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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s Word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. Here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for a Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage.

We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family. What, you know, we’ve got some wonderful people here they love to see soul saved. I come into the office and lo and behold, there’s Mike. One litter duck couldn’t get out of the shell and it looked like clogged a hair from a drain with a beak. This is the way that he described it.

And I came into the office and lo and behold in the kitchen, you know, where it’s clean, and there was Mike with a little box, a light, trying to get this little duck warm. And I looked at it and I thought, what are you doing? He says, I’m saving a life of a little duck. And I thought, I’ve told them to make sure that you save every soul that comes on this property. I wasn’t talking about ducks. I went out and I looked at the ducks and I came back in.

Now that box had been moved, it was at his desk, at his feet. And the light was on and he was trying to save the life of this little duck. I looked at the little scraggly, ugly ducklin’. It wasn’t long before Mike had kind of, I don’t know if he gave him mouth to mouth or not, I don’t know. It wasn’t long before that little duck was taken down her to the retention pond. And he put it down there.

And mama saw the little ducklet come over there. And next thing you know, he got in there and splashed around. And he’s flooded off to mama. Now she was floating around with about seven or eight little duck. Do you know what I noticed about that? It was so natural for those little ducks. They could be hatched, jumped over the edge, followed mama straight into the water, and nobody had to teach those little ducks how to swim. I said to her and I thought, if a person believes in evolution, they got to be nuts.

This is a creation of God. How long would a duck have to live before it taught itself how to reproduce after its own kind. The God did this. And what I also liked is the little ducklets knew what to do and just followed mom. Blind faith. They didn’t question. It didn’t matter if there was trucks coming, cars coming, And nothing, they just follow right behind. Wherever moment went, the little ducklet was just right in a row and just followed.

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if God’s children could learn how to follow their heavenly Father without question? You see, God knows all of the things that we have to go through, all of our heartaches and suffering. But look what He says here. In verse 24, Paul says, I have suffered, I have suffered for the body of Christ. When he was writing this, he was a prisoner. He says, I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He says in verse 24, who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up that which is behind the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake was at the church. In other words, for somebody to love God’s people so much he was willing to suffer for them, to give up things. You know Paul after he trusted the Lord. Never again live for himself. He says, for me to live is Christ, the die is gained. He says, I have a problem.

I’m going to twist between two. He says, I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ, but to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. When we think about serving the Lord, we need to understand. God has already said that everybody in this world are alienated from Christ. They’re enemies of God. As we talked about earlier where he says, if you are in love with the world, you are not a friend of God. And the Bible says in the book of James chapter 2, Abraham was a friend of God.

John chapter 15 says, I have called you my friends. I told my friends what I want them to do. I want to be God’s friend. Means I don’t want to be His enemy. I want to be His friend. I don’t want there to be things and my life that would keep me from being what God wants me to be. That’s why in reading these scriptures and he’s talking about there in verse 21, look there in verse 21, and you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled.

But did you know that you as a Christian that if you don’t continue in the faith and growing in the knowledge of the Lord and doing what God wants you to do, you will fall in love with the world and you will love the things of the world. And when you love the things of the world, you will become an enemy of God. Did you know that you can become in your mind alienated from the truth, the spiritual knowledge of the Word of God?

And there could become this enmity between you and God that God didn’t put there, but you as a child of God did. Wouldn’t it be a shame for you not to love the Lord the way you should after all he’s done for us? And so he says, we have this hope and this joyful anticipation of one day being totally perth with the Lord without this whole sinful nature, but we do have it. And my old flesh is still hated by God.

It has my sinful nature. It’s why I still do what I do. And when I walk in the flesh, I am rebelling against my Heavenly Father. And it will still put a block between me and Him so that I cannot have the fellowship with them that I want, the peace that I want, the joy that I want, the happiness that I want. And you will forfeit all of those wonderful things that we could have had. So he says, I love the Lord so much that I’m willing to suffer in this life, in this body, for his body.

And the body that he’s talking about is the Lord’s body, which is the church. It’s for other believers. You see, there’s sometimes we go to camp. We’re going to get tired and weary and worn. And I can’t say you’re going for a vacation, but the greatest, you know, time of relaxation. go to bed late, you’ll get up early and you’ll go all day long. It’ll wear you out. Some of you may get hurt. Some of you may be drugged through the mud.

Literally. We have a little competition with the Arope tug tug of war. I love watching that. And there’s other things that we do, but there’s people that get hurt doing the things of God and some things are not always pleasant. Did you know that you may not be able to go and you’ve given money for somebody else to go? And you may be have been one that gave up an awful lot because you didn’t have it to give, but you sacrificed anyway.

There’s prices that people pay that nobody knows about but the Lord and you hurt and you suffer because of it. There’s a stand that you may take for the Lord that others may not agree with you on. But Paul made this statement. He says in verse 25, where I am made a minister. I am made a minister. I would just see verse 29 because he says, I was made a minister. Now we know salvation is free. Eternal light is the gift of God.

It’s not of works lest any man should boast. So does that mean that Paul didn’t have to do anything? A lot of times people think we’ll cause you hit so hard on grace, you just don’t want people to do anything. You just giving people a license to sin, a permission to sin. Yeah, but we’re also giving them permission to serve the Lord and to do right. You see, serving the Lord has to be voluntary, something you do because you want to do it.

God doesn’t get out of bowl with it. Now, He’ll make you suffer the consequences under why when you didn’t do it, but He don’t make you do it. You just suffer in consequences because you didn’t do it. But look what He says in verse 29, where unto I also, and notice these two words, labor striving. That’s effort. That’s putting into something. That’s working. That’s doing something for somebody else, because you see, you don’t have to do it. You don’t have to suffer for the Lord.

You can become an enemy of God, alienate yourself from the blessings of God. Now, we can do this, but it’s not the will of God. You see, there was people that were always thinking about, you know, the mystics, you know, the Eastern religions that has all this so kind of funny worship and to mysteries. Paul says, let me tell you about a mystery they don’t know about. And whenever we talk about a mystery in the Bible, it’s not like a murder mystery, you know.

It’s a truth that has been hidden in times past, but now revealed for the first time. And he says, let me tell you something that nobody knows about. Nobody’s ever heard this before. You see, we’ve already heard about the nations of the world and the nation of Israel. But God says, he’s making something brand new. It’s called the church. taken believing Jews and believing Gentiles and putting them together. It’s called in our period of time the dispensation of grace from Pentecost unto the Rapture.

This period of time is something new and something totally different. That’s where we are. That’s why we need to understand what God has for us and what God wants us to do. See, we’re not the nations of the world, and we’re not Israel, we are the church. What is the responsibility of the church? So when you understand it, then you’ll know what you’re supposed to do, how you’re supposed to live, why we do what we do. When he says, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, He gave the command and then says, wait.

And in the book of Luke, he says, wait in Jerusalem until you be in due with power from on high. The book of Acts, it says, you shall be in due with power, not many days hence. And when the Holy Spirit has come, he shall, you shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and Judea, and some are in the uttermost parts of the earth, but it wasn’t to start until the day of Pentecost. From that day until we’re out of here, that is our command.

That is what God wants us to do. That’s why we want radio ministry. We could not have a TV ministry. That’s why we want the internet ministry. That’s why we want ranch, reform is unanimous, Friday night’s soul winning. That’s why we want camp. That’s why I’m trying to write books. That’s why I want to start a Bible college. That’s why we do all the things that we do because God has given to us a mandate, a command. And we need to understand what our responsibilities are, and yet individually we are so limited.

We can only do so much. But collectively, every one of us are like little blazes, little fires. But together we form a great burning blaze for the cause of Christ. We can accomplish so much when we work together. When we pray for one another. And when we pull all of our talents. and resources together, how much more can be accomplished because of what God has done for us. So you see there in verse 25, where have I made a minister according to the dispensation?

A dispensation is like a dispensary where they would take and go and they would give out things in the military and the sick bay. They had a dispensary where you could get the medicine and so forth that you needed. A dispensation is a stewardship. It is a responsibility. It’s what does God want me to do? And so during this period of time, God has something special for us. You see, we didn’t live back then. God didn’t tell us, don’t eat the food off that tree.

My name is an Adam and you are an Eve. That doesn’t apply to you and me. And whenever he told Moses to go down to Egypt and tell them to let my people go, well, my name isn’t Moses and the Jews are not down in Egypt. And I don’t have to go down here and say, let my people go. Neither did he tell me to go build the boat because I’m going to destroy the world. He didn’t tell me to do that.

Well, what did he tell me to do? He says right here, going to all the world and preach the gospel. Look what he says there in verse five and verse five. He says, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, where of ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel. You see, the gospel is the only thing that gives any of us any hope of ever getting to heaven. If it’s by your words, you can forget all the hope you want.

not going. But through the gospel, the good news, every person can have eternal life. Every person can know they’re going to heaven when they die. And that is that joyful anticipation. Christ in you, the hope of glory. See, that had never been done before. See God, the Lord Himself, I don’t have to worry about Him being there. He’s up there. Well, where is God? Can I go up to heaven and pull him down? Or can I reach down into hell and pull him up?

Well he’s out there. He’s over there. Now he’s back there. Christ is in here. He’s in me. You see, that had never been done before. Well the true and living God that everyone seeks to find. He lives within me. He lives within you. That’s preaching material. I like all of that. Well look what he says there in verse 6, which is coming to you as it is in all the world and bring the fourth fruit. You see, the reason you present the gospel is because you want some fruit.

And God says that here in is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit. If you want a lot of fruit, you’re going to have to give the the gospel out a lot of times to a lot of people. Go into all the world, so we seek to do this. This is what God wants us to do. Now go back there to verse 26. Even the mystery which happened hid, get this from ages and from generations, but now has made manifest to his saints.

You see, they didn’t know this period of time between the cross and when Christ comes back to rule and terrain, which will be right after the tribulation period. You see in the Old Testament, they saw the cross. In the Old Testament, they saw the tribulation. They saw the Lord coming back and powering great glory. They saw even into the kingdom, but they didn’t see down in the valley this little period of time call the church. The church age. This is his body.

This is where we are. We’re special. We’re special. Save for such a time as this. God has given to us an opportunity that’s as great as anything we could ever want. Did you realize that you can be used of the Lord as greatly as you want to be used? And God, Or not force you to do so. You can trust him as your Savior and never do one cotton-picking thing and you still get to go to heaven because of his great love wherewith he loved us.

But there’s just something inside of me. I want to see how much can I accomplish with my life? How many people can I affect? Influence. You see the power of God in your life is the influence that you have in the lives of other people. Some people have absolutely no testimony to speak of. That’s why they can’t influence other people’s lives. But if you’ll serve the Lord and put Him first, God can use you. Looking verse 27, To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery.

Among the Gentiles, which is, and you ought to underline this in your Bible, Christ in you. You are in Christ and Christ is in you. So I didn’t come into the presence of God tonight. I’ve already been in the presence of God because he lives within me. My prayers don’t have to go someplace up in space and try to find wherever God is. I can think it and he hears it. He knows my thoughts. He lives within me. I used to think the ceiling was like brass and that I have to pray and I couldn’t seem like I’m getting through.

I don’t have to worry about that anymore. He hears it all and he will bless. He can answer. We have a mighty God, a powerful God. And He says here in verse 28, whom we preach, warning every man, teaching every man, and all wisdom get this that we may present. Present every man, perfect or mature in Christ Jesus. You see, some of these people that are going to camp, they already know the Lord. But we want to challenge them to serve the Lord.

We want them to grow strong in the Lord. We want them to get excited about serving God while they’re young because they may have a lot of years to live for the Lord. It wouldn’t be wonderful that if they dedicated their life to the Lord and not waste their life. But to do that, somebody has to take the time to do it. So you give your time. Your time, well, that’s your life. when you waste time, you waste life.

So that’s why it says redeem in the time, redeem in the time. Be wise, understanding what the will of the Lord is. So when we understand it, then we are supposed to obey it. So God wants us as His children to realize that we have the only hope for the lost man. But we have the hope for the saved man. Did you know as a saved person the only thing you need to live for is the Lord. And the thing that will give you the real joy and peace in life is that joyful anticipation that you are doing with your life the will of God.”

So Paul says, I labor. I strive. According to his working, look at the last words what he says. Work it mightily in me. In other words, Paul is saying God has mightily used him. He even made the statement in Corinthians, he He says, concerning the grace of God, I am what I am by the grace of God. And the grace that was bestowed upon me was not in vain, not in vain. Has the grace of God that he’s given to you, that privilege of life, the opportunity to live?

Did he give that to you for nothing? Was it all in vain? Has God allowed you to live five, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty years in vain? You accomplished nothing. You existed, but you didn’t live for him. The gospel, powerful. This hand represents you and me, the wallet represents sin. We all have sin unless God loves us. Hates our sin. Says if we paid for it, that then hell wages of sin is death. Eternal separation from God. But God says He loves us and wants us to go to heaven and go to heaven.

We have to be perfect. Just as righteous as God. None of us are perfect. None of us are righteous. So how can I get to heaven? Because of sin, can’t get in. So God says, you cannot earn eternal life, you cannot work your way to heaven. And because of this impossibility, man cannot change the situation. He is without hope. But God, this hand representing the Lord, he came into the world because of his great love for us, not our great love for him.

And because he had no sin, he didn’t have to die. So he took all the sin of all the world, paid for on the cross and came back from the dead. The payment’s been made, but the payment is not put to your accountant, do you believe that he did it for you? When you believe he did it for you, he gives you as a free gift everlasting life and you get to go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for you.

Let’s pray, shall we? Every head bowed, every act closed, no one looking around. If you’re watching by internet tonight, I want you to know more than anything else that we love you. God loves you. And He said to tell you from good news. The good news is that Christ died for you. He paid for your sins. And if you will accept Him as your Savior, He would give you the free gift of everlasting life. I pray that you’ll believe that.

You that are in the auditorium, if you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, would you just right now just talk to the Lord? Say, Lord, I got questions and doubts. I don’t understand at all, but I know I’m a sinner. And I believe Christ died for me and tonight I will trust Him as my Savior, as my only hope of going to heaven. And friend, if you would do that, I’d like to have prayer for you. And I’m not gonna have you forward.

I’m not gonna have you stand up or do anything I just want you to with heads by nice clothes just to raise your hand raising your hand Just let me know that what I said made sense And I’d like to have prayer for you In one of all before we close the preacher that made sense to me and tonight I Will trust Christ as my Savior And what I’ll just slip it up very quickly the rub back down They want it all you that no Christ is your Savior where you continue in the faith.

Seeking to do the things that God wants you to do, growing in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. This is why it’s so important to study the Bible, to go to Bible College, to see what God may have for you. Father, we thank you so much for this opportunity to come before you. Thank you for your very lesson. Christ and we pray. Amen. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr.

Ralph Arnold. We pray that you are blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll-free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. To listen to today’s message again or to obtain a free download of any of our Bible line programs, just go to our homepage at BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the Radio Broadcast link. If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us.

The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 10.30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by clicking on the Calvary Community Church link at BibleLineMinistries.org. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound, and we will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.