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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 by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage.

We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family. One of the things that hurts us in our Christian life, more than any other, I believe, is fear. One man made a statement during the Second World War that the greatest fear is just fearing fear, fear itself. You realize that we are afraid to be afraid. We’re afraid to be afraid.

afraid that sometimes God may not come through like we think or we misread him and we trusted him to do something that he didn’t promise to do. That’s scary. There’s been time when I have stepped out by faith on a limb, believing that this is what God wanted me to do, but I have no visible evidence. And so sometimes because of my, I guess I don’t know if it was being hard-headed? No, that wouldn’t be that. Ah, arrogant? No, it wouldn’t be that.

Stubborn? No, not stubborn. Wilful? Well, you know, it’s hard sometimes to put your finger on it, but there’s something inside of you that says, how do you know positively this is the will of God and you can safely trust in it. Because sometimes, you know, God doesn’t tell us all the little details. And so it seemed like it would be so neat if God would just open up my little brain and pour in your all of his knowledge and wisdom so then I could make the right decision.

Lord, if I only knew, but we have to learn on the run while we’re doing it. it. It’s like, you know, two young couples, they get married and they haven’t got a clue how to raise kids and here they are. And you got to learn as you go. And you think by the tenth one, I could do a better job. I had an uncle and an aunt. My uncle’s son, we called him uncle’s son. He had 12 kids. The last three or four, they didn’t care what they did.

They really didn’t care. They just let the rest of the kids raise those kids and it didn’t matter to them. You know, after a while, you didn’t have enough and just about give up and you come to the conclusion, it doesn’t matter what I say or do. They’re going to do whatever they want. So you just kind of hang it up and kid, you’re on your own. Oh, they feed them and clothe them, things like that. But as it gets difficult sometimes, we don’t have it all together.

But I do want you to take your Bible and turn to 2 Timothy and chapter 1. 2 Timothy and chapter 1. I want you to see a verse there that will help you. And look in verse 7. Verse 7 says, For God hath not given us the Spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. God did not give us the Spirit of fear. But we do have an element of fear that kind of grips us at times.

You may be very well today, but you know if the doctor told you tomorrow, you got cancer. It won’t matter how much you know about the Lord, you’re still going to have an element of fear. Because you know that it just springs into play a whole realm of things that you’ve never gone through before. And it’s a scary thing to go through. But don’t let fear ruin your life. Don’t be afraid of fear. You know that fear is there and you’ll have some, but learn how to trust the Lord in the midst of your fear.

And God will bless you. Take your Bible look here in the book of John 14. I was at a funeral this afternoon, and I shared with him a couple of thoughts from the book of John chapter 14. The first six verses, but look in those verses with me. Jesus is speaking, and He says, let not your heart be troubled. Why? Because so many have a troubled heart. We do worry about things and be very concerned about things. We do wonder how things are going to work out.

You can be worried about your job, your health, your home, the kids, the grandkids, your husband, your wife. Everybody has something that’s a problem, and we have to deal with all of these things. But he said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In other words, trust me. When he makes a statement in verse two, in my father’s house, many mansions, if we’re not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you.

Now, when he says, in my father’s house, many mansions, I go to prepare a place for you. Why would he have to go prepare a place if he already has the mansion with many rooms in it. Like I’ve already got it. One person brought it out. So when I says, I go to prepare a place for you, they said, it means I go to prepare a way for you. This is what I have, but I’m going to prepare a way for you.

So he’s going to go to the cross and prepare a way so that we can get to that mansion up there. Now, I don’t know if that’s what it means. It sounds good. I can’t disprove it. But he did say just a little bit later, I am the way. I am the way, the truth, and the life. So he is all of these things and he tells us not to be afraid. We’re to look beyond this life at something that God has for us and he says, just trust me.

Because we rob ourselves of a lot of peace and joy, stability, sound mind by the things of the world, because of things that we cannot control. So anyway, just to keep that in mind, I want you to take your Bible looking at the book of Genesis. All the way back there to the book of Genesis, and chapter 15, Genesis in chapter 15. The Lord had said to Abraham in verse 1, he says there in verse 1, after these things, the word of the Lord, L.O.R.D.

caps, Jehovah, came unto Abram in a vision saying, and here’s those two words. See, whether it’s in the first book of the Bible, the gospel of John in the middle of the world, whether it’s in the book of Revelation, it doesn’t matter. People of all ages have been afraid. We’re afraid of being a failure. Sometimes we might be afraid of being a success. We don’t know how we’d handle it. We’re just not sure. That uncertainty causes uneasiness. Now I do my best not to mock people who are honestly, genuinely afraid.

I try to encourage them that in spite of the fear, going ahead and doing it with the fear, God will bless you for doing so. And it’s amazing that when you get a little confidence how the fear sometimes just goes away and you’re not afraid anymore. I remember watching Dr. A. Ray Stanford for years. He says, the biggest fear in soul-wening is getting started. Once you start, No, it’s okay. It’s just getting started. But look what he says, verse 1.

After these things, the word of the Lord came into Abraham in a vision saying, Fear not, Abraham. I am thy shield. No, wait a minute. When he says, I am thy shield. What’s a shield for? It’s protection. In other words, God says, don’t be afraid, Abraham. I am thy shield. I will protect you. I will protect you. Now that auto taking eliminate all of his fear, right? Well, isn’t he my shield? Yeah, but do we still get afraid? Why do we have to so question and doubt the protection of God?

But we do or the provision of God, but we do because we don’t see how God’s going to do something something. But he says, I am thy shield and look at the last part of it. Not so much that I’m going to get a reward someday, but he says, I am thy exceeding great reward. I am your reward. Did you know the lessons that you learn what you go through, learning how to Trust the Lord. God. Being revealed to you, manifested to you, is a great reward.

The joy and the peace that it brings to you to know that you can go through life trusting him and that he will, but you’ve got to prove it. That’s when you begin to rest when you see successful past experiences. When you don’t have any successful past experiences, then you’re totally unsure. But when you walk with the Lord for a while and you’ve seen how God walked you through this one and walked through that one, your faith grows in the Lord and you’re not as afraid.

You still have little elements of fear, but you still go ahead and you do what God wants you to do. Look in Genesis in while we’re here in chapter 26. Genesis chapter 26. Genesis 26 and look there in verse 24. Verse 24. Here you’re talking about Isaac. And he says in verse 24, And the Lord appeared unto him the same night. Says, I am the God of Abraham, thy father. You ought to underline those two little words. Fear not.

You see, God has to tell every individual that comes along. Everyone that God wants to use, everyone that wants to serve God, God has to reassure you. Don’t be afraid. I’ll take care of you. Don’t be afraid. Because we can’t see God. And so, there’s a difference between faith and sight. You can live by sight or to live by faith. Some things you can see. Now things you can’t see. You got to take God’s word at it. But look what he says.

He makes a statement in verse 24, fear not for I am with thee. And look at the next few words. And will bless thee. Do you believe that if I fear God, God will bless me? If I fear God, he is my shield. He will protect me. You say, you must believe that. You say, but what if I do all of that and things seem to go all wrong?

Where do I show you another verse? It’ll knock your socks off. For the person who is afraid, really, really afraid, you ought to see what Jesus told his disciples. Now you’ve seen it before, but not quite like this, I don’t believe, but it is so very important. Take your Bible and turn there to the book of Exodus 14, the book of Exodus, and chapter 14. Exodus 14, and look in verse 13. The children of Israel, hell, a couple of million of them maybe.

And you realize the awesome job that Moses has got to do, he got to feed these people and give them water, bed them down, warm so there was a fire, the hot blazing sun of the day time. See, God didn’t tell him in advance how God was going to take care of two to two and a half million people in the desert. He never told him. He never told him how he was going to lead him. In other words, this is progressive revelation.

He’s going to give him to him as it’s needed. You ever heard in the military a phrase like, only those who have a right to know, and to sail with order sealed until it’s time to open the envelope to find out what is the command? What do we do now? And so God never told Moses in advance all the things that were going to happen. Moses had to go through it one at a time and deal with it one at a time.

And so he says in verse 13, Moses said unto the people, fear you not. But that’s because the Lord had to talk to Moses. And Moses is now talking to the people. And he says, fear you not. He says, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show you this day for the Egyptians who we have seen today, you shall see them again, no more forever. And you are on the line verse 14, for the Lord shall fight for you.

The Lord shall fight for you. Can you imagine if the Lord is going to fight for me? Can you see me losing? The Lord going to fight for you. Can you see or picture you losing when the Lord is going to fight for you? Get him Lord. Do you think there’s something or someone in this world that God can’t handle? He’s going to fight for you. In the words, you don’t have to do the fighting. He’ll do it for you.

I think it’s awesome. And verse 15, and the Lord said in the Moses, we’re for Christ. I want him to speak in the children of Israel and tell them to go backwards. Forward. How can we go forward? There’s water. But God made a way and you know the story. And God keeps his word and does everything just like he’s supposed to. Now in Matthew 28, where it says and gives us the Great Commission, he says, And lo, I am with thee always.

Lo, I am with thee always. That’s why there’s one guy who wouldn’t get in an airplane. And the guy said, why can’t you get in an airplane? He says, because I’m not going up there. Because I’m going to say right here. He said, well get up here. God can take care of you. He said, oh, oh. He says, low, I am with you, always. Not up there. No, he won’t up there. But, you know, there’s always somebody who takes scripture out of context.

Now, take your Bible to look in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 31. Just turn to your right to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 31. Deuteronomy 31. And look in verse 1. Verse 1. I want you to follow me down to verse 8, but look in verse 1. Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel. And he said unto them, I am a hundred and twenty years old this day. I was having a birthday party. This day, my birthday.

I can no more go out and come in. Also, the Lord have said unto me, thou shalt not go over this Jordan. the Lord thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee.” Now look what he’s saying. He’s saying God is going to go over before you, and God is going to destroy those nations. That sounded like a promise to me. Sound like something that’s money in the bank. They can count on this.

But did they have questions and doubts and fears? Ye boy. And he says, And thou shalt possess them, and Joshua, he shall go over before thee as the Lord hath said. And the Lord shall do unto them, as he did in saithon and the ag king of Amorite, he said, And unto the land of them whom he destroyed. And the Lord shall give them up before your face. That ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.

See, God doesn’t command us to do something and then it’d be impossible to accomplish. Whatever it is God wants us to do, we can do. And verse six, you are the on the line in your Bible. Be strong and of a good courage. It’s almost like reading in the book of Joshua in chapter one verse seven, eight, and nine. Whereas as be strong and of a good courage, and here’s those two, fear not, fear not, Nor be afraid of them for the Lord thy God.

He, it is that doth go with thee, and you ought to underline this phrase. He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Do you realize it’s one thing to trust Christ as your Savior? And have eternal life, know you’re going to heaven and I. But you see, if you don’t get strong in the Lord and understand these things, did you know the devil can have a heyday with you and you won’t be winning souls? and you won’t be going to church, and you’re gonna have a miserable life.

You will not be a victorious Christian, or because you maybe don’t learn all these other things that God has to tell about. You see, EphesiansCooldown is a great verse. 1 John 5, 13 is a great verse. John 3, 16 is a great verse, but that’s only three verses. They’re not on every page, and they’re not in every verse. How much did this book do you think God wants us to know? How much do you think God wants us to study?

Is it only those salvation verses? Or do you think that God wants us to put on the whole armor of God? To know the word of God. Because you can be saved and know some salvation verses, but if you’re not strong in the other areas of your life, Satan will destroy you and you won’t be doing anything with your Christian life. You won’t be strong. There’s a lot of people who trusted Christ’s Savior sitting on the bench, never doing a thing for the Lord for the rest of their life, because they don’t steady the Word of God.

Because, well, I don’t need all of that. I don’t need all of that. Then why did God write it? Why would he say in the book of Romans, to study the Old Testament because he makes the statement that these things were written a fourth time for our learning that we may find out the things of God and how God works and understand the God of peace and the God of love and the God of hope and the God of joy.

Because that’s why he always talks about as it is written and as it is written and all of those verses are not salvation verses. You can be strong on the clarity of the gospel, but be weak in your spiritual life and you want to mount the hella beans for God. You’re gonna burn out. You won’t last because you don’t have the strength. There’s joy in the Lord. And the joy of the Lord is your strength because of all these other things that you have to face.

And there’s gonna be a lot of trials and tribulations in life. Ephesians 2.8 and 9 ain’t gonna solve that problem. you’ve got to know other verses that will help you to be strong. And nobody can do this for you. You must believe it. He will not fail thee nor forsake thee. And Moses called unto Joshua and said unto him, In the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage, for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath swore unto their fathers, to give them, and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

And the Lord, he it is, that death go before thee. He will be with thee. He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee, fear not, neither be dismayed.” That sounds like pretty good encouragement, top, don’t it? Why does he keep having to say fear not? Because we are afraid. Because it’s not the natural thing for us to just trust. Your new birth, yes, but you still got an old one to deal with. And that old nature that you have is always working against you, trying to get you to question and doubt God.

So, you don’t want to fear, fear itself. Look there in Isaiah 41, Isaiah in chapter 41, Isaiah 41 and verse 10. It’s similar to what we were already looking at, but it’s important to see these verses. Look what he says in verse 10. Fear, thou not. For I am with thee. You know, it seems like all the time he’s always tense. You know, don’t be afraid I’m with you. I’m your shield, I’m protect you. I will do this. I will, God says, you say, well, I can’t see you God.

Where are you at? It’s not a matter of you trying to figure out what God is. God knows where you are. That’s better. And you don’t have to see God. God can see you. That’s better and just walk with him and trust him that he’ll do what he says for I am thy God I will strengthen thee. Yeah, I will help thee Yeah, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness so you have the Verses in the Bible and they’re supposed to be able to sustain us as God Says in his word look in Psalms 55 Psalms 55 just quick glance back there.

It sounds 55. And look there in verse 22. Now, this is a good verse that you should underline. It kind of reminds you of the book in Peter in chapter 5 and about the old devil that’s always after you, you know. And the Lord says, casting all your cares upon him, for he cares for you. See there in verse 22, cast thy burden upon the Lord. And He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

He won’t permit it. If you will trust Him and walk with Him, you will stand. You see, as a Christian, you don’t have to fall apart. You don’t have to. The Bible tells in the book of Peter, he says, if you do these things, you shall never fall. You see, falling is a choice, and you don’t have to fall. You can keep serving God all the days of your life, but you’ve got to trust Him and lean on Him.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, lay not unto thine own understanding in all thy ways, acknowledge Him. That means, thank God, acknowledge Him, and He might direct thy paths. He shall direct thy path. He’s well, how do I know if I’m on the wrong road? Well, can God direct you and get you back to wherever you want? You’re supposed to be? Trust the Lord. You see, I don’t have to worry about trying to make every perfect decision because I’m not perfect.

I have an old sinful nature and sometimes it gets in the way. But I trust the Lord to guide me in the mist because I know that He knows me and He knows my heart, He knows my motive. And I’m going to trust Him to correct my path when I make an air in judgment. I believe He’ll straighten me out. I believe He can move and work in my life. I trust him to do what I can’t do. And this is why the Bible talks about in the book of Romans in chapter eight where the Holy Spirit intercedes for us.

Now, you can intercede for a lot of people. The Holy Spirit can intercede to God on our behalf. But there’s only one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. So keep that in mind. But in this verse, I love it because it says, and he shall sustain the cast my burden of a, do you have a burden? Do you have a problem? Something bothering you? Cast it on the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. You say, that means he’s gonna automatically solve all of my problems?

They didn’t say that, he’s just gonna sustain you in the midst of the problem and get you through it. But now, what if it doesn’t always work better way? Well, I know. Hebrews chapter 13. Remember that beautiful little verse over there we looked at last week. Don’t you look at it one more time. Hebrews in chapter 13. In Hebrews chapter 13 where it makes a statement in verse 5, let your behavior or conversation, manner of life be without covetousness.

Be content with such things as you have, for he hath said, I and you, this is the part you need to underline. I will never leave the nor for sake thee.” And we read the verse in the book of Hebrews chapter 4 about coming boldly to the throne of grace that you may get all the help you need and the time of need. God wants us to do this. God is up in heaven and just waiting for His children to come to Him.

You be surprised what God has done to get your attention. Did you know that the hurt, the longing, the love that you have for somebody? Do you ever know what it’s really like to feel rejected and lonely? How do you think God feels? And there’s a God in heaven that’s doing everything he knows how, and he’s God to get us to walk with him. to get us to talk to Him. I wonder how God feels. We always think about how we’ve been.

Nobody knows how I feel. Well, do you know how God feels when we won’t go to Him and cast our troubles upon Him and let Him lead and let Him provide? And we worry ourselves all the time because we don’t know how God’s going to do it. So we very easily fall out of faith and into sight. 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.

Part two of this teaching will conclude with tomorrow’s broadcast. If you have enjoyed our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ, you can reach Bibleline and pledge your support to To keep us on the air in your area by dialing toll-free 1-800-576-3771. That’s 1-800-576-3771. To listen to today’s message again or to obtain a free download of any of our Bibleline programs, just go to our homepage at BibleLineMinistries.org and click on the Radio Broadcast link. If you are 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 broadcasts of our services may be seen by clicking on the Calvary Community Church link at BibleLineMinistries.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, and 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.