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Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach the Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air.

You can reach us totally. which is toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family. Turn in your Bible to the book of Psalms, the 77th Psalm. I don’t wanna preach you, I just wanna talk to you tonight, just a little bit. Verse 13 says, Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary.

Who is so great a God as our God? Thou art the God that doeth wonders. Thou have declared thy strength among the people. Thou hath with thine arm, redeem thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, Celah. The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee. They were afraid the depths also were troubled. The clouds poured out water. The sky sent out a sound. Thine arrows also went abroad. The voice of thy thunder was in the heavens, and Tad enjoyed every moment of it.

The lightning lightened the world. The earth trembled and shook. Now look in verse 19. If you don’t have verse 19 underlining your Bible, it’s a good verse. And I weigh as in the sea, and I pat in the great waters, and I footsteps are not known. Did you know when it comes to following the Lord, and for the Lord to lead you, you can’t always follow somebody else’s footsteps. It seems like when you walk in on water, it doesn’t leave footprints.

It’s trackless. It’s traceless. And you and I are taught to just follow the Lord. It means not somebody else’s tracks, but the ones that the Lord has for us. And we learn a lot from each other, but there’s no substitute for you and the Lord walking together, me and the Lord walking alone. And He says, Thou let us die people like a flock by the hand of Moses and of Aaron. It’s great when you have the confidence in the Lord, because that means that there is a hope there.

I spoke a little bit about this this morning in Sunday school about the living hope. When you believe truth, truth gives you hope. And your hope is your real belief. That’s what you hang on to. Not like, I hope I’m going to heaven. hope, I hope, I hope, is that I know I’m going to heaven. And this hope that we have is based upon evidence that while God word, it is true. Even when we talk about where there is no vision that people perish.

Well, the vision is because you believe what God said. And without believing what God said, God’s people have no vision. Only when you believe what He says, can you You have a vision, and some people are without hope. Take your Bible and look there in the book of Ephesians and chapter 2. The book of Ephesians and chapter 2. He says here in Ephesians chapter 2, look there in verse 11, this is written to the church at Ephesus, so we know we’re talking to the Gentiles.

The Gentiles were alienated from the Commonwealth of Israel. God did not give to them the covenants and the promises like He did to Israel. So Israel did have an advantage. He says, work for, remember that ye been in time past Gentiles in the flesh who were called uncircumcision. By that which is called the circumcision, the Jews, in the flesh made by hand. So there’s the Jews and there’s the Gentiles. Verse 12, that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise.

And you are on the line, this, I covered this not long ago with you, but notice what he says, having no hope and without God in the world. Now, without God, no hope. But it ought to be that with the child of God, with God, you have hope. And our hope should be based upon what the Word of God says and believe in that it’s true, and we can rest in that. And we believe what God’s Word says. Now, I had one year where I had decided I’m going to Florida Bible College.

We got down to Florida Bible College and it was even rough from the very beginning. Because I only had about two weeks before college started and I had gone home from a camp that I went to in Boca Raton, where I met Dr. Lindstrom and Dr. Stanford and several others, him a rillo and I said, this is where I want to come to Bible College. I went back home and I told Betty I said, honey, we’re going to Florida.

She thought we’d settled in and was going to Tennessee Temple. And back then in 1964, Dr. Lee Robertson asked me if I would be the first full-time soul winner for Tennessee Temple. And that was a high honor. They had never hired anybody for that. This at that time was one of the top independent fundamental Bible-driven mission-minded Baptist churches in the whole United States. So it was a great opportunity. But I found out about Florida Bible College. So when I got down to Florida Bible College, I, on my way down, we ran out of money in Orlando.

My brother gave me some money to make it on down here on. The hurricane was coming in trying to stop us. The devil did everything he could. He even brought a hurricane to try to stop me. We got there and stayed with a friend of mine that I had met. His name was Linton Fowler. He’s the one that has a church and a Christian school there in Miami. I preach for them every year when I come through. He let us stay there.

I got a job. I told the Lord, I said, Lord, I’ve got to have at least a dollar and 75th and an hour. to just to make it. And the Lord says, you’re going to take a job for a dollar an hour. So I did. And I worked a lot of hours. I worked the night shift. I averaged two and a half hours of sleep a night for the first two years. And it wasn’t right away that I got this job.

It seemed like everything was falling apart. And Betty’s mom was sick and didn’t know she was going to make it or not. So anyway, we were going to go up there in this 59 Buick that we had. Now it was a good Buick. It was a good running Buick. Except it was having a little problem in the corporation. Well, being the mechanic that I am, I decided I can fix this thing. So I went out there with the screwdriver and pair of pliers, and that’s about all you had to have back in those days, maybe some bailing wire and some, you know.

Anyway, loosen those bolts took off this great big old carburetor on it. And I saw that the gasket had a crack in it, it was messing up and gas was coming out, I kept wondering why it was leaking so bad, and spitting in the spud in there. So I thought, I can fix this. So I got me a Cheerios box. And I said it on top of it, and I traced it. And I figured out the only inside of it, and I made me a gasket.

And then I had to punch the holes in the right spot. I’m proud of myself. I put that thing on there, and I took that carburetor, and I said it on there. And when I did it, I heard something fall that into the motor. But I didn’t know what it was. And I thought, well, whatever it is, probably don’t need it anyway. I tightened it down. And I… Hit that key and it locked down. It would not turn. The motor’s not turning over.

Something’s wrong. So I got underneath and I took off the bell housing where I could get at the big old flywheel. I got a crowbar and I put it in the teeth and I tried that thing and I’m going to make that motor turn over. If it takes everything I got. I pressed and I pressed and I couldn’t. and get it to budge. So I called my friend, letting a follower, and I said, this is the problem, what can I do?

He says, take out a spark plug, and then try it again. I says, back it up. He said, back up that thing as far as you can. He says, and then take out a spark plug, and try it again. That’s right. So I did that. And I started to do it. It shot something out of that hole and I don’t know where it went, but I heard it. It was like a bullet. I put that thing back in there and turned it on.

And that thing purred like a kid. So we got in the car and we’re on our way to Georgia. Now I’m hurting for, you know, a job. We don’t have hardly any money. Two kids. It’s close to the end of the first semester. And we got up to Perry, Georgia. And I’m boogin’ along about 75 miles an hour. And all of a sudden, the motor starts to… And smoke everywhere. In the mirror, it looked like I had a smog screen, you know, like nobody can see us.

And I pulled over the side of the road and smoke is all coming out of it. And I thought, uh-oh. Anyway, we called our parents because we were close enough. They came and picked us up. It took us up there to the Athens. Then we had to come back and get my car to a home up there. And then we decided to get it fixed. And they found out that that little screw that had fell out of the carburetor and landed on the top of the piston.

And whenever I was prying it, you know, he says, you busted it. And so now they had to take the motor apart and redo the whole motor. Now here I am. I’m just a student wanting to go to Bible college, learn how to serve the Lord. I’m not bothering nobody. I don’t want nobody to bother me. Why does all this have to happen to me? It seems like if I didn’t have any bad luck, I would have no luck at all.

You ever feel like that? And I said, why? At this time when I’m in school and I need to be back and I’m just gonna bring Betty up here. And it just seemed like everything goes wrong. Everything goes wrong. Story of my life. And now I have to get the motor fixed. Well, back then it cost a lot of money to get a motor fixed. $250. Now today that would be like $5,000 I think. I don’t know what it is.

But I had to borrow the money from her uncle. $250. Well, they didn’t get it fixed yet. And I thought I’ve already done messed up the first semester of school. I lost my job because I didn’t get back. Everything’s going wrong. And Betty couldn’t leave at this time. My car’s up there. I called up Dr. Stanford and I says, Doc, I says, this is what’s going on. And I says, it don’t look like I need to even come back to school.

It looks like I’ve already done, I’m not going to make it back in time for the exams. And he says, Janky, he says, you get down here and I work with you. So I had a little hope, not much, just a little hope. See, I couldn’t see down the road. It looked so dark, it looked so bleak. I didn’t know enough of the Word of God that just boldly go where no man’s ever gone before. I didn’t know that.

In the early stages, I had moments of glory where I could just boldly just step out and then I had moments of deep fear inside of me. Because I had a wife and I got two kids and I didn’t have jobs, no money, and it just seemed like, how is all this going to play out? He says you just go ahead and get them back done. This was in the winter time. The winter time in Georgia, it wasn’t winter in Miami.

So anyway, Betty’s, her dad and mother, they got in the car and they drove me all the way down to the south side of making Georgia and got me to the expressway. It was cold out there and I had a great big old suitcase. I’m going back to school. I’m going to try to finish this first semester. I had on two pairs of pants, a couple pairs of socks, heavy boots because the wind was a blowing, it was like blizzard condition, but it wasn’t the snow, it was just cold freezing.

I had on a couple sweaters, a big old coat hat, and they left me on the side of the road and I got it there and I hitch-tight. And this guy came by and I 18-weater and picked me up. And I don’t know how many times I had to stop and change and hitchhike and go. It wasn’t long before I was walking down to Hia Lea, Florida in Miami there area. I got this big old suitcase I got hat on, sweaters, coats, two pairs of pants, boots, it’s 90 degrees, sweats just to pour an off of my face.

I was crying and laughing off the same time. I thought, look at you. You have no idea what you’re doing. And your wife and your kids is up in Georgia. You’re down here. You don’t have any job. You don’t, you don’t, you don’t have the money to finish your first semester. And and I have already missed about a week or so of come classes, and I got to get back and take exams. And you have no idea how defeated I felt inside it.

So without hope, but you see, I still got God. I was just learning how to walk with the Lord, and buddy, I was staggering all over the place. But I’ll never forget carrying that big ole suitcase and sweat pouring off of me, and I’m walking down here, and I’m crying and I’m smiling and I’m singing all at the same time. Because I knew it was impossible for me to deliver myself. I know if God doesn’t get me out of this, I can’t get out of it.

In any way, when I got back in class and the doctor Stanford says, you’ve got 100 verses to memorize for PE. The next day we had first Corinthians and we had another hundred verses to memorize for that exam. Now he may only ask you three verses, but you gotta memorize all hundred because you don’t know which three he’s gonna ask. And I memorized all hundred verses in one night. In the next night I memorized all hundred verses for the next test.

And when I took the test I got 98s on my exams. And I just thought, you know, God is awesome. And he enabled me to think, remember, and he just opened up doors. And let me tell you this. When it got after four years, in between that time, I quit Bible college every week. I quit every week because, you see, I couldn’t see down the road. I couldn’t see what’s all this knowledge gonna do for me. Now I see why I needed that knowledge.

at the time I couldn’t see it. I never pictured myself being a pastor. All I wanted to know was enough about Ephesians 2, 8, 9, John 3, 16, how to do the hand gesture smooth so I could just win people a Lord. That’s all I was really caring about. But I didn’t know there was so much more that you have to do and that you had to know. And so when I got ready for my final exam, they called me into the office and they broke the news to me.

They said, Yankie, did you know that you have to have your high school diploma before you can graduate from college? I said, I got to have what? They’re the high school diploma. I really didn’t know what that was. I hadn’t stayed long enough to know that they gave those out at the time. I had finished the tenth grade. I was halfway through the 11th grade when I figured that the more I stayed, the more I learned, the more I learned, the more I forget, the less and no so I studied.

So I quit school and ran away from home and joined the Navy. I was sick and tired of people telling me what I couldn’t do. So I joined the Navy. I was in there about six months when they said they didn’t need my services anymore. And so I got out of there. It just made a lot of bad decisions, but here I am. They said, you got to have a high school diploma. So I went down to the John Hopkins or something like that.

They had a school there. And I was told, this is where you got to go. So I went in there and I only got about two weeks before the final exam for the college, right on graduate. And so when I went in there, they said, this is what you need, and this is what you need, and this is what you need. And by the time I got through, they said these are the book and they cut and they had all these books about this high of books.

Says, you’re going to have to study these books and then we’ll give the test on the road and we’ll let you know when we’re going to have those tests so you can take the test. I said, maybe you don’t understand. I said, I got to graduate from college in two weeks and I need to take a test. If you have a test, I got to take the test. They said, well, you can’t pass the test if you don’t take these classes.

And I said, man, I ain’t got time for that. She says, there’s going to be one in about a couple of days. I said, all right, I’ll be here. I went and it was multiple choice. You know, in multiple choice, it’s a hit and miss. Multiple choice, you can do it by the process of elimination. I know it ain’t that one. I know it ain’t that one. It might be this one, and it could be a 50-50 chance. And so I sat there and I took this test on geography and history and English and all these classes.

And when I got through, they told me that I passed. And I went to the college and it was just right before they had the final exam. And I was able to take my exams. I passed in college. You have no idea the route that I’ve had to take and what I’ve gone through. That whenever I look back over my life, it’s almost like a miracle that I ever got this far. God has taken an old dumb Georgia boy and educated him a little bit.

God must love humor. challenges. Boy, he had a challenge when he got a hold of me. But I enjoy seeing what God can do. And my hope has been strengthened and I have a better vision now because I have believed him on a little bit and he kept his word. And then I believed him on a little bit more and he kept his word. Then I could believe him on a little bit more and he kept his word. always got to have that hope.

There was a story about a little girl and this little boy, they played together all the time, just little kids. And she came down with some kind of disease and they didn’t expect her to live. And they didn’t think she would make it through the night. And so the little boy asked his dad, says, can I go to the hospital and see her? And he says, okay, so they checked with the parents and they permitted him to come. They were neighbors.

So anyway, he goes in and he looks in and there’s a little Cathy laying in the bed and he walks up to her and Cathy can’t move. She’s like in an ecoma and just barely breathing and it didn’t look like she’s gonna get her next breath and everybody was just sitting around the room and so he walked up and And he took her hand and he says, said, breathe, Kathy. Breathe, Kathy. Breathe, Kathy. And just kept saying, breathe, Kathy.

And all night long, he just stood there and says, breathe, Kathy. And she kept breathing. The morning came and Kathy was still alive. And he would just treat Kathy. Now whether she could hear or not, I don’t know, or maybe his hope. But she pulled through and she lived. America is in such a pitiful condition today. It’s like America is in, I guess you could say ER. She’s on her, she’s terminal. And sometimes it looks like there’s just no hope.

And what in the world can we do? And it may be that God is just getting us ready for something wonderful, something great. But maybe whenever you go to bed at night and you think about our country, you might say something along this line. Breathe America. Breathe. Breathe America. Breathe. Breathe America. Breathe. And just maybe she’ll live again. I hope so. Let’s pray, shall we? Father, thank you so much for your love to us and the hope that we have because with God there’s hope we can believe.

We can trust. We can have vision. Father, we do commit our country to you, and Father, unless you intervene, it’s too late. What can man do? How can man bring her back from the brink? And Father, we do pray that you would intervene on our behalf. We’d love to see this country stay free until the rapture. Father, if not, then give us the grace that we need to bear whatever may come our way. We thank You for this time together, for Your love for us.

We’re thankful for Jesus Christ, who came into the world. Not on that cross, and paid for all the sins of every individual, and that by faith and faith alone in what Christ did for them, they can have as a free gift everlasting life. And Father, we pray that if there’s anyone here tonight that’s never trusted You as Savior, that they would do so. So the heads bowed nice and close and no one looking around. If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior.

Wanna just talk to the Lord and say something, something like this, Lord, I know I’m a sinner, but I believe you love me and you pay for my sins and right now the best to know how I will trust you as my only hope of going to heaven. Would you do that? If you are, I’d like to have prayer for you. I’m not going to have you forward. I’m not going to embarrass you. But right where you’re setting. So yes, that made sense to me.

It’s my only hope. See, that’s the hope that you’re supposed to have, because you believe that what he did. It’s a living hope. It’s a true hope. It’s a joyful, a joyful, and a joyful, and a joyful and a joyful and a joyful and a joyful. You just slip your hand up very quickly, put a right back down and say, yes, I will trust Christ as my Savior and preach I like you to pray for me. You know what I’ll do?

Our Father, we do thank you so much for all that you’ve done for us, for each person here. Bless us. Lord, we don’t know what each other’s going through, but someone may be facing a hard time, maybe some hard decisions this week, maybe medical, maybe financial, whatever it might be. Lord, let them put their hope in you trust you in Christ and 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 Bible Line and pledge your support to keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll free 1-800-576-3771. 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage.

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

Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, and just keep looking up.