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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 a 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. You know sometimes in your life something happens first thing you do is I wonder what I did wrong You know, maybe you didn’t do anything wrong Maybe there’s a God in heaven who wants to see whether or not do you love him Or are you gonna curse him? Do you Question and doubt the provision of God.

He takes away your job They could take away your health and if God does all those things. What do you think about God now? It’s so easy to think that the sweetest things about the Lord when everything is going good. So now I want you to look at in verse 13, He had put my brethren far from me. My acquaintance are fairly estranged from me, my brethren, no pity there. In verse 14, my kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.

Well, there’s no pity there. In verse 15, they that dwell in my house, my maids count me for a stranger. I’m as an alien in their sight. Well, there’s no help there. Verse 16, I call my servants. He gave me no answer. Nobody listens to me. Nobody obeys me. Nope, no pity there. Nobody cared what he was going through. had an answer or a words of comfort that would help him. Now whenever you get down someday and really discouraged and thinking there’s no purpose to live, no reason for living.

Read a book of Job. You can’t get much lower than Job. And the Bible says yet he maintained his integrity and he did not curse God. He even told the Lord you can just take me on home if you want to. I’m ready to die. In verse 17, my breath is strange to my wife. In other words, you don’t even get close enough to smell his breath. Probably smell pretty bad. You know, he didn’t already got some kind of disease.

Some say it was maybe cancer. Some say it was just big old boils all over his body, but he was sitting in an ash heap and scraping himself in his sores with broken pieces of pottery. That he didn’t have walkings on the corner. I mean, this was a long time ago. Job is one of the first books written probably in the Bible. He says in verse 18, “‘Yate young children despise me.’ So everybody was against him. No pity party there.

Verse 19, “‘All my inward friends are my close friends abhorred me, and they whom I loved or turned against me. And he hadn’t done anything wrong. And sometimes it just seems like you cannot explain it. Did you know that you might even want to serve the Lord and do right? And all of a sudden your wife turns on you, your children turn on you, or your husband turns on you, your mom and daughter, everybody for some reason or that.

And you can’t explain them. Everybody just turns against you. And it can make you to the place where you can get mean and ugly and want to fight back and take revenge and treat other people the way they’re treating you. God is a patient. Patient. Did you know that there is a God who created the heavens and the earth and he’s not too busy? That he cannot and does not give you personalized attention. He is watching over every one of us.

He knows how much you can take. He’s like, I can’t take no more. God knows how much you can take. And when you say, I can’t handle anymore, it’s amazing. He’ll dump some more on you just to show you. Yes, you can. And that’s why, and you need to learn. Mm-hmm. Like he says, my grace is sufficient for thee. My grace is sufficient. God gives you the grace that you need day by day. He doesn’t give you the grace that you need to bear tomorrow’s burdens.

He gives you grace on a daily basis as you need it for this moment. When tomorrow comes, God will give you all the grace that you need to face tomorrow. And that’s what we’re supposed to believe. There is a God in heaven that is so concerned about every one of us that he is wise and how he uses all the problems The headaches the distress and the spares of life to get us closer to him If that’s true has he been working in your life lately?

Oh Just wait then he’ll start maybe tomorrow Or next week, but you can rest assured you’re either coming out of a problem or you’re in the midst of a problem, or you’re going into a problem, but it’s a seasonal thing. And sometimes when it’s springtime, you should always know summer’s coming. And when it’s summer, you should know that fall is coming. And when it’s fall, you should know that winter’s coming. But when it is winter, you should know that spring is coming.

In other words, see, it goes in cycles. God is always testing you. It’s kind of like, you know, in a boxing ring, you know, they hit you, then they back off, then they hit you, then they back off. The Lord may hit you upside the head to get your attention, then he backs off a little bit. He says, hey, did I get your attention yet? No? Boom, how’s that? And so, kind of like this guy’s playing football, and This guy roughed the other guy and roughed those down.

That flag is a 15-yard penalty. He says, you stink. He says, another 15-yard penalty. How do I smell now? So you see, there’s always something going on. So he lost his family in his possessions. No pity there. He was afflicted and he got no pity. wife turned on him, got no pity. His friends turned on him, got no pity. Who is the man that needs to be pitied? I want you to realize that one of the people that really needs to be pitied is a person who has a profession, but not a possession.

You see, you can be a professional in a lot of things, but not possess the most important thing. Did you know that there’s a lot of preachers in this world and they profess to know God, but they don’t know God? Pity that man. That man needs to be pitied because he will talk like he knows the Lord, but he doesn’t know the Lord. Do you think there’s a lot of people like that? Think of all the people that go to church, and they believe that because they do this, they’re gonna possess eternal life.

But you and I know that you can’t possess eternal life just because you go to church, and you try to do what’s right, because we know you can’t earn it. But people profess that they know the Lord, that they love the Lord, And yet they don’t know the Lord because they do not possess eternal life. The key is that you must know Christ as your Savior, you must trust Him as your Savior as your only hope of going to heaven.

How you see with them? Pity the man that has no salvation. Pity the man that doesn’t have the Holy Spirit. Pity the man that not permitted to walk with God. You know, one of the greatest things I have enjoyed in my 51 years since I trusted Christ as my Savior’s. I have salvation to live for 51 years, knowing that I can’t today or in the future ever go to hell. You don’t have to pity me. I possess the most important thing in all the world.

I have the Holy Spirit of God living within me. That is a great possession. You see, I’m rich. I’m very rich. I have something that I cannot lose. A missionary one time says, a man is no fool who gives what he cannot keep. They gain what he cannot lose. Once you trust that Christ is your Savior, and as you give whatever you have for the cause of Christ, you can never lose it because you’ve laid up treasure in heaven that you will have for all eternity.

I have the free gift of eternal life. How much do you think that’s worth? How much is that worth? Can you put a price tag on it? Are you a rich man tonight? Or a woman? Are you rich? You think about it, what you really possess. But there are people who profess to have what you have and don’t have it. And they’re going to find out one day when they leave this world that they never really trusted Christ as their Savior and how dark of a day that’s going to be.

When they knock at the door and says, Lord, Lord, have we not? And he says, depart from me. I never knew you. I don’t know you and you don’t know me. You can pity a lot of people, but I pity that man. To pity those people that will spend an eternity separated from God. You see, there’s a lot of people that are living today, living without life. One guy called it dead man walking. You see, without the Lord, you’re a dead man.

You’re a dead man. A dead man, but you’re walking around. You’ve got human life, you’ve got the physical life, but you don’t have eternal life. You don’t have that quality of life that comes from God. So there’s a lot about this present life you cannot enjoy because you don’t have eternal life. Christ says, I came to give life and to give it more abundantly. We call it the abundant life. Not just that I live, but I have abundant life.

Something that’s really really really super super good. I Have Christ and if you don’t have Christ you don’t have eternal life and you don’t have life I want you to look at this scripture with me look over there in the book of Colossians chapter 3 the book of Colossians Look all the way over there in the book of Colossians But look there in chapter 3 It says in verse 1, if ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ siteth on the right hand of God.

Sit your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. And get verse 3, 4 ye are dead, and your life will wait a minute. If I’m dead, how can I have life? You and I are to be dead to this world, but alive unto God. You can’t really begin to live until you know Christ as your Savior. And he says, if any man will lose his life for my sake and the gospel, the same shall find it.

But if you live for anything else, then you’ll lose your life. lose the purpose of your life. So there’s a great lesson here. There’s people who, you see, they possess eternal life and there’s those that do not possess eternal life. And the difference is night and day. It’s a dead man walking. You see, when I did not know Christ is my Savior, I was a dead man separated from God. But now that I know the Lord, I had been united with the Lord, never to be severed.

So all the people in the whole world that are not united to the Lord. Don’t have eternal life. They’re all alone. They’re separated from the Creator that made the heavens and the earth. And there’s really nothing there. It’s an empty shell. It’s not knowing who you are, what you are, where you’re going, what you’re doing, and it leaves them totally empty. And all they have is just here and now. But you and I that know Christ is our Savior.

See, we’re living for eternal things. Look what He says there in verse three. For you’re dead and your life is hid with Christ in God. Now get this in verse four. When Christ, who is our what? He is our life. So without Christ, they do not have this life. There’s a life that you and I are able to live that the lost man cannot live. He cannot have the peace of God, the joy of the Lord. He can’t have it.

It only belongs to his children. The fruits of the Spirit like love and joy and peace and long suffering, gentleness and goodness and faith, meat and temperance. Those are things that belong because they come from the Holy Spirit. come from the Holy Spirit of God that lives within us. So you and I have something that the world does not does not have. And look what he says there in verse four, when Christ who is our life shall appear, then you also appear with him in glory.

So we have something that we look forward to. There is a purpose in life, a reason to live. And so yes, when this life, So body’s gonna die and fade away, but there’s more to it. And one person used the illustration that, oh, when the ship leaves the coast here in America and like going toward Europe when it goes out of sight, but somebody on the other side, they can see that ship coming into sight. So while we say goodbye, somebody else is saying hello.

And when we leave this world, it might be goodbye here, but it’s hello, because somebody else is waiting for you there. Pity the man that has traded or compromised his convictions. You see, your convictions is your foundation upon which you build your whole life. And there’s many of God’s people that have lost their convictions. It means that, you see, when you know the truth, The truth is like solid rock. And Christ says, build your life upon the solid rock.

Oh, the winds are going to come, the floods are going to come, but you’re on a solid rock. And He says, the man is likened to a wise man who hears these sayings of his and bails upon the rock. But when you no longer believe in the foundation of this word of God and don’t believe that it’s true or that’s appropriate for life and you start making decisions in your life without it based upon the Word of God, you are going to be on sinking sand.

It’s not going to support you. Many times people are simply looking for a way to do what they want to do anyway and they just want to find somebody to agree with them. Instead of saying, what does the word say? And you maintain that foundation. Otherwise you’ll be compromising, trading, the very foundation. See, this is what’s happening in America today. We are losing this country because we have lost our foundation that causes us to have the stability that we need.

And people are not solid anymore. They’re not stable. We have compromised our principles. And so, well, it doesn’t really matter. Yes, it does matter. And whenever you see all the gays and all the marching and so forth and all the wickedness that goes on and the marriages and so forth that are falling apart and you’ve got all these people that are shacking up together, all that, that’s wrong. It’s wicked. People say, well, you know, everybody doesn’t know if everybody doesn’t do it.

And it doesn’t make it right if the dead. Still wrong. I can’t go changing the Word of God. If I do that, then I will become as unstable as the rest of the world. Pity the man who loses his directions, who loses that foundation that he has. Do you know there’s a lot of people that have a house, but not a home? Or they got a building, They got a house that’s got walls, and it’s got a bathroom, and it’s got kitchen, it’s got floor, and it’s got a bed, it’s got all these things in the house, but not a home.

You see, our homes are supposed to be Christian home. Not just a place that we live, but you know our homes are supposed to be an example of what the unity is in the Godhead. Of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. Our homes were the man and the love his wife, the wife loved the husband and they loved the kids and the kids loved them. Wouldn’t it be neat if it was all peaceful and harmony? Yeah, you’re talking about heaven, probably.

Or maybe in the kingdom, it’ll finally get all straightened out sometimes, you know. But a lot of people have a house, but they don’t have a home. They don’t have the warmth. They don’t have the love that comes because Christ’s been the head of the home. Should be pity the person who has a house, but not a home. I got the last thing I want to mention to you. And that’s the man that has pleasure, but no peace. You know, there’s a lot of things to enjoy in this life, ain’t there?

You can enjoy a lot of things, but no peace. You see, you can enjoy a lot more when you have the peace of God raining in your heart. When you know that you can trust the Lord for regards to what’s coming down the road, and you can’t put your hand on everything and make everything happen, but you know in the back of your mind, God is in control. God’s in control. He’s still on the throne. And I don’t know what’s gonna happen to me today or tomorrow or next year, but I can trust the Lord.

You see, all this stuff is going on in America. I ain’t worried about it. God will take care of things. I’m trusting Him to direct. He ought to be a lot more concerned than I am. Why should I be more concerned than God? He can do something about it. Okay, any? Well, then let him. I’ll do all the right that I know to do, but I’m gonna leave it in his hands. And if God sees fit to save this nation so big, if he sees like he needs to judge this nation, go for it.

Because sooner or later, yeah, I’m gonna be out of here anyway. I ain’t got long. Remember, you only get 70 years. Now, I don’t know why in the world God let him have, what, 83? You gonna live forever. God don’t want him yet. When he gets to heaven, he’s not going to be in here 20 years ago. But we do have a lot to be thankful for. So let me just mention that one little statement to you one more time.

If you only have tomorrow, what you were thankful for today, will you have anything tomorrow? Have you thanked the Lord for anything today? Don’t forget all of his benefits. Don’t forget the mercies of God, the goodness of God. Can you find anything that God has bestowed his goodness upon you? What can you be thankful for? I can think of a few things. Every person that’s between you and God. Your whole life should be one big thank you to the Lord for being so good to you.

And if you can think of these things and remember these things, did you know it can change your attitude toward things? It really can. I was with the teenagers last night. I Was I was in a fairly good mood. I Usually stay in a fairly good mood. I mean not often I’m really down and you know just dragging around Unless there’s something really wrong But most of the time I’m cheerful and I’m upbeat. I try to stay positive And I like cutting up.

I love humor. Maybe too much. But I love it. I’d rather laugh than cry all the time. I’d rather laugh than whine all the time. And some people just don’t know when to stop whining. Listen, everybody’s having a rough time. Be kind to everybody. Everybody needs a smile and encouragement, don’t they? See, the reason that I’m so upbeat and so positive and so encouraging is because I never have any problems. Nothing ever goes wrong in my life. Everybody else’s, but nothing ever goes wrong with mine.

I’m exempt. You know that, don’t you know, preachers are exempt from problems. You know that. Somebody says, I knew it was true. I knew it was true. I’m going to write a book one day. I don’t think I will. Anyway, look up here. This hand represents you and me. The wallet represents sin. We all have sin on us. It means all of us have done things wrong. That’s just about takes care of everybody in here, doesn’t it? Anybody in here never sinned?

Don’t raise your hand. It’d make you a liar. But God says that He loves us, that He hates what we do wrong. And for us to pay for our sins is eternal separation from God. So that means we would be separated from the Lord for all eternity. But God, He loves us. Now He hates what we do wrong, but He loves us. And He says for us to go to heaven, we have to be perfect. His righteousness, God and none of us are good enough to go to heaven.

Everybody’s ever lived good enough to go to heaven. We’ve all done things wrong. And we’ve already done things wrong and we’re going to do things wrong. So don’t try to earn your way to heaven. It’s a waste of time. Just make sure religious hypocrites. Claiming to be something that you’re not. The best thing to do is just be honest. I’m the sinner. That’s what I am. I am a sinner. See, what do you mean? I do things wrong. So do you.

But God loves us. And he says, you cannot save yourself. You need a savior. This end represents Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. He came into the world because he loves us, hates our sin because it separates us from the Lord. So the Bible says that Jesus Christ who had no sin didn’t have to die. So he took all the sins of the world, paid for them to cross, came back from the dead. 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 for us.

best news in all the world. There’s no tricks to it. Only thing that you have to do to go to heaven, and if you’re here or watching by internet, is to believe that when Jesus Christ died, He died for you, that He paid for your sins. By you trusting Him as your only hope to go to heaven, God said He would give you eternal life as a gift, and you can know that you’re gonna go. And He said, I’ll never cash you out and never lose you.

It means from this day forward, God will never send you to hell. You can’t go to hell. I cannot go to hell. I’ve known that for 51 years. And it’s not because I’m so good. I was gonna say something but I changed my mind. You knew I was gonna say something and you wish I didn’t said it too, so I’m glad. I’m going to heaven because God is so good. He does it. And He deserves all the honor and all the credit, all the glory for getting me to heaven and you.

Let’s pray, shall we? With heads bowed nice and close and no one looking around. If you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, why not just talk to the Lord right now and say something simple like this, Lord, I know I’m a sinner. And I believe Christ died and paid for my sins and I’m gonna trust him as my only hope of going to heaven. Friend, if you’ll do that, God will save you. Will you trust him? So if you will trust Christ as your Savior, I’m gonna ask you just to raise your hand and put it right back down.

That’s just so that I know because I wanna have prayer for you. And I’d like to know if what I’ve said made sense to you. So if you will trust the Lord, would you just let me know by raising your hand very quickly and putting it right back down as anyone at all? And what at all? If you’ve already trusted Christ to save you, you never have to do it again. Because once God gives you eternal life, He never takes it away.

It’s forever. Our Father, we thank You so much for all You’ve done. We thank You for Your word that You’ve given us. We pray Lord that people are being encouraged. People are having a hard time. We do need to have pity upon people, to have and to feel their hurt within us, to have the compassion that we ought to have. Some people are struggling and there’s all kinds of problems and help us to help lift their load, to share their burdens.

We thank you for this time together. Christ and we pray, amen. You’ve been listening to Bibleline, a teaching ministry of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Ralph Arnold. We pray that you 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 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 six o’clock on Sunday evening. Live broadcast of our services may be seen 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.