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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 to talk with just about two things tonight. One is how God manifested his love toward us. Point two is how we manifest our love toward him. That sounds fair, doesn’t it? Doesn’t that sound fair? So we know that God did. So take your Bible and turn to the book of Romans 5. Romans 5. Now, a lot of these are verses you already know. So it’s not to teach you something new. It’s kind of stir up your mind about things you already know.

Truth that you’ve already have hidden in your heart. And sometimes we need to stir it up a little bit. Because here’s the thing, we can get in a rut very easily. And you see what’s a rut? A rut is nothing but a grave that’s open on both ends and you just walk in slowly. And you’re already just ready to be somebody just to cover you up because you’re already dead. A lot of God’s children have already died as far as the will of God goes.

They’re living to the world, for the world, and they’re in the world and they’re just not doing anything for the Lord. Sir, the Lord until there’s nothing else left to give. Until the time that God takes us home. So you’ve got to always stay close to the Lord. Stay motivated. Like David, whenever things seem to be going wrong, it says he encouraged himself in the Lord, didn’t he? He encouraged himself. Because sometimes nobody else is around to encourage you.

Now, it’s really great when somebody walks up and they give you a good word of encouragement. I’ll never forget when I went to the hospital and I got this get well card from the Deacon board, and it says, 5 4 3 against. But when you get a good encouragement word, it’s a great thing to have. But here in the book of Romans in chapter 5, look what we have here, and it’s verse 8, but God, commendeth or displayed His love toward us, manifested His love toward us, and then while we were yet sinners, not saints, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

And that’s a good thing to know and to remember that Christ died for us. And we’re not saved because we love God. We’re saved because He loved us. And He loved us first. So take your Bible and turn to the book of 1 John, the book of 1 John. And there’s a little small book with 1 John and chapter 4. 1 John, chapter 4. And look in verse 9 and 10. Verse 9 and verse 10. Now if you wanna have some fun, just one day, just take and go through the book of 1 John and just write down or notice every time you see the word love.

Love, because see, 1 John is not about your salvation into heaven, though it refers to it. It’s about your fellowship with the Lord. It’s your walk with the Lord. And I made this statement up there at the Grace Conference when I spoke. And a lot of people talk about, you know, you’ve got to have a relationship with God. That’s not urgent. I mean, I could say, well, I’ve already lived 75 years without the Lord, so I could live another 10 years.

Come back and talk to me in 10 years. But if I’m told, you know, you could die at any moment, it can go to hell. Now all of a sudden, that’s urgent. You see, so salvation is a moment in time and when we say you need to have a relationship with God, you have to explain what you mean because the word relationship is not found one time in the Bible. Now the word fellowship is found four times in three verses in first John.

So but fellowship has to do with your walk with the Lord. See, you get to be born into God’s family and now became a child of God. You want to use the word of a relationship? I’m related to him by birth. He’s my father. I’m his child. But if you used to ask me and my daughter, well, how are you all getting along? Well, that’s a whole different ballgame than is she your child. She was born in my family.

She’s related to me. But now, how are we getting along? That’s a different story altogether. So you’re talking sometimes about people getting along with God. That’s not salvation. And having a relationship with God is not going to cut it. There’s no urgency there. It’s not found in the Bible, and it’s used in the term that you have to explain what you mean by that. But the Bible uses the word after we trust Christ as our Savior, we should walk with the Lord.

So you may walk closer to the Lord, and you can walk deeper into the Word of God, but use the word, you’ll come out better just using what God says. So I wanna have a walk with God. Even the Bible says concerning Noah, walk with God. Those Old Testament, they walk with God. And you can’t get any deeper than that after you trust a Christ of Savior. You walk with God. That’s the will of God. So in the book of 1 John, the reason you want to walk with the Lord is not because so much well he loved me but I love him.

And I want to walk with God. So you’ll find this word mentioned in a lot of verses in the book of 1 John. But here in 1 John chapter 4, let there in verse 8, He, that loveeth not, knoweth not God, for God is love. And this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us, because he loves us with a perfect love.

So if we want to have a better definition of the word love, he loves us perfectly. We have love, but it’s limited. And do you love me? Yes, I do, but not totally, not the way that is a divine love. We should, but because we have an old sinful nature, we have a little bit of envy in and us and we have a little pride that we have to deal with. We have a little jealousy we have to deal with.

But the Bible says fear torments a Christian, but perfect love does what? Cast us out fear. So if you learn to let God love you and then you love somebody else and let God love that lost person through you, you, you’ll have a lot more confidence and boldness to talk to the lost men because you see, it’s easy to talk to somebody if you love them, if you don’t care about anybody, the compassion will not come through. They might think you really don’t care about them.

And so when he says go into all the world and preach the gospel, it means go into all the world and tell people I love them. And then I want you to tell them I love them and this is how much I love them. this is what I did this proof that I love. So the love of God is to be manifested. And it’s a wonderful thing. But look there in verse 10 again, hearing his love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Christ died for our sins. Remember we talked about it this morning. Christ died for my sins. Five words grace. And grace is based upon that statement. Christ died for our sins. That’s the best definition you’ll ever find concerning grace. Yeah, we say it’s unmerited favor and so forth, but it means that Christ died for our sins. That’s why there is grace. Because if He hadn’t done that one thing, there would be no such thing as grace. There would be no mercy.

There’d be no forgiveness. There’d be no justification and sanctification and you know that be no perfect salvation but we do have it because of what Christ has done for us. How did God manifest His love? Well we know John 3 16 for God so loved the world that He did what? That He gave. So when you talk about God says I want you to love the way that I love and so I I want to ask you the question.

How do you manifest the love of God? How do you manifest it? You see, He sacrificed something. So we are to sacrifice something. Remember, when He talks about in the book of Hebrews in chapter 12 verse 1 and 2, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. This is after your saved. So you never will ask a lost man to present his body as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable on the God which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove or discover whether that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

So this is after your saved. Yes, a Christian should dedicate his life to the Lord and sacrifice. this body as a living sacrifice, not as a dead one. God didn’t ask us to die for him, he asked us to live for him. So in the time that God’s given us to live, we should use it for the Lord. Take your Bible and turn to the book of 1 John chapter 4. Just look in verse 19 while we’re right here.

Verse 19, if you don’t have this verse on the line, you ought to underline it. It says, we love him, why? Because he first loved us. You see, only because of what Christ did for us do we learn what love is. Now there’s a lot of ways in which we love and so forth, yes. But you’ll learn more about love by saying, how did God prove that He loved me? And I think it’s a great, wonderful thing, but now take your Bible and turn to John chapter 14.

The Gospel of John in chapter 14, now God used the apostle John to write 1st, 2nd, 3rd John, Revelation and the book of the gospel of John. But look here in chapter 14. Chapter 14, and notice there’s a verse here in verse 27. Verse 27, years ago, before I ever went to Florida Bible College, before I went to Tennessee Temple, I was 22 years old. I was an old man, but then I had a wife and two kids. I knew I had eternal life.

I was going to heaven when I died, but there was something missing in my life. I couldn’t find a way to show or to prove to God that I loved him, and I didn’t know how. I didn’t know what to do. But I loved the Lord so much. I went out behind the house one night, and it was in the winter time. It was a little slight snow, and I laid on a blanket and had a pea coat and laid it over me.

And I laid out there in the middle of the dark. It was pitch dark. house and a fence. It was just enough room and I lay down there. And I would just look up in snowflakes would just fall on my face. And I told the Lord, it says, Lord, when I get to heaven, don’t you dare point your finger at me. It says, Jankie, why did you mess up your life? Why didn’t you love me? Why didn’t you serve me?

Don’t you ever say that to me? I says, because I don’t know how. See, I had nobody guiding me, but I had a deep burning desire and I knew that one day I’d have to stand at the Judgement City Christ. My father-law taught me a little bit and I knew I was going to have to count the Lord and I said, Lord, I got a wife and I got two kids and I tell my kids to do this, they do it.

I said, do this, they do it. I said, I speak a language they can understand. Why can’t you, as bright as you are and as wise as you are with all the abilities you have, why can’t you speak a language I can understand. Now I wouldn’t pray to God that way today. I just go, so much for you, bud. But I did it ignorantly, but I did it sincerely. I wanted to know the truth. And I got out the Bible and I would read, and I didn’t eat for three days.

I knew nothing about fasting. I just told the Lord, Lord, if you ain’t going to use me, I just don’t die. There’s nothing wrong with my job. There was nothing wrong with my wife. There was nothing wrong with my kids. But there’s something wrong inside of me, something I’ve got to have something. There’s got to be a purpose to life and I saw no purpose. I didn’t know what it was. Why am I alive? Why am I here? I wanted answers.

I had an inquiring mind and I wanted to know. And I’d opened up the Bible and I’d flip it all over the place and I couldn’t find anything. And finally I opened it to 119 Psalm. How will all shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed according to the light word. The word is a lamp unto my feet and the light unto my path. The incense of my word give a flight. And all of a sudden I can’t know the Bible or God’s word without knowing what God says.

And finally a man at the rescue mission told me, he says, you need to go to the Bible, God, and I says, what’s that? I guess that’s where you go to be a Bible. So I wanted to be a Bible. I wanted to learn the word of God. But here in the book of John in chapter 14, look what he says here. In verse 27, peace, I leave with you my peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard how I said unto you I go way and come again unto you. If you love me… That you would rejoice because I said I go unto my father and my father is greater than I. And now I have told you before he come to pass it, when it comes to pass you might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you for the prince of this world cometh and have nothing in me.

But the world may know that I love the Father even as the Father gave me commandment even so I do. Arise and let us go in. That verse, 31, I fell in love with that verse. He says that the world may know that I love the Father. And I thought that’s exactly what I want. I want the world to know that I love God. Now, I knew I didn’t have to do that. I knew I was going to heaven, but I wanted the world to know that I love God.

And I wanted to take a stand for whatever is right, whatever it might be. I wanted to go wherever God wanted me to go. I didn’t care where it was. I just didn’t know what to do or not to do. I had no talent, no abilities. And that verse just burned into my mind that the world may know that I love my Father. And that’s why I begin to find how can I manifest my love for the Lord. Look there in John chapter 13.

John chapter 13. John chapter 13. And notice there’s a couple of verses mentioned here that Jesus said to his disciples. He makes a statement here in verse 34, a new commandment I give unto you that you love one another. As I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one to another. And I know that there’s several verses in the Bible that talks about us just loving one another, but also there was the verse that talks about loving the lost man.

And I don’t find too many verses talks about me loving the lost man, but I said that God loved the lost man. He came to seek and to say that which was lost. And so he said, going, Oh, we’re on priestly gospel, every creature, why? Because when you share the gospel, you’re telling them that God loves you. You know, as soon as we had gotten to our hotel up there in the conference in Chicago. We went in there and there was a lady behind the counter.

She didn’t know me, I didn’t know her. I said, you don’t know me do you. She says no. I said, can I let me give you my picture? So I pulled out my little track with my picture on it. It says, this is when I was 17, had hair. And they laugh a little bit, not much, but to just a little bit. And I says, you don’t know me do you? No. I says, since we don’t know each other, we must be friends, because we can’t be enemy because we don’t know each other.

I says, no, a friend wants another friend to know something that’s good. I said, not this is good. I said, if you couldn’t know, you could have eternal life, wouldn’t you like to know? Oh, yeah. So it didn’t take long. I explained to her, God loves you. I just want to let you know that God loves you and he loved you so much. He’d rather die than live without you. And he wants you to go to heaven to be with him.

And I said, since I’m going, I want you to go to. And so I went and explained it to her. But see, the gospel is explaining how God loves. And a lot of people live their whole lives and they don’t know if anybody loves them or not. Well, one of the most important people in all the world is the Lord and He loves you. So I think it’s the greatest news that you can never share with somebody. Look, let me tell you how much He loves you.

You can go right into the Gospel. But now, here in John chapter 13, he makes this statement. Even in verse 15, by this shall all men know that you are my disciples. See, the way we prove that we love God, loving them the way that we should, because that’s what God wants us to do, is a way of manifesting the love of God. The Holy Spirit that lives within us is to shed abroad His love to the world and that’s what we do.

Take your Bible and turn to the book of 1 Thessalonians 2. 1 Thessalonians 2. There’s a verse here, chapter 2 verse 13 and it talks here about the word of God itself. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 13. For this cause also we thank God without ceasing because when you receive the Word of God, which he heard of us, you received it not as the Word of men, but as it is in truth. The word of God, which officially work also in you, that believe.

We want people to know what God has done for them. And you use the word of God as a look. God said, God said, and when we say God said, we better be right, that God did say that, and that that is the most important thing. Turning your Bible to the book of John chapter 17. Gospel of John in chapter 17. Now when you read the whole 17, I believe this is is perhaps really the Lord’s prayer. The one found in Matthew chapter 6, he says, teach us how to pray.

And so there’s an order that’s given. But I don’t think God wants us to quote that prayer all the time, for he says vain reputation, just repeating something over and over and over again without a having meaning to us. But you read this 17th chapter and it’s kind of let you see that God is talking to his heavenly Father about the things that are important in what’s on his mind. And so there in John chapter 17, look where he says in verse 18.

Verse 18, this is also a very interesting verse. He says in verse 18, as thou have sent me into the world. Now why did Christ come into the world? Because God has manifested his love toward us in the while we were yet sinners Christ. die for us. That was the manifestation of God’s love. He did something for us that he didn’t want us to do. He paid for my sins because he didn’t want me to pay for them. And so he says here in the last part of verse 18, even so have I also sent them into the world.

So if God has sent us into the world, evidently, we’re supposed to let people know that God loves them. The reason we want to have camp is because we don’t have anything else to do. And because all it is is fun, we’re just soaking in the sun on the beach. But we have camp because we want kids to know as early as possible. God loves you. God really does love you. But for us to tell them this and put it into their minds, we’ve got to spend time with them.

So we’re going to have to sacrifice something that we would maybe rather do. But for the gospel’s sake, for Christ’s sake, for the lost man’s sake, we go ahead and pay the price. And we go without sleep. We work from morning to night. We wear ourselves out the counselors are just dead, dog tired, and they give everything that they have because they want these kids to know, look, God loves you. And the only way I can prove that to you is I’ve got to do this for you.

I’m doing this for you because this is my way of letting you know I love you. And we’re going to have devotions tonight. Me having devotions and teaching you about the Lord and what verses to learn is my way of saying, I love you because God loved me first. And I want you to know what He means to me. So you see, all these things that we have, the reason, end of an inner church that we work together, we sing in the choir and we do all the things that we do is because, see, we’re supposed to manifest to others that we love the Lord and by us manifest in that love to each other, you’re letting God love them through you.

And sometimes people are not channels of the blessings of God, of sharing joy and sharing love and sharing peace. Because see, whatever God does for us, that’s what we’re supposed to do for someone else. And so here in this verse, I think it’s a very wonderful verse, but I want you to see another verse here in verse 19. And for their sakes, I sanctified myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, not just for those who already know the Lord, those apostles that he’s talking about here, that he hadn’t lost any them, but look at the next part of this verse, but for them also which shall believe, that means are lost at this time, isn’t that right?

Right? You would say they’re lost now, but they shall believe through their word. That’s one of the greatest verses I think in the whole Bible explains what missions is about because there’s people that will believe and we’re supposed to understand that, believe that. But somebody has to pay a price to go and to do that. As I look back over my years, I realized in 1968, I graduated. And now it’s been 50 years that I became… I graduated from Florida Bible College 50 years ago.

And I wanted to go as many places as I can, pay whatever price is necessary. So I can tell people, look, I want God, you know God loves you and He made a payment for your sins. And He loved you so much He’d rather die than live without you. He wants you to have eternal life. And that’s why yes for the radio, the internet and all that. And we still are getting five, six, more sometimes of people trusting Christ every day from somebody somewhere in the world because of the YouTube ministry.

And the internet, it’s just an awesome tool that we’ve been blessed to be able to use. And so God has been good, but look at that verse one more time. When he says in verse 20, neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. Does it look like Jesus is praying for people that are lost? He’s praying for those that shall believe. They don’t yet. That’s why I believe that He was praying for me.

Somebody would come and bring the gospel to me. And I mentioned this before, you know, I’m 76 now. I’m close to the 80th and I’m the 7th. That’s scary to death. But in all those years, only one man, one man has ever witnessed a man. What if that man had missed me so far? Nobody’s ever witnessed me. Nobody’s ever given me a track to explain the gospel how to go to heaven. All the churches I’ve been to and the meetings and all that.

Nobody. Now don’t come up to me after the church says, do you know where you’re going, you die? I preached that one day and somebody came up and said, that don’t count. I don’t have to count. Anyway, I think it’s what God wants us to know, what God wants us to do. Now, I want you to look at a verse with me. It’s a little maybe misapplied, but look there in Matthew chapter 24, the book of Matthew in chapter 24, because we’re supposed to love the Lord.

And if we don’t love the Lord like we should, There’s got to be a reason. So in chapter 24, I want you to look there in this verse, looking verse 12, and because iniquity, shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. You ever heard of Christians who used to be on fire for the Lord? Oh, they used to be on fire for the Lord. And then it seemed like they’d begin to drift and get further and further away from the Lord, and they have become cold to the things of God.

They no longer have the spiritual discernment that they used to have. But why do they become cold? And it says here, and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. I believe a lot of God’s children, in their Christian life, they’re walking in the flesh and send us abound and moves you further and further and further away from the Lord. And because you become cold, you see people that are cold, they don’t love the Lord like they used to.

They don’t wanna get involved like they used to. They wanna quit things like they used to. You know, they used to be doing so much in so many ways. And then little by little, you begin to drift. And sometime it can happen and you don’t even know it. Are you a new listener to Bibleline? Do you enjoy the teachings of Dr. Arnold? Well, if you’ve never contacted us before, we want to give you Dr. Arnold’s book, The Gospel Driven Man.

Every day we receive many emails from folks who have questions about repentance and salvation, about faith in works, and about how to share the gospel with friends and loved ones. This book, The Gospel Driven Man, covers all those topics, and we want all new listeners of Bibleline to receive a free copy. 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 Mail. 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 Bibleline. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline. If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And now, a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound, and we will be changed. Cara can meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day.

Believing that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up.