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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 a 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 concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family. Now, as you examine your life here tonight, are you a child? Are you a teenager? Are you growing up? Are you mature? Would your fingerprints, the impact that you’re leaving upon the lives of others that see you, know you the way you really are? Where do you think it starts?

On the job and the church or at home? The way you are at home is where you really are. The way you are outside of home, you figure that. That’s where we put on our Christian smile and we fool everybody. And those people that will do that will someday con some boy or girl down the road and they’ll get married. And they’ll raise a few little cons because they will do the same thing they do. they copy, they imitate.

So you’ve got to be what you want others to be. Remember, you’re making an impact upon people’s life. You’re leaving an imprint upon somebody. I’ve been here two and a half years. I would like to think that I have made an impression on how you think, an impact on how you live, how you regulate your life. I’d like to believe that I have made a good impression. Now some people will probably question without that, but it’s my goal. Will I do it perfectly?

No. Will you? No. But that’s where we strive to be the way God wants us to be. And so he says here in verse 10, when you’re learning how to gain this knowledge so that you can do every good work that’s pleasing to the Lord. So if there’s anybody you want to please, because I found out a long time ago, after I trusted Christ as my Savior and I wanted to talk to my mom and my stepdad, I did not please them.

There isn’t anything I could have done that would have pleased them. I don’t care how I did it, it didn’t please them. My mother would just get up and tell me, says, I’m out of here. Don’t preach to me and leave me alone. I probably was not as kind as I would have been, as tactful as I should have been. But I just wanted to let them know that if they didn’t trust the Lord, they’d go into hell. But how I did it wasn’t probably the best.

But at least I tried. My stepdad would just get up and walk out of the room and says, I want to hear a preacher and I’ll go to church. And I didn’t have to worry about losing any of my friends. They left me. I didn’t have to leave them. He left me, every one of them, because I was so headstrong on what I wanted to do. But it was right. I just wish I had a little bit more tact.

But I was a child learning how to walk. And I left an impression upon certain people. And sometimes I heard the very people that I loved. You see, if you don’t love them, you usually don’t hurt them too bad. But if they love you and you love them, you can hurt people very easy. because we’re not perfect. We do things wrong. And so as you read this verse here in the last part of verse 10 where it says, being, and you ought to underline that word, fruitful.

You see, being fruitful is several things to look at. One is like in John chapter 15 about bearing fruit and having people trust Christ as their Savior because of your good works. The reason for our good works is to bear fruit. And when we bear fruit, there’s going to be other people that come to know Christ as their Savior. There’s also the fruit, the character. That comes from the Holy Spirit working in your life. Because that is where you get your love and your joy and your peace and all that from.

And then there’s also the fruit of the lips of the praise that you give because of what God’s done for you. So there’s the fruit of your life and how you live and how it impacts other Christians. So we’re supposed to have the fruit, the results of this knowledge that we gain from studying the Word of God. Now, on in verse 11, it says, strengthen with all might, according to its glorious power, unto all patient and long-suffered with joyfulness.

Now, I want you to look at the first two words of verse 12. The words giving thanks. You see, learning the Word of God, VIDE might be filled with the wisdom and the knowledge of God, that I might walk worthy is my way of saying thanks to the Lord for all that He’s done for me. You see, there is a reason why we should grow up and to mature. It’s because He gave me life. He made me His child.

And so in the next couple verses, verse 12, 13 and 14, it’s talking about, look what I did for you, look what I did for you. And you ought to look and remember what He did for you. You see at one time you were lost and you were going to hell. You’re not lost anymore. You’re God’s child. You’re going to heaven. And He says that you are now fit or meet for the inheritance. You see the inheritance can be twofold.

One is because you trusted Christ as your Savior, you inherit everything God has because the Bible says Jesus tries the air of God and we are joint heirs with Christ. So whatever he has, we share in it. But he also says there is an inheritance that we can have that is a result of our labor and our work for the Lord. See if I work for the Lord my rewards that I’m going to get is part of my inheritance.

It’s treasure that I’ve laid up. I don’t have them now. I don’t have them now. I don’t have any of my treasure. None of my rewards. I don’t have them now. But I’m going to get them when I get to heaven because see I’m going to inherit that because all the work that I’ve done was for the Lord. And God says he’s going to reward me. So I have an inheritance in the work that I do for the Lord.

So is it worth it to serve the Lord? Yes, it’s worth it. I wish I could get everybody to see and understand this because it can change your life. Otherwise, you just go through life, you hear a little bit, you go there and that’s why I love camp so much because you can take a child or an adult, get everything else away and concentrate upon what God says. That’s That’s why more people dedicate their life to serve the Lord at a camp.

Because all they’ve heard for about three or four days is the Word of God, the Word of God, the Word of God. And when it so fills your mind because you say, I want to do something for the Lord. I want to be what God wants me to be. And it burns inside of you like a passion, a fire. And people say, I’m going to dedicate my life to serve the Lord. And see if you haven’t got to that place, you’re not going to.

You’re just going to take it as it comes and you might be today and then tomorrow you’re not. And you know, you’re a fence straddler. You never make up your mind. Yes I will. No I won’t. Yes I will. No I won’t. Yes I will. No I won’t. And you never have any victory in your life because you’re never settled it. I settled this years ago, about 50. I made up my mind. I belong to Him. And I don’t care what happens.

I don’t care what anybody says or does. I don’t care what happens to me. I belong to Him and I’m going to serve Him. I want to please the Lord in everything that I do. I want to please the Lord when it comes to my wife. I want to please the Lord when it comes to my children or my grandkids, or everybody at church, I want to leave the right kind of an imprint, right kind of an impression, because we’re all affecting each other.

What kind of an impact are you making in the lives of other people? Do you think it’s important? I think it is. So you see there in verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father. As you do all of this, Always remember where you came from. It’s the 50 years of the Christian life. It began when I was 18 years old and trusted Christ as my Savior in that little old living room in Athens, Georgia. That’s where it began. That day hadn’t have happened.

Nothing else would have ever happened. There has to be a beginning. Can you remember when you were lost? Some people have trusted Christ as Savior at such an early age they can’t even remember. All they know is they trusted the Lord. But look what he tells us to remember. And to give thanks to the Lord for us. See in verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet or fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.

Did you know by trusting Christ as your Savior, you are now eligible to win the gain to earn rewards? You couldn’t get any rewards. of that inheritance until you trusted Christ as your Savior. Now you have a whole new world open up to you and me. What are you going to do about it? You only get to live one time. No reruns, no instant replays. Just one trip through. You’re going to live life. And the thing I was thinking about the other day, I got so many of the people that I went to Bible college with.

A lot of the people that I looked up did. They’re all gone. And I realized, I may not have much time. So I think I’ll just go ahead and prop my feet up and say to my soul, soul, you didn’t put in 70 years, you need to just cool down now and relax and don’t do anything. Just fish and have a good time. I like fishing. I even like playing golf. Golf is a lot like life. You know, you work all day to get to the green and you wind up in the hole when you get there.

So you’ve got to have something more to live for than just the entertainment, the pleasures of life, because they’re all going to pass. One day we’re going to be in heaven. And when you get to heaven, won’t it be wonderful to see the imprint that you made upon the people that you came in contact with? Did you encourage people or did you discourage people? Did you lift them up or did you put them down? Did you go through life with a frown on your face or did you smile a lot?

Did you laugh a lot? Did you enjoy life? What kind of impact? You see, these fingerprints, and every, most of you in here had children. If you didn’t have them, you were one. And you had fingerprints. You acted like a little brat. But now you don’t do that, do you? You’re mature. So as you study the Word of God and and you begin to grow in the Lord. See, this is talking about how to build a great church. And the object is to build great people.

Did you know you could have a church of 10,000 people, but not great people, in the sense they’re not strong in the Lord. I want people that will be able to walk with the Lord. And when problems come, they keep walking with the Lord. And they learn to cast all their cares upon the Lord, and they have developed the patience that they’re supposed to have because they know that God will take care of everything. But see, when you don’t believe that, you’ll fall apart.

Every little thing is going to cause you to fly off the handle and get mean and ugly. Well, that’s what he’s saying. See there in verse 11, when he makes a statement unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness. It means that regardless of what happens, you can still have patience and joy and suffer long. The word long suffer means like a stick of dynamite with a long fuse. Are you long fused or short fused? When somebody likes your fuse, how long does it take before it explodes.

They always say count to ten. Some of you may need to count to a hundred or a thousand or a million. But you see, you lead to be long suffered. It’s the Holy Spirit working in your life that helps you to be able, you know, I just need to turn that over to the Lord. God talks about His power, His strength. That’s why you study the Word of God so that you gain the knowledge you’re supposed to have so that you can have the wisdom to make the right decision to do the work that pleases God.

See how it all dovetails together? And then you’ll notice here in verse 13, who hath delivered? This is past and hath delivered us. From the power of darkness and hat translated us into the kingdom of his there’s some why should I serve a Lord because he ate when I was 18 years old. God took me as a child of the devil in the kingdom of darkness. And I became a child of light, born into his family. I was put into his family a different kingdom.

I am in the kingdom of God now. I was in the kingdom of darkness. Look what he’s done for me. And see, because of what he’s done for me, and then he explains it even more so than following verse when he makes the statement there in verse 14. In home, Christ, we have redemption through his blood. blood. That means He made a payment. His blood that He shed that gave His life was a payment for the sins of the whole world.

And the reason He did that is so that He can forgive us of all of our sins. You see, isn’t a wonderful thing to know that I’m not going to hell because I’ve been forgiven like I’ve never done them. It means that I don’t have to pay for all my sins. Oh, I did them. I deserved to go to hell, but I’m not going to go. He forgave me. A sign of your maturity is found in the book of Ephesians in chapter 4 and verse 30.

We’re talking about not only have, you know, we’re going to be sealed until the day of redemption, but right above that verse it talks about forgiving one another, even as God hath for Christ’s sake, What? Forgivin’ you. You see, Christ forgave me of what? All my sins. You mean I wrong God? I wronged God. I sinned against God. He’s perfect. What wrong has He done to me? None. And He forgave me. Life is so short, eternity is forever. And look what he gave me.

And I wouldn’t have had none of that if he hadn’t paid for my sins. So when I believed he did it for me, I am forgiven. Now when it comes to you and I and people, can you forgive one another? That is a sign of maturity. When you can’t forgive, you’re a babe. You’re a babe. You will carry grudges and bitterness in your heart toward those people who wronged you. Well, did you wrong God? Oh yes. Did He forgive you?

Oh yeah. God says, because He forgave you, you forgive others. Therefore, I don’t have to be bitter toward anybody, mean and hateful to anybody. Why? I forgive them. I forgive them. You see, what are they wronged you? I know they did. I don’t want people to pull me down. I don’t want people robbing me of my peace, my joy. Why should I let you make me mad? You see, you can’t make me mad without my permission. And I’m not giving it.

You can’t hurt me unless I allow it. I have to give you permission to hurt me. And I’m the one that decides that. So I’m the one that decides whether or not I let what you say or do offend me. You see, you can’t offend me without it being my choice. If you only understand that, it will keep you from being so easily offended so that whatever If somebody does, you don’t have to become unglued and act like a baby, like a child, your fingerprints.

What kind of fingerprints do you have? Are they the fingerprints of a little child, the fingerprints of a teenager, or the fingerprints of an adult? Because you’ve learned how to walk with the Lord unto all pleasing and seeking His will and everything that you do. And when people wrong you, you can just let them wrong you. Suffer yourself to be defrauded. Don’t always have to fight back. It even. You hurt me, I’m going to get you if it’s the last thing I do.

It’ll probably be the last thing you do. Well, I gave him a piece of mind mind. Why would you give somebody a piece of your mind when you’re in most need of it? You know the more mud you throw in the wall, the more you’re going to stick. And you know how to make a mountain out of a mow hill, just more dirt, just more dirt. Because you see God never slumbers and sleeps. You don’t have to stay awake at night because he’s always awake.

He doesn’t sleep. So you learn as a mature person, cast all your cares upon him because he cares for you. You know that. You as a mature person, you know that all things work together for good to those that love the Lord, to those that are called according to His purpose. You know that, you know that. My joy I give unto you, my peace I give unto you. Because you’re mature, you’ve learned how to trust the Lord. You’re learning to walk with the Lord.

And as He says up there, fill with the knowledge of His will. Fill means you’ve matured. You got what you need to do what God wants you to do. In the book of Philippians, we’ll close with this verse. Look there in the book of Philippians in chapter three. And notice what he says here in verse 15. See, when you’re walking with the Lord to seek God’s will in your life. In verse 15, let us therefore, as many as be perfect, that means mature.

Be thus minded. Or think this way. And if in anything you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Did you know that God says, if you’ll study His word, He’ll reveal things to you? You say, I wish God would speak to me. Well, if you’d be quiet and sit down long enough, He might. If you read the word of God, consistently, you just might hear that still small voice. And He says here in verse 16, nevertheless, where do we have already attained?

Let us walk by the same rule. Let us mind the same thing. Walk according to what you do know. You see, there’s always people that say, Lord, give me light, give me light, give me light. Well, if you’re not walking according to the light you already have, why should God keep giving you more light? There’s people that never, what does the Bible puts it this way? Forever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Are you coming to the knowledge of truth?

And then are you walking in obedience to the truth that you have? That’s what he’s talking about. Let us walk by the same room. Learn truth, obey the truth. Learn some more truth, walk according to that truth. And as you learn and get filled with the wisdom of God that you might walk worthy under the Lord. Why? Because of all that He’s done for me. How you study the Word of God and submit yourself to the Word of God and the authority of God is your way of saying thanks to God for all that He’s done for you.

Has He done enough for you? Has He done enough for you that would cause you to want to serve Him for the rest of your life? You don’t have to. I don’t have to serve a Lord, but I’m thankful to the Lord. I’m not going to hell. I have eternal life. I’m God’s child. I’m going to heaven when I die. And it may not be far off. I want to live now the way I will wish I had lived when I get to heaven.

If you were to go to heaven right now, is there anything that you wished you had done, a way that you had lived, things that you could say, or the things you wish you could bring back like it never happened? What you may not be able to change all of that, but from this day forward, this moment forward, don’t you want the will of God for your life? The will of God for your life is as close as the next decision you make.

The perfect will of God for you lies as close as the next decision you make. Because the next decision you make could be, I will walk with God. Look up here. That in this hand represent you and me. The wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. He loves us and he hates our sin, but he loves us. And the Bible says that we committed the sin and we have to pay for it. The wages of sin is death.

Eternal separation from God. But God loves us and wants us to go to heaven. To go to heaven we have to be perfect just as righteous as God. And none of us are perfect. None of us are righteous. They’re all sinners. The Bible says you cannot save yourself. You cannot earn your way to heaven. God says we need a savior. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord, God in the flesh. He came into this world because He loves us.

He hates our sin because our sin separates us from the Lord. So Jesus Christ who had no sin didn’t have to die. Well then why did He die? Well because He took our sins. He died in our place. for us. When Christ died for our sins, it means that I won’t have to pay for my sins if I will do one thing. Believe He did it for me. That’s the only requirement God ever put upon anybody. Will you believe He did it for you?

52 years ago I heard this for the first time and I believed it. And the Bible says if I believe it, He would give me as a free gift everlasting life. I go to heaven on what Christ did. See, I don’t have to pay for my sins because I’ve been forgiven. That’s a wonderful thing to know. And because God has done that for me and I didn’t deserve it, well, there’s a lot of people who wrong us. So why can’t I forgive them even if they don’t deserve it?

Do they have to deserve my love, deserve my grace, deserve my mercy, that I know. That’s when you mature, or you can be childish all your life. And you can carry bitterness and remember and carry all those grudges and owe it up to them every time you get a chance to. This is what’s destroying the teenagers. It destroys the adults, it destroys the church, it’s just in our country because nobody wants to do it God’s way. Let’s pray, Baldwin.

Our Father, we thank you so much for this time together. We’re thankful for the free gift of eternal life. We’re thankful, Lord, that you do love us. And because of what you’ve done for us, we should study your Word. We should walk with you. And Father, we pray that as we be a leaf fingerprints, and we will be leaving mature fingerprints. That is, we grow up. We won’t act like children anymore. And, Father, we know that there’s so much that we don’t understand.

But what I do want your will to be done in the lives of each person here is just like Paul prayed for these people at Colossians. And, Father, I pray that you’ll take every person in this room and help them learn to look to you. We’re so glad that you as our Father, you forgive us, not because we deserve it, but because of what Christ did for us. Help us, Lord, to have that same kind of an attitude, those at wrongness, and we wrong others and they wrong us.

Let’s just have a spirit of forgiveness. Forgive people even if they don’t ask. It’s just a better way to live. They ask you to help us to encourage one another, to pray for one another, because we want the best for each other. In Christ and every prayer, Amen. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you are 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 tool 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 home page 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. So live today and every day. Believing that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.