Bibleline Radio Show – 2016-01-07 – Run Til The Race Is Over Pt.4


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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 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 homepageernamegroupon Weowship that you will enjoy our commitment to the clearlaim physic of Jesus Christ andifferentallery initialized313PDATEipegROR)].minghamongyangoulos ruth adviser- and your family.

I found out over the years, serving the Lord is not doing the things I like. It’s faithfully doing the things I don’t like, because there’s more things that I don’t like to do than there is that I do like to do. There’s times when I’m just like to do nothing. You’ve been there? Just like to do nothing. But there’s always something to do. And there’s time when you need to take and get away and rest and come apart before you come apart.

But there’s also to be the area of the discipline that you and I are supposed to have. And we’re not the setting judge, but upon somebody else, you got a full-time job just taking care of you. Watch your own life. How close to the Lord are you? Are you growing closer to the Lord? And so it makes that statement there in verse 17. endure, but for a time afterwards when afflictions or persecution arises for the words say immediately they are offended.

You ever see people who get so easily offended? Something goes wrong and they’re so easily offended and get mad at it. Just like Quay. I quit. You hurt me I’m gonna get even with you. You know I’m gonna not get even attitude. Now I know there’s nobody like that here, but we know people like that, don’t we? But like he says, you see that word endure, it doesn’t say enjoy. There’s a lot of things you may not enjoy in the Christian life, but we are to endure it.

Take your Bible looking 2 Timothy and chapter 2. 2 Timothy and chapter 2. Look at these verses because they’re very, very important. Chapter 2, and look in verse 3, in verse 3, where he’s Paul writing to young Timothy, young man in the Lord, told him says in verse 1, be strong in the grace of Christ, which I believe is referring toward the gospel. Then he talks about the things that you have learned in verse 2, the things that thou have heard of me among many witnesses801 the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also just one bone bone bone.

Well that’s just you know one in another and another in another one. Then he says there in verse three, thou therefore enjoy hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Did I read it right? It says endure. Endure it. You see, things are not going to endure it. Things don’t go your way. So what? Who said it had to go your way? Who says it has to go my way? I’m supposed to be faithful. It doesn’t matter which way things are going.

Doesn’t matter who believes, doesn’t believe, agree, disagree. Every one of us as a child of God are required to be disciplined, where we will be faithful to the Lord regardless of what’s going on. And endure. I wonder how long we’re supposed to endure. Well, God says endure this hardness. Now look down in verse 10. See, Daniel first, therefore Paul doesn’t ask somebody to do something he’s not willing to do. Therefore, I endure all things for the elect’s sake, that they may also obtain the salvation, which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

God used the Apostle Paul to reach a lot of other people. And there’s those who have trusted Christ at their Savior, and Paul wants these people to learn something to grow in the Lord to have something, but it’s going to be down the road. You see, our eternal weight of glory isn’t in this life, it’s in the one to come. But that’s not just salvation, that’s talking about what we’re going to get because of our enduring this hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

You see, right after this he’s talking about studying to show thyself approved unto God. So it’s written to the believer. And that’s why he made the statement down here in verse 12. If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. In other words, the things that you do for the Lord’s sake, for the gospel’s sake, Christ’s sake. Yeah. You’re going to suffer for doing some of those things because of what you have to go through to get the people.

There’s a price we pay to win people to the Lord. There’s a price that we have to pay. And so we are willing to pay that price every time we turn around. They just invited me to come back there to the gym so we could see that nice big old mat they got down for a one. I saw the mat. It cost $3,000. There’s a price to pay. It was not free, but so that we didn’t get more kids, so they can have more fun and maybe who knows?

Everything has a value to it. The impact that you’re going to make in kids’ lives. There’s an expense to run in the bus every week to pick up kids. Whether it’s for a runner, for the ranch, we do it, cost insurance. Everything we have, everything we do, it just cost us. But there’s a price to pay. But the suffering that we go through is because you only get one life to live and you’re taking your life to make some money and then you’re taking that money for the cause of Christ.

So it’s costing you and you’re going to do without things that other people maybe wouldn’t do without. But there’s a price to pay. And then he says here, if we deny him, he also will deny us. He’s not talking about denying you salvation. He can’t deny you salvation, but he can deny you the rewards. And so if you study the Word of God, as he says in verse 15, you will be a workman that needs not to be ashamed, like being a soldier that doesn’t have to be ashamed.

Or to be in, as he talks about here in verse 5 of men’s strive for masteries, yet he’s not crown let’s say be strive. Love, you don’t want to be ashamed. You run the race, run the finish to race. It’s one thing to start. But I found out some people never started to race and never start running. They trust Christ to save, but they never get involved during the greatest thing of all in that serve in the Lord. Look why we’re right here.

Look in chapter four. In chapter four, look there in verse three. Now, he’s already done talked to him about, you know, like charge. I’ve used these scriptures when we had ordination services and so you’re trying to give new believers that are gonna that are graduated and want to go into the ministry and so we tell them this is the scripture that we usually read. This is what was done when I received my ordination. I charged thee before in verse 1 before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead of his appearing and his kingdom.

Preach the word. Be instant, end season, out of season, always be ready. Reprove, rebuke, exhort all these nice things that we’re supposed to do. You see, if we’re supposed to do all of that, somebody’s going to be on the receiving end, aren’t they? You ever like to be on the receiving end of the, you know, the preacher’s preaching away and, well, I don’t like that. I don’t like that. It’s okay. It was good for somebody, probably wasn’t you though.

And he says in verse 3, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. Not everybody stays charged up all the time. How many of y’all got cell phones? They make us cell phones in here? Just not everybody. What happens after a while when you don’t charge them? They won’t work. Christians are pretty much the same way. Going to the world of God keeps you charged up. Going to church keeps you charged up. praying and reading and doing all the things going to keep you charged up.

Otherwise the battery is going to get low and you just ain’t going to have the energy to run. And then you just can’t see well, you don’t understand well, you just think got any energy to go and you’re just down and out and poor, poor you. Pity, pity, party. Well, wait a minute. You’ve got to stay charged up like David. He challenged himself in the Lord, motivated himself, encouraged himself. That’s what you have to do. Also look there in verse 5, same chapter, but verse 5.

But watch thou in how many things? Doesn’t seem like there’s much leeway here, does it? A sound doctrine. So if it is, God doesn’t want us to listen to, unsound doctrine, but to learn the truth. Keep that in mind. teaching the truth, believing the truth. But watch down all things and look at the next one. Endure affliction. What way, what way, what we got? Why don’t you just Lord, take away the affliction? Wouldn’t that be easier? But he doesn’t.

He doesn’t take it away. He allow you to be afflicted, but he expects you to still be faithful. Just because it doesn’t go your way, you don’t get everything that you want. You can sometimes, you cannot write the prescription Lord, this is what I need this and this and this and this and that, you know, you’re going to the pharmacy this. I need all of it. Well, the Lord says come to me and ask, but you may not be able to change some of the circumstances that happens to you in your life.

But you may want to take two pills and send me the morning and give you the strength and the grace to bear it. He may never remove it. Sometimes what our prayers is, God remove the problem. God says, no, I’ll give you the strength to go through the problem. So, the Christian life is not the subtraction of problems, but the addition of grace to build the problem. So, understanding that can help you. But look again in that verse. But watch thou and all things endure affliction, do the work of an evangelist.

Make full proof of thy ministry. Now as you read these scriptures and in a lot of these things, it’s like there’s no cushion in the sense of no compromise No room no wiggle room. I mean Walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the loss of the flesh or but can I have just a little bit of the flesh I mean just a little bit of loss of the flesh. I Mean what if I do a lot for the Lord, but you know the weekends the only time I’ve got for myself yourself.

And you want me to do what? Go to church. I’ve worked five days. I’m tired. I’m weary. I’m worn. And then you want me to go to church. It’s like his preacher. He decided he’s just going to call in sick on Sunday morning. He thought, I’m going to play me a game of God. He went and played golfing. And Jesus says, Lord, did you see him? You see what he’s doing? He said, yeah, what you’re going to do? He says, what?

The preacher hit that $300 drive? Wait, no. It says what? Yeah, who can he tell? Who can he tell? He knows. Sometimes you think we can just get away from our responsibilities. You know, I don’t care what we do in here we go, we always have the responsibility to do right, don’t we? Should I be faithful only when my wife’s around? Or all the time? All the time? No, my wife, she’ll find out. I can’t even go to a restaurant around here and order something I’m not supposed to get.

I sat down and said, you know, bed is not here. And I thought, I’m going to get some of those. I love pancakes. I thought, love pancakes. So I got some eggs and I ordered some pancakes. She said, you can’t have those. I mean, the waitress just told me, she said, you can’t have those. I said, what? She said, you know your wife won’t let you have those. Right toast. Ain’t that right, hon? Because when we go back in there and she’s living in it, they tell her.

You know what he tried to do? Be sure your son will find you out. I can’t go anywhere. I was someplace in some other state down the flown in and I was walking through the airport and I thought, that’s something. Look at all these funny people. You know, you just didn’t just watch all the strength and you never saw anybody, you know, and you don’t know one. Never seen them before. All of you mean? somebody, hey yank! I was in St.

Louis airport one time and a guy, a preacher, earned his pomber. I’m walking down the corridor and lo and behold I’m thinking I don’t know a soul and somebody says, dang it! Just when you think nobody is watching, nobody knows me. God’s gonna have somebody sitting around knows you and you’re gonna think you’re going to get away with something. There’s no… Lord, can’t you be a little flexible? You know, I think God just requires of a man to be found faithful.

And it seemed to be pretty strict on that. You read Luke chapter 14, it seemed to be pretty strict. And all the things that God wants to do, though He loves us, and yet we’re the ones that decide just how much discipline do I want. So we use the word of God to discipline ourselves. We’re that soldier getting dressed in front of a full-length mirror. And we’re supposed to look into that mirror and whatever we see, we’re supposed to get corrected.

Now I think that’s probably the idea of it. I preached a sermon years ago called, Your Flesh Is Showing. There’s a statement about a king and he was totally naked but everybody convinced me I closed one to like a sin and found some little kid. Mom, he’s naked. And you’re very embarrassed because of it. When you walk in the flesh as a Christian, your flesh is showing. Somebody’s going to see you in the flesh. And it may not be perdy because our flesh is at all sinful nature that we have.

And if we walk in the Spirit, you won’t fulfill the loss of, no, you still have them, but you don’t have to fulfill them. And somebody is always watching to see how much flesh do you have in your Christian life? Well, I just got a little bit, but you ought to see Bob Gilbert of Ego a lot. Now that Dan, I can’t go for it, I know a lot. But see, it’s not so much that we try to judge where everybody else is, but we have a full-time job just taking care of ourselves.

I want to give you a couple of little verses. you by looking in the book of Hebrews, the book of Hebrews in chapter 12. Now you’ve seen this verse on the number of occasions, but notice that it’s tied in with something that’s very important because see if we don’t discipline ourselves, well I thought it was a choice whether I could or I don’t have to. I’m saved, I don’t have to serve God. No, but there’s consequences. Consequences if I don’t, and there’s consequences if I do.

If I do, God’s going to bless me and if I don’t, God’s going to have to chastise you. You’re his child. So he makes a statement here. And I think you need to take a little peek at this verse. But see what he says in verse two, looking under Jesus, the author and finish of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. He didn’t enjoy the cross, but He did endure the cross. Now look down in verse seven.

If ye endure chasing, now chasing sometimes there’s two words, one is scourging, which is a very strong form of correction, the discipline, there is chasing where it’s simply a disciplined form. You we chase that children, we discipline the children, we teach them, guide them and so forth. And so God says, don’t despise my correction. Don’t despise my advice, my counseling. Don’t despise my word, as though you can live without it. So God says, don’t despise it, but if you will endure the discipline, you see, whenever you’re not used to doing certain things, it’s kind of hard to get into habit.

When I first walked into that boot camp, I’ll never forget that they made us take our shoes and we had to shine our shooters. We would, everybody would sit around by the bumps and so forth, we went against the wall and we had our black shoot polish and we had our shoot. And they got there where everybody was trying to outdo everybody else. We had to get our spit shine. Now a spit shine is literally, you spit on the boat.

You take it, you rub it, you spit on it, rub it some more and try to get it to shine. And you, ooh, you work that thing. and you want them to, you can almost see yourself in it. Now most time you just dust the toe, but the toe, that’s when you put on those navy whites and you get on your navy bluesy, look down at those little mirror looking at you. And buddy, when they came by, they wanna see light flying, flashing from those shoes.

But that was so difficult when I had to first start doing that. I wasn’t in a habit of washing my clothes. And we’d have to go into the washroom and scrub with a rush and they’d give everybody whisk. I don’t know what they gave you. We only had them. You had to scrub. They were habits that I was not accustomed to. And they had a whole bunch more. One, telling me when they get up. Remember, now the only reason I wound up joining the Navy is because I was sick and tired of people telling me what to do.

Mommy didn’t say I was the brightest. did call me son though but you have to learn but once you got in a habit Then it becomes easier. Once you get in the habit of doing right, doing right becomes easier. This is when you’re not faithfully doing it. It’s so difficult. So he tells us what we’re supposed to do. Verse 7, if you endure chasing God, deal with you as good sons. What son is he whom the Father chases in?

In other words, deal more with God raising his children, teaching us and correcting us. Now there is also the form of discouraging. He talks about, when you rebel against God’s Israel, they have to really lay it on to you. Now look in James chapter 5, James in chapter 5. James chapter 5 and look in verse 11. Verse 11 says, Behold, we count them and you ought to underline this in your Bible. which endure the end result of your discipline, the end result of accepting God’s chaste in in your life is discipline, correct and all that.

The end result is you want to be happy in the Christian life. Even Jesus said in chapter 13 he said happy are ye if ye do them. You do what I tell you, happy are ye? See that’s a result of it. I just tell people, happiness is not a destination, it’s a way of travel. Learn how to enjoy serving God. There’s a lot of things that will happen and you don’t like but you have to endure them. You can do this because what God requires of us is the same for all of kids children and God doesn’t require us to do the thing we can’t do is that we don’t want to but if you can learn how to want to and do it because you really want to.

You’d be surprised how much more joyful it is doing the things when you have a want to attitude. I want to please the Lord. I want to do what God wants me to do. Looking in 1 Peter chapter 2, you’re right here in 1 Peter, looking in 1 Peter chapter 2, And look in verse 19, verse 19, interesting verse. He says, for this is thanks worthy, if a man for conscience toward God, endure grief. Now you would think, well why don’t God just remove that which causes me grief?

No. You lose a loved one, you’re going to have Your teenagers have problems in a rebellion. You’re going to have grief. Your grandkids don’t do everything right. You’re going to have grief. People fail you. There’s a lot of grief. Your husband is not faithful. There’s a lot of grief. Life isn’t, there’s a lot of grief. There’s a lot of grief to go around. Everybody in this room has had grief at one time or another. Got news for you. More is on the way.

More is on the way. and you cannot escape it. But in spite of it, does God steal in spite of all those things and the flections, expect you and I to endure the grief, endure the hardness. I mean, if those soldiers at the Tomb of the Unknown, so if they can take that as a responsibility and do what they do, why can’t we? Those people that they’re doing it for gave them, read, I guess you could say, liberty. But we had somebody go to the cross also give us liberty, who died for us.

And we get an opportunity to show them how much we love and buy what we do for him. And then he said, I’m gonna reward you when you get to heaven. We win, we win, we win. best news in the world. Look up here. If you’re watching by internet, I won’t say this. I’m always getting emails. I get more emails than I can answer. I’m always shifting them off on to somebody else. I think I’ve given you a couple this week, ain’t I?

I didn’t give you nothing this week. I know I gave a new couple, I think. More than a couple, yeah. Because there’s just a lot of people. But if you want to, you just keep writing. We have some good meaning here. If I can’t get to all of them, we got some good meaning that can help out. That’s just been honest. Sometimes I get too many. I get over 200 a day. That’s more than I can handle. But we want to help people.

So this is you and me. The wall represents sin. We all have sin upon us. And God says that He loves us. He hates our sin. He does love us. He does hate what we do wrong. But there is a difference there. And He says for us to pay for the sin is eternal separation from God in Hell. But God loves us, wants us to go to heaven. But to go to heaven we have to be perfect. No sin.

No sin. be as perfect as righteous as God, but because we have sin, we can’t go. We’re not good enough to go to heaven. We have to be perfect. And God says, you cannot earn eternal life. You can’t work for it. It is totally by grace. Nothing that you have to do. You don’t have to be a follower of Christ. You don’t have to be a learner. You don’t have to discipline your life. Stop anything. Join all you have to do is be on the receiving end of the most.

gift in the world. See, this hand represents Jesus Christ. He is the Lord God in the flesh, came into the world because He loves us, hates our sin because it separates us from Him. So Christ took the sin, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead. So that if you and I would believe He did it for us, He’d put the payment to our account and we’d get to go to heaven. That’s how I know I’m going to heaven.

He paid for my sins. How many? All of my sins. If He paid for all of my sins, there’s now no condemnation. I can never be condemned. See the law cannot condemn a dead man. His death became mine. I died. The law can’t touch me. That’s why I said, there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ shall not come into condemnation, never be condemned in the future. So he gives us as a freak yet everlasting life. Came back from the dead, said all he wants you to do is believe that he did it for you.

Let’s pray, shall we have with heads down nice clothes. No one looking around. If you’re here tonight and you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior. Going to Heaven is so simple, it’s really free. All you gotta do is believe that He did it for you. And if you’re watching by internet right where you are, you don’t have to walk an aisle, and nobody here has to walk an aisle. You don’t have to raise your hand, and they don’t have to do it either.

Because whatever you do to be saved, everybody should be able to do the same thing regardless of where they are. All you need to do is believe. Believe that when He died, He died for you, trust to measure Savior and God will give you His up-read gift ever lasting life. I pray that you’ll do that. And if you will, right there on the screen, it says, yes, I’ll trust Christ as my Savior. We’d love to hear from you. But if you’re hearing the auditorium, if what I said made sense to you, you say, preacher, that made sense, I will trust Christ as my Savior tonight.

If you’ve never done it before, would you do it now? If you already have, you never have to do it again. And what at all before we close. Our Father, we do thank You for Your blessings. Thank You so much for loving us, for giving us a free gift. But Father, help us also to understand the depths of discipleship, to understand just what it really means, the price that we pay, not to get to heaven, but because we want to be a follower, we want to be a learner, we want to be disciplined, we want to be used because we love you.

We ask your blessings upon each one here. In Christ’s name we pray. Hello, this is Peter Amato from Bibleline, and I’m excited to tell you of our free book offer for the month of January. During this month, for a gift in any amount, we’re going to send to you the mysteries of the New Testament. Have you ever wondered what the mystery of the gospel was or the mystery of the blindness of Israel? How about the mystery of Babylon? Well we’re featuring a book written by Dr.

Dan Arbergast that explains all these mysteries found in the New Testament, and we’d like to send a copy to you for a donation in any amount. Our mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634, or you can call toll-free at 1-800-576-3771. We hope you enjoy the teaching of Dr. Arnold, and thank you for your continued support and prayers. Once again, contact us today for this wonderful book on the mysteries of the New Testament. 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. Hada! Pemit the Lord in the air! So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up!