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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 prayer… prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can and 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.

I want you to take your Bible, and turn over there to the book of Romans, the book of Romans in chapter two. Romans in chapter 2, and look in verse 15, as the Bible is discussing this issue about who sinned and who didn’t sin, things of the conclusion all have sinned. And he shows how that the Gentiles have sinned and the Jews they have sinned. Even though they had the word of God, they had an advantage, but it didn’t really profit him because they didn’t obey the Word of God, even when they knew the will of God, and what God demanded, then they still couldn’t keep it.

And even though the Gentiles who did not have the law given, they had the world, and so they had the power of reason and the revelation of the world, and so they still reject God. It became vain in their own imagination, and their foolish heart was darkened, and so all these things are in there. So look what he says here in verse 15, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts, the means while accusing or excusing one another.

Did you know you cannot accuse anyone or excuse someone unless you have a certain sense of judgment, of right and wrong? If you accuse somebody, You’re wrong than you had to have something by which to base that upon. If you accuse somebody or excuse somebody, there has to be a some justification in your mind of why are you doing what you’re doing? Why do you accuse and why do you excuse? So it reveals that a man has a conscience and God is going to hold a person responsible for their decisions.

We are accountable unto God. Now, look in 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 8, 1 Corinthians 8, and look in verse 7. See not everyone knows the Lord, not everyone loves the Lord. But for those who do know the Lord and love the Lord and wants to please the Lord, they have a conscience by which they don’t want to offend the one they’re trying to reach. some of the things that we may excuse in our life because we know that between us and God it won’t matter.

But in somebody else’s mind, they may not see and understand what we know. So the Bible talks about us doing things not for your own conscience sake, but for the sake of the other person’s conscience. And so that’s why he makes the statement in verse But if any man loved God, the same is known of him. And then down here in verse seven, he said, how be it there is not in every man that knowledge. For some, with conscience of the idol unto this hour, eat it as a thing offered unto an idol.

And their conscience, being weak, is defiled. So you can have a defiled conscience. Of people not knowing what you know. So you’re saying be patient with people who are now where you want to work. And so sometimes people who learn a lot become judgmental and critical because, well, I know so much more than you do. And I’m superior to you. And then you can look down on people and not treat them the way that we ought to treat people.

And so that does happen. Now take the Bible and look in chapter 10. 1 Corinthians 10, and verse 26. And we’ll read down here to verse 29, but I want you to see that for the earth is the Lord and the full is thereof. If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast and you be disposed to go, whatsoever is set before you eat, asking no questions for conscience sake. But if any man’s saying to you, this is offered in that sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that should it, and for conscience sake for the earth is the Lord and the full is thereof.

conscience, I say, not by own, but of the other. For why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience? Why should I let another person determine what I do and don’t do? Well, there was one little simple phrase as mentioned in here. You ought to draw a line to it and underline this statement. Why? Why? Why? says there in the last part of verse 33 that they may be saved. See the last part of verse 33? He said, even as I please all men and all things, not seeking my own prophet, but the prophet of many, they may be saved.

So that’s why you will limit yourself in certain things. And maybe the places you go are ways you don’t have, you say, well I got the right, yeah I know. And sometimes people fight for their rights instead of fighting for the responsibility. We want to make an impact in people’s lives. So our conscience is very, very important. Look in 2 Corinthians in chapter 1, 2 Corinthians, and chapter 1, the Apostle Paul had gone to an awful lot, and he was having a lot of trouble because of things that were happening to them, and they thought they were really going to die.

The troubles that they had, people that had turned against him, and all these things, just look up here first of all in verse 8, for we would not brethren have you ignorant of our trouble, which came to us in Asia, that you were pressed out of measure, above strength, in so much that we despaired even of life. But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raised the dead, who delivered us past tense from all so great to death, and doth deliver present tense in whom we trust, and future tense, he will yet deliver.

So the way to have successful experiences in the future is by having some successful experiences in the past. It’s what gives you confidence and boldness. It helps your conscience to be clear and pure because I’ve trusted the Lord, I’ve tried God. He has come through, he has done this for me, and you can trust him. Remember, as you go through life, You’re always learning a little bit more and a little bit more. And one of the things that I had whenever, I decided to go to Baba College.

I had some people tell me, says, Yankee, ain’t no sense you going, you’re wasting your time. He says, you’ll never finish what you started because I just never finished what I started. I don’t know where they got that from, maybe it’s because I just never finished anything. So out of True Grit, It was a movie made by that, no call true grit. And because I didn’t want somebody to say, you didn’t make it. I quit school every Friday. But on Monday I’d be right back in school because that would haunt me.

It bothered me. And sometimes I wish I’d never said it. But I didn’t want them to be right. I didn’t want the devil to smile in God’s face and say, I got him, I got him. Oh, that’d be terrible. How would the Lord feel if He got the best of me? The devil offered me something else or got me sidetracked somehow and I didn’t finish what I should have finished. I don’t want the devil to get any glory of any kind.

I just love to give him a big old black eye. Big old black eye. But anyways, he goes down to it. He says in verse 11, he also helping together by prayer for us that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons, thanks may be given by many on our behalf, because people had given them some monetary gifts to do the work of the Lord. This is what missionaries had to do. Paul, the apostle, that’s what he did.

He had to depend upon people helping them. And so, he says in verse 12, for our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God. We have had our conversation in this world, our manner of life, and more abundantly toward you, for we write none of the things unto you than what you read or acknowledge, and I trust you shall acknowledge them even to the end.

Paul said, look, we have gone through all of this stuff. But in spite of everything, our testimony is above reproach. We’ve done right. Our consciousness is clear. And we can rejoice in that. If you know you have to do something wrong to get something that you want, that ought to tear you up. And this is why when he talks about if you’re going to serve the Lord and you really want God to bless you, you have to do right by God.

can’t in your own mind justify anything you do that’s wrong and beg God to just open up the windows of heaven and believe because you know you’re not doing right. This is why the Bible talks about having a pure heart, pure conscience. Where there’s nothing that you’re doing in the light that condemns you and if you do something that you shouldn’t do, correct it. Own up to it and say Lord that was wrong. I failed. I shouldn’t have done that and I accept your forgiveness and keep moving ahead.

never cover your sin. Call it what it is, Lord, I was wrong. I sinned against you. I messed up. And God will forgive and you can keep moving. But if you don’t do that, it builds and it weighs on you. And after a while, you begin to question whether or not, well, I must not be right with God. Something happens and you don’t know whether or not, is that because I didn’t make that right? Because I still had that thing hanging over my head and I didn’t come clean with God.

God knows it and I know it and you have flashbacks. Better do right. Always put the Lord first and keep doing right. Look in 2 Corinthians 4. 2 Corinthians 4. Look what he says when he talks about the ministry that God gives to us, which is then in verse 1, he says, because of the ministry God’s given to us, we faint not. That’s why we don’t quit. We can’t quit because too much is hinging upon us. We can’t just stop.

So in verse two he says, but have renounced the hidden things of, what’s the word? Dishonesty. Not walking and crafting this nor handling the word of God deceitfully but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man’s, you ought to underline this in your Bible, conscience in the sight of God. your testimony is a bubbly approach. Be holy for I am holy, not fashioning yourselves after the lust of the world from your former behavior, but now your chalice of God rise to another level and you’ll be surprised what God will do for you and what he’ll have for you when it’s all over with.

How long you supposed to do all of this. How till the end? Two the race is over till the day God calls you home. Just keep plugging away. Look at 1 Timothy 1, 1 Timothy 1, 1 Timothy 1, and Paul writing to a young preacher, boy. writes to Timothy and says, I got a few things I want to say to you and what you should watch out for. So during the pastoral epistles you go through these things and you learn a lot from it.

So he says in verse two, Untetimeth my own son in the faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. As I besought thee to abide still in Ephesus when I went into Macedonium, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine. So this is why we want you to learn these college do. We want you to learn the doctrine because if you don’t learn all the doctrine, you could wind up teaching air and not even know anything.

Because it can seem right. This is why just because I went to Bible college doesn’t mean that when I graduated, I finally could stop studying. I don’t think so. It helps you to know how to study, but it doesn’t teach you everything you need to know. We cannot teach everybody everything they need to know. God’s going to teach you something, but the basic the core things that we talk about, you have to have them. So he says, you’re teaching no other doctrine.

Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith. So do. So God wants you to teach things that edify people, builds them up, makes them strong. And verse 5, now the end of the commandment is charity, love out of a, and And here’s those two words, pure heart. And of a good conscience. Say a good conscience is the result of a pure heart. If you’re not right in your heart toward you and God, your conscience is not gonna be clean.

It’s not gonna be pure, it’s gonna be defiled. And so it’s not, you’re not gonna have the peace, the joy that you should have because You’re condemning yourself because you know right and if you don’t keep doing what’s right and that’s why it’s so easy for people little by little. They get away from the things of God. You begin to compromise little by little. You compromise and the time you spend with the Lord and the time you spend studying God’s word and the time you don’t maybe to get the way you don’t even witness anymore.

You get to where you don’t really care and you don’t care about what you see or what you hear or where you go. All those things begin to happen. compromise little by little by little it’s going to destroy you. You’ll keep on till it destroys you. And then you’ll wake up one day, I just lost 10 years or 15 years or 20 years, all on the side. It don’t have to be that way. Be on guard, be on guard all the time.

And notice what he says here in verse 5. Now the end of the commandment is a charity out of a pure heart and of a good conscience and a faith, unfain. So you’re talking about three things here, pure heart, pure conscience, and a pure faith, that what you believe is pure, and your heart is pure between you and God, and your conscience stays pure, because that’s what gives you your own personal joy, your own personal peace, that I know this and I’m doing this, but if you know this and you don’t do that truth, your conscious is not going to be clear and you’ll condemn yourself.

That’s why the Lord tells us examine yourself, examine yourself. So keep it in mind because it is so very important. Now can people get to the place where they can have shipwreck in their Christian life? Look what He says here in verse 16, as Paul refers to himself and as a good example that if God can do this for me, think of what he can do for everybody else. He said, I’m a chief of centers. That means he can save all the Indians too.

But he says here in verse 15 that he is an example. In verse 16, how be it for this cause I obtain mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ my show forth all long suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Because God can work in Paul’s life look in the work what God can do in others. Now you’d be surprised that as you study the word of God and learn a few things and as you go through life there’s things that God is going to teach you because you’ll be an example to somebody.

Everybody’s an example and this is why he makes the statement, he says, be thou an example of the believer. Where does he say that? Well lo and behold. I think it might be right there. Look in 1 Peter chapter 4, Timothy chapter 4, and he says there in verse 10, for therefore we both labor and suffer reproach be cause. We trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those that believe. These things command and teach, let no man despise thy youth, but be thou what?

An example of the believer. in what? In word, in behavior, men of life, in charity, your love, in spirit, your attitude, in faith, in purity. For how long till I come? Tell me when Paul comes to see him. But see these are things that God wants us to do. Does the Bible have anything to say about how a Christian should live? Does God want all of His children to grow strong in the Lord? Does He want all of us to have a good conscious because you see when you talk about the joy of the Lord the peace of God all those things comes from a clean conscience.

When your conscience isn’t clean, guilt, robs, guilt destroys. And this is why God doesn’t want you and I living a life of guilt because it’s like a yoke of iron that he puts upon your shoulders and that’s why you’ve got to keep yourself clean between you and the Lord as you go through life. So important. But look what he says here. I want you to see this verse. When he makes this statement in verse 18, this charge I commit unto the son Timothy according to the prophecies which went before on thee that thou by them might as war a good warfare.

What I’m telling you, remember Paul has said I have kept the faith, I have fought a good fight? Didn’t he say something like that? Well that’s what He’s telling Timothy to do too, that you can fight a good fight. Paul ought to know he’s at the end of his life and he says, I have kept the faith. I run the race. I finished my course and so forth. Therefore, it was laid up for me a kind of righteousness. But not only to me, but to all them who Love is appearing.

So he says here in verse 19, holding faith and those words, a good conscience, a good conscience, a mind that is disciplined by truth, a good conscience is a mind that is disciplined by truth. So holding faith in a good conscience which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck. Now, look in 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 1, is it possible that God’s children, if they do not keep their conscience clean and clear between them and God, and they let sin in their life and they justify it and overlook it.

And next thing you know, they lose their discernment. They can’t see clearly. And in 2 Peter it talks about those who cannot see a far off and forgetting about the sins that have been forgiven and all that, and they cannot see. They become blind. God’s children can have this happen to him. So he says here in verse 1, now the spirits expressedly that in the latter time, Some shall depart from the faith, given heed to seducing spirits, doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, and underlined this phrase, having their conscience seared with a hot iron.

Now, is he talking aboutRepeat, or is he talking about what can happen to believers? Hmm, very interesting. So anyway, these are some things that God has said, now I want you to look at one more, Hebrews in chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13 and look what he says here. Look in verse 18. When you talk about the word conscience, it’s amazing. Some of the words you found surround in it. Now it can be a defile of conscience.

It can be a hardened conscience. It can be a seared conscience. It can be a good conscience. But he says in verse 18 pray for us, for we trust we have a good conscience and all things willing to live in this word Yoda on the line. See if you’re not honest between you and God, you’re not honest. You’re deceiving everybody else but if you’re not honest between you and God, you’re not honest. Whenever you’re going to make decisions or major decisions always seek some good counseling.

Don’t trust your judgment. Don’t trust your judgment. Ask somebody else that might know a little bit more that will tell you the truth that won’t bend it because of who you are or your friendship. Nobody here is that close to me, that is that much of a friend to me, that if I see that I need to say something to you, I’m gonna say it. And I won’t worry about friendship. Because if I love you, I gotta tell you.

Ain’t that right? I mean, that’s the way you’d want it, right? Right? This way means yes, this way means no. So you understand I have a responsibility. If I wanna talk to you about anything, I gotta talk to you. That’s gonna start with those two women right over there. But look what he says in this verse. in all things willing to live honestly.” He says, but I beseech you the rather to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.

Now the God of peace, peace. In verse 21, it makes you perfect in every good work to do what? His will, working in you, that which is well pleasing in his sight. So does the word of God tell us what God wants to do in our lives? And that’s why you need to study the words. Your conscience can’t be your guide. It’s the word of God that is to be your guide. But it’s your conscience and how you think.

Are you yielding yourself to what God says so you have a straight edge? You have something in your life that the canon of scripture. You want to be able to judge rightly, and there’s a verse in the Bible somewhere that says, study the show thyself approved under God, a word that needs not be ashamed, rightly divided in the word of God. I probably in the Old Testament and Hezekiah somewhere, but I know it’s in the Bible, but every one of us should learn how to rightly divide the Word of God and realize that we got to think right.

We got to keep our lives pure and that starts because you got to up your mind. The study is the pure word. Sound doctrine comes from sound words and that’s why he says it. God has not given to us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and of a… What’s the next words? Sound mine. Sound mine comes from sound doctrine, they come from sound words, so that’s why you study what the word of God says. All right. Look up here.

Just in case somebody’s watching tonight. I know all of you in here are already spiritual giants in the Lord. You’ve already trusted Christ as your Savior. God bless you. But there may be somebody that’s never heard the gospel before. Should I tell him? You think I should. All right, Tom, I’ll do it because you’ve got a good conscience. He knows right from wrong. This hand represents you and me. The wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. God loves us.

us. It’s a wonderful thing to tell somebody, God loves you. Now he hates what we do wrong, but he loves us. And for us to pay for the wrong, and we should, we’re guilty, to pay for our sins is eternal separation from God in hell. But God loves us, wants us to go to heaven. To go to heaven we got to be perfect as righteous as God. And none of us are perfect, none of us are righteous. We’ve all done things wrong and we cannot save ourselves.

And if we We can’t save ourselves, it’s not by our work, so going to church is not going to cut it. Giving money is not going to do it. Living a good light is not going to do it. Because we’ve already sinned, we’re already condemned. And there’s nothing that can pay for it except death. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord God in the flesh. Came into the world because He loves us. Hates our sin because our sin separates us from Him.

So Jesus Christ who had no sinned didn’t have to die. So he took all the sin of all the world, paid for it on the cross, and came back from the dead, and said that if we would believe that he did it for us, he would put this pegmat on account, and we get to go to heaven on what Christ did for us. It’s not because of what we’ve done, because of what he’s done. Let’s pray, shall we? Our Father, we thank you again for your blessings.

Thank you so much for the free gift of everlasting life. And follow we thank you for your word that you given us so that we as your children could read and study it and know what you want for us. And with your heads still bow nice clothes and especially you that are maybe watching by video, if you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior right where you are, would you trust Jesus Christ and Him alone as your only hope of going to heaven?

You can’t earn it, you can’t work for it. It’s the gift of God. You see, it’s not what you give God. It’s what God wants to give you. So you don’t have to give him your heart, you don’t have to give him your life. All he wants you to do is accept from him a gift. He made a payment for your sins. Would you accept what he did for you? All you have to do is believe that what he did, he did it for you.

And he gives you eternal life and all your sins are paid. And that’s why you won’t go to hell because he paid for all of sin. And I pray that you will. Our Father, we thank you again for your blessings to us. Thank you for this time together. We pray, Lord, we can continue to be at a lighthouse. We’ve got a lot of things that we’ve done this wrong. Our nation has been very wicked, very sinful. We don’t have a right for you to bless us.

But we pray that you would have mercy upon us. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen. 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.

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. A mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Again, don’t RELEVATE 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 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. Cada can meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believe in that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up.