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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 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.

sin or suffer. Part 2. Tonight I’d like to continue to move that thought. And the key thing to keep in mind is that there’s choices to be made and that God has given to us the freedom of choice. All of life is making decisions. We reveal our our wisdom by the decisions that we make. If we make a bunch of foolish decisions, somebody just liable to call you a fool. If you make a bunch of wise decisions, somebody’s just liable to think you’re wise.

So you gotta make it about three in a row. If you make three whys in a row, you’re smart. Three dumb ones in a row, you’re a fool. So you try to make a series of correct decisions. In the book of Matthew, I want you to look there in chapter 11, Matthew chapter 11. This is really, I think a blanket statement concerning the condition of the world. How God sees every individual. In Matthew chapter 11, he just talked about how that God is going to be judging some cities and the people of the world.

make this statement there in verse 28. He says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learneth me. For I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, my burden is light. You must be convinced that serving God is easier than serving the devil. Betty’s dad told me you’ll either be led by the Lord or driven by the devil.

I remember in the flyleaf of his Bible he had a little statement that he had written. This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book. Pretty good statement, ain’t it? Sin will keep you from the book, or the book will keep you from sin. So you make a choice. You want the book or you want sin. Do you want to write your life or a sinful life? We know from the verses that we read this morning, he said, Be holy for I am holy.

And God expects you and I to seek to live a holy life. We cannot live a perfect life. And that’s why God made provision that in the process of your living this holy life, You make mistakes, you do things wrong. We call it slits or air, anything you want to call it. But God has a provision for it. It’s called 1 John 1 9. Anybody know how to quote 1 John 1 9? Anybody quote it? 1 John 1 9.

Every Christian needs to know that verse for the simple reason. That’s a verse on how to correct a problem. See, not everybody will live, pull the Lord to the same degree. But every Christian will have some faults in his life. Make some bad decisions. So what are you going to do when you make a bad decision? Well, the first one that you need to make is to have an honesty between you and God. That means that you confess it to God, and God says that he be just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all in righteousness.

You know where it’s found now. You know what it says now. But that’s the verse every person needs to know. Every Christian needs to know that verse because that’s the verse for you to get things right with the Lord. And the reason is because everybody will do things that are not right for the Lord. But he says, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Now go all the way back over there to the book of Peter, first Peter, the book of 1 Peter.

As we studied this morning about this subject of suffering because you, after you trusted Christ of Savior, you got a choice. It’s the same thing like telling a teenager, Johnny, take out the trash. Or Johnny’s got a choice. One, take out the trash. Two, don’t take out the trash. If he takes out the trash, he’s blessed, you’re blessed, everybody’s happy. And he inherits a blessing. But if he doesn’t, he makes the wrong choice, then he has to suffer for his sin.

So you can either suffer for doing right or suffer for doing wrong, but suffer you will. Now on the screen up here, and I’ve showed you this before, all of our life, as you live upon the earth in a body of flesh, this is called a time of suffering. Glory will follow later. Christ when he came, the Bible says, that they studied the scriptures to see and discern the times when the Spirit which was in them did signify the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.

This is the Kingdom upon the earth that is coming. We are right here, right before the rapture. Seven years later we could be into the Kingdom. That’s not far away. But this is a period of glory. The King from heaven coming in all his power, all of his glory, to the earth. He comes here as a lion. Here he came as a lamb. So here as a lamb, he was crucified, suffered, glory. You and I are supposed to believe that for us to get through the period of time that God has given to us, wherever we find ourselves in this life upon the earth, this is where we are.

Now, after us, there will be people that will be here. There will be other people that will be here. But every time period you find yourself in, you have a certain responsibility. And that responsibility is to God that made us and put us here and told us what to do. Now we can follow people and do whatever people does, or we can do whatever God says. But God says you can choose. If you choose to do what I say do in this life, you will perhaps suffer wrong from other people who will not like what you say or do or the stand that you take.

So there’s a price to pay. But if you don’t suffer by doing what’s right, then God says you’re going to sin because it’ll be rebellion. So when people wrong us, I can either choose to do wrong to them or I can choose to suffer the wrong they did to me. God does not want you and I making things right with everybody who wrongs us. I believe if you wrong someone as a child of God, you should make it right.

But you can’t make somebody else make it right because they may not do that. They may not have strong faith in the Lord, so therefore they’re not going to come to you. Maybe apologize. Look, I was wrong. I’m sorry and all. They may never do that. What are you going to do? Well, you can’t be responsible for what they do. You are responsible for what you do. So therefore, as a child of God, you and I have this responsibility as a Christian.

Now look there in 1 Peter, chapter four. Look in chapter four. In verse 12, now much of the scripture in 1 Peter is talking about suffering. And the word suffering is the key word in the whole book. mentioned about 15 times. And so God says that marriage, believe it or not, is one of the illustrations that’s given here of where a Christian will be tried more than any other. Why? Because you live your life most of it will be you will live as a married individual.

Most of us in this room have lived most of our lives as a married person, except somebody never got married. But I have been living for 63 years, but I’ve been only single for 18. I’ve been married for 45. So many people, after a while, say you’re married for a long time. So most of your trouble that you’re going to have is going to be because of in marriage. That one individual that you happen to be linked up to for the rest of your life.

Do you really believe that who you choose to be married to is an important decision? And yet have you seen people today who make some of the most ungodly decisions about choices of what they do? And sometimes only by the grace of God do we make it. I remember at the very beginning of our marriage, but I was a loose cannon. I did not have. I had my marble, but my shooter was missing. I did not know what kind of a husband to be.

I didn’t know what kind of a father to be. I had never gone to church. I hadn’t read the Bible. I didn’t do a lot of things that I should do and should have known. But I wasn’t taught. I didn’t know. And pretty much for a while, I guess I really didn’t care. I just didn’t know. And so I looked for something that I didn’t have. I wanted to know the will of God and didn’t know what it was.

I wanted peace and I didn’t know how to find it. And so I struggled in our marriage. I didn’t have the answers that I was looking for. And I made a bunch of just decisions off the top of my head, whatever I thought of, that’s what I do. Well, that’s because I didn’t have the stability that I needed. I didn’t know the word of God. I didn’t know what I should do, shouldn’t do. But now look what he says here in verse 12.

Verse 12 is a very important verse and you ought to underline this verse in your Bible. If you don’t have it underlined, I would underline this verse in your Bible. Because as you live your life, they love it, think it not strange. Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you. Well, I think the context here, he’s still talking to the married couple. Chapter three, it’s what it’s talking about. And I would believe that most of the problems that people have in this world is because of marriage.

And because of the conflict that’s there. And a man being found faithful, the woman being found faithful, a man being a godly man, didn’t have children, and then the decisions you’ve got to make as a multitude. this with a man and a wife, they’re there before the kids. Kids will come, kids will stay and kids will go. But after the kids come and the kids have stayed and the kids have gone, you still stay. And the thing even in a church, people come and people stay for a while and people go.

It’s just the facts of life. But the key thing is as an individual, you just keep staying strong and keep doing what’s right. But he says this in verse 12, Beloved, Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try it. Now, note, he didn’t just say it’s a fiery trial. And there’s a lot of fire in this trial that really can burn you. I told Betty the sermon that I preached last week on a Sunday night with the burning apostle, I told you about the title of burning the puzzle and it’s not means that he’s on fire for the Lord It means that he says you get mad you get offended and I burn not you don’t think it I get offended too So you might get offended by a lot of things So do I do you think as a husband you’re the only one who gets offended

What do you ever think your wife might get offended to do you think that children ever get offended? And if everybody can be offended, everybody can be hurt. If everybody can be offended, everybody can be hurt, everybody can be hurt, everybody can be bitter. And everybody gets bitter, everybody can sin. When they say, do something they should not have done out of a fit of anger. So the key is, as you mature, can we get to where we can think before we just react, so that we can respond correctly the way God wants us to.

So we will suffer many things. Now let’s get what he says here in verse 13. But rejoice in as much as he are partakers of Christ’s sufferings. And get this next statement for when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. When are you supposed to expect this great exceeding joy? If you read the verse, what does it say? Even though you may have a fiery trial now, here we are. We’re going through fiery trials in our life.

There’s a lot of temptation out there to do wrong. But we go ahead and we do what’s right regardless. God says that we are going to, when He comes in His glory, there’s something that’s going to happen for us. Then he says there in verse 13, ye may be glad also with exceeding what? Joy. When? When his glory shall be revealed. That’s not here. That’s here. So if you can get the sequence down, like I mentioned this morning, there is a timing in this thing.

You see, Christ suffered, then glory, humiliated, humiliated. Look at the people that took them. Now glory, that example is what you and I are supposed to while we are here in this world. As an individual, people may try to humiliate you, not just humble you, humiliate you. You just go ahead and take it. believing that the righteous judge one day will reward you and then you will have the exceeding joy. You’ll be glad. Can you commit your life to the Lord?

If you commit your life to the Lord then you can commit everything that happens in this world to you to the Lord. The more you commit into the hands of God, the more you will begin to see the hand of God in every area of your life. But see if you don’t commit your life to the Lord, then you won’t see the Lord moving in your life and do anything for you because many times we will do what others have done.

We take matters into our own hands and by doing so we hinder the Lord from working because we want to handle it ourselves. We want to get revenge. We want to get even. We want to make somebody pay. You wrong me. I’ll get you bud. This is what’s causing the problem. Like I mentioned this morning. All this that you see on the news about the riots up there in Ohio, I think is where it was. And then you saw it down here in New Orleans.

You saw it over there in the earthquake in Pakistan, all the looting, and there’s people that will just kill for no reason. Tear down buildings, break in the stores, threaten with clubs, and yet individually sometimes those individuals, they would never do that. But you let them get into a mob situation. Have you ever watched the old time cowboy movies and next thing you know, one guy can stand out there and get the whole crowd worked up and we’re going to get that guy out of jail and we’re going to hang him.

They don’t want to wait for the law. We’re going to hang that guy and sometimes they get the wrong guy and they hang the wrong guy you know and there’s always got to be the hero that comes in here and saves the day. Well this is what people do. They’re not trusting the law to work, but anyway, the way people are, they will have a mob mentality and people will be like a herd and they cause them to stamp people.

Then they do what everybody else is doing. They don’t even have to have a leader. It’s just that somebody else is behind destroying. That’s what Satan does. Satan loves that. Satan can take the old sinful nature of a man and you’d be surprised what he can make him do. And sometimes totally deceived. Some people don’t realize the power of sin and the consequences. So it is better to suffer the wrong than it is to go ahead and try to make it right yourself.

Let God take care of things. Now, I’ve mentioned before my stand on, do I think that I have a right to have a gun or somebody breaks into my house and my post opened the door and so it will come right on end? No, it’s possible I’ll blow them away in Christian love. So there are certain things you’ve got to have a balance. And I believe there are certain responsibilities we have committed to the government. But there are some things that government has not committed to us.

You cannot sue the police department if somebody breaks in your house and kills you. Though they’re supposed to protect and provide and so forth. But that’s tough. So I like the law they have done in Florida now. Everybody can have a gun and you can shoot somebody you think coming in your house and take something or do something and I think that’s a good law. That’s a good law. That ought to make somebody think twice before they break into somebody’s house.

Look what he says here. In verse 14, he said, If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye. For the spirit of glory and of God rested upon you on their part, he is evil spoken of. But on your part, He is glorified. So they may turn against you for something you say or do that’s right. And you may be made ashamed. But you see, God is glorified because of what you did. God says that is a way of you showing other people you trust God.

See, somebody does me wrong here and I don’t do them wrong back. I don’t render evil for evil because I believe that if I don’t and I just go ahead and do what God says do, I’m going to commit God’s judgment upon that person, therefore I don’t have to. And I’m going to trust the Lord. God says, I am going to have praise, honor, and glory. One day it’s coming. It will happen. And then I will have this exceeding joy.

Now, If you believe the word of God, then you can do that. If you don’t believe the word of God, you will not do that. So instead of suffering the wrong, you’re gonna sin by trying to make it right. So it’s a choice. But if you sin against God or sin against people, then God’s gonna have to chasing you. This is where the chasing comes from. Look now in verse 15. But let none of you suffer. None of you suffer as a murderer, as a thief, or as an evil doer, or as a busy body and other men’s matters.

If you want to talk about suffering, just get your nose to know the people’s matters and I guarantee you, you won’t be long before you’ll be suffering because somebody’s going to pace you right in the nose as they keep your nose out of my business. Have you ever had somebody tell you that? I remember what I went to deal with a man and he told me, he says, look, preacher, mind your own business and keep your nose out of mind.

I said, my business is putting my nose into your business and I will too. I will talk you back then. It was probably 25 years ago. And I believe that my responsibility is to be about the affairs of the Lord and I’m supposed to preach the book, live it, review, you name it, and I’d do it. And I had, I remember one day a kid came to ranch, a kid came and had long hair. And back then there was a lot of hippies, a lot of hippies.

They had a lot of them had a long hair. Anyway, this is one hippie. He got his purse and he was walking down the street. He saw a bunch of guys, Georgia red next down here on the corner. He walked up and he says, Hi, how y’all doing? He said, we’re killing all the sissies. Was that right? That’s the true meaning of repentance. He changed his mind. But this is one hippie. He was kind of lost. This couldn’t find himself.

Dad couldn’t get him to get a haircut. He wouldn’t get him to take a bath. He liked this one girl. So he wound up taking a bath and cutting his hair and there he was. Found himself. But some people, they came out to ranch and a lot of them had long hair. And so once in a while, and the guys had long hair and the girl had short skirts. So I wish that the girl had the long skirts and the guys had a short hair.

But they were kind of getting it mixed up back in. They were all kind of messed up. And I was answering questions. I opened it up and this is one kid he he raised and he said, what do you think about long hair? I said, I don’t give you have long hair three feet long from under your armpits. He said, don’t matter to me. I said, but God says it’s a shame for a man to have long hair. Now, if you don’t care what God says, it don’t matter to me.

No, left it at that because he asked kind of smart and I answered that away. Anyway, I thought everything was over with finished the ranch. Maybe I had some kids trust the Lord. Well, I went home, went to bed. It must have been 11 o’clock at night or so. I got a phone call. This man on the phone, he says, are you Yankee? I said, yes, sir. He says, I’m going to kill you just as soon as I can get my hands on you.

I said, sir, who is this? He says, you never mind who this is. But when I get ahead of you, you’re mine. I said, what’s the problem? He said, my son came to your youth meeting tonight and you called him a sissy. I said, sir, I don’t remember calling anybody a sissy. You told him that he ought to get his hair cut and was a shaper him to have long hair. I said, sir, I didn’t say it was a shame for him to have long hair.

I said, God said it was a shame for him to have long hair. Well, that made him mad. Well, that’s my son. And you’re not talking about my son like that in a meeting. Put him down. He asked a question. I thought he wanted the non- answer. I thought he wanted an answer from the Bible. I showed him the verse that said it. Anyway, he says, I’m gonna kill you. No, I didn’t want to die. So anyway, I got Joe Potter.

I said, Joe, let’s, I got to go see somebody. He said, where are we going? I said, we’re going to see a guy who threatened my life. He’s like, Leon, I don’t want to go. I don’t want to go. I said, come on, Let’s go. I said, if the guy’s going to kill me, I just didn’t get it over with. You know, I don’t like to live. All that time is suffering. I’m being suffering. Mental language. I don’t know when you’re going to come and see me.

Let’s just go see him. So anyway, we ran down the road and popped pulled him to. I knew where he lived. But he wasn’t there. God’s right. This truck wasn’t there. Anyway, I pulled in and I got out and walked up to the door. his wife she came to the door and she said oh my stars get out of here get out of here I said man what’s the problem she says he’s gonna kill you my husband said you he’s gonna kill you I says man my says he ain’t gonna kill me yes he is he has threatened you like he’s gonna kill you the job part of already started back to the car come back Joe Wing going over I said where is he at she said well he’s not here he went down the roof but he’ll be back any minute I said good we’ll come in and wait for him

is it all right if we come in and wait for him she didn’t want me in the house anyway we walked it sit down at the table and it didn’t take five minutes I heard a truck come flying you could hear the rocks flying this truck was wheeling around the house because they had to come around the house toward the back door you know and I’m talking about that truck was a spinning sideways and And he slammed on the brakes and just, I mean, he got out, slammed that door, and he come running through the door.

And my, his wife said, oh my God, oh my God, he’s gonna kill, he’s gonna kill. And you know, you can tell I didn’t die. But he came into that room and he slammed that door open and he looked everywhere, he knew my car. And Joe Carter was just turned white in the sheet. I was kind of white in the cell. And I knew I was going to heaven when I died, but I wasn’t home sick at the moment.

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