. We’re celebrating men and women who for 200 years have sacrificed and given of their lives if necessary to defend this country. This country represents freedom. We’re not perfect by any way, shape, or form. Our political system is messed up. Our judicial system is messed up. It’s still the best there is. And with God, hopefully, it’ll get fixed up and corrected in due time. But guys, when you have those kind of men in existence… And you have Hitler-type men in existence. There is no question about it. Had we not entered into the war when we did in 1941, we would not be a country today. We would be taken over by the Nazis. That’s no question about it. Same thing is true with Saddam Hussein. He’s a madman. He killed his own people. Did he not? with chemical warfare he was has a had a goal just like leaders over there today have a goal eradicate israel off of the face of the earth and to get rid of christians and get rid of america if you can that’s a stated goal is it not don’t have to wonder what they’re thinking they’ve told you what they’re thinking and those are enemies And those are people who, if you let them go and do not have a deterrent, they will take over your country and you lose your freedom. Very simple. The people say, oh, I hate war. Well, so do I. But I also love freedom. And if freedom always has a cost to it, it’s never free. Freedom is never free. There’s always a price to be paid. And we celebrate today that day when men and women have gone and some gotten their legs blown off and their arms and wounded so that you and I can sit here in a nice air-conditioned room and go out to a nice lunch afterwards and go home to a nice home and pretend that it’s not going on. But it is going on, and it’s because of those men. who are willing to give their lives that you and I can sit in freedom today. Is that true or not, is it, brother? You were over there. You testified, one of the first people I’d ever heard, the greatest fighting men, the greatest bunch of soldiers you’d ever seen. Is that fun? No, it’s not fun. But I want to tell you guys, if you turn back to Matthew with me, you’re going to see that none of this, none of this at all, is taking God by surprise. 24th chapter of Matthew. Jesus left the temple, 24th chapter of Matthew, the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him and called his attention to his buildings. Do you see all these things, he asked? Here’s this temple, huge temple. He said, do you see this temple? Jesus said, I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another and everyone will be thrown down. You know what? That was true. Go over to Israel today, you don’t find one stone on top of another. As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him privately. Tell us, they said, when will this happen and what will be the sign of your coming at the end of the age? And Jesus said, Watch out that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name, claiming I am the Christ, and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Wars are going to be with us until the end of time. You’re not going to escape it by being anti-war. We’re all anti-war. But it’s going to be with us until the end of time. And our… Our rebellion to it isn’t going to solve it or keep it from happening. It is going to be here until the end of ages. Why? Because we want something and we don’t get it. So we kill and we covet. That’s why. Because of the evil heart of man, we have wars. So he said, see to it no one deceives you. There’ll be wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you’re not alarmed. That’s for us. See, we’re not alarmed by this. Such things must happen, but the end is still not to come. What does he say about wars? It must happen. It must happen. So it doesn’t do us any good to sit around saying I’m against it or I’m for it. It’s just going to happen. Are we together on that, guys? Nation will rise up against nation. Kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. Can you imagine what’s going on over in Indonesia? Just got through with a tsunami and now they had an earthquake that killed what? Almost 4,000 people. That’s more than has been killed over in Iraq. War. War.
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Earthquakes, famines, all kinds of natural catastrophes taking place. He said, this is going to happen. Various places. These are all the beginning of birth pangs. Then you’ll be handed over to be persecuted and put to death. And you’ll be hated. Do you know that could happen to us here in this country? Who’s he talking about? It’s going to be hated by all nations because of me. Christians hated because of Jesus. Is that starting? Has it been going on? Is it intensifying? Why do you think all of this stuff coming out is coming out? To get people’s mind into error and hate those of us who ascribe to truth. Hated. These narrow-minded Christians. These people who believe that there’s such a thing called sin. Sin. These people that are not politically correct. And these people who are bigots that don’t think that homosexuality is okay. We’re the only group on the face of the earth that doesn’t think it’s okay. Because it’s being taught in our schools. Can you believe that? In our schools. And sexual perversion taught in our schools. But we Christians… We’re the perverts. Handed over and put to death by all nations because of me. And at that time… Is anyone going to name claim to this? handed over to be persecuted and put to death and you’ll be hated by all nations because of me and at that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people and because of the increase in wickedness the love of most will grow cold but he who stands firm to the end will be saved And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached to the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come. Now, it talks about what’s going to happen at the end times. When you see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel, that’s the Antichrist, let the reader understand and let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in a field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers. Pray that your fight will not take place in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great distress unequaled from the beginning of the world until now and never to be equaled again. Now, guys, that is why I do not believe that this prophecy has been fulfilled. Some people believe that this was fulfilled in 70 A.D. when Titus came in and destroyed Jerusalem. And I can understand how people would think that until you read this passage that there will be great distress unequaled from the beginning of the world until now and never to be equaled again. That certainly is not the case because their destruction that has taken place through atomic warfare and the different weapons of mass destruction that we have today make the destruction of Jerusalem look like a little game compared to what our weapons are capable of today. If these days were not cut short, no one would survive. In other words, if God didn’t come and cut it short, there wouldn’t be a person to survive on the face of this earth. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened. For the sake of those who are in Christ Jesus, those days will be shortened. At that time, if anyone says to you, look, here is the Christ, there he is, don’t believe it, for false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect if that were possible. And see, I’ve told you ahead of time. So if anyone tells you he’s out in the desert, don’t go out. Or he’s in the inner rooms, don’t believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible in the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man. And wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. Well, guys, we don’t realize the immensity of end times. But we do know that it says that these signs come like birth pangs and they come in more frequent events. We have more earthquakes that have taken place in the last 10 years than have taken place throughout all of history. We have all kinds of natural disasters that have taken place. We certainly have wars and rumors of wars. There’s never been a time, very short period of time in all the history of the world, that some country, some place, somewhere has not been in war. And so, I believe, personally, that we are in the closing days. I believe that with all my heart. I believe with all I see taking place in Israel, that is the central place of end times. that I believe that when you see that right next door to Israel are people with the deepest desire and the weapons to do so, have nothing more in their heart than to wipe Israel off of the face of the earth, that you are looking at end time stuff. And so, again, Memorial Day. I thank God for the men who Who fought in the wars in the past. World War I. World War II. We lost hundreds of thousands of people in those wars. Hundreds of thousands. And yet, was it worth fighting? Was it worthwhile? If we weren’t, we would be under the control of a madman. I believe the same was true in regard to Saddam Hussein. Should we have gone into… War with him when we did? I don’t know. But one thing I do know, a man like that needed to be eradicated. He needed to be taken away from office. Why? Because if he was left to continue, men like that build bigger bombs. And men like that build bigger and better ways to destroy their enemies. And we are an enemy. That should have been proof to us on 9-11. When not since Pearl Harbor has America been attacked. And by the grace of God, we’ve never been attacked since that day. But folks, I honor the military. And I honor the men and women who give of their lives because when they go into the military, they’re going in, regardless where they ultimately are stationed, they’re going in with the ability and with the possibility of going into combat. and give of their lives, maybe, so that you and I can be free. We sit, guys, in our freedom today, just like you and I sit in our freedom in Christ Jesus because of His death. Jesus died to take away your and my sins so that we could go free. He died to set us free. And our men in military die to keep us free. So when you see guys in uniform, if you get a chance, go up and tell them how much you appreciate what they do. And these people that want to criticize men and women in uniform, in my opinion, are nothing more than people that have no appreciation at all for the fact that they’re able to say that and to live in freedom because of them. These men are heroes. And I honor this day that we honor them, Memorial Day, by saying thank you. Thank you, young men and young women, officers of every branch of the military. Don’t like war, but when you have enemies, you’ve got to have it. You say, what would Jesus do? You hear that on the radio. Well, Jesus didn’t deal with those kind of issues. Jesus turned his cheek. Unfortunately, the United States is not a Christian nation, nor are the people attacking it Christian nations. When you’re dealing with national affairs such as that, it’s not what would Jesus do. Some people say, well, what about a Christian being involved in the military? Well, there are some people who say, I wouldn’t kill somebody. They’re called conscientious objectors. Is there room for them in the military? Sure. You can go into the medical corps, go into headquarters. There’s a lot of places that you can go where you’re not in combat, but they’re still there serving their country. If that’s your persuasion or that’s a person’s persuasion, act on it. I personally, when I went to the service, and thank God I never had to go into combat, but I was prepared in case I did. But I want to tell you, it would have been difficult for me as a person to have thought of shooting another person. I’d rather be in the Air Force than drop bombs and not see who it’s killing. But I was in the Army, and the thought of that would have been a tough one. But I guarantee you, I would have done it if I was put in that situation. I remember one of the saddest days of my life was back in Newcastle, Indiana, in a little hometown. And I remember in the backyard of my home, I had my buddy, his name was Stanley Meek. And Stanley liked to shoot BB guns. And he brought a little gun over one time, his BB gun, and he was shooting around and he said, why don’t you try it? I said, well, what should I shoot at? He’s a little bitty kid. And he said, well, those birds up there. Well, I sure didn’t think I could hit a bird. I’d never shot a gun before in my life. But I put that BB gun up and pulled the trigger and this bird fell down to the ground. I cried for two days. I took that bird and went out. Remember those old Ohio matchboxes, those great big old Ohio matchboxes you used to have? I emptied that out of matches, and I buried that bird in that matchbox and took my Lincoln log set with those green deals and put a cross on that deal. And as far as I know, it’s still in the backyard. I was killed by killing that bird. It just killed me. I don’t want to kill something. But who does? Who does? And the issue is, guys, that in this world in which we live, we are so privileged to be in this country. So privileged to be in this country. I’m privileged that Amy’s here. She wasn’t born here. Could have been still living today over in Ukraine. But by the grace of God, she’s here and we’re together and been together for a long, long time. And we live in freedom. Let’s keep praising our soldiers.
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Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another, and praise the Lord. Amen.
