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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 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.

Listen, I’m going to ask you a question here justRepresent. I do not want you to raise your hand unless you really know the truth. I’m going to ask you to raise your hand in just a minute. But raise your hand is not because somebody else did it, but because you really know and you believe and you know positively beyond the shevra, you know you’re going to heaven when you die. Let me see your hand. All right, put it up.

Did you know you can’t do that in a lot of churches? Because they don’t know. And most times the preacher doesn’t even know because he’s not clear. He doesn’t understand it. So you can’t make something really simple and easy for people to understand if you don’t understand it yourself. And that’s why it’s so important. As Christians we need to speak clearly and simply to those around us rather than in the high-falutin terminology of the Hall of Halls of Learning.

By saying what we mean and and meaning what we say, we attract others to the practical brand of truth that’s housed in the Bible. We should attract people to this book because what we’re saying is understood as this is the truth. If they don’t know the truth of the gospel, they’re not going to know how to go to heaven. They’re not going to know how to explain it to anybody else. So, error is multiplied and that’s what we have to be careful.

We should always say what we mean and mean what we say. Another word is important. It is also to be concise. You don’t have to have a lot of words to say something that’s true. If it’s simple, easy to understand. Some people have a multitude of words. The English poet George Herbert once said, good words are worth much, but cost little. Did you realize all the words in here, you can learn them all, and it don’t cost you anything.

And then if you learn how to put them together, you can create a thought that people can understand. And yet that little message that we can convey can change people’s destinies. You can enlighten people, cause laughter or tears, all kinds of emotions. He says this, talk is cheap. However you phrase it, the guiding rule, more is better, doesn’t always apply in communication. I’m gonna read something to you. And this was written by a man named Francis Junice about speech, talking about the tongue.

Now you and I know that if we wanted to do push-ups, we’d get down there, we’d do those push-ups, but for how long? After a while, ugh, ugh, and you will have a limit. Some of you will do more than others, but there’s a limit, you can’t just stay at it because your arms give way. the pain starts hitting in all of your joints. You can get out here and start running and run and run and run and run.

I’m amazed at how far some people can run and how fast they can run, but you can’t do it forever. The body breaks down. You can’t stay at it. Consider the stamina of the body parts responsible for speech. It never gets tired. Have you noticed that? Have you ever heard somebody talk and they go on and on and on and on and on? My, how they do run on and run on and run on. Now people who can talk, they may get weary after a while because the rest of the body has to have sleep.

I watched them do this when they’re trying to, you know, fill a bus or something in Congress. And they’re gonna talk and talk and talk as long as they can talk, they can stand there and keep talking. The tongue doesn’t wear out. The body has to have sleep, they have to have water and their throat gets sore and dry, but the tongue. That’s a powerful little weapon. And this is why some people misuse it. They don’t know that you can’t actually give it a break.

Well, I could get lost right here. But you do have to learn how to control the tongue. The Bible says no man can tame it. You have to give it a new birth. But this is what he says, the rapid flash of the eye cannot be compared with it. The hand, the foot, the eye, and the ear become weary by continual action and require rest to recover their exhausted energies. But the tongue never falters or faints from the longest exertion.

Have you ever talked so much to people tell you, would you just stop for what, take a break? You wanna say something but you can’t get a word in edgewise. And they cause you to swallow all of those beautiful thoughts that you had because you didn’t get a chance to say them because they don’t know how to shut up. They don’t know how to quit. A man wrote this and he said, talkative people who wish to be loved are hated.

You know when you just talk and talk and talk and talk and talk, you know not to stop. When they desire to please, they bore. When they think they are admired, they’re laughed at. They injure their friends, benefit their enemies and do incaculable harm to themselves. knowing when to quit. And I’ve noticed that he were in church when he gets about five minutes till 12. Y’all wonder, it’s about time for him to quit. You say, you’re watching me. That’s okay.

I’m watching you. And whenever you go, I know you’re looking at the clock. You’re not looking around and saying, who’s behind you? You already did that. You just shook hands. You’re not all your fellowship and you know who’s here. Robert Frost said this, half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can’t say it. You know, there’s some people who can think of things to say, but they just have trouble saying it. They don’t make good speakers in public, but they can think it and they got so much to say.

And he says, the other half who have nothing to say and just keep on saying it. Talk and talk and they don’t say anything. You know, I was listening one time, I’m driving up to George and up to the mountains and so on. And I turn on the radio and I’ll hear a preacher come on. And every once in a while, I need a little entertainment and I’m falling asleep and I need something to keep me awake. And I’ll listen to some preacher.

they’ll be on their hand the Bible. So that’s a glory, hallelujah. Amen. And they’ll go on to them. And for five minutes, they’ll say something like that and haven’t said a word. And they haven’t taught you anything. Give me somebody. Give me an amen. Ain’t that priest boy? That’s a priest. That’s a man brother. That’s a priest. And why I tell you that you’ll never see me. And they haven’t said anything. They hollered and ran and raised the whole time and said nothing.

I thought I would try that one of these days. It’s not here. Just a few words, not here. Carries with it a whole message. There’s a thought there. I don’t know what I’m going to do with y’all. But you got to be concise in what you’re saying. Look in Proverbs. I want you to turn to Proverbs, chapter 10. Proverbs, chapter 10. Old Testament, the book of Proverbs, and look at verse 19. There’s three verses that I want to just run by you.

And he says here in verse 19, in the multitude of words, one of not sin. But he that refrainedeth his lips is wise. In other words, in a multitude of words, you’re wind up saying something you shouldn’t say, because you don’t stop to think about what you’re saying. And that’s how we do a lot of damage, like for example. The husband’s sitting there watching TV. The wife walks in and she says, what’s on TV? He says, dust. just one little word but then the war begins.

One little word. And what was says to our husband? No, I want you to give me your honest opinion. That’s scary right there. When I look in the mirror I see my gray hair, I see my wrinkles, I see I’m getting flabby and I need a good compliment. Say something nice. Well, There’s nothing wrong with your eyesight, but she wanted to know what an honest opinion did she really want an honest opinion? Oh, look back here now in verse 20 verse 20, the tongue of the just is as choice silver.

The heart of the wicked is little worth not worth much. You see the greatest conversation of a fool is not very intelligent. It doesn’t have much value to it. But a just man, a righteous man who weighs his words says what God does say, then it’s like choice silver. It’s weighty. It’s got something to it. It’s got some meat to it. You can learn from it. We want people to know what the word of God says. So we try to make it simple and easy to understand.

Look at one more verse here in verse 21. The lips of the righteous feed You feed many. You feed people by the words that you say. And therefore when you know what the Word of God says, you know how to put words together in the thought so that you can help people to understand they benefit from that. And that’s such a wonderful thing. Also I wanted to read this little thought to you. If you find that your thoughts are worth expressing, then take a moment to express them well by expressing them a few at a time.

Give a break so that people might be able to digest that thought. But if you continually stay at it, they will get nothing. Too much light blinds. That’s why the Word of God talks about line up on line, precept upon precept, here a little there a little. That’s why we don’t get you to come to church and you’re going to spend the next 24 hours sitting here while I’m talking to you. You say, am I capable of talking that long?

Are you capable of listening that long? I didn’t hear an answer. They say the mind cannot absorb what the seed cannot endure. Might be some truth to that. Another statement, it’s amazing that learning to counteract our tendency toward empty talk mainly means learning to close our mouth. And most people don’t know how to do that. We say things that we shouldn’t say because we didn’t think through what we say. And remember when people say things they don’t always say what they mean.

And they don’t always mean what they said. Try to give people a little leeway. All of us have a problem with that little gadget right there that can do an awful lot of damage. Another statement I want to give to you. In her book, words to see by a Miriam Baldwin writes, death is the misuse of the word. In other words, when a word has a meaning, but you misuse that word, that it has no connection to the word itself, but you give it a meaning, then you are writing another language.

You’re writing another language because you’re given to a word, meaning it doesn’t have connection to. It’s like, for example, the word repent. You ever heard the word repent? Repent in the Bible has a meaning. There is a biblical, scriptural meaning, which means simply change your mind. But if I give to that word another meaning. And now the Bible team was saying, you know, the Bible is not going to explain what he means, what he means, because he’s going to say, no more than that but it is just going to look at people that are doing what he want.

And what’s going to happen now is that it’s not going to happen. But what it means. Right? We’re not going to do it. When we say we know who we want to be here on the list today, we’re going to go ahead and hope for you as we get out here. you mean by what you just said. Repent of your sins. You want to be saved? You want to go to heaven? Repent of your sins. What does it mean in the mind of a lost person?

They will think, I have to turn from my sins. Stop my sins because it’s a meaning that they have been given and is the preacher telling the truth about what the Word of God says. Or are they giving it a different meaning to the word that gives it a different thought that can change the destiny of an individual. Instead of them going to heaven, they don’t understand the clarity of the gospel. So this is why we make it such an issue at Calvary Community Church.

It is an issue because it is truth and man has to repent in order to be saved. Isn’t it wise to find out what does the word mean? If I am an unbeliever and I must repent to be saved means I must believe. So if I’m an unbeliever and now I believe then I must have changed my mind. I changed my mind. To change your mind, you can’t save yourself. You cannot earn your way to heaven. You have to change your mind that no amount of works can save you.

So you need a Savior. So therefore I trust Christ and Him alone is my only hope to go to heaven. When you tell people that they must make Christ the Lord of their life in order to be saved. Is there anything wrong with the word Lord? No, it’s a good word. You’ll even find it in there. The word Lord is good word, but if I have to make Christ the Lord of my life, what does it mean? And yet this morning around the world, I would say 90% of all the preachers are going to tell the people that’s what you have to do to be saved.

One way or the other it’ll boil down to you must make Christ the Lord of your life in order to be saved. But what does that say? What does that mean? It means that if he is the Lord I must be the servant. He’s the master. Then I must live a certain way to please the Master in order to get in to wherever it is I want to go. Is that the truth of the gospel though? Is that the good news?

It is not good news to tell a lost man that he has to stop being bad. And it’s not good news to a lost man to tell a lost man he has to start being good. That’s bad news. The good news is that has nothing to do with it. What you have done has nothing to do with the gospel. And what you were going to do in the future has nothing to do with the gospel. The only thing you have to do to heaven is will you believe that when Christ died, He died for you.

There’s a simple verse in the Bible, see if you can follow it. For God so loved the world, simple little words, just little bitty words, not big words. For God so loved the world. You know some people can’t believe that and they have to change that. Well the word world doesn’t mean world. It means those that God chose to save. doesn’t say that. That’s because they’re putting a meaning to the word that’s not there. That meaning doesn’t belong in that word.

The word world means mankind, all of mankind. God so loved the world that He gave is only begotten Son. That whosoever, anybody who’s soever, believe it, and him should not perish.” But have everlasting life. Do you think God actually said what he meant? And meant what he said. So if I hear that God loved me, sent his son Jesus Christ who died for me God gave his only begotten son as a payment for my sins. And that if I would simply believe it, he would put his payment on my son’s.

to me. And then he says, I shall not perish. That means that in the future I can never perish. Can’t go to hell. And the word perish is found in different places and we have to understand the meaning of it. But have everlasting life. Now if he gave me everlasting life, when I believe it, how long will I have everlasting life? Forever. Take your Bible and turn it with me to the book of Ephesians chapter 2, the book of Ephesians and chapter 2.

There are many people that are not clear on the gospel. If you want to go to heaven when you die, don’t you think that the preacher ought to be able to tell you how to get there? Why would anybody go to a church? Well, the preacher doesn’t tell you how to clearly know that you’re going to heaven when you die. What would be the value? Why waste your time? Why would you give a preacher a nickel to do what he’s doing if he’s not telling you the truth of the Bible?

I’ve had people say, well, all you want is people’s money. We pass the offering plate. You want some? Take some for the heathen anyway. I think somebody has been. Just joking. Ephesians chapter 2, Verse 8. Now look how difficult it is to understand this verse. 4 by grace. Are ye saved? I wonder what that means. Grace is unmerited favor. Now you don’t want to give it a meaning that doesn’t belong to it. For by grace are you saved. That means that I must be saved from something.

If you study the Bible, you might find that the Bible talks about a place called hell that we need to be saved from. For by grace are you saved through faith. I mean just by me believing. My faith and what he did. And look at the last part of it, that not of yourselves. If it’s not of yourself, then I don’t have to turn from my sins. If it’s not of myself and nothing that I have to do, it’s not me committing my life to Christ.

But you see, there is a time when those phrases are okay in the right context. As a child of God, now that I know Christ is my Savior, now that I know that I’m going to heaven, didn’t make sense as a child of God and the Holy Spirit indwelling me and Christians to help me in the word of God to guide me, I should start correcting some of these things that’s wrong in my life. And I need to start committing more of my life to the Lord.

But see that’s called progressive sanctification. That’s where I’m growing in the Lord. That I should do. But am I doing that to get to heaven? No, I’m doing it because I’m going to heaven. I’m already going to heaven. Now, last Wednesday night Peter spoke on a sermon where he had a box, a little gift-wrapped box. And he had something on the inside of that box, but all kind of good stuff. But you can’t get what’s on the inside of that box unless you accept the box.

Anyway, it is so important to make the gospel clear, to make it simple, where we can understand it. So the thing is, you’ve got to be consistent, you’ve got to be clear, and you’ve got to be concise, and you’ve got to be correct, because we are going to have to count to God for what we say. That’s one of the things that has scared me for 50 something years been a preacher, is I’m going to have to count to the Lord for all those little words that little tongue has said.

And it doesn’t get tired. It doesn’t get tired. I’ve never had to say, wait a minute, I’ve got to rest my tongue. But lips may get tired. My jaw may get sore. Am I throwing it dry? But the tongue is never complained at all. It just goes on and on and on. So don’t you think we ought to be able to try to give that tongue something worth saying? Where our words are important? We have something to say. We got the greatest message in all the world.

Look up here. Let this hand represent you and me and this wallet represent sin. We all have sin on us. God says that he loves us. Now he hates our sin, but he loves us. But he says, for us to pray, The pay for sin is eternal separation from God. But God loves us. Does it want us to be in hell? He wants us to be with Him. So how can I with my sin get into heaven? He can’t.

God says, no sin shall enter therein. So we cannot save ourselves. There’s no amount of good works that we can do that can change our situation. You see, you can try to turn from your sin. You can do all you want to. But see sin is on the inside of you. It’s the way we are. We have a sinful nature. We all sinned naturally. But God says that He would do something for us. For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son.

This sin represents Jesus Christ, God’s Son. He came into the world. He didn’t have any sin. He didn’t have to die. He lived a perfect life. fulfilled all the righteous demands of the law. The law found no fault in him. Nobody could. He was perfect. So he didn’t have to die, but because of his love for us, he took all of our sins on himself and paid for them on the cross and came back from the dead. And God says that if 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.

So here you are, you’re a sinner. You’re just like the rest of us. We’re all sinners. Nobody’s any better than anybody else. But the Bible says God loves the whole world. So when Christ died for all of us, paid for all of our sin, all that you have to do is believe that He did it for you. You can do that. You can handle that. That’s not hard. Oh, you gotta do this, believe it. Will you believe that when He did it, He did it for you.

And by you believing that, he puts this payment to your account. And God knows if you believe it or not. And he says, you get to go to heaven. Oh, what he did for you. That is free. That’s a gift of God. That’s any man should boast. Now, let’s see how simple this is. You and me, sin. We’ve all sinned. We can’t earn eternal life. Heaven’s so perfect. Christ took our sins, paid it, came back from the dead. So if you believe it, get to go to heaven when you die.

That’s simple and it’s clear. I hope you can understand it. Let’s pray, shall we? Father, we thank you so much for all you’ve done for us. We thankful for the free gift of eternal life. Help us to stay clear on our message to weigh our words carefully, that what we tell a lost man is the truth. We ask your blessings upon each and every one that’s here. We ask Father your blessings upon those that we stand here to eat with us, the fellowship with us.

We thank You for them. And ask your blessings upon the food in Christ name and pray. Amen. You have been listening to another great message from Dr. Arnold, and we hope that Bibleline is a blessing to you. In appreciation for your support of this ministry, we’d like to send to you a gift. From this month, for a gift in any amount, we’re going to send the Bible promise book. It is a book that organizes verses of the Bible by topic.

For example, if you wanted to know of verses that address humility, or forgiveness, or obedience, you would simply find that topic in the table of contents, go to the chapter listed, and there you would find the verses that address that topic. It’s a wonderful study guide and resource for your own devotions, as well as for lesson preparation and we’ll send it to you for a gift in any amount for this month. 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 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. 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.