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 year. 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.

Take a Bible look in the book of Luke. Put it in the book of Luke. The book of Luke in chapter 2. I love it because it’s a good place to start. It’s a good place to start. It’s a book of Luke in chapter 2. And notice what it says here in verse 51. 51. Now you know there’s a little story here. Jesus was about 12 years of age and anyway he was missing for a couple of days. days and mommy and daddy had to go back and try to find him.

Of course he wasn’t his real son, but Joseph then they came back and they found him and they found him in the temple and he was talking to all these big shots. I wonder if someone remember me a few years later, but he told him and says, wish you not that I must be about my father’s business. And he wasn’t talking about in the carpenter shop. Jesus knew this at a young age. He knew who he was and he knew what he was here about.

So you see there in verse 49 and he said to them, how is it that you sought me? Wish you not that I must be about my father’s business and they understood not to say in which he spake unto them in verse 51 and he went down with them and came to Nazareth and you ought to online this phrase. Well subject unto them. What do you think that means? He was subject to his mother and father. But what does it mean?

Because if you don’t know what that means, you won’t know what it means when he uses it in another place under authority, obedient to their parental authority. So he was subject to their parental authority. So if you can understand that, the Bible has a way of teaching itself, explaining what it means. Take your Bible look in the book of Luke chapter 10, just a few pages to your right. Luke chapter 10 and verse 17. The Lord had already sent out 70.

They were to go out two by two. He gave them certain powers and buddy they had a ball. They came back and they were all excited and so that set up there in verse 17, and the 70 returned again with joy. Saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. What do you think that means? They were subject unto his disciples through his name. Jesus, they’re always as a chain of command. There is a power of authority structure.

And so God’s the one that set it up and he says it’s rebellion not to submit yourself to that authority that’s over you. Now you and I know that the one that’s over all of us is the Lord. So if I’ve been a man God has given instructions for me as a man what I’m supposed to do. If I’m single he doesn’t have any authority me right? He has authority over everybody. And if a man is married, God tells him what to do.

And if he has children, God tells him what to do. He’s under authority. Now some people rebel against that authority and on down the line. So if the man rebels against the authority and the wife rebels against her husband’s authority, then the children rebel against the parents’ authority and all of it breaks down and the Bible says be subject one to another. Doesn’t mean me and my kids are on the same level authority wise. No, no. It means they’re submit to the authority over them and I submit to the authority that over me one to another means this way.

Not this way. I don’t believe you’ll find in the Bible where it says parents obey your children and the Lord for this is right. It never goes that way. It doesn’t say in the Bible, husbands submit yourselves to your wives. You won’t find the verse that says it because it’s contrary. There’s a way in which God deals with His creation and what He says. And so there is to be this subjection that we’re to have and not to do so, not to understand it.

It’s why we have so many people that are so rebellious. Did you know that when you submit to the authority of God? God that’s over you. There’s so much more freedom, so much more peace, so much more joy. Knowing that if I submit to Him, He has responsibility to do so many things for me as His child. But if I rebel against His authority and get out from under His love, protection, His guidance, you’re talking about one miserable individual.

The Lord says, it’s not within man that walk of to direct his steps. And so you’re asking for a lot of trouble, a lot of trouble. Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Now the Lord says he’s coming back someday. He’s coming back. He’s going to set up his kingdom. See that verse 24? Then come at the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.”

So Ed means if he puts it down, everything is under him. For he must reign till he had put all enemies under his feet. That means that he is going to have everything and everybody in subjection to Him. When he was here in Matthew 28, he made this statement and it says, all power is given unto Him. All power is given unto Him. So that He is, and we know from the book of Philippians in chapter 2, he was exalted and given a name which is above everything that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue shall confess that he is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.

So that’s what is going to take place. As yet he has not put everything under his feet because the time has come and when he will it ain’t over yet. In verse 27, for he had put all things under his feet but when he said all things are put under him it is manifest that he has accepted which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, see he is the Lord, he is God, he is King, he is ruler, he is on the throne, but he’s allowing the people to do whatever they want to do.

But the day will come when he’s going to lure the boom and he’ll rule with a rod of iron. Now as you go down through here you’re in verse 28, when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him. That God may be all in all. Everything and everybody must be under the subjection of God himself. Look at Ephesians in chapter 1, the book of Ephesians in chapter one.

So whether those things are something so simple like the body of Christ. Now remember this, do you think all of God’s children love the church? No. And I’m not talking about the building, I’m not talking about the mortar and the rugs and the podium. See when Christ died he shed his blood and purchased the church with his own blood, Acts, chapter 20. So when he says he loved the church and gave himself for it, he’s talking about the people, the people.

So he loves the people. So he says he wants us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. We sometimes find that Christians hate one another so much they don’t want to assemble together. But what does the book say? The book says when you come together. Oh yes, you can be a maverick on your own, do whatever you want to do, come and go and all that. But you’re not in subjection to Christ. You’re His child, you have eternal life, you’ll go to heaven whenever you die.

But unless you’re in subjection to His will, then you are in rebellion. And so many of God’s children are living a rebellious life, like a teenager that’s rebellious against the authority that’s over them. Isn’t that a shame? But there’s Christian people that are doing the very same thing, oh, they can see it when it comes to the kids, because they’re the authority. And the kids don’t mind you. When the Bible talks about in the book of Romans in chapter 8 about being spiritually minded or carnally minded, to be spiritually minded means you mind the spirit.

Karlly minded, you mind the flesh. Would you say that you mind God? When you were a teenager, did you mind your parents? What did that mean? What did it mean to mind your parents? You did what they said, do. So if you’re going to mind the spirit, be spiritually minded, you should mind what the Holy Spirit teaches you from the Word of God. And if you do, it will help you tremendously. Now, hearing the book of Ephesians and notice there in verse 22, he says, and hath put all things under his feet.

We are under authority. If we don’t yield to that authority and obey that authority, then we are rebellious to that authority. So we We need to be careful that we are not seen or found to be rebellious. Remember Saul lost the kingdom because of his rebellion, because he rejected the Word of God. So evidently Saul was to be in subjection to the Word of God. True? He rebelled it against the Word of God. He rejected the Word of God.

He did not obey the Word of God. And God said, He says, Oh, I did. Samuel says, no, you didn’t. Then what meaning of the bleeding of the sheep that I hear in my ear? So there was a price to pay. So he says here in verse 22, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is His body. Now, the body of Christ is made up of many members. Now, who are the members of the body?

That’s all of those individuals from Pentecost until the rapture, all the individuals who trust Christ as Savior are baptized into one body. And we are the family of God, the body, the church. So look there in chapter three. In chapter three, you’ll notice what he says here. And he makes a statement in verse 15. Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. name. So part of our family is in heaven. Part of our family is on the earth.

When you study the book of Ephesians, you study the body. When you study the book of Colossians, you’re studying the head. So in the book of Colossians, it’s all about Christ. But here in the book of Ephesians, it’s describing the body. What is the body? So the body is not much good without a head. So we’re a body down here. Our head is up there. So the body is to submit to the authority and be in subjection to the head which is Christ.

And it will do that. We’ll learn a lot of things. And that’s why he makes a statement over here about the body working together. Look in Ephesians in chapter 4 and you’ll notice where he makes his statement in verse 11 and he gave apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers to the body for a reason. In verse 12 says for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry. See you don’t hire me to do the work of the ministry.

You hired me to teach you and to equip you to do the work of the ministry. Yes or no? So I am in subjection. You are to be in subjection. We’re all to be in subjection to the will of God. So then He makes this statement here in verse 13. What is the model that we use to determine our spirituality or the measure. The Bible says in Corinthians we are not to compare ourselves with those who compare themselves and commend ourselves by others who commend themselves.

He says those that do those things like that are not they’re not wise. So there is something in someone and that’s the person of the Lord. In verse 13 till we all come into the unity of the faith. In other words, God wants His children to have unity. We already have the union. By being placed into the body of Christ. But the unity that we’re supposed to have, we should all be on the same page. It says in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 of the same mind, having the same judgment.

Because you believe the same thing. You can get so much more done for the Lord. When you have a body that’s like a well or a machine, and we work like a soul in the machine. But we have to know what kind of product that we’re trying to produce. Look what he says here. Onto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. In other words, our goal is to try to get every one of God’s children to be like the Lord.

If there’s anybody you should want to be like that, I want to be like the Lord. Dr. Hudson put it this way. He says, Lord, if someday I’m going to be like you, why not now? Well, he can do the most good. And he told me that I don’t know how many times. Or someday I’m going to be like you. Why can’t I be like you now? So I can do the most good. He was a great man. He really was.

But as you go through here, you’ll see us talking about this thing called subjection. But while we’re right here, look there in chapter 15 again. I look at 1 Corinthians in chapter 15. 1 Corinthians in chapter 15. Look in verse 28. The verse that says, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him, that put all things unto him. Does Jesus Christ, when he came into the world, did he have to be in subjection to his father? Seems like everybody has got to be in subjection.

If he was not in subjection to his father, when Christ came into the world, did you know that he had to keep all the law perfectly? He had to keep an obey. You can just do whatever I want to do. No, no, no. He had to fulfill the will of the Father and perfectly obey all the commands. You know what Jesus says? You’re just too legalistic. No. When He loved the Father, His commandments are not grievous. It’s only when you want to be rebellious that you see the legalism of your parents because when you want to please them, you don’t kill what it is, you want to please them.

And you don’t see them that way. But when you’re rebellious to authority, you see all the rules and the regulations as something that’s keeping me from my freedom. But if your joy was pleasing, you have a totally different view. Look also over there in chapter 16, chapter 16. Look in verse 15 where it says, I beseech you brethren, you know the house of Staphana set that it is the first roots of a K-I and they have addicted themselves, bunch of addicts.

They addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints. Isn’t that a good verse? You know you can have a good addiction or you can have a bad addiction, but everybody’s addicted to something. But notice in verse 16 that you submit yourselves under such and to everyone that help us with us and labor, submitting yourselves. That means subject yourself to authority. Don’t be rebellious in your heart. The only ones you’ll hurt will be yourself. The best way to learn how to be a good leader is to be a good follower.

And Christ is the best leader any of us could ever have. But God does say in His Word, let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example. So it means that all of us should be examples of what a person should be. We should be going in the right direction. I’d never look at people as somebody who has arrived. I just want to find people who are, well, they’re going in the right direction. Haven’t arrived, but they’re going in the right direction doing the right thing.

And you’d be surprised what you can do for them in their life. Now, first Peter chapter five, go there. First Peter chapter five. The apostle Peter had made some interesting statements. Evidently, he’s done learned a lot. You know when he was here going to the Bible college, he failed his final exam, but the Lord didn’t give up on him. I’m so glad God is a God of first chance, second chance, third chance, fourth chance, fifth chance. But he says now in verse 2, you remember when the Lord says, do you love me?

He says, you know I do. Yeah, I love you. How many times did he ask him that? You think there’s a reason why it would be three times. And then whenever he told him, he says, feed my sheep, didn’t he? He never asked him if he loved the sheep. He asked him, do you love me? I’m not asking you, do you love the lost man? I’m saying, do you love the Lord? You see, if you love the Lord, then you want to try to reach the lost man because that’s what God wants.

If you leave him out of the picture, you have to try to manufacture a hypocritical type of love, and it’s not going to be real. It’s not going to last long. It’ll run out. As some people say, you burn out. But notice what he says in verse two, feed the flock of God. What did Jesus tell Peter to do? Do you love me? Feed my sheep. Do you love me? Feed my sheep. Do you love me? Feed my sheep.

And now what’s he teaching? What he learned? So now he says in verse two, feed not fleece. Feed the flock of God which is among you, taken the oversight thereof. Not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy look but of already mine. Neither has been lords or dictators over God’s heritage, but been what? You’re on the line of examples to the flock. Do you think that God wants us to be examples of the believer? Can you say to any Christian, follow my example?

If you can’t, maybe you need to clean up the example. But notice what else he says. When he makes a statement about this, he says in verse 5, likewise you’re younger, and here’s that word again, that word submit yourselves unto the elder. Submit yourself. So many people are so… I’m not going to have anybody tell me what I can and cannot do. I’m not going to have anybody lay down a law to me. And so most Christians become Mavericks.

You mean just to run wild. Do whatever you want, no commitment, but just because we’re working together and being on the same page, look how much more it can be accomplished. One man can’t do it all. That’s why you need everybody trained to do the work of the ministry. God wants all of us to know him and to love him, to walk with him. But the motive of why you do something is so important. Let me give you one last one before we close.

Look here in the book of Hebrews. to you left, the book of Hebrews in chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12, and you know this is a chapter on tasening. But look what it says in verse 9. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence. Yes, sir, no sir. And shall we not much rather be in subjection under the Father of Spirits and live. Be in subjection to the Father of Spirits. See, all of us are spirits living in our body.

One of these days these old bodies are going to be gone and God will give us a new body, but he’s my Father. Wouldn’t you rather be in subjection to your heavenly Father? My earthly Father was a little hard on me at times, just he was. I think he killed me three or four times. I mean, beat that daylights out of me. And you know that I wasn’t deserving of that. But I got to have a new father and I want to be in subject and to him.

I want to really live. Do you realize that after, you know, 53 years, that there is a peace and a joy that floods your soul When you don’t look back with regrets, that you’re so glad you gave the Lord all of your 20s and you gave them all of your 30s and you gave them all of your 40s and you gave them all of your 50s and you gave them all of your 60s. Oh, I can’t wait to give them all of my 70s, my 80s, my 90s, my 100s, my 110, all the way to 150.

I just can’t wait. We don’t know how long we’re going to live, but isn’t it wonderful to know that you can live. And you just put yourself in the hands of God and let God do whatever He wants to do. I wrote a little thing down here. Let me just give it to you. I can apply all this year’s calls. You know the words of their Ephesians in chapter 5 also and about husbands and wives. We talked about that the other week.

But a little statement, a husband may rather give request and seek advice and discussions about the course of action to be followed. In other words, the husband to be a good leader doesn’t have to make his wife be in subjection. The good leader should not have to force his wife to be in subjection, but by the way he leads she should want to be in subjection. How does that make sense? God creates within me that desire I want to submit to His authority.

And it works so much better. Just works so much better. Look up here. Let him just hand represent you and me and the wall of represents sin. We all have got sin on us. God loves us. I mean, he hates our sin, but he loves us. And for us to pay for sin is eternal separation from God in hell. But God loves us. He wants us to go to heaven. And to go to heaven you have to be perfect as righteous as God.

And God’s the one that made heaven, and he’s the one that made hell, and he’s the one that says how to get there. And so we’ve got to do whatever he says. He says that you cannot earn your way to heaven. God said that. So no sense trying to earn your way to heaven. Why? Because God says it’s not of your works. This is not of your works. Why waste your life? Work in 30, 40, 50, 60 years. It’s not going to work.

Because he says it’s not of your works. See, this hand represents Jesus Christ. He thought, Lord God in the flesh came into the world because He loves us, hates our sin, because our sin separates us from him. So Christ took the sin, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead, and said that if we would simply believe that He did that for us, He would put the payment to our account and we get to go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for us.

There is no other way. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, the whosoever, believe it, then Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. If you’re watching by internet tonight, I don’t have a clue who or where you may be. But God knows exactly where you are and if you were right now trust Christ is your Savior. God said He would save you and give you eternal life. On the screen there’s a little line that says, yes I’ll trust Christ is my Savior and you can click that.

I pray that you will. We’d love to know. Let’s pray shall we? Remember this, if you trust Christ as your Savior, it gives you eternal life. You become His child. You go to heaven when you die. And once you trust Him as your Savior, it is the will of God that His children would yield to the authority of their heavenly Father. You’ll get so much enjoyment out of life if you learn to just love the Lord. When you Realize how much he loved you and how he’ll never cast you, how he wants the best for you, how he wants to bless you, how he wants to reward you.

How can you say no? How could you say no? This whole world isn’t worth turning God down. I pray that you’ll serve the Lord and serve him with all your heart. Father, we thank you again for your blessing. Thank you for this time together. In Christ’s name we pray. What another great message from Dr. Arnold. Friends, we hope more than anything else that you know you’re saved by believing Jesus died for your sin, and that Bibleline is helping you grow stronger and stronger in the Lord.

Would you know how to witness to an atheist? What do you start with if a person doesn’t even believe there is a God? For this month, all who send in a financial donation in any amount, we will mail to you Dr. Arnold’s DVD teaching lesson on how to witness to an atheist. gain some great insight on reaching people who may just need someone to explain the truth to them. This DVD series is yours for this month only with your financial donation in any amount.

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 again for supporting Bible Life. 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. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day. Believing that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up.