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 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 first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Oh, me turning your Bible to the book of Mark, the Gospel of Mark. I saw this and I thought, I wonder if what I’m seeing could be true because if it is, it opens up a little bit of the window, a picture of how valuable you and I are in the hands of the Lord, that God wants to use us in every shape and form, in every trial and tribulation, you are a tool in the hands of God. So here in the book of Mark chapter 4, and in verse He said unto them is a candle brought to be put under a bushel or under a bed and not to be set on a candlestick.

In other words, when you want light, you don’t hide it. You don’t put it in a closet where you can’t see. You want it out where you can see. That’s the purpose of a light. Well, we know from the study of God’s Word, like Matthew chapter 5, he says, ye are the light of the world. And if you’re the light of the world, he says, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.

Now, you and I know we do not do good works to go to heaven. you are saved, the Bible says in Ephesians 2, 10, that we are His creation, created unto good works. God hath before ordained this. So if it’s ordained, it means this is the will of God. It’s the will of God that were saved by grace. It’s the will of God that we serve by works. But understanding salvation is one thing and service is another. Salvation is always free because it’s based upon what Christ did for us.

After we’re saved, it is the will of God that we serve the Lord. And if we will serve the Lord, our good works is letting your light shine so that people may glorify your Father. So they’re not going to glorify the Father unless they know the purpose of your good works. So we are to tell them why we do what we do and we should do all things to glorify the Lord. So he makes a statement here in verse 22, for there is nothing hid which shall not be manifest.

Neither was anything kept secret but that it should come abroad. In other words, God says in another place, some of the things that are done in secret will be shouted from the housetop. Now I’ve lived long enough to watch some of the politicians and even preachers think they can do certain things and nobody knows and because nobody knows. They think they get away with it and all of a sudden it’s front page news and buddy, Some people are really ashamed and embarrassed.

Some preachers have to quit the ministry. Some politicians have to quit. And it’s almost like you have to do something wrong just to become a politician. But be that as it may. You can’t just do whatever you want to do and get away with it. There’s a price to pay. And the Lord also says, be sure your sin will find you out. In other words, when you sin against God in one another, there’s always repercussions. It’s like God’s going to tell on you.

And so we do seek the Lord’s forgiveness in hoping that He won’t tell. But sometimes you can send against people and people will never forgive and never forget. There’s always somebody in your past that wants to tell everybody else about all your failures and your mistakes. I think some of those things is what leads some people to murder. There’s like no a man that runs off with another woman and her husband kills them. These triangles always seem to lead to chaos and trouble.

Drug bus goes down. It was a wrong thing to do. And he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and the damage that can take place. But look what he says. Verse 23. where he says, if any man have ears to hear, let him hear. Now, I just spoke a couple of sermons on hearing the voice of God and making decisions based upon what you hear. But when he says he that hath ears to hear, everybody got an ear and you got the ability to hear, but do you understand?

So the key is, do you understand what God is saying? Now, a lot of people don’t. Hold your place right here because we’re gonna come back here, but I want you to take your Bible and turn all the way over there to the book of Revelation in chapter two. Revelation chapter two. There are seven churches mentioned, and at the end of each one of these seven churches, there is a similar thread that mentions about in verse seven like, of Revelation two, verse seven.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit said unto the churches.” Now, he just told them in the first six verses what the Spirit said to the church at Ephesus. So when he says, he that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit said unto the church. You see, John was on the alipatmas and seven pastors who come from seven churches to see John and he gave them a message. They were to go back and to present the message to the church so that they would know that God says in heaven, I know thy works.

I know what you stand for. I know what you’re going through. I know how you think. I know how you feel. I know the battles. I know your tribulations. I know everything that’s going on in that local church. But he says like here in verse four, nevertheless I have somewhat against the because thou hast left thy first love. He ought to know whether not you love him or not. The Lord does not make anyone love him, but what he says is, I am going to turn out the light.

In other words, I’m going to close this church down. If this church doesn’t love me. You see, if he can do that to a local church, he can do it to you and to I. And this is what he’s talking about. So he knows and says that, yes, you are taking the right stand, you’re doing the right thing. See there in verse 5, remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen. means they don’t love the Lord like they will use to.

Repent or change your mind and do the first works, or else I will come under thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. This is not to the lost person, this is to the Christian. This is to the church that God can turn out the light if you don’t put him first. You can go through the motions and you play the game But your testimony is gone because you don’t have what God wants, and that’s that element of do you love me.

You see, if you don’t do it because you love Him, then your motive is wrong on why you do it. Do you think that God knows every person that comes to Calvary Community Church? Does He know the motive of why you come? Does he know whether or not you’re doing it because you love him or you’re doing it to be seen? Does he know when the offering plate comes by that you put some in or took some out? God knows everything.

And so he makes the statement, let him that hereth have ears to hear, hear what the Spirit said unto the church. So there is a message that God wants every Christian to hear. And as you go through all seven of these churches, there is a message there. So you’re to study what it says, and when he says, do you hear it, it means do you understand what I’ve said. So the key is you heard it, did you understand? God is going to bless you according to your understanding.

Because you see, when you understand it, then you can do something about it. But if you don’t understand it, you’re going to stay the same. So it’s assumed that you not only heard, you understood. A lot of time we tell our kids, did you hear me? And you know they heard you. You want to know, do you understand what I’m saying? So look over there in chapter three, and look in verse 14. In verse 14 he talks about another church and something that makes God sick.

Every church is to be a lighthouse. Every church is made up of individual lights. I am a light, you are a light. every individual is to bring forth good works. And so therefore the testimony of our church depends upon the individual lights in the church. Well, the church itself is just a building. The light is the people. Are we a light to the world? And so he makes a statement here as he writes to the church at Laodiceum. In verse 15 he said, I know thy works.

and that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou art cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. In other words, another way of saying that, you know, you make me sick. In other words, it’s like if God drink coffee, he don’t like lukewarm coffee. He’d rather have it hot or cold, but not lukewarm. Me and the Lord’s on the same page. Anyway, he says, I wished you were either hot or cold, but you’re neither one.

You’re not on fire, you’re not in total rebellion, you’re just a fence straddler. You haven’t made up your mind, you can’t commit yourself one way or the other. So you just kinda, well, the Bible put it this way. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. You don’t know whether or not, does he really love the Lord or what side is he on? You don’t know really where they’re gonna come down. Have you ever seen some people, you have to be so careful how you say something to them because you don’t know whether they’re gonna explode or not?

So you’ve got to figure out how to dance around certain people because you know, if you say this, ooh, that’s a word that you can’t say around them because that’s when the Bible talks about being short fused or long fused. The Lord calls it long suffer. I mean, you can suffer long before you explode. Some people are short fused. It means there is no fuse at all. They explode at any given time. Well, look what he says. In verse 17, here’s the reason.

He says, because thou sayeth. Now, it doesn’t make it true just because they say it. A lot of times people say things and it’s not truth. These people were saying something wasn’t true. Because thou sayeth, I am rich. Increase with goods. Have need of nothing. Know us not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. Now, for example, if this come in Sunday morning, we have a person that comes to church and they’re naked. Do you think they would know that they were naked?

I mean, if you’re in the right mind, they’re in the right mind, somebody walks in and they’re naked. You think, don’t you know you’re naked? You don’t have any clothes on? Don’t you think that if a person was a miserable, wouldn’t they know they’re miserable? This is what’s interesting about that. He says, thou art wretched, but they don’t know they’re wretched. He says, you’re miserable, but they don’t know they’re miserable. He says, you’re blind, but they don’t know they’re blind.

They’re naked, but they don’t know they’re naked. Because see, they say this, but the way God sees them is totally different. They don’t see themselves the way they really are. Because what do they have to compare it to? Did you know there’s a lot of God’s children that live a miserable life? They’re like a yo-yo up there down here, up there down here, up there down there, yo-yo. They’re not stabilized, but they don’t know they’re not stabilized. They just think, this is normal.

Well, he says in verse 18, I counsel thee to buy of me gold, try it in the fire. In other words, there’s something better. You say you’re rich. You have need of nothing. Evidently, God sees them differently. You see, it’s not the things of this world. It’s not money in your pocket. It’s not a nice home. It’s not a nice car. It’s not money in the bank. That is not what makes a good sound stable Christian. You see, you can be spiritually destitute because you don’t have the clothes that God wants you to wear.

You know, when you study the book of Ephesians in chapter 6, he says, put on a helmet, put on this breastplate, or put on sandals, put on, put on, put on. Well, if you don’t put on the clothes that God provided for us, God says, you’re naked. Well if you walk in the flesh in your old sinful nature, your flesh is showing. So it means that when you get around people, you say things, you do things, and you’re explosive, you’re angry, you’re bitter, you’re mad, emotionally shot, your flesh is showing.

It means you’re not properly dressed. Now you wouldn’t leave home without clothes on, but God says, I have some clothes that I want you to wear. So you see, you and I are supposed to be lights in this world. And if you don’t dress the way God says for you to dress, you’re not dressed properly. You’re inappropriate. Now you wouldn’t wear a tuxedo to go swimming. I don’t think. I mean, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to preach on Sunday morning in my swimming suit.

It’s not appropriate. There’s a time and place for things. So the Bible has told you and I to dress appropriately when we’re talking about the things of God. It means even to have your speech seasoned with salt. So not only do you put forth words that preserve, but you create a thirst in the lives of others for the things of God. And so you dress the way you should, and you should look the way you should. that. They did not see themselves that bad.

And the Lord says, you say you’re rich because of what are they counting? What are they looking at? He says, you have need of nothing. But God says you are poor. So he says in verse 18, I’m going to let you have some gold tried in You see the problems of life that make some people miserable can purify the Christian. Same problem. To one, it makes them totally miserable and they don’t understand God, they don’t understand what’s going on and they just fume all the time.

Then there are those that with the very same problems, they let it purify their life instead getting all been out of shape, they realize the Lord must have something here for me to learn. The Lord must want me to do something or be something differently or help somebody, a lesson that God has for me to share with someone. See, it all depends on your perspective. So he makes a statement that thou mayest be rich, white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, so he’s not talking about clothes.

He’s not talking about being really naked. He’s talking about being dressed the way God wants you to. Because he people see us. Race, Stanford used to always tell us, clothes don’t make a man. But they are 90% of what we see of them. And he says, and that the shame of the nakedness do not appear. And anoint thy eyes with eyesabbed that thou may have seen. Seeing something, otherwise you’re blind. And a lot of you can’t see the thing that God wants from the sea.

And so he says in verse 19, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, be zealous therefore and repent, change your mind. This is to the Christian, this is not to the lost person. This is how God wants you and I to live. Very quickly, go to the second Peter and chapter one, second Peter chapter one. Second Peter chapter one, I want to notice there’s several things here. One in verse one that talks about that have obtained like precious faith.

Did you know that your faith in the Lord is a precious thing? You see, there’s a lot of people who’ve never put their faith in the Lord. When both die, one has faith in the Lord and one doesn’t. When you die, wouldn’t you consider that faith a precious faith? Won’t you be very glad you put your faith in the Lord, and now you’re in heaven? But look what else he says. Down in verse two he makes a statement according as his divine power.

Divine power has given to us all things. And then he says in verse four, whereby our given unto us exceeding great and precious promises. See, you need to know what the promises are so that you can put your faith in those promises. So you and I are commanded by God, study the word so that we might know the promises so that our faith is precious in believing, in believing the precious promises. Then He makes a statement in verse four.

He talks about partakers of the divine nature. See, when you trusted Christ, God gave you His divine nature. Now He wants you and I to live like we have a divine nature. What if God was to give you His nature? Then we should want to live like God. But remember, we also have an old sinful nature, totally opposite. And we’re the one that determines which of those natures control our life. We can have a sinful life, still be a child of God, still going to heaven, or you can let the divine nature of God control your life by yielding to it.

So he says there in verse 5, Beside all of this, and that’s enough, giving all diligence, look what he said, add to your faith, add to it. So it’s not just that God wants to save you and give you eternal life, and you become his child, and now you’re going to heaven. God wants you to add to your faith. And he says, if you’ll add to your faith, you will have many more things in your life to help you to live and to be the light of the world that God intends.

Now look in verse eight, for if, if these things be in you and abound, they make you that you shall need to be barren nor unproof of them. So that means that you can have fruit because of your life. You’ll bear some fruit if you’ll add to your faith and become a strong Christian. And that’s why he says in verse nine, but in contrast to that, he that lacketh these things because he didn’t add to his faith. See, there’s a lot of difference between a person who adds to his faith and a person who doesn’t.

If you add to your faith, you’ll be a stronger Christian. You’ll have the character in your life, the virtue that God wants. You’ll have the patience that you want and you’ll have the fruit. But, as he says here in verse 9, he that lack of these things is blind. Well, that’s what we just read over there in the book of Revelation, blind, but they don’t know they’re blind. If you can’t see what God is saying, means you don’t understand.

When you lack the discernment of right and wrong, you don’t understand. You don’t see. And there’s a lot of people who say, well, I don’t see anything wrong with this or wrong with that are wrong with this, isn’t that? That’s because you don’t see. You’re blind. The Word of God giveth light. The entrance of thy Word giveth light. Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” So he makes the statement here in verse 9, but he that lack of these things is blind cannot see a far off.

Can’t see far. And if you can’t far you can’t have a vision and if there’s no vision not only do the people perish but so do you. In the words you live for nothing because you can’t see, you don’t understand. And you can even get to the place because you did not add to your faith, you begin to lose your faith. Now salvation cannot be lost but you begin to lose your faith. You’ll lose confidence in what God says.

You’ll be lose confidence in all of these divine promises that he’s made, and you’re going to forget that, yes, you can even forget that you’ve ever been saved. But once you trusted Christ as you’re saved, you’re still saved, but you will lack the assurance of your salvation, a shame. But it happens. And so God tells us in this word that he wants us to study his word so that we can be strong and do the thing that he wants us to do.

Now go back to the book of Mark chapter 4, Those are my introductory remarks. Verse 24, verse 24, Mark 4, verse 24, and He said unto them, Tait heed what ye hear, with what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you. In other as you understand. Knowledge will be increased according to your understanding of previous knowledge. That’s why the Lord says in His Word, here a little, there a little, here a little, there a little. Line up on line, precept upon precept.

You don’t learn it all at one time. Growing in the Lord is let God say something and then you believe it. And when you believe it and then you study and meditate that you may understand it. And then when you understand it, God gives you more light. You understand it, gives more light. Understand it, gives more light. But when you don’t understand, because you don’t study, you don’t stay sensitive to the Lord, then God says you will lose what you had.

You’ll lose the knowledge, you’ll lose your understanding. So there’s some people who understand and they get more understanding. And the more you understand, the more you can do, The more you can do, the more you can enjoy. And then when you get to heaven, the more rewards you will have. You see, it just kind of feeds each other that way. So Luke, what he says in verse 24, he says, And unto you that here shall more be given. And you that here, that means you that understand and obey what you hear and understand, you’ll get more.

So when you want to do the will of God, then God says in John chapter 70, the more you will understand, and the more you understand, then you’ll understand the will of God. And then when you do the will of God, God gives you more. Opens up another door, and you begin to grow in the Lord. Some of God’s children are no more spiritual today than they were, the day they got saved. They haven’t grown at all. You see, just hearing the word of God God doesn’t make you strong.

Do you understand? Do you apply it? If somebody was to say, are you a light in this world? In other words, people can see the Lord through you because you share the gospel. Or when you do what God wants you to do, do you tell them why you do it? So that the Lord gets the credit, not you. Or do you enjoy having people brag on you how wonderful you are? I want to give all the credit to the Lord.

I want to brag on Him. He’s the reason why I’m doing what I do. God loves it when His children praise Him and brag on Him. And you need to understand God has worked in your life. God has blessed. God has enabled. And so you ought to give Him the credit because that’s just the way it’s supposed to go. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tappah, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message.

Part 2 of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. 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. 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.

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