This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

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. 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 Bibleline website at Calvary of Tampa.org. We pray that you’ll enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, and that today’s concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family.

So God knows. You say, well, it won’t bother me. Yes, it will. You cannot just do anything you want to do. That’s why when the Bible talks about being not unequally yoked together, it means that you’re not supposed to marry somebody who does not know the Lord and I wouldn’t marry somebody who does not want to serve the Lord. So let’s say you do and the person you marry doesn’t. Is there going to be conflict? There’s going to be a lot of conflict on how the children are raised, raised, school they go to, everything, all the discipline, the church you attend, everything is affected.

You say, won’t it? Yes, it will. That’s why the Word of God is given, not to be mean or unkind to anybody. It’s because God knows. He’s always right. And just because there’s a few exceptions that you might find and so forth, doesn’t change the principle in the Word of God. So these people were willing to do whatever God said. And that’s what they did. Now take your Bible and go back now to the book of Malachi. You see how you can just about go anywhere in the Bible when you start studying one book, you’re in another book, and then you’re in another book.

But back to the book of Malachi. So he has gone through and he says some things to the priest about what they should do, how they’re supposed to be. He reminds them of Levi, who was a high priest of Aaron who came from him. And so God had told them it was because they were godly individuals. They were good examples. And this is what he wanted them to be in, and they were not. And see what they were doing up there in verse eight of chapter one.

If you offer the blind for sacrifice? Is it not evil? If you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it now unto thy governor. Will he be pleased? In other words, if you took and offered to the governor what you’re offering to me, you think he’d be pleased with it? God says, I’m not pleased with it. And here’s the two things that really ought to settle it with people. You see, see, I am a father. It means that I have some kids, children.

Because I have children, I’m a father. I believe, and most people believe, that children should honor their parents. It’s just something that we think they ought to do. And we believe we ought to be obeyed. Don’t you? Don’t you think children should obey their parents? It even says that in a verse the Bible children obey your parents in the Lord for this is wrong? No, this is right. And so look there in verse 6. I just want to show you this very quickly.

A son on earth his father and a servant his master. So the father and the master are two identification truths concerning the Lord, God Jehovah of Israel. He says, I’m the one that brought you into being as a nation. and he got that I did that. I’m the one that took Abraham. I’m the one that gave him that miracle child from which came 12 tribes. And he says, I’m your father. And if I’m your father, why don’t you ask my child?

Why don’t you honor me? He says, I have provided for you. He says, I took you out of Egypt. I met all your needs in the wilderness. And he says, I gave you food, I gave you water. I even gave you some meat to eat. And he says, you close it and we’re after 40 years, 40 years.

And he got to look what I’ve done for you. And then I gave you the choicest land in the whole world. I gave you the land of Israel, a land that flows with milk and honey, everything that you want. And God says, I did just because I loved you. And they said, wherein hostile love does. Prove it to us. How do we know you love us? Look where we have been. We’ve been taken out of the land. Never can ever came in here and destroyed.

A lot of people were killed. We were taken out a thousand miles away into another land. And everything we owned was destroyed. And now after all these years we come back and you’re trying to convince us you love us. Do you know there’s a verse in the Bible in the book of Hebrews in chapter 12. God says, for whom he loveth, he chasteeth. Didn’t God in his word promise that if you serve me, I will bless you, and if you don’t, I will curse you.

So God’s chasening was because He loved them. Did they see that? No, I don’t see that. If things don’t go right in your own life, does it ever cause you to question the love of God? Well, it was causing it to happen with them. And so He says down to here in verse 12, but you have profaned it in that you say the table of the Lord is polluted. That means the altar of the Lord is polluted. And when he says it’s polluted means it’s contaminated, it’s blemished, it means it’s impure.

It means the sacrifices that you were offering. He says they’re lame and they’re blind, they’ve got problems with them and they’re not pure, they’re not holy. You’re offering something God said is contemptible to me. And so he says I would that you would just shut the doors of the temple and put out the fire. Don’t even have a sacrifice. You see there in verse 10, who is there even among you that would shut the doors for not? Neither do you kindle fire on mine, alter it for not.

I have no pleasure in you and say, after the Lord of Hosts, neither will I accept and offer nip your hand. So God says, that’s not what I want. You see, people can give God lip service. Do you think it’s possible if those people could treat God that away back then. And you’re talking about during the silent years, 400 years between the last book and the Old Testament and when Christ came on the scene. Do you think that it’s possible in this hour day for people to go to church and play game and go through the ritual?

You know you come and hi everybody and we give them that Christian smile and we stand and we sing our songs when the offering plate comes by we put money in and then we listen to the preacher preach the word and then we say amen and go out the door and say oh me and forget what you heard and makes no difference and no change in your life. You see God expects his word to change his people. Are you a changed person?

Now, see, I’m not talking about how to get to heaven. Going to heaven, well, that’s free. That’s a gift. You do not earn eternal life. You don’t work your way to heaven. You don’t have to stop something or join something or promise anything because salvation has already been paid for, been prepaid. All you do and all I do to go to heaven is to believe he did it for us. But once you trust him as your Savior. God says you are now His child.

You’re going to heaven when you die. And it’s the will of God for His children to be changed. And what He wants to change in our life is from my life that was unholy to a light that is holy. So the more you listen, the more you learn. Are you growing in your holiness unto the Lord? Are you becoming more godly the longer you live? Or do you become more mean and cantankerous and bitter and hateful and spiteful the longer you live.

So the Word of God tells us that He is a great King. See up there in verse 14, where He says, He is a great King, the Lord of Host, the Lord of Host. This is a phrase that is used many times and 24 times in the book of Malachi. 247 times in all the prophets, the Lord of Host. And that’s mentioned over there in verse four. But when it talks about the Lord of Host, it means that behind the scenes that you and I can’t see, there is an army of angels.

God has an army. It means that God is the Lord of His Host, of which He is invincible. Nobody in any way, shape, or form can win against God. He is invincible. You can challenge them if you want to, but do you really think you can go against God and win? How dumb a person must be. Even you take a teenager, a teenager because, you know, they’re learning all kinds of things. They think they become so smart, so wise.

You ever seen a smart, Alex teenager? They act like they know it all, but you know they don’t know anything. But they think they do and they just mock the adults, the mold fogies, they don’t know anything. Do they ever stop and think if they have learned all that they know by the time they got 17, how much more do you think we have learned in another 17 years or another 17 years or another 17 years, 17, 17 is 34?

I’ve lived four times as long as that 17 year old kid. And he wants to think that he knows more. Isn’t that the sign of stupidity? It really is. But will they believe? No, no, no, no, no. And in their folly, they become a fool. If they could only understand there is a God in heaven that is the Lord of Host. And when he says, don’t do something, he has everything in his power to make sure that you don’t do what he doesn’t want done.

He can stop you. God can raise up nations and put down nations. If he is aware of the little sparrow that falls to the earth and knows how many hairs that you got in your head, do you think that a nation can rise without his knowledge? But anyway he teaches us a lot of things down here but see there in verse 6 concerning one of the response abilities of the priest. And that was the law of truth was in his mouth.

You see, when they came, they were supposed to be taught by the priest the things of God. But they did not and they would not. So you look up here in verse 9, therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people and get this according as ye have not kept my ways and have been partial in the law. In other words, were they still making sacrifices? Well sure. Well they’ll come into the temple. Well yeah, well the priest’s still doing what they’re supposed to do.

Yeah! But when Christ came 400 years later, He says your heart is far from me. You’re doing the lit service. You’ve been coming to certain things but He says, you’re not because you love me. Does God know every person said it here in this room? Does he know whether or not you love him or you don’t? You can fool everybody else. I can fool you, but we can’t fool God. When you understand, you really get this, you’ll know that since you can’t fool God, why try?

Why live a deceptive life? It’s not wise. He says in verse 10, have we not all one Father, have not all one God created us. Now they’re talking here not about your salvation. We’re talking about as a nation. He says, why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother by profaning the covenant of our Father? See God had made a covenant with his people and God says, if you will do thus and thus, I will do thus and thus.

But if you do thus and thus, I will do thus and thus. So what God going to do is based upon your obedience. Will you do what I say do or not? I’ve raised three kids. The kids were not perfect. But I liked it a lot better when they obeyed. I was happier. They were happier. When they disobeyed, I wasn’t happy. They weren’t happy. And if my man ain’t happy, nobody’s happy. But you see, when it comes to God and His people.

He says, the book of Deuteronomy, he said, I lay before you life and death, if you will, as a nation. Not to tell me how to get to heaven, but as a nation. If you will obey me, I will bless you. You’ll never have to, or he said, I will not put any of the diseases of the Egyptians upon you. You know why we’re so sick in America? And all the money we make is put out on health care and all the rest of the stuff and insurance and all the pills that we have to take, it’s because if we live godly as a nation, God said, I wouldn’t put those diseases upon you.

Most of it is all because of our rebellion to God. Most people don’t realize it, but your state of mind can affect you physically. And many people, as we get older, we are affected because of our state of mind. And there’s a price to pay. But just think if everybody did what God says to do the way God says to do it, you could have much more enjoyable life. But anyway, getting back to this, he said, there was a covenant that was made.

And so he’d choose them out because of this covenant. But there was another covenant that was also made. And now he talks about the covenant that was made between a man and a woman and God. So in verse 11, down through the end of this chapter, he’s talking about the man who did not keep His covenant with His wife. And He talks about, you have the wife of your youth. Oh, when she was young and so perdian, so shapely, you know, and when you were young and you were muscular and handsome and all that hair and all that, you know, and then lo and behold, you both get older and as you get older look at those young women.

So they would get rid of this one and get them another one. Now some of these people had lived in another country where they did whatever they wanted to do and now here’s Nehemiah and Ezra having the deal with the problem of all these mixed marriages that had come back to Jerusalem and there they are. What are they gonna do? So he really lays down the law to him. But now a few more years has passed because Malachi see didn’t wasn’t exactly the same time that a few years later.

Now those people back under Nehemiah where we read, well they heard the word, they want to obey the word and they were blessed because of it and made whatever correction they had to. Now a few more years has passed and it seems like the next group that come the longest don’t care, Fleas don’t care. And adults —————————————————————-onentsparency vulnerccessarrass”},{“blem welf circum®uine guarantividualcticRuss And you can set the right example for your children. Does it mean that your kids are going to automatically just fall in love with a lot of the love they’re supposed to do?

You see, God has to be real in the lives of every generation. And with some people he… vertyapter accepting l So the kids don’t know what is real and what is not. And many times they can observe the hypocrisy of mom and dad. They see them talk about one thing and live another. Hypothetical. Not shouldn’t be that away, but we’re people. And people fail. And we know that we shouldn’t judge God by the way people are, but we do.

And we have younger kids coming along. And most of them are looking for something that’s real and genuine. They’re looking for that young man or that young woman that is an example of the believer in every area of their life that are not hypocritical, that are true, they’re honest, and the realness can be. That’s what God wants. But look here in verse 11, and Judah half dealt treacherously, means been unfaithful. And an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord, which he loved and hath married the daughter of a strange God.

The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, or the teacher and the student. You see, it was the priest that was supposed to be the master of the teacher. The people who came were supposed to be the students, the learner. And whenever the priest Don’t sit the right example, violated the Word of God, then it falls down to the people, and so the people are affected because of it. Let me ask you this.

Do you believe the preacher should practice what he preaches? Should the preacher expect the people to practice what he preaches? Should we all expect God to bless our chasing because of the way we live? If we would catch the truth of God’s Word, and remember that the Old Testament scriptures were written for our admonition to challenge us, to motivate us, to teach us the ways of God. This is what God’s Word says, and this is what God wants. Look down there in verse 14, where he says, yet ye say, wherefore, because the Lord hath been witness between the and the wife of thy youth.

You see when a man and woman get married, it wasn’t just between those two. It wasn’t between the man and the woman and those people that were also there. There was somebody in heaven that was a witness of the marriage. And he heard the vows that were made. Do you believe that God in heaven expects people to keep their vow? Read Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verse 8 I think it is. Where it talks about it’s better not to vow than to vow and then not keep it.

But sometimes people just do whatever they want and don’t think about what God says. Don’t even care if God floats in how God thinks. People are going to do whatever they want to do anyway. But there’s a price to pay. But as a nation that represented God, God says this is what I want you to know. I hate this. Look what he says. Let me just look at that verse. I want you to see this verse. I’ll see you there in verse 16.

For the Lord, the God of Israel, sayeth that he hated, put in a way. That’s divorce. God hates divorce. It says it in the New Testament, it says it in the Old Testament. God hates it. Now, if God was having a problem with them then in a nation, do you think that any problem with that today in which we live? Yes. Because people are people and people fail. Somebody’s not faithful to somebody and it happens over and over again.

Now, it’s not God’s ideal. It doesn’t set a good precedents for teaching the Word of God correctly. If there’s any problem in any church throughout America, this is one of the biggest problems there is, is marriage, divorce, and remarriage. And the price that’s taken upon the children, not lying to you, but I will not cut one word or trim one word or try to walk softly over a point because I don’t want it to hurt somebody. just accept it and live with it, confess it if you have to, if you’ve messed up, God knows that.

And I’m so glad we serve a forgiving God and so do I. And so I want to just tell you what the book says. Otherwise, if I can’t speak on this subject, you know, there’s a lot of this Bible I have to cut out. Well, I can’t say this because I defend somebody and then it’s something else. I can’t say that because I defend somebody. Well, I can’t say this because I defend somebody after a while, I must quit and I’m not going to start down that road.

I want to teach the book the way it’s written. Do right. If you’re married, love your husband, love your wife until the day you die. Just go ahead and do what’s right. If it’s already done, don’t do it again. Remember what he said to the woman that was caught in the dump? Did you go and sin no more? Of course, if they caught her, why didn’t they can bring the man? All they were trying to do was trying to trap Christ.

But now, as you read down through here, you’re talking about a man became unfaithful. Most of this is all talked about the man. In a lot of times, I’m talking about the priest. And so he says, in the middle part of verse 14, he says, yet ye say, where, because the Lord hath been witnessed between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously, or you’ve been unfaithful to her. yet is she thy companion and the wife of thy covenant and did not he make one yet had he theILS of the Spirit and were for one that he might seek a godly seed therefore take heed to your spirit let none deal treacherously against the wife of his you no words you don’t get rid of her that you might get somebody else and And when he talks about there in this scripture about that he might seek a godly

seed, most of us is referring to the tribe of Levi, talking to the priest. Because see they weren’t even supposed to marry outside at all because they were the priest. And that’s why he says over here in verse 3 of chapter 2, Behold I will corrupt your seed. In other words it’s because if it gets corrupted, then you have lost the right to administer in the temple because you’re no longer holy. And it says, I’ll cause the people to turn against you and because you will not respect me, I will see to it that the people do not respect you.

If you want people to respect you, respect them. If you want your wife to give you respect, respect your wife. You want her to love you right? Then love her right. Don’t you think it’s mutual? You want your kids to love you? Then don’t you think you need to love them? Make sure you do love them. They could accuse you of anything, but make sure you do love them. And whatever you do is because you care about them, you love them.

And God says, I love you. And they say, well, how do we know you love us? We’re in hostile love, does. And he goes to all these things and he says, I’d love you. He says, but you don’t love me. Oh, what do you mean? He says, look what you’re doing. Look what you’re doing. And they did not maintain a proper testimony. They weren’t doing right by God. They were not doing right by each other. That’s why under Nehemiah, they people corrected some of the problem, but now it’s happening all over again.

I want to see a generation of young teenagers. I’ve always loved working with teenagers. Because I think the best way to have good godly families down the road is to have kids that know the Lord and love the Lord and try to make some wise decisions. Try to choose a boy or a girl that wants to serve a Lord and wants to do right. And when you have kids, you honor God and you do what’s right. But you can’t go back in your life.

You can only start from where you are. And God is a good God and he will bless and he can forgive. And you go ahead and you do what you can now that’s right. But from here on out, henceforth, live unto him who died for you. And don’t live under a load of guilt and so forth because a lot of people have. Forget it. Don’t worry about it anymore. You can’t go back and change nothing. Start where you are and accept God’s love and accept God’s forgiveness.

And said, I’m going to honor the Lord with the rest of my life. However long that might be. Let’s pray, shall we? With heads bow nice, close, and no one looking around if you’re here tonight, and you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior. Would you right now? Just talk to the Lord. You don’t become a religious hypocrite because only the true and living God knows what you’re doing. But why not talk to him? Say, Lord, I’ve got a lot of questions and doubts.

I don’t know at all. I don’t understand at all, but I know that I’m a sinner, And I believe Christ died on that cross and paid for my sins. Tonight I trust Him as my Savior. And for any of you are making that decision, I would like to have prayer for you. I am going to ask you in just a moment to raise your hand. Raising your hand doesn’t save you. It just lets me know that what I said made sense to you.

I would like to know it. I care about you. And so in the quietness of this moment, as your anyone will say, yes, I will trust Christ as my Savior tonight. and preach online for you to pray for me. Would you just slip you in a very quickly and throw up a down? Not gonna have you forward, not gonna embarrass you. It’s over and done with when you make a decision. And with all. If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, your God’s child.

As a child of God, you know God loves you. Do you love Him? Don’t you think that God knows if you do or if you don’t? Love Him with all your heart. Our Father, we thank You so much for this time together. We thank You for Your Word that You’ve given us. We pray, Lord, that You’d help us to realize the importance of such a message like tonight that challenged each and every one of us, not to be hypocritical, but to be real, to be genuine.

Bless each one here, each family. In Christ name 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. That’s 1-800-576-3771. If you wish to hear today’s program again 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 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. 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.