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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 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.

Well, I want to talk to you about something that affects every person in this room and that’s called discipleship. Over the years, I have not said too much about the word discipleship. We just went ahead and tried to get people to serve the Lord because discipleship is teaching people how to serve the Lord. And it is the will of God that all of God’s children serve him. Some do and some don’t, but I do believe that we need to make it very plain.

The discipleship or true discipleship leads to biblical ministry. If you’re really a good disciple of Jesus Christ, it should lead into a biblical ministry. A way of serving the Lord. Because God wants every one of us as His children to serve Him. So if you have trust in Christ as your Savior, what is your service? What are you doing for Him? Now remember when we talk about salvation and various things, we want to keep these things as clear as we possibly can.

When it comes to salvation, salvation is made clear, it’s made very plain. It’s grace without works, very clear. Grace plus works is unclear and it’s false. It’s muddy, it’s no good. It’s simple. You don’t add any works to the plan of salvation. And the Bible talks about lest your minds be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. It’s so simple to understand salvation if you just let it say what it does. By grace are you say through faith, not of yourself.

It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So works have nothing to do with getting a man to heaven. All we do is accept the free gift that he offers to us. A lost man may be a disciple of Christ. That’s very simple. Just understand these three little, simple things that I told you. A lost man can learn to be a follower, a learner of the teachings of Christ. Churches are full of them, but that doesn’t mean that they’re saved.

The lost man can learn Christian principles and live by them. A saved man may be a disciple of Christ. So a person who trusts Christ can also be a learner or follower of Jesus Christ. But a saved man might not be a disciple of Christ, but he’s still saved. He can be saved and not served. And you can be saved and serve and you can be lost and try to serve trusting that that’s going to get you to heaven and it will not work.

So always keep salvation serviced separate. The discipleship has to do with being a learner, a follower of Christ. So once you and I have trusted Christ as our Savior, it is the will of God that we learn to serve Him. Now true discipleship leads to biblical ministry. That means that simply if you are a disciple of Christ and you’re learning and you’re following, you have to get involved in a particular ministry. You have to have a ministry. How are you ministering?

Because ministry is service. What are you doing for the Lord? So you need to understand this simple little thing. Ministry and service has to do with two main things that will last forever. We know that that the word of God lasts forever. And we know that the child who trusts Christ’s Savior is born into God’s family and he lasts forever. So the child of God who lives forever is living in a world that will not last forever, but we have with us the word of God that will last forever, and you and I are supposed to do things for the Lord that will last forever.

Isn’t that clear? You understand what I’m saying? This means yes. This means no. So in 1 Peter chapter 1 in verse 22 and chapter 2 and verse 2 is what I’m referring to. Therefore he says, let the child of God desire the sincere milk of the word that he may grow thereby. Decipalship. Well this is found in Matthew chapter 28 verses 16 through 20. First of all, when he says, go into all the world and preach the gospel. to every creature, baptized in them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

And in teaching them all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always to the end of the age. So God has told us what he wants us to do. Evangelism is the gospel that produces the child of God. Because if there’s no gospel, there is no children of God. There cannot be a child of God born in the God’s family without the gospel. Therefore, he says, going all around, priestess gospel so they can be children of God.

Then we take the children of God and we teach them what the word of God says. So God has given to us the only book that we need to get the job done. And therefore, to disciple people, they have to learn what the word of God’s about. What does he want us to do? So discipleship is designed to bring the child to spiritual adulthood. so they can handle spiritual responsibilities. So that is the will of God for his children.

So we have to have a vision in Proverbs 29, 18. It talks about where there is no vision to people, parish, we’ve got to have a vision. What do we want to do? What is God’s vision from God’s heart two hours? What is God about? What does he want us to do? Now we can pick a thousand things to do with our lives, on how we wanna live, where we wanna live, what we wanna do or not do, we can make all kinds of decisions.

But when you talk about vision, that means what do you see yourself doing that God wants you to do? Not your will, God’s will. As you read the Bible, what do you believe God wants you to do in your life? A root has to have fruit. And a plan rooted in biblical vision is what God wants, a plan, how are we going to accomplish this vision? And so without a vision, you don’t need a plan. Communicate the vision and the plan.

No plan, there’s no direction. So here at Calvary Community Church, we have ranch. It’s to serve a purpose. It’s to help fulfill that vision that God has. does God want teenagers to come to know Lord? Does He want the little kids to come to know the Lord? Does He want adults to come to know the Lord? Okay, so we have, we know God’s vision. He wants everyone to trust Christ as Savior. So therefore we have to have a plan how we’re gonna reach those little kids, how we’re gonna reach those teenagers, how we’re gonna reach the adults, so there has to be a plan and God has a plan and it’s the communication that we have to try to get these job done.

So we learn about discipleship. You delegate everything that can be delegated to the cause. Why, to fulfill the plan? If the plan is to fulfill the vision that God has, then we ought to give everything we can to accomplish that goal. Whatever it is, you can live for a lot of things, but this is the main thing. Major in the major, minor in the minor. This is big stuff. This is the heavy stuff. This is what God wants us to do.

Most people do that which is right in their own eyes instead of don’t know what does God want. Personify the vision that means what is my personal responsibility in this mission? Whatever God is, whatever he wants, what is my personal responsibility? So every person is gonna give a count of himself to God. So we have to find out, okay, what can I do in this purpose that God has for me on planet Earth? The only thing here is gonna last forever is the souls of men and the word of God.

So God gave to the souls of men the word of God to do a work for him. And that’s what we are to be about. Greg Steer with the dare to share ministry. He came out of our ministry out in Colorado years and years ago. There’s about 11 years old when he first came. Then he wound up going to our Christian school and he graduated from our Christian school. He’d go to all of our campsin’. He would win the Bible drills and the Bible verse memorization.

The guy with one sharp individual. So he wanted to start a ministry called Dare to Share, reaching teenagers across America. And he still hits between 5 to 10,000 in all of his meetings that he has. And he’s doing a super job with a clarity of the gospel. But he also says this. He says it’s one thing to be wide, but you want to be deep. In Sunday school class this morning, we went over a little song that maybe you all have heard.

It’s called Deep and Wide. Remember when you’re just a little pike, used to sing a song deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide. Do you remember that? Good, let’s sing it. Here we go. Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide, deep and wide, deep and why there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide. Now some people they trust Christ as Savior and they’re about an inch thick. You know you we can take a parking lot and you can put about a one inch layer of asphalt on it or you can make it deeper.

Now which one do you think is going to last the longest? The one that’s deeper. Now there’s a lot of Christians that are very shallow. They’re very shallow. They’re saved. They’re gonna get their little pinkies inside the pearly gates, but they have not grown in the Lord. They don’t have roots deep in the Word of God. So avoid being program oriented, instead of people oriented. How does, and whatever ministry you have, build souls? What are you doing that’s helping to build people in the Lord?

You see, discipleship is serviced, and service is ministering to people to help them to grow strong in the Lord. So you have to have something that you’re doing that’s helping to build people strong in the Lord or you’re disobedient. There’s no two ways about it. You can spend your whole life 50, 60, 70, it don’t matter. Are you doing what God wants you to do? Not what you approve of, but what God approves of. What does God want us to do in this matter?

Now get this, avoid the mega church success syndrome. That means that they are about a one inch thick and they laid a lot of asphalt. But that is quantity. Quality is deeper. I would say the people at Calvary Commented Church, this is just my personal opinion, of course. And I am prejudiced a little bit that our people in our church are deep. They know the gospel that they also know about serving the Lord. I believe we have generous people in our church, and they are also involved in ministries, and they’re helping to do a great job.

Some places you can go, and nobody wants to get involved. Nobody wants to do anything. That means they’re not deep in the Lord. They haven’t sunk their roots deep within the Lord. And this is what you have to do. Now, in Matthew chapter 13, verse 20, it says this, and I want you to see this, very important. But he that receiveth the sea, remember the the soar went forth to sow and he had to seed and the good seed is the Word of God and he sowed the seed but he that received of the seed in the stony places the same as he that heareth the word and immediately would joy he received it so it’s a person who has heard the word believe the word they received it joyful, great.

Next verse, yet hath he not what’s the words? Root, no debt, root in himself, no debt. But do it for a while for win tribulation or persecution arises because of the word by and by he is offended. And this is the people who shallow roots are not deep. Because when anything goes wrong, they’re easily offended. And I didn’t write this. I’m just supposed to teach it to you. You’re easily offended and because of that, there’s no debt and there’s not going to be any fruit.

You’re not going to do what God wants you to do. But you’ll always have a reason. It’s because and you’ll have somebody to blame. They don’t ever be yourself, but it’ll be somebody. Now, next statement, in verse 22, he also that receive of seed among the thorns is he that hereeth the word he heard and that give what got him, the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he become what? Lost. Now he’s a saved man.

He received the word, he heard it, he believes it, but the cares of this world and everybody is concerned about life. You’re worried about your job, you’re worried about your health, you’re worried about money, you’re worried about this, you’re worried about your kids, you’re worried about everything in the sun. But are you concerned about God’s cause? Did you know that if you’ll put God first, God will take care of this other stuff? Have you ever gone through life trying to push a rope?

You know what happens when you’ve got to push a rope? It just gets all, that’s what happens to your life. When you allow the cares of this world to take control of your life, you’re going through life trying to push a rope. But if you get hold of that rope and just walk, you know that rope will straighten itself out. Your whole life can be straightened out if you’ll put God first. Find out what is it that God wants and do that and you’ll be surprised how God will bless your life.

But you’ll be unfruitful because there’s no debt. The cares of the world will destroy you. Why? No debt. You’re not deep in the Word of God. You’re not faithful in reading and studying and applying it. Or the cares of this world, the riches of this world. I just wanna be rich. I wanna retire by the time I’m 30. Oh, that’s a great reason for living. That’s why God put you here. So you’d be a millionaire by the time you’re 30 years old.

I am not into this health and wealth philosophy. You probably know that but now. discipleship is to establish the disciple in four areas, in Ephesians chapter four, in the word of God, in the fellowship of believers, a structure of the church, and in the work of the ministry. So you’ll know, okay, God has set up a program, a system by which we’re to help people learn how to serve a Lord. And if you understand why God does what he does, some people think the pastors, the one that came up with this idea about a church.

He didn’t start the church. You know who started the church? Christ says, I will build my church. It’s his belongs to him. He’s the one that laid it out and says, this is what I want you to do. And this is how I want you to get it done. So he’s the one that did it. Now a lot of copycats, a lot of fake news out there. We don’t want to get in that again. But establish him in the Word of God.

That’s information. So that means you’ve got to come where you can get some information, where you can hear the Bible, learn it, study it, memorize it. Because see, that’s the word of God, desire the sincere milk of the word, the word that you may grow thereby. God wants you to be strong, but that is information. Established him in the fellowship believers. Remember the four talks? Well, we talk about the four talks. He talked to God. He talked to us to the Bible.

We talk to God. Remember the four talks? Well, we talk about the four talks. He talked to God. He talked to us to the Bible. We talked to the lost and we talked to the saved. So, established him in the fellowship of believers. That’s communication, getting God’s people together. The Bible says in the book of Corinthians, over and over again, talk about when you come together, when the church comes together, coming together, and some of God’s people are not coming together.

Well, I can serve God on the top of a mountain, just as well as I can in the church. That’s great. If that’s what God told you to go to, go to it. But he tells us to come together on the first day of the week. I didn’t write it. I’m just trying to tell you what he said. So some people get mad at the preacher. You’re not one of those. I’m so glad y’all are not like that. That I could talk and tell you the truth and you won’t get offended.

Now some people get offended, but not y’all. You see, you’ve got to have communication where somebody can tell you the sift, the Lord. This is what he says. This is what I want you to do. Now, establish him in the structure of the church. This is where you find out, okay, well, who’s the pastor? Or anybody that wants to be? Now let me tell you this, at Calvary Community Church, we do not have women preachers. They can preach at home to their husband, but I mean not in the church.

We believe the scripture says that a man desired the office of a man. God laid it out, and when he came and he chose his apostles, they were all men, don’t get mad at me. just tell you what the book says. There’s a lot of women out there marching in blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Maybe some of y’all are here. But I do believe that there’s a responsibility. I thought the other day I’m taking care of kids. But anyway, now I can get so sidetracked so easy right here.

But I will not. I will refrain myself. But you studied the Bible so you can know, okay, there’s pastors, elders, and There’s a deacons and there’s people in the church and everybody is to work together. Participation. Now, God laid it out. It’s just that we don’t always want to do what God says do. We have a rebellious nature. Have you noticed that? That sometimes we just don’t like somebody telling us what we have to do. Don’t tell me when I got to go to church.

I’ll go when I want to go. Blah, blah, blah. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes. That’s what happens. Or people become a maverick. You know, they don’t have to get involved because they don’t want no responsibility. You can’t depend on them. Wouldn’t it be a shame to have a choir, but nobody shows up? What kind of a choir will we have if nobody shows up? Do you think it’s important? Well, what about Branch on Thursday night?

And all the leaders decide they’re gonna show up that night. Well, whatever you want. What if the preacher shows up? Whatever he wants. Or faithful, faithful, faithful. One thing I have tried to do is I’ve tried to take and be an example of what faithfulness is. I’m very seldom ever late for Sunday school. So whenever we got Sunday school, it starts at 10, 15, 10, 30, whatever time we started, to 9, 30, I think we started. I don’t even know, because I’m already out of bed before 6 o’clock anyway, just so that I won’t be late.

I’m I’m just hoping nobody tell me what time it starts, because I’m just always here. I’m always here on time for church. Sunday nights, Wednesday nights, whenever I go, I try to be faithful. I try to be faithful in my giving, faithful in everything that I do. I wanna be dependable, because I’m supposed to be an example of the believer. All of us are to be examples of the believer in word and deed and faith and all these things.

But anyway, that’s what it is. And then establish them in ministry. demonstration. Your discipleship is your proof of your love and commitment to Christ. How does anybody know you love the Lord or committed to the cause of Christ if you’re not found faithful doing the things that God says if you love me serve me. If you love me serve me. See we’re going to heaven because he loved us. How did he show us he loved us? Well he paid for our sins.

He gave his life. Now How do I prove that I love Him, given my life? That’s why he says in the book of Romans in chapter 12 and verse one, he says, brethren, I beseech you therefore by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as the living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. So I’m to present myself to the Lord, my butt as a sacrifice, give my life to the Lord. I don’t do that to be saved.

But God says, I beseech you in view of what I did for you, what he means, and view of what I did for you, will you do this for me? They said, I’d be not conformed to this world. Do you live your life differently than a lost man? What is the purpose of life? Now the lost man, well, he doesn’t know the Lord, and he doesn’t have any rewards in heaven. He’s not going there, but some lost people live better lives than some of God’s children.

True? Some of them might have a better testimony and they guard what they say and where they go and things they do. Better than what some God’s children do. Can you still go to heaven? Yes, you have a choice. You mean obedient child of God or a disobedient child of God but you’re still his child. But it is the will of God that we demonstrate our love for the one who loved us. That’s why he says in 2 Corinthians in chapter 5 and verse 14, for the love of Christ constraineth us.

That means to challenge or motivate us. That if one died for all, then all were dead. That they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them and rose again. So I am supposed to, you’re supposed to live for the one who died for us, but who died for us? What Christ? Are you serving him? Are you a disciple of Christ? In other words, are you involved in a ministry in some way, you’re doing something for the cause of Christ so that what he wants done, his vision, God’s vision, he’s not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repent, to change of mind where they can’t do that without gospel.

So this is why we do what we do. That’s why I want you to support missions. That’s when we’re helping. I want you to help us with the ranch and with the broadcast, all the same. I just got a salvation report just a couple days ago from David Bauer because of our YouTube and what we’ve been doing. And on the internet, we’ve had 830 people trust Christ’s Savior in the last two years, two and a half years. 800, just on the thing.

And not only that, I know where they were when they trusted Christ’s Savior because He got it fixed up with the computer. Tell us that all automatic now. It is awesome. It really is. But see, that’s because somebody’s making this stuff possible. People are working. And some, we got people up here in the booth right now. And we’ll have somebody that’s done there and that booth over there. And then we got Greg Bissell, he will take and spend all day long.

All he does, all day long, is listen to me. How would you like that job? Set there by the hour, hours, six, seven hours every day, preparing the radio broadcast. But it’s a job. It needs to be done. And then we got people that will help support these things. Now, one of the days is all going to be over. You see, we don’t have to have a wide one-inch asphalt. We got some people that are deep in the Word of God, and love and appreciate what we’re doing, and are a part of what we’re doing.

And because of that, you see, you don’t have to be a big church to do big things. We’re not, and what I was talking about, the mega church syndrome. Sometimes you have people start a church and they’re not starting a church over with lost people and they want them. They just like a gigantic vacuum cleaner sucks them out of all the little churches and pulls them in there and you put on a great big entertaining show and people are sitting there and learn nothing but they’re entertained And all they’ve done is just like having a Walmart come in and killed all the little mama pop stores.

And then they can rise to prices any way they want to. And churches are doing the same thing. Because people are not committed that way you can get lost in a big church. Nobody knows you. If you’re not there, nobody knows. You miss here. We knew it. You say, that’s what I don’t like. Yeah, I know. I know who sits here and I know who sits there. I know who sits there and I know who sits here. here. And I know who sits back there and I know who sits there and I know who sits over there.

And next Sunday when you’re not here, I’m going to know that too. And when I’m not here, do you know it? Yeah, because I tell everybody. Information without demonstration is intellectualism. You know something but it’s intellectual and knowledge puffeth up. But a knowledge of the word of God coupled with an active ministry is true discipleship is what God wants you to do. Learn the word in such a way that you can be found obedient. Now the philosophy of disciples is multiplication.

You see in Genesis chapter 1 it talks about bare fruit, multiply, multiply that fruit and there was two of every kind. Why do you think you had to have two because God had a plan because God wanted those two to multiply. We had one kid who came to ranch, he tried to save you, got married and they had six or seven kids after that. He said, well, you know, the Lord says, be fruitful and multiply. I said, yeah, but he means we get to do the whole job.

So you want to reach the whole world is what God’s Word is all about. Are you ready to learn how to live your life as a strong Christian, lead others to Christ, or excel as a church worker or ministry leader, then look no further than Florida Bible College of Tampa? With traditional and online classes taught by instructors, with years of experience, Florida Bible College of Tampa can help you grow in your Christian life. Whether taking individual classes or working toward a one-year degree, Florida Bible College of Tampa is here for you.

To learn more, visit online at florida-biblecollege.us or call the Registrar Bob Gilbert at 850227 5325. That’s 850227 5325. 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.