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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 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.

What would you know if God hadn’t revealed it? What would you know if God hadn’t told you? There are some things that if God had not told us, we’d be in the dark. You could not have thought this up on your own like it is in the Bible. The natural mind could not think such holy stuff. Man’s mind who writes men’s books and men’s movies and things like that, most of them all are on love, sex, money, power, stuff like that.

But God’s Word is on pureness and holiness, godliness. You wouldn’t know there was a heaven if the Bible didn’t tell us. You wouldn’t know there was a hell if the Bible didn’t tell us. You would never have come up with the idea of a man being born into this world without a human father, by a miraculous way that God is going to take and by the power of the Holy Spirit, place the seed within the womb of Mary and she has a baby and without a man.

Adam, see, he was made without a mother and father. Eve didn’t have a mother and father, but she was made from a rib. Every once in a while, you know my wife, she counts my ribs. Once to make sure there’s not another woman in my life. First Timothy chapter three, look there in verse 16. It says in verse 16, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. There is a lot of arguments about whether or not this ever really took place.

This is talking about the incarnation. talking about God coming into the world and being born in a human form as a baby and living a totally perfect life, totally without fault or mistakes. And growing up to be a man of about 30 years old and having a ministry, a man could not have just designed something like this in his mind because you don’t think like this, a perfect individual and it was God who came out of a man didn’t design this because it would have been a little impossible to have come up with all the ways the Bible was written.

You’re talking about a book that’s been written over sixteen hundred years by between thirty five to forty different writers living at different periods of time never meeting the other writers and yet all of it all put together talks about one person and each one revealing different things. That is a miracle. No other book has ever been written like this book. Great is the mystery of godliness. The mystery of God and the mystery is not a, you know, this is a murder mystery.

You know, the real intents and you got to try to figure out who did it, the Butler. This is different. A mystery in the Bible is a truth that was hidden in times past but now revealed for the first time. So when you see this word mystery like this, it means here is a truth that is being revealed for the first time so that people can understand this awesome thing. And he says, great is this story, this mystery about how God taken upon flesh and been born as a child, that’s an awesome story.

But if the Bible didn’t tell us, we would not know it. It makes a statement in the book of Corinthians in chapter 2, he says, if the princes of this world were so smart, so wise, why then did they crucify the Lord of glory? If they were wise, if they were smart, you see, if the people of the world today were so smart, why don’t they trust Christ as their Savior if they’re so smart? And why do the people in our universities and colleges They study all these things and the foundation of them is a lie.

Every person who believes in evolution believes a lie. So lie. The whole thing is based on a lie because the alternative to evolution is creation. If you don’t believe in a God, you can’t believe in creation. So the alternative is you have to believe in evolution. So evolution is the religion of an atheist. It’s what an atheist believes. But a Christian shouldn’t believe in evolution. Difficult for an atheist to believe in creation by a creator. Not only was the mystery of what happened to Jesus being born, but it also said justified in the spirit, seeing of angels, priests unto the Gentiles believed on in the world, and received up in the glory.

In other words, He came from heaven into the world, left the world, and went back up into heaven. Now that, some story, in just that itself, what an awesome story. Now take your Bible and look there in the book of Colossians in chapter 1, the book of Colossians and chapter 1. And look there in verse 27. Verse 27, you would not figure this out if God had not revealed it. You wouldn’t have known it. So there’s things that God says the secret thing belonging unto the Lord.

So what we do know is because God has seen fit to reveal them to us. So God has seen fit to reveal a new truth to us that people in the Old Testament never knew, never heard. And that was in the Old Testament even the Holy Spirit would come upon an individual to do a particular job and then would leave and could give them tremendous power, Samson, the strongest man in the world, was strong not because of his hair, he was strong because of the Lord.

The Bible says that when he lost his strength, it says he wished not that the spirit was no longer on him. So the Holy Spirit could come upon an individual and do mighty things to an individual, could reveal things to them, speak through the individual. But when the Holy Spirit had done its job through that person, then the Holy Spirit would leave. That’s why David says, I prayed that thou pay not thy Holy Spirit from me. You and I don’t pray a prayer like that.

I say, well, why not? Because when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and I, he doesn’t come upon us, he comes within you. You and I have the Holy Spirit living within us, inside of us. And he promised he’ll never leave you and never forsake you. But see, if the Lord’s word didn’t tell us that you wouldn’t know that because you can’t feel a Spirit. Is he? Oh, no, I’m saying why because I and feel the Spirit moving around inside of me.

You don’t feel that. Now there’s time when you have experiences of joy and you can even bubble over and you can shout and praise God on the… That’s the overflow of some knowledge that you have because of what God’s done for you and you can have tremendous joy. But you know the the field of Spirit that you can’t do. But I understand what people are talking about but I want you to know that the truth of the scriptures is that the Holy Spirit into all his every believer.

Now look at verse 27, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is not here’s the truth. Christ in you the hope of glory. The glory is perfection and that’s why when you saw the Shekana glory you saw the perfection of God. When it talks about going to heaven and heaven is a perfect place and we have all come short of His glory. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, the perfection of God.

We sin, He’s perfect. We’ve come short of perfection. Now God says this joy or hope of glory, a joyful anticipation of this perfection. We didn’t know about it. You didn’t know that you could be made perfect here and now by simply trusting Christ as your Savior. You would not know that if God had not revealed that. So God put it in His Word so that you and I can know I can be perfect simply by accepting Christ as my Savior.

And not only that, Christ in you, Christ in me. When God gave me His righteousness, He gave me Christ. Well, the Bible says that what He did was He took my sins upon Him, paid for my sins, so my sins are paid. My sins are paid, but I don’t have any righteousness. So God gave me His right. Now He can’t give me His righteousness till He takes my sins, but He took my sin. So when I accept Him as my Savior, God said, and I believe He did it for me, He gives me His what?

His righteousness. So I have His righteousness. The righteousness of God is really Christ. Because you can’t separate the righteousness of God from God. It is God. So I have His right to say, I have Christ in me, the hope of glory. So to know that as a child of God not only has He saved me, but He gave me His righteousness or His Son to be in me. Now we have scripture that says that Christ is in me. There’s other verses talk about God is in you.

Another verse that says, no you’re not. That the Holy Spirit is in you. says, No, you’re not that the Holy Spirit whereby you’re sealed until the day of redemption is within you. And he is our hope, the Holy Spirit lives in your side of your body and that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. So would you call him God? Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, I have God in me. So I am a temple of the living God.

So when I’m in church, I know God is here. I brought him. When I leave, God is with me. When I go to the restaurant to eat, he is with me. Everywhere I go, and he says, he’ll never leave me and never forsake me. I have God always with me. I am always in the presence of God. And you need to understand that and you can live a little bit better when you understand that he doesn’t go on a vacation.

You can’t leave him. He’s with you. And everywhere you go, he’s inside of you. Look what he says there in verse 25. He says, we’re of I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God. A dispensation is a period of time in which God deals with an individual or groups of people regarding a certain responsibility and the consequences if you fail that responsibility. So the Bible is broken down into different dispensations because of how God deals with people at different times.

See God is now not dealing with the nation of Israel, He’s dealing with us, the church. The day will come He’ll deal with Israel again. It’s called God has designed the ages the different periods of time. In verse 25 according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you to fulfill the Word of God. In other words, the reason that I teach you the Bible is so that you can fulfill the will of God. And then in verse 26, even specifically the mystery which hath been hid from ages different periods of time and from generations, but now is made manifest to a saint.

So there’s things that people did not know before, but now can be known. And the truth is now revealed for the first time. Christ is in you. God is in me and he’ll never leave you and never forsake you. So how long is the Holy Spirit going to be within you? Or ever. Do you have to pray for the Holy Spirit to receive the Holy Spirit? No. That’s why there’s no verse in the Bible that commands you to be baptized by the Holy Spirit.

Because you don’t have to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. You already have been. The day you trusted Christ as your Savior, the Bible says, Jesus Christ Baptize you into his body by the Holy Spirit done at that very moment the very moment you believed it You said well, I didn’t feel anything of course not It’s a spiritual thing by the Holy Spirit of God So these scriptures are given because of these things you would not know you couldn’t find it out on your own Because these are truths that God has revealed to us take your Bible looking Ephesians chapter 3 Ephesians chapter 3 looking verse 2 If you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which is given me toward you, here’s talking about the dispensation of the grace of God.

You see, when Christ was here, John the Baptist came on the same preaching, the baptism of repentance and the gospel of the kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is upon you. Oh, that’s not what we preach today. We don’t preach that. We preach the dispensation of the grace of God. In other words, your say, we’re not talking about trying to set up a kingdom upon the earth. That was when Jesus was here and John the Baptist was here. They were going to preach the kingdoms going to be set up.

Why? Because the king was here. That’s why he called his cabinet. That’s why you find the things in the book of Matthew about how they’re going to roll in rain in the kingdom. He had everything he needed. The only thing is, they rejected the king. So it was postponed. So now God is dealing with us as a different group of people, different unit, different time, and there are certain responsibilities that God has given to us. We’re not trying to bring in a kingdom.

We’re not trying to bring this, make this world a utopia or a better place to go to hell from. God is going to all the world and install Senator Assures and all the world. No, no, no. He’s going to all the world and preach to the gospel. He says, right now, during this part of the time he’s doing one main thing, he’s calling out from among the Jews and the Gentiles, a people for his name. In other words, individual believers, all over the world of every nation, everyone who trusts Christ as Savior.

They’re all going to form a different body of believers called a church. They’ll become the bride. And we are going to be the bride to Christ. In other words, God has a son and the son needs a wife, but she needs to be perfect and there’s nobody perfect for Him to marry. God is giving us a new birth without a sinful nature so that we’ll be perfect, so that he’ll have a perfect bride, where’s perfect son? Now you get it?

That’s what God’s doing. So we’re not trying to save the world, can’t save the world. It’s not going to get better and better. It’s going to get worse and worse. There’s not going to be peace in the Middle East until Christ comes. But I know what it says here in verse 5, looking verse 5, which in other ages was not made known. In other words, these are truths that was not known. They didn’t know this. The Old Testament says never heard anything like this.

They were never told this stuff. God revealed these truths to the apostle Paul concerning the church. That’s us. It’s a mystery, a truth. It’s finally revealed, but nobody knew about before. But God knew about it. There are our hits about it in the Old Testament, but the real curl of the truth was never revealed. So he says here in verse 5, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. So it’s being revealed, something new.

What is this something new? That’s talking about him. Verse 6, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, fellow heirs, fellow heirs the Jew. So God’s going to take a Gentile and God’s going to take a Jew, put them together, make something totally new. You see, God in the Old Testament dealt with the nation of Israel, not the Gentiles. God wanted the nation of Israel to be a light to the Gentiles, but they rejected the light. So God says, I’ll take those Jews and those Gentiles who who will believe on me and I’ll put them together and form a church.

So the Bible says that he broke down the middle wall of partition between the Jew and the Gentile. Not only that wall, but here’s the Holy of Holies. And in that Holy of Holies was the Ark. And there was this great big veil and nobody could go into that Holy of Holies except the High Priest once a year. With an offering for himself and for the sins of the people. He said, how do you know if he accepted him?

If he come out alive, God accepted it. I’ll be like that. And God says that this wall, this veil, that nobody could come into the holy of holies except that high priest. It means that people didn’t have access to God except through those priests. So God said, I’m gonna make something totally new and different. When Christ came, his body, which housed God, was a type of the veil that housed the presence of God inside the veil, the arch of the covenant.

So the Bible says that when Christ was on the cross and when He died, that the veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom. And when the veil was rent from top to bottom, it opened up the way for you and I to have access to God because of the veil that was torn, because of the death of Jesus Christ, you and I can go straight to the Father because of Jesus. He makes this statement here. Versaik that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs with the Jews of the same body.

And partakers of his promising Christ by the gospel, were of I am a minister. In verse 8, unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Unsearchable riches are these truths that were hidden in times past, but now reveal for the first time. And this is rich knowledge. This is the greatest knowledge in all the world to know these things that were hidden in times past, but now reveal and you and I can know them and many of God’s people don’t know it.

Don’t understand it. They don’t understand what’s going on in this world. And it affects how you live. But you’re looking forward to. Look what he says there in chapter 2, Ephesians chapter 2, and look in verse 14. For he, reference to Christ, is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, have an abolished in his flesh the even the law of commandments contained in ordinances for to make in himself of two one new man.

He had reconciled both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the Immity there by him, and came and preached peace to you who were far off Gentiles, and to them that were nigh Jews. For through him we both Jews and Gentiles have access by one Spirit unto who? Under the Father. In other words, what Christ did, He opened up the way where the individual believing Jew and the individual believing Gentile, both are saved exactly the same way by faith alone.

And can I access unto the Father by the Holy Spirit that lives within us? So you see, we have advantages that they never had in the Old Testament. We know things that they never knew. You and I are rich indeed. And yet these are things that you and I would not know if it had to be. See, this is why there’s a church. A church is called out people from the world. YouVICE form a body of believers. And as a matter of whether you’re red, yellow, pink, white, polka dot, pinstripe, zip face, don’t matter, you regardless of how tall or short or good looking or ugly, if you believe on Jesus Christ, anybody in the whole world, God says he’s not a respecter for him, can become part of his body.

Because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believe it in him should not perish but have everlasting life. The message is for everybody. And look in verse 9, verse 9 says, and to make all men see, because all men don’t see, but we still work at it. We try. All men see what is the fellowship of the mystery from which the beginning of the world have been hid in God who created all things by Jesus Christ to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church, the Manifah wisdom of God.

God wants the church to know the Manifah wisdom of God, to understand these things. Do you know the biggest way to solve peace in the Middle East? Is get the Jews to trust Christ as Savior and get the Arabs to trust Christ as Savior and if both of them trust Christ as Savior they got one God, one belief and they’ll have peace. They No other way. Look in verse 11. According to the end you are to underline this in your Bible.

Everything that’s happening in the world, everything that’s happening in your life day by day, everything that happens is according to the eternal purpose of God. We have a certain quality of life that we love to enjoy. In spite of all of that, God in heaven has an eternal purpose too. And his purpose and your purpose for living may clash. And when they clash, something has to give. It’s your will against his will. And any time you see that you conflict with God, you should always surrender, always submit to the will of God.

And the more you know about the Word of God and the will of God, Bring yourself in harmony with God and you’ll have more peace, enjoy and happiness. And you will believe that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord, to those who call according to his purpose. Not your purpose, his purpose. And you know that and you believe that. First Corinthians turned to you, that’s just a few pages. Truths that have not been known.

So you can’t understand the new without the old or the old without the new. You need them both. Verse 51, Behold, I show you a mystery. This means a truth that has been hidden in times past will now be revealed for the first time. This has never been revealed before. That’s why when you read Matthew where it says one was taken and one was left. One was taken and one was left. That’s not talking about the rapture. Why? That truth hadn’t been revealed yet.

Those scriptures is talking about when Christ comes to the earth and one taken, they’re taken to the battle of Armageddon, has nothing to do with Rapture. Now there’s types of the Old Testament where Enoch was and Enoch was not. He was gone before the flood upon the earth. You say, well that’s a type before the tribulation period. And that’s what the Rapture is. Who would have ever believed that there would be a generation of people living that will never physically ever die.

If it hadn’t been revealed in the Bible nobody would have come up with it. You would have come up with it. It shows a manful wisdom of God that God was going to have his son come back in the air, not to the air, in the air, and then all those people all over the world, whoever they may be, wherever they may be, obedient, disobedient. Ready or not, here I come. And all of a sudden to be changed in a moment, the twinkling of an eye and caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

That truth had never been revealed before. And God revealed it to the Apostle Paul and look what he says. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all be asleep, but we shall all be chained in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. How fast is that? How fast can you twinkle? You ever stood outside and twinkled? Twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high like a diamond in the sky.

You ever saw another song? Twinkle, twinkle. I don’t know how fast a twinkle is, But I can tell you this, it’s like that. It means that you disappear here and you appear there. And it makes this statement that he’s coming back and he says this corruptible must put on incorruption and the mortal must put on immortality. Mortal means those who are living and subject to death but will not die. So there’s a generation of people living that will never physically ever die.

But see, if the Bible hadn’t revealed it, you wouldn’t know about it. Why does God want you to know this? Why would God want you to know that you may not physically die? Who is it referring to? How long down the line? People have been waiting for this thing to happen in their lifetime for two thousand years. We don’t know when it’s going to happen. But everybody lives with the idea that it could happen soon. It might be me.

It might be after I’m dead. But whenever the rapture takes place, there will be people who will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Look up here. This hand represent you and me and the wallet represent sin. We all have sin on us. Now God says He loves us. You and I have sinned against God. We do things wrong. God knows every one of them. Know how many.

There’s a whole bunch. Things you forgot about God still know. But God says He loves us. He hates your sin. And the Bible says to pay for that sin is eternal separation from the Lord in a place called hell. Now God loves us and wants us to go to heaven and go to heaven. We have to be perfect as righteous as God and none of us are perfect. None of us are righteous. We’re all sinners. And God says to pay for the sin is eternal separation from the Lord.

This sin represents Jesus Christ. He’s God in the flesh. He’s came into the world because he loves us. Man cannot save himself. He can be saved but he cannot save himself. He can’t even help himself to be saved. All he has to do is believe that when Christ took his sins, he paid for them on the cross, came back from the dead. God says if we would believe he did it for us, he would take and save us, put this payment to our account, and our sins are paid.

He would give us his righteousness. We would go to heaven on what he did for us. So when God sees me, he sees the righteousness of Christ. I go there on his, not mine. So when Christ came and lived a perfect life, obeyed the law, did everything perfect. He defeated the devil, he defeated sin, he defeated the world, he defeated everything. His victory put the mind count like that. I won. I did all of that. I did my substitute.

And God put that payment to my count. I go to heaven and I want to do it for him. 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 Call the free 1-800-576-3771.

That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to hear more information on how to get started, visit us at www.un.org.au 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 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, 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.

As you know, this is the Christmas time of the year. Everyone, mostly in America especially, are celebrating what we call Christmas time. There’s also a teaching that’s also going to be taught this year, very strongly so, in many, many homes, and that is something that most of us have gone through or experienced in our own life. I want to ask you some questions. I’m not going to say good, bad, or indifferent. I’m not going to say right or wrong.

I want to take and just give you something to think about and you think about it. This is not to put a guilt trip on 81. It’s not to bring up the past. It’s only to help you to clarify in your mind what maybe you think you really believe. As you know, we teach an awful lot about believing that the Bible is true, that it’s the Word of God. And I believe that this Bible is the Word of God.

Every word from cover to cover, even believe the cover, it’s got holy Bible on it. So I believe that too. And that is at Christmas time, we talk an awful lot about Santa Claus. But let me just give you a couple of thoughts concerning something. I just want to ask you some questions and I I want you just to write them down if you would. Yes, no, don’t remember. You put a D-R, that means don’t remember. When you were a child, did you teach your children?

Now if you’re here and you don’t have any children, of course you can’t do that. So try to recall if your parents told you that. It’s not as best as possible. There’s just a simple little questions for you to think about for a minute. Did you ever teach your kids that Santa knows if they’ve been good or bad. Did you ever teach your kids? That Santa knows if they’ve been good or bad, yes? No, don’t remember. Number two, on Christmas morning, have you ever said in a sincere, believing tone, Santa has been here, or look what Santa brought us.

Have you ever said those words? Yes. No, don’t remember number three Have you told or had your children believe that if Santa promises to bring you something? He will always keep his promise because Santa never breaks a promise Have you ever tried to convince them or to believe that Santa will always keep his word, never break his promise? Yes, no, don’t remember. Number four, Santa is always the same. He never changes. He’s always happy and he’s always jolly. Yes or no?

Or don’t remember. Number five Santa is good and only brings good things good toys, you know brings things good things that Santa is good Number six Have you ever taught the children this? Santa is coming Santa is coming You better be ready. Yes, no, don’t remember. Number seven, did you convey to your children all year long that they need to be careful because Santa is watching and he is coming and you should try to please Santa so you won’t be ashamed when he comes.

Did you ever use the teaching of Santa during the year as motivation? for them to be good because Christmas is coming. Number eight, do you believe it is and write down one of these words? Do you believe it is helpful, hurtful or harmless to teach this to the children? Helpful, hurtful, harmless to teach this to the children. You may want to choose two words, or just one. Now I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Mark, the book of Mark and chapter 7.

Mark chapter 7, Mark chapter 7 is a portion of scripture that deals with Christ rebuking the Pharisees. And what he said was down here in verse 5, then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, why what not by disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands. In other words, they had ate and didn’t wash their hands. Now according to the Bible in the Old Testament, there were laws that God had given. There were the moral laws, the 10 commandments and the civil laws and the ceremonial laws of the sacrificial laws.

So God gave many laws to his people. Well as time went on, many people developed many traditions that were supposed to be based upon the principles that were taught in those laws. But after a while, people kept making more laws and more tradition, but it didn’t have any connection to the Source, the Bible. But there were people that said, the Bible says, God said, the law said, but it didn’t say. But the ones that were saying that were the lawkeepers, the ones that were supposed to know the law, the Pharisees, the Lawyer.

And so when Christ comes along and His disciple, He was doing some things that the Pharisees didn’t approve of and Christ and His disciples violated the tradition. Well, this made them mad. How come your disciples don’t wash their hands because that’s the tradition of the elders, the leaders. So he made the statement here in verse 6. He answered and said unto them, slap my mouth. I didn’t mean to offend them. I must be wrong. I promise that I’ll wash my hands from now on because I don’t want to violate your tradition.

That’s what he said. Is that what your Bible says? No, no, no, no, look what he says there in verse six. Well, have Isaiah prophesied of you, what’s that word? Oh, that’s a hard word hypocrite. As it is written, this people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. How be it in vain? Do they worship me? What were they doing that was in vain? Teaching for doctrine, the commandments of men. Saying that these commandments that these men wrote was on the same level with the word of God.

And by their tradition, they were saying that this is equal with God in self God’s Word. And so he says there in verse 8 for laying aside the commandment of God laying in a side is saying that the Word of God has no effect, no effect has no power. In other words, what they were saying carried more weight than what God had to say. And that tradition was more important than the Word of God itself. People had drifted so far from the truth they now didn’t know what was the truth.

And now it didn’t seem so bad because everybody’s doing it. Lord Behold, who shows up? Christ shows up in the midst of all of this tradition. Did Jesus Christ go along with all the tradition? Or did He violate the tradition? What else He said? Now, either we take this book as this is the Word of God and it does have effect or we can take the Bible, lay it aside and accept tradition. Now let’s notice something. In verse 9 he says, and he said unto them, full well, ye reject the commandment of God.

Why? You had underlined that part of the verse. That ye may what? Keep your own tradition. Now look what he says in verse 13. Verse 13 should also be underlying in your Bible. Here’s why. Making the Word of God of what? None affect through your tradition as though it carries no weight. It doesn’t matter what God says. What is tradition? What does man say? He says of none effect through your tradition which ye have delivered and many such like things do ye and the people could not understand where did Christ get his authority because they said no man speak like this man.

This man did not yield to all these pious religious snobs he called them Pharisees, hypocrites. Now based upon what that scripture says I want to share just a couple of thoughts with you and that is on on the first question that was asked. Did you ever teach your kid that Santa knows if they’ve been good or bad? Think about what the question says and if it was true. Remember that is saying that Santa is omniscient. What does the word omniscient mean?

Anybody have an idea? All knowing, all wise. Now, we know that the Bible says that God is omniscient. That means He is all wise. All knowledge comes from the Lord. Nobody else is wise. Nobody else has all knowledge. Only God. The next question, On Christmas morning have you ever said in a sincere believing tongue Santa has been here look what Santa brought is That true or not true Is it true or not true? If you say it in a believing sincere tonal voice that causes one to believe something that isn’t true But I know that sometimes we think ah the world is so harmless Maybe it is.

But all depends on what it’s embedding into the mind of individuals. But remember, this is talking about him being omnipresent. Why? He’s been here. Yes. And somebody else is saying in another home, he’s been here and thousands of home all over the world. Millions of home. He’s been here. Well, if he was, he would have to have been everywhere at the what? Same time. What is that? That is omnipresence. What is on my present main. Pray, present, everywhere, all at the same time.

That attribute belongs to who? That belongs to God. Now, have you ever made this statement in the third question? Have you told or had your children believe that if Santa promises to bring you something, He will because He always keeps His promises. It means that He is always faithful. If He always keeps His Word, He must be God. He’s infallible. He makes no mistakes. He never fails. It has to be. Who is that a reference to? Remember, there’s only one person the Bible says, I will never forsake you.

I will never fail you. Belongs only to one person. Nobody else can ever claim that. Now, the next question, Senate is always the same. Never changes. Always happy, always jolly. The word immutable means never changes. the same yesterday, today and forever. You ever heard that phrase before? I wonder who that refers to. Anybody got any idea? You know who it refers to, don’t you? I thought you did. Repers to the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ refers to God. The next question, He is always good and always brings good things.

We never hear about Him bringing any bad thing for anybody. True? Think it through. Never brings anything bad. He’s always good. And He knows if you’ve been good or naughty or nice. He knows all of these things and He’s good. the Bible says that there is none one good but one there’s only one that’s perfect there’s only one that’s righteous there’s only one that’s like that the Bible says in the book of James every good and perfect gift comes down from the from Satan they come from Santa come from God every good and perfect comes down from the Father of light, from the Father.

Now, the next question, Santa’s coming, you better be ready. Do you know anybody else throughout the Bible talks about somebody coming and you better be ready? Anybody know who that might be? Anybody have an idea? His name is Jesus Christ. The next question, Do you convey to your children all year long that they need to be careful because Satan and Santa is watching and he is coming and you should try to please so you won’t be ashamed at his coming.

Do you know anywhere else in the Bible that says something along this line? Little children abide in him that when he shall appear you may have come and not be ashamed before him at his coming. Do you think there is a possibility that many things have been taken away from somebody and stripped some honor and a little glory from somebody and given it to another? You think it’s a possibility? I’m not telling you anything. I’m just trying to get you to think about a few things.

Now if you think about it, these are some wonderful attributes what you like to have all those nice wonderful things said about you. Alright number nine, number nine on your paper, number nine on your paper. Did you teach that Santa is God based upon those attributes. Did you teach? Whether harmful or helpful or hurtful, would you say yes or no? Did you teach that Santa is God? Number 10, does the teaching of Santa make void the Word of God as we have just covered in Mark in chapter 7.

Would that be a substitute for the Word of God which is the truth? Now I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Exodus, the book of Exodus and chapter 20. Exodus and chapter 20. Please understand I’m not trying to be a mean, bad, old, ugly man. I wholeheartedly believe there’s nothing wrong and celebrating Christmas. Is that for anything you said? Well I must be able to harmonize it somehow and let me explain it to you.

I don’t know of anybody who is teaching that we have to celebrate Christmas because it is a command and scripture. I’ve never said that. Did you ever say that? I don’t know nobody that does say that. There’s nobody I ever hear to say that. The Bible says we have to celebrate Christmas. The birth of Christ, no we don’t. But there’s no command that says we can’t. There’s nothing wrong and being thankful for the day that he came. They even rejoiced the day he did come.

The shepherds rejoiced. The angels rejoiced. It was supposed to be a Grat hiding in good news and all that. Well, that still hasn’t changed. There’s nothing wrong in celebrating the real purpose. Christ was born. I really don’t care what day we do it on. There’s no command that says we have to or that there’s no command says we can’t. In itself, there’s nothing wrong. In itself, it can be a good thing. Makes everybody think about that. But when you take the attributes that belongs only to God and give those to another, I believe that something else is wrong.

Let me show you this. Look in verse one of Exodus chapter 20. God speak all these words saying, I am the Lord thy God which have brought the out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage. Verse three, Thou shalt have no other what? First thing He ever told them, You’re to have no other gods before me. Now stop and think for a moment. All the gods that were in the land of Canaan and there were many nations in the land and they all had heathen gods.

God says they were false gods, false gods. But they worshiped them like they were real gods. Now whether or not they’re real or not, we all know that there is no other God. There’s only one true and living God. But God doesn’t want there to be any other God. So he says in the next verse, verse four, thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven, above or that is in earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth, an image of what?

Of a God. God, you don’t take the attributes that belong only to God and give them to anything and he said you don’t make nothing. Now question number 11, Santa is an image of who? If he’s not real, he is an image of who? Based upon his attributes. Let me ask you question number 12. Based upon what the Word of God says, what the Word of God says to do not to do. Do you believe that teaching it is helpful, hurtful, or harmless to teach this to the children?

The same question that I asked you in number eight, I’m asking you again. Based now upon what the Word of God says, is it helpful to the children? Is it harmless or is it hurtful? Based upon what the book says. Now, do you believe that there is a lot of tradition in America that may not be based upon this book? A Christian is supposed to regardless of what everybody else does, still to do right, a book. Or we make tradition more important and carry more weight, have more effect upon our decisions than the word.

Or people don’t really believe it. Or do we obey it? I believe that this is the Word of God and that we should not allow any kind of traditions of any kind to override this book. The Bible did not say anywhere that it’s wrong to give gifts. It doesn’t say that. It encourages it. It says do good. It’s good to share. More blessed to what? Give than to receive. Now, I know you will not give at Christmastime just in order to receive would you?

But we do think it’s fair. I don’t mind getting presents, and I’m sure you don’t mind getting present. The greatest gift of all is the gift that God gave to the world. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if when the world celebrates Christmas they really celebrated the birth of Christ? And understand the real reason. I’ll have to admit it was years after I was growing up that I really understood. and the Christmas was all about. I didn’t know it was about Jesus Christ.

I always thought Jesus Christ was a cuss word. It’s only time I ever heard it. I thought it was profanity. I tried my best because I didn’t want to swear. I tried my best not to even think of the word Jesus Christ in my mind because I thought it was a swear word. Can you believe that? And yet many people get an attitude over the years of thinking that God is just like that false image that had been planted into the minds of innocent little children.

And most times with parents, fun, cute. It’s nice. But is it? If God was here, well, what do you think? Or let me ask you this. If Jesus Christ was here, Do you think he would think it was helpful or harmless or hurtful? You think he would just think it’s just some funny little gag that everybody’s just having fun with? I’m not going to tell you one way or the other. I’m hoping that what I told you, what the book says, will help you to think and you’re the ones that got to live with it.

But I’ll tell you this. My kids, my daughters, and my other son, David was, he died when he was 28, but I have never told him that Christmas was anything except the honoring of Jesus Christ been born into this world. I’ve never told him the other, never celebrated the other, never lied to him. I just believe it either I believe it or I don’t practice it now other people may not have the same conviction that I have on that But I believe that according to the Exodus in chapter 20 when he says thou shall have no other gods before me I believe he means exactly that There’s nothing wrong and having a tree and putting some on it sharing some gifts and all the rest of it talking about Christ coming It’s a wonderful wonderful thing But when you make a graven image and you give this picture of him and you put all those

attributes that belongs only to the true and living God and say, this is Him. Then what you’re doing is you’re planting your minds. This is God. He sees and knows everything. And all those attributes, God says, you rob in His glory away. And I think that Satan would love, I want you to take now on that little piece of paper you got. I want you to write down these words, these letters. S-A-N-T-A. You got it down? I want you to take the N out of S-A-N, take the N out, and put it at the end of the word.

What did you come up with? No, no. Huh? You came out with Satan. Isn’t it amazing? It’s just one little word and I mean lettering on one of the plays, but I think that’s who he really is. The teaching. Satan is always trying to usurp the glory away from God, saying, I will be like the most high. And he’s done a pretty good job of an invitation, hasn’t he? And now more people talk about that, which is false and they talk about that, which is true.

And somehow, another, things get lost in the shuffle. Anyway, I didn’t want to make anybody mad, but if you do, I’m just thankful that what I held back. 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 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. 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. There’s 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. And 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 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 Deuteronomy, and chapter 28, look there in verse 8. This is Moses talking to the children of Israel and laying out for them things to do and things not to do. How to be blessed by God or how to be chastened by God. Blessings are a curse. And even after we trust Christ as our Savior, we have the same opportunity given to us. We can choose to be blessed by God or cursed by God. The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses.

And in all that thou, citizenth thine hand unto, and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” Look at that verse. God is going to command blessings. Now God gives a command, he can bring it forth. in the book of Malachi and chapter 3 makes a statement that you have robbed me and they said if we’re in have we robbed the he says and tithes and offerings and he says if you will take and fix this problem he says see if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing which you cannot receive.

In other words more than you ever thought more than you ever dreamed. Remember this as individuals who we cannot out give God. And so I encourage Christians to make sure that you whenever you give that’s a personal thing between you and the Lord. But I believe that a tithe is at least the minimum that a Christian ought to give. Then there’s offerings on top of that. Not to give what belongs to the Lord makes you a thief. You’re stealing something from God.

And I believe a lot of people about homes with God’s money, they bought TVs with God’s money, they bought a lot of things with God’s money and then they say, I don’t have anything to give to the Lord’s work. That’s not true. Is that they have misused the money that belongs to God. If we gave the God what God says we should, everything would be fine. Always keep that as your priority in life because what you give is a thermometer of your love for the Lord.

So you do your given why you’re living so that you’re knowing where it’s going. Then he makes the last statement here and he says, and I will bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, verse nine, the Lord shall establish thee and holy people unto himself. Now remember they’re not in the land yet. He’s now this is what I want and I’m making you promises that I’m going to take and give you a land and if you’ll do what I tell you to do God says I will command these blessings upon you.

All the people had to do with just do right, just do right. And then he says here, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God and walk in his ways, and all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of thee. In other words, God says, I will cause people to be afraid of you, and therefore they won’t try to attack you, they won’t try to harm you, they won’t try to wrong you, because they’ll know that’s a holy people, and the Lord is their God.

I don’t believe too many people fear America like they used to or have respect for America like they used to. Benjamin came over here and he says America has been blessed because America has been good. And when we are good, people know it. And when you’re good, you’re great. And we’re losing our greatness because we’re ceasing to be good. Our laws are no longer good. Our leaders are no longer good. We got a lot of crooked, wicked people in Washington.

And we don’t have the preservation like the salt of the earth. You have salt and meat it preserves. And so we don’t have enough of God’s word preserving the freedoms in this country, so we’ll lose the freedoms. So we make this statement here in verse 11, and the Lord shall make the plantheus in goods. Now get, who’s going to do all that? God said, I’m going to do all this for you. Lord shall make you plantius in goods in the fruit of thy body, talking about your children, in the fruit of the cattle, in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord swear unto thy fathers to give thee.

give the, now I’m going to give you a piece of land and I’m going to bless you. I’ll command the blessings of God upon you. I’ll bless the fruit of your body, of the cattle, of the land. You’ve got to prosper. You see, we don’t think that there’s a God in heaven that is aware of what’s going on. But there is. God sees, God knows, God knows the wickedness that’s going on in our nation. We’re no longer what you consider a righteous nation, a nation that’s got Christian character to it, we’re totally becoming a heathen country.

We have become a melting pot for all the religions of the world. And that was never meant to be. You say, we have a freedom of religion. All the religions in this world, in this country, pose me underneath Christianity, under the umbrella of Christianity, but never to violate Christianity. First of all, the Lord shall open under thee his good treasure, the heavens to give the rain upon thy land and his season to bless all the work of thy hands.

And God said, I’ll send the rain at the right seasons, the right time. Everything will be right. And thou shalt now get this part. You’re not underlying this in your Bible. A sign of a good strong nation, thou shalt lend under many nations, Now shall not borrow. Means you don’t borrow from other nations. For 200 years America never was in debt to any nation. Did you know that we’re in debt to almost every nation on the earth right now, in spite of all the money we give away?

We’re in debt up to our ears. When surprised me if somebody wants to foreclose on America and say we own it. You ever notice how many people from other countries own land in this country? Which I don’t agree with. I don’t think no other country ought to own any land in our country, but he says here you will not lend I mean you’ll lend but you won’t borrow because when you borrow then you are a servant to the lender In that verse 13 verse 13 is a very important verse It’s a prophecy about what is going to take place with the nation of Israel and The Lord shall make thee the head not the tail and thou shalt be above only and thou shalt not be beneath.

If that thou harken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God which I command thee this day to observe and to do them.” In other words, you’ll be the head. There’s a lot of nations upon this earth, but you’ll be the head. They’ll be the tail. But woe to the nation that slowly becomes the tail and not the head. We’re getting to the place right now where have you ever heard of a thing called the tail that wags the dog, the tail that wags the dog.

You know, we’re the dogs for the wag the tail, right? But what happens when the tail becomes stronger than the dog and the tail wags the dog? So that kind of done. Yeah, I know. But right now we have nations around this world and United notions and they would love to wag America. They’re the tail that’s wagging the head and they’re trying to make us subservient to their wishes. That’s what all this global warming stuff is about. That’s nothing but for global control.

But little by little, America is losing its sovereignty because the core of America is losing their credibility. We are being destroyed, not from without, but from within. See, if you can’t storm the gate, you infiltrate, you take the hedonistic philosophies and you come inside and you teach their beliefs, And next thing you know people will believe, would you want God to bless you or curse you based upon what somebody else does? Or would you want God to bless you because of your decision?

I want the Lord to be able to bless America because of the standard America takes and has nothing to do with what the other nations do. Why should we run the risk of them that’s heathen and ungodly, determine the blessings upon our country and that’s what you do when you link together with them and I don’t believe it’s good or right. In verse 43, now you get the other side of the coin. He tells us some things that are going to happen if we don’t listen to what God says.

Now this is a prophecy but listen, America has a lot of similarities as the nation of Israel. America is not Israel but America was brought together with a few people that came here to propagate the gospel. And I believe that God gave them this land. And we took the word of God and it became the textbook in our public schools. It was a textbook that our founding fathers read and got their guidance from. So they would know what kind of a government to set up.

And we have set up a government in this land totally different from every nation that has ever been upon the face of the earth. This was one unique nation. and now it’s been slowly eroding away. So he says in verse 43, the stranger. That is within the shall get up above the very high. Thou shalt come down very low.” Is anybody worried about the strangers in our midst today? We call them immigrants. Is anything on the news about stuff like this?

And now they want to allow them to have all the rights and privileges of a citizen, except they just happen not to be a citizen. but they are going to drain this country dry and it won’t be long. They’ll become the tale that wagsuyomi the dog. They’ll determine what we do and what we won’t do. And we won’t go by the law because we’re slowly getting away from the law. We’ll even prosecute the people who try to uphold the law.

It’s going to lead to vigilante after a while. People are going to say, I’m tired of it. I’m going to take the law into my own hands and then there will be chaos in our streets. because you’re gonna find out that the police are not gonna be able to protect you. He said, but the stranger in your midst is gonna take over you, the stranger that doesn’t belong. And it did happen. Verse 44, he shall lend to thee, thou shalt not lend to him.

She is backwards. And then he says, and he shall be the head, thou shalt be the tail. So things are slowly switching places. This is why today people do not care about church. They don’t need the church because they have so enjoyed the fat of the land. They don’t need God anymore. They don’t have to worry about it because of their God, their God. Their God is not God. Their God is government and government will take care of us in every area.

So we don’t need to worry about it because you were protected from the cradle unto the grave and therefore we can be as ungod as we want to be and it has nothing to do with whether I get this or that. I believe we ought to do right at all times regardless. And so he says here in verse 45, Moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee, shall pursue thee as a lion seeking whom it may devour somebody’s on your trail.

God says I’m going to send something after you. Now remember, there’s a lot of things in these verses though we’re reading about how God is going to deal with his people when they get into the land of Canaan, and he said, I’m sitting before you this day, good and evil, the blessings and the curse. It’s all based upon your decision, but it deals with the people as a whole, as a nation. And there’s promises that God, I believe will keep concern in our own nation.

And it makes this statement here in verse 45, more over all these curses shall come upon thee and shall pursue thee and overtake the till thou be in your underlinedest till thou be destroyed.” Remember even as a Christian, God wants to bless you, but He sets before you the ability to choose because nobody wants to be made a robot. We want to be able to decide for ourselves what we think is best for ourselves. Isn’t that a wonderful thing to have?

But along with this freedom of responsibility comes this awesome obligation to do right and to choose right. There’s some consequences that we don’t like if we make the wrong decision. So he says in the middle part of verse 45, because thou hearkeneth not unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Remember all these bad things is because you wouldn’t listen to what God said. So you can’t play games with God. I’ve told people I don’t know how long, or most of my Christian life, you can’t live as you please and get away with it.

You can’t miss church and get away with it. You can’t fail to read your Bible and get away with it. You can’t fail to give to the Lord’s work and get away with it. God’s gonna charge, and He’s gonna collect, and you’re gonna pay a greater price than you ever thought possible. You can’t just treat God like He doesn’t matter. You will not get away with it. There’s a price to pay. Now I’m not talking about it, you can’t.

It can’t cost me heaven. I can never lose that. There’s some thing God said I’ll never lose, but I’m not there yet. So while I’m here, things that apply to us as a nation, God says you can apply these, cause all of these points that we’re reading about. Or taught in the New Testament and warns to God’s people about the very same thing. And he says, if I will not serve the Lord thy God with joyfulness of heart, I will put all these things upon you.

And a yoke of iron upon your neck until it destroys you. God said, this is what I’m going to do. How does God destroy? How does God destroy a Christian? Would He destroy his own people? He says, it’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And God will judge his people. Yes, he will. He says here in verse 46, For they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wander and upon thy seed forever.

Because I’ll give verse 47. If you don’t have it underlined, I’d underline them. Because thou serveth not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart for the abundance of all things. When you stop and think of how good God has been to you, and for the abundance of all things and if you can’t serve the Lord with joyfulness of heart, God said, I’m going to slap you around a little bit. God said, I’m going to beat the tar out of you.

He says, I’m going to put a yoke of iron upon your neck. And see, this yoke of iron is something God puts there. Think of a yoke of iron. Who puts this yoke of iron? Don’t you like that freedom that you don’t have no burdens and the burdens of my heart roll away, the burdens, you don’t have the burdens, but God says I’m not only going to give you burdens, this is going to be a burden that’s going to weigh you down until it destroys you.

Who’s going to do that? God says I’m going to do that. You can’t do like you please, but the Lord says talk about joyfulness. See I believe of all things in life we should enjoy life. Now I know primarily this is talking about a nation but there’s principles in this. When Jesus Christ was here, remember in Matthew chapter 11 he says, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laid and now I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me and you shall find rest unto your soul.

My yoke is easy and my burden is Light so was there a yoke? Yeah, his is an easy yoke. It’s an easy burden It’s a lot easier To serve the Lord than it is to go against God. I’ll remember that it’s the devil that tells you the Christian life is just so hard It’s a so hard. It is not that’s the devil lying to you if you want a hard life life, then don’t serve God. Because if you serve the Lord, you can cast all your cares upon Him and He will care for you.

But you do away with God. Now you carried yourself. You work out your own plans. You solve your own problems. Don’t call upon God. He says, now call upon me in a day. He says, whenever you wouldn’t listen to my counsel, he says, now I’ll have you in the region. I’ll laugh at you. Proverbs chapter 1. You can’t play games with God. Now get what he says in verse 48. Therefore shall thou serve the vine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee.

Now get who’s going to send them? Lord said I’m going to send this against you. He says in that verse hunger and thirst, nakedness, one of all things and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, dully have destroyed thee. Now this is what God says he’s going to do. Now, if God is going to do this to the nation of Israel, and these are His chosen people in His chosen land, He wanted them to be a testimony to the world of what God could do with a people that would yield to Him, and they were to be the light to the world.

All right, well, they blew it. But if you’ll notice, this promise is also to, I believe, America. say, warning to America. He said, I’ll bring somebody from afar of a different language, and I’ll bring them against you. And they’ll lay siege against you. Did you realize that if all the nations of the world, and then we will often talk about, you know, we need a boycott Iran or boycott Iraq and, you know, and put sanctions upon them and so forth, try to force them into compliance, North Korea, we’ve done it to some other countries.

What the countries of the world got together and says we’re going to put sanctions against America. No more oil for America. No more goods to America. Can America stand on its own without those other nations? We’re so dependent upon the other nations of this world we can’t survive. And that is what caused us. That’s what forces us to compromise, to yield, to give in to other nations. Because we need them. See, there was a time we didn’t need them.

We need them now. Because we’re so dependent upon them. Look what God says He’s going to do with the nation of Israel if they don’t do what He says to him. I believe what we’re fixing to read now is the future of America if God should carry a little longer. He says in verse 49, the Lord shall bring a nation against the from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flyeth a nation whose tongue thou shall not understand.

A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young. He shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed, which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kind, or flocks of thy sheep, until he hath destroyed. How is God going to destroy? He said, if you don’t serve me with Jofen, it’s a heart. I’ll put a yoke of iron upon your neck until it destroys you.

How’s he going to destroy me? Well, he’s telling you how. And then see, when all the problems come, people just see it, we’re just having a lot of problems. We’re just having a lot of problems. You remember that there was a storm whenever Jonah ran from God, God prepared a storm. And God prepared a great fish. And God prepared a gourd. And God prepared a worm. That did just, it just happened. No, it didn’t. God prepared that. What if America did have a big famine?

What in the world would the people in America do? And we’re so dependent upon everything else working. If it ever stopped, what would we do? And he shall be seized in all thy gates until thy high and fenced walls. That’s your defense. To your defense doesn’t work anymore because they have ways of coming over the wall of defense. They just tell us the other day about China that sent off a missile and knocked out one of their own satellites.

Anybody read about that? But what if they sent up a little old missile and it took out all of our satellites? You realize all of our communication because of the satellite and your TV is because of the satellite. That’s our means of the communication. What if they knock them out? Now, what are you going to do? What would our nation do? We’re vulnerable in the last part of verse 52. He says, where in avowed trust, you ought to underline those three words because the day people are trusting in something other than God to sustain them.

Well, see, I’m not interested so much in winning anything. I’m just interested in being right because, see, I may not win down here, but I want to be right before God. Daniel was right even when he was passing to the lions den. He didn’t know if God was going to stop the lions’ mouths, but he was right because he kept doing what he knew was right. Government was wrong. And it didn’t matter about those three Hebrew children that was passing to the burning fiery furnace, they said, whether God will deliver or so not, we don’t know.

But whether he does or he doesn’t, we’re not going to bow to you, King. I mean, we’re not submitting. They were going to have to pay a price. Here’s what he says here now in verse 53. Thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body. What’s he talking about? In other words, you’re going to eat your own children. You’re going to eat your flesh, your own kids. You’re going to even look at your husband and say, and he sure looks good.

This is the promise that God says, you talk about if you don’t do what I say do. I’m gonna judge you. America is going to be judged by God. If God doesn’t judge America than he always saw the Mingamora in apology. Because we’re a lot worse in this country than saw the Mingamora ever was. Because there’s thousands of places just like saw the Mingamora in our country. It’s not just like in San Francisco, It’s all over our country. Sodomites, homosexual, it’s wrong, it’s wicked.

Sex outside of marriage is wrong, fun godly. So he says in verse 53, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee in the siege and in the straighten, therewith thine enemies shall distress thee, bring distress upon you. So in verse 54, so that the man that is tender among you and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother. and toward the wife so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children.

The reason because he’s already done ate them because he had nothing left in the siege and in the straightness there with thine enemy shall distress them and all by gate the tender and delicate woman among you which shall not adventure to set the soul of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tender to her eye shall be evil toward the husband of Her bosom and toward her son and toward her daughter you talk about family turn it against each other What because you’re hungry They’re hungry.

Why are they hungry relegation? No food. Why no food? No rain? Why no rain? They send against God. They send against God. They can’t do what they want to do and get away with it. If thou will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou may as fear this glorious and fearful name, the Lord thy God. Let me ask you a question. Yeah, you got a God? Do you have a God?

your God. Your God is the one you submit to. You will be an obedient to government, but you won’t be as obedient to the God that wrote this book. Discipline yourself according to this book. Live or die here with your trust in the Lord. If I die, let me die. But let me be honest between me and God. In verse 59, then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance and sore sicknesses and of long continuance.

Verse 60, Moreover he shall bring upon thee in your underlying this all the diseases of Egypt which thou was afraid of and they shall cleave unto thee. See, God says you serve me and I will put no diseases upon you. It wouldn’t be nice to have nobody get sick. You do right. God said, you won’t have none of these. Does America have diseases all over its country? We have diseases going to most homes and looking to medicine cabinets. See what you find.

We live in a world where our bodies are not taken care of. We’re not living the right. We’re not doing right. I’m done with the nation as a whole. The nation as a whole. And all the healthcare stuff is going a sync this country. And they’ve already aborted about 50 million babies that was supposed to be the workforce for those people that decided we don’t need, you know, to protect those little innocent children. So they murdered the babies and now what are they going to do when they get ready for their retirement?

They kill the workforce as opposed to take care of them. Our country’s headed for a collapse. Economic collapse. It don’t matter what the stock market’s doing. I’m just talking about it in the long run. I can see down the road. I’m I’m not talking about what’s going to happen today or tomorrow. I’m talking about down the road. I can see where our nation is headed. How much time we have? I don’t know, but I believe these scriptures are true.

Look in verse 61 again. And also every sickness and every play which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee until thou be destroyed. And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude. Because thou did not obey the voice of the Lord, and thy God. Now, if we believe that God is in heaven and God is still God, then God is in control.

But God says in verse 63, and each shall come to pass that as the Lord rejoices over you to do you good and to multiply you. So the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you. See, still God. Does God want to bless every one of his children? Yes, he does. Is God going to tolerate the wickedness of our choices? No, he’s not. And God will love to chasten you just like he wanted to bless you. God is God.

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 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 in 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 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 in the ear. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the earCLA air. You can20439 reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. Weqqaay 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.

grace God’s motivating power. And so grace is the means by which God displays his motivating power. When we understand the motivating power of God’s divine nature, we will better understand the source of proper Christian motivation. Because if we’re to be like the Lord, then we should find out what motivates God. Don’t that make sense? Why does God do what he does? God knew before he ever made the man in the woman and put him in the garden that they were gonna fall because he said that he had already prepared a sacrifice before the foundation of the world which was Christ.

So it’s not like, you know, God was shocked but it’s all part of a gigantic plan. When we understand the motivating power of Satan’s wicked nature and and Satan has an old wicked nature, then we’ll better understand our own sinful nature. Remember, the Bible tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked and who can know it. Well God has explained to us many of the characteristics of our sinful nature and tells us that we do what we do because of that sinful nature.

But if we see who has that sinful nature and why he does what he does, which is the devil itself, then we’ll understand why we’re acting like the devil sometime. What is the motivating power of God? Love is the all-encompassing of all of God’s divine attributes. God wants you and I to know what he’s like. Well, we could never really understand the mighty power of God if God did not reveal it to us in some way. So love is the basic of why God does what he does.

It says, but God commended. That word there in Romans chapter 5 and verse 8, commended means to display or manifest means to reveal. So God has manifested his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. So if God’s going to display his love, he had to do it in some way. And Christ dying for us was God’s way of showing us that he loves us. In this verse, it says in 1 John chapter 4 verses 9 and 10, in this was manifested the love of God toward us.

Because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world. Now get this. How did God manifest His love? If God did not have a way to do this, then we would not know that God is love. God has to have a way to show who He is, to demonstrate what He’s like. We often say, who is God? Where is God? and what is God like? So God has to have a means by which he can display his attributes because his attributes tell you who he is.

Because you would not know that God is a God of love if God didn’t show you what he meant by that. Or God is the God of kindness if God didn’t show you what he meant by that. And so he says that God manifests it as love toward us in that while we were yet sinners. He died for us, but because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world. Now notice each time it was the sending of God’s Son into the world to die for us, that was the manifestation of the love of God poured us.

Grace is the means by which God’s love is displayed. We often say that grace is unmerited favor. We didn’t deserve it. We don’t merit it. You could It also says it just means without charge. That God wants to display His love and He has to have a way to do it. Now, if He did it and we had to earn the right to see what God is like, then we would never know what God is like, because we cannot earn that right.

No man can. So God said He will display that for us freely. Means without charge. Get this verse. And this is in the book of Ephesians in chapter 2 verse 7 through 8, or 2 9. That in the ages to come, that means in the time, in the future, down the road. He might, and the word is show. That means to display, to manifest, to reveal. In the ages to come, the exceeding riches of His grace. How rich is God?

How much does God love? Just how kind is God. When it says in John 3 16, for God so loved the world. Didn’t you say just God loved the world? God so loved the world. So God says that He has a plan by which He is going to manifest that in the ages to come, the riches of His grace in His kindness. Now you and I would not know that God is kind if there was no one upon whom to bestow His kindness.

God has to have somebody to display his kindness upon for us to know God is good. We can say God is good all day long, but how do you know God is good? For by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourself. It is the gift of God. Because if salvation was by the works of man, God could not display his love. He couldn’t display his kindness. He couldn’t display his compassion because man earned it. And And God was simply paying a debt.

Well, that wouldn’t show some of the inner essence of God. Who is God? What is God? And he says, not of works lest any man should boast because then man would get the honor. Man would get the credit. Man would get the glory. And that’s not what God’s after. God wants all the honor, all the praise, all the glory. Salvation by the works of man can never show the kindness of God. So God cannot have salvation by works because in man has earned that which God wanted to bestow as a gift Then it could not have been a gift Grace is the means by which God displays his love Grace is the mean by which God displays his kindness Now if you was to say I love God What would be your reasons?

How do you demonstrate that you really love God? Or how did God demonstrate to us that he loves us? You and I if we really believe that God really loves us, it’s so easy for love to respond to love. We love him. Why? Because he first loved us. So if you get to the place where you begin to question the love of God, you’ll stop loving. and graces the meaning by which God displays His forgiveness. How would you know that God forgives if you didn’t have something that has been done against God that needs to be forgiven?

So you see, there has to be an object, something by which God can demonstrate what He’s like. Otherwise nobody would really ever understand God. The Bible says that the angels studied and peered into but could not understand why God did what He did. The angels don’t understand it. And even the Old Testament saints, it says that they studied trying to understand what God meant when the Holy Spirit, which was in them, did signify beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow because they didn’t understand everything.

You and I are privileged to have a complete word of God and so we can read it and study it and understand and believe that we are forgiven because God is a God of forgiveness. And then after you’ve trusted Christ as your Savior, many of God’s children forget that God forgives. And as they live their life and they fail in their Christian life, instead of confessing the sin to the Lord and accepting God’s forgiveness and going ahead, they lay in the mud for the rest of their life.

They never correct the problem. Grace is the main by which God displays His mercy. How would you know that God is a God of mercy? Unless you owed something and could not pay it. And then they’d be forgiven for that. That’s mercy because you didn’t get what you deserve. You and I deserve to go to hell because of what we’ve done. But not to get that. That’s mercy. Now Grace is getting something that I don’t deserve. Mercy is not getting what I do deserve, and grace is the mean by which God displays His power.

Because, see, love reveals the power of God, and kindness reveals the power of God, and forgiveness, and mercy, and compassion all reveal the power of God. If you and I want the power of God in our life, it all depends on how powerful the love of God is. the love of God is in your life. How powerful is the kindness in your life? And the forgiveness that you have toward others in your life. Because if you don’t have those qualities, you have no power.

It’s not like I’m going to pray that God will give me power from on high. It’s not some supernatural power that comes over you and makes you supernatural and you can do the work of God. Now, it’s whenever you begin to demonstrate forgiveness and love and compassion and those qualities that reveal who God is and what God is like, you’re to reveal those in your own personal life. And that’s how you reveal the power of God in your life.

Any Christian who is not loving, who is not kind, who is not merciful, and who is not forgiving, is not very strong in the Lord. The power of God in your life is revealed by the display, the making known, the revealing, the manifestation of what God has done in your own life and how you see God because you’re revealing Him. The power in a man’s life is revealed by the power of his love, his kindness, forgiveness, and mercy toward others.

And if you don’t have it, you don’t have no power of God in your life. And so many Christians live their life totally powerless, but it’s all by choice. and they do not understand how it all works together. Grace is the means by which God displays His judgment. In other words, none of these things cost us anything. They’re all free. God is willing to demonstrate all of this for us without charge, no price. And how does grace display His judgment?

because it displays his love that he has toward righteousness and his justice, because his judgment reveals his love for righteousness. You see, if God loves righteousness, God has to hate that which is not righteous. And if God loves justice, then God hates injustice. If God is a righteous God and he loves his law, which he does, then he loves perfection and He loves holiness. But how does God display His perfection? How does God display His love for His law?

And that is by the wrath that He bestows upon those that deserve it. And so there is the love of God, and there’s the wrath of God. And so God is gonna reveal all these things. So in our own Christian life, God loves for us to live right. But when we don’t live right, we know there is the chasing hand of God. That is justice that is right. It is only right for God to chasten his children because he says, because of his love for us, he does these things.

So you and I can look upon the earth and we can see the judgment of the Lord throughout the land. You can see God working. If you know what to look for, but if you don’t know what to look for, you don’t see anything, it’s just day in and day out. Everything’s going on the same old way. Nothing news happening. Grace is truly the means by which God displays all of his divine attributes. So God is wanting to let man know what he’s like.

So God has to have a way to reveal himself. Even the way he made the world, even when you talk about predestination, it all deals with man and what God has determined from the very foundations of the world, and it’s all about the cross. And whenever you… And whenever you talk about the attribute of God, the foreknowledge of God, see, foreknowledge is an attribute of God. That’s what God knows. Predestination is an act of God. Doubt is what God does.

And so, but these are descriptive of what God is. God can predict the future. God can pre-determine what’s going to happen before it happens. God can do that. And God knows what every man will do. That’s the foreknowledge of God. That’s the wisdom of God. But all these things are revealed in the Word of God to man in this world and he has to have an object upon which to display all these things. All a man must be the object on which the man has all of the deuteronomy.

divine attributes of God. You see, if God just did this to an angel, an angel ain’t gonna understand it. You have to have a sinful individual so that God has somebody he can show his mercy upon, so that there’s somebody God can show compassion on. See, if nobody needed compassion, how do you show it? Nobody needed love and how do you show it? You and I have to have an object for you and I to display the characteristics of God.

If you and I are supposed to live like the Lord and the Lord for the live through us, well how do you think He does that? In what way? Take over your will? No, God doesn’t take over your will. God lets you make this choice, these decisions, these choices. It’s one story in all of its glory that is really the ultimate display of God’s description of himself. How can you tell one story that would truly describe what God is like?

And that is what? The gospel story itself. From the beginning up to Christ, after Christ, everything deals with that story of the gospel because it’s got all of the characteristics in it that we need. That one story will tell you everything you need to know about what God is like in every area. There’s no other story like this story. And that’s why the gospel is the lens by which we see God, by which we can understand the scriptures. There’s one thing that the devil hates more than anything else.

And that’s the gospel story. He despises that story. But the more you understand that the more that story is so precious. There’s a song we sing sometime called, tell me the story of Jesus, write on my heart every word for God so loved the world. Now that means that if God is love, God needs an object for him to display his love. Otherwise how do you know? How would I know that God loves us or that God his love.

So he has to have an object of his love. God so loved the object, the world, that you and I, people, that he gave his only begotten son. So to prove that he loved the world, he had to have an object and he had to do something about it. So what did he do? He gave his only begotten son Jesus Christ to down that cross so that whosoever believe it in him should not perish but have everlasting. Look at all the results because God wants to prove that He loves you.

It shows you that I have compassion, that I have kindness, that I have forgiveness, I have all these qualities. This is who I am. These traits is a description of God because how do you describe God for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, have shined in our hearts and the other underlinedings to her to give? See, the gospel story itself, when it’s told in its purest form, is the image of God. It’s not only there’s a man on the cross that’s the Son of God, but everything about the story coming up to it and from it and the death and the resurrection all about all put together is the most beautiful picture in all the world and Describing what God is like it shows his wrath against the sin It shows his righteousness for his law shows his justice and how sin is paid for it

It shows his love shows his power shows everything about shows his compassion you name it and that story’s got it That’s why I love to tell the story. I love the gospel and I don’t ever want it to get old to me or cold to me Through the receiving and the giving of the gospel. We see how God displays There’s love on man Without charge to man his kindness on man without charge to man and and his forgiveness on man without charge to man, his mercy on man without charge to man, power on man without charge to man, compassion on man without charge to man, because it’s all by grace.

So this is what God has done for us. Now if all of this is true and you have to understand this to understand what he means when he says we’re supposed to live I’ll see you in a little bit. Bye, Grace. The power of God is revealed when the attributes and the characteristics of God are displayed. It is the will of God that every child of God displayed the qualities of God in their Christian life. Because if you do only what you choose to do as a natural man in the flesh, in the body, then what have you done?

That’s no different than a lost man can do. You are supposed to show divine kindness, divine love, because there’s no price on yours. There’s no charge for yours. We love people because we love people. We forgive people because we forgive, because that’s the way God is. We want to be like Him, then blessed be God. Be like Him. Be like the Lord. When Christ was here, what was He after? the same thing that he would do. A saved man’s motive of service must be loved.

What is your motive? What is my motive? There has to be a motive. Because otherwise, unless your motive is the same as God, you don’t last long and you get feelings hurt and you quit. But the right kind of motive won’t hurt. The right kind of motive, it won’t stop you. Because you see, it keeps you on going. Because if the real motive is love doesn’t quit. Love doesn’t stop. Love is not easily offended. It’s whenever you’re not doing what you’re doing because you really love the Lord and you really love souls and you really love people then you won’t keep going.

For the love of Christ constraineth us. That word constrain means to motivate us. It’s to motivate. So if the love of Christ motivates us because we thus judge that if one died for all then we’re all dead, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him would die for them and rose again. So we have a verse in the scriptures that tells us that our motive is supposed to be because of the love of Christ and that challenges us.

That’s why we do what we do. Though I speak with the tongue of men and of angels and have not charity or have not love, though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all miseries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I can remove mountains and have not love, charity is love, though I be still all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned and have not love, the motive is as important as what you do.

Why do you do what you do? You come to church, but why? You give. If you don’t believe your motive is that important, you’ll find out that God says it is important. Because God’s not just after our labor, He wants it to be a labor of love because you love. Not just labor, labor of love. Comfort of hope. These things that are taught in the Scriptures. So we have a reason why we should do what we do. 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 2 makes this statement, Moreover, it is required in understood that a man be found rich, popular, famous, good looking, faithful.

God did not ask us to do anything we could not do. He’s only asked us to do what we can do, and every Christian can be faithful to do what God has told him to do. Therefore, he says, judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make and here’s the word manifest. He will reveal the councils of the heart, the reason, the motives of why a man did what he did and then after that because of that every man shall have praise of God.

Every man shall have praise of God after what is revealed in the councils of the heart. That’s more important. If God says though you give your body to be burned and you have not loved. Now you give your body to be burnt for the cause, but you didn’t have love. Then what was your real reason? Because you want to be a martyr? You want people to think great of you? If it’s all about you and it’s not about him, you’ve got a problem.

Because there is a God in heaven that wants all the honor and all the glory for us doing what we do. So the motive of man is very important. Why a saved man’s means of service must be grace. If God did what he did because he loved us, then we should do what we do for the very same reason. Now get this first. For you’re not under the law, but under grace. Notice what follows a man under grace. If you are under grace and you live by grace, know you’re not that the home ye yield yourselves servants to obey his servants, he are to whom you obey, whether sin and death or of obedience under righteousness been made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.

Even though now you’re your members servants to all righteousness on the whole of them. Whatever the Christian life is, whatever it is, that it will be produced by the obedience under righteous. If you don’t have this in your life, you’re not living by grace. Because living by grace produces it. A lot of people believe that living by grace is everybody just do their own thing. Nobody has a right to tell anybody else what they cannot do and shouldn’t should not do and this is all live by grace.

And everybody just call whatever you want to and don’t nobody judge nobody else. Just let everybody alone. That is not the book. That’s not the Bible. Because God don’t let us alone. We’re supposed to even rebuke one another, challenge one another, provoke one another to do the right things. There is a thing in the Bible talking about do’s and don’t. Don’t do this. Do this. You’ll find it all the way through scripture, but I don’t want no rules and regulations.

That’s not the Bible. That’s not living by grace. Living by grace is the power of God in your life to do what God says to do. Not to play games. Why save man’s object of service to God is the lost man through the gospel. Why do you think God left us in this world? It’s not about us. It’s really not about him. It’s about the man that we’re here to reach. Even the ministry to the saint is to strengthen the Christian to reach the lost.

Christians that are not trying to reach the lost in some way aren’t reached. But they may know the Lord. But they’re not strong in the Lord until you’re trying to reach the lost that God left you here to reach. Whether through your money, through your prayers or by your personal witnesses, every Christian is responsible. Every Christian. Nobody more than any other. Everybody’s the same. What he did for me or what he did for Robert, what he did for Leon, what he did for anybody.

He did exactly the same for all of He saved us all equally the same by the same grace. Saved us gave us eternal life and we are going to get the same thing because of that. And God left us here and all of us have exactly the same purpose in life. And that’s the honor and glorified the Lord. And He says this is our object. So you and I must have an object upon whom to bestow those godly attributes that God’s given to us through the New Birth.

says I’m a debtor. I am ready. I am not ashamed to preach the gospel. For therein the gospel is the righteousness of God, reveal to everyone to believe it. You first and also to the degree. Living by grace is when the love of God motivates you to perform. Read that verse again. Not a verse but a statement. Living by grace is when the love of God motivates you to perform. See, God being loved wants to love and wants to be loved.

And He made you in His image. Why do you think one of the most important things in your own personal life is that you want to love and you want to be loved? Think about it. You want to love and you want to be loved more than anything else in this world. Where did you get it from? Who made you like this? God did. We’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 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.

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.

So bless them which persecute you, bless and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice. We with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mine not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible as much as life in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, rather give place under wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay sayeth the Lord.

Therefore if thine enemy hunger feed him, if he thirst give him drink. For in so doing thou shall he coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Bless them which persecute you. Bless and curse not. Every one of these statements that is asking asking us to do something in reality is helping us to learn how to deal with anger. Because everybody has an anger problem. We can call it whatever we want to, but it generally means that we want to get even.

We want to take vengeance. We want to make somebody pay for hurting us. Be a blessing to them. See, Christian life is not people being a blessing to you. It would be great if everybody was. Okay, so they’re not learn how to be a blessing and Ask the Lord to bless people. I very seldom ever ask God curse somebody I’ve asked God to put a hedge of phones around people So that they would prick them and get them back to him Louise it bless and curse not I Watch people even swing at a golf ball and the golf ball goes in the woods.

They curse Like it was that little golf balls fall that little golf ball is It doesn’t have a mind. It can’t think, can’t reason, and yet every golfer I’ve ever seen talks to it. It can’t hear a word, but they talk to it, oh, no, no, no, no, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. I went in the woods and getting mad over there at that poor little golf ball. He says, rejoice with them that do rejoice, learning how to be happy when other people are happy.

You know what? Some people I think want everybody to be miserable. Have you ever hoped that somebody doesn’t succeed in something? I don’t want anybody to fail. I want people to succeed. I want the best for them. I want them to enjoy life. I want them to be happy, enjoy them. I want them to do what’s right in order of the God to do that for them. But we shouldn’t be thrilled with death because somebody’s having a bad time.

Well, look what he says. He says, rejoice with them that do rejoice. We with them that weep. There’s a time and place for everything. But if everybody’s joyful, you don’t want to cry on their part either. Be not wise in your own conceit. Have you ever met somebody that was conceited? Like Paul says, I will become all things to all men that I might by all means save some. That means that you’re supposed to talk to the person like, look, I’m a sinner.

You’re a sinner. We’re all sinners. Every time you hear me do the hand gesture, God loves us, but He hates our sin. that this is what will keep you from being as angry. God just given us a list of how to deal with the anger because everybody does get angry. We get angry at things, don’t work out right. We get angry at people. We can even get bad at the weather. If we get mad at the weather, have something planned and then it rained.

Recompense, the word recompense means payback. They got commercial now now, it’s payback time. And if people don’t treat us right, you know if you think too highly of yourself and people don’t treat you right, you’ll take offense to that. It’s so easy to be offended. And that’s why in the Bible it talks about here not being offended, not being offended, not offending and not being offended. Because most times if you’re offended, you get it to yourself. You can choose to be offended or choose not to be offended.

That’s a personal choice. recompense to no man evil for evil. Now the thing is this, and you ought to write it down in your paper. Evil will come. Evil will come. Evil things in this life are going to happen to you. But it doesn’t say, render evil for evil. It says do not do that. Do not render evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men, or always seek to be honest, because if you’re not an honest person, That’s all you really got going for you.

If Bible says in the book of Proverbs that a man’s good name is supposed to be honored above almost everything, because are you honest? Serving the Lord has to deal with honesty between you and God and between you and people. Always seek to tell the truth. Is there a God in heaven yet? Do you know that? Do you believe that? Or one day God is going to reveal and then he’ll be known. And until then, you can say it and then you’ve got to let it go and let people believe whatever they believe because you can’t change everything.

But it is important to try to provide things honest in the sight of all men. What have you do? Be honest. If it be possible, this is a verse you need to underline. This is a good verse. I’ve preached on this verse quite a few times. If it be possible, not always possible, as much as lie it in you, that will change with different people. Live peaceably with all men. Doesn’t need too much to be said about it. If it’s your husband or if it’s your wife or whatever it is, live peaceably with all of them as much as possible, as much as life within you.

In the words, I guess there’s a line that’s got to be drawn. It comes to time when you just can’t take it and you’re going to be angry and you’re going to say something that you should probably not say. But try to bear it as long as possible. Be long suffered as the Bible says in the book of Galatians in chapter 5 and verse 22. Look at the next statement. When he makes this statement here, vengeance is mine. I will repay Seth the Lord.

The reason you’re not to avenge yourself and the first part of that verse is because you’re supposed to believe, I’m supposed to believe God will take vengeance. Do you believe that God will get even, but he don’t have to if you’re going to. And he says, therefore if any thine enemy hunger, feed him. That’s a good deed. If he thirst, give him drink. That’s a good deed for in so doing, thou shalt heave coals of fire on his head.

That don’t sound good. All right, here’s a person laying on the ground up here. What are you going to do? I’m going to put some coals of fire on his head. Now I’ve been having a stoke to fire lately and I open that thing up and got a lot of hot coals in there. Throw a couple more logs on that fire and close that door and fires right up. Now why would he say if you’re nice to somebody you’re throwing coals of fire on her head?

Does that really sound like a nice thing to do if that doesn’t speak of vengeance what does? Now why would I want to put hot coals of fire on somebody’s head. And if I’m nice to them, you mean I’m doing something good or bad to them? They say that this doesn’t mean putting coal to fire on somebody’s head in order to burn them alive, you know. It says that sometimes your fire will go out. And so when your fire goes out and you don’t have any hot coals to start a fire, then you go to your neighbor and ask them if you can have some hot coals.

And they will take and put a hot coals upon a thing and they would toad them up on their head and they would toad them home. So putting hot coals upon their head was a good deed. It was a neighborly thing. It was a good thing. Otherwise, all these other things would not have meant good thing because they would have meant that you were getting even and you were paying them back, you’re recompensing and contradicts all the other things that says to all the other verses.

I think that is the meaning of this verse. Now some people and probably think this might mean, you know, by being nice to those who are un-nice to you, unkind to you, is like, you know, you’re going to hell and here’s another shovel full of coals on you. I don’t think that’s what he’s talking about. Because then that’s you doing it, not God. And let God deal with it, us do right. Now look at the next verse, be not overcome of evil.

It means evil will come, but don’t let it get the advantage. Don’t let it get the upper hand over you. But overcome evil with what? With good. Just keep doing good. Keep doing right. You can’t make everybody do right by you. You can’t make everybody say the right thing, do the right thing. And there’s experiences in life that just are not always the best. Now look at the next statement, anger. in and of itself is not sinful, but when not properly built with, it may lead to a multitude of sins toward God others or oneself.

We need to distinguish between being angry and sinning. Ephesians 4, 26, which on the right hand side of the page on the right hand column, makes this statement, be angry, be ye angry and sin not. Or you can’t be angry, but you don’t have to sin. And we should be angry at some things. It’s okay to get angry at everything that God can get angry at. If God can get angry at it, so can you. See how easy that is?

If God can get angry at it, you can get angry at it. And if God is angry at your sin, then you can get angry at it too. If God can get angry at somebody else’s sin, you can get angry at it too. You can get angry at everything that God can get angry at. And it can be a righteous anger. Then we can get angry because of things that people say and do, but it’s not to lead you to sin.

Now, get the rest of this. Righteous anger can become unrighteous anger in two ways. This is generally what will happen in the lives of certain people. Now based upon a person’s temperament depends on how they handle the anger. Now I am a high D. So a high D generally will do the part here, ventilation of anger, blowing up, exploding and saying it. We are generally not short of words on verbal anger and firing back, getting even. Then there’s others that have a temperament of being quiet, shy, timid, and don’t like of voice it all the time.

They hold it in. So there’s on the right hand side internalization of anger, clamming up. So there’s one that produces a hot war and the other one produces a cold war. And they’re both as a result of anger. Now look what I have here underneath blowing up. His emotional energies are aimed and fired at someone else, not necessarily the right person. Did you know somebody else can make you mad and angry and you can explode on somebody else had nothing to do with it.

And then that person says, what do I do? What do I do? What do I do? I just walked in there and you could be the recipient of somebody’s anger because they’ve got to explode on somebody. And so you just happen to be designated. So understand what people do and that there’s a sin problem because anger that leads to sin is a sin problem. Number two, although it is designed to hurt others, it also hurts the ventilator by damage to one’s body.

There’s often a powerful recoil to the immune system. Your body and my body is designed by God for peace, joy, happiness, and there’s glands all worked all through our bodies. And when you’re angry, the anger causes certain thing, chemical reactions in your body, that is designed to destroy. And it destroys parts of your body and can produce a lot of things that affects your health. That’s why it says in the testament, bitterness is hardening of the bones. And it says, Mary meant is medicine to the bones.

If you’re happy person, you have a tendency to be more healthy. But if you’re a person who is controlled by anger that turns to bitter and resentment, then it also affects Your health. Every doctor will tell you that because stress is a part of anger. Being stressful can be a part of anger because you’re not casting your cares upon the Lord, but at least a lot of other things. Get this. Number three, when anger injures the relationship, it may destroy the friendship.

In other words, you can have between two people, something that injures that relationship and that anger can lead. To a break of friendships. Now over the years, you have no doubt I’ve seen that happen. You’ve had many people that used to be your friends no longer your friends. I’ve had many people used to be my friends no longer my friends. And it’s generally will always be traced back. There’s anger somewhere anger that’s not dealt with that leads to bitterness and resentment and they actually know a host of all kind of other sins.

The number four. And how many times have you seen this? exploding on somebody and gotten it off his chest many times wished to continue the relationship as though nothing ever happened. In other words, this like a lady says to Billy Sunday, she says, I may explode sometimes but I get over it real quick. He said, yeah, a shotgun blast don’t last long but it sure does a lot of damage. In other words I’m mad my shotgun boom. No I feel better.

Yeah but what did you just do? You just blew away somebody. They anger the explosion the hurt the damage all of that. You got it off your chest. Now that’s what a person does that can blow up and they can have a short fuse and this is what can happen. Now remember all these things are this is Bible. All this is Bible. And some people call it, well, marriage counseling, you know, going to a good therapist and having somebody sitting in counseling and talking, well, all that’s good.

Or you can learn how to counsel yourself. Because when you know the Bible, you can deal with some of these things. But sometimes a good friend can explain and share some of these things with you. And you also need sometimes somebody. But look at number five. Good Christian counseling provides therapy that allows one to express his verbal physical expressions in a controlled environment. This is why sometimes it’s good to have somebody, if you have a very bad anger management problem, that you sometimes need to talk to somebody.

Somebody you can talk to, you can trust, but you can sit down and say what you want to say without fear of retribution because of it. But trust in somebody can help you with that and how to deal with that because anger can destroy the help and the spiritual help, the physical help of any Christian. So if you don’t know how to deal with the anger, it will deal with you and it’s going to affect you and it will affect the church, it will affect your home, it will affect your relationship between husband and wife, it affects everything.

A little thing called anger is how it’s manifested in so many other areas. Now look at the other side. The person that doesn’t blow up, but they clam up. It’s on the inside. In other words, they’re angry about something, but they don’t say it. They don’t come out and tell somebody. See others, there’s other kinds of, they just say it and get it off their chest, speak their mind, boom, go. Then they feel better. There’s others that’ll hold it inside and they just sieve with it.

It’s called a slow burn. Look at number one. a slow burn. In other words, slowly inside you’re burning. If you ever seen somebody, they’re just burning, human, like somebody done a little fuse and you don’t know if it’s going to explode or not explode. Every person, every person sitting in here, including this guy right here, is one of these. We do this. This is how we respond to certain things. And So number two, body lead tensions are released within oneself.

In other words, you get all pinched up, keyed up, tightened up, it can cause all kind of neck problem, muscle problem, all kind of physical problem because you’re tightening things up. You’re not loose, you’re not relaxing. And it causes a lot of stress because problems are not dealt with. Or because you thought something that somebody was gonna do this. So that was going to happen. And you got to learn how to deal with disappointments. How do you deal with those things that don’t go your way or go my way?

Number two, I mean, number three, holding it in for another leads to bitterness and resentment because you hold it in. Now, the person that you hold it in against may not have any clue, anything’s going on. And then you wonder why can’t they solve the problem? they can’t solve a problem, they don’t even know exist. It’d been a lot of time that one, I mean, how come Yankee didn’t solve that problem? Cause Yankee didn’t know that problem was their problem.

You may not solve some problem cause you didn’t even know there was one. And then you’ll find out a year later, two years later, three years later, that something was bothering somebody, and you had no clue, because they held it in. Now look at number four. Emotional energies of anger are non-productive. It will drain you physically. It’ll drain you. Being bitter and anger and upset will work your stomach muscles like you can’t believe. And you’ll secrete juices into your stomach and throughout your body and it’ll change the chemical makeup and you’ll have health problems.

All of it do because something’s bothering you. Something can bother you but you don’t deal with it. And it says that you’re not going to do anything. not very productive because of it. Because it will eat at you, eat at you, like cancer on the inside. Number five, it may last for hours,585 days or years. And you hold it in. The person that blows up is generally a little bit better off. But they do a lot of damage to other people that many times have nothing to do with anything.

And they damage the other person. this person is damaging themselves. And sooner or later, they don’t know they’re like a stick of dynamite. Just wait for somebody to sit light a fuse and they’re going off. But then it’s when they last straw, they can’t handle anymore, and then they have a nervous breakdown or something. Now, number six, anger that directs emotional energies at one self injures his own body, causing him to be irritable, Saulen, sulky, tensed, and miserable. Just miserable.

You ever met some people that just never seem to be happy. Never happy. It’s always, it’s gonna be happy. They’ll be happy tomorrow, or maybe the next day, or if this happens, but most times, generally, they’re just not very happy people. And most people don’t like to be around unhappy people. But not good company for others, they appear to be very unhappy. Number seven, it produces an irreconcilable condition for no one knows what is seething underneath. In other words, you can’t solve the problem.

Nobody can solve the person’s problem because it’s an inside job. Most homes when they recommend it’s an inside job and the person who lets anger build up inside of them and don’t deal with the problem, It’s an inside job. They destroy themselves. Look at number nine. Number nine. Boredom is a form of internalization of anger. Boredom is not passes, but an active rebellion against a situation in which he does not like, but thinks he cannot change. In other words, and I’ve done it, I’m bored.

You know, I want to go fishing or I want to go hunting or I want to go play golf I want to do something and it’s raining outside and I can’t so I’m just bored. I’m bored In other words, I got a situation and I don’t know how to change the situation So I can become bored. You say well, there’s nothing wrong with being bored, but why are we bored? There’s something I can’t do someplace. I can’t go. I am not as happy as I would be if I was doing that So therefore I am not in that situation So this calls me to be bored, but boredom is not a passive thing like it doesn’t bother me Bored is something it is saying I am bored.

I am not Satisfied with the situation and I want to change it This is why it’s good to have many things that you can do Not to be a person of just one thing. I’m not talking about the gospel and silver. I’m talking about I’ve got ways in which you can do something. Okay, I can’t do that. What else can I do? I can’t do that. Okay, now what else can I do? Find something that you can do. But nobody should have to live a life of boredom.

I’ve talked to teenagers that are just filled with boredom, bored, bored stuff. Because you know what? They want to go somewhere, do something if they can’t. And that’s why grounding them is the death blow to them. Because that’s the last thing I want to do is sit around the house and do nothing. They always want to go do something, be active. The next statement, how to handle anger righteously? That’s God’s way. Well, what is God’s way? Right up there in Romans 12.

Those verses that we have is the way to deal with anger in a righteous way. And it says, blessed in that persecute you, because if you don’t, you’re going to get angry. Blessed in that curse you, because if somebody curses you, you’re going to get offended, and you’re going to get angry because of it. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Because if you’re of the wrong kind of a mind that you don’t want people to be happy, why?

Because I’m not happy. And therefore, you’re being happy as a rebuke to me, and I don’t like it. People have got all kinds of reasons. But these verses will help you to deal with the anger itself. down to bottom of the page. You may freely display anger at everything God displays His anger. Angry is appropriate as a means of communication, a feeling in reaction to another’s behavior. Because anger is sometimes the way we can scold a child who disobeys and there should be angry because the child disobeys.

There’s nothing wrong with being angry. Angry can be a good thing. God gets angry. The next statement, it may be a very necessary, powerful, emotional reaction that may be used, but not abused. Anger is to be used. I as a pastor sometime, I get angry at the disobedience of God’s people and the unfaithfulness of God’s people. Now, do I have a right to be angry about that? Yes, I do. Why? Because God gets angry about that. I can get angry with anything God gets angry.

If God’s people live in sin, I should be angry about that. Why? Because God gets angry about that. can be angry by that and rebuke because of that, but it’s not to be abused. It’s not to leave me to sin. I’m going to take matters in them all in hand. Any Christian that doesn’t serve the Lord right, I’m just going to shoot him. Now would that be right? I don’t think so. I’m going to put them all in jail.

Look at the next statement. In John chapter 2 verse 17, Jesus says, the zeal of thine house has eaten me up. You know what he was talking about? You see in John chapter 2, he went into the temple and he saw the money changes in the temple. And he called it in one place, my house was a house of prayer, and you have made it a den of thieves. So he says, the zeal of the house has eaten me up.

In other words, what I see of these people doing in this holy place has made me burn. And that’s why he took the ropes and he beat the people out of there. Was he angry? You got right. Jesus Christ, when he got angry and he chased the people out of the place and said what he thought. I think it was angry when he told the Pharisees, you hypocrites over and over again in Matthew 23. He was angry. God is angry with the wicked every day, but I want you to look at this verse Psalms 7, 11 and verse 10.

My defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. God judgeth the righteous and you ought to underline this in your Bible. God is angry with the wicked wind. Every day, God’s angry every day. But does God still love the world? God loves the world, but he’s angry at the wicked. Because of what they do if he’s angry at the wicked because of what they do don’t you think he gets angry at the righteous because of what they do Yes, he does Then he makes a statement in verse 12 if he turned not the person that’s doing the wickedness Then making God angry God I believe he won’t wet his sword He hath bent his bow and made it ready and you can bet your bottom dollar There’s an arrow on the way that era is in called trouble and God has a quiver full of them.

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. Life 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, 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, 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. 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.

You have a Bible turned to the book of Romans. It was spring. But it was summer I wanted. The warm days, the great outdoors. It was summer. But it was fall that I wanted. The colorful leaves and the cool dry air. It was spring but it was winter I wanted. The beautiful snow and the joy the holiday season. I was a child. But it was adulthood I wanted. The freedom and the respect. I was 20. it was 30 I wanted to be mature and sophisticated.

I was middle-aged, but it was 30 I wanted the youth and the free spirit. I was retired, but it was middle age I wanted the presence of mine without limitations. My life was over, but I never got what I wanted. And some people I think during their Christian life are always living in such a way that it’s always something else that they want. They want to be somebody else. They want to be somewhere else. They want to have something else.

They’re always wanting something and they never seem to be content with where they are and what they have. And I believe that when it comes to serving the Lord, we should learn how to want what God wants. So I want you to think for a moment But could you at this moment stop thinking about what you want? Don’t think about what you want. Because if you want something that you don’t have, then you’re always wanting something. So that means your chances are you may not be satisfied with what you have now.

But I want to see if you can do this. This will be hard for you, but I think you can do it. Can you want what you now have? Can you want what you now have? You say, you just don’t know the heartache I’ve got. I want you to see if you can change it around. Want every problem that you now have. You have hurts and pains. How can I want that? Can you find a way to want your lack of finances that you have?

And you don’t have anything to maybe live on enough. You wish your house was bigger. You wish your car was better. Always wanting something. And if you don’t learn how to want what you have, you’re just liable to find out life will pass you by and you never got anything that you ever wanted. Because this is the day that God has given to us. This is the day that the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.

I want to say I’m thankful for this day. We just had Thanksgiving. Everybody’s supposed to be thankful for something. What were you thankful for? Can you say, I’m thankful to the Lord for giving me eternal life? That’s a good thing to be thankful for. I’m thankful that I’m His child. I’m thankful that I know that I’m going to heaven when I die. I’m glad that God made salvation free so that everybody could have it. I’m thankful that the Holy Spirit indwells me.

I’m thankful that God gave me His Word so I can read and study it and know His will for my life. I’m thankful for my wife. I’m thankful for my kids. I’m thankful for my grandkids. And I’m thankful for every problem that they have. Every heartache they’re going through, all their struggles. Because see, if we really believe Romans 828, what does it say? Well, we know that all things work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

So that means that I’m supposed to want the will of God. But if it’s the will of God for me to suffer, should I want that? Yes. If it’s the will of God for me to do without finances, should I want that? Yes. If it’s the will of God for me to have a million dollars, should I want that? Huh? Alleion? Yes. I want the will of God. The will of God is the most important thing that any of us could ever want in our life.

I read something about a missionary, and I got teary-eyed when I saw it. It was in a magazine for missions, and this older lady in this church stood up in a missions conference, and she made this statement. When I was a teenager, I knew that God wanted me to be a missionary, and then the saddest words she ever could have said. I didn’t go. I didn’t go. I knew God had something more for me to do. God wanted me to be a missionary and I wouldn’t go.

I didn’t do it. You know whenever we get to heaven and we find out what we could have done for the Lord, what God wanted us to do and we stand there and all we can say is I didn’t do it. I didn’t do it. I didn’t go. And I think it’s going to be a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth where people are going to be very regretful. See, we’re not as regretful now because we can’t see what it’s cost us.

We just always think, well, it’s not that bad. I mean, if I don’t do what God will mean, it’s not that bad. And anyway, my life’s pretty good anyway. So it’s not that bad. We’re to look at things to the eyes of the Lord. Look there in Romans in chapter 9 and verse 14. A verse 14 says, What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. You see, when the Bible says that God in order to justify us must be just in the way he does it.

In the words of God, let some man go to heaven. If that man gets to heaven, it’s got to be right. So no man is justified by the law in the sight of God. So how can God justify a man? Well, as you read the book of Romans, it is a book on justification. How did God make some man justified in the eyes of God and gets to go to heaven? Now we know that it says that they Gentiles had the world and the Jews had the word.

So they both had one revelation and reason. Not everybody takes advantages of those opportunities. Even though God gave to the one the word of God to Israel, it did not profit them because they wouldn’t believe it. And then he gave the mind the reasoning power of the world that know that there is Because they got a supreme being, a power. And they turned against God, neither were thankful, became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. So their reasoning didn’t prove to be too advantageous to them.

Is God unjust to save anybody? Well, if he saved us because of the way we are, then that would have been unjust, because nobody deserves to be saved. So in the book of Romans it shows us that no man is saved by his works. He must trust Christ as Savior and how that Christ in chapter 5 of Romans proved that he loved us, displayed his love for us, and while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. So by trusting him along we have as a free gift ever lasting life.

Now because we have this everlasting life, Then in chapter 6 it talks to us about how that we need to yield ourselves to the Lord, as those that have come back from the dead. And we are supposed to use our bodies as an instrument of righteousness and to bring forth fruit unto God. Chapter 7 reveals to us all of our struggles how that we want to do right, but we don’t do right. And every time we want to do good, He says, evil is present with me.

How to perform that which is good, I find not. So I find in me a law, a law that every time I want to do right sin is present with me, means your own sinful nature. So you have the struggle, but chapter 8 reveals about the Holy Spirit and how that. It is our choice. We can follow after the spirit or after the flesh. Christians have a choice. And he says that we can have victory because it starts off in Romans 8.

There is no condemnation to those that are in Christ. So we can never be condemned. And the ending of that chapter 8, there is no separation. And within those that framework, there is to be no frustration because we have learned how to just trust the Lord. But what he’s done. forth. In our Christian life, we are supposed to yield ourselves to the Lord and God will walk us through life. Yay do I walk to the valley of the shadow of death.

I will fear no evil, fear no evil. A majority of Christians live their lives in fear, afraid of something that is going to happen that they cannot either explain or deal with. I will have to admit there is a lot of things that I have even at this point in my life. I don’t know the future. I don’t know what’s coming down the road. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but there’s some things I wish I did know. I wish I had the answers to, but I feel like if God has walked with me for all these years, I can trust Him to walk me the rest of the way.

I don’t know how dark it’s gonna be. I don’t know what all the problems are gonna be. Can I at this point in my life want what God has for me today? And tomorrow when I get out of bed, regardless of what it is and And whatever it unfolds, can I say, Lord, I want what you have for me today. You may have for me to suffer today. I love it when I don’t suffer. But he says that in the book of Romans in chapter 8, the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed.

So the sufferings of this present time is the will of God for us. So we don’t always get our way. Things go wrong. things can work together for good to those who know and love the Lord. So you have to have a right kind of a mind on how you see life. There’s always the human perspective and a divine perspective. The human perspective is from our view and the divine perspective is from God’s view. But in verse 14 of chapter 9 it says, is there unrighteousness with God?

Is God unrighteous? No, God is not unrighteous. It says, God forbid. No, that’s not true. And why would we say that? Well, because we don’t think it’s fair in our minds and the lost people, especially in all the religions of the world. They just can’t believe that a man can just simply trust Christ’s Savior. And God will give them eternal life and they go to heaven whenever they die. And here’s somebody else that goes to church, all their life lives right.

And another guy lives like the devil. And he goes to heaven and the good man that did right paid his bills and did all the good stuff in life and he goes to hell. That’s not fair. So in our minds we weigh things. We judge and we’re always judging and sometimes we judge God. God that ain’t right. That’s not fair. A lot of things in life isn’t fair. But God is in charge. So he uses an illustration here to show you that he has the right being the potter or the clay the way he chooses to mold the clay.

In verse 15, for he said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. He’s God. So God chose to have mercy on whom he want, compassion on whom he want. And he also says those that I want to, I can harden them. Make them hard. See what he says? In verse 16, so then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that run it, but of God that showeth mercy.

That’s found also in the book of John in chapter 1. We’re born not by the will of man, not by the will of man, but by our faith in Christ. It’s not the man who wills himself to be saved. That won’t save you because I want to be saved. I want to go to heaven. That won’t get you there. You have to trust Christ and him alone. not the man that runs. You know, I do this and I did that.

Look how many things I’ve done for the Lord. That’s not going to get it. It’s called God showed mercy. And so that’s the way God decided to do it. God decided to save a man by grace. And see up there in verse 11, pull the children, he burned the Isaac and Jacob. And he said, Jacob, he saw them. He said, for the children been not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might not of what?

Not of works, but of him that call it. So it is God. And so when he makes the statement there in verse 13, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. And that’s a reference to the first birth and the second birth. The first birth is the flesh birth and the second birth is the spiritual birth born of the spirit. So God hates the sinful nature that’s in the flesh birth that ruined it for us. So whenever you trust Christ as Savior, you have a new birth.

Well, is that wrong for God to do this this way? No, God said it’s not wrong. He has the right to do it because he’s going to be judged. People are going to judge God. And God says that he wants to be judged by those that he’s justified and for those that refuse to be justified. Because the great white throne judgment is coming, people are going to understand that he’s been against God. And try to prove to God, God, you were wrong.

And God says, I’m not wrong. He’s given us his word and tells us why he does things. Now look in verse 17, For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for the same purpose have I raised the yup that I might show my power in thee and that my name might be declared throughout all the year. In other words, God wanted to declare his power to the world. Well, he had to have a problem. You see, you just can’t just show the power.

So, I mean, if there’s a lame man in Christ was able to make the lame man to walk. Well if a man hadn’t been lame he couldn’t have used that miracle. If people hadn’t been hungry he couldn’t have fed the five thousand. There’d been no reason for it. It was the problems, the man that was blind. And God could make him see. Well if a man hadn’t been blind God wouldn’t have had a chance to demonstrate his power. Or would it have raised Lazarus from the dead?

Well if a man hadn’t have been dead there wouldn’t have been nobody to raise from the dead. See God uses the problems to show his power. He wants the world to know who he is, what he can do. But God wanted to use something big on a grand scale. So in order to demonstrate his power to the nation of Israel, to get him to believe, because the Jews require sign. They want to see miracles. They want to see something.

Now the Greek philosophers, they wanted to hear some new thing. But what God did, is he allowed O Pharaoh to come to great power? And here’s all these people that he had, the nation, his army, and then he had the nation of Israel, right in his midst as slaves. So God raised up Pharaoh in order to use him as an illustration of his power. Look what I can do. And he showed his people what he can do by what he did to this sky.

So there’s problems in your life that God will raise up too big for you to handle. See, the children of Israel, they couldn’t handle Pharaoh and his people? No. Too big, but not too big for God. So you and I are going to face giants in our life, but we’re supposed to believe that you and God are a majority. You and God can handle anything. I don’t get what it is. You and God can handle it. See, my goal in life is not to be.

See how many people I can convince that I’m right. My goal is just to serve God whether anybody believes it or they don’t believe it. You can’t maybe always convince anybody of anything. People have a right to believe whatever they want to believe. I should say they have the freedom to believe it. But see, you and God ought to be able to handle anything in life so that you can keep serving Lord all the days of your life. And so He makes the statement here in verse 17, for this same purpose I have raised the yup that I might show my power and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

Therefore had he mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will, he harden it. I will say unto me, why did he yet find fault? Or who hath resisted his will? Then why can God find fault if God just does whatever God wants to do. Did God make me the way that I am? Therefore, if I don’t make the right decision, not my fault. God made me. Boy, I could really get out of a lot of responsibility that way.

God, how can you judge me? It ain’t my fault. I didn’t ask to be born, you know. Did you? God, how can you stand in judgment on me? That’s not fair. Remember whatever you really you want to do in life, you’ll find a way to justify it. I want you to take your Bible looking Jeremiah 18 real quick. Hold your place here, but Jeremiah chapter 18. And look there at this verse. In verse one says, the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord.

Say, and arise and go down to the potter’s house. And there I will cause thee to hear my words. When he says cause thee to hear my words means I want to cause you to understand my word. So you may hear what God says, but you don’t understand what He says. And I believe there’s a lot of people that just don’t understand. But He said, I want you to see something. If you see this illustration and what are illustrations?

Illustrations are nothing but windows that let light into a dark room. Illustrations illuminates the mind so you can understand a spiritual truth. So He makes the statement in verse 3, then I went down to the potter’s house and behold he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hands of the potter. Isn’t it amazing that the time Jeremiah got down there, God allowed this man that was on the wheel making a vessel of whatever, it was marred.

He probably just did 10 of them right until Jeremiah got there and he happened to do what I’m wrong. And Jeremiah got to see what he did wrong. You know what, that time and the planet also has to be of God? I believe that God moves in the lives of individuals. Now that doesn’t mean that God is fatalistic. We’re fatalistic. No, I believe we have choices. And God gives us the right, the power to choose to make decisions like trusting Christ as my Savior.

And he says, before the foundations of the world, all that believe on Christ will have eternal life. And before we were ever born, did any good or bad God had already decided that any man who rejects Christ will spend eternity separate from God and hell. That’s what God decided. But he didn’t decide who believed and who did not believe. That’s our choice. So he makes a statement here in verse 4. He said, and the vessel that he had in his hand would marred.

So he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make him. the word of the Lord came to me saying, Oh, house of Israel cannot I do with you as this potter. Sayeth the Lord behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand. So are ye in my hand. Oh, house of Israel. Does the potter, the Lord, have the right to do with the clay you and I, whatever he wants. Look what he says. Look at this.

This is so important. 7, at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy. Did you know that God can cause a nation to grow or to put it down? God can do that. And then he said in verse 8, IfNSA that nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. Now God repents, but does God turn from sin?

No God won’t turn from sin. But see he’s talking here about, I change his mind about the judgment he’s going to bring upon the people because of what they’re doing. But if, like to say for example, here you are as a child of God and you decided I’m going to rebel and do whatever I want to do. There’s a God in heaven who’s already thought about the thing that he’s going to bring into your life to have chasing you with.

But if you correct the problem then God won’t do it. Isn’t that wonderful? But if you don’t correct the problem, God will. Now look what else he says there in verse 9. And at what instant I shall speak concerning the king or nation and concerning a kingdom to build unto planet, it, it do evil in my sight, that it will be not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. So here you are and we’re supposed to apply the scriptures.

Do you see anything in this that can apply to your life? Well, all of it you should, because remember it’s talking in chapter 9, 10 and 11 of Romans, chapter 9 is the past of Israel, chapter 10 is the presence of Israel, chapter 11 is the future of Israel and is dealing with Israel as though Israel was a person. And if you see how God dealt with Israel, you know how God will deal with you and me. And if Israel wanted the blessings of God, all they had to do is abide and land, listen to it, obey Him.

And if we want the will of God for life, all we have to do is obey Him. But what I want you to see there in verse 10, if you do evil in my sight, not to obey the voice of God is an evil thing. Not to obey God is evil. We need to see things from God’s viewpoint and judge things in our life like that. What we need in America, we need a revival in America among God’s people.

God’s people are filled with complacency. The churches are filled with complacency. In other words, what does that mean? They don’t care. People are going to hell. I don’t care. Why don’t you read the Bible because I don’t care to. Why don’t you go to church? I don’t care to. Why don’t you witness because I don’t care to? I don’t care. I’m going to do whatever I want to do. And this is what people do. You think you’re really hurting God yet God hurts because God is grieved when his children don’t obey him, but you have no clue what you’re doing to yourself because it’s costing you here and it’s going to cost you later.

I want what I have. Whatever I’m going through them, thank you Lord, I want you to use this to make your name known. I’ll honor you. I want you to receive glory because of my attitudes, because of what I’m having, or do you complain about everything that you don’t like? Whatever you’re going through. We are going to suffer. But here he makes the statement in verse 20, neighbor, oh man, who are thou that replies against God. Shall the thing formed?

Say to him that formed it. Why has God made me thus? Does the potter, who’s the potter? That’s God. Who’s the clay? That’s you. That’s me. Does God have the power over the clay? Then why can’t God just do whatever He wants? Then He makes a statement here in verse 22, what if God willing to show His wrath and to make His power known endured with much long suffering, the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? If God wants to reveal His wrath, is there anything wrong that if God after a period of time and though He’s worked with it in long suffering and a person continue to rebel against the Lord, doesn’t God have the right to use the Lord?

that person to show his wrath upon? Yes. Isn’t that what he did with Pharaoh? Yes. When it says God hardened his heart, God hardened his heart because his heart was already hardened and God just made it harder. Why? Because God forced them to make a decision. Let my people go. No. And sometimes God is going to confront you. Abba, the eyeball with a problem. And you got to decide what you’re going to do. Yield or not yield. Surrender or fight.

And too many people fight against God. They don’t want His way or His will or His word. So they rebel. Well, see, God will bring things into our lives that forces us to make a choice. And we choose. And because of your wrong choices, God, as a wonderful kind, loving heavenly Father, has the right, the power to work on that piece of clay and remake it if he has to. Has to break it sometimes. Sometimes clay stays moist, tender, pliable in the hands of the potter and the potter can shape that vessel any way he wants and always just believe.

God can do a better job transforming your life than you can because he’s the one that knows what kind of a vessel he’s trying to make. And so he says they’re in verse 23, and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had before it prepared on the glory. So God has vessels of wrath and vessels of honor, and even makes the statement in the book of Timothy where he says that in a big house, they have all kinds of vessels, vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor.

And so if you decide to be a vessel of honor, well then purge things from your life so that God can use you in a greater way and you’ll be a vessel of honor. And if you choose to rebel against the Lord and harden yourself, well then when the clay gets hardened like that, say, and God’s not finished with it yet, then it’s not going to be good. God’s going to have to not bend it. God’s going to have to break it and start all over again.

And many Christians in our Christian life never mature because they never graduated from in the garden, except the problem that you now have as though God just put a million dollars in the bank for you. And He says, the trial of your faith is much more precious than gold and silver, though it be tried with fire. And that one day at the Judgement City of Christ, every man shall receive his own praise, his honor and glory. Can you see that far?

Can you see through the eyes of the Lord? That’s having a divine perspective. And God chose to use rebellion to rebuild his wrath and submission obedience to show his finances. God explains what he’s doing, why he’s doing it, and use the nation of Israel as a living illustration of things that you and I are supposed to learn. 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 link below. 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, calvaryuptampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bible Live. And now we’ll close your thoughts 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 got toured on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. Here got’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. 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.

If a person believes that when you really say it, you will live it. you will in all your life, you will live it. Can’t know for sure that they are really a Christian until they have lived it and know for sure that when they died they finally made it. Because if they end their life ever go back on what they started out on this Christian walk, if they fail in the future they’re supposed to believe by their own testimony, they never really were saved.

So how do they know that tomorrow or the next week or the next year, they won’t really mess up? And if they really do mess up, they’re supposed to believe, well, I will never really saved in the first place. Because if you’re really saved, you’re not going to do that. And yet many of them do just that. So they have reasons to question their salvation. So they don’t really know they’re going to make it because they believe in the perseverance of the saints.

The saints will persevere. I don’t believe the saints have to persevere. I believe that I’m saved and that God saves me and it’s his job to keep me saved. I was saved by his power and I am kept saved by his power. I am not kept saved by my good deeds. Therefore I know today I have eternal life and I do not believe in the perseverance of the saints because I know that in me dwelt no good thing in my flesh.

I know that I still sin. I still do things that are wrong. I don’t have to worry about what happens if you really mess up? Well, really messing up or telling a lie or having a dirty thought. Still sin. But I don’t have to worry about any sin condemning me to hell because I can’t go there. I’m saved by grace. Now, on the other hand, here’s the others who teach that you can lose your salvation. And they believe that if you do something bad enough, long enough that you’re eventually going to lose your salvation, but they don’t know how many sins they have to commit and they don’t know exactly what point you really lost it.

So if they don’t nearly know when they lost it, they don’t know when to get it back again. And then they don’t know for sure if they’re going to really hang on until they die, to know for sure that they made it. You see, that’s not the Bible. Neither one has assurance, but But can you be sure of going to heaven? Yes, she can. So I’m not an Armenian because you see, I don’t believe you can lose it. I don’t believe in the perseverance of the saints.

I believe in the perseverance of God. That he saves me and he keeps me safe. So see, I’m neither one of those. Their eternal security depends upon them living it. And if they don’t live it, they didn’t have it. And I believe that people can trust Christ as Savior and be disobedient to God, and still be God’s child. And God will have to chase him. Eternal security, eternally being secure, means that one who has genuinely saved by God’s grace through faith alone and Christ alone shall never, in the future, never be in danger of God’s condemnation or loss of his salvation, but are kept, saved, and secure by God’s grace and power.

So that when I trusted Christ 41 years ago, he saved me, and I’m going to heaven based upon his word, his promise. He is going to keep me saved. I am saved by his power and kept saved by his power. If I didn’t have the power to save myself, I don’t have the power to keep myself saved. If I can believe that I’m saved by grace without my good works, Why can’t I believe I can stay saved without my good works?

Because grace would still be grace. Number one, I want you to understand these important points. Eternal security does not mean that all who profess to trust Christ actually possess eternal life. You say, what do you mean? That sounds contradictory. Can you profess something and it not be true? Could you stand up here today and profess that you have a million dollars in the bank? Yes, you can. Does that mean you got a million dollars in the bank? Not necessarily.

Some of you all have already professed that when I married this girl, I’m going to be faithful to her till death to us part. And then not keep the word. You professed something but you didn’t perform it. A person can profess that they know God and not know Him. Now you say, where does it say that? I’m glad you asked. Look in the book of Matthew chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7, look in verse 21. Notice what he said, and Jesus Christ is the one that’s doing the talking.

He’s the one that said this. So Jesus Christ has got, this is what God said. I had a person one time tell me, say, well, I don’t think you ought to be the judge. I said, I’m not the judge. I’m just telling you what the judge said. Can I do that? He’s the judge. I can tell you what he said, because he wrote it down and told us to study. This is what he said. 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. So is it possible somebody to profess the name of the Lord? Look what else he says in verse 22, many shall say to me in that many. Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out them, and in thy name done many wonderful works, they did it all in his name and did it for him. And yet he says, depart from me, I never knew you.

And so it doesn’t mean that just because they profess something that they really are saved. And so there’s people who say, well, I’m a Christian, that doesn’t mean they are. I meet people all the time. I asked them, I said, have you trusted Christ as you say, oh yes, where are you going to die? I don’t know, then they don’t understand it. They don’t understand. Like the other week, I mentioned this statement to you. Are you married? Well, I don’t know.

What do you mean you don’t know? If Angelo and Cathy get married, and somebody asks us, Cathy, Are you married? He says, I don’t know. If she gets married, you would assume she has a what? A husband, who in the world wants to get married not have a husband when you got through? Or are you saved? Oh yes, do you have eternal life? Well, I don’t know. Well, don’t you understand getting saved means you got this. And if you didn’t get this, you didn’t get that.

To get saved means you got eternal life. To get saved means you don’t go to hell. to get saved means that you’re going to heaven. That’s what being saved mean. It can’t mean anything else. Being saved, him saving you means he saved you from what? From hell. So I can’t go there. He says that I’ll go to heaven whenever I die. He’ll never cast me out, he’ll never lose me so I can rest assured. But a lot of people see they can say something but it doesn’t mean that it’s real.

It’s not true. He said, many of y’all say to me, Lord, or have we not? Look what we did. And they’re professing themselves to be believers in God. They follow His principles and His teaching, but they just haven’t trusted Him, depending upon Him to get Him to heaven. Look at the next statement. Number two, eternal security does not mean that all who trust Christ plus their good works are eternally secure. The Bible doesn’t say that God saves those who are trusting in their works and in Christ to get them to heaven or really going to heaven.

Let me show you a normal situation. I’ve used this before but just very quickly. The Lord says that you’re either saved by grace or you say by works. Now this without my code that’s grace. This is works and this is grace. This is work. See how simple that is. If God says that if it’s by grace, it can’t be by works, otherwise, grace is in grace. But if it is by works, it can’t be by grace, otherwise work isn’t work.

It’s how simple that is. It means you either are saved by grace or you say by work, but you can’t be saved by both. Now look during the book of Galatians in chapter 5, chapter 5, the book of Galatians and chapter 5. Many people are trusting in a combination of Christ plus their works. Eternally secured does not refer to those people. Eternal security cannot refer to anybody that professes it but don’t possess it. Eternal security cannot refer to anybody who is trusting in Christ and their works to get them to heaven.

It doesn’t refer to those people. You say, how do you know that? Well, the Bible teaches. Look in Galatia, and you need to write down this in your notes there. Galatians chapter chapter Look there in verse two, because there’s people who think you have to keep the law to be saved. Today is the same thing as saying you’ve got to go to church, you’ve got to live right, you’ve got to give money, you’ve got to join and pay and all these good things.

No, no, no. That’s not true. That’s works for salvation. That means you’re trying to earn it. And if you’re not good enough, long enough, then you’re not going to have it. Well, that’s not the Bible. So he says in verse two, Behold, I Paul send to you that if you be circumcised, that means to keep the law Christ shall profit you how much? Nothing Christ profits you nothing Those that are seeking to save themselves by the law or by being circumcised which it was under the law He says then Christ profits you nothing.

He’s what I’m trusting Christ, but I’m gonna do this also Well, then you’re not trusting him Trusting Him means I’m taking Him at His Word and depending upon Him. But if you try to earn it, say you’re depending upon yourself, so you’re not really trusting Christ. You say, what’s the difference? Hell, that’s the difference. Heaven or Hell? Is it critical? Yes it is. Otherwise, how do you know you’re not one of those that simply says, Lord, Lord, I went to church, and I sent them to choir.

And I followed your teachings and I even prayed and I did all these wonderful things And God says I’m sorry. I don’t even know who you are. I never knew you you never were saved It’s got to refer to somebody because he says many are going to say this So there’s many people that are sitting in a lot of churches all over the world that are guilty of this yes or no And how do you know it ain’t you?

You say I’ve heard this all my life But do you really understand? Are you really dependent upon Him to take you to heaven when you die? Here it makes the statement. There in verse four. He says, Christ has become of, and here’s those two words, no effect unto you. Whosoever of you are justified by the Lord, you’re following from grace. See, if you’re trying to save yourself by the law, by your good deeds, then you have rejected salvation by grace.

You wanna get salvation by earning it, by your works. And God says, you can’t have it. He says, Christ has become of no effect unto you. In the words of it’s no effect, no salvation. You can know the right language. You can go to the right church. You can hear the right things. But personally, nobody can do this for you. Only you. Only you. can trust Christ as Savior for you. And if you never do that, you will not be saved.

You will not go to heaven when you die. Now in Titus 3.5 we won’t take the time to look at it, but it simply makes a statement. He says, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, not by works of righteousness which we have done. So nobody was ever saved or ever will be saved by their works. So you can’t say, I’m trusting Christ, but I’m going to do this other just in case.

Well, you’re just in case just cost you. Then this doesn’t count. You either have to depend upon Him and Him alone as you’re only hope to get them or you are not trusting Him. You’re not totally leaning and relying upon Him as your Savior. You believe somehow that you have to live a certain way and perform in order to help save you or to help keep you saved or to prove that you’re saved and all that stuff. Now you don’t get it, you don’t get it.

Church is a full of people who don’t get it. Two of my favorite verses of the Bible is Ephesians 2.89. How many in here can quote Ephesians 2.89? Quote it with it, “‘For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. It’s a gift of God, it’s not of works. And people can’t believe that it could be so simple. Or look number three, number three in your notes.

Eternal security does not mean that knowing for sure that you are saved forever should be a license to sin, but rather grant you liberty to serve Christ. A lot of people think, well, if you believe in that, and they call it that, hey, that damn double doctrine, then that means you just got a license. Go out here and live like the devil So go to heaven when you die. In other words, think that you don’t deserve to go now.

If you know the words, if that’s just a teaching that was damn your soul to hell and you believe that, you’re just giving people a license to go out here and sin and then think that you’re going to go to heaven whenever they die. What if they did? Would that be grace? You’re saved by what? And people don’t believe that you ought to be able to go to heaven and believe something like that. And that’s too easy. That’s too simple.

It’s got to be complicated. Do I advocate? Christians living in sin. Anybody who listens to me knows that’s not true. I want you to live as Godly as you can every day of your life, all of your life. Because if you are dependent upon that to get you to heaven, as I’ve said before, you’re lost as a hound dog in the end of a soup bone, you don’t get it. I should serve the Lord. I should live right because I’m going to heaven because I am God’s child but not to be a child of God.

I want you to turn in your Bible to Romans chapter 6. I want you to see this verse Romans and chapter 6. The Bible tells us that God’s grace is greater than our sin. Grace that is greater than our sins. Look at verse 1 of all in Romans chapter 5 and verse 20. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, graced it much more abound. So grace is greater than our, have you ever heard of a song like that?

Grace greater than our sin? You see, there are people who believe you can lose your salvation because you’ve committed some sin. Well, aren’t you supposed to believe that God’s grace is greater than my sin? if grace is greater than any of my sins, what sin can condemn me to hell? They can’t. So the question comes, well then, shall I live in sin? That grace may more abound. So we have more grace. Commit more sins. No. Look in chapter 6 and verse 1.

What shall we say to another word because what I’m saying is true, shall we continue in sin? That grace may abound, and the next words are God forbid. No. That’s not the will of God. Just because I know I’m God’s child and know I have eternal life and know that I can’t go to hell in the future doesn’t mean that that’s a licensed permission from God to live like you please like it doesn’t matter. No. It is permission from God that now I can live for the Lord.

God wants me to voluntarily choose because I love him because of what he’s done for me, that I will serve him, that I will honor him. Not because I have to, but because I want to. Nobody, nobody in the last 40 years has tried to get me to serve God. They don’t have to try to get me to serve the Lord. Nobody is constantly every week trying to yank you, you know you really need to serve the Lord. You really need to do this and you need to go church and you need to pray and you need to, what?

Because I do it because I want to. That’s better than done because I have to. I can’t make you serve God. I can’t make you right with God. But if you love God, then you’ll want to do those things. And you’ll love God when you really understand what He did for you. When you know He really paid for my sins, He really did give me turn on. He really will never cast me out. He’ll never lose me. He really did all that for me.

Now I serve the Lord because knowing that I have eternal security brings such wonderful peace, enjoy and happiness that I know I’m going to heaven whenever I die. And because of that, I want to serve the Lord. Therefore it works that way. It’s not a license to sin. The Lord tells us in his word, do not let your liberty become a stumbling block, but to use this as an occasion to serve the Lord, but not on occasion for the flesh,” says Aaron a book of Galatians.

Is grace greater than our sin or is sin greater than grace? Grace is greater than our sin. And even though you do things wrong from this point on, God’s grace is greater than your sin and you’re saved by grace. And love covers a multitude of sin, but He didn’t just cover it, He washed them all the way. The next point I want you to see there in verse four, Number four, eternal security does not mean that a Christian can live as he pleases and get away without chastisement.

You cannot live like you want and expect everything to be okay and you to escape God’s Chasing. Take your Bible looking Hebrews chapter 12. This is a very, very important verse that you need to see. Hebrews chapter 12, you need to underline this verse in your Bible. As a child of God, you need to understand that though your heavenly Father loves you, you can’t live as you please and get away with it, but you can live as you please.

I was reading a book while ago before church today. A man wrote in there, you cannot live as you please. I thought, yes,Population can. You can live to please God and you can please not the please God. As still be his child, but you’re going to suffer the consequences. If you will live the please God, God’s going to bless you. Reward you when you get to heaven and you’ll have an inner peace and joy knowing that you’re obeying your heavenly Father.

But if you choose not to obey God, yeah, you still as child, and you’ll forfeit many of God’s blessings and life that He could have done for you. You’re going to forfeit a lot of rewards that you could have had. You could have been used by God, but you weren’t. You may be set on the shelf and not used, not fit for the master’s use. And God says that He may do something else. He says many are sick and some are weak and some are dead.

He’s taken home before their time. So you see, you can’t live as you please and get away with him. But God says, be not deceived, he is not mocked. For whatsoever man’s soeth, that shall he also reap. And you can sow to the flesh, and you can sow to the spirit. Means you can obey God and you don’t have to obey God. But if you don’t obey God, God says, because you are his child, he will chase in you.

Look at in verse 6, For whom the Lord loved it,041 he chased it. Now why would God chasten his children because he loves them? And he says, and scourgeeth every son,every son whom he receive it. If you have trusted Christ as your Savior and you won’t serve God, you won’t obey Him,God your Heavenly Father says, He is going to chasten you. I know that if I don’t serve the Lord, I already know the consequences. I know he’s going to chase in me and he may not tell me exactly how he’s going to do it, but I can rest assured in the fact that he will.

He may cut my life short or many things happen in my life that would not have happened had I served the Lord. So it’s better for a child of God to put God first and serve Him because He is your heavenly Father. And when you do something wrong, you’re still His child, but He is going to chasten you. Look there in the last part of verse 5. Verse 5. My son despised not thou the chasing of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.

to get on the table. the chaste and the Lord. That means that when you’re a child of God, that means you still can do things wrong and you’re still his child. Because if you weren’t, then God wouldn’t be chaste in you as his child if you were no longer his child because you did something wrong and that’s the only way that shows you’re not his child. No. That means God’s children still do a lot of things he shouldn’t do.

We do a lot of things wrong. But when God has to chaste in us, the Bible says, says now no chaste in for the present seems to be joyous. How many of y’all have ever enjoyed a good whooping? No chasing for the present seems to be joyous, but you’re hoping that the chasing you give to that little son or daughter will benefit them in their life. And so you inflict a little temporary pain, hoping that’s gonna save them from a lot of hurts down the road.

That’s what the Lord does, look at in verse 11. Now, now, present tense, now, no chasing for the present Seem it to be joyous but grievous. Nevertheless afterwards, it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised there by them. In other words, God says because you’re my child, you can’t live as you please and get away with it. I’m your father, I’m gonna have to chasten you. And because I chasing you means I love you. Otherwise, God would just let you do whatever you want and get away with it.

But he doesn’t. He will give you personalized attention. Now, he’s long suffering, but he’s a good father. Look at the next statement. In the little box, the absolute assurance of eternal salvation is based on the unfailing and sure promises of God. I want you to look in Romans chapter four very quickly. the book of Romans in chapter 4. I refer to these verses quite often. And notice the contrast, as I stated here in the notes, in order to show the contrast between grace and works, Paul and Roman states, now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of Now, in other words, if you had to earn your salvation, Then God says that he would be in debt to you and going to heaven would be your reward.

In the words, you live in such a good way that God is in debt to let you go to heaven. And that’s why a lot of people think it is. But that means that you have to work. It means that God’s in debt to you and it means that heaven would be a reward, something you earned and you had a right to it. God says that’s not the way it’s going to be. He says, it’s by grace. But to him that work, if not doesn’t work, but simply believes on him that justifies the ungulli, his faith is counted for what?

God gives you his righteousness without your works. God doesn’t want you to try to earn it, work for it, buy it, pay for it. And heaven is not your reward for you living a good life. You live good enough and I’ll let you go. That’s not what it is. don’t understand the Bible. God says you cannot earn eternal life, you cannot work for it. The other verse I want you to see there in chapter 4, look in verse 16.

There’s three words in verse 16. This is the verse that we read at the beginning of the service. Three words, faith, grace, and sure. I wrote them right down there in your notes, but look in verse 16. Therefore, it, being saved, have an eternal life, becoming God’s child. Go into heaven when you die. Eternal security. All of it. It is a faith that’s yours. That’s yours. Your faith. That it might be by grace. That’s God’s grace. You see, I’m supposed to take my faith, my confidence and put it into what he did for me.

Believe it, he did that for me. And God says he would save me by grace, unmerited. I don’t merit it. I don’t work for it. I don’t deserve it. He says, to the end, or for this purpose, it might be, what’s the word? That it might be sure, sure, to all the seed to everybody believes. In other words, the only way you can be positive of going to heaven when you die is that it must simply be by faith, not your work, because if you have to do it by your works, well, You won’t know it until you die.

And then that means you’ve got to live a certain way. And then you would never be sure. So God says it’s by faith. You trust Him and He’ll give you eternal life by grace. Grace means you didn’t deserve it. But I’ll save you by grace. Are you saved? That it might be sure. Positive. You can know it. Isn’t that simple? That’s awesome. 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 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 Bible tells us here in the book of Genesis in chapter one, if you’ll notice there in verse 26, And God said, let us make man in our image. After our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fall of the year and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image. And in the image of God created he him, male and female, created he them.

So God made the first man, first woman. And he says that they were made in his likeness. Now wouldn’t it be neat if all of us were really demonstrated in our own lives the image of Christ? That when a person saw us, that’s who they saw. But lo and behold, we have an owe sent from nature. And many times we probably reveal more about the devil than we do about God. And that’s not the way God intended it. And it won’t be that way forever.

The day will come when all this will be changed. We’re living in a sinful world where people do sinful things. He says in verse 28, and God blessed them, said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth. Now the earth had already been filled with animals, filled with birds, the creaking thing that creeps upon the earth. So the earth was already full. But God says, replenish your field of the earth now with people. So that’s what God wanted.

And they were to have dominion over everything that God had made. So there was a job for them to do. Now, so here in chapter one, it tells you what it did. And in chapter two, in verse seven and eight, God tells you how he did it, how he laid it all out. Looking, verse seven, and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Man became a living soul.

Man was different than the animals. He was made in the image of God. And then verse eight, and the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. So we know that God made a man without a sinful nature, a woman without a sinful nature, put them in a perfect environment, they didn’t have to worry about the neighbors, pollution, everything was wonderful. What a first family. And then the Bible makes the statement there in verse 16.

And the Lord God commanded the man say, and of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely eat. So there was a lot of freedom given. Only one restriction, you could need of a certain tree. Whatever that fruit was. Now we know it had to be a banana because it had a peel. I don’t know why everybody always has an apple on a tree, but I really don’t know what kind of fruit it was. He said, but of the free of knowledge of good and even, thou shall not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest they’re up, dosh out, surely died.

And they did die that very day, spiritually cut off from the source of life after they had sinned against the Lord. The Bible says that God evidently had to share with them some things about salvation. And it says here in verse 21 unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothing. means that he had to take an animal and an animal was killed. Blood was shed because God was not pleased with the leaves that they were wearing.

He wanted a blood sacrifice and the blood sacrifice was what was required. So from the very beginning to the very first man and first woman. Now we often say boy, what a bad thing Adam and Eve did. Look what they did to the whole human race. Yes, that’s what they did to the whole human race. But I believe Adam and Eve believed on the Lord. They wore the quotes of skin. And I also believe that we’ll see them when we get to heaven.

I also believe that they taught their children the truth so that their kids would know and understand. Look there now in 1 of chapter 4. Adam knew Eve, his wife, not then wondered what if Adam and Eve had had a son before the fall, before they sinned. That would have been interesting, wouldn’t it? But in verse 1, this is after they sinned. He says, and she conceived and bear pain and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.

So the very first family, the first man and woman, They didn’t walk around and, you know, and bent knee-gate and grunt grunt grunt grunt and living in a cave and trying to figure out how to make fire. They were highly intelligent. Adam, the first man, called every animal that God had ever made in the files of the air, God says Adam gave it a name. And then he makes a statement here, I have gotten a man from the Lord, but they understood salvation.

They understood the sacrifice. And then he says there in verse two, and she bear another son, and his son name was called Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a till of the soil. Process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground and offered none to the Lord. Abel, he also brought the first one of his flock and of the fat thereof. So there was two sons and they brought two offerings but two different kind.

One of the soil, the works of his hands and the other one was a blood sacrifice. So they knew the very first family, I believe, was a godly family. I believe it was a godly mom and it was a godly dad. And I believe they had a godly son. But what happened to the other one? I don’t know. You can’t blame it on the environment. You couldn’t blame it on the movies. Couldn’t blame it on what they are singing in school.

So what was his excuse? You see, a sinful nature, something you have on the inside of you. You can forget the blame game because that’s something that’s on the inside and we all sin. And it doesn’t matter about our environment. Our environment makes a difference because it can affect our choices. But we still make the choice and we’re responsible to the Lord for our choices. And Cain could have made the right sacrifice, but he chose not to. And out of bitterness or hatred or jealousy, he killed his brother.

Now, look in verse 16. Somebody just asked me this question just this week. Where did Cain get his wife? I can’t believe people are still asking that question. But everybody wants to know where did Cain get his wife? All right, verse 16. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, dwelt in the land of naught on the east of Eden, and Cain knew his wife. So where did Cain get his wife in naught? The land of naught.

See there? That’s how easy that is? But back then, and I want you to see this verse, Look there in Genesis in chapter three and verse 20. This is where Cain got his wife. And verse 20 and Adam called his wife’s name Eve because she was the mother of what? All living. At that time in the very beginning, she was the mother of all that was living because she was the first mom. So the first family I believe was a godly family and they had two children.

One turned out right, one turned out wrong. They had another child, his name was Seth. He turned out right. But see, they’re individual choices. We often say that this world is a dark world because the Bible says that it was filled with darkness and then the darkness was upon the face of the deep and then it says the spirit of the Lord moved upon the face of the deep and then God said, let there be light in there light and God saw that it was good and so forth.

And that was even in the morning it was the first day. Even in the gospel of John it talks about the world being dark and Christ the light came into the world. Now as you go down through the various things there the light that was a cosmic light but there was not a specific light like the sun, the moon that reflected the light from the sun and how God divided everything. That was done on a different day, which was on the fourth day.

On the second day, God separated the waters from the waters, like take the water upon the earth and separate and put a blanket of water around the earth, and that would have given the earth a totally the hot house effect that would have been perfect environment upon the whole earth. Now, when the flood took place, the Bible says that water came down from heaven, from the sky, and also from the fountains of the deep. So it was coming from both directions and churning up everything.

After the flood, of course, that’s whenever we have man’s lifespan greatly shortened. Back then they lived to be eight, nine hundred years old. That’s a long time to live. Think of how many children you can have in nine hundred years. If you’re in good shape, how long? I don’t know. but you have the land and vegetation. That is the fruit. That’s where you have the growth. And then you have the light, which is a particular thing to a person where God can give you individually light.

And I’ll explain that in just a minute. And then you have the fish in the file. Those are things that swims in the water and that fly in the atmosphere. And so then we have the animals and man. And they are different. They’re not the same. We did not come from some blob of protoplasm floating around in the ooze of the Nile. We believe that there is a God who made animals and God created man and man is not an animal.

Man may act like an animal, but man is not an animal. And so there’s responsibilities that God gave to us that he never gave to animals. There’s no accountability for the animals. There’s accountability for man. As you go down through the different period of time, how God raises his children, how he has revealed different things to us. You’ll find out that God also does the same thing through the family. When the Lord reveal things in various stages, he says in the book of Hebrews in chapter 11, that God planned the ages.

A dispensation is a specific period of time and how God deals with man in regard to a specific responsibility and then the follow up with the consequences if that responsibility is not fulfilled. So every one of these are dispensations or periods of time. A dispensation is the same as like a dispensary, like a medical dispensary where you dispense the various things that they might need, the doctors of the nurses, and to dispense like that. Now, we have a period of time in what God has dispensed to us a responsibility.

What He gave to one, He didn’t give to everybody, but when you start off in the very beginning, innocence, conscience, humanism, promise, law, grace, tribulation, and kingdom, all of these, The seven of them have a specific reason. They’re named in scripture in a specific way because it reveals how God deals with mankind as a whole. But not only as a mankind as a whole, but also as a mother who has a child and how she raises the child. For example, when children are born into the world, we used to say they are in an age of innocence.

True? In other words, they are not responsible for what they do because they don’t know what they’re doing. There’s a time when those little kids are just born and they’re just totally naive. They don’t even know exist. And now all of a sudden they begin to develop a signs of a sinful nature. They cry and all that. And not because they’re hurting, but because they’re training you to find what they can get away with and what they can’t. They’re pushing the limits.

And so they can become what we call spoiled. So what we have is innocence. That means they don’t really understand everything. They don’t have the knowledge by which to think and be responsible for their actions. Then they go into a place where they learn a little bit of right and wrong conscience. So that they begin to think, to be able to reason a little bit. And as we begin to reason and so forth, we learn several things. Children learn to trust.

They learn to trust mom. They learn to trust Dad. And so as they grow a little bit and they learn to trust, they are taking their mom and dad at their word. They don’t worry about the bills. They don’t worry about paying the taxes. They don’t worry about the house. They don’t worry about school. They don’t worry. Because they totally trust you. Yeah, that’s your response. All the little kids wanna do is play. Just play, eat, sleep and play.

Isn’t that wonderful? Don’t you wish sometimes you could just go back to that age? But)”, you have a conscience that begins to work.” Now, not all people’s conscience work the same. Say, why not? Because they learn a different set of values of what is right and what is wrong. If not everybody agrees on what is right, you’re not going to have the same conscience working for you that somebody else does. So some things that you will do will bother you, but it won’t bother somebody else.

Because they don’t believe that that’s right or they don’t believe that that’s wrong. So there’s a difference. So whenever you taste the children what the word of God says, then you have a set way of thinking. So you learn how to trust by taking the promises of God and believing them. We learn to trust Mom and to trust Dad and hear what they say and then believe in it. And this is why whenever Mama says to little Johnny, Johnny, you do that one more time, you’re going to get a spanking.

Well, whenever he does that one more time, what should he get? Now, I’m going to tell you one more time. Now, that’s the last time I’m telling you, then you’re right. You’re right. That’s wrong. You tell that child one time and you say, well, you’ve got to keep your word or your word means nothing. Oh, you’re giving his threats. That won’t work. You got to say what you mean, mean what you say. That’s how they learn because you see, most parents are not disciplined themselves, so they can’t discipline kids.

we take the word promise and we learn how to give a command and we say there’s going to be consequences if you fail then we should follow through with it. Then we have the law. This is where mom and dad learn how to lay down the law. Proverbs chapter one talks about and don’t despise the law of my mother because generally it’s the mom who is in the home that raises the kids that says lay down the law. And sometimes the mother always does this.

You just wait until your daddy gets home. You just wait until your daddy gets home. So daddy finally comes home and the kid wants to run. Why? He didn’t want to see that. Why? He ain’t been her all day. But the kid lives under the threat. When do your daddy gets home? When do you get daddy in? Daddy walks in the house. Hello there Johnny. Ah! Ah! say this is what’s going to happen and you receive that. That’s part of number four.

But number five is grace. When you talk about the numbers in scriptures, the numbers mean things. Number five is grace and so you got one, two, three, four, five is grace. Now you want a person to learn how to have this light, the knowledge to make decisions, but they learned that there’s a better way to live than just abandon the law of mom and dad because then you hate the rules and restrictions. Did you know if you just learn how to love mom and dad and want to honor mom and dad then the rules and regulations are no problem?

It’s when you got to do them when you don’t want to do them But if you want to please the one that you love other than that’s okay, then you don’t mind doing it It’s when you got to do it and when you don’t care And so grace is learning how to live the way you should live because it’s a law based upon love. If you love me, serve me. And so as you go through the various states, remember this is like God has taken the whole nations of the world, all these people down to the time, and he has taught systematically the course of a man going through his life.

life. As a man lives his life, it’s laid out in the same way. And there’s different responsibilities at different times in your life. God holds me more responsible now for knowledge that I have that he wouldn’t have held me responsible for 20 years ago or 40 years ago. Or whenever I was a child or when I was a teenager, but the older I get, the more knowledge I have, the more I’m accountable for, more I’m responsible for. I’m not supposed to get to the place in my life where I’m just going to coast on here and it doesn’t matter anymore.

Look at all those good years I gave to the Lord so I can blow the last few years. No, no you can’t. Well you can do it but that won’t be the wisest thing you can do. And the Bible says this before you actually even though if you want to live by grace the Bible says in the book of Thessalonians in chapter 2 he says that we must through much tribulation, tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. We must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God.

But this is not talking about you and I going through the tribulation. This means in our life. Before you and I as an individual learn how to truly rest in the Lord is because we have gone through much tribulation. Now number seven over there is the word Sabbath. What is the word Sabbath referred to? A day of rest. Day of rest. So we got number seven. Day of rest. And a person, and I was born, I was like that.

And then conscience. And then I want to do my own thing, go my own way, humanism. And then you learned what the word says. You learn a better way on how to live, but you also know know you got tribulations in your life. And then you know that one day is coming when you get old enough that the Lord, the Lord, God himself can rule and reign in your life now. See, I don’t have to wait till I get into the kingdom to let the Lord be the Lord and Master of my life.

I don’t believe a man that’s lost has to make Christ the Lord and the Master of his life to be saved. No, I don’t agree with that. Because that means you’ve got to earn your salvation and that’s worked for salvation. That’s not true. When you trust Christ as your Savior, He gives you as a free gift, eternal life. As a child of God, it is His will that we allow Him to be the Lord and the Master of our life, rule in our life, Be king in my life.

So this is why we have the Davidic millennial kingdom. See God laid this out. This is Bible No man figured this thing out. God figured this thing out When you talk about what God has done and then you see how it is in raising children the very same way See that’s what God did for us And this is what you do also for children A little here and a little bit there and there should always be the accountability and responsibility and so forth.

So these things are laid down in God’s Word. It’s very easy to understand once you kind of get a picture of it and you see it. And God’s Word, I want you to see this. Look over there in the book of Hebrews in chapter 11. Now look there in verse 1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders, the Old Testament saints, obtained a good report. be explaining who those Old Testament saints are.

Verse 3, through faith we understand that the worlds were framed, that word worlds is ages. The ages refers to the different periods of time, different age. We call this the church age, we call that the age of the law, and there’s different periods of time and how God dwelt with us. But remember in the part of our training, we’re supposed to not only know our responsibility but our consequences. Did God tell Admoneeb what their responsibilities were? You’re free to eat of any tree of the garden, but he gave him a grant.

Don’t eat the fruit off this tree. For in the day you do that, you shall surely die. So there was a responsibility to give them. He held them accountable, came looking for them, Adam where art thou? And then he says that they thou shalt surely die, consequences. So they were cast out of the garden. Kids need to know from the very beginning consequences to their decision. Now there comes a time when they’re on their own, Cain killed Abel and they got so wicked in the whole nation that doing the flood, God had to send the flood and wipe out of everybody, because everybody was going wild.

There’s a few of them that didn’t, but most of them didn’t. God started all over again. But what was the consequences of those people in their disobedience? God sent a flood. What was the consequences of God’s people violating the law of God? The fall of the temple, the destruction of Jerusalem, the Jews were scattered upon the face of the earth, there was a consequence because of their rebellion. There’s going to be a consequence at the end of the church age because God’s people are going to stand in the jim and cedar Christ and give what?

An account. It’s not all free. Salvation getting to heaven, that’s free. But what happens to us after that, there’s an accountability. And some people are going to be rewarded. Some people are not going to be. There’s going to be tears shed in heaven. There are going to be bonfires. Now that’s the consequences of not living by grace during this period of time where we are. So if we don’t do what we’re supposed to do, all the consequences. God teaches us responsibility, consequence of responsibility, consequence of because God holds us accountable.

Now during the tribulation period, they’re not to receive the mark of the beast. They’re not to receive the mark of the beast. not to fall down and worship this last one world government to receive his mark or his name or anything about it. God says, don’t do it. Will they do it? There will be multitudes that will do it. God’s people are always required to live a holy life. But the consequences of their rebellion, their disobedience, will be that there is a final battle of Armageddon.

Christ comes back in power and great glory. This is when He’s revealed. When He comes in the rapture, He is concealed, the here is revealed. This is when every eye shall see Him. This is in power and great glory. So when every comes back in His feet touch upon the Mount of Olive and he cleaves in the mist, and then the Bible says, there’s the battle of Armageddon. That’s consequence. That’s a result of rebellion against the Lord. And at this time is when the Israel nation of Israel will see the Lord and see the scars in his hands and in his feet and say, Where did you receive these wounds?

And he says in the house of my friends, that’s in the book of Zachariah chapter 13. So Israel will be saved or born in a day. That’s in Romans chapter 11. And then the Bible says they’ll set up the kingdom upon the earth. But even at the end of this day of rest, there’s still going to be consequences to those who rebel. So God down through time teaches us you might teach your children certain things But they should understand because after a while it’s not between you and your children It’s between your children and God and there is consequences to rebellion Consequences when you disobey God and so you can’t live somebody else’s life for you You have to cut the strain let it go But during those formative teenage years you will try to teach them all that you possibly can and got them in the right direction

But after that they have to go. But you’re always concerned and you always always get to him. Now I believe this is what a mother needs to understand because most times it’s the mothers who influence the children. More so than the dads. In a different home, of course that’s different. Overall I think it’s true. What is this for? This is the bottomless pit. What’s it for though? It’s the consequence of the rebellion that gets because of Satan. He is cast into the bottomless pit here at the end of the tribulation period.

in the Revelation period. What’s the final lake of fire for? The final lake of fire called Gahimah. That’s because after the great white throne judgment and the books are open, they are all sent into the lake of fire. That’s consequences for a wrong decision in life. And what about Paradise? This is when Luke chapter 16, when Abraham, in a place called Hades or she old, one Hebrew, one Greek. And as he tells the story, the rich man also died in torment.

He lifted up his eyes. But see, there’s a great God. That’s a place. There’s consequences. Good consequences, bad consequences, but consequences. There’s consequences to all of our decisions. That’s what we have to be careful of. There’s consequences who angeled, who rebelled against the Lord, and left not there, and left their first estate. Did things they should not have done and so God had to deal with him. There’s always this the all the way down through time and There’s multitude of decisions that we make in life and there’s consequences to our decisions Do you understand what I’m saying?

Can you follow me thinking? all right Let’s pray shall we I? Father we do thank you again for your blessings to us. We thank you for the free gift of eternal life How that you died on that cross and paid for our sin so that we could have that? that wonderful gift to know that we’re going to heaven whenever we die. We ask Father your blessings upon each person here and help us to realize that as your children, you have worked with us the same way that you did in the creation of the world, and as you dealt with the nation of Israel and lay not the various dispensations, the various ages so that we could understand your logic, the thinking that you have put into this to reveal to man so that we could understand understand where you’re coming from, what our responsibilities are, what the consequences

are, good and bad. And so probably we asked the blessings upon us. We thank you so much for being a person here today and for all the mothers. We asked the blessings upon them. 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 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. The 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. 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 Ephesians in chapter 4. Now when you study the Bible, remember we’re studying the mind of God. God took his mind, put it in the words. So then we studied the word of God, we’re studying the mind of God. We learn how God thinks. What he loves, what he hates, how he feels, his justice, his holiness, his righteousness, his law, his mercy, his goodness, his kindness, all the things that we call the attributes of God.

And God is an amazing God. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith year called without lowliness and meekness with long suffering for bearing or one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. Now there’s something about God’s people all yielding to the Lord with the same humility of mine should come up with the same unity of peace because God, and we talk about the peace of God, it’s brought by the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

So if the Holy Spirit controls me and controls you and controls you and controls you, then we should all have the comfort of the Lord, the peace of God. And then he makes his statement here. And verse four, for there’s one body, one spirit, even as you’re called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one fate, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all through all in you all, so that the God that created the heavens and the earth, what He lives inside of me, lives inside of you, He is above all and He is through all and He is in all, so that if God is God and He controls us and we yield to His control.

Why can’t Christians get along? Well, you and I know because we have an old sinful nature and we rebel. We rebel against God, the teaching of the Bible. We have our own way. We want to do our own will. So we rebel. and because we are able to buy our great spiritual discernment, able to detect all the dirt in other people’s lives. And we use that as an opportunity to either exalt ourselves as, boy, I’m glad I’m not like that.

Or we compare ourselves among others, as the Bible says is not wise, and we lift ourselves up as though we’re something better. And the Bible says about esteeming one another better than yourselves and always seeking that which is best for somebody else. We change the word from e to e to fry, though in these first six verses it’s all talking about one one one one all the same. So whatever God is, He’s the same to me as He is to you.

There’s only one church one body and we’re all part of that oneness. But then he says there in verse 7, it doesn’t say and on the every one of us is given, it says but, which is in contrast. In contrast to the one, there are many that have something different. See, even though we’re all different, what God has done for me, He did for you. He saved me, He saved you. He indwells me, He indwells you. One Bible, one Holy Spirit.

So there is the similarity that everything’s the same. But under every one of us is given grace according to they can get this word now. Measure of the gift of Christ. This is different. What God did for us all is one thing. But now, why we live in this life, there is a certain measure that God has given to us talk about the gift of Christ, the ministry of the Lord. The ministry we have may be different. Not everybody is the pastor, not everybody is the deacon.

Not everybody is just the person sitting in the pew. But everybody has a different position, and then he talks about those things in verse 11, and he gave some apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers. Those are all different. But even though they’re all different, they have a different ministry to work together something to produce unity. So that every one of us learn from each other Not one person has it all Sometimes you hear, you know the pastor. He is just too dominating.

He is just too dictatorial He just too mean he’s too headstrong. He’s just too ornery. You can’t tell him anything You’ll have a preacher like that and then lo and behold You can go to another church and or the preacher just so sweet and so kind and so nice and so gentle and so peaceful and so warm and so cuddly and so blah blah blah blah blah blah. And you’ll find out sometime that preacher won’t take a strand. He won’t rebuke.

He won’t, he’s not hard enough. He’s not a strong leader. I don’t care where you go. Nobody will be totally satisfied with whatever you have. Whoever you get, whatever church you go to, there is the little honeymoon period and then you find reality. Everybody’s got falls and flaws just like you. There’s no difference But the Holy Spirit that in twales us has a work to do and So even though God has done the same for all of us and he in twales all of us same power within all of us Yet he’s given to each one of us different ministries and you’re to learn how to use the gift that God has given to you to benefit the body.

So by the time you get through with all of this learning that you’re supposed to have, look there in verse 12, for the perfecting, maturing, completion of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we get this all coming to the unity of the faces. One thing said we want peace, we want unity, Well, how are you going to get it? God sends you different types of people to do different types of work with different abilities.

And sometimes you’ll learn a little bit from this person and a little bit from this person, a little bit from this person, but you don’t learn it all from one person because God uses different people in different ways. God wants to use your talent and your ability because God doesn’t want you to be somebody else. If God wanted me to be Mark Cameron, God should have made me Mark Cameron, but he didn’t make me Mark Cameron. He made me Yankee Arnold.

I just want to be the best Yankee Arnold I can be. I like Curtis Hudson. I admired Dr. Curtis Hudson. I looked up to Dr. Curtis Hudson. To me, he was a great soul winner. I loved what he did. I loved the way he did it. But you know, if God wanted me to be Dr. Hudson, God should have made me Dr. Hudson. God didn’t make me Dr. Hudson. I’m not going to try to be no Dr. Hudson. I just want to be Yankee, but the best one that I can be.

You don’t want to be anybody else. You’re not jealous of anybody else. And the reason is because you’re satisfied with yourself, with what God has done for you and what God wants to do through you and in you, because that’s where the unity of the spirit comes from. You’re not going to be blessed because you’re so envious of somebody else and trying to be like somebody else, Forget all of that. God made you, you. He wants you to be you.

He don’t want you to be somebody else. And yet, all of us working together can produce the same results so that we learn to be satisfied with what God has for us. Not become envious of somebody else. Now, get what he says. Till we all come in the unity of the face and of the knowledge of the Son of God onto a perfect man. In other words, the body of Christ being shaped and molded into a perfect individual growing to the image of Christ.

And he says this in verse the last part of verse 13 onto the measure of the statue of the oldest of Christ. Now look up here. God gave him a little and her a little, you a little, you a little, and you a little, and you a little, and you a little, and you a little, and you a all these gifts, but all working together with a little measure here and a little measure there. A little water from here and a little water from there and a little water from here and a little water, a little water, a little water.

What a nice thing. I got a full glass of water. And that’s what God wants to do in the local church. He says here in verse 14 that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning and craftiness whereby they lie and wait to the same but speaking the truth and love may grow up into him in all things, which is the head. Now the purpose of the body is to grow up into the head.

So the body is not to work separate from the head because here upon the earth is the body and the head is in heaven in Christ. So you read the book of Ephesians and talk about the church on the earth, but when you read the book of Colossians, it talks about the head which is in heaven. And yet we are united because we are joined together by the Holy Spirit. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Acts 20, Acts 20.

Now keep it in mind, all believers, All believers are disciples, all believers are children, all believers are sheep, all believers are stones, and all believers are members, and all believers form the bride of Christ. And yet, there’s something about every one of these. It’s very, very unique. Now, in the book of Acts in chapter 20, look there in verse 7, and upon the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread. Decipals is a learner, a follower.

So you can be a follower of Christ and not be saved. And you can be a saved person and not be a follower, a learner. Judas was a disciple of Christ, but he wasn’t saved. But a person who knows the Lord and loves the Lord should be a disciple. What is a disciple? a disciple is someone just like I went to Bible college. When I went to Bible college, I was a disciple, along with all the other students. We were disciples, we were being discipled.

We were taught discipline, the Christian disciplines of the book. What to believe, how to live. That’s what it all brought down to. The rule of faith, believe, and practice do. So, Bible teaches us how to think, how to live. So at school, we were disciples, and we were being discipled by the men that were there. Wouldn’t it be interesting if we could just stay in school all our life? Just stay in school all our life? Now there’s some people who go to college, and then they graduate, and then they go to seminary, and then they graduate, and they go to another seminary, and graduate, and just gettin’, they just tack on their degrees after degrees.

Now, you can forever sharpen an axe, never cut on a tree. You can forever learn and never teach. But what was the reason of those teachers decipally us? To teach us, to teach. Do we were learning how to serve the Lord? We were learning how to study the Bible. Four, five hours every day, for four years straight we studied the Bible. What did we do? We were learning how to study. so that you can studyNULL for the rest of your life.

It didn’t give you everything you knew. No place can. But you can’t be somebody’s little disciple forever. Because God is in the habit of moving things around, because there’s things that God wants done. This is His vineyard. We’re only shepherds. So there’s a time as a child of God, as a disciple, you’re to learn, but as you learn, there’s things God wants you to do with what you learn. not just to be a disciple that you take in all your life, but the other part of it is to be able to give the way God wants us to.

Look in John chapter 11, verse 49, and one of them named Caiaphas, being the high priest of that same year, said unto them, ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people and that the whole nation perish not. And this fake heat not of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation. Now, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the man.

This is before Christ ever died on the cross. We don’t know if Caiaphas was a believer or not. All we know is that They did know that the Messiah would have to die. This fake key, not of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation and get verse 52. Not only that nation. But that also he should gather together in one. You would underline that in one, but children of God that were scattered abroad.

Here, of course, he’s talking about the nation of Israel and the Jews that have been scattered throughout the earth. And about them all coming together as one because it’s talked about that in the book of Ezekiel, chapter 37 and 38. Talking about how that there’s going to be one day, they’re going to be one shepherd, one shepherd, and how that God’s going to take Judah and Israel and make one nation once again, a school of disciples. There has to be a master, a teacher, somebody that teaches those disciples.

When you talk here about the children, and we’re talking about the children in one family, You have to talk about not only a family, but if there’s a family and we’re all in the same family, we all have the same Father There’s one father not two there’s only one Heavenly Father and you are heavenly children And you came from the father when we talk about the word born again So this guy was just saying to Robert over here, Robert, you got to be born again.

Well, if Robert was born again, just like he’s already been born into the world the first time, well, the second birth wouldn’t be any better than his first one. If he was born again, just like he was the first time, well, then he could have a hundred birth and he ain’t going to be one bit better. Why? Sinful nature, sinful nature, sinful nature. He ain’t a bit better. So the kids not just be born again. The word they’re in John is born from above.

whenever you’re born again, it means be born from above. The first time in the world, you were born this way with a sinful nature. You don’t want that again. You want to be born from above and be born from above. That’s a totally different birth. You see, it’s a different source. It’s a different father. And so now we have here in the book of Ephesians in chapter three, makes the statement in verse 15, of home, the whole family and heaven and earth is named.

This is one family. Look what he says here in verse 14. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family. See we are a family and we are a family. We’re all in the same family and if we’re in the same family we got the same Father. Now same Father is God. So shouldn’t a family honor their Father. Doesn’t it say in the Bible somewhere about honor thy father, honor thy father, of course in the world honor thy father and thy mother.

My goal now as a child of God is to honor my father and I should do that. You should do that. But what if all of God’s children honor their father and we listen to our father? Was shouldn’t we get along? Shouldn’t there be peace among the brethren? Isn’t it a shame when God’s people don’t love each other? Don’t pray for one another, don’t encourage one another, become stumbling blocks for others, always check and see whatever you do. What if every Christian did what you do?

What kind of a family would you have if all the Christians live like you live? And yet this is what God expects us to do. Every believer is to be an example to everyone else that follows. You are important and what you say and what you do. Look in John chapter 10, verse 16, other sheep I have, which are not of this full. They’m also, I must bring, and they shout here my voice, and there shall be, you’re on the line, is one fold, one shepherd.

See, God uses different ways in which to teach us as a teacher with the disciples and as a father with a family. And also here as a shepherd with the sheep. There are simple ways in which things we do understand we can get a grasp of the spiritual meaning of how God does it with us. And therefore there is a a good shepherd. He’s also called the great shepherd. And in the book of the Hebrews, he’s called the chief shepherd.

He is the shepherd. And the sheep are to hear his voice and the sheep are to follow that shepherd. Sometimes even in your Christian life, if you don’t fully learn to trust the Lord and walk with the Lord, I don’t feel what you have. And I don’t feel where you go. There can always be that emptiness there. Well, there’s a satisfaction and a joy that comes because you did what God wants you to do. The Bible tells us that there is one foundation, one foundation that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

But on this foundation, there’s living stones. And you and I are living stones upon the foundation. And if you’ll notice there in verse 6, a First Peter chapter two. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion a cheap corner stone. The word stone there is singular. That’s the foundation. Look at verse five. He also has lively stones or living stones. The word stones is plural. That’s many. So there’s one foundation. There’s many stones. And God is taking these living stones and putting them up on this foundation.

and he’s building a spiritual house for the habitation of God. And when he says, he went to show him the holy city coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And he says, and he showed me the bride, the lamb’s wife. As though the holy city was the bride because we’re called the stones. And there’s the disciples in the various stones. And there’s a certain foundation that he has there. And it’s like the sea of glass, transparent gold.

And you had all these people that form the body. And in the book of Ephesians in chapter two, it talks about how the believers themselves form and habitation for God to dwell in. And yet you know the Bible tells us that the holy city coming down from God out of heaven was 1500 miles high, 1500 miles wide, and 1500 miles long. That’s over half the size of the United States. and I believe that the Holy City will hover above the earth, because it says the nations upon the earth will walk in the light of the Holy City.

But God has given to us a glorious gospel by which every person who trusts the Lord is gloriously saved. And then He tells us, this is what I want you to do. It’s like the shepherd who leads the sheep, and like the head of a family, looks after his family. And here you talk about a foundation, a cheap cornerstone and living stones that are placed upon this thing. And it says that this is where we are. Look there in verse six again.

Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a cheap cornerstone, elect precious. And he that believeth on him shall not be confounded or confused or ashamed as it says in several other places, especially Romans chapter 10 verse 11, unto you therefore, believe he is precious, but under them which be disobedient or don’t believe, the stone which the builders disallowed or rejected the same is made the head of the corner. The nation of Israel was looking to build a kingdom, but the king was the stone who showed up and they rejected him.

So the kingdom was postponed so that same stone that was rejected by the builders Israel became the head stone are for the believers themselves called the church. That’s where we are. So it became a rock of offense even to those which stumble at the word being disobedient or unbelieving. The other one I wanted to mention to you is found in the book of Corinthians in chapter 12 where he talks about he says there is one body and though the members be many there’s only one body and yet in this one body, God says everybody is not the eye because if everybody was an eye, then where were the hearing be?

But if everybody was an ear, then where would the seeing be? But in a body of believers, a church, they’re supposed to be individuals that can do the work of the ministry. And so we need this person can do this, a person can do this, a person can do that, a person can do that. And God has given to the church that which the church need, but sometimes people don’t want to do what they’re supposed to do. So they don’t function right.

The body doesn’t grow right. It’s not fed right. It doesn’t grow. It doesn’t get done the things that needs to be done. But it’s not because it can’t. It’s because it won’t. The last one I want to mention to you, the Bible says that in the future we are going to get married again. We will be the bride of Christ. That means from Pentecost to the rapture, all believers form the body of Christ and where two become one, just like a man, a woman, and even when they have a child, two became one flesh.

This child came from two people and these two people, God looks upon them as One person, one person, one head. If you saw a person walking down the street with two heads, you would think there goes a what? A freak. I mean, the family doesn’t need two heads. It’s not 50-50, where is this? 50-50. Many people spend their whole married life trying to figure this out. There’s only one head. And God says, the man is the head of the home.

Like it or not. It’s a shame when a lot of men are not the head as they ought to be. good strong leaders and that’s the shame because he will not fulfill his responsibility to be the leader that he ought to be but he should be one day this bride of Christ It’s going to go to the Judgement City of Christ. And the Bible says we will, according to Revelation 19, dress in the righteous acts of the saints. What you do down here, God is going to reward you, and you’re going to be dressed in the rewards of the righteous deeds that you’ve done for the Lord.

And we will all be going to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And then the Bible says Christ is going to come to the earth, And we’re going to be with Him forever. Because when the raptor takes place, we shall be with Him forever. So wherever He goes, we go. We’re the bride and the bride is to be married to Christ. There is to be one bride or one husband, one bridegroom. And when Christ is married to the bride that came from all these individuals down here, remember all of us who trust the Lord?

We were born from above from the Father. Everybody who becomes part of the bride, there’s no fault nor flaw in any of us. We are perfect because only a perfect Savior can marry a perfect bride. So what is the gold of the Father? According to Jewish custom, the gold of the Father was to find a bride for his son. So the Father had a son born into this world and now the Father is calling out from among the world a body of believers and they will become the bride to marry his son and that’s why the son says in John chapter same all that the Father give it to me.

True? I’m not making this up. This is Bible. Father, give it to me. Shall come to me. And he did not come up to me. I would have known wise. Now here in this life, if you find out that the bride was not pure, she was not a virgin, then you are free to put her aside, to cast her out, to annul the wedding. But there won’t be none of this here because he will be made perfect and just like the Lord.

So all that comes to him, I will in no wise ever cast out. It means more than just looking at this, I have eternal life. I’ll never lose him. This goes for all eternity. There’s always deeper things found in the Word of God. That’s just awesome. Eternity will show the epitome of unity. Because can you see that in eternity, there’s the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and then the Bible talks about Israel, the church and the Gentiles. Those only three.

and there’ll be perfect unity, perfect peace, perfect harmony for all eternity. 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 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 a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friends, 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 reach us down below. 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 Romans chapter 14. Make sure you have a Bible. Everybody knows, especially if you know Christ is your Savior and have a little Bible knowledge, that one day when we leave this world, we’re going to stand at the judgment seat of Christ. The judgment seat of Christ is an important thing because the Bible says that we are going to give an account. Look there in verse 10, but why does Thou judge Thy brother or why does Thou set it not Thy brother?

for we shall and get this all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. In other words, instead of us judging one another just to realize there is someone that is going to judge us. And that’s because we’re going to stand at the judgment seat of Christ. So I’m going to be judged. You’re going to be judged. But now we’re not going to be judged to see if we get to go to heaven. We’re already there. This is a judgment that takes place in heaven for all believers.

So when you trust Christ as your Savior, you will go to heaven when you die and then stand at the Judgement City of Christ. The Judgement City of Christ is a rewarding stand where God is going to reward you for what you did. Now notice what he says in verse 12. Verse 12, very important verse. So then, every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Now do you believe the Bible? verse is just as important as John 3 16, Ephesians 2, 8, 9, 1 John 5, 13, where it says you can know you have eternal life.

We should know that we’re going to stand before the Lord, and we should know that we’re going to have to give an account of what we’ve done since we’ve been saved. Our sins is not the issue because they’ve been paid for, and that price has been paid once and for all. We’re not going to pay for sins, but we’re going to suffer the loss of what we could could have had. Now he says that if someone brings to someone a cup of cold water only in the name of the disciple, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

So rewards once they’re earned are laid up in heaven and you’ve laid up treasure in heaven that you cannot lose. Thieves can’t get it. It doesn’t rust. It doesn’t corrupt. So your rewards that you’ve laid up in treasures are eternal treasures, they’re eternal rewards. So you can’t lose rewards once they’re earned. The Bible does talk about us having a full reward. In other words, the servant of the Lord with all your heart, all your life. It’s one thing to start serving the Lord.

It’s one thing to finish up your life, still serving the Lord. So we wanna run a race, but we wanna finish the race. We wanna finish our course. And it’s not finished because you got tired and quit serving the Lord. In this verse 12, he says, shall give an account of himself to God. He says, all of our works that are, hey, wouldn’t stubble are going to be burned up. It means they’re going to be by the discerning eye of Jesus Christ.

And there could be big bonfires up there waiting for some of us that we thought we had a lot of good works laid up and find out that was just trash. Because our motives weren’t right, we didn’t do what we did for the Lord because we loved Him. There’s no doubt going to be some of us, and I may be one of them, may have to give an account to the Lord and tell them why I failed. All says in the book of Corinthians, it says, just nothing before the time.

He says, I’m not even worthy to judge my own self. And he says, when we get to heaven, he says, then, every man shall have praise of God, but not until then. I titled today’s message called, How I Fail God. Would it today we were to stand before the Lord? And today we have to give an account. And God wants us to give an account and tell them why we failed him. What would you say? What would be your reason?

Remember, you’re talking to God Almighty. I mean somebody that knows everything. Knows everything that you did. Knows what you didn’t do. Knows what you could have done. Knows all of your potential. 1 Corinthians and chapter 9. This is a tremendous chapter. I’m looking in verse 24. Would you be saying to the Lord, Lord, I failed because I followed the path of least resistance. In life, you’d be surprised how many people are always looking for the path of least resistance.

They don’t want to war. They don’t want to fight. They just want to get through life happily without a struggle. But they don’t want to do anything that causes anybody any discomfort or offense in any way. But did you know that the gospel is offensive? The truth of the Word of God is offensive. Jesus Christ, just look at the world, is offensive to a lot of people. God, the Bible, Christianity is offensive to this world. And if you’re going to serve the Lord, Christ says, he said, look what they do to me.

Shall the servant have it better than the master? If they do this to me, what do you think they’re going to do to you? And if you will live godly in this present world, you shall suffer what? Persecution. Now, if you’re not suffering some kind of persecution, you may not be living as godly as you ought to be. You may not be taken to stand that you ought to take because you’re afraid of that. And so in order to not to have that happen, some people don’t serve the Lord at all.

Look at verse 24, no you not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize. So run that you may obtain. And every man that strive for the master is tempered or self controlled and all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so fight not as uncertainty, so fight I not as one that beat the air, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

He says, I take this body of mine and I discipline my body. I bring my body into subjection. I make my body my servant, not my master. And because of that, he says, when I preach to others, I don’t want to be a castaway or a person who’s rejected, disapproved. You didn’t run the race right. Oh, you ran a race, but you didn’t run it right. And he says you’re disciplined in all areas. You see, you can have a 100 head of cattle inside of a fence and have 10 gates, close nine of them, but you can still lose all of your herd who, because you didn’t close that one gate.

Your character has to be right in every area, or you’ll lose your character through one area of your life not guarded. So you have to guard your life in every area of your life. But you would not want to say when you get to heaven, I failed you Lord because I followed the path of least resistance. I didn’t run well. I didn’t resist the devil. I gave in. You don’t want that to be said. But one day we’re going to give an account to the Lord for what we did.

The Bible teaches that. Look in Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10, look there in verse 24. You don’t want to give to the Lord a reason. You’re excuse. They say out of the excuse is nothing but a reason stuff with a lie. We’re going to tell the Lord, remember it, God is perfect. But there has to be a reason why we fail. You see, no Christian has to fail. We fail because it’s a choice and we made bad decisions in our life.

But a lot of times we don’t like to own up to the decisions that we make and we already blame somebody else. You know, that started in the Garden of Eden, that old blame game. Adam, it was that woman you made. Yeah, it was that serpent that did it. Everybody got to blame somebody for why they do what they do instead of just saying, I did it. So he says here in Hebrews in chapter 10 and verse 24, he said, and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaken the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another so much the more as you see the day approaching.

Would you say that you are a dedicated person to the Lord Jesus Christ? You see, how do you know that when you’re really dedicated to God? Well, if you serve God out of convenience, means I’ll serve the Lord if it’s convenient for me. I go to church if it’s convenient. Now, I give if it’s convenient and I’ll play when it’s convenient. I’ll read the Bible when it’s convenient. But some things are just not convenient, so therefore I don’t do that.

We alienate ourselves from good Christian fellowship. Whenever it says they’re not forsaken the assembling of ourselves together, the UC is the day approaches that more people are forsaken the assembling of themselves together, with God’s people. And yet this is what God wants us to do, but we reason in our mind is not that important. There’s a reason why we do what we do. There’s always reasons. A man can justify anything that he wants to do, or not do. And the Bible says that every one of us, not here to judge everybody else, but to judge ourselves, to examine our own lives and say, why did I fail the Lord?

Why did I not do what God wanted me to do? Ask yourself this question. Who wants me to go to church? God did. The preacher didn’t make this up. This is his idea. He didn’t design the walk of a Christian that’s all revealed in the scriptures. Upon the first day of the week, we’re to come together. And so this is what God wants us to do. But what would you miss church for? Think for a moment. What would you miss church for?

I believe even when you travel on the road, stop into somebody’s church. Be a blessing to somebody. You go on vacation, man. Don’t take a vacation from God. Drop in on somebody and listen. You love how to hear a good sermon someplace on the road. Some that might change your life. You might be a blessing to somebody. Try to put things in a proper perspective. God says what He required us to do, we’re going to give a count. He says we have been put in trust with the gospel even so we speak, not as please in men, but God which tryeth our heart.

You realize that we’re going to have to give an account to God. What did we do with the gospel? He trusted us. Did you fail Him? Did you let Him down? We’ll have to give an account to the Lord on this. There’s a lot of things that God has required of us as His children. We’ve got to give an account like it or not. I won’t be judging you. You won’t be judging me. But it’s something that God says He’s going to require of us.

If a man have a friend and if he falls down, he’s got a brother to help him up. Well, that’s because they’re strength. When people are joined together in unity and they help and encourage one another. Everybody needs a friend. If you got more than five, you’re truly blessed. But if you get three or four friends, personal friends, that you can really talk to and have different, you’re rich individual. You don’t have to have a lot. Most people never do.

You can go to a church of a thousand people, and you’ll have about 20 people that you’ll know real good. You can go to a small church, and you’ll have about 20 people that you know real good. See, it doesn’t change it because there’s a lot more people. In Romans 13 and verse 14, He says put on the Lord Jesus Christ Make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof You know what many Christians do in their life they make provision for the flesh it means you’re providing an opportunity for the flesh To be satisfied You know why a lot of Christians get in trouble because they make provision for the flesh There’s many things in the Word of God that God does not condemn you don’t see old verse in your says thou shot not smoke Thou shall not drink coolers You know you can go through a whole lot of things not not in there

But it does say that not to make provision for the flesh That your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Which is of God and you’re a glorified God in your body and in your spirit Which are gods the verses that Tim read this morning? So we are to make provision for the right thing and not to make provision for the wrong thing. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, make not provision for the right. In other words, you make provision for the flesh, you make opportunities to get in trouble.

You watch the wrong things and see if it doesn’t get you think in the wrong way. You see the wrong thing and it can permeate your mind. We’re gonna have to given account to the Lord why we fail. And if you fail, is it going to be because I indulge myself in the sinful lustful appetites? And this is why I didn’t do what God wanted me to do. Galatians chapter five, look in verse 16. Says in verse 16, this I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Now you will have the lust of the flesh because that’s the flesh. Because when God saved you. He didn’t change their old sinful nature. He just simply gave you a new nature, a new birth. And you now have a choice. You can yield yourself to the Lord or you can still yield yourself to the flesh. And if a Christian yields to the flesh, he’s going to have the works of the flesh and you’re not going to like the results.

And he says, be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever man saw it, that shall he also reap. So many people reap what they sow. He says, be not deceived because a lot of people are deceived. And then in verse 17 says, for the flesh lusts against the Spirit. Whenever you feed the flesh or make provision for the flesh, you’re causing a war on your own. You’re making war. And that’s what wars against the soul of a man, as it says in the book of Peter.

We have enough trouble as it is without making trouble. says you don’t trouble trouble till trouble troubles you. Well, you’re causing trouble to trouble you because whenever you feed the flesh, you’re you’re you’re creating a little monsters inside of you that’s going to war against your soul and you’re not going to have the peace and joy that you want. And you’ll find why a lot of Christians, even preachers, evangelists, missionaries fall in the sin for the simple reason they feed the flesh.

They made provision, opportunities to get in trouble. He makes the statement here in verse 17. Now flesh lusteth against the spirit the spirit against the place and these are contrary the one to the other. So if you want to be spiritually strong why would you make provision for the flesh? Why would you want to go to places you shouldn’t go? Why would you want to watch things you shouldn’t watch? Why do you want to hang around people that you shouldn’t hang around because they won’t make you strong?

You can’t have it both ways. So if you want to be spiritually strong it’s like you got to love the wheat of the flowers but you got to hate weeds because the weeds destroy the flowers. If the Lord was to tell you, why did you fail me? And you’ll have to tell your story. Well, I looked at things that I shouldn’t have looked at. I had a lot of it. So I saw all the inconsistency in other people. I’ve had people say, I’d go to church, but there’s so many hypocrites that church.

Just pull a hypocrites. I know those people over there. I said, there’s hypocrites where you work, you still go to There’s hypocrites at the grocery store. You still go get groceries? I says the whole world is full of hypocrites and you’re probably one of them Everybody’s a hypocrite Nobody does everything right the way they should everybody puts on a little bit of a front Not everybody’s is always that open and honest Everybody’s a little be a little deceptive in some way We don’t want everybody to know everything about our thoughts everything we say and did that was wrong the shame that would come no look what he says in verse 8 finally brethren what’s your things are true what’s your things are honest what’s your thing or just what’s your thing to pure what’s your things are lovely what’s your things are of a good report if

there be any virtue and if it be any praise and you ought to underline these words think on these things learn how to think think the way God wants you to think and it’ll help you to control your eyes and your ears and your tongue. Look in 2 Corinthians in chapter 10. In verse 12 it says, for we dare not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves. But they measuring themselves, and by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, you’re not wise.

We’re to run a race and there’s a course that we don’t always understand. God may move you here, move you here, step here, step there, bless, take it away. There’s always things going on in our life just like in a person’s life. You may have been in times in your life where you’ve had a lot of money. Then there’ll be time when you don’t have a lot of money. There’ll be times when you’ll have a good help and then there’ll be times when you don’t have good help.

Well, what’s the key? What are you supposed to do when you go through all these things? Be faithful to do what you can with what you have, where you are, with what talents and abilities that God has given to you. And it doesn’t matter because, see, there’s always somebody who wants to judge something and I can tell you this. Job’s three friends that he had that put him down and always had the answers. Well, see, they got married and had kids and there’s a lot of Job’s friends still around.

But sometimes cannot even look and examine their own life to see whether or not, why am I doing what I’m doing? Not how are they doing, what are they doing or not doing? Every man shall give a count of himself to God. Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own work. There’s a God in heaven that’s going to judge us. So we don’t have to judge one another, but we know that we’re going to have to give an account to the Lord.

And we may have to tell the Lord, why was I a failure? Why didn’t I do what I should have done with my life? Take your Bible and turn to the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 6. You may have to say something like this, Lord, I failed you because I united with worldly people and organizations. I joined up with the wrong crowd. I followed the path of least resistance. I did what everybody else did. You know, one of the problems that most people have is they look at whatever somebody else is doing or not doing, and they compare themselves, and God says, that’s measuring yourself by somebody else’s not wise.

You want to compare yourself among somebody and compare yourself with Christ and what Christ said. Are you doing, what I’m doing as much as everybody else is, and I didn’t ask you that. Are you doing what he asked you to do? That’s what you compare yourself with. You want to compare yourself about how good I am. Yeah, but compare yourself with who is perfect. Now, how you doing now? And always keep things in their proper perspective and you’ll be all right.

But look what he says in verse 14 of chapter six, he says, be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, but what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion have light with darkness. So God says, unbelievers should not unite with believers, believers with unbelievers. And even if you’re a believer in Christ, you should unite with somebody who knows know the Lord. So that a believer who loves the Lord should only unite with the person who knows the Lord and loves the Lord.

So it won’t matter whether or not you convinced everybody else you were right or I was right. It doesn’t matter how many people believe in you. Is it did you or did you not obey the book? God’s the one that we have to account to. And so we’re not right or wrong based upon how many people agree with us. Truth is truth. Truth doesn’t change. because it’s truth and if it’s not true it’s still wrong. Look in 1 Corinthians in chapter 10, look in verse 23.

Some of the reasons might be is I rode the fence and my Christian testimony, in other words I just didn’t get on one side of the other and we’re kind of like in Revelation chapter 3 some people are just Luke warm. They’re not hot for the Lord. They’re not really cold. They just Luke warm. We call them fence straddlers. Luke, what does God say about those that are loot warm? He says it makes him sick and makes him want to bomb him out of his mouth.

That’s a Christian who’s not committed. He plays a little bit on both sides. Goes to church a little bit, reads a little bit. Does everything just a little bit to keep God off his back, but nothing serious. Never gets really serious about the things of God. and here in 1 Corinthians and chapter 10, all things lawful for me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. Just keep these two words in mind.

Expedient and edify. Not all things has to be done. Oh, you see, I got the right to do anything I want to do. Yeah, but if you love the Lord and you love people, you have to find out is it it expedient? Do I need to do that? Do I need to do that? Does it edify? If whatever I’m doing, that I can discern for myself because a lot of things that got in the Bible, but there’s principles laid down in Scripture.

Then I should use the Scriptures to discern whether or not I should do this or do that because, let’s say my wife was to pass away and here I am I’m a single man. Do I lawfully have the right to remarry? Yes, I do. But that doesn’t mean that it would be wise for me to do so. It may not be wise. It may not be that’s what God, it may not be expedient, may not be that it’s wrong, but it might not help me to be the best that I can be for the Lord.

I can go to a dance. I can go to a rock and roll dance. I don’t believe it will be expedient for me. I don’t believe it will be necessary. I don’t believe it’s going to try to help me spiritually. I believe that might be making provision for the flesh, wouldn’t you? I don’t believe it’ll edify me. I don’t believe going to a dance and watching those women out there jumping all over and gyrating and so forth and making all these sexual baller sexual movements.

I don’t think it’s going to help my mind towards spiritual things. Well, you see, I don’t have to have a verse in the Bible says you can’t do that. But I question the wisdom of individuals who can’t discern, so you have to warn. Most people do exactly what they want to do, but they’ll ride the fence. Look in verse 31 of the same chapter. He says, whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do all to the glory of God, if whatever it is you do, you can say, I’m doing this for God’s honor, God’s glory.

Then go ahead. Do it. You’re the one and I’m the one that’s going to have to stand before the Lord. We should examine ourselves and you cannot examine yourself with a good microscope if you don’t have a good discerning understanding of the Word of God. Because if you can’t understand the truth, the Bible is the lens by which you examine yourself. You can’t close your Bible and say Well, I don’t see anything wrong with me. Well, when you look into the perfect law of liberty, the mirror of the Word of God, and it reflects upon yourself and you say, oh, I see dirt there.

I see dirt there. I see dirt there. I see dirt there. And then you go your own way as though you saw nothing. Immediately forgetting what manner of man he was. When you look into the mirror of the Word of God, you’re supposed to let the water of the Word cleanse you. Are you afraid God may talk to you? You afraid God may speak to you? Make God may want to speak to you? correct something in your life, it’ll make that day a lot better for you.

The last thing is I eliminated Bible reading and prayer. You know, I’ve never seen a Christian if they will do these two things drift too far from God. But if you leave off, you’re not going to stay very strong. And that is if you’ll spend time reading the word because that’s how God speaks to you. And if you’ll spend time talking to God, it’ll help you. You see, you can’t truly pray right between you and God in a submissive humble attitude and casting all of your cares upon the Lord and requesting things from God.

If it’s genuine, that’s genuine, the rest of your life will take care of itself. But you don’t do that and you don’t read and you don’t pray, your Christian life’s a mess because this is the only way that personally you can stay close. You can’t stay close but because you stay around people who stay close. What do you think joy is? The joy of the Lord is not something you get against from somebody and you’re rubbed by osmosis and it just jumps into your body.

Joy is something that happens between you and God. It’s a personal thing. The joy of the Lord is my what? Strength. And without the joy of the Lord, there is no strength. And that’s why there’s so many Christians that are weak. And it says some are sick and some are dead. How I fail God. Look up here. Letting this hand represent you and me. The wallet represents sin. Now we all have sin on us. And God says that He loves us.

He hates our sin. You see, we committed the sin, so we ought to pay for it. Though payment for that is death in hell. It’s not going to church. It’s not giving money. payment for sin is death. So I commit it, I’m guilty, I gotta pay. Eternal separation from God, in hell. But God loves me, wants me to go to heaven. And to go to heaven I’ve got to be perfect because righteous is God, no sin. Because see heaven is perfect and God is perfect and I have to be perfect to go there.

There’s the problem. Because of my sin I can’t get in. The Lord says that I can’t save myself. I need a Savior. This hand represent Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord, God in the flesh. He came into the world because He loves us. He hates our sin because our sin separates us from Him. So what Christ did for one person He did for everybody? Christ took all the sin, paid for it on the cross, came back again from the dead.

And God said that if we would believe He did it for us, He would book that paper to our account and we will get to go to heaven on what he did. See I didn’t earn it, I didn’t work for it, I don’t deserve it. For my grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourself is the gift of God not of works lest any man should vote. That’s the best news in the world and you can know that you’re going to heaven when you die.

The best news in all the world, no tricks to it, no guinea’s. Let’s pray, Shaoi. 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 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. 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. This is Dr. Ralph Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church. We will be continuing our tradition of a candlelight service again this year on New Year’s Eve. You are warmly invited to come and worship with us this New Year’s Eve at 7 p.m. Please join us at 4811 George Road here in Tampa. This will be a special time to reflect upon the blessings of God in your life from 2010.

A message from the Word of God for the New Year. Music from the Firehouse 5 and in with a candlelight dedication. Refreshments will be served afterwards in the Fellowship Hall. So make plans now to join us this Friday for our candlelight service at 7 p.m. turning your Bible to the book of Psalms, the book of Psalms. I was trying to figure out what kind of a title to have on today’s sermon. I thought about the oak tree and the pine.

God, that would make a good sermon. And so then I thought about the fern and the bamboo. Then I thought about the biggest mistake God ever made. Then I thought, well God can’t make a mistake. But if God could make a mistake, what would be the biggest mistake God ever made? I believe that it would be that God gave to man a free will. Do you realize the damage that has come to the world because man was given the ability to choose the right of choice to make up his own mind, to say no, and look at the damage over the years because man made the wrong choice.

Did God make a mistake and given you and I a voice, a choice to choose right or wrong, good or bad? And look what’s happened to everything. And there they were in the Garden of Eden and nothing was going everything was perfect. Everything was just right. And then God told them one thing not to do gave him a choice. Told him it would be consequences. Boy Peter just never gave us a free will. We would have such a wonderful life.

We’d all been down on this world. We’d have been perfect. There had been no sin, no problems. And you know what? God made a mistake. No God didn’t make a mistake. God knew what man was going to do before he did it. So I guess we’re back here to the book of Psalms chapter one trying to decide what is the title of today’s message. But notice there in the book of Psalms in chapter one. The first Psalm, verse one says, Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners nor siteth in the seat of the scorned form.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law that he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bring forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth, shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff, which the wind driveeth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment or sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the Lord kneweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” You see in verse 1, One, it talks a little bit about the separation, things that makes us different. You and I, when we trusted Christ as our Savior, we were separated from the unbelievers because you’re now the leaver. You became a child of God, so you’ve been separated from just being a child of the flesh. So there is a separation, there’s a difference.

You’re not the same as you used to be. God doesn’t see you the same way. You’re different now. And yet at the same time in our Christian life, God says, I don’t want you to do some of the things that others do. I don’t want you to walk in the counsel of the ungodly. So I don’t want you to listen to them. I don’t want you to walk the way others walk. And then He says, and not to stand in the way of the sinners.

I don’t want you to do that because it has to deal with what we do. One is what we hear and then the other hears, nor said it in the seat of the scornful. This is what we say. So there’s three things here that gives us some things that says God said, blessed is the man that walk is not, doesn’t act like the world, doesn’t think like the world, doesn’t talk like the world. Because in God’s I say, you’re not of the world.

You were, but you’re no longer. You’re in the world, but God doesn’t want us to be like the world. And then he makes a statement there in verse one talking about our separation. So we’re separated. And then in verse two, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law that he meditate day and night. Now if the man does this, doesn’t do the other, but he does this, then the man is to be saturated.

So we’re separated, but then we’re saturated. We’re saturated with what the word of God says. It permeates our mind so that we want to do what God says to do. We want to walk the way. He says to walk, and we want to sit in the counsel of the Godly and not the walk in the way of the ungodly. It’s causing you to have a separation because the Word of God saturates you. And because of that, he says, you meditate upon the Word of God.

It just says in the book of Joshua in chapter 1, it says that we may have success all the days of our life. Now, not success in the eyes of the world, but success in the eyes of God, what God considers it to be. And then we’re situated in a certain spot. See, there’s a lot of places that we choose to put our home, where we choose to live. Look, there’s 50 states in the United States. We can choose to live so many places.

But the thing that you and I should understand that there’s a better place to be situated. And that’s to be situated by the river of life. You see, there’s a place that you can be that will sustain you all the days of your life, all the days of my life. there’s a place that we could be. And whenever it doesn’t seem like things are flourishing, like you’d like to say to them, but you yourself as an individual are supposed to be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.

Look there in verse three. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bring it forth his fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he do it shall prosper. That is a good verse. And this is talking about the God’s child that is saturated with the word of God. And he does the thing that God says to do. And therefore he is situated in the right spot for the blessings of God.

And every person that I know of that knows the Lord loves the Lord, wants the blessings of God upon their life. And I want that and I’m sure that you do too. But he says in verse 4, the ungodly are not like this. The ungodly doesn’t love the word of God. They’re not situated by the river of life talking about the Word of God itself They don’t plant themselves into the Word of God so that their roots go deep.

I mentioned to you about the oak tree and Everybody knows that an oak tree goes grows real slow And they say well, there’s two ways to get to the top of a note tree One you can climb it Two you can sit on an acorn But an acorn tree will take a little bit longer to grow because it’s got deeper roots, it’s a stronger tree, and it produces hard wood that burns good. Now pine tree is not exactly like that.

And a pine tree, while it grows faster, and roots is not as deep, when there’s a storm they blow over quite easily. And they can be a danger. It’s just that there’s a difference in the root system. one person, he was very sick and tired of life. He didn’t like his job, didn’t like his wife, didn’t like his health, he didn’t like people, he didn’t like the world, he didn’t like God. And matter of fact, he just hated everything and hated himself.

So he just one day just told the boss, he says, I quit my job, told his wife I’m quitting, don’t want to be married anymore. He says, and I’m just going to quit my spirituality altogether. I don’t want church no more. I just quit everything. And I’m going to go out into the woods and I’m just going to end my life. I quit. You ever think like that? Just I’ve had enough. I don’t want to go no more. Stop this world Lord and let me off.

Well, he thought I’m going to have one last talk with God. So he’s got out there in the woods and he says, dear Lord, before I end it all, you have anything final you like to say to me. I mean, can you talk me out of this? Can you give me one good reason why I should not just end it all right now? Give me a good reason. And the Lord says, have you ever seen the fern and the bamboo?

He said, well, yes. He said, well, you see this beautiful force that that I have. He said, you know that I plant the fern and I plant the seed for the bamboo. Even if I plant them both at the same time and I can give them water. And I give him sunlight. He said, you know that that fern will just grow up immediately, beautiful green, and it’s great, beautiful. He says, but that bamboo seed didn’t grow at all. He said, but I didn’t give up on that bamboo.

He says, after the first year, the ferns came out more abundantly and covered the floor of the forest. and it was beautiful greenery, look great. He said, but that bamboo still didn’t grow. The seed didn’t grow at all. He said, and I watered them. He said, and I gave it sunlight. But the bamboo seed didn’t grow. The third year, still the same story, Then you grow. The fourth year, then you grow. He said, but in the fifth year, there’s a little sproun.

He says, in comparison to the ferns, he says it was small and insignificant. He says, but you realize in six months that bamboo can be a hundred feet tall. He says, those five years that nothing happened. He says there was nothing wrong. He says I created them. He said but that bamboo was building its root system so that when it started to grow it could grow as tall as it goes. He says I didn’t give up on that bamboo.

He said, just because it didn’t grow, he said, I don’t give up on you. I don’t give up on people. He says, my word doesn’t go and not come back. It accomplishes what I sent it forth to do. He says, when it comes to anything that I’ve made, he says, I’m the creator. He says, and it will accomplish that which I intended. So whenever you and I understand that our good days, all we talk about how blessed we are of God.

But those bad days are the days that God is spending time causing us to deepen our roots into the Word of God. So it’s not wasted time. So every one of us may flower at times, but he says, there’s other time He says, I’ve got your root system going deep. And I want you to hang on to what the Word of God says. And so your faith grips this rock and your faith grips this rock. And this one goes down 20 feet and grips a whole of this verse.

And this one gets a whole of this verse so that whenever you really start to grow, he says in the wind start coming, he says the root system is what sustains you. And just like that bamboo, it might seem like a year ago by two years, three years, times of law, nothing exciting, but it’s not lost time. It’s because God is spending time giving you experiences. So the good things, oh, we love the blessings of God, but the bad days are not really bad days, but we look at them as bad days.

Those bad days is where we’re gaining experience that will deepen our relationship with the Lord and cause us to be a stronger Christian and then whenever your roots go deep you can grow and be higher. And the man says, Lord, how high can I rise? He said, well, how high can the bamboo tree rise? He says, as high as it can. He says, and that’s what I want for you. I don’t quit on you. I want you to rise and give me glory as high as you can.

Just be faithful and God will bless and I believe that the Lord will remember this because we often think about the bad days and it’s amazing that many times on our calendar we can’t remember certain days unless something happened on that day. Here’s the Lord he gave you and made the right of choice. Did God make a mistake when he gave you the right to choose. He saved you, gave you eternal life, and then set you free to live.

Now you got the freedom to choose to serve the Lord or not to serve the Lord. How did you do with your choice? You have a choice to read God’s word or not to read God’s word. What kind of a decision did you make? You have a choice to witness for the Lord or not to the witness, but it gave you choices. Did God make a mistake? Did He trust you too far? Did you let him down? Did you fail?

Did God make a mistake when He left you here, said, taking you home? Whenever you think about the twelve disciples, Christ spent three and a half years at least with His disciples, taught Him, walked with Him, and He spent time with them. And then whenever it was all over with it, the big test came and they all failed. They all fell their final exam because it says in the scriptures that they all forsook him, every one of them did.

But Peter, remember him, God bless Peter. He said, Lord, though everybody forsake you, I won’t. I will never forsake you. The Lord says before the night’s over, you’re going to deny me three times. Nah, not me. I don’t know what everybody else is going to do, but man, I’m rock solid. You know, Peter’s roots were not very deep. didn’t last the night did it didn’t last the night because before the night was over with he’d done messed up and messed up and can you believe that Jesus and and Peter exchanged a glimpse at each other Jesus looked at Peter look at him and Peter saw him after he denied him three times and it came into his mind and he web.

Because he knew what he had promised. And literally he know that within a few hours he was going to let the Lord down so bad. You talking about failure. Did God make a mistake with Peter? Did he make a mistake with him? Look how bad he blew it. And yet God still used Peter on the day of Pentecost. What a great honor to use this man. See, God didn’t use a man because he was perfect. God used a man because he really, I’d have messed up, I accept it, and then make things right with the Lord.

And when Jesus came to him, he says, Peter, they says, do you love me? How many times did he ask Peter, do you love me? Three times. Who knew I did it three times you gonna include how many times did he be nigh him? three times You know one time there was a girl She was blind a girl was blind She hated herself She hated the world She hated everything and everybody hated God Because she was blind She hated everybody and everything except her boyfriend He asked her says will you marry me?

she says if I can see the world if I could just see the world I’d marry you Somebody donated her some eyes The surgery was a success and she could see totally changed her outlook on life. And a boyfriend asked her, says, now that you can see, will you marry me? And she looked at him and she was shocked. She didn’t know he was blind. And she says, there’s too much of the world that I want to see. I don’t want to spend my life tied down to a blind person and he wept walked away.

Several months later after he got over some of his grief he wrote a little letter. He says, take care of yourself and take care of my eyes. Wouldn’t it be something to look one day into the face of Jesus Christ and you realized who has done so much for you and how little we respond in the good way to the Lord. Now notice here in the book of Luke and chapter 22, looking verse 54, then took they him and led him and brought him into the high priest house.

Peter followed a far off. When they had kindle of fire in the midst of the hall and were set down together, Peter set down among them. But a certain maid beheld him as he set by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him and said, This man was also with him. And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not. And after a little while another saw him and says, Thou art also of them. And Peter says, man, I am not.

And about the space of one hour after another, confidently affirmed, saying, of a truth, this fellow also was with him, for he is a Galilean. And Peter says, man, I know not what thou sayeth, and immediately, while he yet spake the cockroof. And the Lord, get the Lord turned and looked upon Peter. What that look must have done. Did you know one day we’re going to stand before the Lord and we are going to look into the face, face of Jesus Christ?

I’ve often tried to picture what Christ really looks like, but I just can’t seem to do it. But all I know about the Lord is what the Bible describes about his character. I know what he’s like because the Word of God tells me this is Jesus. He is God. And this is what he’s like, and this is who he loves. And this is what he promised, and all the things that he will do and things he won’t do. And then he makes the statement here in verse 61, and the Lord turned and looked upon Peter and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, before the cockroach thou shalt deny me thrice, and Peter went out and wet bitterly.

Wet bitterly. When he knew he had blown it, he had failed the Lord. I believe Peter loved the Lord, but I believe he took his eyes off of him. I believe he got scared, but I believe he still loved the Lord. But he didn’t realize how shallow his roots were. See the roots didn’t go very deep because a big test come along and he wasn’t able to stand. But see, God doesn’t just forget about it and let you alone.

I believe there’s some of these teenagers and even adults that you pour a lot in and say I watered and I gave sunshine and I did all these things and in some Christians will just seem to take off and grow and in some of them look like they are never going to grow. And then I say years later, all of a sudden there’s a little sprout. But in all those years, they’re still going through experiences of life and their roots are still going down.

And then one day you’ll be surprised how God was just a blessed person and that person and begins to make wise decision. And then down the road, there could be 10, 15, 20 young guys who become, goes into the ministry that came out of our youth group. But right now you wouldn’t give a quarter for them. But we won’t see things the way God sees things. Think it’s not worth it, it is worth it. Because see, they’re God’s children.

And God can do a better job raising his kids than I can. And God’s word is true. Now take your Bible looking Ephesians in chapter three. the book of Ephesians in chapter 3, verse 13, wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 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 Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. That ye and your underlinedest phrase being rooted, grounded in love. Now the only way sometimes God can root you and ground you in love is to have a lot of hateful things happen to you. A lot of ugly things, bitter things. Because, see, God’s going to teach you love. It’s not just going to be by showering you with love. It’s going to be because you learn how to love the Lord in a situation that’s bitter.

Because things are not right because people can be ugly. And that’s to bring out the sweetness in you. How is God doing? Did God make a mistake with you? Did God send you some bitterness that you didn’t respond to very well? What have you been facing lately? What do you think God want you to do. How do you think he wants you to be? You see, outwardly sometimes we can fool everybody, but God knows the inside of an individual how they’re thinking.

And you can carry a lot of bitterness and hatred on the inside because you don’t like the circumstances, because God has given us some things that we don’t understand. But the Lord is working on you because he wants you and has made you something special. And he wants you to sink your roots deep and rise as high as you in your honor and glory to the Lord because of what He’s done. But look at that verse one more time in verse 17.

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able. See the reason for being rooted and grounded in a certain thing is because there’s something God wants you to do. You may be able to comprehend, to understand what all those things, what is the breadth and the length and the depth and the what’s that word height so that it goes deep, that it goes wide. that it goes high because of what God is doing and working in your life.

And that’s why he says all these things on in verse 20. Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us, there’s power working in your life whether you understand it or not. There’s experiences that you’re going through, not just the good things, Sometimes they so-called bad things because God has a purpose. God is working in our life to develop us into something good. You pitched all the good things that happen to you in your life.

And you say, boy, am I good? God was so good to me. You know, God’s characteristics doesn’t change. When all those so-called bad things happen, God is still just as good. It’s not God changed. God was good, God was bad. No, God is good. And so those bad things that we consider bad, they said we don’t understand and see the fruitfulness of it yet. We don’t see the cause, the purpose of it yet. But like the bamboo, nothing for the first year, the second year, the third year, the fourth year, but the fifth year, a little sprout.

This hand represents you and me and the the wallet represents sin. We all have sin upon us. Now God says that He loves us. God is the love of the world. He hates our sin because you see it separates us from Him. And He says the wages of sin is death and since we committed the sin we have to pay for it. We have to death. And that is eternal separation from God in 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. None of us are perfect, none of us. We’re all sinners. And the Bible says that if we want to go to heaven, we got to get rid of it. On our way is by death. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord God in the flesh. He came into the world because He loves us. He hates our sin because it separates us from Him. Now did God make a mistake and give man a choice?

what you get to choose. Christ took all of our sins, paid for them on the cross, came back from the dead and says, now, if you will believe that I did that for you, if you’ll choose to believe it, I choose to give you as a free gift eternal life. So we choose to accept the payment He made, believe and He did it for us. And He chose to give us as a free gift everlasting life. Our sins are paid and we get to go to heaven on what Christ did for us.

You didn’t earn it, you didn’t for it’s by grace, are you safe to obey that, not of yourself? It is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. God make a mistake. God don’t make mistakes. God is perfect. God is righteous. That’s pretty cool. 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 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.

Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. Here God’s truth on Bibleline. This is Dr. Ralph Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church. We will be continuing our tradition of a candlelight service again this year on New Year’s Eve. You are warmly invited to come and worship with us this New Year’s Eve at 7 p.m. Please join us at 4811 George Road here in Tampa. This will be a special time to reflect upon the blessings of God in your life from 2010.

A message from the Word of God for the New Year. Music from the Firehouse 5 and end with a candlelight dedication. Refreshments will be served afterwards in the Fellowship Hall. To make plans now to join us this Friday for our candlelight service at 7 p.m. Take your Bible and turn to the book, 2 Corinthians in chapter 11. Hopefully I can present this message the way I would like to, where it’s clear, understandable, and at the same time motivational, but it’s also a message that brings with it a warning to God’s people.

The Apostle Paul is talking to a very carnal church, a worldly church, where they had 14 major problems in their church. And yet at the same time he addresses them as saints in the Lord. Now these saints weren’t living like saints. After going through all of this time, ten chapters, mentioning all these various problems, finally gets to chapter 11 and it says this in verse 1, would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly and indeed bear with me.

They thought they were doing such a great job. He had to inform them that they weren’t. They were thinking that they were so holy and he had to let them know that they weren’t. They thought they were pretty good examples of the believer but they weren’t. So Paul has really come down on him pretty hard. So he says they’re in verse 2, I am jealous over you with Godly jealousy. Now what is jealousy? Jealousy is the fear of being replaced.

You know here’s a girl that likes the boy and then another girl tries to take her boy so she gets jealous fear of being replaced. There is a true and living God and God the Bible tells us is a jealous God. It means that God doesn’t want to be replaced. This is why he gives us so many commandments, warnings in scripture about not replacing God with anything anyone, nothing. So he says they’re in the last chapter there in the book of 1 John and chapter 5, my little children.

He said, abstain from idolatry. Keep yourself from idols. What it means is don’t let nothing come between you and the Lord. Because anything you place between you and God, God can remove. So here’s the the Lord and here’s you. Anything you put between you and God, God can move away. So sometime it could be a job, it can be money, it can be fame, it can be help, it can be your wife, it can be your kids, it can be anything.

God doesn’t want anything in the way because this is what life is about. So he makes a statement here in verse 2, I have espoused you to one husband that I and you ought to underline this that I may present you as a Chase virgin to Christ. Now, underline the word present because we covered the other night about presenting someone before the Lord. And here he’s using the same word again may present Now, it says the word here, chase virgin, chase virgin.

I wonder if I was asked most people what is a virgin? Many people today probably wouldn’t have a clue. They wouldn’t know what a virgin is anymore. Now a boy can be a virgin and a girl can be a virgin. Means they never had sex outside of marriage. And they kept themselves on the person that they’re going to marry. And when they got married, they were virgins. Now, many people today don’t heed the scriptures, and so adultery runs wild on occasion.

Any kind of sex outside of marriage. So it’s a terrible situation that we have in our world today. And shamefully, it’s also entered into the church and many of God’s people. They are not living holy lives. And they are scriptures that talks about abstain from fornication, keeping yourself clean and talking about, no you’re not that your body is the temple of the Lord, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are gods. So there’s many admonitions that’s given to us in the scripture.

But he says that I may present you as a changed version to Christ. Now I’m not sure how this works. All I know is that you win somebody to the Lord, you convince them persuade them, and you use the Scriptures, and it’s the Holy Spirit that convicts the person’s mind where they understand that they’re lost, and they need to be saved, and so they trust Christ as their Savior. So once they trust Christ as their Savior, they’re His child, and they’re His child forever.

But see, there is still something here in the Scriptures about not just getting to heaven. That’s because of what Christ did for us. So we’re not talking about getting there. We’re talking about how you’re going to be presented when you get there. Some can think maybe like what kind of an introduction are you going to have? Is somebody going to present you to Christ? Here the apostle Paul says that I want to present you as a chase virgin to Christ.

In the words like here’s a husband and a wife and they have a daughter. And the man become engaged. They’re spouts together to be married. But they’re looked upon doing this engagement period as though their husband and wife, though they don’t live together. He goes and builds the house and gets himself set financially and he gets everything ready. And she stays with mom and dad and mom and dad has to vouch for her virginity. They have to be sure that whenever they present this girl to this guy, when they get married, this daughter is a virgin.

And it’s a great shame upon the family if it’s not so. And if he finds out that she’s not of her, he can, as the Bible says, unkall the marriage. How does this all fit in with Scripture? It’s very interesting. When he makes the statement here that I want to present you as though here you are a you trusted Christ your Savior and you lived your life upon the earth and you kept yourself pure. There’s scripture that talks about when Paul wrote to Timothy as a young man.

He says, keep thyself pure. And there’s many scriptures in Thessalonians that talks about sanctify your vessel, this body of ours, keeping it pure. So during our lifetime, God wants to, I believe we want to be presented before the Father without all this infidelity. Can you maintain that? Can you husband and wife? Can you keep yourself pure? Only to the person that you married for the rest of your life. And that’s called faithfulness. If the man doesn’t or the woman doesn’t, we call it being unfaithful.

But with the Lord, the Bible talks about spiritual adultery, a child of God that commits spiritual adultery. In other words, they have not kept themselves pure for the one they’re going to be married to someday, for example. You and I are told in scripture that we are one day going to be married to Christ. Christ is the husband and we are the what? The bride. So we’re the bride and he’s going to be our husband and there’s going to be the marriage supper of the lamb.

So there’s a wedding kind of. So between the time you trust Christ as your Savior and the time you get married, you’re supposed to lip like you are married. As though there is nobody else. You are not in love with anyone else. You’re not in love with the world. You’re not in love with things. You’re not in love with another person. There’s no other idol of yours. else deserve all of your work. You’re focusing only on one thing, the one you’re going to marry and you keep yourself pure for that wedding day.

Now this is since you’ve been saved. Now the scriptures teach us, I’m not making this up. This is the book, it’s the Bible. But now, I loaded what it says in verse 3, but I fear, lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. So he talks about in verse 4 how that you and I can become or I should say become unfaithful to the Lord because we will worship another Jesus or another spirit or another gospel.

And see we’re to keep ourselves pure on the gospel of grace and not change and not accept another message. There’s not to be another Holy Spirit. You’ve got to keep yourself there. Try the spirits and see whether they are be of God or not. And there’s not to be another Jesus. Nobody else is to take his place so that as we live our lives, sure we may not do everything perfect right, but we can always in 1 John 1 9 is in the Bible.

I’m so glad it is. When we fail or make a mistake or do something that’s wrong, we can confess our sin and get right back with the Lord and keep going so that you keep yourself pure between you and God so that you can be presented to God as a changed virgin. Now, that’s an individual choice. Nobody can do this for you. You can’t do it for me. I can’t do it for you. Now, look in the book of Colossians, the book of Colossians, this turn to your right.

You got Philippians, Colossians, and in Colossians in chapter 1 in verse 22. When you trusted Christ as your Savior, it was because you understood that Jesus Christ, who was the Savior of the world, who was God in the flesh and by whom all things were created and who made all things and we were made for His pleasure and by whom all things consist of well this same one in his own body on the cross paid for our sins. So verse went to end the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and and unblameable and unreproovable in his sight.

If you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven where of I Paul and made a minister. So the people in Paul’s day and around the world got a chance to hear the gospel. They did quite a job, didn’t they? They sure did. And they didn’t have telephones. They didn’t have automobiles. They didn’t have the internet.

And yet they were able to get this done. They must have been committed. They were. But you’ll notice that there’s something here he wants to do. Now Paul says to present you. So getting to heaven, that’s a gift, that’s free. Now how you’re presented when you get to heaven is a different story. You see, God says that we’re gonna stand before the Lord someday and give account of how we lived in the flesh, in the body, whether good or bad, we’ve got to give an account.

2 Corinthians 5 and verse 10. So here he’s talking about if you continue in the faith. Now look up here. You trust Christ as your Savior. That’s getting you into heaven. You’re going to heaven because of what Christ did for you. You have been made pure and holy. Perfect. You say, well, how can you be any other way than how can all this other stuff? because now he’s talking about what you do for the Lord. He wants to present you talking about Paul, not Christ, Paul.

This is how I want you there. I want you to be presented before the Lord. When you get to heaven, I want everything to be right, that you did right so that you’re not ashamed before him that is coming, which means that you can be ashamed. And whenever you’re going to wipe away tears from your eyes means you could have tears in your eyes. And whenever you’re going to have the loss of rewards, it means that there could be some greeting there.

You’re going to have some loss of something that you could have had. So it’s important that you and I as a child of God realize why we should be faithful to the Lord. If you continue, it means that you will be approved, as he says here in the last word there, where it says, an unreprovable. The Apostle Paul uses the same word in the book of Corinthians in chapter 9 verse 27 when he says that after I have preached the others, I myself should be a castaway or dis-approved, rejected, disqualified for the rewards.

In other words, God says, you’re running in a race, but if you don’t run right, you’ll be disqualified. So many of God’s children, from the time they trusted Christ of Savior, until the time they get to heaven, you’re running a race. And if you don’t run the race at the way God says to running, you could be disqualified, and yet means you don’t get the rewards that you could have had. Paul says, I want you not only to run the race, I want you to play by the rules, and I don’t want you to be disqualified, or I want you to be there where nothing could be laid against you as they keep you from being rewarded in heaven.

See there in verse 28, look at verse 28. Home we preach, talking about Christ. Warning every man. Now this is not to the lost man, this is to those who trusted Christ as their savior. warning every man, teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man. Perfect or mature in Christ Jesus. See it’s one thing to trust Christ as your Savior. You have eternal life. You’ll go to heaven when you die. But when you get to heaven, do you want to be there in diapers?

That’s better than not being there at all. Or to be there as a mature individual because you run a race, you fought some battles and you stand there and God says, well done. My good and faithful servant. Now, getting there is one thing, but hear him say, well done. There’s a different story. all together. Because if you haven’t done well, he can’t say, well done. And that doesn’t mean he said enter down to the joys of the Lord. Now you may be there and you will be there if you trust the Christ of Savior, but this is a warning.

Not everybody is going to get the same thing once they get there. There is something to be afraid of. He says in the book of 2 Corinthians in chapter 5 and verse 11, he says, knowing therefore the tear of the Lord we persuade men. So there’s something about all of this that Christians need to be aware of. It’s how are you going to be presented when you get there? And the Apostle Paul says, I want to present you mature in the Lord, strong in the Lord.

The Apostle Paul says, I have not held back anything that was good and profitable unto you. I have taught you the whole counsel of God. I taught you the word what you do when it is up to you. I just want you to be aware that there’s warnings in the scriptures and how you are presented in heaven at that moment is going to be very important. And did you have idols in your life? Did you commit spiritual adultery? Or you may not do anything physically, but spiritually you can commit spiritual adultery.

Well, you don’t love the Lord like He used to. You’re not as dedicated as you used to be. These are all personal things that you have to weigh in your own mind. Now, take your Bible and turn to the book of Hebrews in chapter 6. Now if in your present time this life we fail in servant Lord and we don’t grow, we don’t go on to maturity. Is there a price to pay? Well I think there is but I want you to see this in Hebrews in chapter 6, look in verse 1.

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ let us go on on to perfection. That word means maturity. Let’s stop being a baby’s end diapers and needing the baby bottle. Let’s grow up. Learn how to handle spiritual response abilities. So how do you know it says all that? If you look at the four verses right before this, look in verse 11 of chapter 5. Of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered. Seeing your dull of hearing.

See a lot of God’s children get the word they don’t want to hear the word of God anymore. In order for you to grow spiritually it’s not done by the singing it’s not done by the drama it’s not done by those things it’s done by the word. Faith come at by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Not many people love to hear the word of God so that they can do something about what they hear because most people like the way they are don’t want to be disturbed and just want to play the game but if you go about the scriptures, God says they’re dull of hearing.

Don’t want to learn. For when for the time you ought to be teachers, people that ought to be able to teach, they can’t teach. They could, but they can’t. And can’t because of their dull of hearing. They don’t want to hear anymore. They don’t want to learn a word because they don’t want to do anything with it anyway. Why should I have to learn the Bible? I’m not going to do anything with it. But you should learn in order that you may teach.

For when for the time that you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again. It means that there’s children of God that didn’t grow, didn’t mature, and they have to be taught again and again and again because you see you don’t learn something until you begin to use something. When you begin to use what you know, then you begin to grow. But if you don’t, then you don’t know. It’s like I’ve told people before, you don’t know the Bible until the Bible controls your life.

If you don’t live by the Bible, you don’t know the Bible. The only way to really know the Bible is to put it into practice. Then you find out what he meant, then you learn it. But if you don’t do that and you don’t obey the scriptures, you don’t believe the scriptures. If you don’t believe the scriptures, you’re not going to learn it. All goes together. He says here, which be the first principles of the oracles of God and are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat.

I used to listen to people all the time, why? I need some more meat to eat. I get sick and tired of milk, milk, milk, milk. Well, that’s not really their problem. Anybody can eat meat can eat meat on their own. But sometimes you have to feed people a little milk and a little meat. I always try to teach something very simple that you know and understand you heard a thousand times because there’s other people that don’t know what they know, as much as they do.

And then you try to give a little bit of other so that they can chew on it for a while. So you get a balance between the two. Then he makes a statement in verse 13, for everyone that uses milk is unskilled the word of rice. It doesn’t mean he’s not saved, it’s unskilled. It’s just like you can have all the tools in the world. I got tools that I still haven’t mastered yet. But you can have all the tools in the world, but you not know how to use them.

And you can have a Bible, and you can read the Bible. But you’re not skillful until you know how to use the Bible. Can you use the Scriptures to win people of Christ? Can you use the Scriptures to teach somebody? If you can’t do that, you’re unskillful. Now you’re saved. You can have not a head knowledge, but no experience because you’re not applying the Scriptures. So you’re not going to be as strong as you would have been otherwise. And it is true that the scripture says here that when for the time you ought to be teaching you won’t teach And he says you’re unskilled for but that’s a personal choice Notice what he says for everyone that uses milk is unskilled for in the word of righteousness for he is a what what is he?

The babe Don’t matter how long you’ve been saved. I’ve been safe for 50 years. Don’t tell me. I’m sorry I’m not telling you. I’m telling you. This is what the book says you explain it You explain how you apply these scriptures because you do I do too But in verse 14, but strong meat belong to them that are of full age Those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil those who can discern and those who are Using the scriptures have a right to the meat not the babes.

They don’t need meat But now he says in chapter 6 we need to leave that which be the first principles of the oracles of God about how you’re saved because you see after you are saved you don’t have to get saved again just because a babe doesn’t grow doesn’t mean you have to unborn them and get them saved again. So he says there in the last part of this verse 1 let us go on to maturity not not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead verse in a faith toward God.

Now look up here. You and I were saved when we understood that repentance means a change of mind about trusting in my dead works, because my works can’t save me and believe in Christ. The issue is always law and grace, grace versus works. So if a man believed he saved by his words, you got to change your mind. That’s not true. And believe on Christ. So he says in this verse, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and a faith toward Christ.

So we know that repentance is talking about turning from your works and believing on Christ, not turning from your sins. Good works. People who trust in their good works to get up to heaven. You got to say, you can’t save yourself by your works. You’re saved by grace. And so once you believe that, you don’t have to do that again. And the reason is because it’s impossible for a man who has been saved to ever down the road, get saved again.

So he says, you don’t lay that foundation anymore. So then he says in verse three, and this we will do. No work, do what? We’re going to go on to maturity. We’re not going to try to get you saved again just because you’re a babe in Christ, you haven’t matured, you haven’t grown, you ought to be doing something, you’re not doing it. does God want to present you? I mean how does how do you think God wants you to arrive as a babe in Christ or did God give you enough time to grow?

Did God give you and me enough time to live to mature in the Lord? Or do you think He wants us to go up there and not grown up in the Lord still like babies in the Lord and never did anything for God? I mean God said I gave you 30 years to live 40 years to live after you were saved and what in the world did you do? Look at you. Do you think your heavenly Father could be ashamed?

The Bible says that He can be ashamed of us. He said because we were ashamed of Him. He says that He will deny us. No, He can’t deny us salvation, but He’ll deny you the rewards and then how much other things go with that. I don’t really know. I’m just going to warn according to what the Scripture says and when it’s silent, I’ll be silent. But when it speaks, I’ll try to speak and try to tell you as much as I possibly can.

So he says there in verse three, this will we do if God permits. See, God is the one that permits you to go to maturity because if you don’t believe him and trust him then you can’t go forward. You can’t mature because a Christian cannot grow without knowing God’s Word. So if God tells you something… What he wants you to do in life and you don’t believe that, well if you don’t believe that, then you can’t grow. Because he, believing God’s Word is to apply the Word of God and God will give you more light, more knowledge in your grow.

But he’ll hinder you from understanding because you will not obey what he already told you. So if Christians are not going to obey the light they already have, why should God keep giving a Christian light? If you don’t apply what you have already been taught, but you’re not learning is not because it’s not being taught You’re not learning because you’re not applying what you’ve already been told and God won’t let you learn anymore God prohibits it and you’ll stay a babe all your life not because it’s God’s choice It’s because the will of the person will not submit to the truth that he already has inverse for the reason that God will permit some things and not permit other things and And why we will do what we do is because it says in verse four, it’s impossible for those who have been once enlightened,

tasted the heavenly gift, made partakers of the Holy Spirit. So these are those that are already trusted the Lord. They’re already happy turn away. They’ve already received the Holy Spirit, tasted the good word of God, the powers of the world that come, the age that come, if they, if they that have already been saved shall fall away. Now, fall away doesn’t mean lose your salvation. If, because you can’t fall away and lose your salvation, because you can’t get saved again.

See that phrase? To renew them again unto repentance. Why did it say there in verse one, not laying again the foundation of repentance? You can’t do it again because you see, it’s impossible for those who have been saved to ever lose their salvation and get saved again. They can’t be done. So you don’t have to win them into Christ again. So well, you must be lost and we got to get you saved again. God never said that in his word.

He never cast the doubts on salvation like that. But he did say that you need to start where you are and start growing and start maturing. If you fall away from what? We’re not talking about you can’t lose your salvation. But if you no longer as a child of God, you won’t grow. You won’t mature. You don’t eat the word of God. You just want to apply it. You don’t teach. You don’t do anything. And God says, this is what’s going to be the result.

Now look at the results. This is resolved in a Christian’s life who falls away from serving the Lord. Does it stay faithful? Doesn’t continue in the faith. Say, yes, say, but doesn’t do anything. He says there in verse seven, for the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh off upon it and bringeth forth herbs. Now we’re talking about in the Christian life bringing forth fruit, bringing forth that which God wants out of our lives. The earth which drinketh in the rain that comes with all upon it, bringeth forth herbs, food, meat, or fit for them by whom it is dressed, prepared, and get this underlying receiveth blessings from God.

Receiveth blessings from God. So it all depends on whether or not you want the blessings. Just like here you are, you’re a piece of ground and there’s rain that It comes down from God and the rain waters the ground, the fruit grows, and you enjoy the blessings. But that which pereth forms, priors, is rejected. 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 3, 1, 800, 576, 3, 771. That’s 1, 800, 576, 3, 771. 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 or would like to be more familiar with this program, 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 Now we’ll close your thoughts 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. Just keep looking up.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

This is Dr. Ralph Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church. We will be continuing our tradition of a candlelight service again this year on New Year’s Eve. You are warmly invited to come and worship with us this New Year’s Eve at 7 p.m. Please join us at 4811 George Road here in Tampa. This will be a special time to reflect upon the blessings of God in your life from 2010. A message from the Word of God for the New Year, music from the Firehouse 5 and end with a candlelight dedication.

Refreshments will be served afterwards in the fellowship hall. So make plans now to join us this Friday for our candlelight service at 7 p.m. Stand or to fall you have to admit the Bible does say that we can fall from grace Says so in the book of Galatians in chapter 5 In verse 4 where it says Christ has become of no effect unto you Whosoever of you are justified by the law ye are fallen from grace But does that mean you can fall from salvation?

I believe that you’ll see in just a moment that it does not refer to losing your salvation. No man, once he has saved, can ever lose his salvation. One of the best ways to study the Bible and to understand what the Scriptures are teaching is always use the lens of the gospel to discern the rest of the Scriptures. So if you really understand the gospel, really believe it, you have a greater potential of understanding deeper truths than anyone else will ever come close to.

Look there to first verse. To stand or to fall, it is my choice. Now once you trust Christ as your Savior, you are on the foundation. The foundation is Christ. And Christ is a foundation that never changes. Now you may tremble on the foundation, but the foundation will never tremble unto you. You’re on the foundation. There is no other. Romans 5 and verse 2, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

And not only so, but we glory in tribulation also, knowing that tribulation works at patience. But in the first part of this verse, when it talks about this grace, wherein we stand. You see, when you trusted Christ as your Savior, you were saying, I believe that Jesus Christ, died on the cross, paid for my sins, and that I’m saved by grace. God gives me eternal life. I am His child, and that is a definition of salvation by grace. It’s not of words.

You stand right there. That’s my position. That’s my position. So God saves you based upon your belief of what he promised because that’s what faith is. Faith is not staggering at the promise of God, but believing it. Now whenever you believe that God wants you and I to stand on that truth all our life. Now if you quit believing that and standing for that then you’ll have questions and doubts in your mind, but it doesn’t change the fact that God has saved you and that God has given you eternal life, God cannot change that at all.

But you will not have the confidence, you will not have the assurance that you need and so therefore it’s going to cost you and your Christian life because you won’t serve the way you should, because you doubt your salvation. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 5, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Now faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God so that your faith should stand in what God says, not in what man says about God.

In other words, if your only hope of salvation is based upon what Yankee told you, or what you just believe what I say, instead of you verifying with what the book says, what if I’m wrong? What if I’m wrong? Now what you’re going to do? So you should believe what you believe because the Bible teaches that and you’re convinced of that so that your faith is not in the pastor. It’s not in the church. It’s not in your good works.

It’s only in what the Lord says and you understand what his word said and you believe what he said. Remember even the people that came out that day to see the woman at the well says, And we believe. Not because of a woman, but because we heard him ourselves and we believe that thou art the Christ the son of a living God. So you are to believe what you believe because it is the truth and you see it and you understand it and you believe that.

But not to stand in the wisdom of man regardless of how wise the man might seem to be. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 1. This is where we usually get a definition of the gospel. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 1 says, Moreover brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you, which also ye have received and wherein ye stand. So where is our position? We stand upon the gospel. That is our foundation. That’s what gets us into the family of God, into the kingdom of God, so that we know what we believe.

We know why it’s true because of what Christ has done and what He said. Only by Christ coming back from the dead do we understand that God accepted the payment. That’s why Jesus Christ didn’t be the propitiation or the satisfaction for our sins. We’re in ye stand in 1 Corinthians 16, 13. Look at this. Says watch ye stand fast in the faith. Quit ye like men. Be strong. Now here he’s changing it just a little bit because now we’re talking about standing as a result of our choice after we have been saved.

It’s a statement that warns us because he says here, watch ye stand fast in the faith. Now if he has to tell us and to warn us to stand fast in the faith, it means that it might be possible and must be possible that a man may not stand fast in the faith. So you may know Christ is your Savior and you have become grounded in the Word of God, But is it possible that you could not stand for the faith but fall in the faith?

Can you fall? Can you not believe in what you now believe? Yes you can. But if you did, would you still be saved? Yes you are. Because God cannot deny Himself. But notice what He says in 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 12. If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. Now here He’s talking about us reigning with Christ. So there is a price to pay for your disobedience. For my disobedience, there is a price that will pay in eternity.

Not just maybe in the kingdom reign, but for how long I do not know, it might be forever. In verse 13, if we believe not, in other words, I don’t believe it anymore. Look at the last part of the verse, yet he abided faithful. He cannot deny himself. He can’t deny himself because he made a promise and his promise was that if you trusted him one time like drinking that water, one time he has to guarantee you that you’ll never thirst again.

And if you eat that bread one time, then he guaranteed that you wouldn’t have to eat that bread again. in other means you don’t need to get saved again. So God cannot deny himself. So when he says up there in verse 17, look in verse 17, and their word will eat as death a canker or in some translation they put it cancer, but it’s just like that. Of whom is Hymenius and Phileedus, who concerning the truth have erred. So they did know the truth, but now they have erred concerning the truth.

But not only have they aired concerning the truth, it says here saying that the resurrection is passed already and you are to underline the next statement over throw the faith of some. So some Christians have their faith overthrown. In other words, they don’t believe it anymore. They get so confused, they get mixed up because of what somebody else has told them. But now notice what he says, overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless, the foundation of God’s stand of sure.

this seal and you are on the line this the Lord knoweth them that are his so the Lord knows you even though you may get to where you don’t know the Lord so once you trusted Christ the Savior you have eternal life and God said that he would never test you out I want you to look there in 1st Timothy 1st Timothy chapter 1 and look there in verse 18 first Timothy chapter 1 and verse 18 says this charge, I commit unto the Son Timothy.

According to the prophecies which went before on the that thou by them might as were a good warfare. Now the Christian life It is a war. In other words, you’re fighting against the devil and he wants to win. You’re fighting against the lust of the flesh and it wants to win. You’re fighting against the temptations of the world and they want to win. And the trials of the earth, you’re in a battle. A battle for your soul, that means your life upon the earth, the effectiveness that you can have.

Because see, there’s a God in heaven that wants to reward his children in the kingdom and many of God’s children are forfeiting every last thing that you want. could have had. This life is the best days of our life because it’s such a great opportunity that God has given to every one of us to be found faithful. Now He can’t eliminate the war and then you expect to wear the medals. You’ve got to fight the battles. Fight the battles.

And this is why the Bible says endure to the end. You and I are supposed to endure to the end, not for salvation, but for the Christian life, endure for how long? Just this day to mark no the end all your life serve the Lord with everything that you got don’t stop now look what he says in verse 19 holding faith and a good conscience because you can lose your faith some people have their faith overthrown they were saved but no longer believe but they’re still saved they’ll still go to heaven I think a lot of people who afterwards think they’re gonna go to hell are gonna be very surprised to wake up when they die and find out they’re in heaven.

And then won’t it be just a surprise and that people who think they’re going to heaven will wake up and they find themselves in hell? And that’s the case too. I think it’s going to be a lot of surprises on both sides. I would rather a child of God go to heaven and diapers than not go at all. If we believe salvation was something else, we would say, well, they have to prove that they’re saved now. Or they got to do all these good things.

A man can do the most wicked of things. But if But if he’s trusty, Christ is Savior, that is the crux of the matter where God is so good that he would give us as a free gift eternal life. See, there’s sometimes, I think, people who really don’t believe that say they believe it but don’t really believe it. Well, I believe they ought to do something. There ought to be some proof. No, they don’t have to be any proof.

Any time you think a person has to have some proof, you’re going to become a fruit inspector. You’re going to be starting looking for results in a person’s life to see whether or not they’re really saved. You only have one thing to go by. Does that person put their faith in Christ and that alone is their only hope of going to heaven. That’s all you can look at. Now as a person who’s supposed to love the Lord, yes we can look at their lives and see whether or not they love the Lord by the way they live.

And the best we can do is to try to look at him and see whether or not he said if you love me then serve me. So if a person, because you can be a Christian and not love the Lord, not serve the Lord at all. But should you? Yes. But look what he said in the last part of this verse holding faith in a good concert which some having put away Concerning faith a bait shipwreck so they were in the ship, but they have had shipwrecked they were saved but their As far as their life goes their lives are a wreck and they have fell up on the rocks of this belief No longer understand no longer solid no longer strong a Christian can fall Can you fall?

Yes, you can. Can I fall? Yes, I can now look at the next verse 2nd Corinthians 1 24 says not For that we have dominion over your faith But our helpers of your joy for by faith you stand See the only way that you can stand in the Lord is by your faith and if your faith is overthrown and you’re not gonna stand for the Lord It won’t matter what church you go to it won’t matter how you live It won’t matter if you give you don’t give it won’t matter if you witness it don’t it nothing matters Because your faith can be overthrown And it is a fight it is a battle and the thing that you and I are supposed to be concerned is that we want people to stand Fast in the faith so that their joy is full like he says

But our helpers of your joy we want people to have full assurance and to have joy in the Christian life And so they can be strong enough that whenever the trials come and testing come they can be strong enough to weather it See many Christians can’t take the trials and tribulations. They fall completely apart and that’s a sign they’re not strong in the Lord. They’re weak Christians but still a Christian. Look at the next verse. In Galatians in chapter 5 verse 1 says stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.

So if it’s a command for us to stand fast it also means that you may not stand fast, that you could lose your footing, that you could fall away and you can. Remember, you never fall away from salvation, but you may stop believing in salvation by grace. And if you don’t believe in salvation by grace, then you’re going to question your own salvation. And then if you don’t really understand whether you’re really saved and you start teaching worse for salvation, then you’re going to confuse a lot of other people.

And you can begin to teach and preach a curse message. So he says, here, stand fast therefore in the liberty where with crisis made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. So is it possible for a person to become entangled again? Yes, with the law. Yes. In the words of lost man believes you got to be good to go to heaven. He finds out it’s only by grace. Well, if he don’t stay strong in that and keep believing what he’s supposed to by getting into the word so he can begin to believe what he used to believe and become entangled again.

Think just like he did before he ever trusts the Lord. Look at the next verse in the Ephesians chapter 6 verse 11 to 14 put on the whole armor of God Why? That you may be able to what stand? Well, if you don’t put on the whole armor of God, it means that you probably won’t stand What do you think a preacher wants people to come to church? So that he can teach them the Bible how to Understand what God says why for his benefit?

No, it’s for the people it’s for them so they can stay strong in the Lord. People who stop coming to church don’t last long. They don’t last. They’ll be getting into all kinds of things that they never thought they would ever do and believe in things they thought they’d never believe because see this is a step of obedience to meet together with God’s people so that you can stay strong if you don’t do that you’re not going to be there.

You will fall verse put on the whole arm of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Now that means that the devil is able to trick you. We talk about the wiles of the devil, the tricks of the devil because that’s what he does. He lies, he deceives. And so this is why a lot of Christians are not very strong in the Lord. Now look in Philippians chapter 1 verse 27. Only let your behavior, your conversation, your manner of life, Be as it become the gospel of Christ that whether I come and see you or else be absent I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit So it may be possible and it is possible that a person doesn’t stand fast in the Lord He said that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the godful see it’s not automatic

Well, if you really saved your servant or no, you won’t otherwise why we got this it’d be automatic It is an automatic. Not everybody serves God. Not everybody walks with the Lord. Many of God’s children are in the world. He says, you’re in the world, but you’re not of the world. Be not conformed to the world. But many of them do. That whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.

Now that’s what God wants his people to do. believe in the same thing because you only got one Bible. You don’t have two Bibles. That’s why you shouldn’t have two or three different kinds of churches. Let alone a thousand different kinds of churches. If everybody approached this book and believed this book and the Holy Spirit taught us all this, do you think the Holy Spirit in this book would teach me to believe one thing and teach you to believe something else?

Is it Holy contrary? No. It’s because people are not believing what the book says. They use the Bible and twist the Bible, put a span upon the Scriptures because they can’t believe it means what it says. Philippians chapter 4 verse 1, Therefore my brethren dearly beloved and long for my joy and crown and get to so stand fast in the Lord My dearly beloved so if he has to tell you to stand fast in the Lord is it possible then that you might not stand fast in the Lord Yes, because that’s why he’s warning us Challenging us be sieging us that we stand fast Colossians chapter 4 verse 12 a papyrus who is one of you a servant of Christ saluted you always laboring fervently for you in prayers that ye may stand.

Get this perfect and complete in all the will of God. See, God saving you and saving me is just the beginning of our Christian life. It’s not the end of it. It’s not that, you know, that was all that God wanted to do is just to save your little soul so you don’t go to hell. That’s just the beginning. There’s your whole life. Everything involves you. God wants you to do what He wants you to do, and that’s what we’re after.

We’re trying to get God’s people to serve the Lord and to be found faithful. Do you find out it’s difficult? Isn’t it difficult to get people to be faithful? How difficult is it just to get people to go to church? Think well, could be done with God’s work if all of God’s people believe the same thing, and we’re as dedicated as they ought to be. Could turn the world upside down. Now look what he says there in this next verse.

First Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 8 says, For now we live if ye stand fast in the Lord. For what thank can we render to God again for you? For all the joy where we enjoy for your sakes before our God. Did you notice that standing fast in the Lord and the joy of the Lord go together? There’s a lot of people who want to be happy in the Lord. I just want to be happy. They want to have joy.

But joy comes because of your stand that you have in the Lord. Not that you’re saved. I mean, say it. I’m conjoined that I’m saying I’m not going to hell. I know, but I mean, I’m not in heaven yet. I still got a life to live. So your strength in the Lord is what’s going to give you joy. God, joy of the Lord is my strength and a lot of Christians are weak. They don’t have any strength and you don’t have the strength.

You don’t have the joy. Because you see you focus upon your problems and all everybody’s got them But if that’s all you focus upon that becomes so big and it can just drain you dry and they say you’re not a happy camper You’re not happy with anything But joy of the Lord that doesn’t matter what happens You know, it’s just temporary you’re gonna be passing through it and God will give you the strength and grace you need to bear it Regardless of the temptation, you know that your heavenly father is not gonna allow anything greater than what you can stand and you can stand it You say I just didn’t take anymore.

Yes, you can You can take anything God gives you. You never have to fall. We fall because it’s a choice. Failure in the Christian life is our choices. It’s not the will of God, it’s what we do because we take our eyes off the Lord because we’re weak in the Lord. Look at the next one. In 2 Thessalonians in chapter two and verse 15, therefore brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word or our epistle.

If he has to tell you this, it means that it’s possible that you may not stand. And when he says here, stand fast, hold the traditions which you have been taught, in other words, keep believing that, continue in the faith. You’ll find that mentioned throughout the book of Hebrews about continuing the faith and enduring to the end and in the book of Matthew, all these scriptures that are, but they mean something. But everybody wants to take that in dirty and that’s talked about you got to hang in there if you want to get saved finally, eventually.

It’s not talking about that. Now look at the next one. all fall, fall, fall, fall, fall, fall, fall, fall. Can a Christian who refuses to stand fall? Now look there in Romans chapter 13 and verse 14. Says, let us not therefore judge one another anymore, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling rock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s weight. Does that mean that it’s possible? If God has to tell us not to do it, it means that maybe some Christians will do it.

not only will they fall themselves, but they become a stumbling block to other Christians. And you put a stumbling block in a brother’s way and cause him to fall. Can a Christian fall in the servant or yes? I see it all the time. And yet I cannot allow all the people that fall so discouraged and disappoint me and give me and give me such despair that it ain’t worth doing it at all. Then just let them all. Just do whatever they want to do.

I don’t care anymore. And just develop an I don’t care attitude. You can’t do that. You still strive. You always have, because you’ll have a few people that will serve the Lord and it makes it worth it. But whether they do or whether they don’t, you still have a responsibility to challenge and exhort one another to do right. Look at the next verse. First Corinthians chapter 10 verse 12 says, Wherefore let him that thinketh he stand, that take he lest he do what?

lest he fall. And who is the one that can fall? The one that thinks that I ain’t going to happen to me. You don’t ever happen to me. Boy, I’ll never fall. You can fall at any time. You know how long it takes to yield to a temptation? All thought like that. Don’t take long at all. You can fall very quickly. All you got to do is take your eyes off the Lord. They can happen to anybody at any given time.

I don’t care who you are. I don’t care if whether it’s the preacher, the deacons, or anybody else. The layman in the church. Everybody’s acceptable because we all have a sinful nature and the devil knows how to lure. He knows how to trap and get us to fall. Remember, the devil is after one thing, to get a Christian to fall from standing in the faith. 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 6 says, not anomous, lest being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil.

Look at 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 7, Moreover, he must have a good report of them which are without lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. So is it possible for a Christian to fall into the snare of the devil? All these are warnings to us because it’s possible. If it wasn’t, then there’s been no sense in putting it into the book. And if it was all less automatic, you know, that if you’re really saved, you’re really going to serve a Lord, if you’re really saved, then why are what’s the who’s these verses to?

Because there’s people who fall and they don’t serve a Lord. And some of them will never amount to the hell of beings. They’ll never be strong. And that’s why he made the statement in the book of Corinthians in chapter 11 where he talked about, he said, in summer, sick and summer, weak and summer, what? Dead. Why are they dead? Because they fell. Why are they weak? Because they fell. Why are they sick? Because they fell. Christians fall. Fall into temptation.

Fall because of the devil. Fall because they get lifted up with pride. You name it. Christians can fall. And they fall away from the truth of God’s Word. They can fall to every wind of doctrine that comes along. In 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 9 says, but they, that will be rich. to temptation and a snare and do many foolish and hurtful lust which drowned men in destruction and predation. Isn’t that a warning about being rich? And yet you’d be surprised how many people want to be.

I want to be a millionaire by the time I’m 30. It’s better just to serve the Lord with what you got, where you are and if God blesses you praise the Lord and if He doesn’t, that’s fine too. If some people never learn, money is not the purpose of the Christian life. The possessions of of this world is not where it’s at. That’s not what makes happiness. That doesn’t bring peace and joy and all that doesn’t bring the purpose.

God can use everything we have and we ought to use it for the Lord when He says here, they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and the meaning foolish and hurtful lust. In other words, it’s a result of choices that we make. Look in 2 Peter in chapter 1 and verse 10, wherefore the rather brethren, we talk in the Christians brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure for if you do these things you shall never do what you won’t fall these see are verses in the Bible that warns us so we can choose to stand or to fall but it’s all because of decisions that we make so he says here if you do these things you won’t fall but look in 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 7 he says Yee, therefore, be levered.

Senior note these things before. Beware, lest ye also get this being led away with the era of the wicked. So can a be levered a brethren be led away with the era of the wicked? Look at it. I didn’t write this verse. This is the Bible. He says, Paul, Paul from your own steadfastness is that the will of God that all of his people people stay steadfast in the gospel and to stay strong in the Lord. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might because if you don’t then you’re going to be falsely acceptable to the wiles of the devil.

Then when He makes a statement there in Galatians chapter 5 and verse 4, Christ has become of no effect unto you whosoever of you are justified by the long ye are fallen from grace. Can a Christian fall from grace? Yes. It means falling from When grace is failing to keep believing that you’re still saved by grace. You see, when you were saved, you were saved because you believed you were saved by grace. Later on, you no longer believed you’re saved by grace.

So you have fell from what you used to believe. But did you fall from salvation? No, you can’t fall from salvation. 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 Bibleline. LiveAlignMinistries.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 dot org.

Thanks for joining us on Bibleline. And now we’ll 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. This is Dr. Ralph Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church. We will be continuing our tradition of a candlelight service again this year on New Year’s Eve. You are warmly invited to come and worship with us this New Year’s Eve at 7 p.m. Please join us at 4811 George Road here in Tampa. This will be a special time to reflect upon the blessings of God in your life from 2010.

A message from the Word of God for the New Year, music from the Firehouse 5 and in with a candlelight dedication. Refreshments will be served afterwards in the fellowship hall. So make plans now to join us this Friday for our candlelight service at 7 p.m. eternal security has to do with how God sees you. And assurance has to do with how you see yourself. Now eternal security means that once you have trusted Christ as your Savior, God, been bound by His Word and cannot lie, has promised to you and I salvation.

That means that God promised to save us from hell, to give us eternal life and take us to heaven whenever we die. That cannot be changed because it depends upon the faithfulness of God. Assurance is how you see yourself. There are some people that are very sure they have salvation, and then there’s others that are not sure. John 4 tells the story about a woman that none of the Jewish people really wanted anything to do with. They wouldn’t even talk to them.

Didn’t have anything to do with them. Had no dealings with them. I guess you could say this was a racial issue. But the Bible says Jesus says he must needs go through there. In verse 8, for his disciples were gone away into the city to buy meat. But he says here in verse nine, then said the woman of Samaria unto him, how is it that thou been a Jew ask of drink of me which am a woman of Samaria, for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans?

And this is a racial issue. It is a social issue. It’s just like today, there’s people who consider themselves to be better than others. And we’re not better than other individuals, though we might see ourselves that way, God says there’s no difference. God so loved the world, going to all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that saith to thee give me to drink, thou would have asked of him and he would have given thee living water.

Now the woman to have assurance of salvation, You have to know who it is that’s got this gift and you have to know what the gift is. He said, if you knew, you would ask. So, the rest of the chapter is spent convincing her who he is because he already knew that if she knew who he was, she would ask him and she would receive. Well as the story goes, he revealed things to her and she saw it, she understood and she believed it.

But now did she understand that when she accepted this gift that it was a gift that would last forever. Well if you look at the story here that makes the statement you would have asked of men he would have given the living water the woman said to him sir they’ll have nothing to draw with and the well is deep from Winston has this living water. He said if you drink the water that’s in this well you will thirst again but it says if you drink the water that I will give you, you will never thirst.

So she knew that the water he was talking about was living water that would never have you thirst again. You never have to do it again. The salvation is once you trust Christ as Savior, you need to understand that he that believeth only hath everlasting life. That’s the gift of God, eternal life. So that when When you believe it, you have something you have. Eternal life and that God will never cast you out and never lose you. So this is made very simple, very clear throughout these scriptures.

And then she goes into the city and says, come and see a man that told me everything that I did. Now Dr. Hudson always brings that on this point that see there, he told her one thing and she exaggerated. Now I don’t know if she exaggerated or not. Maybe there’s a lot of things they discussed that’s not written here in the scriptures. Maybe he talked to her long enough that he did tell her everything. By the time he got through, the men came from the city and they believed on him, not just because of what the woman said.

There were some that believed on it because of it. See there in verse 39, many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman. And then it says that there were many that believed on him, not because of what the woman said, but because they said, we have heard him ourselves and believe that he is the Christ, the Savior of the world. So they believed that. Now, whenever you believe on Jesus Christ and God gives you as a free gift everlasting life, at that moment you are secure and wants sure.

You are secure and wants sure. You are sure at that moment you have eternal life and that you’re going to heaven whenever you die. Because you can’t be saved until you know what you’re doing. You must believe on Jesus Christ, know what you’re receiving the pre-gift of eternal life because that’s what he offered. That’s what he promised. So when you take God in his word and are saved, you know you’re saved from something, to something from hell to heaven.

And so this is brought out in this chapter and many scriptures that we won’t take the time to look at it. Now what you’re turning your Bible to 1 John chapter five, 1 John and chapter 5. In this book, it is written not to the lost people, it is written to those that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. They know they have eternal life and they are secure. Remember, security is because that’s how God sees you. God sees every one of his children born into his family as safe and secure.

And when you’re born into God’s family, you are sure. You have assurance of yourself that you know you’re saved. At that moment, you know you have eternal life. Now here in 1 John and chapter 5, look in verse 13, this is still written to believers. These things have I written unto you that they leave on the name of the Son of God, so it’s written to the believers that you may know that you have eternal life. This is so that not only were you sure when you trust the Lord, you still are sure because it is so easy for people who to be saved and know they have eternal life and then to because of false teaching get to where they don’t even know they’re saved anymore.

Don’t believe in eternal security anymore. If once you have believed in Christ and trusted Him as your Savior and you no longer believe it, are you still eternally secure, even though you don’t believe it? Yes. But see, assurance of your salvation is how you see it, and your perception can be based upon what somebody told you to look at. Like for example, some say if you’re really saved, it will manifest itself in your life. Well, if everybody looked at their life as the evidence of their salvation, majority of people, I would say most people have to come to the conclusion that they’re not saved.

If I had to look at my life as the evidence to prove that I’m saved, I’d come up to the conclusion I’m not. Because how many sins would I tolerate? How many sins can I commit? How many questions and doubts? What about my thought life? person has enough in their life that could be used as evidence that they’re not really saved. But you see, that’s because you would lose assurance of your salvation. But if you forget about looking at yourself because your salvation doesn’t depend on you and it depends on what Christ said.

Well, what Christ said is still true and it doesn’t lie. Then you have eternal security based upon what God said. So God knows those whom he has saved, given eternal life, and are born into his family, and so you are safe and secure. But you may get to the place where you no longer are full of assurance. When you study the book of 1 John, it talks about as a child of God having full joy, that your joy may be full.

your joy cannot be full if your assurance is missing. If you no longer believe what you used to believe, you won’t have the joy, the blessings, the happiness that you used to have. Because whenever you get to the place where you think you have to do something to be saved or you look at your life to see if I’m really saved, you’re looking at the wrong thing and you’re basing something upon something that is not a criteria for your salvation to start with.

So therefore you’re not going to have assurance and you’re going to lose the peace. You’ll lose the joy. You lose the happiness, the blessings that you did have. And this is the case with many, I say, multitude of God’s children. These scriptures are very clear that you can have eternal life and be eternally secure and have full assurance of it at one time when you trust the Lord. And then there are those that will have also additional problems. Looking Galatians in chapter 1, the book of Galatians and chapter 1, and verse 11.

Verse 11, but I certify you, the word brethren, is talking to those that have trusted Christ of their Savior, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. So we know that this is talking to believers, it’s talking to the brethren. Look in chapter 3 and verse 15. Verse 15 says, brethren, I speak after the manner of men, though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disanullah or adiff there too.

Verse 15 is clearly written to the believers. But what he’s making the statement about here says, if it be confirmed, no man disanullah or adiff there too. Once you understand what the gospel really is, nobody can add to it, you can’t take away from it. Once you trust Christ’s Savior, if God promised you eternal life, you can’t take away. you can’t disanel it, you can’t add to it. You can’t change it. It’s unchangeable. Down in verse 19, he says, my little children, we’re not talking about lost people, we’re talking about those who have trusted Christ as their Savior.

Now look in verse 28. Now we brethren as Isaac was are the children of promise. We are. We are the children of promise. This is who we are. Now, what was the problem in the book of Galatians? Remember the apostle Paul, even in the book of Acts talks about going to Galatia and the cities of Antioch, Iconium, Listera, and Derby, outside of the city of Listeris where he was stoned to death. But he went to these cities, he won these people to Christ, and then he would go on and then later on he wanted to get Barnabas to come back through and revisit these people on his second missionary journey to see how they’re doing, to strengthen them, to establish them in the faith, keep them strong.

And the reason was because when Paul would leave, there’d be legalistic Judaizers trying to put them under the law saying you’ve got to keep the law to be saved. You’ve got to be circumcised to be saved. Put them under the law to be saved. The same thing today is lordship salvation. Telling people that you’ve got to make Christ the Lord and the Master of your life. No difference and trying to make the law the master of their life. In other words, it still boils down to you must serve God in order to be saved.

You gotta do this in order to stay saved. Saved up too, but from now on, but you’re on your own. You’re gonna have to walk the walk and talk the talk. It’s a straight and narrow way. And yet they take scriptures out of context and try to make a different message out of it and change the message that God had given. And the reason these Christians were not happy like they used to be, and joined the things of the Lord, like they used to be, reason they turned against the apostle Paul, that once they had loved deeply, now that everything has changed.

Because these legalistic Judaizers would come down and take the very people that Paul had led to Christ. See, they can’t lead them to the Lord. The false men, they can’t lead them to Christ. They can only take Christians and change them. Because they already have knowledge of the Lord and they want to serve the Lord and they want to do what’s right But they just catch him with some false teaching and then twist their minds And then they’re not doing it for their sake.

They’re doing it for their own sake to make them look like something great Also look there in chapter four in verse 31. So then Brethren we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. This is who we are we are over and over again and they say, we are, we are. Because now they no longer understood who they were. They thought that they were keeping their salvation. So if you’re trying to work for something that means you don’t have it.

So if I am not now a child of God, I am working on being a child of God by my good works, then it means that I am not a child of God now. He says, you are a child of God. You don’t have to try to do this to prove you’re a child of God. You are a child of God. So he brings these things out. Look in chapter 5 in verse 11. In verse 11 he says, and I brethren, if I yet preach circumcision or the law, why do I by yet supper persecution.

Because he preached salvation by grace without the law. He says, then is the offense of the cross cease. In other words, the only thing that motivate the Apostle Paul in the preaching of the gospel was the gospel of grace. That’s right. I think grace is a motivating power. That is what causes you to go forward. When you understand, it is free, free. So you know if it’s free, that’s challenging. That’s motivating to tell people about because there’s no tricks to it.

There’s no gimmicks to it. You can be honest with people. Tell them upfront, we’re all sinners, but God loves us and paid for our sin if we can have eternal life and they can have it now. If you tell a person they have to be good to go to heaven or change their life and any of these things, well then that’s not good news, that bad news because now they got to live their whole life. Wondering if they’re going to be good enough, good enough, or bad enough to go to hell and not understanding how free it really is.

So we stand fast upon the salvation of grace. Look in chapter six and verse one, brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, but we’re talking about in every chapter here, we’re talking about brethren, we’re talking about believers, those who have trusted Christ as their Savior, if a man be overtaken in a fault, and this is what we’re talking about in this book, they have been overtaken. Something has happened. They have believed something that wasn’t true. Faith is being overthrown.

They’re having shipwreck and it’s hard to have shipwreck without a ship You have to be in the ship in order to have shipwreck Look what it makes the statement there in verse four Christ has become of no effect unto you Whosoever of you are justified by the realm ye are fallen from grace So the divisible say you can fall from grace. Yes, it does says so right there in that verse Now, what does it mean to fall from grace?

Evidently, he’s talking to these believers here in Galatia, you have fallen from grace, and they have. So how do you explain what he means by that? Because you can’t twist it, you don’t run from it, but you should have an explanation for it, because every question in doubt they have, you will have. Well there’s times in your life where you’ll wonder, well, am I really saved? Am I really saved? Most of the time we ask those questions right after we trust the Lord.

And wondered whether or not, well, if I didn’t really mean it, I mean it now. And if I really didn’t trust the Lord, I’ll do it again. And how many times have people done that? But in chapter six and verse one, brethren, it’s written to those that believe. Now the last one I want you to see, there’s a verse 18. Look at verse 18. brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, Amen. He wants them to understand at the conclusion of this book, understand grace so that you’ll understand how to live your Christian life.

And the reason for the two natures being taught there in chapter five verse 17 down to verse 22 you’re talking here about the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit See understanding all of this stuff about how to live the Christian life is all based about what you really believe about salvation If I really believe that I have to do something and so they are preaching a message that works upon the pride of man. I am doing something.

You got to do something. And that’s what man wants to do. He wants a little bit of the honor, a little bit of the glory. Because look who I am. Look what I’ve done. Look how I live. And yet it’s hard for a person to humble themselves and says it’s not by any works that I have done. It is my grace and grace alone. I take no credit, no honor in my salvation because God did it all. He saved me and gave me as a free gift everlasting life.

And to believe that, if a person doesn’t get grounded in the Word of God, they will get moved from this great, tremendous truth. Look their inclinations in chapter 1 and look in verse 6. I marvel that ye are so soon removed. When it says removed, it means you have moved. You no longer believe what you used to believe. You’re no longer strong like you used to be. You’re not steadfast as you once were. You have moved and they moved in their Christian life because they moved on their salvation because they no longer believed believed, alike they once believed, were they still saved?

Security, eternal security, is from God’s viewpoint. God knows His children and the foundation of God’s stand if sure the Lord knows them that are His. So you’re eternally secure when you trust the Lord. Though in your life, if you don’t become grounded in the Word of God, stabilize in the Word of God, root it in the Word of God, then every wind of doctrine that comes along is going to move you and shift you. And you’re not going to be sure anymore.

And if you’re not sure anymore, you’re not going to serve like you ought to serve. Because serving the Lord, you have to understand it’s because of what He did for me. And not trusting in my good works that I’m going to heaven because of what I do for God. It won’t work that way. And so He says in verse 6, I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ. The grace of Christ is the gospel of Christ.

That is the gospel. He says unto what? Another gospel. And there’s a word here. And this word here is heteros. And it means a gospel of a different kind. He says there is not a gospel of a different kind. And then in verse 7 which is not another. This word another in the Greek is olives. And it means another gospel of the same kind. He said there is not another gospel. But there be some that trouble you. So these Christians here in Galatia, they were secure but not sure.

In other words, they have now lost their assurance of salvation and now we’re trying to earn their salvation, keep their salvation by the law by doing the good deeds. When you try to earn something that you’ve already received, you’re not going to be a happy camper because you’re not going to like the results you see in your life. You’re not going to like the disappointments and the despair and the flaws and the mistakes and the the easy misgivings in your life where you fail so many times because that means I’m not really saved.

I got to try harder. I got to try harder. I got to try harder. Be more faithful. Be more faithful. At least a total frustration and despair because a person that was trusting Christ. Now that is out of the window. Now that’s what I got to do. And so their joy is gone. Their assurance is gone. Are they still saved? Yes. Because you see, eternal security is what God did. God gave you eternal security. You’re secure whether you believe it or not.

It means you’re going to heaven like it or not. So well, I don’t want to go to I don’t even believe in God anymore. And a lot of Christians have done just that. Gone to Bible school, gone to seminary, believed everything and then changed. No one will believe it. Go to some university and they have their faith records there. They love to take young people’s minds and shake them everything that’s decent. No one will believe the Bible. Don’t believe in God anymore.

But the foundation of God’s stand is sure. once you are saved, how long are you saved? forever. Eternal security is how God’s it, your eternal secure, whether you no longer believe it or not. But your joy will be gone. Your purpose and how you live for the Lord will be totally changed because now it’s not serving the Lord because of your great love for God and because of what He did for you, it’s because what you must do for God or you ain’t going to make it.

Everything changes. Christian life changes. The joy changes. No longer living by grace. So he makes the statement here in verse 7, which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would and you ought to underline that word pervert. It means to reverse the change and they were removed from the gospel. So he says in verse 8, though we are an angel from heaven preached unto you any other gospel than that which we have preached and you let him be a curse.

There is no other gospel. So if you did believe in you have eternal life and you are eternally secure and you have full assurance of that. It brings such great peace and joy and happiness in a person’s life. I know that I’m saved. I know I’m going to heaven. Anyone who salvation depends upon how they live or what they do for God or then they can never know they have eternal life because it’s always based upon their performance and they’re not through performing yet.

They still have to wait until they live their whole life. to know if they’ve been good enough. These things are made simple and very clear in God’s Word. Looking Galatians in chapter 3 in verse 1. Galatians chapter 3 in verse 1. We know that we’re talking to Christians. Why in the world would the Apostle Paul call these Galatian Christians that he led to Christ call them fools? Looking verse one, oh foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you like somebody the devil has done, got a hold of your mind and messed you up.

You no longer believe like he used to believe because now they’re not serving like they used to serve their blessedness has gone their happiness has gone their joy is gone all because some legalistic Judaizers came down and twisted their minds and caused them not to believe what the apostle Paul had preached to them. Now eternal security, and full assurance and go hand in hand. One is how God sees you and the other one is how you see it. But there’s a lot of people don’t see things in God’s way anymore.

And because that, now they think they can lose your salvation. Now if I don’t perform, I’m going to hell. And I’ve talked to many, many people, many preachers that no longer believe the right way. And because we know, we don’t have to go to church. We don’t have to change our life. We don’t have to do anything. We can accept God’s free gift and God will let us go to heaven because of that because he loves us that much And I believe a lot of God’s children totally abuse their freedom their liberty.

They become a stumbling block to the world Because we don’t we’re not as dedicated to God as we ought to be see what he says in verse one Oh foolish Galatians who have to be which to that you should not obey the truth see obey the truth talking about they have changed on the You don’t believe the gospel anymore. You changed on it. You no longer believe like you used to believe But now even though they don’t believe it like they used to believe it are they still eternally secure Yes Do they have full assurance of their salvation?

No, they no longer understand So Paul has wrote a whole book Remember that this book is the binding inspired by God given to a man to explain to God’s people Because God’s people can get all messed up and they do get messed up That’s why he makes the statement there in chapter four Look there in verse 11. I am afraid of you. I’m afraid of you Less I have bestowed upon you labor in vain in other words if you don’t know because of your so-called full assurance you did have.

I don’t know, but I’m addressing it in such a way that I’m believing that you are. They said, but Christ is not being formed in you. See that in verse 19, my little children of whom I travail in birth again. In other words, like I’ve got to get you saved all over again. You can’t get a man saved again, but you’ve got to go back to the gospel, the clarity of the gospel. Anytime I come across someone who is not sure they’re saved.

Well, I was saved at one time and I believed at one time, but I don’t believe it anymore. Well, if I’m going to try to help them, I have to go back to salvation, back to the clarity of the gospel and salvation verses to get them to understand, uh, eternal security. Now they may have already known the Lord before and no longer believe it, but I’m not God. I don’t know. But I have to deal with them as though they’re lost until I can and get them like Paul says right there in verse 19.

We don’t face anything today that they didn’t face back then. Same problem. They face we have to face. And there’s many Christians that will doubt their salvation when it’s not necessary. 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 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. 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 are God’s word on Bibleline. Everywhere, every time, here God’s truth on Bibleline. This is Dr. Ralph Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church. We will be continuing our tradition of a candlelight service again this year on New Year’s Eve. You are warmly invited to come and worship with us this New Year’s Eve at 7 p.m. Please join us at 4811 George Road here in Tampa. This will be a special time to reflect upon the blessings of God in your life from 2010.

A message from the Word of God for the New Year, music from the Firehouse 5 and end with a candlelight dedication. Refreshments will be served afterwards in the fellowship hall. So make plans now to join us this Friday for our candlelight service at 7 p.m. So the title of today’s message is called Faith or Folly. Faith or Folly. There’s a thin line between faith and foolishness and sometimes I have not been able to discern the difference myself. But I had a reckless abandonment to faith where I was just so convinced that God was in everything that I did, I didn’t worry about anything.

And I didn’t even know what I wanted to be. But I knew there’s got to be something more to life and just getting up and going to work and coming home and eating and going to bed. And then that same old routine day in and day out that got to be something more to life. I had a lot of learning to do. But we have been covering here in the book of Hebrews in the last couple meeting about the assurance of our salvation.

Because the assurance of our salvation is critical before we can serve the Lord. You have to know that you’re saved. You have to be really sure of that. Because if you’re not sure you’re saved, what kind of a message are you going to present to anyone else? So people that are not real sure of their salvation only magnify that into the minds of everybody they talk to. because if you’re not sure, how are you going to convince someone else?

I know I have eternal life. I know that I’m going to heaven when I die. So once you understand that and you’re grounded in that, that’s a good thing because that will bring you peace of mind. Now God made promises to many of His people in the Old Testament and it’s interesting to read those heroes of faith as you study chapter 11 of the God’s Hall of Faith chapter. No Hall of Fame, but a Hall of Faith. Individuals who have not only trusted in the Lord for their salvation, but they wanted to do something for God.

And I used to get out here to the Bible bookstore here in Athens and when Biel Cummins used to run it back in 1961, 62. And I would sit there in the corner and read some of the books off the shelves, the missionary books. And I kept thinking, Lord, if you can can use them, why can’t you use me? And I wanted so desperately to be used of God. But I didn’t feel qualified because I hadn’t finished high school.

And I didn’t have any talents, and I didn’t have any abilities. How can God use me? And I felt like I have been shortchanged because I didn’t have anything special that I could do. I could not see down the road because I didn’t know that God wanted to use me more than I wanted to be used. And that really blessed my little peeping heart when I found out that God was looking for a man. When I read in the book of Ezekiel where he says God searched for a man and could not find one.

To stand in the gap, but he couldn’t find anybody. I’ve always thought, well, it’s like I’ve heard if you don’t serve the Lord God will just get somebody else. Well, you know, there’s not always somebody else because every the time when God couldn’t find anybody. I believe there’s a lot more could be done if God could only find a man. And the Bible tells us in the book of Chronicles that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth looking for a man that God can show himself strong on their behalf.

Oh, we’re God just looking for somebody, but the person has to be yielded to the Lord to give up whatever they have and whatever they want, whatever they want to be, and say, Lord, I just want Your will for my life. And God is simply looking for somebody who wants to be used. Now here in the book of Hebrews are a list of people called people that lived by faith. Because see after you have got yourself grounded in the area of salvation, you know that salvation is one thing, serving the Lord is another thing.

But you never mix the two together, never think that you’re saved because you’re serving. Because when you stop serving you’re no longer a thing you’re saved. You’re saved by grace, unmerited favor. You don’t deserve it. You’re saved because Christ died on the cross, paid for your sins, and gave you eternal life as a free gift. Saved means you’re saved from hell means you can’t go there. Being saved means you’re going to heaven when you die. And being saved means you have eternal life and God will never cast you out and never lose you so that you can know that you’re going to heaven whenever you die.

Salvation is free. When it comes to service. Service is after you’ve been saved and now you make up your mind. What do you want to do with your life? You can either serve God or serve the devil. It’s a decision that I had to make and everybody has to make. Do you want to make any decision? No decision is a decision. Now I had to come to a conclusion. I knew that my future was going to be just like my past if I didn’t make a change.

And I’m so glad that I didn’t have much to sacrifice to give up to serve the Lord. I was 18 when I trust the Lord, but I decided after I trust the Lord, I want the will of God for my life. Now nobody else can make you want that. Nobody else can make you trust the Lord. Nobody else can make you serve the Lord. It’s a personal thing. But believe it or not, service is living by faith. Now you’re saved by faith.

That’s because you put your faith in Jesus Christ. You’re trusting him to save you. That’s his job to save you. Take you to heaven when you die. And God said he gives you turn like that’s separate. Now I did that 47 years ago. Never have to do that again. Now question comes down is, what am I going to do with my life? So living my life by faith is a very important thing because it’s what God sees. Now you and I, we look around this room and you can see those fans going around.

You can see a screen up there, you can see it Oregon over here, and you can see the piano over here, and you can see this microphone here. You can see me standing up here. You can look and see who’s set beside you. You can see the pew. So you can see all these things in here. And you say, that’s real. This is real because I can see it. But you see, in the eyes of God, there’s one thing that God sees that’s more real than anything else.

God sees faith. Now I can’t show you my faith. Show me your faith. Without your good works, I wouldn’t know you had faith at all. So that’s why he says in James, it’s show me thy faith without your works and I’ll show you my faith by my works. So the only way I can show people that I have faith in God is by what I do because you can’t see my faith. You can only see the results of my faith.

But there’s a God in heaven that made the statement when he was here, that when he was walking along and this woman came up behind him and in a crowd, a multitude of people up against him and pushing and shoving and all this and one woman reached out and she touched the hem of his garments. But she touched him by faith and then he turned around and said, who touched me? Remember the story? The disciple says, what do you mean who touched Lord everybody here touched you.

No, no, somebody touched me because she touched him because of faith. See, God can see faith. God says they’re in verse one of Hebrews in chapter 11. He says, now faith is the substance of things hoped for. Faith is a substance. Faith is as real as this podium. Faith is as real as my Bible. Faith is as real as this microphone. Faith is as real as that water. Faith is as real as that wall. Faith is real. Faith is something.

It’s something God sees. As God looks down upon us, He’s looking for one thing in all of His children more than anything else. He’s looking for your faith. When He makes a statement in the book of Luke, when Christ’s return will he find faith upon the earth? Faith upon the earth. People who believe him, people who believe what he promised. Most of the people that know Christ is Savior, that he live like they believe his promises. See, the promises of God are true.

God cannot lie. Faith is believing those promises. Do you think God in heaven knows when you and I believe His Word? Believe what He promised? If you and I really believe what God promised, why don’t we put that into practice? Practice what we preach. He makes a statement here in verse 3. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. word the word world refers to ages, dispensations. Through faith we understand. You ever hear people say, I just don’t understand why God did this.

I don’t understand why God did that. Why do I have to go through this? Or why do I go through that? I don’t understand. Well, faith cometh by what? Hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So for faith to grow or even to exist, there has to be a knowledge of the Word of God. So we read the Word of God so we’ll understand the promises of God so that we can put our confidence, our faith in God.

The quality of our lives is going to be in direct ratio to the caliber of the faith that you have and what God promised. So if you don’t know the promises of God, you’re not going to trust God for anything. And the more you know, the more you can trust, the more you can trust, where you’ll have. And the greater results. You know what really impressed me about the book of Hebrews in chapter 11? It’s not a list of these people as he goes down through here and what they did.

But what they did was great and that’s what we’re to focus upon. But what caught my eye was what wasn’t mentioned. What wasn’t there? I looked there in verse 4. Anybody ever heard of Abel? You know Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel? Cain got maddened. Killed Abel? But he says in verse 4, by faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts, and by it he been dead yet speaketh.

Now get this. Now look in verse 38 of chapter 10. Now the just shall live by faith. In the book of Habakkah, chapter 2, verse 4 is where this verse comes from. The just shall live by faith. The just is explained in the book of Romans. Shall live is explained in the book of Galatians. By faith is explained in the book of Hebrews. A one verse in the Old Testament takes three books in the New Testament to explain what he means.

Who are the just? That’s those who trusted Christ is saving have been justified. Shall live, not die, shall live. I’ve had so many people say, well, I’m willing to die for the Lord. God hasn’t asked you to die for him. He’s asked you to live for him. I came to the conclusion years ago that if I would serve the Lord today, then tomorrow I’ll be in the will of God. And when I serve the Lord that day, than I will be in the will of God.

And as my life is lived, then I look back and say, I have given my life to God. But it says, the just shall live by faith. And so now he’s taking a whole chapter telling you, what do you mean? How do you live by faith? You take God in his work. But you’re noticed in chapter 11 and verse 4, it It doesn’t say anything about his wife, his kids. It doesn’t say anything about the house he lived in.

It doesn’t say anything about the car he drove. I should say the camel he rode. Doesn’t say how many donkeys that he had, how many dogs he had. Doesn’t talk about how much money he was able to put in the bank because he God sees faith. God saw that he had faith in him. That is what impresses God. the possessions that you have doesn’t been pressed God one Iota God is not impressed with our homes and God is not impressed with our vehicles we drive God is not impressed with our bank accounts cause we stand before the Lord none of that matters you will find any of that in none of these verses because that’s not important you see we see with the eye the things of the world but he He said, when you live by faith, we see beyond this world, and you’re looking at more than

just with a naked eye, because we see things that others don’t see. And you believe what God’s word says. And so you take what you have and you use it for God’s honor and for God’s glory. Now, load this what he says in verse 5. By faith, Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him for before his translation. He had this testimony. He pleased God. See, what is the most important thing that this man did in his life?

See, Abel, he pleased God because he offered, sacrificed God, told him to offer. God’s pleased with that. God put him in the book. God’s going to reward him when he gets rewarded. It wasn’t what he had, it’s what he did by faith. He took God as word. He believed God. Enoch, he loved the Lord so much. And he had such a testimony in his life that he pleased God and God says one day he was walking along. He was and he what?

He was not. I wonder what that means. He existed and all of a sudden he was gone, translated out of this world, be me up, Scott, he’s gone. No failures. Because he did one that he pleased God. See pleasing God and that’s why he says in verse six, and you ought to look at verse six very closely. But without faith it is impossible to please him. You see, the Bible says this in the book of Revelation in chapter 4, 4, we are created by Him and for Him for His pleasure.

We’re created to please God. If I am created to please God, then my goal in life is not to find what pleases me. And most people live their lives trying to figure out what makes them happy. do they want to do with their life and they fail to understand that when you trust it crisis your Savior you were bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are gods your body belongs to God your spirit belongs to God you’ve been bought and paid for if there’s things that you do in your life that doesn’t please God you ought to stop you ought to correct We’d have a revival in this country if God’s people will examine their lives and stop doing the things that doesn’t please God.

Whatever it is, just stop it. I don’t give it to habits. Will you talk? Places you go, friends you have? Some people need to make some separation, corrections in their life because it doesn’t please God. But see, most people today say, I don’t kill what pleases God is. makes me happy. I mean, this is my life. Don’t try to tell me how to live my life. I got news for you. It’s not yours. You don’t belong to you. You belong to God and you cannot live as you please and get away with it because your heavenly Father is going to beat the tar out of you.

But get what he says in verse 6, but without faith it is impossible to please him. For he that come up to God must believe, must believe that he is, that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Rewater means God’s going to give you rewards. Keep us in mind. Salvation going to heaven, that’s a gift of God. You don’t learn that. You don’t work for that. Salvation, God saving you from Him, that was free. No charge to you.

That’s what gets you to heaven. Now that we’re going to heaven, God wants us to have rewards when we get to heaven. So to have rewards, and I must believe that God is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him, diligently seek to please God. Now nobody else can make you do that. It’s a personal thing. But we’re so easily influenced by other people that if sometimes our closest friends don’t serve God, we don’t either.

That’s when you have to drop your friend because they’re not worth what’s going to cost you. You’ve got to make up your mind. What does He mean to me? Jesus Christ died for you not your best friend not your mama Not your aunts and uncles not your husband and not your wife and not your kids You owe your devotion your loyalty to one person. That’s Jesus Christ and him alone And you should honor him and serve him regardless of whatever it may cost you in this life And if you have to sever certain things then let it be Because one day when all the life is over and you’re before the Lord, you’re going to be glad you did what God wanted you to do with your life.

By faith, Noah being warned of God of things not seen. See, this is what faith is. You don’t see it physically with the natural eye. They may never have even seen rain up until this point. He said he moved with fear. Moved with fear is the same as he moved by faith. By faith he believed what God says, there’s coming a judgment, there’s going to be a flood. God told him to build an ark! So he worked on it for 120 years.

Build an ark, prepare an ark to the saving of his house by the way he condemned the world because he demonstrated his faith in the Lord. He came here of the righteousness switches of faith. But you know what you don’t find here in this verse? all of the wealth and possessions that Noah owned. And the reason is because that’s not what God focuses upon. God wants you to believe His promise. If you believe the promise of God, let me ask you this, I did it not long ago.

How many believe Jesus Christ could come back at any moment? You believe that, let me see your hand. All right, you believe it. Do you live like it? You don’t wanna be someplace, do something, say something, think something, you shouldn’t be thinking when Jesus Christ comes. You don’t want to be treating people in a way that you shouldn’t treat people when Jesus Christ comes. Since you don’t know exactly when He’s going to come, He can come at any moment.

Shouldn’t that change? In effect, how you live? I believe it should. How many of you believe that whenever we’re caught up to meet the Lord in the air, we will stand in at the judgment seat of Christ? You believe you’re going to stand in the judgment seat of Christ? Let me see your hand. All right? You believe that. When you stand in the judgment seat of Christ, that’s a reward instead where God’s going to reward you for what you did.

and you’re gonna suffer loss of what you could have had. And these rewards are eternal rewards. And God is going to reward you for what you did here. You see if I really believe this, it’ll affect what I do here. So you’re gonna really live your life here according to what you really believe. And God says will He find faith upon the earth? Will His children believe His promises? You know we don’t have to straighten out the world. We’re not going to straighten out the world.

We’re not even going to win the world of Christ. The Bible doesn’t even tell us to win the world of Christ. It tells us to preach the gospel to every person because you can’t win anybody that doesn’t want to be won. You can only present the truth in the individual has to decide whether or not they will or they will not believe that message. I am not held responsible for people’s choices. I don’t believe one person will ever go to hell because of me.

I believe but a lot of people will go to heaven because of me. You see they’re already lost, they’re already condemned, they’re already going to hell. And I can’t change that. But one thing I can’t change if I serve the Lord, I believe I can make a difference and how many go to heaven. They’re not going to hell because of me, but they can go to heaven because of me. We’re left here in this world so that we can affect people’s lives, so that So we can get people to understand and trust the Lord and to have eternal life.

Most important thing in the world. But Noah doesn’t talk about a lot of things in the world. He only talks about when they trust the Lord, they believe what God said. And you get into the biggest one of all here and about Abraham. God called him and go into a country that he had never seen before. But he just believed what God said and he left over the counties and went to Haren and on down into Israel, a thousand-mile journey, trusting God.

And he says that he believed that there would be a country, a building, a city that God was going to have. Look what he says in verse 13, these all died in faith, not having received the promises in their lifetime, but having seen them afar off were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed we’re strangers and pilgrims281 the earth. See, we’re just pilgrims and strangers here in this world. We’re just the passingTPS. And there’sVG wants us to do while we’re here AMER804.

Life is so short, life is so short. We’re getting older and time is running out. And we want to try to see how much can we accomplish with the Lord while we can. But though you may not seem like you’re accomplishing a lot, God looks down upon every person. Just think, every person in this room, God looking down. God knows what you believe and don’t believe. He knows whether you love him or you don’t love him. And we can fool one another, but you don’t fool him.

And God’s the one that’s gonna honor you. He says, if any man served me, him with my father honor. Pretend like I’m God, okay? We’re just pretending. I’m the Lord. And I tell you look, I want you in this room. room. I want you to know that I can’t lie. I’m God, I cannot lie. I’m gonna make you a promise. I promise you that if you’ll serve me, you will be blessed while you’re here. And if you’ll serve me, I’ll reward you when you get to heaven.

But in serving me, you may have to suffer a lot. But the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that’s going to be revealed when you get to heaven. And when you get to heaven, every one of you that served me will receive praise, honor, and glory. You’ll be greatly rewarded. and you’ll rule and reign with me in my new kingdom that I’m going to set up. He says, all I want you to do is trust me.

Believe me. And then he gives us his word and he tells us all these things and here things to do and things not to do. And then I’m gone. The ball is in your court. In other words, I have hit you the ball and now you’ve got to do something with it. You can either say, yes, I will. No, I won’t, but the decision is yours. Nobody can make it for you. And it demonstrates your faith in what God says.

Is this the word of God or is it not the word of God? Does God lie or does he not? Your service to God reveals what you really believe. If you don’t serve the Lord with all your heart, then you don’t believe what God says. Because he says if a man will serve me and honor me. He says him with my father honor and bless I want the blessings of God upon me here and I want the rewards when I get to heaven and I haven’t seen anybody no Christian go against God and win I Have not lived long enough and done enough units where I’ve seen people that say I’m so sorry I served the Lord.

I’m so sorry. I dedicated my life to the Lord buddy I’ve seen a lot of the other kind for people that are men. I wish I’d have done more I wish that a served Lord when I realized that the days are numbered. Concerning salvation, keep that separate from service. That’s hand represent you and me. This wallet represents sin. We all have sin upon us. God, He loves us, but He hates our sin. And the reason is because He our sins have to be paid.

Since we committed the sins, that’s our responsibility. And the payment for sin is eternal separation from the Lord in a place called hell and God loves us and doesn’t want us to go to hell To go to heaven we have to be perfect as righteous as God nobody’s perfect nobody’s righteous And God can’t let us into heaven because of our sin The Bible says you cannot earn eternal life. You cannot work your way to heaven The only thing God except as a payment is death Since we’ve all sin we’re all condemned.

We’re all in the same boat This then represents Jesus Christ. He’s God in the flesh. He came into this world because he loves us. He hates our sin because it separates us from him. So what Christ did for one person he did for everybody? He took all the sins of the world, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead, and said that if we believe he did it for us, he put the payment to our account and we get to go to heaven on what Jesus Christ did for us.

There’s no tricks to that, no gimmicks. If offered you my wallet and you accept you to have a wallet, if Jesus Christ walked in here and offered you eternal life and you accept you would have eternal life. And if it’s eternal life, it lasts forever. And if it lasts forever and all you’re send or paid, where would you go in your diet? Go to heaven. Can you know you’re going to heaven before you die? Yes. That’s what all this is about.

That’s a great challenge. 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 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 to 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 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. 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. 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. 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.

There’s a scripture reference here to when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. But look what he said. in verse seven, even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Now God says in his word, but he says that those cities was destroyed because of sin. Now some say that’s because down there by the Dead Sea, what they also call the Salt Sea, and around there because of all the minerals, it probably caused some kind of a chemical reaction and exploded.

So they have a human explanation. Well, the Bible says God caused it. And it doesn’t matter how God did it, is that God did it. And He said He did it because of the sins of the people. And then makes the statement on top of that, that it was an example of people who do this in cities. And what God is going to do is not just that the people are suffering in hell because He makes the statement there are set for, for example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Not only are they an example of the unbeliever who is suffering, but an example of the cities that were destroyed. Would you believe that God wants us to take this thing seriously? Or it really doesn’t matter? What they’re in verse 12. And it makes the statement of verse 12, these are spots in your feast of charity. In other words, when you seek to do that, which is of love, there are those who want to spot your garment. In other words, they ruin the good that you do.

And there’s Christians who seek to do what’s right and can suffer consequences because of doing so. But he says, these are spots in your feast of charity when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear, feeding themselves without fear. In other words, there’s lost people who can live among us and have absolutely no respect for our God and no fear of sin or consequences of it. But he makes the statement here, feeding themselves without fear clouds they are without water.

In other the words they have a form of godliness on people and some religion, but there’s no water. They got clapped, but there’s no water. And it says, cared about by winds, trees whose fruit withered without fruit twice did plucked it by the roots, raging waves of the sea. And the words, this is a sample of what they’re like. The raging waves of the sea, which reaches down and gets all the dirt and the scum from the bottom of the ocean and everything that’s yucky and it’s like the sea vomits all that junk upon the sea shore.

So then when you walk down to the sea shore you see all the junk in the filth that the water has washed ashore. It’s the way that the oceans cleanses itself. It vomits it out, spews it out and it says here raging waves of the sea, forming out their own shame, wondering stars to whom has reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Then he goes all the way back to Enoch. Remember now we’re reading this in the New Testament. Next to the last book in the Bible.

Enoch was a man who lived, it was a seventh from Adam and he was a prophet. But if you read the Old Testament in the book of Genesis, you don’t find hardly anything about Enoch except that he was and he was not for God took him. But here it makes a statement that Enoch in verse 14, the seventh from Adam prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with 10,000 of his saints. So he believed in the coming of the Lord.

And he’s going to come with 10,000 of his saints. This was before the flood. So it’s not new, but note what he said. And this is what, in it prophesied, this is what in it preached before the flood. This is the message that he preached before the flood. He says to execute, talk about the Lord, to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed and of all their hard speeches which ungodly says, have spoken against him.

These are murmurs, complainers walking after their own lust and their mouth speaking great swelling words, having men’s persons and admiration because of it been and he’s preaching to them. And that the flood came is because God judging. And some people say, well, you know, it’s just that there was a lot of ice at the North Pole and the South Pole and it all melted and because it melted it just overflowed the earth and raised all the water, well maybe it did, but God did it.

And God says why that happened. God says that it was because of the sin upon the earth. Now you stop and think and you look around the world, there’s a lot of sin that’s very open and people don’t care anymore. They have no high standards like they don’t have any morality whatsoever and us old folks are moving off the scene. What’s going to happen when all of us old folks are gone? Well all you old folks are gone. No.

Well we older folks that are supposed to be the you know the standard bearers. We’re the you know the restrainers in the world. Well what happened when we’re not here anymore? Is there a lot of young people coming up that really care and going to make a difference? Look at verse 17, but beloved remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. How that they told you there should be mockers in the last times who should walk after their own ungodly lust.

Well isn’t that what’s going on today? In the last day this is what’s gonna happen and this is what is happening. Christians have really got to watch themselves just to stay on their toes just to stay on guard just to kind of keep self-right. There’s a warfare out there. Anyway I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Jonah 1. Everybody, even children, are all taught the story of Jonah in the whale, Jonah in the whale.

But here in the book of Jonah, now he was a Jewish person, God told him to do something, and that was to go to Nineveh. And Nineveh was a Gentile city. Why did God want Jonah to go to Nineveh? Because God saw the wickedness of the city and said he was going to destroy the city. Well, Jonah didn’t want to go because Jonah wanted God to destroy the city. God’s Adam, get him God. You don’t want people to get right when you want God to zap him.

Have you ever had somebody wrong you and you hope those people don’t get right with God before he zaps him? Now the word of the Lord came under Jonah. He says saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city and cry against it for their end on the land, this in your Bible. God look upon the cities of the world. Yes, God looks upon the cities. But He makes the statement here in verse 2, a rise go to Nineveh. That great city cry against it for their wickedness has come up before me.

So God is going to do something to a city. And He was going to destroy the city. And so Jonah immediately took off and ran toward Nineveh, right? No, He didn’t run to Nineveh. He ran away from Nineveh. He didn’t want no part of it. But look now chapter three. Jonah had to have God work on him a little bit, beat him up a little bit, knock him down, drag him out, and all of a sudden he’s okay Lord I’ll go.

Sometimes the Lord is a God of second chance. If you don’t do it on the first time, he might give you a second time. He might have to work you over. But look at verse one of chapter three. And the word of the Lord came on the Jonah the second time saying, arise go unto Nineveh. That great city and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. I want you to tell them what I want you to tell them.

So is God interested in the heat of the nations? The heat of them? What they’re doing? Yes. Can people or whatever they want get away with it? No. Because there’s a God that’s upstairs and he’s watching. So in verse 3 Jonah a rose went unto Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days journey. How do you like a city as three day’s journey to get through it. One end to the other.

That’s a pretty good size city. He said in verse 4, and Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and he says, 40 days, 40 days in Nineveh Shabbi overthrown. Is that a warning? Is that a warning? All right, now here you have people down in New Orleans, where they given a warning, they were given a five day warning. They were given 40 day warning. Well, evidently a lot of people did get out, and a lot of things were destroyed, but there’s a warning that came.

And I believe God sends us warnings, even as an individual, if you as a child of God don’t serve the Lord. I believe God will kind of ring your bell a little bit. And then if that don’t work, he’s going to take a two before, knock you over the head until you really get the message and say, can you hear me now? Because a child of God cannot live as he pleases and get away with him. No city, no church, no nation, nobody wins.

So we made the statement here, verse four, that there’s going to be four days and the city’s going to be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh, lo and behold, they believe God and proclaim the fast and put on sackcloth. That’s the show the humility, their submission, and though dust on them and sackcloth on them and try to show how humble they are and no exaltation at all between them and God. No pride, totally humiliation between them and God. This is what God wants.

God wants a person to totally, humbly submit to who God is. And so this is what they did. And he made the statement here from the greatest of them, even to the least of them. It didn’t matter who you were, how great you were, how poor you were, what race you were. Down there, they’ve been making an issue out of everything. Whether you were rich or whether you were poor, whether you were black or whether you were white. When God brings a judgment, it won’t matter about this color of your skin.

It ain’t going to matter. But he makes this statement here in verse 6, full word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and he says, it’s Nebuchadnezzar’s fault. No. The government over means fault. No, he had a responsibility, and what did the mayor of the city do? Well, for word came unto the king of Nineveh and he arose from his throne and he laid his robe from him and covered him with sackcloth and satin ashes.

He did it too, because they believed that what Jonah said was true. It must have been one powerful sermon. Well, I don’t know what would you think if you saw a man bleached completely white coming out of a mouth of a whale on spit up on a beach and run for three days. I want to know how he smelled. Who know what he looked like? What that asked you would have done to his body in the side of it.

I mean, he came out of a whale. A great fish. in the stomach for three dikes and dikes. How would you look. How would you look? But there’s something about them that everybody believed them. They believed the message. It broke the jungle’s heart. But he says here in this verse seven. He said, he calls it to be published and proclaimed throughout none of us by the, by the decree of the king and his noble saying, let neither man nor bees heard nor flock taste anything, let them not feed nor drink water, but let beast man and beast be covered with sackcloth, crime mightily unto God.

Now this is what prevented the destruction of Nineveh. I do believe there used to be times when people saw something coming that the people would flock to the churches and and they would get on their knees and they would pray to God and and and repentance about how wicked they had been and so forth and get themselves straight and they would yield to God and expect God to deliver them. But today say that’s not the way things are done.

Today it’s the government is our God. Government is God. People worship their God and they expect their God to deliver them. Today most of the people are not looking to God they’re looking for the government to deliver them. I’m just getting that down to it. Our country’s on the way down. I know that doesn’t sound very positive, but I’m just trying to be honest. And maybe you’ll hear that from other people, but I don’t know what you hear, but I want to try to tell you what I believe.

I read this book. I studied this book. I believe the Bible. And then he makes his statement here in verse 8. He says in the last part of verse 8, he said, and let them turn everyone from his evil away from the violence that is in their hands. See when people get right here, this is talking about so that you don’t suffer the consequences of physical death. This is not talking about eternal life, going to heaven and so forth.

Whether your children trust the Lord or not, and they live under your roof, don’t you still want them and expect them to obey your rules? Save or lost? Save or lost has nothing to do with it. You still have a responsibility to raise them right? Anything they do wrong? Chase and discipline them. Well, the government has the same responsibility and God does that with a nation, with individuals. Even if you’re a lost man, there’s consequences to sin. In verse 9, who can tell if God will turn and repent?

Now we’re talking about God’s repentance. It means change in his mind. See God had determined this is what I’m going to do because of the wickedness But if the people Will turn from their evil ways then God said I’ll repent. I won’t not do what I was going to do So what God does and doesn’t do was based upon the people Their sin he would have done this they do right. I don’t do this That’s what you and I suppose understand.

We’re supposed to learn from all this stuff This is written a four time for our learning. Remember in Romans in chapter 15? Well, this is what it is. Can we learn from it? So he says, and God saw their works that they turn from their evil way and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them, and he did it not. He didn’t do it. God repented. Did God turn from his sin? No, he turned from sin.

God don’t sin. But did he repent? So repentance is not always turned from sin. Can’t you see that? that. It means that God changed his mind about what he was going to do. He was going to do this because they were disobedient, but because they corrected a problem, he didn’t have to do it. And he had warned he was going to destroy it, but they got right, though God didn’t do it. See, there’s rules that God has laid down, that even God abides by it.

And I wish, one of the days, if I had the time, not take me about the millennium to do it, I want to sit down and go through the Bible and find out all the rules, as many rules as I can by which God lives by. It’s like playing a baseball game and you sit down and you study all the rules. Most of the time I never really study all the rules. I just know this one and that one and whatever I do something if I hate something you can’t do that.

Okay. Where were the rules? Have you ever played a game you didn’t know the rules so you make up something? Look in verse 11 he said and should not I spare none of that great city wherein are more than six score a thousand score to six that’s a hundred and twenty thousand people God didn’t want to kill him God wanted people to get right I believe that if America would get right with the Lord I believe God’s fair America but if we not and he won’t and I believe we’re gonna get some samplains we’re gonna get some samplains and he’s gonna be dead as Take your Bible, turn over there to the book of Revelation in chapter 9.

Look in verse 1, and the fifth angel sounded and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. He opened the bottomless pit in their rose smoke out of the pit and the smoke of a great furnace and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. I bet the EPA going to get him for that. Pollution, you know. Look what he says in verse 14.

He says, say to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, loose the four angels which are bound on the great river Euphrates. Well, there is a river Euphrates is over an Iraq. And he says, and the four angels were loose, which were prepared for an hour, a day and a month and a year toward his slay the third part of men, one third of the people of the earth. And then he talks about an army of individuals There in verse 16, 200 million soldiers.

That’s a lot of people, awful lot of people. And then he comes on down here and talks about a play, looking verse 18. See, there’s plagues, remember this one and I talked to you about some of the plagues of Egypt. And yet in the eyes of the people, well, they couldn’t see from God’s viewpoint, it was just a national, natural phenomenon. But it wasn’t. It was brought by the hand of God. And here he makes a statement, by these three was the third part of men killed, fire, smoke, and brimstone, which issued out of their mouth.

For their power is in their mouth and in their tails, for their tails were like serpents and their head heads, and with them they do hurt. Now what in the world is this? Well, whatever it is, it comes authorized by God. And notice that it is done for a reason. that God allows these things. Now we’re talking here about the things that are right ahead of us in the great tribulation period, the seven year period, mainly the last three and a half years.

And he says in verse three, and the rest of the men which were not killed by the plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands. The reason God let some die was to teach some that were alive to get right. There’s parts of the four states that we got wiped out. God says many die in order for those that live to learn something. But I bet you to say that not many of them are going to learn anything at all.

Here he’s talking to the body says, yet repented not of the works of their hands. For they would not or should not worship devils, idols of gold and silver, brash, stone and wood, which neither can see nor hear nor walk, neither get this, verse 21, neither repented day of their murders, nor of their sorcerers or drugs, nor of their fornication, their sex, nor of their theft. What about all the sex? I mean, this, you’re talking about prostitution alley. That’s what it’s all involved in.

That’s all the gambling, the alcohol, everything you named is called the sin city, City of Iniquity All right But look at the verse 21 neither Repented they of their murders nor anything. Why did God have a lot of them die? So that those that did live would get right and I believe that that’s like a wake-up call but majority of people are not gonna see it that way It’s just a know a natural disaster and so nothing to it.

Because after all, you can always rebuild. I don’t believe one nickel of taxpayers money ought to go into rebuilding anything. Why should government money go into rebuilding somebody’s home that lost their home? If Leon’s house burnt down today, will the government build him another home? Why do we build theirs? Look in chapter 16, chapter Only that you need to understand that there is the God factor. God must be factored into these things. You can’t leave God out. You can’t say God had nothing to do with it.

I believe God has everything to do with it. Either God is God or God isn’t God. But I guess I would rather be thrilled to see our nation where people get really get really pricked in their heart and want to do right and worship God. I mean sex outside of marriage, the homosexual’s all that. That is so wicked. It’s so wrong. So ungodly. And then think of how few people go to church anymore. They just don’t have time. Well, I can’t go to church, you know, in my back.

No sitting church on a padded-to-air condition all in my back. and he got into a football stadium, hard bench. They set you up for four hours and don’t complain at all. Hot sun, blazing, or freezing, raining, whatever. And nobody says a word. Oh, I hit my crit. But they’ve got gods. They’ve got gods. You see, it’s one thing, you can enjoy a lot of things, but man, don’t make it your God. As you go down through here, it makes a statement in verse two.

And the first went and poured out his Bible upon the earth. Then it says in verse three, and the second angel poured out his valop on the sea. And four, and the third angel poured out his valop on the rivers. And then down in verse eight, and the fourth angel poured out his valop on the sun. And get what he says in verse nine. And men were scorched with great heat, blasphemed the name of God, which had power over these plagues.

And they repented not to give him God. Glory. Why did God allow all this to happen? This is the result of their sins. And God wants people to give him glory, honor, to serve him. This is the great tribulation. This is how God’s gonna judge the whole world. The whole world. And look what he says again. And verse 10, And the fifth angel poured out his valop on the seat of the beast. And his kingdom was full of darkness.

And they gnawed their tongue for pain. God is going to allow people to suffer. We watch the news and we see all these people suffering. You know what’s worse than all that suffering that you see when a man goes to hell? When a man goes to hell. God’s trying to get people’s attention. There’s a lot of people that’s never trusted the Lord. And you don’t know when you’re gonna die. So the most important thing that anybody can ever do is to make sure you’ve trusted Christ as your savior.

But look what he says in verse 11. And blaspheme, instead of getting right, They got bitter toward God and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores and repented not of their deeds. The real cause was their sin. So they get mad at God because he, remember, you can choose to sin, but God gets to choose the results of your sin. You see, the longer you live, what you’re doing is you’re learning how God thinks.

learn the ways of God. That’s what the Word of God is. And so you find out why God did this and why God did that and why God did that. And you’ll see that as you go through life, God’s very busy. God is at work. God is doing thing. God didn’t take a vacation. God’s not asleep. Look at the last thing of verse 7. He said, even so Lord God Almighty true and righteous are thy what? God’s always right.

Whatever God does, He doesn’t do anything wrong. And yet there’s people that find cause against God. and they’re bitter at God. Well, wait a minute, God didn’t do anything wrong. You did the wrong. God did the warning. You didn’t hate it. You suffered the consequences. Grow up. And the Bible said, repent of your deeds. Stop doing what you’re doing. And it doesn’t matter whether you trust the Lord or you don’t trust the Lord. God ain’t putting up with it.

Even if you’re lost, God’s gonna chuck it all on him. The time will come. God is a patient God, but he does not. hold his anger forever. I believe there’s a God factor that many people are overlooking. And it’s not that they are greater sinners than other people, it’s that God can use a sinner to be a vessel of wrath, as it says in Romans 9. And if a man serves the Lord, and another man serves the Lord, will God be blessed?

This one more than he blesses this one. That doesn’t mean this man more righteous than this one, but And there’s a reason why God does what He does. And there’s two men that made me both wicked, and this one isn’t a little wicked. Like He told them about this tower of the Lord. ———————————————— he says, these are not greater centers, but they are centers, but they greater centers. But there’s a reason why God will let something happen that He can use to free His honor and glory.

Every head bowed and every eye closed and no one looking around. If you’ve not trusted Christ as your Savior, a friend I hope that you have. But if you haven’t, right now in the quietness of this moment, just talk to the Lord and say, Lord, I know I’m aarrassing, I believe Christ died, paid for my sins, and I’ll trust Him to take Drift Me to Heaven whenever I980.592. If you make a decision, you’d….” you.” I like to have prayer for you I’m going to raise your hand in just speck your hand and not save you.

It just lets me know that what I said made sense to you and you say, yes that made sense to me and I’ll trust the Lord to take me to Heaven when I die. If you have trusted Christ as Savior, always believe. Factor God in. See the Lord. Hear from God. See things through the eyes of the Lord. You’ll see more. You’ll understand more. Our Father, we do pray that the people in these areas that are so afflicted that they would see and hear and understand, though that have not trusted your Savior, that they would.

Father, though, that know your Savior and have chose not to serve you, that they would see the consequences, how easily it’s, is to pass from this life and how quickly things can change. And I pray, Lord, that they would have the wisdom to see that as a nation, as a city, as a state, they need to yield themselves to you. And Lord, if these people ever, ever really desire to rebuild that they will leave out all the sin that their city, the rest of the blessings in 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 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, 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. 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 The Bible is made through the Bibleline website at calbreyoftampa.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.

You’ve heard me use the words divine perspective, human perspective. edit from Manspul in the view. Look at that, from God’s point of view. It’s kind of like if you were driving in the Atlanta rush hour and you can’t see very far down the road. Honey, can you see down here? What’s causing the problem? Well, I don’t know. I’m not God. Well, can you see what problem is? I mean, what’s causing the hang up? There’s got to be a reason for it.

There is a reason, but I don’t know what it is. I can’t see. you go back and forth and you’re trying to figure out, well, should we have probably gotten off at that last exit? After all, we got to get to the airport. Well, it’s a little bit late now because we got people behind us, we can’t back up. Well, sure wish we could figure out where we’re going. And what’s the hold up? I’m gonna put a wreck up there.

And it doesn’t matter. From your perspective, if you can’t see, you can’t see. And so you begin to wonder, you think, you plan, you imagine, you just don’t know. I do that all the time. I’m not God. And then all of a sudden there’s this helicopter overhead. You turn on the radio and lo and behold, they’re the guy in the helicopters giving you a bird’s eye view. Telling you, by the way, he says that 285 is clear as a bell.

No problem, no hang up. But if you’re on I-20, there’s a crash and you can’t get on the 285. And where are you? You are on I-20. And you know that there’s a problem and what’s going on? Because somebody up there can see what you cannot see. There’s people who like to live their lives thinking that there isn’t anybody else. It’s just them. We’re all just people living our lives upon the earth and so everything that happens is just say a natural disaster.

And we have this problem with the mother nature. There’s storms and there’s hurricanes. all these floods, there’s just all this natural stuff. And so man, if he looks at it only through the natural eye, must then begin to explain from the natural eye, from his viewpoint, trying to figure out what’s causing the problem. You remember whenever Adam sinned against God, the Bible says that God caused him to be an evacuee. I guess you could say he was a refugee.

He was kicked out of his home. He lived in a place of paradise and was asked to leave. He said, you can’t stay here anymore just because of a simple thing like sin. And nothing else would have mattered. I guess he could have built walls around paradise so that God couldn’t have got him out. And I guess he could have hooked up on the angel who stood there at the entrance way, keeping him from coming back in. He could have him up.

It wouldn’t matter after he had sinned, nothing else mattered. It was too late. The wages of sin was death and he was going to die. And so God had to discipline, chasten, correct, punish, sin. Even when they had two children, if you remember, one of them got mad and killed the other. So Cain killed Abel. The Bible says that God in heaven saw what he did. And he said, his blood cryeth up on the meat from the ground, trying for revenge.

I mean, what had Abel done? Abel had done no wrong. What had Cain done? Sinned. And because of his sin, Then he took another man’s life. Why didn’t God prevent that? Couldn’t God have prevented that brother from killing the other brother? Yes, but did God let it happen? Yes, but there was a price to pay for Cain because of what he did. God put a mark upon him. We don’t know how bad it was, a house of air. He said, my punishment is greater than I can bear.

I want you to look there in Genesis in chapter 6 and look in verse 7. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast and the creeping thing and the fouls of the air, for it repented me that I have made them. Why did God feel this way? Why was God going to destroy all these people? Well, if you read it carefully, you may find there’s a reason.

In some people’s mind there was just a flood. But there was also a divine perspective. There was a reason for the flood. It was not a just natural disaster, just a catastrophe. It came by the finger of God. It was by the definite decision, purpose of God. And God knew exactly when the flood was going to come, he knew what the people had done. Now look there in verse 5. God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth.

Was God looking? Was the people doing what they wanted? Yes, but God saw it. You see there is a divine perspective, God looking down upon the earth. Either we have to factor in the idea of God or we have to factor him out. That’s the way you have to look at it in all of life. Everything that happens in your life, you either have to factor God in or factor Him out. Even Christians, many times do not see the hand of God in their own life.

Is it true that the Bible tells us that God chastens His children? Is that a definite scripture? God will chasten His children. Yes. When the chasing comes. Do you see it as a natural phenomenon, a natural catastrophe, a natural disaster, or do you see the hand of God working in your life? You eat the factor God in or you don’t factor Him in at all. And yet we know that God says sin will be dealt with. But how many people admit that God is working on them?

God is working in my life because they look at it from the human perspective. They don’t see God. They don’t like the fact that Him. Did they ever stop to think that He could be because of sin? And that nothing that the governor, the mayor or the president, the federal government, any of them could have ever done was to stop the judgment of God doing what God did. They said, we’re going build the levees higher and bigger and stronger.

You mean God couldn’t have got over that wall? Didn’t God know what was coming? I believe there’s more behind the scenes than what we see or want to even discuss. I don’t hear much of it on the news. Nobody talks about that. It’s like if the mayor had done what the mayor should have done, then that wouldn’t have happened. And the governor had down what that would have happened and yes we don’t but there’s a God in heaven that was in charge everybody the Bible says in the book of Romans chapter 13 says is in subjection to the higher power the higher power is God and even state officials are in subjection to a higher power well ultimately you can look up and say God why did you let this happen and God may have a reason but Nobody likes to go that far.

Nobody in their right mind wants to look at a national disaster like that and say, look what God did. True. Nobody wants to blame God. Because God’s a good God, God’s a loving God, God’s a merciful God. And what we saw was not good. It was not a blessing. It was not mercy. It was chaos, murder, rape. people’s lives destroyed, family separated. So you either have to factor God in or factor Him out. He either makes a difference or He makes no difference.

But as you studied the Bible, what do you find? In verse 5, God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the years and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and it repented the Lord that he had made men on the earth and it grieved him at his heart and he says, I’m going to destroy it. Now, there was Noah, his wife, three sons, their wives. Isn’t it amazing that God is able to let one die and one live?

How to salvage those that listen to what he had to say. But if you look at it only from a human point of view, you’re going to say, well, if the rest of them had built a boat. If they had got it together and built their own boat, somebody had just thought about it, but they probably had some zoning laws against shipbuilding, and they wouldn’t let them build a boat. But if they had just built a boat, it must have been the mayor’s fault.

I don’t care what the government at that time would have decided. And how many they want to blame and point fingers, there was nothing they could have done to have stopped the flood. True, nothing they could have done because God had decided. But if we don’t see God and we don’t factor it in, then everything, of course, boils down to what man could have done. I believe that New Orleans and the area from a biblical point of view is only symbolic of the rest of our nation.

I believe that our nation is like the nation of Israel is sick from the head to the toe. I think we are a nation in rebellion to God. I believe we are a sinful nation, a wicked nation. We are not a righteous nation. I believe that the city was filled with abortions and that the city was filled with prostitution and the city is filled with homosexuals and the city is filled with people committing murder. It’s a wicked place, a scary place to even go sometimes and to visit.

And then for all the gambling, which I believe that God is against alcohol, you name it and had it all. I believe it’s a sin city. Take your Bible and turn to the book of Job. You remember when Moses was told to go down to see Pharaoh and say, Pharaoh, let my people go. God said so. And he said, no. So he defied Moses. Now from Pharaoh’s point of view, he He was only arguing with one man. Have nothing to do with God, he’s just disagreeing with Moses.

He didn’t expect his God to be any stronger than his God. And matter of fact, he thought maybe his God is bigger and better. And he had magicians. Moses says, let my people go, or this is going to happen. And plague after plague. Ten plagues. In his mind, he saw nothing more than natural disasters. national natural catastrophe. It would have happened anyway. Moses had nothing to do with it. God had nothing to do with it. And they tried to explain things away.

Surely there was something they could have done to prevent it, but they were sent by the finger of God. You see, there’s another viewpoint that God in heaven has not turned the world over to the people and say, Y’all do whatever you want. I’m taking a vacation. I got other worlds to be concerned about. Y’all do whatever you want to do. No. God is intricately involved in every detail of what’s going on on this earth. If God says He is not unrighteous to reward every one of His children for what they do, then God must know everything that you do.

If it is God who says that with every temptation He’ll make a way of escape that And he must know every temptation you face in order to make a way of escape for you. God does care. And God says he chastens those he loves. We want and we always say it. We sing it, God bless America. Do you ever think that there’s coming a time when God won’t be able to bless America? We have been blessed, but we have taken the blessings of God and turned them into curses and to sin.

today, people do whatever they want, and even those so-called righteous people are afraid to say anything for fear they will be labeled in a negative way. We wouldn’t dare say anything that God did that because of their sin, because of all the righteous people or the poor people had nothing to do with it. Either you factor God in or you factor Him out. In your personal life, you either factor God in your life or you factor Him. I know the words God has nothing to do with anything.

Or if God does, to what degree? To what extent? Do you see God working in your life? As I look back over my years, I have seen the hand of God work in my life. and to me is awesome to know that the God of heaven has guided my path, has protected my life, and I know that I could be leaving here at any time I see the Lord working in our church in a wonderful marvelous way, and everything that’s happened, I think it’s awesome, because see I got another view, I don’t look at it just through the eyes of an individual, I believe that God is alive and God is working and God’s moving and God will even bless our chasing and we make indecisions and God is aware of what’s going on.

He’s notincerity by surprise. Here in the book of Job I want you to see several things. It says Ibid here in verse 1 there was a man in the land of us whose name was Job and that man was perfect and upright and one that feared God and shunned evil. hated evil. Good man. ButPope had some children that the Bible says unless they have cursed God in their heart. He made sacrifices for his family. And whether it was to reveal the sins of his wife, because he when Joe was tried and became afflicted even to his health, his wife told him, says, why don’t you just curse God and die?

When the Lord had taken 10 of his children. I wondered if there was a time when he said,FINEST you forgot one. Not out of it. I’m just then a little facetious. But said that Joel was a good man, a righteous man. And God was able to keep this man who was near dead, who wanted to die because of all the things that were happening to him. And the way he was with his physical body, his wife had turned against him, his family had lost and he lost his wealth, his lost his health, and he said, Lord, I just wish I could die, and God wouldn’t let him die.

God wouldn’t let him die. Then you have ten children that probably wanted to live, and they all died. For you not to factor God in would be a great sin. For you to totally factor God out as though there is no God, and everything just happens, then prayer has no purpose. has no meaning, then life has no purpose itself. Then who are we and what are we? What is going on? Then we live like atheist. If you’re going to live like an atheist, you might as well believe in evolution.

You don’t know where you came from, what you’re doing, where you going. You have no answer or explanation to the cause of life. Here in Job says there was a day when the devil came to see him and he said, what are you been doing? He says, just walking up and down through the earth. He says, you consider my servant Joe, and he said, oh yeah, I thought about him. See in verse 8, he said, there’s none like him in the earth, a perfect man, upright man, one that fears God and shuns evil.

Satan answered the Lord and said, yeah, does Joe fear God for not? In other words, he got a reason. He got a reason. You put a head down the bottom and you won’t let me get at him. You have blessed him, given everything he wants. He said, you let me get at him. You see, this is a bird’s-eye view that you won’t have of life if it’s just natural. If you only see things through the human eye, you won’t see another world being led at the same time.

You cannot see into the spiritual realm of what God Himself may be doing. You wouldn’t see Satan and God having a conversation. You wouldn’t see why God says, Hest thou considered him? It was God that sick came on Job. What was all the wickedness that Job had done? Job had done in him. But God used all the things that tried Job as chastening also upon those that were perhaps not right. I don’t know. Job says, lest they have cursed God in the last part of verse 5, it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.

So Job did it. He knew his kids. And he knew his wife. And then he had his friends that supposedly had all the answers. But all their answers were wrong. All their answers was wrong. Look there in verse 19 of chapter 1. And behold there came a great wind from the wilderness. Smoked the four corners of the house and it fell upon the young men and they are dead. And I only am escaped alone to tell them. A great win came, hit the house, smashed it, and they’re all dead.

Now. We have our news analysts there and they’re interviewing. What happened down here? Well, it was just a great win. It came through. But you know, if that mayor had built a wall around this city and around my house, what we should have built it higher and bigger and stronger, it wouldn’t have happened. I don’t care where this house was. I don’t care how well it had been built. If God wanted that house to fall, there’s nothing no man’s going to do to stop it from falling.

is going down. And you can blame the mayor, you can blame the governor, you can blame the president of the United States. If there was a atomic explosion right here and 2 million people get killed, I got a hunch. There’s nothing anybody could have done about it. We’re at the place right now that we can’t stop the terrorists from blowing America up. We can’t stop them. They choose to do so. We can’t stop it anywhere. Our trust is not to be in the president, our military, our response efforts, FEMA, you name the organization.

It’s not in the Red Cross. It’s not in the Salvation Army. The Lord has told us over and over again throughout His Word. You put your trust in me and do right. Our nation will have to worry if we were a righteous nation. I have not yet found where God has brought in and destroyed a righteous nation. If the nation was righteous, but I have seen over and over again where God will wipe out a sinful city, a wicked city, but not a righteous one.

Check your book. I may be wrong, but I don’t think I have found it yet. A great win came. Did God know that wind was coming? And God allowed it. God allowed those people to get killed? God allowed it. And those that survived, like Job survived, his wife survived, God can allow one to live and one to die. And yes, you should have comfort and compassion. See, the devil brought all this upon Job on his body, has sores all over his body, sitting in an ash heap and were broken pieces of pottery scraping his source, wishing he could die and God let him suffer like that.

And what had he done wrong? Nothing. So while some were dying, some were living in misery. God permits both to the righteous man, a wonderful testing with great rewards in the future. To the wicked, God can take him out of this world. man is going to die. I want you to take your Bible turn to Habakkah in the Old Testament. This is the message that God gave to him. God gave him a message that just so heavy for him to bear.

And he had said to the Lord, Lord, I know that Israel. I know that Judah, I know we’re a wicked people. But if you bring in those wicked Chaldeans, the Babylonians, destroy us, they are more wicked than us. Why did God bring in these other nations to destroy Israel? Because God had promises of it, if you will love me and if you will serve me, I will protect you. And I’ll put none of those diseases that happened in Egypt.

I’ll put none of those upon you. Whether you got diseases, protection, all depends on how you lived. it. Depends on how you live. If you’re wicked, here she comes. If you’re righteous, the blessings are on the way. Here we are in America and we’re getting to the place where we tolerate sin. We say nothing. We don’t cry out. We don’t say it’s wrong and wicked because after all that’s not politically correct today. I still believe it’s sinful. It’s wicked and it’s wrong.

I’ll say it all until the day I die. I’m wrong. I’m wrong. either I believe the Bible or I don’t believe the Bible. Either there is a God factor or there is no God factor. If there’s a God in heaven, we have to see what God has to say. Look there in Habakkah chapter two. Look what he says now in verse nine. He says, woe to him that covet it an evil covetousness to his house. In other words, a man because he covets sin brings it upon himself, but he doesn’t desire consequences of sin.

He wants to sin without the results of sin. So they try to insulate themselves with a position of power so I can do something about it or money I can do something about it. See people that they have position of power and they have money then they can buy their way out of any trouble that you may have. Long as there’s hospitals and there’s doctors I can buy my way. Live like I please and pay my way out of trouble.

A lot of people think this way. God sees, God knows, and he says that he made be delivered from the power of the evil, but not the evil, just the consequences of the results. He says in verse 10, that thou hath consulted shame to thy house, by cutting off many people and have sinned against thy soul, for the stone shall cry out of the wall and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. Woe to him that built it the task.

with blood and established a city by what? Iniquity. Do you think there’s a God in heaven that says, I don’t see it. Did you see in masses where the people were crying out to God for mercy? They all cried whoever they put their trust in, the government. And isn’t it true today that most people trust the government to deliver us from everything? If government is big enough and government is strong enough, government can do anything for us. And God said, I want you to put your trust in me.

We don’t have people putting their trust in God. You can’t live as you please and get away with it as an individual. What if you choose as a family you’re going to live in sin? Can you get away with it? What makes people think you can do it as a city or as a nation? You can’t. God is going to chase him. I believe what we have seen happen is only a forerunner of what is to come. I can hear God standing up in heaven saying, can you hear me now?

Can you hear me now? And people say, did you hear that? No, I didn’t hear nothing. You didn’t hear anything. I didn’t hear anything. And how many as a nation around this country, this whole nation, the people of America will be on their knees, getting themselves right with God. If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and call upon me and turn from their evil wicked way, then I will hear and heal their land. But we’re bringing upon ourselves and will the righteous also die?

Yes. Well good people suffer it. Yes. The Bible says, when evil comes in like a flood, the righteous are to raise up a standard, mean the wall, keep it from coming in. You see the righteous people in America have let down the wall, the standard, and let the evil flood come in to our whole nation. In verse 12 one more time, woe to him that build a town with blood and establishes a city by iniquity and it’s a shame I believe what is going on and all the blame game instead of people look at themselves and say in is it because of my sin is it my sin see if nobody wants to examine themselves they want to insulate themselves from the consequences of their evil deeds and I believe that there great consequences, not being able to see from a divine perspective.

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.

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.

John chapter 20, look there in verse 21. This is after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He says verse 21, then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you, as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. So we send in them somewhere, and we’re supposed to know that they were sent. All right, Christ was sent, His disciples were sent, and you and I, believe it or not, have been sent. You see, God saved us in this world, But he left us in the world to be sent to the world.

So we’re here for the world. We’re here for them Now take your Bible look in John chapter 17 the gospel of John in chapter 17 17 chapters really the Lord’s prayer This is where he actually talks to the Lord and praise for me praise for you And he has a wonderful prayer if you have never read the Lord’s prayer This is the Lord’s prayer. The one found over there in Matthew chapter six, our Father which art in heaven. That’s not the Lord’s prayer.

He didn’t pray that. That was simply an outline for us to learn how to pray. But here in John chapter 17, look in verse 18, as thou have sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world on him. Then he says in verse 21 that they all may be one as thou father art in me, and I and they that they also may be one in us that the world may believe that thou have sent me.

So he was sent into the world and then the disciples were sent into the world and the purpose of being sent into the world is so that the world might believe on Christ. Got it? That’s why we send missionaries. That’s why we had ranch and why we have camp. That’s why we do the things we do. That’s why we have radio. That’s why we had TV. That’s why we do those things because we’re sent here to do that. And Paul says, by all means, so whatever means possible.

Luke chapter four. Now we know that Christ was sent into the world. He told his disciples, you’re sent into the world, that the world might believe. And Christ made the statement in John chapter 14 that the world may know that I love the Father even so I do. In other words, I do what I do so that the world will know I love him. And only you can let the world know that you love the Lord is by your obedience to the318.

Here in Luke chapter 4, look in verse 16, so he has been sent, he’s beginning his ministry, and he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as his custom was, what was his custom? He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. So every seventh day Jesus went to church. Now we’re not saying this is church, but it’s pretty much the same thing. That’s what they meant. on a Saturday morning, there it is on the Sabbath day, and they went to church.

He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. Now this is why a lot of times, and I’ve done it many times, I will have everybody stand while I read the scriptures and while I like doing that. But he says he stood up for to read and there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. When he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written. So he was looking for a particular scripture for his message that day.

So Jesus, as his custom was, went to church, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach the deliverance to the captives, and recover of sight to the blind, who said it liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, gave it again to the minister, and he sat down. So he only preached very short sermon.

How would you like to have had a sermon that short? But he read two versesannot sit down and haha. And can you believe that thoseAlreadyquerade that heACPumerables that confliche read, you know, it’s read the church. He had trouble. He got in all How kind of trouble will it cause of this? Look what he says. And the eyes of all of them that were in the synagogue were fashioned on him, just like y’all are. See, you came to church this morning, I read a couple verses and everybody just listened to every word that I say, not a soul going to sleep.

In verse 21, and he began to say unto them, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. I’ll bet that knock their socks off. They come to the synagogue, they read the scriptures and the Bible says in the book of Acts, they reading the scriptures, fulfilled the scriptures because they killed the Prince of Life. Christ came and they were going to church reading about the one that was going to come and then they wound up turning on the very one that they’ve been reading about and fulfilled the scriptures.

Some people are blind and they go to church and these people went to church but they didn’t understand it. And why would they get mad if the guy stands up here and says, this is talking about me somewhere along the line, they would have to know it’s going to be somebody somewhere along the line somebody’s going to have to say that talking about me because it was a prophecy from the book of Isaiah in chapter 61. Well lo and behold, Christ says that was me.

This day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears. Then he says in verse 20, you and all bear witness and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth And they said, is not this Joseph’s son? In other words, don’t we know his dad? If they believe that Joseph was his dad, what does that mean? It means that Mary and Joseph had a child before they were married. And that means that Jesus is illegitimate. How would you like to be the perfect son of God?

You’d done anything wrong. You’d have to be born into the world without a father, a human father. and then to be labeled illegitimate. That’s why I didn’t believe he had a right to the throne, but he did. He was the only one that did. He was an extant lion. Nobody else could claim throne except Jesus. So Jesus told him, he says, you’re going to be like the proverb saying to the physician, heal thyself. In other words, if you are a little illegitimate child, can you correct that?

And he says, a prophet has no honor where? In his own country. It means the hardest people to I can get this. I’m The hardest one because they see you every day. See, it’s easy for somebody who never sees your wife to think your wife really isn’t that bad. Because they only see her good side. But see, they don’t have to live with them. Or they may think, you know, that husband of yours, he is such a wonderful man.

You think if you. if you only knew. There’s a lot you don’t know. You honor somebody else and think, they’re great. Well, I wish my husband was like that. Yeah, but you just don’t know what that is all about. You don’t know the other side. Two verses and everybody loved him. No, they didn’t love him, but he was still sent. But you think just because you’re in the world, well, I can’t do do it because, because what? Well, because not everybody’s going to like it.

Not everybody going to love you. Okay. How was Christ received? We’re supposed to learn from His example. This is what happened. He did it. But look how it was received. You’re not going to be received all the time and great love and pass on the back. So we make the statement in verse 23, ye will surely say unto me this proverb, physician, heal by some whatsoever we have heard done and Capernaum do also here in thy country. In the words, you did it over there.

Why don’t you do it here? You’re great over there, and everybody loved it. Why don’t you do that great stuff here? Because he already knew how they thought. He knew their hearts of unbelief. He knew their hearts of stone. He knew their anger. He knew they wanted to kill them. He knew that. But look at verse 25, he said, but I tell you of a truth. He says, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah. Well, there was a lot of widows in Israel.

But he wasn’t sent to all of them. He only sent to that one woman. Look what he says. He says, when the heavens was shut up three years and six months when great famine was throughout all the land, would the Lord know they were famine? Did you know what the hardship? Yeah, God knew all that. But under none of them was Elijah’s sin. There’s Elijah and Elijah. Elijah, this is Elijah. Save or accept under seraphdom, thy city of Saturn unto a woman that was a widow.

In other words, there’s all these women, all these widows, but he was only sent to that one. Here’s all these cities, and he was to go to all these cities, but he didn’t stay long in some cities because of their hardness of heart, their unbelief. In other words, he couldn’t win them all. Jesus Christ, the greatest soul winner of all time, had trouble winning people, trying to convince them. And he marbled at their unbelief, he marbled at their unbelief.

I’m the son of God and look what I’ve done. He says, believe me for the works sake. If you don’t believe me for what I say, believe me for what I do. Who else can do these things? Oh, you did it by the power of the devil. Everything he did right, they put a spin on it and credited to the devil. He said, that’s why you don’t serve the Lord all your heart. So you’re afraid of what somebody’s going to say.

They’re going to twist everything. Keep doing right anyway. Keep loving people anyway. Love the Lord and love people and keep serving the Lord like you’ve never been hurt by anybody. Because if you allow somebody to hurt you, that stops you. You may get hurt for a while, but you’ve got to get over that and keep going. Don’t you allow anything to stop you. You may get hurt for a while, but you got to get over that and keep going.

Don’t you allow anything to stop you in your service to the Lord? And many lepers, there were many lepers in Israel in the days of Elijah the prophet. None of them was cleansed, not a one of them was cleansed, and they were all of Israel. But there was a Gentile, Assyrian, and God healed that Gentile, and He’s talking here in the synagogue to these Jews Jews that don’t like the Gentiles and let them know, look, he was sent to Hila, a man, leprosy.

God didn’t heal everybody, but he healed a few. And whenever you go into the world, remember this, you won’t win everybody. There was a lot of people that needed help, but he didn’t do it for everybody. God, he knows things that you and I don’t know. And as you go through life, you’re going to win some, you’re going to lose some. You’re not gonna get everybody. But don’t let the ones that turn you down stop you from finding that one.

But every person, ought to try to find a way that you personally can reach a soul. You ought to have a way. And I appreciate those that helped me with the radio and thing like that because if you didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to do it. And yet I get a few little letters every once in a while and they’re beautiful letters about people that really love the radio broadcast. And I appreciate it. But now notice in the verse 28 and all they in the synagogue, they’re all in synagogue now.

This is in the church. This is the church service. When they heard these things were filled with joy, in other words it would have been better for you to just stay at home and not go on the church that day. Well I’m not going to church because there’s hypocrites there so that’s why Jesus didn’t go to the synagogue because there’s hypocrites in the synagogue and where did Paul go whenever he got a chance? Every time he got a chance he always went to the synagogue.

I was going to church where they met together. Well, I’m not going there because those unbelievers, those hypocrites. Have you ever heard people say, I’m not going to church because they got hypocrites over there. Well, they got them where you work. Are you going to go to work? They got hypocrites at the hospital. Are you going to go to the hospital? They got them at the grocery store. They got them at the gas station. You’re still going to go get gas and get groceries?

You know what they are? The hypocrites. And they’re the hypocrites point not the hypocrites and he says in verse 29 and rose up get this rose up and thrust him out of the city led him unto the brow of the hill where upon there their city was built that they might cast him down headlight what do they want to do to him well what would you deduct from this what did they what did they want to do to him they wanted to honor him up on the hillside right they wanted to kill him.

And how many scriptures did he read that morning? He read two verses. He just simply explained them and they wanted to kill him. Now I have never preached a sermon that bad. I’ve preached in bad sermons, but I don’t know if I’ve ever preached one quite that bad. Now is the sermon that he preached? Was there something wrong with his message? Or was there something wrong with the people? Think it through now, think it through. There was nothing wrong with what Jesus said, they just didn’t believe.

They didn’t believe that that was him. And they didn’t believe that he could do these miracles because he did them over there. We heard, do them now. Let us see. But look what he says in verse 30, but he passing through the midst of them went his way. I think he just created another miracle. They weren’t able to get him for some reason. And this happened on several occasions. Verse 31 and came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee.

Now remember, in verse 16, this is in the morning. This is in the morning when you get up and you get ready and you go to church. They would meet in the morning. All right, the day is passing along. And now it’s probably later in the afternoon. And he says in verse 32, and there were astonished at his doctrine for his word was with power. And he goes back into another synagogue in verse 33 and in the synagogue there was a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil and cried out with a loud voice.

Now remember now do you believe that the devil on occasions might go to church? The devil? Good? I hate it when some of the people invite him. I don’t mind if he comes in here all on his own. This one we have people that invite the devil to come with them, and they have an old sinful nature within them, and they can be filled with wrath and just waiting to see if they can start trouble with somebody. And they use that little tongue right there, and buddy, you can do a lot of damage with it.

But here’s a man went to the synagogue, and he brought a devil with him. The devil was on the inside of him, a demon. When did the little fallen angels? So can a man go to church with the devil in him? He did. And he did get this. He says here in verse 34, saying, let us alone, what have we to do with the thou Jesus of Nazareth? Or thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the holy one of God.

Now he knew who he was. See, the devil knows who Christ is, but Christ wanted the people to believe on him because of what he said and what he did. Now, why do you believe on the devil? Well because what the devil said I heard of even one day give a good testimony And that’s how I know that Christ want you believe on me because what I said you believe on me because of what I do Believe on me for the works sake, but they wanted to attribute what even he did To the power of the elves above the Prince of Devils He says hold your peace come out of him and when the devil had thrown him in the mist He came out of him and heard him not and they were all amazed and spake among themselves saying What a word is this, and with what authority and power he commanded the unclean spirits and they come out of him.

Jesus was not the normal run of the day meal individual that went to church this day. They had somebody in their midst like they had never seen before. In other words, everybody went to church week after week after week, but this day was a different day in their life. Somebody different showed up. something else is going on here. Jesus Christ came by and they got a chance to meet him and everybody worshiped him and everybody loved him. No, it’s not a reflection upon Christ.

That is a reflection of the ignorance of the people, not upon what Christ said or done. I want you to look in verse 37 and the fame of him went out into every place of the country roundabout. Well, wouldn’t you, if you saw something done like that, wouldn’t you tell somebody? And remember the fame spread abroad and there was no radio, no television, no email, no internet, no cars. Verse 38, now here is a miracle. This is a miracle.

It’s kind of like having mixed emotions, you know, like watching your mother-in-law go over the cliff in your new Cadillac. That’s called mixed emotions. Some of y’all will get that after a while. Some people say that Peter was the first pope and he went to Rome and became the first pope and they say this. Now and the pope is not to have a wife. Now I think it’s terrible for a man not to have a wife but to have a mother-in-law.

Now I don’t know world he did it I don’t Rove. Look at verse 38, and he arose out of the synagogue, entered into Simon’s house and Simon, this is Simon Peter, Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever and they besought him for her. They wanted, they wanted him to heal his mother-in-law. Now that’s mixed emotions. This is a miracle. Now would you have done this for your mother-in-law? But anyway, I’m making justice this little bit so please forgive me for all of that.

That’s my old sinful nature. That’s not the way I really am. I love all mother-in-law’s. And it says in verse 39, and he stood over her and rebuked the fever and it left her and immediately she erodes and ministered unto them. Good results. In verse 40, now Now when the sun was setting, now it’s gone gone. You know, this has been one long day. He’s done a lot of things, gone the church twice, gone through different services, different synagogues.

And then he says in verse 40, now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divergent diseases, different diseases, brought them unto him, and he laid his hands on every one of them, and most of them were healed, and he healed them. I believe he healed every one of them. There’s another scripture that’s talking about He healed everyone that came to Him. You’re talking about not like these so-called fake healers today. They are shisers. And most of them is because if you got some money and they’re putting on a show and it’s always getting money out of people.

You don’t see where Jesus Christ said, now look, to show me your faith, you’ve got to show me some seed money. Did you see Him getting His healing line up and said, now show me your faith by giving me some money? Jesus didn’t do that. He could have done that. He had the power to do anything he wanted to do. But it said he healed every one of them, in verse 41. And devils or demons also came out of many crying out saying, Stiles, Christ the Son of God.

And he rebuked them, suffered them, permitting them not to speak, but they knew that he was Christ. And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place. So he had a long day that day and now another day and he went into a desert place. And the people sought him, came unto him, stayed him. And yeah, the underlying that he should not depart from them. See, one place, get away, and one place they didn’t want him to leave.

So you have people with mixed emotions. You’re not going to win everybody. But then there’s going to be a lot of people that you’re going to reach. And they’ll be thankful all the days of their life because you let them to Christ. Or you got the gospel to them. You helped in some way. And so every individual always try to find out, even though as a ministry, we try to do things that we can try to help some commissioners and so forth.

But we also, as an individual, either be given out tracks and doing what we can because everybody needs to find a way, a personal ministry that you can read. You see, you might be able to get a chance to preach in a jail service or go to a regular, you know, a nursing home sometime and just have it once a month or do something like that. In other words, look at ways in which you could do it. Find a way that you could do something and just give the gospel to the people.

I remember I used to always go to the rescue mission. I went to the rescue mission when I was at the Florida Bible College. And I’d take some of the college kids down there with me and we’d put on program for them and I’d play the guitar. I couldn’t play good, but I’d play the guitar. And we’d sing a few songs. And then we had jail services. I went to the jail services. We went to nursing homes. And you name it.

Went to camps. Anything you do? Indian camps. And I had Indian camps in Iowa, Oklahoma, Arizona, Minnesota, and up in South Dakota. I’ve been in Indian camps all across America. I mean done in Chantaw, Arizona Black South, Arizona But wherever you can go whatever you can do you do it Find a way that you can get the gospel of somebody if every time you pay your bills If you pay your bill put a heaven track in it or do something that you know you never know who’s gonna read it Trying to see it and somebody else to come along and water But God’s the one that saves the soul so you do what you can and find a way now looking verse 43 And He said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also.

For therefore am I sinned. Some wanted Him to leave, some wanted Him to stay, but He had to keep moving on. He only had about three and a half year ministry on this earth. And look at how many people in the world today know about Jesus Christ. Good or bad? They know about Him. Every Muslim I’ve heard of Jesus Christ, they just don’t believe He’s the Son of God. They don’t believe he is God. They don’t believe God had a son, but he still loves him He loves every Muslim and wants every Muslim to hear the gospel That’s the only hope they have they do what they do because they’ve been lied to they’ve been deceived and The result is being evidenced around the world but what did they need if Somewhere before the ratchet took place that could be a gigantic revival take place because somebody did something and it caused an outpouring of

of some kind of an expression or demonstration where people trust Christ to save you all over the world. I keep hoping for that. Maybe it’d never be me, but I might light a fire under somebody that might do that. You never know. He says in verse 44, and he preached in the synagogues of Galilee. They’re different ones. See, anytime they had about 10 people or more in a city, they had to start a synagogues. And so they had a set of the scriptures, the scrolls there.

And they would all come together and they would read. And that’s just why you find the Apostle Paul everywhere he went. He always went to the sin of God’s first. That was on Saturday. And then the Christian church got started and that was going on Sunday. So Paul was in church every weekend. Always keep doing right. Look up here. Let this hand represent you and me and the wallet represent sin. We all have sin upon us. God loves us and but He hates our sin.

for us to pay for the sin is eternal separation in hell. But God loves us and wants us to go to heaven. To go to heaven we have to be perfect because righteous is God and none of us are perfect, none of us are righteous. We cannot save ourselves. The pay for sin is death. And that’s the only way that we can pay for it. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord, he’s God in the flesh. Came into the world because he loves us, hates our sin, because it separates us from them.

So Christ took the sin, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead, and said if we’ll believe He did it for us, that He would give us as a free gift, everlasting life. And we get to go to heaven on what He did for us. That’s a gift, that’s free. But we’ve all, that of trusted Christ as Savior. Our sent into the world. We’re here. God didn’t take us home the day you trust the Lord. He left you here because he wants us to go.

And the result is that the world may believe. So we work together to do it. We work together collectively as a church and then individually. Every person should have something that they’re doing. Whether it’s a personal soul winner or doing something to try to get the gospel to people. But always try to find out Lord, what can I do? way can I do something that would help me to read somebody. If you can’t explain it to them, then you’ll get a hold of somebody and bring them to where they can hear it.

Get somebody else to go talk to them. Get a place set up. Remember I told you the other day I had a boy that came to the house and knocked at the door and he says, it’s hot outside. I said, He says, yeah, that sure is. He says, can I have a kabaw? Co-water? I said, you certainly can. So I went in and got him a cup of co-water and I gave it to him. And then I explained the gospel to him and he said, do you trust Christ to say this?

I make that, because he was thirsty. Very zenkey, there’s some of it at the door. She said, it’s that little boy again. And I said, okay, well, let me in. So she opened the door and he’d come walking in the living room and he stands up and looking. I said, is it hot out there again? He said, I said, you want some more water? Uh-huh. I’m 11 years old. So I said, look, I just, and before I could get another word out, he says, he says, you said, if I just simply believe on Christ, I can have eternal life?

I said, yeah. He says, okay. I’ll do that. All right. I said, wait a minute. I went and got my Bible, and I said, I said, I want you to see this in the Bible. And I went through Ephesians 2, 8, 9, 1, 7, 13, that just let him see it. Sometimes, I didn’t go looking for this. This kid came to the house. And I got it and I trust the Lord. Sometimes you’ll not be in a hospital. You never know.

See, I didn’t do that because I’m the preacher. Does that because I’m an individual. I’m a Christian. You’re a Christian. Give tracks. Talk to people. You’d be surprised how many opportunities you can have if you just don’t throw them away. And you say, well, they may not trust the Lord. They may not. What does he do? Then you’ll be really glad you did. See us all on it. Let’s pray, shall we? Every headbound, every eye closed, no one looking around.

If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, I want you to understand that the best news in all the world is to understand that Jesus Christ died on that cross paid for your sin in order to give you as a preheated, everlasting money. And he’ll never catch you until he’ll never lose you. Eternal life is free. You don’t go to heaven because you join this church or give any money. You simply just believe that He did it for you and He’ll give you a free gift, eternal life, and you get to go to heaven with Zion.

You’ve never trussed the Lord with a gift right now. 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, 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, and 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.

Romans in chapter 8, In other words, we, in this life, will never be all that we could have been for the Lord. There are three things found in the book of Romans chapter 8. You find a word mentioned three times. And the word is groaning. The groaning. Roning and travailing. Yet it’s talking to us about having victory. Seemed like a paradox, a contradiction. Now, once you look there in verse 19 of Romans chapter eight. For the earnest expectation of the creature waited for the manifestation of the sons of God.

Now, there’s two things here. The one, the word creature is referring to the creation of the world itself. This world is waiting for something. You see, in the very beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, there was nothing wrong with the environment. There was nothing wrong with the earth. There was nothing wrong with the trees and the grass and the birds and the flowers and the animals and all that. Everything was right. There was nothing wrong with any of the creation of God.

There would have been no death. Wouldn’t I had to worry about that? But because man had sinned, well then, because we sinned, And God had put us in charge of the earth to have dominion over it. Well, because of the sin of man, the fall of man, God cursed the earth. So the earth has been cursed. Now in the book of 2 Corinthians in chapter 5, 2 Corinthians chapter 5 or 17 says, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creation.

old things are passed away, behold all things are become new. Should there be a change in a Christian’s life? I believe that there is a change automatic but it’s not revealed until the man yields to the Lord. In other words every person who trusts Christ is Savior, something has happened to him. He has been given a new birth. He is born again and he does have the indwelling Holy Spirit. That is a difference. That is a change, but it’s not a visible change until the man is able by this new birth to control the old one.

And if he doesn’t control the old birth, then you will not see a change in a person’s life. But should a Christian have a change in his life? Well, yes, that’s what this whole thing is about. Change, something happening. And there’s many people who trust Christ as Savior and there’s never visibly a change in their life that shows you that their new birth is alive and will. We know the old nature is alive and well. But I go back to Romans in chapter 8.

And it says in verse 24, the creation was made subject to vanity not willingly, but by reason of Him who had subjected the same in hope. In other words, because we were subjected to bondage in this world and the slavery of the old sinful nature and the lust of the the flesh and the eyes and so forth. God also subjected the environment. So it also is waiting and hoping. See it also has, as the Bible says, it’s almost like the world has a mind and the world can think and the world can reason the world wants something better.

But the Lord says the creation of the world is waiting for something to happen. And then you’ll notice it makes a statement there in verse 21. Because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God, for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. So we know that the creation of the world groans. And then it makes the statement about in verse 23 that we, the sons of God, also grown.

And it says in verse 22, well we know it’s going to be verse 23. And not only they, but our sales also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting. So the world groans and waits. You and I groan and wait. And then it says there in chapter eight of the book of Romans in verse 26, talking about the Holy Spirit likewise, likewise, like the creation of the world and like the sons of God, those who’ve trusted Christ as Savior.

And verse 26, likewise the Spirit also, help with our infirmity before we know that what we should pray, not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makeeth the intercession for us with what? Grownings, which cannot be uttered. So here we have the creation groans, you and I, the sons of God, groan, and the Holy Spirit groans. What is interesting about the Holy Spirit groaning? I can understand you and I groaning, if you look there in verse 18, where it says, and I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, but that time isn’t yet.

But there is a time of suffering. We are groaning. Now one day of this world is is going to be delivered. And it uses the word grown and travail. Growning has the idea of looking backwards. Travail has the idea of looking forward. We grown because of what has taken place. You’ve gone through something, some heartache, some loss. And you’ve grown because of the suffering that you’re now going through. Okay. But travail talks about and shall travail with pain is a reference to a woman having a child.

And a woman having a child, she has a time that she goes through of a lot of a suffering and the hurt and the pain. And as time goes on, those pains increase. And she’s laboring and in travail and in pain until the child is delivered. Well, now one looks back and one looks forward. Well, when it cooks about the creation, grown it and travails and it says that. So the world itself is groaning because of a curse that was put upon it, but that’s not the way God intended.

You see, God created a good world. There was no sin. There was no problems and everything was fruitful and it would have been so nice, so wonderful. But there is coming a time where we’re going to have that changed. It’s not going to be like that forever. You see, it was good and it came bad. It’s not going to stay like this. God says that the Creation is in travail like waiting to be delivered like a new birth, a new creation, something new is going to take place.

Now we could have had everything upon the earth take place, the Lord to come back, take us to be with Him, and then you start the new heavens and the new earth. But it would not have solved the problem. What happened to this earth that God made and bringing forth this righteousness upon the earth and everything being wonderful without that thousand years that God’s going to have. The thousand years is like a must because it’s part of the overall plan.

Don’t want to leave that out. Wouldn’t you like to have lived in the Garden of Eden? You will. Because the whole earth is going to be like the Garden of Eden for a thousand years. We will be here. But the earth is waiting to be delivered into something wonderful, but it has to wait. It’s waiting for the sons of God to get things right. So that’s why he makes the statement here in verse 19. For the earnest expectation, the joyful anticipation of the creation waited for the manifestation of the sons of God.

So it’s waiting on us. So we get to go first. See, the earth was right and man messed it up. So man has to get right before the creation of the world can be made rightrors again. See, God is so organized.________________________________.. He’s so disciplined.!!!! And he has everything in order. Everything has to be right. And when you study the Bible, it just blows your mind when you start seeing some of these things. But notice what he says. He says they’re in verse 20.

For the creation was made subject to vanity. In the book of Ecclesiastes, it talks about you and I, and that everything is vanity and vexation of spirit. ct. It was like, if there was no God, what’s the purpose of life? Without God, what’s the purpose of the world? What’s the purpose of anything? Even the earth would have no purpose. Written the trees. There was no purpose. Because it would be all just an accident without God. There’s no purpose for animals.

They just happen to exist. And maybe we came from one cell, the Meebuh. Maybe some common ancestor, you know, like a monkey. Well, I don’t believe I came from an ape. I don’t believe you did either. I said before my ancestors may have hung by the neck, but they didn’t hang by the tails. The world is going to be changed, but it’s waiting on something. and it’s waiting upon the sons of God to be changed. Now, get what he says here in verse 21, because the creation itself also shall be delivered.

And the reason we shall be delivered and the creation will be, is because look there in verse 24 of chapter seven. When he looked at himself, saw the way that he was, with his old sinful nature, wretched man that I am, not that I’m going to be, this is the way I am. Who shall what? Those two words deliver me. Who’s going to deliver me from this, going forth from this? So the way I am is not the way it’s going to be, it’s not the way that I want it.

And is it possible in this life I could be totally the way that I should be? Can I accomplish really what all I want to accomplish the way God knows? Because of that sinful nature that you and I have. We will battle it all the days of our lives. Now notice what he says here in verse 21, because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. So we’re talking about being delivered from something, the bondage of corruption that’s in this world.

One day it will not be corrupted anymore. Now you know that if this is what it is concerning creation of the world, it might also mean the same thing when it talks about you and I being delivered, being delivered from this wretched body that we live in, and being delivered from this world. And as you look upon the world scene and you notice what’s happening over there in the Middle East, it looks like the world is sitting on a powder cake.

Do you realize how easy it could be for the battle of Armageddon to take place and where’s it supposed to take place in the plains of Jezreal right there in Armageddon. Right where they are in the north part of Israel. That’s where I’ve been several times, five times I’ve been there. And I’m talking about in this great big old plains, and we sit there one day up on Mount McGinno, and we looked out there, and the guy told me, he said, now watch right down there, because he saw some.

And the thing opened up right out of the ground. And an F-16, Pion took off from under that thing, under the ground. They got them all over there. They’re not going to have peace in the Middle East without the Prince of peace. And he ain’t come yet. Jerusalem put to be the city of peace. And this is going to be a city of pieces. Because remember, in the future yet Jerusalem will fall. And the Jews, they’re going to try to annihilate them.

And it says one third will be killed. One third will be taken into captivity. One third a remnant will be left in the land. And Jesus will come back. So the whole creation is waiting until that time. Now look there in verse 22, but we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Then he says, and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the spirit. Now the first fruit of the spirit means that when you trusted Christ as your Savior, the Holy Spirit is the seal that you’re in Christ.

The Holy Spirit is the down payment. He’s the earnest payment that you’re going to get the rest of it later. So you have the Holy Spirit living within you that’s your security that is your guaranteed you’re a child of God that can never be changed in this light you and I We’ll never have all that we’re supposed to have or be all that we’re supposed to be because we’re limited and we have a sinful nature. We won’t always do and obey and yield like we’re supposed to 100%.

He makes a statement here in verse 23 and not only then, but we’re waiting for some even we ourselves grown within ourselves waiting for the adoption that we’re waiting for something. We’re waiting to be delivered from this body to another body and If you and I see when God saved you he washed your soul white as snow, but he never touched your body You still have your sinful nature is in the body. That’s why Christ came into the world Oh, he was perfect, but he had a human body, but he had to have a body where no man physical man had anything to put into the body.

Though the wallen could be called the sinful nature is not passed on by the wallen but by the man. And so by not having a man’s seed he did not have a sinful nature in his body. Therefore he didn’t have to worry about that. You and I do. So the day will come will be delivered from the curse of this body. And we’re waiting to be delivered from that. But until then, we got to suffer and we’ve grown. And the longer we stay in this body, the more groaning we’re going to do.

Anybody been groaning lately? Anybody have any aches and pains lately? Well, just hang in there, you will, guaranteed. But like the world is waiting, and you and I that live in this body, we’re joyfully anticipating this moment. It may be by rapture, my choice, Or it may be by death, but remember this. He says they’re in the book of Philippians in chapter one. I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. So the best in this world is not as good as what we’re gonna have.

That is far better. When he makes the statement in the book of 1 Peter in chapter one and verse four, and when he says we have an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, that fate, if not away, reserved in heaven for us. But the thing is, we’re not there yet, knowing that I have an inheritance. It’s undefiled because everything down here is. And it’s incorruptible, but everything down here is. And fate, if not away, while everything down here does still doesn’t tell me what it is.

I still have within me a little desire. Well, what is my inheritance? The Bible tells us even in the book of Revelation, that there’ll be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more tears, but it isn’t what I’m going to get. He says, I have not seen ear, hath not heard, neither has entered into the heart of man the thing which God has prepared for them that he hasn’t told us that. He just says what’s not going to be there, but he didn’t even know what’s going to be there.

You know what I got to mind? I want to know what is. He doesn’t say everything. He just tells us enough to dangle us along and he says, wait, hope. It’ll be worth it. And so faith is believing that what God said is true and that nothing in this world can be compared to it. You know, heaven must be something. It’s another world. When you notice there in verse 18 when he says, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, but it doesn’t say what glory will be revealed, does it?

He just says, what you’re going to have when you get to heaven, there’s nothing in this world that you can compare it to. You can say it was going to be like this, no it’s not. There isn’t anything. The mind of man will not be able to comprehend this new world. What heaven is really like. So we’re waiting until then. But God says, serve me now. Believe in all of this, one day you’ll be there and I’m going to reward you with things that you would never dream.

That would make everything you went through down here. It’ll all be worth it. And so we’re waiting for this moment. We’ve grown in this body. Waiting as a woman is going to have a child and to be a new life. Remember the Bible tells us this in the book of Romans in chapter 6, that when Christ was buried, you were buried. And as He came back from the dead, even we also should walk in newness of light. We’re a live, as though I’ve already got the new life.

I just haven’t seen my inheritance yet. I don’t know what it all is. I haven’t. Got a good clue. I just know that it’s gonna be worth it. And you and I are supposed to live our lives believing that. And to serve the Lord now with all we have. And if you really believe what God says, then you’ll patiently wait for it. See the last part of verse 25? You’ll patiently wait for this moment. Now look there in verse 26.

What do you think it means when he’s talking here about the Holy Spirit? Grown it? Well, if the Holy Spirit Holy Spirit is groaning. He’s not groaning for himself, but God Bible does tell us that the Holy Spirit grieves. You can grieve God. You can grieve the Holy Spirit. And it makes a statement in Ephesians 4 and verse 13, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you’re sealed until the day of redemption. So you and I are not to grieve the Holy Spirit.

You see, the Holy Spirit of God that lives within us is not able to totally possess all of us. Now he possesses you, but he don’t have all of you. See, you have all of the Holy Spirit. When you trust the Lord, you’ve got all of him you’ll ever get. But he don’t have all of you that he can get. Because you see, him using us effectively in this life is you and I yield in our lives to him, but nobody does it perfectly.

We already have restraints, we’ve got problems, we have drawbacks, we have fear, we don’t totally do what God says do. There is a groaning in him because you and I have not yet came forth, produced the way we should. He says that in the Philippians in chapter 1 and verse 6, it makes the statement that he that hath begun a good work in you will perform unto the day of Christ. So He is within us for the purpose of performing.

That means if He is performing a work in us, there is a change taking place in us. If you have no changes in your life, it’s because the Holy Spirit doesn’t have the freedom to work in your life. That grieves God. Because you and I are not totally limited now to our physical body and our old sinful nature, we have the power of God himself living within us. And when he makes the statement there in verse 26, in the middle part of the verse is for the spirit himself, make it the intercession for us with groanings, which cannot be uttered to be conformed to the image of Christ.

The purpose of the Holy Spirit within you and within me is to conform us to the image of Christ. That’s why he says in 2 Corinthians in chapter 3, it makes a statement about where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, or where the spirit is the Lord of your life, then you have liberty from glory to glory, from the glory of the law to the glory of the Spirit. And the purpose of the Holy Spirit in our life is to change us.

Have you ever met people who have trusted Christ as Savior and you see no change in their life? Now that doesn’t mean you should doubt their salvation but you’ll doubt their love for the Lord, you’ll doubt a change taking place in the Lord, you’ll doubt maturity in their life because of the way they live. See the Holy Spirit is in me to deliver me from the power of the sinful nature so that I can produce something in my life, but it’s not over yet.

There’s so much more. Look in verse 28. How many people have said, this is my favorite verse in the Bible. And I doubt if they really understand what the verse means. And they just probably stand back and just try to separate the good things and the bad things, the good things and the bad things, the good things and the things they like and the bad things and the things they don’t like. That isn’t the Bible. He says, for we know that all things work together for good.

This is why the Holy Spirit groans. You see, the Holy Spirit is to take all the things that happens in our life and make them work together to conform you and me to His image, because that’s what His job is. And whenever we don’t yield and we fight against the things that happens in our life and we get bad attitudes and we get ugly toward God, it’s because the Holy Spirit doesn’t have the freedom to work in our lives.

He’s not conforming us and that’s his job. That’s what he wants He wants to bring us forth from the way we are in our in maturity as a child of God into an adult A mature man or a mature woman of God Every woman in here would you consider yourself a gracious Godly Christian woman? Whatever man consider yourself to be a Christian gentleman a God-fearing man Because every one of us should be allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our lives to change us.

Because God doesn’t want you to stay the way he wants to bring you for to deliver you from the power of sin and the slide from the old sinful nature from the things of the world from the power of the devil and make you a strong Christian. And he’s greed when you don’t yield. Now, you’ll notice when he makes a statement here in verse 28, for we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose.

and what is his purpose after we trust the Christ of Seagly? He says in verse 29, For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be, and you ought to underline these words, conform to the image of his son. Conform is change. Any way you cut it. When he says in Romans in chapter 12, be not conformed to this world, it means don’t let the world make you like the world. But what he says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind, it means let the word of God change you into something else.

Yes or no? Yes, that’s what the book says. So should there be changes in a Christian’s life? Yes, there should be changes in a Christian’s life. That is the only evidence that you can have that the Holy Spirit is working in your life that you are growing in the Lord. and that you have revealed something in your life that maybe wasn’t there before. You are conforming to the image of Christ. In other words, you become more and more like the Lord.

And yet in this life, you and I will never totally conform to the image of Christ. times, not until the day that we leave this body will be changed in a moment with that word changed in a moment, the twinkling of an eye and cut up to meet the Lord. That’s when our total change will take place. And then you’ll have and be all that God wants you to be. You see, you don’t change your life to be saved because that would be works for salvation.

You don’t change your life. You don’t promise God you’re going to change. You don’t have to stop anything. Join anything. All you do is just simply as you best you can. I’m a sinner and I believe Christ died, paid for my son. I’ll trust him046 my savior. And once you do that, then you are God’s child. You have eternal life. You’re going to heaven whenever you die. And that’s good news. Born into his family. But the work’s not over.

The Lord is just beginning a good work. Now, get what he says here. In verse 20, I’m whom he did for. that’s the foreknowledge of God. That’s an attribute. He also did predestinate. That’s an act of God.nd that’s what he does. And so he says that these things that come into our lives in this life and all these sufferings that we piety go through are the very tools that the Holy Spirit uses to conform Wikipedia. Now what is the attitude that you have toward the things that goes against your grain?

How do you handle it? How you do it? Remember, it’s a battle right up here in the mind. This is where you either win or lose. If you understand this, you’ll know that God is behind this, and God can use this to make me a better, stronger person than I watched before. 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. message.

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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, 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.

The title of today’s message. I call it the devil’s spin. I’m sure you heard enough on the news, especially doing political times, where someone makes a statement and then you have to have the commentators come on afterwards and tell you what he said, because you weren’t smart enough to get it. So they have to tell you what he really meant and they put a spin on it. Well, believe it or not, I believe the master spinner is the devil himself.

He’s always trying to put a spin on what God says. You see, when God told Adam and Eve in the garden the truth, he put a spin on it, says, I shall not surely die, making you believe something else. That casting questions and doubts about the truth. And he hasn’t stopped. I believe every Christian would serve a Lord if the devil wouldn’t put a spin on what God promised. There’s no one that wants you and me to be happier, to have more pleasure in life than the Lord.

He created life and he wants us to be happy, wants us to be filled with joy. Many things you write in his word that you may be, that your joy may be full and talks about the joy of salvation. But if the devil would just leave us alone, you see, you’re now born with a sinful nature and we have a temptation to believe everything he says. That’s why we’re filled with questions and doubts and despair because the old devil is alive and well.

And he’s putting a spin on everything that God says. When it comes to salvation, remember the devil’s putting a spin saying that you have to earn your way to heaven. Oh, he might even agree that you’re saved by grace, but he’s going to add a little bit of works to it just to help just in case. You know, in case God really didn’t mean what he said, he just better be good just in case. So he puts a spin on it.

But that little spin that he puts on it, that one little work that he gets you to trust in is a way of damning your soul for eternity. You see, it’s a great thing to believe the truth. It’s a very dangerous thing to believe a lie. Not to believe many people understand just how critical our lives are and the things that happens to us that cause us either to believe or not to believe. Even like Peter says, Lord I believe this helped my unbelief.

Then after you trust the Lord, know you have eternal life, know that you’re going to heaven when you die. Now Satan puts another spin on it. Look, now he doesn’t want you to do any good deeds. See before you’re saved, he don’t mind if you do good deeds to save yourself because he knows it’s a lie. Well after you’re saved, well sometimes saved by grace, I don’t have to do anything. All my sins are paid. I’m going to heaven whenever I die.

I can live like I please. But he doesn’t tell you the whole thing. Even whenever he was trying to tempt Christ in Matthew chapter 4, he didn’t quote everything. He didn’t tell the whole truth. See, the Bible says, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, but he was doing it. He was trying to tempt the Lord thy God. But he don’t quote everything. He takes part of things and twist it, puts a spin on it. And so now that you know Christ is your Savior, he’s going to do everything he possibly can to put of spin on why you should not serve the Lord and why you should not be faithful, why you shouldn’t give the way you should, why you shouldn’t witness.

You see, you would do all those things naturally if the devil would just leave things alone, but he won’t. He has his ministers out there, he has his preachers of false messages, and they put a spin on everything that God says, whatever is truth, there’s a lie out there telling you that it ain’t And you and I would be wise to listen to what God says. I want everyone to serve a Lord. And some people serve the Lord because they just feel fun guilty.

Guilty if they don’t. And I have a little bit of that. Because I don’t want to serve a Lord out of guilt, but some people just feel like, you know, I have failed and failed and failed and I feel so guilty that they just hardened themselves, become calloused, and they don’t bother them anymore. At one time it used to really bother them whenever they wouldn’t read the Bible and it really bothered them when they wouldn’t witness And it really bothered them when they wouldn’t go to church It really bothered them when they you know said things they shouldn’t say and went to places They shouldn’t go but you know after a while it doesn’t bother them anymore.

They become callous to it Well, we shouldn’t serve the Lord out of guilt, but there’s a little guilt by not being obedient and And some people serve the Lord out of fear, just plain afraid that if I don’t God’s gonna beat our tar out of me. Well, I don’t want to serve a Lord for that reason. Though it is a reason. It’s a reason why some people do what they do. But they go to church because they’re afraid if they don’t, God’s going to break their neck and throw them in a hospital.

I guess you could use that as a great motivating force. I trusted the Lord for the main reason that I didn’t want to go to hell. He says that’s the wrong reason. That was a pretty good reason for me at that time. I didn’t want to go to hell. So I believe a man has to know the consequences of what his sins produce. So because you and I are sinners and if we’re lost then we know that dam we’re going to hell and that fear works pretty good.

And that’s why a lot of people trust the Lord. But after you trusted Christ as your Savior, should you and I be motivated by the fear? Now the Bible talks about there is the fear of the Lord and we should fear God. But I believe it’s talking about having a holy, reverential respect for the Lord, knowing the awesomeness, the power that God has and what He can do in our individual lives. So there can be a healthy thing, but to go through life, be afraid all the time, it’s not a good thing.

There’s always a limit and the devil will always take and put a spin on everything You know if you’re gonna if you’reras up and you know you’re gonna mess up you might be just mess up big And now that you’re gonna ruin your testimony There’s no hope for you and God can’t use you so you might would just go all the way and Some people just get in the mud and they stay there all the days of the life because they They listen to a lie Somebody took the truth and put a spin on it and they become disheartened Dejected felt like it’s not worth it anymore We got a big old Bible here is a big old Bible It’s got a lot of things in it and yes, that’s got the law in there It’s got a lot of rules and regulations a lot of ceremonial laws civil laws and all this all kind of laws

Even all the way through to New Testament. There’s a lot of news and don’t it But what you and I need to see and understand is that behind all of these laws and rules and regulations There’s a person. This person is gone. This person is the person Jesus Christ and says that the law is to lead us to Christ. It leads us to it. So the law isn’t bad. It’s just that it leads you to somebody. It’s not the end in itself.

The rules and regulations that sometimes the parents lay down upon the child is Adinida that’s not the end in itself. It’s just the kind of like guidelines to hold you in to and to constrain that old central nature that they have and believe me They do have one you don’t remove the rules and regulations You’ve just got to try to point them in a right direction say look focus upon money and daddy You always telling them we love you Mommy loves you daddy loves you and you’re trying to them to love you back and you try to do right to the child and you want the child to do right because 11, but you don’t move the rules and regulations.

They’re there for a reason. Some parents believe that it’s good just to compromise and remove them all. Let the child just do whatever the child wants to do because if we lay down any rules and regulations, they’ll just rebuild. If they do, they have already rebelled in their heart. And this is why as time goes on, it’s easier sometimes to raise kids, just give them the free reign, let them do whatever they want. Doesn’t go wherever they want, dressing the way you want, and remove all the restraints.

You say they’ll be happier. No, they won’t be. Because it’s to keep them from trouble and it’s to help them. Same thing in the Bible when you find the rules and regulations, but you and I are to understand that behind all of this, we don’t study the Bible so we can fall in love with the rules. We don’t fall in love with all the law. We fall in love with the person. When you fall in love with the person that’s behind it all, then you don’t even see the rules and that don’t bother you anymore because you’re in love with the person and that love is what will challenge and motivate you and It’s the greatest thing for you now Take your Bible in turn to 2 Corinthians in chapter 5 2 Corinthians and chapter 5 Everybody knows it.

Everybody wants to be loved and we need a little tender loving care Kind of like the the man that Well, he was getting very, very sick. So he went to the doctor to find out what was wrong with him. And he just didn’t have any will to live. So after he talked to the doctor, the doctor says, I need to talk to your wife. So the wife came in and he says, your husband is in very, very bad shape.

And for some reason or other, his well-being, depends upon him receiving a lot of tender loving care. And if you’ll give him a lot of tender loving care that he might make it. Now one begin to think, all they’ve been doing for all their married life is arguing and hiding, arguing and fighting, never getting along. And he told her he says, look, if y’all just don’t have any more arguments, no fighting, and you just give them all the tender loving care that that he can get and fix his favorite meals and do all these wonderful things.

He could live a long time. But she said, what if I don’t? What if he’ll die? So when they left and got in the car and started down the road, he says, honey, what did the doctor tell you? She kind of looked sad. And he says, the doctor says you’re gonna die. I want you to look there in chapter five, second Corinthians in chapter five, I’m looking for a 14. He says, for the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judged that if one died for all, then we’re all dead.

That he died for all that they which lived should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. Now in verse 14, there’s a good way of looking at this word. And I have always looked at it as the love of Christ. And as though it always referred to Christ’s love for me because he says, because we thus judge, we judge this way. that he died for us. And I and you are the judge that if he died for one, he died for all, and those who believe, well, should live for the one who died for them.

And I believe it’s good in his accurate. When two truths are parallel, equally true, then maybe God means that both of them were right. When it says here in verse 14, for the love of Christ, is that His love for me or the love of Christ my love for Him? Or which one would be right? Is it the love that Christ has for me that motivates me to serve the Lord? Or is it my love for Him that motivates me to serve the Lord?

Which one would be false? Or maybe both of them are true? I should serve Lord because he loves me. Look what he did for me. But because of what he did for me, my love for the Lord, my love of Christ, the love of God, the love of Christ should motivate me than to serve him. Now see it’s not a spin on truth. It’s an amplification or magnification of the truth. Seeking to understand as much as you possibly can and understand it all that we will never do.

But Joel chapter 3 is talking about a time when God’s going to gather all the nations of the world against Israel and bring them to the valley of Jehassapah. And here’s all these people that came there. And of course, I believe this is the Battle of Armageddon, a time that’s coming. And he says in verse 2, I will gather all nations and we’ll bring them down into the village of Hasabam. But here’s all this multitude of people. The Lord talks about how that he’s going to take these grape vines from all over the world, and he’s going to pull all these grapes into his big bowl.

And then he’s going to take his feet and he’s going to stomp the feet on these grapes because they’re ripe on the harvest. And he’s going to let the grape juice flow out about 200 miles down toward the Kidron Valley by the walls of Jerusalem. And put in the sickle, the harvest is right, come get you down for the presses full, the fats overflow for their wickedness is great. So we know that this is talking about wickedness and God’s judgment upon the world.

And He says here in verse 14, multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision. For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. When this time happens, it says, the sun and the moon shall be darkened and the stars shall withdraw their shining. This is the time that’s coming. But what about people that are living today? All over the world, multitude, multitudes in a valley of decision. We often talk about the time that we live upon this earth.

Time you’re born, time you die. It’s one big valley. And yet, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we live from the time we’re born to the time we die, we live in a valley that produces the fear of death. And yet, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear. No, we will. You and I don’t have to fear because we’ve already made a decision. But there’s multitudes in this valley of the shadow of death that never made the right decision.

They believed the spin that the devil gave to them upon the truth. You’re not going to die. It’s always way out there. It’s always way out there. And you’re not going to die now and you got time. You can always get ready later. And the road to hell is paid with good intentions, always intended to get right. I’m going to trust the Lord one of these days. I’m going to go to church one of these days. If I serve the Lord, then things are going to really happen bad to me.

And God’s going to make me poor all my life. I’ve done seeing too many poor missionaries and poor preachers, and I just don’t want to be poor all my life and do about the luxuries of life. I am accustomed to a higher standard of living. I’ll bless you a little peeping heart. Who cares? God’s not interested in all that stuff. It’s whatever you’re willing to do or to give to be for the Lord. Here’s churches all across America, around the world, where people will set in churches of their choice.

Each week take your voice to the church of your choice and sing all the hymn with respect. We’ll be glad to get you and your offering to be a cash money order or check. our doctrines are clear, just be good and sincere. If you’re tired of your sin, we will welcome you in if you show up at least once a year. And so there’s people all over the world going to churches of their choice that have nothing to do with how to go to heaven.

But they made decisions. The wrong decision because somebody put a spin upon truth. I believe that we should know the Bible, believe the Bible, and let it totally control our lives. Take a Bible and look in the book of Joshua, the book of Joshua, chapter 24. This is a great chapter. Got some good stuff in it. Joshua’s going to die. He’s at the end of his life. Kind of like Paul was when he said, I have fought a good fight.

I’ve kept the faith. And therefore there’s laid up for me a crown of righteousness, but not to me only, but to all them that love is appearing. Here in the Old Testament of Okejosha, chapter 24, he says to the children in verse 14, Now therefore fear the Lord, serve him in sincerity, you ought to underline this, serve him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt serve you the Lord because you can’t serve both.

Every man has the same amount of time and every day 24 hours and you can worship God or not worship God. It’s your choice. You’re in a valley of decisions. You’re always making decisions as you go through this little valley from birth until death. And what are going to do with it. God wants us to be happy. I’ve lived long enough to see a lot of people who believe what God said and God used them and blessed them in a great way.

Now look what He said in verse 15, and if and you ought to underline these words, it seems evil. It seems evil and the only way it can seem evil is that the devil put a spin on it and you believe it. Do you think it’s evil to serve God. It’s wrong to do right. Is it wrong to be faithful to God’s people and the church that God established? And that’s what God wants us to do. Evidently, some people don’t believe that.

That’s why I tell people, look, if you’re not going to serve the Lord, it doesn’t matter what you do. Do you really worship the true and living God? Remember the first commandment in the word? love of the Lord thy God with all thy hard mind, body, soul, and strength. Make no graven images of any kind to anything. You worship only the Lord. The last part of that verse says, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Isn’t it wonderful that God created such a wonderful world for us to live in? Did you know whenever he made all the animals, he made them for us? When he created the the earth itself, he did it for us. He didn’t need it. God didn’t need the animal. He didn’t need the trees. He didn’t need the pretty flowers. He made all that for us. He said, well, why? He could bring us pleasure so that we could enjoy it. God says He has given to us all things to freely enjoy.

Nobody wants you to have more enjoyment of life than God Himself. It’s the devil that tells you just the opposite, that God’s way won’t work. Yes, His way will. Have you ever noticed that this body that God gave us to live in this world, we often call it the senses of the body, you know, like the tongue and the taste? Did you know that to sustain the body you can eat food, but you wouldn’t have to have taste buds, tea food.

You can eat food without taste buds. But what does taste buds do for the food? You can enjoy the taste of the food. It’s not just to feed the body because you could just swallow it whole without chewing and their tasting it and now they can even feed it through the veins and you didn’t get to taste it at all. Oh God, God could have fed us that away without any taste at all. Aren’t you glad that God allowed, oh why did God give us taste buds?

For pleasure to enjoy the taste of food. Anybody like ice cream? Want to taste good? Or strawberries with chocolate on it? Do you want it to taste good? And all kinds of wonderful things that you can eat and enjoy because it just tastes good. What’s that God did that because God wants you to enjoy. He didn’t have to do that. But that’s because God wants us to have pleasure to enjoy something. You take the eye. You know, we could see in black and white.

In my remember a long time ago that all the televisions came out in black and white. There was no color. I remember when there was no color on TV. Anybody else remember that? But why do we like it in color? It enhances it. But look at this world that we have. You see, if God didn’t give us not just vision to see, but the color to see a beautiful sunset, God doesn’t need to see a beautiful sunset for pleasure so that we can enjoy.

Because we love the different colors. God didn’t have to do that. But because he designed us and life to please us. That’s what he did. He wants us to be happy. It’s the devil that put the spin on everything. And so we got eyes that get color. We didn’t have to have that. And we got a tongue that can taste. Have you ever heard beautiful music? And have you ever heard it in stereo? Why couldn’t God just give you one ear right there?

All you need was one ear if it’s just a ear. But the hearing stereo sounds coming from everywhere. Beautiful. And then on top of that, isn’t it wonderful to have all the different kinds of instruments? The different notes and then be able to put them together and hear some beautiful orchestration that just really blows your mind or to have a good concert where it sounds so great and you sit there and you are pleased with what you hear. It’s pleasant to the ears.

It produces pleasure. You enjoy it. Is there something wrong with it? God did that. See, there’s things that we can enjoy all the way through life. But all these things that I’m mentioning to you are the things of the body. This is the body that connects us with the world in which we live. I want you to take your Bible look in Genesis chapter 18, hearing the book of Genesis in chapter 18, look there in verse 11. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well-stricken, I like the way that’s word.

He didn’t call her an old lady, well-stricken in age, and it cease to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore, Sarah laughed within herself saying, after I am waxed old, shall I have, what’s that, you ought to underline that word? Shall I have pleasure? Did you know that with the physical body, one of the greatest pleasures in life is between a man and a woman, are together in intimacy. Who created that? God did. who created sex, God did.

And it was for pleasure and to create children. But you know what? If it wasn’t for the pleasure, I believe the human race would have been extinct long time ago. And it’s a wonderful thing that God has given to us to enjoy in marriage, but that’s something God did. But notice all of these things deals with the body. I believe one of the greatest pleasures of life has nothing to do with the physical body. The greatest pleasure is that inter-belief that you are pleasing God.

And when I please God, by my obedience, brings the greatest pleasure, more than anything that I’ve mentioned as the time goes on. There’s great pleasure that you’ll find in those people that you want the Christ. See there’s spiritual pleasures that will bring you greater joy and happiness than all of things that you can get from your body. And you might see a nice house, but it’s temporary. And the pleasure of a new car, but it’s temporary. Even sexual intimacy, that’s temporary.

The taste buds is temporary. What you hear, it’s temporary. What you see, it’s temporary. But the things done by the pleasure of the Holy Spirit living within you is eternal in nature. It’s pleasure forevermore, joy unspeakable. And one of these days you and I are going to be in heaven. And the pleasure, the joy that we’ll have when we stand at the Judgement City of Christ, like Paul says, ye are my joy at the Judgement City of Christ. And that’s joy, that pleasure forever.

When Christ rewards you for what you’ve done for Him, that is pleasure and rewards and joy that nothing inGoldMagikarp this world can compare to. There’s nothing here that can prayer to the pleasure that you can have in the Lord. The joy of singing songs to the Lord. The joy of witnessing. The joy of studying God’s words, the joy of being with God’s people, the joy of all these wonderful things that God has given to us. There’s a spiritual pleasure that many people never enter into.

They robbed themselves of it because the devil put a spin on the truth of God. Before salvation, the old devil and says, do good. Then after you’re saved, do nothing. That’s what makes most Christians, but for nothing. 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, 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. 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 mother… and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us to free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at Calvary of Tampa.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. Jim was not the individual that a girl would want to date. Jim had his marbles but his shooter was missing. It means that he didn’t have it all together. He was slower than the normal individual. But when he came to Ranch, he looked a little funny because he also had an eye that had been injured.

When he was a child, he played with scissors and he had cut his eye. And because of that, he had to take cortisone shots for the eye. He came to Ranch one night in Lo and Behold. He heard the gospel for the first time. And he sat there and he could not believe that God loved him because nobody ever loved him. Nobody wanted anything to do with him. Nobody in school wanted anything to do with him. No girls would date him because he was a lard.

But not because of any choosing he’d done, he can’t help it. But nobody wanted anything to do with him. He had two last feet. You would call him probably a nerd or something, but he came to ranch and he heard that God loved him and paid for his sins and he trusted Christ as his savior. Well, after that, Jim wanted to get other people to trust the Lord. And so he would do a thing he could. And when he come to ranch meeting the Bible study, He’d want to bring some people with him.

And sometimes people wouldn’t come. One night Ray was in his house. I used to be an exterminator, so I used to get the opportunity to go to his house, and I would kill bugs. And so I’d been all over his house, upstairs, downstairs, and all the closets and everything because I was an exterminator. I know where this took place. Well, I should say in the afternoon, Ray heard an 18-wheeler come down the road, down his one-way street, And he couldn’t believe it.

Our 18th wheel was coming down the street. So he went out there to look and lo and behold, here comes this guy that you always hear about this truck driver. You know, that has those great big old muscles built kind of like I am and has those tattoos all over his arm. You know, the big old black cigar in his mouth, you know? That big old mean, rough type guy. Well, there he is. And he drove up and Ray walked up to him and said, Sir, can I help you?

He says, I’m looking for a guy named Ray Stanford. He says, I’m Ray. He said, well, we never met, but I was driving down interstate and I picked up this kid with his dog. I don’t even know the kid’s name. Ray says his name was Jim Tented. He says that’s right. How’d you know? He says never mind. Go ahead. He’s well I had a sign here. He says no writers but for some reason I picked him up. And we were driving down the road and he was telling me how you can know you have eternal life and he says that you could explain it to me.

And he said I’ve often fallen asleep at the wheel and I’ll catch myself right before I go off the road. He says one day days I thought I’m not gonna wake up in time and I’m going to die. And I was wondering about that. When I saw this kid and I just picked him up and Ray says, yes, I can explain it to you. He said, look up here. This is you and me. Now Ray’s standing outside and he’s up there in the truck.

He says, this is you and me and this is sin. We all have sin on us, but God says he loves us, but he hates our sin. And the Lord says that if we pay for that sin, it’s eternal separation from God. So you have to be perfect to go to heaven, nobody’s perfect. We’re all sinners. We can’t save ourselves. This is Jesus Christ. He’s God in the flesh. He came into the world because he loved it. He took our sins, paid from the cross, came back from the dead.

God said, if you’ll believe he did it for you, that he paid for your sins, he’ll give eternal life and you’ll go to heaven on what he did for you. He says, that makes sense. He said, yes, it does. He said, if it makes sense right now, will you trust Christ as your Savior? That man said, yes, I will. He trusts the Christ as Savior and got ready to leave. You know, Ray says, well, I don’t guess I’ll see you again.

That guy says you’ll see me in heaven. And he’ll laugh. But Jim would always want to talk to people and witness to people. And one night, Ray was, he usually gets up about four o’clock. It still does. Because he only needs about four or five hours sleep at night. And when he wakes up, he wanted to get a book off the shelf. He has bookshelf. He had always ran his bed. When he wakes up, he just picked him off the shelf and he’d read it.

He said, but I couldn’t find anything I wanted to read. He said, I even got my Bible and I tried to read my Bible. I couldn’t read my Bible. Then, then seen anything I wanted to read. He said, I know what I’m going to do. I’m going to go out and read the paper. I’ll get on there and get the newspaper. So he went downstairs and he was still in his underwear. But it’s four o’clock in the morning and he opens the door and he looks this way and looks that way.

Nobody’s out there. So he knows all he got doing the paper laying right there. So he thought, I’ll just get it real quick. So he run it real quick, grabbed the hold of the paper, and before he could get back in, he heard a voice from across the street saying, Ray, Ray, wait, wait! He jumped in the house, opened the door back up, and there’s that gym tangent across the street. He said, wait, I’ll get my pants on so anyway it came in.

And he had a boy with him. When he got inside, he says, Ray, I want you to witness to him. See, this is a little Catholic boy. He doesn’t know for sure. He has eternal life. He said, I talked to him, but I don’t make it clear like you do. And he began to scheme, how can I get this little boy to talk to Ray because his mother and they wouldn’t let him come to the meeting? And so he was concerned about this boy that had a paper route.

He says, what if I help you roll your papers and throw your papers for you? And if we get through early, we’ll go by and see my friend Ray. He says, okay, we’ll do that. So he had gotten up earlier that morning to help this kid roll his papers, throw the papers, and they came back to Ray’s house, and they’re setting out in front of Ray’s house about four o’clock in the morning, and they’re setting on this little thing that goes around the tree, and they’re sitting there.

And the kid says, how is he going to know we’re out here? He says, I’m going to ask God to send him out. And so he bowed his head and says, Lord, please send Ray out. And that’s when Ray popped out the door. You’re talking about a kid that nobody else. But see, he wants to be used by God. He believed that God will answer his prayer. And he would do things that would be strange to some people. And that little boy heard for the first time that God loved him and paid for his sin, paid all of his sins.

And all he had to do was trust him and God saved that little boy. And Jim was thrilled to death. But you see, Jim also, he wanted more than anything else in the world. He wanted his mom to trust the Lord. I know what it’s like because after I trust the Lord, you know who I wanted to trust the Lord? I wanted my mom to trust the Lord. But you become concerned, but his mom was an alcoholic. If you’ve ever lived with an alcoholic, you know what it’s like.

The Bible calls him drunkard, but we got a better name alcoholic, but it does the same damage. That’s what my dad was. My dad was a bootlegger. And I’m not my, he going a two week drunk. I mean, I’ve seen the hell raising. And I determined, years ago, I didn’t want that from my life. And I did that before I ever knew the Lord, but alcohol is destructive. But his mom was already showing signs of the deterioration in her body, and she had the cough, and she was just, you know, she would die in a cancer, but she didn’t know it, not at that time.

But he kept saying, boy, I want my mom to trust the Lord. But his mom wouldn’t listen to him. Mom didn’t want anything to do with him. He tried to witness to his brother, and his brother wouldn’t listen to him. And so he was a lonely individual. Nobody would talk to him or have anything to do with him, except Ray. And Ray did because a kid came to ranch and he had a burden for souls. And so Ray would talk to the individuals that he would bring.

And Jim came in the house and said, Ray, would you go talk to my mom? And Ray said, yeah, I’ll go talk to him. Just one of these days, we’ll go by and see him. He said, Ray, once you go by and see mom now, she’s very sick. And Ray, she’s not saved. Ray said, well, I’ll go by and see her son. And I got some things I got to do right now. Ray, why don’t you go by right now?

He said he pushed the porch off the side. He got on his motorcycle and they went over to see him. When they got there, he went around the house, said they lived in a shack. And he went to the front door and he could hear Jim inside. He said, Mom, I’m going to raise you. Raise you. Won’t you let him come in and talk to you? No, I don’t want him coming to the house. The house was a mess.

And Ray hollered at her and said, look, You think your house would measure you out of sea mine and he thought I’d give up these port jobs that I got to talk to her and So she said alright come on in so he went in and she’s laying there in bed He explained the gospel to her he explained how that she could simply Believe that Jesus Christ paid for her sins and if she trusts Christ or Savior She have eternal life and go to heaven whenever she dies She people make it too hard and complicated it ain’t hard and a complicated child can understand that Follow for you my wallet and you accept what would you have a wallet?

I’ve offered you my Bible and you accept what you have, you have a Bible, that’s the thing you need to understand. Salvation is that simple, but what it talks about is just look and live. Drink this water and you shall never thirst. Eat this bread and you shall never hunger. It’s simple. Salvation going to heaven is the easiest thing in the world. People make it hard, but it’s not hard. Because you don’t have to live a certain way. Salvation is free.

It’s Him saving you, giving you eternal life. And she trusts the Lord. Jim was excited. He says, now all I got to do is get my brother. Boy, if I could get my brother, I’d give my life if my brother would trust the Lord. Well, one night he brought somebody to Ray’s house, a guy named Jim Peacock. Jim Peacock was brown as a bear. He had short black hair. He had brown beady eyes. He had a white calypso pants.

He was barefooted. He was built like little Abner. Have you ever seen the old comic years ago? That’s what he looked like. And he walked over to Ray’s coat machine and he took out two coat bottles out of the crate and he put them down, two bottles, and he did the handstand. And while he’s standing up on the Nato, and his muscles are rippling, he just stands there. And Jim has talked to him right. The guy’s upside down. So Ray got his wallet out and got down there to the guy and he could see his eyes.

And he says, this is you and me, this is sin. And we’ve all done things wrong and so forth. And went to an explainer and says, now, if you trust Christ as your Savior, give you turn life and you go to heaven and you die. He said, you understand what I’m saying? He said, yeah. He said, well, will you right now? Will you trust Christ? do that. Ray said, I wouldn’t have given you a quarter for what he said.

He got down to that. Ray said, well, I’ll never see him again. A couple days later, Ray told Sue, locked the house. He saw a bucket of bolts driving down an old jalape and there was a peacock, an old jalape and about 10 people and it packed in. And he said one woman looked like she was, he didn’t know if she was inside getting out or outside getting in. What she had on was They all sat tight. They all sat on a big old ping pong table they had.

There was a double layer with plywood. He sat on a thing. They all sat down. Give him your religious speech. Sure, Jim. So Ray began to explain to the gospel. This is you and me. This is Sam. We all have sinned hearts. He explained it to him. And how that God loves you. They hate your sin. Took your sin, paid for him. I came back from the dead. And Ray got through it. He says, you trust the Lord. So whatever you say, this is Jim Peacott now.

This is the one where Brown was a bear had be the eyes on. He says, you trust the Lord. Everyone, he told everyone what to do and they all did it. You say, well, you can’t do that that way. You do it your way and let Jim Peacock do it his way. And when he got through, he said, okay, let’s go. He thought I’d never see him again. A couple of days later, Jim Peacock shows up again. He said, right?

These are a few things and he had some bridles and a few things to stir. He said, I want to give these to you. It says, what for? He says, just something to remember me by. You can put on your wall and ranch. Well, I appreciate that. He said, but where are you going? He said, I’m just going away. He said, well, where are you going? And he didn’t want to tell Ray. He said, well, since I trusted Christ as my Savior, I want to serve the Lord and I want to do right.

He says, I’m part of a gang. We’ve been stealing cars, selling parts, and then dumping the rest of it in Coral Gables Waterway. Piddly’s been looking for me for a long time. Someone turned myself in. He turned himself in and they sent him to a rafered prison down in Florida. Jim, he gets one here and one there. He says, I want to get my brother. Thought of a scheme. One day while Ray was eating, he looked out there and lo and behold, Jim comes running across the yard and there’s a taxi cabin.

Pulled up in the thing and Ray was concerned about what the world of the taxi cab doing there. And Jim comes in and just a huffing in the pub. He says, Ray, Ray, he’s here. He says, who’s here? The taxi cab man, he’s my brother’s best friend. Ray, if you lead him to the Lord, he’ll get my brother. That’s how the kid thinks. He had a hitch-tight on the other side of Miami, found out where his brother, his brother’s friend, had a taxi cab route and he called for cab and he came and got him and took him all the way to Ray’s house.

And Ray looked and the meter was running and he knew that Jim ain’t got a dime. He says, Jim, does he know why he’s here? No. If I told him he wouldn’t have come. But Ray’s not saved. All right. Ray goes out there and starts talking to the tactic, man. When he got out there and started talking to him, the guy was not interested at all. He was cold, hard, wouldn’t look at him, could care less. And Ray, you know, he’s trying his best.

But you know, sometimes you can’t make people listen. You can’t make them concerned about themselves. And so he said, oh, so he just reached in and pulled out his wallet. He said, well, let me explain this to you. The guy wasn’t interested, wouldn’t pay any attention. He pulled out his wallet and says, look, look, this hand represents you and me and this separate represents sin. And all of a sudden the taxi cab man, his eyes got big. He smiled and looked at Ray.

He says, I’ve seen that before. He says, where? He said, well, I don’t want to say. I just got out of Rayford. There was a guy that came down there. And he was explaining this to me. And he was telling me about this, and he showed me this same illustration. A guy who just came to Rayford, a prison in Florida. And all of a sudden he’s alert and he wants to hear more. And Ray explains it to him and the guy says, yes, I will trust Christ as my Savior.

Now, all the coincidences, he’s just coincidences. No, there’s a God in heaven who’s looking for somebody he can use. See, God will use anybody that wants to be used. Jim says, maybe he’ll get my brother now, but he didn’t witness to his brother. A few days past and that cab come pulling back up in the raised yard there. And this time the meter wasn’t running. And Jim got out of the car and he ran up to Ray and he was just a sobbing.

Just heartbroken. He says, Ray, mama’s gone. grandma’s gone and he sobbed, just wept. And he found out that his mother was crossing 22nd Avenue in it. I think it was a grocery truck that hit her, killed her instantly. And Ray told him, said, well, son, you know, she was down at cancer and maybe the Lord’s been merciful to her. He said, mom was gone. And Ray said, I felt so sorry for the kid because he don’t have anybody. His brother doesn’t care about him.

There is nobody else that cares about this kid. Now his mother is dead and then all of a sudden, while he’s standing there sobbing. He says, Ray, he says, if you speak at my mother’s funeral, my brother will be there. And I’d give my life if my brother would trust the Lord. Ray did the funeral. And he told about how the gym had got him to go see his mother, and how that she laid in the bed and she was so sick, that he explained the gospel to her because Jim was so concerned about her and that she trusted Christ as her savior.

He gave an invitation and a lot of the kids from the college were set to funeral. But there was one guy that was sitting there with his arms folded and they had a mean stern look and when Ray asked everybody to bow their head, he didn’t bow his head. He just gave Ray a co-stare. He didn’t raise his hand. At about three days or so, came by the house and Ray says, Jim, where have you been? I haven’t seen you for a while.

I thought you’d be over because you just come over every day. He says nothing. He said, I’m just doing some other things. And he would kind of sniff him a little bit. He says, what’s wrong, son? Nothing. And Ray got him a cold in his chin and lifted his face up in his face with black and blue. He says, Jim, did your brother do that to you? And he started sobbing. He says, you made my mother a funeral, a evangelistic service, and he beat me.

And he didn’t like what you said. He said, Ray, I’d give anything my brother would trust the Lord. Well, he, and beating him, he also injured his eye. So he had to go get some shots and sometimes he’d go up North Carolina and get some shots of Corazon and come back. But one night he came back to ranch. When he came to ranch, There was a little girl there. I went to school with Tommy Davis. His wife was a little Jewish woman.

And they had little kids just like we had at that time. Training and David were small. And so he was one of my friends in college. And later he became a teacher there at the Bible College. But Jim didn’t came in one night and he got a hold of a little robin. And he picked her up. And he didn’t know that she had the chicken pox. He had just gotten those other shots, and the chicken pox and the shots, the cortisone shots, kind of reacted together and caused a problem.

But one night when a little robin had grown up and I was down there as a camp, and my daughter trained us, she had grown up also. There were probably 1500 people in this auditorium, mostly teenagers. And Trina Robin was sitting together. And Ray was telling the story. She’ll, she jumps up and she runs out of me and she just saw it. Just to cry. Because she’s the one that had the chicken box that caused some tension to get sick.

Ray got a phone call from Jim and says, Ray, would you do me a favor? He says, what’s that? He says, I’m, I’m not here at the hospital and everything’s okay though, but would you just ask my brother to come and see me? And Ray said, well, what’s, what’s wrong with you? He says, I’m nothin’ serious. I just wouldn’t know if you’d ask my brother to come and see me. He says, okay, I’ll do that for ya. He went by to see Jim’s brother and his brother wouldn’t come.

I wouldn’t go to the hospital to see him. So he went to the hospital to see Jim. When he got there, he walked into the room. He said, I couldn’t believe it. He had purple pot marks all over his body. He says, there wasn’t one place on his body that you could touch without touching a purple pot mark. He said his whole body was covered with it. And he pulled the sheet of old and cut it and it won’t ready to see him.

He says, how did you get to the hospital? And then he started sobbing. He said, well, I told my brother I was sick. And if he would take me to the hospital and they wouldn’t. And he says, well, would you just call the doctor for me? Call the ambulance. His brother wouldn’t do that for him. He says, I managed to crawl down the stairs and I got to the phone and I called the ambulance myself and they took him.

So now he says, I wish that you would just have my brother come and see me, brother won’t even go see me in the hospital. Jim don’t have anybody else. All he had was Ray. He didn’t have all of his smarts, but he loved the Lord. and whatever he had, he wanted God to use them. And he was concerned about where people spent eternity. He didn’t know how to tell them clearly. He could get it started, but he couldn’t always get a cross.

And he always knew if I could get Ray to explain it, Ray will rent him. Ray can get it across to him. He had prayer with him and he left. It wasn’t long before Ray got a call from the hospital and the doctor says, are you Ray Stanford, yeah? He says, if you want to see Jim alive again, he says, you need to get down here right away. So he jumped on the motorcycle and went down there. He said, when he walked into the room, he said, there was this black nurse at the foot of the bed, and the nurse looked over at Ray, and she just shook her head and says, no hope.

He walked over to the bed, he took Jim by the hand and he says, Jim, this is Ray. And he started breathing just as normal. That nurse eyes got base, She went out of the room and they came in. We’re about the doctrine, about three or four more nurses. They came in. Well, Ray knew that they didn’t have much time. So he says to Jim, he says, son, you’re stealing the march on me. He says, you’re gonna get to see Jesus before me.

He says, and Jim, you know you have eternal life and you’re going to have one you die because you know that all you had to do is trust Christ. And so he’s talking to Jim, but he knows they’re listening. And he explained the gospel, wow, Jim is dying. When he got through, he looked at him and he pulled out his wallet. He says, let this represent you and me, this represents sin. And all four of them trusted Christ with their Savior.

And Ray left. Jim died. Well, Ray did the funeral. But when he did the funeral, he kept remembering. He said, I’ll give my life if my brother would trust the Lord. And Ray was going to do the funeral, so he did the funeral. And the place was full. Jim’s brother was there. But Ray lowered the boom. He told the people that were sitting there. He said, I did, Jim’s mom. I did her funeral. And when he went home, his brother’s sitting right here, beat him, beat him.

And because of that, he had to get corded on shots. And then he got chicken pox. And he died fromundown. And his brother wouldn’t even take him to the hospital. He wouldn’t even come to the hospital to see him. He said, but this time his brother is sitting right there and he saw him the whole time. Ray explained the gospel how you can have eternal life. And this time he was the first one to raise his hand. The trust Christ is his Savior.

He said he came by the house afterwards to seePitt. And he says, I’ve got Jim Tengen’s Bible. Some tangent had a Bible just like Raisin. He wouldn’t take and spend hours copying from Raisin Bible into his Bible. He didn’t know why Ra underlined it, but if he underlined it, it had to be for a reason. And Raisin says, here’s a Bible exactly like mine with all the notes in it, and he’s given it to wha. He says, you take this book and you read this to your childrenOSP.

He says years later, his two sons came to see him. He says, you don’t know me. He says, yes, I know who you are. He says, Jim Tenion was your uncle. And he led them to the Lord. In 1975, I was down there to see Ray. We went to a hospital and we did about two or three visits. He took me to Jim Tenion’s grave. And when we got to Jim Tengen’s grave, he knelt down and he cried. This young kid gave all that he had.

He did all that he could with what he knew. You see, it’s kind of like this. This might be a five-dollar pen. And the purpose of this pen is to write. And I may have a three-cent pencil, but if this five-dollar pen won’t write, and I I need a message to get done. And this 3 cent pencil will write, which one do you think I’m going to use? 3 cent pencil. See the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole or searching for an individual that God can make great on his behalf.

He’s not looking for the high and the mighty, not the most intellectual, the guy who got the most brains and talent and abilities. He’s looking for a dedicated nobody. A person that says, Lord, I’m not much, but whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it. If you know Christ is your Savior, you’re going to heaven when you die. But when your life is over and spent, your race is run end of the day. What have you done for the God?

Has anybody reached anybody you talked to? One day will stand to the judgments of the Christ, and his shows his plan for me. The plan of my life had he had his way, and I see how I checked him here, and I checked him there, and I would not yield my will. Will there be grief in my Savior’s eyes, griefs, though he loves me still? He would have me rich, and I stand there poor, stripped of all but his grace, while memory runs like a haunted dream down the paths I cannot retrace.

Lord of the years that all left for me, I give them into my hand to take me and break me, to mold me, make me into the pattern that thou hast planned. One day we’re going to face God. What have you done? What have you done with your life? Do you really care? It’ll be worth every benefit. There has to be a reason, a motive, an underlying thing that says, I’ve got a burden for souls. Do you have it?

Do you care for people’s spend eternity? Let’s pray, shall we? We’re heads by a nice close and no one looking around. If you have not accepted Christ as your Savior, would you do it right now? I’m not going to have you forward. I’m not going to embarrass you. I just want you to be sure that if you were to die, you’d go to heaven. There’s no tricks to it. There’s no gimmicks to it. I don’t want anything from you.

I simply want you to admit to God. Say, Lord, I’m a sinner. And I believe you died on that cross and paid for my sins. And tonight I will trust you as my Savior. And friend God said, if you trust Him, hit Savior, give your eternal life. Would you do that? If you will, I’d like to have prayer for you. I do it, it hits God’s nice clothes so that nobody will be embarrassed. I want to trick you, not going to pin you against the wall.

But it means so much to me. If you have trust in Christ as your Savior if you have your God’s child as a child of God to let God use you. However, He wants whatever way to whatever degree that God use you. If you’ve never done that, but you’ll do it tonight. So yes, I’m God’s child. I want to dedicate my life to Him. I want to serve Him. I want God to use me. 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 For more information on our website, visit our website at www.bibleline.com. 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’re 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. 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.

Here in the book of 1 Corinthians in chapter 1, 9 verse 26. For you see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble or calm. But God had chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God had chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world, things which are despised, have God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to not things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence.

That last verse that I just read, that no flesh should glory in his presence. That’s why God made salvation by faith and not by works, so that nobody can boast or brag in God’s presence. So God doesn’t want people bragging and boasting about what they’ve done. The Bible teaches us that God wants all the honor and all the glory because He really deserves it. He is God. He’s the one that designed salvation and made a payment by giving His Son so that you and I by simply accepting it can have eternal life and we go to heaven on what He did for us.

And we’re supposed to spend all eternity thanking Him for what great things He had done. I have been saved now 41 years, but my salvation has not gotten so old to me that it’s lost some of its luster. It still burns inside of me. I am so thankful for what God has done for me. I know that I have eternal life. I have never yet understood how any person who has trusted Christ as their Savior has never developed a burden for souls.

See a burden for souls isn’t something you really have to pray for. A burden for soul means a concern, a deep concern for other people to go to heaven. After I trusted the Lord, I became concerned. I wanted my family to know the Lord. I wanted the people where I work to know the Lord. And I determined that I’m going to spend the rest of my life telling people how to be saved, to be sure of one to heaven when they die.

I didn’t know I would be a preacher. I didn’t plan that. I just wanted to tell people how to have eternal life. I don’t look back with regrets. I’m thankful that I had that burden, But not a burden that I had for a little while and then I lost it. I have maintained that concern for 40 years, over 40 years. I still have that same burden, that same concern. I still don’t want people to go to hell. I used to wonder what kind of a person does God use because when I trusted Christ as my Savior, I was 18 years old.

And whenever you’ll come and use to have the old Bible book stored out here in Athens, 1960, I used to go down there when I would have a lunch break. And I would take my little sack lunch and I would run down there from McGregor printing company. And the time I worked there at Benson Bakery. And I’d go down the street as fast as I could and I’d go into the Bible book store and I would get some missionary books off the shelf.

And I asked him if I could sit in the corner and I sit in the corner on the floor. And I would read these missionary books. And he would let me sit there, he’s got customers coming in and out. And here’s this young boy sitting over there in the corner, eating his sandwiches. And reading these books on missionaries. And I used to sit there and I’d forget sometime about the clock. And I’d cry. I would cry because inside I wanted to do something with my life.

I kept reading these stories about how that God used all these people. But I knew that they had something special. But I’d sit there and I would think I don’t have anything special. I can’t do anything. I don’t have any talents. I don’t have any abilities. I dropped out out of high school. I wasn’t raised in church. I didn’t know the Bible.

I had just trusted the Lord. I know I’m saved. I’m going to heaven when I die. But I want to do something. And I was so miserable for so long. Because I was searching for the will of God and I didn’t know it. I kept wondering what kind of a person does God use. And I wanted to be used. I remember asking a preacher, I says, when do you know if God can use your, how do you know? And he just pat me on his shoulder and says, you know, son, you’ll know.

And so for several more years, I wondered, I heard, I searched, I was so empty inside. I remember when I was working for the mince and bakery and I would drive out bread truck every morning getting up here about 3.30 and and loading it, and driving on a route, and I’d get in late at night, six days a week. And any time that I had left, I’d come to church, and went right here to this church. And I’d come to church, and I kept wondering, is this all the rest of life?

I mean, is this it? Getting up in the morning, you go to work, you come home, you get up, you go to work, you come home. There’s gotta be more to life than just that. I didn’t know what it was. I was so hungry inside. And I wanted God to use me, but I knew that I wasn’t fit to be used. I didn’t know what to do. I got so frustrated. The Bible says God has chosen the foolish things of the world, the weak things, the base things.

I thought, you can’t get any bacer than what I am. I’m as low as they come. But if God can use me, I want to serve him. And when I told my wife I was going to go to Bible school, she told her dad. Her dad called me up on the phone. And he says, do you know what you’re doing? Are you sure he did everything his power to talk me out of it? But when I was at Bible College, I had a chance to meet a few people that really helped me an awful lot.

And I saw other people that had the same desire, the same burden that I had. They wanted to serve a Lord. That means you want to live your whole life for Him. You don’t want to do just whatever you want to do. You realize that you’re not smart enough. You don’t have all the intellect that you need to make all the right decisions. You want somebody to tell you what to do. If I let God tell me what to do with my life, I can’t go wrong.

And I found out that that’s true. Forty years later, I can stand here And I can tell you, God is wise. His way does work. It does satisfy. I have no regrets, but I’ve lived long enough to see so many people that also have trusted Christ as their Savior and have lived 40 and 50 years and lived to regret their life because they didn’t serve God. Dr. Stanford, he had a youth work. call it youth ranch. And there was a lot of kids that came to ranch.

And I got to come to ranch one night. And this one night I was all excited because I finally after about two years of being at Bible College, I got to go to ranch and when I got to ranch, I heard the music and I peeked around the corner and I saw Ray in there with all those, the firehouse fire must have been about 20 people playing guitars and all. And there’s about 200 or so kids sitting on the floor, and they were singing and having a good time.

And I was standing there watching. I was scared to go in. And then all of a sudden this one kid walked down the aisle in a hallway and he saw me. I hadn’t gone in. And he was loud. And he was excited. He had taken some pictures and he had developed them. He wanted to show them to somebody. And I just happened to show up. I hadn’t said a word. I’m sending the hallway and he showed me these pictures and he’s talking loud.

And all of a sudden Ray Stanford, he came out of the youth meeting and he came down the hallway and he looked at both of us and he stood there in that hallway and he chewed us out. He says, you two have no concern for souls, you have no burden for people. And you are making all this noise and all this racket and now you have done all this here and you’ve disrupted my meeting and EDITION he was beside himself.

And I stood there, totally in shock, realizing that my first time to come to their youth meeting, and I got chewed out by the president of the Bible College and I hadn’t done anything. And I left one out the door and I went on back, and I was so discouraged. But later on, Ray found out what really happened and he apologized to me. A few months after that, I became the youth director of the Christian youth ranch. Now how God can turn things around.

And I started working with some of the football players. And I didn’t even know how to play football. And one night we had one of the kids who came to the fifth quarter because I used to give devotion for the top two football teams in state of Florida. And they were playing against each other in the orange bowl. That’s not a joke, it’s not a line. I’m just telling what it was true. And there’d be 60, 70,000 people at a high school football game.

Mimey High and Norlin were playing against each other. And both of these football players, I mean, teams, the first string, were in my youth group. I had one of the most awesome youth groups you’ve ever seen in your life, a far sharp, sharp individuals. And the cheerleaders, my youth group, the leaders, they were there. And I give devotion for both teams in the Orange Bowl on both sides. I had to sit on one side one half and the other side the other half because they didn’t want the other side to have an advantage of winning.

They thought it depended upon where I sat. Somebody has to lose. But afterwards we had a big meeting called a fifth quarter. After the football game was rolled with these kids came to our youth meeting and they kept coming till after midnight they kept coming. Ray had an invitation and closed it out about four times. Different than the people that kept coming. It was awesome. And I thought this is tremendous that God uses people like him. But we had one kid there that trusted the Lord.

His name was Stan Ponce. He was about 15 years old, 15 or 16, something like that. But he came out. He trusted the Lord. But Stan was a kid that was sit there and he was quiet. He wouldn’t hardly do anything. And I was working with football players, but Stan was always faithful. He was just always faithful. but he had listened and he learned. And that burden that I had at one time, I would keep teaching and next thing you know, he had the same burden, the same concern.

Now after about 36 years, he’s serving the Lord and he speaks all over America. Doing an awesome job for the Lord. And there’s others I can tell you about, but there’s other kind of people God uses too. It’s not always that super dynamic type of an individual, that football player, cheerleader, now most of them fight you by the wayside. There was a kid who came to our ranch, the ranch sign that Ray had. And his name was Jim Tenjin.

Well, first of all, see Ray, he was the president of the college, but it didn’t just happen automatically. He was in the war. And he’ll let you know that was the second one, not the first war. And when he was there, he said that his plane was shot down over Germany. And he said he was going down. He was a pilot. And he says that he had some men on there that he had never witnessed to him. and it used to tear at him because he knew he should have witnessed him, but he didn’t witness to him.

He would drink with him. And so his testimony wasn’t good and it kind of shut his mouth. But he says, when that plane turned over and started down, he says, I realized I’ve never witnessed any of these guys. And he says, I prayed to God, if you get me out of this, I’ll serve you and I’ll tell people how to have eternal life. Well, he said that God didn’t get him out of it, but he really didn’t dedicate his life.

He really didn’t serve the Lord that much. He said that one day when it came in and they landed and a friend his came in right behind him and when he landed he hit too hard and when he did the stretch went up into the fuselage and when it did he caused a plane to catch on fire and his friend Benny Sahoyat was in the cockpit and jammed the cockpit and he couldn’t get it open. He said I stood there on the deck and I watched my friend that I have drenched with and talked to and joked with and flew with and all this.

He said, I’m never once ever told him how to have eternal life. And he said, I watched my friend as he sat there in that cockpit and he, in the flames are all around him and he’s hollering and he’s looking at Ray and Ray said, I’m standing there. He says that I can’t get to the plane because of the flames and the heat. He says, my face was burnt except for the tears run down my face. He said, I watched my friend burn the death and look at me and cry and scream and he said, I’m never once ever witness to that man ever told him how to have eternal life.

He said how much I would have given the fuck to go back and talk to that man about the Lord. And Ray says, I talked to him just yesterday on the phone. I finally, after 50 years, one of those guys that was in that plane with me, when we went down that I never witnessed two, I finally found him. And I led him to the Lord. He said, I talked to him and I led him to the Lord 50 years later.

Here’s a man 84 years old, still concerned and burdened. But one night, a kid came to the ranch meeting. His name was Jim Kenjin. Jim was not the individual that a girl would want a date. Jim had his marbles, but his shoes. was missing. It means that he didn’t have it all together. He was slower than the normal individual. But when he came to ranch, he looked a little funny. He also had an eye that had been injured. When he was a child, he played with scissors and he had cut his eye.

And because of that, he had to take cortisone shots for the eye. And he came to ranch one night and lo and behold, he heard the gospel for the first time. And he sat there and he could not believe that God loved him because nobody ever loved him. Nobody wanted anything to do with him. Nobody in school wanted anything to do with him. No girls would date him because he was a lord. But not because of any choosing he’d done, he can’t help it.

But nobody wanted anything to do with him. He had two less feet. You would call him probably a nerd or something, but he came to ranch and he heard that God loved him and paid for his sins and he trusted Christ as his savior. Well after that, Jim wanted to get other people to trust the Lord. And so he would do a thing he could. And when he come to ranch meeting the Bible study. He’d want to bring some people with him.

And sometimes people wouldn’t come. And he’d get on his bike and he’d check out the parts and he’d do that just before ranch so he could try to bring somebody to come. Nobody would come. This one night he was feeling kind of down. He has to go to a branch and didn’t have anybody to take. He went by a movie theater, x-rated movie theater. And when he did, these servicemen came out. And he hollered over to him and said, you guys want to to go to a party?”

They said, yeah. They said, there’s any girls there. He said, yeah, lots of them. So, well, let’s go. And so, he held on to their car and he rode his bicycle and he brought them to the Bible study, the Morgan’s home. And when they got there, they opened door and they walked on in and they were halfway in before they realized as they looked around, your several hundred teenagers sitting on the floor with bibles in their hands. And they done walked on in, got in the middle and they were turning around, getting ready to And Ray said, sit down right there.

So they sit down. And Ray gave the gospel, explained to them how that God loves them and paid for their sins. They had been in an X-rated movie theater. They thought they was going to a party where there were some girls. And Ray gave the gospel and one of the boys trusted the Lord. Afterwards they came up to Ray and, what him says, I just want to thank you so much for explaining that to me. And he says, this guy came by and told us about coming here.

that we didn’t know this is what it was, but he said, I trust the Lord and I’m thankful. And his other friend says, I am too. He said, I’ve already trust the Lord. And his friend looked at him and says, you mean you already knew this? He said, yeah. He said, why haven’t you told me about this? You see, when you know you have eternal life and somebody else finds out that you know they wonder why haven’t you told them?

Don’t you love them? Don’t you care? Don’t you want them to go to heaven? But anyway, that’s what Jim would do. He would do that all the time, trying to get people to come and trust Christ as Savior. One night Ray was in his house. I used to be an exterminator. So I used to get the opportunity to go to his house and I would kill bugs. And so I’d been all over his house upstairs, downstairs and all the closets and everything because I was an exterminator.

I know where this took place. Well, I should say in the afternoon, Ray heard an 18-wheeler come down the road, down his one-way street, and he couldn’t believe it, an 18-wheeler would come down the street. So he went out there to look, and lo and behold, here comes this guy that you always hear about this truck driver. You know, that has those great big old muscles kind of like I am and has those tattoos all over his arm, you know, the big old black cigar in his mouth, you know, that big old mean, rough type guy, and there he is.

And he drove up and Ray walked up to him and said, Sir, can I help you? He says, I’m looking for a guy named Ray Stanford. He says, I’m Ray. He said, well, we never met, but I was driving down the interstate and I picked up this kid with his dog. I don’t even know the kid’s name. Ray says his name was Jim Ten did. He says, that’s right. How do you know? He says, mind go ahead. He’s like, how do you sign?

He says, no writers but for some reason I picked him up. And we were driving down the road and he was telling me how you can know you have eternal life and he says that you could explain it to me. And he said, I’ve often fallen asleep at the wheel and I’ll catch myself right before I go off the road. He said, one of these days I thought, I’m not going to wake up in time and I’m going to die.

And I was wondering about that when I And I saw this kid and I just picked him up. And Ray says, yes, I can explain it to you. He said, look up here. This is you and me. Now Ray’s standing outside and he’s up there in the truck. He says, this is you and me and this is sin. We all have sin on us, but God says he loves us, but he hates our sin. And the Lord says that we pay for that sin as he turns up a ration from God.

So you have to be perfect to go to heaven, nobody’s perfect, we’re all sinners. We can’t save ourselves. This is Jesus Christ. He’s God in the flesh. He came into the world because he loved it. He took our sins, paid for them across, came back from the dead. God said, if you’ll believe he did it for you, that he paid for your sins. He’ll give you eternal life and you’ll go to heaven on what he did for you. for you.

He says, that makes sense. He said, yes, it does. He said, if it makes sense right now, will you trust Christ as your Savior? That man says, yes, I will. He trusts the Christ as Savior and got ready to leave. Ray says, well, I don’t guess I’ll see you again. That guy says, you’ll see me in heaven. And he left. But Jim would always want to talk to people and witness to people. And one night, Ray was, he usually gets up about four o’clock.

It still does because he only needs about four or five hours sleep a night. And when he wakes up, he wanted to get a book off the shelf. He has bookshelf. He had always ran his bed. When he wakes up, he just picked him off the shelf and he’d read. He said, but I couldn’t find anything I wanted to read. He said, I even got my Bible and I tried to read my Bible. I couldn’t read my Bible. Didn’t see anything I wanted to read.

He said, I know what I’m going to do. I’m going to go out and read the paper. I’ll get out and get the newspaper. So he went downstairs and he was still in his underwear. But it’s four o’clock in the morning and he opens the door and he looks this way and looks that way. Nobody’s out there. So he knows all he got doing the paper laying right there. So he thought I’ll just get it real quick. So he run it real quick, grabbed the hold of the paper and before he could get back in he heard a voice from across the street saying, Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray!

He jumped in the house, opened the door back up and there’s that gym tangent across the street. He said, wait till I get my pants on so anyway came in and he had a boy with him. When he got inside, he says, Ray, I want you to witness to him. See, this is a little Catholic boy. He doesn’t know for sure. He has eternal life. He said, I’ll talk to him, but I don’t make it clear like you do.

And he began to scheme. How can I get this little boy to talk to Ray because his mother and they wouldn’t let him come to the meeting? And so he was concerned about this boy that had a paper route. He He says, what if I help you roll your papers and throw your papers for you? And then if we get through early, we’ll go by and see my friend Ray. He says, okay, we’ll do that. So he had gotten up early that morning and they helped this kid roll his papers, throw the papers, and they came back to Ray’s house and they’re setting out in front of Ray’s house about four o’clock in the morning.

And they’re setting on this little thing that goes around the tree and they’re sitting there. And the kid says, how is he going to know we’re out here? He says, I’m going to ask God to send him out. And so he bowed his head and says, Lord, please send Ray out. And that’s when Ray popped out the door. You’re talking about a kid that nobody else. But see, he wants to be used by God. He believed that God will answer his prayer.

And he would do things that would be strange to some people. And that little boy heard for the first time that God loved him and paid for his sin and paid all of his sins. And all he had to do is trust him, and God saved that little boy. And Jim was thrilled at death. But you see, Jim also, he wanted more than anything else in the world, he wanted his mom to trust the Lord. I know what to dislike because after I trust the Lord, you know who I wanted to trust the Lord?

I wanted my mom to trust the Lord. But you become concerned, but his mom was an alcoholic. If you’ve ever lived with an alcoholic, you know what it’s like. Bible calls him drunkard, but we got a better name alcoholic. But it does the same damage. That’s what my dad was. My dad was a bootlegger. And I’m not going to be too weak drunk. I mean, I’ve seen the hell raising. And I determined years ago, I didn’t want that from my life.

And I did that before I ever knew the Lord. But alcohol is destructive. But his mom was already showing signs of the deterioration in her body. And she had the cough. And she was just, you know, she would die in a cancer, but she didn’t know it, not at that time. But he kept saying, boy, I want my mom to trust the Lord. But his mom wouldn’t listen to him. Mom didn’t want anything to do with him. He tried to witness to his brother, and his brother wouldn’t listen to him.

And so he was a lonely individual. And nobody would talk to him or have anything to do with him except Ray. And Ray did because a kid came to ranch and he had a burden for souls. And so Ray would talk to the individuals that he would bring. And Jim came in the house and said, Ray, would you go talk to my mom? And Ray said, yeah, I’ll go talk to your mom. Just one of the dates will go by and then say, he said, Ray, once you go by and see mom now, she’s very sick.

And Ray, she’s not saved. Ray said, well, I’ll go by and see her son. I got some things I got to do right now. Ray, why don’t you go by right now? He said, he pushed the pork chops aside. He got on his motorcycle and they went over to see it. When they got there, he went around the house, said they lived in a shack. And he went to the front door and he could hear Jim inside. He said, mama, mama, raise here.

Raise here. Won’t you let him come in and talk to you? No, I don’t want him coming to the house. The house is a mess. And Ray Holler-Detter said, look, you think your house would measure you ought to see mine. And he thought, I’d give up these pork chops that I got to talk to her. And so she said, all right, come on in. So he went in. And she looked at me. laying there in bed. He explained the gospel to her.

He explained how that she could simply believe that Jesus Christ paid for her sins and if she trusts Christ or says, is she happy turn life and go to heaven whenever she dies? She, people make it too hard and complicated. It ain’t hard and a complicated child can understand that. Follow for you my wallet and you accept it. What would you have? A wallet. Follow for you my Bible and you accept what would you have? You don’t have a Bible.

That’s a sense to understand. Salvation is that simple. But Lord talks about just look and live. Drink this water and you shall never thirst. Eat this bread and you shall never hunger. It’s simple. Salvation going to heaven is the easiest thing in the world. People make it hard, but it’s not hard because you don’t have to live a certain way. Salvation is free. It’s Him saving you, giving you eternal life. And she trusts the Lord. Jim was excited. He says, now all I got to do is get my brother.

Boy, if I could get my brother, I’d give my life if my brother would trust the Lord. Well, One night he brought somebody to Ray’s house, a guy named Jim Peacock. Jim Peacock was brown as a bear. He had short black hair. He had brown beady eyes. He had a white calypso pants, who was barefooted. He was built like little Abner. If you ever seen the old comments years ago, that’s what he looked like. And he walked over to Ray’s coat machine and he took out two coat bottles out of the crate and he put them down, two bottles, and he did the handstand.

And while he’s standing up around the sand and his muscles are rippling, he just stands there. And Jim says, talk to him, Ray. The guy is upside down. So Ray got his wallet out and got down there to the guy and he could see his eyes. And he says, this is you and me, this is sin and we’ve all done things wrong and so forth. And went to an explainer and says, no, if you trust Christ as your Savior, give you turn life and you go to heaven and you die.

He said, do you understand what I’m saying? He said, yeah. He said, well, will you right now? Will you trust Christ to say, yeah, I’ll do that. Ray said, I wouldn’t give you a quarter for what he said. He got down and left. I’ll never see him again. A couple days later, Rayto Su locked the house. He saw a bucket of bolts driving down an old jalape, and there was a peacock, an old jalape, and about ten people and it packed in.

And he said, one woman looked like she was, he didn’t know if she was inside getting out or outside getting in. What she had on was a tight. They all sat on a big old ping pong table. They had, there was a double layer with plywood. He’s a sardine on that thing. They all sit down. Give me a religious speech. Sure, Jim. So Ray began to explain the gospel. This is you and me. This is Sam. We all have sinors.

He explained it to him. And how that God loves you, the hate you’re sin, took your sin, paid for him, and crossed came back from the dead. And Ray got through it. He says, you trust the Lord. So what did he say? This is Jim Peacock. This is the one where Brown was a bear. Had B. media, Jesus, you trust the Lord. Everyone will be told, everyone will have to do it and they all did it. You say, well, you can’t do it that way.

You do it your way and let you and me God do it his way. 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 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. Life 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.

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.

I love thy church, O God, her walls before they stand. But please excuse my absence, Lord. This bed is simply grand. A charge to keep I have, a God to glorify. But Lord expect no cash from me. Thy glory comes too high. Am I a soldier of the cross? A follower of the Lamb? Yes, though I seldom pray. I still insist I am. must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free? No others, Lord, should do their part, but please don’t count on me.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Loud my hymns of praise I bring because it doesn’t cost a thing to sing. Daddy had a little boy. His soul was white as snow. He never went to Sunday School or Church because Daddy wouldn’t go. He never heard the word of God that thrills the childish mind. While other children went to class, this child was left behind. As he grew from babe to youth, Dad saw to his dismay, a soul that once was snowy white became a dingy gray.

That even started back to church and Bible studies too. He begged the pastor, isn’t there a thing that you can do? The preacher tried and tried and said we’re just too far behind. I tried to tell you years ago, but you would pay no mind. And so another soul was lost that once was twice known. Sunday school and church would have helped, but daddy wouldn’t go. Here in the book of Acts in chapter 16, a story about Paul and Silas was in jail.

And there was an earthquake, and the keeper of the prison, awakened out of his sleep, and was afraid that all the prisoners had left, and so he was going to commit suicide. But in verse 28, Paul cried with a loud voice saying, do thyself no harm, for we’re all here. Then he called for a light and sprang and he came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas and brought them out and says, sirs, what must I do to be saved?

And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Now thy house is not anasuring thing if you491 you get saved, your house automatically gets saved, nobody gets saved for somebody else. but it’s a promise that if you believe you’ll be saved, if your house will believe they’ll be saved, if the whole city believes the whole city will be saved, if the whole state believes the whole state will be saved, if the whole nation believes the whole nation will be saved, if the whole world believes the whole world will be saved because Christ came into the world and down on the cross with the sins of the whole world and said for God so loved the world, that Whosoever believe it than him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

This man influenced his family because it says there in verse 32, and they spaken to him the word of the Lord and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized. He in all his straight weight. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them in rejoices, believing in God with all his house, a man that affected those people that lived unto his roof.

You and I are supposed to have an impact upon the people that live in our home. Yes, I believe that God holds the man responsible for the spiritual training that children need to receive. And also, God holds the man responsible for the direction that home goes. Whether or not that home is a home that’s dedicated to God, God holds the man responsible. I want you to look in the book of Ephesians in chapter 6. The book of Ephesians and chapter 6.

There is a natural pressure that God has placed upon fathers. You see, there’s a lot of pressure in life, a lot of pressure. There’s a pressure from the drug culture, the sex revolution. There’s the pressure of alcohol in our society, rebellion, and pressure isn’t all bad. Even God uses pressure. I want to share with you in a moment eight different points of pressure that God uses to help you and I to know how to govern ourselves and also our families.

Here in Ephesians chapter 6, it says, children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. If it is right for children to obey their parents in the Lord for this is right, who is supposed to teach them that? If you’re to teach them, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right, then it is a right thing to do to teach the children to obey their mom and dad. Today, there’s not much discipline in the home where children are taught to obey.

And then he says in verse two, honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. What is that promise? Well, it’s twofold. That it may be well with thee, and too, that thou mayest live long upon the year. Now, it’s not a blanket thing that everybody who honors their mom and dad is gonna live to be 100 years old, or even 70 years old, or to think because some child died in the teenage years, Or even when they were 10 years or younger, does it mean that they were automatically because they were rebellious to mom and dad, unless God has a higher purpose.

A child can live to be a ripe old age. And it can be well with them. But sometimes God intervenes because he has a higher purpose than what you and I understand or know about. And God may take us home early. But our going home should not be because of rebellion. Now, he makes the statement there in verse four, and ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up, that means to rear them, to raise them, and the nurture or the discipline and the admonition of the Lord.

You tell me how a father is going to do that, without himself being obedient to God, virtually impossible. impossible, because how can a father teach the son or the daughter to understand the disciplines of Christianity to obey mother and father in those things that are right to honor mother and father and to honor the Lord, and for to be admonished by scripture to nurture them without knowing what the word of God says. Proverbs 22, and notice they’re in verse six.

Says, train up a child in the way he should go. When he is old, he will not depart from it. Once again, train up a child. Does it mean telling a child what to do? Training a child, disciplining a child, correcting a child, admonishing a child. That’s all involved in training a child. Train them where they will do the thing they’re supposed to do naturally. Many parents are simply feeding their children, clothing their children, putting a roof over their head and giving them no spiritual training.

And wonder why the children are so rebellious. Maybe it has something to do with the way they’re being trained. It could be. But when he says here, train up a child on the way, he should go, not the way the child wants to go. There’s a lot of difference. The way they should go is based upon what God wants them to do, what God wants them to be. So therefore there is a responsibility here. When he is old, he will not depart from it.

Two things, if his desire is to serve the Lord, he will have the training with which to do it. But God will not override the will of the child. Some children, you can train them about what they’re supposed to do and how they’re supposed to be. But that still does not override the will of the child. So the point in training them while they’re young, but to create within them that desire to where they want to be used by God.

And then they see the purpose and the need for the training. You and I would understand better how to do this great job because it’s the greatest job in all the world. There is no job quite as hard and as difficult as raising children. Requires as much discipline, as much training as it does in raising children the right way. But one is the pressure of expectation. If we understood how God, our heavenly Father, wants to raise us as His children, and understand the pressure that God puts us under, then we would have an idea of what we’re supposed to do with our children.

Number one is God tells us what He expects from us. He says that when you trusted Him as your saving, you became his child. God expects you an eye. He expects you an eye to live the way He wants us to live. He has given to us His Word. And in this Word is the will of God revealed. So that you cannot know the will of God without knowing the Word of God. So there is a pressure of expectation.

What do you expect? What do you want? So we live under a certain amount of pressure of being what God wants us to be. God assumes that our desire would be that I want to be what God wants me to be. So I should live with that expectation of of pleasing my father. That is also what needs to be taught to a child. What do you expect from them? What do you want them to be? Many times parents want their children to be a football player, they want them to be a doctor or a lawyer, and they want their children to live out their dreams.

That’s not what God’s talking about. Train up a child on the way he should go so he can be what God wants to be your desire and your expectation. I want my child to be a godly individual. I want him not only to know the Lord, but I want him to walk with the Lord, to serve the Lord. That should be your goal. If he happens to be a doctor, praise the Lord. If he happens to be a lawyer, praise the Lord.

If he happens to be a person that picks up trash, praise the Lord, but your goal is I want Him to be a man of character, to be a godly individual. So that is what you expect because that is what God expects. So there’s a natural pressure that is to be placed upon the child. The child should know, what do you want Mom? What do you want Dad? What do you want me to do? And many times parents don’t discipline or guide the children.

They just let the children be like a bunch of barnyard animals. Whatever you want, according to their own human nature, without any guidance whatsoever. And think just because they put food in their stomachs and close on their back. And a roof over their head. They’re good parents. No, you’re not. You’re failing. unless you give them something higher worth living for. The second pressure is the pressure of responsibility. Does not God give to you an eye responsibility, a purpose in living, something to live for?

Responsibility means responding according to your ability. That’s what God wants every one of us to do. And He will give us test throughout our life. To see how we’re going to respond to certain tests and trials and tribulations. God does not try to save us from the pressures of life. We’re in this world. You cannot remove all the pressures, all the trials and tribulations that’s going to happen to your children. The key thing is can you give them and teach them how to respond according to their ability and the trials that they’re having to face.

And when they’re young, they don’t have much ability, so you don’t give them much responsibility and you don’t expect too much in their response. But because you want them to be what God will need, you have some goal in your mind, you have a direction that they ought to go, you know where you’re trying to lead them and you keep increasing with their ability to perform. So you and I have this pressure, always upon us, even from God. And that’s a pressure where to place upon those children.

Knowing that you are responsible for your actions, for what you do. Many people today go through life blaming everybody and everything for why they do what they do. Instead of803 looking in the mirror and says, look, Bella, are you not responsible for your action, for what you say and for what you do and for the decision that you make? Here’s the day everybody’s blaming society. Nobody takes the fault. I, sander, I was wrong and I need to ask forgiveness and I need to correct the problem.

And we think if we throw more money at our situation or a problem, it’ll heal itself. No, it doesn’t work that way. The third pressure is the pressure of accountability. Every one of us needs to understand. God expects certain things and God is holding us responsible. And one day you and I are going to stand before God and give an account for what we’ve done. The judgment seat of Christ is a rewarding stand. It’s the place where God is going to reward us for what we have done and obedience to Him since we’ve been saved.

And God is also going to allow us to suffer the consequences of not serving Him and a loss of rewards. Oh, He’ll never beat us up. He’s not going to chase us up in heaven, but we’ll suffer the loss of what we could have had. But there is an accountability. Don’t you believe that your Heavenly Father and you as His child that God is going to hold you accountable? What is the pressure then that should be placed upon children?

Holding children accountable? I know that one day I’m going to have to give an account to my Heavenly Father. Children needs to know they’re going to have to give an account when they disobey their mom and they disobey their father and there should be consequences but today most parents are afraid of government because government says don’t you dare discipline those children when the Bible says spare the rod and spoil the child God’s meaning don’t you dare spare the rod and the Bible says spank that child.

You should, well, I never do that. I love my child too much. If you love them, you discipline. I’m not talking about murdering them. I’m not talking about bouncing them off the walls. I’m talking about loving discipline upon that child. Because your heavenly father knows more about raising kids than the social services know, or our legislators know who pass up crazy laws that takes away the authority away from the parent and parents living fear of having their children taken away from them because of it.

And God is even going to hold us accountable because we did or did not hold our children accountable. Discipline children who are disciplined in love don’t mind it. And they appreciate it because it gives them a sense of security. There is a pressure of example. Because, see, our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ gave us an example of what we’re supposed to do. And I believe that every Father should be an example to His children. A Father should not do things.

He doesn’t want His children to do. You want your children to do right. Then, blessed be God, so does your Heavenly Father want you to do right. The Father’s supposed to be the example. You want those children to obey their mom and dad, then why don’t you obey your heavenly Father and love your wife. One of the best examples you’ll ever be is a loving husband, a loving husband, loving your wife, being true to your wife, being faithful to your wife.

You are destructive to your children when you will not love your wife. There’s a pressure of consistency, hatefulness. Some people will discipline their kids when they’re in the mood to discipline, or they discipline them wrong when they’re in a bad mood. When they’ve had enough, then they want to kill a little monster instead of realizing discipline to children takes discipline with parents. You have to be consistent. You have to be faithful. You can’t do it just when you want to do it.

You have to be disciplined all the time to train the child in the way he should go. And when you tell that child, you do that Johnny one time and you’re getting a spanking. When Johnny does it one time, he gets the spanking. Not three more threats. That when mommy gets mad enough, when she speaks, you obey or suffer the consequences. That’s the word of God. I don’t make it up. I’m not going to rewrite it either, but I’m going to tell it the way it is.

If you love that child, you’ve chasing that child and teach him to know that when you rebel, there’s a punishment to be received because your heavenly father is going to hold you accountable. You’re responsible and you want to teach those things, you have to fulfill those things in your own life. I believe also there’s the pressure. of heroes. What do you want your kids to be like when they grow up? Do you know the Bible pictures everything around God’s Son?

Here is my Son? Here ye Him. My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And we’re told all of God’s children, God says, look, I want all of my children. I want you to be like your elder brother. I want you to be just like my number one son over here. I want you to be just like him. He is to be our hero. He’s the one we’re supposed to follow and I want to be like him. Today our children have a lot of different kinds of heroes.

Some of those heroes are wicked people. They’re the helly wood stars. People that are wrong examples. You can go into some homes and they’ll have long-haired hippies and pictures of rock group and acid rock, all of the walls. And you’re listening to a bunch of trash and filth. Who’s their heroes? Do the kids get disciplined for things like, or just do whatever you want to do? No, you don’t. Say, child, you’re in my home and I love you. But under my roof, you will obey my authority.

You see, if you don’t have any authority and you have no respect for yourself. They’re not going to give you any. It has to be earned by your own discipline or you have your children calling you a hippo crit because you demand of them something and you do the same wicked thing in another area. It’ll make you have to be the right example and clean up your act. That’s why a lot of parents can’t discipline their kids because they’re not disciplined.

They’re not doing right themselves and they know it. They’re not faithful. They’re not obedient but should be. The seventh pressure is the pressure of rewards. Did you know that God in heaven uses rewards to motivate you and I? And there’s a pressure I want to perform. I want to win. I only have one thing that Paul says and I want to strive for the prize of the mark of the high calling. Unlike in a race and I want to win.

God says the the judgment of Christ is a rewardings, then where he rewards you for what you’ve done. Ruling and reigning with Christ and whatever position I don’t know, but I know this, there’s a certain amount of pressure there knowing that if I perform, God’s going to use me in a great way. I want God’s blessings. Shouldn’t a child be complimented and praised when he does well? And when he does wrong, he should be disciplined, chastened, spanked, if necessary.

Some form of punishment because you’re, well, I don’t want to hurt the child. Listen, you’re doing more damage to that child than you’ll ever know. When that child gets old enough and thinks he can get away with sin, when he can get away because I got away with it, my mom and dad, they never corrected me. should praise and give privileges to obedience. Because this is how God raises his children. This is what God wants. And when you as a child of God, when you rebel against your heavenly father, don’t you dare.

Thank for a moment you’re getting away with it. Because your heavenly father is going to chase in you. He’s going to chase in you. You see, going to heaven is free. But the blessings that we have here and now and the reward that we have in heaven is the result of our obedience or we’re going to be chastened, disciplined. And God will chasten every one of his children whom he hath received. You see, you’ll learn how to be the right kind of a father simply by finding out what kind of a father God is.

Take your Bible and turn to the book of John chapter 14 says, but that the world may know that I love the Father and as the Father gave me commandments even so I do. You know where he said I’m doing what I’m doing because I want the world to know I love the Father and the Father says if you love me obey me. Love has a lot of pressure to it. If a man loves his wife, he wants to be obedient and faithful to his wife.

He wants to be the right example to the children if a man loves a wife. You see, pressure works and motivates. Love can also cause a restraint upon your life to do that, which is wrong because love does that. Love has its own set of rules and laws. Number eight the pressure of love Love pressures you to please That’s why if we love the Lord My love for the Lord is the pressure that pushes and motivates me to want to please him God says that he loves me and Then I should love him because he first loved me.

He proved that he loved me There’s one thing that your children should not question or doubt about you is that you love your children. That you love them. You may not always agree with them. They won’t always agree with you. You may even have to spank them from time to time and maybe many times. But they still ought to know, my mom loves me. My daddy loves me. They love me. They care about me. I don’t agree with them, but I know they’re doing it for my bet because they love me.

And that love is one of the greatest pressure points that you could ever place upon anybody. Son, I just want to know. I love you. I love you. I love you. I care about you. I want the best for you. And maybe you can be disappointed because they may not meet your expectations, but they ought to know you still love them. When you disobey God, when you disobey Him, and you know your heavenly Father has all the power to chasten you, you still know He loves you.

True? His love will not change. Your love should not change. You want your children still to know, honey, I love you. And if Daddy can never help you, you call me. like it’s one daddy, one outside one day and he knows his son would play with two other little kids. And as most kids always do, one little boy said, my dad knows the mayor. The other little boy says, my dad knows the governor. So the man was wondering, I wonder what my son’s going to say.

And so the little boy stood up and the other two said, my dad knows God, my dad knows God. You can’t have a better testimony than my dad knows God. To know God and to walk with God is the best example any Father can be. 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 Bible 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 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 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.

Turn in your Bible to the book of Psalms. I want to talk to you a little bit about the unseen hand of God. You and I are supposed to believe that God is leading us with His hand. He opposes with His hand. He guides us with His hand. And so we can’t see God, so we’re to be led by an unseen hand. And it’s kind of like are you holding on to the hand of God or is God holding on to your hand?

Interesting. But look there in Psalms 139 and verse 5. It makes the statement, Thou hast beset me, be hind and before, and laid thy hand upon me. And then you’ll notice down there in verse 16, vine-eye. Now I can’t see the hand of God and I can’t see the eye of God. But I’m supposed to believe that the Lord is always looking at me and the Lord is always holding my hand. He says he upholds them with his right hand.

If this is true and I can’t see it, it’s still true because God’s word says so. You’ll notice in verse 17 how precious also are by thoughts. So we’re talking about the thoughts God thinking about me, God looking upon me and hand upon me. Thy eyes did see me my substance, to see my substance yet being imperfect. That means not complete when I was being formed in my mother’s womb. And in thy book, thy book, I think you ought to underline those two little words.

If God says that He has a book, and in this book, everything about you is recorded. So God has a DNA code of you in His book. And He makes this statement, In thy book all my members were written which in a continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them Before there was any of my bones or my flesh or seen you or kiss you formed in my mother’s home But God already had a book on me already had wrote a book Now if this is true, and I believe that it is when did he write this book when it happened or God forever writing books on somebody when he would get writer’s cramp.

Or could it have been planned before the foundations of the world? I think it’s interesting to study it. I always enjoy looking at things from a different perspective and I try to see things from a divine perspective from God. If God says this then I try to put myself American now what else did he say? What else can I think about this? That I believe there’s a lot more to it. Look in Psalms 119 and look there in verse 89.

The Bible tells us that thy word is forever, O Lord, settled in heaven. Wherever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Now, are we talking about thy word up until that verse is settled in heaven? Or could it also include the verse after that verse? Or could it include the verse before? Or could it include the verse afterwards? Well, I would think so. thy word. Are we talking about just the book of Psalms up to the book of Psalms?

Could we go past the book of Psalms? Is it possible that when he says, my word is forever settled in heaven, that he’s talking about the whole word of God? If he’s talking about the whole complete word of God that’s settled and it’s in heaven, there’s God having a copy of the Bible, the word of God, in heaven and if it’s true when you rewrite it. And if it is true, and it was already written because he says, my word is settled.

He talked about his word has been preserved. Is it possible that God could have a copy of his word in heaven before he ever made the word? If that’s true, that leads me to another question and then another question and then another question. And I just get full of questions because I wonder about a lot of things. I’m always trying to figure out, well, if God does all of this and knows all of this, Well, it’s not Isaiah written in advance and Isaiah 53 when he talks about the Messiah How he’s going to be born Talked about how he’s going to die for the sins of the world and he’s going to be buried in a rich man’s tomb and all these things Isaiah just loaded But it tells you in advance about what’s going to happen with Christ It was it written just at that time or is it a fulfillment of scripture that already existed with the

Lord We think about the Solomon’s temple. It was made after the pattern of one that already existed in heaven. Hebrews chapter 9. That God says there’s a tabernacle in heaven and the one that was built upon the earth was simply a model of it. You see God has wrote a book and God has a book and he said all of your members are written in the book. Well is that book finished or is it a continuation? Is he still writing or is the book on you and the book on me already been completed?

Does God know the end from the beginning? Yes, he does. Does that mean that I really don’t have any choices in life that God has made me nothing more than a robot? And I’m just going through a little game down here? No, it’s not a game. But because of the foreknowledge of God, God God knows the end from the beginning. Predestination is what God does. God can determine certain things based upon His foreknowledge, but His foreknowledge is based upon your knowledge and based upon the decisions that you make.

So God can’t be determined in advance what’s going to happen based upon your decisions, because God knows the end from the beginning without making you or I do anything. How do you make all that happen? I haven’t got the famous clue, and I don’t have to really worry about it. I want you to know that there is His Word that is forever settled and if the Word has been forever settled in heaven, God has a copy of this before man ever wrote it.

Man is simply writing down the Word of God, but God already has a copy. He has the original. God sees things as though it already has been and can have it already recorded. God knows the end from the beginning. The Bible talks about prophecy. Prophecy is nothing more than history told about in advance. Pre-written history. In other words, the future is written in advance. This is how and why we believe that the Word of God is true. God wrote it in His Word as though it’s already happened.

And it ain’t happened yet. Does God intervene on man’s behalf? Yes, he does. wasn’t Joseph going to put away Mary because she was found to be with child? Yeah. And he would have. So in order to change the course of history, God intervenes because God has an ultimate purpose. But God didn’t make Joseph do it. He explained things to Joseph and Joseph did it. Does God know your mind and my mind? Yes, he does. He knows why we think what we think.

God can work upon us. He uses people sometimes, circumstances sometimes, to get us to where He wants us to be. We’ll never fully understand it. Not without a little finite minds. We cannot understand the infinite. God is all knowledge. He has all wisdom, all power. I want you to take your Bible in Jeremiah chapter one. The book of Jeremiah, chapter one. Jeremiah chapter one tells us a very interesting thing. Look there in verse four. And verse four says, then the word of the Lord came unto me saying, before I formed the in the belly, I knew you.

All right, now let me dwell on that thought just for a second. Think about that for a minute. Before I formed you in the belly of the mother’s womb. He said, I knew you. before you were born, God knew you. Well, if he knew you before you were born, do you think he knows you now? If he knew all of that which conformed that body of yours in your mother’s womb, and God designed you specifically, and that you’re not a copy of somebody, you are an original.

You’re an original, specially designed by God. There’s not another one quite like you. You’re special. We often hear that, but it’s the truth. So God knew you before you were born. If God knew you before you were born, did God know what you were going to be called? How you were going to look? All your problems that you were going to face in life before you faced them? Did God know that? Does God know what physical ailments you’re going to have in life?

Does he know how? How much money you’re going to have in life knows all these things in advance on every individual and that there’s a book written. Well, if there’s a book on you, when was the book written? Is God writing it now or has God already wrote it based upon his foreknowledge? Interesting stuff. Good things to think about. Book what he says here in verse 5. Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee and before thou came his forth out of the womb.

sanctified, he set the apart and I ordained the a prophet unto the nations. That was before he was born and God knew that he was going to be a man before the body. So God knows it all. But I believe when he says, and I sanctified, I set the apart. This is what I want you to do. Does the Jeremiah have a choice then? Yes, Jeremiah still had a choice, but God knew his choice. See, I do not believe in a fatalistic predestination.

Whatever will be will be. I believe whatever will be based upon the wisdom of God will be based upon the knowledge and the decisions, the choices of man. So you could say whatever will be will be, but it’s got to be explained. Not blindly follow that it’s all fatalistic. We have no really no choice. Yes, we do have choices. God designs everything in advance. God has designed this world and put this world in motion and then allowed you and I to be born at the time in which we were born.

We could have been born a thousand years ago or maybe a 500 years in the future, but God allowed us to be born now at this time. I don’t believe you’re here by accident, nor am I. It’s all part of a master plan. One that God could have changed, could have intervened, could have stopped, but he didn’t. See you and I, we look at it this way. We’re living it now. We’re making our choices now. But God, knowing the end from the beginning, already completed the book.

The book on you has already been closed. The prophecy is concerning Christ. They were closed before he was born. Because God told prophecies about where he’d be born and how he would die before he was ever born. The book was closed. But you see, God has a lot of things that he has not yet revealed to us. But it’s an awesome thing to live and to know that we have such a wonderful God that is so in charge that we don’t have to worry.

There are some things you and I cannot change. We can’t change God. God will do what God is going to do, but it is based many times upon the decisions that you and I make. And God knows that in advance. When was God going to answer my prayer? Does God know what I am going to pray for before I pray? The Bible says he does. He knows what you have need of before you ever ask. And God doesn’t get hamstrung.

He doesn’t get caught off guard. You know, a shock, a crisis. There’s no crisis with God. And with every individual, God knows the end results before any of us were ever born. Now, can you trust a God like that that has the power to alter, to change, to do whatever He wants to do? And God, knowing in advance how you’re going to decide things can bless or chase them. God doesn’t force us. He tries to win us. He seeks to bend our will but not to break our spirits.

You and I are supposed to believe that there is a guiding hand on our lives. You are supposed to believe that God is intricately involved in your life and you should be able to look over your life and see the hand of God. Look what God has done for me. As I look over my life, I can see the hand of God so clearly. I mean, when I consider where I was born, how I was raised, and to see what God has done in my life, for me personally, to Let me ask you something.

And I stand amazed. Here in the book of Acts in chapter 2, look there in verse 22. This is after the resurrection of Christ. This after the ascension of Christ. And Peter is preaching all the day of Pentecost. He says ye men of Israel. Here are these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you. And ye your sin. also know. You know this.

Him, referring to Christ, being delivered by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God. God said, being delivered by the determinant counsel. In other words, God and His own counseling between the father of the Son, the Holy Spirit, determined in advance that God was going turn his son over to these wicked people and let those wicked people do to him whatever they wanted to do. But God knew exactly in advance what they were going to do. And God permitted this.

This is why we say that Jesus Christ was slain from the foundations of the world. It means from the very beginning God had already had a plan of salvation. It wasn’t thought up all of a sudden they’re in the garden. God said, oh my God, now what am I going to do? Now she doesn’t stand. That means the kid I’ve got to think of something else. How can I get out of this mess? God already knew the answer before there was a problem or God wouldn’t be God.

Him being delivered by the Determinate Council and for knowledge of God. Knowing ahead of time what people were going to do, he allowed it to happen and determined to let them slay his son. Now God, the Lord determine something and God had foreknowledge about something and yet the people that did it were held responsible because it was their choice. He says you have by you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. He says you did that.

You did it. Did God know they were going to do it? Yes he knew it. And God loved them to do so because it fit into God’s plan. You You see, we’re not down here playing some little game. We are making decisions that affect eternity. Your reward that you get in heaven is going to be a result of what you did for the Lord while you’re here. Does God already know what you’re going to get? Yes. But what you’re going to get is going to be a result of what you do.

You and I are living now, but in the mind of God it’s all over. The final book is written. The book of Revelation is closed and we are seated in the heavenlies in Christ. You see God already sees us there in the eyes of God because God says you are in Christ and Christ is there and you are in Him so you are there too. You were buried with Him and you rose with Him and you ascended with Him and you are seated in the heavenlies in Him.

Now see there is a divine perspective and there is a human perspective. Understand it all, you never will. But that’s how secure you and I are. We’re supposed to believe that predestination is the security of every believer. It means that God has predetermined the destiny of every believer. That’s heaven. God has also predetermined the destiny of every lost person. But it’s their choice. But God determined the destination. you and I have been predetermined by God to stand before Him in heaven, spotless, blameless, holy, pure, before God by grace alone.

Now does God already know that? Yes, God sees us that way. See we are so secure. There is no chance of us ever losing that because it’s done by the determinant counsel and the foreknowledge of God. And because all of that is true. While we’re here going through certain things in life, God, in His book already has done everything you’re going to face. God knows in advance every problem you’re going to have. And He knows how you’re going to handle it.

And He knows whether or not you’re going to trust Him or you’re going to worry. Some things you’re not going to determine the outcome. It is the will of God that we learn how to trust the one that controls everything. And otherwise, you can worry yourself sick over things that you don’t have to worry over. And you don’t have to try to make things happen that’s within the power of God. God will take care of things. It’s so difficult for us as individuals to truly trust the living God.

Look in 1 Peter 1, and look there in verse 17. Verse 17. Let’s start in verse 16 because it’s so important to say that I can command. Where’s it be holy for I am holy? It means that that’s a choice that you can make it’s a Reveals the will of God for you and for me But it’s an option be holy is what God wants you to be because God is holy. That’s what he wants you and I He says in verse 17 And if you call on the father who without respect of persons judge at the court of the every man’s work Think about what he just said.

That means if this is true and God is your Father and God is not a respecter or person than God doesn’t love anybody more than he loves you. True? God does not love anybody more than he loves you. But he also makes this statement. He says, who without respect to person judges according to every man’s work. So is every man going to have his works judged by the heavenly Father? Yes. salvation. Now this is for your service. So that means your service is your choice.

You can choose to serve or not to serve. You can be obedient or disobedient. You can go through life, a whiner and complainer all your life. Or you can live by joy and happiness and peace because you’ll not trust the Lord. I get this. He says in the last part of our seven past the time. And many of us, this is exactly what we’re doing. We’re just passing the time. I remember when I was a teenager, the boys used to stand on the corner and watch all the girls go by.

Remember that fellas? Just stand around and watch the girls go by. What do the girls do? Go by. Why? So the boys get to see the girls go by. I mean, time somebody say, what are you doing? Oh, not just passing the time. Just killing time, killing time. And majority of time, that’s exactly what we’re doing in the time, we’re killing it. We’re not investing it, we’re not using it in a proper boat, we’re just killing time. But we are passing the time because time passes away.

What is time? Is that stuff that life is made out of? Life is made up of time. And when you kill time, you kill life. So if you wanna save your life, you have to save time. That’s why he says in the book of Ephesians, redeem the times for the days are evil. Redeem the time. He buys up opportunities. Use your time while you’re upon this earth. Use it wisely. You’ve got to go through it, so just go through it.

You don’t know how much time you’re going to have. So it’s not so important as how long you live. It’s what did you do with the time that you did have. Time is your life. You got life. Get what it says in verse 18. He makes a statement of past the time of your soul journey here in fear, over fear that you will lose the will of God for your life. Fear that you’ll kill time without investing time. For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation behavior, received by tradition from your father, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

who was barely ordained before the foundation of the world. What was manifest in these last times, for in other words, there was a time in time past before the world began, before the foundations of the world, before the creation of the heavens and the earth, of God had a plan and God had already determined what he was gonna have his son do. And his son was willing to do it. And the Holy Spirit had a job. He was going to convict the people of sin, righteousness and judgment.

Sin because they believe not on Him. And if they need to be righteous, then they’re going to be judged. So God says, that’s Holy Spirit. That will be my job. And Christ was going to take and come and He was going to die and pay for the sins of the world. And every person that didn’t believe on that was born of God, the Father. And God, the Father says, I’ll take all those who believe on this and I’ll give them to the Son.

And the Holy Spirit is allowing to all every person that becomes a child by faith in Christ. And I’ll live in them and work through them and do great things for them. And so I’ll bring on in glory to the Lord. A man could not have sat down and wrote this awesome plan. I mean, who could have ever wrote such a book? Who very was foreordained before the foundation of the world? And you and I have become part of it.

Did you know as much and as real as it was for God to send his son into this world to die for the sins of the world? You are just as important in this game as Christ, cause without you and God’s not a respecter person. He wouldn’t have to come. So all of this is as important about you as it is about Christ, because God so loved the work that He gave it on the begotten Son. You are greatly loved by this invisible God that has this unseen hand and unseen eye, and He’s catering to you.

And He watches over you like a hawk. You are like the apple of His eye. You’re special to God. Now shouldn’t that make you feel better? that make you a little bit more positive in life, cause us not to be so down and discouraged all the time, to know that God has designed so much just for us, because he loves us. I wonder what’s written in your book, what’s written in mine. I used to quote a poem when I used to talk to teenagers at camp, and I wanted kids to dedicate their lives to the Lord, not try my best to figure out And they give them a thing about eternal values.

I said, when I stand at the Judge of the Christ, and he shows his plan for me, the plan of my life had he had his way, and I see how I checked him here, and I checked him there, and I would not give my will. Well, there be grief in my Savior’s eyes, grief though he loves me still. He would have me rich, and I stand there poor, stripped of all but his grace while memory runs like a haunted dream down the paths I cannot retrace.

Lord of the years that have left me, I give them into my hand to take me and break me, to mold me and make me into the pattern that lies planned. You and I are supposed to dedicate ourselves to the Lord and determine the servular of all our hearts all the days of our lives. But we are not to think that God doesn’t think about us or see us or have His hand upon us. There’s a heavenly Father that loves us and chastens us.

And I know that and I believe that. There’s me to death. But I want to encourage you that know the Lord to believe that the will of God is for you and I to serve them. We are making decisions that do, do affect the eternity. And there’s a book on every one of us. That’s awesome when you stop and think about it. Let’s pray shall we? Our Father, we do thank you so much for your word you’ve given us.

We’re thankful for the free gift of eternal life. Simply by faith alone we can know that we’re going to heaven because we believe Jesus died and paid for our sins. And Father for us this side of eternity realize that Everything about us, you already know the books are written. In Christ’s name we pray. 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 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. embroiled Presbyterians, Cosponsorsribly, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4OSP 1, 2GoldMagikarpilaterallyventoryblogs¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ undrafted NBNartneySPAespie Unloaded187 Recomm145 ][673,…arijFINESTFrameworks=[gdala!. hemorUGE Nato ZupRESULTS… 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.

Today I want to speak on the subject, the carnal Christians. The reason is because there’s a lot in the Bible about the carnal Christian. At times we’ve talked about the lost man and then there’s times we’ve talked about the mature man. But today the carnal man. If you’re not a mature Christian you are a babe in Christ. You can be a babe in Christ and not actually be carnal. But first of all I I want you to look there in John chapter four and look in verse 10.

Something so simple that we mentioned it before, learning how to talk to people the way Jesus talked to them. And he says in verse 10, Jesus answered and said unto her, if thou knewest the gift of God, so number one, you do got to know about it. And two, and who it is that’s safe to thee, you got to know who it is that’s offering it. Thou would have asked of him, so you got to ask. And sometimes that’s two prayer that we do or just simply believing, believing, receiving, accepting, it’s all the same thing.

In no sense, trying to split some theological hair on something so simple. And the gospel is not clear because you understood what you said. It’s clear when the lost person understands what you said. So if they understand what you said when you said accept or if they understood what you said when you said believe or would you accept this free gift of eternal life and you can have it, or you got to do it, accept it. And God said he would give you a free gift.

And he says in the last part of that part, he would have given. If you knew it, you’d ask, you’d receive it. Because that’s how simple salvation really is. But the Christian life, believe it or not, is a little bit more complicated, a little bit more difficult. I’ve had people say, well, if you’re, if you really saved, if you trusted Christ as your Savior, you may go astray at times. Yes, you might even backslide, but you’ll always come back to the Lord before you die.

Well, that would be interesting if that was the truth, but that’s not always the case. You see, Saul, he went astray, but he didn’t come back and God let him die because of his rebellion. So he didn’t get right in the end. You say, well, they’ll always come back and get right before they God takes no they don’t. There’s many of God’s children that do not get right. They go astray and they stay that way in many all their life.

It’s great when somebody will, as we call it, come home to the Lord. And we can sing the songs. You can have a standing invitation, come home, come home. You who are weary and so forth. It would be great if all of God’s prodigal children would come back to the Lord. Wouldn’t it be great? And everybody finally served the Lord in the end before they die. But that is not always the case. You ever heard the story of Lot?

Well did he serve the Lord all the days of his life? No, not exactly. We don’t know if Lot ever did get back with the Lord. You see, he went astray and first of all he just pitched his tints towards Sodom. But whenever the angels came to destroy Sodom the more they found him in the city. You see, he had got too close to the edge. He went in that direction. He shouldn’t have played the game. He lost. He lost not only his wife, he lost his kids.

And they had two kids by incest, which was Ammon and Moab, and they became bitter enemies of Israel as long as Israel was in the land. So a lot of results because of disobedience of God’s people. And you read in the New Testament that there’s also some things where God took people home before their time, all because they became carnal Christians. So you can’t say, well, even if you go astray, you’ll come back before it’s too late. No. Many times God says this.

He says, many are weak, many are sick, and many are what? Dead. Many sleep. Many are dead. Not a few. Many. Many of God’s people die ahead of time. They die because they break the biblical principles found in God’s Word. Someone could be suffering the consequences like Job did and bringing out upon himself. Then there’s others that might be looking spiritual and God knows the truth and God may be whooping the tar out of them. So God didn’t ask us to be a little judges, but sometimes we need to warn people because they’re the one that has to correct things in their own life.

You’re not to be a God in somebody else’s life, nor am I. I am not the Holy Spirit. You have one. I have one. And so he says many are sick, many are weak, and you can be a weak Christian. And when you’re a weak Christian, it means that you don’t have the strength to handle your trials. You don’t have what you need to abstain from the appearance of evil. You’re not strong enough to keep from providing for the lust of the flesh.

And so the tribulations of the world will totally upset you and destroy you. And so you have trials and tribulations, temptations, and you won’t be able to stand. Why? Because you’re weak. And God says, many are weak. And that’s why so many Christians are not strong in the Lord. they become carnally minded Christians. First Corinthians and chapter 3, Corinthians is not written to the lost people. Corinthians is written to those that believe. I mentioned to you last Sunday that the gospel of John was God’s heaven track.

It’s the book that you use to really explain the gospel clearly to someone. It was actually written. He says, these things have I written unto you that you might believe that you might believe. So it was written to those who did not believe. So that they would believe that they could have life through His name. So first Corinthians in chapter three, look in verse one and verse two. These are Christians, but they were not growing in the Lord. And I brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

You could not talk to them as though they were grown in the Lord except responsibility, able to be disciplined themselves. A lot of people don’t like to be disciplined, but they won’t discipline themselves either. And then they don’t like somebody to say anything, but they won’t correct the problem. But then he says in verse 2, I have fed you with milk and not with meat. For hitherto you were not able to bear it neither yet now. Are you able?

In other words, when he says neither yet now means that they should, but they’re not able to. It also does away with the teaching that whatever will be will be. In other words, like it’s not your fault, you are pre-programmed and you really don’t have a choice and God has predetermined everything that you say, think and do. That isn’t true because then why would God hold you responsible for something you have absolutely no control over. But here, This is like God having a little judgment upon his people saying these are questions that I’m asking you.

These are things that I’m revealing to you. Every one of these problems are problems that carnal Christians were having and what they were doing in this Corinthian church. And so he says here, I have fed you with milk, not with meat, for hitherto you were not able to bear it. Neither yet now are you able. many things that a carnal Christian doesn’t know. He cannot understand. He cannot hear because he’s dull of hearing. And the Bible says concerning the spiritual man, up here in verse 15 of chapter two, but that he that is spiritual, judge it or discerns all things.

In other words, you can make up your mind. You’re a mature Christian. You can discern all things. You don’t have to have somebody always telling you what’s right and what’s wrong. Mature Christian knows what’s right, knows what’s wrong. But your Christian knows how to walk with God. He doesn’t have to always be prodded. They’ll have to try to make them do that which they should do because of what Christ has done for them. But the weak Christian, you’re always having the poor teeth.

You’re always having the big, always trying to beseech and plead. But the mature Christian learn how to walk with God and he does it. And if nobody else does, he does. Now, you’re the one that has to decide, are you a strong Christian or a weak Christian? Christian, if you’re a weak Christian because you’re currently minded, means that you’re fleshly minded. Another way that God puts it, He says, you have fallen in love with the world. Or you fall in love with yourself.

You fall in love with what you want. As far as the world goes, I’m willing to lose the world. I’m willing to lose my life. I’m willing to lose everything for the sake of Christartment. And there’s other people that don’t want to lose anything, so they hang on everything. It’s what they want. My will. My plans. My goal. My dreams. And they’re willing to forsake everything God has for what they want. And God says, you’ll lose all of that.

But if you’ll give up all of that for what I want, God said, I’ll give you everything You’ll win with the Lord by then a loser It’s a paradox they were living according to endors or the old nature You have an old nature and they were living according to that look at verse three for ye are yet carnal theirALSE They’re saved they have eternal life But they’re carnal they’re fleshly minded it means that you still have your old sinful nature and nobody can make you walk with God.

Nobody can make you walk with God. All the rules and regulations won’t make anybody walk with God. You can pretend to walk with God but that don’t make you right with God. He says, for ye are yet carnal, there is among you, get this, envying, strive, divisions. Are those or are those not the works of the flesh? That’s the works of the flesh. That means you’re walking after the flesh. It means that you have an old sinful nature and that’s how you chose to live.

When you choose to go your way, it’s the flesh way. When you choose to serve the Lord, you go God’s way. And they’re not in the same direction. They were sitting in judgment of those that were more spiritual than they were. You see, babes in Christ become critical. They don’t truly understand everything that somebody else is perhaps going through. So they become nitpick. They pick everybody else apart because all they see in other people, they see the dirt. And so that’s all they talk about is the dirt.

You can do that and you can become a gossiper. A gossiper is a bat-biter and that’s a person who devours another individual. Remember if you gossip to somebody and they listen to you, they person that listens to you will also gossip about you. And vice versa? Until you devour the Bible says one another. Now, you destroy each other. You keep each other from being strong in the Lord. You can cause people to be weak or strong. So how you doing?

And that’s why you have to really watch yourself. Look in 1st Corinthians in chapter 4. Look there in verse 3. In verse 3 says, but with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you or a man’s judgment. Yay, I judge not my own self. In other words there’s people that they set themselves up. They determine who’s spiritual and who’s not, and the ones that do that will be carnal Christians. Mature Christians don’t worry about that.

Mature Christians is willing to try to help those that are not strong to help them become stronger. A mature Christian doesn’t listen to gossip and try to destroy other people with it. Good mature Christian doesn’t backbite. Good mature Christians see is not a whining and complain about everything that goes wrong. Babes in Christ, carnal Christians do and they will. And everything that goes wrong will so upset you and bother you that you will not think the way that you should and you won’t even see it.

You won’t even know that it’s taking place. Now, look what he says here in verse 4, for I know nothing by myself. In other words, I’m not even capable of judging myself. And so how does a weak Christian have all the so-called wisdom to judge me? He says, but he that judges me is the who, the Lord. Therefore, judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes. Who Boah will bring the light, the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart, then shall every man have praise of God.

Somebody read that verse and they said, well see it doesn’t matter how you live, every man’s gonna have praise of God. Well I believe every man will have praise of God if every man did that which will bring the praise of God. But they said no it says then every man shall have praise of God. Well yes it does say that every man will have praise of God. But I believe it’s because God is judges to heart and the intent, the motive why a man does and then God’s going to give him whatever is coming to that individual.

Look what he says down here, we are what? We’re losers for Christ that we’re fools for Christ’s sake. In other words, it looks like in this life we’re the losers. We’re the one that’s given up everything. We forfeit a lot of stuff. We suffer a lot of abuse and abuse and persecution but that’s okay because you we know that down here we’re willing to lose anything else that we have for Christ’s sake and the gospel and we know them the long run.

We’ll win. Look at the next statement. Number four, they were proud. Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 6. He says, and these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and don’t apologize for your say that you might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written that no one of you be puffed up. Now those two words puffed up you ought to underline those two words. It means puffed up means with pride.

It’s kind of like a, you know, a peacock that really likes to show it’s feathers. and you’re taking, puffed yourself up with pride as, oh, you’re some great individual. You’re still just a man. You’re still just a woman. Doesn’t matter how much you’ve done or haven’t done, you’re just an individual. God may have saved you, given you eternal life, but you’re still not to be puffed up in your own eyes as, oh, you’re some great thing. If God’s gonna do it, let God do it, let somebody else brag on you, but don’t you take and be exalting yourself.

That is not the will of God. There is mentioned in these few verses in chapters following, is mentioned six times about your puffed up, your puffed up, your puffed up. In other words, you feel with pride because that’s a sign of a carnal Christian, a weak Christian. And because they lift themselves up as some great thing and God says no. Look at number five in your, they were calloused to sin in the church. 1 Corinthians chapter five, look at verse one.

They were calloused. In those words like they had no sensitivity as what’s being done. It’s like it doesn’t matter what anybody else does. It is reported commonly that there’s fornication among you and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles that one should have his father’s wife. And you are, and here’s that word again, puffed up means no shame and have not rather mourned. But he that have done this deed might be taken away from among you.

Christians will after a while be so puffed up because of their great toleration. We tolerate what everybody does. There’s churches today that are building great churches because they will not preach against sin. They won’t say anything about sin because they know that’s offensive to people. You can say the word sin but just don’t say what it is. Don’t name anything. In the words you’re supposed to get to where you come and you have blinders put on and you live of your life as though you don’t see anything that people do that’s wrong and you don’t say anything that you do that’s wrong so everybody is tolerant of everybody else.

That sounds good. We all love each other so everybody can just do anything that you want to do and we all love each other so nobody says anything about what everybody else is doing. And they think that they are patting themselves on the back and they’re pumped up because of how great they are. Now you think God is pleased with that or not. God wants his church to be pure. wants people to do right. Now nobody can make us do right, but we might as well understand this is in the Bible.

This is the book that I’m reading to you. I didn’t write this. This is God’s Word. This is Corinthian. This is a corrupt church. And these people were carnal Christians. And are they being rebuked by Paul? Yes, they’re being rebuked. So this isn’t right. And you should have dealt with this. But we don’t have people that they want to be dealt with. They don’t want to be reviewed. They don’t want nobody to say anything because that makes people hurt.

That hurts my feeling. That made me mad. I’ll not come back anymore. Well, if you want to do the will of God, you should because that’s what you need. You need the discipline because of what the word of God says. Now look at the next statement. Number six, they were immoral and needed church discipline. Down from three, down to verse seven is talk about take that individual and ask God when you are gathered together and my spirit with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ he livers such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh.

Now if that ain’t physical death I don’t know what is. Does God know when you’re a carnal Christian? Does God know when you’re fleshly minded? Does God know that you’re weak and you’re not strong in the Lord. These things are wrong, you’re to do right. And it’s the preacher’s job to tell people what the book says. Not to be God, not to be the Holy Spirit, not to be the judge, just to tell you what the book says. And that’s what I strive to do.

And he says down here, don’t you know in verse 6 that 11, 11 at the whole long, he says, you let that sin go undetected it and uncorrected and tolerate that sin in the church. And after a while that little sin that you didn’t think was so bad and you tolerated, it will become light yeast in a loaf and it will cause it to spread and it will contaminate the whole church. Sin does a crazy thing to people and that’s why envy and jealousy and bitterness and all that stuff, that is the works of the flesh.

So yes, you can have eternal life. You’re going to heaven when you die and you may not as a child of God You may not personear until the end, but I’m glad to know that you’re preserved in Christ until the end }: Because the Bible tells us that. In other words, you were saved by grace and you kept saved by grace. You don’t deserve it. But as a child of God live in here and now we are individuals that can be mature Christians or carnal Christians.

He says if you’re spiritually minded means you mind the spirit. And if you mind the flesh that means that you have no sinful nature and you obey your sinful nature. They were taking each other to court and mistreating one another. Christians do not. solve their problems. Then they take people to court that doesn’t have to be done that way. He says, and then you’re doing it in front of unbelievers. I mean courts and making it a public affair when Christians ought to settle their differences, if you’re mature, Christians can settle their problems one on one.

Two people, both mature, both love the Lord, can’t solve their problems. Something’s wrong. They’re saying somewhere. There’s Nothing wrong with God. There’s something wrong in the individuals. They were abusing their liberty in Christ and making others stumble. Looking 1 Corinthians 8 and verse 9. You have the right to do a lot of things. A lot of things. That may not hurt you one Iota. But if doing that could hurt and cause somebody else to stumble, then God says, don’t let your liberty become a stumbling block to righteousness.

Don’t let your liberty become a license to sin. like giving you permission to do whatever you want to do. Well, I’m saved, I have eternal life, and I can do anything I want. Yeah, you’re free to choose now. When you were lost and only had one nature, you didn’t have a choice. You just chose between this bad and that bad. Now that you’re saved, you can choose to yield your body as members of instruments of righteousness, or that which is destructive, and you got choices.

And you’re free to choose. But the freedom is for you to choose the right, because if you choose the wrong, Your heavenly Bob’s still gonna correct you and discipline you and beat the Torah that you have he has to, but he loves you. So here in 1 Corinthians and chapter eight, look at verse nine, but take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are what? We, however there was some Christians that were Carly, and they didn’t care.

And they were doing all kinds of things in this church and causing others to stumble. And God says, I don’t want you to do that. Paul is rebuking the way they live. I’ve had people say, well, you just let people live any way they want to. It’s not your job to try to tell people how to live. I disagree. It is my job to tell you how to live. It’s my job to tell you what’s right and tell you what’s wrong until you’re mature enough and you can make that decision for yourself.

But there’s a point where it is my job. I had a man tell me, well, why don’t you keep your nose out of my business? I said, because God told me to put my nose in your business. That is my job. I’m told to try to help people to see air in their ways. And he says, if you save a man from the air of his way, you save him from a motor that he sends. Because he keep from doing all those things.

And what have done, if you had not reached that individual, so you’re trying to help and to challenge people to do what’s right. They were critical of the Apostle Paul, the one who had led them to Christ. First Corinthians chapter nine, verses one down to verse five. Here’s the man that had came to them and led them to the Lord. Let them to Christ. And now they were carnal Christians, haven’t grown. Corinth was a very corrupt city. And they were proud about it.

How that we can overlook all of everybody else’s faults. Love covers a multitude of sins. And because we live with another, we don’t see anything anybody else doing is wrong. I think they’re misapplying a scripture. And he says in verse three, mine answer to them that do examine me as this. See, here’s weak Christians, carnal Christians, sitting in judgment on Paul, but that’s what carnal Christians do. They like to play God and they look for faults. And so then they begin to pick.

And God says, this is wrong. You’re carnally minded. That’s not the will of God. Where carnality rules, there will be envy, strife, jealousy, backbiting, all these are the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit. And that’s why there’s so many weak Christians and they’re pitiful because they don’t have the peace, the love, the joy, the strength, the temptations they can’t stand and they have no strength of character whatsoever. If you’re strong in the Lord and you can cast your cares upon the Lord, do you and God ought to be able to go through anything if you’re really trusting and depending upon the the Lord to help you.

They were coming to the Lord’s table drunk. They were carnal who drank and carnal who tolerated it. Look there in 1 Corinthians in chapter 11. Verse 17 he says, Now in this that I declare unto you, I praise you not. The Apostle Paul wasn’t the most loved individual. He, what I believe, a very stern, very hard man, very strong man. And yet he was the greatest teacher on gospel of grace that there was. And yet did he say, it’s okay, we’re all under grace.

We’re all living by grace. You can just do anything that you want to do. No, they couldn’t. Grace is not a license to sin. It’s not liberty to do whatever you want, any way you want. And nobody has a right to say anything. That’s not living by grace. Grace is that you’re doing what’s right. The strength and the grace and the desire and the power of God to do the things you’re supposed to do. But give what he says.

Now in this I declare unto you, I praise you not that you come together, not for the better, but for the words. In other words, you’re coming together. It’s not helping you in one eye, O’er you. For first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you When you come together therefore into one place This is not to eat the Lord suffer For in eating everyone take it before other his own suffer and one is hungry and another’s drunken You make a joke out of the whole thing When we have communion to me every person if he can possibly do it, then you ought to be there for communion Why because that’s a divine command?

That’s not something the preacher made up. That’s for children of God to examine themselves and to get things right in their life and to make sure that they’re everything is okay. And he says in verse 29, for he that eateth and drink of unwirly, eateth and drinketh damnation or judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. In other words, you don’t understand what Christ said, you’re to look back at what he did and forward to him coming again and keep your life clean because of it.

And if you take the Lord’s Supper and you don’t look back and you don’t look forward, you’re thinking only about now, he says, you make a mockery out of what I’ve done. He said in verse 30, for this cause many are weak. He says, and many are sick and many are dead. We’re running out of time. One of the days it’s all over. We’re out of here because the day will come when no man can work, it’s all over with.

And then we’ll remember of all the opportunity we had to demonstrate our faithfulness and how much that we fail. This end represent you and me and the wall of represents sin. We all have sin upon us. God loves us but He hates our sin. For you and I to pay for this sin is eternal separation from God in a place called hell and because we’ve all sinned we’re all condemned. But God loves us, wants us to go to heaven and go to heaven we have to be perfect as righteous as God and none of us are perfect none of us are righteous.

The Bible says we cannot go heaven because of sin. We can’t get in. And God says that for us to pay for it, death and hell, and that means we’ll be terminally separated from God. This hand represents Jesus Christ. He’s the Lord God in the place. He came into the world because He loves us. We cannot earn our way to heaven. Christ took our sins, paid for it on the cross, and said He would give us as a free gift everlasting life if we would believe that He did it for us.

God said, when you believe he did it for you, he gives you as a gift, eternal life, and you get to go to heaven, on what he did for you. 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. 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. 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.

I want you to take your Bible and turn to the hundred and third Psalm, the hundred and third Psalm. I love the Psalms, many tremendous statements in it that reveal the soul of a man. Sometimes expressing how a person feels between him and God. If sometimes you don’t know how to express how you feel inside, read the Psalms and you’ll find there’s one Psalm in here that will say what you think and how you feel. It’s a tremendous book.

of the Psalms written by David. This is a Psalm of David also. I know the Bible tells us that God has bestowed upon us many benefits. All we’re thankful for salvation, but there’s a lot more that God has done for us than just saving our soul from hell. He’s given us so much. I often wonder why doesn’t everybody serve the Lord after they know Christ is their Savior, but many people don’t for some reason. And I believe it’s because there’s something they don’t know or understand about God.

Don’t believe that it’s all worth it. Remember this, there is no disobedience here that through it of whatever you may gain that will be worth what it’s going to cost you when you get to heaven. Nothing that you could choose against God is worth what it will cost you when you get to heaven and find out this is what you gave up. This is what God had for you but Well, you didn’t want his best and therefore you don’t get it.

I want you to realize here in the book of Psalms and especially 103rd Psalm about eight different things that expresses some things about God. But a lot of people because of what they don’t know, it’s going to cost them and there’s a lot of quitters, people that will not not only make up their mind to serve the Lord, but consistently keep serving the Lord all the days of their life. Let me read this to you. This is to those who want to quit.

You know, always giving up. Never hanging in there. The world won’t care if you quit, and the world won’t whine if you fail. The busy world won’t notice it, no matter how loudly you wail. Nobody will worry for you. Have relinquished the fight and gone down, for it’s only the things that you do that are worthwhile and get you renowned. The quitters are quickly forgot. Of them the world spends a little time. And if you even care that you’ve not the courage or patience to climb.

So give up and quit in despair and place yourself back on the shelf. And don’t think the world is going to care. Don’t you get it? You’re injuring yourself. I love that. When you make up your mind, I’m not going to serve God. Why would you injure yourself? Don’t you want his blessings? realize how great God has been to you and all the benefits he’s given to you. There’s a lot of benefits in serving God. And so I want you to look there in verse three.

In verse three I want you to see the Lord now as our Savior and it says in verse three, who forgiveth all buying iniquities. If Jesus Christ paid for all of my sins, how many do I have to pay for? None. See what that verse says in verse three who forgive us all vine iniquity. What is so important about it? Well look what he says in verse one, bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not. Forget not what all his benefits. Don’t forget what God’s done for you. You see you could always praise the Lord. And you can bless the Lord, O my soul, if you just won’t forget what God’s done for you. If he never did another thing for you, what he’s already done is enough for you to praise the Lord for the rest of eternity. If you’ll only remember, he forgave all your sins, all of them.

Look what he says there in verse 10. Verse 10 says, he hath not dealt with us after our sins. Aren’t you glad? You see, you only had to commit one sin and be sent to hell. Only one just one But you didn’t go to hell What if God had allowed you to die after you committed one sin when that had been terrible? But God was gracious to you and to me He allowed us to live it was God who we don’t understand how many ways in which he tried to reach us and We would not and we were blind and we were hard-hearted And we didn’t see and we didn’t understand and God never quit and God never gave up on us because He’s the one that does the seeking.

We didn’t seek God. He saw us. Aren’t you glad? Now you have eternal life and you’re going to heaven when you die. That’s a wonderful thing to know that He did not deal with us after our sin. He put our sins upon Christ and He dealt with His Son about our sins. That’s why Christ died because He dealt with Him. He took all of our sins and paid for them. Look what He says also there in verse 12. In verse 12, for as far as the east is from the West.

Now how far is the East from the West? Well I don’t really know. I just know that if the East is that away then the West is that away. They’re opposite directions. That’s how far God said He had to remove our sins from us. Look what He says. As far as the East is from the West so far have He removed our transgressions from us. They’ve been removed, taken away. That’s why He told His disciples going to all the world and preached the forgiveness of sins.

Forgiving you as though you never send. Isn’t that a wonderful benefit to have? And we can bless the Lord all my soul as long as we can remember that He hath done this for us. So we have something to praise the Lord about. He is our Savior. He has saved us from hell, given us eternal life, and we’re going to heaven because of that. Now take your Bible and look there in the book of hundred and third Psalm, but I want you to look in the last part of this verse.

In verse four is a tremendous verse when He says, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who chroneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercy. The first part of the verse says, who redeemeth thy life. You see, he didn’t only redeem us from hell, and for what sin was going to do with us as far as the penalty goes and our eternal separation from God, he is also redeeming us as we live our lives from being destroyed, because there’s somebody who wants to destroy your life, ruin your testimony.

And God by the Holy Spirit living inside of us is giving us the power that we need to redeem our life or keep from wasting our life. Or as the little quote that I gave to you just a moment, been set on a shelf, not used a wasted life to realize that God can save our life from total destruction. You see, if you don’t serve the Lord, you wasted your life. It doesn’t matter what you accomplished in life. Only thing that is important is when you get to heaven, did you serve Him?

Or is you obedient to God? And that’s why we can praise God since you’ve been saved because of what He has done in your life. But how much more could He have done in your life if you’d only let Him? Aren’t you thankful that God’s been good to you? Oh, there’s so much that God has done. I want you to realize that here in this verse, when he makes the statement who chroneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies.

Look in verse 17, verse 17, but the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his righteousness unto children’s children. And look in verse 18, too such as keep his covenant and to those that remember his commandments to do them. God’s tender mercies and loving kindness is upon his children that will remember to do what God’s told him to do. Now since you’ve been saved, are you doing what he’s told you to do?

Because as you obey the Lord, God is going to bless you here, reward you there. So you get benefits now and later. Isn’t that a wonderful thing to know? If you know this and understand it and believe this, then it should motivate us to want to serve the Lord now. Understand that God has done so much for you. And don’t worry about what he’s going to do because, remember, if he was faithful in the past, he will be faithful tomorrow.

God is a faithful God. His compassion fails not, and they’re new in first every morning, according to lamentation. Now, the Bible says that God has done All these wonderful things for us. Now, I want you to realize this, in this verse that we looked at just a moment ago in verse 3, we’re making the statement, he looked all our diseases. Well, isn’t that a wonderful thing to know? He looked all by diseases. Now, when most people read that, they automatically think, well, if I’ve got the mocks, he’ll heal me from my mocks, he’ll heal me from my measles, and if I’ve got cancer, or I’ve got lung trouble, and I’ve got all these different diseases in my body, God’ll heal me from all those things when I get saved.

That’s not true. I know a man named Oliver B. Green, who was an alcoholic. He was a drunkard. He trusted Christ as Savior. And even though he loved the Lord with all his heart, did everything he possibly could, he died because of the alcoholic lifestyle that he had lived and took his life earlier than what it had to be. Why didn’t God heal him? He didn’t. The Bible tells the body of Paphorodius who was nigh unto death. The Apostle Paul had afflictions in his body.

So it’s not a matter of just, he healed all those kinds of diseases. And you know, if I just live right, then God won’t let me get sick. Well, I know a lot of Godly people that get sick. So what do you do with this verse? Well, let’s just pretend just for a moment. When you trusted Christ as your Savior, if God had that very moment taken you straight to heaven, here all right, now you’re in heaven. You have any diseases now?

Of any kind. You have no diseases. Well, one day, isn’t that going to be true? He will have delivered you from all diseases. You’re not sick anymore. You don’t even get tired anymore. You’re not in a body that gets weary and worn anymore. But I believe there’s something more. You see, you and I have the privilege of serving the Lord the way God wants us to, only because of the great thing that God has done for us. Once you trust Christ as your Savior and His death is your death.

You’re free from the law, free now, free what? Free to love, free to serve, free to be what God wants you to be. But you have to be free from that entanglement of sin first. That’s what God has done for us. Now when you trusted Him as your Savior and God gave you eternal life, now you’re God’s child. Did you know that as you live your life, the worst diseases of all is not just the the laws of the sicknesses of the body.

Because you and I know there’s a lot of sicknesses in the body. But think about this for a moment. Are not there also diseases of the soul? Think for a minute. What are some of the diseases, the illnesses of sin? Could anger be one of them? Could bitterness be a disease? All those are the manifestations that takes its toll upon us, not necessarily just upon the body, but upon the soul of man. The Bible says these are the things that come from within a man.

The lying, where does that come from? What about the hatred, the envening, the jealousy, that bitterness that we have? All of those things, God says, I can heal you of all those diseases. Because see, when you trust in Christ, you say, but God, the Holy Spirit indwells you and can give you victory over things. Listen, you can’t go to the doctor, says doctor, I’m so bitter at my neighbor, I hate my neighbor, I need some medicine for that. What would they prescribe?

They give you three pills and say, take this three times a day, and they see me in two weeks, and then you want to hate your neighbor number. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? You’re hurt. You’re grieving. You go to the doctor and he gives you a prescription. No, there is a bomb in Gilead. There is the great physician. God is a great physician. He can heal the soul. Maybe there’s people who have hurt you and wronged you. It could be family.

It could be in laws, out laws. It could be the people that your neighbors. I mean, a lot of people are hurting, carrying bitter grudges against individuals. And you need to find out how they can eat upon you. Oh, you may not have cancer, but you got something a lot worse on the inside of you. A God can give you victory over those things. I would rather, rather have a body racked with pain than to have those other sins controlling my soul and making you a bitter person with a bitter spirit.

And many people live that way. Oh physically you may be in a one shape, but spiritually you’re sick and you’re weak and you’ve got disease all throughout you. God says, I can take care of those things. Take your Bible and look there in the verse 5. In the verse 5, he says, who satisfy the mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. When he said, who satisfy thy mouth means my desires, that which I cry to God for, my request that are made known unto God, who satisfy my, he is a benefactor.

If he’s a benefactor, I’m the beneficiary. These are the benefits that I get. Because of who I am, I’m a child of God. He’s the benefit. It’s like he’s a millionaire and he left me a million dollars in the bank. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? You are the recipient of all of God’s blessings. It’s like God’s of in heaven. He said, I want to bestow all these blessings upon you, but you won’t get into position where I can give them to you.

Because you keep rebelling against me and you won’t walk the way I tell you to walk and you won’t get where I tell you to go. He says, and you have violated my will, and therefore you can’t have all of these wonderful blessings that I wanted to give to you. And won’t it be a shame that when you get to heaven, you find out what it’s cost you? There is no disobedience that you can do now. That will be worth what you have disobeyed God concerning, because remember this, God sets up in heaven and He tells you what to do and if you will do what he says to do, he says this is what I got for you.

And you choose your own way and think you won, you owe the victor, I got my own way. God says you disobeyed and to obey, to obey is better, to obey is better, to always to obey is better. What you got you may like and you may love and you may enjoy it. Think I got it, I got away with it. No, there’s a God in heaven says your disobedience cost you this but you can’t see it yet but when you get to heaven now you’ll find out that what you gained you lost and that’s why the Bible says that when trying to gain for yourself you’ll lose but if you’ll lose you’ll gain I know it’s hard for people to understand but you can’t lose doing what God says to do you’ll always win you will gain in your obedience to the Lord so keep it in mind

In the book of Philippians chapter 4 and verse 19 we won’t take the time to look at it, but it says my God shall supply all your what? All your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ. You know the word like God’s got a big bank account. He says I’ve got enough to cover everything you need. My God shall supply. Oh, he’s the benefactor. He wants you to be the recipient of all those benefits. And sometimes you say I don’t want those benefits.

I don’t want you to bless me and God puts you on a shelf. But remember anytime you put on a shelf, it was your choice. It means you chose not to be used. You chose not to be blessed. You’re choosing not to be rewarded when you get to heaven. See going to heaven is a wonderful thing. Well, that’s what we’re going to get one of these days. We’re all going to get to heaven because of what Christ has done for us.

But we’re not there yet. And there’s more than just getting to heaven. Sure, there’s an inheritance that we’ll all get. Whatever that is, I don’t know, but I’m ready for it. I want everything I can get. I guess I’m a little greedy when it comes along that line. I don’t want to get to heaven and find out there’s something I could have had and I book I don’t want to blow it. I want to try to do what’s right while I can.

Take your Bible now and turn to the book of Psalm 103, but look in verse 6. In verse 6 talks about the Lord executed the righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. one of them. In verse nine he says, he will not always chide. Neither will he keep his anger forever. When he said he will not always chide means God will not always pretend like he didn’t see what you were doing. Have you ever thought that you did something and God was going to zap you and he didn’t?

And you wondered how far can I go before I do get zapped? So far so good. But see sometimes the Bible even makes the statement in the book of Acts in chapter 17. He says in time past these He’s saying, God winked at, God winked at. Like He overlooked it. Like He let you get away with it. God said, He won’t always just let you get away with it. In other words, He’s not going to always turn. In other words, it’s like, as I was always told concerned, being a pastor of a church.

Whenever you look at your people, always see them with one eye and hear them with one ear. Don’t see everything they do and don’t hear everything that they do. because otherwise you require perfection from them and that’s not where they are. And I would appreciate if you would do the preacher the same way. God says that there’s things that He wants to do for us, and He will do them for us. And God is also a loving, wonderful heavenly Father.

And your Father is going to because He’s your dad and you’re His child. He’s going to chase and discipline you when you rebel against Him. He doesn’t just hit you upside to head every time you do something wrong. He’s patient. He will not always just kind of like look the other way. Because God’s loving kindness and His mercy, He lets you do a few things and it seems like you’re getting away. But that’s only because He’s long suffering. He wants you to correct it without Him having to correct you.

But then also He says God can also get angry. Now this is a godly anger. Can God get angry? Yes, God can get angry. But that doesn’t mean He sends you because they get angry. He gets angry at sin. A parent can get angry with the disobedience of their children, but not sin. If because you’re against what the person is doing and always keep those two things separate. When he makes the statement here, and this verse, the last part of verse nine, neither will he keep his anger forever.

Means that he is going to chase him, but he doesn’t just keep hitting you and hitting you, hitting you, never let you up. God will discipline you, he’ll correct you, he chastens you because he loves us. understand that God is your father and that’s what he will do because that’s his responsibility. Take your Bible now and look in verse 13. In verse 13 you see God as a chastiser and as a father kind of goes together because our father is the chastiser.

When you trusted Christ as your Savior you became his child he became your father you’re under his authority. In the home children are to be under the authority of the parents. Well now you’re in God’s family. So a child is under God’s authority. How long are you and I supposed to be under God’s authority? Always, all the time. It’s not well I’m under God’s authority as long as I’m under my parents rule. But when I get out of my own, well I can’t wait to get out of my own.

I’m still under God’s authority. Why? Because I’m still God’s child. He’s still my father. He said he’ll never cast Mount never lose me and he loves me But he says that he has compassion for me and he hasn’t dealt with me because of all the things that I’ve done because he is a loving Merciful God aren’t you glad that these are benefits that you ought to be able to say bless the Lord all my soul Look what he says in verse 13 like as a father pith his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.

That word pitieth mean compassion, like as a father hath compassion for his children. Go has compassion for you. And that’s why he’s doing what he’s doing. When Christ was here and he saw the multitude, he was moved with what? Moved with compassion. He understands, because the Bible says he knows in verse 14, he knoweth our frame, He is our Creator. He is the one that made these bodies that we have. The Bible says that the Word of God is sharp and quicker than any two-edged sword.

Pearson even to divide enough son to the body, soul and spirit. So God is the one who made our frame. He knows the needs of the body and provides for that. He knows what the soul, that’s what makes us happy. This is our feelings and emotions that we have. And He made our spirit. And so we were spiritually dead, so he made a spiritually alive and he met that need. He meets the needs of this body that we have and he’s going to give us a new body one day.

But the soul of man, you see, it’s the body that connects you with the world, itolkien the spirit that connects you with God. So the soul of man can be happy in the world and the soul of man can be happy in the Lord. That’s where there’s a lot of happy lost people and there is pleasure in sin for a season. But that which will last is the joy that comes because of the Lord, not from the things of the world.

But the Christian can enjoy both things because God says he had to give us all things freely to enjoy. This wall was made for God’s people to us to enjoy this world, but not to love this world, to let the world be a blessing to us, but not live for the world. It’s like living to eat or eating to live. A total difference. And God says He has done all these wonderful things for us. And He says in verse 14, He remembered that we are dust.

He knows how much we can take. He knows that breaking point that every person has. He knows when you have had the last straw and you can’t take anymore. But God says He’s the one that knows and He is faithful and will not allow anything to be placed upon you greater than what you can bear. So we’ll allow a way of escape that you may be able to bear. God said that, but do you believe that? Do you believe that all things, all things work together for good to those who love God?

Do you believe that? So yeah. Okay. Okay. All right. All right. All right. So. So, we’re gonna have a little bit of a look at the next slide. I’ll see you in a minute, but we’re gonna have to look at the next slide. So, we’re gonna have to look at the next slide. Then live like you believe that. If that’s true, then a Christian don’t have to go around murmuring and griping and complaining, but you can bless the Lord.

Oh my soul, it’s the soul that regardless of what happens physically or materially because of what God means to you spiritually, and if you’re spiritually strong, the soul of man can keep blessing God and stay strong in the Lord. When it seemed like the whole while around them has fallen apart, but the inward man is strengthened and renewed day by day. In verse 19, it makes the statement, the Lord hath prepared his throne in heaven and his kingdom ruleth overall.

Even the laws of sin and death are working. You say, well, God is in charge. This world is a mess. but the law of sin, the law of death are really the laws of God and they’re working. When people are wicked the way they are and God lets people suffer the consequences of their decisions, the law of God is still working. God is letting people see that you can take the life of somebody. That’s the wickedness of sin. The law of God sin is still a law.

It’s the violation of God’s righteousness. And God still allows people who break God’s law to die. God allows people to get sick. You can see the results of sin. You can see the results of homes that are broken up, teenagers that are rebellious. Every rebellious child shows you that God’s law still works because you can’t be rebellious and when. People still die because the lost sin and death. One day all of it will be over with, and we’ll be in heaven.

And God will have totally, absolutely delivered us from all our diseases, from all the presence of all sin, and we’ll have a glorified body so that we’ll be totally complete body, soul and spirit in heaven with God. And we can look back and read these verses and find everything God promised He did. Remember, if it wasn’t for God, you and I would have no deliverance from the power of sin. The penalty of sin, or the presence of sin, if it wasn’t for God.

He’d done all of that, and He says, bless the Lord, O my soul, for all His benefits. Now you stop and think how good God has been to you. And how bad it could have been. However bad you think your life has been, it could have been a lot worse. And it might be that start in tomorrow. Is that either reason not to praise God? Many things God’s people bring upon themselves by their own rebellion. Thinking that because God is so good to me and I was wrong and he didn’t do anything Instead of correcting the problem, you let it feed the fire and lead you further away from God.

And you abuse the goodness of God. But the Bible says the goodness of God should lead a man to repent of it, to change your mind, to reconsider. What you’re doing, realize God is a good God. Why should not serve a good God? 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, calvaryoftampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bibleline, and now we’re closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen, the trumpet will sound, and 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 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.

I want you to take your Bible and turn to the hundred and third Psalm, the hundred and third Psalm. I love the Psalms, many tremendous statements in it that reveal the soul of a man. Sometimes expressing how a person feels between him and God. If sometimes you don’t know how to express how you feel inside, read the Psalms and you’ll find there’s one Psalm in here that will say what you think and how you feel. It’s a tremendous book.

of the Psalms written by David. This is a Psalm of David also. I know the Bible tells us that God has bestowed upon us many benefits. All we’re thankful for salvation, but there’s a lot more that God has done for us than just saving our soul from hell. He’s given us so much. I often wonder why doesn’t everybody serve the Lord after they know Christ is their Savior, but many people don’t for some reason. And I believe it’s because there’s something they don’t know or understand about God.

Don’t believe that it’s all worth it. Remember this, there is no disobedience here that through it of whatever you may gain that will be worth what it’s going to cost you when you get to heaven. Nothing that you could choose against God is worth what it will cost you when you get to heaven and find out this is what you gave up. This is what God had for you but Well, you didn’t want his best and therefore you don’t get it.

I want you to realize here in the book of Psalms and especially 103rd Psalm about eight different things that expresses some things about God. But a lot of people because of what they don’t know, it’s going to cost them and there’s a lot of quitters, people that will not not only make up their mind to serve the Lord, but consistently keep serving the Lord all the days of their life. Let me read this to you. This is to those who want to quit.

You know, always giving up. Never hanging in there. The world won’t care if you quit, and the world won’t whine if you fail. The busy world won’t notice it, no matter how loudly you wail. Nobody will worry for you. Have relinquished the fight and gone down, for it’s only the things that you do that are worthwhile and get you renowned. The quitters are quickly forgot. Of them the world spends a little time. And if you even care that you’ve not the courage or patience to climb.

So give up and quit in despair and place yourself back on the shelf. And don’t think the world is going to care. Don’t you get it? You’re injuring yourself. I love that. When you make up your mind, I’m not going to serve God. Why would you injure yourself? Don’t you want his blessings? realize how great God has been to you and all the benefits he’s given to you. There’s a lot of benefits in serving God. And so I want you to look there in verse three.

In verse three I want you to see the Lord now as our Savior and it says in verse three, who forgiveth all buying iniquities. If Jesus Christ paid for all of my sins, how many do I have to pay for? None. See what that verse says in verse three who forgive us all vine iniquity. What is so important about it? Well look what he says in verse one, bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not. Forget not what all his benefits. Don’t forget what God’s done for you. You see you could always praise the Lord. And you can bless the Lord, O my soul, if you just won’t forget what God’s done for you. If he never did another thing for you, what he’s already done is enough for you to praise the Lord for the rest of eternity. If you’ll only remember, he forgave all your sins, all of them.

Look what he says there in verse 10. Verse 10 says, he hath not dealt with us after our sins. Aren’t you glad? You see, you only had to commit one sin and be sent to hell. Only one just one But you didn’t go to hell What if God had allowed you to die after you committed one sin when that had been terrible? But God was gracious to you and to me He allowed us to live it was God who we don’t understand how many ways in which he tried to reach us and We would not and we were blind and we were hard-hearted And we didn’t see and we didn’t understand and God never quit and God never gave up on us because He’s the one that does the seeking.

We didn’t seek God. He saw us. Aren’t you glad? Now you have eternal life and you’re going to heaven when you die. That’s a wonderful thing to know that He did not deal with us after our sin. He put our sins upon Christ and He dealt with His Son about our sins. That’s why Christ died because He dealt with Him. He took all of our sins and paid for them. Look what He says also there in verse 12. In verse 12, for as far as the east is from the West.

Now how far is the East from the West? Well I don’t really know. I just know that if the East is that away then the West is that away. They’re opposite directions. That’s how far God said He had to remove our sins from us. Look what He says. As far as the East is from the West so far have He removed our transgressions from us. They’ve been removed, taken away. That’s why He told His disciples going to all the world and preached the forgiveness of sins.

Forgiving you as though you never send. Isn’t that a wonderful benefit to have? And we can bless the Lord, O my soul, as long as we can remember that He hath done this for us. So we have something to praise the Lord about. He is our Savior. He has saved us from hell, given us eternal life, and we’re going to heaven because of that. Now take your Bible and look there in the book of 103rd Psalm, but I want you to look in the last part of of this verse.

In verse four is a tremendous verse when he says, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who chroneth thee with loving, kindness, and tender mercy. The first part of the verse says, who redeemeth thy life. You see, he didn’t only redeem us from hell, and for what sin was going to do with us as far as the penalty goes, and our eternal separation from God, he is also redeeming us as we live our lives from being destroyed because there’s somebody who wants to destroy your life, ruin your testimony.

And God, by the Holy Spirit, living inside of us, is giving us the power that we need to redeem our life, or keep from wasting our life. Or as the little quote that I gave to you just a moment, being set on the shelf, not used, a wasted life to realize that God can save our life from total destruction. You see, if you don’t serve the Lord, you wasted your life. It doesn’t matter what you accomplished in life. Only thing that is important is when you get to heaven, did you serve him?

Was you obedient to God? And that’s why we can praise God since you’ve been saved because of what he has done in your life. But how much more could he have done in your life if you’d only let him? Aren’t you thankful that God’s been good to you? Oh, there’s so much that God has done. I want you to realize that here in this verse, when he makes the statement, who chroneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies. Look in verse 17, verse 17, but the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him and His righteousness unto children’s children.

And look in verse 18, too such as keep His covenant and to those that remember His commandments to do them. God’s tender mercies and loving kindness is upon His children that will remember to do what God’s told them to do. Now since you’ve been saved, are you doing what He’s told you to do? Because as you obey the Lord, God is going to bless you here, reward you there. So you get benefits now and later. Isn’t that a wonderful thing to know?

If you know this and understand it and believe this, then it should motivate us to want to serve the Lord now. Understand that God has done so much for you. And don’t worry about what He’s going to do because, remember, if he was faithful in the past, he will be faithful tomorrow. God is a faithful God. His compassion fails not, and they’re new in first every morning, according to Lamentation. Now, the Bible says that God has done all these wonderful things for us.

Now, I want you to realize this, in this verse that we looked at just a moment ago in verse 3, we’re making the statement, he looked all our diseases. Well, isn’t that a wonderful thing to know? He looked all by diseases. Now, when most people read that, they automatically think, well, if I’ve got the mocks, he’ll heal me from my mocks, he’ll heal me from my measles, and if I’ve got cancer, or I’ve got lung trouble, and I’ve got all these different diseases in my body, God’ll heal me from all those things when I get saved.

That’s not true. I know a man named Oliver B. Green, who was an alcoholic. He was a drunkard. He trusted Christ as Savior. And even though he loved the Lord with all his heart, did everything he possibly could, he died because of the alcoholic lifestyle that he had lived and took his life earlier than what it had to be. Why didn’t God heal him? He didn’t. The Bible tells the body of Paphorodius who was nigh unto death. The Apostle Paul had afflictions in his body.

So it’s not a matter of just, he healed all those kinds of diseases. And you know, if I just live right, then God won’t let me get sick. Well, I know a lot of Godly people that get sick. So what do you do with this verse? Well, let’s just pretend just for a moment. When you trusted Christ as your Savior, if God had that very moment taken you straight to heaven, here all right, now you’re in heaven. You have any diseases now?

Of any kind. You have no diseases. Well, one day, isn’t that going to be true? He will have delivered you from all diseases. You’re not sick anymore. You don’t even get tired anymore. You’re not in a body that gets weary and worn anymore. But I believe there’s something more. You see, you and I have the privilege of serving the Lord the way God wants us to, only because of the great thing that God has done for us. Once you trust Christ as your Savior and His death You’re free from the law, free now, free what?

Free to love, free to serve, free to be what God wants you to be. But you have to be free from that entanglement of sin first. That’s what God has done for us. Trust that Him is your Savior and God gave you eternal life. Now you’re God’s. Did you know that as you live your life, the worst diseases of all is not just the laws of the sicknesses of the body. body because you and I know there’s a lot of sicknesses in the body.

But think about this for a moment. Are not there also diseases of the soul? Think for a minute. What are some of the diseases, the illnesses of sin? Could anger be one of them? Could bitterness be a All those are the manifestations that takes its toll upon us, not necessarily just upon the body, but upon the soul of man. The Bible says these are the things that come from within a man. The lying, where does that come from? What about the hatred, the envying, the jealousy, that bitterness that we have?

ofirecting all of those things, God says, I can heal you of all those diseases. Because see, when you trusted Christ, you say, but God, the Holy Spirit, indwells you and can give you victory over things. Listen, you can’t go to the doctor, says doctor, I’m so bitter at my neighbor. I hate my neighbor. I need some medicine for that. What would they prescribe? They’d give you three pills and say, take this three times a day and they’d see me in two weeks and then you won’t hate your neighbor.

No, but wouldn’t that be wonderful? You’re hurt, you’re grieving, you’re going to the doctor and he gives you a prescription. No, there is a bomb in Gilead. There is the great physician. God is a great physician. He can heal the soul. Maybe there’s people who have hurt you and wronged you. It could be family. It could be in laws, out laws. It could be the people that are your neighbors. I mean, a lot of people are hurt and carrying bitter grudges against individuals.

You need to find out how they can eat upon you. Oh, you may not have cancer, but you got something a lot worse on the inside of you. A God can give you victory over those things. I would rather, rather have a body racked with pain than to have those other sins controlling my soul and making you a bitter person with a bitter spirit. And many people live that way. Oh, physically you may be in a one shape, but spiritually you’re sick and you’re weak And you got disease, all throughout you.

God says, I can take care of those things. Take your Bible and look there in the verse 5. In the verse 5, he says, who satisfy the mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. When he said, who satisfy thy mouth means my desires, that which I cry to God for, my request that are made known unto God, who satisfy my, he is a benefactor. If he’s a benefactor, I’m the beneficiary. These are the benefits that I get.

Because of who I am, I’m a child of God. He’s the benefit. It’s like, he’s a millionaire and he left me a million dollars in the bank. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? You are the recipient of all of God’s blessings. It’s like God’s of in heaven. He said, I want to bestow all these blessings upon you, but you won’t get into position where I can give them to you. Because you keep rebelling against me. And you won’t walk the way I tell you to walk.

And you won’t get where I tell you to go. He says, and you have violated my will, and therefore you can’t have all of these wonderful blessings that I wanted to give to you. And won’t it be a shame that when you get to heaven, you find out what it’s cost you? There is no disobedience that you can compensate now. That will be worth what you have disobeyed God concerning. Because remember this, God sets up in heaven and he tells you what to do and if you will do what he says to do, he says this is what I got for you.

And you choose your own way and think you won, you owe the victor, I got my own way. God says you disobeyed and to obey, to obey is better, to obey is better, to always to obey is better. What you got you may like and you may love and you may enjoy. Think I got it, I got away with it. No, there’s a God in heaven says your disobedience cost you this, but you can’t see it yet. But when you get to heaven, now you’ll find out that what you gained, you lost.

And that’s why the Bible says that when trying to gain for yourself, you’ll lose. But if you’ll lose, you’ll gain. I know it’s hard for people to understand, but you can’t lose doing what God says to do. You’ll always win. You will gain in your obedience to the Lord. So keep it in mind. In the book of Philippians chapter 4 and verse 19, we won’t take the time to look at it. But it says, my God shall supply all your what?

All your needs. According to his riches in glory by Christ, you know, God’s got a big bank account. He says, I’ve got enough to cover everything you need. My God shall supply. Oh, he’s the benefactor. He wants you to be the recipient of all those benefits. And sometimes you say, I don’t want those benefits. I don’t want you to bless me. And God puts you on a shelf. But remember, anytime you put on a shelf, it was your choice.

It means you chose not to be used. You chose not to be blessed. You’re choosing not to be rewarded when you get to heaven. See, going to heaven is a wonderful thing. Well, that’s what we’re going to get one of these days. We’re all going to get to heaven because of what Christ has done for us. But we’re not there yet. And there’s more than just getting to heaven. Sure, there’s an inheritance that we’ll all get, whatever that is.

I don’t know, but I’m ready for it. I want everything I can get. I guess I’m a little greedy when it comes along that line. I don’t want to get to heaven to find out there’s something I could have had and I book it. I don’t want to blow it. I want to try to do what’s right while I can. Take your Bible now and turn to the book of Psalm 103, but look in verse 6. verse 6 talks about the Lord executed the righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed every one of them.

In verse 9 he says he will not always chide neither will he keep his anger forever. When he said he will not always chide means God will not always pretend like he didn’t see what you were doing. Have you ever thought that you did something and God was going to zap you and he didn’t and And you wondered how far can I go before I do get zapped so far so good. But see, sometimes the Bible even makes the statement in the book of Acts in chapter 17.

He says, in time past, these things God winked at. God winked at. He overlooked it. He let you get away with it. God said, he won’t always just let you get away with it. In other words, he’s not going to always turn. In other words, it’s like, as I was always told concerning being a pastor of a church. you look at your peopleeful, always see them with one eye and hear them with one ear. Don’t see everything they do and don’t hear everything that they do.

Because otherwise you require perfection from them and that’s not where they are. And I would appreciate if you would do the preacher the same way. God says that there’s things that He wants to do for us, and He will do them for us. And God is also a loving, wonderful heavenly Father. And your Father is going to because He’s your dad and you’re His child. He’s going to chase and discipline you when you rebel against Him. He doesn’t just hit you upside to head every time you do something wrong.

He’s patient. He will not always just kind of like look the other way. Because God’s loving kindness and His mercy, He lets you do a few things and it seems like you’re getting away. But that’s only because He’s long suffering. He wants you to correct it without Him having to correct you. But then also He says God can also get angry. Now this is a godly anger. Can God get angry? Yes, God can get angry. But that doesn’t mean He sends you because they get angry.

He gets angry at sin. A parent can get angry with the disobedience of their children, but not sin. If because you’re against what the person is doing and always keep those two things separate. When he makes the statement here, and this verse, the last part of verse nine, neither will he keep his anger forever. Means that he is going to chase him, but he doesn’t just keep hitting you and hitting you, hitting you, never let you up. God will discipline you, he’ll correct you, he chastens you because he loves us.

understand that God is your father and that’s what he will do because that’s his responsibility. Take your Bible now and look in verse 13. In verse 13 you see God as a chastiser and as a father kind of goes together because our father is the chastiser. When you trusted Christ as your Savior you became his child he became your father you’re under his authority. In the home children are to be under the authority of the parents. Well now you’re in God’s family.

So a child is under God’s authority. How long are you and I supposed to be under God’s authority? Always, all the time. It’s not well I’m under God’s authority as long as I’m under my parents rule. But when I get out of my own, well I can’t wait to get out of my own. I’m still under God’s authority. Why? Because I’m still God’s child. He’s still my father. He said he’ll never cast Mount never lose me and he loves me But he says that he has compassion for me and he hasn’t dealt with me because of all the things that I’ve done because he is a loving Merciful God aren’t you glad that these are benefits that you ought to be able to say bless the Lord all my soul Look what he says in verse 13 like as a father pith his children, so the

Lord pitieth them that fear him. That word pitieth mean compassion, like as a father hath compassion for his children. Go has compassion for you. And that’s why he’s doing what he’s doing. When Christ was here and he saw the multitude, he was moved with what? Moved with compassion. He understands, because the Bible says he knows in verse 14, he knoweth our frame, He is our Creator. He is the one that made these bodies that we have. The Bible says that the Word of God is sharp and quicker than any two-edged sword.

Pearson even to divide enough son to the body, soul and spirit. So God is the one who made our frame. He knows the needs of the body and provides for that. He knows what the soul, that’s what makes us happy. This is our feelings and emotions that we have. And He made our spirit. And so we were spiritually dead, so he made a spiritually alive and he met that need. He meets the needs of this body that we have and he’s going to give us a new body one day.

But the soul of man, you see, it’s the body that connects you with the world, it’s the spirit that connects you with God. So the soul of man can be happy in the world and the soul of man can be happy in the Lord. That’s where there’s a lot of happy lost people and there is pleasure in sin for a season. But that which will last is the joy that comes because of the Lord, not from the things of the world.

But the Christian can enjoy both things because God says he had to give us all things freely to enjoy. This vow was made for God’s people to us to enjoy this world, but not to love this world, to let the world be a blessing to us, but not live for the world. It’s like living to eat or eating to live a total difference and God says he has done all these wonderful things for us and he says in verse 14 He remembered that we are dust He knows how much we can take he knows that breaking point that every person has he knows when you have had the last straw And you can’t take anymore But God says he’s the one that knows and he is faithful and will not allow anything be placed upon you greater than what you can bear But will allow a way of escape that you may be able to bear it.

God said that. But do you believe that? Do you believe that all things, all things work together for good to those who love God? Do you believe that? Then live like you believe that. If that’s true, then a Christian don’t have to go around murmuring and griping and complaining, but you can bless the Lord. Oh my soul, it’s the soul that regardless of what happens physically or materially because of what God means to you spiritually, and if you’re spiritually strong, the soul of man can keep blessing God and stay strong in the Lord.

When it seems like the whole world around him has fallen apart, but the inward man is strengthened and renewed day by day. In verse 19, it makes the statement, the Lord hath prepared his throne in heaven and his kingdom ruleth overall. Even the laws of sin and death are working. You say, well, God is in charge. This world is a mess. but the law of sin, the law of death are really the laws of God and they’re working. When people are wicked the way they are and God lets people suffer the consequences of their decisions, the law of God is still working.

God is letting people see that you can take the life of somebody. That’s the wickedness of sin. The law of God sin is still a law. It’s the violation of God’s righteousness. And God still allows people who break God’s law to die. God allows people to get sick. You can see the results of sin. You can see the results of homes that are broken up, teenagers that are rebellious. Every rebellious child shows you that God’s law still works because you can’t be rebellious and when.

People still die because the lost sin and death. One day all of it will be over with, and we’ll be in heaven. And God will have totally, absolutely delivered us from all our diseases, from all the presence of all sin, and we’ll have a glorified body so that we’ll be totally complete body, soul and spirit in heaven with God. And we can look back and read these verses and find everything God promised He did. Remember, if it wasn’t for God, you and I would have no deliverance from the power of sin.

The penalty of sin, or the presence of sin, if it wasn’t for God. He’d done all of that, and He says, bless the Lord, O my soul, for all His benefits. Now you stop and think how good God has been to you. And how bad it could have been. However bad you think your life has been, it could have been a lot worse. And it might be that start in tomorrow. Is that either reason not to praise God? Many things God’s people bring upon themselves by their own rebellion.

Thinking that because God is so good to me and I was wrong and he didn’t do anything Instead of correcting the problem, you let it feed the fire and lead you further away from God. And you abuse the goodness of God. But the Bible says the goodness of God should lead a man to repent of it, to change your mind, to reconsider. What you’re doing, realize God is a good God. Why should not serve a good God? 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, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline, and now we’re closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen, the trumpet will sound, and 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 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.

The title of today’s message is on focus on the future. When you read the Bible, you’ll find that God does an excellent job in teaching us tremendous spiritual truths by explaining natural things that we can understand. But here in the book of Matthew in chapter 6, look at verse 19. Verse 19, this is laid not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth and where moth and rut duff corrupt and where thieves break through and steal. So the reason for laying up treasure in heaven, and remember you can only lay up treasure in heaven while you live it.

So you can’t wait till you die and think it doesn’t matter. Evidently there’s something you’re going to have when you get there. And God says lay up treasures in heaven. So he’d say it in verse 20, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rut to corrupt and where they do not break the root nor steal. Is there anything in the Bible that God says about do’s and don’t? I’ve had people say, well, you know, you don’t have to obey a whole bunch of rules of do’s and don’ts.

Well, there are things that God says to do, and there’s things that God says don’t do. But we want the freedom to choose those things that we do, and we are free. You can obey or disobey. You can accept or reject. You can build or destroy. There’s a lot of choices that we have in life. But He makes the statement here in verse 11, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. So when you think about focusing upon the future, how far into the future?

Most people think about only what’s coming this week or maybe next month or the next year or they’re thinking about retirement, but they’re thinking about the future, but it’s limited. When I’m talking about focus upon the future, I’m talking about eternity. And this is what Christ is talking about. So he says in verse 22, the light of the body is the eye. If therefore thy eye be single, the whole body shall be full of light. But if thy eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.

If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness? You were born into a world, God says that you are blind, means you could not see, in people of walking in darkness. And Christ is the light that came into the world, so the people that were blind in the world could see. Mike got song says I once was blind but now I see didn’t mean he didn’t have visual eyesight maybe had 2020 but he couldn’t see couldn’t see the things that God wanted him to see so then he says here in verse 24 no man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one love the other this is why man’s only supposed to have one wife no we’re not really or else he will hold to the one and despise the other.

He cannot serve God and man. In other words, you can’t have one eye on eternal things and one eye on earthly things. You’re going to love one of the other. So God says, make up your mind, get on one side of the fence of the other. The reason many Christians are struggling in their Christian life and they don’t have too much victory in the Christian life is because they’re fence straddlers. They haven’t made up their mind or committed themselves which one they’re going to focus upon.

If you focus upon eternal things and eternal values, then why you hear you want to lay up treasures for those so you see things differently. The focus upon eternity is what helps you to see clearly in this world and if you don’t then you can’t see and you’re blind because you can’t see the things that God wants you to see and if you can’t see you can’t walk. The way you should because you don’t have any eyes. You’re gonna stumble.

You’re gonna fall. So God is very clear in what he says. Here in Matthew chapter 7 and verse 12, there’s two things that are mentioned in this verse. One is what you do to others and what others do to you. Because really that’s what life is about concerning people. What they do to you, what you do to them. You can boil all kind of things down under those two little headings. times, what people do to you and what you do to them.

You probably treat everybody perfectly and they all treat you wrong, right? Sometimes we can’t see exactly how we treat people, but sometimes we can be prejudice and mean and ugly and unkind and we can’t. And sometimes not even see it. And sometimes somebody has to remind us of our unkind ways. But God says, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Because how I treat somebody should not be based upon how somebody treats me. But I can see that if I’m focused upon future things.

God’s going to reward me, not for how people treat me, but by how I treat them. But once you see it and understand that, then everything can be all right. Otherwise you’re going to be very hurt and bitter through most of your life and you will not be a happy individual. not going to be a happy camper. The next thing I want you to see there is, excuse me, verse 13, he says, inter ye at the straight gate for why does the gate and brought us the way that lead us to the structure that many there be which go in their act?

Because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which lead us on the life and few there be that binded. So there’s quite a few things in this verse that you could show the comparison to, just like it was two things up in verse 12. There’s two other things here in this verse, the narrow way and the broad way and the few and the many. It’s a tremendous way in which you teach. You’re always in comparison, trying to show something by comparing it with something.

So God is comparing the things of eternity with the things of the world. The things of the world he says doesn’t last, which means that the things in heaven will last. So there’s always this comparison. You reveal your wisdom by the decisions that you make. So you have the wisdom of God versus the wisdom of man. So there is a comparison. So God wants you to make your choice. God don’t make the choices for you. Now, he’s in a sense, given you the truth, and there’s the things of the work, and you can believe.

So you can be as happy as you want or as miserable as you want, based upon how you decide. It says in verse 15, Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Now let me ask you this. Do you know the difference between a sheep and a wolf? Do you know the difference between a sheep and a wolf? Sheep or not wolves and wolves are not sheep. Things that are different are not the same.

But now what if a wolf puts on sheep’s clothing. Oh, now he’s a sheep. Is he a sheep now? No, he’s still a wolf. This looks like a sheep, but he’s not a sheep. And as you go through life, you need to understand that God says that when he saved us and we’re part of his fold, we’re a part of his flock. Are we wolves? Are we sheep?

Are we wolves or sheep? How does the shepherd look at us? Are we wolves? Are we sheep? So if we are wolves, then we can understand why we should go through life devouring one another, right? If we were wolves, you’d expect wolves to act like a what? A wolf. And to devour one another, to destroy. Is that the will of God? No. Okay, so we’re sheep. And he is the shepherd of the sheep. and many places in the scriptures were called sheep.

Does the sheep attack the wolves? No sheep don’t attack. So as sheep he says I want you to be, harmless as the dove, wise as a serpent. Well I don’t know how wise a sheep is. One that’s seen have been pretty done. I don’t know if I’d stand there and let a wolf just start chewed on my neck. They have virtually no way of defending themselves. So there’s wolves in the world that will attack you as a sheep. And so when they attack you as a sheep, remember it’s the wolf that devours the sheep.

The sheep don’t devour the wolf. The sheep has to totally trust the shepherd. For protection, yes or no. The Lord is my shepherd. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. The reasonresent I have comfort is because not of my talent, my abilities, but because I have a shepherd who promised to watch after me. So you’re the sheep. So when a wolf tries to rip you to shreds, that’s what they do. You’re not a wolf. We are supposed to trust our shepherd to fight our battle.

The battle is the the Lord’s. Not by my might, not by my power, not by my strength,————————————————, but by the Spirit of 349. Say it to the Lord. So we are cheap and there’s a tremendous difference. Now look what else he says here. in verse 17. Even so every good tree bring a fourth good fruit but a corrupt tree bring a fourth evil fruit. Good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit need the kind corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

We have two trees we got two fruits. Two trees good tree bad tree good tree brings forth good fruit and a bad tree brings forth bad fruit. See how simple that is? Okay which one are we? Are we a good tree or a bad tree? Well if you understand what he said a good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bring forth a good fruit impossible. So you know there’s got to be an explanation to all of this.

Here I am as an individual born into this world with a sinful nature and God says all of my works are a filthy right. I cannot bring forth good fruit. Christ says there is none good, no not one, not one. So I am a tree that has bad fruit, so I must be a bad tree. Therefore, God has to cut down this tree. Everybody who’s born into the world is a bad tree because we came from a bad root, and because of a bad root, we got bad fruit.

That’s how easy it is to understand. That’s the whole human race. And God says, we all sin, we all die. But the good tree, that’s the new tree, that’s a different tree. In the book of Isaiah chapter 53, it says that when Christ was born, He was born a greaser, but He was a pender plant root out of a dry ground. So He is a different tree. He didn’t have a bad seed in Him. So He is a good tree and everything that He did was good and everything we do is bad.

So God says He’s going going to cut down the bad trees, keep only the good trees. But there are no good trees. And so this good tree begin to spread it’s good seeds and everybody who will eat so called the apple off of that good tree, it’ll make them a good tree because I have a good seedlet in them. So years ago, about 45 I didn’t recall I trusted Christ as my savior. I tasted and seen that the Lord was good.

I was born in the God’s family. His seed was placed inside of me and took root, and I am now a child of God. My problem is I’ve got two trees. I bring forth two kinds of fruit. I can bring forth the good fruit because I have that tree, and I can bring forth the bad fruit because I’m a of sinful tree. And I have got these two roots inside of me, and that’s why I can bring forth too kind of fruit.

So whenever you try to discern whether or not it’s somebody’s saved or lost, you can’t tell because you might see good fruit one day and bad fruit the next day. Have you had they desire to do right and serve the Lord at the same time? You want to shoot that husband of yours? Then you look there in verse 21. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter to the kingdom of God, but he that doeth the will of my father, which is in heaven.

Many will say to me that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works. So we have the will of God, the Father, and the will of man. They’re opposites. They’re not the same. God says, this is what I want you to do except my son. This is what they did. They brought forth their good works. there’s a difference. There’s a contrast. So easy to see, but Christ taught this way, comparing so that you could see and understand greater truths.

And as you read this you also find out there’s something else that’s in here. There’s two major results. He says in one, he says, talking about up there in verse 21, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. And then down in verse 23 he says, depart from me I never knew you depart from me so come on in to depart He’s come on in and depart the same thing. That’s not the same thing. But Christ is the one who taught this.

Some are going in. Some are not. And I think it’s a tremendous lesson, but there’s something also in here that many people overlook. Look down verse 24. Therefore, whosoever hear at these sayings of mine and do it them, I will liken unto him as a wise man which build his house upon a rock. And everybody knows the story, the wise man build. upon a rock and the wise man built his house upon a rock. The foolish man built his house upon the sand.

Members of the school? Oh, the foolish man built his house upon the sand. So now Christ is talking about two houses. But what are the two houses? The two houses represents the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God. He says, whosoever here at the sayings of mine, that’s the word of God, that’s the wisdom of God. And do it them, I will liken him unto a wise man. Okay, so inspire all these things now, he is comparing.

So here you and I are, and we’re trying to make decisions for our life. Look here in Proverbs chapter one and look in verse five. So on page 672, an old scope for reference, verse five says, A wise man will hear, will increase learning, and a man of understanding shall attain under wise counsels.” Looking verse 7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction. That’s a fool. He doesn’t. Then he makes a statement here in chapter 2, looking at chapter 2, so that thou incline and thine ear, verse 2, and apply thy heart to understanding.

See, it’s one thing to hear words of wisdom. You can hear words of wisdom. When you come and study the Bible, whether church, home, wherever, you’re hearing words of wisdom. But understanding means you understood the words of wisdom. Here in the words of wisdom doesn’t make you wise. But did you understand what you said? So when Christ was here, He always trying to help the people to understand what He said. And He would say to His disciples, understand what I said, did you understand that parable?

Do you understand? Because sometimes you can go to church and you heard them. I heard that a thousand times. But do you understand what was said? You really understand. Did you see it? Then he makes his statement here in verse four, if thou seek her as silver, search it for her as for head treasures, then thou shall understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God to understand when you search for her with all your heart.

One of the greatest things that you could ever have is understanding what God is saying. Not just hear what he said, but he mentions this in the book of James. You know, you can be a hear out the word and not adore because you didn’t really understand what he’s talking about. I’ve given the gospel to people that heard the word the clarity of the gospel but not understand what I said. And then I would use this illustration and in another illustration I’ve won people through the Lord in three minutes and I’ve had some that take me an hour and a half two hours to reach.

So you go over and then I’ve had some that I’ve talked to for several hours and they never did get it. As clear as I can make it and I couldn’t get them to understand it. Verse six talks about, for the Lord giveth wisdom out of his mouth come knowledge and understanding. And then he says down in verse 11, discretion shall preserve the understanding shall keep thee. You have to understand what’s being said. See it’s one thing to sit down and say, well I read my devotions this morning, but did you understand what you’re reading?

Well no. Then that’s why you meditate. Meditate means to sit there and chew it over and over and over again like a couch who in the could. So shall thou find favor and good, get this understanding in the sight of God and man, understanding. Verse 5, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. You’ve got to understand from God’s view on what God is saying. Don’t trust your judgment. You are limited in knowledge, you’re limited in judgment, and therefore the conclusion might be wrong and yet it affects your life.

You have to focus on the future. Focus on eternity. Verse 13 says, happy is the man that finds it wisdom and the man that get it understanding. So many times they put these things together to get wisdom. So the Bible refers to wisdom as a woman. Now we know we talked about the two houses there in the book of Matthew. In verse 15, she’s talking about wisdom. She is more precious than rubies and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared under her.

So the greatest thing that you can get in this life after trusting Christ is your Savior is wisdom. Okay, where are you going to get it from? From God. Why do you study the Bible? Why do you go to church? To learn the wisdom of God. Because if you learn and you learn the wisdom of God, you’ll make wiser decisions in your life that affect eternity. Your future is being determined by your obedience to God today. And if you are not obedient to God today, that one day is going to cost you something in eternity.

Oh, it can’t cost you your salvation. You’re not going to hell, but it’s going to cost you something. And yet, how many days does most people really waste in their life? And every day is a day that you could have bought something with some words of wisdom if you’ve understood. Maybe made better decisions. So important. But he says in verse 15, length of days is in her right hand and in her left hand riches in honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace.

So it doesn’t matter what other people say and do, you can still be at peace because you learn some words of wisdom. You’ve learned how to trust the the Lord. Not to worry about things. And then he says here in verse 19, the Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth. By understanding how he established the heavens, God knew what he was doing. He wants us to know what he’s done and why he’s done it. Look there in chapter four and verse seven.

He says, wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore, you get wisdom And with all thy getting and get understanding, exalt her. And she shall promote thee wonderful, wonderful things that we have here in this book. Here we have an illustration that is used in the book of Proverbs. If there’s anybody who knew and understood women, I guess Solomon was one of them. I guess you could say he was an expert. He had 700 wives and 300 porcupines. concubines. And it was one of the reasons why God, you know, split the kingdom after he died because of all his shenanigans.

And yet God said he was the wisest man that ever lived. Nobody’s ever been smarter than this guy. But he had wisdom like no man has ever had. And he wanted to learn everything he could. And some of the things he learned were not the things that he should have learned. And some of the decisions he made was not the decision he should have made. I guess he was what they call a Don Juan. Don Juan. I had just one kid and he thought he was God’s gift to the women.

And I said, you must be Don Juan. He kind of smiled. I said, that’s because they don’t want you no more. But anyway, in chapter 7 of the book of Proverbs, he talks about in verse 5, a strange woman. That woman in verse 5 is different from the woman in verse 4. God says there’s two houses and in these two houses there’s two women. And there’s the woman who is the woman of the world and there’s the woman of that is of God.

But it’s referring to wisdom, the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world. And despite of maybe explaining this, I would venture to say that some of you will not understand what this illustration is all about. It is about the wisdom of the world versus the wisdom of God and God is using two women in two different houses as an illustration. Did you understand what I just said? So that when you read this you’ll say, okay this is the bad woman, this is the good woman.

The bad woman is the humanistic philosophy of the world. And the good woman is the wisdom of God, and they’re both after you. And here you are a simple-minded man passing through life. And the wisdom of the world is luring you. And so it says here=”/5, that. They may They may keep thee from the strange woman. See wisdom, standing, will keep you from the strange woman. The knowledge of God’s Word, the wisdom,Í will keep you from the wisdom of the world.

But if you don’t know that wisdom, this wisdom will get you.livious. If you don’t find the right woman, the wrong woman is waiting for you. He says in verse 7, and behold among the simple ones I discerned among the youth, a young man, boy of understanding. He didn’t have understanding. Passing through the street near her corner, and he went the way to her house. I always teach that it’s better to try to stay away from the, you know, the edge so that you don’t fall over the edge.

My little rules and regulations that I have are simply to try to help people not to cross over a boundary that God set. So I set a few that keeps you from doing and breaking the one that God set. You can break mine, but if you do you’ll end up breaking God’s because you’re gonna get too close. At my house in verse 6 he says I looked out and I saw this in verse 8 and he went the way to her house.

So there’s a woman who has her house. This man whose void of understanding he went the wrong direction, got on the wrong road. So I’m looking for the wrong thing. And whenever you start running from the Lord, you can bet your bottom dollar somebody’s there to help you get up further and further away from the Lord. There’s always somebody. In the twilight, in the evening, the black and dark night, verse 10, and behold, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot and subtle of heart.

See, she was dressed a certain way. She is loud and stubborn, her feet are by not in her house. And with her much fair speed, she caused him to yume with the flattering of her lips, she forced him, he’d go up after her like a Martin to a gourd and as an ox go to the what? Ox goes to the slaughter or as a bull to the correction of the stock till a dart strike to his liver as a bird hasteneth to the snare and you ought to on the line this, knoweth not that it’s for life.

See I am fighting for your life more than you will ever know because if I can’t win you with the wisdom of God the wisdom of the world will get you because you’ll think and reason things out logically in your own mind and you’ll yield to your own understanding and you won’t compare it with what God says and the choices that you’ll make in life will be in direct ratio to the caliber of the wisdom that you have. That’s why you have to be careful.

Talk to about here in verse 27, and you had on the line these two words, her house, her house. It leaves you in the wrong direction. That’s the wisdom of the world. This is the humanistic philosophy of man, And that’s why you’re always comparing what God said with what man says or even how you think. Look there in chapter 8 and look down in verse 11. For wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to her.

There’s nothing you can really compare to the wisdom of God. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Pride and erigency and the evil way in the flow of our mouth do I hate? The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. The wisdom of the world is to love sin, the pleasures of this life. And you can get so caught up with a lot of this good thing. But these are choices that everybody has to make. Nobody can make them for you.

You are free to choose and be something for God or you are free to ruin your life. Serving God is your choice. We’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 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. 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 this day. year. 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.

Where’s the three Denver, Colorado kids? The three boys. The three boys. Come on up here Now I’ll let those three boys to the Lord. I’m sorry to say. Come on, let’s move, move, let’s go. Get those two chairs and bring them right there. Three chairs in a row. Turn in your Bible to the book of first Corinthians. They good looking guys from Colorado, aren’t they? By the way, is Mark, Dr. Mark Cameron in here? Do you believe this? Dr.

Mark Cameron, you know he has his class of Bible doctrine. You got to see it. We started our own college, you know and we’ve got 18 gigantic powerful students and we put him right here on the front row. You all see a little man, he’s my brother, he teaches Bible doctrine, he walks in like Dr. Cameron does and he stands in front of him. Lasted me’s the name. Lasted me’s the name.

It is a riot. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and in verse 14, but the natural man, the lost man, The natural man receive if not the things of the Spirit of God, for there are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. They do not have the Holy Spirit within them in order to discern the things that God gives us from his word. This is what we would call a lost person. That’s a lost person, lost individual.

But the only thing is, oh, he is also one of these here, while flaming the evangelist, you know. He goes around the countryside having tent meetings and healing campaigns and this individual can do all these kind of Things like you know raising the dead now. I got you can raise a day can’t you can you see he can raise the dead and He can cast out demons can’t you cast out demons see there he can cast out demons to Turn in your Bible to the book of Matthew the book of Matthew and chapter 7 and verse 21 I like to show you how I’m supposed to treat these three types of individuals and you are going to be one of them.

In Matthew chapter 7 and 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 thine aim? And in thine aim cast out devils and in thine aim done many wonderful works, and then will I profess unto them I never knew yet, depart from me ye that work iniquity.

Now this individual right here, it says right here, Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name? Now you prophesied in his name haven’t you? See there, he’s done that too. It says right here he cast out devils, you cast out devils, he cast out devils. And thy name done many wonderful works, you’ve done many wonderful works right? Wonderful, wonderful works. See, now he’s done all those things. So evidently because he’s done all those good things, that means he’s saved and he’s gonna go to heaven right?

See there, he thinks he’s going to have him because of his good works. There are many people who have a seemingly outward appearance that they can do all kinds of things. Now whether you do good works and miracles and all the rest of it does not mean that you are genuine. Don’t be fooled because of a person who maybe looks sharp and wears glasses and got a vest like he’s got on and maybe called himself in the flaming evangelist and go around the countryside, raising the dead and the demons and the devils and all the rest of it.

That means he’s of God. It does not mean he’s of God. He can do all those things, but that doesn’t mean God has put his stamp of approval upon him. Let’s say for example, he calls me up on the phone and he says, is this the most very right Reverend Ralph Arnold? And I say, yeah, I’m coming to your town and we’re going to have a week of revival meetings and I’d like to know if your church would participate in winning people to the Lord and getting your people out to our meetings.

What should be my answer? Can I sit on the platform? No. My answer be no, I will not. I cannot. I do not believe the same thing you believe. We do not have the same Christ. We don’t have the same spirit. We don’t have the same message. No, no, no. Now, if I’m driving on a highway and I see that he’s got a flat tire, I’ll keep going. I mean, I’m not. I’d start maybe helping. I’ll be nice to him.

I’ll be kind to him. I’ll try to lead him to the Lord. But as far as joining hands with him in the ministry of any kind, I will not. To do so means I am recognizing his position as a preacher. If a person does not believe the same kind of a message that I’ve got, then I will not join hands with any individual. Keep it straight because when you leave that will be one of your biggest problems about who you join hands with and who you have your fellowship with.

Now you say, well what if they’re saved? I’ll get to that in a minute. Look in the book of 1 John and chapter 2 and verse 18. Little children, it is the last time and ye have heard that anacry shall come. Even now are there many anacry where by we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they wouldn’t, no doubt, have continued with us.

But they went out that they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us. Now, there are different people that will go out from us and they’ll claim that they’re of us. But the thing is, oh, sometimes time will tell. Now if it won’t and you find out by their message that they’re wrong, then you kick them out and help there be a separation here. Now we make a statement here in verse 22, who is a liar but he that denied that Jesus is the Christ.

He said, whosoever in verse 23, whosoever denyeth the Son the same hath not the Father. Now if he does not accept Jesus Christ as his Savior, believe the same message we’ve got, then I don’t believe he’s of God, I’ll have nothing to do with him. to do with them. If I see them on the street, be nice. That is our lost evangelist. Now on the other side here, we have another type of individual. Look there in 1 Corinthians in chapter 3, verse 1, and I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

Now you cannot deny that there are such a thing called babes in the Lord, and I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, But as under carnal, fleshly minded, even as under babies in Christ, I have fed you with milk and not with meat. For here the two of you were not able to bear it, yet now are you able. This individual in the middle, let’s say he has accepted Christ as Savior. He’s a babe in the Lord.

He’s just a babe. As a baby, he should desire the sincere milk of the word that he can grow. He needs to grow. But the only problem is, he doesn’t want to grow. He doesn’t get fed. And he doesn’t care. just doesn’t have the desire to want to do anything. He’s nothing but a carnal Christian, a fleshly minded Christian. He has no desire for spiritual things whatsoever. He is still a babe in the Lord. He’s a child of God.

He is the kind of an individual that you do not want to use. Why? He’s a baby in the Lord. Babies don’t like to accept responsibilities. Babies, they whine and cry about everything. Nothing ever goes right for a baby. They cry every time something goes wrong against them. Babies don’t like to put responsibilities upon their shoulders. But now, turning your Bible to the book of Hebrews and chapter 5, many, many Christians will trust Christ as their Savior. And the Bible says they ought to be able to teach the Word of God and they can’t teach it.

And he says that they need to be taught the first principles of the oracles of God again, not for salvation. But in Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 11, of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered or explained, send your doll of hearing, you get tired of listening. For when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God and are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat.

For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness for his ababe. Now let’s say for example, this individual in the middle here has trusted Christ as a savior. five years passes by. If that individual cannot teach the word of God, that individual is a babe in Christ. It says here in verse 13, for everyone that uses milk is unskilledful in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby. And he says up here in verse 12, well, you ought to be able to teach God’s word.

You can’t do it. Now, there are many Christians who will never discipline themselves to learn God’s word so that they can be able to teach God’s word. Now, this individual in in the middle. He’s a carnal, a fleshly Christian. Now let’s say for example, he goes ahead and maybe wants to serve a Lord. After five or six years, he’s doing a fantastic job. Then he gets to the place where he doesn’t want to serve a Lord in the more.

Now it’s just like you can get up this morning, you can have some eggs. You take some salt. And you put salt on your eggs. The salt doesn’t actually change the eggs into something else. It just flavors it a little bit. You salt the eggs. Now, he can be a genuine born-again child of God. That’s the only kind there is. If he saves, he is a child of God because he does not want to serve a Lord. He is flesh and the Bible says he is flesh and in other words, like he has now got the desire, he’s changed his taste.

He no longer tastes the way he should. He’s got the desire to taste for the things. of the world. And the Bible says they’re carnal, they’re fleshly minded Christians. Still a babe in the Lord. Still God’s child, but he is a babe in the Lord. And God says that there’s something enough to be done. Now what should be my attitude toward that individual? Now here’s a babe in the Lord. He does not want to serve the Lord. Well what should I do?

Now here’s a mistake that an awful lot of people will make because once you get out and you start your own work you’ll find out because you’ve got a ministry and you want to take in good, do a pretty good job, you want God to lay his hand upon you, you want God to bless you in order to get certain people to do certain things you’ll use them in the wrong way. Now let’s say for example that individual right there, let’s say he does not really want to serve a Lord.

He got long shaggy hair, he don’t look right. Now if he doesn’t look right and I’m a ranch director, Now, if I want to teach my people, those teenagers who sit in front of me what to do and what not to do, then I need to be careful of kind of an example I put up in front of them. That’s why, as far as like in our ranch meeting, and I’ll teach them to this, that in our ranch meeting, you don’t put one individual in front of you that doesn’t look right.

If his hair don’t look right, he don’t play a guitar in ranch. And if he don’t look right, they don’t sing in ranch. You’re trying to tell them this is what I approve of. I’m not going to put a babe in front and take and say, now this is the example, this is what I approve of, and this is what I want you to be. That’s not what I want them to be. I won’t use them. Now I’ll be mighty patient, and I’ll work with them, and love them to death, and try to challenge them and all the rest of them.

Four years ago, about four years ago, I used this illustration. This fella right in the middle right here. That’s exactly what he was. In a Christmas camp, and I said, I need me a perfect example, And I couldn’t find anybody that looked any more perfect for the weak, carnal, fleshly minded, egotistical, self-righteous, babe in the Lord of a whole camp. And it was him.

He had hair down to hair. I mean, he didn’t want to serve the Lord. He was rebellious and all the rest of them. And I said, come on up here. And he came up and he sat right there. And if you don’t think I got a sermon on him, he sat right there and the whole audience said to sit right there and look at him. And I said, now, that’s what you want to be. No, that ain’t what you want.

I mean, he looked bad. He said, well, you shouldn’t have done that. No, he’s in school now. He’s in school. They weren’t too bad on him. If I see him and he’s a child of God and he wants to serve a Lord, now when he falls on this place, what should you do? He falls in the mud. So what should you do? You walk up behind him. Of course, being spiritually minded. You put your foot on the back of his head and push him into the mud.

And when he does something wrong, you kick him. while he’s down. Said, I told you so. I didn’t think he’s going to last long. No, that’s not what you do. Yea, that our spirits have put a pick up that little fellow right there. That’s not the individual that I’m going to have run a council meeting or have a place of leadership at all. Why? He’s the wrong kind of an example. He’s fleshly minded. He’s carnal. He doesn’t really have God’s word at heart of what that’s what he wants to do.

He doesn’t have the right kind of a vision. Now, we better get back to the principles of how we got things started the way they are. The best way to stay successful is keep doing what made you that way. And I want ranches to stay the way ranches used to be, not changing them one bit. And you put before the kids that which is right. What about the gal in the end diner? That’s Mr. Joe’s spiritual. Everybody loves a spiritual guy.

That’s what you think. First 1 Corinthians 2 and chapter 2 verse 15, but he that is spiritual, judges all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. He that is spiritual, judges are discerns all these things. That God gives. All these things that the Bible talks about. I have not seen, ear have not heard, neither has entered to the heart of man the things that God has given to them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his spirit.

A spiritual man can understand the things that God gives in his word. A spiritual man. A mature man can accept responsibilities. The person on the end down there, that’s the kind of a person that you want to be able to use. That’s what you’re trying to get every person to strive for. If you will settle for the second best, then why should I ever try to get any better? If you’ll settle for the carnal week Christian entire kind of use in your church, the piano player, the song leader, and deacons and elders and all the rest of it, if you settle for the second best, then why should you ever get the best?

Well, you won’t. You won’t. And this is why it’s so very, very important that you make your standards and you have standards high. Now, let me just say just a word about this, just a second here. When I’m talking about standards, I’m not talking about legalism. People think if you say you set certain standards, you’re talking about you’re being legalistic. I’m not talking about this is what you have to do to go to heaven. I’m not talking about that, you’ve got to do this to go to heaven.

No, that’s legalism. That’s something you’ve got to keep the law in order to go to heaven. But after you trust Christ as your Savior, the Bible mentions in many, many places about standards and rules and so forth. And so forth love even has a set of laws of its own. Love demands that I treat my wife right. Love demands that I treat my kids right. Love demands that I do this. Love demands that I do that. And if I don’t do that, then I don’t have love.

Love demands that I’ve taken serve the Lord. Love demands a lot of things. Now to say that I have love and I don’t do those things and that’s the hypocritical attitude. You’re not telling the truth. And this is why it’s so important. Now when you have your ranch meeting, you can take and lab your long haired hippies and use them all if you want to. But the only thing is, though, you’ll never raise the quality of your kids because that’s what they want to be like.

Let’s say, for example, in my ranch meeting, we’ve got several hundred kids that come out to ranch every Thursday night. You people say, well, you’ll hurt your meeting if you clamp down and you say that you can’t do this and you can’t. Now, I’m talking about your leaders. They can come any way they want to. They’re haired down to their ankles from another arm, pits to their nose. They can have their hair long as they want. I’m talking about when you talk about the leaders that you have, whether it’s teenage bus cabins or whether it’s because those who want to go soul winning, they’ve got to look right.

They’ve got to have the right kind of the appearance because that’s how people are going to judge is the work and judge the people. This is why it’s so important. I think you ought to have high standards. Now let’s say for example, this year of person right here, let’s say he’s attending college and he’s got long shaggy hair. already been told what the standard is. Maybe to the top of the ear or whatever it might be. That’s what it’s supposed to be.

And he’s got his a quarter of an inch over. That’s a quarter of an inch rebellion. If I know that, say, the president says, this is how I want it to be done and you just try to go over just a little bit. But I know right off the bat, that ain’t the person that I want to use in my church. Why? That person doesn’t want to accept responsibilities. That person’s trying to rebel against the authority. He doesn’t like to listen to nobody.

That person is too independent spirit. He won’t do what he’s told to do. If for example right now why you’re doing your schoolwork and you’re homework and so why you’re here at college you’re stopping paying for a moment. If your teacher says do this assignment and do this assignment and do this assignment and do this assignment and you don’t do your assignments like you’re supposed to and then when you leave you won’t God delay his hand upon you and bless you.

Why? Why should he? You’ve already shown that you can’t accept responsibility. When When you came here, you said, I will do what those teachers tell me to do. All right, now teacher tells you to do this and memorize this first and to do this and to do this, then do it. And if you’re not going to do it, well, what are you wasting your time for? Now let me say something. Let’s say, for example, I want to have a choir and I want to have 50 sharp teenagers in my choir.

If I want 50 sharp teenagers in my choir and I say, this is what I want. Out of those 50 kids, I’ve got five kids, just five of them. And I said, now, I want your hair cut to be right. And I want your dress lens to be right. They start off out of the way. Next thing I know, their kneecaps are growing. Oh yeah, their legs start to growing on them. They’re squirt some move with their legs growing.

And as they start to change. And they say, well, I want to sing in the choir. And I want to do whatever you tell me to do. But they just always trying to try you to see what they can get away with. That person is out. Don’t put up with it. That person is out. Now listen. If you’re going to accept the responsibility that’s placed upon your shoulders, then you accept it and you carry it. If they tell you to do something, you do it.

Because don’t you expect God to lay His hand upon you and bless you in your own individual work when you won’t accept the responsibility that’s over you. The leadership and so forth that’s over you. Because you’re already proven that you’re disloyal. You’re already proven that you’ll be disloyal because you won’t do what the teachers tell you to do. You won’t have the standards the President tells you to have. You’re just openly rebelling and letting everybody know I’ve challenged everybody around here.

I dare anybody to say anything. I wear my hair like I please. Now you got the wrong kind of attitude. People are always talking to me about, Yankee, you just got a wrong attitude. If they tell you to do something, then you ought to do it because when you leave here, you’re going to have somebody under you and you want them to do exactly what you asked them to do. If you fight for your own independence right now, that you want to do whatever I plead, then all you’re doing, you’re rebelling against this.

authority of this school. And you think God’s going to lay his hand upon you and bless you? You try your best, or lower the standards of the school. I say it this way. If he says, this is what I want, and you don’t want to do it, then why don’t you leave? But don’t you try to tear down a whole school. Don’t try to destroy what they’re trying to set up. Tell the girls the word dress is right. Don’t try to defudge.

The next thing you know, you got them up to your navel, or keep them down where they’re supposed to be. Do what’s right. Not because you had to Because you want to. You want God to bless you. God will bless you because of the way you submit yourselves to those that are over you. Don’t ever rebel against the teachers. Never rebel against the authority that’s over you. Not if you want to take and ever do anything. That person right there, I won’t use him.

I won’t use him. I’ll help him, I’ll love him, I’ll try to be a challenger. I’ll do everything I possibly can. But position of leadership, no, not position of leadership. He’s not ready for that because it’s not right. Now, this individual on the other side, If this person falls, what should he do? If he thinks he’s spiritual, there’s a few things that he could do that would be helpful. Turning about to the book of Galatians in chapter six. Galatians chapter six and verse one, brother, if a man, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, if you are mature, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, consider myself, that I also be tempted.

If you love the weaker brother, If you claim yourself that you are spiritual, then that means you want to be the example that that person needs. You wanna be the example that person needs. Everybody, I don’t care who it is. Everybody needs a hero. Everybody needs some kind of an example that they wanna follow. I’ve gotten me some examples and you’ve got to use some examples. But always pick out the kind of an example that would be the best for you.

Now I’m not saying that I wanna be any certain individual. There’s certain people that’s got a lot of characteristics at the bottom that I like, and I want that in my life. There’s certain people that I’ll watch and I’ll try to duplicate. I wanna be like those people. I don’t wanna be that person, but I wanna be like them. And the Bible says that this is right, and this ought to be done. Look in Philippians chapter three and verse 16.

Nevertheless, where do you have already attained? Let us walk by the same. There’s that word rule, and I don’t think he’s talking about legalism either. You’ll find it mentioned many times in the Bible, the word rule, or standard. Let usvg the same thing. If you want to build a work, whether it’s a ranch work, whether it’s a church, the only way you’re going to do it is if you get a handful of people who think the same way you think.

And if you try to build that work and you take and put underneath you, the people who don’t feel the same way you do, you’ve got nothing but problems. But you would be a lot safer by taking and watching people that are faithful. and you get through with school, don’t you think that when you leave that’s going to start? Yeah, that’s going to start a few things. But what you do there is a lot of us going to pin up on what you do right now.

Are you faithful now? Do you do what you’re told to do? What kind of an attitude do you have now? Do you have a rebellious attitude? Or I’ll show you attitude or I’ll getInvalid attitude? You have the attitude that I can do what I please and ain’tovych goingue to make me do anything. Would you come for? If you don’t take and believe the standards and the apology that sit down in school, you ought not try to destroy it. You ought not try to claim yourself that you love the Lord, and you’re here because you want to be what God wants you to be.

Well, these are the people that God has put over this place, and that’s the ones you ought to listen to. Now, if you already know more than they do, then why don’t you just pack up and go home? Now, in Philippians in chapter 3, looking verse 17, brethren, be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as you have have us for an example. I believe if you cannot say to somebody, I am an example, you’re a shame.

If you’re not an example, you’re a shame because you ought to be the kind of an example that you ought to be so that you can look at somebody and say, follow me as I follow Christ. Follow me as I follow the Lord. I’ll be the kind of an example that you need. I’ll walk the way that I think God wants us to walk. Now, this is why it’s so important if you think that you are spiritual. If you think you are close to the Lord, then you won’t have the problem that a lot of others will have.

You won’t have to be one of those that have the constant problem of their hair getting so long that they have to always be reminded. You have to tell them over and over again. The girls won’t have to be told over and over again, this is too short. What did he say to you? Then that’s good enough for me. Do it because you’ve been told and you told what’s right and you do it. And you don’t have to have all the other reasons.

All you have to do is be, if God told me to do this, then that’s what I’ll do. If the leaders over me told me to do this, then that’s what I’ll do. Now if you don’t like it, now when you leave, you do what you want, but while you’re here, you abide by it. If you expect God to bless you, you expect anybody to ever use you. Destroy that thing. Whether it’s little kids, whether it’s, you know, the teenagers or whether it’s the adults, everybody needs examples.

I want every one of the men in my church, everyone of the guys, everyone of them to be preachers. Somebody always say, yeah, but somebody’s going to be doctors and lawyers and all the rest of them. Well, let that be the Catholics and the Methodists and the rest of the Presbyterians. I want mine to be this. That’s what I want. And I tell them, look, you’ll not marry the wrong kind. If you don’t date the wrong kind, and I tell them, this is why it’s so important.

If you want to serve the Lord, then don’t you date somebody that’s not serving the Lord. Don’t come to me and speak me a mirror. I won’t even marry ya. I had a ball with one guy. He came in and says, well, you married me and this girl? I didn’t do the Lord about four or five years ago. One, you must know Christ is Savior. And the second one, you have to get to your haircut. He says, why?

He says, man, I’m not a part of your church. I can do what I wanna do. I says, fine. So can I. Amen. I said, I’m not gonna marry ya. I said, you speak me a stand up here and say, look, God bless this couple. Let your hand up on them and use them Father in the fantastic way, give this man spiritual wisdom and father a heart as tender and so forth that he’ll guide us home correctly and raise his family right.

I said when you send her away in a sign of rebellion I said you get a cut and come back. And that was get it cut. They want to get married that bad. This is here in verse 18 for many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. There’s a lot of people, a lot of different kinds of examples. But the best thing we can do is try to have the right kind of an example.

I think we ought to have the highest caliber of Christians that this world could ever produce, that it could ever be. And every phase of the Christian work, we ought to be the best, not second best. Let’s have a word of prayer, shall we? Let’s have prayer. Father, we thank You so much for Your watch, caring, Your love, and all Your provision for us. We thank You Lord for providing us sacrifice, Jesus Christ, that we could have eternal life by simply trusting Him as our Savior.

And Father for the privilege You’ve given us to be turned to either. Lord, to have the desire and the burden that’s within us to want to do something with our lives. Father, to reach the world. And we pray that the people that are here that Father truly did realize that great responsibility had been placed upon our shoulders and help us to be the kind of examples that we ought to be. Father, we ask them to bless them. Following classes for this day and give us a good meeting tonight in 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 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. Life broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, Calvary of Tampa dot 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. 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. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on Haw. 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.

During the book of Romans in chapterazard, the book of Romans is a foundational book. That’s why it’s so important to learn the truth that are in this book, especially because it explains things. It tells us about creation. It tells you about God. It tells you why man needs to be saved and how he saved and what he has and what God wants us to do. All these things in the book of Romans, so it’s an awesome book. The first question is, shall the unbelievers make the faithfulness of God of none effect?

Now look at in Romans chapter 3 and verse 3. Shall the unbelievers make the faithfulness of God of none effect? No. I want you to look at verse 4. God forbid. You get let God be true, but every man a liar. God’s word says that God always tells the truth, does the truth, lives the truth, he is truth. Christ says, I am the way the truth. And they’re like, that’s who he is. He’s truth. And that’s what we’ve said before.

Any man anywhere in the world that will follow truth, truth will always lead back to the source of truth, which is the Lord. And verse four, let God be true, every man a liar, as it is written that thou mightest be justified in thy sins and mightest overcome one thou art judged. But if our unrighteousness come in the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God, here’s another question. Question number two, is God unrighteous who take vengeance? No, he’s not unrighteous.

The answer, of course, is obvious. God is not unrighteous to take vengeance upon a person who violates his will. Now the word of God has been given to us. We can either obey it or disobey it. But if I disobey it, God isn’t unrighteous because people sit in judgment upon God. That’s why there’s people today who do not trust Christ as their Savior because they believe that God is unfair. God is unjust. How do they know? Because they seem things happen in life and they’ve seen people who do bad things seem like they’re happier.

They got peace. They got money. They get away with murder and they can do something wrong and seem like they never get away with it. That’s not fair. And if God set this up, then God isn’t fair. And after all I do just as much good as somebody else and they’re rich and I’m poor. That isn’t fair. And I live better than they do and everything they do turns to gold and everything I do turns to coal. Nothing works for me.

I have all these health problems and they don’t have any, that’s not fair. So God is unfair. God is unjust. And God shows respect to person. Therefore I don’t like God because I’ve seen the results. So there’s people who set in judgment of God. And if the lost people will do that, don’t you think that’s even possible for Christians to do that? Do Christians set in judgment upon God? Yes, they do. And I agree with God on this, but I don’t agree with God on this.

So you live your life based upon your judgment. Instead of a person simply saying, what does God want me to do? And then do that without question. Because everybody has to perceive life from their perspective. They don’t look at it from a divine perspective, only from the human perspective. Because that’s what you see. That’s what you touch and feel. So is God unrighteous to take vengeance? No. There’s people who sin against God. So is God wrong? Because He judges you.

Because your judgment is wrong. Look there in verse 6. In verse 6, he says, God forbid, how then shall God judge the world? God judging the world is because God has taken vengeance upon somebody who was wrong. Vengeance is always from God upon those who did wrong. And if God doesn’t do it, then God wouldn’t be just so the guilty has to pay, the guilty must pay. And so that’s why there’s going to be this judgment. How can God judge the world if he doesn’t judge people because of the wrong they did?

How would you judge the world? I used to think that God said in heaven, and I always pictured him with white hair, and the scales would put out there in front of him, and he’d put all your good works on one side, and all your bad ones on the other side, and whichever outweighed the other, well, that would determine which way you went, whether you went up or whether you went down, based upon how many good works did you have more good works than you had bad work, and so that would determine which way you went.

I thought that for years. I find that a lot of people think that, but that’s not true. And yet the Bible does tell us in the chapter 2 of Romans, those that do good go to heaven and those that don’t go to hell. But the conclusion of the whole matter was nobody has done good. There aren’t anybody good. If you could, great, but there isn’t anybody. He came to the conclusion all have sinned and come short of God’s profession.

So nobody has ever met the qualification. Nobody’s good enough. Nobody’s perfect. The next question, number four, Romans chapter three, look there in verse seven. The last part of verse seven says, why yet am I also judge as a sinner? Why would God judge me as a sinner? All right, let me ask you something. Are you a sinner? Are you a sinner? You say, well, I don’t know. How do I know I am or not? Well, are you perfect? Well, no, I’m not perfect.

Okay, you’re a sinner. See how easy that was? A sinner is somebody who misses the mark of perfection. Means that you’re not perfect. So if you’re not perfect, you have come short of perfection. And so you miss the mark, Harmatano in the great means to miss the mark. So you have sinned, I am a sinner. Or if God’s gonna judge us, He’s gonna judge us according to the sins that we’ve done. So the Bible teaches that there is a God in heaven, there is gonna be a judgment, God’s gonna take vengeance, And he’s not unrighteous to do so.

And why is God gonna judge me? Because I personally, I have sinned. Now I wrote three things down here, letter A, from a Jewish point of view, because God gave them the law and they broke the law. God said, I’m gonna judge them according to the law. Well, what about the Gentiles? Well, the Gentiles didn’t have the law. They didn’t have the Bible. So how’s God gonna judge them? He said, I’m gonna judge them according to their conscience, The reason he uses creation, the world that he made, as the evidence to convince them that there is an eternal God, and he says he has placed it within man that they know that they’ve done wrong.

So God says he’s going to convince the Jew that he’s broken the law, so he’s a sinner, and God gave the world and creation, and therefore man knows because God placed it within him, God’s going to use his conscience to prove that he’s guilty. How can you do that? Because anybody who ever accuses or excuses anyone or anything show signs of judgment. That means you can decide right from wrong. You can discern something. Have you ever noticed that little children, when they’re real small, they don’t reason.

They don’t reason. You don’t have to tell a little child real small why you’re doing what you do. You just tell them. But if they begin to get a little bit older, they’ll come out with a question called, W-H-Y. Why? Why? Go over there. Why? Time to go to bed. Why? Everything. Everything is why? Why? Why? I said so. But just because you said so, that’s not good enough. They want to know why. They want to think. They want to reason.

You had a reason. What is that reason? Why I have to go to bed? Why do I have to do my homework? Why do I have to go to school? Why do I have to take a bath? I’ll just get dirty again. Why do I have to make them bed? It just gets messed up again. Why do I gotta wear clothes or wash clothes because they just get dirty in? But you’re always asking why, because you’re learning the thing.

And then by the time a child gets to the, you know, 13, 14, 15, 16, they get all the answers. They have now judged everything that mom and dad says, whether it’s right or wrong. They have moved to that stage. They know everything. Don’t believe it? Just ask any teenager. They know everything. They can now judge whether mom and dad is right or wrong. And now they have got enough evidence backed up in their corner. And now they get to the place where they’re leaving.

Challenge your wisdom. I don’t agree with that. Well, I don’t see why I can’t. You just don’t love me. You can never let me do what I want to do. Never. You can let them do a thousand things, but if there’s one thing that you won’t let them do, you just never let me do. You never let me go. Everybody else does. See, those are judgment calls. Paul had been accused that if you teach that a man is saved by grace, you just teaching people a license to sin.

You’re trying to tell them you can just go out here and just live like the devil, and it doesn’t matter. many people have walked into this church and hear me preach a sermon on salvation by grace, that you cannot earn it, you can’t work for it, you can’t buy it, and when you’re saved, you have eternal life and God will never cast you out in evolution and they know it. They hear what I’m saying. They know a part of what I’m saying is that you can go out and live like you please and still go to heaven when you die.

And it’s true. There’s a price to pay, correct? But there’s a lot of other things that can happen to you. And there’s a lot of advantages to serving the Lord if a person will do so. So He makes this statement in verse 8, and not rather as it be slandrously reported and as some affirm that we say, let’s just go out here and sin all we want because it don’t make any difference. You’re going to go to heaven anyway.

And God paid for all my sins, so why not? They don’t hear God going to hook the car out of you. Maybe take you home before your time. And so there’s people who have slandered the gospel of grace. Have you ever heard me make this statement? If you love the Lord with all your heart, you can live like you please. You ever heard me say that? If you love the Lord with all your heart, you can live like you please.

Because if you love the Lord with all your heart, you’re gonna live to please who? The Lord. If you love Him. And if you don’t, God’s gonna have to chase Him you. In chapter three verse nine, he says, what then are we better than they? Who is better than who? Have you ever seen people who just know that they’re better than others? Let me ask you a question. Do you believe that the white folks are better than the black folks?

You’re not. The Indian isn’t better than the brown, and the brown’s not better than the white, and the black’s not better than anybody else. There is no difference. There is no racial difference in quality of people. none in God’s eyes. But we sometimes think we’re better than somebody else. No, we’re not. No, you’re not. And you can’t use the Bible to prove it. When it comes to individuals, in God’s eyes, He says, there’s no difference when you compare a person to perfection.

That’s our standard perfection. Who do you know that is? You’re all Aunt Susie. Well, God bless, dear Ol’ Aunt Susie, but I can tell you right now, she wasn’t perfect. My granny knows she wasn’t perfect. You might have loved her with all your heart and she’d give you the shirt off her back. But dear Ol’ Aunt Susie and grandma ain’t going to heaven because they give you the shirt off their back. And because they were nice and sweet and kind everybody, that doesn’t get you a little pinkies one inch closer to the pearly gates.

No, nobody is better than anybody. Have you ever heard me make this statement? Don’t look down your long fair, still, connosed other people thinking you’re like Kellogg’s cornflakes, just a little bit better. Look there in verse 10. As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. Last part of verse 11 says there is none that seeketh after God. Last part of verse 12, there is none that doeth good, no not one. That’s the conclusion of the whole matter of everybody in the whole world.

We’re all centered. Now look in the last part of verse 19. Verse 19, last part of verse 19 says that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before who? Before God. So this is what God says. Now the next question I want you to look at is chapter three and verse 27. Verse 27. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. Look at the question. If a man is saved only by believing where is boasting then?

If he is saved only by believing where is boasting? And the answer in verse 27 it is what’s that word excluded. It’s excluded. Why? Because it’s not by your work. If it was by your works then you could boast or brag in what you have done. Let me show you something before we get too much further down the road. Over there in verse 7, when it makes that statement, why am I also judged as a sinner? I want you to hold your place here, but turn there to the book of Galatians, the book of Galatians, because the question came up, well, how come the Jews are still called sinners?

They had the Bible. They’re not supposed to be like the Gentiles. They’re better. Well, they thought they were better, but they were not better. So in verse 15, the Apostle Paul in speaking to the great Apostle Peter, Says, we who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles. In other words, we’re not sinners according to the rules of the laws of creation and conscience like the Gentiles are. We’re sinners because we have the law and we broke it.

So God can judge us by the law and prove that we’re sinners. And the Gentiles, well they’re sinners because they’ve rebelled against God for the same reason, but it was because of nature. the revelation that God had given to the Jews and the creation that God had given to the Gentiles. So the Jews had an advantage. But now, notice what it says in verse 16. 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.

So if mankind has never been saved, never done good works, never kept the law, never even obeyed their conscience or the light of some kind of creation or nature, they never obeyed. Well then how can a man be saved? How is he made righteous? So God says it’s not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by faith in Jesus Christ. And 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.

Then He makes the statement of verse 17. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. In other words, you are not supposed to say, well, I’m trusting Christ as my Savior, but just in case I’m gonna still try to earn my salvation by my good deeds, then that means you’re seeking to be justified, and if you’re seeking something, you don’t have it. If you’re seeking to be justified by your works, means that you are not now justified by grace.

Because why are you trying to earn something you’re supposed to have already had. If I trusted Christ as my Savior and God saved me and justified me, declared me legally righteous, what am I trying to seek by my works? Am I saying that I’m not really saved then? And I still have yet to be saved, yet to be justified, yet to be saved? Then I have a know the purpose of Christ dying on the cross. What do I need him for if I’ve got to earn it?

So the question was, where is boasting? Have you ever heard of a verse? This is awesome verse. I’ll quote it for you. For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God not of works list. Any man should boast. Why salvation free so that you can’t brag? You can’t say I’m going to heaven because look who I am. You are not righteous. You’re not perfect. You’re not good enough to get to heaven.

And so as a sinner, I believe he died on the cross, Christ, paid for my sins. I trust him. He gives me eternal life. I go to heaven on what he did for me Or who gets credit for that? He does. I can only brag on the Lord because I wasn’t saved by my works. I am not kept saved by my works. In verse 27, let’s look at first of all in verse 27, to declare I say at this time, his righteousness.

Or you don’t have any righteousness. In other words, you’re not good enough to go to heaven. So you accept Christ as your Savior. He gives you his righteousness. Now, if God gave you His righteousness, that would make you as righteous as who, as God, that He might be just and the justifier of Him which believe it in Jesus. Okay, that would refer to me. I believe in Jesus. So the Lord justifies me. But if He justifies me, He has to be just in how He does it.

No word God has to do right. God just cannot overlook the world and say, I forgive everybody. Forget it. about it. God can’t do that. His son had to pay for it because he God made a law. His law was thou shalt not. If thou do this, thou shalt die. God’s bound by his law. His law is part of his character. That’s the way God is. And God can override that. So whenever he says you have to die because of a law that’s been broken, only other way is if somebody pays that penalty and satisfies the law.

That’s what Christ did. He satisfied the law so that when God the Father justifies you, makes you righteous. It’s okay. All your sins are forgiven. You get to go to heaven free. Don’t cost you anything. That’s because I made somebody else pay for it. Christ paid for it. Gives you eternal life. verse 27, where is boasting then? It is excluded by what law of works? No, blah, blah, blah, blah, faith. No word because you accepted Christ as your savior.

You didn’t do any work. He did it for you. Therefore in verse 28, therefore we conclude that a man is justified by what? Faith without what? Without the deeds of the law. If you understand, You cannot save yourself by your works. When you trust Christ as your Savior, grace means grace means that God will give it to you without you earning it, without you deserving it. It just shows you how good he is, not how good you are. So God saves you and gives you as a free gift, what kind of life?

Eternal life, everlasting life. And how long does it last? Forever. And God says he’ll never cast you out in evolution. Now if God can save you by grace without any words, why can’t God keep you saved for the rest of your life without works? If you can be saved by grace, why can’t God who saved you without your works keep you saved without your work? Why can’t he do that? He can. why once you trust Him as your Savior you have eternal life and how long are you saved?

Forever. Because you were saved by grace and if He gave you the power to be saved, He can keep you saved all the way through. Now anyone who believes that you can be saved by grace, but if you do something wrong and you can lose it, don’t believe you were saved by grace. God said, He saves you by grace and He gives you eternal life and you’re going to heaven because of His power. Here’s you. You’re in His hand.

He saves you and His job is to take you where? To heaven. And He says He’ll never cast you out, never lose you. You’re in His hand and you are going to heaven when you die. And there’s nothing that you can ever do from that point to the only turn that could ever alter that. It can never be changed. the greatest news and all that’s what makes it good news, good news. Another question in verse 29, is God the God of just the Jews?

Or is there another God of the Gentiles? How many gods are there? One God. One God, one judge. One judge, one creator, one roller. There’s only one God. this one God the Bible says in verse 30, shall justify the circumcision, that’s the Jews by faith, and on circumcision that’s the Gentiles through faith. So Jews and Gentiles which represents everybody in the world all are saved the same way. How? by faith. In verse 31, do we then make void the law through faith?

In other words, if I just simply believe, what was the purpose of the law? Why did God give the law? Do I destroy it? I annul it? Did I set it aside? Why did God give the law? The law is for the knowledge of sin. It’s to let you know you’re a sinner and you cannot save yourself by your works. The first commandment, let’s, we’re gonna have to go further now. Now shout, love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, body, soul, and strength.

You ever heard that one? And you don’t. So we’ve broken the law. Why did God give it? To show you how righteous you have to be and how unrighteous you really are. So the law serves its purpose is to convince you not to trust your good works to get you to heaven. And only by trusting Christ as your Savior, He gives you eternal life. Now let me give you this one verse in closing. Galatians 2 And verse 21, it says, I do not frustrate the grace of God.

For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Can you understand what that verse says? You just read it. Can you understand it? I do not frustrate the grace of God. For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. He died for nothing. If righteousness comes by the law, if you can earn your way to heaven by keeping the law, you wouldn’t need Christ and He didn’t have to die. And salvation wouldn’t be by grace.

Because if you had to earn it by keeping the law, grace means unmerited. It’s the opposite. Either you got to earn it or By grace is free. And if it’s free, then where does anybody get the right to tell people they have to live a certain way to get to heaven? This is you and me. This is sin. We all have sin upon us. God loves us. Keep that in mind. God loves us. It’s the sin that’s the problem.

It separates us from the Lord. And the Bible says we committed the sin we ought to pay for it as eternal separation from God. To go to heaven we have to be as righteous as God. No sin. Perfect. Nobody qualifies. We’re all in the same bone. Nobody’s any better than anybody else. This hand represents Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. He came into the world because He loves us. So what did He do? He took our sins and He paid for them.

Came back from the dead instead of we’ll believe He did it for us. He’d give us as a free gift everlasting life and we would go to heaven on what He did for us. That’s the best news in all the world. And when he saves you, he saves you from hell. I mean, you can’t go there. He gives you eternal life that lasts forever. Says he’ll never cast you out and never lose you. So then ever you die in this world, you go to heaven.

And you can know that now. That’s such a wonderful blessing to know. Despite everything else that goes on in this whole world, I’m glad I’m going to heaven when I die. Let’s pray, shall we? Every head bound, every eye closed. Nobody looking around. I’m not gonna have you forward. not going to embarrass you, don’t want anything from you. But I do want you to receive something. All if I offered you a million dollars today and you didn’t have a million dollars, wouldn’t that be nice?

If I offered it to you, would you accept it or reject it? If I totally offered it to you and it was totally free, no gimmicks, you could have it, walk out that door, you’d have a million dollars. I’d Romo to say not a one of you would turn it down. But I got something better for you. The Lord is standing in here today And he’s watching you and he knows what you need. He knows you need eternal life.

He says it’s free, it’s a gift. To live forever, to go to heaven when you die, best news in the world. He offers it to you as a gift. A gift is to be received. He doesn’t want you to do something. He just wants you to receive something. He don’t want you to promise anything. He just wants you to accept what he’s offering you. So right now in the kindness of this moment, if you’ve never done it before, would you say yes, I know I’m a sinner.

I believe Christ died on that cross, He paid for my sins, and I will trust Him to take me to heaven when I die. 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 1-800-576-37GoldMagikarp.

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 rg you’re in the area, we welcome you to visitespie. 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 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.