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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.

We have a couple of notes here for you as you know, this is part four of the sermon that I Started last Sunday There were four pages to this sermon and I didn’t want to give it to you all at one time I Did preach it at one time. It was three and a half hours long But we wanted to cut it down jazz to tad so This is what we’ve done As soon as you can take your Bible and turn to the book of John chapter 7, there’s a few thoughts that I want to bring to your attention from the sermon Wednesday night so that we can tie in the couple thoughts from your notes today.

And it has to do with the subject of the will of God, then done in your life. Some people want God to reveal everything about what is His will for your life. I mean, what has He got planned out there for me? And then you want to look at it and see whether or not is it worth doing? I mean, whatever God asked me to sacrifice is what I’m going to get going to be worth it. I can’t see it, I trust me more than I trust Him.

So that’s why so many of God’s children go their own way because who can take God at His Word? I mean, after all, who can trust Him? He is the Lord you know. He did save you and give you eternal life, you know. He is your Father and you are His child, you know. So there are some things that God our Heavenly Father wants us to do. But He wants us to have a desire to fulfill His will, to please Him, believe in entrusting that it will be the best.

If He never tells you what He wants you to do and how it’s going to end up, and all these things it goes on, the little details of your life. But overall, God says, if you will do it, I will reveal it. But look there in John chapter 7, John chapter 7, And look at this verse. John chapter 7 verse 17. But verse 17 says, if any man will do his will, he shall know. If any man will do his will, he shall know.

So I believe that it is very critical for every Christian to decide in her mind, do I want the will of God for my life. And if you doTopic I believe that God has some great things in store for you. Can you trust Him with your life? You trusted Him with your eternal destination. So if God created the heavens and the earth, we ought not have a problem with it. So the next thing I want you to do is look there in Romans in chapter 12.

The Romans in chapter 12. In Romans chapter 12 is one of the first things that if a person needs to know, after you are willing to give him your mind, present your body. Give him your mind, present your body. You see there in chapter 12 and verse 1, it makes this statement, and I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. That means in view of what God has done for you, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

So God wants your mind, God wants your body. And therefore, if he can get your mind, he’ll get your body. And everything that you have. Can God get that? Then notice what he says there in verse two and be not conformed to this world, but be you transform. How do you transform your life? See when you got saved it did not transform your life. It gave you eternal life, but your life may never be transformed. You may live just like the lost man.

No change in your life. But he says I have something better for you. And if you’ll renew your mind with the Word of God, it can transform your life. Now a lot of God’s children, their lives have been transformed. I am not the same person that I used to be when I was 17, 18 years old. My life has been transformed because I renewed my mind with the Word of God. And God says if you’ll do that, you will discover what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Isn’t that what you want? You can have it. But first of all, are you willing to submit your mind to His Word? And if you will do that, you’d be surprised what God wants. Now, I want you to take and look at your notes of today. Number three, it’s the top of the page. Whatever the will of God is, it will not contradict the Word of God. God’s will never contradicts His revealed Word. So your life should be brought in harmony with the Word.

God is not going to change the Bible. Do you understand that? He doesn’t change the book. The book stays the same. Transforming your life is you getting your life in agreement with what the Word of God says. And if you’ll do that, then God has some great things in store for you. Number four, circumstances are open doors. For example, God will open up doors, opportunities. A lot of times I never prayed about some of the opportunities God gave me.

If I had an opportunity to go into a high school, I didn’t get on my hands and knees and be like, oh, God, is it your will for me to go? You know I don’t want to do anything against your will. There’s only 500 kids that will get a chance to hear the gospel. What’s your will? No. I go. I would rather have God stop me than have to push me. Bet he’s dead. I used to drive him up a wall.

Cause I lived in five states in the year and a half after me and Bet he got married. He called me a gypsy. I don’t know why. But he said, you know, God could lead you if he could ever get in front. I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. I was just trying to keep up with God. I couldn’t find him. I kept looking for him. But anyway, you know, time takes it’s a toll and you slow down a little bit, learn not to trust the Lord a little bit more.

But look at the next number, number five, common sense. Now I know today it’s not very common. Not everybody has common sense anymore. And so who gave you the ability to reason, to discern, to think, well God, don’t you think God expects you to use some common sense? If you as a think better, and just use some good old common sense, Most of what God wants you to do makes sense. It just makes sense. He knows the future. He knows what’s gonna happen if you rebel and he knows what all the sins out there are and he knows how they’re trapped and he wants to lead you and guide you.

You’re some common sins. I’m driving my car down the road. There’s a stop light. It comes on and if it’s yellow, it means be it if you can. Oh, maybe not. But if it’s red, what does red God? What is your will? Do you want me to stop or not? I don’t want to do anything against your will. I’ve learned that you’re a will that I stop at the stoplight. You’re not. You better stop. Some things he just makes plain common sense.

And some people don’t have this common sense. Lord, what time is it? God, he, tell me what time it is. Oh God, tell me what time it is. And the voice comes down out of heaven. Look at your watch. Some people are nuts. Common sense. Some things is reasonable. And learn to be reasonable. God gave your mind, use it. And don’t just follow the crowd until you know which way it’s going. Now, I’ll have to admit there’s a starting place.

I did not always know exactly how to pray. I just know that you’re supposed to pray. I never knew how to even give a testimony. You know, I didn’t even know what it was. First time after Betty’s dad led me to the Lord on a Friday night, he went to this church, a Northside Baptist church where I was up there. He went to that church and he got me to go. We sat on the back of the door. that was right in front of the door.

I mean, all I had to do was turn around and I’m zipped, I’m gone. So we sit on the back row. I don’t know what the preacher preached. I don’t remember one word. I just know it was over with. And everybody was leaving and we were standing back there in the back with my father-in-law and Betty and her mom. And so the preacher came by, his name was Dr. Virgil Edwards. And he came by and shook my father-in-law’s hand And he introduced me to him and him to me and I shook his hand and bet his dad says, yank, he just trusted Christ to save you Friday night.

He wants to give a testimony. The preacher looked at me and he says, you’d like to give a testimony? And I looked at my father and I said, yeah. He said, have him here tonight. Well, let me give a testimony. So on the way home, I just happened after a stupid little question. What’s the testimony? He’s eating all you do is you stand up. Say, my name is Ralph Arnold. I trust that you might save you and want you to pray for me.

I said, that’s all I got to say? That’s it. So anyway, while there was in there getting ready to eat, I went in the living room and I sat on the couch. My name is Ralph Arnold. I trust that you might save you and want you to pray for me. I practice it all afternoon. I am ready. Nobody going to make a fool out of me. I’m ready. So we got to church that night and there wasn’t many people there.

They had a practice and they came down and sat down. And then the preacher got up there and he says, we have a young man here tonight, brother Ralph Arnold. I became brother. I know I was brother. Brother Ralph Arnold. And he wants to give more of the testimony. So brother Ralph, would you come on down here to the front and so everybody can see you. I looked over at my father and I said, I’m not going down here.

He said, you got to go. I said, I’m not going. I said, you said, all of your stand up. I said, Jackie, you got to go. I said, I’m not going. Betty’s sitting beside me and she yelled, but you can’t go. How many have ever had an elbow between the third and fourth red? You got to? Man, I got out to the aisle and I started down that aisle. It was about a half mile long. I got down to the front.

There was probably three or 400 people there now. And when I got down there, the preacher says, Brother, come up here on the platform and speak to the microphone so everyone can hear you real loud and clear. It was about a thousand people in there now. I came up and I got behind the public and I could not remember. One word of what I was supposed to do. I didn’t remember my name. Everybody’s always called me Yankee, but I probably said my name is Ralph Armstrong, my name is Ralph Armstrong, my name is Ralph Armstrong.

I thought I’d just said, Yankee, I don’t know, I’ve been all right, but I couldn’t remember Ralph Arnold. And I stood there and I could not think of one word to say. I was in total shock. And all of a sudden I started saying something. I don’t know what I said. I spoke for 20 minutes. The preacher had me come down there and everybody came by and they shook my hand. Like a Georgia pump handle on my wife. I have no clue what I said, but whatever it was, it must have been good.

Because they, they wasn’t me running to the church, you know, I got baptized, but you have to have a beginning. We were gonna leave and go down to Macon. So the preacher called the other preacher, Dr. Sheehan of a Maccato Baptist Church in Macon, Georgia. And it says, Jankie’s on his way. A young man, he trusts the Christ of Savior to eat him right. But I didn’t know that. So I got there on a Wednesday night, and they had about 500 there on a Wednesday night.

They’re big church. So me and Betty walked in, we said, on the back row. And the preacher got up there, and he says, because when I walked in, the deacon gave me a card, and I filled it out. And he had done it down to the pastor. And so the pastor knew that I was a visitor, but he knew who I was. And so he said, we’re gonna have prayer, and we’re gonna have blah, blah, blah from over here, and we’ll have blah, blah, blah from over there.

And also, Brother Ralph Arnold, sitting back here in the back, why don’t y’all three come up here and lead us in prayer tonight? For the missionaries, I didn’t even know what one was. I had never seen one. I didn’t even know what they looked like. And so when we got up on the platform, there were three chairs up there, the preacher went over and said, by the piano. One, two, three. And this guy was going to go first, then the other guy, and then I was going to close in prayer.

Close. I don’t know how open in prayer. I had never prayed publicly in my life. I’m just a young squirt. I don’t know anything. I wasn’t raised in church. But did I pray? Oh, did I pray? I’m sitting back there, and when he said, and Brother Ralph Arnold, y’all come on up here. They got up and started right up. I sat there on the back row. I said, Betty, did he say my name? She said, yes.

I said, he wants me to go down and preach it. Yes. I said, I’m not going. She says, yes, you are. I said, honey, I’m not going. She says, you’re going. So I hang on down. My ministry is all ludo on elbow. I got up here on the chair and I’m sitting there and Am I praying? Oh, I’m praying. But when I heard this guy get up there and he grabbed the horns of the altar. Oh, God, enter of heaven and earth.

And it scared me to death. He prayed, oh, it was it pretty. He used all these adjectives and so forth and it was so wonderful. I was totally impressed. And I says, what am I going to do? The only prayer I knew. And this is the truth. Was God looked down to that little crack and blessed us while we eat our snack. Amen, John Ben. Shout a rooster killed a hen. Chicken died, rooster cried, and then she satisfied. That’s the only prayer I knew.

And I thought that’s not going to be appropriate for today. So I’m praying, God, help me, help me, God. Speak to me, speak to me. Well, this guy, when he got through, he said, Amen, Amen. I says, amen and amen. Am I supposed to say amen and another amen? I don’t know. So he got through and the other guy walked up there and he started praying. So while he was praying, I was in earnest. I was really praying. And so he’s up there praying.

And I’m saying, and I remember a story that is dead. It shared with me about a boy named Samuel and how that he was in bed. and all of a sudden he heard the voice and he jumped up and he ran to Eli and he says, did you call me? He said, I didn’t call you. And so he says, the next time you hear it, he says, they’ll say, yes Lord, here am I. God speak to me. God speak to me.

If you can do it for Sam, you can do it for me. So I’m sitting up here and I’m on my prayer. Great sweat drops of blood. He’s not knowing quite that bad. And all of a sudden I heard, this is the truth. Raise my right hand. I heard Ralph, Ralph. I thought, he’s doing it. I hear him clear as a bell. Ralph, I said, sounds so real. I thought that’s too real. So I opened my eyes and I looked.

I didn’t know that the other guy had already finished and quit and sat down and I’m still sitting there praying and the preacher was over there going, Ralph, Ralph. I looked over at him and he says, so I jumped up and I had my Bible, so I had no clue what to say. And I says, thank you for the Bible. And I heard a few, amen, amen, amen. Hold on. Next thing you know, I prayed longer than both of those guys got more amen’s than any of them.

But I don’t know what I said. But you have to to have a start, you have to begin. And that’s why it’s so important. And you can start off and just praise the Lord and you give things, confess some of all these things. And I have a little thing here right before number four is, don’t make your confession worse than it is, but you ought to make it as bad as it is. And then you ask for something. Don’t just talk, talk to the Lord, ask Him for all the things that you want.

He’d like to hear a few comments first like compliments. The Lord loves praise. He loves you to brag on Him. I didn’t know this all at once. One of the prayers that I prayed that I would not do it today. But God knows I was ignorant. I was in Shreveport, Louisiana, and I’m behind the house. And I prayed, and I said, God, tell me what you want me to do. And I said things that I shouldn’t have said. It was just, you know, I was mad at God.

I just, I’m mad. But God overlooked some things. And I’m so glad God is such a patient God. And he loves us. And where his children and he wants us to come to him. He wants us to talk to him. But look at the next thing I have here. Number four, you ask. Things we want for ourselves. Have a tour people as you make things that we want for others. These are not bad things. God says make your supplications known to the Lord.

And then also in his name means for his honor means for his glory because you see what God for if it’s not for his glory, you maybe you don’t need it. to serve Him and you want to honor Him. And so you need to examine your life and see whether or not, is there any reason why God would not980 answer my prayer? Because if prayer works and it does work, but it works better when you have a clean heart, when your motors are pure, and you want to do right because you want God to be pleased with you.

You see, I have three children. I got one in heaven and two down here. But I want in my children to do right, but not because, well, you know, my image. I’m the preacher and you’re supposed to do right. You’re the preacher’s kids. And I want them to do right because they’re God’s child, not because of my image. I want them to do right because I want God to bless them. I want them to, when they get to heaven, to be rewarded by the Lord.

You see, that’s what I want. That’s what I desire. So if you understand a few things, it kind of helps you a little bit. Look at a few things here. I want you to see that. Number one, Jonathan Edwards preached. And this is what I read about him is because I read about books on these guys. And I want to know what makes them tick. And he preached men cried and clung to columns of the church for fear that they would slide into eternity.

Now, buddy, you must be doing some kind of preaching. about his message that much, except that he, he pulled to death. Some of these guys used to paint picture of hell that the people would literally cry and scream, that they didn’t want to go away. Then another guy won two, had a guy I used di +— Because they didn’t want to go to hell, they didn’t want their loved ones to go to hell because today all we hear is just love Jesus and everybody best be kind one to another pay your debts do it right but you know people don’t need to get saved if there’s no hell and a lot of people don’t want to talk about hell.

I have no problem with anybody and they don’t have any problem with me if I just say you know God hates sin but if I name a sin now you’ve done gone too far. You just can’t tell people what it is. Name a sin. Because somebody sitting there is guilty. And most time you can’t talk or name a sin that somebody is not guilty of. But they don’t mind if you talk about sin. Just don’t name any sins. Because then I don’t have to make any corrections or changes and all that.

And then if you preach a does, then they get mad and quit the church. You say they would never do that. All right, as we’re moving right along here, number two, Edward Payson prayed until grooves were worn in the floor by his knees. Martin Luther rose before his four o’clock every morning to pray. Dr. Curtis Hudson heard about that and he says, if he can do it, I can do it. So he’d get up at four o’clock. Then he heard about the milkman that got up at 3.30 in the morning.

He said, if he can start his job, my job is more important than a milkman. So he got up at 3.30. Of course, in the afternoon, he was wiped out. And then he found out, these guys didn’t go to bed until about seven o’clock at night. And he was going to bed about midnight. So it’s best not to try to find out and do exactly what somebody else does because you don’t know the whole story. Find out what works for you.

Don’t say, well, Peter a model prays three hours every morning. Well, that’s what he does. That’s what I got it. No, you don’t. Find out what makes it work for you. You spend time between you and the Lord and get it settled. Another man, David Brainerd, now he died when about 27 years old. He wasn’t a fellow. Missionary to the Indian laid many times in the snow and prayed until the no melted beneath him. He went to the Indians.

John Welch with a son-in-law of John Knox, he says, give me Scotland or I die. He counted that day he’ll spend that he did not spend seven or eight hours in prayer. I think, what in the world did you do with the rest of the time? Did you sleep and eat? Meet people? Some people can do certain things that you cannot do. And God has laid his hand upon certain people to do certain things. You find out what it is God wants you to do.

But whatever it is. Do it. Fulfill the ministry that God’s given to you. I have a little statement here about a man named Mr. Massey. When I came from Louisiana with Betty and two kids and everything we owned packed in a big old Buick trunkless pack,shire we had mattresses and tricycles on the top of the car. I’d run a big old wire after the thing on top of it. It was a house like 18 wheeler. And I didn’t have a spare tire and I had a little slit in the back in the tire and I just knew that thing was not gonna Make it but it made it I got back to Georgia from Louisiana.

I had $15 in my pocket went to her mom and dad’s and says Here’s your here’s your daughter and the kids I’m going to Bible school. I’ll be back and get them when I find a job and so far and So they were just still in death to get the kid, you know and Betty back and And they didn’t care if I left, but that meant they was a guy with them. I said, I’m on my way to Bible college.

He says, Jan, before you go, he says, I want you to go see a man named Mr. Massey. All right. I said, why do you want me to go say, he said, I just want him to have prayer for you. I said, okay, right. So we went out into the the boonies. I mean, it was out on a farm. No, hardly nobody run, but went up to this little farmhouse. And we walked inside and he introduced me to this giant of a man.

His hand was huge and he worked on a farm and I guess that makes everything grow. You know, you milk all day long and you throw that in your finger the big and he was a man man. So he shook my hand and swallowed it up, you know. Introduced me to this guy, Mr. Massey. And he says, my father-in-law at the end, he said, yank, he’s going to the Bible college and he needs prayer. He said, well, then let’s stop.

John and get her done. So I’m still standing there. And now that sudden he dropped to his knees in front of the couch. And Mr. Jackson got on his knees. And well, I don’t do that. No, I didn’t. They got on their knees and it wasn’t long. Mr. Massey, he just, oh God, blast this man. I mean, this way frame. Like I’m just, that’s what he did. I mean, it’s like nobody’s here just to him and God. And so scared me to be able to jump down and close my eyes.

And he prayed for me. He prayed for me like I’ve never heard anybody ever pray in my life. This whole farmer. He wasn’t a preacher. He was a missionary. He was just a farmer. But he knew how to get ahold of God. And it was like he reached up there and got ahold of God and brought him down into that living room. And he prayed and talked to him like he was right there. And it scared me. I’d never been in a situation like this.

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.