This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, 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 You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the Bibleignmenistries.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, if somebody was taught to you about your physical life, I said, well, how are you doing physically? You’d say terrible. Somebody might even ask you, well, when were you born? You would recollect, well, I was there when it happened, and I guess I ought to know. And you might tell them the day that you got born. So anyway, who are you? Who are you? How would you describe yourself? So while I’m six foot, a hundred and pounds and full head of hair, or little eyes never hurt anybody, right?

You’ve heard that all your life. But anyway, you can describe yourself in a lot of different ways. Well, how you feeling? Well, I feel fine. You ever had people say, I feel fine and you know they’re sick of the dog. Well, I feel fine. How’s everything going? Fine. I had a waitress ask me, well, how y’all doing? I said, you got an hour? Now, you know, it’s just a nice way to be nice, but they really don’t care how you’re doing.

They don’t really care about your problems you have. They ain’t got time to listen to all of you. Fine. That way you’ve answered them, but you’ve got them off your back and everybody’s fine. But you know, sometimes you’re not fine. When I see people and I know that they’ve got troubles and there’s problems and they’re weak because of it. So how are you doing? Oh, fine. You know they’re not fine. And they’re hurting about something. You know, there’s a lot of things that we go through in life and sometimes we can’t always explain it to everybody.

But somebody asked you, well, how are you doing in your spiritual life. Do you know that you can’t have a spiritual life until you had a birthday? You had to be born into God’s family, right? Wouldn’t you agree with that? Life, spiritual life, doesn’t begin until you’re born of the Spirit. So once you trust Christ as your Savior, you are born of God, you have eternal life, and now life for you can begin. It’s a different life altogether. It’s the life that you received from God, not talking about your physical life when you were just born into this world, but life that came from God.

If God gave me life today, I wonder when he would want me to start living. Well, when I got life. You see, anytime after you’re born, you’re alive until you’re dead. God has given to us eternal life. Life that lasts forever, but when do you receive eternal life? Well, we know when you die you finally get eternal life That’s true When does eternal life begin for you and I? Right then when you trust the Lord he gives you eternal life So You know what I’m talking about But when do you believe that you should be filled with the Spirit?

At what point in your life do you think you should be filled with the Spirit? Right away? What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? Not filled with the Spirit. Filled with the Spirit. Controlled by the Holy Spirit. So when should the Holy Spirit begin to control your life? You think right away? Ten years down the road? It seems like we received the Holy Spirit when we got our new life. So evidently God wants to control us from the day of our birth.

Wouldn’t you think so? . . . . . . . . . Under the influence. I’ve seen people that’s been under the influence. You know, you could be under the influence of smoke, smoke getting my eyes and they just burn. You ever get around somebody that smokes a lot and that the smoke gets you? I’ve had that. I’ve suffered along with that. But how are you doing in your spiritual life? How are you doing? So take your Bible and turn to the book of Ephesians.

The book of Ephesians. Ephesians in chapter 3. So the question is, are you filled with the Spirit? Are you controlled by the Holy Spirit? Now in the book of Ephesians in chapter 1 talks about how that we were sealed by the Holy Spirit and until the day of redemption. And so we know that that already has taken place. So here in the book of Ephesians in chapter 3, look there in verse 14. Verse 14. And he says in verse 14, for this cause, I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I’ve home the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inward man, in the inner man. So to be strengthened with might by his spirit. Now strengthened with might, doesn’t that kind of ring a bell a little bit later on in the book of Ephesians? Where maybe in chapter 6 it makes a statement in verse 10. Finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

The power of His might. I wonder if that means according to the power of the Holy Spirit that lives within you, granting to you the power that you need to do whatever it is God wants you to do. So if you will yield yourself to the Lord and do what God wants you to do with your life, then we are to believe that we have all the power that we need to obey God. Wouldn’t you agree with that? Or do you think God wants us to do something but He would never enable us to do it?

That wouldn’t be right. To require me something that I don’t have the power to do. But what if He by the Holy Spirit in dwelling me gives me the power to do it? then should I? And if I did, maybe God would be pleased. But if I didn’t, He would be grieved. So in your Christian life, how would you say you’re, how are you doing? Oh fine. Now if somebody just says fine, when you’re asking about how they’re doing physically and they’re, the eyes are watering their nose is running and they got a cough and they get weak in there, he got a fever and they say, I’m fine.

You probably wouldn’t believe him, would you? You said, you’re sick. I am not. You would say, you’re sick. Now, what about a person who says, well, how are you doing spiritually? Oh, I’m fine. But they never witness, never read the Bible. One in pine, mown and grown about everything goes on in life. always down with the dumps. They don’t even know how to borrow a smile if they wanted one. They’re never filled with joy. They’re always down. How you doing?

I’m fine. Would you believe that according to the symptoms they might not be as spiritually strong as they say they are? You know the book of 1 John is those who say something and it’s not the truth. You say you know the Lord and you’re walking with the Lord and you’re walking in the light but it’s not the truth because if you were walking in the Lord and with the Lord then there should be some results in your life.

Now you can be saved and have no result of any kind because there’s no stipulation says that you and I have to love the Lord to be saved. There’s There’s nothing in the Bible that says that I have to walk with God to be saved. So I can be saved and not love Him and I can be saved and not walk with Him. But that doesn’t cause Him to take away our salvation. Once you’re saved, yes, you are saved forever, but it is God’s will that we learn some things.

But now look what He says here. In verse 17, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. That means that, and you can tie this in with the book of Colossians in chapter 3 also, but it’s talking about when you and I study the Word of God. And we listen to what God’s Word says and you believe it and act upon it because you believe it. Dwell it in your hearts by faith. So that you and I might do what it is God wants us to do with our life.

And then He makes a statement in verse 17 that ye being rooted and grounded in love, seeing the book of Colossians in chapter 2. It also makes this statement, as you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him to be rooted and grounded in him. It means that your roots of faith in what you believe go deep into the Word of God and your faith is wrapped around these verses in the Bible like they’re big giant boulders and your faith is wrapped around them so that whenever the winds of doctrine come and a lot of people will be wiped out.

But your faith is rooted in the Word of God so that you can stand. This is why chapter 6ollar and having done all the stand power of his might means God has given to you and I the Holy Spirit and we’re supposed to live accordingly. Now we don’t always faithfully do all the things that we should. It would be great if we did. But But look what he says now in verse 18. Why should you do all of that?

May be able to comprehend with all saints. What is the breadth and the length and the depth and the height? All this measurement, you say, well, I don’t know what that measure is. Well, that’s why I think maybe a little bit further on in the same chapter of Ephesians, it kind of gives us an explanation when it says, well, all the saints, that’s unity. So you look over there in verse 11 of chapter 4, and you notice this, and he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints.

God gave leaders to the church to help equip the saints for the work of the ministry. You see, we don’t come here to learn all the other aspects of life that are not important. lost people can learn and do a lot of it. This is to equip God’s people for the work of the ministry. So it appears that God wants every one of his children in the ministry. Or did I misread this? Do you think I misread this? We are to teach and educate God’s children, equipping them for the work of the ministry.

So then you and I are supposed to be involved in the ministry. So how are you doing spiritual? How are you doing in your spiritual life? Let’s forget the physical life right now. As long as you’re alive, you have a ministry. As long as you draw breath, you have a ministry. If you’ve got a pulse, you have a purpose. You have a ministry. But look what he said. In verse 13, “‘Til we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, get this unto a perfect man unto the measure of the statue of the fullness of Christ.

There is the measurement.” So you see there over there in chapter 3 when he’s talking about maybe able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breath, the the length, the depth, the height. Well, I wonder what he’s talking about. He’s talking about the love of God. Knowing how far should the love of God go? How or what should be my example?

And he’s talking about Christ himself is the measure. You serve the Lord and you dedicate yourself to Him And you are to seek to live as holy as you possibly can until you reach the measurement of Jesus Christ. Do you have a little work to do? Just a little bit maybe. Got a little bit further to go in your Christian life. In this life, in our sanctification as we live our sanctified life, we will never reach our full total potential because we have something within us that holds us back.

called an old sinful nature. I wonder if the book of Ephesians has anything to say about your old man, your old man. But first of all, I want you to look there in chapter 2. In chapter 2 where he make this statement and you’ll notice this in verse 7. He says that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come. Then you see there in chapter 3 and verse 16 that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory.

You see, he wants to make us trophies of his grace. And then he wants us to be trophies of his glory. That in this lifetime, you bring glory to God. It’s kind of like this. If you had some money, you put it in the bank, or you put it in the land, you put it in something so that you can get a return. You want something for your investment. God has invested in you. He’s invested in me. And He wants some return.

He wants to get some treasure back. He wants to get some honor back. He wants some glory back so that we can be to the riches of His glory. You see, God wants us and you’ll remember in the parable of the talents where He gave to this one man and He just simply buried it because He was afraid of losing it. And the Lord says, you could have at least put it into the bank and I could have got some interest off of it.

To do nothing with your life, God says you’re a faithless, you’re a disobedient servant. Because you see, not to take the risk of faith, ought to scare you to death. I told somebody that says, the reason I try to do as much as I possibly can because I’m afraid not to. I’m afraid not to have camp because I know the value of camp. I know what it can do for people, for the kids that come that are lost, for the kids that maybe have trusted Lord and don’t have a purpose in life.

And it gives us a chance for a few days to isolate them and take them away from the things of the world and give them some spiritual truth for the purpose, the goal that it might become theirs. So that God might be able to talk to them, that God might be able to work in their lives, and some kids’ life will be totally changed. I’m afraid not to do that because I know what it can do. I’m afraid not to have ranch.

I’m afraid not to have the Reformers unanimous because these are ministries. I’m afraid not to have radio. Sometimes I thought about I’d love to just for the sake of just to go off the thing, forget the internet, just solve all those problems that we have and to try to raise money and let’s just have a church with the four walls and y’all just come once or twice a week and we’ll just be happy. Us four and no more and we’ll be satisfied and we’ll just coast from here on out.

Now we can do that, but I’m afraid to do that. So I trust that God will give me the strength that I need, the wisdom that I need to go as long as He wants me to go, but why we are here we should be faithfully serving God and doing something with our lives. So whenever you see this and understand this, then look there in Ephesians in chapter 4, where it makes a statement about the measure in verse 13, unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of who.

So have you reached that measure in your life or you’re just like the Lord? It’s a high call, isn’t it? Do you think everybody in this room has a little work to do yet? We haven’t yet arrived. But to have the unity that we should have and to do what God wants us to do, it’s all in the book. Now in verse 19 of chapter 3 I want you to see that. And to know, so there’s something that you may be able to understand and then he wants you to know this.

The love of Christ which passes knowledge, that means human knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God be filled with all the fullness of God. Whatever makes God do what God does will help you to do what you do. And he talks about in the book of Colossians in chapter 2 when it talks about in him Christ, dwell of all the fullness of the Godhead. And you have God as your Father, you have the Holy Spirit indwelling you and you have the example of Christ.

You have all that you need and all that I need. Wouldn’t it be neat if we could just do all of this without the interruptions of the lust of the flesh, the trials of life? If we could just wipe all of that away sometime, it seemed like it’d be so much easier. But then we would get no treasures. We would get. There’d be no war, no medals, no achievements. But because of all those things and you do it in spite of that then you’re really gonna have to love the Lord More than you love anything else in the world or you’ll let anything in the world stop you Does the love of God constrain you?

That makes you do what you do and nothing nothing can stop you That’s powerful stuff then you look there in chapter 4 where it makes this statement how that you used to be and how that you are. See that in verse 22? That you put off concerning the former behavior, manner of life, the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust. That old nature that you have is deceitful. Lust are deceitful. They promise you joy and pleasure and happiness and all this and will give you praise and honor and glory.

Do your own thing go your own way. But it’s deceitful. God’s kind of fun has no sorrow that follows it the next day. I’ve watched a lot of people rebel against God, but I’ve never seen one of them win. They never win. You’ll win if you’ll serve the Lord all your life. Not just Christians enter the race, run the race and if you want to finish well you need to run well and are you running well? You did run well.

What teaching caused you not to run like you ought to? Who did hinder you from obeying the truth? So he makes a statement here in this verse in verse 21, If so be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, then there’s something to put off and there’s something to put on. See God pictures it like, hey take off those old clothes and put on some new clothes. Put off that old man and put on a new man.

So that’s why he says in verse 24, and that you put on the new man. Well how do you put on this new man? Well look at the verse right before it, verse 23, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. In other words, don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. How do you renew your mind with the Word of God that you may prove or discover what is a good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

So the question come down is okay, Dauph. I know what I’m supposed to do. Am I disciplined? Are you disciplined? It means can you tell yourself what to do and make yourself behave and make yourself mind. If you can’t mind you, why should you get upset if your kids don’t mind you? So we are to be disciplined. Now I say very little about discipleship, but everything that I do is about discipleship. And that means it to discipline, to get people to discipline their life.

Take your Bible and look at the book of Romans in chapter 12. Romans and chapter 12. Romans chapter 12, you know that they’re in verse 2, verse 2. This is what God wants us to do, be not conformed to this world. So whatever your discipline is, whatever you do and don’t do, there is something to do and there’s something not to do. Do not be conformed to this world. That would be putting on the old man. Because that’s all the world has is the old man.

You don’t want to be like the world. You don’t want to live according to the old man. You’re all sinful nature. being guided by the lust of the flesh. But as he says here, be it transformed, or that by the renewing of your mind. And the renewing of your mind is the spiritual life. Your spiritual life… . . . . . . . . Can’t be much stronger than your spiritual mind. That’s why when we want kids to dedicate their lives to the Lord and we want them to be challenged to put God first in their life or the rest of their life, we get them into the Word.

That’s why I love having Bible memorization, putting the Word into the kids’ mind. And it may not begin to nurture for 10, 15, 20 years, but I’m a patient man. And as the years as a robot, I’ve seen the word of God take root and lives changed. Years after I’ve left people and had nothing to do with what they did. And they can go a thousand different ways, but somewhere along the line, those seeds begin to grow. Some people have to come to the end of themselves.

Find out, you know, going down a sliding board, it’s hard to stop halfway. Some people have to go cling to the bottom before they realize, I can’t go any further. I’m nothing. I need God, and I want the Lord. And God begins to work in their life. But they have to hit a bottom. They gotta have a foundation, a place, can’t go any lower. So that’s why sometimes in your Christian life, when you are filled with pride, God will just take and pull that rug after Monday you.

He’ll remove all means of support. And you will be left totally destitute of an answer, a clue, a cure until you’re down at the bottom. And then you, as I preached a sermon one time called, faith is born in despair. when there’s no other way. Nobody can help you and you think nobody really cares. Nobody loves me and you realize my father still loves me and you’ll cry out to the Lord and you’d be surprised what God can do in your life.

Now look in Ephesians in chapter 4 and verse 20 I want to just show you this one more time. Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4, and look at this first one more time because it’s so important. In verse 22 where he says that ye put off concerning the former behavior, that means don’t be conformed to this world. The old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. That’s Romans chapter 2.

It’s telling us what you need to do to solve the problem, how that you can think differently. And then he says in verse 24, and that you put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Then he tells you the things to put off what he means. And as you go through here, you’ll see a lot of things and then look in verse 30. I covered it this morning, but just in reference to it.

and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. Now, what would cause Him to be grieved? For you and I, not to let the Holy Spirit teach us the word of God. We hope you’ve enjoyed this lesson today from Dr. Arnold and pray that Bibleline is a blessing in your life. We are so grateful to our listeners and supporters who help us accomplish so many great things for the Lord. During this month to every person making a financial donation in any amount, we’re going to send to you the DVD teaching series on how to witness to Roman Catholics.

Many Catholics love the Lord so much, but sadly they are lost. Although the Roman Catholic Church uses words like grace and mercy, they rely upon works as the cause of salvation. So many wonderful people are being deceived by the world’s largest religion, and this DVD series could help you win them to the truth. Again, we’re so grateful to those of you who support this ministry Our mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634, and don’t forget to include your mailing address as well.

God bless you and thank you for supporting Bibleline. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline. 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. And now, a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen, the trumpet will sound, and we will be changed. Cut 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.