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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.

I love thy church, O God, her walls before they stand. But please excuse my absence, Lord. This bed is simply grand. A charge to keep I have, a God to glorify. But Lord expect no cash from me. Thy glory comes too high. Am I a soldier of the cross? A follower of the Lamb? Yes, though I seldom pray. I still insist I am. must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free? No others, Lord, should do their part, but please don’t count on me.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Loud my hymns of praise I bring because it doesn’t cost a thing to sing. Daddy had a little boy. His soul was white as snow. He never went to Sunday School or Church because Daddy wouldn’t go. He never heard the word of God that thrills the childish mind. While other children went to class, this child was left behind. As he grew from babe to youth, Dad saw to his dismay, a soul that once was snowy white became a dingy gray.

That even started back to church and Bible studies too. He begged the pastor, isn’t there a thing that you can do? The preacher tried and tried and said we’re just too far behind. I tried to tell you years ago, but you would pay no mind. And so another soul was lost that once was twice known. Sunday school and church would have helped, but daddy wouldn’t go. Here in the book of Acts in chapter 16, a story about Paul and Silas was in jail.

And there was an earthquake, and the keeper of the prison, awakened out of his sleep, and was afraid that all the prisoners had left, and so he was going to commit suicide. But in verse 28, Paul cried with a loud voice saying, do thyself no harm, for we’re all here. Then he called for a light and sprang and he came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas and brought them out and says, sirs, what must I do to be saved?

And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Now thy house is not anasuring thing if you491 you get saved, your house automatically gets saved, nobody gets saved for somebody else. but it’s a promise that if you believe you’ll be saved, if your house will believe they’ll be saved, if the whole city believes the whole city will be saved, if the whole state believes the whole state will be saved, if the whole nation believes the whole nation will be saved, if the whole world believes the whole world will be saved because Christ came into the world and down on the cross with the sins of the whole world and said for God so loved the world, that Whosoever believe it than him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

This man influenced his family because it says there in verse 32, and they spaken to him the word of the Lord and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized. He in all his straight weight. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them in rejoices, believing in God with all his house, a man that affected those people that lived unto his roof.

You and I are supposed to have an impact upon the people that live in our home. Yes, I believe that God holds the man responsible for the spiritual training that children need to receive. And also, God holds the man responsible for the direction that home goes. Whether or not that home is a home that’s dedicated to God, God holds the man responsible. I want you to look in the book of Ephesians in chapter 6. The book of Ephesians and chapter 6.

There is a natural pressure that God has placed upon fathers. You see, there’s a lot of pressure in life, a lot of pressure. There’s a pressure from the drug culture, the sex revolution. There’s the pressure of alcohol in our society, rebellion, and pressure isn’t all bad. Even God uses pressure. I want to share with you in a moment eight different points of pressure that God uses to help you and I to know how to govern ourselves and also our families.

Here in Ephesians chapter 6, it says, children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. If it is right for children to obey their parents in the Lord for this is right, who is supposed to teach them that? If you’re to teach them, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right, then it is a right thing to do to teach the children to obey their mom and dad. Today, there’s not much discipline in the home where children are taught to obey.

And then he says in verse two, honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. What is that promise? Well, it’s twofold. That it may be well with thee, and too, that thou mayest live long upon the year. Now, it’s not a blanket thing that everybody who honors their mom and dad is gonna live to be 100 years old, or even 70 years old, or to think because some child died in the teenage years, Or even when they were 10 years or younger, does it mean that they were automatically because they were rebellious to mom and dad, unless God has a higher purpose.

A child can live to be a ripe old age. And it can be well with them. But sometimes God intervenes because he has a higher purpose than what you and I understand or know about. And God may take us home early. But our going home should not be because of rebellion. Now, he makes the statement there in verse four, and ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up, that means to rear them, to raise them, and the nurture or the discipline and the admonition of the Lord.

You tell me how a father is going to do that, without himself being obedient to God, virtually impossible. impossible, because how can a father teach the son or the daughter to understand the disciplines of Christianity to obey mother and father in those things that are right to honor mother and father and to honor the Lord, and for to be admonished by scripture to nurture them without knowing what the word of God says. Proverbs 22, and notice they’re in verse six.

Says, train up a child in the way he should go. When he is old, he will not depart from it. Once again, train up a child. Does it mean telling a child what to do? Training a child, disciplining a child, correcting a child, admonishing a child. That’s all involved in training a child. Train them where they will do the thing they’re supposed to do naturally. Many parents are simply feeding their children, clothing their children, putting a roof over their head and giving them no spiritual training.

And wonder why the children are so rebellious. Maybe it has something to do with the way they’re being trained. It could be. But when he says here, train up a child on the way, he should go, not the way the child wants to go. There’s a lot of difference. The way they should go is based upon what God wants them to do, what God wants them to be. So therefore there is a responsibility here. When he is old, he will not depart from it.

Two things, if his desire is to serve the Lord, he will have the training with which to do it. But God will not override the will of the child. Some children, you can train them about what they’re supposed to do and how they’re supposed to be. But that still does not override the will of the child. So the point in training them while they’re young, but to create within them that desire to where they want to be used by God.

And then they see the purpose and the need for the training. You and I would understand better how to do this great job because it’s the greatest job in all the world. There is no job quite as hard and as difficult as raising children. Requires as much discipline, as much training as it does in raising children the right way. But one is the pressure of expectation. If we understood how God, our heavenly Father, wants to raise us as His children, and understand the pressure that God puts us under, then we would have an idea of what we’re supposed to do with our children.

Number one is God tells us what He expects from us. He says that when you trusted Him as your saving, you became his child. God expects you an eye. He expects you an eye to live the way He wants us to live. He has given to us His Word. And in this Word is the will of God revealed. So that you cannot know the will of God without knowing the Word of God. So there is a pressure of expectation.

What do you expect? What do you want? So we live under a certain amount of pressure of being what God wants us to be. God assumes that our desire would be that I want to be what God wants me to be. So I should live with that expectation of of pleasing my father. That is also what needs to be taught to a child. What do you expect from them? What do you want them to be? Many times parents want their children to be a football player, they want them to be a doctor or a lawyer, and they want their children to live out their dreams.

That’s not what God’s talking about. Train up a child on the way he should go so he can be what God wants to be your desire and your expectation. I want my child to be a godly individual. I want him not only to know the Lord, but I want him to walk with the Lord, to serve the Lord. That should be your goal. If he happens to be a doctor, praise the Lord. If he happens to be a lawyer, praise the Lord.

If he happens to be a person that picks up trash, praise the Lord, but your goal is I want Him to be a man of character, to be a godly individual. So that is what you expect because that is what God expects. So there’s a natural pressure that is to be placed upon the child. The child should know, what do you want Mom? What do you want Dad? What do you want me to do? And many times parents don’t discipline or guide the children.

They just let the children be like a bunch of barnyard animals. Whatever you want, according to their own human nature, without any guidance whatsoever. And think just because they put food in their stomachs and close on their back. And a roof over their head. They’re good parents. No, you’re not. You’re failing. unless you give them something higher worth living for. The second pressure is the pressure of responsibility. Does not God give to you an eye responsibility, a purpose in living, something to live for?

Responsibility means responding according to your ability. That’s what God wants every one of us to do. And He will give us test throughout our life. To see how we’re going to respond to certain tests and trials and tribulations. God does not try to save us from the pressures of life. We’re in this world. You cannot remove all the pressures, all the trials and tribulations that’s going to happen to your children. The key thing is can you give them and teach them how to respond according to their ability and the trials that they’re having to face.

And when they’re young, they don’t have much ability, so you don’t give them much responsibility and you don’t expect too much in their response. But because you want them to be what God will need, you have some goal in your mind, you have a direction that they ought to go, you know where you’re trying to lead them and you keep increasing with their ability to perform. So you and I have this pressure, always upon us, even from God. And that’s a pressure where to place upon those children.

Knowing that you are responsible for your actions, for what you do. Many people today go through life blaming everybody and everything for why they do what they do. Instead of803 looking in the mirror and says, look, Bella, are you not responsible for your action, for what you say and for what you do and for the decision that you make? Here’s the day everybody’s blaming society. Nobody takes the fault. I, sander, I was wrong and I need to ask forgiveness and I need to correct the problem.

And we think if we throw more money at our situation or a problem, it’ll heal itself. No, it doesn’t work that way. The third pressure is the pressure of accountability. Every one of us needs to understand. God expects certain things and God is holding us responsible. And one day you and I are going to stand before God and give an account for what we’ve done. The judgment seat of Christ is a rewarding stand. It’s the place where God is going to reward us for what we have done and obedience to Him since we’ve been saved.

And God is also going to allow us to suffer the consequences of not serving Him and a loss of rewards. Oh, He’ll never beat us up. He’s not going to chase us up in heaven, but we’ll suffer the loss of what we could have had. But there is an accountability. Don’t you believe that your Heavenly Father and you as His child that God is going to hold you accountable? What is the pressure then that should be placed upon children?

Holding children accountable? I know that one day I’m going to have to give an account to my Heavenly Father. Children needs to know they’re going to have to give an account when they disobey their mom and they disobey their father and there should be consequences but today most parents are afraid of government because government says don’t you dare discipline those children when the Bible says spare the rod and spoil the child God’s meaning don’t you dare spare the rod and the Bible says spank that child.

You should, well, I never do that. I love my child too much. If you love them, you discipline. I’m not talking about murdering them. I’m not talking about bouncing them off the walls. I’m talking about loving discipline upon that child. Because your heavenly father knows more about raising kids than the social services know, or our legislators know who pass up crazy laws that takes away the authority away from the parent and parents living fear of having their children taken away from them because of it.

And God is even going to hold us accountable because we did or did not hold our children accountable. Discipline children who are disciplined in love don’t mind it. And they appreciate it because it gives them a sense of security. There is a pressure of example. Because, see, our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ gave us an example of what we’re supposed to do. And I believe that every Father should be an example to His children. A Father should not do things.

He doesn’t want His children to do. You want your children to do right. Then, blessed be God, so does your Heavenly Father want you to do right. The Father’s supposed to be the example. You want those children to obey their mom and dad, then why don’t you obey your heavenly Father and love your wife. One of the best examples you’ll ever be is a loving husband, a loving husband, loving your wife, being true to your wife, being faithful to your wife.

You are destructive to your children when you will not love your wife. There’s a pressure of consistency, hatefulness. Some people will discipline their kids when they’re in the mood to discipline, or they discipline them wrong when they’re in a bad mood. When they’ve had enough, then they want to kill a little monster instead of realizing discipline to children takes discipline with parents. You have to be consistent. You have to be faithful. You can’t do it just when you want to do it.

You have to be disciplined all the time to train the child in the way he should go. And when you tell that child, you do that Johnny one time and you’re getting a spanking. When Johnny does it one time, he gets the spanking. Not three more threats. That when mommy gets mad enough, when she speaks, you obey or suffer the consequences. That’s the word of God. I don’t make it up. I’m not going to rewrite it either, but I’m going to tell it the way it is.

If you love that child, you’ve chasing that child and teach him to know that when you rebel, there’s a punishment to be received because your heavenly father is going to hold you accountable. You’re responsible and you want to teach those things, you have to fulfill those things in your own life. I believe also there’s the pressure. of heroes. What do you want your kids to be like when they grow up? Do you know the Bible pictures everything around God’s Son?

Here is my Son? Here ye Him. My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And we’re told all of God’s children, God says, look, I want all of my children. I want you to be like your elder brother. I want you to be just like my number one son over here. I want you to be just like him. He is to be our hero. He’s the one we’re supposed to follow and I want to be like him. Today our children have a lot of different kinds of heroes.

Some of those heroes are wicked people. They’re the helly wood stars. People that are wrong examples. You can go into some homes and they’ll have long-haired hippies and pictures of rock group and acid rock, all of the walls. And you’re listening to a bunch of trash and filth. Who’s their heroes? Do the kids get disciplined for things like, or just do whatever you want to do? No, you don’t. Say, child, you’re in my home and I love you. But under my roof, you will obey my authority.

You see, if you don’t have any authority and you have no respect for yourself. They’re not going to give you any. It has to be earned by your own discipline or you have your children calling you a hippo crit because you demand of them something and you do the same wicked thing in another area. It’ll make you have to be the right example and clean up your act. That’s why a lot of parents can’t discipline their kids because they’re not disciplined.

They’re not doing right themselves and they know it. They’re not faithful. They’re not obedient but should be. The seventh pressure is the pressure of rewards. Did you know that God in heaven uses rewards to motivate you and I? And there’s a pressure I want to perform. I want to win. I only have one thing that Paul says and I want to strive for the prize of the mark of the high calling. Unlike in a race and I want to win.

God says the the judgment of Christ is a rewardings, then where he rewards you for what you’ve done. Ruling and reigning with Christ and whatever position I don’t know, but I know this, there’s a certain amount of pressure there knowing that if I perform, God’s going to use me in a great way. I want God’s blessings. Shouldn’t a child be complimented and praised when he does well? And when he does wrong, he should be disciplined, chastened, spanked, if necessary.

Some form of punishment because you’re, well, I don’t want to hurt the child. Listen, you’re doing more damage to that child than you’ll ever know. When that child gets old enough and thinks he can get away with sin, when he can get away because I got away with it, my mom and dad, they never corrected me. should praise and give privileges to obedience. Because this is how God raises his children. This is what God wants. And when you as a child of God, when you rebel against your heavenly father, don’t you dare.

Thank for a moment you’re getting away with it. Because your heavenly father is going to chase in you. He’s going to chase in you. You see, going to heaven is free. But the blessings that we have here and now and the reward that we have in heaven is the result of our obedience or we’re going to be chastened, disciplined. And God will chasten every one of his children whom he hath received. You see, you’ll learn how to be the right kind of a father simply by finding out what kind of a father God is.

Take your Bible and turn to the book of John chapter 14 says, but that the world may know that I love the Father and as the Father gave me commandments even so I do. You know where he said I’m doing what I’m doing because I want the world to know I love the Father and the Father says if you love me obey me. Love has a lot of pressure to it. If a man loves his wife, he wants to be obedient and faithful to his wife.

He wants to be the right example to the children if a man loves a wife. You see, pressure works and motivates. Love can also cause a restraint upon your life to do that, which is wrong because love does that. Love has its own set of rules and laws. Number eight the pressure of love Love pressures you to please That’s why if we love the Lord My love for the Lord is the pressure that pushes and motivates me to want to please him God says that he loves me and Then I should love him because he first loved me.

He proved that he loved me There’s one thing that your children should not question or doubt about you is that you love your children. That you love them. You may not always agree with them. They won’t always agree with you. You may even have to spank them from time to time and maybe many times. But they still ought to know, my mom loves me. My daddy loves me. They love me. They care about me. I don’t agree with them, but I know they’re doing it for my bet because they love me.

And that love is one of the greatest pressure points that you could ever place upon anybody. Son, I just want to know. I love you. I love you. I love you. I care about you. I want the best for you. And maybe you can be disappointed because they may not meet your expectations, but they ought to know you still love them. When you disobey God, when you disobey Him, and you know your heavenly Father has all the power to chasten you, you still know He loves you.

True? His love will not change. Your love should not change. You want your children still to know, honey, I love you. And if Daddy can never help you, you call me. like it’s one daddy, one outside one day and he knows his son would play with two other little kids. And as most kids always do, one little boy said, my dad knows the mayor. The other little boy says, my dad knows the governor. So the man was wondering, I wonder what my son’s going to say.

And so the little boy stood up and the other two said, my dad knows God, my dad knows God. You can’t have a better testimony than my dad knows God. To know God and to walk with God is the best example any Father can be. 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 Bible program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage. 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 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live. And now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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. Just keep looking up.