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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.