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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 and reaches toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bibleline website at calvaryoftampa.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.

I know that eventually I’m gonna be with Christ and it’ll be a far better. So we know and we live and go through Whatever it is because we know there’s something better. But that’s in the next life. But can God help me in this life? Can He help me now? Can He meet my needs? Can He give me the strength and the grace that I need to go through whatever these problems may be? I believe that He can. Let me read this to you.

Nothing left to do but fling, care aside and simply cling. One billow passed, another rose to meet thee, across thine onward track. On every side, new trial seems to greet thee as if to turn thee back. Until thy soul overwhelmed in darkness sinking can raise some misivize, you to his will, and while thy flesh is shrinking, his purpose recognized.” Ooh, that’s good. But I would always read and I would clip out little things. And then I put them all on one piece of paper.

Some of these I’ve got over 40 years ago. I was with Dr. Lee Robertson, who was the president of Tennessee Temple. I was 22 years old. And I went to go to Bible school and I went to summer school. And because I had a lot of people that I led to, the Lord, He asked me if I would be the first full-time soul winner for Tennessee Temple. And I was in His office one day and He gave me a book called Crowded to Christ.

And I was going through so many trials and tribulations. My wife and kids was in another state. I’m living in a rescue mission. All kinds of things was going wrong and He gives me this book after a few months and says, I want you to read this. And I would sit there late at night and I would read this book and it would talk about the trials of your faith. In other words, understanding that there’s a God who has a higher purpose in your life.

Did you know one of the greatest things you can live for is the purpose of which God created you for? And when you don’t know what it is, it’s like you’re always searching, always trying to find it, but never arrive. And there’s people who live their whole lives and never find out what is it that God had for me. What did God want for me? And they stripped themselves of all the reasons for living. And they simply go through life and they’re miserable.

Because the true inward joy comes from the inside of knowing that all of it’s true and you believe it. And that faith in what God says is worth living for. the power that you need to restrain yourself from doing things that you shouldn’t do. But God’s ways have never ceased to be through the impassable and the impossible. Terra and rage must give place to trust, to be wrecked a right brain’s relief, relief instead of rage. In other words, when you know that there is no other way for you to get something done or make something happen and you’re at the last you have to trust the Lord and see what God’s going to do.

Can God get me out of this? And that’s what God wants. You know when God looks upon the whole earth, remember it makes his statement, the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth looking for a man whose heart is right, that God can make him strong on his behalf. God is looking for one thing. He’s looking for faith. He’s looking for somebody who has faith in him. When God wants to get a great work accomplished, he’s looking for the man that has the faith in him to do the work.

And God will use him. Wrecked outright on Jesus’ breast. Only wrecked souls thus can sing. Little boats that hung the shore, fearing what the storm may bring. Never find on Jesus’ breast all that wrecked souls made by rest. So from the time that you’re an infant to all age, let it be forever settled in your mind. You know I was watching TV one night and they were advertising. anti-aging cream. Anybody ever seen anything like that? Anti-aging cream. So believe it or not, I have developed an anti-aging pill.

You take it and guarantees you will not age another moment. And it contains arsenic. I thought I could make millions off of this. So you just take one of these pills and guaranteed anti-aging. It would just take your life and you won’t age anymore. But listen, before me lies on unknown sea, the past I leave behind. Strong waves are foaming at the prah, the sails bend to the wind. Sometimes I know not when or how, all things will be revealed.

And until then content am I to sail with order sealed. Do you believe in can you trust the Lord to reveal things to you as you go? Or do you have to have them lay it all out for you so you can decide if you want to go or not? I had to make up my mind years ago I’m gonna serve the Lord. I don’t know what’s down the road. I don’t care. I’m going to follow the Lord wherever He leads me.

I will go. Nothing else matters. The winds, the waves, it doesn’t matter. I am supposed to live believing that my heavenly Father will not lead me astray. And ye, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me and he will comfort me. Because I know when it’s all over with, yay, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Because see, I can see past this life so that I can enjoy it while I’m here because I have this hope.

My joyful anticipation, it’s all true. Though I cannot see it. I believe it to be real. Once it was my working, his it hence shall be. Once I tried to use him, now he uses me. You realize how many people go through life trying to use God. They just want God to be their sugar daddy, their Santa Claus, but they have no desire to love him, to walk with and be content with his presence and be joyful in the things of the Lord has nothing to do with things has nothing to do with health has nothing to do with wealth it is the Lord’s presence himself that means so much to you it will cause you to have the strength and the grace that you need to want to walk with and please him I want you to take your Bible and look in Ephesians chapter two we

We know that we’re saved by grace. Feasies 2.89 says so. For by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourself, it is the gift of God not of works. Last day, any man should boast. Somewhere along the line, somebody explained that to us and we believed it. But God didn’t take us home the day we trusted him. Well, wouldn’t that have solved a lot of problems? But if he took us all the heaven, the moment we trust him, the Lord, there would have been nobody here to tell me about the Lord.

So God left us here so that we can tell a few more. But look in verse 11, Wherefore remember that you’ve been in time past Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that at that time you were without Christ, been aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in this world. There’s three things that I see in that one verse.

Without Christ, without God, without hope. Without Christ, without God, without hope. Now, when you get to the place where you have no hope in life, no purpose, no reason to live, it’s because you have lost your vision about who came back from the dead. Christ is alive and he lives within you. He is your hope of glory. He is the only reason you have for living. And if he’s not enough for you to live for, yes, you are of all men most miserable.

There isn’t anything better. I’m so glad that I learned this at a younger age, so that I can give to the Lord, majority of the years of my life. And I’m thankful for it. And I’m thankful that I’ve had the privilege of walking with the Lord all these years. Do you think he’s going to desert me now? No. But to live your life without hope, without the Lord. That’d be a terrible thing to go through. I want to read this to you.

A little bird I am, I am shut from the fields of air, and in my cage I said and sing to him who placed me there. Well, please, a prisoner to be, because, my God, it pleases thee. Nothing have I else to do. I sing the whole day long, and he whom most I love to please, doth listen to my song. He caught and bound my wandering wing, but still he bends to hear me sing. My cage confines me round, a broad eye cannot fly.

But though my wing is closely bound, my heart at liberty. My prison walls cannot control the flight to freedom of the soul. it is good to soar. These bolts and bars above to him whose purpose I adore, whose providence I love, and in thy mighty will to find the joy, the freedom of the mind.” You see, living in these bodies, there’s a song that I sing sometimes when it’s talking about these bars of bone that hold my soul. It’s like a prison.

I’m in this prison and I can’t get out. I’m limited. I don’t have all the talent and ability because I’m limited to what this physical body can do. If that’s all that I look to for my wisdom, strength and my gr-listen, Christ says, He is my wisdom. He is my power. Through prayer, I can soar. I can accomplish great things. I can believe great things. Attempt great things from God and expect great things from God. But many people never attempt anything because they’re so afraid.

Afraid to step out because they feel that God is going to desert him and let him sink. Remember what I said before about Peter stepping out of the boat? When Peter stepped out of the boat, he says, Lord, bid me come to thee. I’m going to walk on the water. Now, you know, there was other disciples in the boat, but only Peter got in the water. Yes, he began to sink, but he did walk on the water. But did Peter drown?

No, he didn’t drown. Did he sink? But he didn’t drown. He started to see because he looked at the problems instead of keeping his eyes focused upon the Lord. Your problems, yes, they’re going to come in life and they’re going to be huge. You’re going to see the waves and the storms and you don’t know how you’re going to handle it. But keep your eyes focused upon the Lord. He will not fail you. You know what those other guys said that was still in the boat?

I was going to do that. I could have done that. I was just getting ready to do that. I know, but they didn’t. Those are the little boats that hugged the shore. While there’s some who want to walk on the water and get on out there and experience and see what’s going to happen. I know my God is able to deliver, able to save from direct human ill, able as when he saved the Hebrew children, Almighty still. But if for chance his plans are not my plans, if hid in darkness should my pathway be, if when I plead he does not seem to answer, North here for me.

Then though men scoff and bitterly deride me, listen, I fling my challenge to the sky. God may deliver, but if not, I’ll trust Him and trust Him die.” Remember, that’s what the Hebrew children said. O King, you can mark it down. My God is able to deliver us, but if not, we won’t bend and we won’t bow and we won’t burn. In Romans 8, I want you to look at this very quickly. Romans 8, there’s something here I wanted to share with you because it deals with here and now.

He says in verse 18, for I reckon that the sufferings of this, get this present time, present time, are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed. And see, you and I must believe that this isn’t the only life. There’s another age, another life coming. And we’re gonna be there one day. And it says, the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that you’re going to have someday. You see, the Christian that has this hope has reasons to live.

But without that, you are of all men most miserable because there’s no purpose in life, no reason to keep going on, no reason to discipline yourself. And he says here in verse 19, For the earnest expectation of the creature waited for the manifestation of the sons of God, the earnest expectation, expectation. The whole world growneth in travail even to this day, waiting for the day when the earth is going to be made pure and whole again. But you see, it’s a relationship that shows you that it goes back to us.

We are supposed to live in earnest expectation, this hope, this joy that we have, joyfully anticipating the fulfillment of the promises of God. I’ve lived long enough to see that God has answered my prayer. Even the desires of my heart, He kept His Word. If there’s anything that I do, I want to give other people hope that God, yes, is alive. Christ did come back from the dead. He is concerned about your life. He does know what’s going on.

And he says, call upon him and see if he will not do great and mighty things which you did not know and understand and you couldn’t make happen. So he says in verse 20, for the creature was made subject to vanity not willingly, but by reason of him who have subjected the same and hope because the creature or the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation, groaneth and travaileth and pain together until now, and then you draw a line up where it has present time, that one day we know that the sufferings of this whole world is going to be changed.

You and I are going to be changed. This body of mine is going to be changed and we live with that hope that when it’s going to get better now this better it might be when I’m taking home to be with the Lord but when I’m taking home to be with the Lord it will be better as Paul says which is far better you see we have something that’s going to be better than it is now and then by our faithfulness to the Lord he’s going to reward you for your faithfulness but you see sometimes you don’t look to the Lord they don’t trust the Lord.

When you have the power within your own ability to do things, you don’t need to depend upon God like you should. And by doing so, you are gonna rob yourself of eternal rewards. And then when he gets down here, he makes this statement. In verse 24, for we are saved by hope. Did you know even when you trusted Christ as your savior, you know you needed to be saved. You knew you were gonna be judged. You knew you were headed to hell and yet you be lead what he said.

He said he would save you if you trusted him. That anticipation, you expected him to do what he promised he would do. So you trusted Christ as your Savior and he saved you. But in your life, in your Christian life, are there still things that you expect from God? you pray and because you prayed you expect. But you see if you don’t expect something why not? You see if you have everything that you need there’s nothing to hope for.

God has so designed life that you and I are always desiring something else. But the thing that you and I are supposed to desire is the thing that honors and pleases the Lord. But look what he says, but hope that is seen, not hope. But what a man seeeth, what is he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience, wait for it. Do you realize the patience that God must have?

Have you ever thought about how long he’s waited on you when he could have zapped you? There’s not one of us in this room who deserves to live, but he’s patient with us. He’s given us time to correct problems in our life. He’s given us time to grow, gives us time to read his word, gives us time to pray. God is a very patient God, the God of all patients, the God of all comfort. You see, he’s trying to teach you to be a little bit like him.

Strange as that may be. You know, in the book of Exodus in chapter 13, 14 and 15, I preached to sermon not long ago, dealing with the subject of detours, dead ends, and dry holes. Anybody remember the sermon? You don’t remember it, I’m going to preach it again. Dead ends, detours, and dry holes. Because, you see, whenever God led the children of Israel, out of Egypt, he brought him to the Red Sea. At the Red Sea, a dead end.

But he had already took him on a detour which was a longer way. It wasn’t the shortest way. In serving the Lord, sometimes there’s detours because God knows what’s best for you. Just follow the Lord. And that’s what causes you sometime to think, I must be out of the will of God because God has taken so long, he took the long route. Because I need it now, God’s never late. He’s always on time. And sometimes there’s just plain dead ends.

There’s no way that you can solve the problem. But God led them to a dead end, right up to the Red Sea. And then in the 15th chapter it says that there were dry holes. In other words, their expectation was not met. You talk about having the death of a vision. You have a vision of what you want to do. And then you can’t make it happen. So after a while you get to all the frustration, the struggling, trying to manipulate, trying to make, and you just said, I’m just going to trust the Lord and let God do it.

If God wants to do this, then let God do it. I’ll be faithful. I’ll do what I can. But there’s some things I’m just going to trust him. I’m just going to walk with him. I heard this little poem one time. Kind of goes like this. Have you come to the Red Sea place in your life? Because sooner or later, all of us is going to come to that Red Sea when it seemed like it’s impossible. So have you come to the Red Sea place in your life or in spite of all that you do, there’s no way out, there’s no way back, there’s no all the way but through.

Then wait on the Lord with a truss rain till the night of your fear is gone. He will sin the wind and he will heap the floods when he says to your soul, on, and his hand will lead you through, clear through. Here the watery walls roll down. No folk can reach you, no wave can touch, no mighty a sea can drown.

The tossing billows may rear their crest, their foam at your feet may break, but over their bed you shall walk dry shod in the path that your lord will make. when it seems impossible, you just keep trusting the Lord because He is alive. How many of you in here believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Then do you believe that He is alive? If you believe that He is alive, do you believe that He can still chart the course for your life?

And that He will lead you, He’ll guide you, and that He can defend you and protect you and provide. Do you believe that? Look up here. Let him just hand represent you and me. The wallet represent everything we’ve ever done wrong. All of us are sinners. God, He loves us. Now you don’t love our sin, but He loves us. For you and I to pay for what we’ve done is death and hell. You see, we have earned the right to die.

Wages is something that you earned. And so because of what we have done, we have a payment to make. And the Bible says that God loves us, wants us to go to heaven. But you have to be perfect as righteous as God. And none of us are perfect. None of us are righteous. We’ve all failed. We’re all sinners. And God says, you cannot earn eternal life. You cannot work your way to heaven by good deeds. This hand represents Jesus Christ.

He is the Lord, God in the flesh. Came into the world because He loves us. He hates our sin because it separates us from Him. So Jesus Christ who had no sin did not have to die. But because he loved us, he took our sins and died for us in our place. God says that if you and I, if we would believe he did it for us, he would put the payment that he made to our account and we get to go to heaven on what he did, not on what we do.

He says the moment you believe that he did it for you, he gives you the free gift of eternal life. And if it’s eternal life, it lasts forever. And if it lasts forever and all your sins are paid, then where would you go when you die? You get to go to heaven. So whether you’re here tonight or watching by internet, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever they leave it, then Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Oh, that’s good news. Let’s pray, shall we? Every head bowed and every eye closed, no one looking around. I hope that what I’ve said will be an encouragement to you. I know most of you here, maybe all of you. You’ve trust the Christ is Savior, but you may have a heavy heart. You know, we live in a world where things don’t always work out right. I don’t know what you’re having to face, but whatever it is, he is alive.

He’s waiting to hear from you. Faith is born in despair, but your faith grow. Trust Him. Don’t doubt Him. Believe. If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, then would you tonight the best? You know how? Just say, Lord, I don’t understand at all, but I believe Christ died, paid for my sins. I believe He did it for me and I’m going to trust Him to take me to heaven when I die. And if you’re making that decision, I’d like to have prayer for you.

Would you just tip you in it very quickly and say, yes, I will trust Christ as my Savior tonight. And bring your life to pray for me. Is anyone at all? If you’ve already trusted Christ as your Savior, yes, your God’s child. But do you realize you can become a miserable Christian until you realize there’s only one main purpose in life, and that’s for Christ to live through you. He loves you. He wants the best for you. And He will reward you when you get to heaven according to how much you have yielded your life to Him.

Father, we thank You so much for all that You’ve done for us. We’re thankful for this time together. And Father, for Your Word that lets us know we don’t have to be of all men most nippable. But individuals that are filled with joy because we have hope. We have that belief that what You promised You will perform. Bless each one here in Christ and we pray. Amen. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr.

Ralph Arnold. We pray that you were blessed by today’s message. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach 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 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. broadcast of our services may be seen by going to our church website, calvaryoftampa.org. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline, and now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen, the trumpet will sound, we will be changed. Hot up to meet the Lord in the air.

So live today and every day, believing that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up.