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

Well, it’s good to see y’all here tonight. I hope that everybody has a copy of my notes tonight. And why fruit inspectors get it wrong? See if if it was true, if it was true, that you could tell if a person was saved by how they lived, we would really be confused. Isn’t it true that there was a good group here this morning? And isn’t it true that we have fewer here tonight? Well, that’s a sign that those who didn’t come tonight weren’t really saved.

Wouldn’t that be a shame? Some of you all probably prayed, and some of you all didn’t pray for the service tonight. You might not even pray for it Sunday morning. You probably weren’t saved. You’d be surprised how you could begin to question everything. But you know in the eyes of some, they may say, if there’s anybody saved, I know it’s Bob Gilbert. But somebody else might say, if there’s anybody that’s lost, it’s Bob Gilbert. And then we wonder why Cindy would say that.

Well, it might be because she knows him for real. But isn’t it true that if you’re saved by grace, only because of what Christ did for us, then that’s the only thing we need to have as our evidence. God says so. God’s Word says He that believeth on me half everlasting life. So how do I know I have eternal life? Can you see it? Can you see it? You can’t see it. Well, how do you know you got it?

Well, because of the way I live. I’ll show you you got eternal life. Now if I was asked, are you married? And you said, yes. And I said, do you have a wife? Well, I don’t know. Now you may question that. Why a man would want a mother-in-law without a wife? I don’t know. So I met a couple of guys years ago. I was standing at the Grace Conference up there in Chicago. This man comes up behind me and puts his hands on my shoulders.

I’m sitting there looking toward the stage, you know. And before I turn to him, he says, are you Yankee Arnold? I says, are you the IRS? He laughed and says, no. So I turned around and it’s a guy named Pastor Dennis Rosser. He was the pastor of the Lou Bible Church. And he’s up there in the area where I went up there in 1968. We had a lot of people that trusted the Lord. So I told him, I said, there’s this guy up there in northern Minnesota.

And I heard he was in Duluth. I said, there’s this guy up there in northern Minnesota. The guy was great on the gospel, clear on the gospel. I said, but he didn’t always give an invitation. And so the people just, you know, they had to find out one day and just trust the Lord because nobody would ask anybody to trust the Lord because that was in the flesh. So they would just give the gospel, but they wouldn’t ask And I said, so I went up there asking everybody, and they trust the Lord.

I said, can you believe that? He said, yeah, I’m married to his daughter. I said, what’s your name again? Dennis Rosser, Pastor of Duluth. He’s married to the man’s daughter. Well, slap, slap, slap, slap. But anyway, we became pretty good friends. And he has some people that work with him. And one of them is a guy named Mr. Tom Stiegel. And he writes a few good articles once in a while. And he wrote some things down that I saw and I liked.

And then there’s this person by the name of Holly Spring, or anybody who heard of her? She puts quite a few things out on the internet. She became pretty good friends with my daughter. And… She’s always talking about Calvinism and so I’m in the Armenians and trying to… She’s always fun to a lot of people onto my messages on YouTube. And so sometimes I see some of the stuff she puts in there and she says, and by the way, Ralph Yankee Arnold says, boom, when they’ll put in there what I say, and they’ll put in there all the link to the YouTube and all.

So I appreciate it. So I’m gonna give you the notes and they’ll put them out. And then sometime I think, well, those are my… I appreciate them doing it. using them because nobody’s, you know, can claim everything. If it comes out of the Bible, it’s Bible. You use that verse. That was my verse. Well, anyway, so A, I got from Tom Stigle and B, I got some of those from Holly Springer, Agarcia. So anyway, this is some things that I wanted you to see how important it is.

The Bible actually teaches that it is possible for one who is eternally saved by God’s grace to do some pretty bad things. Now isn’t it true that we want every child of God to serve the Lord? We want them to serve the Lord. We want them to do right. But you can’t threaten them. You can’t put a thing on them requiring that they must and if they don’t they should doubt or question their salvation. You’re saved by grace. It is the will of God that we serve them.

But there are things that Christians can do that if you were a fruit inspector you would come to the conclusion, well they can’t be saved. And that’s why there’s a lot of people that doubt the salvation, a lot of the people in the Bible. You just about have to disqualify all of them except maybe Daniel and Joseph. I guess all the rest of them are all lost. No. But anyway, if you look of the number two, believe only for a while.

Believe only for a while. You knowvironment story of the sower that went forth to sow and some fell upon some good ground and some stony ground and so on. And some found good soil,Falb, but there’s no who believe and it says for a while. And then things happen and you know, briars and thorns and chokes you out and the cares of the world and so you become very unproofful. So a lot of people have trouble with those. Don’t let the body know.

It tells you whether or not if they believe or not. So whenever you believe on the Lord you have eternal life and God saves you because if we can’t take it my faith that what God says, if they believe it, they have eternal life, well if you start saying, no that’s not true, then you’ve got a question in every place that it says they believe by faith and that becomes a problem. But look there in John chapter 8, the Gospel of John and chapter 8.

John chapter 8, 8. John chapter 8 verse 31, Jesus is talking here, talking to him about the discipleship, and he makes a statement verse 31, then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him. Now I would assume that they believed on him would be a reference to their trusting him and that they would be saved and have he turn life. I mean that’s my opinion. But then he says, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed?

So a lot of people have trouble with that. If you continue, see there, if you don’t continue, then you’re not saved. But is that really what the verse said? No, I believe that they’re saved because they believed. The discipleship is a different story. You see, you can come to Christ for salvation and you come after Christ for service. You follow Christ for service. So once you trust the Lord, not all of God’s children will be followers or imitators of God.

So we are to discipline our lives and continue in His Word. This is the will of God for all of those who believe on Christ, but not everyone who believes on Christ walks with the Lord. Not everyone will continue in His Word. So those who don’t continue, there are consequences. And those that do, there are some mighty nice blessings that God will bestow upon you. Look at number four there, John chapter 15. We’re right here in the book John, John chapter 15, and notice what he says here in verse 1, because you can be saved.

And not abide in the Lord. Now to abide in the Lord is to stay where you’ve been placed. You’re in the Lord live like you’re in the Lord. If you’re a Christian, live like a Christian, but you can be saved and not live like a Christian. Not abide in the Lord and not bear fruit. So he says in verse one I am the true vine and my Father is the husband man. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit.

He take it the way. that bear fruit, He purges it that it may bring forth more fruit. So every branch in me, that means you are a believer, you’re in Christ. So it’s shown that you can be in Christ and bear fruit and you can be in Christ and not bear fruit. I mean that’s what I would get from that verse. But He says He purges it that it can bring forth more fruit. So God will work in your life and purge, it means cut off all the dead limbs and things like that, things out of your life that hinder all the juice and the energy flowing from the vine into the branches so that you can have more fruit.

And a lot of times Christians are wasting their time and energy in the flesh. But if you cut off those things, you’ll have more time to do what God wants you to do and your life will be fuller, a more abundant and you’ll have more blessings upon your life. In verse 3, now ye are clean. You are clean. And through the word which I have spoken unto you, now he says in verse 4, abide in me. And I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except in a Biden divine.

No more can ye except you abide in me. So this is not in verse 4, talking about how to be saved. He’s talking about a Christian bringing forth fruit and learning to abide in the Lord, doing what God wants you to do with your life. Abiding in Him is nothing more than resting in the Lord, serving the Lord, learning how to rest why you serve so that you don’t get burnout. So you’ll have the energy that you need to continually keep following the Lord.

Now He says here in verse 5, I am the vine, ye are the branches. He doesn’t bite it in me and I in him. The same bring it forth much fruit. For without me you can do nothing. If a man abideth not in me, he’s cashed forth as a branch and is withered. I mean your testimony becomes shot. You lose the power of your influence in the lives of other people. See, the greatest thing you have gone for you is yes, the gospel, but the power of your life, the power of your influence.

Because if you talk to people about why they should serve the Lord, whatever those reasons may be, shouldn’t they be good enough for you? Then where is your changed life? Where is the dedication of your life and your purpose? And it should drive and motivate you. Verse 7, if you’re biting me in my words, abiding me, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit, So shall you bear my disciples, be my disciple.

So this is to the believer, but it is possible for a child of God not to bring forth fruit. See from verse two, every branch in me that beareth not fruit, and every branch that beareth fruit. So there’s branches that are in Christ, in the line, but not fruit bearing. So, if you were a fruit inspector and said, well, I don’t see any fruit in your life, that doesn’t mean that the branch is not in the vine. Doesn’t mean that you’re not saved, but it does ruin your testimony.

And God says, you’ll lose the power of your influence and people want nothing to do with it because, see, you’re supposed to be salt and it’s lost to savor. We’re supposed to be light, but we don’t shine. So keep that in mind. It’s a good verse. there in the book of 1 Corinthians 9, 1 Corinthians and chapter 9. As a child of God, even though you’re in the race, running the race, you’re supposed to be, well, as he says, a master, temperant, and all things.

See up here in verse 25, every man that strived for the mastery is tempered, self-controlled, disciplined, and all things. It means in every area of your life because you know that there’s one area that’s not disciplined and you refuse to guard, it could cost you your life. It could cost you your testimony and you could lose a lot. And he says, we’re striving for that incorruptible crown, but crowns are given because of your labor, learning to play by the spiritual rules.

See in football there’s rules. Cough, there’s rules. Every game, there’s rules. There’s the, there’s rules in life. And in the spiritual life, there’s rules. There’s things that you are to do, and there’s things not to do. And so he makes this statement here in verse 27, but I keep under my body. In other words, I discipline my body. I keep my body under my control. And bring it into subjection. Why? Less by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be cast away or disqualified, and I don’t win the prize.

So can you be in the race? You can even be serving the Lord and not do the thing that God wants you to do. And you don’t discipline yourself the way God wants because you may be satisfied just serving the Lord a little bit. But what God wants, he wants your whole heart. He wants you to love Him more than anything else in the world. He doesn’t want to share His love on and glory within your body. So therefore as a child of God, can we be set aside?

I know Christians, I know people that I went to Bible College with who were gonna turn the world upside down or do whatever they could and it didn’t take long for the world to get a hold of them. Now they have good jobs but not involved in the Lord’s work at all. Just set aside, put on a shelf. Wouldn’t it be a shame for God to put you on a shelf and not use you? Now if a fruit inspector came by and saw you sitting on the shelf, he might say, well, he looked pretty preserved, but that’s not the kind that we’re talking about.

And so you didn’t persevere in the Well, if you really believe that you have to persevere in the faith, so you’re going to have a problem with all those Christians who don’t persevere. And they have to also have a problem with themselves. So at what point do they know I am really persevered? And in the next day, well, I’m not so good today. Okay, now which way will you save or not save? That is such a terrible way to live.

You know when I took God at his word 55 years ago, it’s never changed. That verse is still there. It still says the same thing. It still means the same thing. And so I know what I’m still saying because God’s word hasn’t changed. It has nothing to do with changes with me. It has to do with did God change his word? God changes his mind. Did God say I’m going to take away your salvation? Find the verse. It’s not there.

So that’s why we have great consolation and trust in the Lord. Number six, resist God’s chastening and correcting to the point of physical death. Do you believe that the Bible actually says God can take you home? Look there in 1 Corinthians in chapter, let me see here, 1 Corinthians in chapter 10, chapter 11, I’ll get it right here in a minute. It’s not like I never have covered these verses before. I have looked at communion service before. But in 1 Corinthians 11, you’ll notice what he says here in verse 28, but let a man examine everybody else.

If you come through to inspectors and everybody else’s life, no, just look to yourself. And he’s talking here not about whether or not are you really saved. talking about are you going to partake of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthily manner? It means that you’re not living right and you’re refusing to correct the problem. So you make a mockery out of the Lord’s Supper. So he makes a statement here in verse 30, for this cause many are weak, sickly, and sleep.

That word sleep means dead. So if some fruit inspector came by and they saw you sick, ah that’s a sign you’re not right with God. And there’s people that teach that because you’re not feeling good, ah you must have sin in your life. Buddy I’ve had a whole bunch in the last month and I don’t know of any He’s particular saying that I need to worry about. I think it’s the sole body I’ve got. It just doesn’t want to go sometimes.

It gets to feeling pretty bad sometimes. So God says, because of the way some of God’s children live, some are sick because of it. Some are weak because of it. Some are dead because of it. You know if… A person that was a fruit inspector, always judged. So, well, you don’t have the fruit. Well, I don’t have to have the fruit. The lack of fruit brought God’s chastening, and God will do that. Look in verse 31, for if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

In other words, if you’ll take care of the problem, and God won’t have to, if you’ll deal with those areas in your life that are not right, then God won’t have to step in. Wouldn’t you like to solve some of your discipline problems without having the Lord do it? Because you don’t know how God’s going to do it. But if you’ll take care of the issue, then God won’t have to. And so he says in verse 32, but when we’re judged, you see, you do it or God’s going to do it.

Now, which one do you think you would do better? He says, we are chastened of the Lord, not that we should not be condemned with the world. So therefore he says, discipline yourself. That’s why he says, examine yourself. So if you see something in your life that’s not right, you can correct it. Because if you don’t correct it, God says, I will, and I’m going to have to deal with you. And I may have to take you home before your time.

So you see, you don’t have to persevere in the faith and live for the Lord. Of course, if you don’t, there’s consequences. And the fruit inspector has a problem with those consequences because they believe that you must persevere until the end. And then well, if you’re really saved, you’re not going to want to do this or do that. So it’s very, very important. Now there are several verses in a row that’s right there in the book of Timothy. look in one Timothy.

I would have stopped that. I’m going to say that when I shouldn’t say that. So look there in the book of 1 Timothy chapter 1 and look in verse 5 and verse 6. Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and a faith unfain, from which some having swerved have turned aside on the vain jangolin. Some have turned aside. Some people change. And so if you was a fruit inspector, you’d just love it to say, well, see there?

If you were really saved, you wouldn’t do that. And when he says there in verse seven, the desire to be teachers of the law, is it possible to be teachers of the law? Is it possible for God’s people to get sidetracked, to become deceived, and start teaching something that God forbids. I believe that is very, very possible. Look there in verse 18 of chapter 1. This charge I commit unto the son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on them that thou by them might as war a good warfare.

In other words, you know Paul’s going to say I have fought a good fight. So now this senior saying is trying to pass on some good information to this young man on how to fight a good fight. A warfare and he says the same thing in chapter two and of Second Timothy when he talks about being a good soldier that’s not entangled with the affairs of this life. They may please the one who called him the Be a Soldier.

But there’s a war on a spiritual war. And so the Word of God can help us fight the war. And then he says here, holding faith and a good conscience, which some, now you know you’ll see that word some in a few places, but not all of God’s children are going to persevere in the faith. Not all of God’s children grow at the same rate. Not all of God’s children grow at all. Not all of them grow. You can be a babe in Christ and stay a babe for the rest of your life.

But some people are learning how to walk and they fall and they crawl and they walk and some learn how to run and they run the race. And so he says here in verse 19, holding faith and a good conscience, which some having put away concerning faith have made what? Shipwreck. Can a Christian have shipwreck in his life? You’re supposed to be out there in the water and you didn’t got too close to the land. There’s the spirit and the water, the flesh and the land, and some Christians are afraid to trust the Lord, so they put one foot on the land and one foot on the water, and they’re in the heap of trouble, boy.

You talk about split. They don’t know what to trust. And so you have the rocks. You have the storms of life. And a lot of God’s children, their roots don’t go deep into the world of God so that they can be stabilized. So when the waves comes or the wind blows, they’re rock solid. So the key to that, of course, is understanding sound words, sound doctrine, sound mind. So those things go together. And so look there in verse 20, of whom is Hymenius and Phileadus, are Alexander, whom I have delivered unto who?

Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. I believe that they’re probably believers. But people who cause other people to depart from the faith, teaching something that causes shipwreck, and can wreck your faith. You can get on to the internet and begin to listen to some of those wild people out there, saying all kinds of things. And next thing you know, shipwreck your Christian life and get to the place where you are totally spiritual, you’re destroyed. And then on down the road, you’ll probably never darken the doors of a church again.

Never wanna listen to a preacher nothing to do with it. And you’re going to be surprised. Yes, saved, but you ruined your life, wasted it. And it didn’t have to be that away, but it will be that away. Look in chapter 4 and verse 1. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times. Some, some, some. I could preach a whole sermon on some that you find in the Bible. Some, Because not everybody will do the same thing.

Some shall depart from the faith. Well now what if you were this fruited specter and you see someone that departed from the faith, what would you naturally conclude then? Well they must not be saved. They weren’t real. They weren’t genuine. Well God says you were in the faith, you departed from it. You say, well I don’t believe it anymore. Remember this. When you trusted Christ to save you, God’s gonna keep His word. Has nothing to do with you keeping your word.

You don’t have a word to keep. It was God that gave His word. I’ve heard some preacher say, well, you’ve got to mean business. You got to mean business. No, it was Him that meant business. He says, you trust me and I’ll save you. So what about later on when you deny the faith? Well, you can deny it all you want to. God can’t deny Himself. He gave His word. See, that’s what he means when he makes this statement that once you’ve trusted him and saved you, you’re God’s child forever.

Having this seal, the Lord, know it then, that it is. Are you a new listener to Bibleline? Do you enjoy the teachings of Dr. Arnold? Well, if you’ve never contacted us before, we want to give you Dr. Arnold’s book, The Gospel Driven Man. Every day we receive many emails from folks who have questions about repentance and salvation, about faith in works, and about how to share the gospel with friends and loved ones. This book, The Gospel Driven Man, covers all those topics, and we want all new listeners of Bibleline to receive a free copy.

There’s no obligation, no donation necessary, simply call us at 1-800-576-3771 or write to us and request your free copy of The Gospel Driven Man. The mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Again, don’t forget to include your mailing address. And God bless you and thank you for listening to 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 4081 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634.

And now, a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. 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. Believe in that the Lord is coming soon. Just keep looking up.