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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 1-800-800-800-800-800. 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 first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Alright, turn in your Bible to the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation. Have you ever wondered what has God done for you lately? Lord, what have you done for me lately? Well, might be a good question, but the Lord may want to ask you a question. Hey, what have you done for me lately? What have you done for me lately? One of these days, we’re going to be in heaven. And when we get there, you will then appreciate more of what these verses that I’m going to show you what they really mean to you.

Sometimes we don’t appreciate something until it’s long down the road just like no kids you know that they kind of like you know little baby puppies you know you just love the little puppy that death but then it grows up to be a dog and little kids are so nice and cute and cuddly so innocent so innocent goo goo gaga and all that you know you spend the first few years trying to teach them how to talk and walk and then the rest of the life set out and shut up.

It just there’s just no end to it. So but anyway what I want to talk you about it. You know you read the book of Romans in chapter 6 and it dead dead dead dead dead and then alive and the God alive alive alive. So you can’t have like one without the other. There’s death and then what God does for you is and make you alive. And so I was going to talk about, you know, okay, now that you’re dead, how do you feel?

So I thought, no, that’s not going to go over too good. So I’ll talk about being alive. That ought to be better. So we’re going to look at some of the things what Christ has done for us. He hath made us alive. But why won’t you look there in your Bible to the book of Revelation in chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1. And look what it says there in verse 4. Revelation chapter 1 verse 4. And there’s just a couple words that I just want you to kind of take note of today in different verses.

But it says here in verse 4, John to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come and from the seventh spirit which are before his throne and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth unto him and you are on the line. These words that love this, that love this look who he is, look who he is and then he’s talking about that love does.

Just right there in the middle amongst all of these this is the one that loved us. So if you ever question or doubt does anybody love me? Yes God loves you and somebody told me one day he says, you had the face only a little mother could love. I thought well now I I don’t know if that was a compliment or not. But that loved us, and look what else he says here, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.

Now, that is substitution. I was with the college kids kind of, preparing them for our little exam where we got coming down the road. And one of the things is in the book of Isaiah 53. Four times in one verse is talking about substitution, substitution, substitution. He was wounded for our transgression, our iniquities, and so forth. All these things, but it’s because of what Christ did. It was a substitutionary payment that Christ made on the cross for us. Look at another one.

Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. First Corinthians in chapter 15. We call this the resurrection. chapter and the reason because it talks an awful lot about the resurrection. But just so that you don’t forget about, you know, what has he done for me? What has God done for me lately? You realize our lives are so short compared to eternity. It’s not there compared to eternity. So this is a little short period of time that we get to live. And you realize I can’t, it, no, 72.

I told somebody that’s nine. I said, I’m not really 72. I’m 73. I just celebrate my 72nd birthday, but I’m really 73 because, yeah, I’ve already lived since my birthday over three months. I was nine months in my mother’s womb and that counts because I was here on the earth. So I was already alive. I just wasn’t seen by the world, but I was here. I’m really 73 now. Doesn’t that make sense? You don’t believe in abortion, do you?

I mean, you believe I’m not just a blob, a tissue, or I’m just not just a fetus. I’m a person. So I was a person for nine months before I came into this world here. So there, now, I feel older all of a sudden. Anyway, but look what he says here in verse 3. for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received how that Christ died for our sins.” What has he done for me lately?

You said, well it was 2,000 years ago. Where has he done for me lately? Well when did he save you 2,000 years ago? Or when you believed? How long ago was that? You know it wasn’t long ago and I look back and spend almost 53, you know a little over 53 years but that wasn’t long ago. So the Lord has done some things for me. One is that He loves me. That’s not bad. Wouldn’t it be nice to have?

He loves me. Then He proved that He loved me by washing my sins away and says He died on that cross and paid for my sins. So He’s done that for me. Of course we could always ask the questions, what have you done for Him lately? But what has He done for me? Look, they’re in Titus in chapter three. Titus chapter three, I really love this verse. I’ve used it often, the book of Titus in chapter three. And because it’s such a great verse to use with someone that has not trusted the Lord, it’s good to show them this verse and to remember this verse, remember stay simple, stay simple and live in your Christian life.

Life is not supposed to be hard and complicated. That’s why it’s not just the gospel when he’s talking about 1st Corinthians 11. He’s talking about that corrupt your mind from the simplicity that’s in Christ. Keeping your life simple. Know what you’re doing, who you are and what you’re about and stay focused. Otherwise you get so entangled in the Things of the world that your life becomes so complex and you don’t know where you’re coming to going Stay clear. Stay simple Always keep major things major and minor things minor Some people get that a little Reverse but look what he says here in verse four But after that the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared.

Now remember it’s not you and I that reached up there into heaven and got the Lord to come down here. He came of his own free will. He took the initiative. He came to where we are. He came to us. And we talked about last Sunday about the tabernacle of God. Where is the presence of God? All the way from the garden he was there, the tabernacle in the wilderness. He was there. He was there and the temple in Solomon’s time, he was there and then during the time of the Apostles he was tabernacle in that body Christ, he was here.

And now the Holy Spirit indwells us so he is here. He’s never left us alone. He’s never left mankind alone. He has been here. You’re sure that you can’t see them. But he is just as real, and I’ll be just as precious because you know the Lord, you love the Lord, you walk with the Lord. And the Bible says we love him because why? He first loved us. So when you see that he’s the one who had all of this in heaven, and he left Heaven’s glory, came into this world because he loved this.

washes from our sins because he loved us. He died for us, why? Because he loved us. He did all of this. So look what he says here in verse five. Not by works of righteousness which we have done past tense, but according to his mercy, he saved us past tense. So if God has saved me, he could not have saved me because of some past works that I have done. because he says it’s not by works of righteousness which we have done.

So no man has ever been saved because of any righteousness that he’s ever done. Then he saved by mercy. God’s mercy means I did not get what I do deserve. Grace that I’m getting something, I’m getting something that I don’t deserve. But I’m not getting what I do deserve. So there’s grace and mercy. And he says here, but according to is mercy. He saved us by the Washington of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. See the new birth, the generation, but Genesis.

It’s a new birth by the Holy Spirit. So you and I have received something from the Lord, even though it’s maybe spread out over our lifetime, so many things happen the very day you trust the Lord. And I’ve seen a lot of lists and you can go through them and there’s a whole bunch of things. Lushphere Shafer has a whole list of things that happen to you, the very day you trusted the Lord, and you didn’t fill a one of them.

But there are truths, things that happens to you, that God made you, that you won’t realize until we get to heaven, how precious it is and how glad you are. Now if we never do anything for the Lord, never do a thing for him. These things are still true. Because see, these things were done because of what God did for us, not what we did for him. And so this stands true and it does not change. His love will not change.

The payment he made on the cross from my sin, that will never change. And so I have been saved. So if I have been saved, that means I don’t have to seek to be saved. If somebody is seeking to be saved, what they’re saying is they are not yet saved. Doesn’t that make sense? So if I am saved, then I don’t have to do any good works to be saved because I already am saved. If I already have eternal life, I shouldn’t have to do something to get it.

I already have it. He that believeth on me, hath everlasting life. You have it. When do you get everlasting life? Well, when you believe it, well, if you believe it, you got it and get it. So I have everlasting life. And look what he says here in the next verse. I want you to see this, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. He’s the Savior. And if he’s the Savior, then he saved me, then I must need it to be saved.

I must have been a sinner. And I was a sinner. Look what he has done for me. Look what he’s done for you. So what has he done for you lately? If he did nothing more for you than just this, that was pretty good, So if that was all there was, that would be enough for me to talk about the Lord for the rest of my life. See, I don’t serve the Lord just because I want to get something else from God.

Now, He’ll give me blessings if I serve Him. He’ll reward me when I get to heaven. But my real motive is I should serve Him because He loved me. And because of the payment He’s already made for me. for me. So I have enough of a motive to serve the Lord for the rest of my life. If he never does another thing for me, some people always think, well, if I do this, God will give me this. If I do this, the checks and the mail.

If I do this, no. And I think, well, if I serve the Lord, then I won’t get sick. And so when they get sick, well, I ain’t gonna serve him anymore. The check didn’t come in my mind, I’m not gonna serve him anymore. So they have contingencies they put up on the Lord. I’ll serve God if, no, I’ll serve God, period. No, we have to it. No conditions upon God. And therefore you serve Him because He hath done this for me.

So He says here in verse 6, which He’s shed on us abundantly. Then look in verse 7, that being justified, and you are on the land these last three to the words, how by His grace. This is what God has done for me. I am saved, not by my works, but by mercy and grace. I didn’t get what I deserve, which was hell. God showed His mercy. God did not impute my sins to me. He took my sins and imputed them to Christ.

And so all I had to do was just believe that what He did was for me and He gives me as a free gift ever lasting life. That is, plum good. Now look in 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter in chapter 1. I cover this verse quite often. You’ll hear me sometime even on the radio. I’ll go to this verse. I do it all the time because this is a tremendous verse. And generally, I will make a long line of statement.

When Christ saves you, He saves you from something to an inheritance. It’s incorruptible that faith, if not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith and the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Those are great verses, but there’s something else here. You see in verse three, he talks about this living hope, a living of what has God done for me lately. God has given to you and I a living hope, a joyful anticipation that what he promised he will perform.

I can go ahead and claim it right Now I am saved. I have eternal life. I’m going to heaven when I die because God said so it’s based upon what the word of God says and faith is simply believing that what God promised He will perform and I believe that. And so He’s promising and I’ve got a place reserved for me in heaven. So if what has He done for me lately? Well that sounds pretty good. That’s a pretty good bit.

This life is temporary. We’re only going to be here for a short period of time and then we’re checking out of here. I was thinking about the Lord could come back today. Because the Bible says we should oppose a lot of his appearing, looking for him. And he says in the book of Matthew, and I believe he’s talking to the Jewish people, like during the middle of the tribulation, period he says, and all things that watch, and I say unto all, watch, but I do believe that God’s children ought to be watching, looking, expecting.

Did you know that if you’re looking for the Lord to come back at any time, it can change the way you live your life? It’ll affect your thoughts, your actions, your words. Because you don’t want to say or do something that you wouldn’t want to be doing when the Lord comes back again. Because the scripture makes this statement, my little children abide in him that when he shall appear, we may have come to us and not be ashamed before him at his coming, not to be ashamed before the Lord.

So this is a good verse. He has begotten us. They’re in verse three. See there? Have begotten us again. Born again. We died because we were crucified with Christ and we live. We have eternal life. So the new birth gave you life. eternal life. So what is God done for you lately? He gave you eternal life. And the Bible also makes this statement that we lay hold upon this eternal life in Timothy. Lay hold upon eternal life. In other words, you have now life.

Live like you have life. But what kind of life? If he gave you a plant life, he should live like a plant. If he gave you an animal life, he should live like an animal. A lot of people do. If he gave you a human life, he lived like a human. But if he gave If you’re spiritual life, you should live a spiritual life. I mean, doesn’t that make sense?

Don’t you love it when a plan comes together? God knows what he’s doing. So yes, God has done some wonderful things for us. He granted us life. And then wouldn’t it be a shame to give you this eternal life? And then I want to reward you and I’m gonna let you have trials and tribulations and then I’m gonna take you home and you’re gonna give you all these rewards for what you did for me. And then the Lord took you home right after you got saved.

How did you get a chance? That wasn’t fair. So don’t you thank the Lord and praise the Lord for giving you some time to live here and to suffer for him? I’m just excited about that. Well, that’s tonight. Tonight we’re gonna talk about how to praise the Lord. You’re like it, it’ll be good, it’ll be good for you. Look in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 5, Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 5. Source off in this chapter that you and I were dead and trespasses and sins.

We overstepped the boundary and according to the law of thou shalt die. So we’ve sinned. That is sure. And now the Bible says, you’ve been made alive. Look down in verse five. But even when we were dead in sins, dead in sins, it means you and I, we’ve sinned against the Lord. We’ve trespassed, we’ve overstepped the boundary, and there’s a debt to be paid. So we’re dead in sin because God’s Word is so true. God looks upon it as we are separated from the Lord.

God. And if you’re separated from God because of sin, a payment has to be made. And that payment was death in hell. But look what he says here. Hath quickened. Hath quickened. That means to be made alive. Made alive. Look up there in verse one and you had he quickened. You were dead, but he hath quickened. He made you alive. Don’t you think that a child of God who has been given the free gift of everlasting life ought to live like he’s alive.

I believe it affects the way you think, affects every area of your life. I’m alive. I can’t, I’ll be honest with you, this is not a joke. I can’t hardly wait for the next day. Anyone who got to bed at night can’t hardly wait for the morning to come because another day, another day, I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen, what’s going to happen? Because nobody’s ever had it before. I’m getting there on the same time they do.

a new day. See this moment right here, this moment right now is as fresh as any moment ever been and you’re not ahead of me as long as I’m alive. But I want to live like I’m alive and I want to take advantage of all of my opportunities that God gives to me and every day always figure out what is no purpose in life, my golden life and then I make decisions as it brings me to my goal. But if you don’t have a purpose.

You don’t have a goal. Then it’s just another day and you can throw it away, waste your car, you don’t need it because you’re not going anywhere. You’re not going to do anything anyway. You don’t have any plans anyhow. So you don’t need the time. But man, when you want to do something, you need all the time you got. You want to, I mean, cram it for one day it’ll all be over, we’ll be with the Lord. But until then, you’re alive.

Live like you’re alive. Hold your place right I want you to see this. Look over there in chapter 5. When he makes a statement in verse 14, he says, wherefore he saith awake thou that sleepeth and arise from the dead? No, he’s not talking to lost people here. He’s talking to the believers. Believers that are asleep, believers that are living like they’re dead. They have no vision. They have no dream. They don’t don’t accomplish something. They don’t have the faith to believe that God got something for them special.

I’ve always believed that. God put me here special. I’m God’s little pet child. Now, it’s okay for everybody to feel like you are, as long as you can let everybody else think that they are. So that’s what I do. I know that I am and I let everybody else think they are. God’s little pet child. Don’t you feel special in some way? Don’t think God put me here of all the times that a person could have led, this is the time God thinks this is the best time for me to live.

I think it’s great to wait to think. He couldn’t let me be born a hundred years ago, but if you let me be born a hundred years ago, I would be a hundred years old now. I’m glad I’m only 72. Okay, maybe three. I’m going to get confused. next time they say, how long have you lived? I don’t remember. I keep forgetting to take that little memory pill. You know, you take these memory pills, but look what he says here.

Oh, this is great. And arise from the dead and Christ shall give the light. See, you have life, but you need light to walk by, like to see. That’s why he talks about in the book of Ephesians in chapter 1. Also he talks about enlighten their mind. Just look at it. Look at it. Look at Ephesians. See what he says in verse 18. The eyes of your understanding been enlightened. So you see things differently. Not the way the world sees things.

You’re a child of God. Sometimes whenever I’m in a humorous mood and somebody is smiling and laugh and cut enough I walk on and say hey hey why that smile off your face you know you’re a Christian because you know most Christians are all over or down in the mouth But the eyes of your understanding been enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his calling and blah blah blah blah so much more. So it’s one thing to be saved.

It’s another thing to have life that you’re living for the Lord. And so I think that’s very important. Turn in your Bible’s 2 Timothy 1, 2 Timothy in chapter 1. 2 Timothy 1 shows you something else that the Lord has done. You see, wouldn’t it be a shame to be put in the world and you’re saved? You’re going to heaven when you die, but you’re not dead yet. And then God left you here with nothing to do. Oh, boy, this would be boring.

God didn’t give me anything to do. Well, what should I do? And I don’t have anything to do. You know, being bored is a terrible thing to be in. I can’t remember the last time I’ve really been bored. I mean, it comes and goes quickly because I got, I’ve worked on this and then if I get tired of that board I’ll work on this then I want to work on this It’s like a boom boom boom all kind of thing But look what God has done for us look there in verse 9 Verse 9 says who hath hath past and have saved us so that’s done and Called us with a holy calling So this holy calling is a high calling of a purpose to run a race that God has said for us.

According, not according to our works, but according to our own purpose or his own purpose and grace, which he hath given, give me I’ll read right here in a minute, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Do you believe that God has a purpose, purpose in your life? Do you believe that God wants you and God calls each one of us to fulfill the purpose that God has in our life? This is why so many people feel so empty in their life because they don’t know what they’re living for.

They don’t know what they should do or what they should be. But when you start serving God, did you know that when you serve the Lord and do what God wants, that’s when you really become an individual? When you don’t, you’re just like a mass of humanity. There’s no difference. God is what made you different and he keeps you different. I’m so glad that I’m Yankee. I wouldn’t want to be nobody else. You are not want to be anybody else.

Be you. But the best you you can be. Be content with what God has been. Be content in your own skin. Don’t try to be somebody else. I used to listen to Dr. Stanford said, well, I want to be just like that. There’s one thing to be somebody, another one to be, like somebody, because you can take good quality people and you want to incorporate them into your own life. So there’s nothing wrong with that. But remember, God has a purpose for your life, and God wants you to serve him, and that’s why it’s so important.

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 Arbeghast 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. 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.