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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 month… and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach which is toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We prayGil 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.

So we’re talking about spiritual blessing, that is your position that you have in Christ, that’s who you are, that’s where you are. You are in Him and that’s where God had placed you. That took place the moment you took Him as your Savior. The union determined at the moment of salvation. Remember, death is what? Separation, sin separates us from God. So when you trusted Christ as your Savior, you now, and we have been joined together with the Lord. There’s a union there and this union can never be broken.

It can never be broken. He said, I’ll never leave you, never forsake, never will. He says, because Jesus Christ is eternal life. So when you have Christ, you have eternal life. He that hath the Son, half life, and he that hath not the Son of God, half not life. So he that believe it in him, half everlasting. You have something, you have life. That’s a union that God gives to you. And he says, this mortal must be swallowed up of immortality.

And this is a verse that we read at the funeral the other day. The temporal is swallowed up of life. And so Christ, we are in Him. That is our union and it can never be broken. That union can never be broken. You got it at the moment of salvation. You’re standing determined at the moment of salvation. This is your position that you have in Christ. The word standing is the word that we usually refer to all of this.

That is my position in Christ. That is my standing in Christ. It can never change. Now look at letter A, the little small letter A. These are not experienced by the emotions of the flesh. Your salvation is not experienced by the emotions of the flesh. When I trusted Christ as my savior, did I cry? Yes, I did. I have seen other people that trust Christ as a savior and they laugh. Our emotions did not play the part in our salvation.

You were not saved because you cried when you went down to the front or because you set your hand and you smiled and you raised your hand. You see, nothing physical went into this salvation because that was something that you did as a mental thing between you and God when you put your faith, your trust in Jesus Christ. Now, the external things that you may have done, my vary with different people, but none of the emotions is what saved you.

You are not saved because you shed tears. You are not saved because you smiled. You weren’t saved because you frowned. Those things can be different for different people, but has nothing to do with your salvation. Your salvation was, did you or did you not? Did you accept Jesus Christ as you say? Yes, you did. Every man is saved exactly the same way. Look at letter B. The walks of the saint do not attain these progressively. There’s people who think that as you walk with the Lord and you keep getting better and better and better, then your union gets better with Christ your position is more secure, but if you ever stop walking, then you lose your position in Christ.

You don’t go to heaven now. And all that’s changed. And this union that you have between you and the Lord is broken, and now you can still go to hell in the future because they believe it’s progressive and you get better and better. But see, that’s not taught in the Bible. No man said, well, I was saved five years ago and I’ve been a working on my salvation. And I’m getting better and better and I’m getting it more anchored, more secure, and I’m doing the best thing.

No, no, no, you don’t understand it. Your salvation is a one time deal to take place, the very moment that you accepted Christ as your Savior. Let her see, look at letter C. They are not given on the basis of human merit. In other words, your position that you have in Christ, your salvation has never been determined by any human merits that you have ever done. It’s not because you come to church, it’s not because you’ve given money, because you did anything.

It’s only because you did it or did it or not, except Christ is your Savior. That’s the only reason. Letter D, these are obtained completely at the moment of salvation. The very moment you trusted the Lord, you were safe and secure and sealed in Jesus Christ, and that can never be changed. Now, these last three things are very important because if it wasn’t for the divine revelation of the Word of God, you would not know that this spiritual birth ever took place because it’s not based upon a feeling.

You have faith, and fact, and feeling. Many people think that goes by feeling, and then faith, and then fact. No, no, no, it’s faith, and then on the facts, and then the feeling. So you have to put your faith in the facts, and then the feelings can follow later. And, but your confidence is not in that, it’s on the facts, just the facts, ma’am. And you read the Bible, and you learn the facts, and you put your faith in the facts.

And then never worry about the feeling, NRLS because see, you might feel like you’re saved today, But tomorrow you may not feel like it, so are you or are you not based upon your feelings? Well, see, you can’t go by your feelings because feelings do what? Feelings change. So you never base your salvation upon an emotional experience that you think you had somewhere. It was, did you or did you not? Intellate you. Did you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior?

Now, if you did, you have eternal… eternal )] life and God will never cast you out in evolution. Look at literally they are realized only by divine revelation because if the Bible didn’t tell us these things because this is known only to God because you see your position in Christ you wouldn’t know that you had that if the Word of God didn’t tell us that and let her if they are eternal and never changing. So you’re being born into God’s family is something that does not change.

That is an absolute that is eternal. It never changes. It’s never altered. And that’s why I’ve said before, my salvation in Jesus Christ, so you can never be changed or altered by God or me, because that’s what he did for me. This all is under the letter A depends upon the in your underlyingness again or circle work of Christ. This is the work he did. Your salvation is his work, not your work. It’s not all of your responses and how you did all of it.

No, no, no, has nothing to do with it. It’s all has to do with the work of Christ. Let her gee, this relationship is true and you ought to underline these words every believer. It’s true of every believer and visible only to God. You see, you can’t see somebody else’s spiritual birth. You can’t see my spiritual birth. Only God. And this is why we was covering this in our Sunday school last this morning in the book of Timothy in chapter 2.

Word says that hymines and and if I lead us, had overthrown the faith of some of God’s people. And the Lord says, but nevertheless, nevertheless having this seal, the Lord know of them that are his. What if you trust Christ as your Savior today and then tomorrow, the next day or next week or next month or next year? You don’t believe any of it anymore. Well, are you still saved? More are you lost? saved because your faith has been overthrown because the tempter got at you and your faith hasn’t grown and now you have shipwrecked faith.

So are you still saved? Yes. And he says, nevertheless having this seal, the Lord know of them that are His. It cannot be changed. That is your position in Christ when you trust the Lord as your Savior. Now look at letter B. This depends upon the walk of man, the walk of the Christian man because all of this is talking about the believers standing and state not the lost man. So this depends upon the walk of man at is your condition and condition changes from day to day.

There’s various things that are happening in your life. The condition of our church today is a little bit different than it was last Sunday. There were different people here last week than are not here today. Tonight will be just a little bit different. Everybody who preaches that’s going to be speaking while I’m going to be going. It’s a different situation in every case. Every ranch meeting is different. We don’t do everything exactly 100% exactly the same way because things change because it’s involving us in this life and things in this world is temporal and it changes.

And so you may be very healthy today and be on your deathbed tomorrow or gone completely. And your communion that you have with the Lord is different than the union that you have in your position in Christ. When you trust the Christ in your Savior, this union can never be broken. But as a Christian, my communion with Christ can be. That is the fellowship that I have with the Lord that is based upon my communion with the Lord. And the communion where you commune with each other.

I talk to him and he talks to me. And this talking back and forth between me and God is what affects my walk in the Lord. And if you don’t have the communion between you and the Lord, you’re not going to have a walk that you ought to have with the Lord. If you don’t have a walk you ought to have with the Lord, you’re not going to have a fellowship that you should be. should have with the Lord.

Fellowship is two guys in a ship. Fellowship is two walk together and how can they be agreed? In other words, it says how can two walk together unless they be agreed? So you got people walking with the Lord means you’re walking in agreement with God and this walking in agreement with God is because you’re talking in agreement with God. So your communion that you have affects your walk with the Lord and your walk with the Lord is what affects your fellowship with the Lord.

Well what happens when seeing in there’s a picture of all of this. So number one, look there letter A. They relate to the believers walk where? On earth. So now we’re talking about not our position that we have with Christ in heaven before God as his child, that can never be chained. So what we’re looking that now is everything that can be changed. Things that fluctuate. And the believers walk upon the earth can fluctuate. Today you may be walking close to the Lord and tomorrow you not be walking close to the Lord.

Let her be. They are temporal and constantly changing. And that’s why it’s so important that you do the things every day to keep yourself strong in the Lord. If you don’t, you won’t stay strong. If you don’t stay strong, you’re not going to have the strength that you need to take that old devil, the tempter, that wants to destroy you and keep standing. And the Bible says, having done all to stand. Look what he says, I have it here in number three, letter C.

They are understood by the concepts of spirituality and our carnality. Our look up here, me. I’m a child of God. I’m going to heaven whenever I die. That will never be changed. But what can be changed is because I have a flesh birth, I can be carnal. Because I have a spiritual birth I can be spiritual because I got both kinds right. So if I follow the flesh I will be fleshly minded and I’ll bring forth the works of the flesh but if I am spiritually minded then I can bring forth the fruit of the Spirit.

So I am an individual with two choices and I can go either way and God says be not deceived God is not mocked what’s for a man so if that shall he also reap. So in my life as I live I’m either going to be a carnal Christian or a spiritual Christian carnally minded where you mind the flesh, spiritually minded you mind the Spirit. So you’re always battling who are you going to mind? The lust of the flesh is telling you what to do and the spirit is telling you what to do and you’ve got to make a decision and it’s going to be your choice and you don’t always make the right decision.

As you hear about a lot of people today talking about we have the fortunate and the unfortunate, the fortunate and the unfortunate. Well I I think it’s a shame that there’s a lot of homeless people and a lot of people who are very poor and don’t have anything at all. But remember this, a lot of time it’s not because of who was fortunate and who was unfortunate, it was because those unfortunate made some bad decisions and the fortunate is happening to make some good decisions.

Some people are poor because they chose to be poor because they made poor decisions. Some people are rich today because they made some decisions on how to make money and they disciplined themselves and they just happen to be fortunate. No. made some good decision. You as a child of God, you’re going to live in the same world just like all the other Christians do and you’re going to be tested just like everybody else says and you can have troubles and tribulations just like everybody all the other Christians are.

No different between all of you and some of you are going to make some good decisions and some of you’re not and some of you’re going to be less fortunate because you’re going to be so poor spiritually because you will not do what God says to do. You’re going to be a carnal Christian and some of you’re going to be a strong spiritual Christian because you’ll do what God says do, but it’s because of choices that you make. The next thing I want you to look at in letter D, they are necessary for all your growth and service.

You will not grow strong if you do not understand this clearly, that your position in Christ, once you’re saved you’re what? Always say that never changes. That’s your position that you have in the Lord and the union that you have with Him, you have eternal, that’ll never stop, that’ll never change. But see, that’s our position in Christ. In the heavenly, but we’re not in heaven. We’re down here. Now, I’m still still as child and all that’s true, but right now I got to live in this nasty here and now.

So we’re going to make decisions. We got choices to make. And they are very important for our growth as a Christian and our service as a Christian. Remember I made the statement last week. I am not a TV set trying to produce cows potatoes. I am a preacher trying to produce servants. And if you don’t want to serve the Lord. you’re not going to be happy. Not here you won’t. But if you want to be a servant, then I’ll teach you how to serve.

But that’s my goal is to get everybody busy doing something for the Lord. Not just a set and look pretty. That’s a waste of your time and my time. But look what he says. Down here at letter E, this relationship affects our mind, emotion and body. Did you know the condition sometimes of you physically is because of how you’re Understanding spiritually is it possible that God can make you weak sick and maybe even take you home before your time Yes, he can doesn’t mean that everybody gets sick is because sin in their life No the the friends of Job, you know, they were three of them and they have really gotten married and had a lot of kids and there’s so there’s a lot of Around anymore But keep us in mind your mind can change Every moment of the day and And you can be happy right now and somebody can come up and say something to you and you can be teed off and next day

No, you want to kill somebody? Your mind that your will your emotions all of that can change so quickly with based upon the condition of things that are around you and Your body It doesn’t last also and it can change Like I said healthy one minute and sick the next minute Now look at the next one because this is so important. F and G, very, very, very, very, very, very important. Unconfessed sin breaks our communion. In other words, you’re talking between the Lord.

We call this communicating, right? They say that the key between a husband and a wife is they got to learn to talk to each other, communicate. And so if people I’m not going Nobody can make you have a close communion with the Lord. It can be as good and as real and as dynamic and as powerful as you want it to be. Like me and Betty one day was driving down the road and I’ll never forget this. And I’m sitting there and I’m rolling this road on and I’m driving my car and she says, can’t you drive with one arm?

This is before. before we were married. She can’t she drive with one arm? I said, sure, I don’t know. Hold on, let’s take a moment. I didn’t think. She wanted me to put my arm on, but I didn’t think. And what that cost me? Years later, I’m driving down the road. She’s sitting over there, you know, father went in. She says, you remember how we used to sit real close together like this? I said, yes, dear. I said, but I didn’t move.

I didn’t move. I’m still sitting right here behind the wheel. One time this guy is driving his car, and this good looking girl draws up alongside of him in there in this sports car. She looks over and she gives him a great big old smile. He’s like, hey, did you see that? You see, she gave me a big smile. That ain’t nothing the first time I saw you, I laughed out loud. So, you know, the wife has always got one up on you, she always gets one up on you.

But when you’re talking about communicating, This is the step to having a good walk with the Lord. And sin is what keeps you from talking to the Lord. Have you ever heard this statement? Sin will keep you from the Bible, or the Bible will keep you from sin. And so when sin enters the picture, and you become rebellious or disobedient to the Lord, and you stop talking to God, how do you stop talking to God? You stop praying. And see God talks to you through his word, And so if you don’t read the word and you don’t pray, then you’re not communicating.

You don’t have any communion. And if you don’t have a communion seat, then your walk that you have is out of habit, but it may not be real. And so you won’t have love, then you won’t have joy. You won’t enjoy. It becomes a duty. You’re doing it because you know you’re supposed to do it, but there’s no real communication there. So it makes a statement. Broken communion breaks our walk. Broken walks breaks our fellowship because that means that you cannot walk together with the Lord.

In close communion and sweet fellowship because sin enters the picture. So now look at letter G, confession of our sins, forgive us of our sins. A lot of people say, well if you confess your sin, then you’re restored to fellowship. That’s not true. Confessing your sin, the Bible says in 1 John 1 9, forgives us of our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. It didn’t say anything about restoring the fellowship. It affects it because it’s the basis upon which you’re not.

we can have communion with God. Sin breaks the communion that we have. So number two, our communion with God restores our walk. Our walk with God restores our fellowship. And so that’s why there’s some people who are walking and doing the thing that God wants them to do, but they don’t have the sweet communion that they need between them and God, and therefore they don’t enjoy their walk. The walk is their service. You’re doing the thing you’re supposed to do, but you don’t really enjoy this much because you’re having sweet between you and God.

That’s the communion that you have to have. And if you leave that out and you simply obey some rules and regulate, you go to church, you sing, or you work in a choir, you can help in ranch, or you can All these things that we can do, it’s a job, but there’s something missing between you and God and this communion that you have between. See, this is why your faith in the Lord, he’s always talking about your faith, your faith, how are you doing?

Not to how’s everything, how are you doing? Are you growing in the Lord? Are you strong in the Lord? And the last statement here, note, confession of our sins and and of itself does not restore fellowship. If the walk is not restored, then the fellowship is not restored because you’ve got to start with the communion. You’ve got to start with talking to God. And that’s why he says, if we confess our sins to God, that’s as you’re talking to God.

And when you confess the sin and you start talking to God, now that’s the basis for your walk. And your walk is the basis for your fellowship that you have a lot so that you have the walk and the talk. You’ve got to have both of them, not just to walk with God, but the walk and the talk with God. So important. Letter H, the key is to walk on earth in light of your position in heaven. You see your position in heaven, that never changes.

You’re always his child. Now live like you’re always his child. He the Holy Spirit indwells you. Live like you know the Holy Spirit indwells you. And that would change your life. It can help you tremendously. And just to give you an idea of how you can see the difference. Look there in 1 Corinthians 3, 1 through 3, they’re in your notes. And I brethren, see that’s your position you have in Christ, that’ll never change. Could not speak unto you as unto spiritual.

You see that’s your condition. Should they have been spiritual? Yes, they should. But they were not spiritual. They were what? Carnal. That’s their state, not their standing. Your standing in Christ never changes, but the state can change. He says, but as under carnal, that’s your condition. Even as under babes, that’s your condition. So you see, not being spiritual, being carnal, babes, in Christ, that’s your position. You see, some things, they don’t change, but you’ve been a babe, that should change.

God doesn’t want you to be a babe in Christ all your life. He wants you to grow and be a mature child of God. See, these are decisions that you make. He says, I have fed you with milk and not with meat. For hitherto you are not able to bear it, neither yet. Now are you able? So see we’re talking about they’re not strong enough to take this or that and they need milk instead of having the meat. All these things see that’s based upon their walk with God.

And these are things that change us all the time. But you see it depends upon how close you want to be with the Lord. Look at the last verse, for ye are yet carnal. That’s your condition. Can you be a child of God? And know you have eternal life and go to heaven when you die and that’ll never change. That’s true. And yet you’re here in this world and you’re in this church and you’re sitting here right now. Can you be a fleshly carnal minded Christian?

Yes, you can. Now is that the will of God? No. God wants us to grow and to be strong. But see those are choices that we make. So he says for your yet carnal, for whereas there is among you in being and strife and divisions, are you not carnal? Look up here. Colonel, fleshly, this is the works of the flesh. Can a Christian bring forth the works of the flesh? Yes. Can I? Yes. Every Christian can. But this never affects my position in Christ.

I am his child born into his family. I will always be. That will never be changed. But I’m living in a changing world. I am in a world where I can grow as a child of God into a man of God based upon my own desire. What do I want? How strong do I want to be? Blessings do I wander how do I want to be blessed when I get to heaven and rewards and I see all that is based upon my walk with God See that’s why in letter B Depends upon the walk of man.

It’s your walk But the walk is dependent upon the communion that you have and if you’re not close to the Lord And you have a sweet communion with the Lord you see all the trials and tribulations gonna pull you I mean you’re gonna go down you ain’t gonna be able to stand it’s too much I just can’t bear it. It’s the last straw blah blah blah blah. That’s because you’re not close to the Lord Nobody can make you close to God.

Nobody can make him real in your life and Coming to church and reading the Bible and all the way they can help feed at this union And for the commune, but it’s not gonna take and do the job for you You see that should be the results of that close walk that you have with the Lord and nobody can do that for you Anyway, the last part of it says, are ye not carnal? That’s their condition. It doesn’t affect their position that they have in Christ, but it is a condition that it changes from moment to moment.

I have seen a lot of changes in growth in some of the teenagers that come to church on Sunday morning and say, nice and Wednesday night. I haven’t hollered at one of them yet this morning. That’s different, ain’t it? And some of them are really doing a fantastic job, and they’re working like crazy, and they bring in kids out, and some of them are winning people’s award, and they study in the Bible, and they’re getting in the classes. And Gina, how many girls do you have in her this morning?

She had a good bunch. I mean, she’s trying to teach these little girls to be little ladies like her. Y’all pray for Gina. All right, look over here. This is you and me. This is sin. We’re all sinners. But God loves us, but He hates our sin. He loves us, but He hates our sin. And for us to go to heaven we have to be perfect, no sin, but we have sin. And God says for us to pay for it is death and hell.

And so God loves us and he wants to have us to have eternal life. Now this hand represents Jesus Christ, he is the Lord. He came into the world because he loves us, he hates our sin because it separates us from so Christ took the sin, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead and said if we would believe that he did it for us, he would save us. Save us from hell, give us eternal life.

payment for all of our sins is put to our account, I am now placed in Christ. I’m going to heaven because of what He did for me. When I believe that, that position that I now have as a child of God for all eternity can never be changed. It’s permanent. But now as my walk in this life, boy, you may live like a Christian and you may not live like a Christian. But it’s going to affect the hand of God upon you, whether he blesses you or chastens you, or whether it takes you home before your time, it’s going to affect all eternity because your future has been determined by obedience to God today.

So it is important that every believer understand what is the condition of your faith. Are you growing in the Lord? Are you growing? Nobody I can answer that but you. And it’s based upon the communion that you have between you and your heavenly Father. Do you talk to Him and do you allow Him to talk to you? And if you keep that strong, see, then whenever trials and tribulations and all these afflictions come, and they do, and the tempter, he comes, he does, but you can stand strong.

Keep doing what you write. Let’s pray, shall we? 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 at 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, Calvary of Tampa.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.

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.