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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.

Alright. Take your Bible and turn to the book of John, chapter 12. As you know by now, I like the gospel of John. I believe there’s a lot of wonderful things revealed in the gospel of John. If Calvinism was true and election was true, we would automatically assume that if there’s any chosen, it would have been the nation of Israel because they’re called the chosen of Israel. And they’re also referred to as the elect of God. So I guess the Gentiles are just playing out of luck because God only chose them.

But we know that’s not true. But what I want you to see is they’re in the Gospel of John chapter 12. Look there in verse 12. Look in verse 12. As you know, this is his triumphal entry into the city and everybody loves him. Well, not everybody. But a lot of the common people heard him gladly. They loved to come and watch and to see. There were people that wanted to see more miracles and some had already seen Lazarus come back from the dead.

The story was out. So everybody come because they wanted to see what’s he going to do next. You know, that’s kind of like the way it all to be with us. We can’t wait for the next day to see what God’s going to do today. What? Because if God’s in charge of this day, God is a God of diversity. I’m so glad because I get bored quick. I like things different. I like something to happen. Just not too fast.

I used to always pray, Lord, let her rip. I just slow down just a tad now. But his dad used to just cringe. He said, you don’t pray like that. Because you know I was married to his daughter and he was always concerned about what she had to go through because of what I was going to go through. But in verse 12 he says, on the next day, much people that were come to the feast when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.

If you heard he was coming to Tampa, would you go out to see him? I would too. Man, I’d be on the front row. I’d even leave early. You know what some kids do when they hear some rock stars going to be at some place and they get there early in the morning. And stay all day just so they can be in line and get a good seat in the fiddle. No way I’d do that for somebody like that.

Now if it was the Lord, that’s the different story. Wouldn’t it be something that if I was so famous of a preacher, people were lined out here in the front of the church since 4 o’clock in the morning waiting to get in? Wanting to get on the front row to make sure they heard preacher Arnold. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Can you see it? Can you see it? Can you picture that? If you’ve ever heard the death of a vision, well, I’ve thought about that, but I think I’ve seen the death of a lot of visions.

But anyway, the Lord was coming to town. In verse 13, they took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet him, cried, Hosanna, blessed is the king of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. Well, that’s a good statement. That’s an Old Testament quote. When Jesus when he had found a young ass set there on as it is written, fear not daughter of Zion, behold thy king cometh, sitting on an ass’s coat. These things understood not his disciples at the first, but when Jesus was glorified, which means after his resurrection and all, they remembered that these things were written of him and that they had done these things unto him.

it was going on that didn’t see it. You know as I look back over the years I have seen God working in my life but at the time I didn’t see it. Years later I can see man alive. What an awesome thing. You won’t believe this. When I sat back and I read the letters and so forth of the Dora Lake story and I rehearsed it in my mind and I read what was said and what had happened to Floyd’s Seekings and all that.

Man, I write, look what God did. Look what the Lord did. Think of all those people and hundreds and hundreds of people that went through their camps for 40 years. That would have never been there. If I had never went to a half an hour speaking engagement up in the mountains of Colorado, it just blows your mind. Because I didn’t want to do some of those things. It’s just that I did because I know I’m supposed to do it out of responsibility.

Sometimes, certain Lord is not always doing what you want to do. It’s doing what you’re supposed to do. We would like to be able, well, I serve the Lord is just doing what I really want to do. And if I don’t really want to do it, I shouldn’t do it. No, you still got to do it. There’s probably a lot of times when the wife doesn’t want to have to wash the dishes and make the beds and make meals, but she does it anyway.

Why? Because there’s somebody dependent on her. Sometimes there’s people dependent upon you. You’ve got to be faithful. But look what he says here. He makes a statement in verse 16. These things understood not the disciples. That in verse 17, the people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave raised him from the dead bare record. For this caused the people also met him. For that they heard that he had done this miracle. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves perceive ye prevail nothing.

Behold, the world is gone after him.” You ought to underline that statement. The world is gone after him. Of course, they weren’t, but they couldn’t stop his popularity. They could not stop what he was able to do. They could not prevent his miracles and so forth. They couldn’t prevent the people from wanting to see Jesus. Now, there’s an interesting statement that’s made here. Down in verse 20, he says, and there were certain Greeks also among them that came up to worship at the feast.

Some Greek Gentiles. Hey, what are these Gentiles doing here? In verse 21, the same, these Gentiles, came therefore to Philip, which was of Bessata, of Galilee, and desired him saying, and you ought to underline statements, sir, or we would see Jesus. We would see Jesus. This is what the Gentiles wanted. You see, he was the king of Israel. He was the king of the Jews. Salvation was of the Jews, but there’s some Greeks that wanted to know. And believe it or not, the rest of this chapter, I believe has a lot to do with not just Israel, but showing you how that it was for everybody, for everybody, even the Gentiles.

So he says there in verse 23, Jesus answered them. So when he says Jesus answered them, then I know that this is his answer to those Gentiles, to the Greek, that wanted to say we would see Jesus. And in this portion of scripture, he says some wonderful things. He makes a statement there in verse 23, And Jesus answered them, and the hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Being glorified means it’s time for Him to die, to be buried, and to come back again from the dead and put on His perfection, the honor of the glory that’s due to Him because of who He is.

receive the glory of humbling himself as a man and being obedient even unto death. And where the Bible says God had given him a name which is above every name. And then in the Gospel of John chapter 17 when he says, Father, glorify thou me as I glorify thee. I’m going to glorify you. You’re going to glorify me. Anyway, beautiful. But look what he says here verse 24, verily, verily I say unto you, except the corn of wheat fallen the ground and died, it abideth alone.

If had died, it bringeth forth much fruit. Picture a little kernel of corn. You can sit it down here, and that’s all you got is one little kernel of corn. But you can take that little kernel of corn and you can plant it and it dies, but another one comes from it. That’s like the resurrection. They come back from the dead. But look how many kernels of corn there is on an ear of corn. And then how many ears do you have on a stock?

So from one little bitty one, look at the fruit. Jesus says, I believe. In between the lines, he’s referring to himself, I am going to die and there’s going to be much fruit because of it. And then usually on a stock there’s at least two ears of corn. Well, we know that one is Israel, but the other, and I believe it’s the Gentiles, but even in John chapter 10 he says, other flock have I, beside this flock. See what Christ did was not just for the chosen ones of Israel, and just for the elect of Israel, it was for the whole world.

Now he’s telling this as an answer to the Gentiles. Sir, we would see Jesus. I wonder why they wanted to see him. Well, look who he was. Look what he had been doing. His testimony was out. What he did was not done in the corner. So he makes the statement. And verse 25, He that loveth his life shall lose it. And he that hated his life. In this world shall keep it under life eternal. That’s the same thing that you’ll find mentioned in the other gospels when it talks about for the gospel’s sake.

Losing your life for his sake. And what does it profit him in if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? But if you will lose your life for his sake, you find it. But if you don’t, then you lose it. Did you know that if you do not serve God, you wasted your life, you lost your life. But if you’ll serve the Lord and lose your life, give up your life and your choice of whatever you want and give it to the Lord, God says you will find your life.

That’s why there is such joy and happiness, satisfaction, fulfillment in the life of a person who is totally yielded to God. And the person that doesn’t will go from one emptiness to another, it’s like chasing little soap bubbles, and they all pop in your hand, and you spend all your life chasing these little soap bubbles, these dreams. And when you get all done, you’ve got nothing left. Well, so look in verse 26. This is an awesome verse. Where it says, if any man served me, if any man served me, let him follow me.

And where I am, there shall also my servant be. And you ought to underline this person of the verse. If any man served me, him will my father honor. You see, God wants to give every man praise, honor, and glory. Everybody’s been watching the Olympics. And you see how that they get honored. And you’ve seen the tears of those that are gone down in the agony of defeat. But if you’ll serve the Lord, you’re not having to compete against another Christian.

Your success is based upon how many others you can help win their race. Your race is trying to help others run the race. That’s why God says, provoke one another unto love, unto good works. These are things God wants us to do. If any man served me him with my father honor in verse 27, now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father saved me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. You see, Jesus was telling us about my joy, my peace, and in His sorrow, but didn’t He also say, take up my cross and follow me.

He also makes the statement that whenever you and I want to serve the Lord, there is going to be the element of suffering involved. Things that are going to happen against our will, against our spirit, to destroy us. When we talk about the devil seeking whom he may devour. It’s one thing when the devil is seeking, but it’s not, I used to have my kids, they would play hide and seek. Especially a little Eddie, and he was really small.

And I said, all right, we’re gonna play hide and seek, y’all hide, sorry everybody hide. Training David, they go hide. Eddie was 10 years younger, he lied. I said, okay, here I come, ready or not. I said, is everybody ready? And Eddie will say, yes. And I know I wear his in. I have to Eddie. Don’t tell me, yes, okay, You don’t say anything because you don’t want me to find you. Okay. Okay Here I come ready or not Alright Where are you?

Here I am It’s one thing for the devil to be on your trail. It’s another thing for you to say here I am Because you want the devil to come get you Listen, that’s why he says make no provision for the flesh because that’s where the devil finds you The devil always finds you in the flesh. That’s how he gets you. It’s to get you in the flesh, walking after the flesh. But anyway, look what he says here. He makes a statement in verse 28, Father glorify thy name, then came there a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.

Remember this. The Bible tells us about Jesus. How they says, let this mind be in you, which was all the way. also in Christ Jesus. He says, for he did not consider it Robert to be called equal with God because he was equal with God. But he humbled himself and became a man, even suffering and humility unto death. And where the Bible says, where God, the Father, have highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every nation bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.

So he says, glorify thou me. Now look what he says here in verse 30, Jesus said unto him, this voice came not because of me, but for your sake, because all of a sudden they heard a thundering and they could not evidently discern the words, but they heard, and there’s an angel’s talking to him. And it wasn’t, it was just, it was just the Lord. And in verse 31 he says, Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

See the judgment of the world was when Christ went to the cross. That’s where he judged all the sins of all the world upon Jesus Christ when he took the sins of past and future and put them all upon his son and the judgment of the whole world was passed upon him. and he died for the sins of the whole world. And he says, the prince of this world, who is the devil, has been judged. He is law. Remember in the Old Testament, Genesis 3, 15, where he talks about that he will bruise his heel, but thou shalt crush his head.

Pretend there’s a snake on the ground here. I might snap, pound on it with my heel, and he biked my heel, but I crushed his head. When Christ went to the cross, Jesus is the seed of the woman that bruised the serpent’s head. Now, this is where you need to see here. He’s talkingUTC about when I am lifted up. Remember, he’d also told Nicodemus in chapter 3. He said in verse 14, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up.

And when you go back there in the Old Testament and you read story, it’s just a simple story about how they were bitten by serpents. But the only cure was, if you were bitten, they put this brazen serpent, the form of a serpent, up on a pole, and whosoever would look would live. That’s all they had to do, just look, and they’d live. So just look and live. And Christ says, as it was in the Old Testament, with that little story, when I am lifted up, if If you’ll just look, you can live.

Look and live. There’s even a song that they wrote called, Look and Live. We look to Christ and you can live and have eternal life. But now I’ll get what he says here. In verse 32, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw in this word all. I would even circle it and maybe draw a line all the way over to those Greeks. Cause it includes them. He’s answering their question. What an answer. All men unto me.

This, he said, signifying what death he should die. This isn’t amazing that he already knew how he was going to die. And yet in Psalms 22, it talks about how he died. And that was written over a thousand years before Christ actually came and died. So King David, who God used to write the prophecy, said that he will be pierced in his his hands and in his feet. And yet none of the other previous governments like the Babylonian government, the Median de Persians, the Algians government, none of them had anything to do with crucifixion like the Romans did.

So it narrowed it down and he would die a certain way on a cross piercing his hands and his feet. And he knew it before it ever happened, to find out what death you should die. Look in verse 31, the people answered him, we have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever. How sayest thou the son of man must be lifted up? Who is this son of man? Who is this son of man? If you’re the son of man and the son of man is supposed to live forever.

See, they knew that. He’s supposed to live forever. Well, how are you going to die? How can you be the son of man? See, there was so much they did not understand, and standing right there in front of them was the Messiah himself. And they knew some of the scriptures, but this Bible says that the Old Testament prophets even had a hard time distinguishing the sinning between these sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. You see, between the sufferings of Christ when He died on the cross, and the glory of Christ over 2,000 years later.

And they saw it all as one, and they couldn’t separate them. It’s hard for them to understand. You and I said, well, I don’t see how come they can’t understand that? I can, yes, but we’re 2,000 years on this side of it. We can see and understand some things. This is clear as a bell, but they couldn’t see it. Didn’t understand. So look in verse 35, then Jesus said unto them, yet a little while is the light with you, walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you, for he that walketh in darkness, knoweth not whether he goeth.

Now I believe that Jesus is the light of the world. Chapter eight, he says, I am the light of the world, and they said, you’re not the light of the world. And he said, when you put me on the cross, my father will tell you who I am, And that’s why when the light of the world was on the cross, and when he died, the light went out and it became dark. God spoke on behalf of his son. Well, what a illustration, but it was truth.

And God also shook the whole earth. And because it says with the great earthquake, boy, what a voice that must have been. How scared those people that were there must have been. But they were messing with the Son of God. And he says in verse 36, why you have light, believe in the light, that you may be the children of life. See when you see and understand, remember in the first part of the Gospel of John it says there was a man sinned from God, his name was John.

The same came to bear witness of the light. He was not the light, but he came to bear witness of the light that all men might see and believe in the light. Jesus Christ is the light. He is the truth. When you know truth, you have light, you have knowledge, you have understanding. There’s power in the knowledge of the world of God. So he makes a statement, once you trust Christ as your Savior, see you become a child of light.

So whenever he left, he says to his disciples that you are the light of the world. So you and I are supposed to be the lights of the world. He says in the book of John chapter five, you are the light of the world, you are the salt of the earth. But the salt has no power if it doesn’t come in contact with the other, with the flesh, with that which is supposed to preserve. So he says here in verse 36, “‘These things spank Jesus and departed “‘and did hide himself from them.

“‘But though he had done so many miracles before them, “‘yet they believe not on him, “‘despite of all the miracles that he did, there’s people who still not would not believe. Why are certain things mentioned and some things not mentioned? The Bible says Christ did a lot of things that were never found in the Scriptures. They never wrote about Him. But He says, these things are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of a living God, and that by believing you may have life through His name.

So there’s certain ones that are used as evidence that Jesus was who He claimed to be. So He says here in verse 38, that the saying of Isaiah, going all the way back to Isaiah. Isaiah in the Old Testament prophesied, even if you look in Isaiah 53 and verse one, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? The arm of the Lord is Christ and He is revealed. And He shall grow up before them as a tender plant.

But Lord, they don’t believe. They did not believe the gospel. So He says here is a fulfillment of prophecy in verse 38. that the saying of Isaiah the prophet shall be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report. So when you know that whenever it says that in the book of Isaiah 53, it’s referring about Christ and their unbelief about who he was and what he was going to do. But being lifted up and making the payment for the sins of the world, even though he had the power to do all these miracles, they still wouldn’t believe it.

They saw him provide all those fish sandwiches for everybody. I wouldn’t believe it. I saw a little statement on front of a church. I thought it was pretty good. And it just says something simple like, he walks on water. He walks on water. I can’t remember the first part of it, but he’s talked about he walks on the water. I wish I could remember all of it, but I can’t. Just shows you something that was different about the Lord.

He walked on the water. Look what he says here. In the last part of verse 38, who hath believed our report and to whom, hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? That’s Christ. He’s revealed. They see Him. They hear Him. Sir, we would seek Christ. So He’s telling them who He is. Isaiah told about me. This is who I am. I’m not just a man in the body. I’m the Son of God. I am the Messiah. Isaiah spoke about me and that people still will not see it or understand.

But look what he says in verse 13, therefore they could not believe, they just could not believe, because that Isaiah said again, he hath blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their hearts and be converted, and I should heal them. Why does it say God hardened their hearts? And it’s not their form. Because see, God knows who will believe and God knows who will not believe and God knows whether or not if you saw truth what you would do with it.

And God says, because you have hardened yourself, you tie that in with the book of Romans in chapter 9 and about how he hardened Pharaoh’s heart. But when you go back there and you read the story, it’s because he forced Pharaoh to make a decision. You see, it’s like having children. And you say, well, my children are not rebellious. Yes, but you didn’t tell them to do something. Tell them to do something or not to do something, then see if they’re rebellious or not.

But some parents are afraid to clamp down on their children because they don’t want to find out they are rebellious and then they don’t know what to do with it so they just let them do whatever they want to do. I got wonderful kids. My kids are so wonderful they’re not rebellious. Yes because you don’t tell them what to do. You let them do whatever they want to do. You give them their own way. Tell your children what you don’t want them to do and then you’ll see how rebellious they are.

So by your forcing upon them, decisions to make a decision, you have hardened their heart, but their heart is because of their own decision. Oh, it harmonizes. You may not say it, but it does. 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 2 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 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 10-30 and at six 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.