This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

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 Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Here in the book of 1 Corinthians 1 it says in verse 26, And ye see your calling brethren, now this is to those who have trusted Christ as Savior. How that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God have chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. God have chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. Bass things of the world and things which are despised have God chosen.

Yay and things which are not to bring to not things that are, that no flesh is glory in his presence. See, God wants an individual to be saved by grace and not by works lest any man should boast. But after you’ve trusted Christ as your Savior, to realize that God wants to use you, it’s not going to be because you have such self-confidence in your talents and in your ability. I told him, and this is the other day. I said, what is that?

He said it’s a pen. I said, what’s the purpose of the pen? He says to write. I said, there’s a lot of $5 pens in the world and a lot of 3 cent pencils. I said, but if the $5 pen doesn’t write and I needed an important message to get down, I said, what do you think I ought to do? I’d use that 3 cent pencil. I said, I’m a 3 cent pencil and I want God to use me because there’s a lot of $5 pens.

It’s got a lot of talent and a lot of ability, but they’ll never yield themselves to God. I want to read to you a brief story. It’s the story that’s in this little book right here. It’s called Outbreak, written by Greg Steer, hot off the press. He sent me a copy. And he said in here, thank you so much for teaching me the importance of the clear gospel and the essence of real youth ministry. May God unleash a viral revival of biblical proportions across this nation to leave a legacy.

Greg. And he wanted me to have a copy of it and he marked a couple of places in here where he referred to myself. He told us a story in here. I was glancing through it and I saw it and I said, this is something that he wrote about a guy that really influenced his life. Because sometimes we look at people differently than what God looks at people. And he says this, Doug came from a broken family in the inner city.

He was reared in a climate of extreme violence and dysfunction. Physical altercations between family members and absolute strangers were common in Doug’s neighborhood and household. To add to Doug’s problems, he He had a dangerous form of epilepsy. Grand mal seizures were part of his routine. Two separate times he had such severe seizures that his heart stopped and he nearly died. Doug always struggled in school. He had a hard time learning, was a bit slow, even when it came to the most basic subjects.

He tried hard but often he just couldn’t get it. Kids can be cruel. they made fun of Doug. His epilepsy and learning disabilities made him an easy target. More often than not, Doug responded with his fist. He had learned the art of violence firsthand and was ready to practice it anytime, anywhere, and with anyone. As a result, suspensions from school and trouble with the law followed. Doug was walking quickly down the path of self-destruction. One day Doug was invited to go to a Christian camp in Florida when we took many times.

When he went, he was challenged by speaker after speaker to make a difference with his life. Each of those powerful preachers seemed to be talking straight to him. They preached about the person of Jesus Christ and the purpose that he offers to those who follow him. They talked about the need to tell others the good news of forgiveness through Jesus Christ. As they could be saved from hopelessness, now and hell later. Doug was hooked. That week he dedicated his life to follow Jesus Christ and keep others out of hell.

After a few major setbacks when he arrived home, he began to live a life that was summoned for Christ. Every day was another opportunity to tell someone else about Jesus Christ. At 16 years old, he didn’t have a car. He didn’t even own a bike, so he began to walk and talk. It was common for people driving down the street to see Doug witness into some person, waiting at the bus stop or hitchhiking. He stuttered and stambered his way through gospel presentation after gospel presentation.

The surprising thing was that more often than not people listened. It wasn’t that he was articulate. It wasn’t that he was suave. It wasn’t that he was all that logical. But he reeked of a contagious authenticity that would contaminate his listeners. His smile could light up a dark room. His heart was filled with the love of Jesus Christ and the people he was talking to. One day, Doug asked me to go soul-winning with him early on a Saturday morning.

To be honest, sometimes I was embarrassed to go witnessing with him. He was too bold. Sometimes I would cringe when he tried to get a passenger or a stranger’s attention. But once he launched into the presentation, Whoever was listening to him could not help but be fully engaged. That particular Saturday morning excursion was going nowhere. It was too early in the morning. Nobody was outside yet. Doug was getting frustrated. Where’s everyone? He began to shout in frustration. They’re still in bed, I responded.

Finally, we went to a tiny part near my apartment complex. About 100 yards away, an eight or nine-year-old boy was playing on a jungle gym. Doug jumped into action. In his excitement about finally finding someone to talk to, he began running right toward the kid yelling, hey kid, where are you going when you die? I will never forget the look of sheer terror in that child’s eyes as he screamed, home and ran away as fast as he could. Doug walked back toward me, absolutely dejected.

Doug, you scared that poor kid to death? I will never forget his response. And he looked up with tears in his eyes. Says, I didn’t mean to scare that kid. I just don’t want to see that kid die and go to hell. Dave saved up his money or Doug. And he bought a 10-speed bike. He was completely excited by his new mobile means of evangelism. He rode his bike everywhere, talked to all sorts of people in parks, on the street, on sidewalks and across overpasses.

One day he told me the story of pulling up to a stoplight and noticing a car full of guys next to him, waiting for the red light to turn green. He thought those guys are going to die and go to hell unless I tell them about Christ. So he knocked on the window or the passenger side window. One of the men tentatively rolled the window down, curious about what this teenager wanted. He knew that his time was short, so he blurted out the gospel message as quickly and clearly as he could.

But he couldn’t get it out fast enough, the light turned green. We got to go, the driver blurted out as he began to press the gas puddle and drive away. Doug couldn’t let the opportunity pass. Too much was at stake. I’m going with you.” He answered as he grabbed onto the door handle with his left hand. The car continued to accelerate. Doug continued to share the gospel message. At 20 miles per hour, Doug was still sharing. At 30 miles per hour, he was almost done.

Finally, at 40 miles per hour, Doug had finished sharing the whole gospel story. I hope you trust in Christ as your Savior, He yelled as His white knuckled finger, let go of the car handle, and His ten-speed wiz’d and wobbled toward the curb. What was my response to Doug’s daring story? Doug, you’re an idiot. You could have died. You could have been sucked under the wheels. Run over. I’ll never forget his response. It would have been worth it as long as those guys hear and believe the gospel message.

I just don’t want to see those guys go to hell. That was one of those guys who took his Christianity seriously. He really believed in heaven and hell. It wasn’t an astute faith or even a profound faith. It was simple, childlike faith. Doug really believed. I felt convicted every time I was around him. Sometimes when we were together I would be watching TV and he would be over in the corner reading his Bible. Every few minutes or so he would come over to me and ask, Greg, what does this first mean?

He said, I would explain it to him and he would go back to the corner and continue studying, meticulously writing down my response in marking and notes in his Bible margin. He studied because he wanted to be a better witness for Christ. Finally, at the age of 19, Doug graduated from high school with diploma in hand, he went off to the army. Once again, he struggled to fit in with those around him. He marched left foot forward when everybody else was starting with the right.

He just couldn’t get it, but he could give it the gospel that is. I remember the letters he would send me from time to time sharing the opportunities that God had given him to share with his fellow soldiers and commanding officers. Soon Doug was armed with discharge by an army that appreciated his efforts but knew that life wasn’t for him. When Doug came back home he met a girl who was a waitress at a local restaurant. He was just a her, she trusted the Lord.

He thought she was cute so he asked her out. She said yes. When he asked her to marry him on their second date she said yes. His family has never stopped sharing his faith. Today he is a custodian in Des Moines, Iowa. Every week or so he calls me. We talk about his family, his job, his church, and his wife. We also talk about the people he has been witnessing to. Twenty-five years after his decision to become a better soul winner at a camp in Florida, Doug is still winning souls.

One day at the Judgement City of Christ, Doug’s name will be called. On that day I believe thousands will stand and applaud this Epiletic Socially Challenge struggling custodian for the impact he made on their lives. I will be one of them. Doug is my big brother. He is seven years older than I am. I remember the old Doug before he got serious about Christ. I remember the new Doug after he got infected. Infected with the Gospel. He had every excuse to keep quiet, but he refused to be excused.

One of the reasons I do what I do today traveling and training teenagers to share their faith is because of that one lonely teenager who shared his faith relentlessly, courageously, consistently. I know that if my brother Doug could do it as a struggling team, your kids can too. Sometimes you think, well, I don’t want to spend time witnessing to this particular person or that person because there are nobody. Well, sometimes these nobodies influence the somebody that can use to shape the world.

And now this great steers having meetings all over America and influencing people in a tremendous$h way.isdom. You and I don’t understand that God does not see as we see. And you’d be surprised how God may be able to use a particular person that you went to the Lord that’s maybe only 8, 9 or 10 years old. Maybe they’re 15 or 16 years old and maybe they can’t think as clearly as everybody else. Maybe they’re educable, slow. Every one of you in this room have a basic belief about something and you have a form of government on how you rule your life.

But everybody is ruled and governed by somebody or something, a set of governmental laws. But what do you believe? And how do you know that what you believe is the truth? Number one, sympathize with the person. Explain that what you want to talk about is not a religion. Do not insinuate that they are stupid. Remember they do not know the truth. Sometimes it will be easier to lead to the Lord. Those who have rejected religion because at least they have recognized something that was not right about what they had been taught.

There’s a lot of people that have gone to churches and don’t want any part of it. They’ve seen a lot of hypocrisy. heard a lot of preachers that tell them that if they want to get saved, they’ve got to stop their drinking, they’re smoking, and they’ve got to stop this and stop that and so forth. And they feel like they cannot live a hypocritical life. And to be honest with themselves, they want no part of it. And I don’t blame them.

They’re being real. And a lot of them will never darken the doors of a church and no one anybody to witness to them because they’ve been told that you’ve got a live, a certain quality life, a straight and narrow way to hire standard for them. So I guess they’ll just go to hell. That’s not the gospel they’re rejecting. That’s religion they’re rejecting. Religions comes from the Latin word re-enlegia meaning to bind back and there’s people trying to bind themselves back to God by their works.

Compliment a person. I’m talking to you about how to be effective. I’m not talking to you about how just to go to church every Sunday and bring your Bible and you look religious, you play the game, and you go out those doors, and you go to work, and it never changes you. Nothing ever happens in your life. You never witness to anybody. And God has given to you and I a tremendous message, but it’s the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes.

Agree with people whenever you can. But the issue is always grace and works. It’s either by grace or it’s by works, but it cannot be by both. Salvation is either free or you have to earn it. And the way you know if a person is working their way to heaven by their good deeds is if they can lose it. If they can lose it, they’re dependent on their works for salvation. Sometimes a person will question your authority to speak on theological issues.

You explain to them that it’s not a question of his opinion, versus yours. Your opinion versus his opinion isn’t any better than his opinion. But you’re always wanting to keep it between them and God. God said, this is what God said. The Bible says, before asking a person to trust Christ as a Savior, it is always important to explain that he can know he has eternal life from the moment he does believe. I want you to look there in John 1 John 5 13, 1 John in chapter 5 and verse 13.

I use this verse often, sometimes I use it to start with because I want people to be penalized, like hanging a t-bone stake in front of a dog. I want to watch him drool. I want a person to want this so bad that they’ll listen to what I got to tell them on how to get it. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have, eternal life.

Why is this written? That you may what? Know that you have eternal life. Does God want the people who believe to know they have eternal life? Yes, He does. When should a person know they have eternal life? When should you know? Is it okay if a person’s been saved for 25 years to know he has eternal life? Well, that’d be good, wouldn’t it? I think if a person lived for 25 years, he ought to know he has eternal life.

If he’s trusted Christ, a Savior. Oh, what about if he was 20 years old in the Lord? Wouldn’t that be good for him to know? Yeah? Well, what if he was only 10 years in the Lord? Wouldn’t it be good for him to know that he has eternal life? Well, yes. Well, what if he was five years? Well, that would be good for him to know. What if he’s only been saved for a year? a person who’s been saved for only one year, wouldn’t he need to know that he has eternal life?

These things have already done to you that believe. It didn’t say at what point, at what time, as long as you believe it, if you believe it, you should know you have eternal life. Yes or no? That’s what he says. So if a man can know he has eternal life and it’s okay to know it when he’s been saved 30 years or 25 years or even a year, what about six months? What about a month What if a man’s been saved for one week and he’s a believer?

Can a believer who’s only been saved one week know he has eternal life? What if he’s only been saved for a day? Should a man who’s been saved only for one day? Should he know he has eternal life? These things have already written on you that believe. Even if it’s only for one week, you think it would include him? What if he just trusted the Lord? That moment that he trusts the Lord. The moment he believes, Is it okay for him to know he has eternal life?

Well then if he can know he has eternal life, the moment he believes, is it okay to tell him that he can have eternal life before you tell him how to get it? Yes. You can know you have eternal life. I want a person to know that they can be saved, they can have eternal life. Man can know he has eternal life. Eternal life is what? It’s eternal. If you can know you have it, how long would it last once you have it?

It will last forever. But something else I want you to see there. Look there in verse 12 verse 12 of 1 John chapter 5. He that hath the son hath what life? He that hath not the son of God hath not life. So whether you have eternal life or not depends on whether you have the son or not. If you have the son you have life. If you don’t have the son you don’t have life. So the key to getting this life is to have who?

The son. So when you accept Christ you have eternal life. When would you expect to get eternal life? The moment you have the Son because the Son and eternal life are the same. When Jesus says I’ll never leave you nor forsake you then also neither eternal life can ever leave me or forsake me. Look what he says down in verse 20. And we know that the Son of God has come and have given us an understanding. That we may know Him that is true.

We are in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and what? You’re underlying that in your Bible. He is God and He is eternal life. How can you get Christ without getting eternal life? If Christ will never leave you and never forsake you, how can you lose eternal life? You can’t lose it. And if you get Christ the moment you trust Him as your Savior, when do you get eternal life? That very moment.

Can you know you have eternal life? Yes you can. Romans 6, 23. Says, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. When you get one, you get the other. When you get Jesus Christ, you get eternal life. And it is the gift of God. It’s the gift of God. Jesus Christ is the gift. He’s the gift. Notice, the gift of God is eternal life, not life until you sin again, or life until you backslide.

You ever hear preachers talk about stuff like that? Oh yeah, you’re saved today, but you can backslide. Okay, what do you mean? Define your term. You mean I can backslide and lose my salvation? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, then you ain’t a preacher. You’re a deceiver. You’re a false teacher, false preacher. You got no business claiming to be a preacher speaking for God. Cause God didn’t say that. His word doesn’t say that. It doesn’t say you’re saved till you sin again.

Say it till you backslide. It doesn’t say that. You don’t add to the scriptures. You don’t add to it. God’s gift is salvation, not probation. You see, if you could be saved today and lose it tomorrow because you didn’t live a certain way, then salvation would be probation. In other words, you were on probation. John 647, this verse should be underlined in your Bible. It’s a powerful verse. It’s a small But the words so precise says so much. John 647, barely, barely, which means truthfully, truthfully, I say unto you.

He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. Look up here. He that believeth hath everlasting life. So simple. example, he, that means anybody, he, that believe it, all it requires. Yeah, but you got to live, no, no, no, no, don’t you add to it, don’t say that. You know, you got to go to church and live the bench, no, no, no, no, it doesn’t say that. It is not true. There is no requirements on how you have to live.

You mean I don’t have to change my life, anything? No you don’t. Nothing. No promises of any kind. No stipulations on how you have to live the rest of your life. Or it’s not by grace. Salvation must be by grace and grace alone. It cannot be having anything hidden to take to the way later. You can’t give it to you in a big You can’t get away in the little print. You’re saved by grace. Grace is unmerited. Unmerited. How do you know when you really believe?

When you can say you have it. Do you have it? You can’t say you have it. You don’t believe it. If I ask you, have you trusted Christ to say, oh yes. Do you have eternal life? Well, I don’t know. Then you don’t understand it. You don’t know. You don’t know what being saved means. What does being saved means? Being saved means that you’re saved from hell. If you’re not saved from hell, then what does being mean to you?

Doesn’t mean anything, the words. These things have a written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe in the name of the Son of God. When you talk about believing on the name of the Son of God, then you need to know what the name of the Son of God means. This is written to a certain class of people, not to the rich or poor, American or African, Jew or Gentile, Buddhist or Baptist, but to those who believe on the name of the Son of God.

His name, Jesus. Jesus comes from the Greek translation of the Hebrew word, Jehovah Yasha. And means the eternal self-existent God who saves and keeps. Those who believe Jesus is the Lord and trust Him to save them and keep them saved can know they have eternal life. When he talks about believe on the name of the Son of God. Or like he says in the book of John chapter 1, he says, as many as received him to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to those that believe on his name.

His name means. God who will save and keep you. God cannot lie. If he didn’t mean what he said, he should not have what? He should not have said it if he didn’t mean it. Ask the person, is this written to you? Do you believe on the name of the Son of God? Once the person actually receives Christ as a Savior, there should be no difficulty for him to realize he now has eternal life. Anyone who clearly understands what Christ did on the cross will not have a problem with eternal security.

When they understand the gospel, they won’t have a problem with eternal security. Every person who has a problem with eternal security has a problem with the gospel. Eternal security is not a separate doctrine in salvation. It is salvation. Those who do not know they will be saved forever are usually not saved to start with. Heaven is the tremendous inheritance of the children of God. And for a Christian to lack the full assurance of knowing he will go to Heaven when he dies would be a great tragedy.

So you made truly at one point in your life. The best you know how you totally, 100% you depended upon the payment Christ made on the cross. and you trusted Him as your Savior, and you believed you were saved from hell, and you believed you were going to go to heaven at that moment, and God gave you eternal life, and you believe that. And because of a lack of Bible teaching, you don’t go to church, don’t get things ripped from your mind, you can eventually get to the place where you can question and doubt your salvation.

Not even believe it’s your saved. But if you’ve ever been saved, you what? You still are. Once you’re saved, you’re always saved. And all of your doubts and questions afterwards cannot annul what God knows to be true. He fathered you. He knows them that belong to Him. According to 2 Timothy chapter 2, look up here. This sin represents you and me and the wall of represents sin. We all have sin upon us. God loves us. It hates our sin.

For you and I to pay for that sin is eternal separation from the Lord. place called hell. But God loves us, wants us to go to heaven. To go to heaven we have to be perfect as righteous as God and no one’s perfect, nobody’s righteous. We’re all sinners. The Bible says that because we can’t save ourselves we need a Savior. This hand represents Jesus Christ, he’s the Lord God in the flesh. He came into the world because he loves us, hates our sin.

Our sin separates us from he took the sin, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead. God said if you and I will believe He did it for us. He put the payment account. We go to heaven on what he did for us. God’s looking for just one person who really believes what he says. More than nothing to change him, nothing to stop him. I got a lot of phone calls from people around the area in Colorado because of Doug’s fear.

And I had to explain to him what he was doing to change somebody’s life and so on. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were 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. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program.

Go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page. If you’re 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 1030 and at six o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website. Calvary of Tampa dot 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. We will be changed. Hot up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day. Believing that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up.