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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 administrate for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

The title of today’s message. I call it the devil’s spin. I’m sure you heard enough on the news, especially doing political times, where someone makes a statement and then you have to have the commentators come on afterwards and tell you what he said, because you weren’t smart enough to get it. So they have to tell you what he really meant and they put a spin on it. Well, believe it or not, I believe the master spinner is the devil himself.

He’s always trying to put a spin on what God says. You see, when God told Adam and Eve in the garden the truth, he put a spin on it, says, I shall not surely die, making you believe something else. That casting questions and doubts about the truth. And he hasn’t stopped. I believe every Christian would serve a Lord if the devil wouldn’t put a spin on what God promised. There’s no one that wants you and me to be happier, to have more pleasure in life than the Lord.

He created life and he wants us to be happy, wants us to be filled with joy. Many things you write in his word that you may be, that your joy may be full and talks about the joy of salvation. But if the devil would just leave us alone, you see, you’re now born with a sinful nature and we have a temptation to believe everything he says. That’s why we’re filled with questions and doubts and despair because the old devil is alive and well.

And he’s putting a spin on everything that God says. When it comes to salvation, remember the devil’s putting a spin saying that you have to earn your way to heaven. Oh, he might even agree that you’re saved by grace, but he’s going to add a little bit of works to it just to help just in case. You know, in case God really didn’t mean what he said, he just better be good just in case. So he puts a spin on it.

But that little spin that he puts on it, that one little work that he gets you to trust in is a way of damning your soul for eternity. You see, it’s a great thing to believe the truth. It’s a very dangerous thing to believe a lie. Not to believe many people understand just how critical our lives are and the things that happens to us that cause us either to believe or not to believe. Even like Peter says, Lord I believe this helped my unbelief.

Then after you trust the Lord, know you have eternal life, know that you’re going to heaven when you die. Now Satan puts another spin on it. Look, now he doesn’t want you to do any good deeds. See before you’re saved, he don’t mind if you do good deeds to save yourself because he knows it’s a lie. Well after you’re saved, well sometimes saved by grace, I don’t have to do anything. All my sins are paid. I’m going to heaven whenever I die.

I can live like I please. But he doesn’t tell you the whole thing. Even whenever he was trying to tempt Christ in Matthew chapter 4, he didn’t quote everything. He didn’t tell the whole truth. See, the Bible says, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, but he was doing it. He was trying to tempt the Lord thy God. But he don’t quote everything. He takes part of things and twist it, puts a spin on it. And so now that you know Christ is your Savior, he’s going to do everything he possibly can to put of spin on why you should not serve the Lord and why you should not be faithful, why you shouldn’t give the way you should, why you shouldn’t witness.

You see, you would do all those things naturally if the devil would just leave things alone, but he won’t. He has his ministers out there, he has his preachers of false messages, and they put a spin on everything that God says, whatever is truth, there’s a lie out there telling you that it ain’t And you and I would be wise to listen to what God says. I want everyone to serve a Lord. And some people serve the Lord because they just feel fun guilty.

Guilty if they don’t. And I have a little bit of that. Because I don’t want to serve a Lord out of guilt, but some people just feel like, you know, I have failed and failed and failed and I feel so guilty that they just hardened themselves, become calloused, and they don’t bother them anymore. At one time it used to really bother them whenever they wouldn’t read the Bible and it really bothered them when they wouldn’t witness And it really bothered them when they wouldn’t go to church It really bothered them when they you know said things they shouldn’t say and went to places They shouldn’t go but you know after a while it doesn’t bother them anymore.

They become callous to it Well, we shouldn’t serve the Lord out of guilt, but there’s a little guilt by not being obedient and And some people serve the Lord out of fear, just plain afraid. Pray that if I don’t, God’s gonna beat that Torah on me. Well, I don’t want to serve the Lord for that reason. Though it is a reason. It’s a reason why some people do what they do. But they go to church because they’re afraid if they don’t, God’s gonna break their neck and throw them in the hospital.

I guess you could use that as a great motivating force. I trusted the Lord for the main reason that I didn’t want to go to hell. That’s the wrong reason. That was a pretty good reason for me at that time. I didn’t want to go to hell. So I believe a man has to know the consequences of what his sins produce. So because you and I are sinners and if we’re lost then we know that we’re going to hell and that fear works pretty good.

And that’s why a lot of people trust the Lord. But after you trusted Christ as your Savior, should you and I be motivated by the fear? Now the Bible talks about there is the fear of the Lord and we should fear God. I believe it’s talking about having a holy, reverential respect for the Lord, knowing the awesomeness, the power that God has and what He can do in our individual lives. So it can be a healthy thing, but to go through life, being afraid all the time, it’s not a good thing.

There’s always a limit. And the devil will always take and put a spin on everything. You know, if you’re gonna mess up and you know you’re gonna mess up, you might be just mess up big. And now that you’re not ruining your testimony, there’s no hope for you. God can’t use you. So you might just go all the way. And some people just get in the mud and they stay there all the days of the life because they listen to a lie.

Somebody took the truth and put a spin on it and they become disheartened and dejected. It felt like it’s not worth it anymore. We got a big old Bible here. It’s a big old Bible. It’s got a lot of things in it. And yes, it’s got the law in there. It’s got a There’s a lot of rules and regulations, a lot of ceremonial laws, civil laws, and all this, all kind of laws. Even all the way through to New Testament, there’s a lot of do’s and don’ts.

But what you and I need to see and understand is that behind all of these laws and rules and regulations, there’s a person. This person is gone. This person is the person Jesus Christ and says that the law is to lead us to Christ. It leads us to it. So the law isn’t bad, it’s just that it leads you to somebody, it’s not the end in itself. The rules and regulations that sometimes the parents lay down upon the child is, that’s not the end in itself.

It’s just the kind of like guidelines to hold you in to and to constrain that old central nature that they have. And believe me, they do have one. You don’t remove the rules and regulations, you’ve just got to try to point them in a right directions say, look, focus upon mommy and daddy. You always tell them, we love you. Mommy loves you. Daddy loves you. And you’re trying to see them, but love you back. And you try to do right to the child and you want the child to do right because you love them.

But you don’t move the rules and regulations. They’re there for a reason. Some parents believe that it’s good just to compromise and remove them all. But the child is doing whatever the child wants to do. Because Because if we lay down any rules and regulations, they’ll just rebal. If they do, they have already rebal in their heart. And this is why as time goes on, it’s easier sometimes to raise kids. Just give them the free reign, let them do whatever they want.

They’ll go wherever they want, dress the way you want, and remove all the restraints. You say they’ll be happier. No, they won’t be. Because it’s to keep them from trouble. And it’s to help them. Same thing in the Bible when you find the rules and regulations. you and I are to understand that behind all of us, we don’t study the Bible so we can fall in love with the rules. We don’t fall in love with all the law. We fall in love with the person.

When you fall in love with the person that’s behind it all, then you don’t even see the rules and that don’t bother you anymore because you’re in love with the person. And that love is what will challenge and motivate you and is the greatest thing for you. Now, take your Bible and turn to to 2 Corinthians in chapter 5. 2 Corinthians in chapter 5. Everybody knows it. Everybody wants to be loved, and we need a little tender love and care.

Kind of like the man that… Well, he was getting very, very sick. So he went to the doctor to find out what was wrong with him. And he just didn’t have any will to live. So after he talked to the doctor, the doctor says, I need to talk to your wife. So the wife came in and he says, your husband is in very, very bad shape. And for some reason or other, his well-being, depends upon him receiving a lot of tender loving care.

And if you’ll give him a lot of tender loving care that he might make it. Now one begin to think, all they’ve been doing for all their married life is arguing and hiding, arguing and fighting, never getting along. And he told her he says, look, if y’all just don’t have any more arguments, no fighting, and you just give them all the tender loving care that that he can get and fix his favorite meals and do all these wonderful things.

He could live a long time. But she said, what if I don’t? What if he’ll die? So when they left and got in the car and started down the road, he says, honey, what did the doctor tell you? She kind of looked sad. And he says, the doctor says you’re gonna die. I want you to look there in chapter five, second Corinthians in chapter five, I’m looking for a 14. He says, for the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judged that if one died for all, then we’re all dead.

That he died for all that they which lived should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again. Now in verse 14, there’s a good way of looking at this word. And I have always looked at it as the love of Christ. And as though it always referred to Christ’s love for me because he says, because we thus judge, we judge this way. that he died for us. And I and you are the judge that if he died for one, he died for all and those who believe, well, it should live for the one who died for them.

And I believe it’s good in his accurate. When two truths are parallel, equally true, then maybe God means that both of them were right. When it says here in verse 14, for the love of Christ, Is that His love for me or the love of Christ my love for Him? Or which one would be right? Is it the love that Christ has for me that motivates me to serve the Lord? Or is it my love for Him that motivates me to serve the Lord?

Which one would be false? Or maybe both of them are true? I should serve the Lord because He loves me. Look what He did for me. But because of what he did for me, my love for the Lord, my love of Christ, the love of God, the love of Christ should motivate me than to serve him. Now see it’s not a spin on truth. It’s an amplification or magnification of a truth. Seeking to understand as much as you possibly can and understand it all that we will never do.

But Joel chapter 3 is talking about a time when God’s going to gather all the nations of the world against Israel and bring them to the valley of Jehoshapah. And here’s all these people that came there. And of course, I believe this is the Battle of Armageddon, a time that’s coming. And he says, in verse 2, I will gather all nations and we’ll bring them down into the the Valley Jaha’a. But here’s all this multitude of people. The Lord talks about how that he’s going to take these grape vines from all over the world.

And he’s going to pull all these grapes into his big bowl. And then he’s going to take his feet and he’s going to stomp the feet on these grapes because they’re ripe on the harvest. And he’s going to let the grape juice flow out about 200 miles down toward the Kidron Valley by the walls of Jerusalem. And put in the sickle, the harvest is right. Come get you down for the presses full, the fats overflow for their wickedness is great.

So we know that this is talking about wickedness and God’s judgment upon the world. And he says here in verse 14, multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision. For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. when this time happened, it says, the sun and the moon shall be darkened, the stars shall withdraw their shining. This is the time that’s coming. But what about people that are living today? all over the world, multitude, multitudes in a valley of decision.

We often talk about the time that we live upon this earth. Time you’re born, time you die. It’s one big valley. And, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we live from the time we’re born to the time we die, we live in a valley that produces the fear of death. And, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear. No, we will. You and I don’t have to fear because we’ve already made a decision.

But there’s multitudes in this valley of the shadow of death that never made the right decision. They believed the spin that the devil gave to them upon the truth. You’re not going to die. It’s always way out there. It’s always way out there. And you’re not going to die now and you got time. You can always get ready later. And the road to hell is paid with good intentions, always intended to get right. I’m going to trust the Lord one of these days.

I’m going to go to church one of these days. If I serve the Lord, then things are going to really happen bad to me. And God’s going to make me poor all my life. I’ve done seeing too many poor missionaries and poor preachers, and I just don’t want to be poor all my life and do about the luxuries of life. I am accustomed to a higher standard of living. I’ll bless you a little peeping heart. Who cares? God’s not interested in all that stuff.

It’s whatever you’re willing to do or to give to be for the Lord. Here’s churches all across America, around the world, where people will set in churches of their choice. Each week take your voice to the church of your choice and sing all the hymn with respect. We’ll be glad to get you and your offering to be a cash money order or check. our doctrines are clear, just be good and sincere. If you’re tired of your sin, we will welcome you in if you show up at least once a year.

And so there’s people all over the world going to churches of their choice that have nothing to do with how to go to heaven. But they made decisions. The wrong decision because somebody put a spin upon truth. I believe that we should know the Bible, believe the Bible, and let it totally control our lives. Take a Bible and look in the book of Joshua, the book of Joshua, chapter 24. This is a great chapter. Got some good stuff in it.

Joshua’s going to die. He’s at the end of his life. Kind of like Paul was when he said, I have fought a good fight. I’ve kept the faith. And therefore there’s laid up for me a crown of righteousness, but not to me only, but to all them that love is appearing. Here in the Old Testament of Okejosha, chapter 24, he says to the children in verse 14, Now therefore fear the Lord, serve him in sincerity, you ought to underline this, serve him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt serve you the Lord because you can’t serve both.

Every man has the same amount of time and every day 24 hours and you can worship God or not worship God. It’s your choice. You’re in a valley of decisions. You’re always making decisions as you go through this little valley from birth until death. And what are going to do with it. God wants us to be happy. I’ve lived long enough to see a lot of people who believe what God said and God used them and blessed them in a great way.

Now look what He said in verse 15, and if and you ought to underline these words, it seems evil. It seems evil and the only way it can seem evil is that the devil put a spin on it and you believe it. Do you think it’s evil to serve God. It’s wrong to do right. Is it wrong to be faithful to God’s people and the church that God established? And that’s what God wants us to do. Evidently, some people don’t believe that.

That’s why I tell people, look, if you’re not going to serve the Lord, it doesn’t matter what you do. Do you really worship the true and living God? Remember the first commandment in the word? love of the Lord thy God with all thy hard mind, body, soul, and strength. Make no graven images of any kind to anything. You worship only the Lord. The last part of that verse says, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Isn’t it wonderful that God created such a wonderful world for us to live in? Did you know whenever he made all the animals, he made them for us? When he created the the earth itself, he did it for us. He didn’t need it. God didn’t need the animal. He didn’t need the trees. He didn’t need the pretty flowers. He made all that for us. He said, well, why? He could bring us pleasure so that we could enjoy it. God says He has given to us all things to freely enjoy.

Nobody wants you to have more enjoyment of life than God Himself. It’s the devil that tells you just the opposite, that God’s way won’t work. Yes, His way will. Have you ever noticed that this body that God gave us to live in this world, we often call it the senses of the body, you know, like the tongue and the taste? Did you know that to sustain the body you can eat food, but you wouldn’t have to have taste buds, tea food.

You can eat food without taste buds. But what does taste buds do for the food? You can enjoy the taste of the food. It’s not just to feed the body because you could just swallow it whole without chewing and their tasting it and now they can even feed it through the veins and you didn’t get to taste it at all. Oh God, God could have fed us that away without any taste at all. Aren’t you glad that God allowed, oh why did God give us taste buds?

For pleasure to enjoy the taste of food. Anybody like ice cream? Want to taste good? Or strawberries with chocolate on it? Do you want it to taste good? And all kinds of wonderful things that you can eat and enjoy because it just tastes good. What’s that God did that because God wants you to enjoy. He didn’t have to do that. But that’s because God wants us to have pleasure to enjoy something. You take the eye. You know, we could see in black and white.

In my remember a long time ago that all the televisions came out in black and white. There was no color. I remember when there was no color on TV. Anybody else remember that? But why do we like it in color? It enhances it. But look at this world that we have. You see, if God didn’t give us not just vision to see, but the color to see a beautiful sunset, God doesn’t need to see a beautiful sunset for pleasure so that we can enjoy.

Because we love the different colors. God didn’t have to do that. But because he designed us and life to please us. That’s what he did. He wants us to be happy. It’s the devil that put the spin on everything. And so we got eyes that get color. We didn’t have to have that. And we got a tongue that can taste. Have you ever heard beautiful music? And have you ever heard it in stereo? Why couldn’t God just give you one ear right there?

All you need was one ear if it’s just a ear. But the hearing stereo sounds coming from everywhere. Beautiful. And then on top of that, isn’t it wonderful to have all the different kinds of instruments? The different notes and then be able to put them together and hear some beautiful orchestration that just really blows your mind or to have a good concert where it sounds so great and you sit there and you are pleased with what you hear. It’s pleasant to the ears.

It produces pleasure. You enjoy it. Is there something wrong with it? God did that. See, there’s things that we can enjoy all the way through life. But all these things that I’m mentioning to you are the things of the body. This is the body that connects us with the world in which we live. I want you to take your Bible look in Genesis chapter 18, hearing the book of Genesis in chapter 18, look there in verse 11. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well-stricken, I like the way that’s word.

He didn’t call her an old lady, well-stricken in age, and it cease to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore, Sarah laughed within herself saying, after I am waxed old, shall I have, what’s that, you ought to underline that word? Shall I have pleasure? Did you know that with the physical body, one of the greatest pleasures in life is between a man and a woman, are together in intimacy. Who created that? God did. who created sex, God did.

And it was for pleasure and to create children. But you know what? If it wasn’t for the pleasure, I believe the human race would have been extinct long time ago. And it’s a wonderful thing that God has given to us to enjoy in marriage, but that’s something God did. But notice all of these things deals with the body. I believe one of the greatest pleasures of life has nothing to do with the physical body. The greatest pleasure is that inter-belief that you are pleasing God.

And when I please God, by my obedience, brings the greatest pleasure, more than anything that I’ve mentioned as the time goes on. There’s great pleasure that you’ll find in those people that you want the Christ. See there’s spiritual pleasures that will bring you greater joy and happiness than all of things that you can get from your body. And you might see a nice house, but it’s temporary. And the pleasure of a new car, but it’s temporary. Even sexual intimacy, that’s temporary.

The taste buds is temporary. What you hear, it’s temporary. What you see, it’s temporary. But the things done by the pleasure of the Holy Spirit living within you is eternal in nature. It’s pleasure forevermore, joy unspeakable. And one of these days you and I are going to be in heaven. And the pleasure, the joy that we’ll have when we stand at the Judgement City of Christ, like Paul says, ye are my joy at the Judgement City of Christ. And that’s joy, that pleasure forever.

When Christ rewards you for what you’ve done for Him, that is pleasure and rewards and joy that nothing in this world can compare to. There’s nothing here that can prayer to the pleasure that you can have in the Lord. The joy of singing songs to the Lord, the joy of witnessing, the joy of studying God’s words, the joy of being with God’s people, the joy of all these wonderful things that God has given to us. There’s a spiritual pleasure that many people never enter into.

They robbed themselves of it because the devil put a spin on the truth of God. Before salvation, the old devil says, do good. Then after you’re saved, do nothing. That’s what makes most Christians, but we’re 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.

771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again or would like to download a free MP3 of today’s or any previous Bibleline program, go to BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the spinning globe in the upper right corner of our homepage. If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org.

Thanks for joining us on Bible Live, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. friend one day it will happen the trumpet will sound we will be changed caught up to meet the Lord in the air so live today and every day believe in that the Lord is coming soon just keep looking up