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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 concluding message of this teaching will be a blessing to you and your family. realize that most people don’t have a good attitude, they have a prideful attitude. They have a me only attitude. You ever watch kids get in line when they go into school? I don’t know why it is. Somebody always thinks they have to be in front of the line. I don’t mind if they get behind me.

I just got a bad case of not me, I just, you know, me only. Well, I guess that’s the way it is. Have you ever noticed when we have the food in the auditorium sometimes? I have no clue how ideas that I always work out to be in the front of the line sometimes. I didn’t plan it that way. Somebody has to have prayer. Now Larry, that busted out too. You shouldn’t have done that. You know you’ve been on the internet and it’s gone all over the world.

His name is Larry. But rejoice, rejoice and get this. Look at the last part of that verse. Rejoice and be exceeding glad. For great is your reward, where? In heaven. So that means that in order for me to get rewarded for that persecution or those things that people say against me, somebody has to be watching. Somebody has to be keeping the books. Did you realize that your heavenly Father watches everything. Don’t you think that he knows how you’re being treated and that you can still have a good attitude?

It doesn’t seem like whatever happens because you know that when I get to heaven God’s going to reward me for whatever I’ve gone through and persecution or whatever it might be. And so here it makes a statement for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Now you just read about that in the book of Acts on Wednesday night. How that you have prosecuted all the prophets before you. So it’s a it’s a good verse to always remember.

Remember he talks about seeing your good work when he talks about you being salt of the earth and the light of the world. It’s referring to lost people or the world seeing your works. See what he says there in verse 16. Let your light so shine before men.” Now, this light to shine before men is the response of what people do to you. It’s how you’re handling it. That causes them to see something better, something different. If you’re going to live like a lost man, I don’t think you’re going to be honored.

But he says, let your light so shine be foreman that they may see your good works. You see, what they were doing was not good, but your response is good or supposed to be good. And then he says, and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. Always be willing to give credit and honor to the Lord for what God’s done for you, but God is pleased when you suffer and you praise Him for it because You know God’s going to reward you.

And it can help your attitude while you’re here. Otherwise, you’ll just be a Christian with a bad, nasty attitude. And that’s not what the Lord wants. Looking first Peter in chapter one, first Peter chapter one. This is a familiar verse, but it’s good to look at, renew your mind one more time. First Peter chapter one. All right. As you know, we’ve talked about in verse four that when you’re saved, you’re saved from something to something. You’re saved from hell to in verse four to an inheritance and it’s incorruptible and undefiled that they, if not a way, reserved in heaven for you, for a kept by the power of God through faith and desalvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.

So you were saved by grace and your kept saved by grace. because you put your faith in what Christ did for you. So you’re rejoicing that. You’re glad you know you have eternal life. In spite of everything else that happens, you know you’re going to heaven. But now look what he says in verse six. Wherein ye greatly rejoice? You can rejoice about that, your salvation. But we just read in the book of Matthew chapter five about greatly rejoicing and be exceeding glad because of your life.

This period of time God’s got us to live. You know you’ll influence more people with a good attitude than you will with a bad attitude. With a smile on your face, more than a frown on your face. But get what he says in verse six. We’re in you greatly rejoice though now for a season. See this little period of time that we have to go through, this is just a little period of time. And we’re supposed to be found faithful.

And it has rejoiced there now for a season. If need be, ye are in heaviness. If need, you ought to take that word need and underline him. Did you know that there’s various times in your life that God knows what you need? Did you know that he knows that you need to learn a lesson? God knows when you need a trial or a testing.

Did you know that? Did you know that God could be the one that’s actually disciplining you, disciplining you? There’s a lot of people I like to disciple, and when they don’t do this, I try to follow up and help. You’re always doing that. Did you know that God, your heavenly Father, is doing the same? He knows more about what you need than you know. And so sometimes he knows that you need a rebuke. You need a testing. You need to be humbled.

are filled with pride or jealousy or envy or bitter. God knows and did you know that God can work things out the way time he gets through with you he can so humble you and you say Lord I’m so sorry I should have done that. God, God knows what he’s doing. You lift yourself up in pride and God will put you down. You humble yourself and God will exalt you and you don’t get exalted like you think you should.

Does God know that? Can you just go ahead to be faithful and have a right kind of act only because you know God is going to take care of it and I get to heaven God’s going to reward me. You win in the long run. You win. But look what he says. He says here in this verse, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptation. In other words, there’s things that weigh you down. There’s always problems. Every one of us has assets and liabilities.

All of us do. And God is always working in our lives. doesn’t stop. Just because next month I’ll be 70 doesn’t mean that that’s the end of it. I finally reached my peak and everything’s wonderful from then on. I hope so. I don’t think so though. And then in verse 7, the trial of your faith. Been much more precious than of gold which perishes though it be tried with, fire might be found on the praise, honor and glory win at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

So the time is coming, just always look for that and believe that because it will happen. 1 Peter 4, just look a little bit very quickly. 1 Peter 4. And you’ll notice there’s a few verses here that are really, really sharp. 1 Peter 4, look in verse 12, where he says, Beloved, thank it not strange concerning the, and you ought to underline these two words in your Bible, fiery trial, which is to try you. You see what’s coming this year?

You really want to know. This year, there’s going to be some fiery trials to try you. Did you know God can try your faith with success or would tell you with help and without help. You see, the man who I was reading in the paper this morning, how is talking about some of these presidential poor folks and all their millions that they’ve got. Millions. And they’re trying to help us, I guess, make our million like they did. No, I’m not sure.

But there’s some people that have a lot of money, but you know they can struggle and be just as miserable as a poor man. But what he says here, he says this, don’t think that it’s some strange thing that’s happened to you, because these things happen to all of us. You just get different testing at different time. Aren’t you glad we all don’t have the same thing hit at the same time? So that some of us have done learn a lesson.

We can help the other one then that you helped her then then later on she has to help you and then just everybody needs each other. That’s where God designed it. But in verse 13, he says, but and here’s that word again. Rejoice. Rejoice. and as much as you are partakers of Christ’s suffering, that when His glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with an exceeding joy. See, you’re supposed to know and believe this, and so you just kind of like reach out to the future because you know God’s Word is sure, and you know you’re going to be rewarded, and God’s going to be pleased, and that makes you happy now.

I’m satisfied. I’m pleased.” And so it doesn’t matter what anybody says or does. You just keep doing what’s right. And it doesn’t matter whether you have good health, bad health. You got money, no money. You just be faithful between you and God. Believing that God is watching and taking notes and keeping the books and is it going to take care of everything? And you’ll win in the long run. That’s what the me, the Word of God, is saying. Of course, you can go ahead and you can read a lot of that because the book of Peter is talking about sufferings.

He just happened to see some of it, you know, the sufferings of Christ, and so he got a good view. Look in Romans in chapter eight and verse 18. Romans and chapter eight. Romans, chapter eight, and verse 18. This is talking about you and me serving the Lord. It’s talking about us being mature sons of God. See up there in verse 14, first of all, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons or the maturing sons of God.

So you begin to grow when you begin to let the Lord lead you and realizing the Holy Spirit is living within you And he’s going to lead you into sufferings. When Christ went up into the mountain, he says, and he was led by the Spirit into the mountain to be tempted by the devil. The Holy Spirit led him there. It was God that led Moses and the children of it into the wilderness, right up to the Red Sea. And look at all the problems they have, but who led them that way?

The Lord. Why should you and I be exempt? Why should we be exempt? If God loves me and God loves you, he ought to give us the same opportunity, don’t you think? Don’t you think God wants us to prove our love and faithfulness to him just like, well, he gave that opportunity to everybody else? Why should we be exempt? So let God use you. Let God have the freedom to do in your life whatever he wants to do without any lip.

Well, I complain in full, I bad attitudes and just look to the Lord and trust Him. But anyway, he says on verse 18, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present, present time are not worthy to be compared, not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. See, there’s a present time and there shall be glory. So you go through it now knowing and believing that it will be worth it all. At least I believe that’s what the Scriptures says.

It will be worth it all. Somebody wrote a song about that too one time. I think it’s a great thing. But take your Bible looking 2nd Corinthians in chapter 4. 2nd Corinthians and chapter 4. and look at verse 16. Verse 16. This verse here, verse 16, where it says, for which cause we faint not. It’s really coming from the first verse in chapter four, where it says, therefore seeing we have this ministry as we have received mercy. We faint not.

In other words, we don’t quit just because it gets rough. Just because it gets hard. We don’t quit. We don’t stop just because somebody don’t like us and somebody said something. We keep going because we want one thing after our name. And that is what describes you. you the best. And it should be the word faithful. Moreover, it is required and steward that a man be found faithful. Faithful to do what you can with what you have where you are.

Well, I believe that. See there in verse 16, for which cause we faint not? That means we don’t quit. We don’t stop. But though our outward man perished. In the word, the older we live, the body gets older and older and older. Sometimes we have to move out. But it says, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. Did you know spiritually you can get stronger and stronger and stronger as you get older and older and older? But you’ve got to keep doing what makes you strong.

And I would say for 51 years, I’ve been in church. I believe if I stop going to church, stop reading, stop praying, stop witnessing, stop. I don’t think I’m going to be very strong after a while. That just makes sense, doesn’t it? And so he says here in verse 17, for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, work for us far moreanchester eternal weight of glory. See, the glory comes after the work, after the suffering. And so that’s why he says, we don’t quit.

Otherwise, don’t you think the apostles would have quit long before? I mean, they did get stoned a little bit here and all kinds of things they went through. I mean, it was pretty bad. Wouldn’t you have quit? How would you like to be Dr. Apostle Paul? Five times he would be with a cat and nine tails. Stoned and now the people that took vows to kill him, wasn’t going to eat or sleep until he was dead. And yet miraculously God intervened and gave him the strength and the grace and it even protected him and you know Paul didn’t die until God was ready We just read about Stephen in the book of Acts and how that when he died the Bible says in Jesus standing Jesus was standing I believe He saw Jesus But don’t you know Jesus saw him?

Don’t you know that Jesus knew what they were going to do to him? I do. I believe it. So do you believe that serving the Lord is worth it? If you do, you will. If you don’t, you won’t. You can’t make a blind man see. That’s Tom. No. You can’t make people serve God. You can’t make anybody love God. as the decision they have to make. But anyway, he makes a statement here in verse 18, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

For the things which are seen are temporal, things which are not seen are eternal. So we live our life based upon that which you cannot see, but we believe it because God said it. And we know that God doesn’t lie and God doesn’t make mistakes. So we are very thankful to the Lord. Take your Bible looking 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians, and look there in chapter one, chapter one.

2 Thessalonians chapter one. And you notice there in verse three, verse three. We are bound to give thanks. The thank God always for you brethren, as it is to meet or necessary fit. Because that, your faith, grow up exceedingly. And the charity of every one of you all toward each other abounded. So the word faith, you ought to underline it maybe. And the word charity, the word charity means what? Love. So he’s talking about their faith. He’s talking about their love.

And then when you look down in verse four, he’s talking about their, their patient. You see there in verse four, so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your Persecutions and tribulations that you enjoy, that you endure. So here’s a letter written to people who are having a rough time, really going through some poverty. I mean they’re suffering. And he says, but through that, it demonstrates your faith. It gives you the opportunity to show your love, to show your patience.

So they are opportunities. And every one of us, we probably always ask the Lord, Lord, give me an opportunity. You ever use that word? Lord, give me an opportunity. Give me an open door. And then the tire goes flat, the motor blows up, Radiator leaks, but you ask for a opportunity. You see, there’s things that happens in our lives to give us opportunities. And so we all have these wonderful opportunities.

But the last part of verse four says that ye endure. So they are known. They reveal our character. In verse 5 he says, which is, and you ought to look at this real close, which is a manifold token of the righteous judgment of God. That means that God has to see your faith in your patience and your love, and God is allowing all these things to happen to you and I. Because God says it’s a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God.

Get this that ye may be counted and you ought to underline this word worthy worthy to suffer worthy of the kingdom of God for which ye also suffer. Are you worthy to suffer? for the Lord. Or do you run from the sovereign? You don’t want anything to go wrong. You want everything to go right. And because it doesn’t happen the way you want it because you wanted to plan your own life and you know that you’ve got I want this and this and this and this and this and God said oh here’s the blank piece of paper.

You just sign it down here and just let me fill it in. Alright. See we want to fill it in and say God would you sign it? No God said no no no You just go ahead and sign it. I’ll fill it in. Do you believe that God knows what’s best for us? If God really loves me, He would give me as many opportunities to prove my love and faithfulness to Him, if He really loves me. And He won’t leave me, He won’t forsake me, He won’t put upon me any more than what I can bear, and I have His word on that.

But I also know that there’s a fiery trial, And I should not think it’s some strange thing that’s happening to me. That I know that persecutions and all these things always comes before the praise, the honor and the glory. So he says here in verse 6, looking verse 6, seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. In other words, it’s like God’s end. Don’t you worry about it? I’ll get them. You just go ahead and keep doing right right and loving the Lord and God says he’ll take care of everything else.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could really live according to what I just taught in these Scriptures every day. You know why I teach certain things because it’s what I need. We forget the Apostle Paul and Peter talked about stirring up your remembrance. And sometimes we don’t listen and learn something new but we should be reminded to refresh our minds of what God is like. What is He doing? And if you’re wondering, why do they let this happen to me?

Well, that’s not a badogene. There might be a reason. It might be that you’re just living in an old wicked, sinful world. And don’t always try to make something mean something. It’s just, just keep serving the Lord and keep faithful Lord. And look for opportunities as you live life. And God will bless you for doing so. But just because there might be somebody watching by internet. And no, they might just watch us for Sunday school and then they hurry up.

off to their church somewhere and made me not know the most important thing in all the world. This hand represents you and me. The wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. God says that He loves us. He hates our sin, but He does love us. And to pay for sin is eternal separation from God in hell. But God loves us. Wants us to go to heaven. And to go to heaven we have to be perfect. This is righteous is the Lord and none of us are perfect.

None of us are righteous. We’re not good enough to go to heaven. And God says you can’t save yourself. You can’t do good works. to pay for sin. There’s no amount of money you can give to pay for sin. You see, the wages of sin is death. So that’s why God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to die for our sins. See, He loves us, but He hates our sin because our sin separates us from the Lord.

So Jesus Christ took our sins, paid for them on the cross, came back from the dead, And said, if we would believe that He did it for us, He would put this payment to our account, and we get to go to heaven on what Christ did. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. He says, these things have I written unto you that believe. Now, some people will believe it, some people won’t. But those that do believe it, he says, these things have I written unto you that believe that you may know that you have eternal life.

So can you know your happy eternal life? Yes, he can. You can do it right now. If you trust Christ right now, as your Savior, God said, He would save you right now and give you as a free gift everlasting life. And He said, I’ll never cast you out and never lose you. Let’s pray, Shavu. Our Father, we do thank you so much for the free gift of eternal life. And Lord, if there’s anyone listening, we pray that the most important thing they could ever know, most important thing they can ever do is to believe that when Christ died, He died for them and that by faith alone in Him as their only hope of going to heaven is their only hope, their only way of going to heaven.

And Father, we just pray that you had helped each one to see and understand that. We also pray Lord concerning each person here. There’s a lot of things we don’t know and we can’t see the future, but there are things that you said in your word that we can expect. And so Father, we do thank you for all the opportunities that you’re going to give us. We pray that we’ll be found faithful and not want to run from them, but Father desire from you the grace and the strength that we need to bear them.

Because we know that you walk with us, you’re not put upon us anything greater than we can bear and that you want each one of us to be found faithful. So each one of us are special in your eyes. And each one of us are going to get specialized attention. And Father, when we get to heaven, each one of us are going to get the rewards that we have earned. And Father, we want everyone here to receive the honor, the glory, the praise.

Because of their love for you 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 are 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 tool 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 Broad 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 broadcast 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.