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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. 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.

You answer to the Lord and then that’s the way you want it. when you get mature enough, you know that if there’s nobody’s sense over you, you still got the Lord. And the Lord is range over me a lot more than the Board of Elders that we got, but I realize that the Board of Elders, I have to be submissive to them. They can put the hammer down on me anytime they choose. They can tell me, move on. This ain’t mine.

I’m just here doing a job. They ask me to come and help them and that’s what I’m doing. But they can cut my salary, they can kick me out of here and get somebody else, right? That’s true. So while I’m here, do I have to please them in some way? I’ve got to keep them happy a little bit. So far so good. But now I know that so I can’t misuse what God’s given to him. So I have to submit.

See, nobody is exempt. Everybody has to follow line. I remember that I walked in here one day and Peter was up here with the Firehouse Five and I walked out of office and I heard something and said, I don’t like that. I walked in here and I looked up at Peter and said, I don’t like that song. He said, okay, scrub that one. He didn’t whimper. He didn’t whine. He didn’t pine. He said, yes, sir. I never gave him an explanation.

Why? I don’t have to. I’m the boss. He is to humbly submit. I had O Jesse in the office one day and we had to correct a few things and yes sir, yes sir, okay, yes sir. That’s humbly submitting. That’s spiritual maturity that’s growing in the Lord because you’re respecting the authority that’s over you and see if you can’t respect the authority that’s over you’re gonna have trouble in every other area of your life. You’re gonna challenge authority, challenge authority.

It won’t matter who or where, because every one of us have what we call an old sinful nature, it is the spirit of rebellion. We don’t want people telling us what we can and cannot do. And in our ministry, I have to tell people what they can and cannot do. But I try to make sure, it’s what I’m telling them right. Is it illegal? Is it fattening? Is it going to harm them in any way? Well then I have to be careful on that.

So you’re looking for people who are growing in the Lord’s spiritual maturity. Not just in the flesh when somebody told me certain things in the flesh. I was ready and I did. I got in fights. I was ready to take and give my Hawaiian punch in a minute, I had to learn how to be patient, how to submit my will. And that’s not the easiest thing in the world to do. But it is something God tells us to do.

And so then you have to have an application. That’s the outflow. So you can’t always be serving and not taking in. Some people go to the gas station and they get one gallon of gas and then they want to go to Georgia. What’s going to happen? They’re going to run out of what? They’re going to run out of gas. They’re going to be stopping up the road. They’re not going to make it to their destination. There’s people who can learn a little bit of the word of God.

Man, I know enough to go to rest of my life. And I’ve watched students that I went to Baba College with. And after a while they run out of gas. They call it, I’m burnout. I’ve never come close to burnout. I don’t even know what burnout is because I’ve always kept putting more fuel in the fire. See, I get a hold of that verse and that’s fuel. I get this verse that’s fuel and I keep fuel on the fire to keep me burning to keep me going so that I don’t burn out and I don’t want to quit and I don’t faint and some people can’t finish.

See, I not only wanted to start well and run well, I want to finish well. Don’t you want to know? finish well, I think you do. Look down at the next statement. Growth is little by little. Look in Isaiah 28. There’s a couple of verses I want to read to you there. The book of Isaiah chapter 28. Now the Lord is telling them some things, but people have erred greatly. But look there in verse 7. We’re just starting verse 7.

But they also have erred through wine and through strong drink or out of the way the priests and the prophets have erred through strong drink. And I’ll tell people to say, well you can’t show where the Bible says it’s not right. You can’t have strong drink. Don’t they read the Bible? Does that look like it’s promoting it or telling you that it can cause you air and judgment? Well, anyway, they are swallowed up to of wine. They are out of the way through strong drink.

They air and vision they stumble in judgment. Now then he applies this to doctrine, bad doctrine. When you don’t know good doctrine you’re gonna believe bad doctrine and then when you have bad doctrine you’re gonna air in your judgment and you’re not gonna have good vision and you’re going to stumble in your Christian life. So notice what he says in verse 9, whom shall he teach knowledge and whom shall he make to understand doctrine. It’s one thing to have knowledge, nothing to understand.

You got to digest it and that takes time. You don’t take a child and set him down to, you know, all the food that he needs to eat for a week and just go ahead and give it to him in one meal. That way he’ll grow faster. No, it could kill the kid. Too much light blinds. It’s like somebody just walking up to you with a flashlight in the middle of the dark and shining a light right in your eyes.

What does it do to you? Can you see better? Too much light too quickly does what? Blind you. Too much knowledge, even in Bible college, too quick, too much knowledge without adjusting, digesting can blind you. And you don’t see as good. This is why you have to be careful trying to get too much knowledge too quick. have the knowledge but without the application, without the digestion, you’re not going to be able to apply it. You won’t remember it. And you can overload your little brain there.

When I went to Bible college, I had no clue how long I was going to be there. I didn’t know what a credit was. I didn’t know what an hour was. And an hour couldn’t have been an hour because it always went 50 minutes. But anyway, I never understood what you were talking about. Not until almost the last semester, I finally got some of it explained to me. I just said, whatever I need, whatever I need, whatever I need, I made that mistake when I was in my 11th grade.

I only had about a few weeks to go in the 11th grade when they brought me in the office and said, you know, you’re not going to be able to graduate. I said, why? He said, well, you don’t have this class, this class, this class. I said, you never told me I needed him. I said, I’m here. I thought, you’re supposed to tell me what I need, give me what I need, and I graduate. Because whenever they asked me what I wanted, I took art, wood shop, his head, study hall?

Well, why not? But I should have got to A in all those classes because I did brew good. But I wasn’t doing too good in the other class, I didn’t even have them. I’ve learned a lot of lessons the hard way. I think maybe God allowed that to happen to me so that down the road I’d be able to help somebody else along the way. Now look what he says here in verse 9, whom shall he teach knowledge and whom shall he make to understand doctrine, then that are winged from the milk and drawn from the breast.

For precept must be upon precept and precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, hear a lot. Hear a little. They’re a little. Learn little little by little. We take 45 classes just to teach cult evangelism. Why don’t we just eat all one day? Because you won’t learn anything. So that’s why you need time. Time to digest, time to adjust. Because you want to apply it into your personal life so that you become a stronger Christian. And so this is mentioned here and I even put down there a little definition to the word precept.

It’s a commandment and authoritative rule for action. Why I do what I do? principles that are laid down in the Word of God, but you learn a little truth here and a little one. You can’t take a child and teach them the Hebrew and the Greek. Well, I guess if they were raised with the Hebrew and the Greek, I guess they could teach them that. But I’m talking about all at one time. Take the time. Let God have the time that he needs to prepare you.

He knows what’s coming down the road. Don’t rush it. Just let God have the time and needs to teach you. And I’ll guarantee you, in the long run, you’ll win because you’ll learn how to pace yourself. And you’ll learn and you’ll accomplish things and you’ll be able to apply things. And some kids, for example, they’re like in a foot race. See how fast they can go. But the other problems is, there’s others, they’re just walking nice and slow. That’s why they run out of breath and he’s just still going.

Now I am not a sprinter, but I used to jog, a slow jog. Now I just slow walk. Next week it’ll be a crawl, but always keep moving, always keep moving. Look at the next day, I’m gonna turn your page real quick. I’ve got to move on here. Growth is for production. You want to produce something. God wants you to grow in the Lord. Why? Because He wants you to produce something. He wants to produce something in you. Look at the scripture.

There we have it in Ephesians 2, 10. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus and those three little words you ought to outline on two good works. Do you think that God means just you to do any kind of work? Or do you think He’s talking about the work of the ministry? You don’t need to study the Bible to maybe go out here and learn how to hang, you know, and put shingles on a roof or to lay blocked.

There are schools that can teach you all kinds of trades, but they cannot teach you the Word of God on how to live. I made two statements here. One, there are A, things to reject and then B, things to reflect. But first of all, things to reject from one’s life. In other words, are you growing in the Lord? Are you growing in your spiritual spirituality with the Lord? Learning how to get stronger in your Christian life. Well, there’s some things that you need to lay aside where for laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speaking.

See, growing in the Lord is learning how to control that old sinful nature. That’s in first Peter chapter two and verse one. The verse right before the one that says, desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow by because without the word of God and without growing in the Lord, you cannot and will not be able to control that old sinful nature. It will lie to you, it will deceive you and it will ruin your testimony and ruin your life on down the road.

Now, if you look down the road and what God has for you, think I’m a child of God. What is the will of God for my life? Now, look at the statement there. knowledge without love or maturity produces carnal-minded Christians. Now I didn’t make that up. I thought of the statement of course but I didn’t make it up. It’s based upon the scripture found in verse Corinthians 3 and verse 3. Look what he said, for ye are yet carnal.

Who? Christians? You see a lost man is in the flesh. A Christian is a carnal Christian means he is fleshly minded, materialistically mind it. He’s worldly minded. In other words, He doesn’t mind God. See, to be spiritually minded means you mind the Spirit. Fleshely minded, you mind the flesh. Is that how simple that is? Who do you obey? When you check your mind, who is in control of your will? You have a will, God has a will. Are they clashing?

How do you know when somebody presents the truth, How did you handle it? Do you get that feeling inside of you, of somebody challenging you, and you become defensive? You have to defend yourself, and it makes you, on a course of exploding. You may suppress it, but that feeling that you have in there of defining. So somebody’s stepping on your toes. Somebody said something that you have was offended. Let me tell you something. I wrote this down today. I got a slide on my people.

Week Christians have changed the word love. Everybody know what love is? Somebody says, what is love? Well, people are changing the word love, especially when it comes to the Christian life. It now means an acceptance of all false religion because the last thing we want to do is offend anybody. See, if you really feel with love, that means you don’t offend people. So we have to be very careful. We don’t offend other people. So we have to be careful not to say something that will antagonize or it’s about their religion.

So we hold back and we don’t say what we want to. So this false concept of love, I mean, well, if you really love, you won’t do that. And so if the preacher, me, says something about other religions because I believe that the Bible is true and if it’s not Christ and it’s not the gospel, and I say something that’s truth, that if you believe in another, well, you shouldn’t say that that’s offensive, then I offended you. And that’s enough for people to get mad at me.

I will not come to church or support. There’s a price to pay. Another one is this. Love now means to be tolerant of all sinful behavior. Today, you can’t come out and say homosexuality is wrong because that offends so many people because more people are getting to where they accept it. And we wanna show love. If I really love people, I tell them that’s wrong in my thinking. I am not gonna play the game. I’m not playing that kind of game.

I’m gonna say, this is what God says. This is where he stands. Take you to leave it. I didn’t write the book, but I committed myself to stand for what I believe is right, the truth. The other one is to be tolerant of all false doctrine. In other words, we don’t believe the same way, but it’s okay, it’s okay. You know, everybody’s trying to get to heaven, you know, their own way. And so will this let God sort it all out one day?

Well then, what does that do to my soul winning? What does that do to me telling them the truth while I can? Love is a refusal to expose and to rebuke anyone because now see, preachers are scared to death of their congregation because they don’t want to make them mad. Most preachers in most churches would not and cannot say anything contrary that would be contrasted between Republicans and Democrats that split their church. Wouldn’t they? Some pastors would lose their church or split their church if they came out strong and said we believe in eternal security because half the people in their churches probably don’t.

And so for the sake of peace they won’t say anything because they don’t want to make anybody mad because we just love everybody. doesn’t mean you don’t stand for truth. I love people. But if I want to be a good pastor, should I be able to rebuke somebody if they’re wrong, even if they get mad at me? Sure is quiet. I’ve been in the Baptist Church and I used to get Amen, Brother, Amen, and glory. Well, now the next thing is we have a different view love to not offend anyone with truth.

Well then if you do that, say then you’ve got to stop teaching the Bible altogether because the Bible is truth and the Bible contradicts that old sinful, willful, rebellious nature that we have. Anyway, to offend people who don’t believe like we do isn’t the Christian thing to do is it? Well, Jesus Christ when he was here was the most offensive man who who ever came unto this world. He offended everybody. Well, because it was truth. And people lived in error.

People lived in sin. People had wrong beliefs. And he was a rebuke to anybody just by the very fact that he was here doing right. And people who want to do wrong can’t stand somebody who does right, because they were a rebuke to them. Look at the next statement. Where we have mentioned here, knowledge without love maturity produces carnal Christians. The next scripture we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up. That means it builds you up. Fills with pride.

But charity which is love. Edifies, it means it helps build other people up. So do you want to build people up or do you want to tear them down or destroy them? When I see Christians letting the lust of the flesh permeate their life because I love them, I try to help them to see. I want them to understand. Now I don’t try to pen them against the wall and try to shame them in public and things like that, but I teach the Bible in such a way that I want them to be able to see this so they can correct the problem.

I want them to do it, and they should do it on their own. The next statement, but if any man loved God, the same is known of him. But if you love God, see love builds up. Look at the next statement. This is so important. Things to reflect from my life or from your life. Has the study of God’s word produced in you? Greater love. You see, forget how much Bible you learn, or how many years you’ve been going to church.

You may be going to church for 20, 30, 40 years. It doesn’t matter. Has the time you’ve gone, or even the college kids, the time you’ve applied yourself in red and study, is producing in you greater love, greater joy, greater peace, greater long suffering, greater gentleness, greater goodness, greater faith, greater meekness, Greater temperance or self-control. You see, those are, anybody know where these come from? Where? Galatians, chapter five and verse 22 and 23. These are verses of the fruit of the Spirit.

So if you’re growing in the Lord and the Holy Spirit is teaching and guiding you, the knowledge is supposed to help build this in your life. If you’re not growing in these areas, you are not growing. If you’re not maturing in these things, you are not maturing. Are you demonstrating greater compassion for the lost? For the weak gets in Christ where you want to help restore such a one with the spirit of humility, consider it thyself, let’s also be tempted.

Are you demonstrating greater patience, greater faithfulness in your life? Are you more faithful now? Do you have a better attitude now? Are you more submissive to the will of God now? Or are there errors in your life? You’re defiant and you know it. And God can convict your heart, but God will let you suffer the consequences. a hard heart, he says, after being reproved over and over and over again, he says, he shall suddenly break you and without remedy.

In other words, God has a way of dealing with us as his children. Do I want you to study the Bible? Yes, but for a purpose, not just to accumulate knowledge. We don’t want the notes of the pastor to get into the notes of the parishioners here without get into the hearts of anyone. Shouldn’t the Word of God that we read and study change our lives? Shouldn’t it be developing our character? This is why even some of why y’all are in college.

Use it as a time to mature where you grow faithful, you grow more in your understanding, your humility, your passion, everything about you. And remember, be involved in people’s lives. Cause that’s what servant Lord is. And you can’t do that by isolating yourself. If I was gonna do that, I’d be on the back side of a mountain up there in Alaska someplace. You’ve heard me say that before? I mean, every word of it. But I know too much. This knowledge constrains me.

the love of God constrains. And when you understand this, it will help you in your Christian walk. Now look at the last statement I have down here. Without these manifestations of the fruit of the spirit in your life, there is no reason to believe you’re maturing in spiritual growth. You can accumulate knowledge, you can memorize a lot of things. You can study a lot of things. You can go through all the books in the Bible, but not one teacher in this college can make you spiritual.

Now one person can make you godly. Of all the people who come here on signing morning, I cannot make them godly. I can only teach truth. It’s their own application of the truth of God’s Word in your own life that determines whether or not are you growing in the Lord. Yes, you need the knowledge from the Word of God, but wisdom is the application of knowledge to experiences. And I want you to be wise. I want you to be wise.

Look up here. Letting this hand represent you and me. The wall of represents sin. We all have sin on us. God loves us. He hates our sin, but he loves us. And for us to pay for sin is eternal separation from the Lord in all literal fire burning hell. But he wants us to go to heaven. And to go to heaven, we have to be perfect as righteous as God. And none of us are perfect, none of us are righteous.

We have all sinned and come short of God’s perfection. So God says by our works, we cannot save ourselves. We need a Savior. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord, God in the flesh. He came into the world because he loves us. He hates our sin because our sin separates us from him. So Jesus Christ who had no sin did not have to die, but because he did love us, he did have to die. And he paid for our sins on the cross, came back from the dead.

And he said that if we would believe that he did it for us, he would put this payment to our account and we get to go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for us. I remember last Sunday night, I had just finished giving the gospel. And then I looked up there and I said, if there’s anyone that’s watching tonight, if you’ve never trusted Christ as Savior, right now is a good time to do so, and they did. I forgot where they were from, but California.

So there’s somebody from someplace else that’s watching what we’re saying and doing every night. So I know that I’m speaking to more people than just those that are in this room. And also understand this, if I have to talk to anybody in particular, I will never be afraid of that. So I have not picked on anybody in particular, but if I happen to have got on your toes, good. Let’s pray, shall we? It has bow nice clothes and no one looking around.

If you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, why not right now, trust the Lord? And if you aren’t watching, And if you’ve never trust the Lord, believe that God loves you, paid for your sins. And if you trust him right now, he’ll save you and give you eternal life. And you can know that you’re going to heaven when you die. For you that are in this room, most of you are studying the Word of God. That’s why you’re here tonight.

That’s why you come on Sunday mornings, come on Sunday nights. That’s why some of y’all are in college because you have an appreciation for the Word of God. But I don’t want you just to accumulate knowledge. I want it to be building your Christian character, changing your attitude, where you’re submissive to the Lord, where you know that God knows what’s best for you, and you want it, and you want it. And you’re saying, Lord, I’m your child. I wanna read your word.

I wanna study because I want to grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to be like Him. And I pray to each one here. That’s your heart’s desire. Father, we thank You again for Your blessings. Thank you for all You’ve done for us. We’re thankful for Your Word that You’ve given us and help us apply it as we should. And Father, we also pray for those that are watching by internet that Lord, we don’t know who all does, but we pray that we’re a blessing.

That if they don’t know You as Savior, they would trust You. And if they do know You, they would serve You. Thank you for this day, for all you’ve done for us in Christ’s name and faith. 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.

book The Gospel Driven Man covers all those topics and we want all new listeners of Bible line to receive a free copy. There’s no obligation, no donation necessary, simply call us at 1-800-576-3771 or write to us and request your free copy of The Gospel Driven Man. The mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Again, don’t forget to include your mailing address and God bless you and thank you for listening to Bible Mind.

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. Cut up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believe it that the Lord is coming soon. Just keep looking up.