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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 through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Take your Bible and turn to the book of Galatians, the book of Galatians. We’ve been going through the book of Galatians and now the apostle Paul is saying something that ought to catch the attention of everyone. I guess there’s been time in my life where I have kind of felt the same way about whether or not have you labored in vain. You know overall that God says in his word that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

So you know that whatever you do for the Lord is not in vain. But if people do not accept what you’re saying, you can preach in vain and you can labor in vain because they don’t accept it. So because of your concern for people, you don’t want to just give the gospel. You want them to trust the Lord. You don’t want to just fulfill a responsibility. You want to win them. You don’t want to just win an argument. You want to win the soul.

And so when it comes to serving the Lord, you don’t want people just to say, well, I know the Bible. I know the Bible. But do you live the Bible? Does the Bible control your life? That is what’s important. And so whenever we see people that hear the word but don’t do the word, you sometimes you stand afraid. He would, he says there in verse 11, Galatians chapter four in verse 11, Paul says, I am afraid of you. Not that sense that, you know, they’re coming to get me, they’re coming to get me.

No, but he says, I’m afraid of you. He says, lest I have bestowed upon you labor and vain. Now they had also twisted and put a spin on the gospel. You see, we know that salvation is the gift of God. It’s not a works list any man should boast. know that you simply trust Christ as your Savior, He gives you eternal life and you get to go to heaven when you die. Well, there were some people that had come to these Galatians and said that the apostle Paul didn’t tell you everything.

You got to keep the law. You got to be circumcised and keep the law. You got to do right. You got to do good. So it focused upon trusting Christ and rest Him in what He did to the place where they were trying to perform, live up to a certain standard. And Paul says, don’t you hear the law? Don’t you understand what you’re doing? So he makes the statement here, he says in verse 12, brethren, so he’s talking to the believers.

He calls them brethren. So he’s not a, I don’t think so much afraid that they’re not saved. He says, but that the labor he had put in, trying to ground them in this truth, they were beginning to waver from it. So he’s trying to pull them back so that they’ll stand where they should stand. See there in verse 1 of chapter 5 where he makes his statement stand fast, therefore in the liberty where with Christ has made us free and become not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Don’t be put back under the law that you’ve got to try to keep the law to be saved or to serve the Lord. That’s not what it’s about. You see under the law it was you got to do. Under grace it’s done. When you live by grace is because you’re letting the Lord live through you and you trust the Lord to open up doors and do things and you just rest in that and you just trust that. Well, they lost something along the ways.

Looking verse 13 He says, brethren, I besee you be as I am for I am as you are. You have not entered me in all. In other words, personally, spiritually speaking, Paul’s fine. But I believe that Paul had either some back trouble or he had trouble with his eyesight. And he said, when I first came to you and I preached to you, he says, you thought I was an angel from God. And so he says there in verse 13, ye know how to infirmity of the flesh.

I preached the gospel and the you at the first. So infirmity of the flesh gives us to believe that there was something wrong with Paul physically. And one place he talks about how that he couldn’t speak clearly. He had trouble in his speech. Other places talks about even here in the book of Galatians, he says he had high trouble. See there in chapter six, look in chapter six. Looking verse 11. Verse 11 he says, ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand.

Now some of the other books somebody else would write it, but Paul told them what to write. But here you talk and Paul said, I wrote this and he’s not talking about such a long letter because you compare it with the book of Romans or the book of Corinthians. This is a very short letter. But the size of the characters, I believe Paul had some bad eye problem. And you’ll also notice that he said when I came to you the first time He says you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me in the words you loved me so much That you would willing to take out your own eyes and given them to me.

He says am I now your enemy? Because I tell you the truth You’d be surprised how the devil can turn people against people the devil is alive and well on planet Earth. That is true. But look what he says here. He says in verse 14, and my temptations which was in my flesh, you despise not nor rejected, but received me as an angel of God even as Jesus Christ. That’s pretty strong. That’s when he first went to them. He preached the gospel.

They saw it and they fell in love with the Apostle Paul and now somebody comes along and tries to turn him against him. Of course it hurt Paul. It injured him in that sense, but not him spiritually. Paul is just as strong as ever, but he hurts for them. You see, a good preacher, and I want to try to be a good one, you hurt for people that don’t stay strong in the Lord, when they don’t keep walking with the Lord.

Nobody’s perfect. Everybody understand that. There’s only one that is perfect and that’s the Lord. But sometimes we don’t give anybody any room to make mistakes. We don’t let them make a mistake. And if they do, that’s it for them. Be merciful, be kind, be gracious, give people some slack, give them some room to grow. So he says here, verse 15, he says, where is then this lesson of this, this happiness that you used to have. He said, when I first came there and you heard the gospel, you were so excited, so thrilled, so blessed.

You would have given me your own eyes and you thought I was an angel of God and just blah, blah, blah, blah. But what happened? Have you ever seen Christians that have lost their joy in the Lord? They’ve lost their joy or the desire to be found hateful. And they just look like they’ve been baptized in lemon juice You know that just a sour puss. I mean just always down and wine and complaining about something. There’s Christians like that You don’t want to grow up and just be an old mean old Christian Just a mean old man or a mean old woman the world is full of those You want to be gracious and be kind And he says here and look there in this verse verse 15 Where isn’t the blessing that you speak of or I bear your record that if it had been possible?

You would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me now. That’s that’s love. That’s sacrifice This is the way you were he says but now something’s changed He said whenever you’ve lost your love in serving the Lord and now you do it out of just duty Well, I have to. You can have the same experience when you go to church because, man, I can’t wait to get there. I want to go. I want to read God’s Word.

I want to pray. I want to sing. I want to be a part of something. And then you lose all of that. And then there’s just a responsibility. And then you begin to grudge it. You really don’t want to do it, but you do it anyway. And you put on your fake Christian smile and you go through the motions and it’s not real. It can happen. And it happens so gradually that you don’t even know what’s happening to you.

And then when you get like that, you begin to grumble, murmur, complain, you get better. And then you’re just looking for somebody to irritate you a little bit so you can use it as a justification not to be found faithful to serving the Lord. You wanna quit, but you’re, you gotta have a good reason. So you’re just looking for one. And sometimes the preacher can say just one thing or somebody come to church and nobody talks to me. Nobody talked with you and you think, well, did you talk to anybody?

You said nobody talked to you because you didn’t talk to anybody. You said you won’t even see it. That you become critical and better. But this is what they were doing now to Paul. And he’s the one that led him to Christ. So look what he says. In verse 16 you ought to underline this verse because if you want to serve the Lord, remember I told you before, you have to serve the Lord as though you’ve never been hurt before.

Because you can allow hurts to keep you from being faithful. Serving the Lord, you’ve got to place that aside and you can’t allow yourself to be easily offended. Look what he says I mean. Look what he says here. Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth. He says those people that came down from Jerusalem and trying to put a spin on the gospel and that works with the gospel. He said they zealously affect you. But not well in other words they have a zeal.

I mean they cross oceans and lands in order to make proselytes. He says, and they just made him a two-fold child of hell. He says, they’re not doing it because what’s best for you. They’re doing it because it makes them feel good. I got me a convert. I changed them. And they make merchandise of the people, but they don’t care about the people. They really don’t love the people. They’re just using the people. Do you really want the best for your husband or for your wife?

Do you want the best for your kid? Do you want the best for your neighbor? You want the best of the people at church, then you want to try to be the best example of Jesus Christ that you can be in every area of your life. What he says. He says in verse 17, they zealously affect you, but not well. They would exclude you, but you might affect them. In other words, they don’t want you to affect them. They just want them to affect you.

But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing. And not only when I am present with you. Paul’s not saying that I don’t want anybody else to teach or to have any effect in your life. He says that’s not the case He said I just want somebody’s gonna affect you in the good way the right way even when I’m not with you Somewhere along the line said we have to trust that what we teach is gonna hold on See that I have to trust the Holy Spirit lives inside of you And I’ve got to believe that he’s the Lord and he can work in your life See, I’m not God.

I don’t have to change your life. All I do is just give the Holy Spirit the scriptures that impress into your mind. See, the Holy Spirit works with the Word of God to prick your mind, to help you, to lead you, to guide you. Now look what he said. In verse 19, now verse 19 kind of connects up there with verse 11, where he says here, my little children. So we know he still, he believes that they’re God’s children.

A verse 12 says, brethren, so that hasn’t changed. But there is something that greatly concerns the Apostle Paul. He says, my little children, of whom I travail in birth, again, in other words, have you ever seen from a distance and have heard the travail that a woman goes through when she’s asonableIncre bool.imity. Having her pange and she’s given birth to a child. I am so glad inflammRecentlyRatedowshipernameORKÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂJoinedÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂoadedotiation’); elephEarlytarian legality. God eliminated us guys from going through that. The women, they are hauler and yell and scream like they’re being murdered, like they’re dying, but they’re giving life.

Now, the Apostle Paul kind of relates that to us. You know, in a soul-inner. It’s almost like giving birth to a child. The troubles that sometimes you go through just to get the gospel to somebody, just to be able to sacrifice and so much in how much time and so forth it may take. When I think about the missionaries that we have, all the years they have to spend and just getting ready to go to a field and then they got to learn a language and then they got to do what they got to do.

The sacrifice of that, just to bring a child into the world, spiritually, to get a person that trusts Christ to say to them. And then after they’re born, what do you do with them now? Look what he says. He says, my little children of whom I travail and verb again, until Christ’s young in line is before them being you. In other words, you want every child of God to be like the Lord. God wants you to be like Him.

So as a child of God, we’re supposed to feed upon that which a child of God is supposed to happen. That’s upon the word of God. So the Bible is God’s table where you go and you eat. The Bible has got a lot of gourmet food. You’ve got everything you can ask for. So you go to the word of God and you feed up on it and you become a strong Christian. And so he says here in verse 20, he says, I desire to be presentesm And to change my voice, but you’re on the line of statement.

He says, I stand in doubt of you. You’re not growing like you ought to. You’re not strong like you ought to. Now, whether or not you want to say this means that he is questioned, whether or not they’re even saved. Well, I don’t think he would have called rather than my children. But there is great concern that he had worked and labored and taught in his believers. that are in vain if they don’t hang on to that because there’s people that are always going to try to change you.

This is why you can grow up in this church and you can be solid on the gospel and buddy you’re never going to move and you leave here and go to another church go to another city and you’d be surprised in just a couple years you can be changed from the clearness of the gospel and accept. Well it’s not as clear as we used to have but then you but it all over the place. And you can begin to use terminology you never used and to preach a gospel in such a way that blinded you for years.

You say, well, I can’t happen. Yes, I can. And that’s why you have to be careful. And that hurts preachers probably more than anything, especially on the clarity of the gospel, to have somebody start teaching something and it’s not as clear as it ought to be. So he says here in verse 21, tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do you not hear thelopp, you that desire to be under the law, do you not hear, did you know that being under the law is a curse?

It’s not a blessing. Where params it say that you’re under a curse? Well very simple. Look there in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 10. In verse 10, it makes his statement He says for as many as are of the works of the law are Are the curse But the blessing is by faith Not under the law and so do I have to go to church to go to heaven If I did see that put me on the law Do you have to read the Bible?

Do you have to witness do you have to give if you tell people they got to do all these good things to go to heaven? Now, you’ve got to do it because I’ve got to do it or is it better to I don’t have to do any of those. But I. Now see now you’re goingOSP put them under Mehran that doesn’t save it willocamp it will notproxy now you ga to doRAFT because I ga to do it or is it better to I don’t have to do any ofSimply but I do them because I want to because God’s love for me So now I can do them the same thing, but the motive is different.

One is… so now I can do them the same thing but the motive is different one is I’m doing because I am saved and the other I’m doing it because I want to be saved and you’re already saved if you trust the Christ is your Savior So you don’t have to earn something so you don’t spend your life under this yoke of bondage Trying to get something you can’t get Look back there Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Look now he kindanguages an illustration here in verse 22 Smartstocks He says for it is written that Abraham had two sons all right two sonscellent wasAmong was named Ishmael and and his mother was a Hagar in Egyptian, but she was not Abraham’s first wife, Sarah.

So one was a handmaid and one was white and that was Sarah. So there’s two women, and these two women, out of son. This one over here, Ishmael, was born of a slave woman. So since he was born of a slave woman, he’s a slave It’s a type in which to teach So Paul says look there is a son that is made and born under the law and he was a slave and Then Sarah had a miraculous child. He was born by faith and That was Isaac.

So Isaac was born Isaac was born of a free woman. So you have a woman that was free and a slave. Well their sons will be just like them, say. But this was a faith child. So what you have here is the flesh, the spirit. So whenever we talk about the flesh nature and the new nature, well the flesh was born first. Ishmael was born before rising. And so whenever you and I were born into this world, I was born like Ishmael.

I was a slave. I was under the law. I couldn’t keep the law. I had no inheritance. I had no rights. I’m not a child of Abraham in the sense that I can claim my father’s inheritance. I am a servant. I’m a slave. So that’s how I was for 18 years of my life. Then I trusted Christ as my Savior and I got my noobar. This burp was by faith and faith alone. It was a miraculous burp. This when I was born of God.

So now because I’m born of God. of God, remember, this one was first, this one was second. So when I was born into this world, there’s my flesh birth for 18 years. And now for 49 years and nine months, I have a new birth. And just like ishmael from where a lot of Arabs comes from, and also down the I’m from Esau, but you have ishmael, type of the flesh, Isaac, type of the spirit, the noober. And he says, as the flesh, ishmael, persecuted and made fun of and mocked Isaac.

And there was a conflict between them, even so it is today. My old nature, I got an old sinful nature. You didn’t know that. I have an old sinful nature. It still gives my new birth fits trouble. It’s always bothering me, persecuting me. Look what he says. He makes this statement here in verse 22, for it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by bondmaid of the byfree woman. See, I didn’t make it up. But he who was of the bond woman was born after the flesh.

Flesh. He of the free woman by promise. So there was these two women, two sons, both of them born differently. One is because God promised Abraham and Sarah, who was too old to have children, you’re going to have a child. And lo and behold, they did. Abraham was about 100 years old. would you like to raise a child when you’re a hundred years old? But you know God did something for that old man and he lived to be about 175 years old and he lived to seize a few more generations.

Incredible. But look what he says in verse 24, which things are an allegory that characters are types. For these are the two covenants, the one from Mount Sinai, which gender to bondage, which is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, an answer to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with their children. But Jerusalem which is above is free which is the mother of us. So I said, but that is confusing. I’m going to clear it all up.

When they went to Mount Sinai, isn’t that where Moses was given the law Mount Sinai? Yeah. That is the law to govern the flesh. That’s the flesh, the first birth. The law of God was given to control the appetites of man. So if there’s a breaking, a not-good controlling, the discipline we need for our flesh birth, then we have laws that exact the punishment upon us, maybe even take our life. So So Hagar was a slave, like under the law, and that’s where Ishmael was born.

That’s the type of your flesh. When you trusted Christ as your Savior, that’s been born from above, Jerusalem from above. And I saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So you were born into this world as a child of God. So you have this dichotomy. You’ve got a question, you’ve got the spirit. And they are opposed to each other. They fight all the time.

Look what he said in verse 27, For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren, that beareth not. Break forth and cry, thou that travailous gone. For the desolate hath many more children than she which hath a husband. You see this slave Hagar? She had that one son. Sarah, she didn’t have any. But look at it today. isn’t from that one son, many more children than the one that came from Sarah, Israel today, and look at the air of nations today.

How come they’re so outnumbered? Well they’ve been killing off the Jews pretty regular for a couple thousand years. But just think how many more there are from the line of Ishmael than there is from the little O nation of Israel. The Bible tells us that this is written 2,000 years ago. And look what he says in verse 28, now we, brethren, we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of So when we trust Christ as our Savior, we’re just like Isaac in the Old Testament.

We have a miraculous birth, born of God. When you trusted Christ as your Savior, you became a child of God and you get to go to heaven whenever you die. But that’s how Israel began as a promise that God had made to Abraham. Not what else he said, verse 29. But as then he that was born after the flesh, persecuted him that was born after the Spirit. And underlined this in your Bible, even so. It is now. So just like Ishmael persecuted Isaac, and isn’t that when, sir, says, lady, you get out of here.

Your son will not have any inheritance with my son. In verse 30, nevertheless what sayeth the scripture cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman to slave shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. You see, those are types of the Old Testament, living by the real life and their stories that illustrate New Testament truth. I think it’s awesome. And now he says in verse 31, so then brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free woman.

We are heirs of God. We’re children of God by height alone. Now why would Isaac want to be in the place of Ishmael? Wouldn’t? Why Why should a child of God want to live like Ishmael and put himself under the law? He has no protection there. It’s nothing but a curse. He says, ye that want to teach the law, do you not understand the purpose of the law? So then we’re saved by grace and we’re to live and walk by grace.

Eternal life is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast. And we are not to change our message because you can’t get Christians to grow by putting money along. Only by understanding that God loves them, you’ve been set free to use that liberty to live the way God wants to live. Because you’re free, you’re free to serve. Let’s pray, shout. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr.

Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. For Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friends, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. up to meet the Lord in the air.

So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, they are God’s word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. 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 through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Turn in your Bible to the book of Galatians and chapter 4. Galatians chapter 4. Remember we’ve been talking about the book of Galatians and how important it is to the Christian to understand the Declaration of Independence. I mean the freedom from the law and to Christ and how Paul got his gospel that he did not get it from man. He got it straight from the Lord. When he went to Jerusalem they did not have anything to add to him.

He was a missionary to the Gentiles, and Peter was a missionary to the Jews, and they had a little problem there at the church in Antioch, and Paul had to confront the apostle Peter, because Peter had done something that wasn’t clear on the gospel. It wasn’t so much what he said, it was what he did. He gave credence to those who teach a false message, and he was rebuked because of it. And Paul says, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

That’s Galatians chapter 2 and verse 6. You need to memorize that verse. It’s a good verse to memorize. But anyway, here in the book of Galatians in chapter 4, he’s now moved up to the place where he’s trying to explain to them why they should not want to go back under the law. See the law cannot save you. You cannot save yourself by the way you live. Being good, keeping the 10 commandments, obeying the golden rule, coming to Calvary Community Church, paying 50% inflation.

It will not pay for your sins. It will not save you. That’s why you’re saved by grace. Well, God says that not only to be saved by grace, but we’re to live by grace. And so he says, do not become entangled again the yoke of bondage. In other words, when you were trying to get to heaven by your works, how that you are going, why would you want to go back to that? Why would you act like you’re not saved?

You see, if I’m still seeking to be justified, then what I’m saying is I am not now justified. If I’m seeking to be saved by how I lived, then what I’m saying is that I’m not saved now. But since I am saved and I’ve been saved for 49 years, then I don’t have to try to earn something I already have. I’m not trying to get eternal life. I already have eternal life. And we teach very strongly here that once a man trusts Christ to save you, he has eternal life.

And if it’s eternal life, it lasts forever. And if it lasts forever, then there’s no way for a saved man to ever lose his salvation or go to hell in the future. It is totally impossible. And any preacher who teaches you can lose your salvation. He He does not understand the gospel because salvation is truly a gift of God. So in the Jewish family, when the children were born, even though they were on air, you know, if they live long enough, they were considered a child and they serve it.

But when they became 13, they had what they call a bar misva and they were considered now you’re responsible for yourself and they spent all those other years trying to teach them. like there’s law, then you become a son and they become recognized as a son, then a legal heir. When you and I were born into this world, we were like servants, trying to keep this law of righteousness and we all fail. But then Christ came and we trusted Him as our Savior.

And so now I’m not a servant under the law trying to be saved. Now I am a son under grace, and I serve the Lord because I am a child, not to be one, because I am his son, not to be a son. I was explaining the gospel to a lady yesterday. I mean, Betty had stopped someplace. Good friend of mine passed away. Okay. Good. All right. All right. All right. All right. Let’s go. That’s all. Great. Good job.

All right. Now we’re heading back to the National Coders. Three. All right. All right. All right. I want to take a look at this. The top of the gives is just a little bit. I’m going to take a look at this. All right. You can see that we have to get back. And we went to his memorial service up there in Nirokala. And so we found a little place and we got something to eat, walked out of there, and Betty says, I’ll be back in just a little bit.

I said, where are you going? Well, there’s a near-new shop, but four or five doors down, and one woman always seemed to gravitate to those places, you know. So anyway, she went in there, and so I, with all my thumbs for a little bit, so I walked into, so I walked in there, and there’s a lady standing there. So it didn’t take long. I I said, man, mine got nothing to do. I said, it was like, can I ask your question?

She said, sure. I said, can I give you my picture so that you’ll remember me always? She didn’t know me from Adam. I didn’t know her. I pulled out my track and I showed her that not picture on the front of the track, see her? And so I says, man, I said, this is when I was 17 and had hair. See there? She smiled and she said, OK, I’ll take it. So anyway, I gave it to her. I said, now let me show you this.

On the inside here, she said, you can know you have eternal life. I says, wouldn’t it be good to know that you have eternal life? She said, well, yeah. Let me show you my two favorite verses in the whole Bible. I sold her Ephesians 2, 8, 9, 4, by grace. So you say through faith that not of yourself is the gift of God, not a works list any mention. And I says, those were the best verses I ever heard in my whole life.

She said, well, I’ve gone to church. And she says, but I just never understood. I said, well, let me answer this. I said, isn’t it true that you’ve heard all your life, that Jesus Christ died on the cross and paid for your sins. Yeah. I says, question number two, I said, if he paid for all of your sins, why should you go to hell to pay for sin if he paid for him? I said, now, if my wife buys something and I pay you, I says, you got to charge me again at the door?

He says, no, I said, so I don’t have to pay one time. Oh, yeah. I said, well, how many times would you sense I’ve been paid for it? She said, once. I said, if Christ paid for all of them, then why should I go to hell? I said, oh, you got to do it. Believe he did it for you. So I did this little thing with the wallet. And I explained to her, and she trusts as Christ as her savior.

I thought, no, it’s so neat to know you got a message that you can explain this to him. Now, she was under the law condemned. And then that moment, when she trusts a crisis savior, she became a child of God. That very moment. It’s not a process that she has to go through. She didn’t have to quit something, join anything. All she had to do was accept Jesus Christ as her savior. She was born into God’s family, a child of God.

And now that she’s a child of God, she don’t have to try to live a certain way to get something she already has. There’s people who are trying to make people live a certain way, according to their belief, in order to attain something that God says it’s a gift, it’s free. So he says, don’t become entangled again with that yoke of bond. It just puts a yoke of iron upon your neck until it destroys you. He says, you’re free from that.

I don’t have to go to church. Why am I glad? I don’t have to read my Bible. Why am I glad? I don’t have to give a penny. Why am I glad? I don’t have to do anything. I’m going to heaven because I will say, by grace. You say, why do you do all that? Because I want to. I go to church because I want to. I want to read the Word of God. I want to tell people how to have eternal life.

You see, under the law you have to, but under grace is because you want to. A different reason, a different motive. You see, under the law is you had to do, but under grace done. That’s the difference. Now, he says here in verse one, now I say that the heir as long as he’s a child differs nothing from a servant, though he be Lord of all. But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. talking about Father who has a son under Jewish understanding.

And verse 3, even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. In the words we walked His lost men, we act like lost men, we think like lost men, we were lost men. Now you’re a saved man. So think loud, now as a saved man. I don’t want to think as a lost man trying to get something. I am a saved man who already has it. I’m not trying to be redeemed. I’m not trying to be justified.

It’s already done. I am saved. I am a child of God. And because I am a child of God, he is my Father. So look what he says here in verse 4, but when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman made under the law. Why? To redeemed them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of Son. So Christ came into the world, made under the law, fulfilled the law so the law could not condemn Him.

Now you and I were born into this world under the law, and for some reason or other we are under condemnation. Why? Because we didn’t teach the law. So we’re under a curse. But remember there in chapter 3 in verse 10, where he makes the statement, he says in verse 10, for we are as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. where it is written, cursed as everyone that continues with not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

So when you’re under the law, you have to do them. And if you don’t do them perfectly, then you’re condemned by the law. So now you are in debt to the law and you’ve got to pay a debt. What’s the debt? Wages of sin is debt. You’ve got to die. You have to die and pay for your sins. Well that puts you in a very terrible position. It means you have to spend an eternity in hell to pay for sin.

And then it’s never paid. And you have no power to ever come back from the dead. And if there had been a law which would have given life, then very righteousness should have been of the law. See there in chapter 3 verse 19, where it makes this statement, excuse me, in verse 21, if there had been a law given that could have saved a man or given him an eternal life or made him righteous, well then that’s the way it should have been.

but no man can save himself. So now you trust Christ as your Savior, you’re not under the law, you’re under grace. You’re free from the curse of the law because you couldn’t keep it. You can’t obey it. I’m glad that God has saved me and gave me eternal life. And it’s kind of like, okay, here’s the Father. He has taken me from here and placed me into His family. his family. We call that adoption. I have been adopted into his family.

So God has accepted me and I accepted him. I am now a child of God. So look what he says here in verse 5, to redeem them. That means to make a payment for their sins to bring them from under the curse of the law. Like going into a marketplace and buying something from off the little table there and you can take it home because you paid for this. So he says in verse 6, and because ye are, son, you ought to underline that word, it’s not what you’re going to be.

You are sons. God hath sent forth the spirit of his son into heart, crying, Abba Father. So now God is my Father and the Holy Spirit in dwells me. So the reason the Holy Spirit in dwells us is to teach us about our Father. And so as we read the Word of God, you’re studying the mind of your Father. You’re learning how God thinks. The word of God is a love letter from the Father to the children. So as we study the love letter, we see how much God loves us.

And as a child of God, I have a choice. And you know what really helped this for the lady? She asked me a question. She says, does that mean I can just go out here and kill somebody? When they asked a question like that, that means they are understanding it. I says, you mean that she says, you mean that guy here and kill somebody? I says, sure does. And she expects me to say just the opposite. I said, sure does.

I said, but I’ve known the Lord for 49 years and I haven’t killed anybody yet, but can I tell you why? Okay, she’s listening. She’s all ears. I says, you have a choice once you trust Christ the Savior. I says, I’ve got three children. the hard way, one life. I got three kids. I’ve got five grandkids. I said, now when those kids were born into our family, when they’re obedient, they’re mine, and when they’re disobedient, they’re hers. Ha ha ha.

Ha ha. She laughed too. I says, their mind regards to how they live. If they’re obedient or disobedient, they’re still my kids. I says, and you can’t unborn them. I tried. Ha ha. So they’re my kids. Now, I say, but here’s what you need to understand. I says, when they’re your children, I says, you’ve got a choice. I says, they got a choice. They can be obedient or disobedient. She says, yeah, boy. That’s right. Evidently, she didn’t tell me, but I think she had some kids.

If your kids are obedient to you, I says, then they’re blessed, you’re happy, they’re happy. The whole world’s happy. I said, but whenever they’re disobedient, I says, they’re not happy, you’re not happy, Nobody’s happy. I said, but if I’m obedient to Norn because I’m his child, I said, God said, he’ll bless mezona here and reward me when I get to heaven. But if I’m disobedient, then God can chase me here and maybe take me home before my time. So, just because I can live like I please, I can’t get away with it.

70710 I said, I can go a lot of things. I said, but I found out a long time ago, I would rather have a wonderful life. to have a peaceful lifeGaza to have a good life. I want to bless his life. So if I serve the Lord Romo God is under the authority of his own word wrongly. Because he said I placed my word above my name. God has to obey his word. He has to bless me. He ain}”gotta choice he has to and he has to reward me when I get to heaven if I as a son serve him.

But if I choose notTx serve the Lord and rebel against the Lord, then God is obligated by His Word. He has to chase in me. And I know that. So now I’m a reasonable man. Now which one do I want? Do I want God’s blessings or I want him to beat the Torah on me and maybe take me home before my time? Now a reasonable person can figure this out, but a dumb nut can’t, a fool can’t figure this out.

And God says, if you don’t serve him, he says, Because Him or my Father resist, resist, like kind of push that wall over. Now you want to spend the rest of your life kind of push that wall over? What’s going to take some time? And you’re not going to do it. You can’t win. You can’t win going against God. But buddy, me and God, we’re a majority. And then He’s obligated as my Father. He has to bless my life take care of me all cut whatever it is you see that mean bad things don’t happen No, no, no, no, he’s gonna walk me through them.

Oh, okay. What happens in life? My heavenly father’s gonna walk me through them and the peace and the joy is knowing that but anyway God says now because you are his son We’re supposed to live like an act like don’t act like a lost man under the law act like a saved man as a child of God. If I’m a child of God, then he’s my father and I should I should use the language of the court. Learn to speak the word of God.

It’s a different language. And it’s like I used to think, man, I wish I could learn a lot of different languages. Wouldn’t have been neat. There’s some people that can speak Spanish and Hebrew and Greek. I’m still working on backwood English. I murder the English language sometimes. Now I know right but I can’t sometimes say right but I can read right and right right right but sometimes I murder it but that’s okay because I know that I did. I wasn’t ignorant because of what I did it’s just that I did it but I didn’t know how to stop it.

That makes sense. But he says, you are now a child of God. And that’s something to be thankful for. Now, because you are his child, don’t live like a lost man. Don’t think like a lost man. You’re saved. Go to the word and let your father teach you. Now look what he says here in verse 6 again. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your heart’s crying out of a father and you don’t have to just talk about God the Lord.

He’s my father and say how would you talk to your father? Oh, my almost gracious heavenly father, creator of heaven and earth. I never talked to my dad like that. I never talked to my mom like that. Oh, mother. Hey, ma. And now it talked to my mom and When it comes to the Lord, Lord, thank you for loving me and for saving me. Lord, I got a problem. I have no clue what I’m going to do. And I need you to help me.

Now, that’s better just talking it like he’s your father. You’re a child. Take all that fancy stuff and just throw it in the trash can and… You ought to hear the sermon I preached one time. Prayer for the journey when I was learning how to pray. It’s an awesome story. I think I preached it here one time. You don’t think I ever preached that through and I’m here, pray for the journey. I’m gonna have to preach it again. Some of you are shaking it like you don’t know.

But you gotta learn how to pray, how to talk to the Lord. Hey, I got to me, let me tell you how it happened. I didn’t know how to pray. I didn’t pray privately and I didn’t pray publicly. I didn’t know how to pray at all. but I had moved to Macon, Georgia. And my preacher up there in Georgia, Nathen’s told the preacher in Macon that I was coming down there, and so he was ready for me. But I didn’t know that.

Got there on a Wednesday night. And when we walked in on Wednesday night, the church was packed for Wednesday night. So my wife and I, we just kind of went in. They had already started and we didn’t want to make no noise. So we quietly sat down. And then Usher came over to me and asked me if I would shell out a business nurse card. So I filled it out and, you know, David told me. And they went on and they did their thing.

And it wasn’t long before they gonna pray for the missionaries about this out of the internet. I never pray I didn’t know what a missionary was. I didn’t know what they looked like So I’m sitting there in the backdrop 22 years old. I think something like it maybe 21 and He got a fair and he made the statement he says we’re gonna have blah blah blah from over here come up here And we’re gonna have blah blah blah from over here come up here and lead us in prayer and then we’re gonna have Brother Ralph Arnold who’s visiting from up there in Georgia and he’s sitting right back here and we’re gonna ask him to come up here and close in prayer.

Church is packed. Half a million people there. I looked over at my wife and I says honey I says he wants me to pray. She says I know. I said I can’t do that. She says you got to. I says I’m like one. The other two guys got up and they started up toward the platform. But if I turn around and see why where’s the other guy? So I said, I argue with my wife, I says, I’m not going down there.

She says, you gotta go, I said, I’m not going. Oh, so I got up and I started down. And the whole time I’m on my way down. I am praying. Lord, what am I going to say? What am I going to say? Anyway, we got up on the platform and the one guy took that chair and the other guy took this chair and the other chair was sitting right behind the podium Well, the preacher went over there and sat by the piano.

And so this guy goes up there and he’s going to pray. Oh, I’m praying all right. This guy gets up there and he grabbed the hold of the horns of the altar. And he says, oh, how much gracious heavenly Father. And buddy, he plays. Oh, is he good? I’ve never heard anybody pray like that. And I thought, if I’ve got to do this, I’m out of here. The only prayer that I knew was as I lay me down to sleep, I prayed the Lord, my soul to keep.

I didn’t even know how to pray for food. I never said the blessing. He went on and he was praying and praying and praying. And when he got through he said, in Jesus name, amen and amen. Everybody all over the audience was, amen and amen. I thought amen and amen. I said, if I put it two times, three times, amen, amen. Amen. I didn’t know. I never done, this is first time for me. Well, the other guy got up there and he started to pray.

And so I’m sitting out saying, Lord, I remember Betty’s dead telling me about a story about Sam’s Samuel and how that God spoke to him, Samuel. And I said, Lord, speak to me, speak to me. Tell me what to do. Lord, I said, I don’t know what to say. All I know is that Amen, John Ben shot a rooster killed, he in the chicken, cried, the rooster cried. And Lord, I’m out of here. I had no idea what I’m going to do.

And all of a sudden, it’s like the heavens departed, and this voice, what I lie to you, I’m not lying to you, raise my right hand. I’m sitting there, and all of a sudden, as clears a bell, Ralph, for you that don’t know, that’s my name, Ralph. And I says, he’s doing it. God’s doing it. And I thought Samuel said, hey, Lord? I said, hey Lord, you said Ralph, I said well, I don’t even know where I am, I’m right here.

If he gonna speak to me, do it. Ralph, I said boy this sounds real. So I opened my eyes and the other guy had got through and sat down and I didn’t know it because I was so engrossed in myself and the preacher was sitting over there going, Ralph, Ralph, I jumped up and I had my Bible in my hand And I sometimes say, God thank you for the Word of God. And all I remember is I prayed about 20, 25 minutes.

I have no clue what I said. I don’t even know how I ended. But when I got through, everybody was just, amen, all over the room. And I have absolutely no recollection of anything that I said. And everybody got up and came down here and wanted to shake my hand. And I kept wondering, what did I say? I have no clue. That was my first experience. Now, how did we get there? I don’t know. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Colossians, the book of Colossians.

But you’ve got to enjoy life as you go, or you’re going to be one sad individual, you know. In the book of Colossians, I want you to see this in chapter 2. Note there in verse 13. And understand that when Jesus Christ came into the world, he said he was made of a woman, made under the law, that he might redeem us that were under the curse. So what it means is, is like, here’s the Lord, the God in heaven.

And he’s got a piece of paper and he’s keeping track of all the things that you did. See, Rick Ryder back there? Rick, raise your hand. Now, see, I’m watching Rick Ryder. I’m making a list checking it twice and everything he’s ever done wrong. I got it on here right here. I need some more paper. And then here’s Dan. Dan, raise your hand. That’s Dan. I’m making a list on everything that Dan’s ever done wrong. Now Dan and Rixie, they have an appointment with God.

They have a debt to pay. got to pay for all of this. They got to pay for their sins. And the only payment God accepts is the death payment. Not going to church, not giving money, a death payment. So the Bible says that when Jesus Christ went to the cross, He took every offense that we had against God and nailed it to His cross. You see, look at in verse 13, and you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath a quickener made a life together with Him, having forgiven you and your other underlineness.

All trespasses.” Looking verse 14, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us. Look up here, here’s the handwriting of ordinances that was against us where we failed. All of our sins and what does it say there and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. So my sins is what nailedled him to the cross and he died on the cross and he paid for my sins. So I am free from this debt. He did it for me.

He took mine and it was nailed to his cross and he has paid for my debt. So So why should I try to do all these good deedsparser something it’s already paid? You understand what I’m saying? Can you follow me? But once it’s done, it’s done. Christ is not coming back anymore to pay for anymore sin. Because the payment He made 2000 years ago was for theIRTNS of the whole world once and for all. So582 all of your sins passed, president of this all forgiven because of the payment he made on the crop.

You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-536-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryuptampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, 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, and just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, dear God’s word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. 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 through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

So turn in your Bible to the book of Galatians. Now, the book of Galatians at chapter three. in the regulations chapter 3. And so he says here in verse 17, this I say that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was 430 years after, and you ought to underline these two little words, cannot this annull, it can’t change it. It doesn’t add to it and say, now I gotta keep the law in order to be saved, it can’t annull the promise.

And the promise was that a man would be saved by faith, by faith and faith alone. And get this, cannot disenile that it should make the promise of none effect. It can’t change the promise that God preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, in these shall all families of the earth be blessed. And also that statement that the heathen shall be justified by faith. That’s the best news in all the world. And we today, if we believe that, then we are children by faith.

Well Abraham was a child by faith. So it says that we’re the children of Abraham by faith. By faith. See there in verse, look at this verse here, looking verse 26. He says, for a year all the sons of God or the children of God by what? Faith in Christ Jesus. And then looking verse 29. And if ye be Christ, then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise? So, I am a child of God, just like Abraham’s a child of God.

But see, God promised them the Kingdom upon the earth. He didn’t promise us the Kingdom upon the earth. He promised us to be His bride. We’re going to rule and reign with Christ over the earth, yes, because we’re the, but we, See, we get something better. We get the holy city. Often when I’m not, I used to love going down to a creek and getting my toes in the mud and squishing mud between my toes. Now, I don’t know how I’m going to like squishing gold dust between my toes.

I just don’t know because I’m so ruined. And I went elk hunting in Colorado for 18 out of 20 years. For a week to two weeks, I’d go up into the mountain. I just love going through the woods and singing. And I son, but with me several times he says, Dad, you might as well forget about hunting. You’re singing there, you know, elk within 10 miles.

And I would just forget about it. And I’d be just a hunk and a saying and a walking and breaking every stick that I could see. And, you know, just carrying on. And I got one elk one time. One time I got one elk. I got a lot of deer, but only one elk. There was a little truth for that. They didn’t like my singing either.

Oh well. But we’re gonna go to heaven one of these days. And you know what? Don’t use your understanding now of what you think you’re gonna like and not like. When you get to heaven, it is gonna be so out of this world, no pun intended, that we’re going to love whatever it is. It won’t compare to what we have here. If you can enjoy anything in this life, this thing, when you get to heaven, this don’t even compare.

Your best day, your best moment can’t compare to what God’s got for us. But anyway, the day’s coming. Some of us are getting closer. You realize this week I did two memorial services. It had people trust the Lord at both of them. I love doing memorial services or funerals because you see it’s just another way of on fishing. See, this is one of the advantages that me and Betty has had over the years that’s really helped us and I married all the years is that we work together on the same thing.

We’ve had the same goal in life. See, when you don’t know what you really want to do, you just kind of flounder, you’ll wonder here and there and nothing seems to work. emptiness and Israel had its problems when Israel pitched camp. As long as they was on the move, they were doing all right. It’s always when they pitch camp, when they’re not doing nothing, when you’re not going anywhere. But look what he says. He says here that the law cannot annul the promise that it should make it of none effect.

Look what he says in verse 18, for if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more a promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. In other words, if a man had to work for his salvation, then it wouldn’t be free. But God says it is free. Hold your place right here and look there in the book about Romans, the book of Romans in chapter 4. You need to see this because it’s dealing with Abraham and what was said to him about the promise.

Looking Romans chapter 4, and look in verse 13. Verse 13, he says, for the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. Or Abraham did not have to keep the law in order to have eternal life, to be blessed by God, to be justified by faith. He says in verse for him. For if they, which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of none effect.

What he’s shown is over there in the book of Galatians that the law did not cause the promise to be of none effect. The law did not annul the promise. The promise is still good. A man is saved by faith and faith alone. So anyone who teaches, well they were saved different way under the law. These verses contradict that. These verses are letting us know that it didn’t change. It wasn’t a no. Man was saved the same way. So then he says here in verse 15, because the law worketh wrath.

But where no law is, there’s no Transcration. In other words, if you go out of here and there’s a you pull up here to the red light Well, if there’s no red light no stop sign you can keep going You don’t have to stop But if they put a stop sign up there now what are you gonna do? You got to stop now if you don’t stop you break a lot. They’re gonna find you You said I didn’t see no cop.

Oh, now they got a little camera might be watching you No, there’s an eye upon watching you and it’s not the Lord But get what he says. In verse 16, you ought to underline verse 16. Therefore it is a faith that it might be by what? Grace to the end, the promise might be sure to all of us. The only way you can be sure of going to heaven is that it’s free. If you have to work for it, can never be sure.

Can’t be free. And you have to wait till you die. And then he says, for those who want to keep the law, curse it as everyone that continue it, continue it. Not in all things which are written in the book of the law. Most people don’t even know the law. Is it just keep the 10 commandments? 10 commandments. What about the civil law, the moral law, and the ceremonial law? All the law, about 500. Don’t even know what they are.

Let them keep them. I know them. I shall not lie. I shall not steal. I shall not play marbles. Says marble not. You stick around. You’ll learn a few things. Now looking for 16 again. Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end. And for this end result, the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, father of us all.

So you’re blessed with Abraham. And then what is the definition of faith? You’re saved by faith. Well, he gets down here and explains it. Let me show you this. Look there in verse 18. He says, who against hope, talking about Abraham, believe it in hope, he says that he might become the father of many nations. According to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be singular Christ. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead when he was about 100 years old.

Neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb to all folks. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded. Here’s a definition of faith, fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to what? To perform. When you buy faith, trust Jesus Christ, you’re trusting Him who is able to perform. He is able to save you and you rest upon him doing that. Not upon you performing.

He will do it. And that’s faith. That’s trusting Christ as your Savior. Now go back to the book of Galatians in chapter 3 and look there in verse 19. Verse 19, wherefore, then serveth the law. And that’s the good question. Why did God give the law? Well, he gave the law to show you what sin is. You see, some people think they’re good enough to earn their way to heaven.

There’s actual people who think that. Think they’re good enough? So God gives the law to show you that you’re not so good after all. Oh, you think you’re good? Yeah, I’m very good. Thou shalt not lie. Oops. Thou shalt not covet. Mmm. And you find out, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy hard mind, body, soul, and strength, and you haven’t. You love you. But most people don’t love God. So he uses the law to show us that we’re sinners so that you’ll be saved by faith.

So it was added only to show you why you need to be saved by faith alone. It didn’t involve the promise. Look what it says here. It was added because of sin, transgression. Till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. And it was ordained by angels in the hands of a mediator. Now, mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. And get this question, is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid that means no.

For if there had been a law given, which could have given life, fairly righteousness should have been by the law, if a man can save himself, if he can, then that’s the way you ought to be. And it make sense? But man can’t say to himself, what do it? If you can keep the law to be safe, do it. All you gotta do is be perfect. Don’t mess up one time, because then you wouldn’t be perfect. Then you can’t go.

Well, wouldn’t you have to start? Well, when it was you born? Well, the Bible says that I was born with a sinful nature and my mother’s womb. Who? You really got to go back to when you was a one-celled amoeba. We’ll just look at it a little bit right now. Now look what he says. And this is very good in verse 22. Verse 22 says, but the scripture, the Old Testament, half concluded. And you’re all on line these three, we’re all understanding.

All have sinned and come short of the perfection of God. All have sinned and broken God’s law. All are under the curse. Now if you want a blessing, you’ve got to get after none of the curse. you can’t get out from one of the curse because the curse is that you have to die. So Christ was born, kept the law, wasn’t under the curse. So he took our sins, our curse, it was placed upon him and he died in our plate for us.

So here in verse 22, but the scripture hath concluded all understand that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ and you ought to underline this statement might be given to them that keep the 10 commandments to them that believe. That it might, that means it’s not given to you until you believe. No man is saved because Christ died. It’s whenever he believes on Christ that he did it for him. Then Christ puts that payment that he made to his account and then he gets to go to heaven because of it.

Look what says now in verse 23. But before faith came… We were kept under the law, shut up to the faith which should afterward be revealed. In other words, you can look at the nation of Israel as a child being born and picture Israel as a person, a person. And as this person was born and then it grows up and there’s a promise made and then shows that this child wasn’t so obedient. The parents then lay down the law to the child, and this child was told, now you can be happy or you can be sad, you can be blessed or you can be beat the tar out of.

And so the child goes through these various stages. And so the truth is revealed, just like when children are born into our family. We don’t tell them everything the day they’re born. You got to teach them how to walk and how to talk. And then they learn a little bit more and a little bit more. you tell them what to do and you don’t tell them no more than just because your mommy said so, because your daddy said so.

You don’t try to use logic with a two or three year old kid. Now when that kid gets a little bit older you try to show why you do what you do so that they know the consequences of what they do. Now when you and I were born into this world, This is the way we’ve gone through some stages and the Bible says we’re under the law of condemnation because we were born in a sinful world and the law of God never been removed.

Christ did not come to destroy the law. He came to fulfill the law and so we’re under the law. We’re under the curse and so we’re under this curse until somebody brings to us the the gospel of Jesus Christ. And once you trust Christ as your Savior, you accept Him as your Savior, you have eternal life, your God’s child. Now, you’re no longer under the law. The law only condemned all of us until we put our faith in Jesus Christ.

Like that verse 23. But before faith came, we were kept under the law shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Therefore, the law was our school master, like a school bus, to bring us to the school that we might be justified by faith. So the law that lets us know that we can’t save ourselves points us to Christ so that we can be justified by faith. But once I trust Christ as my Savior, and the law has served its purpose.

And now see as a child of God, I’m no longer under the curse. I’m no longer under the law. I am under grace. So God wants me to live where he has placed me. Some Christians, and they were doing his here in the Galatia, they were going back underneath the law. Thinking they had to do all of this and keep the law in order to be saved and stay safe. And he says, no. That’s why he says in chapter 5.

Verse one, stand fast therefore in the liberty. You’ve been free from this, from the law. He says, stand fast in the liberty where with Christ has made us what? Free and don’t become entangled again, they’re with it. I don’t go to church because what I have to, if I don’t, I’m gonna go to hell. I don’t read the Bible because well, if I don’t, I’m gonna go to hell. I can’t go to hell.

And there’s a lot of religions that teach you, that you will. They have put people, if they’ve never got half a hundred, they’re under the law. Anyone who is trying to save themselves by their work are under the law. They have placed themselves here in order to try to save themselves by something God says can’t save you. He made a promise before the law was ever given that this law will not all this promise that he made so that whether it was Abraham or whether it was King David, everybody has saved the same way by faith and faith alone in what Jesus Christ did on the crossforth.

Now look there in relations in chapter three and look there in the last part of verse 24. The law was our school master to bring us unto Christ and underline the last part of this especially. Why? Why? That we might be what? Justified by what? Say it. So the law serves as purpose. That’s why he says in the book of Romans in chapter 3, by the law is the knowledge of sin. That’s how we know we’re sinners. Why? Because of the law.

You see, a man is not going to trust Christ as his Savior if he thinks he can save himself. So God gave the law the show that he can’t. Oh, I see. I need a Savior. See how easy that it is? The law was never given the Savior, man. Then where’s, for example, you get up in the morning? And you’re looking in the mirror. You’re looking in the mirror and you see that you’ve got cobwebs in your hair. And you’ve got turtleneck sweaters on your teeth.

You’ve got matter in your eyes. I could go further than I want. That you need a shave! The men. You don’t take the mirror off the wall and wash your face with it. The mirror just reveals the problem. It doesn’t solve the problem. It leads you to the soap and the water, to the comb, to the two patients, to the brain. But the mirror only lets you see what is the problem. The law lets you see the problem. Now if you’re hanging over a cliff, pin links in a chain.

How many links in the chain has to break before you fall? Oh, that’s too easy. It’s got to be five or six at least, right? Just one. Does it matter which one? It doesn’t matter which one. Why? Mashed potatoes. I mean, it’s all over. So it doesn’t matter which of the commandments you break, if you just break one. That’s why he says you must continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Not just pick and choose a few of them that you like. I like this one. I’ll keep this one. You have to keep all of it. And that’s why he says, do you not hear the law? Don’t you understand in Book of 1 Timothy and chapterternity 1, he says, don’t you understand you that desire to be teachers of the law? Do you not understand what you’re saying? You have unplaced people under a blessing. You put them under a curse.

And think of how many people are being cursed this morning, trying to earn their salvation by what they do and it won’t work. Now look in verse 25, but after that faith has come we’re no longer under the scope, you’re no longer under the law because Christ has redeemed you from the curse of the law. The law can’t condemn you why? Because the law can’t condemn or touch a dead man. When Christ’s death was put to you and your death, but then you died.

So the law can’t condemn me to hell. Why? Because I’m dead. We have laws today, but they don’t affect the dead person. They don’t have to keep them. Dead men don’t have to pay taxes. Now, if you’re alive, you may have to. Verse 20, say, for we are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as you have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond or free, there’s neither male nor female, you’re all one in Christ Jesus and if you be Christ then are you Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.

Now think about baptism, we’ll get into that at a different time. But it just boils down to show you that we have a wonderful message, a gospel that’s very consistent, Old Testament, New Testament, same gospel. That’s why it says at the beginning of chapter 1 and verse 6, I marvel that you’re so soon removed from him that they called into the grace of Christ into another gospel which is not another, but there be some that would trouble you and try to pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel under you let him be a curse. In other words, that’s a cursed message because they put you under a curse. It’s a curse mess. It won’t save. And that’s what a lot of people are doing. So you see, not all churches preach the same thing. And you don’t go to a church because the people are so nice there. Or the pews are so comfortable. The choir is so good.

The preacher is so cute. that has nothing to do with anything. You want to find out what is the message on how to get a person to heaven? Are they teaching a blessed message or a cursed message? If it’s adding the works to the gospel of grace, it’s a cursed message. It cannot save and there’s a multitude of them and you You have to sometimes be very careful of how they present the gospel, how they tell the men to be saved.

You people here at Calvary have been blessed because for years you had a guy like Hank Lindstrom that always was hitting the clarity of the gospel. It was always an issue, wasn’t it? Always an issue. That’s strange. It is with me too. And that’s why we want to hang on to this, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. All right, we’ll just go ahead and quit right there. So glad to have you here. I realize you may never come again.

But I love you. I love America. I love the Lord. I love His Word. But whether we ever change anything in this nation, I want you to know how to go to heaven. So let me tell you real quickly the best news in the world. Letting this hand represent you and me, the wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. God says that He loves us. Now He hates our sin, but He loves us. But because we’ve all sinned, we have to pay for it.

And that payment is eternal separation from God in hell. God’s He doesn’t want us to go to hell. He wants us to go to heaven. In the go to heaven you have to be perfect as righteous as God. None of us are perfect. None of us are good enough. We’re all sinners. We’ve all come short of God’s perfection. But God says you can’t earn eternal life. You can’t work the way to heaven. So how you live doesn’t determine where you go, because you’ll never live good enough to go to heaven.

That’s why you 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, but He hates what we do wrong. And he says, our sin separates us from the Lord. So Jesus Christ, who had no sin, didn’t have to die. But because he loved us, he took our sins, paid for them on the cause, came back from the dead. God said that if we would believe that he did it for us, he would put the payment he made to our account, and we get to go to heaven on what he did.

No, we don’t deserve that, we didn’t earn it. He says, by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourself, it is the gift of God. not a works list any man should boast. So salvation, it’s free. You don’t have to stop something or join anything. All you have to do is trust Christ as your savior. So right where you’re sitting, right now, the quietness of your mind, the Lord knows who you are, knows what you’ve done, knows what you’re gonna do, still loves you.

And He said He would give you as a free gift eternal life if you simply trusted Him. So I’m gonna ask you in just a moment Will you trust Jesus Christ right now as your Savior? Would you trust Him to take you to heaven when you die? God said if you believe that He did it for you, He would save you right now. I do it this way because I wanna know what I said made sense to you. I’m just being honest with you.

And the only way I know to do it is to ask you. And it would be forever if I went down each person and asked, did you trust Him or did you trust Him? It’s a lot easier if you just say, And by that, I know you trust in Christ as your Savior this moment. Let’s pray, Shao-man. If what I said this morning made sense to you about how to have eternal life and go to heaven, would you trust Him right now?

I want you to trust the Lord. I really do. I want you to go to heaven when you die. But right where you’re sitting, that yet makes sense to me and I want to be certain. There’s anyone at all before we come. Our Father, we thank You so much for all that You’ve done for us, for the free gift of eternal life. And I pray Your blessings upon each person here and each family. We ask Your blessings upon our country to help us to do right.

In Christ’s name we pray. Amen. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, You can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at six o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold.

friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. 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 Your 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 through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

morning we’re still studying in the book of Galatians but I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 27 so turning your Bible to Deuteronomy chapter 27. As you know God had given to Moses the law to give to the people and as he gave them the law and told them what the blessings would be if they kept it, told themividual what the problems would be if they didn’t. Then he made a statement.

In verse 26, cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. and all the people said, Amen. That means we agree. So he finishes up all of this and says, cursed be He that confirmed not all the words of this law to do. In other words, it is now in effect you must keep the law. Now the keeping of the law was for the national blessings. It was not for the spiritual blessings. They didn’t keep the law in order to earn salvation, to get to go to heaven whenever they died.

But the wages of sin is death, and so God gave the law so that we would know what is sin. I’ve talked to a lot of people, oh, what is sin? I says, whatever it is, you did it. Whatever it is, you’re guilty. So turning your Bible to the book of Galatians now, the book of Galatians and chapter 3, Galatians chapter 3, and we will take a look at a very interesting portion of scripture and start there in verse 10.

Galatians chapter 3 and verse 10. This verse is talking about the verse we just read in the book of Deuteronomy. Because Paul says, if you want to keep the law in order to be saved or keep the law in order to stay saved, don’t you understand what you’re doing? He says there in verse 10, for as many as are of the works of the law that are trying to be saved by the law are under the blessing. Is that what what it says?

They’re under the what? The curse. See, the word blessing is in verse 9. Look in verse 9. So then they which be a faith are blessed, but they are of works are cursed. There is a contrast here. So to be blessed, what did it mean to be blessed with faithful Abraham? To be blessed is the justification by faith. You see, that’s up there in verse and God foreseen that God would justify the heathen through faith preached before the gospel and the Abrahams saying in these shall all families of the earth be blessed.

So to be justified by faith was a blessing because it was a curse if you couldn’t be blessed. This is why once you trust Christ as your Savior, God gives to you eternal life and you are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies. Now God promised the nation of Israel the earth, but He promises to you and I the church, the holy city. But look what he says, it is written. That means it’s recorded in the Old Testament.

It is written, cursed is everyone that continue if not in, and you ought to underline that word, all, all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. So that means if you’re going to be saved by the law, do you understand that you have to keep all the law? All of it. That means perfectly. It means you can’t fail one time. You have to keep all the law. But in verse 11, he says, but that no man, no man is justified by the law in the sight of God.

It is evident because God never gave the law to save a man. So that’s why a man can’t be saved by the law because God get in need give the law to save the man. Well, that makes sense. He gave Christ to save the man, so Christ can only be saved by the man. Jesus Christ. Some of this stuff is so simple to me. I can understand how come somebody else can’t see this when they read it. And so he says there in verse 11, but that no man is justified by the law.

Didn’t he just say he preached the gospel before on the Abraham saying, in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. And he talks about foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through the law or through faith. Through faith. Remember there in chapter 3 verse 8? So he says here in verse 11, and the last part of that verse says, the just shall live by faith, not by the law. In other words, you’re not trying to save yourself by the things that you do by your works, by your good deeds.

And in verse 12, and the law is not a faith, but the man that do it them shall live in them. You see the difference in the New Testament, the Old Testament, under the law it was do and live. Under graceablishment it’s done. So since the work is done, why are you trying to earn something that’s already been paid for? Because, you see, if you could save yourself by your own righteousness, then Christ would have died in vain. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a verse in the Bible that would say something like that?

Well, slap my mouth. Look there in chapter 2 in verse 20. 21. He said, I do not frustrate or set aside the grace of of God for!. If righteousness comes by the law, if a man can save himself by his works, then why did Christ have to die? He died in vain. See there? It’s even put that verse in the Bible. It’s right there. And this is what it says. Now in verse 13, he says Christ had redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written.

Cursid is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Now if you’ll notice up there in verse 10 when it says, curse it is every man that continue if not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. Alright, if you break the law in verse 13, you got to pay the debt. Cursed is everyone that hangs up on a trip. What do you mean? Because the wages of sin is debt. If you break the law, you have to pay the price.

That’s why Christ came. To keep the law so that he could pay the price. So he says here in verse 14, that the blessing of Abraham, which is justification by faith that God can give to you and I, eternal life, we would be justified just as if we had never sinned. And he says that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Because remember he starts off the chapter in chapter three.

He says, oh foolish Galatians, who have to be which to you, that you should not obey the truth? Well, they were not obeying the truth. He says, this only what I’ve learned of you. He says in verse two, receive you the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith, by the hearing of faith. You were not saved, you didn’t receive the Holy Spirit because you earned it. It was a gift, it’s totally free. So over here, he’s talking about in verse 14, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through works or by faith?

By faith. See, he answers the question. All you gotta do is read a little bit further and he answers all of this. Scripture interprets scripture. When you don’t understand a person of scripture, keep reading. Sometimes this knife over here and a fork over here, you go back to that piece of gristle and you can rightly divide it. And it helps you to understand it. And then you can swallow it a lot easier. Some people get choked on a verse and they just put their Bible down and never read it anymore.

Well, I tried to read it all. I just can’t understand it. That’s their excuse for not studying the scripture. So if you sat down at the table and this got all kind of goodies up there, well, if you can’t chew that gristle, well, there’s nothing wrong with the mashed potatoes and the sweet potatoes. And anything else that Peter happens to throw out there on the table, but you eat what you can eat and then you get strong enough to eat the things you couldn’t eat before.

That makes sense. Of course, it makes sense. Verse 14, and you ought to underline those words, the blessing of Abraham. Blessing of Abraham is salvation. Blessing of Abraham has been justified by faith. Blessing of Abraham is having eternal life. So that’s why God wants to bless us. That’s why he says that all families of the earth would be blessed. So he says now once Christ had made the payment for sins, go into all the world and preach the what?

Gospel to who every person so that everybody in the work can beername I have been blessed 49 years ago a man explained the gospel to me and buddy was I blessed I Trust a crisis my Savior received eternal life. I’ve been justified by faith and I’m good to go. I’m good to go Well anyway here in Galatians in chapter 3 He says here in verse 14 that the promise of the Spirit is received through faith. So that’s how you were saved.

That’s how you got eternal life. And that’s how you received the Holy Spirit. It was all because you simply believed. You didn’t know work for it. You didn’t have to perform some deed. Now look what he says in verse 15. The Apostle Paul says, okay now, you brethren, because you’re listening to these legalistic Judaizers from our baron Jerusalem who came down and they’d follow Paul and they tried to get ahold of his converts and try to convert him something else.

He says, brethren,ThumbnailImage I speak after the manner of men, though it be but of man’s covenant. Yet if it be confirmed, no man disanella or adef there too. In other words, unless both sides agree, once you sign something, you agree? That’s the agreement. He says, but now there was an agreement made where God made a promise to Abraham. And God gave his word and then God can’t change it. God can’t change it. And Abraham couldn’t change it because God made it, but he made it to Abraham.

He says now in verse 50, brethren. He says, though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disanulth or addeth thereto, not to Abraham and his seed singular were the promises made. See this was 430 years before the law was ever given. So Abraham could not keep the law to be safe. Well why is that so important? Because Abraham, see, was the Father of the nation of Israel. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and then the 12 sons, and then there she goes.

So God made a promise to Abraham. And it wasn’t because of Abraham’s works. Abraham believed God, if you look there in chapter three and verse six, Abraham believed God and it was counted in him for righteousness. So God gave his righteousness to Abraham by his faith alone, and it’s a sense that he didn’t keep the law in order to be saved, or to stay saved, because the law didn’t come until Moses 400 and some years later. So now he says in verse 16, not to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.

He saith not and the seeds as of many, but as of one, and to advise seed, which is Christ. So even back there when he says that you’re going to have a seed, Abraham knew he was talking more than just his son Isaac. He even knew that if he killed his son Isaac, he already believed that God was going to raise him from the dead. Because you find that out seeing the book of Hebrews in chapter 11, where Abraham saw him in a figure.

He knew what it was a type of. So Abraham knew about the death, barely in the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. And so he says, God made a promise. And then years later, God gave the law, but he gave the law. To Moses. So now, wait a minute, God had already made a promise. Can you add to it and take away after you’ve already made an agreement? He says you cannot annul that promise. Even though he added the law later, the law could not change the promise and it didn’t.

And this is why he says in verse 17, and this I say, and the reason he’s saying all this is So even though he said Abraham, people are going to be saved by faith and faith alone. And later on, he gives the law to let him know that this law that he gives doesn’t affect the promise that man will be justified by faith. So even before the law, under the law and after the law, people have always been saved by faith, never any other way.

And so he says here in verse 17, this I say that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was 430 years after, and you ought to underline these two little words, cannot this annul it can’t change it. It doesn’t add to it and say, now I’ve got to keep the law in order to be saved. can’t know the promise. And the promise was that a man would be saved by faith, by faith, and faith alone.

And get this, cannot disenolve that it should make the promise of none effect. It can’t change the promise that God preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, and these shall all families of the earth be blessed. And also that statement that the heathen shall be justified by faith. That’s the best news in all the world. And we today, if we believe that, then we are children by faith. Well Abraham was a child by faith. So it says that we’re the children of Abraham by faith.

By faith. Let’s see there in verse 26. He says for a year all the sons of God or the children of God by what? Faith and Christ Jesus. And then looking verse 29, and if ye be Christ, then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise? So I am a child of God just like Abraham’s a child of God. But see God promised them the kingdom upon the earth. He didn’t promise us the kingdom upon the He promises us to be his bride.

We’re going to rule and reign with Christ over the year. Yes, because we’re the brothers. But we see we get something better. We get the Holy City often when I know I used to love going down to the a creek and getting my toes in the mud and squishing mud between my toes. Now I don’t know how I’m going to like squishing gold dust between my toes. You know, I just don’t know because I’m so ruined. And I went elk hunting in Colorado for 18 out of 20 years.

For a week to two weeks I’d go up into the mountain and I just love going through the woods and singing. And I said, but with me several times he says, Dad, you might as well forget about hunting. You’re singing. There ain’t no elk within 10 miles. And I would just forget about it and I’d be just a hollering and a singing and a walking and breaking every stick that I could see and you know just carrying on. And I got one out one time.

One time I got one out. I got a lot of deer but only one out. There was a little truth for that. They didn’t like my singing either. Oh well. But we’re going to go to heaven one of these days. And you know what? Don’t use your understanding now of what you think you’re going to like and not like. When you get to heaven, it is going to be so out of this world, no pun intended, that we’re going to love whatever it is.

It won’t compare to what we have here. If you can enjoy anything in this life, this thing, when you get to heaven, this don’t even compare. Your best day, your best moment, can’t compare to what God’s got for us. But anyway, the day’s coming. Some of us are getting closer. Realize this week I did two memorial services and had people trust the Lord at both of them. I love doing memorial services or funerals because you see it’s just another way of being patient.

See this is one of the advantages that me and Betty has had over the years. That’s really helped us and I married all the years is that we work together on the same thing. We’ve had the same goal in life. See when you don’t know what you really want to do you just kind of flounder you’ll wonder here and there and nothing seems to work. The emptiness and Israel had its problems when Israel pitched camp. As long as they were on the move, they were doing all right.

It’s always when they pitched camp, when they’re not doing nothing, when you’re not going anywhere. But Luke, he says here that the law cannot annul the promise that it should make it of none effect. what he says in verse 18, for if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. In other words, if a man had to work for his salvation, then it wouldn’t be free. But God says it is free.

I hold your place right here and look there in the book about Romans, the book of Romans in chapter four. You need to see this because it’s dealing with Abraham and what was said to him about the promise. Look in Romans chapter 4 and look in verse 13. Verse 13, he says, for the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

Abraham did not have to keep the law in order to have eternal life, to be blessed by God, to be justified by faith. He says in verse 14, for if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of none effect. What he’s showing us over there in the book of Galatians that the law did not cause the promise to be of not effect. The law did not annul the promise. The promise is still good.

A man is saved by faith and faith alone. So anyone who teaches, well, they were saved different way under the law. These verses contradict that. These verses are letting us know that it didn’t change. It wasn’t a no. Man would say the same way. So then he says here in verse 15, because the law work at rat, but where no law is, there’s no transgression. In other words, if you go out of here and there’s a, you pull up here to the red light.

Well, if there’s no red light, no stop sign, you can keep going. You don’t have to stop. But if they put a stop sign up there, Now what are you going to do? You got to stop. Now if you don’t stop, you break a lot. They’re going to find you You saw this you know cop. Oh now they got a little camera might walk be watching you No, there’s an eye upon how watching you and it’s not the Lord But get what he says in Verse 16 you ought on the line verse 16 Therefore it is a faith that it might be by what?

Grace to the end The promise might be sure To all of us see the only way you can be sure of going to heaven is that it’s free If you have to work for it can never be sure can’t be free And you have to wait till you die and then he says For those who want to keep the law curse it is everyone that continue it Continuate not an all-thank which are written in the book of the law most people don’t even know the law Is it just keep the 10 commandments?

10 commandments? What about the civil law, the moral law, and the ceremonial law? All the law, about 500. Don’t you know what they are? Let them keep them. I know them. I shall not lie. I shall not steal. I shall not play marbles. Says marble not. Stick around, you’ll learn a few things. Now, looking for 16 again, Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end, and for this end result, the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham who is the Father of us all, Father of us all.

So you’re blessed with Abraham. And then what is the definition of faith? You’re saved by faith. Well, he gets down here and explains it. Let me show you this. Look there in verse 18. He says, Who against hope, talking about Abraham, believe it in hope, he says that he might become the father of many nations. According to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be singular Christ. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body.

right now dead when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb to old folks. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully persuaded. Here’s a definition of faith, fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to what? To perform. When you by I fave trust Jesus Christ. You’re trusting Him who is able to perform. He is able to save you.

And you rest upon Him doing that. Not upon you performing. He will do it. And that’s faith. That’s trusting Christ as your Savior. Now go back to the book of Galatians in chapter three and look there verse 19. Verse 19, wherefore, then serveth the law, and that’s a good question. Why did God give the law? Well, he gave the law to show you what sin is. You see, some people think they’re good enough to earn their way to heaven.

There’s actual people who think that. Think they’re good enough? So God gives the law to show you that you’re not so good after all. Oh, you think you’re good. Yeah. Oh, yeah, I’m very good. Thou shalt not lie. Oops. Thou shalt not covet. Mmm. And you find out thou shalt love the Lord thy God, the law by heart, mind, body, soul, and strength. And you haven’t. You love you. But most of you don’t love God. So he uses the law to show us that we’re sinners so that you will be saved by faith.

So it was added only to show you why you need to be saved by faith alone. It didn’t involve the promise. Look what it says here. It was added because of sin, transgressions. Till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. And it was ordained by angels in the hands of a mediator. Now, not a mediator of one, but God is one and get this question. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid that means no.

For if there had been a law given which could have given life, fairly righteousness should have been by the law. If a man can save himself, if he can, then that’s the way you ought to be. That makes sense? If a man can save himself, well do it. If you can keep the law to be He said, do it. All you gotta do is be perfect. Don’t mess up one time, but then you wouldn’t be perfect. Then you can’t go.

Well, wouldn’t you have to start? Well, when was you born? Well, the Bible says, I was born with a simple nature, and my mother’s womb. Ooh. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bibleline, and now we’ll close you thought from Pastor Arnold. Friends, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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. And just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s Word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. 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 through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

But anyway, let’s go back to the book of Galatians. Galatians and chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. He says they’re in verse 1, oh foolish Galatians. Now remember, he’s talking to believers. Talking to believers. Talking to people that he had led to Christ when he first came there. And he’d lead people to Christ and he’d move on and make a circle and come back again. And so he says, oh foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you? It’s like somebody has got you in a trance or something.

How come you can’t see? What was the great error that they believed? Well somebody had told them they had to keep the law to be saved, and you had to be circumcised and so forth to stay saved. So they were putting them back under the law, your works. not to just be saved, but to stay saved, you’re going to have to live right. If you don’t live a certain way, then you lose your… you’ll have to forfeit your salvation.

So they would be convinced that they weren’t yet justified, so they were seeking to be justified. So the Apostle Paul is a little upset and writes a very stern, hard rebuke to these Christians. But they were believers. But they had to leave wrong. He says, I marvel that you’re so soon removed from hand that called into the grace of Christ into another gospel, which is not another. He says, there’s only one gospel, one truth, and if any man preached unto you, any other gospel than that which we have delivered unto you, then let him be a curse.

So he says here in verse 1, that ye should not obey the truth. Now remember, any Christian that does not obey the truth and lives the way he should live is because he believes air. Don’t brag about how much Bible you know if you don’t serve the Lord is because you believe something that’s not true. You have justified rebellion. When you don’t want to go to church, when you don’t want to give like you should. When you don’t want to witness, you don’t want to read your Bible.

It’s because you believe something that’s not true, but you’re going to justify why you can’t or you don’t. Every person that knows Christ is Savior would serve the Lord with all their heart, unless they believe something wrong. You will live your real theology. What you really believe, you’re going to live it. And if you don’t really live it, you’ll really believe it. You really believe that the most important thing in your life is to serve the Lord and that you’re going to be chasteened and it will be worth serving God.

And if you don’t serve the Lord, the be whoop is not going to be very kind and very nice and very wonderful. And you’re going to regret it and you’re going to be grief. You really believe that? Then don’t you have enough common sense to make the right decision? And if you don’t, why not? Because you believe something in the air. Oh, foolish Galatians, who have bewitched you to get a hold of your mind and trouble you as he says during the first chapter?

He says, before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth crucified among you. That means whenever you believe that Jesus Christ out on the cross paid for your sins, it’s like Christ was crucified among because you believe he did it for you. You see, I trust that Christ is my Savior and Athens, Georgia. Now he was crucified over there in Israel, Jerusalem. But it’s where I was. It’s when I trusted Christ as my Savior. So I graduated from Florida Bible College, went to Colorado and a lot of people trust the Lord.

So I could say Christ was crucified among you. You saw it, you heard it, you understood, you believed on them. Now what in the world has so changed you? What got a hold of your mind and messed you with? So he asked a simple little question. He said, are you so foolish? Did you receive the Holy Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Look what he says there in verse two. This only what I learn of you, receive you the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith.

You did not get saved, you did not receive the Holy Spirit by your works. But because of you heard and you understood the God and you believed, you trusted Jesus Christ, you were not saved by your works, you didn’t receive the Holy Spirit by your work. Are you now made perfect by your flesh? It wasn’t good enough to get you saved. It’s not good enough to keep you saved. You were saved by grace and you kept saved by grace.

So he says, you’re in the last part of verse three. He says, are you now made perfect by the flesh? And sometimes you can take that word perfect and it means the word mature. Are you now made mature in the Lord by the works of the law? No. He says, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord. So what? Walk ye in Him. Where’s that found? Where’s that found? Colossians chapter 2 verse 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. No, it’s Colossians chapter 2 verse 6.

As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walking in. How did you receive Him by faith? How are you supposed to walk? By faith, taking God at his word, not that you’re trying to save yourself or keep yourself saved. I don’t go to church to go to heaven. I go, I’m going to heaven. If I’m going to live in heaven with God’s people, I might as well get to know a few of you while I’m down here. Maybe that’s why people don’t.

Never mind, I can look in verse four. He says, have you suffered so many things in vain if it be yet in vain. Whereas you trusted Christ as your Savior, you dedicated your life to the Lord. You decided to serve the Lord and you suffered a lot of consequences because you committed yourself to living by faith and doing what God wants you to do with your life. But you don’t do that and strive and so forth in order to keep the law.

Look there in the book of Hebrews in chapter 10. in. Hebrews chapter 10, look at this very quickly. A lot of similarities between these scriptures. And you’ll notice what he says here. Look there in verse 33. Excuse me, let’s just start in verse 32. He’s doing the same thing to him here. He says in verse 32, but call to remembrance. He’s getting him to how to go back in time and remember whenever first came to you, he said, but called to remember the former days in which after you were illuminated, he endured a great fight of afflictions.

Partly, while you were made a gazing stock both by reproaches and afflictions, and partly while you became companions of them that were so used. In other words, because you were associated with Paul and they persecuted Paul, they persecute you. Have you ever suffered consequences by the very fact that you come to Calvary Community Church or you were a friend with Hank Lindstrom? If you do it long enough and you start acting like Hank Lindstrom does, you just allow it to get some of the same persecution because what others have gone through.

So it’s because of who you hang around. And I would like to think that if anything happens to me, it happens to you too. I asked a little Bruce, Bruce says he’s going to be in my bodyguard and he says, I’ll take that bullet. I said, you’re not big enough. I need somebody big, you know, like Peter Amato. I mean, I can hide completely behind him. But anyway. Okay. Look at what he says in verse 34. He says in verse 34, “‘Ye had compassion of me in my bonds, “‘took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, “‘knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven “‘a better and enduring substance, “‘cast not a way therefore your confidence, “‘which hath great recompense of reward.'”

So he wants them to serve the Lord and remember how you started I’ve seen a lot of Christians men they trust Christ as Savior and they start serving the Lord and men They’re just like a rocker and Then they’re just like a fallen star They come down just as fast as they went up God wants us to stay faithful Keep serving the Lord, you know 10 years and 20 years and 30 years and 40 years and 50 years as long as God gives you.

Just stay faithful. Keep serving the Lord. You don’t have to mess up your life. You don’t have to quit. Just keep serving the Lord. God ain’t changed. What He promised us that hadn’t changed. There are a lot of things that just, that hasn’t changed. What times are changed? Well, some things don’t change. I got a sermon on preaching on that too. Things that change and things that don’t change. But look what He says. He says in verse 30, for ye have need of patience that get this after you have done the will of God.

You might receive the promise. In other words, you do the work and then you get your paycheck. Payday for the Christian hasn’t come yet. But we do what we do because we believe it will be worth it all. Well, it doesn’t have to be worth it all now. I’m supposed to be faithful now and pay days coming. So payday someday. I preached a sermon years ago called payday someday. But that day hasn’t shown up yet. But there’s a day coming when God’s going to pay you for what you’ve done.

It will be worth it. Now if you can believe it 10 years ago or 20 years ago, keep believing it. Truth is truth. And so he says here in verse 37, for yet a little while and he that shall come will come. will come. You ought to underline those two words. Will come and will not tear you. Now in verse 38, now the just, those who trust the Christ of Savior shall live, I’m going to live by the law.

Oh, oh, by faith. I’m sorry. I’m misquoted. Now the just shall live by faith. And then he gives you the whole 11th chapter to know what he’s talking about when he talks about living by faith. It means doing what God says to do, obeying the Lord, living by faith as a Christian is obeying what God says to do. But we don’t do it to get to heaven. Now it becomes legalism when you have to do that in order to get there.

No. Look what else he says in verse 38. Now the just shall live by faith and if any man draw back.” Now a lot of people like to talk about well backslide, backslide, which is a term usually means for the nation of Israel and you can’t backslide unless you’ve gone forward for enough to backslide. A lot of people just never backslide because they never got anywhere anyway. When you trust Christ as Savior and you draw back from serving the Lord.

Look what he says. My soul shall have no pleasure in him because he lost his salvation, now he’s going to hell. No, look what he’s, look at the last part. Verse 13, but we are not of them who draw back unto perdition or destruction, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. So even if you don’t serve the Lord and you draw back from your responsibility And you cast away your confidence that you have in the Lord, and you don’t sacrifice like you used to, and you don’t endure the affliction like you used to.

So there’s a lot of Christians not living like they ought to, but still saved because we believe to the saving of the soul. And so many God may have to take home before that time. Now we’ll go back to the good Galatians in chapter 3. But we say, is there in verse 5, if therefore, he therefore that minister to you the spirit and work with miracles among you, which he did, do he it by the work of the law or by the hearing of faith?

He said, when I came to you and I did all these things, he says, that I try to get you to keep the law to be saved or just to hear the message of what Christ did for you and you trusted him as your savior. That’s why Paul made the statement in the book of Corinthians in chapter 2. He says this only what I’ve learned, he says, I talked about Christ and Him crucified. He was more about concerned about that.

Do you understand and you trust in him and him alone as your Savior? So then he explains what he means. He said, now let’s go back. They are trying to put you under the law. He said, let me tell you something. Abraham lived 430 years before the law. How was Abraham saved? Let’s see there in chapter three. Look in verse 17. He says, for this I say that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law which was 430 years after, cannot what?

Disanal that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise. God gave it to Abraham by promise. Abraham didn’t have to keep the law because the law wasn’t even given when Abraham had that statement said he believed God and it was counted in the him for righteousness. So how was Abraham saved? By faith. He believed the promise of God. What was the promise? Look there in verse 8 of chapter 3 and the scripture foreseen that that God would justify the heathen through faith.

That’s a promise. Justify the lost man by faith. That’s the best definition I believe there is of the gospel. The other is the explanation and without the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, there can’t be any good news. And the good news is that a lost man can be justified by faith. Not by the law, but by faith, just by believing. Without doing one, I owe it of any works whatsoever. Now and until the day he dies, no works.

Why would I have to trust the Lord without works, but I have to do it afterwards in order to be saved? No, it’s grace all the way. That’s the only way you can know that you’re going to heaven because it’s free if it was by works. You would never know if you’d burned it. Or done enough, you have to wait till you die. So that means that you’re not yet saved. Because if you’re seeking to be justified, it means you’re not justified now.

So here in Galatians, in chapter 3, look at verse 6, even as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. means God takes His righteousness and puts it to your account. Now if God gave you His righteousness that would make you as righteous as God and that’s why you can go to heaven on His righteousness, not yours but on His. And get what He says here. And verse 7, no ye therefore that they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham.

In other were children by faith just like everybody else went. Abraham was a child by faith, Isaac was a child by faith, Jacob was a child by faith, David was a child of God by faith. I am a child of God by faith. So we’re all the children just like of Abraham because we all believe it’s by faith. And so these Judaizers were trying to put them under the law and say, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

We came from Father Abraham and Abraham didn’t keep the law because there was no law for 430 years. Now, just look at what David said and David lived under the law. This is about 500 years after Moses and about a thousand years before Christ. But look there in Romans in chapter 4. Romans in chapter 4. You’ll see this verse, it’s a very, very good. Look at verse 5. Verse 5 says, but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifyeth the ungodly.

So if I believe on him who justifies the ungodly, which I’m the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness, just like Abraham was. And look what he says in verseront. Now he refers to David who lived under the law. Even as David also described the blessings of the man on doom. Now notice that word blessings toolitan blessed by God as you’ll find in the book of Galatians in chapter three is referenced to salvation and the whole world shall be blessed.

All the families of the earth shall be blessed. It’s a reference to salvation by faith and faith alone.” Look what he said. Even as David also described the blessedness of the man or the salvation of the man, under whom God get this imputed righteousness without what? Without work. David said that in Psalms. So that means that if I am going to have God’s righteousness imputed into my account without work, then evidently David did not believe in keeping the law to be saved.

And yet he lived under the law, but he didn’t believe in keeping the law in order to be saved or to be justified David believed and he wrote in Psalms 22 About the death Berlin resurrection of Jesus Christ Psalm 16 talks about Now will not leave my soul in hell in a reference to Jesus Christ That he will not see corruption and that the body the resurrection all that’s in the Old Testament read Isaiah. They understood the death, barrel, and a resurrection of the Messiah.

Now, they just couldn’t figure out exactly when it was going to happen, just like, do we believe there’s a rapture coming? And we still are trying to figure out the exact day, week, month. And many people believe it or not, can you believe it could be this fall? Can you believe that? Well, that means if it’s going to What happens September or October? Does that mean he can’t come today? Well, we don’t have to worry about it. We got a few more months to play around, do whatever we want to do.

But Bo, when he gets close to September, I’m really going to dedicate my life. And he says, he come at when you look not for him? But we’re not going to look for him now because he knows he’s coming in October or September. See, I’m going to talk with me, look at that. In Romans in chapter four, look what he says. In verse seven, saying, this is what he said, blessed are they who, iniquities are forgiven. See, when you have your sins forgiven, that’s the eternal salvation.

To have your sins forgiven. That’s why he says, going to all of them, priestly, forgiveness of sins. If Christ forgave me of all my sins, that’s eternal salvation. Eternal security is taught in the Old Testament. That’s not sermon, but look at that. He says, and who sins are covered in verse eight. Look at this, verse eight. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord, and you ought to underline these two words, will not, will not impuse him. In other words, what if I commit a sin after I’m saved?

He can’t commit that sin or impute that sin to me. It’s imputed to Christ. Christ paid for it. Now there’s a whole sermon in here somewhere. Well, if that’s true, I can just go out here and live like I please and still go to heaven when I die. Well, of course you can. You mean somebody would say, no, well, you don’t deserve that. That’s why it’s by grace. You don’t deserve it. Go to man one day, I said, let’s just pretend I trust Christ.

That’s my Savior. And let’s just pretend He paid for all of us. And let’s just pretend He gives me eternal life. And let’s just pretend I live like the devil. And let’s pretend that I die. And let’s pretend that I went to heaven. that would be grace, wouldn’t it? He knew I was the one, he didn’t like that. But do I advocate people living their lives in sin? No. I want people to know the truth, but that once you trust Christ to save it, you’re saved forever.

None of us have ever deserved it. But now that we have trusted Christ to save it, the book of Galatians, sure, it’s the foundational a very walk of our clear gospel on justification by faith, but it also teaches the Christian how to live. We are to live by faith. And so it’s good. Go back there to the book of Galatians, back to Galatians. And notice what he says here. In verse 8, and we’ll finish with verse 8 here, 9.

And the scripture foreseen, that means in advance, and the scripture refers to the Old Testament that God would justify the hidden through faith preached before the gospel under Abraham. Now I believe that God preached the gospel of Abraham. I believe that Jesus Christ preached the gospel to Paul. It is an amazing that God preached to one, Paul preached to the other one and both of them had the same message. Well of course. That makes sense? It should be the same message and it is the same message.

So you can refer to Abraham and what happened to Paul and lo and behold, same message. And he says, forcing that God would justify the heathen through faith preached before the gospel under Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations be blessed. Now, you and I would read a verse like, and these shall all families of the earth be blessed, as it says in the book of Genesis in chapter 12.

You and I might not see, that’s what that verse means. That the loss will be justified by faith, but that’s what it means. And to be blessed of God is to be saved. Let me just show you real quick. Look there in verse 14. Verse 14. that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through what? Faith. Remember, he says, oh, holy scolations, who hath bewitched you?

Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by faith? Well, here, you know, you’re by faith and faith alone that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Now, I want you to see that this blessing, the blessing of Abrahampluginbleacher might come on the gentile. This is talking about the justification by faith, a reference to salvation, and talk about that believing on him in the seed. See that on there, there in verse 16, not to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.

He said, if not in the seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. So he knew that it was a reference to Jesus, And Jesus Christ Abraham knew that, that Christ would die on the cross to pay for the sins of the world so that people could be justified or saved by faith alone. We don’t have a different gospel in the New Testament than what they had in the Old Testament. It’s the same gospel.

They had to trust Christ, we have to trust Christ. They look forward to the cross, we look back to the cross, but there’s only one gospel by which a man is saved. Oh, that’s good. Good to do relucta. Let’s pray, shout it.ast. Our Father, we do thank you so much for the clarity that’s in your word. Have as we read and steady it, to truly understand this simplicity by which you have given us this wonderful man.

WRITE so much for this church and these people. National Blessings of the Gives of the Good Service and the Father of Christ name. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and play to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free, 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at six o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bible Live. And now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen, the trumpet will sound, 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 and just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, Dear God’s Word on Bibleline, Everywhere, Every Time, Dear 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 through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

So God wants this Grace that brings the water to every person so when preachers add works to the gospel It’s no longer the gospel and it can’t bring salvation And that’s why you and I Should make sure that the gospel that we preach is truly grace and the test of salvation and the gospel message. Is it free or do you have to earn it? Grace means unmerited favor. You don’t deserve it. That means you don’t do anything to deserve it before and you don’t do anything to deserve to keep it.

Getting it and keeping it is all by grace because you see people say well you’re saved by grace but now they think you keep it by your works. And if you don’t behave yourself, God will take it away from you. Then it wasn’t free. Grace means that he gives it to me as a gift. I didn’t do anything for it, and I can’t do anything to keep it. We’re saved by grace. We are kept saved by grace. I didn’t deserve it when I got it, and I still don’t deserve it to this day.

Fourteen nine years I’ve been serving the Lord, but all of that service can’t keep my salvation. Can’t even help, because I am saved by grace. I am kept saved by grace. I like that. Go back to Galatians. So he says here in verse 3 of second chapter, he says, but neither Titus who was with me been agreed was compelled to be circumcised because see that was what these legalistic Judaizers were trying to tell them. You have to teach people to keep the commandments and they got to be circumcised.

He says look and he’s right into these Galatians, Christian, because they had been moved. If they had been moved from the gospel of Christ, remember in chapter 1 verse 6 he says, I marvel that you’re so soon removed from him that called into the grace of Christ into another gospel. It means that these people that Paul had led to Christ had already accepted a false message. Can God’s people be lured into a by works message and wind up teaching a message that can’t save?

Save people can do that. And I would venture to say a lot of them do. Now get what he says in verse 4, that because of false brethren, unaware is brought in other words, they were unaware that they had a false message. You see, when the enemy cannot storm the gates, they infiltrate. If they can’t conquer you from the outside, they will come in and infiltrate. That’s how Rome fell. much of being conquered from the outside is that they had an immigration problem.

I’m telling you the truth, and America can fall because the strangers within our gates will rise up against us sooner or later. It’ll happen. And you’ll find they will fight for their rights and yet they’re illegitimate. Well, I can get sidetracked here. But what I want I want you to see is that they come in and spy out your liberty that you have in Christ and try to bring you into bondage. Did you know that our representatives today that supposed66666666 to be protecting our freedoms are doing just the opposite?

They’re taking away our freedoms. See that I got off on it again. But it’s all in through the book. And they promise you liberty when they’re putting you in bondage. Are we having more freedom today? No, we’re losing that freedom. And this is why he says they come in and they spy out your liberty. And then they try to put you under bondage. Well remember what he says are in chapter five, looking chapter five and verse one that you ought to know.

underlining your Bible where it makes the statement chapter 5, stand fast therefore in the liberty where with Christ hath made us what? Free. You do not have to earn your salvation. You can’t get it by earning it. You can’t keep it by trying to earn it, by deserving it. Do I deserve salvation today more than I did forty nine years ago? No. I Couldn’t earn it then and I can’t earn it now. I Wasn’t good enough then and I’m not good enough now.

I Will say by grace and I’m still safe by grace Because I have a done one thing in forty nine years to deserve being saved either of you shouldn’t say that. God did. So go there to Galatians in chapter 2 and look at this. See the universe form and that because of false brethren, Anawares brought in who came in privately to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus that they might bring us into bondage. Now this is a strong statement that he makes here.

Let me show you why. He says, because of false brethren brought in, false brethren brought in. This happened, and I want you to see this. Look down in verse 11, but when Peter was come to Antioch, I would stood him, Peter, and if he was the first pope, he really messed up. And yet he posed the beat, you know, and valuable. Well, Peter was not. Decided he had a wife. Anyway, we won’t get into that. He said, but when Peter was come to Antioch, I would stood him to the face because he was to be blamed.

Looked like an error problem in his man’s life. He says, for before that, certain came down from James, from Jerusalem. He did eat with the Gentiles. come at Peter, but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision or these Jews. And the other Jews that were there in Antioch that were in this church in Antioch, remember this church in Antioch had Jews and Gentiles in the same body believers. Peter, one of the head honchos, the big name.

He comes down As a guest speaker, I guess he was probably a traveling evangelist and he came down to the visit to church there and the young. And while he was there, what did he do? He split Paul’s church. Split his church. So what did he do that was so bad? He compromised the gospel. Peter compromised the gospel. gospel, because he was being hypocritical in what he did, because when he was there with them, he would talk and fellowship with those Gentiles, eight with those Gentiles, but when those legalistic Judaizers came down, he backed away.

When did you want anything to do with those Gentiles? Because he was afraid of what they might think so he compromised and How did this affect the gospel? Well it did because they Taught you had to keep the law and they said you had to be circumcised and these Gentiles hadn’t and they still considered them dogs So Peter withdrew himself and then the Jews that were in Paul’s church there withdrew also and Barnabas. You know the great comforter with Paul, that counselor that when they came alongside and helped the great apostle Paul, he also was moved because of what Peter did and he also withdrew from the Gentile.

Why? Oh, because of some false people! See what they ought to know and they did, but they still got moved by it. And that’s why the Bible says, Paul would stood Peter to the face and says, you’re to be blamed. It’s your fault because of what you did. No. We ain’t got there yet. But we’re getting close to that portion of the Scripture. Well, we’ll explain all of that. All right, now we’ve got to go back and cover until we get there.

But I just couldn’t stand it. I had to tell you the story in advance. Look what he says here in verse four. He says they do this in order to spy out your liberty and They try to put you in the bondage and in other words to try to”:[{” you to live your life in fear Like you’re gonna lose your salvation and that’s always the key thing You’ve got to do this or you’ll lose your salvation You got to go to church because if you don’t you’ll lose your salvation You got to give money on your lose your salvation All these things if you don’t do right and do it Then you’ll lose your salvation.

And those sins out there, if you commit those, you’re going to have to get saved all over again and keep your confession built up as you go. Or you don’t make it. And they use the fear of going to hell in the future to try to make you go to the mark. That’s a false message. That’s been put under bondage. That’s under the law. It did not save you to start with and it won’t keep you safe. Look what he says in chapter three of verse one.

He said, Oh, foolish, foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth crucified among you. This only what I learn of you, receive you the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. He said, how did you get saved? How did you receive the spirit because you kept the law or because you heard and you simply believed. Boy, he hits it hard.

This is an awesome book on the clarity of the gospel and the clarity of the gospel is an issue. And I have made it an issue all my life. I should say since I trust the Christ is my Savior. Now look there again in verse 5. Looking verse 5. He says in verse 5, to whom? We gave place by subjection, not for an hour. In other words, we didn’t budge one eye out of it because of who they were.

You don’t compromise the message just for the sake of peace. Just so somebody will think something of you. No. So he says, and you ought to underline it, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you, continue with you. Did you know that if we start compromising the gospel and we say after a while, you There’s nothing wrong with telling people to turn from their sin. There’s nothing wrong with making Christ the Lord and the Master of your life.

Or just along the line, something simple like, you know, all you gotta do is just ask Jesus in the heart. See, those are phrases that people use, but none of that has to do with going to heaven. You don’t make Christ the Lord and the Master of your life to go to heaven. That’s for service. You don’t turn from your sins to be saved. You just trust Christ as your Savior. You don’t stop your sins in order for God to save you.

Like now I deserve to be saved because I quit my sins. But if I don’t quit my sins, God, I don’t deserve to be saved. All books I do, do you deserve it or not? No, I don’t deserve to be saved. I never have. But those are nice, pretty little phrases that people use. But it wouldn’t be long before next thing you know. church will be no different from any other church. And then what would make you different? What would make you unique?

I believe that Calvary stands for the clarity of the gospel because it is an issue and not to believe that it is an issue, then you all slowly lose the issue unless you defend the issue. I hope you understand what I’m saying. I have had to take stands every church that I’ve ever preached in. I mean I’ve preached in a lot of churches and I’ve had preachers sit there and squirm because they know they can’t contradict what I said.

They can’t take that Bible and contradict the gospel that I preached. And you know you can’t do it. Every verse they can use I know and they try to put a spin on it. You can’t put a spin on the gospel. So you get it clear it’s by grace or it’s by works. Not a combination. One way or the other. And when you see that, then you can detect any little thing that comes along. That’s, hey, wait a minute, that’s not right.

No, no, no, no, no, no. And you can see it. So, get what he says here in verse 6. But of these who seem to be somewhat, and now I believe he’s talking about these leaders therein, Jerusalem, The Apostles. Remember, the apostle Paul has been challenged by his apostleship. They don’t believe he was an apostle. They don’t believe that he had the same gospel that the other apostles had. So he goes to Jerusalem. And while he’s there, there is a knock-down drag-out.

And they have a big conference up there in Jerusalem. Now, we will cover the 15th chapter of Acts that goes with this because that’s where the story took place. Now between now and then, don’t you cheat and go reading the 15th chapter of Acts now? Stay out of the 15th chapter of Acts. Don’t you go there? Because then say, you’ll say, well, I already know it. I don’t need to go. No, no. So in verse 6, he’s talking about these people who were looked upon as great leaders.

Look how he words it. He said, but of these who seem to be somewhat, What server they were it make if no matter to me God except if no man’s person For they who seemed to be somewhat in conference Added nothing to me. So here we have the Apostle Paul go to Jerusalem. They meet with the Apostles and he says We’ve all met in conference I’m do you like to have a meeting with all the Apostles? And it says they had nothing to add to this message evidently what God gave him was sufficient.

And all the apostles who seemed to be somewhat the leader, he said they didn’t add one thing to what I already knew. Again, what else he said? He says here in verse 7, but contrary wise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision, Gentile, was committed unto me as the gospel of the circumcision to the the Jews was unto Peter. For he that brought a factually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the Jews, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentile.

In other words, there’s Paul, there’s Peter. Peter was reading the Jews in Jerusalem. Paul was in the evangelist, going out among the Gentiles, and come together. He got the same message. Though they had never met except that one place over there after about three years that he finally met Peter. Then 14 years later now they go up there to Jerusalem and he says, this is what took place. He says in verse 9, and when James and Cephas and John, Peter James and John in the cell boat, remember that song?

Peter James and John in the cell boat saying to the guys, he says, who in your underlying it seemed to be pillars. Now, this is not a slam upon them as a puzzle. But in Paul’s eye, he said, seem to be their pillars in the church, because of the truth. The church was supposed to be the place where you came to learn truth. He said, and these were the pillars in the church. Perceived the grace that was given unto me.

They gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen Gentiles, and they unto the circumcision or to the Jews. Only they would that we should remember the poor, the same which I also was forwarded to. In other words, I was already doing that anyway. But now in verse 11, everything’s going along But then there’s a problem. He said, but when Peter was come to anti-Yah, I would stood him to the face because he was to be blamed.

Or before that certain came from James, that’s the church in Jerusalem, he did eat with the Gentiles. But when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them. Paul was not that person that didn’t have fear. Paul was afraid. I mean Peter was afraid. of those Jews from Jerusalem because he that’s the ones he’s trying to reach so he compromised a little bit. It’s okay to compromise just a little bit isn’t it? Not what Paul it wasn’t and in verse 13 and the other Jews disassembled likewise with him where you get to work in hypocrisy.

And so much that Barnabas also also was carried away with their dissimulation their hypocrisy but when I I saw that they walked not uprightly. We’re not talking about their talk, we’re talking about their walk. Their talk was the same, but their walk wasn’t the same. He said, but when I saw that they walked not uprightly, according to the, and here’s that phrase again, truth of the gospel. In other words, the way we live should not be a detriment to the gospel of grace that we proclaim.

Smartstocks I know a man that I believe was one of the best as far as the defender of the Gospel of Grace. But because of sin in his life, he became one of the greatest enemies to the very message that he wanted. Because it can be used to discredit the Gospel of Yemeni. But it says, in verse 14, but when I saw that they walked not up, according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter, behind his back, no, I said unto Peter, before them all, if thou be in a Jew, live it after the manner of the Gentiles and not as do the Jews, why compel us thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

He says, you’re a Jew. You live like a Gentile. They show up, oh, you don’t want to live like a Gentile. You want to live like a Jew. He said, you’re hitting crit. You’re hypocrite. Because Peter was giving legitimacy to the message of those false teachers. The only reason he would compromise it is because it’s like they have some element of truth. And you need to listen to them. Like their message that you have to be circumcised or keep the law, like there’s truth there.

Because otherwise, why are you given into that message? Because you see, those Gentiles hadn’t been circumcised. Because of them, and trying to spy your living, and Paul saw this as a detriment to the gospel of grace. what they were doing was hypocritical. So he says this, he says in verse 15, we who are Jews by nature, not sinners of the Gentiles, they’re sinners enough. And look in verse 16, verse 16 is an awesome verse. You ought to memorize this verse.

I know it looks a little long, but it’s a good verse. He said, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we, the apostles, even we, have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Sounds pretty clear to me. You’re either saved by grace or you’re saved by work.

He says it’s by faith, just by believing. Not by your works. The law cannot justify you. and says that Paul said this to Peter in front of everybody that was there. So that Peter didn’t want those Jews to know that he lived like the Gentiles. Paul says in front of them all, you’ve been a Jew, you live like the Gentiles.

So if they didn’t know it, they know it now cause Paul told on him, trying to get everybody. You know later on when Peter wrote, he says, from mighty good things about the Apostle Paul, toward the end of the chapter and second Peter, says some nice things about calling his message and so on. So I guess everybody was friends after this, one went his way and the other one went the other way, but they did come with problem because it wasn’t long before Barnumus decided to go with Mark.

And anyway, Paul went a different direction. Well, look what he says in verse 17. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners. In other words, if I am still seeking to be justified, what it means is I am not now justified. If I am seeking to be saved, what I am saying is I am not now saved. You see, I am not seeking to be justified. I am not seeking to be saved.

Why? How already am? Why am I seeking something if I already got it? The only ones who are trying to keep their good works to be saved is because they’re saying they’re not yet saved because if they don’t perform, they won’t get there. I know I have eternal life. I know I’m going to heaven when I die. I can’t go to hell if I tried. And I don’t care what lost men out there and what preacher don’t like what I said.

I won’t change the truth of this message because, well, you know, that offends people. Then let it offend them. Why should I change the truth of this book? Because somebody might get offended because of it. Then let them get a life. Get a grip. I’ve got one. But anyway, as I’m moving along right here, he’s in verse 17. But if while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners. I’m still a sinner. still seeking to be saved.

Is there for Christ the minister of sin? No. Either God saves you or he does it. So I say, Christ on the cross, He paid for the sins of the world, but it won’t do you. It’s very good if you don’t earn it. He says in verse 18, for if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. I make myself a transgressor. For I, through the law, am dead to the law that I might live under God.

The reason that I can’t be condemned to hell in the future is because, see, I already died. I’m already a dead man. Whenever you’re dead to the law means that, judicially, God declares that you have already died. So that’s That’s why I can’t go to hell and pay for sin because I’ve already done it. When did I do this? When Christ did it for me? His death was put to my account. And that’s why He says there in verse 20, I am what?

Crucified, I’ve already died and paid for all of my sins. The law can’t touch a dead man and I’m a dead man. I died. Isn’t that good? And yet people can’t see this. He says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ live within me in the life which I now live. I live by the face of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. He gave Himself for me. So it’s like I died on that cross and I paid for my sins.

And I’m going to heaven because of what Christ did for me. That’s awesome. Awesome truth. I mean, God’s worth. Let’s pray, Shalle. Our Father, we thank You again for Your blessing to us. We thank You for the truth that is found in Your Word. Lord, I pray that those that are here this morning, those that may be watched by Internet, they could see and understand that only by faith and faith alone in Jesus Christ, Him alone, can a person have eternal life, that You love them that much that You pay for all their sins.

Because of grace, no man ever earned it. Never will earn it. Not by his works, can he? Saved by grace, disciplined by grace. We serve by grace. Thank you so much for all you’ve done for us and vice-name you’ve done. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. simulacrum. And broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, Calvary of Tampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bibleline, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. Hot up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon. and just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s Word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. 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 through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

And anyway, we have been studying in the book of Galatians. The book of Galatians. The book of Galatians. So take your Bible, turn to the book of Galatians and chapter 2. Galatians chapter 2. This is a book that answers a lot of questions on what the gospel is, how to live the Christian life, how to take a strong stand and not become entangled again with the yoke of bondage. So we’ve been covered. This is the third lesson in book of Galatians and now we’re in chapter two.

Now the apostle Paul had gotten the gospel message directly from the Lord. Didn’t get it from any man. Jesus Christ won him, talked to him. It was a personal invitation, but that would have been the, what an experience. I remember this girl, she He was trying to get my attention, you know, how they do when they get engaged and they got that big old stone up there. They just, oh, they want everybody to see it, you know, without being too obvious.

And I said, oh, that’s rather than the light on the Damascus road. But whenever you trust the Lord, you should wonder by hand, I want you to see what I want. I’m so glad there’s a day that I can look back to and say, this is what happened to me. I was there when it happened. I don’t know. Nobody usually gets upset when you give a personal invitation about yourself.Synopsis You know, or I should say a personal testimony to a person and explaining to people what Jesus Christ did for you.

Now, as you read in the book of Acts and also listen into Paul and some of the letters, he’s always talking about, hey, let me tell you what happened to me. Let me tell you what happened. And now he’s telling how he got the message, the clear gospel of Jesus Christ. And the clarity of the is NETWORK. Look what he says in Galatians 2, verse 5, where he says, “…to whom we gave place by subjection, not for an hour.”

In other words, we didn’t move one inch at no time. That the truth of the gospel might continue with you. And the truth of the gospel, I believe, is the clarity of the gospel, making it simple and easy to understand where they can see the truth. And the issue in the gospel is always grace versus works. Or remember, that is the issue in salvation. Grace versus works. You think a lot of people understand what that means, but they don’t.

They don’t know what you mean when you say grace, and they don’t know what you mean when you say works. They have no clue what they’re talking about. And 99% I believe of all preachers don’t even understand the difference between grace and works. If they did make a difference in the message that they tell, but they don’t have an understanding of the truth of the gospel. Grace means without works and works means without grace. They’re not the same and it can’t be both ways and it can be a mixture of the two.

Well, I trust that Christ is my Savior, but I also am on a tutter to live the best I can just in case. But then you’re just in taste means you’re not really trusting Christ as your Savior. So anyway, the apostle Paul had a great experience. After about 14 years, he goes up to Jerusalem. Now, this whole story unfolds in in the book of Acts in chapter 15. You can read the whole story there about what happened. And came to the conclusion.

That the apostles that were there before Paul didn’t have anything to add to his message. And to find out that they preached the same gospel. Because he says there’s only one gospel. He said cursed is any man who preaches another gospel. So there’s only one truth, one way on how to get to heaven. There’s not two ways to get to heaven. I was in Colorado hunting one year. I walked in this little old store to get something. And I pulled out a track and gave it to the man.

And he looked at me, looked at the track, and shoved it back at me. So I took the track and I shoved it back to him. Well, he shoved it back. He says, I don’t want it to. I says, well, you need it. I’m not supposed to do that. And I don’t know why I usually don’t do that. You know. And he says, I’m going just like you are. Oh, great. He says, see that mountain out there? And I says, yeah, I see that mountain out there.

He says, going to heaven is just like climbing the mountain. He says, I might be on my side of the mountain and you’re on your side of the mountain, but we’re both trying to get to the same place. We’re just not following the same trail. Oh, wasn’t that a beautiful illustration on how to get to heaven? I says, sir, if I was trying to get top of that mountain, I’d agree with you. I says, but that mountain means heaven.

And God says it’s only one way. So when we had a good talk, didn’t get anywhere, but had a good talk. Anytime you have a good talk with somebody and you don’t win them, it just sharpens your tools for the next victim coming down the road. Because you’ll learn what to say, what not to say. Every person there’s an opportunity. Yesterday I think it was yesterday, in Betty Stockton this little place to get us a company. Anyway got ready to leave and there’s this waitress there and that’s all I have.

I always just gave her a track. So I gave her a track. And I started to walk in a way. And next thing I know was she’s going to tour the car and Betty Turner, and she says, Janke. She says that guy got your track. Ever then, the waitress took my track. She said, oh, why? She gave it to another guy. So he comes walking out of the building, and he’s going over there to a, I guess he’s going to, he worked, I don’t know.

But he went around to the building, and then he just got that track, and he’s just reading it. She said, Yanki, you ought to go talk to him. I said, well, I’m not getting in the car. I’m getting rid of the lead. Because Yanki’s not doing anything. So I got to go back over there. And I said, sir, understand of what thou readest? You ever heard that before? Understand is what thou readest? And anyway, he stood there with a little heaven track.

I said, let me show you something I took from him. So see right here, it says, you can know that you have eternal life. You can know it. I said, can I show you my two favorite verses in the whole Bible? Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, for by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should vote. I said, no, I never knew that. I didn’t know that going to heaven was a gift, that it was free.

I didn’t know that I could earn it. I always thought I could earn my way to heaven. I said, can I show you something? Yeah. Whooped out my wallet, went through a little illustration. I got through. And I says, will you trust Jesus Christ right now as your Savior? He said, yes, I will. Yes, I will. I hope He comes today. You know, you always use this dinner on the grounds as an opportunity to get somebody to come to church.

So, everybody likes a good meal. But see, I’d have never got Him and had been my wife. You know, she’s… I remember that time I told you that there’s the Holy Spirit and there’s my wife. They kind of go to a little bit and kind of, if your husband doesn’t pass out tracks like he should, and he doesn’t witness like he should, wives encourage him, he should have left the track. Why don’t you go give him a track? You see, if that’s what all the woman does, keeps the man, no, because see, you don’t always think of the right things or the best times that do things, and sometimes somebody else can see it.

So anyway, verse one of chapter two, Then 14 years after I went up again to Jerusalem, with Barnabas and took Titus with me also. Now Titus was a Greek and he hadn’t been circumcised. And the reason for mentioning him is because these legalistic Judaizers were saying that you had to keep the law to be saved and you had to be circumcised to be saved. He said, well, I had Titus with me and he was a Greek and we went to see the big boys.

You know the head honchos, the big shots up there in Jerusalem, the church there, James is the pastor. He said, when I got up there and the other apostles were there, he said, not a one of them. Paul Titus that he had to be circumcised. So the message that Paul preached and the message that the apostles preached with the same message, the reason that was important because there was some Judaizers that was going around and following Paul said, look, Paul doesn’t have the gospel like the other ones do.

And he’s changed in the gospel. Paul said, my message hasn’t changed. And my gospel that I preach is the same message they preach. It’s exactly the same. gospel. Only that I preach to the Gentiles and they preach to the Jews. And he says, but with the same gospel. And he says, there’s always these people that come in and try to spy out your liberty in the Lord. You know what some people use as a good legitimate excuse in their mind to reject the gospel of grace is they always like to point to somebody who who believes that you’re saved by grace, but they always point out the sins in that person’s life as the reason for not believing that message.

Because see, they believe that and look how they’re living. And it’s amazing how many people will look at the way people live and use that against the gospel of grace. That’s why you and I who know Christ as Savior, if you wanna win people to the Lord, You need to back up your talk with your walk because people can use the way you live as an excuse not to believe the message because even lost people believe if you believe the truth and if yours is right, it ought to change your life.

They know that better than most Christians know that. Should this message change my life? has changed my whole life. And so I don’t want the things that I say to be rejected because of the way that I’m living. So Paul says, when we went there, they didn’t ask Titus who was agreed to be circumcised. So he says there, and we took Titus with us. But look what he says in verse 2, and I went up by revelation and communicated unto them that gospel which I preached among the Gentiles.

Now look in verse 11 of chapter 1. What was this gospel that he preached? See there in verse 11, but I certify you brethren that the gospel which was preached to me is not after man. Neither was I received it. Of man neither was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. In other words the gospel that I preached I didn’t learn it from anybody. I got straight from the Lord. So when I went up there to Jerusalem, I showed them and told them the gospel that I preached to the Gentiles and lo and behold, it’s the same gospel that they preached.

So he says, but I went up there, he says, which I preached among the Gentum, but privately to them which were a reputation, lest by any means I should run or had run in vain. In other words, I wanted to make sure that they also preach the same message that I preached and they wanted to make sure that Paul preached the same message that they preached, lest any of them had run in vain or out there preaching in vain.

And how do you preach in vain? Well, when you have a by works message, if you’re a gospel as works to the gospel that a man has to do, then the gospel of grace is in vain. So that’s why he says in chapter 2, looking chapter 2 and He says, I do not frustrate the grace of God. Frustrate means to set it aside. I do not set grace aside because if I set it aside, he says, for if righteousness comes by the law, Christ is dead.

What? In vain. If a man could save himself by his works, then Christ died for nothing. So Christ died the pay for sin so that we could have as a free gift ever lasting life. Remember this, you have water and you have a water pipe. Now you got water, salvation, but the water pipe is grace. So we are saved by grace. It means that’s the water pipe that brings you salvation. If you reject the water pipe, grace, then you can’t get the water.

And the only way you can get the water is by the water pipe. And the water pipe is grace. That’s free. If you try to get it by your works, then you have set aside the water pipe that brings salvation and you can’t have salvation. Let me show you this holder place right here, but look in the book of Titus. And look what it says here. This is a tremendous verse. the book of Titus chapter 2 and verse 11 you ought to underline this in verse 11.

Titus chapter 2 verse 11, get what he says, for the grace of God, the water pipe, that bring of salvation, the water appeared to all men. So God wants this grace that brings the water to every person. So when preachers add words to the gospel, it’s no longer the gospel and it can’t bring salvation. And that’s why you and I, should make sure that the gospel that we preach is truly grace. And the test of salvation and the gospel message, is it free or do you have to earn it?

Grace means unmerited favor. You don’t deserve it. That means you don’t do anything to deserve it before, and you don’t do anything to deserve to keep it. Getting it and keeping it is all by grace Because you see people say well, you’re saved by grace, but now they think you keep it by your works And if you don’t behave yourself God will take it away from you then it wasn’t free Grace means that he gives it to me as a gift.

I didn’t do anything for it and I can’t do anything to keep it We’re saved by grace. We are kept saved by grace I didn’t deserve it when I got it and I still don’t deserve it to this day 49 years I’ve been serving the Lord but all of that service Can’t keep my salvation Can’t even help Because I am saved by grace. I am kept saved by grace. I Like that go back to Galatians So he says here in verse 3 of 2nd chapter, he says, but neither Titus who was with me been agreed was compelled to be circumcised.

Because see that was what these legalistic Judaizers were trying to tell them. You have to teach people to keep the commandments and they got to be circumcised. He says look, and he’s right into these Galatians, Christian, because they had been moved. And if they had been moved from the gospel of Christ, remember in chapter one verse six, he says, I marvel that your sosun removed from him, they called into the grace of Christ into another gospel. It means that these people that Paul had led to Christ had already accepted a false message.

Can God’s people be lured into a by works message and ride up teaching a message that can’t save. Save people can do that. And I would venture to say a lot of them do. Now get what he says in verse 4, and that because of false brethren, unaware is brought in other words, they were unaware that they had a false message. You see when the enemy cannot storm the gates, they infiltrate. If they can’t conquer you from the outside, they will come in and infiltrate.

That’s how Rome failed. Not so much of being conquered from the outside is that they had an immigration problem. I’m telling you the truth. And America can fall because the strangers within our gates will rise up against us sooner later. It’ll happen. And you’ll find they will fight for their rights and yet they’re illegitimate. Well, I can get sidetracked here. But what I want you to see is that they come in and spy out your liberty that you have in Christ and try to bring you into bondage.

Did you know that our representatives today that’s supposed to protecting our freedoms are doing just the opposite. They’re taking away our freedoms. See that I got off on it again. But it’s all in through the book and they promise you liberty when they’re putting you in bondage. Are we having more freedom today? No we’re losing it. And this is why he says they come in and they spy out your liberty and then they try to put you under bondage.

Well remember what he says in chapter 5, look in chapter 5 in verse 1 that you ought to underline in your Bible, where it makes the statement in chapter 5, stand fast therefore. In the Liberty where with Christ hath made us what? Free. You do not have to earn your salvation. You can’t get it by earning it. You can’t keep it by trying to earn it. By deserving it. Do I deserve salvation today more than I did 49 years ago?

No. I couldn’t earn it then and I can’t earn it now. I wasn’t good enough then and I’m not good enough now. I was saved by grace and I’m still saved by grace because I have done one thing in 49 years to deserve being saved. Neither of you shouldn’t say that. God did. So go there to Galatians in chapter 2 and look at this. See the universe form and that because of false brethren, Unawares brought in who came in privately to spywake our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus that they might bring us into bondage.

Now this is a strong statement that he makes hereritten opioapest DISTR attRotAMD ()) He says because of chars PiperimbabwePackageEconom brought in. FrieCENT conservancy This happened, and I want you to see this. Look down in verse 11. But when Peter was come to Antioch, I would stood him, Peter. And if he was the first pope, he really messed up. And yet he posed the beat, you know, and valuable. Well, Peter was not. Decided he had a wife. Anyway, we won’t get into that.

He said, but when Peter was come to Antioch, I would stood him to the face because he was to be blamed. It looked like an error problem in his man’s life. He says, for before that, certain came down from James, from Jerusalem. He did eat with the Gentiles. I’m not Peter. But when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision or these Jews. And the other Jews that were there in Antioch in this church in Antioch.

Remember this church in Antioch had Jews and Gentiles in the same body believers. Peter, one of the head honchos is the big name. He comes down as a guest speaker. I guess he was probably a traveling evangelist and he came down to visit the church there in Antioch. And while he was there, what did he do? He split Paul’s church. Split his church. So what did he do that was so bad? He compromised the gospel. Peter compromised the gospel because he was being hypocritical in what he did because when he was there with them he would talk and fellowship with those Gentiles, eight with those Gentiles, but when those legalistic Judaizers came down, he backed away.

Do you want anything to do with those Gentiles? Because he was afraid of what they might think. So he compromised. And how did this affect the gospel. Well it did because they taught you had to keep the law and they said you had to be circumcised and these Gentiles hadn’t and they still consider them dogs. So Peter withdrew himself and then the Jews that were in Paul’s church there withdrew also and Barnabas. You know the great comforter with Paul that counselor that when they came alongside and helped the great apostle Paul, he also was moved because of what Peter did.

And he also withdrew from the Gentile. Why? All because of some false people. See what they ought to know enough? They did, but they still got moved by it. And that’s why the Bible says Paul would stood Peter to the face and says, you’re to be blamed. You’re to be blamed. It’s your fault because of what you did. No. We ain’t got there yet. But we’re getting close to that portion of Scripture. Well, we’ll explain all of that. All right, now we’ve got to go back and cover until we get there.

But I just couldn’t stand it. I had to tell you the story in advance. Look what he says here in verse four. He says, they do this in order to spy out your liberty. and I try to put you in the bondage. In other words, to try to get you to live your life in fear like you’re going to lose your salvation. And that’s always the key thing. You’ve got to do this or you’ll lose your salvation. You’ve got to go to church because if you don’t, you’ll lose your salvation.

You’ve got to give money or you’ll lose your salvation. All these things, if you don’t do right and do it, then you’ll lose your salvation. And those sins out there, if you commit those, you’re going to have to get saved all over again and keep your confession built up as you go, or you don’t make it. And they used the fear of going to hell in the future to try to make you tow the mark. That’s a false message.

That’s been put under bondage. That’s under the law. It did not save you to start with, and it won’t keep you safe. Look what he says in chapter 3 of verse 1. He said, Oh, foolish, foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you? you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth crucified among you. This only what I learn of you. Receive you the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith.

He said, how did you get saved? How did you receive the spirit? Because you kept the law or because you heard and you simply believed. Boy, he hits it hard. This is an awesome book on the clarity of the gospel and the clarity of the gospel is an issue And I have made it an issue all my life I should say since I trust the crisis my Savior Now look there again in verse 5 looking verse 5 He says in verse 5 to whom We get used by subjection note not for an hour in other words, we didn’t budge one eye order because of who they were you don’t compromise the message just for the sake of peace.

Just so somebody will think something of you. No. So he says and you ought to underline it that the truth of the gospel might continue with you, continue with you. Did you know that if we start compromising the gospel and we say after a while you know there’s There’s nothing wrong with telling people to turn from their sin. There’s nothing wrong with making Christ the Lord and the Master of your life. Or just along the line, something simple like, you know, all you gotta do is just ask Jesus in the heart.

See those are phrases that people use, but none of that has to do with going to heaven. You don’t make Christ the Lord and the Master of your life to go to heaven. That’s for service. You don’t turn from your sins to be saved. You just trust Christ as your Savior. You don’t stop your sins in order for God to save you. Like now I deserve to be saved because I quit my sins. But if I don’t quit my sins, God, I don’t deserve to be saved.

All books I do, do you deserve it or not? No I don’t deserve to be saved. I never have. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll-free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771.

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Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryuptampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline, and now we’ll close you thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. Hot up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon. And just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, they’re God’s word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. 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 through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

But look what he says down in verse 14. He said, and profited, profited in the Jews’ religion. Now this is the great apostle Paul. I want you to see something because it’s really felt a little light on him. Hold your place right here and look in the book of Philippians in chapter 3. The book of Philippians in chapter 3. And look what he says, a lot about himself. in Philippians in chapter three verse one, he says, finally, my brethren.

So he’s writing to those that do believe the truth, that of trust and Christ is Savior. He says, rejoice in the Lord. Now you know where he’s writing from? Prison. And he says, rejoice in the Lord. Isn’t somebody that’s in prison writing to those people that’s on the outside? Hey, let me encourage you. It seemed like I’d be backwards today, wouldn’t it? In verse one, finally my brother and rejoice in the Lord to write the same things to you to me.

Indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs. Dogs? It’s really a reference for the people that are trying to do you in. As a Jew they used to call the Gentiles dogs. I ain’t making that up now. That’s what I’m not saying that. Even when he was on the cross he says dogs have compassed me round the bow which was a reference to the Gentile. Christ said that. But it was a reference to what they do.

They’re vicious and they want to devour you and tear you apart. He says in verse 2, beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concession. For we are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit and rejoicing Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. You ought underlined that phrase, no confidence in the flesh. That means that you and I should not put any confidence in our flesh. That means by what I do can save me.

Why would I think that anything that I do could save me? Don’t put confidence in the flesh or in your good works. Like, I’m trusting in my money that I give. I trust in my good deeds that I do. And I trust and don’t do that, he says. Here else he says, looking verse 4, though I, and he’s referring to himself now, as a religious man, though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man think that he had to wear up, he might trust in the flesh, I’m more.

He said, now look who I am. Verse 5, circumcise the eighth day of the stock of Israel, tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of Hebrews touching the law of Pharisee. That’s what he says about himself. He’s somebody. He’s always way up there in the Jews’ religion. He’s going to look at me. And if you think that being good’s going to get you to have a look how good I was. So he says in verse 8, concerning Zeala, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

It doesn’t mean he was perfect, but he was blameless. In other words, if he broke the law, he did what you had to do to correct the problem, and so he could be declared blameless. So the man was an awesome man, but he was religious, but he was lost. And look what he says about all those good things that he did. Look who he was. Now he knew the law. He tried to live by the law, and people that they tried to Earn their way to heaven Paul says I’ve been there done that Three says in verse seven, but what things were gained to me in the flesh?

Those I counted lost for Christ in Lord. I had all of that, but I didn’t have Christ That makes the difference You can have all your good works and not have Christ So he says here In verse 8, Yay, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. In other words, I’d rather have Christ than have all that other thing that I’m trusting in.

He said, all those things is confidence in the flesh because he talks about what he did, what he believed. The sacrifices that he made. But that was all works for salvation. And he says, I had confidence in the flesh in what I could do, but I didn’t have Christ. So look in verse nine. Verse nine ought to knock your socks off. You ought to knock the line this verse in your Bible. Look what Paul says here. He says, and be found in him.

Talk about Christ. Not having my own righteousness, which is of the law. But that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Now in this verse there’s two righteousness mentioned. One is by works righteousness and by faith righteousness. In other words, there’s the righteousness that I do. And he says, don’t put confidence in the flesh. And whenever you die or when the Lord comes, don’t be found having your own righteousness trusted in your works to get you to heaven.

God’s always said it won’t work. But there is a by faith righteousness. In the word byixel, you trust Christ as your Savior and Christ gives you His righteousness. Now God gave you His righteousness that would make you as righteous as God. If I was made as righteous as God, if He gave me His righteousness, that makes me as righteous as God. I go to heaven on His righteousness. Now would you do that go to heaven on yours or his?

So whenever he comes or whenever you die, how do you want to be found in him or in your own righteousness? So he says, be found in him not having my own right, not. means not trusting in your going to church, not trusting in your keep on the law, not trusting in your money because God’s already said and there’s going to be a lot of people going to be very surprised because that’s exactly what they’re trusting in. For example, a lot of people tell me I’ve trusted Christ as my Savior.

I know I’m going to heaven when I die. Sounds good so far. Then I asked him a simple little question like is there anything you can do between now and the time that you die that could keep you from going to heaven. Oh yeah, then you don’t get it. You don’t get it because if there’s anything you can do that could keep you from going to heaven, that means that you’re not doing that. That’s why you’re going. So you’re trusting in your works because if you do bad works, you’re not going to make it.

But if you do live right, You will make it. So your salvation doesn’t depend upon him, depends upon you. You’re not trusting Christ as Savior. Oh, it would be great if a lot of people could understand what I’m saying, but they don’t get it. They don’t understand it. Go back to Galatians. So little by little, see, there was these legalistic Judaizers that would follow the apostle Paul around him whenever they could. They would take those people that he reached and retrain them.

He said, you know, the apostle Paul, he doesn’t know everything. You know, he wasn’t with the other disciples in Jerusalem. I mean, he’s really a nobody. Now let me tell you. And so then they mingle the works in there. This is what you got. You got to be circumcised. You got to keep the law of Moses to be saved. So they changed the message. And Paul says, I am amazed that you’re so soon for quickly removed from him that called into the grace of Christ to do another gospel, which is not another one.

But there will be some that will trouble you. And this is why there’s people that don’t know where they’re going when they die. Because if I met a guy on the street and I said, do you know how to get to heaven? No. Well then you’re lost. You don’t have to get there from where you are. Do you know how to get there and then you don’t. You’re lost. Always I get a man lost before I try to get him saved.

But anyway, looking Galatians. He says in verse 14, and profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals and my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the tradition of my fathers. So he says, I know what it’s like to have a zeal. He says, I’ve been there. Hold your place here. But look there in the book of Romans. Romans in chapter 10, Romans 10. And look in verse 1. This is the Apostle Paul. Now remember he’s an Israelite.

But he says in verse 1 he says, brethren, he says, my prayer and hearts desire for Israel is that they might be what? Might be saved. He says, in verse 2, for I bear them record. That they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. That’s what he was like. He had this zeal. He was zealous of the tradition of his father. He knew the law, he knew the tradition, and he was going to kill those that try to mess up their little religious plan that they got going.

He was a Pharisee. Now today we would call a Pharisee a hypocrite. They taught, but they don’t do. But anyway, he says, for I bear them, Rick, that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. Remember, there’s two things that I’ve mentioned concerning these verses. You can have zeal, you can have knowledge. Sometimes you have a zeal to desire, boy, I want to do something for the Lord. I want to do something. But you don’t have the knowledge, at least a frustration.

But some people, they’ve got the knowledge on how to do a lot of things. But they don’t have any zeal. That leads to frustration too. So with zeal and no knowledge, it’s frustrating because you don’t know how to do what you want to get done. You want to do something, but don’t know what. And when you’re limited in knowledge, you’re limited in ministry. So that’s why you learn so that you’ll know how to do and then hopefully in the process you don’t lose the seal whenever I was 22 years old I had decided I’m going to go to Bible school And my father-in-law did everything you could talk me out of going to Bible school He says because Yankee she said you’ll go to Bible school and you’ll lose your fire He’s right now you’re on fire and you want to win souls and you want to do things and you want to go go go go go

He says, you’ll go to some seminary and some cemetery and they’ll kill you. Those dead teachers will cause you to be dead. Well, am I glad I found me a teacher that was on fire. I was Ray Stanford and Hank Lindstrom was down at the Baba College teaching and I had him for one of my classes. So, I don’t know what ever taught me, but I was in the class. anyway so that I don’t want you to lose the zeal that you have.

Don’t you lose your zeal? Now come up there and look at you in half within an inch of your life. But anyway here in the Romans he says in verse three, looking in verse three, they have a zeal but not according to knowledge. He says for they be an ignorant of God’s righteousness, going about to establish their own righteousness. Isn’t that an awesome verse? It says what they were ignorant of, they were trying to establish their own righteousness and it says, and not get the last part of that verse, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

And get verse 4, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that does what? Believe. That’s all you have to do is believe. And people say, well you got to do something. All you have to do is believe it. Trust Him. The only reason I’m going to heaven because I’m trusting Christ to take me to heaven when I die. Now am I going to heaven depends on Him, not me. Doesn’t depend on this church. It doesn’t depend on my wife.

It doesn’t depend on how I live. And people say, well, that means you can just go out here and live like a devil and still go to heaven when you die. Well, it’s better than living like you’re pleasing going to hell. I’d rather live like I’d pleasing go to heaven. Duh. If it’s by grace, it’s grace. People say, well, that means you just go out here and live wrong. Well, 49 years, I’ve been trying to live as holy God is I can not to get to heaven because I’m going on.

I just believe that if I’m a child of God I ought to live like it. I think if I’m a child of God I will use the language of the court. I’ll try to memorize this word. I mean these are the words of the king and I’m a child of the king. So you learn it. Anyway go back here to book regulations. You know what’s going to take us Six years you get to the Galatians. This right? Well, if you all spoke, your takes a long turn to the pages.

Look at Galatians in chapter 1, and look in verse 15. Now this is really awesome. It’s all the way back to, hey, let me start at the beginning. When he’s born! Now, I believe there’s two births that could be referred to here. One, the physical birth, and the other one, when he was born in the God’s family. But he talks about when God separated me from my mother’s womb. It’s kind of like what you need to see what he says about it in Jeremiah chapter 1.

Look there and hold your place right here. We’ll come back. I don’t know what you’re laughing about. Jeremiah chapter 1. I want you to see this because it relates to it. If this is true about Jeremiah and if it’s true about Paul, did you know there might be some truth in here about you? You might be able to relate to some of this. Look there in verse 4 of this first chapter in Jeremiah. He says in verse 4, then the word of the Lord came in to me saying, before I formed the in the belly, I knew you.

And before thou came his forth out of the womb, I sanctified your set you apart for a particular job. Or is there something I wouldn’t do? He says, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak. I’m a child. The Lord said to me, say not I am a child, but I want you to go and do everything that I tell you to do. And Jeremiah could have said, hey, wait, wait, wait, wait.

I didn’t ask to be born. Who did? Did you ask to be born? But here we are, lo and behold. But he said, look, this is God’s will for for me before I was ever born. Now I don’t believe in the fatalistic predestination type of teaching. I believe that Jeremiah could have rebelled against the will of God. It’s the will of God for him and what God wanted for him, but he had a choice of whether to do it or not.

God has a will for me. God’s not willing that any should perish. Does that mean nobody’s going to perish? No, they’re still going to perish. Why? Because they don’t trust Christ to Savior. He is the Savior of the world. That means the world saved? No. But He’s the only Savior in the world and all those who trust Him can have eternal life. He, that believeth Him, He hath everlasting life. He, then you don’t have it until you believe. So even though God has a will for His life, He had to choose whether or not to obey it or not.

He even got to one place, He says, I determine I’m not going to say another word for God. I will not speak. And then He says, but His word was in my bones as a plane of fire and it could not stay. It could not hold back. I had to do it. And this is what the word of God can do for you. And it can burn inside of you. And that’s what that zeal comes from. You want to do something.

And so look what he says in verse nine. Then the Lord put forth his hand, touch my mouth and the Lord said to me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. And this is what I want you to do. And he told them what to do. Now go back to the book of Galatians. the book of Galatians in chapter 1. In verse 15, he says, But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace.

Now, he was born into this world, and there came a time when he saw the light. I guess he could really sing that song. I saw the light because he saw the light on the Damascus Road. Jesus Christ appeared to him as one born out of due time. I’ll explain all that later. We might get into it. We’ll go to book back chapter 9, but it’s really it’s an awesome story. It really is. But now why did God save him?

Look what he says by his grace. Now, he was already in the Jews religion. He’d already done all these wonderful good works, and he was already a Pharisee. He was as religious as they come. But he says, I was ignorant of God’s righteousness. So when the Lord shone upon him and revealed to him, he says, I was saved by grace. And why didn’t God just take him on the heaven at that time and leave it there? Look what the next verse says.

And you ought to underline the first part of them. reveal his son in me, to reveal his son in me. That’s what God did for you and for me. So God wants to reveal his son in us. And then the last part of that verse says, that I might preach Him among the heathen. And so he says, when I heard and I understood what God wanted me to do, he said immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. He says, but I spent three years on the backside of Arabian Desert, just me and the Lord.

See what he says? He says in verse 17, neither went I up to Jerusalem to them that were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter. So he didn’t go to Jerusalem for a while there. But he spent time with the Lord and the Lord educated him. And the Lord used him in a great and wonderful way. Anyway, he says, then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him fifteen days.

But other of the apostles saw I known, save James the Lord’s brother. Now the things which I write unto you, behold before God, I lie not. Is that lie not? Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Silesia and was unknown by faith, under the churches of Judea, which were in Christ. But they had heard only that he which persecuted us in times past now preached the faith which once he destroyed and they glorified God in me. That last verse was a good verse to underline in the Bible.

And they glorified God in me. They saw what God had done for me. They saw how God had changed me. They could see me living for God. Now, they were apostles at the beginning. They didn’t want nothing to do with Paul because they knew the reputation that he had. He was a bad man. They didn’t trust him. And a guy named Barnumus, which he would like a comforter who came alongside and he helped him and caused some of the others to live out a little except him.

And Paul had to even flee for his life. had to take them over a basket, a wall in a basket, because they was going to kill them. Forty people at one time took out a vow, we’re going to kill this man. We’re not going to eat sleep until we kill this man. No, stop and think, huh? How many times has that happened to you? Has anybody threatened you lately? They said something and it hurt my feelings. Do we ever get feelings hurt?

Oh, do I do? I get my feelings hurt. You get your feelings hurt. But how many times have we been stoned? I don’t mean that way. Paul says I was beating with rods, but, you know, he wasn’t a race car driver either. Words have changed just a little bit, but it’s important for you and I to understand it. Look, we have an awesome message. This gospel that we have is not preached by everybody. Everybody don’t know this message. Church’s don’t understand the truth of the Gospel and it’s so important.

Look up here. You happen to be here this morning. Maybe you’ve seen this before. Maybe you haven’t, but it won’t matter. You watch it one more time. Watch my hand. At no time will it ever leave my wrist. I am not a magician. Nothing’s going to happen. I’m just want to illustrate something. This is you you and me. This book represents all the bad things we do. God calls it sin. It doesn’t matter what you call it. God calls it sin.

It’s rebellion to God. It’s imperfection, whatever it is. And we all have sinned. And God says to pay for what we did wrong is death and hell. So since everybody sins, everybody’s condemned. And God says, this hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord God in the flesh. He doesn’t have this in. But our sin separates us from the Lord. So I can’t get to him. He can’t get to me. Now if you die like this, then you will be eternity separated from God.

So you don’t want to die like this. So what Christ did was something wonderful. He said, if we pay for sin, it’s eternal separation from the Lord. And to go to heaven, you’ve got to be perfect. No sin. Well, you’ve got to debt. You got to pay it and God says you can’t pay for it by your good life There’s only one thing that God wants next death the way it’s in his death the soul that’s finished up died So when Christ came into the world It was appointed on the every man wants to die and so Christ died for every man So this hand represent Jesus Christ.

He was perfect. No sin. He came into the world because he He loves us, but not our sin. It separates us. So what Christ did is He went to the cross and He paid for our sins. Now He did this 2,000 years ago, pay for all of our sins and all that we have to do is believe that He did it for us. And He says that He would give us a free gift over the last few months. He died, paid for the sins, came back from the dead.

And God says, if I will simply believe it. Now if you try to earn your way to heaven you’re not trusting it. If you think you’ve got to go to church and do all these good deeds to get you to heaven, then you’re not trusting him. You can’t trust both. You can’t put confidence in Christ and confidence in the flesh. Flesh is a reference to you. You can’t have any part in this. He wants all the credit, all the honor, all the glory because He’s doing it all the work.

That just makes sense to me. So He made the payment for the sins of the world and said, that if you would believe he did it for you, he would give you as a free gift ever lasting life. And as everlasting life it lasts forever and you get to go to heaven whenever you die. So simple, so simple. Even a little child, a little child can understand. And that’s why he says the son, suffer or permit a little children to come underneath for such as the kingdom of heaven.

And so all you got to do is just as a child. I’m a son. I believe he He loves you to pay for your sins and God’s of the saving, give you the free gift that are lasting life. They make good news. That’s the best news in the world. Let’s have a prayer challenge. Every head down, every eye closed. No one looking around. If you’re here this morning, I’m not going to have you forward. I’m not going to have you join anything.

I don’t want your money. Keep it. I want you to talk to the Lord. I want you to understand that only the true and living God knows what you’re thinking. So you don’t become a religious hypocrite because you’re not promising to stop anything. You’re not committing to do anything. All you’re going to do is accept what he did for you. So would you just believe that he loved you and paid for your sins and came back from the dead and would you trust him, depend upon him to take you to heaven whenever you die?

If you will, I’d like to have prayer for you and I do it head by night’s close because I don’t want you to be embarrassed. I’m not gonna pin you up against the wall to try to trap you in any way But right what you’re sitting say preacher that made sense to me now. I want to be certain of one to heaven when I die So this morning Right now. I will accept Jesus Christ as my Savior And break your life Peter pray for me Would you just slip you hand it very quickly and put a right back down here with all?

Just slip it up very quickly put a right back down say yes, that made sense to me. There’s no tricks to it. No, you need God loves you that much, that He would give you a normal life, that when you get up to leave you, He’d say, hey, I’m going to heaven when I die. The day I trust that Christ is my Savior. And He said, it never cash me out, never lose me. I know I’m going to heaven because it’s free.

And when else before we close? Our Father, we do thank You so much for all You’ve done, of course, and for the one that indicated by nothing at the time that they trust Your Savior. By doing so, they become your child, born into your family, and given the free gift of eternal life. And then you are never cast to not enough of this. We ask your blessings upon this today. We ask your blessings upon the service to the Father, Christ and the replacement.

You have been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area. By dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org.

and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, and now we’ll close you thought from Pastor Arnold.

Friends, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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. And just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. 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 through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Well, glory. Get your Bible. Turn to the book of Galatians. Relations a book of Galatians in chapter one We started in the first chapter. Oh, we didn’t get too far, but we it was a start we talked about the a gospel of Jesus Christ and That it is by grace and not of works and God says there is not another gospel of the same kind There’s not another gospel of the different kind there is not another gospel the gospel What we’re talking about is the message by which a man is saved and has eternal life.

The message we’re talking about is the one you take into all the world and explain to people how they can be certain of eternal life. And it’s by grace and grace alone. And the test of the gospel is grace. Is it free? If the message that people talk about preaching to the gospel, if it isn’t totally free, it’s not the gospel. The gospel means without works. without works. It’s by grace. Grace is the absence of human efforts. So God does not save a man because he promises to live right or because of any good deeds that he does or any amount of money he may give, joining a church will not get a person to heaven.

Giving money, though I don’t mind you doing it, won’t get you to heaven. It won’t even help get your little pinkies one inch closer to the pearly gates. Salvation is truly a gift of God. But look what he says in verse 6, this is a little review on this real quick. I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ into another gospel. So if they were changed into another gospel means they started preaching works for salvation.

So that’s the only other kind of gospel there is. There is a gospel that is free of works and it’s by grace and it’s free. When you add any works to it, then it’s another message. It is not the same message. And I preached the sermon not long ago. And it dealt with, if you want to see the face of God, you have to understand the gospel. The gospel is how you get to know a little bit about God.

And so when you really understand the gospel, then you’ll understand about what God is like. If God says, He loves me, but I have to pay my way to heaven. No, wait a minute. And I say, well, what do I have to do? He’s just be perfect. Okay, we got a problem. I can’t be perfect. So what Jesus Christ did, God’s Son, came into the world, died on the cross and paid for how many sins? All the sins of the world.

Now if He paid for all of your sins, then you don’t have any to pay for it. They’re all paid. All you have to do is accept what he did for you and God gives you eternal life. And you get to go to heaven because it’s a gift. It’s totally free. Now, he says here in verse seven, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. You see, the reason that troubles you, any time you teach works for salvation, you cause a person that meant to anguish.

It really does. Because now his salvation going to heaven depends upon how good he is. So now he doesn’t know if he’s good enough to make it or if he’s bad enough not to make it. He don’t know where he stands anymore. See, as long as you knew it was free, you knew you had eternal life. He was going to heaven. He didn’t even get a worry about it. I have not had to worry about where I’m going to go for forty, nine years.

But if I believe that a man has to be good to get to heaven, that changes everything. Now I know how long do I have to be good and just how good? Well, you got to go to church. Okay, which church? Well, you got to give money. How much? What if I don’t have it? What if I gave it all? Then I started it. And then find that didn’t work and I go to hell. You have to understand salvation is the gift of God, but he says in verse 8, but though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel and you then that which we have preached and you let him be occurred.

In other words, the message is an accursed message. It doesn’t save a person. The message is accursed. And so God says, sever yourself from anybody who preaches and accursed message, a message that won’t save. That’s why it’s not wise for anybody to go to a church where the preacher preaches works for salvation Because a works for salvation message is a an accursed message It won’t say but look what he says here in Galatians in chapter 5. Just jump on ahead and just a little bit, but it’s okay But looking verse 1 of chapter 5 Stand fast therefore in the liberty where with Christ hath made us free and the only way you can and stand fast and liberty is that it was totally free.

If I have to do something to save myself, now I’m in bondage. Because now I’m enslaved, I’ve got to perform, I’ve got to go to church, I’ve got to give money, I’ve got to live right, I’ve got to do this, I can’t do that, I can’t. It’s bondage. It’s like putting yourself in a prison. And that’s what religion does. That’s why I hate religion. Religions are man-made. Comes from too Latin words, re-enligue, meaning to bind back. And there’s people trying to bind themselves back to God by their religion.

Religion will not work. Remember when Christ came it was the religious people that He had the problem with. They’re the ones that wanted them crucified. Who? The religious people. Because what Jesus said and what the religious leaders said wasn’t the same thing. And so today we tell people that this is by grace and grace alone. Wow, that’s too easy. You got to do something. can’t believe that it’s free, free. So he says in verse one, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

In the words where you’re in slavery and you have to perform. So he says, behold, I Paul said to you, if you be circumcised in order to be saved, Christ prophets you nothing. In other words, there’s no value there. People say, well, I’m trusting Christ, but I got to do good just in case. So that means you’re not really trusting Him, you’re trusting in your good works. And if you don’t perform, you don’t make it. That’s not salvation by grace.

That’s salvation by work. So that means you’re going to heaven depending on how you live. So that means you are the Savior. You’re saying the words Christ, you’re referring to Christ, but you’re not trusting Christ. You must trust Him in Him alone as your only hope of getting there. I’m not going to heaven because I’m a preacher. I’m not going to in heaven because I read the Bible and I study and I go to church and I give money and I know that’s not why I’m going to heaven.

I’m going to heaven because forty-nine years ago in a little old room in Athens, Georgia, I trusted Christ as my Savior and He saved me. I was just as much saved that moment as I am today. I had eternal life then. I got it now. It hasn’t changed. I am just as secure as I have always been. And how I live, does it make it more secure or more unsecure? Does it work that way? I’m going to happen because of what Christ did.

Who I like that. But look what he says in verse 4. Christ has become of no effect unto you, who so ever are justified by the law. And look, if you’re seeking to be justified by your works, then Christ doesn’t count. I mean, it’s of no avail. It doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t profit you anything. He’s, well, I’m trusting Christ. Where are you going to die? Well, hell, if I don’t change, then what did you need him for? He has nothing to do with it.

It all depends on you and how you live. So in the back of most people’s minds, they think, well, how you live ought to determine where you go. And it doesn’t work that way. Because if all of us went according to how we live, we’ll all go to hell. Nobody has ever lived so good they deserve to go to heaven. There isn’t no such person for all have sinned and come short of God’s perfection. Now, if you want to go to heaven by your good good to work on you.

I do it. Be perfect. Now who gets to go? Nobody. Nobody gets to go. Look what he says here in Galatians 2. Look there in verse 21. He says, I do not frustrate the grace of God. That means I do not set it aside. In other words, grace can only work if you accept it by faith. You cannot have grace by your works. They’re opposite. They don’t work that way. Grace means without words. Works means without grace. It means if it’s free, it’s free.

But if it’s by works, then it can’t be free. But if it’s free, it can’t be by works. Well, that makes sense. So he says in verse 21, I do not frustrate the grace of God for if, get this, if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. I mean, there was no purpose, no reason for him to die. If you have to earn your way to heaven. So the book of Galatians is clear. He said, well, where did Paul get such a message?

Well, you see there in verse 10 of chapter 1, he says, but I certify you, brother, that the gospel which was preached of me is not from man. In the word, I didn’t get this message from any individual. I didn’t get it from the other apostles. Remember the apostle Paul didn’t run around with the crowd. He wasn’t in there when Jesus was on the earth. He was persecuting the church, putting them in prison, slaughtering people. So he was a bad man.

So one day on the road to Damascus, we’re to get some paper so that he could put more people in prison, a bright and shining light. But look what he says in verse 12, verse 12, he said, for I neither received it up man, neither was I taught it. But by the revelation of Jesus Christ, in other words, I got it straight from the Lord. Jesus Christ. Now, if the Apostle Paul says that he got it from the Lord.

Now, he’s one of two things here. He’s either telling the truth or he’s lying. True? He says, I got this from God. He said, I didn’t get it from man. Now, if he’s telling the truth, then man didn’t originate this gospel. He got it from God, then it came from God. So God is the one that says there’s a heaven, I’ve never seen it. God’s the one that says there’s a hell, I’ve never seen that. I really don’t care to it.

You know if you would just let us dangle over the pits of hell, just for maybe five, ten seconds, it might convince every one of us to trust the Lord, huh? You know just give you a little warm up. But I’m glad that I don’t have to go to hell. And what I like about it, I can’t go to hell. See the lip of 49 years ago, I can’t go there. It’s impossible for me to go there. I can’t go today, I can’t go tomorrow.

I can’t never go to hell. You say, well, you think you’re so good? Yeah, no. It’s because I believe Christ died and paid for my sins and I trusted him as my savior. He’s my savior, saving me from what? From hell. That’s why I trusted him. So I wouldn’t go there. I had a person say one time, well, you ought not trust the Lord as fire insurance. I thought that’s a pretty good reason to trust him. Come to think of it, that’s exactly why I trusted the Lord.

I didn’t know God, didn’t love God. I was told he loved me and he didn’t want me to go to hell. And after I heard about that, I didn’t want to go there either. So I trusted Christ as my savior. Now, the next three verses really get interesting. So here’s the apostle Paul, now remember now, He was a Pharisee himself. So he was way up there in the Jews religion. I mean, he must have been somebody. But he says, I was high in the Jews religion.

He says, above many my own equal of my own age. So even as a young man, he then creamed and rose to the top real quick. So I guess he would say he’s one of the top notch boys. So in verse 13, he says, for ye have heard of my conversation, That means his behavior, his manner of life, and time passed in the Jews’ religion. So Paul says, hey, I was in religion. I was in the Jews’ religion, the religion of Judaism.

Now what was so wrong with it, I thought there the gods chosen people. You probably believe what they believe. Yep, but see, they didn’t believe what God had told them. God gave them the law in the Old Testament. No, thou shalt not. told him these things not to do. He gave him the moral law, the civil law, the sacrificial laws. He gave them all these laws. And as a nation they were supposed to obey that and God would bless him and so forth.

They didn’t smack them. But as an individual, doing those things never saved an individual. It just gave them national blessings or God’s chasing from other countries. But individually they still had to trust the Lord and believe on the Lord. They had to understand what those sacrifices were about. They had to believe that the Messiah was to come and to die and pay for the sins and all those sacrifices they made were only a type of it. So they forgot the reason for it and just did the rituals.

Just like people did they. God wants is people to go to church. Does he want us to go to church to go to heaven? No. But are there people today who go to church thinking that going to church or reading their Bible and praying and giving is going to get them to heaven? So they’re trusting in their rituals. These are things that we do, but we don’t do them to get to heaven. So there’s a lot of people that go to church and they’ll be churches filled all over America.

And they’re doing that so they can go to heaven when they die. In other words, look how good I am today. Now, it won’t matter what I am like. on Monday through sanity, but on Sunday I was in church. And I gave some money. So therefore I’m covered. I’m good to go till next Sunday. That’s religion. That won’t work. Paul was high up in their news religion. And look what he says. He says, how that beyond measure, I persecuted the church of God and wasted it.

Look, we got in verse 23, down in verse 23 But they had heard only that he which persecuted us in times past now preached the faith Which once he destroyed so the apostle Paul was a bad man and he did everything he could to destroy Christians and in his mind Heorage he was doing God ), a favor He thought he was doing the work of God By trying to stop these people Because what they were teaching was something contrary to the religion of Judaism and they had to be loyal and faithful and And they were willing to kill, protect their religion.

You know, I know some religions today don’t tell you if you don’t believe like they believe. You’ve heard of the religion of Islam. The religion of Islam is more of political than a religion, but it’s a belief system, but it’s also a political system. And the religion is man-made. It didn’t come from God. Man-made up that religion. the religions of the world that have works in their message on how to get to heaven and you have to earn it, that’s man-made.

The one that God made and God gave to Paul was its freedom and all the other religions want to charge. Just kind of like this, the King James version, it’s not copyrighted. So anybody can use it. Anybody can copy it. All the other versions are copyrighted. Why? Because it’s made for money. So they have to change at least 10% of it in order to make it different so that they can charge for it. And so they make it easier to understand.

Now is it better to have one that’s easier to understand but are they accurate? Or is it better to have one that’s really accurate but it might be a little difficult to understand? And that’s only because there are certain words that have changed but I’ve been using the King James all these years. And therefore I don’t have to worry about I can copy this and paste it and do whatever I want to do with it, but all the other versions, you can’t do that with it.

Because see, they did that for money. It’s not because they want to get the Bible in more people’s hands. The Bible was already the most popular bread book, soul book in the world. So anyway, I don’t know how y’all got me sidetracked on that y’all. But look what he says down in verse 14. He said, and profited, profited in the Jews’ religion. Now this is the great apostle Paul. I want you to see something because it’s really, those of the little I don’t have.

Hold your place right here and look in the book of Philippians in chapter three. The book of Philippians in chapter three. And look what he says, a lot about himself. But in Philippians in chapter three, verse one, he says, finally, my brethren. So he’s writing to those that do believe the truth, of trust and Christ is Savior. He says, Rejoice in the Lord. Now you know where he’s writing from? I have a prison. And he says, Rejoice in the Lord.

Isn’t somebody that’s in prison writing to those people that’s on the outside? Hey, let me encourage you. It seemed like I’d be backward today, wouldn’t it? In verse 1, finally my brother will rejoice in the Lord to write the same things to you, to me, indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, dogs. It’s really a reference to the people that are trying to do you in. As a Jew, they used to call the Gentiles dogs.

I ain’t making that up now. That’s what I’m not saying that. Even when he was on the cross, he says dogs have compassed me round the bow, which was a reference to the Gentiles. Christ said that. But it was a reference to what they do. They’re vicious and they want to devour you and tear you apart. He says in verse 2, beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the decision. For we are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.

You ought to underline that phrase, no confidence in the flesh. That means that you and I should not put any confidence in our flesh. That means by what I do can save me. Why would I think that anything that I do could save me? Don’t put confidence in the flesh or in your good works. Like, I’m trusting in my money that I give. I trust in my good deeds that I do. And I trust and don’t do that, he says.

Who else, he says? Looking verse 4, though I, and he’s referring to himself now, as a religious man, though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man think that he might trust in the flesh, I’m more. He said, now look who I am. Verse 5, circumcise the eighth day of the stock of Israel, tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of the Hebrews, touching the law of Pharisee. That’s what he says about himself. He’s somebody, he’s out way up there in the Jews’ religion.

He said, look at me. And if you think that being good’s gonna get you to have it, look how good I was. So he says, for a sake concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness, which is in the law, blameless. Doesn’t mean it was perfect, but it was blameless. In other words, if he broke the law, he did what you had to do to correct the problem. And so he could be declared blameless. So the man was an awesome man, but he was religious, but he was lost.

And look what he says about all those good things that he did. Look who he was. Now he knew the law. He tried to live by the law. And people that they’re trying to earn their way to heaven, Paul says, I’ve been there, done that. So he says in verse seven, but what things were gained to me in the flesh, those I counted lost for Christ. In Lord, I had all of that, but I didn’t have Christ. That makes the difference.

You can have all your good works and not have Christ. So he says here in verse eight, yay, doubtless and I count all things, but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but done that I may win Christ. In other words, I’d rather have Christ than have all that other thing that I’m trusting in. He said all those things is confidence in the flesh because he talks about what he did, what he believed, the sacrifices that he made.

But that was all works for salvation. And he says, I had confidence in the flesh, in what I could do, but I didn’t have Christ. So look in verse 9, verse 9 ought to knock your socks off. You ought to underline this verse in your Bible. Look what Paul says here. He says, and be found in him. Talk about Christ. Not having my own righteousness, which is of the law. that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.

Now in this verse there’s two righteousness mentioned. One is the by works righteousness and by faith righteousness. In other words, there’s the righteousness that I do. And he says, don’t put confidence in the flesh. And whenever you die or when the Lord comes, Don’t be found having your own righteousness, trusting in your works to get you to heaven. God always says it won’t work. But there is a by faith righteousness. In other words, by faith, you trust Christ is your Savior and Christ gives you His righteousness.

Now God gave you His righteousness that would make you as righteous as God. If I was made as righteous as God, if He He gave me his righteousness. That makes me as righteous as God. I go to heaven on his righteousness. Now would you do that go to heaven on yours or his? So whenever he comes or whenever you die, how do you want to be found in him or in your own righteousness? So he says, be found in him, not having my own right, not, that means not trusting in your going to church, not trusting in your keeping the law, not trusting in your money, Because God’s already said, and there’s going to be a lot of people going to be very surprised.

Because that’s exactly what they’re trusting in. For example, a lot of people tell me, I trust a Christ as my Savior. I know I’m going to heaven when I die. Sounds good, Subar. Then I asked them a simple little question like, is there anything you can do between now and the time that you die that could keep you from going to heaven? Oh, yeah. Then you don’t get it. You don’t get it. Because if there’s anything you can do that could keep you from going to heaven, that means that you’re not doing that is why you’re going.

So you’re trusting in your works because if you do bad works, you’re not going to make it. But if you do live right, you will make it. So your salvation doesn’t depend upon him, depends upon you. You’re not trusting Christ’s Savior. Oh, it would be great if a lot of people could understand what I’m saying, but they don’t get it. They don’t understand it. Go back to Galatians. So little by little, see, there was these legalistic Judaizers that would follow the apostle Paul around and whenever they could, they would take those people that he reached and retrain them.

He said, you know, the apostle Paul, he doesn’t know everything. You know, he wasn’t with the other disciples in Jerusalem. I mean, he’s really a nobody. Now let me tell you. And so then they mingle the works in there. This is what you got. You got to be circumcised. You got to keep the law of Moses to be saved. So they changed the message. And Paul says, I am amazed that you’re so soon for quickly removed from him that called to the grace of Christ to do another gospel, which is not another one.

But there will be some that will trouble you. And this is why there’s people that don’t know where they’re going when they die. Because if I met a guy on the street and I says, do you know how to get to heaven? No. Well, then you’re lost. You don’t know how to get there from where you are. Do you know how to get there? Then you don’t. You’re lost. How is that to get the man lost it’s why I try to get him saved.

But anyway, looking Galatians, he says in verse 14 and profited in the Jews religion above many my equals and my own nation being more exceedingly zealous of the tradition of my fathers. So he says, I know what it’s like to have a zeal. He says, I’ve been there. Hold your place here. But look there in the of Romans. Romans in chapter 10, Romans chapter 10, and look in verse 1, this is the Apostle Paul. Now remember he’s in Israel.

But he says in verse 1, he says, brethren, he says, my prayer and hearts desire for Israel is that they might be what? Might be saved. He says, In verse 2, for I bear them record. That they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. That’s what he was like. He had this zeal. He was zealous of the tradition of his father. He knew the law, he knew the tradition, and he was going to kill those that try to mess up their little religious plan that they got going.

He was a Pharisee. Now today we would call a Pharisee a hypocrite. They talk but they don’t do. But anyway, he says, for I bear them record, they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge. Remember, there’s two things that I’ve mentioned concerning these verses. You can have zeal, you can have knowledge. Sometimes you have a zeal to desire, boy, I want to do something for the Lord. I want to do something. But you don’t have the knowledge, at least a frustration.

But some people, they’ve got the knowledge on how to do a lot of things. But they don’t have any zeal. least a frustration too. So with zeal and no knowledge is frustrating because you don’t know how to do what you want to get done. You want to do something but don’t know what. And when you’re limited in knowledge you’re limited in ministry. So that’s why you learn so that you don’t know how to do it. And then hopefully in the process you don’t lose the zeal.

You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the Clear Gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bible line and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, CalvaryofTampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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. and just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

the 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 totally. which is toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

I want to go through Galatians and Ephesians, and so a little bit a little. We’ll cover some of these New Testament books, and I hope that it’ll be a blessing to you. But the book of Galatians and chapter one. Now, the book of Galatians was written mainly for the Gentiles, and of course Hebrew, was what, probably written for the Hebrews. And Galatians is the battle cry of the Reformation. A man is justified by faith without works. You’d be surprised how many people make that same statement, And then when you listen to them on Ready-Yo or TV, it seemed like when they get to the gospel part, they seem like they add a little works to it, but they don’t know they’re doing it.

Because evidently, but it’s so obvious. And you can detect it, but they don’t see it. In traveling around, and in the last few years, I’ve been in probably 120 churches. And invariably, we’ll go to the track rack. You know, almost churches have some tracks. We’ve got tracks inesm bookstore. And so I always look at the tracks. And I never pay any attention to, mainly, sometimes the heading on it or looking at a few pages and say, I always turn it over and look at the back, what does a man have to do to be saved?

I want to find out, what does he say? Because that’s how I judge whether or not I want to read the rest of it. It’s not clear. I can’t use it. I’ve kind of liked the old track that I’ve been using for all these years and y’all have been using the same track. variations, but Boaf’s seen about 150 different variations of the Heaven track. But anyway, in the book of Galatians, these are some churches that were started by the Apostle Paul when he went to Antioch and Iconium and Listera and Derby and places of Galatia and won these people to Christ.

But whenever he led him to the Lord, they’d always come these legalistic Judaizers. They kind of like followed Paul, try to undo what he did. Now they couldn’t win people to the Lord, but they try to take the ones that he had reached and mess them up. There’s always people like that. They can’t reach people, but they like to mess up those that somebody else has got. Anyway, there were three main areas of these Judaizers that was a false teaching.

And so as you read through the book of Galatians, you’ll see that the apostle Paul will address these issues and it should help a person to be fairly clear. And one of those is on the legalism that you’re saved by your works, your rituals or your ceremonies. We know that in studying the Bible that is not true. No man is saved by his works. But that is clear cut. We can automatically tell, hey, that’s wrong. That’s wrong. But then you have somebody who had grace and works together.

Now that’s harder to detect because it sounds like, well, it says, they said it by say, by grace, but, and then they but it all over the place. And so you hear the both sides. And generally, if a preacher is clear on one message and he’s muddy the next message, he’s muddy. The clear was the accident. The money is the way he really is. And so when you hear it and you You listen to it and you think, boy, he’s just right.

We are straight right down the line. And then you’ll hear him preach the sermon to her. No, where’d that come from? And they add works to the gospel. So it will help you to understand that. And so they were guilty of teaching and accusing the apostle Paul of being an extreme anti-nomian, anti-nomian. I was accused of that one time. And well, several times. That’s when I was blackballed in two major denominations. One year, a year and a half after I left Florida Bible College, I had a couple of experiences up in Minnesota.

Anyway, I was accused of being so against the law that I was accused of being anti-against, no means law. So I was against the law. So that means that you’re just, for people just living anyway, they want to have a life. live. It doesn’t make any difference. How you live? Well, nobody’s ever heard me say it doesn’t make any difference how you live. Now, if you’re talking about salvation, that’s true. You’re talking about the Christian life and God’s blessings and rewards in heaven.

Now, that’s a totally different issue. I want people to serve the Lord with all my heart, but not to be saved. But if they have trusted Christ of Savior, I believe they should. But if they don’t, are they still saved? Yes. So, So one of the questions that were generally asked of me by preachers, because I walked into one ministerial association meeting, somebody asked me if I would go. So I went about 30 of them in a preacher’s. All kind of religions.

And so the one question that the person stood to me, he says, I got a question for you. Okay. I mean, I’m just young. I’m right at Baba College. I’ve ever been at 22. I’m about 28 years old. New everything. But anyway, this guy. He says, can I practice seeing homosexual? Be a Christian, dying go to heaven, practicing homosexual means still in the sin. And that loaded question. And so they probably expected me to him and Hall and sweat it out.

And as soon as he said it, he says, can I practice in homosexual, be a Christian, dying go to heaven? Of course you can. Sure. What’s your problem? And buddy, I had about 20 of those creatures jump to their feet and started hard at least. And I said, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I would venture to say something’s worse than that. Is it probably most of you people sitting in this room, and I’m talking to a preacher.

I said, most of you probably don’t even know where you’re going when you die anyway. Back then, years ago, I was bold. I didn’t care. And I said, you’re probably going to hell. I said, you’re probably not even saved. And so then it says, well, what do you mean? Well, that’s exactly what I wanted him to say. Now I’ve got to explain what I mean. So I went through the gospel and I explained that this is what it is.

And this is what it is not. And I says, if you believe that you’re saved by grace but you kept by your works, I said, you don’t understand it. I said, you don’t understand it at all. I said, eternal life is a gift. And a man is saved by grace. And I says, just pretend for a moment. Let’s say that practicing homosexual is a Christian and that person dies and that person goes to heaven. That’d be grace would it.

And anyway, people can’t believe, but because you defend it that way and you’re talking about salvation, people still have problems believing that you can be saved and you don’t have to serve a Lord and how you live has nothing to do with your destination. It doesn’t affect your destination. Now, it affects your way of travel. Yes, but not your destination. My destination is fixed. That’s what Christ did for me. Now, I should show the Lord how much I love him by loving the Lord and serving him and seeking to please him.

And so the book of Galatians is also written to show us how to live the Christian life. But you’ve got to separate salvation from service. Old man the other day, I says, how many kids you got? He says, I’ve got five. I says, how many of them did you tell them how to live before they were born? He’s like, it’s your point. But he didn’t like my point. You have to be born into God’s family before you teach them how to live.

My kids, they’re born my family. Then I try to teach him how to live. But you don’t try to teach a child how to live the latter he’s born. I said, don’t that make sense? So when you come to salvation, either you’re going to defend it or you don’t defend it. And you have to know what it is, you have to know what it isn’t. And if it is by great, it cannot be by works. And if a man does not deserve it.

He can’t deserve it before or after. I am not going to heaven now more so because now I deserve to go. After all I’ve been preaching for 40 something years. I deserve to go and there’s other people while they don’t live so they don’t deserve to go. You’d be surprised how many people in the back of their mind still believe. You’re saved by grace with your works. One annulls the other. See the one way or the other. But then also on the thing about Galatianism, trying to make sure that you understand it.

You’re saved by grace and you can’t save by grace. It’s not that you’re saved by grace and then the Lord indwells you and helps you to live good enough to make it. Many people believe when you trust Christ is Savior, He forgives you if you’re sins you’ve done and now He’s going to give you the power to live this life. Good enough to make it someday. G-d that is not the gospel and it’s not the truth. So Galatians was written for several reasons to expose false teaching.

So as we read the book of Galatians you’re going to see that it exposes this one and this one, this one, because the only way you can expose false teaching is by true teaching. If you don’t know the truth, you cannot discern air. So that’s why you study the truth. The truth will make you free. And so also you’re defending Paul’s apostleship because he claimed to be an apostle and even in the book of Corinthians he says, am I not an apostle?

He says, are you not ye my work in the Lord have not I seen the Lord. He says, evidently, ye are my work. I am an apostle. And he did the science and the miracles and so forth. So he says that he is going to defend his position. Now, I’m a little bit like the apostle Paul in the sin of God. I don’t really like to defend myself on anything. I like to say what I say and believe what I believe and do it and that people don’t like it.

that’s tough. But I do realize there’s sometimes I need to explain why I say what I say and do what I do. And so that you’re not purposely being offensive. Now all truth is offensive. Jesus Christ offended more people probably than anybody. Is it because he was wrong? It wasn’t because he was wrong. It’s because truth exposes air. And a lot of people are in there. And also to show you that salvation is by faith alone without a mixture of law and grace.

And also it teaches the Christians on how to live. So in a few chapters here, there’s only six chapters, but chapter one and chapter two are personal. The Apostle Paul telling you where he’s coming from, where he got the gospel and talking about his meeting with the head honchos in Jerusalem and how that their message did not add anything to his message, that he got his message straight directly from the Lord himself. And that’s in verse 11, 12, and 13.

So on. Now, you also have in chapter three and four is doctrinal. You have a lot of good doctrine taught. And so when you teach the doctrine, then in chapter five and six, it explains the position of the practicality, the application. So it’s personal first two chapters and the second two chapters is doctrinal and the last two chapters is practical. The application put it into practice, the two natures, the walk that you have in the Lord. every one of these chapters all chapter six, chapter one tells you where the gospel came from, from the apostle Paul’s point of view.

Now talking about the other apostles, he’s talking about where he got his message. So he’s talking about where the gospel came from, how he got the message. And then who the gospel came through. And then in chapter three, who the gospel came to? chapter 4, the child of God is born. So you got lost people, so Paul is kind of laying it out in a system that here’s a lost man and now here’s a child and then here’s his direction he’s supposed to go and blah blah blah.

So it’s all laid out and it all follows and whenever you steady the scriptures that way then you can follow the train of thought. Otherwise you think it’s just this truth and in this truth and in that truth. No, it’s a it flows. It’s he builds a case like a lawyer does and he presents it in court and wants you to look at the evidence and this is what he does. And so the child is born in chapter 4, chapter 5, the child has to learn to stand and to walk.

So in chapter 5 it starts off it’s stand fast therefore in the liberty where with Christ has made us free and walk in the Spirit, not walking in the flesh. And so then when you come to chapter 6, it talks about how the child of God should run. And we should run the race that is set before us, and so it all lays it out in a very good, I believe, outline for him. But anyway, so Paul told the truth.

He told the truth about the gospel in chapter one. He told the truth about the law in chapter two. He told the truth about grace in chapter 3. He told the truth about the Son in chapter 4 and the truth about growth in chapter 5 and about the Lord in chapter 5 because we are children of his household and it says pray about everything and about everybody but Especially them of the household of God. So there’s a lot of good stuff to learn here in the book of Galatians.

So look into the book of Galatians and chapter 1 Galatians chapter 1 Paul and Apostle not of men neither by men but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead. So Paul says hey my appointment did not come from man. What I got came from the Lord came from the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the one that raised up Jesus from the dead. That’s who has given me the authority to teach what I teach and if you’re looking at verse 11 looking verse 11 He says but I certify you brethren That the gospel which was preached of me It’s not after man.

So not only was my apostleship given to me by God himself The message that I preached did not come from man didn’t come from the other apostles. It didn’t come from sitting at the feet of Gamaliel, it came from Jesus Christ. You see Jesus Christ appeared to Paul and taught Paul. Now what not have been some Bible school to sit in there? He are going all the way up there to Chicago and wouldn’t you have liked to sit at the feet of the Lord Himself?

Jesus taught him what to say. See what he says there in verse 12. But I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ taught Paul. Now but that’s some teaching. I would believe probably he knew what he was talking about and if he says that it is not by your works then it’s probably not your works. God told him that. And so I guess people can believe whatever they want to believe but I happen to believe.

In studying the scriptures over the years I I can’t fathom the idea that any man or group of men, natural men, could write the Bible. They couldn’t write such truths. They couldn’t even make it up. This is the Word of God. Look what he says in verse 2. He’s writing this to the churches that are in Galatia. Like I said, that’s Antioch, and Iconium, and Lystra, and Derby. Four major cities that he went to. I thought the city of Lystra is where he was stoned to death, and caught up into heaven in chapter 12.

He says, and I knew a man in Christ about 14 years ago, whether in the body or out of the body, he says I cannot tell, but such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I saw things unlawful for a man to speak about. Because of the abundance of the visions and revelations, he says, God gave me a thorn in the flesh. We don’t really know what that thorn in the flesh was. He might have been his bad eyesight, could have been a bad back.

Might have been who knows what, but he had to suffer. And it was always to keep him humble and dependent upon the Lord. And so something that just beat him down all the time. Boy, what a man. But anyway, in verse three, he says, grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins. Who gave himself for our sins. so hard for some people to understand. And I used it in order to witness to people.

When I shenan say, look, let me ask youDragonMagazine two things. Isn’t it true that you’ve heard most of your life that Hebdo’s cries down the cross and paid for all the sins of the world? Yeahagascar, question number two. If he paid for all the sins of the world, why would you go to hell? Of course he goes because he rejects thePopulation, but he don’t know He don’t know that yet. Why would you have to go to hell and pay for sin if Christ paid for all the sins of all the world?

And most of them have no clue. I said, well, let me explain it to you. But I like to sort off sometime with those two little, defeal questions. A lot of times I use 1 John 5, 13. If you could know you could have eternal life, wouldn’t you like to know? the Bible says let me show you right here. Not shown for John 513. The Bible says these things have are written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have.

You turn a lot. So can you know you have eternal life? Yes. Can you know you’re going to have an, of course you can. Greatest news in the world. But here in verse 4, it’s not only to save you from hell and have your sins forgiven, but also that in this present evil world to be able to deliver you from sin that’s in the present. evil world where you are now. Now I know the day is coming when we’re all going to be taken out of here.

We’re going to have a new body. You won’t have a sinful nature. Won’t have to worry about it. Everybody in here, we’re going to love each other. We won’t have to pretend it’ll be real and we’re not going to have a sinful nature what we want to do anything wrong. We have no ulterior motives. It’s it’s going to be wonderful but we’re not there yet. So we often talk about when we’re saved We’re saved, saved, saved. And what I mean by that is we’re saved from the penalty of sin, which is death and hell.

We are being saved from the power of sin in our life. And someday we will be saved from the very presence of sin. So we’re saved, saved, saved. I have been saved, I am being saved and I will be saved. Now a lot of people take that to me that I have been saved and I’m still working on being saved and now one day I hope I will be saved. No I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about when I was saved I was saved from the penalty of sin.

I’ll never have to go to hell. But now once I’ve trusted him as my Savior and God is my Father and the Holy Spirit indwells me. I’m his child, the Holy Spirit living within us and to our mortal bodies is to give us the power that we need over sin in our life. See sin that’s sinful nature to you and I have is powerful. It’s very strong and it’s real and every one of us have it and every one of us are going to struggle.

And many times we fail but along with this whole sinful nature you have God has given to you and and I, the power of the Holy Spirit. And that’s so that we can live in this present evil world and have victory. So that the sin nature does not dominate you. Now you have your sin nature. You can’t say when you don’t have it. You’ll have it until the day you leave this old body. It’s in our flesh, it’s in our members.

And that’s why we call it the lust of the flesh, the physical body. Now God saved your soul, washed it, why does snow? But he never touched your body. Now he’s going to redeem your body one of these days. You’re going to come down here, you’re going to change your body, you’re going to take it to heaven. And if you’re alive when Christ comes back, he’s going to change you in a moment, the twinkling of an eye. And we’ll be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

So I believe that day is coming. So look what he says in verse four, who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world. And we know one day will totally be out of this old present evil world. So I have men say, I am being saved and one day I will be saved, means be delivered from this present evil world by either death here or the rapture, but I’m going to be out of this old world.

And in verse 5 he says to whom, be glory forever and ever, amen and amen. Now verse 6, I’ve taught this a lot because I usually always refer to verse 6 and the following verses down to verse 9 because they’re so good, it’s so powerful. He said, I marvel, you’re so soon removed from him who called you into the grace of Christ into another gospel, but there is not another gospel, but there’s some who would trouble you and pervert the gospel of Christ.

He said, but we are an angel from heaven preached unto you any other gospel, and that which we have delivered in you, he says, let him be a curse. But now in verse 6, he had already been there, he led these people to the Lord, but something’s changed. What happened? Some of these legalistic Judaizers had come down and got ahold of some of these people and stirring them up and telling they had to keep the law and was putting them back under the law.

And so Paul says, I marvel that you are so soon removed. In the words, you may say, well, I’ve been coming here to Calvary for 20-30 years. Did you know you could leave this church, go to another church? Now they’re not as clear, but you already got this good foundation and you’ll know what you believe and you’re going to stand right there. And so you accept it and accept it and you know after a while you won’t see anything wrong.

You’ll lose your discernment. You will not be as clear as you used to be. You can be changed. You can be moved. You see, that won’t happen to me. I’ve been doing this a good while. And I’ve seen people change that said they would never changed. I said in Bible college, with students that heard everything just like I heard. And we all agree, man, we’re going to stand for the gospel to our dying day and, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And buddy, you’d be surprised how fast people can change. Anyway, verse 6, I marvel that you’re so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ or the gospel of Christ, onto another gospel. So the grace of Christ would be the gospel and be in change from the grace of Christ into another gospel. He says, there’s two Greek words, heteros, and the other word is olos. means of the same kind and there’s one of a different kind.

So you have the word here, heteros, of a different kind, but God says there’s not another gospel of the same kind and there’s not another gospel of a different kind. So it uses both words. There’s only one gospel. There’s not two gospel. And so whenever you add words to the gospel, it’s no longer of the gospel. So the Bible says here in verse 7, which is not another. It’s not another gospel of the same kind. But there be some that trouble you and those that trouble you them.

It’s just like in the book of Acts in chapter 15 where he talks about they went out from us that it might be revealed that they were not all of us. For they’ve been of us they no doubt would have continued with us but because they were not of us, they went out from us. Doesn’t that make sense? That’s 1 John chapter 2 also. But he makes the statement that there were those who would trouble them and they troubled them by subverting people in their mind by a false gospel.

And when you start believing a false message, you start propagating a false message. And when you no longer see anything wrong with certain terminology, then it becomes acceptable. And then you start promoting a message that once you despised, but it happens little by little. Now look what he says. In verse seven, he says, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you just talking about mentally. He said, and would pervert the change. Reverse. The gospel of Christ.

But though we are an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be a curse. And we’ll get into that a little bit more next. But I believe that the book of Galatians is an awesome book, great book, got a lot of good truth in it. And it is the battle cry of the Reformation. This is the, I believe, the book that shows you what the gospel is what it is not.

And I believe that teaching on the two natures in the fifth chapter is the key for understanding the Christian life. So it is a great book and enjoy getting into that. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 10.30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. friend one day it will happen the trumpet will sound 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 just keep looking up

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline, Bibleline, Here God’s word on\\\\\\\\ Everywhere, every timeVIDIA eat Godoz truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, Pastor of Calbreak Community Church in Temple. 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 through the Bibleline website at CalvaryofTampa.org. We pray that you’ll 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.

He said, don’t you believe the Bible? I said, every word of it. I had no clue what it said. I just got saved. I mean, that’s a lot. I mean, that’s that thing is just thick. I’m not putting all that thing in there. But whatever it said, I believe it. And I know God wasn’t going to say something dumb. He said, well, if I show you a verse, would you believe? I said, I’ll believe the verse, but I won’t believe what you say about it.

He read me a verse. And this is what it says. “‘The whosoever is born of God, “‘if not commit sin, for his seed, “‘remaineth in him, and he cannot sin “‘because he’s born of God. “‘He looked at me with a smirk on his face. “‘Are you born of God?’ “‘I said, yes, I am.'” He said, you still sin. I said, yes, I do. He says, then you’re not saying, yes, I am. Guess what? He said, no, you’re not. We went at it again.

I wanted to deck him. I had no clue how to handle the flesh. I didn’t want to handle the flesh, not just one of the handling of him, but I didn’t hit him. I wanted to. Anyway, I walked away from him. What was I mad? I wasn’t mad at him. I was mad at God. Why’d you put that verse in there? That verse don’t belong in the Bible. But it was in there. I saw it. I read it. And that’s what it said.

I said, God, you messed up. I said, you shouldn’t have done that. You say, you shouldn’t talk to God like it. Well, I know that now. But now notice here in 1 Peter in chapter one, looking verse 23, very important, beingFYorn again, not of corruptable seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveeth and abideth forever. Now, there’s several things I want you to see in this verse. Verse 23, being born again. So when I trusted Christ as my Savior, I was born of God.

Now, give what he says, not of corruptable seed. Look up here. My first birth flesh was born of a corruptible seed. I got it from my parents. Guess where they got theirs and guess where they got it from them. And then on down the line goes all the way back to who Adam and Eve. And we all sin and we all die. We all mess up. That’s the flesh. So I know that my new birth did not come from my old birth.

God gave me a brand new birth. brand new one, born of God. Now, this over here, this is my new birth. When I trusted Christ as my Savior, I was born again, born from above. God fathered this child. That’s why I am a child of God. God is my father, he fathered me. I was born by the incorruptible seed, which is the what, as it says in his verse, the word of God. Now, let me show you my new birth.

You always wanted to see a new birth, right? This is my new birth. When I was born again of a spiritual birth, God gave me a new birth. So I was just a little baby when I was born. Now, it doesn’t matter if you were four years old or 40 years old or 80 years old, when you got saved, you started with a new birth. you are just a child, a babe in the Lord when you trusted Christ as your Savior.

So that is your new birth. This one is different from this one. For example, the day you got saved, right before you got saved, if you had looked in the mirror, mirror mirror on the wall, crack, you looked in the mirror and if you were ugly, and you knew you trusted the Lord and then you looked in the mirror again, you still are? God did notIntroduced your flesh. arnaev he didn’t changer over. Your flesh is still the same. You are ugly today.

You are ugly today. But when you trusted Christ as your Savior, He gave you a new birth. This one came from an incorruptoreAnd seed, the word of God. This one came from a corruptibles seed. And that’s why he says that which is corrupt cannot give birth to incorruption. Can’t do it. That’s why the new birth cannot come from the flesh. That’s why you cannot earn your salvation. That’s why you can’t earn the new birth. Whenever the Bible says for by grace or you say that means it’s not by your works or it’s not by the flesh.

It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. It’s not of works. You couldn’t earn it. You can’t work for it. You can’t manufacture it. The flesh can’t produce the new birth. This has to come totally from a new source, the word of God. So it is a new birth given to us by God. I wanna show you something else from this verse. In the last part of verse 23, you’ll notice this says, “‘Which liveth and abideth for how long?”

Forever. This new birth born by the incorruptible seed, liveth and abideth for how long? forever. That’s why once you trust Christ as your Savior, you are a child of God for how long? Forever. And it’s simple. Anyone who teaches you can be saved today and lost tomorrow don’t understand the gospel. Don’t understand it. If the gospel they preach can get you saved today and lost tomorrow, it means that their gospel didn’t make them perfect. It didn’t give them a new birth.

If ours does, duh, ours is better. We got a better message. And when you understand the gospel, it’s the most powerful thing in the world. I asked one guy, kept telling me I could lose my salvation. I said, look, if a man could be saved today and lost tomorrow, I said, shouldn’t there be at least one story, one verse, one illustration in the Bible that said so? Show me it. Where God saved a man and lost him. Can’t do it.

Why? Not in there. Why would you want to teach something the Bible doesn’t say? Let me go a little further. If it’s possible, can God save a man, lose a man, and then get him saved again? I says, if it’s true, there ought to be at least one story, one verse or one illustration in the Bible that said so. Shouldn’t there? Well, if it’s not there, why would you want to teach something the Bible doesn’t teach? Bible doesn’t say that.

And I double-balled Durham to prove it. They can’t do it. It’s the greatest thing to know is that once I trusted Christ in my Savior, I became a child of God for all eternity. Somebody says, yeah, but what about all the bad things that you do? Good question. Why do we do the bad things that we do? Well, if you really say you’re not going to want to go out here and do all these bad things. What I was told, you know that guy that I met that day that was a victim at the bottom the hill.

That one that trapped me, I’ve been looking for him ever since. I’ve got an answer for him now. You see, in that verse in 1 John 3, 9, where it makes a statement, whosoever is born of God, if not commits sin, for his seed remaining in him and he cannot sin because he’s born of God. I don’t have any answer question. Which one of these is born of God? That one. This is the one that’s born of God. He can’t commit a sin.

For His seed reminded him and he cannot sin. Duh, that’s why. Now, if he cannot sin, he cannot die. Does God have a sinful nature? No. God is perfect. This child is perfect. Has no sinful nature. Born with that one. And if he cannot sin, it cannot die. So how long will you be a child of God? Forever. Forever. And he’ll never cast you out, never lose you. You’re his child. Like he said in the book of John chapter 11, if a man believe in me, he shall never die.

And if he die, yet shall he live. A man believe in me, he shall never die. Though he die, yet shall he live. So simple when you put this in here. Now take your Bible and look there in the book of 2 Corinthians 5, 2 Corinthians and 5. 2 Corinthians 5, look there in verse 17. A lot of times people take this as their favorite verse, but sometimes they don’t really use it correctly. In verse 17, therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.

That’s a new creation. When God looked at you as a lost man, God saw you in the flesh. That’s your position. But when you’re trusting Christ as your Savior, God sees you now in the Spirit. Spirit to birth. That’s how God sees you. That’s your position. And it can’t change. It doesn’t talk about your state. This is your standing. This is your position in Christ. And because you are now in Christ, and this can’t change, this is a new creation, God didn’t say this did not come from the old.

The old did not produce this. This came from God. Now, this was your old condition. You were a child of the devil going to hell. Now you are a child of God going to heaven. This is a new condition. And this one wants everything new. This is the old man. He liked everything old, new, everything new. So he says here, last part of verse 17, behold, all things will become new. They’ll become new. This is a new birth. So God has something new for this one.

Now this little baby gets hungry, gets hungry, wants to eat. Well what does he desire? First Peter chapter two, he desired the sincere milk of the word that he might grow there by. So you need to feed this new birth. But he feeds from this. Now, how many of you in this room have ever heard of a guy named Mike Tyson? You ever heard of Mike Tyson raise your hand? Let me see, yeah. Just about everybody in this room has heard of Mike Tyson.

Mike Tyson, he’s a bad man. Ask him, he’ll tell you he’s a bad man. Now Mike Tyson left to beat up on people. And he’s one tough dude. Now I’m going to ask you a question and I want you to be serious with me. You don’t have to hold back. It won’t hurt my feelings one way or the other. But how many of you believe that Mike Tyson was in his prime? He could whoop me. Let me see. Okay, bad illustration.

Now, but Mike Tyson, he’s bad. He could work me. But how would you like to take this little child and put this little child in the boxing ring with Mike Tyson? Now over here, this is Mike Tyson. That’s your old sinful nature. It’s your flesh. You see, your biggest enemy is not the religion of Islam. It’s not communism. It’s not anything else. It’s not the politicians. It’s not your next-door neighbor. It’s not your wife. Now your biggest enemy is that person that lives on the inside of you called your old sinful nature.

That’s why you’re going to get defeated because of sinful nature. God didn’t do anything with him. God didn’t change him. God simply gave you something new. Somebody said, well, when I got saved, God took away all my sinful desires. He did not. Wouldn’t do give him back to you later. If he took yours away, why didn’t he take everybody’s sinful to the desires away and you wouldn’t even need a preacher? I mean, I’d be out of a job. Only if we got jobs because y’all got problems.

Y’all got hang-ups. If you know how to do everything, you wouldn’t need us, but you do. Now this is the flesh. At Mike Tyson lives inside of you. God says desperate, deceitful, wicked. He wants to do you in. He’s like a little terrorist. You can call him Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein, but he’s a little terrorist. It lives inside you. He wants to terrorize you. You’re flesh. How would you like to put the new child in a ring with Mike Tyson?

What chance does the child have? You see why so many of God’s children can’t make it? Never learn how to walk with God because Mike Tyson just beats him up all the time. There’s nobody outside. It’s what’s going on the inside of you. And see, some Christians are so spiritually skinny could use a chariot for a hula hoop. Some of y’all have never studied the word of God enough to get strong, to withstand any temptation or pressure from anything.

And so what you gotta do is get him strong. Now take your Bible and turn there to the book of Romans in chapter 7. Romans in chapter 7, and I want to show you this, what the apostle Paul had to face after been saved by about 25, 30 years. Romans chapter 7 and look in verse 15. Now this is the Christian down. This is the believer. He says in verse 15, for that which I do, I allow not. But what I would, that do I not.

But what I hate, that do I. If I do that which I would not, I can send it into the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but send that dwell within me. For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwell of no good thing for the well as present with me, but how to perform that which is good to find none. For the good that I would not but the evil which I would not that I do, not if I do I would not and then there’s no more I to do but send that to all of them in.

Isn’t that clear? Clear about? What did you just say? Well, boil it all down. It means this. Every time I want to do good, evil is present with me. Every time I want to do a right, I’ve got to fight Going back and forth. He says, it is no more I that do it, but that sinful nature that I have dwelling within me. That’s just why I do it. People say, well, if you’re really saved, you’re not going to want to go ahead and do bad things.

You don’t know the Bible. You see, God didn’t change your old sinful nature. You are as capable as any lost man of committing any sin in the book. You can do everything that a lost man can do. You say, well, if you’re really saved, you wouldn’t want to do that. Yes, you can. gave you a new birth and you can yield to these new desires or you can yield to the same desires you’ve always had and sometimes a Christian walks into spirit and sometimes he walks in the flesh and it’s like sitting in a car and the Lord said I want you to drive.

Mike Tyson says no you’re not I’ve been driving this car for a long time and you ain’t driving you’re gonna have a fight. He says we’re gonna go I want to go. I’m going to church today. Shut up. You’re going to stay home and watch Batman. So you stay home and watch Batman. You’d be surprised how many people lose the battles and they don’t have victory in their Christian life. I never have to battle some of those things. I already done made up my mind.

And so you have this old sinful nature trying to destroy you. you. And many Christians he has, you’re going to whoop you. You may show mercy to Mike Tyson, but he’s not going to show mercy to you. He wants to ruin your life, you ruin your testimony, and he doesn’t care how he has to do it. And this is why a man stops loving his wife, and this is why the kid to repay us and all the rest, because you’ve got an old sinful nature I’d do that terrorizes you.

And terror destroys a Christian. That’s why some Christians, they live in fear. They’re afraid of growing old. They’re afraid because of the stop market. They’re afraid of all the things that are coming up on the earth. They’re afraid of980 problem. The financial problem. They live in fear. And yet the God that can give you eternal life can provide you a hamburger from day to day. And if you die, you say, well, I have to have food. I have to have that.

I said, no, you don’t. You have to do right. And if you died doing right, so be it. David said, if he’s slain me yet, well, I trust him. Now take your Bible and turn over there to the book of Galatians in chapter five, Galatians in chapter five. You’ll notice there in verse 16, this I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. How do you walk in the spirit? Do you float through the air like a hank?

Walking in the spirit is walking in obedience to the word of God. As you learn the word of God, walk in obedience to the word of God. And when you walk in obedience to the word of God, you will have in verse 22, the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, maintenance, temperance, against such there’s no other. When you get one of these, you’ll get all of these. It’s not fruits of the Spirit. It’s the fruit of the Spirit.

So when you have love, you can have all the rest of them. them all together at one time. When you walk in the spirit, you’ll have the fruit of the spirit. Now, do you want peace and love and joy to happen in your life? Walk in the spirit. Walk in obedience to the Word of God and you can have it. But what about the person, the Christian that doesn’t do that? Well, look there in verse 17. For the flesh lusts against the spirit.

The spirit against the flesh. These are contrary to one to the other. Look up here. The flesh hates the spirit. The spirit hates the flesh. They fight all the time back back and forth. Where are they doing all the spiking inside of you? Where does my tyson live inside of you? Where does this one live inside of you? You only got one body. I got my new birth. I just didn’t get my new body yet. One day I’m going to get my new body to go with my new birth.

But I haven’t got it yet. So right now I’m supposed to yield this body to this one. It’s what God says. Yield my body. And so this is where the battle begins in the Christian’s life. And whenever you feed this one in and get strong, and this one comes along and says, I think I’ll have a courte. Now you got to not, you’re going to have milk. And you win. But you see, if I was to take Mike Tyson and put him in a box, give him nothing but bread and water for about six months, he’s now down to about 50, 60 pounds.

I think I can wouldn’t. I’d be scared, but I think I can take them on. So what you do is you don’t feed those desires on the plate. You start feeding your sinful lustful desire, and they’ll grow and become monsters, and they’ll destroy your life, they’ll destroy your testimony, and don’t blame it on God. You made the decision. You chose to walk in the flesh. Now listen, if you walk in the flesh, a Christian walk in the flesh, what can you do?

What’s the limitation? Remember, you can choose the sin you choose to walk in, but God can choose the form of chastening. Isn’t that fair? You can tell your kids. You can choose to do the sin, but mommy and daddy are going to choose the chastisement, the discipline. So you can’t live as you please and get away with it. You can’t walk after the flesh and get away with it. Can you walk after the flesh? Yes, you can. Can you live like you please?

Yes, you can. Can you get away with it? No, you can’t. And God’s not gonna send you get out of here and go to hell. I’m throwing you know, he’s gonna say, come on in. Come in, come in. Come in. And buddy, you’re already jancing around and holding you back. You’re gonna be the tar out of you. Remember this, very simply, as a child of God. You need to be an obedient child or disobedient, but you still is child.

If you’ll be an obedient child, God will bless you here. Rewards you there. If you’re disobedient, God’s going to beat the tardy here. Maybe take you home before your time. But you’re still is child and you’re going to have him when you die. God will never cast you out and he’ll never lose you. But once you’re his child, he’s going to discipline you as his child. But look what he says in verse 19. Now, the works of the flesh are manifest.

These are the things that a Christian is capable of doing. is written to the believer, not the lost man. A adultery, for in occasion uncleanness, less seriousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variants, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresy, genvies, murders, drunken and reveling, such life. Although, which I’ve told you in time past, that they which do such things should not inherit the came of God. Look over here, flesh and blood shall not inherit the came of God. And these are things that comes from the flesh.

It lets you know when you’re walking in the flesh, what is it produced in your life. And if I walk in the spirit, I will brain-forth the fruit of the Spirit, the love, the joy, the peace, the happiness, and long stuff, and all those good things that I want. So if you go through life and you’re miserable, good. It was your choice. If you’re miserable, it’s a choice you made. Don’t whine and don’t pine. It’s your choice. You can be as happy as you choose to be.

You can be as filled with joy as much as you want. You can have all the peace you want. choices you and I make. And some people don’t like the choices they make. Most adults today are suffering the consequences of bad decisions they made when they were teenagers. I could go further, but I don’t need to go further. But look out here. In chapter 6, he makes the statement in verse 7, be not deceived. You see, I have the spirit birth and I got a flesh birth and I can walk in the spirit, I can walk in the flesh.

God says, don’t be deceived. How do you deceive God? By mocking God. How do you mock God? Mocking sin. It won’t get me. It won’t get me. I can walk in face. It won’t get me like the mosquito going around the flames of the fire. It won’t get me. It won’t get me. It won’t get me. It won’t get me. Get him. You play with fire. You’re going to get what? You’re going to get burned. And he says, if you walk after the flesh, you’re going to suffer the consequences.

And a lot of curses are suffering the consequences. So because you know Christ is your savior, you’re his child. You’re going to heaven when you die. Walk with God. And you’ll find out if you don’t, it’s kind of like going through life pushing a rope. You have to try to push a rope. It just gets all balled up. And a lot of Christians like to see it all balled up, pushing a rope. You know you get one end of that rope and just start walking, it straightens itself out.

Do you know if you just let God hold you by the hand, just walk with the Lord. Just do all the right you know to do. just keep trusting the Lord and walk with the Lord. You know everything else in your life straightens out. But you see, you don’t want what we’ve got. You’ll never get everything straightened out. You’re always going from one thing to the next thing to the next thing and nothing ever gets solved. And there’s nothing but problem, headache, so forth, all of that, because you’d never learn how to cast all your cares upon Him because He cares for you.

Because you just won’t walk with God because you don’t really trust Him. You don’t think He’s gonna keep His word. You think He’s gonna fail you. He’s gonna let you down. He’ll never fail you. He never fails. He’s perfect. He’s God. If you’re here this morning and you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, you are a child of the flesh, but you’re not a child of the Spirit. Only ones that get to go to heaven is those with a new birth.

If you don’t have a new birth, you can’t go. But you can take care of that real easy. All you have to do is believe what he said. God says that he loves you. Now he hates your sin, but he loves you. He wants you to go to heaven, but you have to be perfect and none of us are perfect. Only we get to be perfect for this new birth. So God says you can’t save yourself. You can’t earn eternal life.

You can’t work your way to heaven. You’ll never be good enough. Believe that Jesus Christ, who is God in the flesh, that he came into this world because He loved us, hates our sin, took our sins and paid for them on the cross. You see the reason you don’t have to turn from your sin to be saved? Because you have to die for your sins. You don’t have to turn from them. You have to pay for them. So he paid for them.

So I have a payment for all my sins. I don’t have to worry about stopping anything. To tell a man you have to turn from sin means you’ve got to stop being bad. If you tell a man you’ve got to make and commit your life to Christ, then you’re telling them he’s got to be good. You’ve got to start being good. You don’t have to stop being bad and start being good. What about just as I am? Well, I wouldn’t play.

Just like I am. I’m a sinner. Christ loved me, paid for my sins. Said, if I would accept what He did for me, He’d put this payment to my account and I’d get to go to heaven on what Christ did. No gimmicks to it. If Christ came in here right now and He offered you eternal life and you accepted it, what would you have? If it’s eternal life and it lasts forever and all your sins are paid. Where would you go when you die?

To heaven. So can you know you’re going to heaven before you die? Well, of course. That’s what it’s all about. So will you right now, the quietness of this moment, will you trust Jesus Christ to take you to heaven when you die? Let’s pray, shall we? Every head bowed, every eye closed, no one looking around. If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, I’m talking just to you. I’m not gonna have you stand up or come forward. I’m not gonna pin you against a wall.

I’m not going to trap you. And I don’t want to embarrass you for anything in the world. So I do it with heads by a nice close so that you can just talk to the Lord. You see, you don’t make a mistake this way. Only the true and living God knows who you are and where you are and what you’ve done, what you’re doing, what you’re going to do. God knows all of that. And He loves you. Would you believe that He died on that cross and paid for your sins?

Will you trust Him to take you to heaven whenever you die? Say, Lord, I know I’m a sinner. I believe you died for me. And I’m going to trust you as my Savior right now. Friends, if you’ve already done it before, you don’t have to do it again. But if today, for the first time, you say, this made sense to me. And I want to know I’m going to heaven when I die and preach your life for you to pray for me.

Would you just slip you in it very quickly and put it right back down? Is there any one at all? I’m not going to embarrass you, not going to have you come forward. But God knows who you are. I just want to know so I can have prayer for you. I like to know what I said made sense to you. Friend, you that have trusted Christ is your Savior, your God’s child, you’re going to heaven when you die. Have you been walking in the Spirit or have you been walking in the flesh?

What have you been worried about that you ought to be trusting about? Talking to the Lord about, instead of talking to everybody else about. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Study His word. Feed those new desires. And you meet with God’s people. and you pray and you witness and you do the things that are right, you become a strong Christian. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, with Dr.

Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 3, 3, 6, 3, 4. Our Sunday morning services begin at 10.30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. My broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live. And now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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, and just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline. Here God’s word on Bibleline. Everywhere, every time. 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 prayer… prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Genesis in chapter 5, the book of Genesis and chapter 5. You know it would be great if a pastor could walk around and hold your hand all day, keep you out of trouble, and help you to make all your decisions you’re supposed to make. But you know it’s impossible, we can’t do that. So what we try to do is give you some Bible knowledge counseling from the Word of God so that it will follow you everywhere you go so that you don’t have to have the pastor there.

You’ve got the word of God with you. And so what we try to do is every person we look at we consider them like a well. See my daddy used to dig wells years ago. A few other things too but he dig dig wells. And then I’d sit on the edge of the well and I’d watch him as he dig and then put in the thing and then haul a lot by a rope and buckets you know. And try to get all the dirt out of there so you can have some water in there.

Well, a Christian is like a well and you’re trying to get all the trash out and put some of the water in. So every Sunday you come to church, see we’re trying to get something out of your life so we can put something into your life called the principle of replacement. We know that you can’t just take things away from people, we’re trying to give you something better to take its place. And when you go through some hard times, we believe that if your well is deep, you can always bring up some refreshing water out of your well.

Now some Christians, they’re shallow. They don’t have much water near well. So they can’t draw from very much. They don’t study the Bible during the week or they don’t go to church very often. So their wells are very shallow and there’s not much fresh water there. But you that have been coming over the years, your well is deep and you can draw upon the water of the word. And even in tough times like you may be facing now or even as an individual, you’ll be surprised what God can bring to your remembrance, the things that you have studied.

And so here in the book of Genesis, I wanna try to help you dig a few wells and then we wanna try to put some good water in it and you’ll know how to walk. In Genesis chapter five verse one, it says, And this is the book of the generation of Adam. In the day that God created men and the likeness of God made He Him, male and female, created He them and blessed them and called their name Adam.

And the day when they were created. And Adam lived 130 years. He got a son in his own likeness after his image and called his name Seth. And the days of Adam after he got in Seth were 800 years and he got sons and daughters. And all the days that Adam lived were 930 years and he died. 9 and verse 8 and all the days of Seth were 912 years and he died. Verse 11, all the days of Enos were 905 years and he died.

Verse 14 and all the days of Canaan were 910 years and he died. And this is the book of the generation of Adam. In regards to how long they lived, they all died. Now take your Bible and turn all the way over there to the book of Matthew, the first book in the New Testament, and chapter 1. And look in verse 1. So here in the book of Matthew chapter 1 verse 1, it says, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham, be God Isaac and Isaac, be God Jacob and Jacob, be God and so forth all the way down through here. But you know this is one thing that’s not mentioned here and there’s no deaths recorded. You see, Chapter 5, Genesis. Everybody born to Adam, they all die. Those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, the Book of Generation of Jesus Christ, there’s no deaths recorded. And there is a reason for this, and I want to explain it to you.

So take your Bible and turn to the Book of Romans in chapter 3, Romans and chapter 3. These are very familiar verses to you at the beginning, and then it’ll get a little bit more complicated as we go. But if you understand this, you’ll get a little bit more complicated as we go. understand as I lay this little foundation, it’ll help you to understand it later. So if your mind drifts for any period of time, you may lose the whole sermon.

So you got to listen to everything that I say all the way through. I told somebody the other day, I said, one of these days, I’m going to preach the best sermon I’ve ever preached in my life. I don’t know when it’s going to be. So you may see, you listen to every one of them. So Romans in chapter three, it looked there in verse 10. it is written, there’s none right just no one. Now what we’re reading is from the book of Adam.

Those who are born into this world, children of the flesh, the first birth. As I look out among you, all I see is the first birth. I can’t see the second birth. It’s a spiritual birth. I can only see the first birth, the flesh birth. And so as I read these scriptures, this is your first birth. This This is how God describes you, mankind in general. There’s none righteous, no not one. In verse 11, there’s none that understand it.

There’s none that seeketh after God. They’re all gone out of the way. They’re together becoming profitable. There’s none that doeth good, not one. It sounds pretty bad to me. Verse 23 says, for all have sin and come short of the glory of God. Art, look up here. I want to show you a little straight. You probably seen it before, but it’s okay. Repetition is theological mucilage. This arm represents our first birth. This is when we’re born into the world.

It’s called a flesh birth. And this flesh birth, the Bible says, there’s none righteous, no not one. There’s none that seeketh after God. We’ve all like sheep gone astray. We’ve all turned and gone our own way. And the Lord says, in verse 12, there’s none that doeth good, not one. In the whole world, there’s none good, not one. All have sinned and come short of God’s glory. You see, God’s glory is God’s perfection. We have all sinned and come short of perfection.

So how can a man that’s short of perfection get to be perfect? Just as if he had never sinned. So that God who is just and me, How can I get to look eyeball to eyeball with God and Him find no fault in me? I’m going to take some doings. I’m really going to have to be good. I’m really going to have to give it all I got. I’m going to have to really do my best. And when I got through, God says, your works are filthy rags.

It won’t work. It won’t even help. Now, if I was to give you a book on 10 reasons on how to know that you’re really saved, I gave you 10 reasons to doubt your salvation. If I was to follow every person in this room around, two weeks a month, I probably could list enough things that would convince me you’re not saved at all. So I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Otherwise, everybody gets out there magnifying glasses, becomes fruit inspectors to try to see whether or not.

Is that our genuine one there or not? I can’t tell. I think that one’s. I think this is the genuine one over here. He never heard somebody say, you know, if you’re really saved, you’re not gonna want to go out here and live in sin. If you’re really saved, you’re not gonna wanna do that. Not gonna wanna do all those bad things if you’re really saved. Well, I used to be saved, but I started smoking again, or started drinking, started cussing.

I used to be saved, but I stopped going to church years ago. So I guess I’m not saved anymore. It’s amazing what some people, kind of being saved. said, are you saved? Yes, I am. Do you have eternal life? Well, I don’t know. Are you married? Yes, I am. Do you have a wife? Well, I don’t know. You tell me who wants to be married and have a mother-in-law, but no wife. You would think if you’re married, you ought to have a wife or if you’re a woman, you ought to have a husband.

Are you Yes I am. Do you have eternal life? Well, I don’t know. Then what in the world does being saved mean? Saved is a word that means something. I thought saved means that I’m not going to hell. I’m saved from it. I thought that being saved means I’m going to heaven. If I’m saved. I thought being saved means that all my sins are paid for, forgiven, and I’m going to heaven when I die. If saved doesn’t mean that, what does save me?

Oh, I know I’m saved. Where are you going to do that? Well, I don’t know. Then what does say mean? See, it’s supposed to have a meaning to the word, who’s a mean something. And I find that’s a lot of people that don’t understand what no world’s going on in their life. They don’t know if they’re saved, they don’t know if they’re Christian. I don’t know, I went to church last week. I had somebody say, you know, if you’re really saved, you’re not gonna wanna go out here and live like you please.

You can’t go out here and live like you please if you’re really saved. Well, when you understand the old nature that you have, and where you’re coming from, I think it’ll help you a little bit more. Take your Bible and turn there to the book of Romans in chapter six and verse 23. He says in verse 23, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God has eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The wages of sin is death.

Art, look up here. All of us sin. All of us guilty. All of us die. So we’re all here and we’re all living and we’re all going to die. So where do we go when we die? That’s the question. Can you know that you’re gonna go to heaven when you die? Yes you can, but let me show you something first. Look at Romans in chapter nine and verse eight. It says that is, they which are the children of the flesh.

These are not the children of God. children of the flesh. These are not the children of God. So God is not the father of everybody. He is God and he’s creator, but he’s not father. We are a creation of God, but he is not your father until you’re born into his family. You’re not a child of God until you’re born into his family. But he says the flesh, the flesh, these are not his children. Now take your Bible and look there in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

And notice there in verse 50, this is on page 1227 in an old Schofield reference Bible. If you have one of the Dead Sea Scrolls at scroll nine. Okay, in verse 50, says, now this I say, brethren, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither death corruption inherit in corruption. The last part of this statement is very important. I’ll refer to it later. But notice, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Look up here, flesh and blood.

Cannot inherit the kingdom of God. It is not a child of God. So it can’t go to heaven. And flesh and blood cannot produce a new birth. Flesh is flesh. If you were born of the flesh 1,000 times, your last one would not be any better than your first one. Wouldn’t help you one Iota. you can never improve the flesh. It cannot give birth to a new birth. So you need something else, something better than all of that. Now, if the gospel we preach doesn’t make a man perfect, it doesn’t do him any good.

Wouldn’t it be neat if we could be born without a sinful nature? Wouldn’t that be great? Well, see, with your new birth, that’s exactly what happens. Your new birth is born without a sinful nature. Now, take your Bible and look there in the book of John in chapter three, the Gospel of John and chapter three. These are familiar verses, but I just wanna show them to you just very quickly and then move on to something else, but I want you to know there in John chapter three.

See, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, and he came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, or no man can do the miracles that thou doeth, except God be with him. And Jesus said, whoo, I’m impressed. Now he didn’t say that. Verse three, he said, very, very, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. So if you’re not born again, you can’t see the kingdom of God.

So here’s the flesh. The flesh cannot see the kingdom of God. Looking at verse five. He says in the last part of verse five, and he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Look up here. Flesh. He cannot see the kingdom of God. He cannot enter the kingdom of God. Gotta be born again. Nicodemus, actually, what do you mean you gotta enter back into your mother’s womb and be born again? That’d be rough. He said, no, no, no, no, no, you don’t understand.

That which is one of the fleshest flesh. You don’t need another flesh, but you need a spiritual birth. New birth. You see, when we were born into this world, we came from a creation. Adam and Eve were created by God. They were not the children of God. They were a creation. To be born, again means be born from above, talking about be born of the spirit born of God. In other words, God wants to father a child. The new birth means God, Father’s a child.

And the seed is the Word of God. And the Word of God is perfect. It is righteous. There’s nothing wrong with the Word of God. It’s perfect. And by an individual believing what God said from the incorruptible Word of God, he can have a new birth given to him by God. Now John 3 16 is God’s answer on how to have this new birth. Let me show you something, you’ve probably never seen this before. Now notice my right hand, at no time will it ever leave my wrist.

I want you to watch it. This is you and me. This is sin. We all have sin on us. Now God says that He loves us, but He hates our sin, but He loves us. And for us to pay for sin is eternal separation from God in a place called hell. You see we commit the sins because we are sinners, we have a sinful nature. So this is just the product of our decisions. And the payment is death in hell.

But God loves us and wants us to go to heaven. To go to heaven you have to be perfect as righteous is God and no one’s perfect. No one’s right. is perfect. Heaven is perfect. And to go to heaven, you have to be perfect. You don’t have to be good. You have to be perfect. And because of sin, we can’t get in. There’s a problem. God says, you can’t earn it. You can’t work for it. The flesh cannot produce this new birth that you need to get to heaven.

So it’s not of works of righteousness which we have done. For by grace, or you say through faith in that, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God not of works. So a man cannot save himself. Now this hen represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord God in the flesh. He came into the world because he loves us. Hates our sin because our sins separate us from God. So what Christ did for one person, he did for the whole world, took all the sin, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead.

And God said that if we would believe, he did it for us. He’d put this payment to your account and you get to go to heaven on what he did. How many of your sins did he pay for? All of them. So when you accept this payment, you have a payment for how many of your sins? All of them, you go to heaven because they’re all paid. You’re washed as white as snow, as good as gold. And you go to heaven on what he did.

You didn’t earn that, you didn’t work for it, you didn’t buy it, it was a gift. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, the who so ever. believe it. That’s all he has to do. Believe that he did it for them. When you believe he paid for your sins, you shall not perish. Won’t go to hell. But have everlasting life. You go to heaven on what Christ did for you. So the Bible tells us how a man is to get this new birth.

So the very day, the moment you accept Christ as your Savior, you’re born into God’s family. Now look there in John chapter 1 and verse 12. John 1 and verse 12. He says, but as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God. So when you trusted Christ as your Savior, you became a child of God. That’s a new birth. Now take your Bible and turn all the way over there to the book of 1 Peter and chapter 1.

I had a terrible experience one day. I had just trusted Christ as my Savior. That wasn’t what was terrible. It was a few days later, a few weeks later, my father-in-law who led me to Lord told me that I should tell others how to have eternal life. But I didn’t know how to tell them. You know, I mean, I’m just a baby. So I went down over the hill and I saw in the parking lot there a victim. So I walked up to the victim and I said, I said, are you saved?

Yes, I am. Oh, great, great. So am I. He said, you’ve been saved? Yes, I’ve been saved. He said, you’re born again. I said born again. I wasn’t born again. I’m born again. Yep. He says, so do you steal sin? And I said, yes I do. He says, then you’re not saved. I said, yes I am. He said, no, you’re not. I said, yes, I am. He says, no, you’re not. I said, yes, I am. Guess what? He said, no, you’re not.

Guess what? I said, yes, I am. So we had no small disputation going among us. I’d never been in a theological discussion like this before. He said, don’t you believe the Bible? I said, every word. I had no clue what it said. I just got saved. I mean, that’s a lot. I mean, that’s that thing is just thick. I’m not putting all that thing in there. But whatever it said, I believe it. And I know God wasn’t going to be there.

say something dumb. He said, well, if I show you a verse, would you believe? I said, I’ll believe the verse, but I won’t believe what you say about it. He read me a verse. And this is what it says, the whosoever is born of God, if not commit sin, for his seed, remanyth in him, and he cannot sin because he’s born of God. He looked at me with a smirk on his face, says, are you born of God? I said, yes, I am.

He said, you still sin. I said, yes, I do. He says, then you’re not saved. Yes, I am. Guess what he said? No, you’re not. We went at it again. I wanted to deck him. I had no clue how to handle the flesh. I didn’t want to handle the flesh. Not just one of the handling of him, but I didn’t hit him. I wanted to. Anyway, I walked away from him. What was I mad? I wasn’t mad at him.

I was mad at God. Why did you put that verse in there? That verse don’t belong in the Bible. But it was in there. I saw it. I read it. And that’s what it said. I said, God, you messed up. I said, you shouldn’t have done that. You You say, you shouldn’t talk to God like it. Well, I know that now. But now notice here in first Peter in chapter one, look in verse 23, very important. Being born again, not of corruptable seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveeth in a body forever.

Now, there’s several things I want you to see in this verse. Verse 23, being born again. So when I trusted Christ as my Savior, I was born of God. Now get what he says, not of corruptable seed. up here. My first birth flesh was born of a corruptible seed. I got it from my parents. Guess where they got theirs? And guess where they got it from them? And then down the line, goes all the way back to who? Adam and Eve.

And we all sin and we all die. We all mess up. That’s the flesh. So I know that my new birth did not come from my old birth. God gave me a brand new birth. Brand new one. Born of God. Now this over here, this is my new birth. When I trusted Christ as my Savior, I was born again, born from above. God fathered this child. That’s why I am a child of God. God is my father, he fathered me.

I was born by the incorruptible seed, which is the what? As it says in his verse, the word of God. Now let me show you my new birth. You always wanted to see a new birth, right? This is my new birth. When I was born again of a spiritual birth, God gave me a new birth. So I was just a little baby when I was born. Now it doesn’t matter if you were four years old or 40 years old or 80 years old when you got saved, you started with a new birth.

You are just a child, a babe in the Lord when you trusted Christ as your savior. So that is your new birth. This one is different from this one. For example, the day you got saved, Right before you got saved, if you had looked in the mirror, mirror mirror on the wall, crack, you looked in the mirror, and if you were ugly, and then you trusted the Lord, and then you looked in the mirror again, you still are? God did not change your flesh.

He didn’t change your over. Your flesh is still the same. You were ugly today. You’re ugly today. But when you trusted Christ as your Savior, He gave you a new birth. This one came from an incorruptible seed, the word of God. This one came from a corruptible seed. And that’s why he says that which is corrupt cannot give birth to incorruption, can’t do it. That’s why the new birth cannot come from the flesh. That’s why you cannot earn your salvation.

That’s why you can’t earn the new birth. Whenever the Bible says for by grace, are you say that means it’s not by your works, it’s not by the flesh. It is the gift of God not of works, lest any man should boast. It’s not of works. You couldn’t earn it. You can’t work for it. You can’t manufacture it. The flesh can’t produce the new birth. This has to come totally from a new source, the word of God. So it is a new birth given to us by God.

I wanna show you something else from this verse. In the last part of verse 23, you’ll notice this as which liveth and abideth for how long? forever.’,” This new birth, born by the incorruptible seed, live it and abide it for how long? Forever. That’s why once you trust Christ as your Savior, you are a child of God for how long? Forever. And it’s simple. Anyone who teaches you can be saved today and lost tomorrow don’t understand the gospel. Don’t understand it.

If the gospel they preach can get you saved today and lost tomorrow, it means that their gospel didn’t make them perfect. It didn’t give them a new birth. Hours does. Duh? Hours is better. We got a better message. And when you understand the gospel, it’s the most powerful thing in the world. I asked one guy, kept telling me I could lose my salvation. I said, look, if a man could be saved today and lost him or I said, shouldn’t there be at least one story, one verse, one illustration in the Bible that said so?

Show me it. Where God saved a man and lost him. Can’t do it. Why? Not in there. Why would you want to teach something the Bible doesn’t say? Let me go a little further. If it’s possible, can God save a man, lose a man, and then get him saved again? I said, if it’s true, there ought to be at least one story, one verse, or one illustration in the Bible that said so. Shouldn’t there? Well, if it’s not there, why would you want to teach something the Bible doesn’t teach?

Bible doesn’t say that. And I’ve doubled all of Durham to prove it. They can’t do it. It’s the greatest thing to know is that once I trusted Christ as my Savior, I became a a child of God for all eternity.” Somebody says, yeah, but what about all the bad things that you do? Good question. Why do we do the bad things that we do? Well, if you really say, you’re not gonna wanna go out here and do all these bad things.

Well, I was told, you know that guy that I met that day? That was a victim at the bottom of the hill? That one that trapped me? I’ve been looking for him ever since. I got an answer for him now. You see, in that verse in 1 John 3, 9, where it makes the statement, whosoever is born of God, if not commit sin, for his seed remaining than him, and he cannot sin because he’s born of God. Let me ask you a question.

Which one of these is born of God? That one. This is the one that’s born of God. He can’t commit a sin. For his seed remaining than him, and he cannot sin. Duh? That’s why. Now, if he cannot sin, he cannot die. Does God have a sinful nature? No. God is perfect. This child is perfect. Has no sinful nature. Born without one. And if he cannot sin, it cannot die. So how long will you be a child of God?

Forever. Forever. and he’ll never cast you out, never lose it. You’re his child. Like he said in the book of John chapter 11, if a man believe in me, he shall never die. And if he die, yet shall he live. A man believe in me, he shall never die. Though he die, yet shall he live. So simple when you put this in here. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr.

Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. Our two of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again We would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program. Go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold.

Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and everyday, believing that the Lord is coming soon. And just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

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 the 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 totally. which is toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family. Isaiah chapter one, where says in verse two,munition Jere, O heavens and givir, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.”

He says in verse 3, the ox knoweth his owner, the asses, masters, crib, Israel doth not know. My people doth not consider. In verse 4, a sinfulrepreation. A people laid with iniquity seed of evoluors, children that are corruptors, they forsaken the Lord, For both the Holy One of Israel and gone backwards. Instead of going forward, they went backwards. Well, that was God’s assessment of his children. And so in verse five, it says, why will you revolt more and more?

Ain’t no sense spanking you anymore. He says, you won’t learn. So God said, we’re just gonna have to take you out of the land. See, he was chasing them in the land. So next thing he says, I’m just take you out of the land. Looking verse 18, come now, let us reason together, sayeth the Lord, Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. He says, you can correct the problem, and everything will be all right, but they never would.

God was looking for a man. God has always been looking for a man. A man that would love God with all his heart would do what God says do. A man that had a vision. A man that had a burning fire in his bones. The Lord has always been looking for people that He can use to sin to a wicked, perverse people. People in the world that don’t love God, don’t know God, many don’t want to know God, they love their sin, they want to do what they want to do, they don’t want to be rebuked, they don’t want nobody to tell them what they can, He cannot do, and that’s the world that God sent us to.

And He says, B, why is it a serpent harmless as a dove? We have been given a tremendous message, but He says for us to go, all of our sins that flows from us because there’s something evil on the inside. It’s not the outside. It’s amazing how that as we go through life we have a tendency to always blame somebody else why we do what we do. Every man is responsible for his own actions for whatever he does. So try to accept responsibility for your actions because if God’s going to judge you for them, word and deed is inevitably God holds you responsible.

A time is coming when God’s going to destroy it. One day he’ll destroy the whole earth, and every man in it that’s not righteous, and God is going to set up a new heavens and a new earth, new kingdom altogether. But until then, we still speak, we still preach, we still warn. But God is looking for a few people that can rise above the rest of the people. Take your Bible and turned over there to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 20.

Jeremiah, chapter 20. He is known as the weeping prophet, the weeping prophet, because so many things went wrong in this man’s life. I mean, the people really hated him. The whole nation hated him. And yet he had a job to do. They told him in a pit. They were going to kill him. And you talk about being in a deep My repeat, yeah, that’s where O Jeremiah was placed. If God wants to rebuild you, He’s got to destroy what’s there.

He’s got to pull down and pluck up and replant and rebuild. Any time the clay is not the way God wants it to, God has to take that clay and break it apart, put some water in it and reshape it and mold it all over again. This is what God does for us. But what I want you to see is there in verse seven of chapter 20, Jeremiah chapter 20 verse seven. He says, oh Lord, thou hast deceived me.

Hasn’t many people, whenever they dedicate their life to the Lord, think that it’s supposed to get better? I dedicated my life to the Lord. Therefore, everything’s going to work out rosy. Well, doggy, it didn’t work that way for Jeremiah. Everything went wrong. The people turned on him. They hated him. They lied about him. They said all kinds of things about Pro-Gear-Miah. He said, verse 7, O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived. You did it. Thou art stronger than I, but you gave me a job to do that’s greater than I can do, greater than I can perform.

form and everybody laughs at me, makes fun of me. They mock me. They put me down, said things against me. You know what he said I’m going to do? He said, I quit in the last part of verse 7. I am in derision daily. Everyone mocks me. For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil them because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me in a derision daily then I said I will not make mention of him nor speak any more in his name I quit I’m not gonna do it no more well everybody needs to understand the greatest man of God has moments of despair expectations that are not met things that don’t happen the way you think they are supposed to I’ll get even with everybody, I’ll make you pay.

I quit. But notice the last part of this verse. But his word was in mind heart as a burning fire. Burning fire shut up in my bones. And he says, and I was weary with keeping my mouth shut before bearing, holding back. And I could not stay. I could not stay like that. I had to do something. So in spite of everything, he says, I decided I’m going to do it. Look in verse 12, but O Lord of Host, that triumph the righteous and seeeth the reins in the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them.

For under thee have I opened my cause. In other words, he had to get to where I’m just going to have to trust the Lord to take care of everything else. I’ll just do what God wants We’re gonna do it’s a tremendous story, but God is always Always looking for a man, but the man has got to be able to take the heat of Whatever is coming in life remember you’ve got to fight the devil because he’s trying to stop you got an old sinful nature You’ve got to whip that you’ve got people that’ll say things you’ve got to whoop that and Sometime the closest people to you may not always back it.

You got to whoop that you just got to stay faithful Faithful doing what God wants you to do Take your Bible and turn over there to the book of Samuel second Samuel and Chapter 11 now everyone knows the story. It’s a beautiful story of David How that he whooped Goliath and God used him in a great mighty way and he became the king of Israel and wrote so many beautiful Psalms a man that was the Bible says a man after God’s own heart a So he was a man on fire.

You read the Psalms, they are wonderful. They console so many people who have broken hearts and God used him in a great way. But here I want you to see something, even a person who wants to serve the Lord, if the dozen correct one little thing in his life, it leads to a greater sin that leads to a greater sin that leads to a greater. David had no idea it was going to go that far. It was going to be that bad.

But yet he had a heart for the Lord. He wanted to serve God and God used him and raised him up. But look very quickly there in chapter 11 in verse 1. And it came to pass after the year was expired at the time when kings go forth to battle that David sent Joab and his service with him and all Israel and they destroyed the children of Ammon and he sees Reba. But David, Terry is still a Jerusalem. And it came to pass that even tied that David arose from off his bed, walked upon the roof of the King’s house.

And from the roof he saw a woman washing herself and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And it says, and David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, is not this bashiba, the daughter of Ilium, the wife of Uriah, the hit tight. And David sent messengers and took her and she came in unto him and he lay with her. For you don’t know what that means, had sex together. He committed adultery. That’s what happened. In verse 5, and the woman conceived and sinned and told David and says, I am with child.

Well, where was her husband? Well, her husband was in a war. He was in battle. And then he makes this statement in verse 6, and David sent to Joab saying, send me Uriah the Hittite, and Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. What’s going on? Well, if he’d have been there, he would have known. But he wasn’t there. You see, up there in verse 1 it says, at the time when kings go forth to battle, well this king decided not to.

Whenever he didn’t do what he should have done, he would have been where he should have been and he wouldn’t have done what he did. Wouldn’t that clear? One little sin that led to another sin and when you try to cover up that sin, you have to commit a bigger sin and the other sin and it seems like there’s no end to it. It becomes a trap, a snare and how can you get out of it? David said in verse 8 to Uriah, go down to thy house, wash thy feet.

Uriah departed out of the King’s house, and there followed him, a mess of meat from the king. But Uriah slipped at the door of the King’s house with all the servants of his Lord, and went not down to his house. Now what was David up to? What David was trying to get Bathsheba’s husband back from the war so that he would go home and spend the night with his wife, and when she has the baby, he’ll think it’s his.

What’s he trying to do cover his own sin? But of course nobody knows what’s happened And verse 10 and when they had told David saying Uriah went not down unto his house David said unto Uriah came us not down from thy journey Why then just not thou go down unto thy house? Uriah said unto David the yark and Israel and Judah abide in tents, and my Lord Joab, and the servants of my Lord, or in camp in the open fields.

Shall I then go into my house to eat and to drink, to lie with my wife, as thou liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.” And David said to Uriah, Terry here today also, and tomorrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah boated Jerusalem that day and the next. When David had called him, he did eat and drink before him, and David, The man after God’s own heart got Uriah drunk. Why would he get him drunk so that he couldn’t think, so he couldn’t reason.

So he would go down to his house to see his wife. Why would David commit this sin? Still trying to cover his sin. You get into a trap and it’s like how can I get out of this trap? When you do that which is wrong, confess it to God and correct it and go on. But if you don’t correct it, then you’re going to have to commit another sin to correct this one, and then you just commit another one, and then it just gets worse and worse and worse as time goes on.

Some people live and learn, and some people live and never learn. Listen and learn. So in the middle part of verse 13, and at evening he went down out to lie on his bed with the servants of his Lord, but he went not down to his house. He still wouldn’t do it. And he came to pass in the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, sent it by hand of Uriah. Now here’s Uriah, got a letter in his hand.

What did this letter say? This letter to Joab, who is his commander in the battle, is supposed to take Uriah that got the letter and put him in the foremost of the battle, in the heat of the battle, for one purpose. Why? So he’d get killed. So now David is premeditation, planning on how to have this man murdered. Oh, no, he didn’t take the sword and he didn’t jab him. He didn’t kill him, but he did kill him. And God hold him responsible.

Well, what he did, now get this. So he says here in verse 15, and he wrote in the letter saying, sit you, Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle and retire you from him that he may be smitten and die. In the words get it right up in the heart of the battle and then y’all retreat so he’s out there by himself. Now isn’t that a wicked thing to do? Now you think David, a man after God’s own heart would have schemed all of this and yet in his own mind he probably never thought about how bad or wicked it was he was just trying to cover something.

After all Sometimes people get to the place where you know I can do whatever I want to do. It really doesn’t matter Like they’re above the law. They’re above scrutiny Don’t question me. I can do whatever I want. I’m special. I got an exemption No, when a man gets that away, he’s in trouble and It don’t take much just a little bit and just one thing leads to the other to the other to the other to the death Remember walking with the Lord is a step at a time.

We’ll walk it with the devil is this at a time. And you’re the one that makes the choices, but you don’t sometimes know where it’s going to go, but you know it’s a path of righteousness. You start talking and walking away from the Lord. It’s a path, but it’s a path of destruction. And once people get on it, it’s hard for them to stop. So God takes that two before and knocks you over the head until it rings like a Chinese gong.

He says in verse 6, and he came to pass when the joy of Absurd the city that he assigned Uriah into a place where he knew that the Valuet men were. And this minute of the city went out and fought with Joab, and there fell some of the people of the servants of David. And Uriah the Hittite died also. And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when the morning was passed, David sinned and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife and bare him a son.

But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. Did God know anything was going on? Well, slap my mouth. Yes, he does. Remember, when something begins to go wrong in your life, check and see is a reason that maybe I’m not right with the Lord and God is doing this because of something I need to correct. And if you will correct it quickly then God will bless and everything will be alright. But if you don’t sooner or later it’s gonna come down the road and God’s gonna have to really deal with you.

Now get this. And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. He came by to him and he said in him, there were two men in one city, the one rich, the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one of the little you lamb, which he had brought up and nourished up and it grew up together with him and with his children. It did eat of his own meat and drink of his own cup and lay in his bosom and was unto him as a daughter.

And there came a traveler unto the rich man and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd to dress for the way-faring man that was come unto him, but took the poor man’s lamb. And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man and said to Nathan, as the Lord liveth the man that hath done this thing shall surely die. In other words, here’s a man that killed a lamb and David says he ought to die.

What has he done? He killed a man. If a man should die for killing a lamb, what should happen to him? Ooh, and verse 6, and he shall restore the lamb, fourfold, because he did this thing and because he had And no pity isn’t it amazing that the person who, many times, is guilty can see it in somebody else and they can’t see it in themselves. This is why in the book of Matthew and chapter 7 talks about before you can remove that little splinter and somebody else’s eyes get the two before out of your own eye because you can’t see it.

You can see the sin in other people’s lives, but you have a difficult time seeing that God do us the same thing. guilty and doing the very same thing but you can see it in somebody else’s life. And you can judge it so quickly and he makes this statement in verse 7 and Nathan said to David, Thou art the man, the saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed the king over Israel and I delivered the out of the hand of Saul.

God says I did this. I chose you to be the king in verse 8 and I gave thee thy master’s house and I master’s wives until I booed them and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah and if that had been too little I would more over have given unto thee such and such things in other words there’s a lot of things you could have had if you just asked me in other words like God said you have no idea what I wanted to do for you I would have done for you if you just let me know you talk to me that’s why I said before God may know what you have need of but But he doesn’t give it to you unless you ask.

That’s what he’s talking about in the book of James. He says you have not because you, yes, not you didn’t ask. And many of God’s people go through life, missed not on an awful lot of blessing that they could have had. In verse 9, wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord? To do evil in his sight. See the only reason he did what was wrong is because there’s something about God he despised. This is why in the New Testament, it doesn’t make it maybe this strong, but it says this, you’ve left your first love.

When you lose your love for the Lord, your judgment goes. Your discernment’s gone. I’m sorry. That’s the book. You can’t think straight. The Bible says and warns in his word, he says abstain, stay away from an angry man. Stay away from an angry person because you never know what they’re going to do next. That’s because they no longer love God. They don’t love the Word. When you get away from the things of God, you can’t think, you can’t reason, you can’t see, you cannot discern.

And David thought he doesn’t solve the problem. He solved his problem his way. And even while we read these scriptures… You let what these scriptures say burn into your mind because they are warning signs. They’re to help us to be godly individuals and you cannot fool God. He says in verse 10, now therefore the sword shall never depart from buying house because thou hast despised who? You despise God. See the anger, the bitterness, the sins of life, all these things, is because you hate God.

Now you would never think that David who loved God with all his heart, well he stopped loving God with all his heart. And now God is going to deal with this individual and he says, the sword shall never depart from your house. No words from this day forward. It never left his house. house. It cost David, it cost that little child that was born, and it cost him fourfold in his family that he wreaked down the road. Now get this.

He says in verse 11, does saith the Lord behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house. God said, I’ll do it. I’m going to do this. This is what I’m going to do. So you can make the choice about what you want to do. But it’s God that can choose the consequences of your deed. So you can’t live you please and get away with it. You can’t rebel against God and get away with it.

And yet you may not know that it came from God, but God said, I said it. Well, it’s just something that happened. It was just an accident and something. No, no, no, no. Something else is going on. And look what he says in verse 12, for thou disked it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun. He didn’t want nobody to know it. It’s been written down in the holy book in this Bible for two thousand years and how many know about David and what he did?

Just about everybody in the world has heard this story and he wants nobody to know and God told on him. That’s why we have to be very careful. Get this down. He says in verse 13, David said in the Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord and Nathan said in the David, the Lord also had put away thy sin, thou shalt not die. How be it? Because, and this is the part that really hurt me when I read this, and it should hurt you.

That the things that we say and do, that are wrong, is a bad testimony toward our God. It gives the enemy a chance to say something even against the gospel of grace. How many times I’ve heard people say, you teach this gospel by grace, and it’s grace, grace, grace, grace, grace, grace, and you don’t have to stop anything or join anything. You don’t have to change your life. You have to stop your sin all again and then look at some of those Christians and how they live.

If that’s Christianity, I don’t want anything to do with it. And those who know the gospel of grace love the gospel of grace are the biggest hindrances to the gospel of grace. their own disobedience slams the gospel. Instead of that being the most powerful thing in a person’s life that can cause them to rise up and be what God wants them to be, they use it as a cloak of covetousness so they can become a stumbling block to the world.

And yes, I think that burns God. Look what he says here in verse 14, How it because by this deed thou have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, to mock, to make fun of God. By our life, we bring honor to God, glory to God, praise to God, O we bring shame and dishonor to God by the way we live, the way we act, and our attitudes, and so forth. As a preacher, I’m always under scrutiny.

Somebody’s always looking for something, and it’s so difficult to live that perfect little life because somebody’s always taking potshots at you and you think it ain’t worth it. I quit. I give up. No, that’s only if you get down and discouraged or you say it doesn’t matter. Shoot all you want. I got broad shoulders. I can handle it. Me and God can handle anything. Go for it. Give it the best shot and just keep serving the Lord. I just want to outlive my critics.

I’m going to heaven. I believe all this stuff in this book is true and I want My life and I hope that you want your life to be a testimony for the Lord That you do what’s right and you serve the Lord and you honor the Lord Now as because I want you to see this He says in verse 14 the last part of it The child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. Nathan departed into his house and the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bear unto David and it was very sick.

The child died. And then David had to do something. Let me close with these scriptures. Look every quickly in the book of Psalms. The book of Psalms 51 Psalms 51. As time goes on, Every thing in life, whether it’s the blessings of God or sometimes the chasteening rod of God, you can learn from Him. And you can let the stories of your life, your testimony, things that happened to you that maybe was good or bad can be used in a good way for the God.

But He makes the statement in verse 1, and this is a psalm that David had wrote after Nathan, the prophet had went to see him. He says, under God, this is his heart afterwards, have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, brought out my transgression. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleansed me from my sin, for I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin has ever before me. Against thee and the only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgeeth.

Behold, I was shaping in iniquity and in sin, and in sin did my mother concede me. Behold, thou desireth truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden \(\ part thou shalt make me to know wisdom, purge me with hisom, and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken, hide thy face, from my sins, and blood out all my iniquities, creating me a drier clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

And me cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach trans… transgressors, thy ways, and sinners fixme be converted unto thee. Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God Romo God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thaw my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou desire not sacrifice, else what I it.

Thou, thou delight if not in burn offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. Oh, God, I will not despise. Do good and thy good pleasure. Undesign, build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness with with burn offerings and whole burn offerings. Then shalt thou offer a bullock upon thine altar.” David had to get things right between him and God. Oh yeah, God still used him, wrote many Psalms afterwards, but it wasn’t used like he was before.

What would they say when you died? You did it or you could have. A man that could have shook the world or somebody that blew it. Keep your eyes on the Lord. Do right. Just keep doing right and put God first in everything that you do. Let’s pray, shall we? You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryuptampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bible Live and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and everyday, believing that the Lord is coming soon. Just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline. Here God’s word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. 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 month… and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach which is toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We prayGil 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.

So we’re talking about spiritual blessing, that is your position that you have in Christ, that’s who you are, that’s where you are. You are in Him and that’s where God had placed you. That took place the moment you took Him as your Savior. The union determined at the moment of salvation. Remember, death is what? Separation, sin separates us from God. So when you trusted Christ as your Savior, you now, and we have been joined together with the Lord. There’s a union there and this union can never be broken.

It can never be broken. He said, I’ll never leave you, never forsake, never will. He says, because Jesus Christ is eternal life. So when you have Christ, you have eternal life. He that hath the Son, half life, and he that hath not the Son of God, half not life. So he that believe it in him, half everlasting. You have something, you have life. That’s a union that God gives to you. And he says, this mortal must be swallowed up of immortality.

And this is a verse that we read at the funeral the other day. The temporal is swallowed up of life. And so Christ, we are in Him. That is our union and it can never be broken. That union can never be broken. You got it at the moment of salvation. You’re standing determined at the moment of salvation. This is your position that you have in Christ. The word standing is the word that we usually refer to all of this.

That is my position in Christ. That is my standing in Christ. It can never change. Now look at letter A, the little small letter A. These are not experienced by the emotions of the flesh. Your salvation is not experienced by the emotions of the flesh. When I trusted Christ as my savior, did I cry? Yes, I did. I have seen other people that trust Christ as a savior and they laugh. Our emotions did not play the part in our salvation.

You were not saved because you cried when you went down to the front or because you set your hand and you smiled and you raised your hand. You see, nothing physical went into this salvation because that was something that you did as a mental thing between you and God when you put your faith, your trust in Jesus Christ. Now, the external things that you may have done, my vary with different people, but none of the emotions is what saved you.

You are not saved because you shed tears. You are not saved because you smiled. You weren’t saved because you frowned. Those things can be different for different people, but has nothing to do with your salvation. Your salvation was, did you or did you not? Did you accept Jesus Christ as you say? Yes, you did. Every man is saved exactly the same way. Look at letter B. The walks of the saint do not attain these progressively. There’s people who think that as you walk with the Lord and you keep getting better and better and better, then your union gets better with Christ your position is more secure, but if you ever stop walking, then you lose your position in Christ.

You don’t go to heaven now. And all that’s changed. And this union that you have between you and the Lord is broken, and now you can still go to hell in the future because they believe it’s progressive and you get better and better. But see, that’s not taught in the Bible. No man said, well, I was saved five years ago and I’ve been a working on my salvation. And I’m getting better and better and I’m getting it more anchored, more secure, and I’m doing the best thing.

No, no, no, you don’t understand it. Your salvation is a one time deal to take place, the very moment that you accepted Christ as your Savior. Let her see, look at letter C. They are not given on the basis of human merit. In other words, your position that you have in Christ, your salvation has never been determined by any human merits that you have ever done. It’s not because you come to church, it’s not because you’ve given money, because you did anything.

It’s only because you did it or did it or not, except Christ is your Savior. That’s the only reason. Letter D, these are obtained completely at the moment of salvation. The very moment you trusted the Lord, you were safe and secure and sealed in Jesus Christ, and that can never be changed. Now, these last three things are very important because if it wasn’t for the divine revelation of the Word of God, you would not know that this spiritual birth ever took place because it’s not based upon a feeling.

You have faith, and fact, and feeling. Many people think that goes by feeling, and then faith, and then fact. No, no, no, it’s faith, and then on the facts, and then the feeling. So you have to put your faith in the facts, and then the feelings can follow later. And, but your confidence is not in that, it’s on the facts, just the facts, ma’am. And you read the Bible, and you learn the facts, and you put your faith in the facts.

And then never worry about the feeling, NRLS because see, you might feel like you’re saved today, But tomorrow you may not feel like it, so are you or are you not based upon your feelings? Well, see, you can’t go by your feelings because feelings do what? Feelings change. So you never base your salvation upon an emotional experience that you think you had somewhere. It was, did you or did you not? Intellate you. Did you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior?

Now, if you did, you have eternal… eternal )] life and God will never cast you out in evolution. Look at literally they are realized only by divine revelation because if the Bible didn’t tell us these things because this is known only to God because you see your position in Christ you wouldn’t know that you had that if the Word of God didn’t tell us that and let her if they are eternal and never changing. So you’re being born into God’s family is something that does not change.

That is an absolute that is eternal. It never changes. It’s never altered. And that’s why I’ve said before, my salvation in Jesus Christ, so you can never be changed or altered by God or me, because that’s what he did for me. This all is under the letter A depends upon the in your underlyingness again or circle work of Christ. This is the work he did. Your salvation is his work, not your work. It’s not all of your responses and how you did all of it.

No, no, no, has nothing to do with it. It’s all has to do with the work of Christ. Let her gee, this relationship is true and you ought to underline these words every believer. It’s true of every believer and visible only to God. You see, you can’t see somebody else’s spiritual birth. You can’t see my spiritual birth. Only God. And this is why we was covering this in our Sunday school last this morning in the book of Timothy in chapter 2.

Word says that hymines and and if I lead us, had overthrown the faith of some of God’s people. And the Lord says, but nevertheless, nevertheless having this seal, the Lord know of them that are his. What if you trust Christ as your Savior today and then tomorrow, the next day or next week or next month or next year? You don’t believe any of it anymore. Well, are you still saved? More are you lost? saved because your faith has been overthrown because the tempter got at you and your faith hasn’t grown and now you have shipwrecked faith.

So are you still saved? Yes. And he says, nevertheless having this seal, the Lord know of them that are His. It cannot be changed. That is your position in Christ when you trust the Lord as your Savior. Now look at letter B. This depends upon the walk of man, the walk of the Christian man because all of this is talking about the believers standing and state not the lost man. So this depends upon the walk of man at is your condition and condition changes from day to day.

There’s various things that are happening in your life. The condition of our church today is a little bit different than it was last Sunday. There were different people here last week than are not here today. Tonight will be just a little bit different. Everybody who preaches that’s going to be speaking while I’m going to be going. It’s a different situation in every case. Every ranch meeting is different. We don’t do everything exactly 100% exactly the same way because things change because it’s involving us in this life and things in this world is temporal and it changes.

And so you may be very healthy today and be on your deathbed tomorrow or gone completely. And your communion that you have with the Lord is different than the union that you have in your position in Christ. When you trust the Christ in your Savior, this union can never be broken. But as a Christian, my communion with Christ can be. That is the fellowship that I have with the Lord that is based upon my communion with the Lord. And the communion where you commune with each other.

I talk to him and he talks to me. And this talking back and forth between me and God is what affects my walk in the Lord. And if you don’t have the communion between you and the Lord, you’re not going to have a walk that you ought to have with the Lord. If you don’t have a walk you ought to have with the Lord, you’re not going to have a fellowship that you should be. should have with the Lord.

Fellowship is two guys in a ship. Fellowship is two walk together and how can they be agreed? In other words, it says how can two walk together unless they be agreed? So you got people walking with the Lord means you’re walking in agreement with God and this walking in agreement with God is because you’re talking in agreement with God. So your communion that you have affects your walk with the Lord and your walk with the Lord is what affects your fellowship with the Lord.

Well what happens when seeing in there’s a picture of all of this. So number one, look there letter A. They relate to the believers walk where? On earth. So now we’re talking about not our position that we have with Christ in heaven before God as his child, that can never be chained. So what we’re looking that now is everything that can be changed. Things that fluctuate. And the believers walk upon the earth can fluctuate. Today you may be walking close to the Lord and tomorrow you not be walking close to the Lord.

Let her be. They are temporal and constantly changing. And that’s why it’s so important that you do the things every day to keep yourself strong in the Lord. If you don’t, you won’t stay strong. If you don’t stay strong, you’re not going to have the strength that you need to take that old devil, the tempter, that wants to destroy you and keep standing. And the Bible says, having done all to stand. Look what he says, I have it here in number three, letter C.

They are understood by the concepts of spirituality and our carnality. Our look up here, me. I’m a child of God. I’m going to heaven whenever I die. That will never be changed. But what can be changed is because I have a flesh birth, I can be carnal. Because I have a spiritual birth I can be spiritual because I got both kinds right. So if I follow the flesh I will be fleshly minded and I’ll bring forth the works of the flesh but if I am spiritually minded then I can bring forth the fruit of the Spirit.

So I am an individual with two choices and I can go either way and God says be not deceived God is not mocked what’s for a man so if that shall he also reap. So in my life as I live I’m either going to be a carnal Christian or a spiritual Christian carnally minded where you mind the flesh, spiritually minded you mind the Spirit. So you’re always battling who are you going to mind? The lust of the flesh is telling you what to do and the spirit is telling you what to do and you’ve got to make a decision and it’s going to be your choice and you don’t always make the right decision.

As you hear about a lot of people today talking about we have the fortunate and the unfortunate, the fortunate and the unfortunate. Well I I think it’s a shame that there’s a lot of homeless people and a lot of people who are very poor and don’t have anything at all. But remember this, a lot of time it’s not because of who was fortunate and who was unfortunate, it was because those unfortunate made some bad decisions and the fortunate is happening to make some good decisions.

Some people are poor because they chose to be poor because they made poor decisions. Some people are rich today because they made some decisions on how to make money and they disciplined themselves and they just happen to be fortunate. No. made some good decision. You as a child of God, you’re going to live in the same world just like all the other Christians do and you’re going to be tested just like everybody else says and you can have troubles and tribulations just like everybody all the other Christians are.

No different between all of you and some of you are going to make some good decisions and some of you’re not and some of you’re going to be less fortunate because you’re going to be so poor spiritually because you will not do what God says to do. You’re going to be a carnal Christian and some of you’re going to be a strong spiritual Christian because you’ll do what God says do, but it’s because of choices that you make. The next thing I want you to look at in letter D, they are necessary for all your growth and service.

You will not grow strong if you do not understand this clearly, that your position in Christ, once you’re saved you’re what? Always say that never changes. That’s your position that you have in the Lord and the union that you have with Him, you have eternal, that’ll never stop, that’ll never change. But see, that’s our position in Christ. In the heavenly, but we’re not in heaven. We’re down here. Now, I’m still still as child and all that’s true, but right now I got to live in this nasty here and now.

So we’re going to make decisions. We got choices to make. And they are very important for our growth as a Christian and our service as a Christian. Remember I made the statement last week. I am not a TV set trying to produce cows potatoes. I am a preacher trying to produce servants. And if you don’t want to serve the Lord. you’re not going to be happy. Not here you won’t. But if you want to be a servant, then I’ll teach you how to serve.

But that’s my goal is to get everybody busy doing something for the Lord. Not just a set and look pretty. That’s a waste of your time and my time. But look what he says. Down here at letter E, this relationship affects our mind, emotion and body. Did you know the condition sometimes of you physically is because of how you’re Understanding spiritually is it possible that God can make you weak sick and maybe even take you home before your time Yes, he can doesn’t mean that everybody gets sick is because sin in their life No the the friends of Job, you know, they were three of them and they have really gotten married and had a lot of kids and there’s so there’s a lot of Around anymore But keep us in mind your mind can change Every moment of the day and And you can be happy right now and somebody can come up and say something to you and you can be teed off and next day

No, you want to kill somebody? Your mind that your will your emotions all of that can change so quickly with based upon the condition of things that are around you and Your body It doesn’t last also and it can change Like I said healthy one minute and sick the next minute Now look at the next one because this is so important. F and G, very, very, very, very, very, very important. Unconfessed sin breaks our communion. In other words, you’re talking between the Lord.

We call this communicating, right? They say that the key between a husband and a wife is they got to learn to talk to each other, communicate. And so if people I’m not going Nobody can make you have a close communion with the Lord. It can be as good and as real and as dynamic and as powerful as you want it to be. Like me and Betty one day was driving down the road and I’ll never forget this. And I’m sitting there and I’m rolling this road on and I’m driving my car and she says, can’t you drive with one arm?

This is before. before we were married. She can’t she drive with one arm? I said, sure, I don’t know. Hold on, let’s take a moment. I didn’t think. She wanted me to put my arm on, but I didn’t think. And what that cost me? Years later, I’m driving down the road. She’s sitting over there, you know, father went in. She says, you remember how we used to sit real close together like this? I said, yes, dear. I said, but I didn’t move.

I didn’t move. I’m still sitting right here behind the wheel. One time this guy is driving his car, and this good looking girl draws up alongside of him in there in this sports car. She looks over and she gives him a great big old smile. He’s like, hey, did you see that? You see, she gave me a big smile. That ain’t nothing the first time I saw you, I laughed out loud. So, you know, the wife has always got one up on you, she always gets one up on you.

But when you’re talking about communicating, This is the step to having a good walk with the Lord. And sin is what keeps you from talking to the Lord. Have you ever heard this statement? Sin will keep you from the Bible, or the Bible will keep you from sin. And so when sin enters the picture, and you become rebellious or disobedient to the Lord, and you stop talking to God, how do you stop talking to God? You stop praying. And see God talks to you through his word, And so if you don’t read the word and you don’t pray, then you’re not communicating.

You don’t have any communion. And if you don’t have a communion seat, then your walk that you have is out of habit, but it may not be real. And so you won’t have love, then you won’t have joy. You won’t enjoy. It becomes a duty. You’re doing it because you know you’re supposed to do it, but there’s no real communication there. So it makes a statement. Broken communion breaks our walk. Broken walks breaks our fellowship because that means that you cannot walk together with the Lord.

In close communion and sweet fellowship because sin enters the picture. So now look at letter G, confession of our sins, forgive us of our sins. A lot of people say, well if you confess your sin, then you’re restored to fellowship. That’s not true. Confessing your sin, the Bible says in 1 John 1 9, forgives us of our sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. It didn’t say anything about restoring the fellowship. It affects it because it’s the basis upon which you’re not.

we can have communion with God. Sin breaks the communion that we have. So number two, our communion with God restores our walk. Our walk with God restores our fellowship. And so that’s why there’s some people who are walking and doing the thing that God wants them to do, but they don’t have the sweet communion that they need between them and God, and therefore they don’t enjoy their walk. The walk is their service. You’re doing the thing you’re supposed to do, but you don’t really enjoy this much because you’re having sweet between you and God.

That’s the communion that you have to have. And if you leave that out and you simply obey some rules and regulate, you go to church, you sing, or you work in a choir, you can help in ranch, or you can All these things that we can do, it’s a job, but there’s something missing between you and God and this communion that you have between. See, this is why your faith in the Lord, he’s always talking about your faith, your faith, how are you doing?

Not to how’s everything, how are you doing? Are you growing in the Lord? Are you strong in the Lord? And the last statement here, note, confession of our sins and and of itself does not restore fellowship. If the walk is not restored, then the fellowship is not restored because you’ve got to start with the communion. You’ve got to start with talking to God. And that’s why he says, if we confess our sins to God, that’s as you’re talking to God.

And when you confess the sin and you start talking to God, now that’s the basis for your walk. And your walk is the basis for your fellowship that you have a lot so that you have the walk and the talk. You’ve got to have both of them, not just to walk with God, but the walk and the talk with God. So important. Letter H, the key is to walk on earth in light of your position in heaven. You see your position in heaven, that never changes.

You’re always his child. Now live like you’re always his child. He the Holy Spirit indwells you. Live like you know the Holy Spirit indwells you. And that would change your life. It can help you tremendously. And just to give you an idea of how you can see the difference. Look there in 1 Corinthians 3, 1 through 3, they’re in your notes. And I brethren, see that’s your position you have in Christ, that’ll never change. Could not speak unto you as unto spiritual.

You see that’s your condition. Should they have been spiritual? Yes, they should. But they were not spiritual. They were what? Carnal. That’s their state, not their standing. Your standing in Christ never changes, but the state can change. He says, but as under carnal, that’s your condition. Even as under babes, that’s your condition. So you see, not being spiritual, being carnal, babes, in Christ, that’s your position. You see, some things, they don’t change, but you’ve been a babe, that should change.

God doesn’t want you to be a babe in Christ all your life. He wants you to grow and be a mature child of God. See, these are decisions that you make. He says, I have fed you with milk and not with meat. For hitherto you are not able to bear it, neither yet. Now are you able? So see we’re talking about they’re not strong enough to take this or that and they need milk instead of having the meat. All these things see that’s based upon their walk with God.

And these are things that change us all the time. But you see it depends upon how close you want to be with the Lord. Look at the last verse, for ye are yet carnal. That’s your condition. Can you be a child of God? And know you have eternal life and go to heaven when you die and that’ll never change. That’s true. And yet you’re here in this world and you’re in this church and you’re sitting here right now. Can you be a fleshly carnal minded Christian?

Yes, you can. Now is that the will of God? No. God wants us to grow and to be strong. But see those are choices that we make. So he says for your yet carnal, for whereas there is among you in being and strife and divisions, are you not carnal? Look up here. Colonel, fleshly, this is the works of the flesh. Can a Christian bring forth the works of the flesh? Yes. Can I? Yes. Every Christian can. But this never affects my position in Christ.

I am his child born into his family. I will always be. That will never be changed. But I’m living in a changing world. I am in a world where I can grow as a child of God into a man of God based upon my own desire. What do I want? How strong do I want to be? Blessings do I wander how do I want to be blessed when I get to heaven and rewards and I see all that is based upon my walk with God See that’s why in letter B Depends upon the walk of man.

It’s your walk But the walk is dependent upon the communion that you have and if you’re not close to the Lord And you have a sweet communion with the Lord you see all the trials and tribulations gonna pull you I mean you’re gonna go down you ain’t gonna be able to stand it’s too much I just can’t bear it. It’s the last straw blah blah blah blah. That’s because you’re not close to the Lord Nobody can make you close to God.

Nobody can make him real in your life and Coming to church and reading the Bible and all the way they can help feed at this union And for the commune, but it’s not gonna take and do the job for you You see that should be the results of that close walk that you have with the Lord and nobody can do that for you Anyway, the last part of it says, are ye not carnal? That’s their condition. It doesn’t affect their position that they have in Christ, but it is a condition that it changes from moment to moment.

I have seen a lot of changes in growth in some of the teenagers that come to church on Sunday morning and say, nice and Wednesday night. I haven’t hollered at one of them yet this morning. That’s different, ain’t it? And some of them are really doing a fantastic job, and they’re working like crazy, and they bring in kids out, and some of them are winning people’s award, and they study in the Bible, and they’re getting in the classes. And Gina, how many girls do you have in her this morning?

She had a good bunch. I mean, she’s trying to teach these little girls to be little ladies like her. Y’all pray for Gina. All right, look over here. This is you and me. This is sin. We’re all sinners. But God loves us, but He hates our sin. He loves us, but He hates our sin. And for us to go to heaven we have to be perfect, no sin, but we have sin. And God says for us to pay for it is death and hell.

And so God loves us and he wants to have us to have eternal life. Now this hand represents Jesus Christ, he is the Lord. He came into the world because he loves us, he hates our sin because it separates us from so Christ took the sin, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead and said if we would believe that he did it for us, he would save us. Save us from hell, give us eternal life.

payment for all of our sins is put to our account, I am now placed in Christ. I’m going to heaven because of what He did for me. When I believe that, that position that I now have as a child of God for all eternity can never be changed. It’s permanent. But now as my walk in this life, boy, you may live like a Christian and you may not live like a Christian. But it’s going to affect the hand of God upon you, whether he blesses you or chastens you, or whether it takes you home before your time, it’s going to affect all eternity because your future has been determined by obedience to God today.

So it is important that every believer understand what is the condition of your faith. Are you growing in the Lord? Are you growing? Nobody I can answer that but you. And it’s based upon the communion that you have between you and your heavenly Father. Do you talk to Him and do you allow Him to talk to you? And if you keep that strong, see, then whenever trials and tribulations and all these afflictions come, and they do, and the tempter, he comes, he does, but you can stand strong.

Keep doing what you write. Let’s pray, shall we? You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe at the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, Calvary of Tampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, they’re got to work on Bibleline everywhere, every time. 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 through the Bibleline website at calbryoftampa.org. 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 appreciate you being here today. I wanted to read to you from the book of 1st Decononians, Chapter three about your faith. You’d be surprised how many times you talked about your faith, your faith. And so I want you to listen as I read this. Verse one, Wherefore, when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone. Isn’t that wonderful? It says right there, be good, be left at Athens alone. And send to Mothius our brother and minister of God and our fellow labor in the gospel of Christ.

to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith. That no man should be moved by these afflictions. For yourselves know that we are appointed there unto them. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation, even as it came to pass and you know. For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith. Less by some means, the tempter have tempted you to you and our labor be in vain.

But now when Tomothius came from you unto us and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity and that ye have good remembrance of us always desiring greatly to see us as we also to see you. Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our afflictions and distresses by your faith. For now we live if you stand fast in the Lord. Well, what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy where we joy for your sakes before our God.

Night and day, pray exceedingly that we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith. Let’s pray, shall we? Our Father, we know it’s so important that after we trust you as our Savior, that each person should be able to know where they stand in the faith and how they’re doing in their faith, their personal growth between you and them. And Father, we pray that you’d bless today as we study your word to illuminate a person’s mind and help them to see things that they might need to correct.

And Father, we don’t want to be here wasting our time or playing games, but so much needs to be done. We’re thankful for the progress of this church and Father for those that are working in labor with our young people and doing such an excellent job. And we thank you also Lord for the results of the Radio Ministry. You’ve been good to us and we thank you for it. So bless us today in Christ’s name, amen. Anyway, I’m going to talk to you this morning about your faith.

And I want you to turn there to the book of 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. And talking about the difference between state and standing. And it’s so important to understand the difference. Your standing in Christ never changes. That is permanent. It’s kind of like being born into your family. Your standing is as you are their child. And your state, well, that’s the condition of your everyday affair, which changes all the time. But there’s some things that do not change, some things that do.

And you need understand the difference so that you can grow in your Christian life. Otherwise, if you don’t understand it, you’ll question whether you’re even saved. And so it’s so important to understand this. Here in the book of 1 Thessalonians in chapter 3, I want you to notice there in verse 2, and send Timotheus, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow labor in the gospel of Christ to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith. In other words, you, after you trust the Christ, your Savior, the key thing is to make you strong and stable.

Establish you. It mentions this also in the book of Peter in chapter 5. And because of your adversary, the devil, who is a roaring lion, seek to me may devour. So you want to be able to be strong. And then you have the winds of every doctrineascade that can cause you to be tossed to and fro as a child of God. So you need to be strong.Tx And so this is what he’s talking about. And then in verse 3, he says that no man should be moved by these afflictions.

Being moved means things can change. Things that happens in life, conditions behavi that causes youanoia tocelerate. Today you may be a child of peace and joy and happiness and wonder and all that. And then tomorrow you can be totally in despair and just brokenhearted and ready to commit suicide. In the words, your condition can change so quickly from day to day. but it never affects your salvation. That is unchangeable. And then he makes a statement here in verse four, for verily or truly, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulations, even as it came to pass.

And you know, telling them, look, when I was with you, I told you that as a child of God, you are going to suffer tribulation. So you as a Christian, you know this. But you see all the tribulations, sometimes that we go through the trials and testings, sometimes it affects us spiritually. And we don’t always feel on top of our game, like these guys that are playing in the PGA Championship. I told my wife yesterday, I said, man, I’d love to get out there and play golf with those guys.

Wouldn’t that be, Leon, wouldn’t you love that? I mean, Leon could just get in there and just hang with those guys. Well, in our minds, we think we could. And Betty says, you can’t even get to walk to a practice round, let alone play in the thing. Yes, dear. And she always brings me back down to reality. But there’s some things about our faith that happens to build us strong. So he says you’re going to have tribulation, but how are you doing?

How would you rate yourself this morning? If you had to rate yourself on a scale from one to ten, spiritually, how are you doing? Is your faith strong in the Lord or are you a little shaky? A lot of questions and doubts perhaps, but ready to hang it all up, can’t take anymore and all that kind of stuff? Well, he says this in verse five, for this cause when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith.

Your faith talking about on a daily basis, your faith, not talking about have you trusted Christ to save your, that’s a one time deal. You don’t have to do that again. So he’s talking about the spiritual condition these children of God. He makes a statement here, less, less by some means. The tempter have tempted you and our labor be in vain. Now I always thought that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. See, your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Then how can he say is here that it’s in vain? And also makes the same statement in the book of Philippians in chapter 2. He says, lest we have bestowed upon you labor in vain. In other words, your labor, it can be in vain as far as people go because it’s based upon their response to what you’ve taught them. In other words, can a preacher preach in vain? Of course. But between me and God, God will reward me for what I do.

God will reward you for what you do. But you see, it can be in vain as far as people’s response to it. Can you tell your children to what’s right and what’s wrong and try to train them correctly? Yes, you can. But can it be in vain as far as they’re concerned? Yes, it can because they may not want to listen to you and do whatever you say do. So it can be in vain. But Paul didn’t want his ministry to the people to be in vain.

He wanted them to respond correctly because he cared about him. He wanted to know how are you doing? So he says here, less by some means the tempter. Who is the tempter? Who do you think the tempter is? That’s that old devil. Less by any means the devil tempts you and brings you down and causes your walk with the Lord to be influenced. So he makes a statement here in verse six, but now when tumultuous came from you unto us and brought us good titans of your faith and your charity, your love, and that you have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us.

Well, that just warmed our little peepick and hearts what he’s saying. saying. So in verse 7, therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all hour of friction and distress by your faith because they knew they were suffering and because they were doing so well spiritually, well, that just warmed our hearts because that helped us in our afflictions of what we were going on. That’s why I see it’s good to know how other people are doing. And sometimes it’s good not just to know when everybody’s doing Great.

Sometimes you need to know when people are not having a good day and you can care about them and kind of sympathize a little bit. Everybody needs a little cent of the along their way. Don’t you think so? Everybody needs a little encouragement and sometimes you have to have those. But he makes a statement here in all of our distress and our afflictions by your faith. And then he says down here in verse 10, night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face and might perfect that which is what we do.

Lacking in your faith in other words everyone sitting here this morning. There’s something lacking in your faith God isn’t through with you yet if you heard that little song God ain’t finished with me yet. He’s still working on me He gonna work on you until the day you leave this world But there’s always something lacking in your faith because you’re not gonna be perfect in this world But you’re growing toward your perfection in Christ You’re already there first. God is concerned, but your life, you’re supposed to get more righteous and more godly, more holy as you live.

And that’s a difficult thing. Now, I want you to take your notes that I gave to you and look there at the verse that I mentioned 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 15. Study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that need if not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Now the Bible is something you’re supposed to read and rightly divided, trying to understand to discern how to apply it in your life. Realizing there’s some scriptures that talks about our standing in Christ and some scriptures are talking about our state.

And if you will there, look at letter A. These are three things that I mentioned here that depend upon the work of Christ. In other words, this is what Christ did. It really boils down to if you put it all in one word, this is your salvation. When you trusted Christ as your Savior. You have a position that was given to you determined at the moment of salvation. Your position is you have a position in Christ. You are placed in Him, you are in Christ.

And as we read before in the book of Ephesians in chapter 1 and verse 3, you have been seated in the heavenlies in Christ. He hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings. So we’re talking Spiritual blessing, that is your position that you have in Christ. That’s who you are. That’s where you are. You are in Him and that’s where God has placed you. That took place the moment you took Him as your Savior. The union determined at the moment of salvation.

Remember, death is what? Separation. Sin separates us from God. So when you trusted Christ as your Savior, you now and we have been joined together with the Lord. There’s a union there and this union can never be broken. It can never be broken. He said, I’ll never leave you, never forsake, never will. He said, because Jesus Christ is eternal life. So when you have Christ, you have eternal life. He that hath the Son, half life, and he that hath not the Son of that half, not life.

So he that believe it in him, half everlasting. You have something, you have life. That’s a union that God gives to you. and it says this mortal must we swallow it up in mortality. And this is a verse that we read at the funeral the other day. The temporal is swallowed up of life. And so Christ, we are in Him. That is our union and it can never be broken. That union can never be broken. You got it at the moment of salvation.

You’re standing determined at the moment of salvation. This is your position that you have in Christ. The word standing is the word that we usually refer to all of this. That is my position in Christ. That is my standing in Christ. It can never change. Now look at letter A, the little small letter A. These are not experienced by the emotions of the flesh. Your salvation is not experienced by the emotions of the flesh. When I trusted Christ as my Savior, did I cry?

Yes I did. I have seen other people that trust Christ is a Savior and they laugh. Our emotions did not play the part in our salvation. You were not saved because you cried when you went down to the front or because you sat there and you smiled and you raised your hand. You see nothing physical went into this salvation because that was something that you did as a mental thing between you and God when you put your faith your trust in Jesus Christ.

Now the external things that you may have done, my very with different people. But none of the emotions is what saved you. You are not saved because you shed tears. You are not saved because you smiled. You weren’t saved because you frowned. Those things can be different for different people, but has nothing to do with your salvation. Your salvation was, did you or did you not? Did you accept Jesus Christ as you saved? Yes, you did. Every man is saved exactly the same way.

Look at letter B. The walks of the saint do not attain these progressively. There’s people who think that as you walk with the Lord and you keep getting better and better and better, Then your union gets better with Christ and your position is more secure But if you ever stop walking then you lose your position in Christ You don’t go to heaven now and all that’s changed and this union that you have between you and the Lord is broken And now you can still go to hell in the future because they believe it’s progressive and you get better and better But see that’s not taught in the Bible No man said well I was saved five years ago and I’ve been a working on my salvation and I’m getting better and better and I’m getting it more Anker and more secure and I’m doing the best thing no no no you don’t understand it your salvation is a one-time deal that take place

The very moment that you accepted Christ is your Savior Letter see look at letter C. They are not given on the basis of human merit In other words your position that you have in Christ your salvation has never been determined by any any human merits that you have ever done. It’s not because you come to church. It’s not because you’ve given money, because you did anything. It’s only because you did it or did it not, except Christ is your savior.

That’s the only reason. Letter D, these are obtained completely at the moment of salvation. The very moment you trusted the Lord, you were safe and secure and sealed in Jesus Christ, and that can never be changed. Now, these last three things are very important because if it wasn’t for the divine revelation of the Word of God, you would not know that this spiritual birth ever took place because it’s not based upon a feeling. You have faith, in fact, and feeling.

Many people think that it goes by feeling and then faith and then fact. No, no, no, no. It’s faith and then on the facts and then the feeling. So you have to put your faith in the facts and then the feelings can follow later. But your confidence is not in that. It’s upon the facts, just the facts, ma’am. And you read the Bible and you learn the facts and you put your faith in the facts. And then never worry about the feeling because see, you might feel like you’re saved today.

But tomorrow you may not feel like it. So are you or are you not based upon your feelings? Well, see, you can’t go by your feelings because feelings do what? Feelings change. So you never base your salvation upon an emotional experience that you think you had somewhere. It was did you or did you not? Intellated. Did you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior? Now if you did, you have eternal life and God will never cast you out in evolution.

Look at Larry, they are realized only by divine revelation because if the Bible didn’t tell us these things, because this is known only to God because you see your position in Christ, you wouldn’t know that you had that if the Word of God didn’t tell us that. And let her ref, they are eternal and never changing. So you’re being born into God’s family, something that does not change. That is an absolute, that is eternal, it never changes. It’s never altered.

And that’s why I’ve said before, my salvation in Jesus Christ, so you can never be changed or altered by God or me because that’s what he did for me. This all is under the letter A, depends upon the, in your underlyingness again, or circle, work of Christ. This is the work he did. Your salvation is His work, not your work. It’s not all of your responses and how you did all that, no, no, no, it has nothing to do with it.

It’s all has to do with the work of Christ. Let her gee, this relationship is true and you ought to underline these words every believer. It’s true of every believer and visible only to God. You see, you can’t see somebody else’s spiritual birth. You can’t see my spiritual birth. Only God, and this is why we was covering this in our Sunday school last this morning in the book of Timothy in chapter two, where it says that hymns and philead has had overthrown the faith of some of God’s people.

And the Lord says, but nevertheless, nevertheless, having this seal, the Lord know of them that are his. What if you trust Christ as your Savior today and then tomorrow, the next day or next week or next month or next year. You don’t believe any of it anymore. Well, are you still saved? More are you lost? Still saved? Because your faith has been overthrown because the tempter got at you and your faith hasn’t grown and now you have shipwrecked faith.

So are you still saved? Yes. And he says, nevertheless, having this seal, the Lord know of them that are His. It cannot be changed. That is your position in Christ when you trust the Lord as your Savior. Now look at letter B. This depends upon the walk of man, the walk of the Christian man, because all of this is talking about the believers standing and state, not the lost man. So this depends upon the walk of man, that is your condition, and condition changes from day to day.

There’s various things that are happening in your life. The condition of our church today is a little bit different than it was last Sunday. There were different people here last week than are not here today. Tonight will be just a little bit different. Everybody who preaches that’s going to be speaking, it’s a different situation in every case. Every ranch meeting is different. We don’t do everything exactly 100% exactly the same way because things change because it’s involving us in this life and things in this world is temporal and it changes.

And so you may be very healthy today and be on your deathbed tomorrow or gone completely. And your communion that you have with the Lord is different than the union that you have in your position in Christ. When you trust the Christ and you say this union can never be broken. But as a Christian my communion with Christ can be. That is the fellowship that I have with the Lord that is based upon my communion with the Lord. And the communion where you commune with each other.

I talk to him and he talks to me. And this talking back and forth between me and God is what affects my walk in the Lord. And if you don’t have the communion between you and the Lord, you’re not going to have a walk that you ought to have with the Lord. If you don’t have a walk you ought to have with the Lord, you’re not going to have a fellowship that you should have with the Lord. Fellowship is two guys in a fellowship.

Fellowship is to walk together and how can they be agreed? In other words, it says, how can two walk together unless they be agreed? So you’ve got people walking with the Lord means you’re walking in agreement with God. And this walking in agreement with God is because you’re talking in agreement with God. So your communion that you have affects your walk with the Lord. And your walk with the Lord is what affects your fellowship with the Lord. Well what happens when seeing in there’s a picture of all of this?

So number one, look there at letter A. They relate to the believer’s walk where? On earth. So now we’re talking about none our position that we have with Christ in heaven before God as His child, that can never be changed. So what we’re looking at now is everything that can be changed. Things that fluctuate. And the believers walk upon the earth can fluctuate. Today you may be walking close to the Lord and tomorrow you not be walking close to the Lord.

Let her be. They are temporal and constantly changing. And that’s why it’s so important that you do the things every day to keep yourself strong in the Lord. If you don’t you won’t stay strong. If you don’t stay strong, you’re not going to have the strength that you need to take that old devil, the tempter, that wants to destroy you and keep standing. And the Bible says, having done all to stand. Look what he says, I have it in number three, letter C.

They are understood by the concepts of spirituality and our carnality. Our look up here, me. I’m a child of God. I’m going to heaven whenever I die. That will never be changed. But what can be changed is because I have a flesh birth, I can be carnal. Because I have a spiritual birth, I can be spiritual. Because I got both kinds, right? So if I follow the flesh, I will be fleshly minded, now bring forth the works of the flesh.

But if I am spiritually minded, then I can bring forth the fruit of the Spirit. So I am an individual with two choices and I can go either way, and God says, be not deceived, God is not mocked. What’s a man’s soul that shall he also reap? So in my life as I live, I’m either going to be a carnal Christian or a spiritual Christian. Carnally minded, where you mind the flesh, spiritually minded, you mind the spirit. So you’re always battling who are you going to mind?

The fluster of the flesh is telling you what to do, and the spirit is telling you what to do, and you’ve got to make a decision, and it’s going to be your choice. And you don’t always make the right decision. As you hear about a lot of people today talking about, we have the fortunate and the unfortunate. The fortunate and the unfortunate. Well, I think it’s a shame that there’s a lot of homeless people. And a lot of people who’s very poor and don’t have anything at all.

But remember this, a lot of time it’s not because of who was fortunate and who was unfortunate. It was because those unfortunate made some bad decisions and the fortunate’s happened to make some good decisions. Some people are poor because they chose to be poor because they made poor decisions. Some people are rich today because they made some decisions on how to make money and they disciplined themselves and they just happened to be fortunate. No. They made some good decisions.

You as a child of God, you’re going to live in the same world just like all the other Christians do and you’re going to be tested just like everybody else says and you have troubles and tribulations just like everybody all the other Christians are. No difference between all of you and some of you are going to make some good decisions and some of you are not and some of you are going to be less fortunate because you’re going to be so poor spiritually because you will not do what God says to do.

You’re going to be a carnal Christian and some of you are going to be a strong spiritual Christian because you’ll do what God says, dude, but it’s because of choices that you make. The next thing I want you to look at, in letter D, they are necessary for all your growth and service. You will not grow strong if you do not understand this clearly, that your position in Christ, once you’re saved, you’re what always say that never changes. That’s your position that you have in the Lord and the union that you you have with Him, you have eternal life, that’ll never stop, that’ll never change.

But see, that’s our position in Christ in the heavenly, but we’re not in heaven, we’re down here. Now, I’m still as child and all that’s true, but right now I’ve got to live in this nasty here and now, so we’re going to make decisions. We’ve got choices to make. And they are very important for our growth as a Christian and our service as a Christian. Remember I made the statement last week, I am not a TV set trying to produce cow’s potatoes.

I am a preacher trying to produce servants. And if you don’t want to serve the Lord, you’re not going to be happy. Not here you won’t. But if you want to be a servant, then I’ll teach you how to serve. But that’s my goal, is to get everybody busy doing something for the Lord. Not just a set and look pretty. That’s a waste of your time and my time. But look what he says, down here at letter E, this relationships affects our mind, emotion, and body.

Did you know the condition sometimes of you physically is because of how you’re standing spiritually. Is it possible that God can make you weak, sick, and maybe even take you home before your time? Yes, he can. Doesn’t mean that everybody gets sick, it’s because sin in their life. No, the friends of Job, they were three of them, and they have really gotten married and had a lot of kids, and there’s so, So there’s a lot of around in order.

But keep us in mind, your mind can change every moment of the day. And you can be happy right now and somebody can come up and say something to you and you can be teed off and next day you know you want to kill somebody. Your mind, your will, your emotions, all of that can change so quickly with based upon the condition of things that are around you. And your body, it doesn’t last also. And it can change. Like I said, healthy one minute, sick the next minute.

You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. Part two of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the The spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftempa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friends, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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. And just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calbreak Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the Internet. Your regular prayers and month… 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 through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you’ll 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.

Usually, a person who does not believe in hell does not believe in heaven. Ask them if they do. Then informed them that only through the Bible do we learn of Heaven and Hell if one is true, so is the other. Number seven, God would never send his children to Hell. I remember this was a line that was used by a Jehovah’s Witness. I was knocking on doors one day and the Jehovah’s Witnesses told me, says, Sir, don’t you believe the Bible?

I says, Yes. Well, don’t you believe that God loves his children? And I said, yes, ma’am, I believe that. She was setting me up, but I wasn’t prepared, but they didn’t get me away. She says, do you think that a wonderful, kind, loving God would cast his children into a fire? I says, no, ma’am, he wouldn’t, and he doesn’t. See, that’s one of their main openings on how to get into your home to have a Bible study. And they use this, ma’am, if you had a fire in your fireplace, And you had a child and you loved your child.

Would you cast your child in that fire? And a parent would say, of course not. We’ll need to with God. Can we come in and share with you? And they don’t believe in hell. They don’t believe it’s a hell. And you and I, we say we believe there is a hell. Then that teaching alone is the reason that we want to get people to trust Christ as Savior. So every person we get to trust the Lord to go to heaven is a person that doesn’t go to hell.

So that’s why it’s so important to keep this in mind. All right, look at number seven. The first part of it, you are so right, none of his children will ever be cast into hell. But you do need to have maybe an explanation on two that he will send to hell and cast into hell. The next statement, tell them that the Bible teaches that God will cast the angels into hell. He says, for if God spared not the angels that sin, but cast them down to hell and deliver them into change of darkness to be reserved unto judgment, he’s also talking about the judgment that God’s going to bring upon the world.

And then the next judgment upon the world itself and upon the people that are lost. So that’s why it’s so important for you to not only know what God won’t do to the Christian, But what he will do to the angels is going to be cast in the hell and also the lost people are going to be cast in the hell. Look at the next statement. Tell them that the Bible teaches that God will cast the lost in the hell.

He said, and whosoever, that means anybody. See this verse is similar to the one liked in John 3 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believe Whosoever believe it should not perish at me go to hell, but have everlasting life that means go to heaven. So whosoever believes goes there and whosoever does not believe, the Bible says here, whosoever was not found written in the book of life. That’s the Lamb’s book of life cast into the lake of fire.

Now Betty’s dad explained these verses to me like I’ve told you many times when I was 18 years old. these verses and his talking to me the way he did is the reason that years later I still have that as my foundation and the main motivation for my whole life. That’s still the reason. You know why I want to have a basketball team. So kids can play basketball. No, it just gives me a chance to get him to come to church.

It’s leverage. I’m just being honest with you. Ain’t that right? It’s leverage. And some of them know that. It’s that I get to make you come to church because if I didn’t, you wouldn’t come. And I want you to come because I want to teach you something. And then when we have a basketball practice, I always start with what? And what? What? Always start with prayer, always in with prayer. TheNitrome I get a chanceWarren to say a few more words.

It’s only an opportunity. I don’t care anything about that basketball team. It008 is an authority. It’s a way to spend some time with the kids. You know what I enjoy? I enjoy spendingFU with the kids. I enjoy. I love it. I don’t care much about playingetooth basketball. I just didn’t watch y’all do it. But it’s an opportunity to spend time with the kids. I don’t mind, you know, Tim and John, you know, working with the team. I love it.

I like it. I like it after I get through and some kid comes up and asks me a question. I get the answer his question. I drive on that. I love it. It’ll sit down in some girl’s company and she got a question about some. I enjoy like that. We’re trying to teach you why you should do right. I want to do that.

I like it. I want to affect your life. eternity, not just this little lifetime we have right here. And so the only thing you can do that is you’ve got to spend time in people’s lives. Some people don’t want to get into body’s life. I do. I like that. I want to get to know people. Spend time with you. But anyway, back to your notes here.

Get this one. Yes, God says He will cast the angels that sinned and those that reject Christ. But no scripture, and you’re going to underline this in your notes here. No scripture teaches that God will cast his children into hell. Will God ever send one of his children to hell? No. Once you’ve trusted Christ as your savior, no child of God from that point forward can ever go to hell. God can never send his child to hell. He fathered you and you are perfect because you’re born of God.

God is perfect. He had no sinful nature. He cannot pass a sinful nature onto his child. The sinful nature you have was passed on to you and your flesh from your father, not God. So the new birth, when you trust it, tries you’re born of God, the new birth born of God. God didn’t have a sinful nature. He had a divine nature. That’s why now you have the Holy Spirit that lives within you and the Holy Spirit within you is having a God like nature, divine nature.

So God can’t never see you have because the new birth, it can’t sin. There’s nothing you can do in the future that could ever send you to hell. That’s grace. That’s the best news I ever heard in my life. Because if you stop a thing about it, if a man could lose his salvation, we would. If you could lose your salvation because they’re doing something wrong, you have. You’re already lost. You ain’t got a ghost of a chance. If you can get saved and didn’t do something wrong to lose it, you’d have lost it.

You didn’t keep it one eye order of a second. Nothing. You can’t save yourself. You can’t keep yourself saved. That’s why this is such good news here. Now look at the next statement. He says what he means means exactly what he says. He loves us with an everlasting love. It’s not his desire that anyone perished. Look in 2 Peter 3-9. 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9. These are simple verses that you maybe have heard a thousand times, but you need to underline these verses in your Bible.

On the line all the verses that I involved here, you put them in your Bible and you underline them And then you memorize those verses, memorize them. If you can’t memorize all of them, we’ll work on a couple of them. But spend time with the Bible, memorizing Scripture. I remember when I first went to Bible college, I said, I didn’t memorize Scripture. I didn’t even know the books of the Bible. I barely had enough knowledge in others, no test, no no test one.

But I didn’t know that until after I was 18 years old because I didn’t know that. But I remember we had a PE class and every day in we go into PE class you had a memorizer verse, memorizer verse, sometimes two verses. Well that’s okay but you had four or five classes every day. You had a memorizer for every class. So you memorize them you know five, ten verses every day, every day. Well it came time for an exam and Ray Stanford says um these are the verses that I want you to memorize.

He gave us a list of all the verses that we had from the very first day of school to the last day before the exam. He required us to know every verse that he had given us. There was over 100 verses. 100 verses. And I had to memorize over 100 verses for the… Listen, I’m working a full-time job. I worked 12, 13 hours a day. I was going to school full-time. I averaged two and a half hours of sleep a night.

That was my average for the first two years, two and a half hours. Think about it. I never fell asleep in class. And I’m trying to find a win. Now I have time to memorize all these verses before an exam. And not only that, the next day we had another test in first Corinthians and we had over 100 verses in that class. So now I find out I’ve got over 200 verses to memorize in two days. Have you ever memorized a verse, like a camp, but the next day you don’t even have any clue that verse or where it’s found.

But you can do it for that moment. Yeah, you try it with a hundred verses. Did you know what? Rowed down every verse in order from Genesis all the way through the Revelation that I had a number of, all hundred of them. And while I was on the job, well I was on the job running the laminated machine, I had my verses and I’m trying to memorize verses. I had to get to where I could. I didn’t want to lose no work.

I want to put out the same production that I was doing before. So I created a few things on this year Laminate Machine. Did a pretty good job. They even gave me a little bonus one time. And but anyway, I memorized all hundred verses one night. I got a 98 the next day. I missed something. I don’t know what it was. The next day I had the other tests over another 100 verses. I memorized all 100. And he may only ask you three or four verses.

You just don’t know which ones. And yet you can tell the whole exam because you didn’t memorize those verses. So you had to memorize all the verses because you know which words you’re going to ask. Isn’t that cruel? Cruel, but it’s fun. And you can memorize the Word of God. I want you to memorize the scriptures. Second Peter chapter three, looking verse nine, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness, but his long suffering.

That means he suffers long toward us. Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance to a change of mind. God wants every person that change their mind and trusts the Lord. And he talks about before this how he overflowed the world with water, and the next time he’s going to burn it all up by fire. But he says, God is patient. Why is God waiting 2,000 years? Because more people born more people have opportunities to hear the gospel more people trust the Lord more people go to heaven See a lot more people go to hell too.

I know But God I guess is looking at the end result of how many more people will actually be in heaven No, he says the the road to destruction is wide Brought is the way But the road that leaves the life is narrow and And few there be that find it that means that there’s a good possibility There’ll be more people in hell than they’ll ever be in heaven But it is so important for you to know Christ is Savior love the Lord and love the lost and Realizing that we need to be patient and we should not be willing that any person should perish this thing for this moment Here’s the Bible you read this verse God is not willing that any person should perish Do you want to be like the Lord?

If you want to be like the Lord, then you should not be willing that any person should perish. You shouldn’t want any party to perish. When he makes the statement in the book of Timothy, it says that God says that he wants everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth, that every man may be saved. Then if you want to be like the Lord, then that frame of mind is to permeate your thinking. You should want every man to come to the knowledge of the truth.

You want everybody to be saved. So that means there’s not one person you want to go to hell. You want everybody to go to heaven. Because you’re learning how to think the way God wants you to think. So important. Look at the next statement. The scripture that I’ve got here in italic, he that believer is not condemned, but he that believe is not as condemned already because he has not believed. not believe. See, people are already lost. They’re already condemned.

There’s nothing that you will say or do that’s going to condemn anybody. They’re already condemned. You’re not sending people to hell. They’re already lost. God can use you to get him to heaven, but he doesn’t use you to get him to hell. They’re already going there. But God may use you as a tool to explain to an individual how they could have eternal life. I was up there in Hammond, Indiana one year back in 1972, 3, 4, and 5.

I went for five straight years. And I watched the youth director get this. I watched the youth director at at Hammond, First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana. His name was Dave Hyles. He was 17 years old. And their youth grew. He ran about an average of about 800 on average Sunday, 800 teenagers. But they had high days of 4,500 teenagers. That was 30 something years ago, 32 years ago. That’s a lot of teenagers, ain’t it? It’s kind of like I’ve told you before, this rooster kind of got lost.

And he was going down the road and he went into this other farmer’s yard and that farmer had some ostriches in his fence area there. But he walked in there and he saw the eggs. Saw those gray, big old ostrich eggs. Man, he beat a path that down the road. He went in there and told those other hens. He says, look, I know y’all are doing a good job. Again, you ought to see what they’re doing down the road.

Sometime you think you’re doing a great job to see what somebody else is doing. And I remember when I went up there one day, me and Al Sacker. We got there in time to go sewing with some of the teenagers. And the problem was that so many of their teenagers, they knew the Roman road. They knew all the scriptures like it. They know them. But they didn’t have that little tool with a wallet illustration. They didn’t have that. And so we were taking around a couple of kids and they would go to this door and then another door and had come back and their head was hung low and I said, what’s the matter?

Says they wanted to get saved, but they didn’t want to pray. They wanted to be saved, but they didn’t want to pray. They didn’t know what to do with them then because they’re only way of leading somebody to the Lord was to get them to pray. So I turned around and the seat and I said, look, Can I show y’all something? I said, you already know the scriptures. Let me just show you a tool. And I showed them a little wall of illustration.

I said, man, that is fantastic. I said, go up here to the school. And it was letting out on what they were doing, but they let out. And there were kids everywhere. But one of their rules is the adults had to stay in the car. Only the kids get to go and talk. So we stayed in the car, men outside. And we watched and they went up there And it wasn’t long before the girl put her purse down and she had something in her hand and she was going there.

Then she was going to somebody else doing the same thing. And I forgot, I think it was either 7 or 8 that they led to the Lord that night. They were ecstatic. And I thought, wouldn’t it be needed? You could teach all 800 how to do that. How many more people could trust the Lord? But you got to do what you can with what you have and you don’t know who you’re going to train that’s going to influence somebody.

Did you know that this is just a scenario that might Happen may not but I say that little girl Kayla she goes over there to her school and she she does the little while of illustration with the kids and The guy that heads up the fellow civil Christian athletes there Saw it and liked it and was very impressed with what she did now What if he learns that and then teaches a couple others that teaches thousands and all of a sudden And all the kids in the ministries that they have and all the schools across America began to explain it a little bit simpler.

And in multitudes, trust the Lord, all because of one little 13-year-old girl. You say, yes, you can. You have no idea how God is going to say or do something. From one little thing I had. I remember whenever I was down in San Antonio, I was speaking at Faith Bible Church, Lee at the King’s Church. Dr. Curtis Hudson was in the study, and I didn’t know he was there yet, and I was talking to the school, the kids, the children.

And so while I was talking to them, he was in the study, but he was listening over the intercom system, to what I was saying. I was speaking on the clarity of the gospel, Repentance, Lordship, Salvation, and you name it. I said what it was, what it is, and all that. And I didn’t know this, but he had talked to my wife, talked to Betty. And he had talked to Lee, he got a copy of it, talked to Betty, and he got a picture from Betty.

And it wasn’t a couple weeks later, the sword of the Lord came out that goes all over the world. And on the front page was my picture. It came to the house and I got a sword of the Lord. And there it was. Was I shot? I was shot. A little sermon that I was given to high school kids. Somebody heard, put it in newspaper. And then it was sent to me. And then he sent me a letter later.

And the letter he told me says, there had been 41 people who have wrote in in the month of August that trusted Christ with their Savior from that reading that sermon. And he said that’s just from that month. I don’t know what happened about the other four or five months before this I was just that one. This is four or five months later From that one sermon that I preached in a little low school that somebody just happened to record And we didn’t even know that person was gonna do that and he had a copy of it So you don’t know the impact you’re gonna make at any given moment Or if I’m preaching on the radio He was Dr.

Stanford. He had one guy that comes down here to play tennis. But before the guy left, Ray gave him a P.E. ball, and what the guy was looking for. Well, Dr. Farouk, all the way from Egypt. Now, I was up in Toronto. Goes down here and he plays tennis. He’s retired and made his money. And Ray reached him. Got clear on the gospel. From that, he goes up to Canada and goes on TV. all over Canada. And then he just finished his little episode over there in the Middle East on radio and TV, 87 years of age, all because he reached one guy down there that opened up all these other doors.

So you never know at what point somebody’s going to open up a whole bunch of doors for you and you get a chance to influence. Be faithful wherever you are doing whatever you can do at that moment and let God do these things for you. Look at the next statement, number eight, what about all the hypocrites in the church? Ever heard that one? Boy, that has really been thrown up in my face. What about all the hypocrites in the church?

Well, you know, I actually believe that every person in some way is a little hypocritical. I’m probably a little hypocritical myself. You know, being a hypocrite actually comes from those who work in place, hypocrite. It’s a person who’s pretending to be something that they’re not. They’re players, they’re actors. And so somebody who gets up on the stage and acts and pretends that they’re something that they’re not. That’s not really who they are, but they’re just pretending. Well there’s people in life that do the same thing.

Have you ever pretended that you’re happy and you weren’t happy? You ever pretend that you were really hurt and you weren’t really hurt Ever pretend that you were mad and you weren’t really mad But you pretend to be you know for whatever the Reasons can be that would be advantageous to you. Well, what about if you hear you are and you’re a Christian and you say I love the Lord I love the Lord If you say you love the Lord Christ says if you love me serve me.

And you’d be surprised what Christian says, I hate God. I hate God. Most Christians don’t say I hate God. That’s you. I love God. But the way they live doesn’t say that. Are they hypocritical? If you say something and you’re not, are you’re just a little bit of hypocritical in that area? So if you say, I love God, but I don’t serve him. I love the lost. Now, I don’t want nobody to go to hell. I love them. Well, would you witness to them?

That’s a rough part. Don’t know about it. In every area, I would say that we are probably just a little bit of hypocritical. I am and I would venture to say you might be in some area, not in every area, just here and there a little bit, you know. But look at the statement here. This fact certainly must grieve the Lord. It prompted him to tell Nicodemus a very religious man, except the man be born again. He will never enter the kingdom of God.

See, there’s a possibility that Nicodemus was a little hypocritical. He thought he was righteous because of the way he…? Yet he knew nothing about the second birth. He thought he was going to go to heaven and Jesus had to let him know you’re not going. This is really Jesus rebuking him. He’s answering the question yet but he rebuking him. So I own a few things down here. Look, next statement. God warns us about judging others because with what judgment you judge, you shall beartzaged.

It’s so easy plaint, look at me just now. It is very easy to see your sin when you see it in another person. You don’t hardly see it when it’s in you. But if you see somebody else doing exactly the same thing you do, you pick it up just like that. and become critical, and become critical.yrinth, and become critical. And that’s why some people are very, well, if you ever heard somebody say before you judge me, clean up your own backyard.

It means like the old Indian proverb before you judge me white man walking my moccasins for a moon. In other words, if you can get that splinter or two before out of your eye, you can see clearly to get the splinter out of somebody else. It doesn’t mean you don’t have the splinter. It’s that you got one too, and yours is bigger than his. In other words, your problem is bigger than the person’s problem you’re trying to point out.

And it’s so easy for us to sit in judgment upon everybody else, but we don’t sometimes see ourselves. It’s kind of like the guy’s playing basketball. Somebody else can sit on the sideline and see what they’re doing wrong. But when you’re in the midst of it and you can’t see it, you can’t see it, you can’t see yourself all the time. So God may bless you by sending some people to rebuke you or just to point out some things.

Keep it in mind. Don’t walk around with your chips on your shoulder. That means I double dog dare you to knock that off. But there’s just people in the world that got a few little chips on their shoulders and they just dare you say something. be defensive. Don’t be defensive. Don’t always have to defend yourself. The next two points are very important. They’re very important. I’ll be the first to agree that there are hypocrites in the church and there are hypocrites where you work.

At the restaurant, gas stations, grocery stores, neighbors, and you’re on the line this little statement and maybe where you live. Do you think that even in your home there might be a hypocrite? At times we probably are. There’s time when I’m sure Betty thinks you hypocrite. You say something and you didn’t follow through with it, you promise and you didn’t keep your word. We are human. We’re people. We fail. We make mistakes. You do that. But should any mistake that somebody else makes be the reason for turning against God?

No, still do right. Look at the next statement. Do not use the hypocrisy of people as an excuse to justify your reasons for turning on a perfectly righteous and holy God. Be careful in allowing this type of question to cause you to attack the person you’re trying to reach. But recognize it as a diversionary tactic you may not wish to pursue. What about all the hypocrites in the church? Okay, now you want to talk about all the hypocrites in the church.

You have it that might not have anything to do with where you want to go. You might just become critical and bitter towards somebody else. And well, people don’t go to church. They’re like, and you probably hypocrite too. OK, you might have just ended your soul when they experienced right then. You may be right, but it didn’t pay off. There’s no value to it. So you don’t even have to tell the truth. If telling the truth on certain things is not going to be advantageous.

So be careful. Be wise and do right. All righty. Our father, once again, we thank you for the time together. We do pray, Lord, You will to be done in our lives and help us to be effective. And we don’t know, Lord, at what time, what point in our life? Some little child, some little teenage girl or boy, or maybe some old tramp on the street. Might be just the one that we need to reach. Help us to the wise, to be concerned and just use this figure on your Christ name we pray.

Amen. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, The teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll-free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 10 30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed.

Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. to live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

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 through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

I want you to turn first of all to 1 John chapter 5 and verse 13. We are talking about objections that you may receive when you witness to somebody. And sometimes a person’s question or doubts may be yours. So learning answers helps you. And the Bible says learning how to give an answer to every man. Well, if you’re to learn how to give an answer to every man, then it’s part of my responsibility to teach you how to do that.

Even though some of the things that I give to you, yes, there are things that are mainly taught in Bible college, but almost all preachers or evangelists, missionaries, they go to Bible college and they learn these things. And then when they get into a church, they never teach them. I want to teach you what I was taught. I want you to know what I know. I always look at it this way. If you knew what I knew, you’d do what I do.

Doesn’t that sound simple? If you knew what I knew, you’d do what I do. So you’re trying to teach people how to do what you do. The Bible says be an example, therefore, of the believer. If you’re going to be an example, that means you have somebody follow you. Not just in that you behave yourself and you go to church, but in your manner of life, how you actually think. Why you do what you do. And so I hope that these things will help you tremendously.

But there are people that you would talk to and they say, I don’t believe in hell. I just don’t believe there’s a hell. If you happen to have someone say something like that to you, I can understand that. that. For many people deny, most of them ultimately, those things which we most fear. And psychiatrists, if you believe in psychiatrists, I really don’t care too much for psychiatrists, but I imagine they probably have a nice little job to do. Some people who have some problems and some hang ups, they might be able to be of help to you.

But I believe that Christians, Psychologists are somebody that will try to solve a problem according to the Bible and not humanistically speaking. So whenever you think you need a psychiatrist, go to a Christian psychiatrist. They are Christian psychiatrists and they sometimes can help counsel you with the word of God. But they tell us the one fear, the number one fear of the human heart that everybody has fears, all kinds. But the number one is what’s gonna happen to me when I die.

And sometimes people don’t wanna face up to their fear. They have the fear, but they don’t wanna talk about it. They’re afraid of death, but they don’t wanna talk about it. And so you’re the one that’s gonna have the courage, the boldness, the look of verses straight in the eye and say, where are you going when you die? I remember whenever I was invited down to Louisiana to preach one time. I had preached in this one church and the preacher walked in on one of my sessions that I was having in his Christian school and he enjoyed it so I got to stay in for a couple more classes.

But the preacher that was there in the city that got me to come to the church was a graduate of Florida Bible College and he wanted me to speak on a few things which I did and I remember that he had a couple of people that he wanted me to talk to and so he invited me over to this house and I sat down and I talked to this one kid and he trusted the Lord. He said well you got to talk to my brother.

So we got a hold of his brother. And I talked to him, he trusts the Lord. And I didn’t know it, but they were twin brothers. Twin brothers, they look exactly the same. And they had a restaurant chain called Don Seafood. You ever go through Louisiana on number 10? You can see the sign Don Seafood. They got them down in Shreveport. They got them in Bait and Rouge, and they got it down in New Orleans. And you can see the sign Don Seafood.

Well since I led both of them to the Lord they both was running a seafood restaurant and They wanted me to come to their restaurant and they was gonna treat me and Betty to all different kinds of crawdads I don’t know what they call them crawfish or whatever But we call them crawdads and you find him in most creaks and They had him 18 different ways you could eat a crawdad and And died some of them, some of them you pull off the head and suck the juice out of the brain and Just really good stuff.

They’re really good But he the one guy he told me says I I want I want you to talk to my my all my workers almost So he got all those workers in there and he says everybody stopped working. So everybody stopped working He said everybody into the room. They brought him into the room And he told me said I want you to tell them what you told me you believe that You never know when you’re going to get an opportunity to leave.

Get one. And all of a sudden he said, I want you to talk to everybody in here. So he brought them all into the room and turned me loose and said, give it to him. So for a half an hour I gave the gospel, gave an invitation, had some people trust the Lord. And I thought it was fantastic. So the one brother found out what I did. So I had to do it for him too. There was always a competition.

These two brothers are identical and they are competitive. But anyway, what I want you to see here, 1 John 5, 13 in your Bible, it says, these things have a written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. It is important for people to know that they can have eternal life. Now keep us in mind.

What is so important about going to heaven? Don’t you think about this? What is so important about going to heaven? You don’t go to hell. Think now if nobody does anything, nobody witnesses, nobody does anything. You don’t carry no track, you don’t do anything, people are going to hell. So when I used to witness, and I used to have this one lady that came out there to our church in Colorado, and I said, well, I had five people trust the Lord, and she’d come person up to me.

And she says, now, you ought not say you led him to the Lord. The Lord did it, and you ought to give all the credit to the Lord. Now, I knew what she meant, but she also understood what I meant. It’s kind of like this guy one day, and he was driving down the field and trying to get this farmer down here to become the church and tied because I know the farmer made a lot of money to be tied while he gets a lot of money in the church.

And he says, look, look at this farm that you’ve got here. Look at all these animals. Look at what God did for you. He says, you ought to see this place when God had it all by himself. He said, it was torn, trees, shrubs, everything everywhere. He said, yeah, God did it, but God did it through me. God didn’t do it by himself. When it comes to soul winning, God doesn’t do it by himself. That’s why he says he wants labors, he wants people to go, talk to, so forth.

And you are instrumental in keeping people out of a literal place. Call hell. Otherwise, there’s no sense in doing all the things that we do. There’s no sense in sacrifice. Why should we want to care about getting on a radio? But if there are people out there and they do not know how to have eternal life, well, that’s one of the main reasons for getting on so that we can at least tell them. So there’s a reason, but you gotta believe that people are lost and that they’re going to hell.

Look at the next little statement there. I believe in hell because God says it exists and Jesus spoke about it more than He did about heaven. He created it and described what it’s like in Luke 16. He says, it’s a literal place of eternal punishment. Now I want you to look there in the book of Luke, look in Luke 16. And as you read Luke 16 on the subject of hell, think about what he’s saying. How would you describe hell?

Look how Jesus described hell. He’s talking about a literal place and listen to how he describes it. And this portion of scripture on a burning your mind, now this is not a parable. It’s not a parable. It’s not a made up story. This is a true story. He names a particular person. See in verse 19 of Luke chapter 16, there was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen, ferred sumptuously every day. There was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid in his gate full of sore, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.

Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. So he talked about a certain rich man, what he did and talked about Lazarus and named him and says what he did. where he was at and then about the dog. It’s not a made up story. This is a real story, true story. Now get what he says. Verse 22, it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels in Abraham bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.

Both died, but the angels took Lazarus into Abraham bosom. In verse 23, and in hell, and I get this, talking about the rich man that died, died without the Lord. He died in the season verse 23. In hell, he lift up his eyes. Now his body’s in the grave. Body’s in the grave. That means that you have, see God has eyes, but he don’t have eyes like we do. He don’t even have to have a body. He’s a spirit, but God has eyes.

God can talk. God can see. God can hear. He said, he that made the ear, shall he not hear? He that made the eye shall only, he not see. So God is a being, has form, But it’s in another realm that we have not been able to see. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I’ve never seen heaven, never seen hell, but I believe it’s true because it’s in the Bible and God tells us and get what he says in verse 23.

In hell, he lived up his eyes being in torments, see it Abraham, a far off and Lazarus in his bosom, cried under under Father Abraham, saying, have mercy on me and sin, Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. for I am tormented in this make believe flame.” What does it say? In this flame. So is there flames in hell? The Bible says so. Was he tormented? The Bible says so. So as you read these scriptures, you can find out a lot about this unseen world where people are going to spend eternity.

And he makes the statement verse 25, but Abraham said, son remember that thou in thy lifetime, receive it by good things likewise, lack of evil things. But now he is confident, thou art tormented in thy lifetime. In thy lifetime, now we’re talking about after this lifetime. So this is our lifetime, but there’s a time coming when this lifetime is going to be over and there’s a new world and you’re going to be in a new place in a different place.

That’s why it’s so important for you to understand this and to believe this. All right? Usually a A person who does not believe in hell does not believe in heaven Ask him if they do then informed them that only through the Bible. Do we learn of heaven and hell? If one is true, so is the other Number seven God would never send his children to hell. I Remember this was a line that was used by a Jehovah’s Witness. I was knocking on doors one day and Jehovah’s Witnesses told me says sir Don’t you believe the Bible says yes, but don’t you believe that God loves his children?

I said, yes, ma’am, I believe that. She was setting me up, but I wasn’t prepared, but they didn’t get me away. She says, do you think that a wonderful kind loving God would cast his children into a fire? I says, no, ma’am, he wouldn’t, and he doesn’t. that’s one of their main openings on how to get into your home to have a Bible study. And they use this, maybe if you had a fire in your fireplace and you had a child and you loved your child, would you cast your child in that fire?

And a parent would say, of course not. We’ll need to work God. Can we come in and share with you and tell see they don’t believe in hell. They don’t believe it’s a hell. And you and I, we say, we believe there is a hell. Then that teaching alone is the reason that we want to get people to trust Christ as Savior. So every person we get to trust the Lord to go to heaven is a person that doesn’t go to hell.

So that’s why it’s so important to keep this in mind. All right, look at number seven. The first part of it, you are so right none of his children will ever be cast into hell. But you do need to have maybe an explanation on on two that he will send to hell and cast into hell. The next statement, tell them that the Bible teaches that God will cast the angels into hell. He says, for if God spared not the angels that sin but cast them down to hell and deliver them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment, he’s also talking about the judgment that God’s going to bring upon the world.

And then the next judgment upon the world itself and upon the people that are lost. So that’s why it’s so important for you to not. I don’t know what God won’t do to the Christian, but what He will do to the angels is going to be cast in the hell, and also the lost people are going to be cast in the hell. Look at the next statement. Tell them that the Bible teaches that God will cast the lost into hell.

He said, and whosoever, that means anybody. See, this verse is similar to the one liked in John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believe Him, whosoever believe Him, believe it should not perish. That means go to hell, but have everlasting life. That means go to heaven. So who still ever believes goes there and who whoever does not believe the Bible says here, whose server was not found written in the book of life.

That’s the Lamb’s book of life cast into the lake of fire. Now, Betty’s dad explained these verses to me like I’ve told you many times when I was 18 years old. And these verses And his talking to me the way he did is the reason that years later, I still have that as my foundation and the main motivation for my whole life. That’s still the reason. Do you know why I want to have a basketball team so kids can play basketball?

No, it just gives me a chance to get them to come to church. It’s leverage. I’m just being honest with you. Ain’t that right? It’s leverage. And some of them know that, is that I get to make you come to church because if I didn’t, you wouldn’t come. And I want you to come because I want to teach you something. And then when we have a basketball practice, I always start with what, and what, and what? Always start with prayer, always in with prayer.

I get a chance to say a few more words. It’s only an opportunity. I don’t care anything about that basketball team. It’s only an opportunity. It’s a door. It’s a way to spend some time with the kids. what I enjoy. I enjoy spending time with the kids. I enjoy it. I love it. I’m kidding that much about playing basketball. I just didn’t watch y’all do it but it’s an opportunity to spend time with the kids. I don’t mind you know Tim and John you know working with the team.

I love it. I like it. I like it after I get through and some kid comes up and asks me a question. I get the answer is question. I drive on I love it. It’ll sit down in some girl company. She got a question about something. I enjoy like that week trying to teach her why you should do right. I want to do that. I like that. I like it. I want to affect your life for eternity. Not just this little lifetime we have right here.

And so the only thing you can do that is you’ve got to spend time in people’s lives. Some people don’t I want to get into my life. I do. I like that. I want to get to know people. Spend time with you. But anyway, back to your notes here. Get this one. Yes, God says he will cast the angels that send and those that reject Christ. But no scripture, you’re the underlandess in your notes here. No scripture teaches that God will cast his children into hell.

Will God ever send one of his children to hell? No. Once you’ve trusted Christ as your Savior, no child of God from that point forward can ever go to help. God can never send His child to help. He fathered you and you are perfect because you’re born of God. God is perfect. He had no sinful nature. He cannot pass a sinful nature onto His child. The sinful nature you have was passed on to you in your flesh from your Father, not God.

So the new birth, when you trust it, tries you’re born of God, the new birth born of God, God didn’t have a sinful nature. He had a divine nature. That’s why now you have the Holy Spirit that lives within you, and the Holy Spirit within you is having a God like nature, divine nature. So God can’t never see you have because the new birth seat can’t send There’s nothing you can do in the future that could ever send you to hell That’s grace.

That’s the best news. I ever heard my life Because if you stop a thing about it if a man could lose his salvation We would If you could lose your salvation because they’re doing something wrong you have You’re already lost You ain’t got a ghost of a chance if you can get saved and then do something wrong to lose it. You’re not lost it You didn’t keep it one eye out of a second nothing you can’t you can’t save yourself.

You can’t keep yourself safe That’s why this is such good news here. Now look at the next statement He says what he means means exactly what he says He loves us with an everlasting love it’s not his desire that anyone perish. Look in 2 Peter 3.9. 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9. These are simple verses that you maybe have heard a thousand times, but you need to underline these verses in your Bible. Underline all the verses that I end bold here, you put them in your Bible and you underline them, and then you memorize those verses.

Memorize them. If you can’t memorize all of them, we’ll work on a couple of them. But spend time with the Bible memorizing Scripture. I remember when I first went to Bible college, I said, I didn’t memorize Scripture. I didn’t even know the books of the Bible. I barely had enough knowledge in others, no test one, no test one. But I didn’t know that until after I was 18 years old because I didn’t know that.

But I remember we had a PE class and every day we go into PE class, you had a memorized verse, you memorized verse, sometimes two verses. Well, that’s okay, but you had four or five classes every day. You had a memorized verse, favorite class. So you’re memorizing, you know, five, 10 verses every day, every day. Well, it came time for an exam. And Ray Stanford says, um, these are the verses that I want you to memorize. He gave us a list of all the verses that we had from the very first day of school to the last day before the exam.

He required us to know every verse that he’d given us. There was over 100 verses, 100 verses. And I had to memorize over a hundred verses for this. I’m working a full-time job. I worked 12, 13 hours a day I was going to school full-time. I averaged two and a half hours of sleep a night That was my average for the first two years two and a half hours. Think about it And I never fell asleep in class And I’m trying to find a window.

I had time to memorize all these verses before an exam and not anything of that the next day we had another test in 1 Corinthians and we had over a hundred verses in that class. So now I find out I’ve got over 200 verses to memorize in two days. Have you ever memorized a verse? You know like a camp but the next day you don’t even have any clue that verse or where it’s found but you can do it But for that moment, yeah, you try it with 100 verses.

Did you know what? Rowed down every verse in order from Genesis all the way through the revelation that I had to remember all 100 of them. And while I was on the job, well, I was on the job running a laminated machine, I had my verses and I’m trying to memorize verses. And I had to get to where I could, I didn’t want to lose no work. I want to put out the same production that I was doing before.

So I created a few things on this year laminate machine. It did a pretty good job. They even gave me a little bonus one time and but anyway, I memorized all hundred verses one night. I Got a 98 the next day. I’ve missed something. I don’t know what it was The next day I had the other tests over another hundred verses. I memorize all hundred and he may only ask you three or four verses You just don’t know which ones and yet you can fail the whole exam because you didn’t memorize those verses So you had to memorize all the verses because you know which words you’re gonna ask Isn’t that cruel?

Cool, but it’s fun and you can memorize the word of God. I want you to memorize the scriptures Second Peter chapter three looking verse nine the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness But as long suffering that means he suffers long toward us Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance to a change of mind God wants every person that changed their mind and trusts the Lord. And he talks about before this how he overflowed the world with water and the next time he’s gonna burn it all up by fire.

But he says God is patient. Why is God waiting 2,000 years? Because more people born, more people have opportunities to hear the gospel, more people trust the Lord, more people go to heaven. You see a lot of more people go to hell too? I know. But God, I guess, is looking at the end result of how many more people will actually be in heaven. No, he says the road to destruction is wide, broad as the way, but the road that leads to life is narrow and few there be that find it.

That means that there’s a good possibility. There’ll be more people in hell than there’ll ever be in heaven. But it is so important for you to know Christ is Savior, love the Lord, and love the lost, and realize that we need to be patient, and we should not be willing that any person should perish. Just think for this moment. Here’s the Bible. You read this verse. God is not willing that any person should perish. Do you want to be like the Lord?

If you want to be like the Lord, then you should not be willing that any person should perish. You shouldn’t want any party to perish. When he makes the statement in the book of Timothy, it says that God says that he wants everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth, that every man may be saved. Then if you want to be like the Lord, then that frame of mind, see, is the permeate your thinking. You should want every man to come to the knowledge of the truth.

You want everybody to be saved. So that means there’s not one person you want to go to hell. You want everybody to go to heaven. Because you’re learning how to think the way God wants you to think. So important. Look at the next statement. The scripture that I got here in italic, he that believe is not condemned but he that believe is not as condemned already because he have not believe. See, people are already lost. They’re already condemned. There’s nothing that you will say or do that’s going to condemn anybody.

They’re already condemned. You’re not sending people to hell. They’re already lost. God can use you to get them to heaven, but He doesn’t use you to get them to hell. They’re already going there. But God may use you as a tool to explain to an individual how they could have eternal life. I was up there in Hammond, Indiana one year back in 1970, two, three, four, and five. I went for five straight years. And I watched the youth director, get this, I watched the youth director at Hammond, First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana.

His name was Dave Hiles. He was 17 years old. And their youth grew. He ran about an average of about 800 on average Sunday, 800 teenagers. But they had high days of 4 and 5,000 teenagers. That was 30 something years ago, 32 years ago. That’s a lot of teenagers, ain’t it? It’s kind of like I’ve told you before. This rooster kind of got lost and he was going down the road and he went into this other farmer’s yard and that farmer had some ostriches in his fence area there.

But he walked in there and he saw the eggs. He saw those great big old ostrich eggs. Man he beat a path that down the road. He went in there and told those other hens. He says, look, I know y’all are doing a good job. Again, you ought to see what they’re doing down the road. Sometime you think you’re doing a great job till you see what somebody else is doing. I remember when I went up there one day, me and Al Sacker.

We got there in time to go sewing with some of the teenagers. And the problem was that so many of their teenagers, they knew the Roman road. They knew all the scriptures like it. They know them, but they didn’t have that little tool with a wallet illustration. They didn’t have that. And so we were taking around a couple of kids and they would go to this door and then another door and it’d come back and their head was hung low and I I said, what’s the matter?

He says, they wanted to get saved, but they didn’t want to pray. They wanted to be saved, but they didn’t want to pray. They didn’t know what to do with them. Because they’re the only way of leading somebody to lovers to get them to pray. So I turned around in the seat and I said, look, can I show y’all something? I said, you already know the scriptures. Let me just show you a tool. And I showed them a little while ago in Straits.

And I said, man, that is fantastic. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, The teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. Our two of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach by the line and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll-free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771.

If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the Spinning Globe in the upper right corner of our homepage. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bible Live and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and everyday, believing that the Lord is coming soon. And just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s Word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. 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 through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Take your Bible and turn to the Book of Acts in chapter 2. Book of Acts chapter 2. In the Christian realm, there’s many prophetic words that you will hear. You hear these words, but you don’t know where they belong. You know what they mean. Somebody says, I’m pre-millennial, or I’m post-trib, or I’m all millennial. So what in the world is all of that? Well I knew you wanted to know, so I want to explain them to you. I found out one thing that really helped me over the years is being able to visualize a timeline, a time chart.

Then is this supposed to happen or when did that take place? And so prophetic survey is a tremendous tool that God gives to us because He says He planned the ages in the book of Hebrews in chapter 11. So if He planned the ages means He outlined the different periods of time, different dispensations in which God deals with man. He didn’t tell us all to do everything, exactly the same thing that He told somebody else to do. tell us not to eat the fruit off that tree.

That was to Adam and Eve, that wasn’t to us, so we don’t have to worry about that. He didn’t tell us to build a boat, so we don’t worry about building a boat, so that doesn’t apply to us. Now all of the Word of God is for us, but not all of the Word of God is to us. Many of the things that are written in the New Testament are written to us, and so we can study the Old Testament because the Bible says there’s admonition that we can have for ourselves, we can learn from it.

You have first of all the death, burial and resurrection of Christ because everything starts with history. History is history. So we always go back to Christ. Every time you write a check, you put his date on it. His history is the history of what God has done and what God is doing. All of this has to do with what God is doing with man, what God did with the angels, what God is going to do with the earth. Whether it’s the tribulation period is what God’s going to do to this earth and the people, the thousand year reign, that’s what God’s going to do.

Everything deals with what God is going to do. Now God has told us things to do and if we don’t obey, there are consequences. So at the end of each one of these is a judgment. In other words, how God judges mankind. So if you and I are wise, we’re supposed to learn from these things. But to start with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, that is what makes the gospel possible. Many people say, well the death, burial and resurrection, that is the gospel.

That’s what makes the gospel possible because without the death, Maryland resurrection, there would not be a good news. The good news is he did that for me. He did it, but if I don’t know he did it for me so that I don’t have to try to earn my salvation, then I don’t see it as good news. That’s just a historical fact. He did that. But does it mean you’re going to heaven because you believe he did that? You must personally believe he did it for you that he paid for your sins and you’re trusting Him and Him alone is your only hope of going to heaven.

And once you do, you have eternal life. Now, here in the book of Acts in chapter two, verse one, and when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Pentecost means 50 days, 50 days from the resurrection of Christ. So Christ came back from the dead, ascended into heaven, and then the Bible says that there was a time limit. There was also a time limit from the time that he actually ascended in, went into heaven from the Mount of Olives.

But, see, Pentecost means 50 days, and when that day was fully come, something happened on that day. That’s the day the Holy Spirit came. Now remember this, when Jesus was here preaching, He told him, He says, that I’m going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit. But the people didn’t understand everything that was said. John the Baptist says, I baptize you with water, but he that cometh after me, he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit. But during Christ’s lifetime, he never baptized anybody with the Holy Spirit.

It hadn’t taken place yet. So on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came, the Bible says, in cloven tongues is a fire, the Bible says those believers were baptized. They were already believers. They were baptized into the body of Christ. This is the beginning of the church. It is the birth of the church This one the church began and Christ said I will build my church and so The church is made up a body of believer. So when you trusted Christ as your Savior the Holy Spirit places you and I into the body of Christ That’s the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

It is not a feeling that you have the very moment you trusted Christ as your Savior, you were born spiritually. You were placed into the body of Christ spiritually. It’s not something you saw or felt, but it’s something that happened because God said so. That’s when the church began. The church age goes from Pentecost until the rapture. That is the period of time that you and I live in. So we are now waiting for the rapture to take place.

Now turn in your Bible to 1st Thessalonians chapter 4, 1st Thessalonians and chapter 4. The Bible tells us that loved ones are going to die. It means they will not be here when the rapture take place. So some of the people that were there when Christ was there who believed all of this began to die. And so as people began to die, the question came up, well, where are they? And the longer Jesus Christ carries, the more people are going to die.

So He has carried for almost 2,000 years. And because of that, many people have died. Well, what happens to those people? The Bible says that If you were to die, you will be absent from the body present with the Lord. So when you die, you’re present with the Lord in heaven. Your body goes to the grave. The Lord says that when he comes back, he’s going to bring those people who have already died with him. So he brings them with him and the Bible says the bodies are in the graves are going to be resurrected and they will be a reunion.

And we that are alive at this time will be caught up to meet the Lord in the and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Now look what he says in verse 13, but I would not have you to be ignorant brethren because there are so many ignorant brethren. It doesn’t want you to be ignorant. He says this, concerning them which are asleep, those who’ve already died, that you sorrow not even as others which have no hope. In other words, you can’t see the person after they died.

Don’t you believe like lost people? Don’t you believe that there’s nothing more to it that you don’t know where they are and you don’t know what’s gonna happen and No, no, no. He says we don’t sorrow like those who have no hope. We know we are going to see them again We know where they are To be absent from the body president Lord God says they’re with him. So don’t you worry about it We know somebody who’s on the other side and he’s told us everything we need to know all you and I need to know He’s told us you don’t need to know anything if itposted in the book But what you do need to know and understand it’s in there understand and know what God did say and don’t worry about anything he did not reveal.

You’ll have plenty enough to read. Look in verse 14, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring what? With him he’s going to bring him with him. He can’t bring him with him if they’re not with him, but they are. Then he says this in verse 15, for this we say unto you by the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep or go before them which are asleep.

The Lord says he’s going to come back so there’s going to be some people who died some people who are going to be alive when it takes place and the Lord says that we are going to be alive when he returns and then the Bible says something is going to take place. In verse 16, for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with a voice of the Archangel and with the Trump of God and the dead and Christ shall rise first.

That’s the bodies that are in the graves. Verse 17, then we which are alive and remain when he comes back shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord where? In the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord. It means we that are alive when this takes place won’t die. In the book of 1 Corinthians, in chapter 15, he says, we shall not all die. This is a mystery, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye for the corruptible must put on in corruption and mortal subject to die.

Those are still alive. We’ll put on immortality. So this moment is coming. Now, I want you to look at these verses. These are very important verses. Look there in the book of Romans and chapter 14. Romans and chapter 14. Look there in verse 10. Verse 10, but why does thou judge thy brother? Oh, why does thou set it not thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, every tongue shall confess to God.

So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. The judgment seat of Christ is what takes place the moment raptured happens and we’re caught up to meet the Lord in the air. The Bible says we will disappear here and we will appear at the Judgement Sea of Christ. The Judgement Sea of Christ is a rewarding stand. That is where God is going to reward you for what you have done for him. If you don’t do anything for him, you will still be there.

You’ll be ashamed before him at his coming and your whole life that you got to live can be a total waste. You could have have used@@ashingtonnothing more than bring forth briars and thorns and weeds or you could have invested your life for the Lord. That’s why down here, so you can brag about your money you make and where you work and all the possessions that you have, all of that is zero there. What did you do for him? What did you do for the Lord?

That’s what God is going to reward you for. That’s why God is watching every decision you make, every deed that you have done. Every thought every word and God is going to reward you when you get at the judgment seat of Christ. Now look there in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, just turn to your right, a couple pages, 1 Corinthians and chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, look there in verse 8. Now he that planet and he that water are one and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.

One of the things that you need understand down here is that life isn’t fair. Have you found that out yet? Life is not fair, right? But God said he’s going to reward every man according to his own work. So that means that whatever you do for the Lord it will be fair. It will be right because he is the righteous judge. He knows every sacrifice you made, everything that you’ve given up, everything that you’ve done. And if you did it for him you can’t lose.

So you don’t put your hopes in people they’re not going to be your judge. the Lord is. Now look what he says there in verse 12. Now if any man build upon this foundation which is Christ, go silver precious stones, wood, hay and stubble, two different kinds. Every man’s work shall be made manifest. For the day shall declare because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. Whether it’s gold, silver and precious stones or wood, hay and stubble.

If any man’s work abide which he had built there upon, he shall receive what? Reward. Remember this, rewards are earned. Salvation is free. Salvation and rewards are not the same thing. Going to heaven is free. That’s a gift. That’s what he did for us. He paid our way. So I’m going to heaven because of what Christ did for me. What I have when I get to heaven, rewards are earned. That’s why I want to study the Bible to find everything I’m supposed to do and try to eliminate all the things I’m not supposed to do because I want when I stand there, I want God to bless me.

I want Him to reward me. I don’t know what they all might be. It doesn’t matter. God said it will be worth it all. It will be worth it all when we see Christ. Now look what He says here in verse 15. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer lost, but he himself shall be saved, so as by fire. Some people tell you this, you get saved and if you don’t live right, well, you’re going to hell.

That’s not true. You can get saved and not live right. You can live like a dirty bird. You can live like the devil. Still be a child of God. You’ll stand at the judgments of the Christ and God says your words are going to be burned up. And what you could have had, you won’t get. God wanted to reward you, but He couldn’t reward you. But He Himself shall be saved, but he’s lost reward that he could have had.

So you see it’s up to you, nobody can make you do this. But if you decide to serve a Lord and be faithful, nobody can stop you. Isn’t that great to know? It’s all an individual thing. That’s why I try to tell people what the Word of God says. I can’t make people respond to it. But if you really want that, and you believe that’s the most important thing in your life, because that’s where we’re headed. And if you really believe it will be worth it, you’ll sacrifice everything down here to put God first and get your priorities straight.

And do what you know you need to do, why you can. But if you don’t think that’s important, devil fool with your mind, I got a lot of time. I’ll serve God when I’m old. Oh great. When you’re 90 years old and one puts in the grave, one’s on the banana peel, and I’m going to throw the Lord. You know how much you’re going to get done now? Serve the Lord in the days of life. Youth, why you’re young.

That’s when you reveal how wise you are. You’re not wise because you know you should serve God. You’re wise if you do. You’re a fool if you don’t. But now, this is the decision every individual has to make for themselves. Now, 2 Corinthians 5, look at it very quickly, 2 Corinthians and chapter 5. And notice they’re in verse 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 10. And verse 10, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

Remember, this isn’t in order to bring up all of our sins that we’ve done. Now this is a rewarding stand. They call it a beam of seat. It’s kind of like the Olympics. After you’ve done running the races and you stand up there and you get your crowns. God says we’re gonna stand at the judgment of Christ and be rewarded. Now look what he says, that everyone may receive the things done in his body. In other words, done in his body means during your lifetime.

While you’re in this body, everything about you is affecting eternity, like it or not. Now look what he says. According to that, he hath done whether it be good or bad, means truthful or unfruitful. You’re gonna stand at the judgment center of Christ. It’s coming, it’s gonna happen. And you’re going to appear there. And appear there means you’ll disappear here, change the moment twicken of it not gone. Meet the Lord in the air and phew, we’re going to the judgment center of Christ.

Take your Bible look in the book of 2 Corinthians in chapter 11, 2 Corinthians and chapter 11. One of the things that the Apostle Paul wanted to do with the people that he’d won the Christ, the various churches scattered throughout Macedonia and all the places in the Galatian, and Listeron, Derby and so on, he says in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, look in verse 1, he said, would the God ye could bear with me a little in my folly? And indeed bear with me, he says, this is how I feel.

For I am jealous over you with Godly jealousy. For I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chase virgin to Christ in the Old Testament time when a man says he wanted to marry a woman and a woman says she wants to marry a man, well they would have about a year. And during that year she had to prove her faithfulness and he had to prove his faithfulness. They were considered looked upon as though they were husband and wife.

But he can’t touch her until she’s actually his. This is the same story that happened with Joseph and with Mary. In the words, because he was gonna put her away. Well, he hadn’t even married her yet, but he was a spouse to her. In other words, he would have looked upon as, that’s his wife. God, he found out she was gonna have a child. And according to the law, he has to put her away. He has to squeal on her, but he didn’t wanna do nothing.

He just gonna just walk away from this thing. And the angel had to come in and says, don’t be afraid to take on the me, the Mary thy wife. So they had about a year-long engagement period. And during that time, she was to prove her faithfulness to her husband, to be. With Christ, the body was born on this day, the birth of the church. The body has been building for 2,000 years. You and I are part of the body.

We are going to be the bride of Christ. So he says, I want to espouse you in a sense that whenever You meet the Savior, you’re a virgin, and to be presented to the Lord so that God wants to take all of us as believers, and we’re gonna stand there, and we’re gonna be rewarded in our attire, that all of us as individuals are going to wear. To the wedding, the Bible says they are dressed in the righteous acts of the saints.

It means that the righteous acts that we do in the body we are rewarded for, and we are going to wear our honor, our glory, our crowns, our rewards, whatever it is, God says that we are going to be dressed in the righteous acts of the saints and the bride had made herself ready for the marriage. Look there in verse 2, for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chase virgin to Christ.

So we are the bride of Christ. Now take your The Bible and turn to the book of Revelation chapter 19. Revelation and chapter 19. Now look in verse 7. Let us be glad and rejoice because the day is arrived. Give honor to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come. The Lamb is Christ and Christ is going to get married. God the Father, Jehovah, took a woman Israel as his wife. So when you read the Old Testament, God, Jehovah and Israel were like married.

Well, they had a child. Their child was the son. Jesus Christ, who came into the world. He was rejected by the mom. The mom rejected her child. But what the father has been doing is finding a bride for his son. And so the son is one day going to get married. But the father finds the bride for the son. And that’s why all that the father, give me, shall come to me. So that’s in the book of John chapter 6.

It means that all those who go to the Father through the Son, the Father gives all of those to the Son as the bride. And we become the bride of Christ. He went to the cross and died there in order to bring many sons into glory so that we could have eternal life and be with God. See, God, being God is a God of love. God wanted somebody to love him back. So God allowed everything that happened the way that it has with all the sin, the devil, the hell, everything that’s ever taken place that you and I might learn to love God.

And God says you have no idea what I’m going to do for all those that love me. If you would only learn love the Lord with all of my heart. See God doesn’t want to be alone. He’s God. He can create all the angels. He can create the earth. He created the world. But one thing he wants more than anything else is he wants you and I to love him. And some of that desire he placed within you, that’s why you like to be loved.

That’s why you even wanted to get married one day because you loved somebody and love can make you do the strangest thing, the craziest thing. Have you ever heard love is blind? I get married and it will wake up. Look at your eyesight back. But notice what he says here and down in verse 8. And to her was granted that she should be a raid and fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”

In other words, this is not the righteousness of God that He gave to us to get to heaven on. The righteousness of the saints is the works that you have done for the Lord while in the body. Now the Bible says in verse 9, and He said unto me, right, blessed are they, which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. Now the marriage supper of the Lamb, we are going to be the bride, but I believe it’s the Old Testament say it’s going to be the guest at the wedding.

And you’ll read that in the book of Matthew in chapter 25 when it talks about the ten virgins, five wives and the five foolish, some days go back and read that. Some ready and some not ready, some get to go to their wedding. As you look in these things, you’ll find out all the way to the right, the great, white throne judgment. Now look up here. This is the great, white throne judgment. You and I are not going to stand there and be judged.

This is a judgment for all the people who have never trusted Christ as their Savior. You see, you and I don’t stand there because you see Christ took our judgment for our sins. This is not a judgment in the sense it is a rewarding stand where God rewards you for what you’ve done. We then will go to the marriage feast of the Lamb and then as the bride we come back to this earth and power and great glory and we will rule and reign with Christ over the earth for 1,000 years, then there will be the great white throne judgment for all the people that have rejected Jesus Christ as their Savior.

And the Bible says they will be cast into the lake of fire. This is the final hell. Some day we’ll get into all of that. But what I want you to look now is that we believe that Jesus Christ is coming back before the tribulation. If we say mid-trib position, that means that we believe Christ is coming back in the middle of the tribulation. If we say post-trib means we believe that Christ is coming back at the end of the tribulation.

But for you and I, He is coming back here, pre-trib for His saints. He’s coming for us, before the tribulation, so that we don’t go into the tribulation period upon the earth. If you believe it’s mid-trib, then you believe you’re going into parts of it. And if you believe that He comes back for us here, then you believe you go through the whole seven years of it. You see the difference. But the Lord says He’s coming back to deliver us from the wrath to come.

You and I will not be here during the tribulation period upon the earth talking about this great worldwide tribulation, the worst time that the world has ever known. Now when we talk about pre-millennial and post-millennial and all millennials, we say what do they all mean? When you say pre-millennial means you believe Christ is coming back to the earth to rule and reign with His saints. Here He come for us, here He comes with us. And pre-millenemies, He is coming back before the millennium.

If you believe in post, you would say he’s coming back at the end of the kingdom. That means that since we haven’t got into this millennium yet, well he wouldn’t be coming back for over a thousand years yet at least. And we haven’t brought in no kingdom. I mean I wouldn’t if I was you let the children play with a lion or a bear. Remember that song? Premillennial is when Christ is a man. is when Christ comes back before the millennium, which is what I believe, and I believe the Bible teaches that.

That is the correct position. Post-millennial is the wrong position. Then there’s those who believe a millennial. A is the A before a word in the Greek means no. So there’s no millennial, no millennium. They don’t believe it’s kind of calm. They believe we’re already in the millennium. This is the millennium. Can you believe that? I don’t believe that we’re in a millennium. They believe it’s going to get better and better and better. No, according to the Bible, it’s going to get worse and worse and worse.

And sooner or later, the Lord’s going to come back. And I believe the world is getting set, and I am excited about that. But I want you to not only make sure that you have trusted Christ as your Savior, but make sure that if you know the Lord as your Savior, You want to serve Him and correct everything that you can correct because to do so is a great reward. You’ll be so glad you did. You say, well, if my husband don’t want to do it, I don’t want to do it.

No, no, no, no. You’re an individual. When you stand before the Lord, you can’t blame children. You can’t blame husband. You can’t blame wife. You can’t blame nobody. It’s a personal thing. Each man, every man, accountability, personally. And I want you to serve the Lord. Look up here. This hand represents you and me and the wallet represents sin. We all have sin upon us. God loves us, hates our sin. And for you and me to pay for this sin is eternal separation from God, in hell.

Now God loves us and wants us to go to heaven and to go to heaven we have to be as righteous as God. We have to be perfect and none of us are perfect. And so the Bible says you cannot save yourself. You cannot earn eternal life. we need a Savior. This ends in Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, He came into the world because He loves us. He hates our sin, because our sin separates us from the Lord.

So Christ paid for our sins on the cross, came back from the dead. He said, if you and I, if we would believe that what He did was for us, He would save us, save us from hell, give us eternal life, and we’d go to heaven on what He did for us. That’s the gospel, that’s the good news. You can have eternal life, you can go to heaven. It’s free. You don’t have to promise God anything, You don’t have to stop anything.

You don’t have to join anything. Because going to heaven is what He did for us. He made it free. So all you have to do is trust Christ as your Savior. Once you trust Christ as your Savior, your God’s child. Now as a child of God, you may be obedient, you may be disobedient, but you’re still His child. I found out long time ago, life is a lot more fun, a lot easier, serving the Lord and doing right. And I want you to do the same thing, let’s pray, shall we?

You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. For Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live. And now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. Hot up to meet the Lord in the air.

to live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. 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 through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

In the book of Philippians in chapter 1, Let me give you a real life, genuine insight into what serving the Lord is a little bit about. You won’t realize the real battle until you’ve made up your mind that you’re going to serve the Lord. So you trust Christ as your Savior that gives you eternal life, you’re His child, you’re going to heaven when you die. In fact, that’s subtle. Now you’re God’s child living in a sinful world, you’ve got a sinful nature, the devil is after you, your trials, tribulations, temptations.

How in the world can you enjoy life when it seems like everything is designed to keep you from being happy? And yet how many people all their greatest goal is? Let me be happy but here in the book of Philippians in chapter one. I want you to see there in verse 29 verse 29 For unto you, it is given in the behalf of Christ in other words on his behalf God says, I’ve gotten something special that I want you to do.

You are going to fight your will against God. Did you know that when you surrender your will to God’s will, that’s a form of suffering? Because it really hurts sometimes. There’s a part of you that says, I want to do my own thing, go my own way, and I don’t want God telling me what I can and cannot do. So many people, they go ahead and they just do whatever they want. But the person who wants to serve the Lord has to battle that.

He has a battle that the person who gives in and becomes rebellious to God, he don’t have to battle that. If you want to serve God, you have to always be battling because there’s things that you don’t want to give up. There’s things that you want to be. There’s places you want to go. There might be a lot of things and you have to sacrifice all those things because you gave up your will. You will have to suffer the loss of that.

And maybe what you could had. Maybe some of you said, here could have been a millionaire and you gave all that up to serve the Lord. But you are going to suffer. Now look what he says here in verse 29. For unto you it is given into behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, not only that, but also when you need to underline these words in your Bible, suffer for His sake. Why did God leave you here for His sake?

God wants you here in this world in an old body that’s got all the problems with it so that if anything gets done, he has to get credit for it. Because you’re going to battle and you’ve got all the pressures against you. And in your strength, you cannot do it. It is a struggle all your life. But if you don’t do things because I’m afraid this might happen, I’m afraid this might happen. Afraid. And you can let fear rob you of doing things that God would have had you do.

Courage is nothing more than fear that says it’s prayers and goes ahead. Or you can let fear always cause you not to do something. There’s a step out by faith and trust God because some people are so afraid of failure they never do anything for God. I would rather attempt and fail than not to attempt at all. The older I get the more help I need. I have to admit that. Here in the book of Philippians in chapter 1 it also makes the statement in verse 30.

Having the same and here’s another word I want you to in the line of your Bible, the word called conflict. Conflict which ye saw in me now here to be in me. You are going to have conflict. Things that are going to try to stop you from doing what God wants you to do. You can always try to find the easy way out. You can always run from problem. We don’t have to do anything. Don’t worry about nothing. Just get in our own little world and box us in and just play safe.

But think of what you miss out on. The opportunity to serve God and make an impression of some kind of an influence in this lifetime and you don’t have no other chance this is one trip through life. I’m so thankful that God has allowed me at this point so far. Don’t look in the mirror scares me to death. But there’s still a little fire in the gut that says, I want to do something with my life. I don’t want to sit down and grow old.

I don’t want to just become part of a recliner. I want to have a vision. I want to do something with my life, all the days of my life. And 1st Thessalonians in chapter 2 looked there in verse 14. Verse 14, for ye brethren became followers of the churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus, for ye also have suffered. You ought to understand. the line those words ye also have suffered. There’s people who preach a health and wealth philosophy.

If you serve God nothing wrong will ever happen to you and you’re supposed to always have wealth. That is not true. That is not the Bible and you can suffer on all four lot of things for the Lord’s sake. He says for my sake I want you to be willing to give up everything you have. When I trust that Christ is my Savior I didn’t give up anything. I simply trusted Him as my Savior. He saved me. Give me eternal life.

Now are you willing as a child of God? You might be willing to have to give up your health and you may have to give up money You may have to give up a job you may have to sacrifice a lot of ways why because I want God to use me however He wants I’m at his disposal now. He may not ask you to go to Africa, but you ought to be willing to go He may not lead you to Siberia, but you ought to be willing to go You should be willing to serve the Lord anywhere and maybe it’s just where you are and on a particular job But you’re gonna serve the Lord wherever you are and doing whatever you’re doing But he makes the statement here in 1 Thessalonians down here in verse 15, who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets.

Now think about this, Jesus Christ was killed and their own prophets they killed them. Then he says and have persecuted us and they please not God in a contrary to all men. And then he says in verse 16, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved. I’ve People tell me that you can’t talk and you can’t do this and you can’t, yes, I will and suffer the consequences for it But I have to be in my mind convinced I am willing to suffer the consequences of obeying God if you’re not willing to suffer the consequences of obeying God Forget it because you won’t Because the first person that says something hurts your feelings.

You’re gone First time you think well if God really loved me he wouldn’t let this happen to me you might as well forget it you don’t understand serving God. What do you think serving God is? It is rough. It is a warfare. It is a battle. And so many people are running from the responsibility. We have a job to get done. And he says that the labors are what? The few. Why are they few? Because God isn’t worth serving?

Though they fell in love with themselves. They fell in love with the world. And if you get all about what God wants them to do, that’s what God’s Word is talking about. Look what he says there In verse 18, wherefore we would have come unto you, even I, Paul, once and again, but somebody hindered us. What does it say? Who hindered them? Satan. The devil is going to fight and is going to fight against you. Turn to 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 1.

Look in verse 6. I want you to look first of all, in verse 4. When you trusted Christ as your Savior, you were saved from something, from hell to heaven. So God gave me a place in heaven and he says it’s reserved in heaven for me. And he says this, verse four to an inheritance is incorruptible and undefiled that they’d have not await reserved in heaven for me. So I know I’ve got a place reserved for me in heaven.

I’m going there that can never be taken away. I got a reservation or we got my tickets already been paid for all I’m waiting for now is the transportation and he’s supposed to come any time now. So I’m just waiting on that. But until then, he says in verse 6, we’re in ye greatly rejoiced. Now see, I rejoice in that I know I’m saved. I’m kept by the part of God. I can never lose my salvation. I’m going to heaven whenever I die.

I rejoice in that. I know that. But he says, we’re in ye greatly rejoiced though now for a season. It need be ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. You are going to have manifold testings and trials that are way you down. The devil is going to try to hinder you from serving God. The devil will use Christian people to discourage you and to say things that are cutting and just deadening and try to strip you of your desire to want to serve God.

And one of the worst things in the world is Christians who won’t serve God. They influence other Christians not to serve God because they’re afraid. They’re supposed to be afraid. If they won’t step out, don’t you step out. And you can’t let somebody else’s fears intimidate you so that you won’t do what God wants you to do. So he makes a statement here in verse 7. That the trial… kernel. So all of you are ready to go. Now .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . of your faith, being much more precious than a goal that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found in the praise and honor and glory at the appearance of Jesus Christ. You are going to be under great trials. God says, and your trial of your faith is more precious than gold, though it be tried with fire, because gold is going to be destroyed.

Gold won’t be worth anything. Silver won’t be worth anything. The money will be worth anything. won’t be worth anything. What’s better than money? What’s better than being in the stock market right now anyway? What’s the best? Serving God because God says when I get a trial and I pass the test, I have laid up treasure in heaven that I can not lose. You have to believe that if you want to serve God. You don’t believe that you won’t serve Him.

But He says here the last part of it might be found in the praise and honor and glory at the opportunity. Christ is coming. It will be worth it all. Look there in chapter two and verse 19. Chapter two and verse 19. We’re talking about the greatest thing in all the world. After you trust Christ to save you, there is nothing as great as serving God with all your heart, with all your life. For this is thanks worthy. If a man for conscience toward God and you are underlying this, endure grief, suffering wrongfully.

It ain’t fair. Who cares if life isn’t fair? Does God know what’s happening to you? Every trial, every tribulation, God knows. And God says that He’s the one that keeps the books and He said He’s going to reward every man according to His own work. God knows what you have to face. He knows every hurt, every pain that you go through. And people won’t know and they won’t understand. They don’t know the loads you got to bear. They don’t know the pressures you got to go through.

They don’t know the limitations you have in your knowledge and your character. They don’t know what all that is. God does. And He won’t wrong you. The Bible says God is not unrighteous to forget your labor of love. You see, for God to forget what you did for Him would be a sin. And that’s in Hebrews in chapter six and God wouldn’t do that. Look in verse 20, for what glory is it? If when you be buffeted for your faults, you take it patiently.

In other words, you did wrong and you took it patiently. Big deal. You did it. But if when you do well and you suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. In other words, learn patience. You’re going to suffer wrongfully. People are going to say things that they should not say. And most of your problems from people is not going to come from the lost people. Most of the pressures upon Christians is from Christians. Christians are the ones that will destroy you faster than anybody else in this world.

It’s not the devil. It’s not even your old sinful nature. Christians who won’t serve God totally. Because if they don’t and you do, you are rebuked of them and they’re gonna pull you down one way or the other. They’ve got to justify their lack of service, their lack of love. And it’s a damaging thing. That’s why God says I wish she was either hot or cold but Vince lukewarm he said makes me sick. Those are his word by the way, not mine.

But look there now in verse 21. For even here unto word ye called, you were called, this is like, no we’re being out of us, call unto the ministry. You were called unto the ministry of suffering. Suffering because you’re going to take a stand for the Lord, you’re going to try to serve God and do what’s right. All right now that means because of that you’ve got to fight your own will. You’ve got to fight that own lust and the desire to do whatever you want to do with your life like everybody else.

They just go ahead and do it. But there’s always going to be a handful of people, a handful that will make make up their mind to serve God. I remember one time when I was down at camp, and it was about 14, 1500 kids in the auditorium. Ray Stanford had everybody stand up, and everybody stood up. He said, no, I want everybody to sit down, except the first two rows. And everybody’s standing on the first two rows. He says, no, you two, rows that are standing.

And about 10 years, y’all will be the only ones left. Probably they’ll be serving the Lord. Representative, not that these wouldn’t. They wouldn’t just, about this many, all those people out of 1500, which they had maybe 50 people, 100 people in those couple of rows. And you’re talking about how many people will fall above a wayside, one way or the other, because Satan’s gonna get this one and that one in different ways, most people fall. But I’m talking about can you serve God faithfully all your life?

What does he mean to you? Are you still just playing a simple little game? Y’all you can come to church, you can put money in the plate, but I’m not where’s your heart? Do you really give until it hurts? Do you sacrifice? What have you really given up for God? What sufferings have you gone through for His sake, for His name, for His honor, for His glory? What do you really do for Him? Or is it because you get seen by somebody or somebody thinks well of you?

Is it all a show? Just an image you’ve got to keep up. People expect me to do this. It makes a statement here in verse 21 for even here in 2 where you call them because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example. In other words, we have an example to follow. Did anybody say anything bad about Christ? Did anybody turn on them? Even his own family? Brothers and sisters? didn’t even believe him. Later they did. He was really killed, mocked, you name it, it happened to him.

That’s why when you read the book of the Hebrews in chapter 11 it says, when you get so tired and so weak and you’re faint and you can’t go on, he says, consider him. Have you considered what he did and what he went through? He says, now I’m calling upon you to suffer for me because I suffered for you. Now, will you serve him? Now nobody can make you. It’s an individual thing. And the last part of it says that you should follow his steps.

Now, he didn’t ask me to walk on water. He didn’t ask me to raise the dead. He didn’t ask me to feed to 5,000. But he did ask me to live like him and to suffer like he did. And that means that you’re going to be so misunderstood at times and people are going to turn against you and so forth. I suffer a lot of persecution for the simple reason of what I preach and the way that I preach.

Not because of my love for the Lord. And that’s why some people are common, some people are gone. So they don’t like the way the Yankee said something, the way he’s doing. But if you only knew my motive, if you really knew me and knew where I was coming from and why I do what I do, I wouldn’t be such a bad guy. I do my dead level best to be as much like Jesus Christ as I know to be.

I couldn’t think of another preacher loving God more than than what I do. I couldn’t dare to think that somebody else would be more dedicated to God and want to accomplish more for God than what I do. But whatever accomplished is because God did it through my yieldedness. Because I can only do so much. I am just a man. That’s all you are. But you want to be used by God. Let God use you. You’d be surprised what He would be able to accomplish.

Look in chapter 3 and verse 13. Chapter 3 and verse 13. There’s several verses here in verse 13, 14, 16, but verse 13. Who is he that will harm you if you be followers of that which is good? And you say, well, well, nobody. Oh, yes. There are a lot of people that want to harm you if you want to do that which is good. Verse 14, but And if you suffer for righteousness sake, happy are ye. And be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled.

Don’t worry, put your confidence in the Lord. And God says that He’ll protect and He’ll provide. You see, what happens if you have a breakdown on the way down here? We have a breakdown on the way down here. But what are you going to do? Whatever we can. Where do you get down to the cant? This goes wrong. It goes wrong. What are you going to do? Try to do the best we can. Trust the Lord. You see, some people are so afraid across the bridge.

They’re afraid to cross over. See, living by faith is walking on water. You can’t always see the visible way in which God is going to work. You can’t always touch and feel. Living by faith is all I got is God’s word. And I’m doing this for His honor, for His sake and for His glory. I’m gonna trust God to protect and provide. I’m gonna give God that chance. You know what I told God one time long time ago? I says, don’t you ever expect me to stand in a pulpit and tell people that you’ll supply their needs?

You can’t do it for me. I says, the Bible says that if a man doesn’t provide for his own, he’s worse than an infidel. And I’m your child. You wrote the verse, it applies to you too. You’re my father. Now either my father is my father and he is my God. And he did create the heavens in the earth and he can’t protect, he can’t provide, Or he can’t, and if he can, then why can’t I trust him? Why can’t I live by faith and see what God can do?

Step out and see what’s good. You know what I did? It is exciting to serve God. It is not a boring life. I always told the teenagers, don’t be bored, serve the Lord. But if you’re bored, you’re not serving God. Serving God is exciting. It’s dynamic. It’s everything that you’ve ever wanted it to be. One day it’ll even be glorious. It made a little praise and honor and great rewards. This life is only one trip through, no reruns. And then when you get to heaven.

God says he’s gonna bless you when you get there and reward you. Be a great thing. Look there in 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 13. The verse that I had just read to you in verse 14. But if you suffer for righteousness sake, happy your ye and be not afraid of their tear it, neither be troubled. Look now in verse 16. Have any good conscience that whereas they speak evil of you, as of evil doers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good behavior in Christ, for it is better if the will of God be sown and you are to underline us in your Bible that you suffer for well doing than for evil doing.

I would rather do well and do right and suffer for it than do wrong and suffer for it. I would rather serve God. And yes, there’s a price to pay and you may lose friendship and you can lose a lot of lose a lot of people because you decide to take a stand. And the other verse here that makes a statement in verse 17, for it’s better if the will of God be so, yes, suffer for well-being doing then for evil doing.

Not chapter four, chapter four. Verse 12, be loved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you. What is serving God? Walking through a fiery trial. That’s what it is. See some people think, well, if I serve God then that means he’s good just going to bless me and it removes all my problems and everything will be wonderful. My marriage will be happy, my kids will be wonderful, my job will be great, I have money to bank, I have cars, I have this, I have that, I have security, everything will be great.

No! Not what it is. You’re to serve God if He takes away your job, takes away your health, takes away your family, takes away everything you have. He said, if a man doesn’t love me, more than love’s mother and father and sister and brother and all the things, he said, he be my disciple. God says, you can’t serve me if you love something better than me. You put something between you and God and God will move it away from you.

What happens when your wife is gone or your husband is gone and your kids are gone and the grandchildren are gone and you have nothing left. Then their world falls apart. God said, I’ll never leave you and I’ll never forsake you. You don’t have to fall apart just because the world falls apart. He says this in verse 13, but rejoice in as much as you are partakers of Christ suffering. that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad.

When, when he shall be revealed, ye may be glad. With exceeding joy, right now you have to have grief and you’ll have suffering and you’re gonna fight battles. And it’s gonna be rough. It’s difficult. It’s a warfare that you’re involved in. Some people find it so difficult to be faithful. And God says that you will win in the long run. And when he returns, when he comes back, You’ll be exceeding glad and feel with great exceeding joy. Awesome. Look there in 2 Timothy chapter three.

2 Timothy and chapter three. Look in verse 10. When you think about a great man like the Apostle Paul, why was God able to use him in such a wonderful way? The Bible says God put a thorn in his flesh. I mean, something to buffet him caused him problems all his life. Paul says, that’s not fair. No, he didn’t say that. God says, my grace is sufficient. You’ll just have to bear it. Live with it. He says, I asked the Lord three times to remove it, and God wouldn’t do it.

He says, my grace is sufficient. God left it there for a reason. Did you know that some of the problems and troubles that you have are for a reason, and God won’t remove it all? And I don’t know what your problem may be, but God may allow you to have a problem that seemed like it never goes away. It’s always there and it’s not going to go away. You have to live the rest of your life with that problem.

So he says in chapter three and verse 12, yay and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But he made the statement. He says, y’all have known my manner of life. You know my purpose, my doctrine. You know all these things about me. See that verse 10? He said, but thou has fully known. My doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, patience, my persecutions, my afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, Iconium, and Listera.

What persecutions, you ought to underline this words, what persecutions I what? I endured. I endured. Do you know one of the things that disappoints me a lot of time when I walk out of that office and I come up here and I look at the people that are not in service. Why don’t most of God’s people, why can’t they be faithful? Oh, I’m not talking about the ones that are in the hospital, I’m not talking about the ones that are sick.

I’m not talking about just people on the bouquet, I’m repudiating people in general, that they can’t be faithful. It never depends on them. Does that bother me? Yes, it bothers me. I’m a human individual. I’m flesh and blood. I care. My heart bleeds. I cry. I hurt for people because I know what is costing them. They’re going to be so filled with regret when they get to heaven and find out what they could have done and what they forfeited.

And I want them to stand there in heaven and get everything God wanted them to have. And I’m going to find it. They’re gonna be stripped of everything but it’s grace. Saved, but they lost their life. Yeah, that hurts me. Cause I care more about them and they do themselves. I call that love. And sometimes when I’m hard, I’m hard. Because I care about what they’re doing with their life. It’s not a game to me. There’s a lot of preachers, you can find them, they play games.

All they want is your money or your membership. And there’s a lot of them around. And their churches will be full because everything so generalized. Nobody knows what the world’s been said or what’s been done. Nothing’s expected of them. Nobody’s raked over the colds. Nobody’s burned. Do whatever you want to do. Just keep coming and giving you money. I guess I want more than that. I want more for you. Look there in verse 13. But evil men and seduce your shallwax worse than worse deceiving and been to say verse 14.

But continue thou. Those three words are just underlined, but continue now. You start, continue, stay at it. It’s always a battle, always at it. Before we close, look in James chapter one. My brethren, in chapter one verse two says, my brethren counted all joy when you fall in the divers temptations, knowing this that the trying of your faith work at patience. God wants to build you strong. The trials and the hardships of life is God’s way of blessing you so that it draws you closer to the Lord, so that you’ll ask for wisdom and you’ll gain wisdom and you’ll be able to have the patience that you need to endure the hardness.

So God has a wonderful plan. Does he? Yes, he does. God has a wonderful plan for your life. Man, that struck me when I heard God has a plan for my life. I wonder what it is. I wonder what he wants me to do. I wonder what he wants me to be. I wonder where he wants me to go. God has a plan for me. It’s me. I want to find what it is. I want to know what is God’s plan for my life.

So as a child of God, you begin to yield yourself to the Word of God and God begins to reveal. And by getting involved and doing what you can or what you have, where you are, God begins to open up doors. And you don’t know where it’s gonna lead to, but I’ll tell you this. It’s a wonderful world out there. It’s a wonderful walk with God. And even though the lions and the snakes and the bears and everything’s trying to destroy you, you know that your Heavenly Father’s got you all protected.

You can just walk right through anything. Some through the water, some through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the blood. And you gotta go through it, and you can do it. You can do it. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll-free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 10 30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bible Live and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, they are God’s Word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. 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 through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Take your Bible and turn to the book of Matthew chapter 3. Jesus Christ had began his ministry. John the Baptist was on the scene preaching, concerning the kingdom coming. The king was on his way. And then this statement was made here in verse 10 of Matthew chapter three. And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewed down and cast into the fire. The last part of verse 12 says, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

In other words, a statement that a day is coming where the Lord is going to cut down the trees that do not bring forth good fruit and the trees are going to be burned. The question is, what kind of a tree are you? Are you a good tree or a bad tree? Have you ever heard the statement that the Lord made in his word concerning an individual? You shall know them by their fruits. Well take your Bible and turn to the book of Matthew in chapter 7.

These verses caused me no small stir for a long time because I didn’t understand if the Bible says that you shall know them by their fruit. Does that mean that we’re supposed to judge whether a person is a Christian or not? to tell a person who’s a Christian and those who are lost by their fruits. And I had it explained to me this refers to a person’s life that we could watch a person’s life and judge by their fruit whether they were a Christian or not.

And so many times people began to do just that. They look at so and so who is not living a good life and they say well that person can’t be a Christian. And then I’ve seen them judge falsely also by saying well that person goes to church and that person does all these good things, that person would give you the shirt off their back. That person must be a Christian because you know we’re supposed to judge by their fruit.

And of course Matthew chapter 7 is the verses that are often used. If you will look there in verse 15 of Matthew chapter 7 verse 15 says, Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistle? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hued down and cast into the fire. Where before, by their fruits ye shall know them. And so many times these verses are used for you and I supposedly to judge whether a person is saved or lost. Is that really what this is referring to? Well we might use it for that, but I think it goes a lot deeper. First of all, I want you to see a couple of things. Look here in verse 17.

Verse 17 says, even so every good tree, bring a fork good fruit, but a corrupt tree, bring a fork evil fruit. So we know that we have two things mentioned here. We have a good tree and we have a bad tree. two kinds of trees, two kinds of fruit. But something that most people don’t see is a Miss verse 18. Look at verse 18. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

According to that verse, a good tree bring forth good fruit and a good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit. Are you a good tree or a bad tree? But remember, if you say, well, I’m a good tree, If you are a good tree, then you can’t have any bad fruit. Not even one bad fruit, no bad fruit of a bad tree. If you’re a bad tree, you can’t bring forth any good fruit on that tree. That’s what it says.

Then what’s the problem? If I was to follow you around for one week and watch the fruit on your tree, to see what you did, what you said, where you went, all of your actions, if I was to put you under a magnifying glass and watch you for one week. At the end of that week, when I come to the conclusion, you are a good tree or are you a bad tree? But remember, a good tree cannot have any bad fruit, not one bad fruit, and that bad tree can’t have any good fruit.

It looks like it’s clear cut. You’re either a good tree or you’re a bad tree, but you can’t be both trees. Now, look there in verse 21. When it says, you shall know them by their fruit, and then it turns right around and seems like it contradicts the statement. Verse 21, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. But he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?

Hey, wait a minute, prophesying in his name, that ought to be good. Then he says, and in thy name have cast out devils. Well, that ought to be good. That’s two goods. and thy name done many wonderful work.” Well, that ought to be good. So then if I was to judge this person by their fruit, I would say, well, that must be a good tree. But look what he says in verse 23. And then, will I profess unto them, I never knew you.

Depart for me ye that work in equity. Well, wait a minute. I thought they were good. Aren’t those good things? And if we’re supposed to judge by the outward appearance, well, then we would judge, though, it must be a good person. Look, what many good things they did. He said they’ve done many wonderful works and so forth. But you see, he said, I never knew you. They par for me you that work iniquity. So he was saying, you’re a bad tree.

And those things that you brought forth is bad fruit. How is a man then supposed to get to heaven? Remember this, the last part of verse 21 says, but he that doeth the will of my father, which is in heaven. The Lord in heaven never said that for you and I righteous and to go to heaven that we had to cast out devils. The Lord never said that we had to do many wonderful works in order to go to heaven.

The Lord never said that we had to prophesy in His name to be righteous. He never said that. When He says, but He that doeth the will of my Father, if we want to talk about how to be righteous, that is revealed in John chapter 6 where He says, this is the will of the Father that ye believe on Him whom he hath sent. Did any of them say that they had trusted Christ as their Savior? No. They were pointing to their works about what they had done.

And so even the fruit of the lips condemned them. Because the Lord never said that you are saved by your works. But now we need to go even further than this. Take your Bible and turn to book of Matthew and chapter Matthew chapter 12 and verse 33. If you or I was to judge one another, would not we come to the same conclusion? Either we are good trees or we’re bad trees. What kind of a tree are you? How do you see yourself?

In verse 33, he says, either make the tree good and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt. For the tree is known by its fruit. He says, old generation of vipers, how can ye be an evil speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of a good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things and an evil man out of the evil treasures bringeth forth evil things.

You see the problem is not the fruit the problem is the root. You see you don’t only tell what’s going take place on that tree by its fruit. You can also tell by the root. And what he’s saying is, either make the tree good and the fruit good or the tree bad and the fruit bad because what they had done in chapter 12 here is accuse Jesus Christ of bringing forth bad things, but they said he was good. They said that what he did was by the power of the devil, by the power of the yells above.

He says, wait a minute, he says, either make the tree good and the fruit good or the tree evil and the work evil. He said, how can I bring forth good things unless I am good? He says, you want to judge, then judge righteously. So the problem is not so much the fruit on the tree. That is only the manifested evidence of a root problem. And he says that all these things come from out of the heart of man.

Now take your Bible and turn to the book of Mark and Chapter 7. Mark chapter 7, and look at verse 14. Jesus Christ speaking to his disciples. He said in verse 14, and when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Harken unto me every one of you and understand. There is nothing from without a man that entering into him can defile him. But the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

Now remember a man is made up of three parts. He is a body, a soul, and a spirit. A man may drink alcohol and not defile the soul of the man, but it can be filed his body. Tobacco may ruin your body, but not touch the soul of man, because a man is a body, soul, and a spirit. The Lord says what goes into a man is not what defiles the man. Now there’s things that can hurt you spiritually, and there’s things that can hurt you concerning your soul, your emotions, your seat of emotions.

causes us to have good feelings and bad feelings. That’s our seed of emotions, our soul. And then we have a body. Now God wants our body to be healthy and He wants our soul to be happy, but He wants our spirit to be spiritual, to be holy. So yes, we have a Trinity built within us, but when He’s talking about here, He’s doing to the heart of man, the very root of man. What is a man do what he does.

And so he made this statement down in verse 18, and he said unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do not ye perceive that whatsoever things from without entering into the man he cannot be fallen? Because it entered not into his heart but into the belly and go up out into the drop purging all meats. And he said that which cometh out of the man that defileth the man, for from within out of the heart of man Now get this, for from within.

This is the root of man. You see, this is what determines the fruit on the tree. So we’re supposed to judge whether a man is a good tree or a bad tree by the fruit. God says that he can see deeper and he can tell because of the root of man. Now notice what he says here in verse 21. For from within, out of the heart of man, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, for inocations, murders, theft, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, less civiousness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness, all these evil things come from within and defile the man.

So every man is defiled because every man would be a bad tree. If every man born into this world has an old sinful nature nature from which proceeds all of these evil fruits upon our tree, then God says that every tree will have to be cut down. If this is true or not there are any good trees at all, because if we look upon this earth, every person that’s born has within them the seed of corruption. That’s why we do what we do.

Every one of us are capable of committing the grossest sin you have ever heard about because within you you have a root that can proceed forth from you. Now you may restrain some of it because of your education because you don’t hurt somebody concerned and you have some restraints built in. When you trust Christ as you’re saving you can get a few more restraints and try to constrain this thing from bringing forth these fruits upon this tree. But the problem is still there and will always be there until the day you die.

That’s why we do what we do. Look in Mark 10. Mark 10 and look in verse 17. And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running and kneel to him and asked him, good master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? Jesus said unto him, why callest thou me good? There is none good but one that is God. Now if he says, a good tree can only bring forth good fruit and a bad tree brings forth bad fruit then if he says there’s only one that’s good and that’s God then how many of us would be a bad tree every one of us is a bad tree and every one of us bring forth bad fruit so if we want to try to determine whether or not we’re a good tree or a bad tree all we have to know is we’re all human individuals with an

sinful nature and we all bring forth bad fruit. And sometimes a child of God or even a lost person can pick the apples off the tree and try to disguise it so that you can’t tell that they’re an apple tree. But it doesn’t change the root problem. It’s still an apple tree. Just because you and I say we don’t smoke, get into it and go with the girls who do and we stop a lot of things in our life.

It doesn’t change the fact that inwardly you and I have a root problem which proceeds forth from us. God never changed any of that whenever you and I trusted Christ as our Savior. And then verse 18 again, why call us thou me good? There’s none good but one and that is God. what he’s also saying, either I Christ, either I am a good tree or I am a bad tree. That’s what he was referring to in chapter 12 of Matthew.

He said, either make the tree good and the fruit good or the tree bad and the fruit bad. He said, but if you’re going to call me good, then make my fruit good. He is either God and bringing forth good fruit or he’s a man and he’s an evil man and he’s bringing forth evil fruit. But Jesus Christ was God and He was the only one that was good. Therefore, He’s a good tree with good fruit. And all the rest of us are bad trees with bad fruit.

Now God said that He’s going to cut down the bad trees and they’ll be cast into the fire. Well, what hope do we have? That’s why the good tree came. And so much good can be accomplished. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Matthew in chapter five. The Pharisees were the law keepers, supposedly. They thought they were so righteous, and they didn’t need a Savior. They were self-righteous in their own eyes. And the Lord was talking to a mixed multitude, and He told them, He says, now listen.

He said, except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees, you shall and no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now here is the Pharisees. These are the one who are trying to be so religious and keep all the law be so good and then Christ comes along and tells them, look, your righteousness must exceed the righteousness of these Pharisees or you can’t even go to heaven or enter to the kingdom. How are you going to have a righteousness that sees the best that man can do down here?

It is called an imputed righteousness. A consciousness that God will give to you, not because you earned it, but because God loves you and he’ll give it to you as a free gift. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Romans and chapter 3. And look at verse 9. When the Lord, God Himself, looks upon the whole earth. He doesn’t find any good trees. And verse 9 says, What then are we better than they know and know wise?

For we have before prove of Jews and Gentiles that they are, the word, they are all understand. That means that they’ve all sinned. They’re all bad trees bringing forth bad fruit. Then he says in verse 10, as it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. All bad trees. So when you want to get out and start inspecting the people upon planet Earth to find out who do you think to save and who’s lost on, you cannot pale by a man’s works because you can take the most godliest Christian that you know and you will find bad fruit on a Christian’s life, the most godliest man you know.

And so then he still has evidences of some bad fruit. But let me show you. Here in Romans, if you notice there in verse 11, there’s none that understand it, there’s none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way. They are together becoming problem and then in the last part of verse 12 there is none that doeth what? None that doeth good, no not one. There’s only one that’s good and that’s God. So he’s the only good tree that one good tree came into this world and he was born.

The Bible says that he came and was a tender plant. This plant grew up and his word is an incorruptible word. The Bible is the word of that tender plant. God’s word is seeds, incorruptible seeds. So if you and I will take and believe these seeds in God’s word and believe it, a tender plant will grow inside of us. Inside of that bad tree, God doesn’t change that tree. He didn’t cut down that tree yet. And yet if you and I will believe what Jesus Christ said inside of us, we will have a new birth, a new plant, a new tree which will grow from an incorruptible seed and it will live forever.

It cannot die. This new tree that’s born within us. And as this new tree begins to grow inside of us, it will come to the place where it wants the brain for fruit. In our life. So you see, I am an individual with two trees living inside of me. I have the root of an evil tree inside of me. And then when I trusted Christ as my Savior, I have the root of a divine tree living inside of me.

And that’s why there’ll be times in my life where you might see some bad fruit from my bad tree and you’ll see some good fruit from my good tree because I have two natures living inside of me. You look there in verse 21 of chapter chapter 2. tree, but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, been witnessed by the law of the prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith in Jesus Christ unto all and upon all of them that belief, or there’s no difference for all have sin.

Alright, look up here. All have sin. That means everybody is a bad tree with bad fruit. I don’t know who you are. It doesn’t matter how long you lived. We’re all bad trees with bad fruit. someday we’re all going to be cut down. You’re not going to live forever. The key thing is do you have within you this new tree that came because you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior. If not, you will spend eternity separated from God in hell.

Now God loves us and wants us to go to heaven. So when you and I accept Christ as our Savior, God did not cut down the tree. He didn’t take the fruit off the tree. That’s why we do not go around throughout the world trying to tell people if you want to go to heaven, pick the apples off the tree or change the way you’re living. A bad tree can’t change from being a bad tree. It can’t change itself.

So that’s why you do not tell a lost man to turn from your sins in order to be saved. He can’t do it. It’s impossible. You can’t stop acting like you. You are born that way. You have an old sinful nature and you’ll sin always. But whenever you come along and somebody explains to you what God’s Word says and you understand it, yes, I am a sinner and I believe Christ doesn’t I cross and pay for my sin and I trust Jesus Christ is my Savior.

God said that you are born spiritually by the incorruptible seed. You are given a new birth. This birth is born of God. If it’s born of God, it cannot sin. If it cannot sin, it cannot die. That’s because this one comes from a good tree. And a good tree can’t bring forth bad fruit. And that’s why you read in the book of 1 John 3, whosesoever is born of God does not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he’s born of God.

When you accept the Christ as your Savior, this one was born of a good tree, an incorruptible seed. That’s That’s why it cannot sin. If it cannot sin, it cannot die. That’s why once you trust Christ, it’s Abraham, you’re always a child of God. And that’s why you’ll go to heaven whenever you die. This one over here, the ax is going to be laid yet. And one day, this one will be placed into the grave, and the worms will eat it up.

And this one goes to heaven, your second birth. But you see, as a child of God, you have within you a divine nature and a sinful nature. You have within you the root of two trees living within you. And they both want to express themselves in your life. They want to bring forth fruit. And you’re the one that determines whether these limbs that you’ve got, this body, this instrument will bring forth good fruit or whether it’ll bring forth bad fruit.

You and I are the one that determines that. But even if we bring forth the bad fruit, does it mean that we’re still don’t have a good tree living inside of us. This is your new birth that’s born of God. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Galatians in chapter 5. In the book of Galatians in chapter 5, notice what he says here in verse 16. This I say then, walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

God says if we will walk after the Lord and do what God wants us to do, you won’t bring forth the lust of of the flesh means you still have them. You will always have them. That’s why a child of God can want to do the things that are right and go to church and yet you have an old sinful nature that’s always within you. How long will this battle go on in your life until the day you leave this world?

That’s why in the book of Romans it makes the statement concerning Paul. He says, when I wanted to do that which was right, evil was present with me. He said that I wanted to do this and I want to do that, but I couldn’t and how to perform I find not. He said I found out that in my flesh that is in my flesh, well if no good thing nothing is good. That’s in your old birth. . . .

. . . But whenever you accept Christ, you say that you’re now God’s child with a new nature. And now God said he wants to express himself through this body that he’s given to us. That’s why yes, we should serve the Lord. Not to get to heaven, but because we’re going there. Can a Christian then bring forth in his life bad fruit? Yes, because God hasn’t cut the tree down yet. He didn’t ask you and you got saved to stop all your sins.

He gave you a new birth. This new birth has a new nature, and God says to bring forth new fruit. And so, if you will get so busy doing what God says to do, you won’t have time to bring forth the wrong kind of fruit. The Christian life is not a negative, it’s a positive. It’s not, well, I don’t do this, and I don’t do that, and I don’t do this, and I don’t do that. I know, but do you do what God says to do?

If you got busy doing what God says to do, You’d get so busy, you’d have to schedule it when they get into trouble. But many of God’s people don’t do that. They play silly little games. And the Bible says that this old nature that we have that we had covered a couple weeks ago, it talks about it being a deceitful, wicked individual that lives within us. Now you know what you really want? What you really want is found in verse 22 and 23.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, enjoy and peace in long. long suffering and gentleness and faith and faith and Frightness and self-control. STATS These are the things that see this is the fruit from the good tree. Now if you trust the Christ Christ, then you got a good tree living inside of you. And this good tree wants to bring forth good But you’re the one that determines whether you bring forth good fruit or bad fruit. And nobody can make you do either one.

That’s a decision you have to make because see, those root problems lies within an individual. As a child of God cannot you gossip, cannot you sow seed to discord, cannot you get angry and bitter and mad, cannot you even Ibid get to the place where youalion kill somebody? Yes, you can Dragonbound, can a Christian commit adultery? Can a Christian get drunk? Can a Christian do all these sins? Yes, heIUM. Should he? No, can he? Yes. And that’s because he’ll walk in the flesh, not in the spirit.

But if you will walk in the spirit, let me, to let the Holy Spirit have control of your life and you yield to him, you’ll like the fruit that you get. But as you go through life and you don’t let yield yourself to the Lord, you’re gonna bring forth the works of the flesh and you’re not gonna like what you get. Because down the road years from now you’re gonna reap the consequences and you’re not gonna like it. That’s why it’s so important for a child of God understand because I’m God’s child.

I have the opportunity of bringing forth two kinds of fruit and God said in his word be not to see God is not mocked whatsoever a man so of that shall he also reap. You bring forth the fruit from the bad tree and God’s gonna have to chase and discipline you. You bring forth the fruit from the good tree and God won’t have to and you’ll have peace and joy and happiness and that’s what you want in your life.

So you’re going to get out of your life what What you deserve. What you work for. What you sowed. You want peace, so peace. You want love, so love. Want joy, so joy. And that’s how you will be able to reap. What you sow. You sow anger, you reap anger. So hatred, you reap hatred. So bitterness, you reap bitterness. Because those are things that will be manifested inside of you. And a man destroyed is an inside job. You’re never destroyed from the outside.

You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bible Line and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Sunday morning services begin at 10 30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryuptampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live. And now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. Hot up to meet the Lord in the air.

So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon. And just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

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 remember that in the Bible, you can see the Bibleline on the screen. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Matthew chapter 13, Matthew chapter 13. Every time you read the Bible, it’s a living book and you learn something new and fresh every time you read it. And I don’t care how many times I’ve read certain passages of scripture, I learn something else the next time. Because it’s a living book, it’s alive. This isn’t like your regular history book, and biology books, and all that stuff. This is God’s Word, and there’s truths that are in this book that you keep discovering.

There’s some people who want to know the truth, there’s some people who don’t want to know the truth. Now as you read the Bible, you will find out that it talks about Satan, who is the prince of the power of the air. It’s called the kingdom of darkness. So his reign is the kingdom of darkness and it deals with the flesh. Then there’s the kingdom of God. And God says it’s like, it’s a spiritual thing. It’s seen only by faith.

It’s not seen with a natural eye. And so Christ says that the kingdom of God is here. It’s under you. So you have the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. Then he says in John chapter 3, you must be born again. He said, except the man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Unless the man is born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. You can’t see it. You can’t enter, even though you’re here, but you’re not in the kingdom of God unless you’re born again.

because it’s a spiritual thing. But if you haven’t trusted Christ as your Savior, you are already in the kingdom of darkness and the Satan who’s the prince of the power of the air, he’s already your king. You’re already worshiping him and you’re following him and you’re obeying him if you’re not serving God. If you’re not serving God, you’re serving the devil. Like it or not. I don’t care to make anybody mad, but chances are I will because truth is very controversial It’s very offensive, just like the truth of the gospel is a very offensive message because there’s many people who believe you have to earn your salvation by the way you live.

The truth of the gospel is no you don’t. That offends all the people who teach that you do. Do you have to go to church to go to heaven? No you don’t. Do you have to give money to go to heaven? No you don’t. Well see there’s some church that teach that so that’s offends them. The gospel is that it must be free and it must last forever, or it’s not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Gospel is that it is grace.

Grace means that it is free. It doesn’t cost you anything. Christ paid for it. You accept Him. You go to heaven on what He did for you. Now I want you to notice there in the book of Matthew in chapter 13. In verse 36, then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came out of Him saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tears in the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soeth the good seed is the Son of man.

The field is the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom. But the tears are the children of the wicked one. So we know that in this world in which we live, there are those who are the children of God and the children of the wicked one. The wicked one is Satan. When you were not saved, you were a child of the flesh, you were a child of the wicked one. You were in the kingdom of darkness.

That’s why it says in Colossians, we are to rejoice that we have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light or the kingdom of his dear son. So while we live here, I am a child of God. I am in the kingdom of God, on his child. And though I have an old sinful nature in my old body, I can still see the kingdom of darkness. I see the wickedness in the world. I see all the sin in the world.

And we struggle with the fleshly desires that we have. Christ says love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If he may have the love of the world, then he cannot love God. So God says, you’re either going to love this world or you’re going to love God in the next world. So which one are you looking for? Where a man’s treasure is there will the heart be also? But he makes a statement here in verse 39.

The enemy that sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are the angels. Now I don’t understand all of this and when everything is going to happen, but there is some things that I can tell you. at the end of the church age where we are. God is simply going to take us out of the world. So those who have trusted Christ a Savior, you will be changed in a moment, the twinkling of an eye which could happen at any moment.

Only believers get to go and we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord and we go to heaven. We’ll stand in the jim and sit at Christ and be rewarded for what we’ve done. But the rest of the people will be going into the tribulation period, this period of time that’s right ahead of us, the worst time in the world is right ahead of us. Don’t you fall for those such things as we’re going to build a utopian, this world is going to be world peace.

It will never happen. It is not coming. That’s a figment of the imagination, but it’s not true. The worst time of all history, all human history, is right ahead of us called the tribulation period, worst period of time in the world. But at the end of this period of time, there is going to be where God says he sins forth his angels and he has them with sickles in his hands and he cuts down the vines he brings in those grapes and he puts them in a great big old valley and he stomps them with his feet and the blood will run as high as the horses bridle.

This is what God’s going to do at the end of the tribulation period called the battle of Armageddon. There is going to be a process at the end of this period of time when Christ comes back in power and great glory and we will come back with him before he sets up his kingdom upon the earth, there is going to be a judgment of the nations or of the Gentiles. Individuals are going to be judged. They’re going to deceive.

If they have trusted Christ as Savior, the righteous, the just, they go into the kingdom, into the vial and to the joy of the Lord. Those who have not done so will be cast into the lake of fire, the Bible called into a furnace. Now I want you to see this because it’s important in verse 40 and therefore the tears are gathered and burned in the fire. Now who are the tears? The tears are the children of the wicked one in verse 38.

So Christ is the one who tells the story. He says, now at the end of time, he says, this is coming. He says the tears, the wicked one, the children who have never trusted Christ as Savior, or going to be burned in the fire. Now notice what else he says in the last part of verse 40 and so shall it be in the end of this world. The word world there is aeon or it means age, the end of a dispensation.

There is going to be a judgment. There’s going to be one here when he sets up his kingdom. There’s also going to be another one at the end of the thousand years because people will live upon the earth for 1000 years. And at the end of this time, God is going to once again, those who have not trusted Christ of the Savior are going to be cast into the lake of fire. Now what I want you to see is this, look in verse 41, the Son of man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and then which do iniquity.

In other words, God says there’s come at a time when he’s going to take everything in this whole world that offends God and God’s going to do away with it. He says, there’s going to be a new heavens eventually and a new earth. And God says, we’re in dwelleth righteousness and no sin shall enter therein. Now these are things that are coming down the road because God says that he’s going to take this earth and it’s going to be renovated by fire.

Everything is going to be burned up. And he says, and I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. He said, I will be there, God, they will be my people. He said, I’ll wipe away all tears from their eyes. This is what’s coming. Jesus is the one that said all of this. It’s easy for you and I to be caught up every day life. Be doing this and that and the other.

And we lose sight of all this God has said, because we’re about to hang nail and know what we’re gonna eat for supper. And I gotta pay the bills, I gotta go to work this week. And that’s our world. But what helps you to endure this world and stay faithful to God in the midst of all of these things that happens is what you know about what God says is coming down the road. And can you believe Him? And is it going to affect your life?

The truth that we know here should affect us here. So the reason for knowing all this other stuff is so that I will do what God wants me to do with the time where I’m living. I’m here. Now what is my responsibility? Why am I supposed to do anything? I mean what’s the reasons? I have to know what’s the point. And I want to know what is the will of God for me. But there’s things in the Word of God that should challenge and motivate us.

Otherwise it makes you walk the straight and narrow way that compels you, motivates you. Always do right, always do right. The devil is always going to try to get you to do contrary to what God said. And you cannot let human emotions rule in your life. You have to go, but what does God say? What does God say? If God says, this is wrong, guess what? That’s wrong. and don’t have to take an opinion poll. What does God say?

Now get this. In verse 42, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire, and you ought to underline these words. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth, fire. So God says there is going to be a lake of fire and brimstone where God is going to cast all those who have not accepted Christ as their Savior. You say, who’s going to go there? If your mother hasn’t trusted Christ as her savior, your mother is going to the lake of fire.

If your grandma hasn’t trusted Christ as her savior, your mama is going to the lake of fire. And your granddaddy and your grandchildren are going to the lake of fire. If they have not trusted Christ as their savior, when they get to an age of a kind of a, that’s why soul winning is the most important thing anybody can ever do their whole life. See a lot of people who know Christ as savior, they’ll help a thousand ways, but they never talk to anybody about their soul.

Where are you going when you die? Do you know for certain that you have eternal life? If you could know you could have eternal life, would you like to know and explain it so people will trust Christ as their Savior. There is nothing more powerful than that message because this is a heaven and hell issue. Now get this, he says in verse 40, then shall the righteous shine forth as the Son in the kingdom of their father who have ears to hear, let him hear.

Now, once again, understand what he’s saying here verse 43. See the wicked are cast into a lake of fire, but the righteous the Bible says shall shine as the sun in its strength. And the Bible another place talks about in the book of Daniel in chapter 12 as the brightness of the tournament forever, the stars in heaven. Because God says you’ll shine as the righteousness, as the stars in heaven for all eternity. When Christ was here in the book of John in chapter three verse 18, he says, he that believe it on me is not condemned, but he that believe if not is condemned already, there’s only two kinds of people in the world.

Believers and unbelievers, the saints and the aunts. Either you are or you’re not. You say, you can’t say, well, I’ve been a Christian all my life, nobody has been a Christian all their life. There has to come a time when you’re born into the family of God, and you have to have the knowledge you did it. I’ll give what age it was, but you have to know that you trusted Christ as your Savior because what makes you think you’re going to heaven if you have never trusted Christ as your Savior?

You said, well, I’ve heard about it all my life. I know, but have you personally trusted Christ as your Savior? Have you actually done it? Have you said to God, God, I believe that Christ died, He paid for my son, I believe He did it for me. I’m trusted, dependent upon Him to take me to heaven whenever I die. And God said, if you do it, He’ll give eternal life. And you can know that that you’re going to heaven.

There is no other way of knowing. There is only this one way, and that’s by trusting Christ as your Savior. Now notice, he goes down in verse 44, 45, 46, talking about a pearl. But he uses the phrase, the kingdom of heaven is like this. Here’s an example. Look what he says in verse 44. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure, hid in a field, and the field is the world, the which when a man hath found he hideth and for joy, I’ve got to go with and sell off all that he had and buy off that field.

Now it’s this picture of here’s the world because the world is the field and God so loved the the world and he’s not talking about the dirt. It’s the treasure that was found here. There’s something that was in this world that caused God to want to buy it. And what was that? Israel, it was from it was the nation of Israel, the Jewish people. When he talks about the pearl of great price, look there in verse 45, again the kingdom of heaven is likened to a merchantman seeking goodly pearl who when he had found one pearl of great price went so all that he had bought it.

So Jesus Christ when he came into the world gave all that he had so that he could buy the souls of everybody in the whole world. He made a payment that was sufficient for everybody but only one condition. He wants every individual to accept what he did for them. That’s why he says, we have been purchased. We have been redeemed, paid for. You’ve been bought with the price. Therefore, glorified God in your body and in your spirit, which are God.

God have bought and paid a price for you and I. We are like a choice pearl that God says was so valuable and worth it that he says the whole world is not worth the soul of one man. The kingdom of darkness doesn’t have any value. He was willing to die for the world, but he was willing to die if you had been the only person in the world. And that’s something to keep in mind. Now look in verse 47.

Verse 47, again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net that was cast unto the sea and gathered of every kind, which when it was full, they drug it to shore, set down, gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So this is why some people think, well, you know, The good people go to heaven, the bad people go to hell. Well, it’s really talking about the just and the unjust. It’s talking about the righteous and the wicked.

The righteous are those who trust Christ, the wicked, are those who do not trust Christ. It all hinges upon what do you do with Jesus Christ. It’s not talking about how you lived. It’s talking about who you are, what you are. You’re either wheat or you’re tear. I was a tear, but when I trusted Christ, I became wheat. That’s what I am. Now what I do is what I am. So God says here in verse 49, so shall it be at the end of the world, at the end of time, the end of the age, the angel shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just.

Right now, we all live together. We have saved and lost in the same household. We have saved and lost at this job where you go to work and at the nursery stores. We got saved and lost even in churches. And you say, well, what shall we do? Shall we pull up the wheat or pull out the pears? Now God says, let everything alone. He says, because whenever he gets ready, he’ll separate the wheat from the pears. Look there in verse 29 of Matthew 13.

We’ll just start there in verse 28. Look in verse 28. He said unto them, and enemy have done this. He said, done what? Soad some pears while the good men slept, somebody came in and so pears. Well, who is this wicked person? That’s Satan. And he’s so in bad seed that’s producing bad fruit, which is people who don’t know Christ as Savior. He says in verse 28, he said to them, an enemy have done this, the servant said, will thou then that we go and gather them up and he said, nay, less why you gather up the tears, ye root up also the wheat with them.

In other words, wheat and the tears look so much alike. You can’t hardly tell the difference. And the Bible says, you and I are not to be the one that judges who is a Christian and who is not by what we see. You don’t know if I’m really a Christian or not. You say, well, you’re a pastor of a church, that doesn’t make me a Christian. Well, you read the Bible and pray, that doesn’t make me a Christian. Well, you try to do right and you give money for missions, that doesn’t make me a Christian.

You say, I’m a Christian, if I have in my life ever, totally 100% accepted Jesus Christ as my only hope of going to heaven. Have I done that? If I’ve done that, I’m saved. If you have not done that, it won’t matter how religious you live. And it won’t matter if you’re a wicked person living a sinful life doing everything in the book. You can still be saved and still go to heaven when you die. Now some preacher tell you no you can’t do that.

Then preacher don’t know what they’re talking about. You can be saved, have eternal life in your God’s child and not serve God and do everything wicked in the book and still go to heaven when you die. Is it the will of God? No it’s not the will of God. It’s a shame and a disgrace. If you’re a child of God, you should live like a child of God and you should act like a child of God and you ought to do what’s right because that’s who you are.

You are a child of God. Now you ought to look like it and act like it and talk like it and live like it. But if you don’t, it doesn’t change the fact you have been saved, given eternal life, on what he did, not upon what you did. I’m going to heaven because he loves me. Now I should serve the Lord because I love him. There’s got to be something inside of a man that challenges and motivates him and restrains him to do the things that he should do or not to do But look what he says also in verse 30 He says in verse 30 let both grow together Grow together until the harvest and in the time of harvest.

I will say to the reapers gather ye together first the tears Buying them and bundles to do what with them? Burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn gather the wheat into the barn. So there’s a difference in the people. There’s believers, there’s unbelievers, there’s righteous, there’s wicked. And so God says, those who have not accepted Christ as their Savior, then they will be cast into the lake of fire, a furnace that they are in forever and ever.

God says those who have trusted Christ as Savior are gathered into the barn. These those. See, He is speaking to them a language they can understand. This is how they made their living. But we have people who can’t understand. This is so parable. It means there’s a story given but a story that has other meanings to it. He spoke in parables because they were mixed multitudes. They did not have the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit to help them to discern.

So he spoke in parables and said, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit said. That means those who want to know the truth will know the truth. Those who don’t really want to know, they won’t understand what’s being said. And so those who want to know truth, they want to know what’s being said. can understand that they’ll trust Christ as their Savior. And those who don’t want to know the truth, all they heard, they heard a story.

And you’d be surprised how many people can go to church. And yet you could tell them a thousand times you don’t go into church to go to heaven. You don’t have to give money to go to heaven. You don’t have to do anything to bet. You don’t have to change your life to them. And yet they’ll still understand in their mind, you still got to be good to go to heaven. You still got to do something. It don’t matter how many times you say, no, it’s by grace through faith.

It’s not even, and as long as you believe that you’ve got to do something, you’re not trusting Christ as your Savior alone. If you think you have to do something, change something in your life, you’re not trusting Christ. Your salvation does not depend upon Him. It depends upon you and you change in your life, in your power and your ability. You still don’t get it. And you still have people that say, well, if you don’t live it, you ain’t got it.

You don’t understand it. Salvation is a gift. And yet I’d venture to say that the many times that people have been out here and you’ve heard me say these things. You still don’t get it. And yet we’ll grow along together. And one day there’s going to be a judgment and God’s going to separate the good from the bad. And what makes the difference between what’s good and what’s bad? The good of those who trusted Christ and the bad is those who did not trust Christ the Savior.

It is so simple. Now look very quickly there in Matthew chapter 13. I I want you to see this before, quit. In verse 49 of Matthew 13, he says, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth in verse 50. He said, have you understood all these things? Now I want to give you another one very quickly because we’re running out of time. Look in Luke chapter 13. It is so important that you see it, that you understand it’s got to make sense in your mind.

Or you will hear these words a thousand times that go right over your head. You’ll not understand what I’m talking about. And some of you, it’ll be so clear, clear as a bell, and some of you still be arguing in your spirit inside. So I don’t agree with that. I don’t buy that. I don’t buy that. You don’t buy that. You don’t understand that. You ain’t going to heaven. I didn’t make up salvation. I didn’t design it. And won’t be no skin off my nose whether you believe it or you don’t believe it.

I’m going to be hurt to see you go to hell. But I would hate to think that you sit here all these years and you sit here and you listen. But you never personally, You never really trusted Christ as your Savior. Because you still head in the back of your mind, I’ve got to do something. I want to be good just in case, then that just in case, then that you just, see, Christ says, it’s not Christ’s plus anything.

You might know Christ is sufficient, but you don’t know that He’s enough. He’s enough. You don’t need anything else. My salvation going to heaven does not depend upon me. It doesn’t depend upon how I live or don’t live. nothing to do with that. Because when I was 18 years old, the best of New Howl, I knew I was a sinner. I believe Christ died and He paid for my son. I’m trusting Him as my Savior. Take me to heaven when I write down.

If I don’t get to heaven, it’s because He broke His word. He lied to me. He said, if I believe it, I have it. I have what everlasting life. I’ve got everlasting life. And look in Luke chapter 13, looking verse 23, then said one unto him, Lord, are there a few that be saved? And He said unto them, strive to enter in at the straight gate. For many I say unto you, we’ll seek to enter in and shall not be able, because the only way you can get in is through Christ.

He says, when once the master of the house is risen up and have shut to the door, and you begin to stand without and to knock at the door, say, Lord, Lord, open unto us, and he shall answer and send to you, I know you not when she are. When he says, I know you not. That’s not saved people. I know you not. These are lost people. says, I know my children. You’re not my child. It’s not I knew you wants and then you got lost.

Now, I don’t know you anymore. No, no, no, he’s I don’t know you. What he’s talking about here is too late. In other words, it comes to time when a man leaves this world, it’s too late. In other words, you have all these opportunities, but they come to time when it’s too late, you can’t go anymore. It’s no more opportunities. They’re all gone. And that’s why I managed to trust Christ to save you while he can. When he sees it.

Look what else he says. He says in verse 26, then shall ye began to say, We have eaten and drunkened thy presence and thou has taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not when you are ye depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. And this is similar to what you find in Matthew chapter 7, where it says the people did all these good things. They did all these good wonderful works. We cast out devils and we spoke in tongues and we did all these wonderful He says I don’t even know who you are.

Depart from me ye that work iniquity. In other words, whenever you do all these good things and you’re trusting in your good deeds to get you to heaven, then God says you’re workers of iniquity. I did a work on the cross. You’re supposed to believe this work will get you to heaven, not your works. We’re not supposed to get to heaven by sending our righteousness up to God. Look how righteous I am God. God said, I sent my righteousness down.

You accept my righteousness. If God gives me his righteousness and I accept that I am made as righteous as God. I get what else he says here. End verse 28, Then there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now who is this to? The people that go to hell, weeping and gnashing of teeth. When ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and ye yourselves thrust out. Look up here. There’s coming a time when Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the Old Testament prophets, the saint, We’re gonna all be here during this period of time.

And those people ain’t gonna be here. They can’t go. Weeping and wailing and gnashing their teeth know what they could have had and they’ll never be able to enjoy what we will enjoy for all eternity. And he says there in verse 29, and they shall come from the east and from the west and from the north and from the south and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And that day is coming. But think of how many multitudes of people.

Weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth, and a literal fire burning hell for all eternity. And yet it didn’t have to be that way. It’s pride. Some people will never humble themselves and admit I am a sinner. I cannot save myself. I will trust him as my Savior. And people will die and go to hell rather than do that simple thing. And yet it’s on the same level that everybody can have it. It’s equal for all, anybody in the whole world, and most people won’t do it.

And you’ll have churches today, today, that are filled to the brand all over America. Heaven got the heinous idea about how to get to heaven. They don’t know it’s only through Christ. And they think it’s because they went to church and they put money in the offering, and that’s why they’re going to go to heaven because they’ve been good. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message.

If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bible Line and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us.

The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 10.30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, Calvary of Tampa dot org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. up to meet the Lord in the air.

So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s Word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. 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 through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

I want you to turn in your Bible to the book of 1 Corinthians in chapter 10, 1 Corinthians and chapter 10. You need to have quitters insurance, insurance against quitting. We spoke about a person dedicating their life to the Lord. And chances are, you that have trusted Christ as your Savior, your God’s child, you know you’re going to heaven when you die. And you have already determined you want to serve the Lord and serve the Lord all the days of your life.

But there comes a time when you get discouraged. discouraged. You think about quitting. So how do I keep from quitting? And so there’s several things that I wanted to mention to you. And that is found here in 1 Corinthians in chapter 10. It makes the statement there in verse 13, there have no temptation taken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful who will not suffer you or permit you to be tempted above that you’re able.

But will with the temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it, you and I should understand that we are going to be tempted to quit serving God. I believe that all the trials and temptations, discouragements, you name it, all the sin temptation, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, all temptations to do anything that’s wrong is to get you and I to quit. the ultimate purpose of why the temptations of the world to get us to quit.

And God says, moreover, is required in a store that a man be found faithful. Faithful means you didn’t quit. And God wants us to finish our course to run our race, to fight the good fight of faith. In other words, God doesn’t want us to quit. And there’s many things that happens in life that causes us to want to quit. Let me give you just a few other signs. these are four signs of quitting. This is when you’re on the verge of quitting but you may not recognize the symptoms.

I’ve been doing this long enough and I look at people and I watch people, I read people and I know when it’s close. And I can see when people are going to be having a very difficult time down the road. And I mentioned this for like guy like John and for like Tim. And you’ll see why in just a little bit, These guys, they may be a little bit like I am that I could years ago when I was a little younger.

I could go the pace that they go, and they go a pace that most people can’t keep up with. They’re hungry, they’re like wolves, and they’re always after it. I have a problem trying to figure out how can I slow them down. Now there’s some Christians, you gotta figure out how do I get them to do anything? You know, people like that? They never do anything. But they’re not that way. I’ve gotta try to figure out how to slow them down because I know that if they keep going at the pace, they’re going, they’re not gonna last very long unless they get some help.

But they may be of a certain breed of individuals that it doesn’t matter. And they can go seven days a week, 24 hours a day. I don’t know, but I want y’all to pray for them. The first thing is over committed. When you get over committed, you’re running a danger of quitting because of things that will happen. I used to tell the kids, unless your intake is greater than your outflow, than your outflow will be your downfall. And so there’s people who get themselves too committed.

And sometimes you got them going, but now how do you slow them down? Betty’s dad used to worry about me like that because whenever I saw something I would go after it and I wouldn’t slow down until I did it or die trying. And he always lived in holy fear for his daughter. And like I said, it’s kind of like, you know, handing a stratovirus over to a gorilla. And that’s how he felt about me. His wonderful, loving daughter and I drug her all over this country and we lived in five states in a year and a half.

This thing, five states in a year and a half, but I did it. Another one is you become weary. In the book of Galatians in chapter 6 it says, be not weary in well doing. One of the signs that you’re fixing to quit, you’re getting ready to quit is because you are tempted to quit. You get tempted because you get weary. And if I just quit, I won’t be weary anymore. If I quit, then I won’t be over committed.

anymore. So people are looking for sometimes a way to get out of doing the things that God wants from this so you have to watch being overcommitted. The other one is apathy. It means you slowly. Little by little you start losing interest, apathy. You just don’t care anymore. You don’t care about reading your Bible. You don’t care about going to church. Don’t care about giving you don’t care about witnessing. You just don’t care. Filled with apathy. You’re quitting but it happens first on the inside before it ever happens on the outside.

You can still be coming here to church and your body’s in the right place, but you’re really your feel with apathy and nothing’s going to move you. You’re in the right spot where God wants you to be, but inside you’re not right with God. And the other thing is offended. Doing too much and then when you get doing too much it begins to hurt. You get hurt because why don’t somebody help me? If nobody helps me then it’s not long before what anybody says or does hurt you and if it hurts you then you get offended.

So these are areas in which you need to learn to read some symptoms of when you’re getting ready to quit. The second thing I wanted to give you is realize, realize why you are tempted to quit. And here are several things that I wanted to give you. Four things to know that you’re on the verge of quitting, to realize why am I tempted to quit. And the Scripture that Peter who said, Lord, I’m not going to quit. I’m not going to quit.

Though all the night I won’t quit. And yet he denied the Lord three times. Christ knew he was on the verge of quitting. Christ knew that. Christ saw things that he didn’t see for himself. But he says, the devil has desire to sift you like we. You ought to understand that when you say I’m going to serve the Lord, it means I am willing to get into the fight. But when I get into the fight, I’ve got to fight an enemy.

And the enemy has got one goal, and that’s to destroy. And so that’s why a lot of Christians, they are easy to surrender because they get tired of the fight. And yet, it’s not that you’ve started the fight. It’s not that even you’re fighting today. It’s that you want to fight until there’s no more fight left. Until the fight is over, until God takes you out of this world. Faithful unto death. Faithful unto death. Finish your course. it all the way.

Don’t allow the devil to win over you. So the thing is is guard your weaknesses. That means you have to watch that you don’t get run down. You don’t get run down and you don’t wear out. Not some people they call this I’m getting burnout. Well you don’t have to get burnout. I have never in my Christian life I’ve never been close to burnout. I’ve never been filled with apathy like I don’t I don’t care anymore. But because I’ve got quitters insurance.

Quidders insurance means that you’ve got to stay in the word you’ve got to stay close to the Lord and you got to keep your vision you got to keep your folks there phone why are you doing what you’re doing? I said last week you’re not going to continue to fight all your life unless you believe that what you’re fighting for is worth fighting for if it was worth fighting for 40 years ago it’s worth fighting for today and if it’s worth fighting for today is we’re fighting for tomorrow.

If I believe that one time in my life that it was worth keeping a clean testimony, keeping my morals clean, staying close to the Lord, going to church, reading God’s word, praying, witnessing, soul-winning. If I believe that was important before, it’s still important. I keep fighting for the things that were worth fighting for. And many people they quit and they give up because they lose their vision. And then next thing, no, they’re not dedicated to the Lord like they used to be.

You begin to quit. You must know Satan’s plan. Satan’s plan is to destroy everything that God wants to do in your life. God has a plan, the devil has a plan. And God says, if you’ll listen to me, it’ll work. And if you listen to the devil, it won’t work. Nothing will work. And he’s out to destroy and does not care how he destroys. Remember this, whenever a man and a woman, they get married. They Yum! They may, I love you, you love me, we get married, everything’s wonderful from there on out.

Getting married is sometimes the easiest part of all of it. That’s the easy part. And even when you get, I say 90 years old, that might be the easy part. There might be a lot of things, you don’t have to fight anymore. But that time in between, ooh, there’s a time in between where there can sure be an awful lot of not an awful lot of not-down dragons. And it gets rough. And you begin to fight some battles. The other thing I wanted to give you was this.

Offences, the Bible says in the book of Matthew, offenses will come. You and I know we live in a sinful world. We’re offended by things. We’re offended by people. Sometimes we offend ourselves. Did you know that when Jesus Christ was here, Jesus Christ offended his disciples. He says, does this offend you? And then his disciples came up to him one time and says, Master, notice not that those Pharisees, that you offended them. You hurt their feelings. And Jesus says, I did?

You’re going to offend and you’re going to be offended. But God says in his word that we should set our offenses aside. realize whatever it is that God wants you to do is that more important than whatever happens to me or what somebody says or done. Otherwise, being offended will cause you to be hurt. And when you get hurt, you quit. Don’t quit. Never stop. Never stop serving the Lord. The other one is fatigue. You ever get just plain tired, just plain wore out.

I had a girl call me up. But is Lisa in here, Lisa, it’s sitting right there. She called me up Wednesday night. She says, Yankee, she says, Shannon’s not gonna be able to make it. He’s sick. He has these cluster headaches and he’s really been going through it. He’s been having to take pain pills. And I know what them pain pills can do. He’s on the same pain pills. A lot of them, the same ones that I had that I had to take.

And I’m talking about, you can’t think clear. And so it’s taking this toll upon him. And she says, Yankee, she says, I am just plain fatigued. I am tired. I am so tired. I said, then you stay home and take care of that sick boy that you have. She’s raising a child. She has a little child that she has to raise named Shannon. And, but she, she just get playing for takes. And then what do you do when you get like that?

Rest, rest, stop. You see, you got to figure out what does it take for you to keep going and to be strong. If you don’t take care of you and understand your body and the limitations of your body, You can destroy yourself, learn the limitations of the body. The fatigue will make quitters out of all of us. And some people say, well, if I quit, then I can get rest. Yeah, if you quit for a day or two days or three days and get some rest, that’s one thing.

But some people think they just quit the ministry. Well, I’m just burn out, burn out. Well, I’d rather burn out than rust out. But some people never burn out they never got on fire to start with. The other thing I wanted to give you this, number three is realize that we all have good days. Did you realize they estimated that we have about 30% good days and about 10 to 20% bad days and about 50% of our days could go either way.

They’re just there. You know we just live on. But most of the days that you remember in the past are not the normal days. You You remember the good days and you’ll remember some bad days, but the other days didn’t make it impact upon your life. You don’t remember them. I can remember every time I’ve gotten sick and gone to the hospital every surgery I’ve had. I can remember when somebody really did me wrong or what I did somebody, you can remember some things.

Usually if it’s really bad or really good, you can remember it, can’t you? But the other days, it’s some time, they just seem like they come and go and you don’t have nothing to recall on those particular days. something to keep in mind as this. Never, never quit on a bad day. Never quit on a bad day. When you’re really down and discouraged, never make major decisions on a bad day. Always wait till you’re on top and then decide.

Always wait till you get back up to make a decision. But never make decision, major decisions when you’re down and when you’re discouraged because you’ll usually make the wrong one to get you out of something that God may want you to stay in and bring you through it. We often believe that if God loves me, He will remove all these problems. And so we ask God, God, remove the problems and the trials and so forth, the testing from my life.

And God says, no, I want you to learn the lessons that you’re supposed to have. Number four is you always determine that you’re going to finish the fight. You determine that you finish. In the book of Philippians in chapter one verse eight, he that hath begun a good work in you will perform. You see in the book of Romans in chapter 7, it says, that is in my flesh, well, no good thing, but how to perform, that which is good, I find not.

So how do I perform? The one that hath begun a good work in you, he saved you, gave you eternal life, the Holy Spirit lives within you, he wants to perform through your life. So if you let the Lord work through you, he’ll give you strength and energy to do things and your vision stays straight. What wears most Christians out is seeking to do the work of God in the energy of the flesh and you don’t have the energy It will play out you cannot go on and you’ll wear out your burnout and you will have any vision whatsoever And you’ll quit and you’ll think it’s God laid too much upon me No, God doesn’t do that.

He said well the temptations were too great God says he always makes a way of escape a a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. See, God didn’t say that he’s going to always remove all of our temptation. Well, if he removed all of our temptations, then we wouldn’t have a battle. There’d be no battles. If there’s no battles, there’s no victories, no victories, no rewards. And God said he’s going to see every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.

So God wants us to labor. He wants us to work. He wants us to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ to work and to keep going. Never stop. Philippians that talks about the promise. You promise God, you promise others, you promise yourself that you never quit. Did you know that when a man in a woman stands before the preacher and before the congregation, he’s promising God something. She is promising God something. What are they promising God?

That they’ll never stop, they’ll never quit. Until death do us what? Until death. It means they’re talking about being faithful to each other. All their life and not quit. That’s what a marriage is supposed to be. They are committing themselves to each other and promising before God and witnesses that they’re gonna keep their vows. My wife and I have been married going on 44 years. I made that promise to her, even though I was a lost man. And then after I trusted Christ as my savior, in my mind I have renewed that vow a thousand times.

I meant what I said. I meant what I said. I want my kids to know that’s what I said and that’s what I meant. I want my grandkids to know that’s what I said and that’s what I meant. And whenever you go on the record and you give in your word and you promise never quit. Don’t let Satan destroy your home. Don’t allow Satan to destroy a church, your marriage. You don’t want to destroy your kids. You don’t want to destroy your grain.

You don’t want Satan to win. You want everybody that knows Christ to save it, you want them to win and you want God’s will to be done in their life. Responsibilities must be fulfilled. You can surrender your rights, but you can never surrender your responsibility. You see, God places the man as the head of the home and you have certain rights and responsibilities. Now I may surrender my rights to someone else, and this is generally what a woman does when she gets married.

And when she does, but she is not to surrender her responsibilities to her husband or to her children. The man is not to surrender his responsibilities. It was my responsibility, and sometimes I failed in my responsibility to be the husband that I ought to be. It’s my responsibility to be a good father, a godly father. I haven’t always been what I should have been in my life. There’s a lot of things I wish I could go back and redo, like most of us wish we could, but you can’t go back.

You wish you had all the answers before I had all the questions. I got the questions and all the problems and I didn’t have any solutions because there’s so much that you don’t know, you don’t understand. So you try to the teach what you can’t hope that the next generation will do a little bit better than the next generation a little bit better, but at least you try to stand for what you believe is a right thing. And so you cannot relinquish your responsibility.

Jeff and Tammy have a responsibility with that little child to raise that child in the nursing, the admonition of the Lord. That’s a responsibility. God gave them that right. Therefore they’re not to relinquish their responsibility. And so because they have this responsibility, or they should apply themselves, now keep us in mind. Right now, as they stood up here with that little baby, All of their motivation comes strictly from them. They have a hundred percent motivation. That little baby is not gonna give them any encouragement.

Thanks, Dad. I would venture to say that little baby so far has not said, I really appreciate all the sacrifices y’all are making for me. No, no encouragement. Oh, they are doing what they’re doing 100% motivation. But as the time goes on and that little child gets a little bit bigger and that smile and the way she walks and the way she’ll talk, all those little things that they’ll do, you just begin to draw things from that. And it’s a great encouragement.

I’ll have to be honest, I was never really motivated to change diapers. They just never motivated me. But Betty, God, bless her heart. She had 100% motivation. But as those kids get a little bit older, you begin to find out that they become a little bit more independent of you. And whenever they become more independent, you have less motivation because you don’t have to do everything. So you have less motivation. And the less motivation you have, you run the point where it comes 50-50.

You know, I have a little motivation and they have a lot of responsibility. So you begin to slowly back off and tell them sometimes you get to the place where you can totally give up on your kids or give up on your grandkids or give up on marriage. Because you when you first start off, I love you, you love me, it’s gonna be happy from now on. And then things don’t always work out right. And little by little you find out you got great motivation at the start and then after a while that motivation begins to go.

You go to a church and you get motivated. Boy I like what I see, I like what’s being done and done you can jump in him and then after a while the motivation begins to you lose your motivation when the motivation is gone you’re on the verge of quitting you need quitters insurance where you don’t run just on motivation alone you see you’ve got to get some things from God to keep doing what God wants you to do it so very important you need to always remember that it’s better to fail than to quit I have failed in the ministry many times doing many different things.

I’ve worked with radio program. I’ve had the TV broadcast. I’ve not tried to get a radio station going. I’ve had started ranch two or three times since I’ve been here. And it would fail. And then it would fail again. But the vision never failed. It was always in my mind. And it wasn’t until Shannon came along a couple years ago. And he says, I think we can do it. And he had a vision that we could do it again.

Because he’s seen what we’ve done. I didn’t have time to work with Ranch. He said I’ll do it and he was able to get him and he got John and he got different ones to do this and Lisa and I got Gina doing the little thing with the ranch on the skits and so for the drama team And then they had all kind of a in mic up there He got them all involved He he was great at pulling people together and he got it going and then for the first couple months There it didn’t seem like it did much then all of a sudden they started getting the few kids here now few kids here and a few kids here.

And next thing you know, they got a vision and they began to grow. And then they had 130 teenagers. Now we’re walking along in the summertime here about 110, 115. And God has been good, but you’ve got to have motivation. But when motivation goes, then after a while, I don’t see a reason for this or a reason for that, you always have to stay at it. But it’s better to fail than to quit. But you don’t stop, you always stay at it.

The next thing I wanted to give you this, remember why you started in the first place. Why did you start, Sir Noloid? Why did you marry that girl? Why did you marry that man? How did it start? Well, it was just, you know, moon, June, you know, I just, I don’t know how it happened. But somewhere along the line, love, not somebody upside the head. And sometimes this kid is trying to con the girl. I’m the best. I’m the greatest.

I’ll take care of you and I promise. But he’s conning this girl and this girl’s over here and she’s conning this guy. And after a while, these two cons got married. They conned each other. And then they find out, oh, this is really, well, this is what you really like. And I’m going to send you back to your mother.

And you find that, say, what is mixed emotion? Mixed emotions is watching your mother log over the cliff in your new Cadillac. You don’t know whether to stop and let it go, you know, you know, or being a ball headed hippie. that would be, you know, mixed emotions. But you have to find out why did I start in the first place? If it was worth starting in the first place, why isn’t it now? What’s happened? What changed? And see, many people today, and listen to me, many, maybe some of you sitting right here, you don’t have quitters insurance concerning your marriage because you’re not doing what’s going to keep your family together.

What’s going to keep your marriage together? Me and Betty, because of our involvement in the Lord’s work and praying together and staying together and loving each other and all these things that we do, that’s why we’re still together or we would not have been. You’ve got to have quitters insurance when it comes to your family. That’s why you need to be in church. See I know as long as my wife stays in church and keeps singing in the choir and keeps working with the little kid, long as she keeps doing this because she loves the She’ll be a good wife.

And she knows as long as I stay close to Lord and she keeps praying for me and we keep doing the thing that ensures a good marriage, then you’ll have a good marriage. But many men don’t work on their marriage. It’s easy to get one to God and get another one. No, you haven’t solved the problem. You’re the problem. The man is the head of the home. Be a man. Be a man and do what’s right. And God will bless you for doing so.

But everybody needs to have this motivation and I Want to close with this? Count your blessings and then demand recount think think encourage Think of 10 blessings of what God has done for you if you can think of some of the things that God’s done for you Then you’ll have a reason to thank God. And if you can thank God for the blessings, then you’ll stay close to God. You see, you’ll never get away from God or the things of God until you get away from God Himself because you don’t pray.

Look up here, this is you and me. This is sin. I got me some beautiful sin this week. So I gave me a new wallet. Every time I pull out this wallet, I’m going to think about the person that gave it to me. That’s not a good idea. I don’t know if That’s a good amount. I connect him with sin. No. This is sin. I mean, you and me. The Bible says that we’re all born in this world with a sinful nature, and that’s why we sin.

God says he loves us. He hates our sin, but he loves us. But the payment for sin, the wages, death, and hell. Now, God loves us once us to go to heaven. And to go to heaven, we have to be perfect. Because righteous is God, but we’re not perfect. We’re not righteous. We’re sinners. And because of sin, we can’t get in. And God says, you can’t earn eternal life. You cannot work your way to heaven. It’s not by your good deeds.

There is none righteous, not one. There’s none that doeth good, not one. So we can’t do good to get to heaven because there is none good. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord. He’s God in the flesh. He came into this world because he loves us, loves the whole world. He hates our sin. All of our sins, but he loves us. So he took our sins and he paid for them. Came back from the dead and said, all I have to do is foul believe that he did it for me.

He put that death payment to my account and I get to go to heaven on what he did. I didn’t earn that. Not only deserve it. I’m a center saved by grace. If Christ walked in here right now and offered you eternal life and you accepted what would you have? If it’s eternal life, it lasts forever. And if it lasts forever, and all you send are paid, where would you go when you die? To heaven. So, can you know you’re going to heaven before you die?

Yes. And once you trust Christ’s Savior, you become a child of God, and you’re going to heaven when you die. Now, you may not always live like a Christian, but you still are if you trust the Lord. But your heavenly Father may have to chase and discipline you. Read the Torah of you. Take you home before you die. Sir, the Lord, guard yourself. Be wise. Watch what you see and what you hear. Let’s pray, shout. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr.

Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 10.30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold.

Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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. And just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. 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. the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

The subject that I want to talk to you about is the transition from law to grace because it was a transition from the dispensation of law into the dispensation of grace. I want you to look here in the book of Mark chapter 16 and verse 15 and he said unto them now this is Jesus Christ before he ascended. He says, Go ye and all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believe it and his baptized shall be saved.

And he that believeth not shall be damned. These signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.” So you got to admit it’s right there in the Bible. Is it still for today? I mean when’s the last time you raised the dead or can you drink poison and it won’t hurt you none or maybe we ought to start doing a little snake handling around here wouldn’t Wouldn’t it be neat if all of us had the supernatural abilities to, you know, make people well, go into all the hospitals and just…

be neat if all of us had the supernatural abilities to you know make people well go into all the hospitals and just clean them out whew wouldn’t that be good and we could really look at me look what I can do look how great I am. And I think that’s probably one of the reasons God don’t let us do it. Because we would just think and look at me. I’m somebody. Well, how do you explain these things? And what about the speaking in tongues?

And yet some people say, well, you know, that’s not for today. Take your Bible and look there in the book of Matthew chapter 28. Matthew chapter 28. Now, you know, now we’re going to look at three different portions of Scripture that’s at the end of the chapters, the end of the book in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It says in verse 18, and Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world, amen. They were commanded to go into all the world and to preach the gospel. Now we know from Mark when all were in preach the gospel to every creature. Here it says, going all the world into preach, look now in the book of Luke, because here in Matthew they were commanded to go, but in the book of Luke they were commanded to wait until they were in due with power from high.

See there in Luke chapter 24? And look there in verse 46. Verse 46 says, And said unto them, thus it is written, and thus it be who Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. So it’s supposed to begin at Jerusalem, and then then choose Samaria and Judea in the uttermost parts of the world. So that’s why the disciples were in Jerusalem and it says, I want you to go there and wait till the right time.

So in verse 49, and behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but perry ye in the city of Jerusalem until you be in dude with power from on high. So they were to go there and to wait in Jerusalem until the right time. So the command was given before. And so that’s why on the dependent cost they preach the gospel and so forth in thousands trust as Christ as their Savior. We’ll take your Bible and look in 1 Corinthians in chapter 10.

1 Corinthians chapter 10 in verse 11 makes a statement. Now all these things happen under them for examples. And they are written for our admonition. And get this, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Now, the word world here is age, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. He is dealing here with the Jews and the Gentiles in the establishment of the church. I call the transition period is where the people live then. were living like in an overlapping period of time between the law and grace.

You see, Christ died on the cross, and we generally say that was the end of that dispensation at the cross. But the consequences of what happened on the cross, the judgment upon the nation of Israel, in about 68 AD, when Titus came in from Roman-aged siege against the city to destroy Israel, the temple was destroyed and in 70 AD then the Jews were scattered upon the face of the year. So that was about 70 AD. You’re talking about maybe 35 years later as a culmination of the judgment as a result of their disobedience to God, the destruction of their temple.

So I put it at that time, the fall of the temple, as the ending of that dispensation, that period of time of the law. But they hadn’t got there yet. There’s this intermediate time in here where God is dealing with people and trying to get the Jews that believed in the law and how to get them from law into grace. They still even believed at that time that God could have set up the kingdom upon the earth because they asked the question in the book of Acts in chapter 1, will Christ at this time set up or restored the kingdom to Israel.

And so after a while, they changed their focus to the Jew only to the Jew first and then to the Gentiles. And so then the gospel was sent to the Gentiles because the Jews would not down individuals yet. But as a nation, Israel has really messed up bad. And they’ve been chasing for the last 2000 years. But these were people who lived in the ends of the ages. This two dispensations here. I want you to look there in the book of Hebrews and chapter two and look there in verse one.

Hebrews chapter two and verse one. Now this will give you a little history back to the time that we’re talking about. So he says in verse one, therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard less at any time we should let them slip. He says in verse two, for if the word spoken by angels was steadfast and every transgression and disobedient receive they just recompense of reward. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?

He’s talking here to Jewish believers. And he says, now under the law that was given by the disposition of angels, as it makes the statement also in the book of Galatians in chapter 3, when they disobeyed and God brought such judgment upon them and chastened them, what about you and I that have been given this great message on the so great salvation? And God has given to us a responsibility. Now they fail theirs, will we fail our responsibility, the time in which we live to preach the gospel into all the world to every creature.

So even the church under the dispensation of grace, because we don’t have to do anything. Most people don’t and won’t. How shall we escape if we neglect not so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord Christ, was confirmed unto us by them that heard him. So he says, the word that began to be spoke by him, Christ, was confirmed unto us by them that heard him. How did they confirm the word? Remember, they didn’t have the New Testament.

They had the Old Testament. And when they went to the synagogue, they would always search the Scriptures. Well, the only Scriptures they had was the Old Testament Scriptures. Can you imagine these apostles must have been pretty good in knowing and understanding the Old Testament Scriptures and at the same time preaching the gospel of grace. Well, I have any Phasians 2, 8, 9, 1 John 5, 13, 2 Corinthians 5, 14 and 5, 21. They didn’t have those verses. They didn’t even have probably John 3, 16.

But they went and they preached the gospel. And he says here in verse four, now get the verse four, very important. God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders and with divers, miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will. God also bearing them witness. Now, who, these that heard him and the word was confirmed, un-bited by them that heard him. So the word was confirmed by the signs and the miracles by those that heard him.

Now, it doesn’t say anything in here that it is progressive and will continue from now on. The reason they were able to have the signs, the miracles, was because it was to confirm the Word, because they didn’t have the Word. So why would they listen to Paul or Peter? Because they were able to do these miracles and that gave legitimacy and it gave them authority that what they said was true and they could believe it. When you know in part and have in part, you can only believe in part.

Like we say, when you’re limited in knowledge, you’re limited in judgment. So there was a time when the Word of God was not complete. But when the Word of God is complete, when that which is perfect is come, we have this, and it’s not talking about the Second Coming of Christ, talking about the Word of God being complete, then we don’t need those sign gifts. Go back to the book of Mark. I don’t just see this. And this is what he says, and he said unto them, go you into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

He that believe it and his baptized shall be saved. Now, most people when they see the word baptized automatically think it’s water, just already it comes into mind. But doesn’t necessarily mean that this is talking about water, because if water has part in your salvation, then he should have also said, and he that believeth not and is not baptized shall be damned. But it doesn’t throw that in here. So the believing here is what cleanses you. So he that believeth and is cleansed shall be saved.

And he that believeth not, well he won’t be cleansed. And that’s why he’s going to be damned. But looking for 17, and these signs, and you ought to circle of the word sign because it’s important. Not just anything, it’s a sign shall follow them that believe in my name shall they cast out devils and they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents and if any drink deadly things it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.

Now that’s what it said. That’s what he told them to his disciples before he He left. Now look in verse 19. This is later by the time this was written, look what he says in verse 19. So then after the Lord had past tense, had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, sat on the right hand of God in verse 20, and they that he told this to, they went, that’s past tense. went forth and preached past tense everywhere and the Lord working with them confirming the word with what?

Signs. Just like it said over there in the book of Hebrews. So the Lord told them this is what I want you to do and you’re gonna be able to do these signs and miracles and so forth and then it says and he left and they went and they did it and it’s over. It didn’t say anything about you and I’ve been able to do it. That’s what he told them and by the time Mark was written they’d already done it.

Take your Bible now and turn to the book of 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians in chapter 1. I want you to look there in verse 18, verse 18. Now he’s talking to the church here at Corinth. They are the ones that God had really bless them with various gifts. You’ll find a lot of teaching about the gifts in the book of Corinthians. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it’s the power of God.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the the speeder of this world. Have not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? And after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God. The world by wisdom knew not God. In verse 7 of chapter 2, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world under our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

would have done it if they were so smart. But God is showing that the wisdom of the world is foolishness. And so go back there to chapter 1 and you notice there in verse 21, for after that in the wisdom of God the world up by wisdom knew not God it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that simply believe. And here’s the reason why. You see, the Jews seek after a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom.

So Jesus Christ, the power of God for signs and the wisdom of God for the philosophers. So he says here in verse 22, for the Jews requiring an underlying that word, Jews require a sign. Remember they came to Jesus and says, Master, give us a sign. Give us a sign. He says, an evil and adult of generation seek it after a sign, but there’ll be no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet June the first John was three days in three nights in the will belly even so shall the son of maybe three days in three nights in the heart of the year.

Well that was a sign that he gave him they probably didn’t catch that either. So he says here in verse 22 for the Jews require sign. So when we start studying about the sign gifts the sign gifts for the Jews and the Greek seek after wisdom so we start speaking about the the other gifts that God talk about and there’s several of them that deals with wisdom or the prophecy that teaching forth of the Word of God. Then there’s the wisdom in the revealed Word of God that supersedes the wisdom of man.

Verse 23, but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews. It’s a stumbling blocks and under the Greeks it’s foolishness. So the preachers of the cross kind of dumb found both of them. They don’t understand. But to those that believe, it’s the power of God. But to those that don’t believe, it’s foolishness. Don’t make any sense. How can a man go to heaven just by believing? Just by trusting. That’s all he has to do. And yet, they’ve been under the law that you’ve got to perform.

You’ve got to live a certain way. You’ve got to qualify. You’ve got to be good enough to make it. And so they work and they sweat and try to keep the law and yet nobody ever fulfilled the law. So no man can be saved by the law. But in building the church, you’ve got these people coming out with all this understanding. Then you got the Gentiles who sought the Greek philosophers of their day and they sought for wisdom and Christ, the power of God, Christ, the wisdom of God.

See what he says in verse 23, but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews, a stumbling block, because they’re looking for signs. But isn’t that a great sign? Jesus Christ came back from the dead. In verse 24, but unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, that’s for the signs and the wisdom of God, that’s for the Greeks. You’re taking Jews and Gentiles and going to make something brand new. God says He’s breaking down the middle wall of to take the Jews and the Gentiles, the believing individual, and make something co-completely new.

And he starts the church and these new believers. Take your Bible and go there to the book of 1 Corinthians 14. Now, what’s you’re looking at verse 21? Verse 21, in the law, oh, Testament, book of Isaiah, it is written with men of other tongues, languages. And other lips, well, I speak unto this people. Now, this people is a reference to Israel because they wouldn’t listen. God said, I’m going to speak unto this people through people of other languages.

So God enabled people to be able to speak in various languages. But remember, the signed gifts was for the unbelieving Jews, not just everybody, anybody. You know, it was for a particular group of people with men of other tongues and other lips. Well, I speak unto this people, and yet for all of that, they will not hear me say it the Lord. Looking verse 22, wherefore tongues are for a what? They’re for a sign. And the sign was for the Jew, not to them that believe.

So tongues were not a sign to those that believe. They were a sign to to those who did not believe, to unbelieving Jews. And so on the day of Pentecost, those that spoke, it was a sign to the unbelieving Jews that were there. Chapter 10, when Peter went to the housecoral of Cornelius, he told him six Jewish people who didn’t believe that the Gentiles could be saved. And whenever they saw that and they saw them, those Gentiles speaking in a language, they understood what they said.

And so it was assigned to these unbelieving Jews that came down with Peter, chapter 10 and chapter 11. So tongues were a sign for the unbelieving Jews. Tongues were not a devotion between you and the Lord. This is my quiet time between me and him. And it’s an angelic voice that comes over me and God enables me.

Did not, does not. That’s not Bible. My poor sister, Kay. She wanted to do right and she wanted to know the Lord. She wanted to believe right. But I just didn’t know at the time how to tell her. And there was occasion when she’d get me to go to church with her and they would be, they would do as good. They’d get up and do all that. My sister when they gave the invitation and I was standing back here and I was on the server.

I’m not going to see all this stuff going on. I knew it wasn’t for me. This is not for me, but my poor sister, tears will be coming down her cheek. And they give an invitation to go forward there, she goes, I knew that whenever I knew she’s going and they were doing their best to try to get my sister to speak in tongues. And some of the ladies who fall down on the floor and they’re just shaking like a convulsion and all that.

And I didn’t even know the Lord. This is something wrong here. Anyway my poor sister, she just wanted, if it’s real, then she wanted it. And for some reason or other she couldn’t and she’d come back and she’d just be a crying. I just don’t want me. God just don’t want me. He don’t love me. Because she tried. She tried. And finally one day after I had, you know, trusted the Lord later and I went to Bible school and came back one year and she was sitting in a vehicle in the parking lot at Northside Baptist Church.

And I explained John 3 16 to her. She trusted Christ the Savior. She was so glad. He just never understood. She was seeking for something that just wasn’t real. And I hurt for the people that because of their sincerity, they’re looking, they’re hungry, they want, but it’s all flesh. It’s all flesh. It’s not the book. So look what he says here in verse 22, where, for tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe. But most of them tell you it’s a sign that you’ve got the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

It’s a sign that you’re really saved. No, it’s not. It’s a sign to the Jewish people, the unbelieving Jews. And then he talks about looking verse 33, for God is not the author of confusion, but a peace as in all churches of the saints. God is not the author of confusion. Then it says, women keep silent in the churches. If you took the women out of the tongues movement today, it would die. God says for the women, shut up.

It means keep quiet. It means you don’t open your trap. It’s not what God wanted the women to do. You don’t find what God gave these gifts to the women. And the Bible says when Christ came back in the book of Ephesians, He gave gifts on the men for it is not permitted, not permitted under them to speak, but they are commanded to be under obedience as also sayeth the law. And if they will learn anything, if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands.

So these things are in the Scriptures and when you put them in this rifle place, it can make so much sense. It’s so easy. Looking for Corinthians in chapter 12, looking for 13, all believers are baptized into the body of Christ. 13 for by one spirit, are we all baptized into one body? Whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free and have been all made to drink into one spirit. So all these people that he’s talking to even here at Corinth, in spite of their disobedience, all baptized by the Holy Spirit into one body.

So all of God’s children have already been baptized by the Holy Spirit once and for all. There’s verses talking about being filled with the spirit, but Just because everybody has been baptized by the Holy Spirit into the one body, does that mean everybody has the same gifts? No. Look what he says in verse 29, are all apostles? The answer would be no.

Are all prophets? No. Are all teachers? No. Are all workers of miracles? No. Have all the gifts of healing? No. Do all speak with tongues? No! But that’s the sign you got the baptism of the Holy Ghost. No, I’ve got the baptism of the Holy Ghost and I’ve never spoken tongues and have no desire for it. I don’t want it. No need it. Now, this is a transition period. So I believe these things were limited to the times of the apostles.

Look what he says in 1 Corinthians in chapter 13. Look what he says here in verse eight. Charity or love never fails. There’s no end to it. But whether there be prophecies. That’s the teaching forth of the Word of God as it was being revealed to them. They shall fail. I mean they’ll stop being given because the Word of God will be written. It’ll be complete and you won’t need it anymore. He says whether there be tongues they shall cease.

That means come to a literal halt. Stop. So it says they’re gonna stop. And he says and whether they’re be acknowledged it shall vanish away. for we know in part we prophesy in part because he’s talking about what you know I’m talking about Jesus Christ now. We’re talking about the revealed Word of God and verse 10 But when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away So what we have is the complete Word of God And we don’t need that which is in part see those things were temporary And he says when I was a child I speak as a child.

I understood as a child I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things. It’s saying that the tongues and all those things Those are childish things. Those were toys for tots These are toys for the baby church But when the church starts growing those are baby things and there’s still people today Wine and and pining and moaning and groaning over. Oh, I got the baby rattler. You don’t have a baby rattler What kind of a, I got a ball.

You got a ball. I want the ball. No, I want the rattle there. That’s so stupid. I didn’t grow up. I don’t need those childish things anymore. And there’s whole church has been built on baby rattleers. God enabled different ones to speak in a language. Not unknown language, it’s an unknown language. What’s the value of it? Well, it’s an angelic language. Well, then let the the angel’s speaking. What are you doing with it? This is you and me. This is sin.

You and me sin. We’ve all done things wrong. And God says He loves us, but He hates our sin. And God says to pay for that sin is eternal separation from God in hell. Now God loves us and doesn’t want us to go to hell. But if you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, you will. But to go to heaven, you have to be perfect as righteous as God. And none of us are perfect. of us are righteous. We can’t go to heaven because we’re not good enough.

You have to be perfect to go to heaven, not good. And because of sin, we can’t get in. So how am I going to get to heaven? Now Jesus Christ can do something about it. Jesus Christ, the wisdom of God, He came into the world because He loves us, hates our sin because it separates us from Him. So Christ took the sin, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead, and said if we would believe that he did it for us.

He would put this death payment that he made to our account, and we get to go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for us. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, the whosoever, open imitation of whosoever, believe it in him. That’s all he has to do is to believe that he did it for them. And you will not perish. It means you won’t go to help, but have everlasting life. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr.

Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. 771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George road Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen, the trumpet will sound. 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.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s Word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. 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 to all the people who are here. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftappa.org.

We pray that you’ll 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. Did you know you can live with somebody for 25 years? Never even know who they are. I’ve had people that I’ve talked to and they say, Yankee, I know your motive. I know why you did this. And I know why you did that. And I know why you did that.

And I’ll have to look at them and say this with all the sincerity in my heart. You don’t know me. You see me, but you don’t know me. I wouldn’t do what you’re thinking. And what you say is my motive isn’t my motive. You think you know me, but you don’t know me. There’s people who have trusted Christ as their Savior. They have eternal life. They’re going to heaven when they die. And many do not know their father. They spend no time with him.

They really don’t know him. If you go to bed every night, worryin’, fretting, you don’t pray, you don’t know your dad. You don’t know him. You don’t really know what he’s like. That’s why when you read the first John, so much deals with the fellowship between you and your heavenly father. And he says, you don’t know me. don’t know me. To know Him is to love Him. And if you don’t love Him, you don’t know Him. And if you love Him, you will serve Him.

And that’s why He says, how can you say you love Me whom you have not seen and you cannot love others whom you do see? So there’s a lot of these things that people need to understand. I wonder if it’ll read this to you. Because Each little story trying to give you an insight into something that might be going on in your own life, your own marriage. Because don’t take it lightly. Your marriage is very important to God. Now, let me just throw this to you.

We often make this statement that marriage is a commitment. It is a commitment. But commitment to what? You see, when you study the Word of God and you know the role of the husband and the role of the wife, so the woman needs to know the Word of God so she’ll know the role of her responsibilities. And the man studies the Word of God so he knows his responsibilities. What kind of a husband is he going to be? What kind of a wife is she going to be?

So a man and a woman, when they get married, they’re committing themselves to fulfill those responsibilities. His as a husband and a father. Hers as a wife and a mother. And they commit themselves to those roles, that position that God’s given. So whenever they get married, she knows her responsibility. He knows His and He made a promise of vow, a commitment unto God to do certain things. And I don’t believe that many people understand that when they got married, what they did, if we only knew.

We can’t go back. We can only go from here forward. A lot of things can never be undone. But I do believe you should look at your marriage, your mate, and say that I am committing myself to my responsibility, to role of the husband God gave to me. Doesn’t matter what she does. And she ought to commit herself to that role that God gave, doesn’t matter what he does, and fulfill that responsibility. And God will reward you in heaven, and God will bless you.

Now, it’s wonderful when both submit themselves to the Lord And keep that commitment that they made. And it’s not based upon feeling. It’s based upon fact. What does God want me to do? And so there are responsibilities. And if I will do what God says do, then I can expect God to bless like He said He would. I am not an expert on marriage. I don’t know anybody who is. I’ve been married over 51 years, so I have an idea what works and what don’t work.

a lot of people. I have a few little ideas here and there. Supposed to love each other and care for another and we’re supposed to keep our word. A scotman. A scotman. He wanted to save some money. So you see the dentist and he says how much for you to extract? He says $85. That’s a lot of money. He says, can I get it cheaper? He said, well, we could leave off the Novocaine. He says, what would I say, $15?

He said, but it’s going to hurt. Well, that’s all right. What if we had it done by a student instead of you? Could you cut down a little bit because the students need to be trained to? He said, well, yeah, yeah. He says, well, what exactly? He said, maybe you’d like to do it for $40, but remember, he’s not going to be as professional. But I think we could work at ISA. He said, well, what I’d use it as a training tool and let others come in and they could watch and see POLITICO be a training for the students.

He said, that’s a good idea. He said, well, what would I call it? He said, get down to $5. He said, he said, not that. He said, not yet talking, not yet talking. He says, I want to confirm an appointment time next week for my wife. Do you sense the compassion? Like it’s one girl she said to another, she says, you know, boys are all alike. She says, boys are all I like too. You got a couple things I wanted to say to you.

Have you heard anybody today trying to change the meaning of the word marriage? It’s supposed to include if two women want to get married or two homosexual men want to get married? And you know, it doesn’t matter anymore, marriage. But see, governments not supposed to enter into that arena. That’s none of their business. You see, in the beginning God made the man, God made the woman, God brought them together and says they shall cleave unto each other. God made marriage.

Marriage is a Christian word. It’s a biblical word. It’s a religious term. And government has no right to give it another definition except what’s in the Bible. And it’s a man and a woman. You can’t have a marriage any other way. Nothing else is a marriage. I don’t care if they don’t like it or not. God’s the one who designed this. So how do you oppose to treat your husband? Just pretend that your husband is the Lord. You say, really?

When you married him, he was perfect. Remember that? Oh, he’s perfect. He’s just what I’ve been looking for. Well, what you mean he’s not now? Either if he was then, he still probably is. He’s probably the same way. He ain’t changed much. And what you used to love about them, you begin to turn against it, because here’s what usually happens. Boy, girl, I like you. I like you too. I’ll give you these flowers.

And all she has to do is just look in front of the eyes and hello big boy. And then these two have conned each other and they’re thinking that they were perfect for each other. And they believe that. So they get joined together and holy dead luck. Red luck. So now they’re married together. Now instead of them, still, I’ll do this for you. Oh, I’ll do this for you. I’ll do this for you. I’ll do this for you. I’ll do this to you and you do this to me.

See, it proports. Instead of you want to do and give, now it’s receiving. So you’re waiting to treat me like a king. Well, before you didn’t worry about that, you just treated her like a queen. And you didn’t worry about, treat me like a queen. You just always, I’m gonna treat you like a king. See, the focus has changed after a while. The devil does that. The devil wants to destroy your home. And he does it by turning things around.

But he’s so good, he’s so deceptive. He does it without you even knowing that it’s taking place. You see, like say, there’s the Lord. Are you supposed to love the Lord? Yeah. Are you supposed to submit to the Lord? Well, yes. Are you supposed to just do what he’s got? Are you supposed to communicate with God? Well, yes. Well, let’s just pretend your husband was the Lord. You pose a love, honor, obey. Don’t you remember those words? You see, I’ve been trying to forget them ever since.

And then don’t you communicate? How in the world did you ever get married? Oh, we’re never talk. You talk all the time, you talk, you shared. And you said this and she said that and now just get along and everything was just one good way to get together again and talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. Now you’re married. You said you’re on watch TV all night. Never talk. And you never do anything together. Well, because you’re bored stiff because you got to have something bigger than yourself.

More important than your marriage. And that is the purpose that you have in life. You see, if the guy’s going in circles, just where she’s going to go in circles, because if he doesn’t have a destination, she doesn’t have a destination. It will, it doesn’t matter. It will matter. It always matters. So the girls should never date a guy. She would not consider for marriage. So that’s why a girl should always try to find that guy that knows the Lord and loves the Lord and wants to serve the Lord and is Serving the Lord not a promise.

He will but he’s doing it He’s what you want because what you see might be the best he’ll ever be so whenever the girl gets into the car and The doors are locked and now you’re stuck in that marriage And you didn’t think about it before and then you want to get out of the car But if you don’t know what caused the problem, you’ll just simply get out of that car and get into the next one coming down the road.

You’ll just repeat it again and again and again. Because most people never figure out what caused the problems. So they have no solutions to the problems. I’m saying that it’s better to know what God wants you to do and serve the Lord and commit yourself to Him. So marriage, like I said, is a commitment to the role that God has given to a person. And that means that as the man, I committed myself years ago to be the best husband my wife could have ever gotten.

I would hate to think that my wife could have come along and found a better husband than I had been. I want to be the best husband my wife could have ever gotten. I would hate to think that another man could have treated my wife better than what I did. Because I owe it to her. I promise God that. Now, if a man doesn’t feel that way about his wife, something’s wrong with him. He’s not a good catch for the next one if he can’t do it with the one he has.

That’s how he’s supposed to love. You say, well, she doesn’t let me. I’m not interested in that. You fulfill yours. Most times a woman will respond. Let me give you an illustration. For example, God has made all kinds of animals with different kinds of abilities to defend themselves. There’s one kind of animal, it’s called a skunk. Now how does a skunk defend itself? When you get too close or that skunk feels threatened, he has a unique way of spraying with perfume.

stinks the high heaven. That smell, that stinking smell is to protect the skunk. He can drive away those that may want to do at harm. When you married that little jewel, that little angel, that little sweet thing, and then later on in marriage she becomes this little monster, mean, hateful, ugly, argumentative, and yelling, and screaming, and all that. Wait a minute. Why is she doing that now? She’s just like that skunk that’s trying to protect itself. It’s a defense because a woman doesn’t want to be like that, but it’s a way of driving away as much as possible the attack that the man has already probably previously demonstrated by being mean and ugly and unkind or verbal abuse or not fulfilling his God-given responsibilities as the right kind of a husband.

And she puts up this barrier because she doesn’t want to get hurt anymore. Most men are hurting their marriage. And they don’t even know how they’re doing it. Because they’re not kind and communicating with their wife and saying words like, I love you and forgive me or I’m sorry. They become strong and dominating and think they can rule with a rod of ironer with a bull whip and they’re mean and ugly and unkind. That’s not what God says to do.

That’s not God’s way. God doesn’t want it to happen like that. After being married for 40 years, this man, he looks at his wife and he says, honey, you remember when we got married, we had an old jalape, we lived in an old run-down house, slept on the sofa, didn’t have much to eat, didn’t make much money, but every night I got to go to bed with a 23-year-old chick. She looked at him and she says, you can still have that 23-year-old chick.

And I’ll see to it that you have that old jalapia again. And I’ll see to it that you still live in that old rundown house. And I’ll see that you don’t have much to eat. Isn’t it wonderful that a woman knows how to deal with a man’s ego? You see, there’s always another side to it. You’d be surprised how many women would love to have a man that really loves him Because see there’s certain things that you’re supposed to be aware of one is protection and So I know that I’m supposed to protect my wife I’m supposed to protect her against things Mentally how she thinks I want my wife to be a spiritual godly wife So therefore I need to be careful what I say and what I do because the last person that I want to hurt or offend Is not the people in this church?

You’re important to me. I love y’all But I don’t love you like I love my wife. I Love my children But I don’t love my children like I love my wife So see I had my wife the kids come the kids go But I still want my wife and when we get to the top of the mountain, I don’t want to be there alone I want to have her with me because see we done gone through all these rough spots all these bumps in the road and all these hardships and trials and so forth and yet there been many of them and there were Trail of tears But there’s also been a lot of joy but you want to look down the road and You want to be together because see there come the time when when you get 70 years old Who in the world wants a 70-year-old man?

Don’t get stupid. Or a 70-year-old woman, except the one that you ride with. Stay with. Love until death do us part. And love that woman like you should. And God will bless you for doing so. And yes, you might suffer a little bit. But the suffering, God says, he’ll reward you when you get to heaven. and it’ll be worth it. And so I believe that it’s an important thing. There’s three little words that I like to just throw out at you.

See, these three words is, is explosion, tears. I’ll cover those first. See, in every family, they’re usually both under two kinds of wars. And one is the explosion. where everything is hollering and yelling and screaming at each other. Now, you tell me, if a man or a woman is hollering and yelling and screaming at each other, are those the fruits of the spirit or the works of the flesh? Think it through. Is that spirit or flesh? That’s flesh. That means that you’re not being spirit controlled.

It means it’s not of God. That means it’s wrong. See, God didn’t give us justification to become ugly and mean and unkind to our mate. Whatever the reasons. The man is hell-responsible for the home, whether we wanted or not. That’s the role that you accepted it. Now live up to it. Be a man. Be a man. Forfill your responsibility. Take your eyes off them young chicks running around. And look at your wife and say, have I been a good husband?

Have I been a good husband? Have I been what my wife needed? Do I know how to meet the spiritual needs of my wife? Because see, the one thing that I wanted, more than anything else in the world, and like I said, I may love all of y’all and I want everybody to have a ministry, but I want my wife one day to stand before the Lord and I want God to reward her. I want to see God say Betty coming up here.

Let me show you what I got for you just for putting up with that guy. Look at this. I want her to be so honored. And so, Bled, you see, I want her to have a ministry just like I want people to have ministries. You see, it’s great when a man and a woman can work together for the Lord, for the Lord’s work. And to know that your wife is supportive in helping you. She has to be a help, meet, help to meet your desires that God has for you and your purpose and your goal.

old, but see when the man doesn’t have anything, what’s the woman supposed to do? When a man won’t do what he’s supposed to do, I’d like to take him out behind a woodshed and beat him half to death, what I like to do. Because life is too short. A woman should have a man that seeks to want to help his wife, to love his wife, to please his wife, so that she can enjoy life. When you look at your wife’s face, that’s a countenance that’ll tell you an awful lot about what’s going on and you want the best for her and that’s what the book says.

I think that’s what God wants us to do. You see so they can be this explosion and there’s also the time that’s the quiet, the silent. The silence is when you just don’t even talk. That usually happens with people when they get older. When you’re younger you explode but after why you find out that doesn’t getting you where so you just don’t say nothing and older folks get to where They don’t even communicate anymore. And this is what drives them apart just as much as the other.

My wife and I taught, we talk all the time. We work together in ministry all the time. I have tried to see through it that throughout the years, when we didn’t have hardly anything at all. And all we had was a car at one point. We didn’t have anything. My wife has never had to work. We’d do without. But I can’t have her with a dream of her own. And then I’ve got mine. And then I enjoyed when I come home to walk into that house.

And my wife to say, honey, why don’t you come over here and sit in the lounge chair? Sit down here honey. Let me go get you a hot cup of coffee and I’ll go fix something to eat. And here’s the evening newspaper and you can sit and read your newspaper. Ah, isn’t that wonderful. Mmm. Or you can come home and you’re both been working all day. you come home and you’re tired, you’re irritable, and you walk into the house, and you would give me a cup of coffee.

Get it yourself. I want this as hard as you have all day long. Where we having to eat? I have no clue. Why don’t you fix it once in a while? It’s your turn. Listen, you can go through that and love all that if you want to, but I don’t think that’s the way God designed it. I would rather do without and make sure I protect my wife. She does only what she really wants to do with my approval and she can do as much as she wants, but she does what pleases her husband.

And it’s worked for 51 years. And I know what the economy of the way it is today. Sometimes people say, well, we both have to work to make the big, all right, you overextended yourself years ago. Now you’re stuck, but be patient with each other, be kind still to each other. If you have to do a little, God bless you, God bless you. I’ll do this. You did this. Okay. That’s fine. And to be sweet and loving, forgiving, compassionate.

Don’t you think God would be pleased with that? Or do you think that being mean and ugly and unkind is the will of God? If you were like that before and you leave that man because of that and then you marry another guy, you’ll do it all over again. See, it’s inside of you, it’s the way you are. Do right, serve a learn. You see, the other emotion between the silence and the explosion is that one that’s kind of like right in the middle.

The weaker vessel, the tears. You see, generally, at the beginning of a marriage, when a woman gets hurt, she cries easily, because she’s tender. God made her like that. But you see when the tears don’t cause you to soften and to be flexible, then Don DeRoe does tears in that quiet spirit which she’s supposed to have will turn into a defense and she’s going to rebel. She’ll only take it for so long. And the mean and the ugliness that comes from that scum to defend itself, you might look in the mirror and realize I did that.

I did that to my wife. I was wrong. I believe a lot of the time men need a tolerance to their wives for the way they treat them and get it corrected and be a godly man, a loving man. God will honor you for doing that. I have no clue if I help anybody. I’ll say what’s on my heart. You can do with it whatever you want. But I try to help people. I’m trying to help you. Well, I didn’t need that this morning.

You might need it tomorrow. I had some people tell me, I should have heard that 20 years ago. This man represent you and me. While it represents sin, we all have sin on us. Now God says that he loves us. He hates our sin. And for us to pay for sin is eternal separation from God in a place called hell. But God loves us and 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’ve all done things wrong. But God loves us. And God says, you cannot save yourself, you cannot earn or work your way to heaven. This hand represents Jesus Christ, He’s the Lord God in the flesh. He came into the world because He loves us so much. Our sin separates us from Him. So Jesus Christ who had no sin didn’t have to die. He took hours, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead.

the dead. And God said, if you and I would believe He did it for us, He would put this payment He made to our account and we get to go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for us. Let’s pray, shall we? Every headbound, every eye closed, no one looking around. If you’re here this morning and you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, want to just talk to the Lord and say something simple like this, Lord, I know I’m a sinner.

I don’t understand at all, but I believe Christ died, paid for my sins and I will trust Him as my Savior. And friend, if you’ll do that, God said He would save you, give you eternal life and you can know that you’re going to heaven when you die. I pray that you will. Just right where you are. God knows who you are. Just be honest, Lord, I’m a sinner. Friend, we all are. Christ died for you. Pay for everything we’ve ever done.

There’s no perfect individuals here. There’s no perfect marriages. We all struggle. There’s a lot of ups and downs. We often offend each other. The Lord says, offenses will come. We hurt one another. We say things we shouldn’t say. We’re cutting sometimes. We say hurtful things. Sometimes by our actions or by our looks. And sometimes we just say, it doesn’t really matter. And we don’t know what is going on in the lives of the ones that we promise to love.

Our Father, we ask Your blessings upon each person here. I pray, Lord, You will to be done. If You’re here this morning, you’ve never trusted the Lord. And you say, yes, I will. If you never trust the Lord, what you do right now? If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, you know your God’s child. How’s the thing going between you and your wife? Maybe this message was for somebody in particular, I don’t know. When’s the last time you told your husband you really loved him?

Or told your wife he loved her? When’s the last time you really embraced and says, honey, I’m sorry for what I’ve done or what I said? Father, thank you for this time together, for your word, and we ask Lord your blessings upon the service. For each thing that each person has heard and how the Holy Spirit will take and drive into their hearts and minds. We ask your blessings upon the service tonight. And Lord, I thank you for this church, and these good people in Christ’s name, amen.

You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, Calvary of Tampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live. And now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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 and just keep looking up

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s Word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. Here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly… 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. The Church has told free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calbryoftampa.org. 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.

Have a few things I wanted to share with you. Camp, I had a couple sessions where I just talked to the adults. Didn’t need to, they know everything I’m going to say anyway. Most of the things I say, you know, it’s common sense. And y’all got common sense, don’t you? Don’t you have common sense? A couple of you do anyway. Have common sense. One guy said, no, common sense isn’t too common anymore. But I want you to take your Bible and turn to 1 Peter in chapter 3.

1 Peter, chapter 3. 1 Peter, chapter 3, is stuck right between some chapters that deals with suffering. It’s suffering before, it’s suffering after. It talks about the trial of your faith. And then in chapter 4, thinking not strange, concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you. It’s those strange things that happen to you. And in chapter 3 talks about marriage. You think it’s just a coincidence? Of all the illustrations that God, the creator of heaven and earth, could have used.

He talks about marriage. And the example of suffering, about Christ in chapter 2, He says in chapter 3 about suffering. Because I don’t know if you’re not married, you don’t know this experience. You don’t know what it’s like to have to give up some of what you want to do for that mate of yours. You don’t know anything about the adjustments that has to be made. And the surrendering of wills, and raising of children, you poor thing. You haven’t learned how to suffer.

There’s great rewards to those who suffer for the Lord. So chapter 3 is a very interesting chapter, but we’re not covering the whole chapter. Just part of the chapter. Just the part that talks about the man. You don’t want to know about the woman anyway. We’ll talk about that another time, another place in the kingdom when she gets her glorified body. It’d be a lot easier to cover then. Chapter three makes a statement there in verse seven. Look in verse seven.

And it says, likewise ye husbands dwell with them. Now, let them is the wives. According to knowledge, now they’re right there, there’s a problem. You know it and I know it. Trying to understand that little creature that got bade. and then created in us the desire to want one of those little creatures. Now we didn’t ask to be this way. God made us like this. And that when a man is born of a woman, and then it talks about troubles like arrows shoot upward, he was a warning about the women that you’re going to meet in your life.

It’s one of the most wonderful things. We can’t live without him, And then we find out sometimes we can’t live with them. And it’s a very confusing thing. But I’m convinced that in our country, so much hinges upon that little relationship between that man and that woman and how they can get along. You see, with government, there’s about dependence. And independence where the government is supposed to be dependent upon us for its existence. Now it’s almost like we are dependent upon government for our existence.

And so we’ve raised generations of people that look to the government instead of looking to God. We’re more dependent upon government. And government takes everything we have. It’s not supposed to be that way. And then when you come on down a little bit further to the church, the church is supposed to be dependent upon God. He is the head where the body, the body is dependent upon the head. But we have people that don’t want to depend upon the Lord.

The church is the day many do not even go by the Bible. They’re not dependent upon this book. They have been so influenced by the world they use the world’s wisdom to determine the direction of a church. Instead of what What does the word of God say in many churches? Nobody even uses the Bible anymore. Here we do because we believe that we’re dependent upon the word of God. And whenever you get to the family, there’s still that same problem about dependence and independence.

You see as a family we’re supposed to depend upon the Lord for everything we need. And the wife and the children are dependent upon the man to be the right leaders that they ought to be. But sometime whenever the man doesn’t depend upon God, the woman don’t want to depend upon the man because she loses that sense of security because she doesn’t know how it’s all going to work out. We’re destroying our homes today. They found out that marriage is the biggest culprit for divorce.

But here in the book of 1 Peter, get what he says, likewise you husband dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel. And as being the heirs together of the grace of life that you’re, and you ought to underline this in your Bible, prayers be not hindered. Finally, be you all of one mind. They should actually think the same way. That’s why when you see some people that’s been together for 50 years, they seem like they think the same way.

He says here in verse 8, finally, be of all of one mind, having compassion one of another. Love as brethren. Do you realize that maybe there’s not a verse that says wives love your husband, but there’s a verse that says love as brethren. I’m supposed to love my wife as though my wife is a child of God. She is in the family of God. She’s God’s child. And I’m supposed to love my wife and treat my wife as a child of God.

Do you know I wouldn’t mess around with God’s children and mistreat God’s children? I’m supposed to love my wife and honor my wife. That’s what the book says. So for me to serve the Lord I have to do that. You see that’s part of it. It’s not excluded from that. It’s so important because I see so many kids that come from broken homes and And they don’t know what it’s like to have a dad that really loves them or a mother that really loves them.

You know one of the things that says in the book of Luke about John the Baptist, that when they became preaching he would turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, where parents love the kids and want the best for their kids. Today there’s fathers that don’t even know who their kids are. There’s women that have had babies out of wedlock and might not even know who their daddy is. See that’s not the will of God. That’s a disgrace.

It used to be a shame, not anymore. But with the Lord, they’re still right and they’re still wrong. And so he made the statement here, love his brethren be courteous, means full of pity, not rendering evil for evil. In other words, if your wife says or does something wrong, that’s not justification for the man to say and do something wrong. He’s posed a set the example. He’s still got to do right. And I see a lot of times that that’s not the case.

As he says in the book of Hebrew, rendering evil for evil. Do me wrong, do you wrong back? Hurt me, I hurt you back. Wouldn’t it be neat if all husbands and wives loved each other and was that little bit of heaven on earth that the kids could see and understand and believe it. And they’d want to have a marriage like they see Mom and Dad have. I remember talking to some kids on marriage. I’d said them in the office and I said, well, let me ask you a question.

I says, when you get married, do you want to have a Christian home? Oh, yes. I says, do you have any examples of anybody that you’ve seen that has a Christian home like you want? And you’d be surprised how many of them have bowed their heads and even got tears in their eyes and says, no, they’ve not seen a home like they want. They wanted something new. different than what they’ve seen or what they come from. You see, they should want one just like ours.

You see, that little daughter, she should want to marry a man that’s like her daddy. And that little boy, he should want to marry a woman that’s kind of like his mom because there’s such a bond there. The way it should be. See, that’s the way God meant it to be, but because of sin, it disrupts and does so much. But the Lord tells us that love covers a multitude of sins. And it’s time for the men to love them so much that it covers over.

And you can be patient and kind and not be mean and bitter and cantankerous back. It makes a statement. But contrary wise, blessing, knowing that ye are therefore called that ye should inherit a blessing, For he that will enjoy life or love life. And see good days let him refrain his tongue from evil in his lips that speak don’t gile. Let him hate evil, shun it, and let him pursue peace for the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous in his ears, or open unto their prayers.

So there’s good scripture that tells us the way that God wants it. And I wished it was always that away, but sometime it just doesn’t happen that way. Did you know that if God had a refrigerator, he’d probably have your pitcher on it. Every walk into somebody’s house and you look at the pitchers and they got them all over the refrigerator. Not just anybody’s pitcher. These are usually family pitchers or somebody that means a lot to them.

If he had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring. He sends you a sunrise every morning. Because God does consider you to be special to him. It means a lot. But sometimes we get going through life so fast, so busy, we never have time to stop and think. Do you know why that they came to the Red Sea? And boom, God hit him with a brick. An impossibility. Hit him out upside the head.

There was a young man that had just bought him a brand new Jaguar. And he was riding down the street. But there was kids playing inside. So he was going slow enough and being very careful. And so when he finally got through some of the kids, he went a little bit further and started picking up a little bit of speed. And all of a sudden, this brick came out of nowhere and dented his car. Woo! He stopped and backed up a little bit, got out and went up to the little boy.

He says, son, what in the world do you think you’re doing? Would you realize what you just did?” And the little boy started to cry. He said, Mr., I’m so sorry. He said, but it was the only way I could get you to stop. He said, my brother, he fell off the curb in this wheelchair and I can’t get him up. And he said, I couldn’t get nobody to stop. Nobody would help me. And so the man went back there and saw that boy laying there in the street.

He helped him get him up, brushed off the skint marks and saw that he’d be alright, put him back in his wheelchair. The little boy says, thanks, Mr. God bless you. And he pushed his brother down the sidewalk. Sometimes you get to go in so fast, God sends you a crisis. How long has it been since you had a crisis? You have to think things are just rolling along real smooth. No problem. Everything is wonderful. crisis hit. And instead of going to bed at 11 o’clock, you’re up at 1 o’clock talking to your wife or your kid trying to figure out how to solve a problem.

Or brings tears to your eyes and you think everything is lost and everything is hopeless. Because sometimes we don’t stop and think and God has to send a crisis into our life just to get us to talk to Him. And you can get in a habit of just living your life. And sometimes God in order to get husband and wife from, ha, this will bring a crisis into your life to get get you all to talk to one another.

Because God has got to give you a common denominator. So I can get you to work together because there’s something that’s more important than all the bickering and so forth that goes on in a person’s life. Well, it was this one man. He thought his wife was losing her hearing. So he went to the doctor. I said, Doc, I think my wife’s losing her hearing. He said, what can I do? And I can find for sure. He said, well, it’s a simple test.

He says, get about 40 feet away from her when she’s fixing up in the kitchen. Just get about 40 feet away. And then say, what do we have in for supper? And then get about 10 feet and do it again and another 10 feet until you can, you know, she answered, then you have an idea. So, okay. So he walks in the house and got about 40 feet away from him and says, what are we having for dinner? She didn’t respond.

He got about 30 feet. What are we having for dinner? No response. Twenty feet. 10 feet. Finally, you write right up behind her and says, what are we having for dinner? She said, I’ve told you five times, Yankee. We’re having chicken. When it comes to communication, sometimes we don’t always communicate. And then when we do communicate, it’s sometimes the wrong communication. See, the Bible says, let no evil communication proceed out of your mouth. So some people communicate, but it’s the wrong kind.

So take your Bible and look there in the book of Ephesians, the book of Ephesians, chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 29, where it says, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. That probably means everybody except your husband and wife. You think it would include them too? I think it includes husband and wife. So I do believe that if there’s no evil communication, where you’re not angry and bitter, say, in a hurtful mean, cutting things, I believe that it would probably heal better.

The Bible says in the book of Proverbs 15 and verse 1, a soft answer, turneth away wrath. But some people, they antagonize. That’s not a spiritual thing. You see there in this verse, look there in verse 30, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. See the Holy Spirit of God that lives within you is to teach you and help you. And how did you grieve the Holy Spirit by doing things like verse 31, where it says, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you because it makes him mad.

It upsets the Holy Spirit. It grieves Him. Did you know the things that you say to one another can grieve the one you say you love? But I’ve seen people that have lived together for years. And then when the kids are gone, they look across the table and say, who are you? You know, he’s busy working. She’s taking care of the kids. They lack communication and lo and behold, A day comes when they got to face each other and says, no, you’re my wife, right?

You see, there was this time where outside of England called Bristol Zoo, a parking lot that would hold about 150 cars and hold about eight buses. For 25 years, its parking fees were managed by a very pleasant individual. And he charged the car’s $1.40 each and buses $7. And he did that for 25 years. And then he didn’t show up for work. Well the zoo, people, they contacted City Hall and said, you don’t need to send us another man to take care of the parking lot.

City Hall says he worked for the zoo. The zoo said he didn’t work for us. Twenty-five years ago, this man went to this lot and set him up a little booth and started collecting fees. Nobody ever knew his name, and he collected a lot of money. He collected approximately $560 a day for 25 years. It totaled up to about $7 million, and nobody knows his name. somewhere in Italy or France or Brazil sitting on the beach, sipping his lemonade, and nobody knows who he was.

Did you know you can live with somebody for 25 years? Never even know who they are. I’ve had people that I’ve talked to and they say, Yankee, I know your motive. I know why you did this and I know why you did that and I know why you did that and I’ll have to look at and say this with all the sincerity in my heart. You don’t know me. You see me, but you don’t know me. I wouldn’t do what you’re thinking.

And what you say is my motive isn’t my motive. You think you know me, but you don’t know me. There’s people who have trusted Christ as their Savior. They have eternal life. They’re going to heaven when they die. And many do not know their Father. They spend no time with them. They really don’t know him. If you go to bed every night worrying, fretting, you don’t pray, you don’t know your dad. You don’t know him. You don’t really know what he’s like.

That’s why when you read the first John, so much deals with the fellowship between you and your Heavenly Father. And he says, you don’t know me. You don’t know me. To know him is to love him. And if you don’t know him, you don’t know him. love him. You don’t know him. And if you love him, you will serve him. And that’s why he says, how can you say you love me whom you have not seen and you cannot love others whom you do see?

So there’s a lot of these things that people need to understand. I wonder if it’ll be this to you. Because each little story trying to give you an insight into something that might be going on in your own life, your own marriage, because don’t take it lightly. Your marriage is very important to God. Now let me just throw this to you. We often make this statement that marriage is a commitment. It is a commitment. But commitment to what? You see when you study the Word of God and you know the role of the husband and and the role of the wife.

So the woman needs to know the Word of God so she’ll know the role of her responsibilities. And the man studies the Word of God so he knows his responsibilities. What kind of a husband is he going to be? What kind of a wife is she going to be? So a man and a woman when they get married they’re committing themselves to fulfill those responsibilities, his as a husband and a father, hers as a wife and a mother. And they commit themselves to those roles, that position that God’s given.

So, whenever they get married, she knows her responsibility, he knows his. And he made a promise of vow, a commitment unto God to do certain things. And I don’t believe that many people understand that when they got married, what they did, if we only knew. We can’t go back. We can only go from here forward. A lot of things can never be undone. But I do believe you should look at your marriage, your mate, and say that I am committing myself to my responsibility, the role of the husband God gave to me.

Doesn’t matter what she does. And she ought to commit herself to that role that God gave doesn’t matter what he does. And fulfill that responsibility. And God will reward you in heaven. And God will bless you. Now, it’s wonderful when both submit themselves to the Lord and keep that commitment that they made. And it’s not based upon feeling. based upon fact. What does God want me to do? And so there are responsibilities. And if I will do what God says do, then I can expect God to bless like He said He would.

I am not an expert on marriage. I don’t know anybody who is. I’ve been married over 51 years, so I have an idea what works and what don’t work. I’ve canceled a lot of people. I have a few little ideas here and there. But I know that we’re supposed to love each other and careful one another and we’re supposed to keep our word. Now, a Scotsman, a Scotsman. He wanted to save some money. So he went to see the dentist and he says, how much for a tooth extractor?

He says, $85. That’s a lot of money. He says, can I get it cheaper? He said, well, we could leave off the Novocaine. He says, what would I say, $15? He said, but going to hurt. Well, that’s all right. What if we had it done by a student instead of you? Could you cut down a little bit because the students need to be trained too? He said, well, yeah, yeah. He says, well, what, maybe let you do it for $40, but remember, he’s not going to be as professional.

But I think we could work at ice. He said, well, why not use it as a training tool and let others come in and they could watch and see and it It would be a training for the students. He says, that’s a good idea. He said, well, what would I call it? He said, get down to $5. He said, he said, not yet talking, not yet talking. He says, I want to confirm an appointment time next week for my wife.

Do you sense the compassion? Like it’s one girl, she said to another. She says, boys are all alike. She says, boys are all I like too. I’ve got a couple things I wanted to share to ya. Have you heard anybody today trying to change the meaning of the word marriage? It’s supposed to include if two women want to get married or two homosexual men want to get married and, you know, it doesn’t matter anymore, marriage. But see, governments not supposed to enter into that arena.

That’s none of their business. You see, in the beginning God made the man. God made the woman. God brought them together and says they shall cleave unto each other. God made marriage. Marriage is a Christian word. It’s a biblical word. It’s a religious term. And government has no right to give it another definition except what’s in the Bible. And it’s a man and a woman. You can’t have a marriage any other way. Nothing else is a marriage. And I don’t care if they don’t like it or not.

God’s the one who designed this. So how do you oppose to treat your husband? Just pretend that your husband is the Lord. You say, well, you married him. He was perfect. Remember that? Oh, he’s perfect. He’s just what I’ve been looking for. Well, what you mean he’s not now? Either if he was, then he was. He probably the same way. He ain’t changed much. And what you used to love about him, you begin to turn against it because here’s what usually happens.

Boy, girl. I like you. I like you too. I’ll give you these flowers. And all she has to do is just look in front of the eyes and hello big boy. And then these two have conned each other in the thinking that they were perfect for each other. And they believe that. So they get joined together in holy deadlock. Wetlock. So now they’re married together. Now instead of them still, I’ll do this for you. Oh, I’ll do this for you.

I’ll do this for you. I’ll do this for you. I’ll do this to you and you do this to me. See, it changes instead of you want to do and give. Now it’s receiving. So you’re waiting to treat me like a king. Well, before you didn’t worry about that, you just treated her like a queen. And you didn’t worry about, treat me like a queen. just always I’m going to treat you like a king. See the focus is changed after a while.

See the devil does that. The devil wants to destroy your home and he does it by turning things around. But he’s so good. He’s so deceptive. He does it without you even knowing that it’s taking place. You see like say there’s the Lord. Are you supposed to love the Lord? Yeah. Are you supposed to submit to the the Lord? Oh, yes. Are you supposed to just do what he’s got? Are you supposed to communicate with God? Well, yes. Well, let’s just pretend your husband was the Lord.

You pose a love, honor, obey. Don’t you remember those words? You see, I’ve been trying to forget them ever since. And then don’t you communicate how in the world did you ever get married? You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. Part 2 of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the Clear Gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll-free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bibleline and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friends, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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. And just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calbra Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the Internet. Your regular prayers and mutha- and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach which is toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you’ll 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.

And so now paradise is in heaven. Now whenever a man dies, he doesn’t go here because now to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord in heaven. So when I die, my body goes through the grave, but I don’t live in my body. I’m absent from my body. That’s what death is. Death is absent from the body. So now I don’t go to this place. I go immediately to be with the Lord in heaven.

So therefore all these people that were saved up until the time across, when he died, he took those people and took them to heaven. Now another thing, what about the other people? You see, there’s another possibility that doing the flood, many believe that there were angels that also sinned back at that time, and that’s where the giants in the land came from because these angels took upon human form and they mated with the women of that day and was corrupting the human line.

But the Bible says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. So God took Noah and his wife, three sons, and they were placed into the ark. Now the same water that destroyed the people upon the earth, the water also saved a few that were in the ark because the water floated the ark that had the people inside of it. So the art is a type of Jesus Christ. All those that were in the art of safety in Christ, which that is a type of, totally provided for, and they were in the art, and the Bible says that, I believe God shut the door.

Those people were safe from the judgment of the world. And so when the flood was over with, there was only eight people left upon the earth. And after they came out of the yard on the top of Mount Ararach, and the Bible says they begin to multiply, and they grew and there was a man named Nimrod who was against God. And he got all the people together. They only had one language upon the earth. I believe this is also a possibility that the landmass upon the earth was only one solid landmass.

We didn’t have the continents like we have today. And now there are even scientists who are saying that there used to be. just one landmass. In other words, all the land was together. And then after the flood, when God told him, He says, I want you to lay off this building of this power of Babel, and it’s called Babel because you can’t understand what somebody else is saying, like a little child, Babylon. And they, God gave them different languages, different races, happened all at the same time.

Do you realize how difficult it is to learn someone’s language? Unless God gave them the language, where did all the languages come from? And each one would have a separate writing. Isn’t it wonderful that there’s Japanese language? There’s French, there’s Spanish and you’ve got English and you’ve got German and you think of how many languages in the world? There are no new languages being started. Nobody’s developing new languages. Well, how did all these languages start? God did it. And also gave them a way of writing their language.

But I believe that the flood answers many things. Now… If this happened the way God says it did. And when you read the New Testament, Jesus Christ talked about Noah and the flood. And He says, as it was in the days of Noah. Then He also talks about, in other scriptures, concerning Noah and we just read a scripture about the flood and scripture about the yard and about Noah and the few that were in it, eight. It still says exactly the same thing.

So either the story of Noah is true or it’s not true. But what if it is true? If it is true and God did exactly what He said He was going to do, is it possible that what God said is going to happen next is going to happen just like He said? Well if all that happened and it’s only a type, a shadow of that which is really going to take place, that was one man taken out of this world.

God says this when it happens is going to take every Christian. And regardless of who they may be, wherever they may be, on the whole face of the earth, at that moment, every one of them will be changed in a moment, the twinkling of an eye, and will be caught up to make the Lord in the air. Because you will not physically die. And then there will be this judgment upon the earth. You see, while the judgment is gone upon the earth, see we are safe with the Lord in heaven.

This judgment cannot affect us. Those that were in the ark, were not reflected by the flood. They were safe and secure in the ark. Wherein few, they were saved. Now in the same scripture, it talks about a baptism. Now if you’ll notice up there, it says in verse 21, the like figure, we’re unto even baptism that’s also now save us. So there’s many people think, well, you have to be baptized in water in order to be saved. But the very next part of the verse says, not the put in the way of the filth of the flesh.

In other words, that baptism does not deliver. You are washed the sins away. It doesn’t take away the filth of the flesh. Water will not wash the dirt off your neck if you don’t use soap with it and it’s a sinch. Water cannot baptize or take away your sins. But it says the answer of a good conscience toward God. Let’s say you have trusted Christ as your Savior. Well understand how this works. Let’s say for example if I had Leon standing right up here.

And Leon was perfect and we’re not. Leon is going to die and pay for my sins. Isn’t that wonderful? So Leon dies and pays for my sin. If I believe he did it for me, whatever Leon did for me. So it put to my account like I did it, but I didn’t really do it. So Leon dies on the cross. It would be like me dying on the cross because he doing it for me. And when he’s buried, that would be like me being buried.

But I’m not really being buried, but he’s doing it for me. Like I did it, but I didn’t really do it. He did it for me. When Leon comes back from the dead, it wasn’t that I came back from the dead. It was that, well, he did it for me. It was put to my account. So everything that Leon did, he was put to my account. So the Bible says, this is what Jesus Christ did for us. So whenever you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross that he was buried and that he rose again and he did it for you, then God wants every one of us to be baptized.

Being baptized in water is a picture of you going under the water, that’s a picture of your burial, coming up out of the water, it’s a picture of your resurrection. God says He wants us to be baptized in water because it is a picture of what Christ did for us. You see, I didn’t really down the cross. I didn’t really get buried. I didn’t really come back from the dead. But it’s put to my account like I did it.

Like I paid for all my sins. But I really didn’t pay for any of my sins. He did it for me. And God accepted what He did. The only alternative is for me to accept what He did. God accepts the payment Christ made for the sins of the world. God will accept it. God was satisfied, and by that He raised Him from the dead as the proof that the payment was made and it’s called propitiation. He is the propitiation for our sin.

I mean, he is the satisfaction. God is satisfied with the payment he made. God is not satisfied with you trying to earn yourself a He’s not satisfied with you giving money. He’s not satisfied with you trying to get anything to please God except through this. It’s the only way. So when you accept Christ, He did it for you. Therefore, It is a sign of a good conscience your conscience is clear because you obeyed God and did what God says to him So if you have trusting Christ as your Savior, you know you have eternal life.

You believe he did this for you Should you be baptized? Yes, does it get you to heaven? No. Does it wash away your sin? No. But it is a good conscience toward God because God says, this is what I want you to do and it’s a step of obitium. If you will not obey God in this, in baptism, you won’t obey God in a lot of things because you’ll pick and choose what you will and will not do. But if you can do this, then you can do anything else.

God asked you to do. So don’t be rebatius. If you trust the Lord, you’ll be a good man. you should be baptized in water, not to be saved, but because you are saved. Now, right now in verse 22, he is gone into heaven. He’s at the right hand of God, and guess what? He is coming back again. Take your Bible now and look there in the book of 2nd Peter. 2nd Peter, and look in verse 5. When God talks about that he did not spare the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person.

See, they’re God sent it again. It says it in the Old Testament, says it in the New Testament, spared not the Old World, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness. So he didn’t just build a boat. He didn’t just build the art. He was a preacher. He preached to the people. He warned the people, but they would not listen. They would not heed. They rebelled. And then whenever the water began to come, I can picture those people banging on the door and hollering and crying and screaming and it’s over for them and the flood came.

The Bible says and the windows of heaven were opened and the fountains of the deep came up. The water came from both directions and they could not get in. In other words there was a time when they could have and then it was a time when they couldn’t have. There’s a time when you can trust Christ as your Savior and there’s a time when you cannot trust Lord, it’s too late. While you live in this world, you have a chance.

You can trust Christ as your Savior. But the moment you die, it’s too late. I was talking to a lady not long ago, about two weeks ago. God says, do you know where you go on when you die? She says, no, not really. I really don’t care. I said, well, can I explain it to you just in case you do care later? And I won’t be around me to tell you. It’s kind of smile. Anyway, I went ahead and I explained how she could have eternal life.

What I got through, I said, will you trust Christ as your Savior? I thought she was really right there. She says, no, no. I appreciate you talking to me, but no, not interested. Just walked away. Well, she came back later and gave me some coffee and I says, would you just do me a favor? She said, what’s that? I says, in the meantime, between now and this time when you find out all your I said, don’t die. Just don’t die.

She smiled. She said, well, I can’t control that. I said, I know. Don’t it sound a little foolish to gamble? I said, you know that if I’m wrong, it doesn’t bother me when I order. If there’s no hell and I’m wrong, but what if I’m right? What if what I’m saying is true? What if it is true? I said, and you’re wrong. I said, what about that? Good point. Let’s turn around and walk off. Noah had preachers, people that would not believe, and yet he preached to the people.

And whether or not there were many of these people at this time where they were warned and told that they could believe and trust in the Lord. And whether or not, whenever Jesus died, did he preach to people on both sides? I don’t know, but there’s a good possibility that he did. But here in 2 Peter and chapter 2, it says, A preacher of righteousness bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly. So the Bible refers to the people as the world of ungodly people.

They were not like God. And the Bible says they had decided to do anything they imagined themselves to do. Nothing would restrain them. People will gonna do whatever they want, live in sin, whatever they want to do. It doesn’t matter. And there’s people today. You look around our world today. It doesn’t matter what people want to do, they will do whatever they want. Any sin, you name it and people are doing it. I got a paper just the other day.

Well, it’s right here, but this is in Germany where they have control of all the places of business, and even prostitution is authorized by the German government. So, some women are in places of prostitution, and it is a business. Well, there are some places that have people that work for them, and some of those ladies that lost their jobs, and they want to get their little Wilther check if they go to apply for a job, and there’s no particular job for them to do what they have been doing, and there’s an opening as a prostitute, they have to take the job or lose all their benefits.

Because that is a recognized, acceptable place of business. Isn’t that terrible? Now what if they decide to do something like that here in America? And they can, in this coming. However wicked someplace else is going to be sooner or later, we’re going to have it all right here. Look right there in your Bible, look in verse 6, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, with the homosexuals. You don’t find the word homosexual in the Bible. It’s men with men, women with women.

Turn in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemn them with an overthrow. Get this, making them an example unto those that after should live what? Ungodly. The Bible says it’s wicked. God says it’s ungodly. If God says it, it’s the truth. You don’t look at life and what people want to do through your eyes. You look at it through the eyes of God. If God made this world and God created us and put us in this world and God’s the one that has the right to say, hey, there’s a heaven and there’s a hell and that sin and that’s wicked and that’s wrong and I’m going to judge you and you’re not going to get away with it.

Now you can believe God or not. I will warn, I will preach it, but I can’t live people’s lives for them. He delivered just lot. He delivered lot. He delivered lot from Sodom and Gomorrah. This was a saved man in a wicked place. And God delivered him out of there before God brought judgment, the fire and brimstone, and totally destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. And he says here in verse seven, and delivered just like vexed with the filthy behavior that word conversation, filthy behavior of the wicked.

So does God say it’s wicked? Yes. God says it’s filthy. Yes, he does the filthy behavior of the wicked Now he says in verse 8 for that righteous man dwelling among them in seeing and hearing Vex his righteous soul from day in the day with their unlawful deed This is why it’s not good for you to see it or hear it or even talk about the filth the sin of the world It’s not good It is wrong and he says here in the last part of verse 9 the Lord Lord, know of how to deliver the Godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.

Are people going to be able to just do whatever you want? It doesn’t really matter. No, it doesn’t matter. It is wicked. It is wrong. It is sinful. And God said, it’s going to come. Now look there in 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 4. Looking verse 4. Very quickly. Verse 4 says, and saying, where is the promise of His coming? In other words, Christ promised that He was going to return. Okay. Do you know only about 30 years had passed and people always want to, hey, where is Christ coming?

Where is He coming? I mean, He promised He was coming to a Hakami and got back here yet. 30 years when they were impatient, because everybody thinks He’s going to come in their lifetime. Well, it’s been almost 2,000 years since then, He still hasn’t showed up. He said, well, what do you say about that, yank. I say word 2000 years closer than we were 2000 years ago. And according to the signs of the times, I believe he’s coming very soon.

He says, for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. This is what they say. For since the fathers fell as if all things continue as they were from the beginning of evolution, no, beginning of creation. But everything hasn’t been the same. And then he He’s chosen why, he says this, for this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, were by the world that then was, been overflowed with water perished.

The world that then was overflow with water, God sent a judgment. Now God says he’s the one who did it. Why? Because of the sinfulness, the wickedness of people. Did God see what’s going on in America? Yes, he sees it. Is God concerned? Yes, God concerned. God wants us to do right. Yes, God wants us to do right. Are they going to get away with it? No, nobody’s going to get away with anything. Judgment is coming. And so he makes a statement here in verse seven, but the heavens and the earth, which are now, the present time, by the same word are kept in store.

In other words, God is the only, scientists today cannot understand how come the earth don’t explode. They said the center of our earth is such hot, molten lava and it is just wanting to die like burst out of nibblings in a while. There’s a little place where you can have a volcano here and a volcano there and yet our layer around this earth is so small, so thin. It’s like we’re sitting on a hot cold with a thin little layer on it and when it’s going to explode.

And the Bible says God holds all things together. Here’s the year spinning through space, going around the sun, rotating every 24 hours and it goes around the sun one year’s trip around it. And what holds it there? Where’s this string? Well that’s gravity. What’s the word? It’s in the name of the day. Those are names for things people don’t understand. And one of the day they want what causes it not to just fly off into space? I mean, take a thing and put it on the thing and it’s going around and the faster it goes, the thing, you let it go.

Let it go. Let it go. Let it go. Well, what’s this magical string that’s tied onto this thing that makes the moon stay in its orbit, the sun stay in its orbit as it goes around the universe? All these things are interesting to me. I’m Bermius. I have an inquiring mind and I want to know. And one day I will know all the answers. But until then I can trust God. He says it. I believe it. 7, but the heaven and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in storm, get this, and you’re underline these three little words in this verse.

Reserve, onto fire, that’s the future. This is where it’s going. This world is going to explode. The Bible talked about the elements of the earth, the cracking apart of the atom. These days are right ahead of us. He says this against the the perdition of ungodly men. But it says in verse 8, But beloved be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some accounts slackness, but is long suffered toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Now, let me show you something. We know that there’s a time in heaven where the earth is going to be totally renovated by fire. And God said there’ll be a new heaven and a new earth. There’ll be a holy city. This holy city is going to be 1500 miles high, long and wide. That’s over half the size of the United States. This is an awesome thing coming. This is where we’re going to live. We’re going to live. This thing is supposed, I believe, hover above the earth.

And the people that will be upon the earth are going to walk in the light of the holy city. But there will be no need of the sun or the moon or the star. We won’t need all that stuff. There’ll be no more sea. It’s going to be awesome. And here we are, we over here. The next thing to happen, the rapture will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Judgment upon this earth, like you’ve never seen, the worst period of time the world has ever known.

This is right ahead of us. And this happens because somebody’s going to come on the scene and promising peace and safety upon the earth, trying to get world peace. It really was a little prick in my side the other night when I listened to the President talk about the gold of America is for peace in the world. It used to be only for the protecting of America, but if we can bring peace to the world then we’ll be at peace and it will sound so good, it will sound so great and everybody be yay-yay and rah-rah and we’re gonna have world peace.

Sooner or later some superpower has to take control of the total earth. Somebody’s going to be elected president that will be able to call or demand a martial law, take total control of our military, and do whatever you want, and what will people do if a wicked man was in control of America? Hmm. But until then, this is going to happen upon the year. There’s going to be a one world government. We have the United Nations trying to act like it, but they have no power.

They have no, they have no army, but we are going to take and see that these things will take the governments of the world. world are. So there will be a one-row religion, one-row government. And the Bible says that Christ is going to come back to the earth in power and great glory. And the people upon the earth will see Him coming from out of space. The Bible says that every eye shall see Him, see Him coming. I mean, here’s the people upon the earth.

They got their telescope and they can see somebody coming from out of space. You’re talking about a movie. So they ought to make a movie based upon the reality of what this stuff is talking about. be awesome. And the Bible says when he comes to the earth his feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives and it will cleave in the mist and then there will be a kingdom set up upon this earth. So what you and I do right here.

And these few little years that God gives us to live, affects the rewards we get in heaven, and it also affects the entrance into the kingdom, what we rule with, what we have, all these things. So our decisions today are affecting eternity. I can’t make anybody love God, serve God, stop sin, do anything. I can only tell you this is what the Bible says, take it or leave it, do whatever you want, don’t skin off my nose. I made up my mind when my father-in-law started explaining this stuff to me when I trusted Christ as my sagging.

I just said, I’m going to serve the Lord with the rest of my life. I want to tell people how to have eternal life and I want to challenge people to serve the Lord. I want to teach the Bible as simply as clearly as I possibly can for the rest of my life. I wish that other people had the same concerns, same burden, and say, man, we don’t have much time left. Let’s do what we can, why we can.

This is why I want to run ranch. It’s why I want a lot of kids to come. I want them to trust Christ and Savior. I want them to know all this. I want to understand teaching these kids the simplicity of how to explain. I don’t want people going to hell. I don’t want them going into the lake of fire. I don’t want that to happen. And somebody is going to be smart. They’re going to see it. They say, I understand that.

That makes sense to me. And I can explain that. I can use that hand gesture. I’ll learn these verses. I’ll learn the seven steps. I’ll learn to do something and do something different with your life instead of being like everybody else gets all wrapped up in life that you don’t have time to do what God wants you to do. There, I said what I wanted to say, and I’ll look up here. This is you and me, this is sin.

We all have sin on us. God loves us, but He hates our sin. The Bible says for all have sinned and come short of God’s perfection. That means because of sin, the wages of sin being debt, eternal separation from God in Him, everybody’s condemned. But God loves us, and He wants us to go to heaven, but to go to heaven you’ve got to be perfect as righteous as God. Got a problem. Sin. God won’t let us in because of it.

And God says, you can’t get rid of it. You can’t throw it away. You can’t wash it away. You can’t do anything about your sin. But Christ came. You see, God, Jesus Christ in the flesh, He came into this world because He loves us, but He hates our sin because it separates us from us. So Christ took the sin, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead. He said, if we’ll believe He did this for us, that He paid for our sins, He’d put that payment to your account.

You get to go to heaven on what Christ did for you. There’s no tricks to it, no gimmicks to it. Years ago, I trusted Christ as my Savior, and I know I have eternal life. I’m going to heaven whenever I die. Everything I’m telling you right now, I believe this. I believe this. And I hope that you do too. Let’s pray, shall we? Every headbound, every eye closed, and no one looking around. If you have never trusted Jesus Christ as your savior, right now I’m asking you to do just that.

God will give you time. You don’t know how much. God will save you today, but he guarantees you nothing tomorrow. You may not be here tomorrow. But as long as you draw breath, you can have eternal life and be certain of going to heaven. Now, if you’ve never done it, would you do it right now? I’m going to ask you in just a moment to raise your hand. Raising your hand does not save you. It just lets me know that what I said made sense.

And you say, yes, that made sense to me. And I’ll trust Jesus Christ as my Savior. And so, friend, if you’ll do that, you’ve never done before. Would you just flip your hand up very quickly and put it right back down? See, we’ll all be fully closed. So, yes, I’ll trust Christ as my Savior tonight. I want to be certain to be eternal life and certain I’m going to heaven when I die. You’ve never done it. Do it right now.

If you know Christ is your Savior, realize the importance of servant-alarm. You probably have some friends of yours that don’t understand it. It’s important. Our Father, we do thank you so much for all you’ve done for it. We ask the blessing of all of you. You’re on and go. Thank you for the Christ’s name. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message.

If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll-free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us.

The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to ourerala website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, and now we’ll close your thoughts from Pastor Arnold. Friends, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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.

And just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

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 mama… and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach is told free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calbryoftampa.org. 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 share a few things with you. First of all, turn in your Bible to the book of Genesis, the book of Genesis and chapter five. Genesis chapter five. Jesus Christ says when asked when He was coming back to the earth. He gave this in several places in Matthew, also in the book of Luke, talking about as it was in the days of Noah. Genesis chapter 5 and the first verse that makes this statement, that these are the generations, the book of the generations of Adam and the day that God created him.

And male and female in verse 2, verse 3, made in his likeness in God’s image. And he had a son named Seth. But the Bible says that there was about a hundred and something years before Seth was born and then he lived and then he died. And you’ll notice in verse 8, and all the days of Seth were 912 years in, he died. And down in verse 11, and all the days of Enos were 905 years in, he died.

And verse 14, and all the days of Canaan were 910 years and he died. Boy, this year lived a long time. Down in verse 20, the Bible makes this statement. It says, in all the days that Jared were 962 years and he died in Enoch, lived 65 years and begot Methuselah. Now sometimes you’ll hear people say he’s as old as Methuselah. Well because Methuselah was 969 years. That’s a long time for a man to live. And it makes the statement down in verse 29, 7, and all the days of Methuselah were 969 years and he died.

But many believe that because of his name, Methuselah in the Hebrew, meaning that when he is dead, judgment will come. And they believe that the year he died was the year of the flood. But there was another man that was born here in verse 22, and Enoch walked with God after he begot Methuselah 300 years and begot sons and daughters. And And all the days of Enoch were 360 in five years. And Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him.

So this man did not have to die. So what we have here, as the Bible says, they are types in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament God told stories. These stories that were told illustrate different periods of time. the feast that are mentioned. There’s seven feasts mentioned in the book of Leviticus, especially chapter 23, and it lays them out. And all of these feasts refer to various points in time because they are types, just like Joseph going down into Egypt.

And the Bible says that is also that is a type, it’s the type of Christ, and getting a Gentile bride and so forth. But what we have, have, when you talk about before the flood, Enoch was taken out of the world before he saw death. He is a type of the rapture. In other words, God says that he took this man out of this world and he never saw physical death. And he was taken before the flood. This is a type of the flood upon the earth.

It’s a judgment upon the earth. God brought the flood, and he says, as it was in the days of Noah, even so shall it be again before the Lord comes back to the earth. So before he comes back, this is a type of the flood, and the type of the flood is the type here of the rapture concerning Enoch. So it lays it out. The Bible is very systematic. God knows what he’s doing. We can know the future just like we can know the past.

The center of all human history is His story. That’s why it’s called history. His story. It’s God’s story before Christ and His story after Christ. And that’s why even all the dates that we put on everything is always A.D. or B.C. It’s always either before Christ after Christ. Christ is the central point in human history. Everything deals with Him. So now what we have is the rapture is going to take place next. This is what happened to Enoch. We are going to be translated in the book of Hebrews in chapter 12 and around verse 6 it says that he had this testimony that he pleased God and he was translated.

He would mean he was changed in a moment. The twinkling of an eye caught up out of this world so his physical body was changed. He never saw physical death. Wouldn’t that be nice if that would happen in our lifetime? Now the older I get the more problems I’m starting to have and it didn’t just start yesterday but it started never my angle and tell you all of them but we all have problems as we get older and we know that regardless we’re not going to live, no, six and seven, eight hundred years.

But regardless of how long you live, you die. And so the key thing is when Christ comes in the air for us, He doesn’t come to the earth. This is the next thing to happen according to God’s timetable. There’s about 2,000 years from here to here. It’s been almost 2,000 years because our date that we have is from the birth of Christ, but the cross was about 33 A.D. afterwards. So it’ll be actually 2000 years than about another 20 years or so.

So the rapture will take place and will be out of this world. Now God’s going to take us out before He brings the judgment upon the earth. But the judgment is true, it will come. And then Christ will return to the earth just like He promised. But when He makes the statement, as it was in the days of Noah, well just how was it in the days of no one. I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of 1 Peter.

1 Peter and there’s a scripture there, several of them that I want us to look at. And it makes the statement about the judgments that God has brought upon the earth. First of all, look there in 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 18. 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 18. And understand that when Jesus Christ came to the earth, he died, paid for sin, came back from the dead. So in verse 18 it says, for Christ also hath once suffered for sins.

You see, Christ does not come down tomorrow and pay for what I did today, and then next year he’ll come down and pay for what I did this year and so forth. Now Christ came into the world one time, died on the cross, one time to pay for all the sins of the world one time never has to do it again. So he hath once suffered for sins, so he doesn’t do it again. That means either Christ paid for all my sins when he died or he didn’t do me any favors.

If he paid for 99 I might send the left one sin unpaid, he didn’t help me, cause it only takes one sin for a man to go to hell. And for all have sinned and come short of God’s perfection. Now get what he says here. The just for the unjust, who’s the just, that’s God, that’s Christ. He is just. He’s justified. He has no sin. Doesn’t have to worry about it. We are the ones that were sinful. We were unjust.

So the just for the unjust. He was perfect and he died for the imperfect. So this is what the scripture says. And why did he do this? Look at that verse. Why did he do this? He says that he might bring us to God. See, there’s no other way for a man to get to God. God. You don’t get to God by going to church and keeping the commandments and doing all the good stuff and paying money to pay for Him.

All of it is boiled down to what He did, that He might bring us to God, get this, being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit. Now Jesus Christ died on the cross. He was buried. But the Bible says the Holy Spirit of God quickened his body and he became alive and was raised from the dead. That’s why he says, I have the power to lay it down. I have the power to take it up.

In other scripture says, God has raised him from the dead. Other scripture talks about Jesus said, the Spirit have done this. So Christ, God, the Father and the Holy Spirit all had power to raise him from the dead. But he was totally committed to the yielding of himself to his father and so the father through the Spirit Quickened his body and raised him from the dead now get this There’s a scripture here and is sometimes very confusing It’s very difficult sometimes to be able to explain all scripture.

I have not yet been able to do that So I want to look at this verse in two different ways One, it says here in verse 19, by which also he went, and he preached unto the spirits in prison, which sometimes were disobedient when the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah. Now we know that Noah preached approximately 120 years. Now think about that. 120 years in the building of the ark. Now whether it took all that time or not, I do not know.

I don’t know how long it took them to build it. But the Bible says that God would give them 120 years. This is also called with some theologians. This is a grace period where God was bestowing grace upon the earth, where they could, whoever wanted to, could go into the ark. But as time went on, the Bible says they mocked, they made fun, they would not, and they lived their lives and the Bible says they married, they gave in marriage, and they bought and they sold, they planted, in other words, they lived life, just lived life.

And so what God said carried no weight whatsoever. They didn’t heed the warning. They didn’t believe there was going to be a flood. As far as we know, it never rained upon the earth because God said that He’s watered the ground by the dew. So as we know, it may never have rained upon the earth before this, before the flood. And they have never seen a flood. But I’ve been on top of the Rocky Mountains and there are seashells all over the Rocky Mountains on the very top of them.

Some people say, well, the flood could have been a little local flood. You have no local flood. If it’s going to be a little local flood, is the next time going to be a little local fire? Now is he going to burn the whole earth? And I believe that the whole earth was under water. I believe in Genesis chapter 1, it was all under water at one time. And then God said, let the dry land appear. So when God says it was under water, I believe it was under water.

When He said, let the dry land appear, I believe that’s what happened. And when God says He flooded the whole earth, I believe that’s exactly what He did. And so God says that He has done these things, but He went in verse 19 and preached unto the spirits in prison, which sometime were disobedient when the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, where the ark was preparing, where in feud. So we believe that during that 120 years, Noah had preached, he was a preach of righteousness, and because of that, he had his sons and they built the ark, and while it was preparing, that says that few eight souls were saved.

And get what he says. That is eight souls were saved by water. And like figure, we’re unto even baptism to also now save us. Not they put it away at the field of the flesh, but they answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now these verses, no doubt, are very difficult because you can take them several different ways, but I want us to look at a couple of them. Number one, when the Bible tells us that when Christ died on the cross, and the Bible says that He went to the place of Paradise because He told the thief on the cross.

Today, shout out, be with me in Paradise, which is in the heart of the earth. This total place here in the Old Testament is called Shiel, that’s Hebrew. In the New Testament, it is called Hades, but it’s both referring to the exact same place. And so this is called hell in many places. It’s the place of the departed dead. And there’s a goth between those that were in paradise and those that are in place called torment. So a person could go to the place of paradise those who believed on the Lord up until the cross.

But they couldn’t go to heaven because their sins had not yet been paid. Christ had not yet died. The sins had been paid, but they were there like on credit, an escrow account. Christ died on the cross, made a payment for sin. The Bible says then, and then He went to the place of paradise that very same day. And He preached to the spirits in prison. So the question comes is, did He preach to the people that were here?

Or did He preach to the people that were here? Now, let’s just pretend that maybe he preached to those that were in both places. If he preached to those that were believers, then the Bible says he led captivity captive and he took those people to heaven, and so now paradise is in heaven. Now whenever a man dies, he doesn’t go here because now to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord in heaven. So when I die, my body goes to the grave, but I don’t live in my body.

I’m absent from my body. That’s what death is. Death is absent from the body. So now I don’t go to this place. I go immediately to be with the Lord in heaven. So therefore all these people that were saved up until the time across, when he died, he took those people and took them to heaven. Now another thing. What about the other people? You see, there’s another possibility that doing the flood, Many believe that there were angels that also sinned back at that time and that’s where the giants in the land came from because these angels took upon human form and they mated with the women of that day and was corrupting the human line.

But the Bible says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. So God took Noah and his wife, three sons, and their three wives, and they were placed into the ark. Now the same water that destroyed the people upon the earth, the water also saved a few that were in the ark because the water floated the ark that had the people inside of it. So the ark is a type of Jesus Christ. All those that were in the Ark of safety in Christ, which that is a type of, totally provided for, and they were in the Ark, and the Bible says that, I believe God shut the door.

Those people were safe from the judgment of the world. And so when the flood was over with, there was only eight people left upon the earth. And after they came out of the Ark on the top of Mount Ararach, and the Bible says they begin to multiply, and they grew and there was a man named Nimrod who was against God, and he got all the people together. They only had one language upon the earth. I believe there’s also a possibility that the landmass upon the earth was only one solid landmass.

We didn’t have the continents like we have today. And now there are even scientists who are saying that there used to be maybe just one landmass. in that. In other words, all the land was together. And then after the flood, when God told him, he says, I want you to lay off this building of this power of Babel and this call Babel because you can’t understand what somebody else is saying, like a little child, Babylon. And they, God gave them different languages, different races, it happened all at the same Do you realize how difficult it is to learn someone’s language?

Unless God gave them the language, where did all the languages come from? And each one would have a separate writing. Isn’t it wonderful that there’s Japanese language? There’s French, there’s Spanish, and you’ve got English, and you’ve got German, and you think of how many languages in the world? There are no new languages being started. Nobody’s developing new languages. Well, how did all these languages start? God did it. And also gave them a way of writing their language. But I believe that the flood answers many things.

Now, if this happened the way God says it did, and when you read the New Testament, Jesus Christ talked about Noah and the flood. And he says, as it was in the days of Noah. Then he also talks about, in other scriptures, concerning Noah and we just read a scripture about the flood and scripture about the yard and about Noah and the few that were in it, eight. It still says exactly the same thing. So either the story of Noah is true or it’s not true.

But what if it is true? If it is true and God did exactly what he said was going to do. Is it possible that what God said is going to happen next is going to happen just like he said? Well, if all that happened and it’s only a type, a shadow of that which is really going to take place, that was one man taken out of this world. God says this when it happens is going to take every Christian.

And regardless of who they may be, wherever they may be, on the whole face of the earth, at that moment, every one of them will be changed in a moment, the twinkling of an eye, and will be caught up to make the Lord in the air, because you will not physically die. And then there will be this judgment upon the earth. You see, while the judgment is gone upon the earth, see we are safe with the Lord in heaven.

This judgment cannot affect us. Those that were in the art, were not reflected by the flood. They were safe and secure in the art. Wherein few, they were saved. Now in the same scripture, it talks about a baptism. Now if you’ll notice up there, it says in verse 21, the like figure, we’re unto even baptism that also now save us. So there’s many people think, well, you have to be baptized in water in order to be saved. But the very next part of the verse says, not the put in the way of the filth of the flesh.

In other words, that baptism does not deliver. You will wash the sins away. It doesn’t take away the filth of the flesh. Water will not wash the dirt off your neck if you don’t use soap with it and it’s a water cannot baptize or take away your sins. But it says the answer of a good conscience toward God. Let’s say you have trusted Christ as your Savior. Well understand how this works. Let’s say for example if I had Leon standing out up here and Leon was perfect and we’re not.

Leon is going to die and pay for my sins. Isn’t that wonderful? So Leon dies and pays for my sin. If I believe he did it for me, whatever Leon did was for me. So it put to my account like I did it, but I didn’t really do it. So Leon dies on the cross. It would be like me dying on the cross because he’d doing it for me. And when he’s buried, that would be like me being buried, but I’m not really being buried, but he’s doing it for me like I did it, but I didn’t really do it.

He did it for me. When Leon comes back from the dead, it wasn’t that I came back from the dead, it was that, well, he did it for me. It was put to my account. So everything that Leon did, he was put to my account. So the Bible says, this is what Jesus Christ did for us. So whenever you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross, that he was buried, and that he rose again and he did it for you, then God wants every one of us to be baptized.

Being baptized in water is a picture of you going under the water, that’s a picture of your burial, coming up out of the water, it’s a picture of your resurrection. God says he wants us to be baptized in water because it is a picture of what Christ did for us. You see, I didn’t really down the cross. I didn’t really get buried. I didn’t really come back from the dead. But it’s put to my account like I did it.

Like I paid for all my sins. But I really didn’t pay for any of my sins. He did it for me. And God accepted what He did. The only alternative is for me to accept what He did. God accepts the payment Christ made for the sins of the world. God will accept it. God was satisfied. And by that he raised him from the dead as the proof that the payment was made and it’s called propitiation. He is the propitiation for our sin.

I mean, he is the satisfaction. God is satisfied with the payment he made. God is not satisfied with you trying to earn your salvation. He’s not satisfied with you doing a church. He’s not satisfied with you giving money. He’s not satisfied with you trying to get anything to please God except through this. It’s the only way. So when you accept Christ, he did it for you. Therefore, it is a sign of a good conscience. Your conscience is clear because you obeyed God and did what God says to him.

So if you have trusted Christ as your savior, you know you have eternal life. You believe he did this for you. Should you be baptized? Yes, does it get you to heaven? No. Does it wash away your sin? No. But it is a good conscience toward God because God says, this is what I want you to do and it’s a step of obedience. If you will not obey God in this, in baptism, you won’t obey God in a lot of things because you’ll pick and choose what you will and will not do.

But if you can do this, then you can do anything else. God asks you to do. So don’t be rebatious. If you trust the Lord, you should be baptized in water, not to be saved, but because you are saved. Now, right now in verse 22, He has gone into heaven. He’s at the right hand of God. And guess what? He is coming back again. Take your Bible now and look there in the book of 2 Peter. Second Peter, and look in verse 5.

When God talks about that He did not spare the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person. See there God sent it again. It says in the Old Testament, says it in the New Testament, spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness. So He didn’t just build a boat. He didn’t just build the art. He was a preacher. He preached to the people. He warned the people, but they would not listen. They would not heed.

They rebelled and then whenever the water began to come, I can picture those people banging on the door and hollering and crying and screaming and so forth and the flood came. The Bible says and the windows of heaven were opened and the fountains of the deep came up. The water came from both directions and they could not get in. In other words, there was a time when they could have and then there was a time when they couldn’t have.

a time when you can trust Christ as your Savior and there’s a time when you cannot trust the Lord it’s too late. While you live in this world you have a chance you can trust Christ as your Savior but the moment you die or it’s too late. I was talking to a lady not long ago about two weeks ago God says do you know where you go on when you die she says no not really I really don’t care I said well can I explain it to you just in case you do care later and I won’t be around me to tell you.

It’s kind of smiled. Anyway, I went ahead and I explained how she could have eternal life. When I got through, she, I said, Will you trust Christ as your savior? I thought she was really right there. She says, No, no. I appreciate you talking to me, but no, not interested. Just walked away. Well, she came back later and gave me some coffee and I says, Would you just do me a favor. She said, what’s that? I says, in the main time between now and this time when you find out all your answers, I says, don’t die.

Just don’t die. She smiles. She’s like, well, I can’t control that. I says, I know. Don’t it sound a little foolish to gamble? I says, you know that if if I’m wrong, it doesn’t bother me when I order. If there’s no hell and I’m if I’m wrong, what if I’m right? What I’m saying is true. What if it is true? I says, and you’re wrong.

I said, what about that? Good point. It’s a turn I walked off. Noah had preachers, people that would not believe. And yet he preached to the people. And whether or not there were many of these people at this time where they were warned and told that they could believe and trust the Lord. and whether or not whenever Jesus died, that he preached to people on both sides. I don’t know, but there’s a good possibility that he did. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr.

Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. Part two of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll-free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 10.30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen, the trumpet will sound. 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, and just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

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 through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

The title of the day’s message is called, When God Comes to Visit. I know that I have been a preacher, I go by and see people and sometimes I’ve had people say, oh, you don’t want to come in the house right now. You’ll see the house is just a mess. It is a mess. And I said, well, I promise not to look. And you go in there and everything, speak and span. Nothing’s wrong. I think they just say that so that you’re really impressed.

And I am. So you ought to see mine. No. My wife says, OK, she’s out of here. And, but a lot of times, you know, people say, oh, my house is a mess, or, and sometimes you hear that company’s coming. When company’s coming, what do you generally wanna do? Clean the house. Everything gotta be just right because companies come, because you know if company comes and that house is a mess, they gonna tell somebody. And you’re worried about not just the person who sees it messed up.

You’re worried about the person they tell. I remember Betty invited mama and Thomas, You know, and some of our kids come over to the house. And you know what she made me do? I mean, this is family. Guess what she made me do? Clean up. I had to clean up the outside. The outside of a house. I mean, I had stuff everywhere, and it looks fine. And she says, Yankie, the downstairs is a mess. Who cares? This is the downstairs.

I had to go down there and sweep the down, sweep the downstairs because my family’s coming over. Family ought to stay home when you got to work like that. Just joking. But the Bible says God came to visit. Now I want you to see this in the book of Luke in chapter 1. Look there in verse 68. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He had visited and redeemed His people. In other words, He’s not only saying this at the moment about what He’s doing, but what He’s going to do.

And it’s written like it’s already done, because He has not yet redeemed His people by His birth. That’s when He went to the cross. But it’s like it’s such a reality that it can be looked as something that’s a completed job. But it says that God is going to visit His people. And they knew and they understood that that child that Mary had in her womb, that was God. That is God. God is visiting the earth. And what would you do if you knew that today the Lord was going to go to your house?

Is there anything in your house that you would want us straighten up? It may not be the house, but is there anything that you may say or do that you would want to impress God? It’s amazing how we want to impress so many people in so many ways. And yet God is the one that we should be always concerned about. Now he came and he visited the earth. That’s when Jesus was born. I want you to take your Bible in Luke chapter 19.

Luke chapter 19. And notice what Jesus said. He says in verse 41 of chapter 19. And when he was come near, he beheld the city, talking about the city of Jerusalem, and he wept over the city of Jerusalem. Now, you know what’s amazing that today that there’s people in the paper saying that the Jews have gone back to Israel and they’ve taken the land away from the Palestinians. Wait a minute. How did the Palestinians get the land? They came in there and took it away from the Jews years before.

Here it is in the Bible 2,000 years ago, and the Jews were in Jerusalem and it was the capital of Israel. Yes or no? Yes it was. God gave it to them. Look what He said in verse 42, saying, if thou hath known, even thou at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace, but now are they hid from by night. In other words, you don’t know who I am. You wish not who it was, as our verse says.

And He says, He wept over the city of Jerusalem because they knew not the day of God’s visitation, the day God came to the earth and he visited the earth and they didn’t recognize God. They didn’t know who he was. They didn’t believe he was truly the Messiah, the King of Israel. And he says there in verse 44, and shall lay the even with the ground and thy children within thee, and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another, because, here’s why, because, thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

In other words, God came to visit and you didn’t know who He was. He told about His coming all those years in advance, all the prophecies in advance, and then when He came, they didn’t believe Him. And that’s why He says that John the Baptist was sent before them to prepare the hearts of the people for the Messiah. And that’s why he says, let the heels be brought low and let every crooked way be made straight. In other words, people get right with God.

Why? He’s coming. Prepare. He’s going to visit with you. He’s coming to the earth. Here he is. Here’s God. If you really believe that God was in your presence all the time really believed it. Would it affect the way you think, the way you dress, the way you talk? Would it affect everything in your life if you really believe that? Take your Bible look in the book of Isaiah chapter 50, the book of Isaiah and chapter 50. And look there in verse 4, I am to live as one who has learned from yesterday.

In other words, every day you live, you’re supposed to gain knowledge to make you wiser the following day. Today is the day you’re supposed to demonstrate the wisdom from what you learned yesterday. Now are you getting wiser as you get older? Or are you getting dumber? it ashamed to watch older people make more foolish, idiotic mistakes and decisions than they did 10, 15, 20 years ago. You’re supposed to be wiser now, smarter now, more stabilized now, more filled with peace and joy and purpose and all those wonderful things.

The older you get the more godlier you ought to be. Yes or no? Yes you are. Are you growing in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Here in the book of Isaiah, I want you to look there in verse 4. The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned that I should know how to speak a word in season to him, that is weary. He awakeneth morning by morning. He awakeneth my ear to hear as the learned. Christ, when he came, he made the statement over and over again.

He that hath ears to hear let him hear. That doesn’t mean that you can’t hear audible words because you can hear, but do you really hear? Do you hear what he says? When you hear the word of God, do you listen with the attitude that whatever I learn and I need to correct, I will do so. So that this service to mourn, this morning is not just another church service that you attended, but it’s one that you’re looking for things to change in your life so that when you leave, It profited you something.

It affects the way you live the rest of the week because it has a power. You heard. You really heard. Now some people were in the very presence of God and didn’t know it. And there’s Christians who go to church week after week and they hear the Bible and they even maybe read and have a devotional time and it changes absolutely nothing in their life. And you go ahead and you do the same old things, you’ve always done, you never try to correct anything, change anything.

Then God says you’re like a person who beholds their face in a mirror and then you go your own way as though you never looked. Like it never made a difference. Look there in Job chapter 7. Job chapter 7 is a story of an individual that we’ve talked about many times. I guess most of you here could relate to Job. You’ve had some hard times in life. But I want you to look there in Job chapter 7 and look first of all in verse 7.

Did you know that the Lord visits with the Lord? with you every morning, every morning, he visits you.” You say, well, I didn’t know that, I know, that’s the problem. He’s in your presence and you don’t know it. Did you know that also when you trusted Christ is your Savior, the Holy Spirit, in dwells you? Who lives within you, God? That you are in his presence, but the Bible says it’s like God comes to visit you every morning. He’s fresh and it’s things he wants to teach you this day.

But you’re supposed to know that, understand that. But look what he says here in verse seven. Oh, remember that my life is wind. Mine I shall no more see good. You know what Job was saying? It can’t get any worse than this. I mean, the bottom of them dropped out. But as he looked at life, he thought it can’t, it’ll never be any good anymore. Look what he says, my eyes shall know the more, see good. Look what he says in verse nine, as the cloud is consumed and vanishes away.

So he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more. Therefore I will not refrain my mouth. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Then he says in verse 13, when I say, my bed shall comfort me, my couch, I’ll ease my complaint.” In other words, when you get so down and discouraged, go to bed and sleep it off.

Cause you know that when you get up, everything’s gonna be changed. You know all the problems that you went to bed with if you go to sleep, when you wake up, they’re not there anymore. Have you ever heard of people who try to drown their problems in alcohol? Kinda like his one man. He tried to drown his problem. But he didn’t know his wife could swim. Some of y’all come along. You know, he’s just take your time. He says here in verse 14, So I finally go to bed.

Be get some rest. Oh Lord, when I’m awake, it’s bad enough. I don’t lost everything. My wife didn’t turn to get me. I got bad help. I got these sewers all over my body. I don’t lost 10 kids. I don’t lost all of my money and my servants. I’ve lost everything. So I’ll go to bed. Isn’t that a wonderful way to at least get some peace and quiet and a little rest? So he goes to bed. What happens when he goes to bed?

Verse 14, then thou scareth me with dreams and terrifies me through visions. In other words, I have nightmares. So daytime ain’t no good. The nighttime’s even worse. So in verse 15, so that my soul chooses strangling and death rather than life. No, you’re talking about being down, all ye down. I love it, I would not live always. Let me alone, for my days are vanity. What is man that thou should have magnified him, and that thou should have set thine heart upon him, and that thou should have visited him, and you ought to underline these two words.

Every morning, it’s in your note, he visit every morning. But notice what he says here about this, and then try at him every what? every moment. You see, when you got up this morning, God met with you and God is going to try you every moment all day long. You say, why? Because He loves you. He’s, well, I don’t need any more loving. Yes, you do. But with the trials and temptations comes the grace, the strength to bear everything that comes upon you.

But you’re supposed to believe that. But you see, if you forget who God is and what God’s doing and how He’s working in your life, then you resent everything that happens. You’ll be just like Job that loses and it’ll never get better. What a dark life. If I could, I’d strangle myself. Have you ever tried to strangle yourself? Put your hands up here and try to strangle yourself. What would happen? Now, I don’t know if you can do it or not.

I’ve never tried. It kind It reminds me of the guy that walked into the house and looked up any source friend hanging from the ceiling with a rope. Tighter on his risk. He said, what are you doing? He’s not committing suicide. He said, why didn’t you put around your neck? He said, I tried it, but I couldn’t breathe. Turning your Bible to the book of Lamentation, Lamentation is chapter 3. I read this verse to you once before in a different message, but it’s on page 836 in a Bible that’s loaned to you.

Lamentation chapter 3, look in verse 22. Our hope is supposed to be in the Lord. And you’re supposed to believe that not only does God visit me every morning, but his compassion’s are new every morning. I’ve got something new to face every day. What? I’ve got God’s compassion. It doesn’t mean he eliminates the things that will cause you to need compassion. Have you ever had trouble and you wish somebody would kind of give you a little compassion and she won’t?

A little sympathy and she won’t, or he doesn’t. A little understanding, a little kindness goes a long ways. I think women can live on flattery. Boy, you really look nice. I’ll never forget one time a person came with me. Don’t never do this, ladies. Don’t walk up to somebody and ask them unless you want an honest opinion. You like my hair? The guy has to like it or die. If he tells the truth, no, it looks like a rat nest.

You should never say that. So we are sometimes forced into the corner where we have to lie or die. And you women won’t let us tell the truth. Have you ever asked for money for their advice? But woe to them if it’s not correct. Here in the book of Lamitation Chapter Three, look in verse 22, it is of the Lord’s mercies that were not consumed. because his compassion and you ought to underline those verses. They fail not, they do not fail.

Verse 23, they are new every morning, every morning. In other words, God gives you all you need at the beginning of every day to face the day. You’re supposed to praise the Lord at the beginning of the day before you know what the day will bring. Now what do we need if you knew that today you’re gonna win the lottery and you didn’t even play. You’re supposed to rejoice of what God has got prepared for you that day before you know what he’s got prepared.

Because you know that God’s mercies and his compassion is new every morning and all that you need. And you believe that. Don’t you believe that? You believe that. That’s why you can wear a smile. And that’s why whenever things seem to go wrong, you can still keep serving God and keep getting up. The Lord’s compassion’s are new every morning. Number three, the Lord brings his judgment to light every morning. This is awesome. Look in Zephaniah chapter three. Zephaniah chapter three, page 961.

And look there in verse five. Israel had disobeyed God. The temple had been destroyed. They had been in captivity. All kind of things had gone wrong for Israel, but that’s because she rebelled against the Lord. she rebelled. She wouldn’t serve God. After all that God had done for her. Let’s see what I mean there in verse 1. Woe to her that is filthy and polluted to the oppressing city. She obeyed not the voice. She received not correction. She trusted not in the Lord.

She drew not near to her God. Now if this is a description of you, well you’re going to have a heavenly Father bait the tor out of you. and you’re not gonna enjoy your life. But realize that, like you said in verse two, obey the voice of the Lord. Receive correction. Trust in the Lord. Draw near to God. See, that’s just the opposite of rebellion. It’s called obedience. Now look in verse five. The just Lord is in the mister of.

the just Lord is in the mist thereof. Even Jesus Christ when He came says, I am in the mist of the, I’m there. I see, I hear, I understand. He lives within you. He’ll never leave you, never forsake you. You’re supposed to believe that. But it’s one thing that said, well, I had believed that. Now, live like that is true because it is true. Some people, it will change their lives. And other people, it’ll make no difference to them.

But look at the last part of verse five. He will not do iniquity because God doesn’t sin. Did you realize that God can’t sin against you? God can never do you wrong. What if he whoops the tar out of me? That’ll be right. That will be right. God can’t sin. God can’t do you wrong. God is a just holy God. Now look at the next statement. Judgment too light. Every morning death he bring his judgment to light. In other words, the things that you judge down here, you say, well that’s not fair.

That’s not fair. That’s not right. In this life, what is? Ain’t nothing fair. Why do you think there’s a judgment when you get to heaven? Because things are not fair here. If everything was fair, you wouldn’t need a judgment. Right? Like, come on. You see what I’m saying? So God says every day is to make you aware of that so that you know you live at a time when things are not always going to happen the way you want.

It should be brought to lifegom. You should see that. that. Not every day is going to be fair to you. There’s things that are against, the devil is against you. That ain’t fair. People are going to be against you. That ain’t fair. Your husband is going to hurt your feelings. If he’s going to hurt yours, that ain’t fair. Who said anything was? It’s not your job to make it equal. Have you ever heard somebody say, I’ll get even with them if it’s the last thing I do when they say get even that means they want to make it there.

He says he faileth not he faileth not Psalm 73 14 makes this statement I want you to see this because it’s so important. Every one of us are going to be chastened you’re chastened by the Lord Psalm 73 verse 14 this is what the psalmist David had to say, for all the day long have I been plagued and chastened. And here’s those two words every morning. But God visits you every morning. His compassion is new every morning. He chastens, disciplines, corrects every morning.

So you’re supposed to thank the Lord for his wonderful compassion and you say, well, I don’t want all of that. I just want no troubles. Then you don’t understand the purpose of life. But it makes this statement, all the day long have I been played and chastened every morning. Some people say, well, I wish it was like it was in the old Bible times. Well, you think, well, they had better times than what we have. It was easier for them.

It’s hard for us to date. It’s not fair. No, that’s not true. Today I apply what I learned yesterday. Today I apply what I learned yesterday. Did you learn anything yesterday? Do you have any hard time to God teach you anything yesterday? Now some people can live and learn and some people live and never learn. Which one are you? Can you learn? And then the next statement, a football team that lost today must wait a week to try again.

Aren’t you glad every moment can be a new start for believers because it’s moment by moment. You walk with the Lord one step at a time. You say, well, I just stumbled and I failed. Do you have to wait until next week to correct it? No. You don’t have to wait until another hour. You can correct the very next statement, the very next decision, the very next moment. So we have an advantage. So that’s not fair. You can always correct things in your life, aren’t you glad?

And that there’s a heavenly Father that will forgive you when you stumble, when you fall. But He loves you. Number five, I want to look this in first Chronicles, first Chronicles, but in first Chronicles and chapter 23, but they’re in verse 30. The Bible tells us that David was a man of war and that God wouldn’t let him build the house of the Lord, the new tabernacle, the temple that was going to be built. But God did allow him to put the things together so that his son Solomon could build it after he left, after he died.

Well, there was the tribe of Levi. They were the ones through which Aaron came from being a brother of Moses. They were the sons of Aaron. And they had a ministry with the priesthood. And so the Bible told these priests, this is what I want you to do. Now in the New Testament the Bible says ye are a royal priesthood and ye are kings and priests with God and shall rule and reign with the Lord. And you and I are supposed to be like a priest.

We intercede for other people. But look what he says to these people. They’re in verse 30 and to stand and you are on the line these two words and to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord. And likewise at evening. But get the first part of it. Before the day reveals its contents, you’re supposed to stand and thank the Lord and praise the Lord before you know what the Lord will bring forth in that day. That is what helps you to prepare for a day.

Otherwise, if you don’t, you get up and you automatically expect everything’s gonna work out great today. And let me hold you find that not everything works out great. And this thing goes wrong and that goes wrong and mixing all the whole day is a wreck. And you’re down and discouraged and complaining and you and Uncle Jobe sitting near in an ash heap, contemplating suicide. Or you realize that this is the day God made it. He’s already got all the compassion that I need for the day and I’m gonna need some.

Because there’s gonna be problems that are gonna come this day and God says I’ve got all the compassion you need. You may not get it from people. They may not always understand. And people will let you down. Things will always happen, the sutra and you wish sometimes you had power, you could change things. Everything that needs to be changed in your life, God is able to do so and is willing to do so. But He’s more interested in you as the person than the things that happens to you or what people think about you is that you need to understand that God came to visit with me today.

And if He came to visit with you today, have you ever had some people come to visit and you can’t wait for them to leave? ever had anybody like that? Oh you love to see company come and you love to see company go you don’t want them to live with you you just want them to visit sometimes shorter the better but if the Lord came to visit with you today this morning how long do you want them to stay today all day you want to stay all day really because if he stayed all day you realize that you really got to watch yourself all day long.

You got to like entertain. You ever, you don’t mind certain people come to visit with you because you don’t have to entertain them? Then there’s other people you feel like you always have to entertain them. Look at the bottom of the page, there’s three little things I want you to look at. You should praise the Lord before you know what the day will bring forth. God has provided all you need to face tomorrow, but you won’t get it until He says, grace for today is sufficient thereof.

You see, what breaks you down is not the burdens of today, because God gives you grace to bear today. It’s because you reach into tomorrow, and the next day, and you bring those troubles and problems into the present, and God never promised to give you the grace to bear tomorrow’s burdens in advance, and it weighs you down. We should offer the sacrifice of praise continually found in the book of Hebrews chapter 13. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida, with Dr.

Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3. 63771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at six o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live. And now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold.

Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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 and just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calbreak Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the Internet. Your regular prayer 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 through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you’ll 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.

Every Christian is going to have his work examined by God. And that’s why he says down here, We sometimes compare ourselves and commend ourselves to other people because look how good I am. I’m better than so and so and I’m doing this and they’re not doing that. I’m doing just as much as everybody else has nothing to do with anything. You do all that you can do for the Lord. Regardless of what anybody else does, you just determine, this is what I’m going to do.

I’m going to dedicate sacrifice and you do as much as you want. You can be as involved as you want, give as much as you want, whatever it is that God wants. And if you do it for the Lord, then God says you’ll have more than what somebody else would have had. This is how God says he’s going to reward, he’s going to blast. So don’t worry about everybody else. Make sure that you are doing what God wants you to do.

And don’t compare yourself with what other Christians are or are not doing. In verse 14, if any man’s work abide, which he had built there on, he shall receive a reward. Remember this, salvation going to heaven, that’s free. That’s a gift. Christ paid for our way to go to heaven. By grace are you saved. That, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of, it’s not of works. So evidently, when we’re talking about work, then we’re not talking about salvation here.

Salvation, being saved from hell and going to heaven, is when you trust the Christ to save you and take it to heaven. Heaven is not a reward that you receive because of the way you’ve lived. Salvation is grace. You don’t deserve it. It has nothing to do with what you did or didn’t do. Salvation is simply of God. Here we’re talking about works, works, works, but these works has to do with your life, what you’re going to do for him.

So he makes the statement here, If any man’s work shall be burned, that’s the hey, wouldn’t stubble, you still will be saved, but you’ve lost all your rewards of what you could have had. Is it affecting eternity? Yeah, because see when he says the day shall declare, then he’s talking about when you stand at the judgments of Christ when we get to heaven, God is going to judge every man. It’s not the sins that you’re going to have to pay for because sins have been paid.

He’s not bringing up your sin. He talked about the works that you’ve done that he can reward you for and a lot of people are going to be very surprised. But get this in verse 16. No ye not that ye are the temple of God, that the Spirit of God dwelt in you. The reason these scriptures are here because you’re talking about after your saved, you’re talking about bringing forth works, you’re talking about what you’re going to accomplish in the body.

So you to understand that this church is not really where God lives. God lives in our body. Our body is a temple of God. Now a principle that’s found in the Bible is that be ye holy for I am holy. In In other words, if God is a holy and He lives inside of you and your body is His temple where He lives, then you’re to keep your body holy for the Lord. Now He makes a statement in verse 17, If any man defile the temple of God, Him shall God destroy for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

I have had many funerals for many people who totally destroyed their body because of things that they did in their life, habits that they should not have had. They by the very process of taking liberty to do whatever they want, then they have destroyed the body and they destroyed the temple. Him shall God destroy. God will allow the sins of this life, the bad decisions to take your life. Look what he says now in verse 18. Let no man deceive himself.

Now who we talk to? Lost people are Christians. We’re talking to Christians. The context is of our Christian. Can a Christian deceive himself? Wherever, then he can. Well, it’s he going to deceive himself? It’s not going to matter. I can do whatever I want. It doesn’t matter. There’s no consequences upon my body, my physical life in this world, and it doesn’t affect that. Does it affect eternity? It affects eternity. So everything is in consideration here. As they say, everything’s on the table.

And it says, for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you get him. If any man among you, get him. Among you seemeth to be wise in this world. Let him become a fool that he may be wise. In other words, become a fool for Christ’s sake. In other words, let me just show you this. Look over there in verse nine of chapter four. He says, for I think that God has set forth us the apostles last as it were appointed to death.

For we are made a spectacle unto the world, and the angels and the men. Verse 10, we are fools for Christ’s sake. But you’re wise, and we’re fools. We are weak, oh, but you’re strong. You’re honorable, and we’re despised. In other words, Paul’s a look, we’re doing what’s right, and look how people, the world treats us. You want the blessings of the world. So that means you gotta please the world. You gotta live like the world, act like the world, think like the world, do like the world, and the world will leave you alone.

But stand against the world. and you’ll find out that you’re gonna be criticized and people ain’t gonna love you too much. And you’re gonna have to suffer consequences. And in their eyes, you’re the fool and they’re so wise. In verse 20 of chapter three, the first Corinthians. And again, the Lord, and you are on the line of the senior Bible, the Lord, knoweth the thoughts of the wise that they are vain, they’re empty. Just because a man in this world can make a million dollars, He doesn’t mean He’s wise in God’s eyes, because He fails to lay up treasure in heaven.

That man is a fool. A fool, God says. Not smart, not wise, He’s a fool. And doesn’t matter what you can accomplish. We’re not going to stay here forever. We’re going to be gone one of these days. And then what? Romans 14 and look there in verse 10. Verses 10 to verse 13. But why does Thou judge Thy brother? Oh, why does Thou set at not Thy brother? In other words, it’s so easy for us to see the sin in other people’s lives, to see their failures, their weaknesses, and point them out, either to them or about them behind their back, whatever may be.

And we believe that’s called discernment. We can discern everything on somebody else’s life, but very seldom are able to discern ones in our own life. And the last part of verse 10, for we shall all, and you are on the line that’s in your Bible, we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. You see, you can’t make somebody live right. You can only teach proper doctrine, and then they have to make that decision for themselves. So the Bible tells us that the day is coming when we will be at the judgment seat of Christ, it takes place in heaven, not upon the earth in heaven after we leave this world and God is going to reward you.

And he says, and every man shall receive his own reward. Every man shall give account of himself. You’re not going to heaven to give account of everybody else. You got account for yourself. Make it what he says. In verse 11, for it is written, as I live saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, tongue shall confess to God. Verse 12, so then every one of us shall give account of himself to God, of himself. That’s you, the individual.

So are you going to be held accountable for this life? You are held accountable for this life. Word indeed, and the Bible also refers to thoughts. Isn’t that enough to scare you to death? But not the sins of this world, that which fails to meet the criteria for rewards before God. He says to discern what sort it is, whether it’s gold, silver and precious stones or haywood and stubble. Haywood and stubble is not necessarily sin. Haywood and stubble can simply be bad choices, not the best choice.

You see in Philippians in chapter 1 he says that you may grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that you may be able to prove that which is more excellent. See sometimes in life we just make some good choices but it may not be the best choice, the excellent choice. So you go through life making decisions but sometimes you may not pray about many of your decisions. You just do them because in your heart my motive is clean, I’m pure, I’m right and therefore I don’t see anything wrong with it but may not be the will of God.

Always seek the will of God in everything that you do. All I want you to do is to simply always do what you believe God would want you to do. Just do what you believe God would want you to do. And if God wants you to do it, do it. Every man rises or falls on himself and his own faithfulness to God. Now look at verse 13. Verse 13 is so important because it’s not just talking about you. Now the responsibility is not just concerning yourself, but it’s also upon how you affect other individuals In verse 13, let us not therefore judge one another anymore But judge this rather let no man and you are on the line this in your Bible No man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way is God going to hold you accountable for what you became in the eyes of someone else because you are

to be an example and some people can’t fall and stumble over decisions that you make. That’s why your life is not just about you. You’re not an island under yourself. You affect other other people’s lives. And God says that we can affect other people’s lives. And we’re supposed to try to persuade people, be thou an example of the believer in word and indeed attitude. So don’t just judge things by whether or not, well, it doesn’t hurt me. It doesn’t bother me.

Okay. But what about somebody else? Ephesians chapter 1 and look in verse 13, 13. It says, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, after you heard the truth, you understood you trusted Christ. The gospel, the good news of your salvation, how you could be saved, have eternal life. In whom Christ, the very moment you believed, the Bible says you were sealed, sealed with the Holy Spirit a promise, sealed because the the Holy Spirit was promised by Jesus Christ, John 14.

And He makes this statement, I will ask the Father, and He shall send you the Holy Spirit that He may be with you and dwell in you forever. So when you received the Holy Spirit, He came as a result of the prayer of Jesus Christ, not your prayer. You don’t pray down the Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes the day you trust in Christ as your Savior, the very moment, as a result of the promise that God had already made.

So the very day you trusted Christ, you were sealed by the Holy Spirit into Jesus Christ, sealed into the body of Christ. He makes the statement here in verse 14, which is the earnest of our inheritance. That means the down payment. The earnest is a down payment. And if you got this, that means that the guarantee, you’re gonna get the rest. So the day you trusted Christ, you received the Holy Spirit, That’s the down payment, the earnest of our inheritance, until you get total possession of everything God’s promised.

See, we’re not through yet, we’re not home yet. We may have a few years to live in this life. And then we’re gonna leave this world and we’re gonna get what God promised in His word. He says, you are heirs of God and join heirs with Christ. We have some possessions that we’re gonna take hold of. And then there’s things that God’s gonna give to you, not just because you’re His Son, but because you have labored for him, you’ve worked for him the rewards that God has promised.

Now, Ephesians chapter four, 29 through 32, 29 through 32. In verse 29, it says, let, therefore not, this is a principle in the world of God. There might be some words that you hear that are profanity, but they may not be found in the Bible. But look as a principle in the world of God, They should help you to understand this is not pleasing. This does not add grace to the hearers. So he says in verse 20, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth.

This is to the Christian. It’s to those who are living in this world here and now, look there in chapter three. I want you to see this in chapter three. Look there in verse 15. He says, of whom the whole family of God and everybody in the world is not in the family of God. Only those who are born into God’s family are His children. So therefore the whole family, there’s some who have already died and they’re in heaven.

Some that are still upon the earth. And I like to believe that you are in the family of God. But get what he says here. He says of whom the whole family and heaven and earth is named that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might. By his spirit in the inner man, that’s that new birth of yours, that when you trust it, Christ, that’s that inner man, the new man, that he would grant you in this life, in this world, at this time, this is the will of God for you.

He said that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted and grounded. See a root of a tree goes down into the ground in order to get the nutriments and the water that it needs to sustain us up. we are rooted in the word of God and our roots are supposed to be wrapped around these solid rocks in the word of God so that we could become strong and be able to stand against the wind of adversity or the various winds of doctrine that comes in our life.

So that you are anchored in the Bible says in the book of Psalms in chapter one talks about where planted like trees by the rivers of water. That’s to the Christian that puts the Lord first. He said that ye being rooted and grounded in love, get this. May be able not only to know, but to do something. As those that are members of the family of God in this life, at this moment, this time, may be able to comprehend what all saints, what is the breadth and the length and the depth and the height of the love of God.

In other words, everything in life, all the trials and temptations, the pressures and you name it, is all trying to teach you one thing, the love of God. There’s things that will challenge your faith, challenge your love for God. You see, God doesn’t want anybody to put anything between Him and God. The life is filled with things that if you ever take your eyes off the Lord it will be replaced by the things of the world that are temporary and that will eat up your life and you will lose.

Not salvation but you’ll be losing rewards that you could have had. So God says I want you to know me in every situation, under every circumstance, every problem, every heartache, every pressure, you name it, I want you to learn the love of God. Get what he says and the depth and the height and to know the love of God You see that’s why we’re still left here to learn how much God really loves us And it reveals also your steadfastness to the Lord and how much do you really?

Love God Isn’t it easy to say these words? I love God say those words with him. I love God said again I can hear you I love God said again I love God. Can you are you saying it? I love God say it one more time. I love God. See how easy that was? Now, how do you know if you really love God? Let God test you. Let him bring along something that you might swap him for. Would you trade the love of God?

See God says that there’s nothing that’ll ever separate you from his love for you. You, tribulation, you name it, there’s nothing. Romans chapter 8 that can come between God’s love for you. His is the everlasting love. Alright, now let’s just reverse it. Is there anything that can come between you and you love in God? What if he sent you cancer? What if he took all your money away? What do you feel about him now? I told the basketball kids this yesterday, I said, look, when you won your game and you beat that other team by 46 points in the second half I says a couple of the kids made to comment boy at yank is a good coach and then they lost a couple games I bet they’re ready to fire me see I’m good or bad basically how they play I love God yeah you can love

God but what if you don’t give what you want what if God takes your loved one what if God takes away our church What if God takes away your help, takes away your job? Do you still love God and you’ll be just as faithful though nothing ever happened? And you’ll still be just like that Maaza, hmm, or you’re gonna be running like a Volkswagen. Get what he says in verse 19. And to know the love of Christ which passes human knowledge, you see, you can’t learn a lot of things about God with the human knowledge.

God use human experiences to teach you spiritual truth if you’re discerning. So he says that you might be filled with all the fullness of God, in other words that makes you more like God. Don’t you want God to make you like Him, to create you in His image? Life itself is to develop the characteristics of God. Now, give what he says in verse 30. This is too far. I was going to leave this, but this is too good. Now, under him, that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, not in heaven, down here.

Now, under him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worked at us. Get this according to the power that worked at us. If the power of God is not working in you know, then you’re not. not going to see anything happen. You’re not going to understand anything. You’re not going to discern anything. And your life is just one dull, boring Christian life because you’re not seeing God work in your life.

What is talking about those who will let the power of God work in your life according to the knowledge that you already have. But see, if you won’t live according to the truth that God’s given to you, why should God keep giving you more knowledge? More light to see, to understand when you won’t obey that, which you already know to obey, won’t do it. It’s an individual thing. On to Him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ throughout all ages, world without end.

In other words, there’s a lot of things coming that we haven’t yet began to understand. Look now in verse 30. Verse 30, He says, and grieve not, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed until the day of redemption. That’s the redemption of the body. Your souls already been redeemed. That’s what we can say and say, I’m redeemed. Well, the soul has been redeemed, been made sure and holy and watch why did it snow. That’s the soul.

That’s you, but not your body. Your body still is worse as the days go by. In verse 31, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. This is to the child of God. This is the great. This is your testimony. Be kind one to another, tender, hearted, forgiving one another. Why? God forgave you for Christ, He forgave you. Why can’t we forgive other people who wrongness? And some of who carried bitterness and drudges to our grave before we’ll forgive somebody who wrong.

You wronged me 30 years ago and I’ll never forget it. Well, God bless your Christian in that attitude. I hope you’re proud of that. Now look in chapter 5 and verse 1. Be, therefore, followers of God. That word following means imitators. Imitators of God as dear children. Walk in love as Christ also had loved us and had given Himself for an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling saver. In other words, your walk in love before God as an example seeking to be an imitator of God, God said, oh, that smells good.

But He says there are some things I don’t want you to do. Down in verse eight, he says, for ye were sometimes darkness, now your light in the Lord walk is children of life. Now, on the line verse 10 in your Bible. In verse 10, proving what is, and you are on the line this again, what is acceptable on the God? Christian life is not what’s acceptable to you. It’s not what’s acceptable to me. Well, I don’t see anything that has nothing to do with your viewpoint.

It’s God’s viewpoint. Serving God is finding out what God wants, what pleases God and doing that. How you doing? There are things in your life that you know is not acceptable to God, and you ain’t gonna quit it or stop it. You don’t care what? Do you think God is pleased and happy with that result? That attitude? You see, stay in teachable, and pliable in the hands of God is one of the greatest things you’ll ever do in this life.

You see, you in the state teachable, and pliable, or you become hard-hearted. You become stiff-necked. You won’t bend. You won’t yield. God, God, I have to break you. sooner or later something God’s going to have to lower the boom. He’s patient. He’s a good God, a loving God. He’s patient, but that moment is coming. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. You see, if you’re wise, you realize, I’m not going to be here forever.

I’m going to do what I can, while I can, do what you can, why you can. And then learning priorities, What is the most important thing that I can do? In verse 17, Wherefore, be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. If you knew the will of God, would you do it? If you really knew the will of God, would you do it? I hope so. Look up here. If you don’t know Christ as your Savior, I can assure you this is the will of God.

Listen, this is you and me. This wallet represents sin. We have all sinned, but God loves us but He hates our sin. And for us to pay for the sin is eternal separation from God in hell. But God loves us and He wants us to go to heaven. And to go to heaven we have to be perfect as righteous as God and nobody != perfect. Nobody is righteous. We are all sinners. You see we can’t go to heaven because God won’t let sin in there.

So how can I get rid of my sin? But God loves us and to pay for that death in hell. But God says you can’t pay for sin by going to church and living a good life. and given money, those good deeds will never pay for sin. The sin represents Jesus Christ, he’s the Lord, he’s God in a flesh. He came into the world because he loves us, he hates our sin because it separates us from him. So Jesus Christ took the sin, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead.

And God said that if you or I, anyone in the whole world, if we would believe that Jesus Christ did that for us, did what, paid for our sins? If you’ll believe he did it for you, He will put this payment that He made for the world. He’ll put it to your account. And there’s enough to pay for everything you’ve ever thought, said or done from the time you’re born to the time you die. God’s grace is sufficient to cover all of our sins.

And we get to go to heaven on what He did. That’s a gift, that’s free. See, if I offered you my wallet and you accepted you to have a wallet and if I offered you my Bible and you accepted you to have a Bible. And if Jesus Christ walked in here and offered you eternal life and you accepted what would you have? Eternal life. And if it’s eternal life, it lasts forever. And if it lasts forever and all you sins are paid, then where would you go when you die?

You’d go to heaven when you die. So I hope that you trusted Christ as your Savior if you haven’t do it right now. Let’s pray, shall we? Every head bowed and every eye closed, no one looking around. If you’re here this morning and you’ve never trust the Lord, find it right now, just talk to the Lord and say something simple like this. Lord, I know I’m a sinner. I know I’m not perfect. And Father, I realize that I cannot save myself, that you won’t give me eternal life because I’m good enough.

I’m a sinner. I don’t deserve it. But you love me and you paid for my sins. And so this morning, this moment right now, I will accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. And friend, if you’ll do just that much, God said he would save you from hell, give you eternal life, you would become his child, his child forever. So if you’ve never done it before and you’ll do it right now, I’d like to have prayer for you. I’m not going to embarrass you, I’m not going to have you forward.

I’m not going to have you stand up, but I’m going to ask you in just a moment with heads bow nice, closed so that nobody will be embarrassed. If you will trust Christ as your Savior to let me know by raising your hand, raising your hand does not save you. It just lets me know that what I said made sense to you. And you said, yes, that made sense to me. And right now, I’ll trust Jesus Christ as my Savior.

Our Father, we do thank You so much for Your Word that You’ve given us. And help us Father to always keep these things fresh and anew in our minds. Because we live in a deceitful world. It’s so easy to be full, deceived by so many things, so many people. Help us to keep our eyes upon You, and keep doing what’s right. Well, thank You for the Christ’s name. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr.

Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our home page.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 10.30 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live. And now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. We will be changed. Hot up to meet the Lord in the air.

to live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Clearly declaring the Gospel of Jesus Christ’s 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 1-800-576-766. 3, 7, 7, 1. Online donations may be made through the Bible-lined website at calbryoftampa.org. 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.

It says here in Philippians in chapter 3 verse 1, brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. In other words, I haven’t arrived yet. I got a long way to go. Really the way we should think. Never see yourself as a completed individual. Now your salvation, when you trusted Christ as your Savior, you were complete in Christ, you were made perfect. But as far as our lives upon the earth, we have not yet adapted to all the things that God wants for us.

So we always have something to strive for, something to live for, something to improve upon. And he says, but this one thing I do Forgetting those things which are behind how far you’ve come. You got to think about how far you need to go and Reaching forth under those things which are before this keeps you from living in the past and looking toward the future I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus There’s something that God has for us.

It’s out there that we have not yet received Salvation going to heaven. That’s a gift. That’s free. We’ve already received that But there’s a lot more in this life and there’s a lot more when we get to heaven that God has for us So the thing is is can we be found faithful and verse 15 says let us therefore in light of what we’ve already read Therefore as many as be perfect. That’s those who have trusted Christ as their Savior and have been made perfect in Christ Be thus minding the worst think this way and if in anything you be otherwise minded God shall reveal even this under you Did you understand that when desire is to serve the Lord and if you’re not doing the things that you’re supposed to be doing whether and thought or deed That when you read the word of

God and you stay yielded to the Lord God will as a promise reveal it to you now You may be in a spiritual condition where you’re not related to receive it, but hopefully you will but get what else he says nevertheless Where to we have already attained? Let us walk by the same rule.” In other words, what you have already learned, all the right that you now note to do, do that. Walk according to the light you have, walk according to the truth you have, walk according to the maturity that you’ve already received.

It’s a shame for a child of God who has matured in the Lord to go back into a second childhood and then act like a newborn babe again, like he hasn’t learned anything. Let us mind the same thing. In other words, if I listen to God and you listen to God, can you tell me why we can’t get along? If I do what God says and you do what God says, why can’t we be in agreement? When the Bible talks about let us be of the same mind, it means we’re all thinking the same way.

Well, the only way we’re going to ever agree is if we agree with Him. But when you start disagreeing with God, then you’re going to disagree with people. And this is where all the trouble in the world comes from because we are not in harmony with the Lord. Brethren, be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as you have us for an example. Can you be able to say to other people, I want you to follow my example because every one of us are examples.

And we’re not perfect examples, but we are examples. And hopefully we’re increasing in our steadfastness and our walk with the Lord. For many what, now get this, of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. Can a child of God be an enemy of the gospel? Yes, by his actions. By the way you live. Whose end is destruction, it always destroys. Whose God is their belly, it means their own inward desires.

And whose glory is their shame, and the reason is because they mind earthly things. Well, a lost man, you expect that, but not from a child of God. You expect a child of God to mind heavenly things, spiritual things. Let us that have been raised from the dead seek those things which are above minding heavenly things and many of God’s people on and that’s where the weeping comes and so I believe it’s a very important thing and I want to share some of those thoughts with you this morning.

Let’s pray, shall we? Our Father once again we thank you so much for all you’ve done for us for the free gift of eternal life and we ask Father your blessings upon those that are not able to be here today because of various reasons some are sick and some may be out of town, but whatever the reasons are, we pray Lord that you have your will in their life. And Father, we ask not your blessings upon this service. Use us for your own engloring Christ and we pray.

Amen. Take our Bible and turn to the book of 1 Corinthians and chapter 3. 1 Corinthians and chapter 3. I told a man one day, because that’s our talk of them. He thought that if you smoke, you went to hell. And I toldSpaceEngineers I said, I’d rather you smoke here than smoke later. Smoking will not send you to hell. Going to movies won’t send you to hell. Drinking ain’t going to send you to hell. There’s only one thing that sends a person to hell.

And that’s rejecting the payment Christ made on the cross for them. As we know, the Bible teaches that a man is saved by grace. It’s free. Grace means it’s not of works. And salvation has to last forever or it’s not the gospel. It has to be free or it’s not the gospel. There’s a lot of people that talk about their preaching the gospel, but if they don’t make it free and don’t make it forever, then it’s not the gospel.

The good news is that a man can have eternal life by simply accepting the payment Christ made on the cross for him. And so you don’t have to quit anything, join anything, not in your eternal destination, but there’s a lot more than just being born into this world. When you were born into this world, believe it or not, you really did not understand the physical life. You didn’t understand what was waiting for you out there. You were just a little baby.

There was a whole new world for you to learn. There’s a lot of things that you had to learn to do, like walk and talk. the first two or three years, all they do is try to teach you how to walk and talk. And then the rest of your life, the Sedan and Shaddah, this world that you would have missed if you’d have never got out of your diapers. When it comes to trusting Christ as Savior, yet that’s just the birth into God’s family.

That was a free gift. You didn’t earn it, you didn’t work for it, you accepted Christ as Savior, you became a child of God. As a child of God, many of God’s children never mature. They never grow on. They never go any further. So there’s another world that they have missed out on. They live by sight, not by faith. They see, they understand by the physical body and their limits of discernment is only according to that which they’ve learned in the natural world.

So therefore they can’t spiritual decisions. I want you to notice there in verse 8. Now he that planet and he that waterth are one and get these two words, every man shall receive his own reward according to his or her own labor. So every man, every woman will receive something for what they did after they trusted Christ of Savior. See God does not reward you for anything you did before you got saved because you see it didn’t add to your account you were not a child of God.

God’s only can reward people in heaven that are His children so it has to start after you trusted Christ of Savior. Your rewards is from the day you trusted Christ of because then and only then can you actually do it for God. You didn’t do it for Him before. The key to save in a person’s life is to lead them to the Lord at an early age so they can serve the Lord with more of the time that God’s given them to live.

Every man that’s every person, that’s you, that’s me. That’s accountability. That means that there is a God in heaven that is watching over his children. Everything that we say, everything that we do, and God is going to reward us accordingly. And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. You don’t get the reward for somebody else’s labor. If we did, that’d be alright with me, but I’m not sure that’s in the Bible. I believe you’re going to be rewarded for what you did.

So it’s a personal thing. Nobody can walk with God for you. Nobody can serve God for you. You are the one that must determine what you’re going to do for the Lord. Now, I want you to look there in verse 10. And the last statement in verse 10 says, But let every man take heed how he built it there upon. See, after you’ve trusted Christ as your Savior, Every person is to take heed how he builds his life, building their upon upon what upon a foundation.

Well, what is the foundation? See, they’re in verse 11, for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. After you’ve trusted Christ as Savior, you’ve been placed on the foundation. There is no other foundation for you to build on. God does not want you to build your life upon sand, but upon the solid rock which is Jesus Christ. So he says to every man who is on the foundation upon Christ, you trusted a measure of Savior, take heed how you build.

Now if you get to where you don’t think it’s that important, then you’re not taking care and how you build. You don’t really care. But if you do care, you’ve got to be concerned about everything in life because it’s all going to affect your life. So he makes a statement in verse 12. down in view of what we’ve said. If any man build upon this foundation, go silver precious stones. That’s the things you do for the Lord. And he says, precious don’t, hey, wouldn’t stubble.

Hey wouldn’t stubble. That’s the things you do. That’s a total waste of your life. That’s things done in the flesh. And you can build a house out of hey wouldn’t stubble and you can build out gold, silver and precious stones. You set a fire to it. Which one’s going to last. Well the fire is the eyes of God because you see God going to judge everything through his eyes not our eyes. That’s why in life it’s not so important as how you see things is how God sees things.

Am I doing that which is acceptable to God? What does God accept? So when you see things through the eyes of scripture you’re seeing things through the eyes of God and you’re the discern according to that. I’ve had people say, Well, I don’t see anything wrong with me going here. I don’t see anything wrong with me saying this. And I don’t see anything and the problem is they were saying the right words. I don’t see. They just don’t see.

So you’re talking about gaining discernment. You’re growing up in the Lord. You’re learning the word of God. So you’re gonna have better discernment. You’ll make better decisions. And you’re not thinking about just this life. You’re thinking about eternal values. So important. Then in verse 13, every man’s work shall be made manifest. Every man’s work is not talking about everybody whole world. We’re not talking about the believers. Those who trust the Christ to say to them, every man, every Christian is going to have his work examined by God.

And that’s why he says down here, we sometimes compare ourselves and commend ourselves to other people because look how good I am. I’m better than so and so and I’m doing this and they’re not doing that. I’m doing just as much as everybody else has nothing to do with anything. You do all that you can do for the Lord regardless of what anybody else does. You just determine, this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to dedicate sacrifice and you do as much as you want.

You can be as involved as you want, give as much as you want, whatever it is that God wants. And if you do it for the Lord, then God says you’ll have more than what somebody else would have had. This is how God says he’s going to reward. He’s going to bless. So don’t worry about everybody else. Make sure that you are doing what God wants you to do. And don’t compare yourself with what other Christians are or are not doing.

In verse 14, if any man’s work abide, which he had built there on, he shall receive a reward. Remember this, salvation going to heaven, that’s free. That’s a gift. Christ paid for our way to go to heaven. By grace are you saved. That not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of, it’s not of works. So evidently when we’re talking about work, then we’re not talking about salvation here. And being saved from hell and going to heaven is when you trust Christ to save you and take it to heaven.

Heaven is not a reward that you receive because of the way you’ve lived. Salvation is grace. You don’t deserve it. It has nothing to do with what you did or didn’t do. Salvation is simply of God. Here we’re talking about works, works, works, but these works has to do with your life, what you’re going to do for him. So he makes the statement here, if any man’s work shall be burned, that’s the haywood and stubble, you still will be saved, but you’ve lost all your rewards of what you could have had.

Is it affecting eternity? Yeah, because see when he says the day shall declare it, then he’s talking about when you stand at the Judgement City of Christ. When we get to heaven. heaven, God is going to judge every man. It’s not the sin that you’re going to have to pay for because sins have been paid. He’s not bringing up your sin. He’s talking about the works that you’ve done that he can reward you for. And a lot of people are going to be very surprised.

But get this in verse 16. No ye not that ye are the temple of God, that the spirit of God dwelleth in you. The reason these scriptures are here because you’re talking about after you’re saved, you’re talking about bringing forth works, you’re talking about what you’re going to accomplish in the body. So you understand that this church is not really where God lives. God lives in our body. Our body is a temple of God. Now a principle that’s found in the Bible is that be ye holy for I am holy.

In other words, if God is a holy and he lives inside of you and your body is his temple where he lives, then you’re to keep your body holy for the Lord. Now he makes a statement in verse 17, If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. I have had many funerals for many people who totally destroyed their body because of things that they did in their life, habits that they should not have had.

They by the very process of taking liberty to do whatever they want, then they have destroyed the body and they destroyed the temple. Him shall God destroy. God will allow the sins of this life, the bad decisions to take your life. Look what he says now in verse 18. Let no man deceive himself. Now who we talk to? Lost people are Christians. We’re talking to Christians. The context is about Christian. Can a Christian deceive himself? Wherever then he can.

Well, is he going to deceive himself? It’s not going to matter. I can do whatever I want. It doesn’t matter. There’s no consequences upon my body, my physical life in this world. And it doesn’t affect that. Does it affect eternity? It affects eternity. So everything is in consideration here. As they say everything’s on the table. And it says, for the temple of God is Holy, which temple ye are? Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you, get to him.

If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise. In other words, become a fool for Christ’s sake. In other words, let me just show you this. Look over there in verse 9 of chapter 4. He says, for I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last as it were appointed to death. For we are made a spectacle unto the world and the angels and the men.

Verse 10, we are fools for Christ’s sake. Oh, but you’re wise, and we’re fools. We are weak, oh, but you’re strong. You are honorable and we’re despised. In other words, Paul said, look, we’re doing what’s right. And look how people, the world treats us. You want the blessings of the world. So that means you’ve got to please the world. You’ve got to live like the world, act like the world, think like the world, do like the world, and the world will leave you alone, but stand against the world.

And you’ll find out that you’re going to be criticized and people ain’t going to love you too much. And you’re going to have to suffer consequences. And in their eyes, you’re the fool, and there shall wise. In verse 20 of chapter 3, and again the Lord, and you are on the line of senior Bible, the Lord, knoweth the thoughts of the wise that they are vain, they’re empty. Just because a man in this world can make a million dollars, does it mean he’s wise in God’s eyes?

Because he fails to lay up treasure in heaven, that man as a fool. A fool, God says. Not smart, not wise, he’s a fool. It doesn’t matter what you can accomplish. We’re not going to stay here forever. We’re going to be gone one of these days. And then what? Romans chapter 14 and look there in verse 10. Verses 10 to verse 13. But why does thou judge thy brother? Oh why does thou set at not thy brother? In the words it’s so easy for us to see the sin in other people’s lives, to see their failures, their weaknesses and point them out, either to them or about them behind their back, whatever may be.

And we believe that’s called discernment. We can discern everything on somebody else’s life, but very seldom are able to discern the ones in our own life. In the last part of verse 10, for we shall all, and you are on the line that’s in your Bible, we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. You see, you can’t make somebody live right. You can only teach proper doctrine, and then they have to make that decision for themselves. So the Bible tells us that the day is coming when we will be at the judgment seat of Christ this takes place in heaven, not upon the earth in heaven after we leave this world.

And God is going to reward you. And it says, and every man shall receive his own reward. Every man shall give account of himself. You’re not going to heaven to give account of everybody else. You got to account for yourself. Make it what he says. verse 11, for it is written, as I live saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, every tongue shall confess to God. Verse 12, so then every one of us shall give account of himself to God, of himself, that’s you, the individual.

So are you going to be held accountable for this life? You are held accountable for this life. Word indeed. And the Bible also refers to thoughts. Isn’t that enough to scare you to death? But not the sins of this world, but that which fails to meet the criteria for rewards before God. He says to discern what sort it is, whether it’s gold, silver and precious stones, or haywood and stubble. Haywood and stubble is not necessarily sin, he wouldn’t stumble can simply be bad choices, not the best choice.

You see in Philippians in chapter one he says that you may grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that you may be able to prove that which is more excellent. See sometimes in life we just make some good choices but it may not be the best choice, the excellent choice. So you go through life making decisions but Sometimes you may not pray about many of your decisions. You just do them because in your heart my motive is clean, I’m pure, I’m right, and therefore I don’t see anything wrong with it, but may not be the will of God.

Always seek the will of God in everything that you do. All I want you to do is to simply always do what you believe God would want you to do. Just do what you believe God would want you to do. And if God wants you to do it, do it. man rises or falls on himself and his own faithfulness to God. Now look in verse 13. Verse 13 is so important because it’s not just talking about you. Now the responsibility is not just concerning yourself but it’s also upon how you affect other individuals.

In verse 13 let us not therefore judge one another anymore, but judge this rather. Let no man, and you ought to underline this in your Bible, no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way. Is God going to hold you accountable for what you became in the eyes of someone else because you are to be an example. And some people can’t fall and stumble over decisions that you make. That’s why your life is not just about you.

You are not on the island unto yourself. You affect other people’s lives. And God says that we can affect other people’s lives. And we’re supposed to try to persuade people, be thou an example of the believer in word and indeed attitude. So don’t just judge things by whether or not well it doesn’t hurt me. It doesn’t bother me. Okay, but what about somebody else? Ephesians chapter 1 and look in verse 13, verse 13. It says, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, after you heard the truth, you understood, you trusted Christ, the gospel, the good news of your salvation, how you could be saved, how you could turn the line.

In home Christ, the very moment you believed. The Bible says you were sealed, sealed, but the Holy Spirit of promise, sealed because the Holy Spirit was promised by Jesus Christ, John 14. And He makes His statement, I will ask the Father and He shall send you the Holy Spirit that He may be with you and dwell in you forever. So when you received the Holy Spirit, he came as a result of the prayer of Jesus Christ, not your prayer.

You don’t pray down the Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes the day you trusted Christ as your Savior. The very moment as a result of the promise that God had already made. So the very day you trusted Christ, you were sealed by the Holy Spirit into Jesus Christ, sealed into the body of Christ. He makes the statement here in verse 14, which is the earnest of our inheritance. That means the down payment. The earnest is a down payment.

And if you got this, that means that the guarantee you’re gonna get the rest. So the day you trusted Christ, you received the Holy Spirit, that’s the down payment, the earnest of our inheritance until you get total possession of everything God’s promise. See, we’re not through yet, we’re not home yet. We may have a few years to live in this life. And then we’re going to leave this world and we’re going to get what God promised in his Word.

He says, your heirs of God and join heirs with Christ, we have some possessions that we’re going to take hold of. And then there’s things that God’s going to give to you, not just because you’re His Son, but because you have labored for Him. You’ve worked for Him. They’re rewards that God has promised. Now, Ephesians 4, 29 through 32. 29 through 32. In verse 29 it says, let, therefore not, this is a principle in the word of God. There might be some words that you hear that are profanity, but they may not be found in the Bible.

But look as a principle in the word of God, it should help you to understand this is not pleasing. This does not add grace to the hearers. So he says in verse 20, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. This is to the Christian. It’s to those who are living in this world here and now look there in chapter 3. I want you to see this in chapter 3. Look there in verse 15. He says, of whom the whole family of God and everybody in the world is not in the family of God.

who are born in the God’s family are his children. So therefore the whole family, there are some who have already died and they are in heaven, some that are still upon the earth. And I like to believe that you are in the family of God. But get what he says here. He says of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man.

That’s that new birth of yours. That when you trust in Christ, that’s that inner man, the new man. That he would grant you in this life, in this world, at this time, this is the will of God for you. He said that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted, rooted and grounded. See a root of a tree goes down into the ground in order to get the nutriments and the water that it needs to sustain itself.

But we are rooted and grounded in the Word of God and our roots are supposed to be wrapped around these solid rocks in the Word of God so that we can become strong and be able to stand against the wind of adversity or the various winds of doctrine that comes in our life. So that you are anchored in the Bible says in the book of Psalms in chapter 1 talks about where planted like trees by the rivers of water, of that’s to the Christian that puts the Lord first.

You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. Our two of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound. 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.