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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.

I’ve got a couple of things I want to share with you tonight. I want you to take your Bible and turn with me to the book of 1 John, the book of 1 John. And chapter 2, 1 John chapter 2. The question is, I like to ask you all, is it true? I mean really true, that when it comes to going to heaven that a man is not saved by his works. true. He’s not saved by his works. Y’all agree with that.

And you would agree with that because you have scripture to back it up, right? First John, 513. Does it say anything about not of works in that verse? You can know you’re going to heaven, that ought to eliminate the works issue, huh? But is there a verse you can come up with that says that you know that works have nothing to do with it. The word works in the verse. Feasies 2, 8, 9, 4, by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast.

So that’s a good verse. That’s a good verse that says it’s not by works. Is there any other verse? Romans 4, 5, and what does it say? He that believeth on him is not condemned? No, it believes, but him that work if not, but believe it on him that justified the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Is there any other verse that talks about that like Titus somewhere? Titus 3 5 and what does it say? Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he has saved us.

And then 11 6 Romans 11 6, anybody know that verse can quote it real quick? And if it’s by grace, it is no more works. Otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, it can’t be by grace. Otherwise work is no more work. So there are a few verses in the Bible that says that it’s not by works of righteousness which we have done. So we know and we accept that and we know there’s absolutely 100% nothing that nothing that I have to do to be saved or stay saved.

So are you telling me that I can trust Christ as my Savior and I don’t have to go to church? That’s right. I don’t have to go to church? So is it true then that I can trust Christ as my Savior? I don’t have to go to church. I don’t have to change my life. No, wait a minute, I’m a change smoker. I drink a lot, I’m on drugs. You’re trying to tell me I don’t have to stop any of those things and I’ll still go to heaven when I die.

Is that what you’re saying? Is that what you believe? You really believe that? So you’re trying to tell me that I don’t have to do anything, no change in my life, have no evidences in my life, no fruit in my life, and I can still go to heaven when I die. Y’all believe that? Y’all are a strange bunch. You know, a lot of people don’t believe like y’all believe. I’m trying to decide if I want to believe y’all’s way or not.

Now, whenever we go to that extreme, and it’s not really an extreme, it’s just the truth. It’s just the heart- whole fact that God loves us that much. Now when it comes to service. It seems like when it comes to service, God’s, He didn’t cut us any slack. There’s some things that just seems like it can’t you bend just a little bit? Can we cut a few corners? Can’t you kind of let up a little bit? Now we know we have to learn to grow in the Lord and it takes time and some people are, you know, they take it to three baby steps, you know, every other year.

And so they’re very slow and growing and other people just many grow like wildfire and they catch on and they just grow grow grow but not everybody grows at the same , so the question is look there in 1 John chapter 2 and look what he says in verse 15 when God says love not the world needs of the things that are in the world except just a little. If it’s just a little bit a lot it’s okay. Just not a lot of love.

That’s not what it says. So it doesn’t cut us any slack on this. It doesn’t say, except, you know, if you really do love them okay, it’s okay. No, he says love, not the world, neither the things in the world. I mean, there’s, there’s no compromise. What does God want from us? Perfection? Isn’t that Christian life? Why don’t he cut us a little slack? Because I mean, after all, have you ever had parents that were really disciplined, really strict?

If they were really straight, we say they were abusive parents, you know, a year ago. I did have abusive parents. What my daddy anyway, my mom wasn’t too bad. She was a little tight and she was no threat to me, really. Last time she tried to beat the tar out of me was with a broom. She had a broom and I’m sitting on the couch and she’s swinging the broom at me and I just move my leg and she’d miss She’s swinging it again, and I just move it and she missed She couldn’t hit me with the broom And finally she broke down and started laughing and so did I She never thought of you again Now my daddy was a different breed altogether he killed me on a number of occasions But it’s like the Lord cuts us no slack on this I That’s something

I wanted to share with you, and then we’re going to go to Luke chapter 14, and go ahead and return here. Somebody sent this to me, and I thought this was good. I’ve seen it years ago, but I can’t refresh my mind. Arlington Cemetery, they have a tomb of an unknown soldier. I mean, y’all know that. They have guards that kind of guard the tomb of the unknown soldier who represents It’s all the people that are in our country, but nobody knows who they are or where they are.

Just, you know, people died. How many steps does the guard take doing his walk across the tomb of the unknowns? How many steps does he take doing his walk across the tomb of the unknown? And why? Are you asking, are you? It is 21. It is 21. I’ll leave it to a marine to get it right. It’s 21 steps. It alludes to the 21 gun salute, which is the highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary, a 21 gun salute.

Now I’ve done a lot of funerals and I’ve had a lot of military funerals I’ve had to do. And they’ll have the guys line up and they’ll shoot them things off, scare everybody after death. But they will do that. And they________________________________h usually have about seven guys and they do it three times. Now, number two, how long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his return walk and why? 21 seconds for the same reason as answering number one.

Why are his gloves wet? His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the rifle. I lost mine on several occasions. I’d be in the drill hall and you’d be at parade rest. And there’s thousands of us in there. Hot drill, how middle of June lie. And you’re talking about sweats just to pouring off of you. And you’re setting it down in there. And you’re standing for so long and you’re not pose a lock your TheNitrome if you do, you could pass out.

And every once in a while you would hear him passing out. And so, company commander came by and said, I can’t, and so you pulled a snap to and pulled that piece back. Well, my hand had gone to sleep. So when I came to, it went right on back and I’m on the front row. And I was waiting for it to crash on that drill floor. And all of a sudden I felt it coming back to my hand. The guy behind me caught it and he moved it back up to my hand.

Oh, thank you man. Because last thing you want to do is be made an example. But I had to get some hand movement because I had to get some feeling in my hand because I know what you’re gonna do next. And then some… And then sometime you’ll need to do a nine or 13 rifle count. And you’ve got to do all the counts.lisher. And I was sweating, and then so they would have you staying like this here. And they called it a piece.

And right there on the end of the barrel is the little where your eye. And it sticks out on it. And you could hear the guys all the way around the drill hall, different ones just passing out. And when they fell forward, they fell right dead on top of that thing right into their forehead. And we had a couple of guys down from it. And he went down and nobody moves, nobody helps them. You just let him lay there.

I kept thinking, oh, I don’t want to pass on. Oh, I don’t want to pass on. But scared of that. But they would drill you because they wanted to teach you discipline. They would even come by and they would pick out that collar on your t-shirt and see if it’s clean. And they’d come up here and they’d revulate that. If you’ve got any fuzz, some of the guys couldn’t even shave. I’ll have a peach fudge. It can never be.

But they would just irritate you sometimes doing their best to teach us discipline. These things were done. And whenever you study the Bible, when it comes to serving the Lord, do you think that God’s soldiers should be less disciplined than those for our military. Now they are disciplined. They have to take orders. They don’t give orders. They just report for duty. Let me give you this. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time and if not, why not?

He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb. After his marks across the path, he executes an about face and moves the rifle to the outside children. How often are the guards changed? Guards are changed every 30 minutes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. What are the physical straits of the guards limited to? For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be between five foot 10 and six two. And his waist size cannot exceed 30.

That took care of me. 30 inch waist. They must commit two years of life to guard the tomb. Live in barracks under the tomb and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the rest of their lives and cannot disgrace the uniform or the tomb in any way. Now, is that too strange? And yet they have people in line that want to do this. Some people love to be disciplined, because they want it for themselves, but they can’t do it for themselves, so impose it upon me and require it.

Anyway, the guard is given a reef pin that is worn on their lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb. There are only 400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their life or give up the repim. The shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat and cold from their feet. They are metal-heeled plates that extend to the toe of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt.

There is no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform. Guards dressed for duty in front of a full length mirror. We have a mirror, you know what it is? The Word of God. The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone nor watch TV. All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. A guard must, memorize who they are and where they are interred Along the notable are President Taft, Joe Lewis, the boxer, Medal of Honor, winner, Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier of World War II and of Hollywood fame.

Every guard spent five hours a day getting his uniform ready for guard duty. Eternal rest grants them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. Now, this is something that I heard about years ago. In 2003, as Hurricane Isabel was approaching Washington, D.C., Our U.S. Senate and House took two days off with anticipation of the storm. On the ABC Eden News, it was reported that because of the dangers… From the hurricane, the military members, assigned the duty of guarding the tomb of the unknown.

Soldiers were given permission to suspend the assignment. They respectively declined the offer. No way, sir. Soaked to the skin marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the tomb was not just an assignment. It was the highest honor they can be afforded to a service person. The tomb has been patrolled continuously. seven since 1930. That’s a long time. Now should the Lord expect as much discipline from us as we do from somebody like that or somebody who goes into the military, take your Bible and look at this.

Let’s go over a verse that I want you to look at. First of all, right there in the book of Luke, looking at Luke chapter 14, and you’ll notice there in verse 27 that the Lord has even told them what kind of love they are to have and that his love was more important than the love of anyone else. God demands that if you want to follow him, you You have to love Him supremely. So He says in verse 27, And whosoever doth not bear His cross, come after Me, cannot be My disciple.

Now for salvation you come to Christ, but service is following after Christ. This is not talking about how to get to heaven. This is talking about discipleship. Been a follower, a learner. And then He talks about in verse 28, these guys want to do this, they have to sit on and count the cost. Am I willing to discipline myself to do this for this long?” So he says in verse 28, for which if you intended to build a tower, I said it’s not down first and count up the cost.

There’s a price to be paid. What does it cost to get saved? Nothing. Jesus paid the cost. Now we’re talking about something different. discipleship, following the Lord, can cost you everything. Because you see, you have to be willing to do whatever he wants, go wherever you want, be however he wants, it entails your whole life. Everything about yourself. And if you talk about you really want God to use it, you have to be honest with God. Wouldn’t God know if you’re not honest?

Wouldn’t God know if you’re not clean and pure? Doesn’t God know your thoughts, your real feelings. So if you’re going to really serve the Lord, you’ve got to be honest with God. And if you’re not honest with God, you’re not serving Him. It doesn’t matter what you do and where you go, He knows the heart of man. So He says, this is why some people begin, but they can’t finish. And why can’t they finish? They didn’t count the cost.

You see what He says in verse 30, saying, this man began to build and was not able to finish. It’s like a Christian said, I’m going to serve the Lord, I’m going to dedicate my life to the Lord. And they begin. But then he gets too hard so I quit. Didn’t you count the cost? Then you decide this is really what I want for my life. What did you get specked it to be? So then he says here in verse 31, oh, what king goeth to make war against another king said it’s not down first, consulted whether he be able with 10,000 to meet him that come with against him with 20,000.

In other words, this is going to be rough. I mean, I got 10,000, he got 20,000. Mm-hmm. Now, are you going to get some good counseling on whether or not you should do this or not? Do you really sit on talk to the Lord Lord, get some good counsel from the greatest counselor of all. Do you expect it to be done without a war? That there’s not somebody that wants to stop you? This serving God is a… the greatest counselor of all?

Do you expect it to be done without a war? salvation going to heaven absolutely as free as free can get. But discipleship will cost you everything. And when you’re limited in your dedication, you’re limited in your use. So if you really want God to use you, dedicate yourself to Him. Now look what else He says here. You see that in verse 33, so likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsakeeth, not all that he hath.

Now, do you see any compromise in there? Is it put to be any compromise in there? I couldn’t find them. I was looking for a little loophole. You know, in case I just want to slide by just a little bit. You know, I don’t see where that’s in the Scriptures. Now God does talk about us growing, but as we grow, we don’t become more laxa-daisical in our Christian life. We become more committed, more disciplined, more convinced. You know, it’s just, it’s more, not less.

And then He talks about the salt. And the salt. you don’t have a purpose. What good are you? And that’s why it’s so important. So what I want you to do is look at a few verses with me. Look in the book of Matthew, Mark, Mark chapter 4, Mark chapter 4. And you look there in verse 17. Because you’ve heard the parable of the sower and all. And it’s in here. But look what he says in verse 17. There are some of the seed that falls upon stony ground in verse 16.

And it says, when they heard the word, he immediately received it with gladness and have no root in themselves and so endure but for a time. There is a good definition of many Christians carry it. They endure but for a time. But you can’t depend on it. They’re not faithful. Remember this. The preacher, the preacher, should be able to depend upon people to be faithful. Yes or no.

Do the people expect the pastor to be faithful? So it’s run by ways on it. But if Christian life, the Christian life, is like a nothing but a big smorgasbord, you know, a big buffet where we can just pick and choose and just get whatever we want, and maybe not even get anything that we don’t want it. You know, that’s one thing, but there’s things that God has told us to do, and you’re not supposed to just pick the areas that, well, I like doing this, but I don’t like that.

I like this. I don’t like that. I found out over the years, serving the Lord is not doing the things I like. It’s faithfully doing the things I don’t like. Because there’s more things that I don’t like to do than there is that I do like to do. There’s time when I just like to do nothing. You’ve been there? Just like to do nothing. But there’s always something to do. And there’s time when you need to take and get away and rest and come apart before you come apart.

But there’s also to be the area of the discipline that you and I are supposed to have. And we’re not the setting judge but upon somebody else. You got a full time job just taking care of you. Watch your own life. How close to the Lord are you? Are you growing closer to the Lord? And so it makes that statement there in verse 17. endure, but for a time afterwards when afflictions or persecution arises for the words say immediately they are offended.

You ever see people who get so easily offended? Something goes wrong and they’re so easily offended and get mad at it. Just like quick. I quit. You hurt me I’m gonna get even with you. You know I’m gonna I get even attitude. Now I know there’s nobody like that here, but we know people like that, don’t we?

But like he says, you see that word endure? It doesn’t say enjoy. There’s a lot of things you may not enjoy in the Christian life, but we are to endure it. Take your Bible looking second Timothy in chapter two, second Timothy in chapter two. Look at these verses because they’re very, very important. Chapter 2, and look in verse 3, in verse 3, where he’s Paul writing to young Timothy, young man in the Lord, told him says in verse 1, be strong in the grace of Christ, which I believe is referring toward the Gospel.

Then he talks about the things that you have learned in verse 2, the things that thou have heard of me among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Just boom, boom, boom, boom. Well, that’s the one in another, and another in another one. Then he says there in verse three, thou therefore enjoy hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

Did I read it right? It says endure. Endure it. You say things are not going to endure it. Things don’t go your way. So what? Who said it had to go your way? Who said it has to go my way? I’m supposed to be faithful. It doesn’t matter which way things are going. Doesn’t matter who believes, doesn’t believe, agree, disagree. Every one of us as a child of God are required to be disciplined, where we will be faithful to the Lord regardless of what’s going on.

endure. I wonder how long we’re supposed to endure. Well, God says, endure this hardness. Now look down in verse 10. See down in verse 10, therefore Paul doesn’t ask somebody to do something he’s not willing to do. Therefore I endure all things for the elect sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. God used the Apostle Paul to reach a lot of other people and there’s those who have trusted Christ of their Savior and Paul wants these people to learn something to grow in the Lord to have something but is going to be down the road.

You see, our eternal weight of glory isn’t in this life. It’s in the one to come. But that’s not just salvation. That’s talking about what we’re going to get because of our enduring this hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. You see, right after this, he’s talking about studying to show thyself approved unto God. So it’s written to the believer. And that’s why he made the statement down here in verse 12, if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.

In other words, the things that you do for the Lord’s sake, for the gospel’s sake, Christ’s sake, yeah. You’re gonna suffer for doing some of those things because of what you have to go through to get the people. There’s a price we pay to win people to the Lord. There’s a price that we have to pay. And so we are willing to pay that price every time we turn around. They just invited me to come back there to the gym so we could see that nice big old mat they got down for a one.

I saw the mat. Cost $3,000, there’s a price to pay. It was not free, but so that we didn’t get more kids so they can have more fun and maybe who knows? Everything has a value to it. The impact that you’re gonna make in kids’ lives. There’s an expense to run in the bus every week to pick up kids, whether it’s for a one or for the ranch, We do it, but it costs insurance. Everything we have, everything we do, it just costs us, but there’s a price to pay.

But the suffering that we go through is because, you only get one life to live, and you’re taking your life to make some money, and then you’re taking that money for the cause of Christ. So it’s costing you, and you’re gonna do without things that other people maybe wouldn’t do without. But there’s a price to pay. Don’t miss out on all the fun! Join Pastor Jesse and Kyla Martinez on Thursday nights from 7-9 p.m. for Tampa Youth Ranch and Calvary Community Church.

Tampa Youth Ranch is a great mix of live music, games, Bible study, food and fun, where teens 13-18 get to know God and the Bible with their friends. Check it out online at tampayouthranched.org and see the cool pictures from past activities and all the fun you’ve been missing. No right, no problem. Call 813-334-4655 today for information on getting a ride to Tampa Youth Ranch. 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. Believe in that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.