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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 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 let’s turn our Bible to the book of Matthew. Those were my introductory remarks. we look here in book of Matthew and chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5, this is on page 999. In Matthew chapter 5, you’ll notice a wonderful, wonderful verse here. Look here in verse 12, rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you, no way would. I didn’t mind that great rewards in heaven, this persecuted bid.

I’m not sure like that though. If you and I would only realize that God is the one who lit our candle and caused us to see and we understand, we believe, we trust in Christ and God wants to place us in this world and sometimes the most difficult place. You know where you work? It might be a very difficult place. The people you meet, where you have to go, all kinds of things, you may not like it, but you’d be surprised a people that God may have to bring across your path.

But God is the one that’s in charge to the light. And He’s the one that moves us around. And you may be in one place and then next time you know He might move you to another place and they move you to another place. But it’s not as important to you as it is to the one that God wants to reach. And He knows that better than we do. Your idea of prayer to God should be Lord, use me however you see fit.

me wherever you want me to be. Just, Lord, help me to have the strength and the grace that I need to keep giving forth the gospel. And then notice what he says. In verse 13, ye are the salt of the earth. And then in verse 14, ye are the light of the world. And when he says you’re the light of the world. In view of all those other scriptures that we read over there in the book of Matthew, remember this.

When you have the gospel of John and you got the book of Matthew and you got the book of Mark and the book of Luke. Those things we read in the book of John and then all these other ones, all this happened at the same time. It wasn’t that God did, okay here’s Matthew, he did all of those things. Now he did the book of Mark and then he did the book of Luke and then he lived the Gospel of John.

No, they all stack up this way and whenever he was talking about being the light and some people didn’t understand it because they saw it only through Jewish eyes. There was others who was seeing things and they would understand. And when he spoke in parables, those who wanted to know the truth could see and those who didn’t couldn’t see and yet he would tell the same story. And so there’s people who can get something and other people can see and hear the same thing and not really understand what in the world he’s talking about.

So you take the light here and you go back and place it over these other books and you’ll find out when he’s talking about light. You know what he’s referring to. He only lived for those three and a half years. Matthew covers three and a half years. Mark covers three and a half years. Lukeblem covers three and a half years. John covers three and a half years of his ministry. But it was all the sameCRIPing of three andPhoenixebted.assadumably (?, ]; consequence.

So you look here in verse 4, ye are the light of the world,ThumbnailImage a city that is set on a heel cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel but on a candlestick. And they give a flight into all that are in the house. Let your light so shine. Now in view of John as a a key that unlocks doors, I think I understand a little bit more about what he’s talking about, that you and I as lights in the world and according to the book of Philippians in chapter 2, being a light in the world is holding forth the word of life.

And I believe that’s what you and I are supposed to do. So take your Bible and turn to the book of Mark chapter 4. A book of Mark in chapter 4. And you’ll notice that there’s similarities in each one of these, but yet something that just makes it just a little bit different so that we see something that maybe we wouldn’t have saw before. Now look there in the book of Mark in chapter 4. Looking for… verse 21. And he said unto them is a candle brought to you to be put under a bushel or under a bed and not to be set on a candlestick.

If you are a light and you are to be giving out the gospel, if you will continually shine, do you think God might lift you up? He didn’t light the candle to hide you under a bushel. I I believe he’s talking about you and I, you know, somebody who is the light and to trust the Lord to put us wherever he wants. If you really understand and see, you don’t become envious or jealous of what somebody else is accomplishing, if I’m the pastor of this church and there’s a mega church down the road that’s running 15,000, well if they’re preaching the gospel praise the Lord, that man is going to be held accountable to do what he can with what he has been blessed with.

God didn’t give me everything that preacher has. So I’m going to have to just do the best I can and shine forth with what I’ve got, where I am. And you got to do the same thing. And God may give us a higher perch or he might put us in a lower perch. It all depends on God’s in charge. Can you trust Him? Can you trust Him? See, He’s the one that we’re supposed to be yielded to and trust the Lord to do all this for.

Now get this in verse 22. For there is nothing hid which shall not be manifested. Neither was anything kept secret that it should come abroad. I believe that God wants the light to shine everywhere. That there ought not be one spot upon the earth where the gospel did not reach. If he says, preach the gospel to every creature, do you believe that we should try to get the gospel to every creature. Think about it. So the thing is is Lord, where do you want me to go?

Where do you want me to shine? And it’s not just to play tiddly wings. I believe He wants us to serve and to be found faithful to do what we can. Now look what else He says here. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. In Lord, if you really have ears to understand, to perceive what He’s talking about, then let him listen. How you listen reveals how you see. And Christ said this to his disciples, he said, do you yet not understand?

Do you understand yet? And they said, yes, we understand what’s not that they did, but they said it in your way. So he says in verse 24, and he said unto them, take heed what you hear, what you hear depends on what you see. listening to the message that God gives to us and understanding that is the light we give. So you can’t share the light as fervently, as passionately, unless you understand where he’s coming from. So hearing is very, very important to seeing.

Some people says, well, I’ll believe it if I can see it. No. Believing it is the key to seeing it. If you’ll believe what God says, you can see things. But if you wait till you see it, you won’t believe it until you see it. You’ve got to believe it first. When He makes the statement, be it under you according to your faith. That means that you don’t yet see what God’s going to do or how He’s going to do it.

faith is believing that what God says is true, whether you understand how he’s going to do it or not, but you believe. And true faith to the Lord is remaining faithful when it appears that God has let you down or failed you. Because there’ll be times in your life and you’ll think, God, do you know who I am? You remember me? I’m right here. And sometimes you’ll see God blesses somebody and you’ll seem like you’re going through a drought.

And he said, Lord, I don’t want to cause no fuss, but what about us? I used to be in Colorado and I used to, oh I couldn’t, oh I just got under my skin. I’m out there trying to make bids on buses that are, you know, six, seven hundred dollars at an auction and sometimes the tires were balled, the brakes were no good, the driveshaft and it did the run hot and I mean pitiful. And then I got a letter this.

Some rich guy went in down there and seemed Bruce Porter and and bought him three brand new buses. That bothered me. I’ve been certain a Lord longer than Bruce. And I know that I’m just as faithful as he is. And God, you gave him three brand new buses. And you gave me a piece of junk. It’s not fair. And if God’s anything, he’s supposed to be fair. Any? No respecter persons. Hey, what about me right here? Now, I know you’re not like that.

you would never get envious of what somebody else gets to do for the Lord, would you? Have you ever been envious of somebody else’s singing, talent, beauty? I won’t go there. I had something on my mind, but it was one of those little black birds that just flew over and got to keep that bird going. Go back here now to verse 24. He said unto them, take heed what you hear with what measure you meet it shall be measured to you.

And unto you that here shall more be given.” So that’s why He says, take heed how you hear. Because if you listen to what God says and you’ll obey what God says, God will tell you some more. So the way to gain more spiritual insight is to obey the insight you already have. Now, does that make sense? Accept the truth that God has. Trust the Lord to put you wherever He wants, however He wants, and He may bring some of the strangest things across your path.

It’s a lot more exciting that way. Try not to plan everything in your life. Let it happen. Just let it happen. try to manipulate God or the will of God, just enjoy the walk. And you’ll be surprised. You just naturally do the things that are right to do where you are and don’t try to figure out everything and let the Lord use you. I didn’t ask God to be born. I haven’t asked God to let me live and I probably, I don’t know if I’m going to ask God to take me out of here.

I don’t know how bad he gets. But I’m the Lord’s child. I’m in his hands and He can move the light wherever He wants. And now notice what else He says here in verse 25, for he that hath to him shall be given. And he that hath not from him shall be taken away even that which he hath. In other words, there’s things that if God gives you light, if you don’t use it, what? He gonna take it away, you’ll lose it.

You’ll lose the light and you will not see. Are there Christians that are supposed to be lights in the world and they’re walking in darkness? I think a lot of Christians are walking in darkness. But the light is supposed to be on the inside of you. And I believe that it is. So take your Bible now and turn to the book of Luke chapter 8. Luke and chapter 8. Luke chapter 8. And look at verse 16. Verse 16. And this is what he says here in verse 16, no man when hath light of the candle, coverth it with a vessel or put it under a bed but set it on a candlestick.

Why? That they which entrant may see the light. Now from all the other scriptures we read, we know the purpose for you and I as the light of the world is to be the ones telling people how to have the light of life. And Jesus Christ is the light of the world and only through Him can you have the free gift of everlasting life. Then notice in verse 17, for nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest. In other words, in a house, if it’s dark, you should be able to shine light and it can shine and whenever you shine the light, darkness flees from it.

What are you getting in your hand? I got some darkness in there. Yep, still there. You shine the light and the darkness flees. need the light. You’re not supposed to be the light of the world.” And so he says here in verse 18, take heed therefore, and here’s those three little words, how you hear, because how you hear depends on how you see, because how you hear is listening to what God says and believing that, and that’s how you can see.

You see things other people can’t see with the eye of faith, believe in what God’s word says, it is true. Now, there’s another one over here that I wanted to show you. But I’m not sure where it went. It just kind of flew out of my mind. Everyone’s in a while, something like that will happen. But in the study of these scriptures, I want you to know that there’s a thing about the eye, the eye. Look there in the book of Matthew, chapter 6.

Matthew and chapter 6. Now, in these verses when he’s talking about the believer, because he’s talking about laying up treasure in heaven, only a believer lays up treasure in heaven. So you notice here in verse 19, Matthew chapter 6, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth where moth and roughed up corrupt and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven where neither moth and up corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

The reason of not laying up down here is because you can lose it. The reason for laying up treasure in heaven is because you can’t lose it. I used to think that whenever I did some good deeds, I laid up treasure in heaven. Hey, I had a good day today. And then if I did something wrong, uh-oh, God just took him away. Now I got to start over again. So I did some more good deeds and lay them up.

I did something wrong. God took him away. At this rate, I’m not going to have anything. So I thought the best way to do this is to work real hard one day, let the tracers get them all up there, lower brains I can get up here and get them before I lose them. Now don’t that make sense? But then no, no, no, no, no, that would be wrong. So then I lost it anyway. And then I found out according to Matthew chapter 10 that if you gave a cup of cold water to someone only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, you shall in no wise lose your reward.

I thought I could lose all my rewards. What you have earned, you can’t lose. You only lose what you could have earned and didn’t get. So the Lord wants us to have a full reward and a full reward is only because you serve the Lord with your whole life. So don’t let there be down periods in your life where you don’t serve Him because every day that goes by and you don’t serve, it’s costing you. Payday someday. It’s costing you what you could have had.

And you won’t know until you get to heaven to see what you could have had if you had served the Lord. So here in Matthew in chapter 6, he says in verse 21, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Now, the heart of man reveals the eye of the man. What you see is your heart set upon the things of God or the things of the world. Do you focus upon what God says or upon what man says or what man sees here?

He says you can’t do both. You cannot see down here in verse 24. No man can serve two masters. You only can have one. It means that if you’re going to have the Lord then you can’t have the devil as your master. If you’re going to have the devil as your master then you can’t have the Lord as your master. You’ve got to make up your mind. A double-minded man is unstable in how many of his ways? All of them.

So you have to learn how to focus upon what God wants you to do. And so he says in the last part of verse 20, but you cannot serve God and them. So if you have an eye toward God and you can see what God wants you to see, understand this. Not not only do you need to be a light in the world, you have to be a light. It means that somehow along the way the light of the gospel has to come within you.

The man has to have the light, the knowledge, the truth within him in order to guide himself because the book of Jeremiah says it is not within man that walk up to direct his steps. No man is smart enough to guide himself. That’s why we take the Word of God and thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against God. So I hide God’s Word into me, in me. So I’ve got light inside of me.

I have to have light in me to guide me that I might be a light. Because you see, we don’t get our light from the world. dehumanize I can see and therefore if I got good vision I don’t walk off of here and fall down the steps and fall over the piers unless I get up in one of my dizzy spells but you’re supposed to be able to see so that you don’t go stumbling through. Truth is to be indwelling within us and if His truth and dwells in me.

Then I should be making wise decisions so that I don’t go stumbling through life. We don’t make all the right decisions, but it should help our focus on how we see. That’s why it says in verse 22, The light of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single, it means pure. Thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, Thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness?

And no man can serve two masters. He said, well, what does all this mean? Was talking about here you are. You’ve got God and you’ve got the devil. You’ve got light. You’ve got darkness. You’ve got truth. You’ve got air. You have to take and make up your mind. If you want to lay up treasure in heaven, you have to find out How do I lay up traysoring heaven? You know one of the best things that I love the verse over there in the book of Thessalonians when he says, beloved, ye are my crown of rejoicing and the presence of the Lord.

Ye are my crown of rejoicing. Those people that we reach while we’re here when we get to heaven will be our crown of rejoicing. I don’t know if I’m gonna get a real crown. Am I going to have five crowns? Oh, well, I hope you’ve got to have strong neck. Stars in my… I don’t know. All I know is let’s just do the work and leave to God whether he’s going to put, you know, a crown on your head with stars in it or maybe some of us are going to hit over the head until we see stars and we wish we had done more for the Lord.

But we need to serve them with all our hearts and have an eye for the things of God to see what God is talking about. You see, if you see this and the purpose of the Christian life and the light shining in the world and you know it’s about the gospel that people might see the light and believe on Christ, then it helps you understand that we are to hold forth the word of eternal life, explaining to people how to have the free gift of everlasting life.

Otherwise, we just simply live a good life, but it says that they may glorify your Father which is in heaven. The only way they can glorify your Father which is in heaven is that they know why you did what you did. If you don’t tell them that you do because of the Lord and what the Lord means to you, then you get all the confidence and the praise and the yawn, the glory and not the Lord. But if they are that thrilled and praise the God in heaven, maybe it’s those who saw the light and heard and understood and trusted Christ of their Savior.

Don’t you want people to be in heaven for all eternity because they heard the gospel through you as an individual? We can do it collectively. We work together, we have different ministries, but it’s a ministry of this church and what we give and what we do and what we sacrifice, is it worth it? I believe it’s worth it. That’s why I love all the various ministries that we have and I’m looking for more because I just think there’s so many more ways in which we can win people and every ministry we have is another hook in the water, another hooked in the water.

My daddy when they used to go fishing, they’d always do it legally, but they would put a rope across the river and they had hundreds of these little lions coming down with hooks on them and they’d be all across there. And they would just, you know, have a barbecue, eat stuff like that there and they’re fishing. And they’d catch all these fish on one line. All I’m saying is a ministry every hook will catch some to the radio will hook one to the internet will hook one through ranch will hook one over here and all we’re doing is just putting more hooks into the water.

Why? so we can catch more fish. You see this whole thing is about catching fish and Christ says, follow me and I will make you what? Rich and powerful, famous. I’ll make you a fisher of men. That’s what it’s all about. So do you want to be a shining light for the Lord? I hope so. If you do it because of the message look up here. This hand represents you and me, the wallet represents sin. We all have sin upon us.

The Bible says that God loves us, hates our sin. And for us to pay for sin is eternal separation from God, but He loves us, wants us to go to heaven. But to go to heaven we have to be perfect. There’s a problem. Heaven is a perfect place and we’re not. And because of sin we can’t get in. So the Bible says that we have a debt to pay. And the wages is eternal separation from God. So God says you cannot save yourself.

You have a debt payment which means a separation. So there’s no way you can save yourself by good deeds. You’ve got to pay for the bad ones. This sin represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord. He’s God in the flesh. He came into the world because, well, he loves us, but he hates our sin because our sin separates us from them. So Christ took the sin, paid for it on the cross and came back from the dead. He said that if you and I, we would believe He did it for us.

He would put this payment to our account and we get to go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did. That’s the best news in all the world. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. The whosoever, believe it in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life. The Bible says that He God had made Him Jesus Christ who knew no sin to be sinned for us, We might be made the righteousness of God. He gave us His righteousness when we believe.

And we go to heaven on what He did for us. Let’s pray, shall we? Every head bob and every eye close, no one looking around. If you’re here tonight and you never trust that Christ is your Savior, or if you’re watching by internet, understand there’s only one thing you have to do is will you believe that He did it for you? You know you’re a sinner because everybody’s a sinner. Will you believe that when he died, he died for you.

Will you trust him as your only hope of going to heaven? You can’t earn eternal life. You cannot work your way to heaven. What I’m saying is the light of eternal life. It’s the light, the truth, on how to know that you can have the free gift and go to heaven when you die. If you’ve never trusted it, would you do it right now? Do not reject the light. To reject this light, this truth, this understanding, is to walk in darkness forever.

If you’re making that decision to trust Christ as Savior, I’d like to have prayer for you. And I’m going to ask you in just a moment if what I said made sense to you, you’ll say, yes, that made sense to me and preach our life for you to pray for me in closing. And I hope that you that are watching by internet will do the same thing right where you are. Would you trust the Lord? Would you believe it?

And if you hear an auditorium, if you’ll trust Christ as your Savior, right now and you’ve never done it before, would you just flip you in a very quickly, but wrap it down, damn it all. Our Father, we thank You again for Your blessings to us. Thank You for Your Word. Thank You, Lord, for somebody who got the truth to us that shared the light so that we could see. We knew that this was the only way to get to Heaven.

We believed it. We trusted you. You gave us the free gift. We know where your children and follow. We know that we are the light in this world. And that you want us to show forth this light, this truth, this knowledge on how to have eternal life. Thank you for the privilege you’ve given to us in Christ and we pray. Amen. Hello. This is Peter Amato with Bibleline, and we hope that you’ve enjoyed today’s program. We’re so thankful for those of you who support Bibleline and would like to offer you a gift.

During the month of October for your donation of any amount, we’re going to send to you Dr. Arnold’s pamphlet on why we cannot believe an evolution. We’re also going to include his prophecy chart titled The Prophetic Survey of Time, and lastly we’re going to include a CD that features Dr. Arnold’s funny jokes and sayings that we hope will tickle your spirit. Before your gift of any amount, we’ll send the three items, the pamphlet on evolution, the full color prophecy chart, and the CD of Dr.

Arnold’s funny jokes and quotes. Our mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634, and don’t forget to include your mailing address as well. Once again, thank you for supporting Bibleline and may God richly bless you. 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.