This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

Bibleline Bibleline, they are God’s word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. Here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. He reaches 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 gospel of John, the gospel of John. I want you to have a great appreciation for the Word of God. If God is perfect and righteous and just, makes no mistakes, then the Word of God has to be the same way. And so you reveal your love for the invisible God by the love you have for the visible word. And so you want to spend time with God that you can’t see. Well, try spending time with the word that you can’t see.

Because as you study the word of God, you’re studying God. He is revealed in his word. Now look there in verse one of chapter one. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. Now in the New World translation in quite a few others, It’s not the word became God, or the word was a God. It’s the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God, and all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.

Now look there in verse 14, and the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. We beheld His glory, the glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. You know, you can take and have a thought, but when you speak, your mind is on parade. So your words reveal your thought, and God that you cannot see like a thought is revealed by the word. Jesus Christ is the revelation of the invisible God. Jesus Christ is God manifested in flesh.

So when you talk about God the Father and Jesus the Son, the Word of God is just as righteous and perfect as God Himself. So take your Bible and look there at a verse that I’ve covered with you before but we’re going to go further than that tonight. First Peter chapter 1 and look in verse 23. Peter and chapter 1. And look in verse 23, and notice the correlation here between the Word of God and the new birth. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God.

So we know that the Word of God is incorruptible. it is not possible for man to corrupt the word of God. Now, he says, which liveeth and abided forever. So the word of God lives and abides forever. And notice in verse 24, because we’ll see this again later, for all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower off the grass. So all of us are like grass, and some grass has flowers, but it doesn’t matter how perdied the flower is.

Sooner or later it all fades away. And it doesn’t matter when you look at all the people in the world, how many are outstanding, they’re all still going to die, and they all fade away. It doesn’t matter. Anybody ever heard of a guy named Cassius Clay? A lot of people heard about Cassius Clay, but personally I believe that he exalted himself so much that God says, that’s enough. And I’m the greatest of all time. Remember him saying that? But sooner or later, he’s gonna pass away just like grass.

So are you. So am I. And doesn’t matter who the individual is and how much glory we have for the moment because it all fades. And then he says here in verse 25, but the word of the Lord in dearth forever. This is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Now, take your Bible and turn to the book of Isaiah, the book of Isaiah and chapter 40. Isaiah and chapter 40. Now this is a very interesting chapter because it talks a little bit about somebody that was going to come on the scene, the voice of one crying in the wilderness.

you’ll notice there in verse 3. This is a prophecy written 700 years in advance. And verse 3 says, the voice of him that cryeth into wilderness. Does anyone know who said that? John the Baptist. Because I asked him, says, who are you? Are you one of the prophets? Elijah? Who are you? The Messiah? Now I’m just the voice of one cryeth in the wilderness. And he says, every valley in verse four shall be exalted every mountain and heal shall be made low.

And the crooked shall be made straight in the rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. Now the glory of the Lord, the perfection of God, is Jesus Christ and he was revealed. And he was the John the Baptist, the voice of one crying in the wilderness to reveal the Lamb of God. And then when he comes down here, he says this in verse six, the voice said cry. And he says, what shall I cry?

All flesh is grass, and all the goodness thereof is as the flower of the field.” We read that anywhere lately. In verse 7, the grass withered the flower faded, because the spirit of the Lord bloat upon him. Surely the people is grass. The grass withered the flower faded, and yod on the line dispersed, the face of the butterfly. But the word of our God shall stand forever, and especially those two little words, the word of our God shall stand forever.

And the word became flesh. And that’s why he says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. In verse 9 he talks about O’Zion that bring it good tidings. That’s what the word gospel is, the good tidings because man is going to die. But John the baddest is talking about the lamb that will give eternal life and we can live forever. So I just want you to be aware that many times we read verses in the New Testament that are actually quotes from the Old Testament and how that God puts his stamp of approval upon these verses in the Old Testament.

Now look in 119th Psalm 119th Psalm the longest chapter in the Bible. And the 118th Psalm is the center chapter in the Bible. So the 117th Psalm is the shortest chapter in the Bible. And the 119th is the longest. And the 118th Psalm, which is in the middle is the middle chapter and the whole Bible. And the middle verse is verse eight. So you see there in Psalms 118 and verse eight, this is the center verse in the entire Bible.

It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. Pretty good huh? Kind of let you know this is really the purpose of the Word of God. Now, I want you to look there in verse 89, the verse 89. If you don’t have this verse underlined in your Bible, it would be a good verse to underline. And you’ll notice it says, for ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.

Thy word is settled in heaven. See, I believe that there is a copy, or I should say probably the originals. In heaven, and they are perfect, and they cannot be changed or corrupted. And what we have, even in the original manuscripts here, is only a copy of the originals that God has forever settled in heaven. And he says in verse 90, by faithfulness is unto all generations. So I believe that the word of God, which is faithful, because it’s the word of God.

And you can’t change the word because you can’t change God. And to try to change the word is to try to change God. The word reveals God. And you don’t mess with God. So I don’t want to mess with the word. I don’t want to add to it or try to take away from it. and He is faithful to us. Now the attitude that you have toward this book is going to be reflected in the trust you have in God.

By the way you live. Things you do and don’t do is only a reflection of your real genuine belief of this book. You really believe it. You live it. People do what they really believe. People do what they really want to do. If you want to serve a Lord, you will, because nobody can stop you. If you don’t want to serve a Lord, it’s your choice, because nobody can make you. So, in the 119 Psalm, I remember whenever I was reading this, for the first time, Boy, that was a long time ago.

Like in 1964, somewhere in through there, I said, done it and I started reading this. But look there in the 119 Psalm, looking in verse 9. This is what I read and it really was a blessing to me. He says in verse 9, where was all Shelley young man? See, at that time I was a young man. man cleanses way by taking heed thereto according to thy word. Look in verse 11, thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee.

So every verse in the 119 Psalm deals with the word, the law, the precepts, the statutes, the commandments. Every verse, and there’s a whole bunch of verses, and it’s amazing that you could have so much in all these verses. Look at verse 130. He says in verse 130, the entrance of thy words giveth life. So when you want light to guide your step, the entrance of thy word giveth life. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. See there 105?

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. A light unto my path. So if you want to know where you stand and you want to know where to walk, then what would you need? The word. Now, many people never study the word, but they’re always praying, Lord, I want you to lead God in direct, lead, guide, direct. He lead guides and directs according to his word. And if you don’t study the word, you’re not going to see where to walk.

And so it all comes back to the Word to spend time with the Lord. You ought to hear people talking, you need to have intimacy between you and the Lord. And how is your relationship with God? It all depends on what kind of relationship you had to the book. You don’t have time for the book. You’re not going to have too much time for the Lord. This has got to be real to you and precious to you, and this is why you need to memorize scripture, because it’s the scripture that the Holy Spirit uses to quicken your understanding, to bring things to your remembrance.

One thing that you’ll notice, if you can remember, Hank Lindstrom probably knew the book. He knew the Bible, probably quoted a lot of scripture. This is what we have to do. You have to memorize a lot of scripture. But you can’t do that if you don’t spend some time in the book studying what the Word of God says. So it’s very, very important. Look at verse 160. Verse 160. And look what he says in verse 160. Thy Word, and you ought to underline this, thy Word is true from the beginning.

And every one of thy righteous judgments endure forever. The Word of God is something that you can look to and put your confidence in and trust. Look in the book of Proverbs. Just turn to the right. Proverbs in chapter 30. Proverbs in chapter 30. Look in verse 4. Verse 4 is not part of my notes, but there’s something here that Jesus goes all the way back here and he takes this one verse and he pulls it out and throws it over there in the New Testament.

You see in verse 4, who hath ascended up into heaven or descended? Who hath gathered the wind in his fist? Who had bound the waters in a garment. Who had to establish all the ends of the earth? And you ought to underline this phrase. What is his name? And what is his son’s name? If thou can’t tell. Here even in the Old Testament, what’s his name? What’s his son’s name? You see, God had a son back there. And you can also see that in the second Psalm when he says, kiss the son lest he be angry.

his the Son, lest he be angry. But now looking verse five, and you ought to underline this, every word of God is pure. He is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee and thou be found a liar. So have a respect for the word of God. Believe that when you go to the book, You’re going to the very word of God, and this is important, and that the word of God is a living book.

Now many people like to talk about the United States Constitution is a living document. It’s not a living document. That thing has been written, it’s settled, it’s final, and it’s not a living document. And people are not supposed to be changing it, says, well, it’s for today, and they try to change it to make it fit. that document, we’re supposed to change and stay with it, but they’re not doing that. They’re saying, well, it’s not a living document. This is a living document.

It gives life. It’s the only one that does. Now, turn in your Bible to the book of Psalms 19, the 19th Psalm. Now the 19th Psalm is a Psalm that I really love because it explains a little bit about the world and the Word. In the 19th Psalm, look what he says, and some of this is mentioned even in the book of Romans and chapter 10. You’ll find some of these statements right there. So in verse 1 he says, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork.

Day unto day utter of speech, night unto night showeth knowledge. In other words, what does it say? When you look at the sun, the stars, the moon, all that stuff out there. What is it saying? Well I think it says several things. It says that there is a God. And it says that he’s great, and also that he’s good. You know by what you see that whoever made that had to be pretty great and that there is a God.

The Bible says in the book of Romans in chapter 1, it words it a little bit different for we see his, the Godhead. We see because of the creation of God and that we are without excuse because what we see is the evidence that there’s a God. And so he says here in verse 3, he says, there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world.

And them hath he said a tabernacle for the Son. Now from verse 1 to verse 6 it talks about the world that God had made and it’s the show forth, the handiwork of God so that you and I would know and believe that there is a true and living God by the things that he had made. Now in verse 7 down to verse 14 it talks about the word. So the world and word should agree. It’s also the same that whenever you study in the book of Romans in chapter 1, it talks about reason and revelation.

And so that God has given to man revelation to be able to see the world so that we can reason that there is a God. And then he gave us his word so that we can reason. So God gave us the world and the word because God says, come now and let us reason together, say, of the Lord. And he makes this statement concerning the Son. He talks about the day. It says it gives messages. Now I believe in the very beginning of that God told stories, and it was done by the firmament.

What we call today the Zodiac. And we even today identify the so-called 12 signs of the Zodiac. But I believe that they have been misused and twisted until it’s an evil thing. But I believe that God says that He used those things to teach by. And it says their speech went into all the world and people knew things because of the stories. There’s a whole lot of stuff that you can teach from doing that Their line has gone out through all the year and their words to the end of the year in them Happy study tabernacle for the Sun now get this about the Sun itself Which is as a bridegroom?

Coming out of his chamber and rejoices as a strong man to run a race Just like every day when the Sun comes up. It’s like a strong man that runs his race and And without the Son as you in there would be no life on the earth. But the Son is like the S.O. in, but in the book of Malachi it talks about the Son as you in son of righteousness, which is a statement that refers to Jesus Christ.

That’s what he says here. He says in verse 6, his going forth is from the end of the heaven and his circuit unto the ends of it, and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. In other words, there’s a message in here somewhere. And whenever you read in the book of Romans in chapter 10, when it talks about the gospel and getting the gospel to the ends of the earth, it refers to these verses. So now, up to chapter six, it talks about the world that God made.

Now look in verse seven, now we talk about the word. In verse seven, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting to soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure. Now, as you study the Old Testament stories, you’ll find out that these stories are about real people and real decisions and real consequences. And the stories talk about a person who either obey God or disobey God and the results, So that when you read those stories, those stories are to make you and I wise.

And the testimonies of the stories of the Lord are true. See what he says? He says, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, and your underlying is making wise the simple. So if you want to be wise, study the word. Study the stories because they deal with a person’s character. Well, when you teach little children in Sunday school or in O’wanna, isn’t it true that most of the time instead of teaching them some great big heavy loaded doctrine, we tell them stories in the Old Testament, we go through all the stories, and we use those stories to teach Bible truth.

to the kid because they love stories. And it’s easy to teach children with the stories. And they’ll sit on the edge of their Satan. Listen to every word when you’re telling a story. And the Old Testament is loaded with these illustrations. But we use those stories to teach those Bible doctrines that’s in the New Testament. Now you don’t find all those stories like that in the New Testament as much. Those little stories and Daniel and the lion’s den and David and Goliath, that’s just loaded with all kinds of stories.

And so the Lord says this, making wise the simple. Now look in verse eight, the statutes of the Lord are right. And you are on the line is rejoicing the heart. See, there’s times in your life that nobody will be able to bring you peace or happiness, but you can learn to rejoice your own heart. by the Word of God. And he says, Rejoice in the heart. The commandments of the Lord is pure. And you are on the line is enlightening the eyes.

It’s what helped you to see, to have discernment. A lot of people see they don’t have discernment. They don’t know right from wrong based upon the Word of God. They just let their own mind guide them. There is a way that seameth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death. The other way, it seems right. Jeremiah says it is not within man that walk up to direct his steps. In other words, nobody is smart enough to live without God.

No man. So get what he says. In verse 9, the fear of the Lord is clean and during forever the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. Now when you read the book of Proverbs, you’ll find that statement mentioned many times about the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And the beginning of wisdom is to hate evil because to hate sin. You see, we have people today.

that don’t hate sin. They don’t hate sin. They’re not afraid of consequences because we have padded it so well that there’s not much consequences to it. But we ought to let people suffer the consequences of their disobedience. For example, the so-called National Healthcare thing rewards disobedient people, keeps them from suffering the consequences of their own bad decisions, by not taking care of themselves or disciplined themselves, do whatever you want, it doesn’t make any difference, get on drugs, you can do anything, age, you know, and it doesn’t matter because, you know, all those other people out there that don’t do like you do, they gonna take care of you.

Now is that good or is that bad? And so we have eliminated. There was a time when people thought that sex outside of marriage was wrong, didn’t they? They used to think that was wrong. Didn’t they used to think that homosexuality was a sin? Call of the sin today. It’s an acceptable lifestyle. So you see, people have got to the place where there’s no such thing as sin. There’s no right and wrong. Everything’s just aJB dirty grave. But not according to the word of God.

Now look in verse 10, giving you a, I think a beautiful picture of how you and I ought to perceive the word of God. more to be desired are they? What? The Word of God. More to be desired are they than gold. Now, if you had a choice, the wisdom of God in his Word or gold, and you can hear a lot of people on the news today talking about buy gold, buy gold. Well, only you can buy gold if somebody has to sell it.

Well, if it’s so invaluable and so good and it’s going to go sky high, why would you sell it? If you had a lot of gold, why would you sell your gold if it’s going to go off the roof? I mean, why would you do that? Because you don’t really believe it and you want to get yours why you can. You’ve got to get somebody else to buy that gold at that price. Remember, it wasn’t long ago you could buy gold for a couple hundred dollars an ounce.

Okay. Now you’ve got to find somebody else that wants to buy at a higher price. May be, may be not. 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. 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.