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Bibleline, Bibleline, Here God’s word on Bibleline Everywhere, every time, Here God’s truth on Bibleline Welcome to Bibleline Have a line 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 message will be a blessing to you and your family. Turn in your Bible to the book of Genesis chapter 5. Genesis chapter 5. And I just want to kind of give you a few thoughts along the way because after I trusted Christ as my Savior, I began a journey with the Lord. It was just, well, just walking with him. I didn’t start off walking.

I started off crawling. And then I would, you ever seen kids throw a tantrum? I threw a few of those. And then I throw a tantrum, and then I would try to stand up, and then I’d fall and throw another tantrum. Then I’d get up and crawl a little bit more and fall, throw another tantrum. I guess I could write a book on tantrums that I have thrown in my life. That’ll be a title of the book. But I did not start off, as soon as I trusted Christ as my Savior, walking smooth.

I’m still not there. So you’re learning how to walk with the Lord. But there are some things that you can gain as you studied the scriptures about other people that have had to learn how to walk with the Lord. I’ve said this before, you know, we often talk about all those stories in the Old Testament. And there’s a lot of good stories, wonderful stories. But there’s stories about a man and God, a man and God. What happened between that man and God?

Because as we live our lives and as we walk, it’s always about what God is doing in our lives. Whether obedience or disobedience. God lays down the law, we break it and zap. That’s pretty much the story of the Bible. But I want you to look there in Genesis chapter five. And look there where he says in verse 22, and Enoch walked with God. You ought to just underline those three little words. Anik walked with God. You see, if the Bible was still been written, would it be able to say, you know, there’s Louie back there.

Louie walked with God. Stephen here walked with God. Peter walked with God. Yankee walked with God. Come, when you get right down to it, that’s the story of your life. That’s your testimony. Did you walk with God? or did you not walk with God? So everybody’s got decisions to make and nobody can walk with God for somebody else. It’s an individual thing. So regardless of what you know in your own mind, would you consider yourself an individual that is now presently walking with God?

You see, forget about all the times that you didn’t stumble and fail and crawl and throw your tantrums. Okay, but now how are you doing now? Well, you ought to see what I used to do 20 years ago. Okay, that was 20 years ago. What are you doing now? You see, regardless of how old you get, you can still walk with God. You may not accomplish all the things that you’ve done, but can you still walk with God? I believe you can.

Do you know why it says in the New Testament, and even it makes a statement here, He was, and He was not, for God took Him. Why? Why did God take him? You’ll find out it doesn’t mention it here, but in the New Testament, in the book of Hebrews, it says he had this testimony. He pleased God. So when it says that he walk with God, we should associate those two things together. He pleased God. Now you’re not walking with God to please you.

You’re walking with God to please God because that’s what God wants. And regardless of what happens in your life, it’s still pleasing. is God that you walk with Him. So as you go through life, just trust the Lord to walk you through everything that comes your way. Just keep walking with the Lord. It means keep pleasing God. Just keep pleasing God in whatever it is. Now I want you to look there in chapter 6. Chapter 6 looked there in verse 8.

As we know there was some bad times that had hit upon the year, Things weren’t looking too good. Things were looking pretty bad. And then it says in verse 8, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And then it says in verse 9, these are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and a perfect man. I’m mature, and all of his generations. And you ought to unline these words.

And Noah walked with God. Noah walked with God. Now not everybody walks with God. So you don’t want to walk with everybody. There are sometimes people are walking in the wrong direction. You should only have those for your examples that are walking in the right direction. They’re walking with the Lord. If you choose friends that are not walking with God, you’ll have to go in a different direction. The Bible says in the book of Amos 3, 3, I think it is, how can two walk together unless they be agreed?

Walking with God means that God is agreeing with you, walking with God means that you are agreeing with Him. And it means that you’re walking right. You are agreeing with God. You’re pleasing God and you are walking with the Lord. This is easy preaching and a little difficult to carry out sometimes. Take your Bible and look there in the book of Genesis chapter 17. Genesis chapter 17. When you get old, well things change, you know. God doesn’t expect as much from you when you get old.

Well, doggy, if you are under the age of 99, I don’t know if you’re gonna get a pass on that one. You see there in verse one, and when Abram was 90 years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the almighty God. Do what? Walk before me and be thou perfect. God, regardless of how old you are, seems to want everybody to what, well, you don’t know I didn’t put in my time.

I paid my dues. I’m retired. Since I’m retired, I don’t have to walk with God anymore. Well, you got chapter and verse for that, right? Well, you don’t have chapter and verse. Well, I got chapter and verse for you. And it doesn’t look there’s any retirement from walking with God, not in the Word of God. God wants us to serve Him all the days of of our life. So if you’re under 99, I think we might just throw you in there.

Now if you’re a hundred, you might get a pass. I don’t know. But maybe you’ll be in a nursing home can’t do anything then anyway. But anyway, I do believe that it’s important that you walk before the Lord because of who He is. Look who He is. We say, I’m walking with God. I am the almighty God that means there’s nobody mightier than Him. Is He Almighty God? Looking Deuteronomy 13, the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 13. Deuteronomy chapter 13, several verses that I want you to see here because he had told…

His people, what to do. Moses was to teach them. Moses had a bunch of rebellious people on his hands. I mean, you talk about trouble. This wasn’t a church, but it’s called the church in the wilderness. What a mess. I mean, if he was the pastor and these were his flock, oh, no wonder he got upset. No wonder he got mad. No wonder he got bitter. Look what he had to put up with for 40 years. He couldn’t say, you know what I think I’m going to do?

I’m going to just take me a cruise. I’m going to do like James. I’m just going to get out of here and get on a cruise and go down into the Caribbean storm or no storm. Here I come. I couldn’t believe that James would leave on the cruise and leave me here. Just doesn’t seem right. Verse 1, verse 1 says, If there arise among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, I have a dream. Okay, you can have your dream.

That doesn’t mean your dream is right, just because you have a dream or a dreamer dream and give it the a sign or a wonder. the sign, or the wonder come to pass. Wherever he speak unto thee, say, and let us go after other gods, which thou have not known, and let us serve them. And then he said in verse 3, thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord, and you ought to underline this because he gives you some insight into the ways of God.

the Lord your God prove with you, test you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. So he said I’ll even let somebody tell you something and be able to perform things that will cause you to believe it must be true. To test you whether or not you really love me or not. Did you know in life there’s a good possibility? You know the testing’s haven’t stopped since you trusted the Lord, have they?

Probably picked up. Temptations probably become, you’re more aware. The greater temptation since you trusted the Lord. Well, if this might be true, is it true or possibility that when he says in the book of Peter, that the trial of your faith been much more precious than gold and silver, though it would be tried with fire. Might be found on the praise, honor and glory at the period of Jesus Christ. Did you know that the trial of your faith, your major faith is on trial?

It means you’re gonna be tested. There’s gonna be something happening to you to reveal to you whether or not do you really love the Lord. You see, this whole thing was about, God said, do you love me? Well, because if you love him, then you want to walk with him. But if you don’t love him, then you don’t want to walk with him. You want to walk with other gods. You want to serve other gods. One of the reasons that you walk with the Lord is told that you can serve a Lord.

Oh, obey him. So there’s a battle. So the true and living God will allow you to be tested. So he says there in verse four. Yishaa walk. Yishaa walk after the Lord your God and fear him. Keep his commandments and obey his voice and ye shall serve him and cleave unto him. And those other prophets that try to get you away from him, he says, let them die. Ooh, put them to death. What if we lived in a country today that although the preach falsely we could take them out and kill them?

No, I’m not advocating them that. Are you understanding me? That was in the Old Testament and God was serious about this thing. What’s interesting today is America used to be about Christ and Christianity and mainly the Protestant religion, but now we’re a melting part of all religions. And some of them aren’t melting too good. They’re just trying to consume and take over everybody else. I might even say a few words about that this morning. Good possibility. But in verse four, ye shall walk after the Lord.

So you know where you’re supposed to walk and who you’re walking for, who you’re walking with, and who you’re supposed to please, and who you’re supposed to love. That’s why we walk with the Lord. Look there in the book of Romans in chapter 6. Romans in chapter 6. Way over there in the New Testament. Romans chapter 6, there’s an interesting verse. And Romans chapter 6, there’s a verse here that says, you know, because of what Christ has done for you, because of who you are.

Your position in Christ, you trusted Him as your Savior, His death is put to your account. He was buried and rose again from the dead. So he says in verse 4, Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism in the dead. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father. Even so we also should walk in newness of life. In other words, as though you have new life. I made a statement a couple of weeks ago that our country is in a lot of trouble.

Because you see, all the lost people have is an owe-senpho nature. Do you believe that all of our problems are going to be solved by lost people with nothing more than a sinful nature? Are they wise enough to solve our problem as a Christian? And they’ll preserve our rights and freedom because they’re lost people with a sinful nature. So what’s the answer to this sin explosion throughout our country? Well, you’ve got to have people with a new nature, but a new nature is not going to be just the answer if you don’t walk in newness of life.

You and I are supposed to be the light of the world. Do you think the world is looking toward us for direction? I don’t think so. Because God’s people have messed up over and over. we become a laughing stock to the world. Preachers build great big churches, and then they just fall into sin, they’re running around sleeping with somebody else’s wife and all that. And do you think that other people can do that, but it’s not that big of a deal, but you let a preacher mess up.

And buddy, that is news worldwide, because see, it’s just another light that goes out, another light that goes out. Satan has got one main goal, not only blinding the minds of them that believe not, but turning out lights. See, we are the lights, and he has got one goal to turn out the lights. And he turns out your light by getting you not to walk with God. You lose your effectiveness. You don’t have anything to say. He can shut your mouth.

So he’s laid out there all kinds of traps and snares so that we’ll walk into them because the Bible talks about in the book of Ephesians, we’ll look at many. Walking circumspectly, walking circumspectly means like a long tail cat on the fence with barking dogs on both sides. You mean you got to watch what you’re doing, where you going? So he makes a statement here in the last part of this verse 4, that we should walk in newness of life.

Looking Psalms 84, Psalms 84, way over there in the Old Testament, Psalms 84, Psalms 84 and looking verse 11, Psalms 84. There’s a couple really top-notch verses down through this chapter. But there’s something that we need to have, I think, a good attitude toward. Because the easiest thing in the Christian life is for the sins of the flesh to get a hold of us. And one of those is called envy, pride, jealousy. You see, whenever, even as a Christian, when you see somebody being blessed more than you, Praise the Lord.

Man, I’m so glad they’re being so blessed. Man, they just got a million dollars. And your check hasn’t come in in six years. They just got six figures. You wonder what? Wait, God, don’t want to cause no fuss, but what about us? Did you know it wouldn’t take much and they got a position and you don’t have Gellycy, Envy, Greed, It don’t take that long. For you to become covetous. Covetous can destroy a Christian because you begin to covet what somebody else has.

Sometimes it might be their husband you covet. It might be their wife. It might be their job. It might be that position they have in something. You’d be surprised. But isn’t it true? Christians don’t do that. If you’ve got an old sinful nature and you do, you will. And you will be argumentative, and you will because of your great wisdom. You’ll be able to see so much nobody else can see, and that causes you to be critical of other people.

They don’t do it exactly the way you want. They don’t know exactly what you know, and you’ve got to let them know that you know more. Pride is an ugly sin. I’m glad that nobody here that has that. I’ll probably struggle with that as much as anybody. But now what I want you to see is it better to be, well, look what he says here in verse 10, for a day in thy courts is better than a thousand, I guess outside.

I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked. I’d rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God. Are you content with whatever place God has given to you? Are you envious of somebody else’s position or service? Or do you listen to somebody? Oh, I hate her. Oh, I can’t stand her. I mean, why did God have to give her such a purty voice? Or you look in the mirror, mirror, mirror on the wall and it cracks.

And you think, if there is a God, if He understands, you know, the vanity that a woman can have in their beauty. And you think, God, I could have done better than this. Well, at times you probably did look better than you do now. But understand this, the way you look today, your wish you had looked this good 20 years from now. Let me repeat that one more time. You’ve got to keep things in perspective. The way you look today, I guarantee you, is probably a lot better than you’re going to look 20 years from now.

And your wish you looked this good. So just go ahead and be thankful now. But in twenty years you can cry all over again and say, do it again. But you see, things change. I’ve often wondered, you know, when Job really, you know, went through his trials and testings, it talks about, you know, he lost his kids, ten of them. But at the end of his life, God gave him back. And they’re called the Job’s daughters. There’s even people that have got groups and they call them a Job’s Daughters.

But these Daughters, they were Lookers. I mean, it would even be recorded in the Scripture that, hey, they weren’t just Daughters. They were good-looking Daughters. So I guess God does know the difference between good-looking and ugly. Doesn’t it say about Saul? He was head and shoulders above everybody and, and, and, and, it was goodly. The Bible talks about David a goodly. I, I, maybe it’s a reference to, hey, he, he was a handsome kid. Well, God, you made him handsome.

Why didn’t, what, what happened to me? What, what about if you was me and when you was born and you heard your daddy say on the day you were born, that’s the ugliest kid I’ve ever seen in my life. Who, who did that? Look in verse 11, look in verse 11, for the Lord God is a son and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Now I know this is in the Old Testament to them, but there’s just something that kind of gives you a little hope that if I honor the Lord, God’s gonna honor me.

You know in John chapter 12, says, I will honor him that honors me. I believe it’s the same thing he’s talking about. You and I are supposed to live a godly life so that we can be confident that there’s nothing that would keep God from blessing me if he so desired. You see, God will not bless your disobedience. So as a child of God, we want the blessings of God. And God says, walk uprightly, do right, do right, walk uprightly.

In looking verse 12, oh Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusted in the, blessed is that man that trusts in the, now turning to Bible to the book of Romans in chapter 13. chapter 13. This is an interesting chapter, it kind of deals with some things about government and our responsibility to pay taxes though we don’t like that part of it, but it says pay tribute to whom tribute is due and so on. But here in chapter 13, there’s something else It says in like in verse 8, Oh no man anything but to love one another.

Did you know that you and I are in debt to every person in the world to love them? Why? Because God gave us that responsibility. Love one another. Except they hurt your feelings. They look at you cross-eyed it. said something about you. Well, see, then people begin to look at reasons why they don’t have to love some people, because after all, look who I am. Everybody should treat me wonderful. And because they don’t, we are partial in our judgment in the sense that we are a respecter persons.

And so we want to be, you know, nice to those who are nice to us, but Jesus said, if you are kind to those who are kind to you, what did you do? It’s whenever you love your enemies. Matthew chapter 5, when you do that, he says, then, then, then, then, not you done done something. when you can love and forgive the people that who hurt you are wrong you. Oh yeah, but look here in Romans. He says in verse 10, love worketh no ill to his neighbor.

Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. So see, God didn’t come to destroy the law. He came to fulfill the law. The law is still just as good and valid. God didn’t take it away. He didn’t destroy the law. It’s just that now he says, we did not have the ability to fulfill the law. But now he wants us as his children that if we will learn to love, you will fulfill the law. All you got to do is learn to love.

And that’s a difficult thing. And because you see, it deals with the fact of what people do to us or circumstances that we have in life that we know God can’t control. So there’s only two things that we’re told to love, one to God and the other one’s people. 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 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