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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s Word on Bibleline, everywhere, every time. Here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made through the Bible-lined website at calvaryoftampa.org. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Take your Bible and turn to the Book of Acts in chapter 2. Book of Acts chapter 2. In the Christian realm, there’s many prophetic words that you will hear. You hear these words, but you don’t know where they belong. You know what they mean. Somebody says, I’m pre-millennial, or I’m post-trib, or I’m all millennial. So what in the world is all of that? Well I knew you wanted to know, so I want to explain them to you. I found out one thing that really helped me over the years is being able to visualize a timeline, a time chart.

Then is this supposed to happen or when did that take place? And so prophetic survey is a tremendous tool that God gives to us because He says He planned the ages in the book of Hebrews in chapter 11. So if He planned the ages means He outlined the different periods of time, different dispensations in which God deals with man. He didn’t tell us all to do everything, exactly the same thing that He told somebody else to do. tell us not to eat the fruit off that tree.

That was to Adam and Eve, that wasn’t to us, so we don’t have to worry about that. He didn’t tell us to build a boat, so we don’t worry about building a boat, so that doesn’t apply to us. Now all of the Word of God is for us, but not all of the Word of God is to us. Many of the things that are written in the New Testament are written to us, and so we can study the Old Testament because the Bible says there’s admonition that we can have for ourselves, we can learn from it.

You have first of all the death, burial and resurrection of Christ because everything starts with history. History is history. So we always go back to Christ. Every time you write a check, you put his date on it. His history is the history of what God has done and what God is doing. All of this has to do with what God is doing with man, what God did with the angels, what God is going to do with the earth. Whether it’s the tribulation period is what God’s going to do to this earth and the people, the thousand year reign, that’s what God’s going to do.

Everything deals with what God is going to do. Now God has told us things to do and if we don’t obey, there are consequences. So at the end of each one of these is a judgment. In other words, how God judges mankind. So if you and I are wise, we’re supposed to learn from these things. But to start with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, that is what makes the gospel possible. Many people say, well the death, burial and resurrection, that is the gospel.

That’s what makes the gospel possible because without the death, Maryland resurrection, there would not be a good news. The good news is he did that for me. He did it, but if I don’t know he did it for me so that I don’t have to try to earn my salvation, then I don’t see it as good news. That’s just a historical fact. He did that. But does it mean you’re going to heaven because you believe he did that? You must personally believe he did it for you that he paid for your sins and you’re trusting Him and Him alone is your only hope of going to heaven.

And once you do, you have eternal life. Now, here in the book of Acts in chapter two, verse one, and when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Pentecost means 50 days, 50 days from the resurrection of Christ. So Christ came back from the dead, ascended into heaven, and then the Bible says that there was a time limit. There was also a time limit from the time that he actually ascended in, went into heaven from the Mount of Olives.

But, see, Pentecost means 50 days, and when that day was fully come, something happened on that day. That’s the day the Holy Spirit came. Now remember this, when Jesus was here preaching, He told him, He says, that I’m going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit. But the people didn’t understand everything that was said. John the Baptist says, I baptize you with water, but he that cometh after me, he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit. But during Christ’s lifetime, he never baptized anybody with the Holy Spirit.

It hadn’t taken place yet. So on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came, the Bible says, in cloven tongues is a fire, the Bible says those believers were baptized. They were already believers. They were baptized into the body of Christ. This is the beginning of the church. It is the birth of the church This one the church began and Christ said I will build my church and so The church is made up a body of believer. So when you trusted Christ as your Savior the Holy Spirit places you and I into the body of Christ That’s the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

It is not a feeling that you have the very moment you trusted Christ as your Savior, you were born spiritually. You were placed into the body of Christ spiritually. It’s not something you saw or felt, but it’s something that happened because God said so. That’s when the church began. The church age goes from Pentecost until the rapture. That is the period of time that you and I live in. So we are now waiting for the rapture to take place.

Now turn in your Bible to 1st Thessalonians chapter 4, 1st Thessalonians and chapter 4. The Bible tells us that loved ones are going to die. It means they will not be here when the rapture take place. So some of the people that were there when Christ was there who believed all of this began to die. And so as people began to die, the question came up, well, where are they? And the longer Jesus Christ carries, the more people are going to die.

So He has carried for almost 2,000 years. And because of that, many people have died. Well, what happens to those people? The Bible says that If you were to die, you will be absent from the body present with the Lord. So when you die, you’re present with the Lord in heaven. Your body goes to the grave. The Lord says that when he comes back, he’s going to bring those people who have already died with him. So he brings them with him and the Bible says the bodies are in the graves are going to be resurrected and they will be a reunion.

And we that are alive at this time will be caught up to meet the Lord in the and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Now look what he says in verse 13, but I would not have you to be ignorant brethren because there are so many ignorant brethren. It doesn’t want you to be ignorant. He says this, concerning them which are asleep, those who’ve already died, that you sorrow not even as others which have no hope. In other words, you can’t see the person after they died.

Don’t you believe like lost people? Don’t you believe that there’s nothing more to it that you don’t know where they are and you don’t know what’s gonna happen and No, no, no. He says we don’t sorrow like those who have no hope. We know we are going to see them again We know where they are To be absent from the body president Lord God says they’re with him. So don’t you worry about it We know somebody who’s on the other side and he’s told us everything we need to know all you and I need to know He’s told us you don’t need to know anything if it’s not revealed in the book But what you do need to know and understand it’s in there understand and know what God did say and don’t worry about anything he did not reveal.

You’ll have plenty enough to read. Look in verse 14, for if we believe that Jesus died and runs again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring what? With him he’s going to bring him with him. He can’t bring him with him if they’re not with him, but they are. Then he says this in verse 15, for this we say unto you by the word of the Lord that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep or go before them which are asleep.

The Lord says he’s going to come back. So there’s going to be some people who died. Some people who are going to be alive when it takes place. And the Lord says that we are going to be alive when he returns and then the Bible says something is going to take place. In verse 16, For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

That’s the bodies that are in the graves. Verse 17, then we which are alive and remain when he comes back shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord where? In the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord. It means we that are alive when this takes place won’t die. In the book of 1 Corinthians, in chapter 15, he says, we shall not all die. This is a mystery, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye for the corruptible must put on in corruption and mortal subject to die.

Those are still alive. We’ll put on immortality. So this moment is coming. Now, I want you to look at these verses. These are very important verses. Look there in the book of Romans and chapter 14. Romans and chapter 14. Look there in verse 10. Verse 10, but why does thou judge thy brother? Oh, why does thou set it not thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, every tongue shall confess to God.

So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. The judgment seat of Christ is what takes place the moment raptured happens and we’re caught up to meet the Lord in the air. The Bible says we will disappear here and we will appear at the Judgement Sea of Christ. The Judgement Sea of Christ is a rewarding stand. That is where God is going to reward you for what you have done for him. If you don’t do anything for him, you will still be there.

You’ll be ashamed before him at his coming and your whole life that you got to live can be a total waste. You could have have used your life and done nothing more than bring forth briars and thorns and weeds, or you could have invested your life for the Lord. That’s why down here, so you can brag about your money you make and where you work and all the possessions that you have, all of that is zero there. What did you do for him?

What did you do for the Lord? That’s what God is gonna reward you for. That’s why God is watching every decision you make, every deed that you have done. Every thought, every word. And God is gonna reward you when you get at the judgment, seat of Christ. Now look there in 1 Corinthians chapter three. Just turn to your right, couple pages, 1 Corinthians and chapter three. 1 Corinthians chapter three, look there in verse eight. Now he that planet and he that water are one.

And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. One of the things that you need to understand down here is that life isn’t fair. Have you found that out yet? Life is not fair, right? But God said he’s gonna reward every man according to his own work. So that means that whatever you do for the Lord, it will be fair, it will be right. Because he is the righteous judge. He knows every sacrifice you made, everything that you’ve given up, everything that you’ve done.

And if you did it for him, you can’t lose. So you don’t put your hopes in people, they’re not gonna be your judge. The Lord is. Now look what he says there in verse 12. Now if any man build upon this foundation, which is Christ, go silver precious stones, wood, hay and stubble, two different kinds. Every man’s work shall be made manifest. For the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

Whether it’s gold, silver and precious stones or wood, hay and stubble. If any man’s work abide which he had built there upon, he shall receive what? Reward, remember this, rewards are earned. Salvation is free. Salvation and rewards are not the same thing. Going to heaven is free. That’s a gift. That’s what He did for us. He paid our way. So I’m going to heaven because of what Christ did for me. What I have when I get to heaven, rewards are earned.

That’s why I want to study the Bible to find everything I’m supposed to do and try to eliminate all the things I’m not supposed to do Because I want when I stand there, I want God to bless me. I want him to reward me. I don’t know what they all might be. It doesn’t matter. God said it will be worth it all. It will be worth it all when we see Christ. Now look what he says here in verse 15.

If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer lost. But he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Some people tell you this. You get saved and if you don’t live right, Well, you’re going to hell. That’s not true. You can get saved and not live right. You can live like a dirty bird. You can live like the devil. Still be a child of God. You’ll stand at the judgments of the Christ. And God says your works are going to be burned up.

And what you could have had, you won’t get. God wanted to reward you, but He couldn’t reward you. But He Himself shall be saved, but He’s lost rewards that He could have had. So you see, up to you, nobody can make you do this. But if you decide to serve a Lord and be faithful, nobody can stop you. Isn’t that great to know? It’s all an individual thing. That’s why I try to tell people what the Word of God says.

I can’t make people respond to it. But if you really want that, and you believe that’s the most important thing in your life, because that’s where we’re headed. And if you really believe it will be worth it, you’ll sacrifice everything down here to put God first and get your priorities straight. And do what you know you need to do, why you can. But if you don’t think that’s important, devil fool with your mind, I got a lot of time.

I’ll serve God when I’m old. Oh great. When you’re 90 years old and one puts in the grave, one’s on the banana peel, and I’m going to throw the Lord. You know how much you’re going to get done now? Serve the Lord in the days of life. Youth, why you’re young. That’s when you reveal how wise you are. You’re not wise because you know you should serve God. You’re wise if you do. You’re a fool if you don’t. But now, this is the decision every individual has to make for themselves.

Now, 2 Corinthians 5, look at it very quickly, 2 Corinthians and chapter 5. And notice they’re in verse 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 10. And verse 10, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Remember, this isn’t in order to bring up all of our sins that we’ve done. Now this is a rewarding stand. They call it a beam of seat. It’s kind of like the Olympics. After you’ve done running the races and you stand up there and you get your crowns.

God says we’re gonna stand at the judgment of Christ and be rewarded. Now look what he says, that everyone may receive the things done in his body. In other words, done in his body means during your lifetime. While you’re in this body, everything about you is affecting eternity, like it or not. Now look what he says. According to that, he hath done whether it be good or bad, means truthful or unfruitful. You’re gonna stand at the judgment center of Christ.

It’s coming, it’s gonna happen. And you’re going to appear there. And appear there means you’ll disappear here, change the moment twicken of it not gone. Meet the Lord in the air and phew, we’re going to the judgment center of Christ. Take your Bible look in the book of 2 Corinthians in chapter 11, 2 Corinthians and chapter 11. One of the things that the Apostle Paul wanted to do with the people that he’d won the Christ, the various churches scattered throughout Macedonia and all the places in the Galatian, and Listeron, Derby and so on, he says in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, look in verse 1, he said, would the God ye could bear with me a little in my folly?

And indeed bear with me, he says, this is how I feel. For I am jealous over you with Godly jealousy. For I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chase virgin to Christ in the Old Testament time when a man says he wanted to marry a woman and a woman says she wants to marry a man, well they would have about a year. And during that year she had to prove her faithfulness and he had to prove his faithfulness.

They were considered looked upon as though they were husband and wife. But he can’t touch her until she’s actually his. This is the same story that happened with Joseph and with Mary. In the words, because he was gonna put her away. Well, he hadn’t even married her yet, but he was a spouse to her. In other words, he would have looked upon as, that’s his wife. God, he found out she was gonna have a child. And according to the law, he has to put her away.

He has to squeal on her, but he didn’t wanna do nothing. He just gonna just walk away from this thing. And the angel had to come in and says, don’t be afraid to take on the me, the Mary thy wife. So they had about a year-long engagement period. And during that time, she was to prove her faithfulness to her husband, to be. With Christ, the body was born on this day, the birth of the church. The body has been building for 2,000 years.

You and I are part of the body. We are going to be the bride of Christ. So he says, I want to espouse you in a sense that whenever You meet the Savior, you’re a virgin, and to be presented to the Lord so that God wants to take all of us as believers, and we’re gonna stand there, and we’re gonna be rewarded in our attire, that all of us as individuals are going to wear. To the wedding, the Bible says they are dressed in the righteous acts of the saints.

It means that the righteous acts that we do in the body we are rewarded for, and we are going to wear our honor, our glory, our crowns, our rewards, whatever it is, God says that we are going to be dressed in the righteous acts of the saints and the bride had made herself ready for the marriage. Look there in verse 2, for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chase virgin to Christ.

So we are the bride of Christ. Now take your The Bible and turn to the book of Revelation chapter 19. Revelation and chapter 19. Now look in verse 7. Let us be glad and rejoice because the day is arrived. Give honor to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come. The Lamb is Christ and Christ is going to get married. God the Father, Jehovah, took a woman Israel as his wife. So when you read the Old Testament, God, Jehovah and Israel were like married.

Well, they had a child. Their child was the son. Jesus Christ, who came into the world. He was rejected by the mom. The mom rejected her child. But what the father has been doing is finding a bride for his son. And so the son is one day going to get married. But the father finds the bride for the son. And that’s why all that the father, give me, shall come to me. So that’s in the book of John chapter 6.

It means that all those who go to the Father through the Son, the Father gives all of those to the Son as the bride. And we become the bride of Christ. He went to the cross and died there in order to bring many sons into glory so that we could have eternal life and be with God. See, God, being God is a God of love. God wanted somebody to love him back. So God allowed everything that happened the way that it has with all the sin, the devil, the hell, everything that’s ever taken place that you and I might learn to love God.

And God says you have no idea what I’m going to do for all those that love me. If you would only learn love the Lord with all of my heart. See God doesn’t want to be alone. He’s God. He can create all the angels. He can create the earth. He created the world. But one thing he wants more than anything else is he wants you and I to love him. And some of that desire he placed within you, that’s why you like to be loved.

That’s why you even wanted to get married one day because you loved somebody and love can make you do the strangest thing, the craziest thing. Have you ever heard love is blind? I get married and it will wake up. Look at your eyesight back. But notice what he says here and down in verse 8. And to her was granted that she should be a raid and fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”

In other words, this is not the righteousness of God that He gave to us to get to heaven on. The righteousness of the saints is the works that you have done for the Lord while in the body. Now the Bible says in verse 9, and He said unto me, right, blessed are they, which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. Now the marriage supper of the Lamb, we are going to be the bride, but I believe it’s the Old Testament say it’s going to be the guest at the wedding.

And you’ll read that in the book of Matthew in chapter 25 when it talks about the ten virgins, five wives and the five foolish, some days go back and read that. Some ready and some not ready, some get to go to their wedding. As you look in these things, you’ll find out all the way to the right, the great, white throne judgment. Now look up here. This is the great, white throne judgment. You and I are not going to stand there and be judged.

This is a judgment for all the people who have never trusted Christ as their Savior. You see, you and I don’t stand there because you see Christ took our judgment for our sins. This is not a judgment in the sense it is a rewarding stand where God rewards you for what you’ve done. We then will go to the marriage feast of the Lamb and then as the bride we come back to this earth and power and great glory and we will rule and reign with Christ over the earth for 1,000 years, then there will be the great white throne judgment for all the people that have rejected Jesus Christ as their Savior.

And the Bible says they will be cast into the lake of fire. This is the final hell. Some day we’ll get into all of that. But what I want you to look now is that we believe that Jesus Christ is coming back before the tribulation. If we say mid-trib position, that means that we believe Christ is coming back in the middle of the tribulation. If we say post-trib means we believe that Christ is coming back at the end of the tribulation.

But for you and I, He is coming back here, pre-trib for His saints. He’s coming for us, before the tribulation, so that we don’t go into the tribulation period upon the earth. If you believe it’s mid-trib, then you believe you’re going into parts of it. And if you believe that He comes back for us here, then you believe you go through the whole seven years of it. You see the difference. But the Lord says He’s coming back to deliver us from the wrath to come.

You and I will not be here during the tribulation period upon the earth talking about this great worldwide tribulation, the worst time that the world has ever known. Now when we talk about pre-millennial and post-millennial and all millennials, we say what do they all mean? When you say pre-millennial means you believe Christ is coming back to the earth to rule and reign with His saints. Here He come for us, here He comes with us. And pre-millenemies, He is coming back before the millennium.

If you believe in post, you would say he’s coming back at the end of the kingdom. That means that since we haven’t got into this millennium yet, well he wouldn’t be coming back for over a thousand years yet at least. And we haven’t brought in no kingdom. I mean I wouldn’t if I was you let the children play with a lion or a bear. Remember that song? Premillennial is when Christ is a man. is when Christ comes back before the millennium, which is what I believe, and I believe the Bible teaches that.

That is the correct position. Post-millennial is the wrong position. Then there’s those who believe a millennial. A is the A before a word in the Greek means no. So there’s no millennial, no millennium. They don’t believe it’s kind of calm. They believe we’re already in the millennium. This is the millennium. Can you believe that? I don’t believe that we’re in a millennium. They believe it’s going to get better and better and better. No, according to the Bible, it’s going to get worse and worse and worse.

And sooner or later, the Lord’s going to come back. And I believe the world is getting set, and I am excited about that. But I want you to not only make sure that you have trusted Christ as your Savior, but make sure that if you know the Lord as your Savior, You want to serve Him and correct everything that you can correct because to do so is a great reward. You’ll be so glad you did. You say, well, if my husband don’t want to do it, I don’t want to do it.

No, no, no, no. You’re an individual. When you stand before the Lord, you can’t blame children. You can’t blame husband. You can’t blame wife. You can’t blame nobody. It’s a personal thing. Each man, every man, accountability, personally. And I want you to serve the Lord. Look up here. This hand represents you and me and the wallet represents sin. We all have sin upon us. God loves us, hates our sin. And for you and me to pay for this sin is eternal separation from God, in hell.

Now God loves us and wants us to go to heaven and to go to heaven we have to be as righteous as God. We have to be perfect and none of us are perfect. And so the Bible says you cannot save yourself. You cannot earn eternal life. we need a Savior. This ends in Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, He came into the world because He loves us. He hates our sin, because our sin separates us from the Lord.

So Christ paid for our sins on the cross, came back from the dead. He said, if you and I, if we would believe that what He did was for us, He would save us, save us from hell, give us eternal life, and we’d go to heaven on what He did for us. That’s the gospel, that’s the good news. You can have eternal life, you can go to heaven. It’s free. You don’t have to promise God anything, You don’t have to stop anything.

You don’t have to join anything. Because going to heaven is what He did for us. He made it free. So all you have to do is trust Christ as your Savior. Once you trust Christ as your Savior, your God’s child. Now as a child of God, you may be obedient, you may be disobedient, but you’re still His child. I found out long time ago, life is a lot more fun, a lot easier, serving the Lord and doing right. And I want you to do the same thing, let’s pray, shall we?

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 home page.

If you’re in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Our Sunday morning services begin at 1030 and at 6 o’clock on Sunday. 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. Friends, 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.