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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 Bibleignmenistries.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.

I want you to take your Bible and look there oreAndOnlinePopulation FILECatal In the Romans in chapter, chapter eight. Romans chapter eight. You say, why we’re going in Romans chapter 8 Because we’re going to go to Romans chapter 12 So, Romans chapter 8 has a few I want to get your attention on Because we’re going to be talking about that I believe there’s a, like a double reference When the Bible talks about us being conformed to the image of his son in the image of his son.

But there’s also this part of sanctification in our life that we go through where we are little by little growing into the image of his son so that as a child we’re supposed to grow up and to mature and as we do so we should be becoming more like the Lord. And that’s a difficult thing for all of us because we all got this old flesh nature that we have to still deal with. Then we’re trying to work together with people who have, you know, we’re all problems.

God’s going to get a perfect work done down here out of us when we are so flawed. But believe it or not, Now here in Romans 8 and verse 29, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. Now that’s a powerful statement, and I believe there’s a possibility that Romans 8, 28 could have something to do with not only what God has planned forFOX eternity and the way we’re going to be when we don’t have this old sinful nature and we’ll all be, you know, just like we’re supposed to be.

But we’re not there yet. And so there’s a lot of things that happens to us in life that all things, maybe not good, but all things can work together for good. And so I’ve preached this both ways. I have spoken on how the things that God has determined down the road to be some mighty good things for us. And one day, yes, we’ll be glorified, just like the Lord. Have a glorified body, but we’re not there yet. We’re still here.

And so there’s a lot of things that happens in life to get us to be conformed to the image of his son here and now. So we want to figure out, now what does God want me to be like? Well, maybe God want you to be a movie star. Maybe God wants you to be the richest person in the world. That maybe, you know, I used to take and go into a lot of Christians’ homes. And if it’s interesting, you go in some of the teenagers’ rooms and you look at things that they have hanging on the wall and there’s these guys that are, I mean, they’re rocking out.

I mean, they’re this heavy metal and all that kind of crazy stuff and they get all these heroes that they love and so forth and it’s the wild, wickedest thing you ever ever seen. I’m not many Christian poems. And you think these are heroes, this is what they want to be like, so they want to dress like them and act like them, look like them, think like them. And I’ll say, what happened to somebody wanting to be like? You know.

Paul, or apostle Peter, or what’s wrong with just maybe I want to be like the Lord. I want to be like Him. And that’s not as exciting. You know, that’s, you know, a little mushy. But believe it or not, there isn’t anything better. There’s not a greater hero in all the world. There’s not a better example for anybody than the Lord. So, as you read this, you come up with some interesting things. So, we’ve already gone through nine and ten, and we finished with eleven the other nine.

So, take a Bible and turn to chapter twelve. Now, that doesn’t mean that we eliminate chapter nine, ten and eleven, but it does tell us about understanding the foreknowledge of God, the predestination of God, and how God chooses his election, and that he chose to say, by grace, all that’s laid out in those chapters, and it’s very good. And we can talk about the past of Israel in chapter 9, the presence of Israel in chapter 10, and the future of Israel in chapter 11.

So those are well-established points that most people bring out. And then when we get to chapter 12 in verse 1, it makes the statement about some things that are our choices. You see God has told you how He chooses. Now He’s letting you and I see that God really does allow you and I to make choices. So from the very first verse, it’s about choices. You and I making decisions. And there’s a lot of things that God wants us to know that He has a perfect will for our life.

There’s things that He wants for us. He’s already chosen the best things for us and He’s chosen a lot of the things that can happen in life that can benefit us to make us more like the Lord. But He’ll allow us to make the decision. So when you read there in verse one, he says, I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies and that’s your choice. You don’t have to present your body as a living sacrifice.

You don’t have to do it. But he’s the I beseech you that you would do this in view of what I’ve done for you. So when you You start from the very first chapter in the book of Romans and you see how bad we were and how that there’s none righteous, no not one, and that nobody could save themselves. And if it hadn’t been for the Lord coming into this world down on the cross, justifying us by faith, making us His children, giving us in chapter 8, the indwelling Holy Spirit, we didn’t have a chance.

But because of mercy, we didn’t get what we deserve. So God says, now in view of what I’ve done for you, He said, I won’t give you some choices to make. And one of these choices is, will you present your body as a living sacrifice? Holy, your choice. As He says here, acceptable unto God, your choice, which is your reasonable service, your choice. He will not make us do any of that. But he wants us to do this because doing this will help us not to be conformed to this world.

You see there in chapter 8 talked about being conformed to the image of his son. You look there in chapter 12 and verse 2 and be not conformed to this world because see if you don’t do what God says do the way God says to do it, you will be just like the world. And why did God leave you here? Is it going to be grace bestowed upon you and vain God allowing you to live to have EntityItem this wonderful opportunity that you can present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service and then you choose not to do it.

Don’t you think I would break God’s heart? You ever think about how God feels when His children choose not to do this? this is why he says in verse two, and be not conformed to this world but be transformed. Now this word transformed is identical to the word you find in the book of Matthew where he talks about they were he was transfigured. In other words they were standing there looking at him and all of a sudden he was changed into all of the glory of the kingdom.

His power is honor. And they saw it. And God wants, how in the world is going to be done. He wants us to be like that. He wants to transform us. The word you’re not like the world. We don’t live like the world. We’re not supposed to act like the world. We’re supposed to have something that’s better. Now I don’t know if many of God’s children never reached that epitome. But whenever you study the Bible and you see some of the apostles and what they did and what they talked, They didn’t condemn themselves all the time, every time they turned around, but they did have some problems.

These men did not walk perfectly. Some of them had a few flaws, and they messed up a little bit. But I want you to know this. You see in chapter 7, when you make the statement, verse 18, that is, according to the flesh, there is nothing good according to the flesh. And he says, how to perform that which is good, I find now. How do I perform? Well chapter 12 is going to tell us how to perform. How to get to this place where you can have some victory in your Christian life because you’ve always got the other side pulling against you, trying to conform us to this world.

You know, today with all the political stuff going on, it’s always, they’re talking about It’s not politically correct because you can say one word, one phrase, it can be translated to it through different ways and so anybody wants to or take it whatever the way they want. And because of that, conruing you politically, well in the ram of serving the Lord, there’s things in this world that conruing you in your Christian life, in your Christian testimony. You shouldn’t say that.

You shouldn’t do that. You shouldn’t go there. just been a little lackadaisical and not guarding and watching this amazing how much damage we can do to ourselves. So he said, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And this is why this is so important. I just want you to know about that word but your mind because that is important. Life is lived according to the caliber of your thoughts. You want to raise the caliber of your life, you raise the caliber of your thinking.

Got to think differently and start reasoning better because God says that serving the Lord is a reasonable thing. Then if a person isn’t serving the Lord the way God wants them to do they must not be thinking reasonably. There’s something they must be missing because you live according to your theology. What do you really believe? So I want you to take this verse and look there in the book of 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians in chapter 3. Then look down there in verse 18.

In verse 18, 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18. Always look at these verses, don’t just take them for granted. And I’ll just listen good. It’s good to look at the verse because you remember things a little bit better because you saw it. But we all, with open face, beholding as in the glass, the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord. And then in verse 17, where he talks about where the Lord is, that spirit, there is liberty.

And so you want real liberty, it means to be free from the fear of death, free from the fear of the sinful nature, fear from a lot of things, because it gives you the liberty where you can serve the Lord. You see, when God saved us, He set us free. Now we’re free to serve. We don’t have to, but He wants to do because He loves us, He wants us to love Him, so we serve the Lord. But I wrote down in my Bible long time ago, where it has from the same image from glory, and I put that back to the law, to glory the glory of the Spirit.

See if there was glory in the law, when Moses came down from the mountain and his face glowed, that he had to veil himself, then think of what God’s talking about when He’s talking about His children, that we are to be transfigured in this life where people see the Lord through us. Now, we may not glow unless you live at Rocky Flats where we did out there in Colorado next to the nuclear power plant. And when you walk around at night time, you could, you’d glow.

No, not really. They always wondered about that. And I used to wonder, you know, go to bed at night and light up the room. Now, go back there to the book of Romans in chapter 12. In Romans chapter 12, when he makes a statement here, This is the word must be perfect. If within the word you can find the perfect will. We often use a little bit of a statement in the Old Testament in the book of Ezekiel when it talks about God looked for a man to stand in the gap.

So we would take the word gap, G-A-P. And we would go here to the book of Romans in chapter 12, verse 2, where God said He was looking for us to renew our mind that we may discover what is that good, G, and acceptable, A, and perfect, P, will of God. So that whenever you do this and you study it and you transform your mind, you may have the tools that you need to stand in the gap because God is looking for those that will stand in the gap.

See here’s God and here’s people. God’s looking for somebody to represent Him. And while you and I are in this world, that’s what He wants us to do. We represent Him in this world. Now when it came to salvation and somebody paying for our sins, He says there is only one mediator between God and man, and that was the man Christ Jesus. So he was the mediator who came down here and made peace with God and with man by taking that which separated us, which was our sins, and he took that and paid for it.

Now we can have peace with God. So now after we’ve trusted Christ as our Savior, God wants us to shine forth as light in this present world and this is what He wants us to do. Now when you begin into this verse 2 it says and be a transformed or transfigured by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now the perfect will of God I believe that when all things that work all the trials of with the conflict with people and the trials and tests, everything that you go through can form on us to the image of Christ.

So the perfect will of God in this life for you and me is that God uses a lot of things, ministries, people to mold us to be like Christ. And that’s why the older we get, the sweeter we’re supposed to get. But there were times when Jesus was a very strong individual. And so trying to get this balance in your Christian life is very interesting. Have you ever had somebody, you just think you’re better than me. You’re just trying to be a holy Joe.

And so you’ve got to go through the persecution and whatever they did to Christ, they will do to you. Now look what he has here in verse three. Now he begins to talk to us about one main thing. Now from verse three, all the way down to verse eight, is kind of showing us the individual minister, the individual growth in the Lord. And then from verse nine to the end of the chapter, now you’re talking about corporately as the body, you know, with each other.

But you see, you can’t do anything corporately until you can learn how to walk with the Lord yourself. You must learn how to stand between you and God. And you study the scripture says, and know a walk with God. They walk with God, they walk with God. So you’ve got to learn God’s Word to work on you so that you will know what God wants you as an individual to be. Now hold your place right here and just look here in chapter 10 of Romans, chapter 10 of Romans, and look what he says in verse 17, in verse 17.

So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. One time I was talking to this Calvinist, he says, don’t you know that faith is the gift? I said, okay. I said, is that a faith that God gives to the lost man in order to be Yes. And he says, even in the book, the Bible talks about the gift of God. It’s in the Bible, I say, you mean in Corinthians when he talks about the gift?

Yes, that’s where it’s at. The gift of faith. I said, do you ever look at that and see, aren’t those gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to those who already believe? How can you take that verse and apply it to the lost? I says, that’s gifts of the Holy Spirit to the body. People are already saved. Ooh, every once in a while I like to slap them gently. And then sometimes with a two before, right over to head. But I want you to see this.

Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So God says that we’re to study His Word and as we study the Word of God and as we believe the word of God, our faith will grow. So according to the measure of our faith, what you have attained to, what you can trust God for, what you can believe about what God’s word says, then do it. Do according to the word. And you’ll find that many times in the gospel where Jesus says, be it unto you according to your faith, your faith.

What you believe, what you want, what you trust God for. And so faith come by here and hear Him by the Word of God. So this is why we want to teach the Word of God so people can hear the Word of God and their faith can be increased because your service for the Lord is going to be in direct reasio Reached to what you believe, your faith. So go back there to the book of Romans in chapter 12 verse 3, for I say through the grace given unto me to every man, see this is more of an individual thing on how you think and not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to, but realizing that in order for God to transform your life, he has to transform the way you think.

So all success and all failures start and begin within the mind. Actions are born within the thoughts of your mind. So he says in verse 3, to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, being sound in his thoughts, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. But hasn’t the book of Romans told us where faith comes from. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

So that’s how you renew your mind and it is God’s will that we do what we know where to do. I’ll hold your place right here and look at this verse there in the book of Philippians, look in Philippians and chapter three. Philippians and chapter three, when the Lord tells us I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling in Christ. He says in verse 15, let us therefore as many as be perfect or mature and be thus minded.

See growing in the Lord making these decisions, choosing these things, is according to how you’re thinking. You’ve got to changed the thinking of people. See what’s wrong in America is that they’re voting in a sense for like a socialistic type of government where most people are because that’s how they have been taught and trained in most of our colleges and universities. That’s just the result of their teaching. You want to change the way they think, then you got to go back and re-educate them.

And so how long will that take? We’re in the heap of trouble, boy. Now look what he says in Philippians in chapter 3. He says, and if and anything you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. In other words, I believe that if you want to grow and to mature in the Lord, the Lord will let you learn the things that will help you to grow. But whenever your heart becomes hardened you will no longer be able to see.

You will not mature and you’re going to be put on a shelf. But notice what it says in verse 16. Nevertheless… Where, too, we have already attained. Let us walk by the same rule. Let us mind the same thing. Live according to the light you now have. It is the will of God for God’s children to obey the truth they already know. And when you start obeying that truth, God will give you more and more and more. And you’ll keep learning and growing in the knowledge and so forth.

And it will be a great blessing to you. Now go back to the book of Romans in chapter 12. So we’re talking about you as an individual because you’re not responsible for what everybody else does and doesn’t do, you have to grow strong yourself. Find out what does it take for you to grow in the Lord. What does it take for you? And be careful that you don’t lead somebody else in the wrong direction. Like some people say, you know, I don’t have to study the Bible.

So you say that somebody else, well I don’t either. I don’t believe in going to church. I’m strong. I don’t have to go to church. Okay, somebody else says, well you know, you don’t have to go out on either. Somebody always picks up all these little cliches and we throw them out like nothing and the next thing you know, somebody’s life could be totally ruined because of it. Because there’s people that are weaker in the Lord. Now he says here in verse 3, for I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according, and this word you need to kind of mark because it’s down here about three times here, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

For as we We have many members in one body and all members have not the same office. So we being many are one body in Christ and every one members one of another. Lot of 1 1 1 1 1. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy let us prophesy according to the portion of faith. Hold your place right here. want you to see this. Look over there in the book of Ephesians in chapter 4, the book of Ephesians and chapter 4.

You’ll notice that the Lord is the one who started the church. He’s the one that organized it, laid the foundation, called the apostles, the prophets, sent them out and all the things that’s been done. He kind of lets us know what all this is about. And you’ll notice what he says in verse 4. There is one, just like we’re reading over there in the book of Romans. There’s one body, one spirit, even as you’re called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all.

unto every one of us individually is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. In other words, whatever the ministry is that you can accomplish at the level wherever you are, it will be according to the faith that you have already attained to. Faith come at by hearing and hearing, Mother, Word of God, the more you hear, the more you believe, the more boldness you’ll have, the more confidence you have, and the more you will be willing to do for the Lord.

So it’s going to be according to your faith. And God wants this. God does not expect us to do something He has not given us that grace to do. This is your invitation to join us for our third Sunday dinner held in the Florida Bible College of Tampa building on the Calvary Community Church campus. The dinner is a family-style, covered-ish dinner and a great way to showcase your favorite dish and pick up new recipes. Each month you have the opportunity to invite your family and friends to join us for our Sunday morning service at 1030 and then stay for our third Sunday dinner immediately following noon.

Third Sundays at Calvary Community Church where you’ll be fed spiritually and physically. Thanks for joining us on Bible Eye. 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.