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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.

Would you say that the world is a mess? I mean, believe it’s a mess. Alright, how many believe that God is on the throne? I mean, believe that God’s in charge. I mean, believe that the world is a mess. I mean, believe that God’s in charge. We got a problem, don’t we? We have a problem. You hear all the time that God is still on the throne. Alright, He’s on the throne. He’s ruling in the affairs of men. Something don’t look right.

The world’s a mess and God’s in charge. What about your home? Can your home, Dad, be a mess and you’re in charge? Ooh. Can the church be a mess and the preachers in charge? I wouldn’t know about this one. How many believe the nations in a mess? And the presidents in charge. You say, where in the world are you going? I haven’t got a clue. I’m a mess. You’re a mess. The whole world’s a mess. Well, maybe we’ll get a few things straightened out here.

I want you to take your Bible and turn to the book of Romans in chapter 13. Romans chapter 13. I want to speak on the sovereignty of God in the choice of man, the choices of man. If God’s in charge, it means that God is sovereign and if God is sovereign, he answers to nobody. So dads, you may be in charge of your home, but you’re not sovereign. The pastor and the elders and the deacons may run the church, but they’re not sovereign.

You as an individual, you can make your own decisions, but you’re not sovereign. There’s only one that is, and He doesn’t answer to anybody. Do you have to answer to anybody? Individually, you have to answer to God. In the home, do the children, are they in charge? Don’t answer that. the children are in charge? But they’re not sovereign. There’s people in our church, nation. We have a problem. And remember, if there is a problem, there’s only two kinds of answers, gods and everybody else’s.

So the key is toouple out what is the answer to the problem, to the chaos, to the mess. And so there’s a God that says he’s in charge. So sometimes you wonder, well, what are you doing about it? Look at this world. Look at the mess of the homes. Look at how me different churches there are and they’re all fighting and disagree with everybody? Look at the nation. Look at the nations of the world. It is a total mess, a chaos.

And God is in charge. Now there has to be, I asked a person one time, I says, what’s a happy medium? Says a jolly fortune teller. You’ll get that after a while. I want you to look there in the book of Romans in chapter 13. Have you ever wondered whose side is God on? Whose side is God on? I mean when you stop and think about it, you have the Republicans and the Democrats. I wonder if God is a Democrat or is he a Republican?

Did you ever think he might be an independent? Maybe he don’t vote at all. The Buccaneers, are they playing today? are? Who are they playing? Who? Kansas City Chiefs. How many teams are on the field? Three. Did you know that there is the Buccaneers, Kansas City Chiefs, and a team of referees? What side are they on? Who side are the refs on? Well the referees are not supposed to be on any side. They’re just to referee the game. But anyway, we could get in just a minute.

By the way, is which team do you think God wants to win? Somebody else say to Buccaneers! But there’s people that are probably saying God is on the other side, Kansas City Chiefs side. So if we could only find out, well, whose side is God on? Well, here are in a book Romans chapter 13 verse 1, let every soul be subject unto the higher power. Every soul means every soul. It means every person in the world. Every soul, higher power, there is no higher power than God.

He is supreme authority. And in His sovereignty to do whatever God wants to do and answer to nobody, because when God came up with this plan, He didn’t ask me or you for an opinion. He did it without us. He have determined all things after the counsel of His own will. Well, there’s a verse in the Bible that says that. After the counsel of his own will, he said within his self, self, this is the way it’s going to be.

God is in charge. He’s rolling. He’s on the throne. He’s not sick. He’s not dead. If he’s in charge of what? Did he just wind this thing up And then take a vacation. So you’re on your own. See you later. We’re in a mess. And God’s in charge. How can he be ruling in the affairs of man if everybody does whatever they want to do? Doesn’t he make people obey him? Evidently he’s not making anybody do anything. He’s letting them get away with murder.

So how do you justify all of this? all of this. I can’t wait to hear what I’m going to say. And I can’t hear too good because you don’t have a hearing aid in this ear. So I’m only going to hear half of what I’m saying. Romans 13, for there is no power, no authority but of God. The powers that be ordained of God. What are these areas of authority? When God made a man, God gave him certain authority.

Authority to make decisions, to rule the Garden of Eden. Told him some things to do, and told him one thing not to do. How did he do? Look around. The individual is very important. So it is God who gave the institution of self-government to an individual. It is God who established the home. That is a divine institution. When it comes to the church, it is a divine institution designed by God. God designed the church. When it comes to government, Genesis, chapter 9, God designed government.

It is a divine institution created by God. So God has given to the individual certain authority. God has given to the head of the home certain authority. God has given to the church certain authority. God has given to the nation a government certain authority. authority. God is responsible. He set all of this up. But in His sovereignty to set it up any way He chooses, He chose to give man a free will. He gave us the right to make choices.

So that means that if He gave us responsibilities, He gave us jurisdiction. See, God has jurisdiction over the world. Everything is under his jurisdiction. He is allowing us to make decisions at this point in time. There is coming a time when the Bible says he will have put all things under his feet. It means that when Jesus comes to the earth himself, he will rule and reign and And it’ll be the way you knew it could have been. We will have the Prince of Peace ruling and there will be peace.

Because He will be here literally Himself in charge. Right now, God is still just as much in charge as when Jesus comes and sets up His Kingdom. He’s in charge right now. You see, God didn’t take a vacation. He’s not on a journey somewhere. He’s on the throne and His laws are in effect and He is ruling. He is making decisions. There are consequences to all these decisions. But look what He has when He talks about the divine institution of government.

In verse 2, whosoever therefore resisteth the power, the authority, the jurisdiction of government. Look up here just a second. The individual that we’ve come to understand has the right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. That’s a good thing. All of those, those three came from the Word of God. God gave an individual the right to life. God had granted him life. And God has granted to that individual liberty, the freedom to fulfill God’s responsibility. The first man and woman that God ever made, he didn’t have to answer to anybody outside of that jurisdiction.

He was the only man, She was the only woman. And then they messed that up. But you see, the family has jurisdiction. The man is to be the head of the home. I mean, he has jurisdiction. He is the authority. I know most women don’t like that, but it doesn’t matter. Your opinion don’t count. God is in charge. God is sovereign, and that’s the way he said it up. Now, I can’t help but if that guy you married is a bum and a no-good astoundrel, and maybe he is.

And you may have to make some wise decision because the guy is not a man to take responsibility. And there’s a lot of those around. But think for a moment. because there is an individual that is a low life, a astoundrel, a dirty dog, would you say that all men are alike? Not non girls, don’t do that. All the men are alike. No, all men aren’t the same. are some men who are good men, godly men. So don’t say, well, they’re all like that.

They’re not all like that. Okay, now we move it up to this family. There’s a family. Now in this family, there is jurisdiction means he gets the right to make decisions that governs the family. And he may make good decisions. He might make some bad decisions, but he is responsible. He has jurisdiction. But if a man doesn’t do the job and his home falls apart, would you say all families are the same? No. What they’re all like that? No, they’re not.

There’s a lot of them like, but not all of them. There are some men who are godly men and they realize they have jurisdiction, they have accountability, they have responsibility. And they know that God in heaven who sets up these areas of divine institutions is going to have to count to him. So you as an individual, I’ll do whatever I want, Anyway, I want you can try. You can make decisions and choices that may not be the best. But the God in heaven has already declared before he ever set this thing up.

Those who would be obedient and make wise choices, God said, I’m going to bless you. And individuals who say, I’ll do whatever I want and nobody can stop me. I’ll live like I please. You can make the choice, but God in heaven is free to determine the consequences of your decisions. So you see, there is a God in heaven that rules. For example, here’s Mommy and Daddy with a little Johnny. Little Johnny is misbehaving. So daddy takes little Johnny in the other room and blisters his little behind.

Now just because Johnny is rebellious and he’s got a bad attitude and wants his own way. Does that mean that daddy is not in charge just because the child seems to be disobedient? It doesn’t mean that his jurisdiction has been removed or he’s not in charge or that he can’t discipline that child. It doesn’t mean that just because a child is rebellious doesn’t mean that his rights and his authority is null and void because they are rebellious.

In the same way it is with God, just because you don’t see God doesn’t mean that God isn’t real. Just because you can’t see the devil doesn’t mean the devil isn’t real. There is a God in heaven that rules in the affairs of men. So God can bless our chasing. God can allow to live or take out of this world. So you see, God is in charge. He’s not on the vacation. He is even at this point in your life, ruling in your life.

It doesn’t mean you fully obey Him. You may not obey Him at all. That doesn’t mean that he’s still not in charge. But did you know the God who is in charge has the freedom to bring all kind of things into your life? Because your life to be one miserable hell on earth as a result of your bad choices? You see, as a child of God, you can’t live as you please and get away with it. You can try.

But there’s a God in heaven that has laws set up. Call the law of sowing and reaping, the law of the harvest. You reap what you sow, you reap later than you sow, and you reap much more than what you sowed. So God is in charge. Do you think for a moment that God knows what’s going on in this nation? I think God knows what’s going on in this nation. You say, well why don’t God do something? He is doing things.

most certainly is. You see, there’s a thing that you need to understand. It’s not whether or not it’s God on my side, it’s God a Republican, or it’s God a Democrat, it’s God an Independent. What is God? I sure hope God’s on our side. Well, it’s interesting. Take your Bible and turn to the the book of Joshua chapter 5. The book of Joshua. And chapter five, you see to recognize God’s jurisdiction is a way of appreciating his sovereignty. Understand very clearly.

There are extremes in everything. One of the extremes is this. secular humanism, humanism, human man, man in charge, no God, no creation. Man is the epitome of all things. Man is God. And so man can determine his own destiny. So it is a religion in itself, the religion of humanism. And if you follow humanism to its ultimate destination, it will always lead to socialism and communism. It has to go that way because it is the survival of the fittest.

It means that a few people get in power and control the rest. It will not be for individual freedom and liberty and life and the pursuit of happiness because there is no such thing. You have no right to anything. You will be controlled. So it always leads to bondage, humanism. That is what is being taught in our schools today. Now that is one extreme, but there’s another extreme. The extreme of religion. You see, religion, not Christianity. Religions of the world when they are in charge and they can control will always be oppressive.

religions because they mandate by force how you must live, how you’re going to live. Take for example the religion of Islam, that peaceful religion. It’s not peaceful. It’s not of God. The Quran is a war manual. Mohammed was not a prophet of God and Allah is not God. You say you shouldn’t say things like that. And blessed be God. Why not? It’s the truth. So anyway, because everybody believes that, they oppress everybody. And you are free to worship the religion of Islam, and they’ll all do the same thing.

Oh, they may pray their five times a day, and they get on their knees and they bow and all that time and everybody does it. You’d be scared not to do it. But it becomes oppressive. That’s not freedom. The thing that makes true Christianity different is Christ. Christ sets us free. Christ says, be not entangled with the yoke abundance and entangled with the laws of man and not the freedom that we have in Christ. But what I want you to see here in the book of Joshua in chapter 5, there’s an interesting story here that come up to the river Jordan.

They’re about to cross the river Jordan. They’ve been in the wilderness for 40 years. Moses has passed away. Joshua is now in charge. And And so they had to get some new food in the new place because the manna had stopped. Now you want to live and you want to eat? Hey, there’s some over there in that land. You just got to cross the little river here and get over there and there’s Jericho. There’s a big city of Jericho and the walls around it, fortified, giants in the lands.

That’s the scare half the death. And there was another little town called A.I. which is mentioned in chapter 7. A little town called A.I. and a big one called Jericho. So the key comes down this. Lord, whose side are you on? Are you on our side? Are you on their side? So we’ve got to find out what side God’s on. Well look what He says here in Joshua chapter 5, look in verse 13. And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand.

And Joshua went unto him and said unto him, our thou for us or for our adversaries. Hey, are you with us? Are you with him? Hey, who are you for? Who side you on? This was an angel of the Lord. And it’s not so much as are you on our side. The question to ask is are you on his side? Are you on God’s side? So you always try to find out where does God stand and I stand with him.

That’s where I stand. It’s not, am I a Republican, a Democrat, a foot washing Aborigine, or Penn Stripe. Am I standing where God stands? What would God want me to do? How would God want me to vote if I had the freedom, the choice of voting? I would find out what are the principles, the principles that affect life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Because true freedom gives you the choice of how do you live your life, the liberty that you have, to be what you want to be, to pursue whatever it is that you believe God wants you to have.

That’s freedom. That’s why this country was set up different from all countries. Never had one like this country. We have truly been blessed. And so because of this, we have the freedom of of choice. So an individual should always keep in mind when it comes to somebody in place of leadership or in government who are given a power or authority to make laws, you want them to make laws in agreement with God’s. No man has any authority to make any law contrary to the Word of God.

He has no jurisdiction. God, James chapter 4, John, he is the law giver. The Lord, he’s the law giver. He gave the law. He knows how to run a nation. God knows how to run a family. So when the family is falling apart, it’s because you’re not making choices in agreement with God. When your individual life has fallen apart, it’s not because God isn’t in charge and God is not wrong. You’re not making choices in agreement with God’s choice.

You see, God has told us how to make decisions, choices, right choices. That’s why he says, hold it over again. Choose you this day. Choose your choice. And if you choose the right thing, they’re going to be certain consequences. You choose the wrong thing, they’re going to be consequences. So it’s up to us to make wise choices. It is God who is going to go by your decision, the choices that you make. That’s why it’s so very, very important.

So he says in verse 14, and he said, nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord, am I now come? And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and says, I’m on your side. That was in Hebrew. I’m on your side. I submit to you. You see, it wasn’t that God was just choosing. I’m on Israel’s side. And that’s why you won the battle of Jericho. The first one to go across was the priest, not the army.

Now when you come over to this other little bitty place, they came to the conclusion that’s a small place. So we don’t have to send a lot of them in there. Let’s just send about 3,000 of them in there. So they went up and they got hooked. Well wasn’t God on their side? And God says, you send against me. You send against me. So you, whether something is big or whether something is small, your decisions are important because are you on his side?

Not whether he’s on your side. Are you on his side? Do you find out where God stands on things and you make decisions in agreement with the Lord? 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 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 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 10-30 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.