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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s Word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. Here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for 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.

Well, I want to talk to you about nothing big, just something important. It deals with your own personal dedication. I’ve preached in different places and I’ve had people ask me if I would preach a dedication for their new building or the new gymnasium and new church, and I’ve enjoyed that. And it’s a good thing to do. And I’ve been in a lot of camps And I’ve gotten, you know, I’ll tell the Jim Tengen story or tell some stories and try to get kids to see the importance of dedicating their life to the Lord.

But after a while, you know, about two weeks later, they usually fizzle out. And it’d be good if everybody would just reexamine their life to see what needs to be corrected, what’s wrong. Am I doing all right? You know kind of evaluating yourself. An unexamined life is not worth living. So you have to examine yourself and if you don’t somebody else will. And you may not like what they discover or tell you. But it’s good to read the scriptures and let the Word of God talk to you.

So I want you to take your Bible and look there in the book of Matthew. book of Matthew, we’ll go to a number of scriptures. So just,OUP inOverview\”:Notice your. You know, sharpen your pen a little bit, and flex your fingers a little bit. You can get through some of the scriptures, and come to church, you need to have a little bit of stuff that helps the arthritis, you know. I want you to be able to see what God’s Word has to say.

But in the book of Matthew, chapter 13, look there in verse 41, Matthew chapter 13, and verse 41, The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity. There is coming a time where doing the king God is going to clean house. Anything that offends. But if he’s going to do that then, I just want you to take a moment and think about yourself.

Look at your own life and get rid of everything that is offensive to God. You know, if it’s the thoughts that you have or the attitude that you have, the ways, your speech, whatever can be corrected, have an attitude that I want to do that. And she says right here, out of the kingdom, all things that offend. You see, there’s one person that we ought to want to please more than anyone else, and that’s the Lord. So that’s why you read the Bible in order to see, what am I doing that might be offensive to the Lord?

You want to do all things that please him? So it is important, but look now in the book of Psalms, 139th Psalm, way over there. 139th Psalm. This is a very interesting portion of Scripture. Talk to you about how that you and I were created by God and we were wonderfully made by the Lord. Wonderfully made. Pause about that down in verse 15, 16, so on, verse 14. But I want you to look there in verse 23. If you don’t have this verse underlined in your Bible, it would be a good verse to underline.

It’s like a person being honest before God and saying, Lord, search me. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. You see the Lord does know. Now look up there in verse one where he says, oh Lord, thou have searched me and known me. Known my heart, but continually to do it. Look where in verse two he says, thou know us my down-siddance and my uprising. Thou understand it, and you ought to underline those two little words.

Thou understand it my thoughts. But what you want is for God to reveal those thoughts to you. He wants to reveal his ways, search his heart, reveal things to me so that I might correct him because I don’t want to offend God. I don’t want to make God angry. I don’t want to make God mad. If there’s anybody you want to please, it ought to be the Lord. in your Bible to the book of 2 Corinthians in chapter 8, 2 Corinthians and chapter 8.

Every once in a while it’s just good just to look at a few verses here and a few verses there and sometimes they kind of tie together and there’s a message in there. So in the book of 2 Corinthians in chapter 8, I want you to look in verse 1 and verse 1, Moreover brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed upon the churches of Macedonia. How that in a great trial of affliction. You see, you thought that all churches are running smoothly.

If you’ve got people, you’ve got problems. You’ve got people, you’ve got problems. We try to minimize the problems, but all churches have problems. There is not a church that doesn’t have problems. If you’ve got people, you’ve got problems. There is not a home that don’t have difficulties, especially if you got two there. There’s always going to be a problem. And you’ve got to be problem solvers. How to solve a problem. So sometimes we curse the problems. No, you just strike a match and find out how to solve the problem.

I saw a good little statement the other day. It was talking about, you know when you have a candle and it’s lit, if you take another candle and you like this candle, it didn’t cost that candle anything. It did not distinguish, it did not diminish this candle at all to light another candle. You remember one night in here we took one little match one little candle and we lit all these candles in the whole church from this one little candle and it did not distinguish this candle.

It did not diminish the light of this candle, but look what this candle was able to do. You see, whenever you serve the Lord, you don’t lose. You don’t lose. Here in 2 Corinthians in chapter 8, he says in verse 2, how that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. In other words, they didn’t have much during great poverty, and yet they managed to support the Apostle Paul in the missionary endeavor that fruit would abound to their account.

And then he says in verse 3, 4, to their power, I bear record ye and beyond their power. They were willing of themselves, praying us with much intrigue that we would receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the menacing to the saint so we would have something to give to somebody else. And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own cells to who? To the Lord and unto us by the will of God.

You see, God knows that if He can get you, He can get anything you have. Sometimes we give things to God to get Him off our back so that He will leave us alone so we can do whatever we want with the rest of our lives. know if I go to church on Sunday, I ought to be able to live the rest of the week according to how I want to do it. And if I give some money to the Lord’s work, I ought to be able to do whatever I want to do with the rest of it.

I believe God owns all of it. I believe everything I have belongs to the Lord. I believe all seven days belong to the Lord. This isn’t just the Lord’s day. Tomorrow will be the Lord’s day too. In the next day, that belongs to the Lord too. See, if I dedicate my life to the Lord, all the time that God gives me to live my life belongs to the Lord. Makes sense to me. So therefore, they gave themselves, of all to the Lord.

And then what they had, then they gave to others. But God wants you. But He doesn’t want you to try to buy Him off. Like given to somebody, you can do great, wonderful deeds. But God wants your heart. God wants you. And that’s why He says, search me, Lord. See, that’s why you have to continually keep examining yourself because that is is so important. Look there in the book of Revelation in chapter 3. Revelation chapter 3. You know there’s a church mentioned there by the name of Sardis and it says in verse 1, an unto the angel of the church inrialrors right.

TheseFurtherNVIDIA 701 says, that half the spirits of God and the seven stars I know thy words that thou hath a name, that thou livest and you’re dead. God looks at us when you stop living by faith, you’re dead. You’re only living when you’re walking by faith, when you’re living by faith. If you live by the flesh, you’re not living, only to live by faith, living your life doing and believing that what is going on in your life is the will of God.

And that’s why he says you have been raised from the dead, therefore walk in newness of life. Live like that. So So you may be under the name, hey, you’re somebody. The God says, you’re dead. You’re not living by faith. You know this one guy, he had his favorite dog. I mean, he just loved this dog. But he thought the dog was dead. He thought he’d die, but he wanted to make sure. So he took it to the vet.

He took it to the vet and the vet looked at this dog and he’s laid him on the table. He said, I’ll be right back. He went in the other room and he got his cat, big old cat. And he threw that cat on top of that dog and that cat went, pshhh, and the dog didn’t do anything. And that cat just dug in with all of its claws, all of that dog. And he just laid there. So the guy picked up his cat and took me back in the room, came back.

He said, it would be $200. He says, $200? For you to tell me that my dog is dead? He says $25 is for the office visit and $175 for the catch-can. Well, you ever hear people talk about you need to dedicate your home to the Lord? You know, you can’t dedicate your home to the Lord unless you dedicate yourself to the Lord. Because dedicating your home to the Lord, are you talking about the walls? You talking about the floor?

You talking about the TV? talking about the dishes. What are you talking about dedicating to the Lord? I want to dedicate my home to God. Well, I would hope that believe that if it is the building you’re talking about, only that which honors God takes place within that home, that would honor God. But if you’re talking about your family, then you have to dedicate yourself to the Lord. To do the things that reveal that you are dedicated to the Lord.

Have you ever seen me do a little so-called a baby dedication? Well they said we’re dedicating the baby to the Lord, but we have to understand that baby is not making a decision. It’s the parents that are making a decision. They are saying we are vowing before God and And these witnesses, we are going to seek to raise this baby in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. We want to see that this little child comes on O Christ’s Savior in an early age and we don’t try to teach this child how to walk with God.

So really it’s like a parent’s dedication. Parents are determining they’re going to raise this child for the Lord. I think that can be done. I think that’s honorable to the Lord. I have no problem with that. But also know that sometimes we have children, and you want to dedicate your children to the Lord. You want God to use your children. You’re going to have to be the best example you can possibly be. Because see, they will copy you. They will imitate you.

They learn from what they see us do. And sometimes that’s scary. Because, see, you might have one child that is just a little adorable angel. And then you have the other one. Does everything in the book, you say, where did that come from? Like the little girl she asked her mom. Does mom? Did we come from apes? She says, honey, not from our side of the family. I don’t know about your EDITION. Of course, you know you can make insinuations, and it often happens.

But I want you to look there in Revelation in chapter 2. Revelation 2, look in verse 4. Did you know that each one of these churches, there’s a message to the church? But if you could boil it all down to what is the one golden nugget that you might find in some of these, what is that that I can take with me and maybe learn one good truth from this? So in verse four he says, nevertheless I have somewhat against thee because in your underlying this, thou hath left thy first love.

Now you’re still working, you’re still doing all all the things. Maybe you’re still having a quiet time. Maybe you’re still leaving witness. Go into church. But you don’t love God like He used to. Did you know that it can drift away and slide away so easy? The reason you do what you do is because you love the Lord. Then you get so busy doing what you’re supposed to do because you do love the Lord and then you forget to love the Lord.

You could spend time doing everything, but no time for the Lord. Sometimes it’s good just to stop and just talk to the Lord. If you’re too busy to talk to the Lord, guess what? You what? You’re too busy. Well, I ain’t got time to pray. Then you’re too busy. You don’t eliminate the most important thing. And that is the love that you should have for the Lord, kind that you want to spend with Him. So I believe in that whole church letter to the church, their deficits I would come out with as a child of God as I examine myself.

Am I losing my first love? The love that I have between me and the Lord. Because see, that’s the love you’re going to have to have to sustain you because the love Love of people will wax cold very, very quickly. You have no idea. In the last couple of weeks I’ve gotten a few zingers. You know little barbs from people that I’ve known for 35 and 40 years to say hurtful things. They think they understand why I do what I do and why I’m coming from the position that they don’t really get it.

They don’t understand. And I know that and I can’t probably ever convince them otherwise. But the hurt still hurts. But you better make sure that you have someone that you don’t have to ever worry about. I’ve had people over the years stab me in the back, but not God. So people may hurt me, but God hasn’t ever done anything to hurt me. God’s never turned his back on me. God’s never forsaken me. God always loves me. You need to have that between you and him, that you know that.

You know that God so loved the world. Well, that’s any love the loss. Yeah, but God so loves his children too. When he says, my be loved, it means you have been loved and you still are loved. You are loved with an everlasting love and nothing shall ever separate you from the love of Christ that’s written to the believers. It is so very, very important. The next statement I wanted to mention to you, it’s found there in verse 10.

See in verse 10, talking about the church at Smyrna, I should serve the Lord. Yes, I should. And I should be faithful. Okay, I should be faithful. How long should I be faithful? I’m examining my life. I’m reaffirming my love for the Lord. I’m establishing principles in my life that I want to be found faithful to the Lord. It is required and assured that a man be found faithful. I want to be faithful. How long do I want to be faithful to a day for a week?

But look in verse 10, fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried. And you shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou, and you are not lying those three words, faithful unto what? Until you die. So I can read that whole portion of scripture, but that’s the one thing out of those scriptures that sticks out to me. Now you may read that and the Holy Spirit will impress upon you another thought.

But that means something to me. And because I love the Lord and because I want to serve the Lord faithfully, I know that serving the Lord is dealing with people. So I want you to look down there in verse 14. See in verse 14, he says, but I have a few things against thee because thou hast them there that hold the doctrine of Beilam, who taught Beilak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel. So I read this whole thing, but the one thing that I see is I do not want to be a stumbling block to anyone else.

I don’t want to be a stumbling block to God’s people. So if that is true and I love the Lord and I don’t want to lose my first love and I want to love the Lord and serve Him until I die. I want to be faithful. And while I’ve got that in my mind, I know that serving the Lord means that I don’t want to be a stumbling block to other believers. So that means I can’t afford to do certain things.

I can’t afford to go certain places. It means I have to watch my attitude in my tongue, the saying things that I shouldn’t say. And I’ll tell you it gets rough at times. Because you know there’s always somebody with their little magnifying glass just waiting for you to fall off your little parts and if you don’t fall off they want to shoot you off. Always looking for a fault or flaw, but it’s so easy to give him something. But you ought not to purposely do it.

And that’s the thing that’s so difficult. Yes, in serving the Lord. See, going to heaven, I’m so glad that’s free. It’s so simple. It’s so easy. All I had to do was trust Him. The Christian life, that’s a different story. But yet, at the same time, God says, my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Come into me all ye that labor and are heavy, lay, and I will give you rest.” So, serve the Lord should be easy, but He said, if you don’t serve and He said, then I’ll put a yoke of iron up on your neck until it destroys you, because thou serveth not the Lord thy God with joyfulness of heart.

See, God wants us to serve Him, but He wants us to serve Him joyfully. Not walking on like, Well, I’ve got to serve the Lord. I’ve got to go to church today. I’ve got to give money. I’ve got to pray. That’s not the attitude God wants. A cheerful person because they give themselves to the Lord. See, people who always begrudge giving to the Lord’s work or begrudging the time to spend with God, it’s because they’re not in love with Him.

Love is that bond between you and Him. Love is action, love is motivating. God so loved the world that He gave is only to be God and Son. So God wants us to love. And so as you go through here, and then look over there in the next verse, I want you to see there in verse 20, because it’s so important you got to learn to take a stand for what is right. You don’t want to be a stumbling block, but you also need to know how to stand and by having the right proper doctrine because there’s going to be people who are going to teach false doctrine.

So he says in verse 20, not withstanding, I have a few things against thee because thou permit us or allow that woman Jezebel, which called herself a prophetess to teach and to seduce my servants to commit for an occasion to eat things sacrificed on the idols and so on. So you got to be strong enough to withstand the various winds of doctrine that can sweep you off your feet and change you into something else. And that’s why you need to study the Word of God because as I determine, this is what I want from my life, then I’ve got to decide I don’t want to be a stumbling block that because I’m so weak.

So I’ve got to be strong in what I believe. I got to know why I believe it. Because if you don’t, then people can push you around and say all kinds of things and you won’t know what you believe after a while. That’s why it’s so important to read and to study what the Word of God says. Now, I mentioned to you there about the church at Sardis in chapter 3, but look there in verse 3. He’s talking about remember that what you do have and hang on to it.

In verse 3, remember therefore how thou hath received and heard and whole fast. Now you’ll see that word used in a lot of places, but it’s also talking about whole fast to sound doctrine. Don’t lose hold of that sound doctrine that you have. See, there in the previous church, you’ve got to have the sound doctrine. Now, don’t leave the sound doctrine because, see, your life is going to be a result of what you really believe. So you need to know what you believe and why you believe in and hang on to that.

And then in chapter 3 and verse 8, if you really want to serve a Lord because you love the Lord and you want to be faithful unto death and you don’t know when death will come. So that means you want to take advantage of every opportunity that you have and you don’t want to fall into false doctrine and so forth. You don’t want to be that stumbling block. You want to know what you believe and why you believe it.

You want to hang fast onto that. But knowing that all this is true and because you prepare yourself, you want God to use you. So the Lord says, He can open up a door and God can shut a door. Opening a door is giving you and I the opportunity that we should have. See there in verse eight, I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shed it, for thou hast a little strength, and hath kept my word, and hath not denied my name.

See, God can open up doors of opportunity that you and I cannot open. All we have to do is be faithful, keep shining, and let God place you wherever He wants on whatever He’ll. And once in a while it seemed like he’s put you under a bushel. Just be faithful to shine where you are with what God’s given to you. Never become envious or jealous of anybody else’s position or ministry. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tappa, Florida with Dr.

Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. Two 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 That’s 1-800-576-3771 To listen to today’s message again or to obtain a free download of any of our Bibleline 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 broadcasts 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. Friends, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound, and we will be changed.

Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.